A/N: The deleted scenes, in chronological order relating to the times they were written. A huge lump (perhaps 12%?) of the credit for the first scene goes to my dear sister, with whom I had great fun harassing Loki with a tiara.

The delay is because of exams ruining everything. Hence why nothing happened for the past forever. I shall be back in action after the 14th of June, maybe with more Thorki, but likely with other fandoms stuff too.

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He'd had enough of his brother's pointless questions - the day had become longer than he'd intended and he really needed to get rid of Thor. He was going to have to play the honesty card. Picking up the circlet from where Thor had left it, he rotated it in his fingers several times before turning to face the Asgardian, brandishing his crown like a weapon.

"They have given me a tiara to show my royal status; is that not proof enough brother?" Loki cried, but Thor's look of disbelief at the outburst quickly morphed into one of confusion.

"Tiara?" he queried, and Loki mentally slapped himself.

"Circlet. I said circlet."

"You said tiara, brother."

"No, I did not. Tiaras are for girls."

Despite himself, Thor found his eyes running up and down Loki's figure, taking in the slender lines of his body, his layered skirt-like clothing and carefully curled tresses. He glanced back up at Loki's face when the sudden silence was interrupted by the loud sounds of protest his brother made.

"You checked?" Loki asked incredulously.

"Did not," Thor quickly denied.

"Yes you did!"

"Did not!"

"Did!"

"Whether I looked or not does not change the fact you said tiara, brother," Thor said smoothly, a smirk twitching at the corner of his mouth.

"IN THE NAME OF GUNGNIR I DID NOT SAY TIARA."

"Calm down Loki..."

"DO NOT TELL ME TO CALM DOWN YOU INSUFFERABLE OAF OF A BROTHER!"

.

"Hush, hush, Odin. They will be all right. They are together, they will be fine. It will be all right," Frigga said, a soothing hand rubbing up and down the Allfather's back. "They will be all right."

Odin straightened, his face setting again. "I want them back here right now! How dare Thor defy me like that - both in bringing Loki here and in leaving without my permission! Heimdall. Where are they?"

"I told you, Allfather. I cannot see them until they land, and even then I will have to search all the realms. It will take time."

"Odin..." Frigga said, but not loud enough to get past her husband's raging.

"We do not have time! We need to find them as soon as possible! We need to get Thor back. Think - where would they go? Jotunheim? Alfheim?"

"Odin..." she tried again.

"Not Jotunheim, that is where they just escaped from. Not Alfheim, because Thor does not like the food. Heimdall, do you have any idea where they might have been sent?" There was a roaring in Odin's head; he tried to use logic, but it was useless.

"I can only retrace their journey once they have landed. Even then, it will only tell me roughly where they are, not the exact planet or realm..."

"Odin. Stop." Frigga's voice cut through the conversation, getting the attention of both men. "You must think. It is useless trying to work out where they landed by logic, because they left before the Bifrost was ready. They could be anywhere. We need to wait, until they have landed, and then we can look for them properly."

"Frigga, you do not understand. We must find them now, before it is too late. I have foreseen..."

"No. You need to come with me, to the eating hall, and have some breakfast. I guarantee everything will seem better after that. Everything is doom and gloom and urgency if you have not had your morning Muesli fix."

Odin paused, staring at her. Heimdall raised an eyebrow, finding the exchange between husband and wife thoroughly amusing. He'd seen them bicker before, of course, priding himself on having seen most things in his lifetime, but this context was perhaps one of the funniest. Because it was true - Odin really was crankier unless he'd had his breakfast, and the thing that worked best to set him straight was Muesli.

"I-This is not just doom and gloom! Our sons have just vanished to Valhalla knows where, and you want me to sit down and eat some stagnant milky mixture of oats and raisins? What kind of mother are you?" Odin fumed, turning red right up to the ears, but the Watchman was unsure of whether it was from anger or embarrassment.

"I am a mother who is also the wife of a great king, and has been for many years. I know every subtle expression on his face, every action, every mood, every gesture he makes. I know when he is putting on a brave face for his kingdom, and when he is disciplining his children because it is the right thing to even though he is secretly proud of them. And I know when he needs his breakfast, and that is right now." She set her hands on her hips and gave the Allfather a look that said 'don't-argue-with-me-wifey-knows-best'. But Odin wouldn't back down.

"If I have to follow them through space myself, then I will go. I will not leave for breakfast only to mull thinks over whilst eating tasteless mush. This is far more important than food!"

"Well, maybe eating will give you a chance to think, and to work out where they might have gone. Hopefully they will have landed by then, and then Heimdall can find them. After all," Frigga drew herself up for a scholarly speech, one she'd practised well during her sons' younger years, because when Loki had decided he wouldn't eat raisins at about aged nine, Thor had stopped eating them too, and she had had to compose a suitable pro-raisin argument that was worthy of countering Loki's persuasive tongue. "Muesli is highly nutritious. It has many slow-burning carbohydrates, to give you energy, as well as sugars in the dried fruits to stimulate the mind and body in the short term. There are lots of vitamins, and fibre, which are vital to keep the body running properly. Milk provides calcium for healthy bones, and there is protein in the nuts for muscles and growth..."

"All right, I understand the nutritional importance of Muesli in a balanced diet. I have heard you give this speech to Loki often enough. If it will make you be quiet and leave me alone, I will come with you for breakfast," Odin said, submitting. His stomach growled, as if to prove Frigga's point. "It seems the whole world is against me," he muttered, looking pointedly at his belly.

His favourite golden bowl was placed before him. He peered inside, frowning at the murky white gloop that sat in it, brown shapes of fruit and nuts floating just below the surface. He picked up the spoon and poked the suspicious mixture, bringing a small amount up to his lips. He swallowed it slowly, feeling it slide down his throat. Everything appeared suddenly brighter, and he dove into the bowl, ploughing in mouthful after mouthful. By the third bowl he was smiling and laughing with Frigga, the angst of the previous situation temporarily forgotten. Muesli was like a drug to Odin. No-one had ever really figured out why, but it instantly cheered him up, allowing him to see reason. At the first mouthful he appeared to hate it, but once that was over anyone would think he was eating at the finest feast in all the realms.

Frigga smiled, glad to see her husband happy again. He put his spoon down after the fifth helping, looking at her with mirth in his eyes. She looked straight back, watching the good cheer fade as he sobered.

"We will have to tell the court of this, I expect," he said, squeezing her hand.

"Yes, I expect we will. In time."

"Thor's friends will need to know as well. We will have to tell them today."

"Yes. We should do that now." She stood up and they walked together to their adjoined rooms. Passing a servant, Odin asked her to find the Warriors Three and Lady Sif. Frigga hoped she'd managed to buy Heimdall some more time, because soon Odin would be restless again. What he hadn't realised in his distress was that because the Bifrost had been used unprepared, the signal that could trace the previous journey would have been disrupted, and therefore the Watchman would not have been able to locate Thor and Loki that way. Therefore the search would be a long and hard one, working methodically through everywhere in the nine realms, and that was of course presuming the pair could be seen.

They sat down on Frigga's bed, hands clasped together. For a while they pair were silent, in mourning for their losses, giving themselves space to become calm and to prepare for the upcoming explanation. There was the sound of voices in the corridor, as the four warriors approached. Odin looked up at his wife, with sincerity in his eyes.

"Frigga," he began, emphasising the name. "I really do hate almonds."

.

Sidra was curled up under the desk, trying her hardest not to fall asleep again. She cursed herself for having taken the early shift, considering no-one had turned up between two and six in the morning for at least six months. It was also cold, and even with the little heater on full blast and two microfiber blankets around her, she was losing the will to keep herself from curling up in of the upstairs beds and sleeping the shift away.

She checked her watch: ten past five. Just fifty more minutes, and then she could sleep. Everything had become sort of muted - sounds were more dull, colours faded and her eyelids got heavier and heavier. The loud ring of the bell as the door opened was like a gunshot to her ears, and she leapt up, only to bang her head on the underside of the desk. Emerging from her lair, she smoothed down her jumper and gingerly rubbed the back of her head with one hand, turning to see who was coming in at this time.

The couple were talking quietly to one another as they ambled toward the counter. The first one was a man, tall and blond with hair brushing the tops of his shoulders. He was dressed in a tunic and leggings, metal armour plating his wrists and shins. A brown belt sat around his waist, along with the arm of his companion. She was a little shorter than him, but only by a few inches, which was, in Sidra's opinion, quite a feat for a woman. She had a jerkin on with a green linen shirt on underneath, a small leather bag slung over her shoulder. Her hair was long and black, straight at the top but curling into loose ringlets at collar length, the front slicked back to give her a severe look. Sidra decided she was perhaps the most striking woman she'd ever seen - sharp cheekbones, a strong, straight nose and thick eyebrows.

She decided to approach them, plastering a smile to her face.

"Hi there, welcome to the Salvation Army. I've got to say, you caught me by surprise. It's not often we get customers at this kind of time." The blond man looked at her and smiled.

"Greetings, friend," he said, unwinding his partner's arm from his middle and instead just linking their fingers. "We have just arrived here, in England, and we need a place to stay. We are new to this realm however, and are unable to pay for any accommodation."

"Well, you came to the right place," she replied, returning to the table to rummage for the documents necessary. "But you caught us at a bad time. I'm afraid we've only got one room spare. With only one bed. But I've got extra duvets and pillows, so one of you could sleep on the sofa..." Sidra looked up first at the man, then the woman, searching for a reaction. She leant in to whisper something which made him smile.

"Any room will be more than adequate, thank you. We will work it out between us."

"I...OK..." Sidra said, not wanting to get involved in whatever they were talking about. Trying not to wonder at how deep the woman's voice was. "If you could just...sign these, to say who you are and that you're staying here. Health and Safety mainly."

She watched as the two of them worked together to fill in their details, muttering things to one another as they went. She tried to listen in, but their voices were too quiet for her to make out clearly without getting awkwardly close. The dark-haired woman handed her the completed forms a minute later, and she squinted at the spidery writing on the page.

"So...you're Mr. Thor Odinson?" she asked, directing the question at the man because of the two names it was the most likely. He nodded and smiled again, dizzyingly bright and unhealthily cheerful for twenty past five in the morning. "And you're Ms. Loki?"

The woman's eyes narrowed, and she bent down to examine the form closer. "Excuse me?" she hissed, and Sidra blushed.

"Ms. Loki. You didn't put a surname," she choked, aware that the dark head was resting uncomfortably close to her shoulder - she could smell a sweet fruity scent coming off the masses of black hair behind her. A slim white finger pointed to the top of the form, where the box labelled 'Mr.' had been crossed. Below it the 'male' box had been crossed. "O-oh..." she murmured, turning a darker shade of red. "Sorry, so sorry, I just thought...so you're Mr. Loki?"

"Yes, I am."

There was an awkward pause in which Sidra looked again at Loki, trying to gage whether he was a he, a he becoming a she, or unfortunately dressed. Loki stared right back at her, daring her to say something about his appearance, and Thor stood beside them, trying to figure out the purpose of their silent exchange.

"Right. So, we usually go by first-name terms here. I'm Sidra. I'll call you Thor and Loki - is that all right?"

"That is fine, thank you Lady Sidra," Thor said, kissing her hand. "We are deeply grateful for your hospitality, and owe you a great debt."

She blushed again at the gesture, turning away to lead them to the stairs. They followed her up to a narrow corridor, then to a door labelled '24'. She took out a key and unlocked it, ushering them inside.

"It's really not much, but it's the best we can do right now. I'll go get some duvets and pillows, if you want to make yourselves at home..." She rushed off in a little white-blonde whirlwind, leaving Thor and Loki to examine the space before them. It was definitely small, but a reasonable bedsit for one, with sofa, en-suite, desk and bed. Thor went over to sit on the small single, Loki following.

"It is certainly small," the Thunderer commented. Loki said nothing, so Thor looked at his brother and burst out laughing. His face was a mixture of anger, despair and confusion, and it had made his eyebrows sit in the most bizarre position that Thor couldn't contain himself.

"What?!" Loki cried, staring at Thor wide-eyed.

"Just, your face is a picture, brother," he chuckled.

"Wouldn't your face be a picture if you had just been mistaken for a woman by the first person on Midgard we've actually spoken to properly?" He cursed, pulling at his hair and looking around for something he could cut it with.

"I do not think you look like a woman," Thor commented, trying to still his brother's hands on the hair he loved.

"You wouldn't," Loki retorted. "And even if you did, you would never say it. You would be too terrified of the consequences," he said, straightening up so he could look down his nose at his brother with mock contempt.

"Oh?" Thor growled, knocking his brother over onto his back. "What consequences are these?"

Loki giggled and half-closed his eyes. "Well," he said smoothly, voice dropping low. "I guess you will never find out."

The door opened and they sprang apart to see Sidra carrying in a pile of bedding. She stopped when she saw their expressions and carefully set her load down on the floor. "Sorry, did I do something?"

Loki was tempted to stress the point that she had, but a look from Thor silenced him as his brother went to pick up the bedding. He tried to set it out, but ended up getting most of it wrong, so Sidra moved round to help him.

"Come on, br-Loki, this is no way to treat a Lady," Thor chided. Loki slunk off the bed to help his brother with the sheets. It took several attempts, mostly because Thor refused to let Sidra do any of the work, but they ended up with one fully made single bed and one equally comfortable looking sofa arrangement.

Sidra accidentally let out a yawn, and checked her watch again. Twenty to six. "Um, if it's OK with you, I really need to go to sleep," she said, making for the door. "If you need anything, I'll be up at twelve, but someone should be downstairs in the shop by seven. It'll be locked up until then."

"Of course," Loki smiled. She nodded vaguely and shuffled off to her own room, shutting the door after her. "This is going surprisingly well, considering we know nearly nothing about Midgard and its customs, and have no money to pay for food or drink," he mused. "Who gets the bed then?"

Thor grinned. "As the elder brother, I feel it is only an appropriate symbol of my dominance that I get the bed. You may have the 'sofa', as the Lady Sidra calls it." Loki's eyes narrowed.

"Oh, but brother, I am the weaker one, who has only just begun to heal from great illness. Surely I should get the more comfortable bed, so I get plenty of rest and recover," he said, voice low and sly.

"Illness I seem to remember you brought upon yourself," Thor countered.

"Because I had to," Loki hissed. He didn't appreciate the reference to his time on Jotunheim, and knew Thor knew it.

"Hmmm..." Thor hummed, lying down on the freshly-made single. "It is rather icy tonight. And there is only one spare blanket. I could not have my poor invalid brother getting cold in his already uncomfortable sofa-bed. Perhaps we should ask for another."

Loki's eyes lit up wickedly. "Or," he said, sidling up to lie beside his brother. "I could make use of the heater I brought with me." Knowing his brother's skin was always warm to the touch.

Thor suddenly turned serious. "There is not enough room." He looked very disappointed.

"What was it I said to the Lady Sidra earlier? We will work it out between us." He curled up, feeling Thor's hand run through his hair. "But I will be cutting that off tomorrow."

.

It had been a while after Odin's visit, and everything had begun to settle back down to normal. Thor continued with his AVCE, passing with exceptional grades, although his teachers didn't fail to notice how his best essays seemed to change writing style in places - due to the combination of Jane and Loki's frequent contributions and Thor's discovery of the internet.

He'd had what could have been called a detention; it was more an assignment that had to be done at the college with constant surveillance by the teacher, to assess whether or not he was plagiarising or not. Of course, he knew the date of the assessment beforehand, and whilst Loki had refused to offer him any assistance, claiming it was for his own good, Thor succeeded in recruiting Jane to help him with his prep work.

It was the weekend after the test essay, and the three of them had gone out for a meal. Jane had tried to book a restaurant which was fairly quiet, knowing both brothers' aversions to people, because people asked questions they weren't really prepared to answer. It was still buzzing around in Jane's head all the time, about Asgard and Jotunheim and the Bifrost. She'd seen Mjolnir, so she knew it was true, but it was still hard to fathom. And of course she tried not to think too hard on the fact her housemates were brothers, or ex-brothers, because then everything got even more weird and confusing.

It was an Italian, and they ate surprisingly well for the low prices, so Jane made a note to come back there some other time. The only thing that ruined the evening was Darcy phoning halfway through, and Jane's mobile vibrated in her pocked so suddenly she spilt her drink in surprise. Loki took the call while she cleaned herself up, and was bombarded with half-thought-out babble until he put the phone on the table with a grimace. Jane raised her eyebrows, so Loki mouthed 'Darcy' across the table. She put the phone in her bag and left it there until it hung up by itself. After that everything went fine.

In the morning, Loki woke up to find his brother sitting up - unusual as the Liesmith normally surfaced first of the pair of them. Thor had one of his pensive expressions on, the one he usually wore when thinking about Asgard, and it made him look as old as he truly was, the magic of Idunn's apples wasted. Loki laced their fingers together and smiled at his brother, but Thor didn't notice. He gave the hand a squeeze, and was met with dull blue eyes.

"Oh, Thor," he sighed, sliding up close to rest his head on one broad shoulder. "Tell me?"

His brother's throat worked, so Loki patted his arm to let him know he didn't have to. Thor pulled him into his lap and idly ran his fingers through the gradually-lengthening hair. Loki dragged his physics book onto the bed and began to read the next chapter, knowing he'd be there for a while if Thor was calming himself down.

The Thunderer spent about fifteen minutes brooding over Asgard whilst petting Loki's hair before he had suitably composed himself for a new day. His hand stilled, and his brother twitched at the lack of tugging, so Thor started up again, and idea forming in his head. He'd caught Sif plaiting her hair out the corner of his eye many times, and also had been learning a few things about knots in his mechanics studies, so he decided to give it a try. Loki's hair was soft, the strands sliding over one another easily, so he had no concerns about tangling it. He started off with a few simple things - reef knot, half-hitch, granny knot. Soon that got boring, so he tried some plaits. It was difficult at first, because he had nothing to tie the ends with, and the movements were unfamiliar to his fingers. The first attempt resulted in a lumpy, one sided braid that stuck precariously out the left hand side of Loki's head.

Thor tried again several times until he succeeded in getting the strands even. He decided he actually quite liked Loki's hair like this, but then, maybe he just liked Loki's hair. He experimented with layering the plaits, eventually discovering French plaiting. It was hypnotic, in its way, the strands going over, round, under, through, over, round, under...Thor found it you braided one way, the plait stuck up like rope attached tightly to the back of the head; if you braided the other, it lay underneath the drawn-in sections and you could see all the detail.

Loki turned around to look at him just as he prepared for the next test. He'd managed to remove the laces from his trainers one handed, and had them by his hip ready to tie up the ends of the plaits. The Liesmith felt that Thor had probably calmed down enough by then, so he put down his physics in the hope of a conversation. Thor put on his best 'I'm-still-upset-now-go-back-to-your-reading-pleas e-brother' face, and Loki fell for it, brushing a kiss along his jaw before delving back into thermodynamics. Then Thor began his work.

The first one was easy - he roughly parted the hair down the middle and began to weave to top layers, working his way down until he reached the base of his brother's neck. He finished off the braid and tied it with one shoelace, pausing to admire his work. The second was a little harder, as sometimes part of the strand he wanted was already caught up. It was strangely satisfying, weaving the hair over and over until he reached the end, and Thor decided he'd found a new kind of therapy. Once he was done, he hugged Loki briefly as if to thank him for putting up with it, even though his brother was as of yet unaware of what had been done.

"I will return in a moment," Thor said, departing to go to the bathroom. He waited outside the door once he was done for a few minutes, until he heard the startled yelp, which was his cue to open the door.

"Thor Odinson, what have you done to my hair?"

Thor giggled awkwardly. "I styled it. It was very relaxing. I hope you will let me do it again some time," he smiled, wrapping an arm around Loki in an attempt at appeasement. The smaller man shoved him away.

"You gave me pigtails! Do you have any idea how humiliating this is? I grow my hair out for you; I let you play with it to calm yourself, and the end result is this?" Loki was seething, and Thor couldn't entirely tell if he was being sarcastic, or if the fury was genuine.

"I..." Thor paused, fearing a repeat of the conversation in Jotunheim, when he'd said he liked Loki's ringlets. "I thought it would suit you. And it was very entertaining."

"You- What? You thought it would...What, exactly, compelled you to believe that such a hairstyle would suit me, in any way?"

Thor didn't know quite how to respond to that.