【Hammer Base】Forever in Love Underwater

The patter of rain.

It doesn't rain often in Asgard, it's always sunny here.However, the prosperity of God's Domain does not require smooth weather. This land is self-contained, and the vegetation is almost eternally moist and everything is radiant.A small stream trickles from the top of the mountain, converging into a vast water wave surrounding the fairy palace; the fairy palace is in the middle of the water, like a golden lotus flower.The water flow has no fixed direction, it rushes in all directions, becomes a majestic waterfall, pours down from the edge of God's Domain, and finally disappears into the void in pieces.

If one day the water flow stops, Asgard will slowly dry up and degenerate into a desert.But no one worries about it—no one asks where the water comes from and where it's going; they're happy and self-sufficient, believing that God has blessed the land and always will.That kind of rough and heroic optimism, from top to bottom, comes down in one continuous line, exactly the same as Thor.

Loki always wanted to run away from Thor.But when he was walking on the street, Thor's smile was on everyone's face; when he turned his head, Asgard was shining brightly, which was a symbol of Thor's glory; he hid in the library, opened every epic, told All are Thor-style hero stories.He has nowhere to go.

Unless it's raining.Asgard never rains heavily. The so-called "rain" here is just a light, fluffy mist.Like a drunken fog, slowly sinking.Sometimes through the drizzle, you can still see a shaggy, gloomy sun.The sun wasn't as harsh as usual, so Loki could look up at the sky - it was a fluffy gray.Under the chaotic sky, the light of Asgard dimmed listlessly.Asgard has restrained its splendor and prosperity, like Thor taking off his armor, lying on the bed and dozing half asleep.

Loki loves the rain.In the rain, everything is quiet, moist, cool, and hazy.He was still in pain all the time, but the pain became hazy in the rain.If it rains for a few more days, he can occasionally sleep peacefully for the first half of the game, and even dream.He dreamed of snow—it never snowed in Asgard, and he had never seen snow.But the snow fell rustlingly in the dream, and landed on his eyelashes realistically, almost like an ancient memory.

But when he opened his eyes, he didn't see the snowflakes.Even the rain stopped.

Thor is happy when the rain stops.What he and his happy friends love most is the sunny day and the sun.They are all very big, and their behavior is based on "big": talking and laughing, eating and drinking, quarreling and fighting.They rumbled to and fro in the sun, like a mass of rocks of various sizes, knocking people and things they encountered along the way tottering.But no one blames them, because what they do is "Asgardian" growth.Asgard encourages all bright and magnificent things, such as magnificent bodies, magnificent virtues, and magnificent battles. The young heroes here all carry a very destructive beauty and prosperity.

Loki ate at the same table as them, walked under the same sun, and stayed under the same rain.But they seem to be separated in two worlds - Asgard is theirs, but never his.They live in a radiant picture scroll, even if he hits his head badly, he still can't get in.An impenetrable dimension separates them, causing them to live two lives beneath the surface.The delicious food and wine on the table will turn into tasteless dead leaves the moment they touch his fingers—they are eating and laughing, and the sound of talking is buzzing in his ears, torturing It made his brain hurt. Thor slams the cup on the floor—bang!His heart stopped beating suddenly, as if he had stepped into a cliff.

But his hands wouldn't even shake.He steadily cut the food in his hand, chewed and swallowed steadily.His words and deeds, at first glance, seem to be well-behaved and decent, in line with the etiquette norms of the royal family.It's not because he agrees with or is convinced of the rules - he doesn't care about the rules; he doesn't have the extra strength to care about decency, shame, piety and other nonsense - he just needs a fixed set of rules to regulate own words and deeds.He trained himself day after day, what posture to adopt when walking, what etiquette to grasp when dining, and what attitude to adopt when talking—no matter in any situation, this set of coping plans was worn like a dress on him.Even if he is angry, surprised, and at a loss, he will not lose control easily, and he will not cry, tremble, lose his temper, or shrink into a ball all the time.

He does not fight unprepared battles.Every day in Asgard is a battle, and he must be fully armed.

Etiquette is his armor, and smile is his talisman.Whether he is sad, angry, sad, or jealous, he will smile reflexively.As long as he smiles, things will be much easier - Thor will no longer chase him, insisting on asking him why he is crying, why he is angry, and what he is afraid of.He smiles, and Thor has nothing to do with him.

So he always smiles.

He was knocked to the ground again and again on the training ground, but he was still smiling.He got up slowly, with only superficial wounds hanging on his skin, but the layers of pain exploded in his body, like a series of thunderclaps.He is not very good at using violence, especially this kind of stabbing with long knives and spears, which can always make the stabs so painful.He prefers magic—the power is in the body, but the magic is in the head; his body hurts, and he is not good at handling weapons, but his mind has always been clear, and he is good at handling magic.But Asgard is martial, and Thor is good at fighting. He has no choice but to follow the tradition, follow Thor, and go to the battlefield.

Volstagg patted him on the shoulder and laughed: "I remember Loki crying when he was a kid - he doesn't cry now, it's a good thing!"

Loki looked at him with a smile, his eyes were moist and sparkling, like the hazy rain of Asgard, "Really? I don't even remember."

As soon as he turns his head, he catches Thor looking at him. Thor often looks at him like this from the sidelines.From this point of view, it is hundreds of years.He hated his gaze as much as he hated the Asgardian sun.He was walking under the sunlight, under Thor's gaze, every step he took, his skin was prickly like needles.His smile could barely hold back.So he turned around and threw the ax at Volstagg: "One more round!"

Volstagg doesn't like playing against him very much.None of them like to fight him.When he fights, his moves are tricky, with traps and fake moves everywhere, not like fighting, but like playing games.And he seldom doesn't bet against them, he won't get carried away when he wins, and he won't be downcast when he loses.He is not the kind of enemy that makes people "enjoyable", and most of them fight and hunt purely for enjoyment.

Sometimes they go hunting with friends and they don't take Loki with them.They don't dislike Loki - Loki is a pretty and pleasant character, and although he has a sharp mouth, he is definitely not disgusting.Of course they don't like Loki either - Loki is Thor's brother, but he's not like Thor, so they don't like him as much as they like Thor.He was dispensable, and they treated him the same way Asgard treated him—lukewarm, so-so.

But Thor insists, "Loki is coming with us." Loki is right next to him, but he doesn't say "we're going" to him—he faces the others, making decisions for him as if Loki wasn't there , conveying instructions, "Loki comes with us", "Loki rides that white horse", "Loki stays in the camp" - he tried his best to be a good brother and ensured that his slightly withdrawn brother would not be left behind. Alone, not alone.

He doesn't know that he is forever alone.He was cautious and reckless, he thought he was trying—but he was trying wrongly.But Loki has already lost the qualification to refuse at this time, he can't help but ruin his brother's good intentions.So he went with them, and rode the white horse, and stayed in the camp.He was smiling and seemed quite happy.

Once, when they had just started a campfire in the forest, it began to rain in a patter of rain.None of them like rain.The rain blotted out the sun and soaked the grass so wet that their soles slipped on it—Thor fell and gnawed on the mud in front of everyone, and his blond hair was covered in mud spots.In rainy days, the prey also hide in caves and nests, and will not run around and make them live targets.Their exuberant vitality was held in their chests, and they turned around, with nowhere to vent, and became laments—they even lamented loudly, shaking the canopy leaves that acted as umbrellas.

"Damn rain!" Fandral lamented.

To Loki, it's funny watching them moan.They don't have to sleep at night, eat bad food, or suffer from constant pain; "being alive" is so effortless for them that everything they do is icing on the cake.Watching them "worried" solemnly in the life of spring blossoms is really funny and angry.After laughing, he is always eager to really stab these fools—using a knife, or conjuring a snake, to teach them a lesson, to let them know what pain is, and to let them know how terrible they are. I don't know the blessing in the blessing.

A snake snaked its way into Hogun's neckline, and he yelled, writhing like a dancer. Loki couldn't help but smirk with his lips pursed, Hogun caught a glimpse of it, and said half-sarcastically afterwards that he was "very humorous about the suffering of his companions".

—he had to be “humorous.”He laughs at himself because his situation is really absurd; if you don't laugh at the inexplicable absurdity, you will only go crazy.He didn't want to go crazy—at least not then, so he laughed at himself.Since you even laughed at yourself, why not laugh at and make fun of others too?By the way.

Later, in the atrium, he read many books written by the people in the atrium.There is a special subject there, which is to study and explain "how children think".According to the book, children who are deliberately mischievous may use this sharp humor as a self-defense mechanism.He snapped the book shut—court ants are such a nuisance, they talk nonsense every day.

When he's alone, he can't be "humorous," can't laugh.

He hurts.

It hurts—it hurts.It's a pain that can't be laughed off, tricked out of it, forgotten in a glass of wine.It was as if someone patiently sewed countless small bells into his flesh and blood from head to toe. As long as he moved a little, they would ring one after another.

He can bear it.He has been enduring.But that day, he couldn't help it—because in that brief sweet dream, he dreamed of Thor. Thor is what he looks like now, tall and handsome with brilliant blond hair.He picked him up—they were almost the same height, but he still picked him up like he was still the baby with the little arms and legs.It was raining, not a drizzle, but a torrential downpour.The rain drenched them.He leaned down, cupped Thor's face, and kissed him hard. Thor speaks on his lips - he murmurs, saying what he most wants.

Then, Thor disappears with his pain.Like a ghost pulling off the sheet from his body, he disappeared into the rain.

Loki yelled, jerking awake.He finally couldn't help it—he cried, trembling all over, like a mountain shaking, a torrent pouring down, and he cried helplessly.He remembered that when he was a child, Thor would hide under the bed with him, avoid being searched by adults, and feed each other with sugar for a long time, sweetly - sugar is sweet, but he hasn't tasted sugar for too long.Whenever he can't help it, he'd rather he'd never tasted that sweetness on Thor's lips.

The patter of rain.Trembling and staggering, he opened the door and walked out into the night and into the rain.This hazy, restless, tearful eyes like the rain ah.He walked in the rain, eyes wide open, looking left and right.Where should he go--where can he go?The rain soaked his white nightgown, which clung tightly to his body; there was no boundary between the whiteness of the robe and the whiteness of the skin.He walked the world as if naked.

He walked into the large back garden; the river meandered through it, and under the wind and rain, petals of different colors fell into the water, making the clear river water a sea of ​​flowers.He thought of Asgardian funerals—they put the dead and flowers on boats, and let the dead go away with the flowing water.He stepped into the water tremblingly, the hem of his nightgown fluttered and swung - he imagined himself lying in the water, among the petals, with his long hair fluttering, following the water, pouring down from the edge of God's Domain, his body was smashed to pieces disappeared into the void.

The picture was so realistic that it was almost like an omen rather than imagination.

Suddenly there was a flash of lightning in the sky.Then came the rumbling thunder.

"Loki!"

Thor calls his name, Thor splashes into the water, Thor picks him up - his world spins.He looks down at Thor - they both have rain on their faces.Thunder roared in the sky, lightning rolled, and Thor led him out of the water.It was the first rainstorm Loki had ever seen.

Just like his dream.All this is exactly like his dream.He suddenly struggled desperately, wagging his head and tail in Thor's arms, like a fish that would never give in - he never wanted the things in his dreams to come true.

"Loki!" Thor's voice was furious. "You don't move—you're freezing, I'll take you back—Loki!"

Loki finally wrenched himself out of his arms.He fell to the ground, among the flowers.Bright red petals fell all over his body, like spots of blood.The pain was already secondary, and he was caught by the lightning in the sky—it was a grand scene he had never witnessed before, bright and resounding throughout the sky.He suddenly realized: This is the thunder and lightning made by Thor, his power is enough to brighten and resound through the sky.

And the God of Thunder and Lightning knelt down beside him.It seems that he is a shattered idol, and Thor is his believer, even this shattering must be worshiped.

He turned his head and found a cluster of bright red flowers hanging from a bush branch, watching him silently.At that moment, the memories of his infancy were patchwork in front of his eyes - he remembered Thor poking his head out of the flowers, holding his face in his hands, and telling him, "I love you".

He stretched out his hand almost intoxicated, wanting to touch the flowers above his head.

His hand is gripped by Thor.

Thor looked down at him.Lightning shone brightly behind him, but his face was hidden in the shadows, and his expression could not be seen clearly.He puts Loki's thin hands in his palms and folds them together as if praying.

"I'm leaving tomorrow," he said.

Thor is nearing adulthood, time for canonization.Before that, he needs to go to the trials that all generations of gods have to go through-it is said that they will fight in the most dangerous places in the Nine Realms, and learn to overcome fear and despair.Then, they will see fate, desire and time-these are symbolic expressions, and no one can know what the specific situation is.The gods were forbidden to reveal their secrets, they smiled silently and kept their mouths shut.In the end, they will face the last level-"death".

When it was all over, if they were qualified to be gods, they would return to the temple alive to kneel and kowtow before the images of the gods.

——At that moment, they will know what kind of god they are.

"If I make it back alive—" He seemed to choke.

Not all descendants of gods are eligible to become gods.Some people died on the battlefield, some people lost to fate and time, and some died in the face of death.Before brilliance, one is destined to experience darkness, this is the law of God's destiny.

——"I knew that being a god is not so cheap. This is simply a death SAT." When he talked about this, Iron Man commented.

Everyone believed that Thor would return in triumph.But who knows?It is said that Odin once had a descendant, but she seemed to be the most defeated by desire, and instead of returning to the temple, she wandered outside without a trace.But time has passed so long that few people know this legend.

"Wait until I come back alive," he changed the phrase—he firmly believed that he would come back alive, look at his arrogant temper, "I have something to tell you. You have to wait for me."

After an unprecedented downpour in Asgard, Thor left to pursue his uncertain mission.People said that this strange thunderstorm was a good omen from heaven; before the prince accepted the trial, heaven generously told everyone that he would be the god of thunder and lightning.This shows that he is destined to succeed.

During Thor's absence, there was no rain in Asgard.

Sif said worriedly but hopefully, "He will be back soon."

Volstagg put down his glass and echoed, "He's Thor, that's obvious. Trials are just a formality."

Hogun said, "Maybe he's the god of war or the sun god," he pointed to the sky, "he's like a victorious sun."

"He's going to win anyway," Fandral nodded affirmatively. "We'll just have to wait."

He turned to look at Loki next to him. Loki turned the pages of the book, his expression quiet.He cut off his long hair, and he also cut off the dark and tired tiredness.He seemed to have suddenly become beautiful and dazzling - there was a slight smile in his eyes, like flower petals with crystal dew.Something was waiting ahead, giving him hope and happiness, and his face was radiant like never before.

Fandral asked him, "Have you ever wondered what kind of god you are?"

Loki turned a page of the book with a smile, smiled casually, and said softly, "Maybe it's the god of mischief."

Volstagg laughed. "What kind of god is this?"

Loki doesn't argue either.He was in a trance-like bliss.During those days, he often read long poems, which recorded the life trajectories of the ancestors.He imagines what future generations will say about him and Thor - the only problem is, his and Thor's names don't rhyme. Thor, Loki.If you add Odinson as a suffix, they can make a pair.But if you remove the surname, they don't rhyme—how can you make poetry if you don't rhyme?This is a problem.

Thor tells him to wait, and he waits.Like an unfinished poem, waiting for the last perfect rhyme.

Thor tells him to wait, and he waits.Even without rain, he was still vaguely happy.

Finally, the rain came, the thunder came, and Thor returned.He sprang out of bed, barefoot and pale nightgown, and threw himself into the storm.The wind and rain were precarious, but he didn't feel the pain at all.He walked up the mountain, the rocks cut his feet, and the branches cut his hands, but he was inspired by the warm love and hope, and he smiled.It's a real smile.

He came outside the temple.The gate of the temple was closed, and their mother wandered outside anxiously.

She looked up at him, surprised.She lowered her head, saw his blood-stained feet, and hugged him heartbroken.

"Mother," he said softly, as if talking in sleep, "brother is back?"

She nodded and let him sit on the stone steps.But he was unwilling: if he sat on the stone steps, his back would be facing the gate of the temple.He doesn't want to turn his back on Thor.He waited for him to come out.

Amid the rumbling thunder, he heard his father's roar.Then there's Thor's voice—Thor is roaring too. Loki couldn't hear exactly what they were saying, but he could hear anger, despair, pleading and pain.

A long silence followed. Frigga draped the cloak over Loki, who was still shivering from the cold.His mother asked him to go back and rest, but he refused.He stood there stubbornly, waiting in bewilderment.Why isn't Thor out yet?What is father angry about?Has he become some terrible god?

It doesn't matter - Loki smiles again - it doesn't matter how scary it is, even if Thor is the god of death, he will love him.

He waited, and waited, and dawn came.His mother had to leave, and Asgard had prepared a grand ceremony for Thor's triumph, and she had to arrange everything herself.

With his mother gone, Loki waits alone.

Finally, the door opened.It was their father who came out.He seemed to have aged overnight - in his only remaining eye, there was boundless exhaustion and cold determination.That look made Loki wince.He habitually smiled obediently in front of his father, but Odin didn't even look at him. Loki often suffers when his father doesn't watch him, but that day, he doesn't—the new god will.He promised, he said, when he came back, he had something to say to him.

Loki looks behind his father - but the temple door closes and he only has time to take a quick look.In that glance, he saw the glorious and terrifying scene inside the temple-the figures of the gods were flying all over the sky, and Thor was covered in blood, bowing his head.

With his father gone, Loki waits alone.

He tried to push the door of the temple.But only gods can enter the temple, he can't push the door open, can't get in.

"Thor," he said tremblingly, calling his name for the first time, "Thor!"

The door of the temple opened with a bang. Thor stands before him.His naked upper body was covered with criss-cross scars, and even his blond hair was stained red and black by blood.He stood in the doorway, and behind him were the gods who gazed at them silently.

"Thor," Loki said.His voice was half crying, half smiling.

But Thor doesn't look at him.He steps, past him, into the rain.The new shrine was washed clean of blood by the heavy rain, leaving a river of blood on the ground.He turned his back on Loki and walked towards Asgard.

The patter of rain.

TBC