A serious conversation

[st_ratagem]

Nerves were pointless. Realistically there was only one way this conversation was ultimately going to go, it was just a matter of getting there. Which would be awkward and embarrassing at least, but it had to be done.

Rather than go through the knock-on-door-then-enter thing, which would have been minor sandpaper on nerves that wanted to be frayed, Loki opened the door to the room as an invitation to enter. (Thor was the only one he was expecting, anyway.) After that, he took a seat at the little table on the balcony, since the only other choice was pacing like a ninny.

The room was much less tidy and impersonal since Valkyrie had moved in. She hadn’t been exaggerating when she’d said she wasn’t organized, so her things were scattered around, and Loki had relaxed his own tight rein on his things, so a few piles of books and other things had joined the clutter. It looked lived-in, now.

Comments

[st_ormbreaker]

The room definitely look different than the last time Thor had seen it, but Thor finds himself approving of the clutter; it seems less like "a place Loki is staying for now" and more like a home.

"Loki?" he asks when he steps inside. A few glances around the room and he sees the door to the balcony is open and heads outside.

[st_ratagem]

Since his brother’s footsteps aimed at the balcony right away, Loki didn’t respond to the initial call. Instead, he waited for the man to appear in the doorway and gestured at another chair at the little table. “You were quick. Thank you.”

He’d considered setting out drinks in a sort of hospitality spasm, but decided against it. Talk first, drinks after if desired or somehow required.

[st_ormbreaker]

"You don't normally ask for my help," Thor says, taking the other seat at the table. Was help what his brother needed? Thor wasn't sure, but it felt like it.

[st_ratagem]

“No, Loki agreed, “I don’t like giving out handles on me, it’s a matter of habit.” And he didn’t like this, either, but he wanted to do this properly (as much as possible) more than he wanted to stay reserved.

Best to get it out quickly. “I intend to ask Valkyrie to marry me.”

[st_ormbreaker]

For a moment, Thor sits in stunned silence. Then, suddenly, the realization dawns on him and a smile blossoms on his face.

"Loki!" he exclaims launching himself at his brother, his arms swiftly wrapped tight around him. "Congratulations!"

[st_ratagem]

Loki bore with the hug without struggling, just patting Thor on the back after a few seconds - not unlike a wrestler tapping out. “There’s no guarantee she’ll agree, so no congratulations yet. And you’ve missed my point in speaking to you first, I think.”

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor relinquishes his hold on Loki, still beaming.

"How could she say no to you?" he asks. His face is starting to ache from the sheer happiness of it all, but his grin never falters. "I don't know why you'd come to me. You don't need my permission."

[st_ratagem]

“It’s a one-syllable word, and I may have misread her. It happens.” He poked Thor in the shoulder. “Also, I rather do, if you’ll stop thinking like a Midgardian for a moment. You’re my king, the head of my family, and marriage isn’t about what the couple wants. It’s about family alliances. You can ignore it for yourself,” and possibly had, depending on interpretation, “but I can’t if I’m at all interested in doing this properly. Which I am, for a number of reasons.”

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor's brows furrow.

"Why are you worried about any of that?"

[st_ratagem]

“Because this isn’t just for here! I want future validity, and that means going through every step, including contract, even if you think it’s stupid. She deserves solid ground to stand on later if she needs it.” If she needed or wanted to claim the connection when he was no longer there to endorse it. “And I’m not Asgardian except by choice, I remind you, so I want my own solid ground. It’s not good enough just to decide ‘we’re married’ and be done with it for me. That’s at least three reasons, pick one you like.”

[st_ormbreaker]

"Loki, nothing would make me happier."

[st_ratagem]

“That’s all I needed. Norns know there’s nothing much to settle otherwise,” no real questions of property, inheritance, dowry, or terms of alliance as there would have been in nearly any other formal arrangement, “and Norns also know you wouldn’t be interested in negotiating even if there were. Good enough.”

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor can't resist the urge to give his brother another hug, this one shorter than the last -- but he still clamps his hands on either side of Loki's arms once he's ended it.

"Why the change of heart? I thought you were..." Thor frees a hand to gesture vaguely. "...anti-marriage."

[st_ratagem]

“I’m not. I never have been. I just assumed marriage would either be a political arrangement for advantage or convenience, or not be my lot at all. There’s a difference.” Loki shrugged as best he could with Thor gripping his arms. “I’m not you. I had no romantic options or prospects for it, so I never wasted my energy on the idea of marrying for it.”

[st_ormbreaker]

"But now you have!" Thor gives his brother a too strong pat on the side of his arm. "So what am I going to be? Best man?"

[st_ratagem]

“I haven’t asked her yet! You’re getting ahead of things.” Loki tried to pull away, to avoid another blow to his arm if possible. “But yes, if you like.”

[st_ormbreaker]

Loki might avoid another blow to the arm, but there's no scrambling away from another hug from Thor.

"Congratulations!" Clearly, Thor has already accepted this marriage as a given.

[st_ratagem]

“You’re going to be so disappointed if she says no.” Loki himself didn’t seriously expect a flat no, but he thought ‘not yet’ was at least somewhat possible.

[st_ormbreaker]

"She's not going to say no," Thor says confidently. "As soon as she says yes, I want to be the first person to know."

[st_ratagem]

“Who do you imagine would be higher on my list?” The only other people Loki really wanted to confide in, ever, we’re Bo and Bucky, and neither of them rated a family announcement before Thor. “And I feel I should point out that one of the reasons I want her is that she’s not above turning me down just because she doesn’t like my attitude of the moment.” It wouldn’t be permanent in that case, just until he’d repaired the deficiency and/or sufficiently made up for it. But still. Assuming anything about the Valkyrie outs be a dangerous prospect.

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor is still grinning.

"I've always wanted a sister," Thor says, and then he course-corrects himself: "Well, a sister that didn't want both of us dead." Hela hadn't exactly given her the familial, sisterly relationship he wanted. True, Valkyrie was already practically family in everything but name, but this made it official.

[st_ratagem]

“Good. I don’t want a sister.” He had been, in fact, very prepared to get violent over the concept of Brunnhilde being relegated to ‘sister’.

[st_ormbreaker]

"But you're okay with having a second brother."

[st_ratagem]

“You marrying Stark is your business. That doesn’t necessarily make him anything to me.” Loki held up a hand to prevent any protest of the point. “He and I can tolerate each other comparatively easily, and given history that’s more than enough.”

[st_ormbreaker]

For the first time since their conversation began, Thor's smile fades, though he knows that's the most he can expect from Loki. Truthfully, he's not even sure how Tony feels about Loki these days.

"I'm glad we have that now," he says. "I wasn't sure the two of you would ever be able to stand one another."