Genre: Angst: hurt/comfort, whump
Warnings/Tags: Loki suffers and has his magic blocked, Odin's behavior resembles the behavior of an abusive parent, and he misgenders Loki. If you think this might trigger you, I think reading something else might be better!
Summary: Loki is cursed by their father and cannot hear the people who pray to them anymore.
Word count: 1197
A/n: Loki's pronouns there are they/them, if you have a problem with it, fight me!
Odin's voice boomed through palace corridors, making those who heard it curl in themselves (or wish they were able to) and feel pity for the person his rage is directed at. Everybody who has ever hear of the god knew how he could make anybody's heart halt just by frowning, how he could make the bravest warriors shake in fear. In the furthest corners of his kingdom, where people were half-sure he wouldn't hear them, there were whispers about his years of conquering other realms, passed by word of mouth for generations.
Loki knew it all - after they found out what the man did, they travelled around all nine realms, searching and helping the victims of his other crimes. Yet, they stood right before him, unwavering, facing the Allfather's fury with a deadpan, not allowing themself to quiver, even mentally (no matter how much they wanted to).
"-not to mention how irresponsible, dishonorable, reckless, foolish-" they tuned his tirade out, listening to the whispered prayers, coming in a steady flow of sound, surrounding him, guarding like a blanket, offering something to hold on to even in the darkest pits of prison cells they was thrown in, when the Mad Titan had them under his control it gave them a reason to believe there was good to protect in the world they were supposed to attack.
To some, it might been selfish to do good only because somebody asked them to, and because it made them feel better, but Loki didn't care. A good deed was good, no matter what the intentions were.
They lost the track of time, lost in warm thanks, asks and tales of mischief their followers done, until they felt somebody shake their shoulders, saliva splattering over their face. Loki's senses slowly caught up to reality, seeing the man's furious face up close made cold spikes of terror run through their whole body.
"-that's it! You're going to listen to me when I speak! I'm sick of your disrespect!" he stepped away, his anger morphing to dissapointment, "I expected better of my son," Loki barely stopped themself from flinching, "and now I need to punish you. Again. Didn't you learn from your previous punishments? Where did that smarts of yours go now, huh?" The man took a few steps back and outstretched his arms. A golden glow sprouted from his hands, morphing into chains that started wrapping around Loki's head, then their whole body.
"I didn't want to do this, but you give me no choice, son."
Loki shut their eyes, grimacing in pain, unable to hold up their calm facade any longer. The white, hot pain spread around their body, consuming their own power and using it to bind their abilities. Loki clenched their teeth, not wanting to give the man the satisfaction of making them scream and beg.
After an hour (or was it five minutes) of this torture, it all stopped. Was it not for the weather outside, Loki would think the time was put to halt.
They laid on the palace floor, trembling from the effort and pain, silent tears running down their cheeks. The binds were clutching their body tightly, they were definitely going to leave bruises, and if they weren't careful, the chains would probably draw blood.
It wasn't what hurt the most, though.
It was the silence ringing in their ears, cold, merciless, and so, so lifeless. They tried to reach out for the whispers, but nothing came, not even an equivalent to what Midgardians called static.
They reached for their magic, but couldn't feel it.
No. Even their father wouldn't be as cruel-
"Your tricks won't work anymore, not until you learn your lesson." After that, the man walked away, leaving them alone.
Frankly, Loki was surprised that he didn't stay and watch them struggle, but they were glad the man left. Being in that position felt humiliating enough alone, but they were sure they wouldn't handle being watched.
When they were sure Odin was away, they broke down in ugly sobs, eyes letting out a flood of tears despite being tightly shut.
They made their way through the golden palace floor, half-crawling with the little movement space they had left before they heard somebody's steps. They closed their eyes, the shame they felt skyrocketing, only darkening the blush caused by crying.
"Loki?" their brother's voice was quiet and unsure, if they didn't know any better they would say Thor was worried or even scared.
Loki tried to keep the pitiful whimpers from escaping, but they failed miserably. Suddenly in their was their brother crouching, brows furrowed, empathy swirling in his eyes.
"Is it okay if I pick you up?" he asked, and when Loki nodded, he added "Can I carry you to your room?". The Trickster nodded again, thankful for Thor breaking the dead silence in their ears, even if it sounded a little bit like it was underwater.
Loki didn't even feel the binds digging in their flesh as Thor picked them up. The trip to their room was a blur, only changed by their brother's encouragements and promises they are near their destination. They closed their eyes, and when they opened them again, they were laying on their own bed.
"Loki, do you consent for Mother to tend your wounds after you fall asleep?" they nodded again, but then opened their mouth as to say something, but nothing came. Thor wordlessly put a cup of water to his sibling's lips, silently prompting them to drink.
"Talk... t' me." Loki's voice was still raspy after crying (why didn't they notice when the tears stopped flowing? It didn't matter now...). "No sil'nce." To them, it was humiliating how they could say anything more, but Thor somehow understood, immediately starting to tell a tale of what his costume party Midgard buddies were doing. Loki has dozed off barely twenty minutes into the story, but Thor kept talking, knowing they were sensitive to sound even asleep.
"And then Natasha- Oh, hello mother," the God of Thunder stepped away, letting Frigga work her magic. She hummed a calm song under her breath while she worked the chains open, checking her offspring's vitals. Suddenly she gasped.
"He repressed their seidr." She covered her mouth, feeling nothing but terror over her husband's doing. Thor's eyes widened in shock.
"Is there anything we can do to help them, Mother?"
"I'm unable to break it!" she almost cried out, her voice full of sorrow. Loss of magic was painful for any sorcerer, but for one as advanced as Loki it was life-changing. She never felt more helpless than now: unable to help her own child, or even offer them a source of comfort.
She finished healing them, and exited the chamber with the intention to try and coerce Odin into lifting the spell, or at least leaving Loki a part of their skill. Thor stayed with them, talking until his throat was so sore he wasn't able to make any different noise than a glorified hum. Soon after, he dozed off, his snores the only sound in the room.
Before long, they all would learn silence hurts much more than any sound.
hey have u ever thought about thor teaching tony,shuri,peter - any of those smarty pants- about former asgardian technology? do you think he would ask one of them to help the new queen to help restore some of the lost "magic" ?
No, I have never thought about it, but it's an amazing idea! Imagine the journey of recovery for Thor and a grieving Peter after canon endgame.
Or the fascination seeing tech so refined it's real magic evokes Tony. He scoffs when Thor goes to him with the idea but he's too curious to pass up on the opportunity.
Or Shuri who can't resist adding some of the wakandan wisdom and science knowledge to the project resulting in something absolutely unique.
I want there to be an Avengers short where a massive alien ship sets down near New York or something, SHIELD and the Avengers are called in. One of the aliens (said alien is a blob monster like creature) step out and garbles something to the crowd and Thor steps forward. The higher ups in SHIELD tell him to stand down and that they don’t need him to cause an incident with his hammer. Instead he ignores them and powerwalks up the the alien hammer in hand, but instead of hitting the creature he converses in its native tongue then the two of them share a laugh and the aliens leave happily. everyone is staring in disbelief when Thor walks back and he tells them the aliens (he uses their proper race) were simply lost and needed directions back home, he apologizes for the incident he caused.
