The new nuclear family: a himbo, his genderfluid twink best friend/archnemesis, the two children they took in as surprise slaves, and two goats, one of which is lame.
Nothing, in short, a little more Thor/Loki mythology, like that time they took in Thialfi and Röskva after the former accidentally crippled one of Thor's goats with an unpronounceable name.
(Short story: Thor and Loki ask a farmer for shelter; in return, Thor offers to slaughter his goats, which are resurrected every morning intact, as long as they don't break any bones.
Thialfi breaks a bone to suck out the marrow. As compensation to the god, the father of the two offers his son and daughter as servants.)
(The boys' colorful clothes are inspired by a couple of historical images I found, taken from a manuscript of the Poetic Edda with drawings by Ólafur Brynjúlfsson)
- É ali o salão dos gigantes! - disse Thor aos demais.
Tomando a dianteira, o deus escalou um pequeno banquinho e se fez anunciar dali com sua portentosa voz, que, no entanto, diante do vozerio assumiu as proporções diminutas do zumbido de um mosquitinho.
Loki, sempre apreciador do ridículo, seja humano ou divino, fazia um grande esforço para controlar o seu riso, enquanto que o criado Thialfi fingia ter perdido algo pelo chão.
As Melhores Historias da Mitologia Nórdica - A. S. Franchini
(It’s @gaslightgallows birthday & that means fic! I missed last year because health shit & two years ago -- well, I had only known you for less than a day! This year? Have some TCW fanfic to celebrate 61 chapters of awesomeness.)
This story is based the following excerpt from Chapter 50 of The Convalescent Way:
"Loki smiled crookedly. “After you were born, your mother was exhausted and in pain. She needed sleep. But you still needed to eat, so...” He tensed a little under Thialfi’s sudden low gasp of comprehension. “It was always very easy, to be a woman around your mother. I spent most of that week as a woman, actually. And really, in the company of a woman so near to her time, there’s so much estrogen floating about... well, it wasn’t difficult to stimulate those hormones in myself.”
“You... nursed me?”
There was wonder in Thialfi’s voice, and a wistful sort of hope that made the muscles of Loki’s chest tighten in a way he hadn’t felt in years. It was all so solemn that his first impulse was to make some vulgar joke... but he couldn’t"
Dammit hands, stop shaking, please stop shaking. The little creature was writhing and wailing; Loki was terrified that it would fall out of her arms. She took a few deep breaths and soothed the child back and forth, looking anxiously over at his mother.
Her lover was dead to the world after the healer had given her a sleeping draught. “She's lost so much blood; let her rest.”
She’d lied to the healer and said she was a midwife, which she now regretted: the healer had assumed she’d know how to feed the child while the mother slept.
Loki walked the baby back and forth, up and down the hall, trying to soothe it, trying to repress her memories of the past twelve hours: the panic, the pain, the blood. The wails got louder and louder: the baby was so hungry.
Just make it through the night, the rest of the night, love, and help will be here in the morning.
She settled back on the bed beside the sleeping Gudrun and hoped that the smell of his mother would calm him down. It didn't: the cries grew as the little face turned a shade of red she hadn’t realized possible.
Loki started panicking even more: Harald was away, Gudrun was incapacitated, and she was alone with the care of their two little children and she couldn't even figure out how to feed one.
Her body was telling her one thing with all its might though. Hoping, she opened her shirt and held the child to her breast. Perhaps the warmth of her skin would calm the baby down.
It did. The infant instinctively started rooting against her breasts. Tentatively, she brought his mouth to her nipple -- anything to stop the screaming for evening a moment. The child started sucking -- and sucking well -- and she lay back against her lover’s arm, relieved at the gentle sensation and the quiet peace.
How were they both alive? The labour had been so fast: there had been so much blood. Blood and panic, as the healer arrived hours late.
"This little lad almost killed his mother." The healer had told her. She didn't know if she could have forgiven the child.
But now? The child was quiet at her breast, his mother was safe and alive beside them. As the baby unlatched, she was astonished to see a drop of milk at the nipple -- the rich, liquid gold of early milk. She hadn’t expected to produce anything at all. The child had sucked it out of her, and was now soft asleep.
Loki whispered to him. “Welcome to the world, little Thialfi.”
The sunlight was shining when Gudrun woke, the pain bringing her back to reality. She blinked.
Loki was lying on her side beside her, with her baby between suckling greedily at her breast. “How ... ?”
She smiled blissfully at Gudrun, “I don’t know how exactly … he latched and he just pulled out the milk.”
Gudrun chose not to ask any further questions; the magic within her lover’s body was always mystery to her. She stroked Thialfi’s cheek. “Thank you.”
“Mama?” Her daugher was awake and at the doorway. "Lyka," Loki whispered. "Come meet your baby brother." Gudrun held out her arms to Lyka, "Come here, my love" The four-year-old crawled between her mothers, and peered at the small creature at her uncle's breast. "This is our baby, my Lyka, this is your baby brother." The baby unlatched at Loki's nipple, and she swiveled him around to face Lyka. Brother and sister carefully regarded each other, neither saying anything. "Meet Thialfi." Lyka reached out and solemnly stroked the baby's arm, then let out a little laugh as the baby reached out caught her smallest finger. The baby didn't take his eyes off his sister's face. She whispered to him, "Welcome Thialfi, I'm your sister, Lyka."
(A little TCW-inspired ficlet for @gaslightgallows)
“My prince, at last,” Harold’s grin was a welcome sight. “You missed dinner.”
Loki dropped his travelling illusion with a sigh. Harald put down his book and opened his arms for his lover.
“Father had a great deal to say and he took his time saying it.” Loki sank into Harald’s lap, admiring the way the firelight played upon his golden locks. “He’s less than pleased with Thor and me right now.”
“You could always talk to your brother, my love,” Harald murmured into the curve of Loki’s neck while his hand was busy loosening his dark braids.
Loki didn’t bother to respond; instead, he just turned and kissed his lover, savouring the familiar taste he had missed so terribly.
After a few moments, he paused for breath. “Gudrun and the children?”
Harald answered between additional kisses, “Asleep. Waiting for you.”
They untwined and made their way through the dark towards the bedchambers; Harald tripped over a toy and crashed into Loki’s arms. Together, they toppled to the floor, trying to suppress their laughter. Harald buried his giggles in Loki’s shoulder, and Loki deepened the embrace. Hands began to rove.
“Wait, love, wait,” Loki gasped as Harald’s tongue found his neck while his eager hands found his ass, “We’ll wake the children.”
“So be quiet, my prince,” Harald responded, his eyes gleaming as he unfastened Loki’s belt.
Easier said than done, Loki stifled his cry with his fist as his lover’s mouth enveloped his cock. He braced himself against the wall and focused on Harald’s lovely, familiar lips and hands,. It had been too long. Far too long. He needed to visit more, Odin or no Odin. Then Harald picked up his pace, and Loki lost all coherent thought.
Afterwards, they collapsed against the wall, laughing softly and trying to catch their breath.
“We should make it to the bed”
“And wake Gudrun?”
“She’s been waiting for you. She’ll be disappointed to miss the fun.”
Loki stretched and stood up, helping Harald up off the floor to find their way to the bedchamber. As they passed the baby’s cot, he paused with alarm. “Harald, love, where’s Thialfi?”
Harald’s grin was visible even in the dark; he changed course and steered Loki towards the other cot. There, Thialfi was sleeping, his chubby baby arms clasped around his sister’s neck.
“It’s the only place he’ll sleep right now,” their father said.
Loki didn’t respond as he knelt down next to the children, gently stroking both sets of golden curls.
“They’re really inseparable. Lyka used to run out to greet me when I came home. Now, she helps Thialfi toddle out to the garden to greet me first.” The two fathers sat and watched their children sleep.
Loki bit back the things he wanted to say to Harald as guilt washed over him. It was so easy to thrust them all to the back of his mind, as he spent his days entangled at court, with mother, father, Thor … and now Lorelai … all taking up far too much of his time. But when he was here, when he was home, and saw these children? The feelings he worked so hard to suppress came flooding back in – the almost overwhelming love he felt for his (yes his) children.
Harald wrapped his arms around him, answering his unspoken thoughts. “I know, my love, I know.”
The prince lifted his hand away from the children’s curls to grasp Harald’s, and at that, Thialfi’s eyes flew open. The baby broke in a huge smile when he saw both his fathers there, and he reached out his arms to Loki with a laughing gurgle.
Loki swept his baby into his arms and cuddled him close, as he tried to articulate the feelings coursing through him. The tears running down his cheeks caught him off guard, and he buried his face in Thialfi’s curls to hide them.
Harald knelt beside them and held them both.
“My … my whole life, I’ve been told that love was conditional. My father … he made it clear that he would only love me if I was good enough, if I didn’t let him down.” Loki swallowed, not sure what to come next. The baby was starting to fall back to sleep in his arms.
“I’ve always had to work for anyone’s love. Even with you,” He gave Harald an apologetic look, “I’ve felt that.”
“But with these children? With our children?” He placed the dozing baby back down beside his sister. “It’s the first time I’ve felt loved, loved simply, easily. Loved for just being me.”
@gaslightgallows told me that Thialfi likes snakes. So I wrote this bit of fluff for her as we wait for the next chapter of The Convalescent Way ❤
The first thing he saw as he snuck along his normal route were two little blond heads fixated on the garden rocks.
"You've got to be gentle, Tee," remonstrated the older girl. "Snakey is getting his sunshine."
The boy crouched down closer to a tiny snake on the rock, and started softly stroking it.
Loki was astonished that the snake didn't flee from the young boy's touch. He paused and grinned. He had an idea.
****
"Do you want to pick up the snakey, Tee?" asked Lyka.
"Snakey! Snakey!" clamored the boy.
"We need a stick that works. Like Uncle showed us."
Lyka found the right kind of forked stick and gentle lifted up the snake. "Here," she said, letting the snake slither into her brother's outstretched hands. "Be careful."
"Snakey!" cried Thialfi, happily cradling the snake to his chest.
Suddenly, there was a flash of green, and the snake was gone and Loki was crouched in front of them, arms outstretched. "Good morning, you two troublemakers."
"Uncle!!!" Lyka cried and leapt into his arms.
"Uncle," lisped Thialfi and tentatively hugged his knee.
Loki looked at his two kids. It seemed like Thialfi had grown so much since just the last time he'd ... it had been awhile. He vowed to cancel next week's plans with Lorelai and spend more time here.
"Here you go, little man." He made the real snake reappear and coaxed it onto Thialfi's arm.
"Snakey!"
"Now, we'll go find somewhere to put him for the afternoon and then rustle up some toads to feed him."
Thialfi smiled shyly at him. "Toads."
Loki stood up, Lyka still wrapped around his neck. He was about to ask her where her mother was when he saw Gudrun coming through the garden to them.
"This is a surprise!" she commented, lifting up Thialfi and his snake. "It's been a bit of time since last you called."
Loki held Lyka close and bent in and kissed her mother. "I'm sorry, lovely. It won't be this long again."
