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*
It takes almost a week for Thor to talk to him again. Fandral tells Loki "We thought you were gonna die", one gloomy evening. "You…you scared us. Don't pull such prank again."
"But it worked! It could be useful! Have any of you any idea how much potential this has?" Loki argues.
"We don't doubt your usefulness, lad", Volstagg joins in. "But you could have given us a warning."
"I tried, but you didn't hear me, thanks to my brother!"
"I couldn't just stand there and let it eat you!"
They quarrel the whole night, but at least they are speaking again.
*
The next time it happens, they are severely outnumbered and Loki retreats a bit, somewhere where he has clear view of the crowd and can utilize throwing his knives the best. Hogun and Sif hear it this time, that he is leaving a clone behind, but the rest are too far away and too crowded. Sif manages to get to Fandral, but before they can reach Thor, somebody stabs Loki from behind and Volstagg roars as he forces his way to them – only to halt, confused as the the other man when Loki flickers out of existance. Then the man jerks and falls, a knife sticking out of his neck.
*
After the fifth time it happened, and numerous fights among them ensued, they reach a compromise, and one clear morning finds them on the training field, where Loki makes clone after clone and they attack it. It's a gut-wrenching process, and often interupted because they can't bring themselves to 'kill' it – they don't trust magic, even if they trust Loki. Thor takes it especially hard.
It lasts for months.
*
They haven't gone on a quest for over a year now – they still don't think they could stomach situations Loki puts them through.
Loki has taken to inviting guards to practices – it only adds to the confusion – nobody dares to attack the prince, his assurance that it's a clone not withstanding.
The progress is so, so slow.
*
Twenty years later – they are sort of used to it now. They have code words ("I need some fresh air"), and code signs when they can't be sure they will hear each other.
There is always someone keeping an eye on the real him, standing as close as possible without giving him away. Thor still reacts instinctively to every hit Loki receives; Volstagg too sometimes forgets it's a ruse. Sif still wants to hit Loki after every battle. For making them panic, for that split moment of 'what if this is the real him this time' between the attack and disappearance. Hogun adapted relatively fast; Fandral sometimes wonders if Loki could make clones for the rest of them too, because while magic and trickery may not be the honorable things, no one can deny the effectiveness.
*
Hundred and seventy years later – it's nothing special anymore. They are accustomed to having Loki at their backs, watching over them, letting no one sneak up on them, and his projections among them – yes, there are many who find Loki cowardly, but they have spent nearly all of their lives with him – grew up with him, taught him how to fight, made sure he knew how to take care of himself, even if he prefered elegant solutions to bloodshed. He is anything but weak and cowardly. When he fights alongside them, the real him (which isn't as rare as many believe), he is bested only by Thor and Sif.
He might be a snake, but he is their snake.
(It's not like he is the only weird one in their merry little band – they have a warrior who is just a little bit more interested in food than in battles; the one who rarely speaks in the society where telling tales of own valour and daring is a favourite evening past-time; the one who doesn't indulge in drinking his own weight in mead every night; and of course there is a woman who dared to take up the arms and claimed herself equal, if not better than men. Nobody dares say anything about the golden heir, but they probably question his sanity, given the company he keeps and some things they do.
No, Loki fits in perfectly.)
*
Two hundred and thirty years later, and they don't even think about it anymore – to them, it's just the way things are; a habit as comfortable as their own skin. It's a system that works perfectly.
Perfect, that is, until one bloody aftermath, when they pick each other up and are in the process of checking one another for wounds and suddenly Loki pushes Sif aside.
His body doesn't disappear as the arrow sinks in his stomach, nor does it disappear when he wordlessly falls to the ground.
As it turns out, he almost does get himself killed, though not for reasons one might expect.
-
The first time he uses a clone outside his rooms is to draw the beast's attention away from Thor and the rest so they can catch a moment to breathe and reorganise. It works, partially – the angry beast does follow his doppelganger. The problem is, so does Thor. He yells "Thor!" but he doesn't hear him over the beast's roar and his own shouting ("Leave my brother alone! You fight me, vile creature!")
Volstagg and Sif also run after Thor; Hogun and Fandral move more carefully. They all yell, fools, scream at the beast and yell to Loki to get away, quickly. No one hears him.
Before any of them can get close to his clone, the beast has him cornered and Thor's anguished cry pierces through his heart as the sharp teeth close around his clone.
And then there is a tense moment where no one moves, no one breathes – they all just stare at the place Loki stood before the beast – and even it seems confused. There is no Loki there anymore.
Thor uses the moment to throw Mjolnir at the beast's head with all his anger and might.
Nobody knows what to do, what should be said. No one looks at Thor.
"If you are all quite done with unnecessary drama", a silky voice says.
-
Volstagg and Hogun can barely restrain Thor from strangling Loki. Fandral is busy restraining Sif, who managed to break Loki's nose.
There is lots of "you little shit!" thrown at him, one "I thought you died!" that makes him wince, few "What the hell were you thinking?!" and "Why didn't you warn us?!" and adamant "YOU WILL NEVER DO SUCH A THING AGAIN!"
They don't let him explain, too upset by the whole event.
The way home is such a merry affair.