Am I the only one who kept imagining in which context Loki and Thor used to do “get help” when they were kids? Were they trying to steel food from the kitchen, sneak into some war ship, or just trying to trick Odin for fun?
This is the exact expression he gave to Thor during the elevator scene: the surprise at hearing something he so desperately needed and the sadness because it’s too late. In this scene, he recognizes that Odin is dying, and in the elevator scene, Thor tells him that he thought the world of him only in the past tense, so there’s acceptance in his gaze but also a wistfulness.