Asgardian Shenanigans

Illusions and Physical Strength

Thor woke up early in anticipation. There was nothing he loved more than training with his father; he excelled in all things physical and he simply dominated when it came to sparring with his brother. He dressed quickly, practically jumping into his clothes, grabbing his special cape. He had only trained with his brother and father twice before, but he knew that those two days had been the best days of his life, not only because he got to beat the ever-loving crap out of his brother, but because his father seemed to be so proud of him. Still jittery, he crashed through the halls of the palace.

"I need sustenance!" He cried to no one in particular, stumbling into the dining room. "Mother, what's for breakfast?"

"Why are you in such a hurry this morning Thor?" Frigga inquired, chuckling at her puppy of a son. "You usually don't wake up for another thirty minutes."

"I have training today, mother!" Thor exclaimed, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "I love training!"

"I can tell." Frigga sat Thor down at the table and placed a steaming plate of breakfast in front of him. "I'm going to wake your brother. He doesn't seem to share the same enthusiasm that you do."

"Tell him to get ready quickly!" Thor scarfed down his breakfast like a starving animal, spreading crumbs all over the table.

Frigga sighed at her son's obvious lack of table manners.

----------------

Loki lay in bed dreading the coming day. Though he was far wittier and more intelligent than his brother, he was completely outclassed when it came to physical strength. In fact, Loki was straight out scrawny. He couldn't complete a single push-up and managed to embarrass himself in front of his father every time he had to display his physical strength. This time, he was going to find a way to avoid the seemingly inevitable embarrassment. He was the clever brother after all. Sighing deeply, he pushed himself out of bed. His long black hair formed a messy halo around his head and lacked its typical greased back look. Brushing his hair, he began to formulate his master plan. Recently, his mother had started teaching him illusions. Unlike his brother, his strength wasn't physical, so fighting like his mother would treat Loki much better. According to Frigga, he was a natural and had already mastered several illusions. Looking into the mirror, Loki grinned mischievously. He was going to trick everyone.

------------------

The training ground was located in the middle of a park. Walls of weapons and first-aid supplies lined the walls that formed a perimeter around the square field. Thor resided in the center, bouncing enthusiastically on his toes, waiting for his father to initiate the training session.

"Thor, Loki," Odin began, "we will be training today."

"I know, father!" Thor replied ebulliently, his grin shining brilliantly. "This is going to be so much fun!"

"Indeed." Odin nodded sagely. "Why don't we warm up? I'd love to see you two display your physical strength."

An illusion of Loki standing next to his brother smiled happily. This was all going to plan.

"I'll do fourty pushups!" Thor announced, dropping into a plank position. True to his word, he completed forty rapid-fire pushups.

"I'll do sixty." Loki boasted, his illusion completing his promised amount in record time.

"That was very impressive Loki." Odin commended. "Have you been practicing?"

"Quite a lot, father." He looked up at Odin innocently. He actually wasn't lying; he had been practicing his illusions. Loki reveled in his supposed success after receiving an approving smile from Odin. He did it! He tricked his father!

-----------------------

Odin sat down heavily on his bed next to Frigga. "So, you've been teaching Loki illusions?"

"I have." Frigga replied. "Did he show them to you?"

"Yes, but I believe he was trying to fool me into thinking he had physical strength."

"Let him be. At least he used his wit."

"But he needs strength!" Odin insisted, looking imploringly at Frigga. "He can't be weak and scrawny forever."

"Not all strength lies in physical prowess." Frigga shook her head. "You should know that after the handful of times I bested you in combat despite being physically weaker."

"I suppose." Odin capitulated. "You love Loki so much."

"He is my son." Frigga smiled at her husband. "I will always love him as such."

A/N: So, I know that hardly anyone is reading this fic (which is okay, I'll keep writing it anyway), the reason for which I don't know, whether it is that this is a smaller fandom or this particular format isn't appealing to readers. Still, since I got one vote on the last chapter, I'll post some of the other chapters I've written. If you do end up reading and enjoying this, please leave a comment! It makes my day.