The Chaos Twins

by chaoticprincex

Summary:

“Have fun you three!” Thor exclaimed, leaning down to the boys’ height to fake-whisper, “Tell your Papa I said hello.” Both boys smiled and nodded, then threw themselves at Thor who caught them expertly in his arms for a hug.

“Bye Uncle Thor!” Vali said into Thor’s neck, Narvi echoing it on the other side a moment after.

Thor laughed softly as they left on their walk, “well, they are ju–” he cut himself off as he turned and saw all of the Avengers staring at him as if they hadn’t moved for some time. Bruce caught Thor’s eyes and cringed, shrugging his shoulders.

“Uncle Thor?” Clint exclaimed. “Please tell me that Sigyn is your sister you never told us you had.”

---
The Avengers visit New Asgard and meet more of Thor's family.

Chapter 1: The Meeting

“You know, coming here feels like really high end camping,” Peter mused. Across the table, Tony tried not to roll his eyes, laughing fondly. He wasn’t really wrong. New Asgard was beautiful– it was modern, yet it blended in with its natural surroundings rather than overpowering them. The cliff sides were gorgeous, and there was a huge communal park area between the town and the cliffs that hosted a variety of events. Kids played, adults took walks to the cliff sides and back, or sat at wooden tables or benches to catch up. They sometimes had groups of school kids taken out to explore nature, or just for recess. There was a large open space of grass, but there were also plenty of trees, and it was a great meeting place to begin hikes from. Sometimes, the royal council would have their meetings in the park– they often held hearings in the park for anyone to come and suggest things or make them aware of problems that needed fixing. When the town’s inhabitants weren’t working, in school, or sleeping, they could usually be found at the park no matter the weather– there were traditional tent-like canopies set up around the park where you could avoid the rain, or just take a nap in. 

“Yeah– really high end camping,” Steve laughed, eyes bright. It had been a long time since the team was this happy and stress-free. Thor looked so proud of his people and what they had accomplished– on their way to the park, Thor had pointed out everything that the townsfolk had built or refurbished (which was nearly everything). They were trying a new style of ruling for Asgard: one or two main rulers, with a council of several co-rulers. The Avengers were honestly interested in who was a part of this council, however, Thor would only briefly mention himself or Brunhilde and then carefully change the subject. The others seemed to brush it off, but Tony knew that the two resident spies wouldn’t let it slide that easily, and so he was content to let it be and let Nat and Clint get to the bottom of it. While Clint was paying rapt attention to Thor, Natasha had turned herself around on her bench at the table to watch a small group of kids playing, a small smile on her face that Tony knew all too well. He looked on with her for a bit, and noticed that several of the children were decidedly not human or Asgardian– some had pink or blue skin, markings across their bodies, antennae, or otherwise inhuman features, and it was heartwarming to see all of the children playing together with none being visibly left out. They didn’t know much about Asgard, but from the brief backstory Thor had told them about Loki and his heritage, he knew they had some sort of racism problems– Tony was glad that those ideas didn’t seem to have followed them to earth. 

Tony turned back to the table to join the conversation again, but his eyes were drawn to the decidedly empty space next to Steve on the ground. Like the dork he was, Steve had brought his shield out with him (Tony assumed to show off at this point) and had sat it next to him when they settled in the park– Steve was exactly where he had sat down, but the shield was gone, and a quick glance around the table told him that none of the other Avengers had it either. 

“Uh, Cap, I think you’re missing something,” Tony interrupted whatever conversation had been happening, indicating to the space next to Steve. The hero quickly followed Tony’s gaze, and once he noticed what was missing, his eyes shot up and scanned around the immediate area. 

“How the hell did none of us notice that?” Clint exclaimed. The others shared a quick glance around the table before Thor stood up.

“Do not worry, I will find it. I know my people– surely someone will have seen it,” Just as Thor made to step away, Tony felt a tug at his shirt.

“Excuse me, are you the Avengers?” A pseudo British accent that he knew to be Asgardian. Tony whipped around to see a boy, no older than 5 or 6, standing behind him. He had shaggy black hair that fell slightly over his (very) green eyes and went down his neck. His pale skin was flushed and he had a brush of freckles over his nose and cheeks. He was smiling up at Tony with awe in his eyes, which was frankly so adorable he had to laugh.

“Yes, we are,” Tony chuckled, turning around on the bench to fully face the boy, “and who might you be?” He heard Thor laugh behind him, and turned quickly to see a fond smile on his face before looking back at the kid.

“My name’s Vali. You’re…” Vali trailed off, scrunching his eyebrows in thought as he looked Tony over. Suddenly he gasped, his smile back on his face, “metal man! S… Stake? Star– Stark!” He bounced a little on his toes as he worked out the name. Tony sat for a second, stunned that this probably alien kid knew who he was.

“You can just call me Tony,” he said, winking at the kid like he would his fans. Vali laughed– not giggled, outright laughed, and Tony almost would have been embarrassed had this kid been an adult. He chuckled along awkwardly, looking back at the others for some help and landing on Thor, who was still smiling so fondly at the boy that, if it weren’t for his appearance, he would have thought he was Thor’s son. Now that he thought about it, the kid did look familiar– before he had time to dwell on it, Thor came around the table to stand next to Tony. 

“Vali, that’s not nice,” Thor chided kindly. The boy quieted when he heard Thor, and then smiled up at him.

“I’m sorry, it was just– that’s exactly how Papa says he talks! I thought he was being silly, but it’s true!” Tony immediately wondered who this kid’s father was. He looked at Thor in time to see him roll his eyes with a smile and crouch down to Vali’s height. 

“Remember what we talked about, Vali? Just because you think it–”

“‘Doesn’t mean you have to say it’, I knowww ,” Vali whined. Thor only chuckled at the boy’s dramatics.

“Where’s your brother?” Vali immediately flushed, glancing quickly at Steve over Tony’s shoulder before looking to his side, sighing.

“We’ve been caught, Narvi, you can come out.” Tony looked instinctively to one of the trees, expecting the boy to pop out from there, but in a pale green flash of light another boy appeared next to Vali clutching Cap’s shield, an identical flush to Vali’s on his face. This boy– Narvi– was the same height as Vali, and their bodies and faces were nearly identical; Tony immediately assumed that they were twins. Their only differences were their hair and skin; Narvi’s hair was a curly strawberry blond mop on his head, falling over his eyes similarly to Vali’s. They had the same freckles, but Narvi’s skin was a lot tanner than Vali’s. Their eyes were identical , eerily so, the green so bright it seemed to glow. 

Steve sighed in relief once he saw his shield, coming over to the other boy who, surprisingly, didn’t look afraid in the slightest. 

“May I have my shield back, please?” Steve asked, smiling. 

“Sorry Captain– we tried to steal Mjolnir, but we couldn’t physically do that, so we wanted to see if we could steal the shield– we were gonna give it back though!” He assured, holding the shield up to Steve sheepishly. 

“Well, that was very impressive, boys, but you should warn someone before you play games with their things,” Steve said gently, reaching out to grab his shield– right as his hand touched it, it disappeared in a flash of the same pale green light that Narvi appeared in. Steve was visibly stunned, and both boys’ guilty expressions melted into mirthful smiles as they laughed to each other. Thor gave a hearty laugh himself, shaking his head.

“You are already too much like your father,” Thor remarked. Both boys turned to him smiling.

“Thank you!” Vali exclaimed. Thor just laughed harder. 

“Okay, well, all of this has been amusing, but I would really like my shield back, please,” Steve said calmly, though Tony could see he was starting to get anxious. 

“ Oh-kayyy ,” Vali sighed dramatically, still smiling. He reached a hand out and a flash of golden light revealed the shield in his hand. He stepped forward and held it up to Steve like his brother had done, “For real this time.” Steve smiled nervously and grabbed for the shield, relaxing when his hand hit solid metal. 

“Thank you,” he sighed, pulling the shield close to him and not-so-subtly stepping away. Tony was deeply amused with Steve’s reaction to all of this, watching his face flush until the captain caught him and elbowed him in the side.

“Boys?” A woman’s voice called somewhere in the distance. Said boys immediately looked at each other, and their faces broke out in grins. Narvi turned towards the voice.

“Here, Mama!” He called, waving an arm. In a gold flash of light, a woman appeared behind the boys. She looked to be in her early twenties, with tan skin, freckles, and warm brown eyes. Her long strawberry blonde curls were in a half-up half-down styled bun, with little braids adorned with golden jewelry interspersed throughout– one braid close to her face stood out, intertwined with black hair. She wore a long white skirt and a green corset top, a black zip up hanging off her shoulders and a messenger bag hanging off her left shoulder. 

“I told you both to wait by the goats while I got the bread– now it won’t be warm for our picnic!” She sighed, faking annoyance.

“I can warm it up, Mama!” Narvi exclaimed, holding out a hand which the woman immediately grabbed.

“No, Narvi– last time you burnt the bread and nearly burnt your father’s hair off. I’ll warm it up,” Narvi pouted, and she tilted her head in sympathy, “You can try again, you just need to practice some more, okay?” That seemed to placate him, and he nodded, dropping his hand from his mother’s. The woman seemed to look them both over to make sure they were alright before finally taking in the rest of her surroundings, jumping a bit when she noticed the several people standing in front of her, “Oh– hello!” She laughed breathlessly, sharing a look with Thor, who turned to the group.

“My friends, this is Lady Sigyn Iwaldidottir– these two little snakes are her sons,” Thor turned and ruffled Vali’s already messy hair as he finished, who laughed and pushed his hand away. “Sigyn, these are the Avengers: Tony Stark, Captain Steve Rogers, Clint Barton, Peter Parker, Lady Natasha Romanov, and– oh, well you know Bruce.” Bruce smiled and waved as recognition flashed in Sigyn’s eyes.

“Oh Dr. Banner! How are you?” She exclaimed, smiling. The two boys looked at him as if just noticing his presence (they probably were– he was very silent for the whole ordeal), smiling and waving.

“Hi Bruce!” Narvi exclaimed excitedly. Vali frowned, elbowing his brother in the side.

“You have to say hi to both of them!” He chided, turning back to Bruce with a smile, “Hi Bruce! Hi Hulk!” The Avengers, sans Thor, gaped at the interaction while Bruce just laughed fondly, cheeks flushed.

“Hulk says hi back– I think he misses you two using him as a jungle gym.” The boys giggled, Sigyn just gave Bruce a look that said don’t remind them . He winced apologetically. 

“It’s lovely to meet you, I’ve heard a lot about you all,” Sigyn said, smiling knowingly at Thor, “but I’m afraid we’ll have to get to know each other tonight at the feast instead–” she smiled and put one hand on each of her sons’ heads, “we have a very important lunch date by the cliff side that we shan’t be late for.” She exaggerated her accent, making the boys giggle. Thor laughed along, genuine happiness in his eyes.

“Have fun you three!” He exclaimed, leaning down to the boys’ height to fake-whisper, “Tell your Papa I said hello.” Both boys smiled and nodded, then threw themselves at Thor who caught them expertly in his arms for a hug. 

“Bye Uncle Thor!” Vali said into Thor’s neck, Narvi echoing it on the other side a moment after. The thunderer let them out of his bear hug, ruffling their hair before standing up and giving Sigyn a quick hug.

“If you keep ruffling their hair you’ll mat it, and you’ll be the one to break it to them that they have to shave their heads,” Sigyn smiled through the thinly veiled threat, which Thor chuckled at, though his expression showed that he heard her loud and clear. Unfortunately, so did Vali.

“Mama? I don’t wanna shave my head!” He exclaimed, clutching onto Sigyn’s skirt.

“Well don’t worry, you won’t have to if Uncle Thor stops tangling it.” Vali sighed in relief, but glanced warily at Thor before being pulled away by Narvi, Sigyn following behind. 

Thor laughed softly as they left on their walk, “well, they are ju–” he cut himself off as he turned and saw all of the Avengers staring at him as if they hadn’t moved for some time. Bruce caught Thor’s eyes and cringed, shrugging his shoulders. 

“ Uncle Thor?” Clint exclaimed. “Please tell me that Sigyn is your sister you never told us you had.”

“Well, I suppose she is,” the Avengers were visibly relieved, and Thor winced, “she’s my sister-in-law…?” The stunned stares returned, and Thor sighed.

“Look, I was going to tell you that my brother was here– I had a whole plan for the feast to introduce you all properly, but of course nothing goes as planned when he’s involved,” he laughed awkwardly.

“Okay that’s all fine and dandy except for the fact that you told us he was dead ?!” Clint shouted. 

“Well he was ! Or, I thought he was… he didn’t fake his death, though! He, he actually sacrificed himself for me, and I thought him dead, but his magic ended up healing him before his heart fully stopped. When he woke up, I was gone, and so he went into hiding on Vanaheim with his family, hoping that Odin would give up trying to find him– which he did, because he thought he was dead, because I told him he was– anyway, he got news of Odin’s worsening health and came back to Asgard to send for me, but I had already arrived, so… we had a little argument but we sorted it out, and then sorted it out even more during our long journey on the Statesman , and… the whole story is complicated, and you need– you deserve to hear it, but I want to make sure he’s okay with it or if he wants to do it because it’s sort of really personal stuff… But um, you’ll see him at the feast later, and I’ll text him or call him or something to tell him what happened, assuming Sigyn won’t– nevermind, he will probably already know, so um… we’ll sort this out later?” Thor winced, holding his hands out in offering. The Avengers all looked at each other, stunned into silence, before Tony spoke up:

“Loki told his kids bedtime stories about us?”

Chapter 2: The Feast

Summary:

At the feast, the Avengers meet Loki for the second time. Clint is Not Happy, Loki does Not want to be there, Brunhilde is Drunk, and Narvi and Vali are just there to have fun and cause mischief, as always.

As with everything Asgardian, the feast was grand and lavish. They had an outdoor feast hall that was ornately decorated with floating specs of light as well as strings of real lights. Beautiful transparent white sheets were draped above all the long, rectangular tables, somehow managing to make the space look like a homey little garden and a luxurious royal hall all at once. The tables themselves were wooden, but each had a strip of white cloth with shimmering gold trim draped horizontally on the middle of the table. And that doesn’t even cover the sheer amount and quality of food– Tony had never seen such amounts of gourmet food cooked to perfection at any gala or party before, and that said something, considering the current Asgard was probably less than half of its past population and working with far less advanced material (Tony wondered what feasts had been like on the original golden realm if they were already so opulent here). 

The Avengers had all dressed in their finest, not really sure what to expect– an Armani suit still doesn’t quite reach the finery of Asgardian formal attire, but they all assumed that these people were now subject to Midgardian fashion with their home and belongings reduced to, well, particles floating around in empty space. They all were hesitantly gathered by the entrance to the “hall,” waiting for Thor to arrive– the hall was already quite filled, but they weren’t sure what the proper procedure was at a feast thrown in your honor, so they carefully avoided some odd looks thrown their way from the mingling guests. There was also a tension in the air as they scanned the crowd every so often, watching for a certain Trickster. They really had no clue what to expect– the Loki that Thor and Sigyn referenced seemed like a completely different person than the one they met in New York. They knew something had been not quite right, but Thor was always hesitant to talk about it (especially around Clint). Tony figured that if this entire group of people didn’t immediately freak out at the presence of the younger god, then it was a good sign. 

“Ah, my friends!” They all jumped at the volume of Thor’s voice from behind them. He had put together an odd mixture of Asgardian and Midgardian fashion, it seemed; he had on a smooth white dress shirt with gold trim on the collar, and a short red cape draped loosely around his neck and hanging off his left shoulder. He had golden vambraces on his forearms and a belt to match, along with black dress pants and boots that looked more Asgardian than not. His hair was in his usual half-up style, small braids coming out to frame his face. Jane Foster was close behind him in a pretty blue sleeveless dress with a dark blue sash around her waist, her hair up in an ornate braided bun. She immediately went and embraced Bruce, smiling and starting up a conversation including words that hurt Tony’s head. “Why are you not inside already?” The blond clapped a hand on Steve’s shoulder, who flinched uncharacteristically. 

“We didn’t really know what the protocol was for feasts held in your honor, so…” Tony replied, fidgeting with his cufflinks. Thor clearly picked up the nervous gesture, and everyone else’s tenseness after. 

“Ah, well, my people aren’t scary! You’re free to mingle how you please; we will hold our toast to you later on!”

“Uh, we didn’t have to prepare speeches, did we?” Peter asked quietly, hovering close to Tony. 

“No, of course not!” Thor laughed, “do not be nervous for that, friends. It is nothing you have not done before.”

“Yeah, that’s not exactly what we’re nervous about, Thor.” Clint bit out, startling the smile off Thor’s face, confusion quickly replaced with understanding.

“I know you have no reason to listen to this, but please do not fear my brother. He… He’s truly doing better. I would not ask you to let your guard down if I would not let down my own. And– oh, Jane and Bruce, you’ve both gotten to know my brother– there’s nothing to worry about. He will probably not approach you without me anyway; believe it or not, he’s been just as nervous about this as you have.”

“Yeah, I,” Bruce started, turning to the group, “I haven’t really brought it up because I knew it was a touchy subject, but Loki really isn’t who you think he is. You all know what he tried to use me for back in New York– if I’m able to be calm around him, you all are fine. He’s actually, like, really smart, and a great father too– I even have his phone number, for god’s sake! Please just give the guy a chance,” Clint seemed about to interject before Bruce turned his gaze on him, “like the chance you gave Natasha.” That shut him up. 

“I mean, the first time I met him I slapped him across the face,” Jane shrugged, “now I watch reality TV with him on Friday nights, and let me tell you, he knows how to BITCH when it comes to the Kardashians,” she laughed fondly, and Thor was very clearly happy that her and his brother were getting along. 

“There is a lot you don’t know about him, and I think that you would all really like him if you got to know him, so please give him a chance just this once,” Thor pleaded, and his puppy eyes made it hard to say no. 

“Well, clearly there’s a lot we don’t know about him if we just found out he has a wife and kids, so,” Tony shrugged, “why not? I’ve never been very good at self preservation anyway.” The Avengers all shared a look, collectively deciding the same, however reluctantly. 

“What the fuck are you all doing just standing around over here?” A woman spoke from behind them. They jumped to see the Valkyrie: Brunnhilde, Thor had called her, standing with one hand on her hip and a horn of mead in the other. “I’ve watched you lot stand there and fidget for like, half a’ fuckin’ hour. It was quite painful.” Her tone was rough, but she was smirking just enough to know she wasn’t actually mad.

“How many of those have you had, Brun?” Thor sighed, exasperated, gesturing at the horn in her hand.

“Oh, jus’ like, four– maybe five, I don’t usually count past one,” she trailed off.

“It’s only been a half hour– ugh, nevermind. These are the Avengers, Avengers, meet Brunnhilde.” She waved, smirking, and took a swig from the horn before any of them could respond.

“Great to meet you, but I need to be a bit more drunk for small talk, so,” she held up the horn to them, “cheers!”

“I’m gonna make sure she doesn’t throw up on someone,” Jane patted Thor’s arm and then quickly walked off after the stumbling Valkyrie. Before the women were able to leave the area, though, Brunnhilde took another swig from the horn and promptly spit it out (not onto Jane, thankfully). 

“Th… This is fuckin’ juice! What the fuck?” She stared at the horn confused before looking at Jane, eyebrows scrunching in anger, “Did you switch my fuckin’ drink?!” Jane looked rightfully frightened, holding up her hands placatingly as the warrior stalked towards her.

“I didn’t touch your drink, Brun– hell, I’ve been next to you for like five seconds! How would I have had the time to–”

“Mama said you shouldn’t drink so much.” Suddenly a little boy was on Brunnhilde’s opposite side, innocently holding his hands behind his back to match the dapper appearance his navy button-up shirt and black dress pants gave him. His blond curls were even pulled into a little half-up sprout of a ponytail. 

“Oh Norns, Narvi.” Thor sighed, holding his head in his hand but not making a move to reprimand him (or save him from Brun’s wrath). 

“Besides, apple juice is much better. Mead is gross!” The boy stuck a finger in his mouth and gagged audibly for effect. Brunnhilde just stood there for a few seconds before shaking her head and laughing, though the anger never left her face. 

“You little fucker. Sigyn put ‘ya up to this, did she? Well, you can go tell your mama that this is a fuckin’ party and I can do what I bloody want,” she snarled at the boy. Jane kept looking warily between her and Narvi, not wanting her to scare him, but Narvi just smiled at her, not breaking eye contact once.

“Okay!” He nodded, and then he was gone in another flash of green light. Brunnhilde’s anger quickly turned to exasperation.

“Fuck, he’s gonna tell her exactly that, isn’t he?” She deadpanned.

“Probably,” Jane nodded, wincing.

“Fuck it, whatever.” She tossed the horn on the lawn and went in search of another one, Jane following behind and probably trying to convince her not to.

“I guess you guys don’t have Alcoholics Anonymous here, do you?” Tony asked, turning back to Thor once the women were out of sight. 

“Not yet, unfortunately, but even if we did I’m afraid nothing could ever be anonymous with Brunnhilde,” the god chuckled.

“How the fuck do you know what Alcoholics Anonymous is?” Clint questioned. 

“I live here now, Agent. I must understand all of the health and rehabilitation options that could be available for my people,” Thor replied seriously, and then smiled, “and when we took our first diplomatic trip, Loki attempted to trick Brunnhilde into going to a meeting, which went as well as you might think. It was amusing, however futile.” Steve looked extremely concerned, and most of the others were stifling laughter and trying not to look in his direction. 

“Alright, where is she?” Thor jumped as Sigyn spoke, standing behind him as if she had been there the whole time. She had Narvi on her hip, who was sporting the most shit eating grin Tony had ever seen. Her flowy dress was the same navy color as the boy’s shirt, paired with a golden embroidered corset. It had small off the shoulder sleeves, and a second pair of sleeves that were just thin pieces of fabric flowing under her arms and cinching at her wrists into a gold bangle. Her hair was braided like a crown around her head, the rest of her curls flowing down her back with two loose pieces framing her face. Along with the bangles, she was wearing a thick golden necklace that got wider in the center, almost shaped like a crescent moon. The similarities between the two were glaringly obvious now, though Narvi’s eyes were still entirely Loki’s. 

Thor caught his breath, laughing a bit, as Sigyn scanned the group for the drunk valkyrie. 

“Ah, you just missed her, she stumbled over in that direction with Jane,” the god gestured vaguely forward, “but just… I don’t know if I’d piss her off anymore, she was pretty…” Thor widened his eyes for a moment, wincing.

“Don’t worry, I can handle her. And if I can’t, I have a shield. She won’t hurt him,” Sigyn smiled and looked at Narvi, who waved at the group with that mischievous smile still on his face. “I’m going to try and catch her before she passes out and takes down a tent, I’ll see you all later.” She shrugged her shoulders and smiled meekly, disappearing in a golden flash of light. 

“Can any of them just walk like normal people?” Clint asked, confusion on his face as he looked at the space the goddess had just been in. 

“Hey, why walk anywhere if you can fucking teleport? I’d never walk again!” Tony laughed. Clint turned and glared at him, and Tony raised his hands, “hey, tell me you wouldn’t totally take advantage of that power!”

“You hardly walk anywhere anyway, Tony,” Natasha commented, smirking slightly. 

“Alright, since when was today make-fun-of-Tony day, huh?” The billionaire shook his head in mock offense.

“Every day is make-fun-of-Tony day, you make sure of that,” Clint scoffed, smirking.

“Okay, okay, let’s stop fighting. This isn’t Stark Tower, we can’t just replace anything you break.” Steve interjected, pushing himself slightly between the two. 

“Ugh, fine, Dad ,” Tony groaned. Luckily, commotion across the lawn drew all of their attention before anyone could get hurt. 

“Hey, fuck you! You’re too late, I got it fair and fuckin’ square!” Brunnhilde yelled from the other side of the “hall,” walking quickly towards them. She was followed by a pissed-looking Sigyn, and Jane, who had at some point gained acquisition of Narvi, was jogging to catch up with them. 

“If you can’t even tell me what number drink that is, then you shouldn’t be drinking it!” Sigyn asserted.

“It’s not ‘cuz I can’t count, it’s ‘cuz I didn’t !” The valkyrie picked up her pace, trying not to spill her drink in the process as she glared back at Sigyn. Before she could turn back around though, a tall figure appeared in a flash of green light in front of her and plucked the horn from her hand, gracefully sidestepping so that she didn’t run head first into them. As they turned to the side, it became quickly apparent who the ‘figure’ was; Natasha clamped her hand over Clint’s mouth before he could embarrass himself. Once Brunnhilde realized that the horn was gone, she stopped short, turning and setting her glare on Loki. He wore a green, silken button up shirt with a black snake embroidered around the shoulders. He had on sleek, flowy black pants and boots to match, and a black suit jacket with a long, flowy tail. His hair was thick and wavy going down past his shoulders, half pulled up into a bun, a few loose braids framing his face, one of which had a lock of strawberry blonde hair braided into it. His nails were painted black, and he wore a golden crest necklace, identical to Sigyn’s.

“You should have gotten a better grip before you started running,” he said calmly, a smirk on his face. 

“Oh you fucker !” She lunged at him, but he was quicker. He took a large step back, out of her reach, and then lifted the horn high above his head as she caught up. This didn’t stop the warrior, however– she jumped and grabbed his arm, trying to yank it down, but he didn’t budge. She lifted her foot to try and climb him somehow, but he teleported again, further away. This time, Sigyn managed to grab her arm before she could run after him.

“You rip my clothes and I will rip you . I just got these pants,” Loki threatened, bringing the horn down to his face. He lifted it as if to drink it, but stopped short, eyeing Brunnhilde, “I would drink this, but I fear the amount of pure alcohol in this horn alone would count as rat poisoning.” He moved his hand as if to throw the horn to the side, but instead it disappeared into thin air. The warrior made a wounded noise.

“Hey, I paid for that!”

“No you didn’t,” Loki deadpanned.

“No, she didn’t,” Jane added, “I went up with her.” 

“You should have just drank the apple juice,” Sigyn said into her ear, “you know we do this because we care about you, right?”

“I know for a fact he just wants to fuck with me,” she pointed at Loki, who simply smirked. 

“Hey, two birds, one stone, as the Midgardians say,” He shrugged. A fond smile split Sigyn’s face before Brunnhilde turned her glare back on her, quickly schooling her expression. 

“He cares, in his own way,” Sigyn said, “we’re not asking you to quit, I just would like it if you practiced some moderation.”

“Alright, alright, fine, you care. I get it. Can we not roleplay an AA meeting in the middle of a party, though?” Sigyn let go of her arm, and with a flick of his wrist Loki held out a cup of water for her. She took it roughly, flipping him off as she downed it, walking back towards Jane, Narvi, and Vali, who had appeared at some point, “alright, I’ve got no booze so you two are my entertainment now,” Vali immediately teleported himself onto her shoulders, grabbing her hair like reigns, “yep, okay, I don’t know why I expected anything else. Let’s go, fuckers in training.” She took Narvi from Jane and walked off in the direction of an open portion of the lawn where other kids seemed to be playing. 

“Whatever keeps her from alcohol poisoning, I guess,” Sigyn sighed, watching her children as they left. Jane was making her way back to Thor, standing in a group of frozen avengers. Loki caught Jane’s movement and watched her go, visibly tensing once his eyes caught who was at the end of her path. Thor saw his brother beginning to panic and headed towards him, Jane going to talk to Bruce instead to give them space. 

“Brother! There you are!” Thor boomed, embracing Loki in a hug, who slowly lifted his arms to awkwardly hug him back, eyes wide but staring at nothing. Sigyn quickly appeared at their side, putting a hand on Loki’s shoulder for a few seconds and then removing it, seemingly letting him know she was there. As the hug went on, it became clear that Thor was whispering something to his brother, trying to calm him down. The thunderer finally let him go, holding him briefly by the shoulders and then moving to wrap an arm around them, walking him towards the group as Sigyn headed in Brunhilde’s direction, trying to discreetly excuse herself. 

“Long time no see, Reindeer Games,” Tony said with a small wave– Clint may have looked at him like he was insane, but he knew no one else would start the conversation and he was way too on edge for the awkward silence that he would have been met with otherwise. Loki flinched minutely, his eyes finally focusing on Tony before giving a sad attempt at a smile in return. 

“I– yes, I was wondering if Thor ever planned on inviting you all here,” Loki said quietly, looking at Thor, who was very clearly pleased that Loki made any attempt to speak to them at all. To Tony’s surprise (and brief alarm), Peter stepped out of the group and towards the gods. 

“Hi, I’m Peter– I think I’m the only one here you don’t know, I was like, six when… you know, uh… you… were here… last. But anyway, I’m Spider Man.” He smiled and held out a hand to Loki, who very hesitantly took it, staring wide-eyed at the boy. 

“You’re an Avenger? You seem… young, to be risking your life for your planet.”

“Well I’m 18, but I was like 15 when I started… I was Mr. Stark’s intern, and I guess I’m sort of a child prodigy? But you won’t believe the extra credit I got in Astronomy from going to space to fight that purple dude.” Loki blanched.

“You mean Thanos? You… you fought… why would they let you–”

“Believe me, I tried to get him to stay here, but he managed to sneak onboard with us and… Jeez, kid, you got a god worrying about you now,” Tony clarified, to Loki’s absolute relief. 

“You don’t need to worry about me, I’ve got powers and stuff too. I’m not defenseless,” Peter assured Loki, who looked like his words got stuck in his throat.

“It is still a big deal to go against the titan, child,” Thor cut in, “mind, we nearly lost all of our people to him in one attack, including my brother and I. Granted, we were unprepared, but… still. All of you should be proud to have survived him.” The group was still and silent, letting that sink in, and Loki looked significantly more comfortable with Thor joining the conversation. 

“I… didn’t think of that, actually. He almost killed gods and in the end we managed to beat him. That is pretty damn impressive,” Tony commented, earning a glare from Nat.

“You don’t need anything else to go to your head, Tony, your ego is already much too big.” The man in question made a wounded noise, clutching at his chest.

“Hey! Natasha, I’ll have you know that–”

“Enough!” Everyone startled and turned to Clint, his face drawn in a scowl. His shout was loud enough that some other guests began to look their way. Nat tried to placate him with a hand on his shoulder, but he pulled away roughly and headed towards Peter, clearly at a point of no return, “kid, get the fuck away from him.” Peter just looked at him with wide eyes.

“Mr. Bar–”

“ Now! ” He yelled, and Peter’s mouth snapped shut, slowly backing towards Tony and not daring to look at Loki, or at anyone besides the agent. 

“I’m done sitting here making fucking small talk with a genocidal maniac!” Thor opened his mouth, but Clint immediately glared at him, “let me guess, he didn’t mean it? He was having a rough week? Fucking save it. I don’t care how bad your family is– we all have shitty families, but you don’t see us decide to conquer a planet when daddy says no!” He turned his glare fully on Loki, beginning to walk towards him. Thor quickly stepped in front of Loki, but Loki grabbed his arm and pushed him back to where he was, mouthing something presumably to reassure him before turning to face Clint, a serious expression on his face. Clint spoke: “Alright, before you fucking say anything, ‘sorry’ isn’t gonna cut it, and I don’t care how fancy and sophisticated you make it sound. And you having a family doesn’t change shit. I would never hurt a kid, but they don’t give you any pity points,” the archer paused, smirking a bit, “I am curious though, do Narvi and Vali know what daddy did?” This broke Loki’s calm attention– his eyebrows drew together and he just about snarled, whole body going tense. Thor immediately grabbed his arm. 

“You stay the fuck away from them! I don’t care what you do to me, but you don’t lay a finger on them .” Loki growled, to which Clint only smirked harder.

“Oh, so they don’t know? I wonder what they would think, hm? Daddy’s a murderer? No question they’d hate you, but would they be scared of you too? ” Thor’s grip tightened on Loki’s arm as his eyes began to glow bright green, baring his teeth as he began to strain against Thor. 

“Agent Barton, I understand you are upset, but I strongly suggest you leave his children out of this. Use them against Loki again and I cannot guarantee your safety, nor my protection of you.” Thor’s eyes were dark and the threat was clear, reminding them all that they weren’t just Loki’s sons, but Thor’s nephews as well. Clint did seem to back down a bit, but he kept his eyes on Thor.

“I don’t need your protection. If you remember, we beat him the first time, and we can damn well do it again.” Clint asserted.

“Oh, my attack in New York will pale in comparison to what I will do to you if you even look at my children the wrong way.” Loki said through gritted teeth, jerking in Thor’s hold one more time before letting Thor pull him against his body. Clint was smirking again, but Thor cut in before he could provoke Loki again. 

“I would also like to remind you that I was a part of your team as well, in New York. Threaten my nephews, and I will not side with you against Loki again.” Clint remained silent, giving Steve the opportunity to step in. 

“Okay, Clint, you said yourself that he was a genocidal maniac, so do you really think it’s a good idea to keep provoking him? I know you want closure, but closure isn’t taunting and looking for another fight. And Loki, no one here will touch your kids, okay? I won’t let Clint do anything to them, so there is no need to attack anyone right now. Please, both of you, calm down . I understand this conversation is necessary– for all of us, really– but I’d really like to avoid unnecessary damage to people or property.” Clint looked at Steve as if he was going to protest, but he stopped when Nat stepped up next to Steve, giving him a purposeful look. Loki’s eyes had stopped glowing and though he was still breathing a little heavy, Thor felt it was safe to let go of him, giving his arm a final squeeze as a reminder. 

“Would now be a good time to ask why Loki’s eyes are green now?” Tony asked, and all of them immediately looked at Loki to check for themselves. 

“My brother’s eyes have always been green, but yes, they were blue in New York, similar to how–”

“ Thor .” Loki hissed, elbowing Thor harshly in the side. 

“I only meant to make the conversation eas–”

“Were you gonna say ‘similar to how’ Clint’s eyes were blue when he was mind controlled?” Tony cut in. 

“Yes, I was,” Thor responded before Loki could cut him off. 

“Wait, what the fuck are you implying here?” Clint asked in an accusatory tone. 

“I know what you all are thinking, so let me clarify something,” Loki finally got a word in, looking determinedly at both Clint and Thor, “the attack plan was absolute shit, flimsy at best and not at all tailored to any specific skills of either party. Thor’s father and his father before him conquered nine realms. Believe me, both Thor and I know how to properly bring a realm to its knees. We have done it in battle with Odin several times, which Thor does not like to admit, since his kill count is probably still higher than mine is now. While my brother continued to be a warrior, I became a head strategist– I made the battle plans and Thor executed them. Perfectly, every single time, might I add. We know how to run rebellions into the ground, how to scare civilizations into submission to keep the realms ‘in order’ for Odin. The plan in New York was never my idea, not to mention the terrible execution. 

“With my influence, I was able to tweak a few things in order to ensure the failure of the plan. The fail safe in the portal device, for example. Who builds a portal like that with an emergency off switch? And Agent Romanoff, you are skilled, but my goal during our little talk was not to scare you. It was to give you enough information to infer my plan and prepare the rest of the team– it didn’t matter if it scared you or not, I simply followed your cues. As for the release of the Hulk, that was necessary, but not for the reason it was intended to be. Using the Hulk to cause chaos or sicking him against the team was stupid– no one had control of him, and there was no guarantee what side he would have ended up on no matter who got to him first. I provoked him on purpose. As you figured out, Romanoff and Barton, the only way to dislodge the control of the mind stone is with blunt force, and as a blow to the head from Mjölnir would have shattered my skull, the Hulk was my only option to free myself. 

“I can guarantee you that, if I actually wanted to conquer this planet, at my full power, I would have done it. I have much more respect for mortals than I have let on, however, five mortals would never be enough to stop me at my full power, even ones as skilled as yourselves. As for Thor, we have tied on the practice grounds more than once, and both of us have won against the other multiple times. I am not Thor’s weak, emotional little brother– we are equals, and for most of our lives we recognized each other as such, even if others did not. However… a… a year of torture at the titan’s hand and the effects of the mind stone were enough to significantly hinder my power, both in physical strength and magical capability. Illusions can be useful in battle, yes, but I do not rely on them, and they do not take up significant energy. Most of my seidr was being used trying to rapidly heal my body and keep me alive, and that was just for old wounds. You would not have seen a scratch on me had my seidr been at maximum capacity. Shooting blue energy out of a scepter is also not a habit of mine, believe it or not– my magic is fucking green, like my eyes, and I am still a bit concerned that Thor did not notice those two, very significant details. 

“All of this to say, I am sorry, truly. I spent much of my youth here on Earth, learning from your vast cultures and libraries. I loved coming back after a long absence and seeing how much had already changed. Your lives are fleeting compared to ours, but that means your species and its technology develops so much faster. You do so much with your lives, and value every second, and that is a lesson a lot of Asgardians needed to learn much sooner than now, and in a situation other than being attacked in space. The lives I took, the technology and architecture I destroyed, the progress I stalled– I mourn for all of it. However, if one good thing came out of that invasion, it is that your first contact with a non-human from space wasn’t Thanos. My attack was nothing compared to Thanos, but at least I assembled a team of more than capable heroes willing to stand up to him when he did come, which I knew he would. While the destruction of my planet was far from ideal, I am glad that it was you leading the front against him and not Asgard. For all our strength, Asgardians do not have the unity, morality, and quite frankly the intelligence needed to fully destroy a force like Thanos’. Hel, we were taught that Thanos was a myth as children, we never would have been ready. 

“Clint Barton, I know I owe you a much bigger apology, as well as the others who were under the mind stone’s influence. I know what it is like to be under another’s control, to watch helplessly as your body does things you would never do with no voice to call for help or tell anyone the truth. I experienced it alongside you, and really, I was hardly the force controlling you– it was The Other, an ally of Thanos, who had control of the stone and those attached to it. I am not taking the blame off of myself– it was my fault that it happened in the first place, and I think it will relieve you to know that I do not have the power to control minds myself– it was the mind stone that allowed me to do that, and so there is no present threat of mind control from me anymore. I do not expect you to accept my apology, or believe anything I say, and I will make myself scarce if my presence is an issue, which I intended to do from the start of your visit if Thor had not convinced me to face you. You can hurt me as you see fit, or try to kill me, though I have found that that has been quite difficult, both for me and outside forces. But, whatever closure you need, you can take it. I only wish that you solely involve me in your punishment– not my children, not Sigyn, not Thor. They are blameless, and my actions have caused them enough grief as it is. I have always been a good speaker, so I know how professional, and practiced, and fake my apology likely feels, but I needed to give it. For my own sake if not yours– my own bit of closure.” The silence was absolutely deafening despite the noise of the party going on around them. Loki cleared his throat uncomfortably and added, “I also apologize for my outburst earlier, I did and do not intend to harm or threaten any of you any further.” Thor also cleared his throat and put a hand on Loki’s shoulder, squeezing it in reassurance.

“I can vouch for that– all of it, not just the threat part. Back on the ship, Thanos himself confirmed what he did to Loki, and that his actions were not entirely his own– I thought it might help to know that there is more evidence than Loki’s word and his eye color.”

“Yeah that, yeah…” Tony trailed off, clearly still processing the information. 

“I know my answer doesn’t really matter ‘cause I wasn’t there, but I believe you, Mr…” Peter said, stopping as he realized he did not know Loki’s last name, or if he even had one, for that matter.

“Oh, um… just Loki is fine. And… thank you, Peter,” Loki responded sincerely.

“Nah, the kid won’t call you by your first name– no matter how many times I tell him to call me Tony he still calls me Mr. Stark, and Steve Captain Rogers. You’re gonna have to throw him a bone here,” Tony interrupted, smirking as Peter looked between him and Loki.

“That’s not true! I’ll call him by his first name if he wants, I just– that’s how I was introduced to you, so it feels weird to not call you that, you know?” Tony was stifling a laugh now. 

“Well, if I had to pick a last name, I suppose it would be Friggason,” Loki said quietly, a small smile on his face. Thor smiled brightly, clearly having heard what Loki said, and wrapped an arm tight around his shoulders.

“That fits you, brother.” 

“Stop changing the subject! We’re not done,” Clint asserted. Everyone turned to him now. 

“Of course not.” The attention turned to Steve now, “but we’re done with accusations. I cannot speak for the rest of you, but I have a mind to believe him. We welcomed Nat onto the team– an ex enemy of SHIELD with a bloody reputation of her own. You all accepted Bucky, who was in a very similar situation to Loki, as it sounds. And maybe you accepted him for my sake at first, but he’s truly an Avenger now– he’s gained your trust, respect, and friendship. I see no reason to not give Loki a chance to do the same.” The captain locked eyes with Loki, gratitude shining in the god’s eyes. 

“Yeah, that’s true, but isn’t Loki, like, the God of Lies?” Clint asked– but it was clear his reluctance and hatred was fading into something more akin to caution.

“No, actually,” Loki cut in, “I was originally named the God of Mischief, never lies. My mischief was twisted in the stories of the Aesir, and eventually people were outright avoiding me, calling me the Liesmith without even having spoken to me. And, well, when your whole planet calls you a liar for most of your life, you start to fit the image. People accused me of lying when I told the truth, especially if it was a truth that they didn’t want to hear. And of course they took measures to… silence me.” A flash of green at Loki’s mouth revealed several small scars above his top lip and below his bottom lip, some of them completely splitting the skin. A wry smile twisted up the skin even more, and then with another flash of green the scars disappeared. Thor watched the display with guilt in his eyes, but Loki wasn’t looking at him. “So, no, it is not inherently in my nature to lie. I make no promises about avoiding mischief, though.” 

“I don’t think anyone expects you to, brother,” Thor said. Loki turned and smiled at him, a smile that the others didn’t think they were supposed to see. Clint, shocking everyone, stepped forward.

“I’m… I’ll give you a chance. It’s only fair, since I gave Nat one. We’re not gonna be fuckin’ besties, but… I’m willing to get to know the real you before I decide to hate you for good.” Loki looked genuinely shocked by Clint’s words, green eyes wide and unblinking. 

“... Thank you. That’s, well, that’s more than I expected to get out of this conversation, honestly,” Loki huffed out a laugh, and then looked up at the rest of the group, “I appreciate that you all gave me a chance to… redeem myself, I suppose.”

Tony snorted, and the whole group turned to see him practically shaking trying not to outright laugh, staring at Steve. 

“What, Tony?” Steve was clearly exasperated with the other man– finally a serious moment and of course, Tony’s laughing.

“I… Oh god… Your shield,” Tony sputtered out, “it’s gone again.” Steve immediately looked down to his decidedly empty hand and the rest of the group burst out in laughter of their own. 

“You fuckers! I told you to wait for me!” Brunhilde was jogging over to the group, looking around slightly frantically. 

Sigyn was walking leisurely behind her, smiling to herself. “I told you, it’s no use, Brun.”

Loki rolled his eyes fondly, laughing as he reached his left arm out and, as if he was scruffing a kitten, grabbed Vali right out of thin air by the back of his shirt, Steve’s shield in his hands. Vali made a noise of surprise and began kicking his feet. Loki set him down and then turned the boy to face him, bending down to look him in the eye with a stern expression.

“What did I tell you?”

Vali sighed, “Never pull the same prank twice in the same day.” 

Loki’s expression melted into mirth. “Good boy. Now give the shield back to the Captain.” He stood back up as Vali walked up to Steve, holding the shield out.

“Sorry,” he said quietly, not meeting Steve’s eyes. Steve took the shield with a warm smile.

“It’s okay. How about, next time, you just ask me if you want to play with it?” Vali looked up at him in shock.

“Next time?” 

Steve nodded and Vali’s face lit up.

“You’d let us play with it?” 

“I don’t see why not.” Steve winked at him, and Vali gasped excitedly.

“Narvi! Narvi! Captain said we could play with his shield next time! We can play Avengers!” Narvi appeared next to him, a matching expression on his face.

“I call Captain America!” Narvi called out proudly, and Vali’s face fell.

“No way! You were Captain last time!”

“My hair looks like his more than yours does! You have to be Iron Man!” Tony half expected him to look disappointed, but a smirk spread onto his face.

“Fine, then I’m gonna get Papa to enchant my shoes again and then I can fly and you’ll never catch me!” It was Narvi’s turn to look upset.

“That’s not fair!”

“Is too! If you get the shield, then I get to fly like Iron Man!” 

Steve looked slightly concerned as he walked over to Thor and Loki.

“Do they fight each other as us?” Both brothers laughed at that. 

“Oh, no,” Loki reassured. Steve looked relieved, until Loki started smirking just like his son, “they fight me, Dr. Doom! ” He yelled the last part so that the twins heard, following it with a theatrical evil laugh. 

“Papa, wait! We can’t play today! We have to wait for next time!” Narvi called back, to Vali’s shock, a look of betrayal on his face. Loki sighed, acting disappointed.

“I suppose you’re right. I quite like the outfit I’ve put together, and if we fought now I’d have to transform into my evil supersuit right here in the middle of the party!” Loki said dramatically, and both boys giggled. “Now, you’d both better start training to face your arch nemesis!” The twins exclaimed excitedly and began running towards the field, only to be caught by Sigyn, who knelt down to their height.

“Just don’t mess up your clothes too much. You’d make Papa very unhappy if you ruin the outfits he put together for you two.”

“Okay Mama!” They yelled happily, running off again towards the field. Sigyn stood up and shared a look with Loki, who quickly realized he was being teased.

“Hey, I matched those colors fucking perfectly to that dress!” 

Sigyn giggled. “I know, that’s why I told them not to ruin their clothes!” Loki looked at her in mock suspicion before laughing along with her. Thor cleared his throat.

“Don’t get lost in each other’s eyes right in front of everyone!” 

“Oh, like you and Jane aren’t on top of each other constantly,” Loki countered. 

“Aw, Thor,” Sigyn started, “you know better by now than to accuse us of anything without getting it right back.” She took Loki’s hand. “You will do well to remember the hundred-year prank war.” Thor blanched immediately.

“Please, no. Not again.” The couple just laughed.

“See you later, everyone,” Loki said offhandedly, still smirking at Thor as he and Sigyn disappeared.

“I’m sorry, a hundred years?” Tony asked incredulously. Thor looked at him as if he was coming out of a flashback. A bad one, if he were to guess. 

“It’s a… very long story.”

Notes:

Hope you all enjoyed! :)

Notes:

This was intended to be the entire fic, and then I decided to write another part which ended up significantly longer than I expected, which will be posted in the next chapter. I hope you enjoyed the first part!