[Hammer Base] White Night

It was dawn before Loki left Thor's room that night.

After he put on his clothes, he splashed the cold water on his face.The temperature of the water was shockingly low, and it slid down drop by drop, and he dried his face bit by bit, telling Thor.

"This is the last time I cry for myself."

As he spoke, he raised his head and slightly pursed the corners of his mouth.

The youth of the Protoss is very short, as short as a flash of aurora, followed by a long adult period.It's so long that it's easy for Thor to get tired of waiting.Fortunately, he still has Loki.

Loki has grown up and is unsurprisingly better looking than ever.He slowly put away his indifference, his sadness, he put a smile on his face, no matter who he is, he has a humble expression.All of this was what he hated at first, and in his view, it was all hypocrisy against his will, but it was precisely this that earned him a lot of praise for his conduct in the world over the years.He is like a slick eloquent, who is good at flattering and appeasing among the gods with his smooth tongue.

Suddenly, he seemed to be a different person, and he seemed to be more likeable.He will use magic to make colorful flowers to make Sif happy, and he will go deep into the dwarf country to find good materials for making meteor hammers for Hogun... He has changed from a cold ice sculpture to water that deforms with the container.Everyone was amazed at his transformation, but they still accepted this reality with trepidation and surprise, although this change made people uneasy.

"Loki, it's amazing how much you've changed. That's how you look like a real prince."

"Loki, with his good manners and sweet tongue, is more invincible than Thor's Mjollner."

The Asgard protoss began to realize the maturity of the second prince, and gradually began to have a good impression of him.Only Odin's attitude remained the same as before, without much change.Occasionally, he would praise a few words because of Loki's performance. Just those few ordinary words would cause a huge shock in Loki's heart. Which part of the heart can not be forgotten.

In this way, he slowly grew into an elegant and thoughtful god, he seemed to stop playing pranks and lie a lot less.He felt that he no longer hated it, he was indifferent.He enjoys every day peacefully, every day with his brother.

They deliberately kept a distance in front of people.

During the day when Thor was training the army, Loki stood with folded arms and watched from a distance, letting the sun's rays reflected by the silver sword and golden armor hurt his eyes. Thor's blue eyes reflected the blue sky, deep and dependable.

In summer, Asgard is so hot that it makes people dizzy. Thor waved his hand, and impatiently shouted at the recruit army to stop. It seemed that this batch of new Asgard warriors was not satisfactory. He took the water bottle handed over by the guard, gulped a few sips, and then poured it all on his own head.Out of the corner of his eye, he spots Loki.He shook his head and walked towards Loki with uncontrollable joy on his face, "You're here?"

Loki pursed his lips at the group of undisciplined recruits, seemingly casually, "You don't seem to have much authority."

"They're afraid of me." Thor is confident.

"It's useless to be afraid of you. Let others convince you, not intimidate you." Loki said, he walked towards the recruit, and threw a sentence to the surprised Thor who looked at his back, "—look at me of."

Soon, Loki came back, still with that calm expression, he snapped his fingers and said to Thor, "You try again."

Thor steps forward in disbelief and resumes his training.This time, the army's mental outlook has taken on a new look, its movements are uniform, and its momentum is like a rainbow. "This is the warrior of Asgard!" Thor ran to Loki excitedly, shaking his shoulders, and kept asking, "How did you do it?"

"Have you forgotten my specialty? To persuade others, it is best to attack people's hearts. No matter if you use the truth or a lie."

"Oh no..." Thor patted his forehead and laughed, "You should come and lead the army, you see they listen to you more."

Loki realizes at this moment that he is beginning to use his superiority to subvert Thor's position in Asgard.He raised his eyebrows, noncommittal, with his usual smile on his face.

He has no intention of replacing his brother, he just wants equality.But equality, a seemingly mundane thing, is a luxury.

Training an army is hard and hectic.In their spare time, they often sneaked to the altar, listening to the hollow bells ringing through Asgard.The priest of the protoss whispered prayers on the steps, and the golden colored glass refracted the warm light on Loki's body. Only then did he feel that the sun can also shine on himself.

Holding two hands together, two pairs of eyes will look at each other's reflection, that kind of love has been deep in his heart.This is the extravagant joy in the life of lovers.

He raised his head and looked at the totem on the top of the altar soaring into the sky. For the first time, he felt that he wanted Thor to shine on him forever like the sun, even if there was only a little warmth, he could save him from the darkness.

Everything is like the myth of Asgard described by humans-in the dream, they fell in love and chased the Northern Lights in a reindeer cart.It ends with them living happily ever after.There are not so many fabricated myths in the world, and Asgard is not a fairyland imagined by human beings.

At night, they shared each other's bodies on the bed. Thor's solid back and Loki's delicate collarbone showed beautiful shapes under the moonlight. .

Between the ups and downs, Thor was in a half-awake state, and Loki looked at him absent-mindedly, with sad and sad eyes like the faint moonlight outside the window, and he was completely different from usual.Sometimes Thor feels that Loki is the real Loki at this time, he is fragile, sensitive, and urgently needs a sense of security but closes himself in a shell, just like him when he was a child.No one knows how much he struggles in love. It's not that he doesn't understand that this kind of love is like the morning dew, which disappears when the wind blows.He admits that he is selfish and unable to contain his inner needs.He wanted Thor's sunshine to warm him, but while slowly absorbing the nutrients of the sun, he also gradually pulled Thor into the darkness.

He is too greedy.

When Thor thinks of the days with Loki later, he often feels how short the joy of being together is, how precious and fleeting Loki's indifference and tranquility are.

Summer in Asgard was very charming then. Thor is still in charge of training recruits, and Loki still visits him before evening.At this moment, the morale-inspiring Thor is no longer an impulsive and reckless warrior, but more like a wise fighter and a noble king.

"How is it? Loki." Thor walked towards Loki.

Loki, who was leaning on the pillar, clapped his hands rationally and restrainedly, expressing his praise, "I'm getting more and more like my father."

Thor basked in the joy of accomplishment, he patted Loki on the shoulder and said, "Stop joking, do you want to test the pawns I brought out?"

Loki followed behind Thor and looked at the neat lines, the immature and young faces were hidden under the helmet, his neck was straight, and his eyes were like torches.It seems that as long as an order is given, they can charge into battle at any time.

But not all soldiers have this sense of fearlessness, timidity and fear are often hidden in the beautiful face. Thor stops before a teenage soldier, looking across his face.

"Are you afraid?" Thor found his uneasiness.

"Yes..." The young soldier didn't dare to lie in front of Thor, but his voice was so trembling that he could barely hear him.

"You are a warrior of Asgard! If you are afraid of the enemy, how can you protect our country?" Thor snapped.

The young soldier was speechless with shame.

Loki looked aside for a long time, and then slowly stepped forward after Thor left. He straightened the crooked helmet of the soldier, and said, "Everyone has a day of fear. Just remember that no matter how powerful the enemy is, Asgard is Your home, you fight for it."

His voice was not loud, but just happened to be heard by Thor, who stopped abruptly and froze.He looked back at Loki, the younger brother who had followed him closely since he was a child, like a plant that couldn't live without him.He lost a lot of weight, but became stronger.Like a tenacious plant he planted his roots among the stone walls, and straightened his back, by his love for Asgard.

He belongs to Asgard, and Asgard's blood runs through him. Thor was relieved and moved. Loki let him know that his younger brother did not continue to be in the dark because of his father's preference and confusion of status. He still worked hard to release a little light of himself. He wanted to become the second sun , although distant and remote, but always a hope.

It is this hope that sustains Loki's spiritual world.

Where there is hope, there is a future, and there is his love and freedom, and the power to realize love and freedom.

Loki still can't like the rain.Every time he saw heavy rain, he would think of that night, he stood in the rain, the dense heavy rain made him unable to breathe, his father's words pierced his heart like a needle, it was the first time he felt so broken.

Now, he can already understand his father's anger, and he has turned his father's misunderstanding of him into the motivation for his own efforts.He worked hard to be an Asgard prince, tried to get closer to Thor, and never gave up the chance to prove himself to his father.But he changed his approach and became more subdued.He seemed to have smoothed out all the edges and corners of himself.He thought maybe he wasn't good enough in front of his father, indeed, his physique didn't seem like a person who could protect Asgard, and indulging in those heretical spells couldn't cater to his father's concept.

He somewhat regretted his waywardness at the beginning, if he could have let go of everything he was holding on to earlier, hadn't caused trouble, hadn't used these to attract the attention of his father, and hadn't even fallen in love with Thor... If he could have If he was relieved earlier, the relationship between him and his father would not be managed like this.

In his impression, his father is still a wise king. He took off his battle armor, hugged him with his strong hands and sat on his lap, and told him and Thor about the past and the evil kingdom with a bit of vicissitudes of life. Stories about battles, frost giants, elves, gnomes...everything is so novel and interesting. He has dreamed of becoming the hero in his father's story more than once, shouldering the mission of saving the universe and maintaining peace. Maybe one day, he will hold The king's token crushes the frost giants, and says loudly, "I am the son of Odin!" Then he will stand before his father and queen, and say, "I will protect you, and I swear I will make those fellows pay cost!"

The relationship between him and his father is still at that moment, and time seems to stop moving forward.

Now it is impossible for him to return to his childhood, and his father is also old.So he dreams every day, trying his best to let himself experience that extravagant good memory again in his dream.But the time in the dream was too short, so short that he couldn't even see his father's appearance clearly.

He sometimes feels sudden, intense jealousy of Thor.He just wants a little love from his father, so that he can experience the ordinary warmth. He doesn't have to be lonely or strong. He sleeps in a corner of Asgard, watching his father's hand holding the queen's hand and getting old, and having the love on his shoulders. The bright sunshine and the selfless smile of the father can be seen from looking up.That feeling of jealousy sometimes spread rapidly and was unstoppable, almost submerging him like a strong wind and waves. He struggled fiercely in the water, as if someone held his head and couldn't float up.He was writhing and writhing like a dying fish, as if he was dying.

But it is undeniable that he loves Thor, it is he who gives him peace of mind and peace of mind. Thor's love for him overflows, it's something he can grab as soon as he reaches out.Compared with demanding the love of the father and catering to others against his will, it is obviously much happier.

Even so, he knew well that his father would not turn a blind eye to this, no matter how great love is, it still cannot overcome this hurdle.They are so small that they cannot bypass or climb over.They will worry about when their father will find out, but they still love each other deeply.

Although the outcome has long been doomed, irreversible.

But they ran arm in arm all the way there, and no one could stop them.

Thor heard someone calling his name outside the army, he waved his hand in the distance, turned to Loki and said, "Wait for me, I'll come as soon as I go." He strode out of the army.

Seeing Thor standing still in front of her, Frigga, who was dressed in fine clothes, had a quiet face, seemed happy or sad, she said in a low voice, "Thor, your father has already decided on the heir to the throne."

Frigga looked at Loki in the distance with complicated eyes.

"It's you, Thor," she said.

The blood-red sunset shrouded Loki's back in the distance, and night was coming.

"Me?" Thor replied bewilderedly.He felt incredible, his first reaction was to look back at his younger brother Loki, then he hurriedly turned his head and asked his mother, "How did the father decide?"

"He won't let me know what's going on in his mind." Frigga shook her head.

"I'm going to find my father." Without any hesitation, Thor walked straight to Odin's bedroom.

With a pale face, he pushed open the door of the bedroom, and asked his father with questioning eyes, "Why me?"

Odin sat in the room without saying a word, he didn't stand up, he didn't answer right away, he didn't even raise his head slightly. As if he knew that his father had nothing to say, Thor took a few steps forward and continued, "Father, Loki and I are both your sons, it's not fair to him."

"What's fair?" Odin asked with his head down, pointing to the chair next to him and letting Thor sit down. Odin finally raised his head and looked at Thor, "You think it's fair for me to pass the throne to him?"

"You know very well, Father. If you loved him more than usual, I wouldn't be here today."

"You don't understand." Odin said slowly.

"I don't understand, I just know that you don't love him at all! You never cared about him! When does he feel happy, when does he stumble, when does he suddenly get hurt by something, when does he take Full of grievances, satisfied with a little temporary sweetness...you will never know this! You only know how to be a good king, but never know how to be a good father!"

Thor's excited words pierced Odin's heart like a sharp blade, and he coughed violently as if stimulated, the more he coughed, the more his face turned red.When he had recovered, he murmured and repeated, as if talking to himself.

"I'm not a good father..." Odin said, "I don't expect Loki to appreciate me raising him."

These words came out of Odin's mouth, containing too much helplessness and inner sadness.But in Thor's ears, the father's words were full of neglect and abandonment of his younger brother, which hurt so lightly.His eyes flashed with anger, and flashed twice in his blue eyes, "So, you treat him like this, you have no right to be his father!"

"I'm sorry..." Odin didn't know who he was apologizing to, he looked at Thor, his voice was hoarse but firm, "I'm sorry, I can't make Loki the king of Asgard."

"But I love him," Odin said.

"You can take that last sentence back, no one will believe it." Thor said coldly, and he rushed out the door after speaking, his actions were resolute and hesitant.

Thor wakes up under a tree.This time he slept too long.It made him feel dazed for many years.

The moment he woke up, he knew, what he didn't realize at the time, that Loki's silent and quiet smile at the end heralded a protracted rivalry with him.

Thor can't remember now how Loki persuaded him to accept the succession of the father of the gods willingly.

"Congratulations, new king of Asgard."

After Loki's last words to him that night, the corners of his pale red lips curled into a smile, and he smiled.

Thor couldn't see the meaning in those green eyes.He didn't know if Loki's words were a helpless acceptance of this reality, or an infinite trust in himself, or maybe it was a lie that he didn't want to make himself sad.

Probably both.

Or it might be another kind of profound emotion that he couldn't fathom.

Thor stood up under the tree with his sore head, and there seemed to be a vision in front of him.

He seemed to see that corridor again, the corridor that Loki had dragged him out of the library when he was young.The deep and empty corridor, like a space-time cave leading to an unknown future, is warm because of their footsteps.The shadow of the horned helmet flickered behind the red curtain, and the air smelled yellow.

Thor in full armor stood at the other end of the corridor before the coronation ceremony, waiting for the call of the guards.His body stood a little stiff, and due to nervousness, he tightly clutched the Mjollner in his hands, and his palms were sweating coldly. Loki walked towards him and patted his shoulder.The tone is playful but warm.

"Nervous? Brother." He said.

Translucent dust flickers in the orange-yellow floating light. Thor looks up at Loki, distracted for a moment.He shook his head, hiding his heart with a big laugh.

"When have you ever seen me nervous?"

But his poor acting made Loki laugh. Loki stood in front of him, the breeze in the hallway ripping his clothes, the candlelight flooding his face like a tide.He was smiling, but he could see the waves quivering.

"I look forward to this day as much as you do, brother."

Thor laughs at the remark, and half-jokingly says, "From the heart? You don't get many words like that in your life."

"Sometimes I do feel like I'm jealous of you," he says, "but there's no denying that I love you." Thor frowned and patted the back of his neck with a smile.He felt that this was not something that should be said here, and there were at least a dozen guards by the corridor.So he faltered for a while, opened his mouth but made no sound.Before he had time to show his embarrassment, Loki's attitude had already surprised him.

"Kiss me."

His tone was surprisingly natural, as if it came from the heart, and he still had a smile on his face, making it hard to tell the truth from the fake. Thor didn't know what expression to use to face him, the black hair drifted across his eyes for a split second, and Loki's eyes were unfathomable.He stared at him, smiling, as if asking for an answer.

Under this atmosphere, Thor still used a big laugh to cover it up.Finally he gave the answer.

"Stop it."

To match his smile, Loki's smile is still perfect, mixed with the inevitable banter between brothers, seemingly flawless.

Many years later, Thor didn't know Loki's disguise was so good.His handsome face belied his true mood.

And that was many years later.

"It's time. Brother." Loki looked at him sideways, his helmet-exposed hair shaking and shaking in the wind. Thor looked down at the helmet sent by the guards in his hand, looked up at the front, and lowered his head hastily.

"Time to go..." Loki reminded.His eyes are soft.

"You go first." Thor interrupted him softly.

Loki falls silent in disbelief.In his memory, his brother never left him alone.From childhood to adulthood, it was his elder brother who protected him.Because Odin had told him to protect his younger brother, he carried it out extremely resolutely.

Every time there is danger, he always rushes ahead of him, and sometimes Loki doesn't even have a chance to use his abilities.He knew it wasn't because Thor was naturally bold, he wasn't as tall as Loki then, but he always was.It seems to want to prove that he is a brother.

Gradually Loki got used to it, Thor was charging ahead, and he stood behind him, not hiding timidly, but enjoying seeing him brave and invincible.Only at this time, he felt that he was loved. Although he didn't like this way, he admitted that it felt safe and happy to be protected by Thor.

And this time Thor lets him go first, he's not used to it.

"You go first, I'll follow later." Thor looked in the other direction, talking alone.

His fear is unprecedented, facing the most important moment in his life, he will inevitably become hesitant and panic.For the first time he found himself small, and he needed Loki to show him the way. Loki is like his shadow, his presence makes him three-dimensional.Only by relying on him, Thor has a kind of peace of mind and comfort.When he was at a loss, he could only find his initial persistence and firmest belief with him.

Loki steps forward. Thor watched as his figure faded into the light and shadow.

He remembered the dream he had had.In the dream he said to Loki, "I will follow you wherever you go, even if you leave first, I will follow you quickly."

He followed him.

But since that day he has flown higher and higher, and his shadow has become smaller and smaller.With the pain of abandonment, the shadow is cast in the falling twilight.