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The diplomatic world was somewhat of a mystery to Thor; the heir of Asgard was made for battle. Political strategies, alliances, and courtesy calls were of no interest to him whatsoever. Unfortunately, his father had insisted that he play host to the heir to Jotunheim for reasons he did not bother listening to.
He would soon regret this.
Odin himself had private reservations about welcoming the Frost Giants, but an agreement between two kingdoms could not be reached without some attempt at dialogue. What better occasion than the holidays? Surely even the Jotnar took a day or two off from time to time, and more than one had likely flirted with the idea of basking in the sun. While Laufey and much of his Court wandered around Asgard as if sightseeing, the noblest families of Asgard acting as guides, it was going to be Thor's job to make friends with the prince of the blue-hued Giants.
Thor, delighted perhaps more than anyone for a few days off from his usually packed schedule, would have preferred to spend the first day of his vacation stealing drinks in the tavern or lazing about in his rooms. Alas, it was not to be, and instead he found himself dressing in rather formal clothes at the insistence of his mother.
"You only get one chance to make a good impression, so use it well." Frigga had said as she combed his hair. Not a single lock was left out of place, even the hair of a god feared the wrath of the queen of Asgard.
So Thor dutifully appeared in the gardens that morning in pristine clothes, better groomed than he had ever been, and carrying a pot of juicy, sun-swollen grapes. He had walked the palace popping them into his mouth absentmindedly as he wandered, so when he found Loki there were, in fact, rather few left.
He had been told about the Jotunns, of course. He had heard every gorey, gruesome story of the Frost Giants who had waged war against Asgard for control of a small, backward planet called Mudgard, or something. Thor had thus imagined that his Jotunn prince would be terrifying! Tall, fierce, intimidating!
However, he was not the least bit afraid when he finally saw Loki in Frigga's gardens, seemingly engrossed by the flowers that surrounded him. He seemed rather slight; delicate in fact. Was this really the heir to the Jotunn throne?
"Are you hungry?" Thor proffered the pot, skipping introductions as he assumed that such a scrawny boy must be starving. Loki looked at him without much interest, gave a kind of snort, and re-focused his attention on the flowers. Gardenias, Thor's mother called them, and he told Loki so.
"I know what they are." Loki snorted again. He eyed Thor. "Has your father sent you to meet me before announcing our engagement?"
Thor choked on one of the grapes. His coughs and blows to the chest to spit out the offending fruit caused Loki great amusement. He laughed, then approached Thor without hesitation, and - Thor would spend days thinking about this - kissed him.
The kiss achieved two things: Thor went beet red; and Loki laughed again.
"Nice to meet you, future husband."
"I'm not marrying you!" Thor pointed at him with a shaking forefinger. "You're ugly! And blue!"
Loki, far from being offended, smiled with a certain degree of tenderness. Was that really the best insult that the prince of Asgard could think of?