Loki, Prince of Asgard, sits on the edge of the western palace balcony rail. He looks towards the rivers that flow through the city, enveloping every glistening building and flowing around every walkway in the valleys that lie beyond his vision. The sun was setting in beautiful Asgard, the same sun that sets for the planet Earth, a planet in a different realm than this one. Clouds were in the sky and carbon dioxide helped to fuel luscious trees near the harbor— how similar we are to Earth, Loki thought, but how pathetic it is that those who lived on Earth could not make their own land look as marvelous as this scene, how they could not simply make gold and silver sky scrapers that touched the edge of the ozone layer? Loki had not been to Earth, but he had seen photos of this sharp contrast. Must be the people themselves, he thought, perhaps they have a stupid leader. Or, maybe the people are just that daft. Loki, turning 16 years old the next day, had already been developing a keen sense of the need to question things around him and establishing a reputation for saying things boldly about a variety of topics, such as Asgard, other realms, life, and his life specifically. He was also channeling what he thought into doing bold things.

Tonight at dinner, he had done something particularly bold, but it was no surprise to his family members. His father, the king of Asgard, with quite a large appetite, had been furiously devouring a lamb carcass. Loki picked at his golden plate that contained bread, nuts, and a slab of lamb leg. He only ate the bread and nuts and when the palace servant came to ask about the leg, Loki simply dismissed it, saying that the meat was not up to his liking, since this very lamb had been his pet lamb named Snarky.

“Of course you are not satisfied with what we’ve given you, Loki. Being selfish as usual,” Odin, king of Asgard, had proclaimed in between bites. The dining hall became silent and the palace halls felt stiff. The servant glanced at Odin and then looked down, waiting for what could possibly come next.

Thor, stuffing his face like his father without showing any acknowledgement to what was happening, blurted, “Oh, father, how could anyone not love this delicious meat? You’ve got to be ludicrous to not think of this as the best thing we’ve tasted in a long time.” He was chewing in between words and drooling over the plate. Of course, Loki thought, Thor would butter up to his father like he did every other day. Also, he had eaten lamb for 5 times each day, why was this lamb any different?What an ass kisser.

“You’re right, son! So proud of my boy for knowing the importance of eating to grow his strong bones and muscles. That’s important for a future king!” Loki had always been smaller than Thor, so he knew this was a stab at his build. Not only that, but it was a stab at the fact that no matter what he did, he would only be the brother of a future king, but he would not the future king himself.

Suddenly, as Odin was gnawing on a thigh, a live lamb appeared in Loki’s silk padded seat, staring at Odin. Where Loki had gone, no one knew. No one had paid attention to whether he was still in his seat. Then, the lamb carcass that Odin had been chewing on came alive, the rest of it had become a lamb head, "baa-ing" at Odin from the plate.

Odin cried, “What monstrosity is this! Loki, where are you?!” Thor’s lamb had done the same.

“Snarky?” Thor asked as he stumbled from his chair, crawling backwards on the floor, flabbergasted at the scene. The servant ran away and their mother, Frigga, put down her knife and fork quietly, waiting for the chaos to pass.

Odin stood up, “Loki, wherever you are, you will come here and stop this!” Odin knew this was not uncommon in the royal household; he knew Loki had served up one of his pranks. As Frigga was sitting at her seat, she and her beautiful curly hair started turning into Loki’s smooth jet black locks. Odin watched as his wife turned into his problematic son. In Frigga’s chair sat Loki, smug and watching his brother and father gape at the live lambs they’d been eating.

This wasn’t even the first trick of the week. Earlier that week, the royal tutors had welcomed a new pupil to the group—a student named Morisa, a daughter of a wealthy councilman. He had just been promoted by Thor and Loki’s father, so he could afford for his daughter the same principled tutoring that Loki and Thor were able to receive as princes. She had long silver hair that reached her ankles and had blue eyes that shot deeply into your soul whenever you met eyes with her. Loki did not have as much interest in her, but his brother Thor became still the moment the royal tutor spat her name out of his mouth and into his brother’s heart. Tutoring had recently been dull for Loki and, well, suddenly discovering a weakness that his naturally strong brother had is something Loki could not pass up. Loki saw Thor’s jaw drop in the corner of his eye and knew that he’d have a great opportunity to make Thor look like a fool in front of a person he very much wanted to be around. Loki then masked himself as Thor—showing off his newly developed muscles and bright blond hair. Loki was looking forward to making his brother, who had always seemed charming with every female pupil that walked through the door, finally feel the burn of what it was like to feel unwanted and odd.

After the mid-afternoon tutoring session in the schooling quarters of the palace, Loki as Thor tapped on Morisa’s shoulder. She turned around and saw “Thor” stand in front of her.

Loki as Thor, then ready to do something ridiculous, had something else quite shocking spew out of his mouth—“I was wondering if you’d like to go to the flourishing market with me today, so that we can go together to look at and eat the succulent fruits.” What? Why was I compelled to ask her this? I’m supposed to do something ludicrous, like acting like a monkey or telling her that she has a zit on her nose, so that she dislikes Thor. What am I doing? Loki thought after he stated these words to her. Morisa blushed at Thor asking her politely to the market. Well, I guess I can’t go back now, Loki thought.

Loki as Thor and Morisa then went to the market. He bought fruits for her home, they watched the Asgardian birds fly over the rivers in the middle of the city, and watched the shop keepers yell at them, “Thor, great prince of Asgard, I would be honored if you bought from my stand!”

Loki as Thor and Morisa also walked along the Riverwalk and she asked him about his life. Loki and Thor, forgetting that he was still Thor, stated that sometimes it was annoying to be a prince, because there was so much that he needed to do as prince, like going to awkward fancy dinners, training to fight to defend Asgard, and dealing with his father’s expectations, all with knowing that he wouldn’t be able to be king.

Morisa was shocked. “Wait, I thought you were expected be king one day.”

Loki as Thor, suddenly realizing his mistake said, “Oh yes, you’re right. Well, yes, I mean that I have all of these expectations with knowing that I’ll be king when the time comes…”

After he fixed his slight issue, they continued talking to each other and she told him about her dream to be a prominent musician for the royal family. They sat and ate their pickled carrots. At dusk, he walked her home and they said they would see each other tomorrow. After she walked into her home, knowing he’d be safe to turn back to his original self, Loki as Thor went back to being Loki, walked to the palace, and slept that night feeling more content than he usually does after a well-thought out prank.

The next day, Thor was in the tutoring hall that morning as usual. Morisa then walked up to Thor; he was flabbergasted at her sudden assertiveness in walking up to the next king of Asgard, but he was delighted given the fact that he was infatuated with her.

“Thank you for your politeness, your company, and your graciousness your highness. I hope to be a part of it again someday,” Morisa stated while curtsying. Thor, very confused, but satisfied that Morisa had spoken to him, sat down in his seat smiling. Loki watched the interaction from the background, smirking because Thor was confused, but then feeling sunken from the fact that she would never know it had been Loki she had enjoyed feeding bread to the birds with yesterday. Loki did not fret, however, and gave a nod to Morisa. She only slightly bowed in return. They resumed their studies.

Cut back to the incident at the dinner table where Loki’s father wiped off his mouth, yelled to the skies about his son who can never just let a normal day pass by.

“Loki, how dare you do this! And where is your mother?! Do you know how it feels to have a son who can’t even have a decent meal with his family?” Odin started throwing the forks at the wall, his strength and power even buried the forks into the side of the walls. The servants would have a hell of a time prying those out the next day.

“Can’t you look at your brother? He gets the highest marks, he’s growing stronger, and he knows that a person cannot get too attached to a damn lamb!” Again, it’s his father talking about his brother and Loki glanced at his brother’s long blond hair, elated chest, and disappointed eyes. “What good is your power if you only use it for useless tricks!” Odin bellowed, “how can I call you my son?! You are but a meager child who cannot be a man.”

The lambs abruptly became carcasses again. There was no more "baa-ing." Loki left the table and walked out onto the west balcony, then climbed to the tower to sit on the edge. He wanted to spend time away from his angry father and think about the planet of Earth when there was nothing left to think about.

So, now Loki looks onward into the sky, wishes there'd at least be someplace else out there for him than this same old palace others called a home.

“I hope you’re satisfied with yourself,” Loki hears from behind him. Thor waits for Loki to turn around and see his brother waiting for him in the center of the tower. Loki glances back, but he forces himself to continue looking ahead of him towards the sky.

“I hope you’re satisfied every day,” Loki retorts.

Thor walks closer to Loki, “I think we should play a game.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. Whoever can beat up the other guy the most wins.”

Thor hooks his arm around Loki’s neck and slams him against the concrete, making him grimace in pain. Loki disappears after Thor has him in his grasp and appears behind him, summoning a rock and knocking it on the side of Thor’s head. Loki then starts choking Thor as he has him pinned to the ground and they start choking each other, rolling around on the hot cement and then, although they are technically gods, start using good old-fashioned fists to beat each other for what feels like hours until they both have black eyes.

Frigga, their mother, storms in—“You boys! At it again with the fighting, what are you even fighting for? Clean yourselves up and go to bed!” Their mother walks off, used to this usual bantering.

What were they fighting for? They didn’t quite know. They stare and look at each other, Thor’s fist still hanging in the air and they began laughing at the scene of what they’re doing. Exasperated and sweating, they let their guards down and lied side by side on the ground, looking up to the sky.

Thor, breathing hard, says after a pause, “Brother, I am sorry that I ate your pet lamb Snarky.”

“I’m sorry I went out with your girlfriend.”

“What?”

“Never mind.”

Thor sat up, “I hope that if we die someday, we don’t die fighting each other.”

“I hope so too,” Loki responds.