Chapter Text
"Need some help there?" Thor offered as he tried reaching for the massive pile of trailing clothes that Loki was struggling to carry through the small door into the bathroom.
But Loki was having none of it. He swung his burden away from Thor's reach and nearly tripped on a flapping shirt sleeve that was trying its best to get tangled up in his feet and nearly succeeding. "I will get along just fine, thank you!" Loki informed Thor in barely civil tones. "Just as always, if I want something done correctly, I will have to do it myself!"
"I was just trying to help," Thor said amiably, trying to placate the seething Loki. He so wanted to add, "just like earlier today" so he could help smooth over the rough spots between them, but he figured Loki just wasn't ready to be in a forgiving mood.
Thor was right, and it showed in Loki's face when he glared at Thor. "Sometimes I can get along better without any so called 'help' from you! If we have any hope of leaving this area with any sort of respect and dignity at all sometime in the near future, I will have to make certain that our clothing is properly laundered and presentable once again. No thanks to you, I might add."
Thor longed to open his mouth and present a defense for himself, but he sensed that this was not the time.
"And now here we are, strolling around this motel room in these eye-shockingly short terry cloth robes," Loki continued. "We certainly could not use the automatic washers in the public area to wash our clothing, because our state of undress would raise eyebrows. So this is the only method left to us. IF you will be so kind to stand aside and let me work in peace, that is!" he snipped.
Thor stood back. Generally, he was the one that people tried to calm down. But he knew that Loki could have his moments, too, so he supposed it was best just to let him go ahead and rant so he could get it out of his system. Besides, in this case, Loki might have good a reason for his rant.
Loki dumped their dirty clothing into the motel bathtub and turned the hot water on blast. And after their showers, it took only a moment for the hot water to appear. Smoke began rising almost immediately and filled the small bathroom in humid steam. It was almost as if they were taking showers again themselves-- which had been separate, of course, seeing as how dirty each was and how angry that Loki was.
Not that they ever took showers together as a matter of course. Far from it. And Frigga and her delicate nose had always made certain her sons were properly bathed and presentable as most mothers did. And the brothers had always found it to their advantage to be properly bathed and spruced up when romancing the ladies. Of course, there had been all of those group bath times in rivers and ice-clogged fiords participated in with "the guys" which generally included The Warriors Three. Reminiscent of the camaraderie and hijinks of showers after sports practices and games, they were great fun for the guys who missed the childhood antics they couldn't participate in anymore because they were supposed to be "grown up." And it always included a lot of roughhousing that their female counterparts realized happened but who shook their heads about. And it was all innocent fun and bonding between "the guys."
Then there was that time that Volstagg sat down on Thor and Loki and anyone else he could grap, and the guys under him got to feel a lot more of Volstagg than they really wanted to feel. Of course, Volstagg came out of that interlude clean on the outside and stripped clean of bodily fluids on the inside. And the brothers silently swore to each other not to speak of the matter ever again.
“Don’t run that water so hot,” Thor cautioned. “The greens and blacks of your outfit will fade into each other. And those colors won’t do a thing for my red cape.”
“Well, aren’t you just little Miss Holly Homemaker this evening,” Loki growled. “So handy with the household tips, aren’t you? However do you manage to find the time to do that and still be the almighty God of Thunder, too?! Perhaps you should do interviews so that all of your knowledge and wisdom can be preserved for not only our contemporaries but for future generations as well.”
Overlooking Loki’s sarcasm, Thor shrugged. “Just thought you might want to use some caution with our clothing, that’s all. The Allfather has been hinting pretty broadly lately that we’re going through our wardrobe allotment awfully fast."
"Did you remind the Allfather about the many battles we have been in lately, also? Especially the ones with those demons that insisted on clawing our clothing into shreds as if they didn't like to see anybody that wasn't naked? It must have been their national pastime or something, because they certainly seemed to be enjoying themselves trying to strip us down to our bare skin."
"But even we aren't in battle all of the time," Thor reminded him, trying to make him see reason. "And then we need to remember that we represent the Crown both at the palace and at foreign courts. We cannot be seen at state functions wearing below-standard outfits. While economy is important to him, Odin wouldn’t want us to be the source of palace embarrassment. He’s just very concerned about our appearance, that’s all.”
“You know where the Allfather can stick his concerns, don’t you?” Loki snapped from between clenched teeth while his eyes blazed up at Thor. “And in case you do not know where that spot is on his esteemed anatomy, I will be only too happy to enlighten you about just exactly where that puckered aperture is located--”
“Now, now,” Thor soothed as Loki looked back to monitor the progress of the water rising further up the inside of the bathtub. “I just thought you wouldn’t want to ruin your outfit if it could be avoided--”
Loki glared back up at Thor. “You know, at this point, I don’t care if my outfit comes out of this fiasco looking a shitty green-- just as long as the cape of the mighty God of Thunder does likewise! I hope to get these garments sterilized!” Loki snarled as he gazed with approval at their clothing as clouds of steam curled upward. Then his eyes fairly snapped at Thor, and it was difficult to tell if they were green or blue this evening. Mainly, they just looked like they were on fire, and dangerous. Very dangerous. Bad sign.
Thor wisely held his tongue while the tub finished filling to a satisfactory level but not to overflowing. Then Loki ripped the flow of water off, but he did it too hard. Thor winced in sympathy when Loki batted his eyes in momentary pain.
That had to hurt. But Thor knew better than to offer any sympathy. Loki just wasn’t in any mood to get comforted. At least not by Thor.
Thor wondered what Loki was going to use to get the clothing started in the washing process. Soaking does no good unless garments are moved around just as an agitator in a washing machine would do. Another method was beating on a rock. But in Loki's present state of mind, he would probably rather beat them on Thor instead of a rock. After all, Loki wasn't mad at a rock. Of course, there was always the time-honored tradition of simply lifting the garments up out of the water and then plunging them back down again.
But Thor doubted that not even Loki was vindictive or self-abusive enough to himself to plunge his naked arms into boiling water repeatedly. That was openly asking for at least first-degree burns. And even if Loki wanted Thor feeling guilty about what all had happened, he did not wish to suffer for days while burns healed. Besides, burns did not show up the way that broken bones did, especially after clothing was donned. In Loki’s present mood, he would be wanting any injuries to be as conspicuous as possible. Then he would seem even more like the sacrificing martyr that he appeared to be and would be a humble recipient of any sympathy available for him.
Thor did not have to wonder long about what Loki was going to use to stir their clothing around in the hot water, for Loki grabbed the toilet plunger from beside the stool and began stomping soggy laundry up and down. Soapy water splashed upward with the severe agitation and threatened to fly all over the small room. If this kept up, they'd both need showers again, and the floor would have to be mopped dry. And that possibility would not please Loki one bit, not in his present mood.
Then it fully registered with Thor. Apparently, it had been too startling for him to realize just what he was actually seeing.
Thor blinked. He could not believe it. Not the toilet plunger!
“Loki! No! What are you doing?!” Thor demanded. "That plunger is dirty! Filthy!"
Loki pulled himself to his feet and gave Thor a cool look before walking away. “Really? That’s where you draw the line with dritt? A toilet plunger?”
Thor followed him out of the bathroom. “Strangers have been using that stool! Their dritt has contaminated that plunger!”
“And you dragged me through a hog lot with a big mud hole in it, a mud hole that was contaminated with hog dritt. Pray tell, what is the difference between the two? Dritt is still dritt. Or maybe by now I just can’t tell the difference anymore. One colon is the same as any other colon when you think about the matter for awhile.”
“But one colon belongs to a hog, and one belongs to a man!” Thor reminded him. “There’s one helluva difference in the dritt coming out of them! And if it's bad from a man, just think how contaminated it has to be coming from a hog!”
“I only hope you have no idea how prejudiced you sound. I never realized before how anti-porcine that you are. And after all that hogs have done for you. Why, they give their lives just to provide you with bacon and sausage for breakfast and succulent chops for your dinner plate."
Well, yeah, Thor had to agree with that.
But Loki didn't stop there. As they say, he was on a roll about the plight of pigs. "You should be ashamed of yourself for demeaning them so cruelly," he continued. "They are a very intelligent animal and quite clean in their way. Several reasons are given for why they wallow in mud. A layer of mud protects their skin from the sun. And moving around in mud is therapeutic and massages areas the hogs cannot reach with their short legs to scratch. It is also a social activity for them as well as a form of entertainment. But they are not wallowing because they are lazy, dirty animals. Nothing could be further from the truth!"
Thor looked properly abashed, all the while wondering just when Loki had become such an advocate for hogs. "I meant no harm. I have no thoughts about hogs one way or the other. They are just another animal wandering around the farmyard. But I do love the tasty meat on their bones!" he declared brightly, hoping that all of the ill-feelings that he had so inadvertently caused could now be forgotten.
Loki held up his hand. "Too little, too late," he told the frustrated Thor who thought he had smoothed over his insensitivity. "But it will suffice, I suppose. The hogs will cope as best they can."
Thor looked relieved. While in the back of his mind, a tiny doubt nagged at him that asked him why he should be apologizing to hogs in the first place.
Really, Loki thought. Sometimes it was just too easy to mess with Thor. But Thor had a good heart and meant well. He could be a blundering oaf and often jumped into a situation without thinking it through first. His quick temper often got him in trouble because of it. But he was loyal and steadfast and seemed to think a lot of Loki. And Loki could not imagine having anyone else as a brother.
He just might not want to let Thor know that fact about him.
Then Loki paused and adjusted the short-sleeved, white terry robe that was tied around his middle and ended at his knees. That robe and his tight briefs were all that he wore. He was quite barefooted and knew that Thor was similarly attired.
Thank goodness that the motel had provided the robes. Otherwise, they both would be padding around in their briefs. And that was more than either one of them wanted to be seeing of the other.
After individual showers, they had at least gotten themselves clean. It wasn’t until the clothes washing incident that they were together and could vent their frustrations. And boy, were they venting! At least, Loki was. Thor was kind of the defendant, so he had been keeping his temper in check. But at any moment, he might forget that, and his famous temper would appear.
But for now, it was Loki’s turn to be the wronged party. And he was taking advantage of that situation.
Then Loki went and took his carping one step too far.
“For the hundredth time, I cannot believe you dragged me through a mud hole in a hog lot! How undignified and humiliating!”
“And for the hundredth time, I was rescuing you!” Thor’s temper had flared just like that. Apparently, ninety-nine was the magic number that he would tolerate an unjust accusation. “If I had not done that, those mad hornets would have attacked you in mass! You might have been stung so many times that the venom from them might have stopped your ungrateful heart! At this very moment, you could be staring through peepholes in the doorway to Valhalla, wondering how to get in. But you will never be allowed in! Not for getting stung to death by mad hornets! Whatever possessed you to grab a hornets’ nest and heave it at that two-headed monster, anyway?!”
“I wanted to distract it,” Loki admitted suddenly on the defensive.
“You stunned it! And anything else watching! Nothing, neither man nor beast, had ever seen a maneuver like that before!”
“I don’t know why the hornets turned, though, and attacked me. They were supposed to kill the two-headed monster, or at least drive it away.”
“It could’ve been that the two-headed monster was too stunned to move while you were hollering in victory and causing your horse to caper around and stomp the ground as if it knew there were some mares nearby that were needing to be bred. You both were the most logical thing out there for the hornets to attack. Everything else was frozen in place, including me and the two-headed monster.”
“Then why weren’t the hornets headed for my horse instead of me if the spunky creature was so animated?”
“They probably were. But you were in direct fire. And I couldn’t take the chance that you weren't attacked also. I had to make certain that you weren’t injured. You were bound to suffer a lot of stings simply because you were on the horse. I had to get you to safety as quickly as I could. So, I just acted on instinct.”
“By roping me out of the saddle and dragging me through a mud hole ordinarily occupied by hogs? I didn’t know you even knew how to form a lasso, let alone could twirl a lariat and could actually catch something with it.”
Thor grinned with understandable pride. “I did actually amaze myself on that one. I just picked up the skill from watching old Westerns on television.”
Loki shook his head in disbelief. “Education for the masses,” he muttered. "Better than the one-room country schoolhouses of a bygone era." He thought about the irony of it all, and how it was lost on someone like Thor, one of the many people who needed to understand it the most.
Thor was feeling pretty good about the situation by now. “Come on, Loki. Surely you can see the humor of all this.”
“Let me throw a rope around you and pull you out of the saddle when you don’t know it’s going to happen and are concentrating on keeping control of your capering horse. Then let me drag you across the rough ground of a freshly plowed field and through a mud hole that wouldn’t have been half bad if dirty water had been the only thing in it. And then we’ll see just how lighthearted you are about the whole joyous experience afterward!”
“Oh, Loki, Loki, so touchy about the least little thing!” Thor declared with a fake hearty laugh. “Here! Here! Just see what we have to eat! That will make you feel better! Food is always welcomed for a weary soul!” he said, trying to distract him by shoving him toward the tiny table and two chairs that apparently passed for a dining room in this single room. "I got us some salt and vinegar potato chips. And pudding cups made with real milk! And, and strawberry pop tarts! And raisin granola bars! All sorts of delicious treats! And they hit all four food groups!" He was trying too hard and sounding like an ass even to himself. But he felt that this was very important to get Loki to eat something.
Loki looked at the fare suspiciously. “Slim Jims? What is Slim Jims? Are they supposed to be the first-class protein part of this banquet? Where did you obtain this collection of foodstuffs anyway?”
“They were part of the snacks available at the front desk! The Slim Jims are considered to be quite a delicacy, I understand!”
“They look like the dried-up reproductive organs of terribly emaciated male bovines.”
“Oh, Loki, Loki, such a card!” Thor declared with a face-cracking grin. "Next you will be telling me that the cows will be bawling because their fellas have been robbed of their most alluring feature!"
“Hmm. They are quite tasty despite how they look,” Loki noted as he chewed a bite of the springy treat. “And they are satisfying my hunger, I find.”
“See? I thought you might like them! Here! Here, dig into some of this other stuff, too!” Thor said as he slapped Loki on the back. “All you have to do is give something a halfway decent chance. You may even find you like it." His eyes sparkled as he gave Loki a fond look that lasted maybe a heartbeat longer than it should have. The moment seemed to change from something jolly to feeling quite personal. "At least that’s what I’ve always found to be true,” Thor told him softly as he stared warmly into his eyes as Loki realized that Thor probably wasn't talking about Slim Jims anymore.
Thor being sentimental and actually saying that he liked Loki?! Unbelievable!
Loki’s first reaction was to mutter, “Oh, please!” as he turned away. But something in him cautioned that now was not the time for sarcasm or to be making light of the moment. Thor was trying to make amends for what had happened. So, Loki should give him that opportunity. And the benefit of a doubt. After all, without Thor's intervention, Loki could now be in serious trouble from being stung severely by hornets.
Thor also realized that the subject needed to be changed, and fast. He did not quite understand why, but some instinct knew that things were headed for a path that they should not be exploring. Not now. Maybe not ever.
But that did not make sense. It was just Loki. But then, something was different. Something had shifted since they had pulled each other out of that hog lot, and Thor felt that it centered on them being in a strange motel room and dressed in skimpy clothing with the prospect of sharing a single narrow bed together overnight.
Neither one of them was a saint. They were, after all, gods who lived broader lives than ordinary men. But they were also men of flesh and bone with certain appetites and needs. And they were both experienced in the ways of love.
But that did not mean that they had to fuck each other senseless just because they had the opportunity, Thor reminded himself.
Should they? If so, then why could he not seem to breathe deeply enough to satisfy his lungs?
“You are having deep thoughts again,” Loki prompted in the too quiet room.
Thor looked up. “Hmm?”
“I can hear the wheels turning inside your head. That indicates that something is going on inside. A rather unique experience for you, I expect.”
“I am thinking,” Thor muttered with a frown of concentration, but not about what he had just answered. It was just a general statement that people will utter when not really concentrating on what they are saying but know that they must make some sort of response.
And it showed, at least it did to Loki who answered in kind.
“That’s what people generally do when they have deep thoughts,” Loki mocked. “They think.”
Thor finally heard Loki’s sarcasm. He stared at him, focusing on him at last. “Get in that bed!” he bellowed, pointing to their sparse accommodations. “Now! And stop putting off the inevitable!”
“What? No unique date in an exquisite setting?" Loki drawled in a dry, barely tolerant voice. "No special dinner? No charming evening? Just, just... at it?”
“I dragged you through a dritt-choked mud hole and fed you Slim Jims! What more could you want?! How more unique could I get?!” Thor roared, and the wind outside considered stirring to life while some thunder did begin to rumble uneasily in a distant cloud.
“You are stirring up something you shouldn’t,” Loki reminded him, thinking about the nervous weather conditions outside.
“That is what I am trying to prevent!” Thor responded, still thinking about what a great opportunity it was to have casual sex and trying to be a good guy and avoid it.
Loki of course didn't understand. He cocked his head to the side. “You know, I have studied the writings of the great philosophical thinkers, and I have even had the opportunity to study with some of them at their feet. And yet I will never be able to understand what you are talking about half of the time.”
“That is because we talk a different language, you and I!”
Loki was thunder-struck, his mouth dropped open, and his eyes bugged out.
What the hell had Thor just said?!
For all of Thor’s buffoon ways, he could occasionally come up with something so deep and so inspired and yet so utterly simple (as all great philosophical theorems are) that it stunned Loki into silence and struck him with awe. This was one of those times.
Thor’s mounting temper cooled, and he straightened with sudden concern. “What? What is wrong? Are you ill?”
“Going to be, I believe,” Loki answered in a hollow voice as he moved robot-like toward the bed.
“What caused it?! Was it the Slim Jims?! If you're having digestive problems, don’t get in the bed!” he ordered. “The bathtub is already filled with our clothing! Don’t get the sheets dirty, too! We wouldn't be able to wash it all!”
Loki stopped and gave him a perplexed look. “What in the hell are you talking about?”
Thor looked exasperated. “To be honest, at this point, I really don’t know for sure anymore,” he admitted honestly. "I just know that I must protect you. Because a lot of the time, you really don't seem to realize the danger you are facing. And I have watched you die too many times to take your safety for granted. And I just can't face doing that anymore. I don't know what I'd do without you somewhere in my life."
Loki stopped and gave him a mellow half-smile. Thor really did love him. It wasn't just because Frigga had said he should or because they had been raised as brothers. It was an actual fact. Somewhere brotherly sentiment had become ingrained in Thor and couldn't be lost easily despite Thor's blundering ways and quick temper. “You weren't really cut out to be patient with me, were you?”
Thor looked about defeated. “I try. I really try. But sometimes it’s a challenge,” he admitted.
And your trying is what makes you so incredibly important to me, Loki thought to himself but couldn't quite come out and say. Aloud, he informed Thor, "Well, at least I help you to stay alert and vigilant."
Thor could only agree with that, he decided with a silent sigh.
Then Loki straightened his shoulders. “And now that all of that hogwash has been exchanged, perhaps we should go to bed and get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be enough of a challenge with fermenting laundry and irate neighbors complaining about the smells coming from this room.”
Thor’s eyes sparkled. “If they think that is bad, wait until I eat some pickled herring and fermented cabbage and wash it all down with ale that has not been aged long enough. The resulting aromas from me should really offend their delicate sensibilities.”
“And mine, too.” Loki pretended to be offended.
Thor studied him. “If I thought you were that sensitive, I would go sleep in the barn.”
“There is no barn here,” Loki reminded him. “This is a Twenty-First Century motel, not a Medieval inn somewhere on the back roads between Surrey and London.”
“Those hogs were bunking in somewhere!” Thor reminded him. “And that farmer was certain to take good care of them! They were his cash crop! Everything else is pretty much on its own around here! But that farmer is going to be guarding those hogs pretty closely!”
“I stand corrected,” Loki said cordially. “Very astute deductive reasoning.”
Thor rolled his head around on his shoulders. “I may not be a great philosopher, but I understand the good economics of caring for the product that will provide a living for the family.”
“Once again, very astute deductive reasoning,” Loki told him. “I’m impressed.”
“And I’m tired. Get in the bed.”
“And we’re back to where we started with your blatant demands.”
Thor closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then he opened them and snarled, “Sleep on the floor if you wish! Just don’t come whining around to me in the morning about how you ache and hurt all over. You won’t be getting any sympathy from me by doing that when there is a perfectly good bed waiting for you to hop into it--”
Loki threw aside his white terry robe and dove under the covers as the bed bounced a couple of times. “Like that?” he wanted to know.
“Well, you didn’t have to do that so literally. You could’ve broken down the bed. And then we’d both have to sleep on the floor, whether we wanted to or not.”
“Whine! Whine! Whine! Will nothing please you?!”
“Now you are going to get cranky,” Thor muttered as he sat on the bed to take off his robe and lay it carefully across the foot of the bed. With his immense size, he was careful how he got into a bed. He'd had enough of them crash beneath him to hop into them as enthusiastically as Loki had.
“Maybe it’s the company,” Loki muttered as he closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on slumber as he lay on his right side away from Thor.
Thor glanced over his shoulder at Loki. “Tomorrow, you will not like the idea of having to wear a robe that lay on the floor all night.”
“That robe is perfectly fine right where it is,” he muttered.
“Promise you won’t complain about it then.”
“Why? Did it land in a mud hole, too? And how did a mud hole open up in the last few seconds since I got into bed? Better be careful then, if you get up in the middle of the night. A bottomless pit might have opened up between here and the bathroom door. Fall in, and we might never hear from you again.”
“Well, if it’s a bottomless pit, at least I won’t have to worry about toilet facilities,” Thor said cheerfully. “It will take me a long time to fill it up.”
Loki opened one eye and glanced back at the pleasant look on Thor’s face. “I thought you said you were tired.”
“Now I want to talk.”
“And I want to sleep. That’s always the same dilemma with us. We are never at the same place at the same time.”
“Except at that mud hole full of dritt this afternoon,” Loki reminded him.
“Oh, yes, that.” Thor grinned. “Good times.”
Loki opened his one eye again. “You are laughing about what happened? You got dirty, too. The Allfather will have a dritt-hemorrhage when he learns about what happened to our clothing today. I don’t know what we will ever do about it. Laundering it might not help it.”
“Well, we could always wear it again,” Thor said amiably. “We should make quite a striking appearance at the palace when all of the distinguished dignitaries from foreign countries are trying to catch our eyes with their winsome daughters in tow for our inspection. One whiff of our persons, though, and Father’s dreams of glittering alliances based on royal romances between his two very eligible and handsome sons with equally qualifying maidens will all disappear like so much mist at sunrise on the Norse summer moors.” He chuckled. “The Allfather will go into one of his Odinsleeps the likes of which have never been seen before.”
Loki turned halfway in bed. “Did you suffer a head wound when you fell with me into the mud hole, and it is just making itself known? Are you needing a physician?”
“No. Think about it, Loki. We can blackmail the Allfather as much as we want.”
Loki sat up in bed. “You are needing a physician. I will fetch one for you,” he said as he prepared to throw the bedding aside.
“And just how are you planning on summonsing medical help for me? In your skivvies? Or will you take time to don your equally alluring terry robe to scamper through the hallways? You should make quite a picture in either costume you choose.”
“I believe that landlord gave us children’s robes and then had a hardy chuckle at the thought of us trying to wear them.”
“At least we still have our skivvies. Otherwise, when we bend over in our robes, all of our secrets would be revealed.”
“Oh, go to sleep, Thor,” Loki demanded as he rolled over on his right side again.
Thor glanced at Loki’s back. “Yeah. See you in the morning,” he said at last, then gave Loki’s upthrust hip a friendly pat before flopping down on his left side. As mellow as Thor was feeling, it was almost a love tap.
All might have been well if Loki wouldn’t have grunted in pain. But he did, and that made Thor look back at him over his shoulder again.
“What’s wrong? Glass ass? I didn’t slap you that hard. You would have known it if I had,” he said with a secret grin as he contemplated paddling Loki's backside in earnest. Then he sobered. Odd that he had never thought about something like that before. Loki had a very sweet ass, and it could probably take to spanking for pleasure very well.
A decided jolt shot through Thor as he contemplated the many pleasures of paddling Loki’s sweet ass in earnest and watching it turn a bright, quivering dark red under his stinging hands.
“I think I fell on it when I landed in that mud hole," Loki answered. "I didn’t know it was that sensitive, though, until you slapped it just now. You woke it up.”
What in the hell was Loki blathering about now?!
“What in the hell are you blathering about now?” Thor echoed, still distracted by visions of Loki's reddening ass.
“You asked me why I grunted when you struck me just now,” Loki answered patiently. “You brought up the subject, not me.”
“That’s because you grunted.”
Loki rolled his eyes in exasperation. He hoped that nobody with any brains was listening to this brilliant conversation. He certainly wasn’t proud of it. Thor might be another matter. He’d even managed words of three syllables. That was probably quite a feat for him.
“Loki? Have you lost interest? Or forgotten what I asked? Or gone to sleep? You've gotten so quiet. But I can see that your eyes are open. They are shining in the dark.”
Loki sighed. Perhaps people who spoke with words containing three syllables or more were beyond his league now, also. Perhaps Thor was the only one Loki was now fit to be around now, especially with his new limited mental and speaking capacity.
But he knew he must answer. Even though Thor’s voice had mocking in it, it also had concern. Bless him, Thor would always be concerned. It was as much a blessing as a curse to him as it was to Loki with his constant concern about Thor. That was the burden of being a brother, he supposed.
“I hurt my leg when I fell today,” Loki explained patiently. “I think a muscle must be pulled in it.”
“Want me to rub it?” Thor asked innocently.
Loki was glad that his head was turned so Thor couldn’t see his face. But… Thor with his hand on Loki’s ass?! What hell!
What pleasure!
What hell! What sweet, sweet hell! And it was his alone to bear!
For how could Thor ever realize how Loki longed for Thor to do just that!