Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/5181089.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Rape/Non-Con, Underage
  Category:
      M/M
  Fandom:
      Thor_(Movies), Thor_-_All_Media_Types
  Relationship:
      Loki/Thor
  Character:
      Loki_(Marvel), Thor_(Marvel), Laufey_(Marvel), Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg_
      (Marvel), Steve_Rogers, Frigga_(Marvel), Odin_(Marvel), Tony_Stark_
      (Marvel), Bruce_Banner_(Marvel), Natasha_Romanova, Ronan_the_Accuser,
      Sigyn_(Marvel), Heimdall_(Marvel)
  Additional Tags:
      Extremely_Dubious_Consent, Sexual_Coercion, Loki's_15, Thor's_Pretty_Much
      a_Bad_Guy_(With_a_Few_Redeeming_Qualities), Thor's_Entitled_and_a_Bit_of
      a_Sadist, Underage_Sex, Age_Difference, Blackmail, Rough_Sex, Alternate
      Universe, Mentions_of_Organized_Crime, Laufey's_a_Good_Dad_(But_Just
      Isn't_At_Home_as_Much_as_He_Should_Be), Humiliation, Emotional
      Manipulation, Drama, Angst, teenage_emotions
  Stats:
      Published: 2015-12-09 Updated: 2017-12-28 Chapters: 10/? Words: 106747
****** Side Projects ******
by Laydee_Liesmith
Summary
     It's summer-break and Loki's dad has hired a team of contractors to
     work on their new house. New as in just-moved in; there's nothing new
     about the old, rickety Victorian he's forced them to move into. And
     Loki's bitter—bitter about the move, not knowing anyone in this new
     town, and having to leave his few (but important) friends. But his
     father said they needed a fresh start and that was that, all of
     Loki’s protests falling on deaf ears.
     Now, Loki tries to ignore the team of workers who have taken over his
     back-yard as they embark on a much-needed reno project. But, the one
     with the long blonde hair and the boming voice has taken a special
     liking to him. He flirts, he winks; he goes out of his way to tease
     Loki. Loki finds himself spending more time talking to "Thor" than he
     would like. He also finds himself blushing around Thor more than he
     would like. One day, Thor stumbles across Loki doing something he
     really shouldn't be... and suddenly Thor has decided to make Loki his
     after-work "project."
***** Chapter 1 *****
A/N: A few preemptive warnings.  This isn’t a romance.  It’s a twisty, dark
Thorki tale.  Yeah, there will be some feels (mostly on Loki’s part, but Thor
might surprise you too).  But that’s not really the “point.”  We should also
talk a little about the consent issues here, since the fic is tagged “extremely
dubious consent.”  Off the bat, Loki is fifteen—he can’t consent, even if he
thinks he can, and Thor, being an adult, should know better.  With that said,
this first chapter (ending) is probably closer to a non-con.  As the
“relationship” progresses, things will get blurrier and thus transition into
more of a dub-con.  They’re not blurry right now, though.  So, “trigger
warning” if you need one.  I intend it to be a PWP, but angsty plot always
seems to sneak its way into my fics, so we shall see!  Also, warning for
homophobic language :{. (Bad Thor is Bad)
===============================================================================
Loki watched miserably out of the second-floor window as the contractors began
unloading their van.  His father had told him to expect construction to start
that morning, but Loki had forgotten and had been more than a little miffed
when the clattering sound had woken him up.  It was barely 10am.  Having been
roughly roused from his sleep, he had angrily stomped over to the window and
looked down to figure out what was going on.
 
He and his father had moved into an old Victorian almost two weeks ago. The
place was practically falling apart (in Loki’s opinion), but his father had
said he had gotten a ‘steal’ on it and with the money they had made from
selling their house in upstate New York, they could make any number of
renovations to it and still have lots left over for other important plans for
the future (namely, Loki’s college, as his father had reminded him when Loki
had complained for the umpteenth time about not wanting to move).  
 
Loki had made sure to tell his dad he likely wouldn’t even make it to college
if he had to go to school with kids he didn’t know.  He had also accused his
father of being heartless for picking him up, at the end of his sophomore year
no less, and forcing him to move to a new town.  It had been almost three years
since Loki’s mother had died (a few weeks before Loki’s thirteenth birthday),
and his father had said that he was tired of living with the “ghosts” of their
past. 
 
That was the only part Loki had remotely agreed on.  The reminders of his
mother had been hard.  It wasn’t just the house.  Everyone in their town had
known her.  Everyone still looked at Loki and his father with pity.  And it had
just been one of those tragic things.  No one could have prevented the
accident.  No one had done anything wrong, so there had been no one to
“blame.”  Farbauti’s car had skidded on a patch of black ice while she was
driving over the bridge on the way home from work at the hospital late one
night.  She had gone over the divider, and plunged into the freezing waters. 
The coroner’s report had said that she had died quickly; hadn't suffered very
much.  But that knowledge hadn’t made it hurt any less.  And it hadn’t made it
any easier to deal with. 
 
Sighing, Loki shook his head to clear it of the painful thoughts.  His mother
had died when he was twelve.  He was fifteen now (sixteen in just four months),
but whenever he thought of his mother he always returned to that moment when
his father sat him down and told him his mom wouldn’t be coming home again; he
was keenly aware of feeling like a child.  Frowning, Loki tried to distract
himself with what was going on below his window.  Eyes tracking the length of
the expansive backyard (that clearly needed a good amount of landscaping work),
Loki could see that the workers had unloaded quite a lot of their supplies
already.  He saw wheelbarrows, tools, large bags of what he guessed was cement
or mortar, piles of lumber and bricks.  The backyard looked nothing like what
it had looked like last night.
 
Hearing a car door slam, he glanced toward the end of the yard and saw a large
utility van with the words “Borson Family Contractors” emblazoned on its side
in red, gold and black.  Loki couldn’t really tell what kind of “family” the
Borsons were, since the men who were making trips to and from the truck were
about as dissimilar as possible. 
 
There was a towering, yet quite portly, man with fire-red hair and a massive
beard.  Even though his figure was quite intimidating, Loki noticed that his
face was often split into a wide grin, and the skin around his eyes crinkled
with mirth.  Almost as a complete opposite, was a placid-looking Asian man.  He
was so serious that Loki was sure he hadn’t seen the man smile once the entire
morning.  But Loki often found him watching the others, like a silent
protector.  And he was always the first one at one of his friends’ sides to
lend a hand when someone stumbled while carrying something or otherwise needed
help.  Then there was a slender blonde.  He didn’t seem the type to be in
construction, and Loki noted that he tended to slack off and carry less when he
could get away with it.  But from what Loki could tell, looking down from his
window, this man seemed to be the cause of much amusement and sometimes
watching his antics even got Loki to let out a small huff of laughter. 
 
Lastly, there was the tall, muscular blonde.  He was wearing a white,
sleeveless t-shirt and light-colored jeans that hugged his powerful-looking
legs nicely.  His hair was sun-streaked blonde and pulled back into a tiny bun
at the nape of his neck.  He had a black bandanna hanging loosely around his
neck, and a scruffy blonde beard framing full lips.  But, most importantly, he
seemed to be the boss.
 
He appeared a little younger than the others, but they all seemed to wait
around for instructions from him when it came to what they would be unloading
next. Loki couldn’t tell his eye color from so far away, but he saw that the
man smiled a lot with his eyes.  He also smiled a lot with huge grins.  He
often took to slapping the others on the shoulder when he was laughing.  But
even though he seemed to be friends with all of them, he also carried an air of
leadership around him. 
 
But Loki didn’t find that all that surprising.  With his sturdy, statuesque
frame (Loki was guessing he had to be at least6’2” and probably taller), and
bulging muscles, he was sculpted like a Greek God.  He was the kind of guy
people followed.  And looking at him, Loki found himself immediately
resentful.  This big, blonde hulk of a man was everything Loki knew he was not
and further reminded him how “out of place” he really was.  Everyone here was
tan and rugged-looking.  It seemed like they liked to “get their hands dirty;”
like they were the outdoorsy types. 
 
Loki, instead, was used to urban jungles, indoor activities, and using his mind
instead of his hands—he was “artsy.”  With his long black hair (that often
ended up stubbornly curling into soft waves, no matter how much he straightened
it), pale skin and thin, lanky frame he knew he would stick out like a sore
thumb here.  He knew it didn’t help that he gravitated to dark clothing and
liked to paint his nails (usually black, but sometimes a dark green, blue or
even red when he was feeling especially feisty).  He was sure none of those
guys down in the yard would “get” him. 
 
Cracking his window so he could let the air in (or that was what he told
himself), Loki pressed himself closer to the glass so he could see down as the
workers began to make their way around the side of the house.  Along with the
soft warm breeze blowing in came the mixed sounds of summer.  Lawn-mowers
churning in the distance, birds chirping, dogs barking, kids laughing.  And
over all that he heard a deep, rumbling laugh.
 
Green eyes looking on curiously as he tried to figure out which one of them had
made the sound, Loki watched the big blonde one as he slapped the burly red-
head on the back.  Then he threw his head back, sun glinting off of his tresses
and lips pulled up into a wide grin, and let out another resounding laugh. 
Loki frowned as he felt his stomach do a small flip.  That wasn’t good.   
===============================================================================
Thor stopped to swipe his bandana over his forehead after he set down a pallet
of paving stones.  As he wiped the sweat off his brow, he looked up at the sky
and the bright sun sitting high on the horizon.   Then his eyes trailed to the
forms of his three best friends as they each continued to unload the large
cargo van. 
 
The project they were working on was set to be a massive undertaking.  In
addition to making updates and general renovations to the house and landscaping
the neglected yard and poorly-maintained pool, they were contracted to add an
addition on to the first floor of the house.  It would take at least six weeks,
if everything went off without a hitch, but Thor could already imagine that two
months was probably more realistic.  But Thor didn’t really mind.  He actually
liked working with his hands. 
 
He had been doing work like this for as long as he could remember. This was his
father’s company, and Thor had always known since he was little that he would
inherit the business.  He had been average in school, and definitely better
than above average at sports, but he could never see the point in exploring his
interests in those areas further when he already knew what was waiting for him
at the end. 
 
Odin had made it clear that Thor was meant to “inherit.”  And, Thor was fine
with that—he was good at what he did.  But sometimes it was a little tedious to
pretend to be just like everyone else.  He never really understood why his
father still fed into the “nice family business” routine, when there was a lot
more to it than that.  While Thor knew he would inherit the family construction
business, he also knew he would inherit the real “family” business. 
 
Odin Borson was the leader of the Borson Group, one of the most notorious, and
long-standing, organized crime families in the country.  Odin was so old school
that he no longer had to show any real muscle to have anyone do what he said. 
But, Thor had heard stories of how formidable his father had been in the old
days.  That just the word “Odin” was enough to strike fear into the hearts of
grown men.  And Odin prided himself on this; knowing that he was so
respected—so feared—that he no longer hadto engage in violent showings of his
authority.  And everyone also knew it to be a fact that if Odin ever
werepushed, he still had the power, and the following, to make any opposing
faction regret that decision. 
 
And even though Thor was proud to be part of such a respected crime family, he
resented the fact that he had missed out on those days of the past.  He had
pent up energy in him and wouldn’t mind being tasked to crack some heads open,
if his father needed him to.  When he had been younger, Thor had found himself
making up reasons to start trouble, claiming that it was in the name of
defending his family’s turf or the “Borson name.” He had found himself in more
fist fights than he could remember. 
 
He had even tried to deal on the side, to show his father that he was man
enough to manage his own parts of the business.  But, at 14, Thor hadn’t been
as smart as he had imagined himself, and he had been picked up by the cops more
than a few times.  Odin had been displeased, railing on Thor about the
stupidity of developing a juvenile record.  However, Odin’s influence was far-
reaching and every time Thor had been picked up by the police, he was walking
out not more than four hours later with the infraction miraculously wiped from
his record.  It had gotten to the point that the police had just stopped taking
note of him when they realized it was “Borson’s kid.” But, knowing that no one
took him seriously—that they expected his “Daddy” would always come and save
him—Thor had stopped acting out as a kid.  He hadn’t wanted to gain his clout
that way. 
 
Thor scowled a bit as he spit at the ground, as if the memory left a bad taste
in his mouth.  Now, at almost 25, his father still thought he was not “mature”
enough to really be tasked with runningthe business.  Sure, Thor controlled his
own little subset of members of the gang; he made his own money for the group. 
But his duties still reeked of “training wheels.”  The members he controlled
consisted of mostly young newbies who wanted to get in good with the Borson
ring.  Finding the job almost like babysitting them, Thor would look for any
reason to give them something to do, and sometimes had them take care of petty
things like picking up protection payments, or facilitating drop-offs. 
 
But, Thor really only ever relied on his “Warriors Three” (as they so liked to
be called, and had gotten screened on the back of their custom-made leather
jackets) when a big job was going down.  If they were moving hundreds of
thousands of dollars in merchandise, drugs, or bodies, Thor would show up with
his three best men and two guns each.  And, if push came to shove, Thor was
more than happy to wail on someone with his bare hands—he didn’t work out for
nothing.  But being tasked with those types of jobs were rare.  Odin still
seemed to have a lack of faith in him—claiming he was still too much of a
hothead to keep his cool if something went down.  Thor did not want to give the
old man any reason to doubt him further. 
 
So, he kept his mouth shut about the construction jobs.  He had had too many
arguments with his father, when he was still in his late teens, about how much
more profit they could be raking in if they stopped with the pretense and went
completely underground.  But Odin had quickly spat back in his face that the
fact that Thor didn’t understandwhy it made more sense to appear “legitimate”
in the community further solidified Odin’s  belief that he was not ready to
lead the Borson group.
 
Thor realized that he just had to wait.  He had to wait for Odin to get old
enough that he would feel too tired to want to maintain a tight grip on the
organization.  Or, by some off chance of fate, actually believe Thor had proven
himself enough to be trusted to be his right-hand man (that job was currently
held by his father’s oldest friend, Tyr).  In the meantime, he would do what
his father asked.  He just wished there was something more to break up the
monotony.  Without that, this summer would be mind-numbingly boring.
 
Looking back at the looming Victorian behind him, Thor re-tied his bandana and
sighed as he started to make his way back to the cargo van. 
===============================================================================
It was almost two in the afternoon when Loki was quite rudely dragged out of
his online game by his father’s insistent voice calling his name.  Looking up
with displeasure, Loki pulled off his headphones that had (for the most part)
drowned out all outside noise.  Loki knew his father hated it when he had his
volume turned all the way up (because Loki could never hear Laufey then) so he
had made a habit of keeping it at a moderate level. That didn’t mean Laufey
still didn’t have to shout to get Loki’s attention.  He had remarked more times
than Loki cared to count about how he really regretted having bought them for
Loki in the first place. 
 
“Loki, are you really going to just stay cooped up in the house all day?”
Laufey asked from his position in the doorway of the living room.  He had
stopped there on his way back to his makeshift home office when he saw his lazy
son sprawled on the living room couch with his laptop perched on his chest,
chewing noisily on a Twizzler.   
 
Loki raised a dark, delicately arched eyebrow at his father, red candy hanging
from his lips, as if wondering if the man was serious.
 
Laufey sighed.
 
“I brought you here for a fresh start, Loki.  And part of that is for you to
get rid of this affected, morose, ‘I’m so misunderstood’ thing you’ve got going
on,” Laufey said as he crossed his arms over his chest. 
 
Loki’s father was so “understanding” and patient with Loki most of the time
that Loki sometimes forgot how impressive the man was when he was trying to be
intimidating.  He stood almost at 6’5” with severe (yet straight, Loki thought
with resentment) black hair, piercing green eyes and a powerful build.  So very
much unlikeLoki, except for the coloring.  Loki often wondered if seeing him
made his father think of his mother.  He definitely noticed his father had
seemed to be able to look at him far less since his mother had died.  Sometimes
Loki purposefully went out of way to antagonize his father because if he got a
rise out of him then his father would look at him.  Even if it was with a look
of exasperation or annoyance.  All Loki wanted was his attention. 
 
“I want you to get outside more.  Explore.  Get some fresh air,” Laufey said,
sighing again.
 
“I’m never going to be a Boy Scout, dad,” Loki said as he rolled his eyes and
turned his attention back to the game in front of him.  “I’m too old for that
stuff anyway.”
 
“I’m not asking you to hike up a mountain, Loki,” Laufey said, voice starting
to transform into what Loki remembered as his father’s “stern” tone.
 
Glancing up, Loki could see that Laufey was frowning.
 
“Why don’t you go outside and look at the work that’s being done.  You could
ask the boys out back to show you what their plans are and things like that. 
Maybe it’ll get you interested in the field.  Maybe architecture’s up your
alley,” Laufey offered. “It’s never too early to start thinking about what you
want to pursue in college.”
 
Loki couldn’t help the laugh that slipped from between his lips.
 
“Come on, dad.  Do you really see me as the type to wear a hard hat and carry
around a hammer?” Loki asked, amused.
 
Laufey wasn’t amused.  He was a tax lawyer and an accountant, but Loki had
heard many tales of his father’s days spent in the woods with his friends when
he was a boy.  His father had also loved building things.
 
“You never know.  I suggest you take a stroll outside, Loki,” Laufey said in a
tone that made it clear that it was not up for debate. “And I’m sure the boys
would like something to drink.  So make yourself useful and put something
together.” 
 
Boys, Loki thought with an eye-roll.  They all look like they’ve been out of
high school for 10 years.  At the least.   
 
But, Loki didn’t see the utility in arguing that with his father.  From the
look Laufey was giving him, Loki knew it was time to shut his mouth.  So, with
a frustrated sigh, he closed his laptop and pulled the headphones from around
his neck, then got to his feet.  He adjusted his baggy green t-shirt and his
black skinny jeans before running a hand through his tousled hair and giving
his father a petulant look.  Seeming satisfied that his son was actually
mobile, Laufey gave him a curt nod and continued his way down the hall. 
===============================================================================
Standing in the kitchen, looking out into the backyard, Loki hesitated for a
moment, a tray of lemonades resting in his hands.  He didn’t know why he was
anxious about meeting the contractors.  Yes, they all seemed kind of buff and a
bit rough around the edges, but what’s the worst that could really happen?  In
any case, they were workingfor his father.  Loki couldn’t really imagine a
scenario in which they would be downright mean to him.  But, for some reason
the idea of being forced to make small talk with people he doubted would have
any real interest in him made him anxious. 
 
Feeling frustrated with himself, Loki let out a huff and pushed the screen door
open with his shoulder, stepping out into the backyard.  The group of
contractors were standing together around a shallow trench in the ground.  One
of them—the dark-haired one—was digging, but the others were just standing
around with the shovels in their hands.  They seemed more like they were
hanging out than anything else.  As Loki got closer, he could hear that deep
laugh from the tall, broad blonde one and he felt his stomach clench strangely.
 
Shaking his head, Loki coughed to draw their attention once he was close enough
and the foursome turned around in surprise.  Loki flinched as he felt four
pairs of eyes land on him.  The dark-haired man’s gaze was curious, while the
large red-headed man’s eyes showed surprise.  The smaller blonde looked at him
with amusement.  And the big, blonde one, well… he looked at him with
suspicion.  He probably had the least friendly look of them all.
 
“What’s this?” the amused blonde one asked as he stepped forward, a friendly
smile on his face.
 
Loki shrugged, blushing slightly under all the intense gazes.
 
“Uh… h-hi…,” Loki started, cringing internally at how wobbly his voice
sounded.   My dad wanted me to… Um, here. Drinks.”
 
Loki then held the tray out in front of him, embarrassed at his seeming
inability to articulate full sentences.  Loki was not one for getting tongue-
tied and he hated how he must look to these guys.
 
“Oh!  That’s so kind of you,” the red-headed one said as he stepped forward and
picked up one of the tall glasses.
           
“You’re Laufey’s son, huh?” the overly-friendly blonde said as he also stepped
forward.  “Well, thank you so much for the gesture.” 
 
“My name’s Fandral,” he continued as he pointed at his own chest. 
 
“And this large, and apparently manner-less, guy over here is Volstagg,”
Fandral said as he pointed to the rotund red-head who was appreciatively
gulping down the lemonade.
 
“Hogun’s the somber-looking guy down in the ditch.  And this hulking behemoth
next to me is Thor,” Fandral said as he pointed to the Asian man and the tall
blonde respectively.  
 
The four of them stared at him quietly until Loki realized that he was now
expected to make introductions.
 
“Oh! Um… I’m Loki,” he muttered, feeling like a complete idiot.
           
“Loki,” the red-head said as he grinned.  “Well, such a pleasure to meet you
and thanks for being so nice and preparing these drinks for us.  This really
hit the spot!  Come on boys, you should get in on this.”
 
The other three stepped forward, Fandral more enthusiastically than “Thor” and
“Hogun,” who both remained silent, but at least they took the offered drink.
 
After that, the conversation seemed to flow a bit easier, with the contractors
trying to engage him in conversation.  They asked him how he liked the new
house and if there was anything he was particularly looking forward to.  Loki
still felt uncomfortable, and so his responses consisted of muttered short
answers as he kicked at the grass.
 
He was also acutely aware of the feeling of Thor’s gaze on him.  Thor remained
silent for most of the conversation, but Loki could tell the bigger man’s eyes
were roving over him, as if he was trying to make sense of him.  He hated that
Thor made him feel self-conscious and exposed, even though he was covered from
head-to-toe, standing there in his oversized t-shirt and black jeans.  Feeling
bothered by the intensity of the stare, but still a bit too sheepish to call
him on it, Loki gripped the tray in his hands tightly, fingernails digging into
the smooth, lacquered wood.
  
 “Hmm…” Thor finally said, the sound of his voice causing Loki to glance up at
him.
 
He was smirking at Loki, the skin around his eyes creasing slightly.  Up close,
Loki could now tell that he had crystal blue eyes, framed by thick blonde
lashes.  And while this would be charming on anyone else, paired with that
smug-looking smirk, it only served to put Loki on edge.   
 
“You borrow that nail polish from your sister or something?” Thor asked, as his
eyes glanced down to Loki’s fingers. 
 
Loki gaped at Thor.  He could see that Thor was clearly mocking him, and
resented it immensely.  Loki’s eyebrows drew down in anger as he unconsciously
hid his hands behind his back.  He had forgotten his nails were decked out in a
coat of black paint.  It was such an everyday part of his attire that he hadn’t
even thought to conceal it. 
 
“Um!  Well, Loki’s from the East Coast, Thor,” Fandral said quickly, cutting
through the tension.  “Things are different over there.  A lot more creative
and expressive.  Right, Loki?”
 
Loki’s frown softened at Fandral’s attempt, but he didn’t take his eyes off of
Thor who still sported an amused expression.
 
“It’s true that I am from the East Coast.  But that is irrelevant.  I don’t
need to explain myself to the likes of you,” Loki said as he looked Thor up and
down dismissively.  “I can wear whatever I want.  And, no, I don’t have a
sister.”
 
Thor’s eyebrows shot up, in feigned surprise at Loki’s reaction, and Loki
seethed as he could tell the older man thought of him as a joke.
 
“Okay, okay, princess,” Thor said as he held up his hands in surrender and
chuckled.  “Don’t get your panties in such a bunch.”
 
Loki almost let out a hiss at Thor’s condescending words.  But then he heard
Laufey calling for him from inside the house.  Letting out a huff of
frustration, Loki forced himself to relax as he turned on his heel, without
even saying much of a word of goodbye to Thor or his friends.
 
“Hey, kid!” Thor called after him.
 
Loki didn’t know what possessed him to stop and turn back to face him, but he
did it anyway.
 
“What??” he snapped, glaring angrily at Thor.
 
“I didn’t say I didn’t like it.  It’s a good color on you,” Thor said as he
winked.
 
He actually winked.  Loki stared at him, mouth hanging open in disbelief as he
felt his face start to heat up.  But before he could say anything in response
(although he wasn’t quite sure what he’d say) his father called for him again.
 
“Loki!!” Laufey bellowed from inside the house.
 
And that was enough to snap Loki out of his stupor.  He tossed one last glare
at Thor, before he turned on his heel and scurried into the house.
===============================================================================
“Come on, Thor,” Fandral groaned, once Loki was out of earshot.  “You can’t
talk to the kid of our employer that way.”
 
Thor shrugged disinterestedly.
 
“He’s right, Thor.  What if he goes and tells his father you’ve been picking on
him?  Laufey could drop us before we’ve even startedthe project,” Volstagg said
with an uncharacteristic frown.
 
Thor rolled his eyes.
 
“Relax.  I highly doubt he’s going to run and tell his Daddy the big bad
contractor made fun of his nail polish,” Thor said sarcastically.
 
“Thor, you should be a little more serious.  Your father isn’t going to like it
if we lose this job,” Fandral reminded. 
 
Thor turned to give him a hard look.
 
“Thanks, Fandral.  But I don’t need to be reminded about my father.  I’m in
charge of overseeing this project.  It’s not like Odin’s going to come by one
of these days and pick up a hammer.  So I don’t really see why we’re worrying
about what he thinks,” Thor said, face taking on a pinched expression.  He was
clearly unhappy with the topic of this conversation.  
 
“Odin is the one Laufey made the contract with, though. And he wouldn’t take
kindly to knowing that you’ve sullied his business reputation.  He assigned you
to this job because he trusts you.  So let’s try to make him not regret that
trust,” Hogun said, giving Thor a meaningful look.
 
Thor hated how insightful Hogun could be sometimes. 
 
“Jesus,” he groaned as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.  “You all are acting
like I held the kid’s head over a toilet and gave him a swirly.  I only teased
him a little bit.  He was practically begging for it.” 
 
Thor looked around at the faces of his unimpressed friends and let out a put-
upon sigh.
“Fine, fine.  I’ll be ‘nice,’” Thor mumbled as he rolled his eyes.
 
“That’s so very kind of you, Thor,” Fandral said with a laugh as he patted Thor
on the shoulder.  “Besides, he looks lonely.  And since he’s new here, we
should all try to make him feel better.”
 
Volstagg nodded as well.
 
“Yes, and he’s so pale and skinny.  It’d be good if he got himself outdoors
more.  He’s not going to want to do that if he’s afraid of you,” he warned.
 
Thor scoffed as he glanced towards the house and the backdoor Loki had just
entered a few minutes prior.
 
“Believe me, that kid is anything but “afraid” of me,” Thor said with a small
grin. 
===============================================================================
A week passed like this, with Loki trying to force himself to get used to his
new surroundings and the, often unpleasant, noise of construction throughout
the day.  He and his father got into almost daily tiffs about how Loki was
“wasting” his summer, and Laufey often forced him to go outside at least once
day. 
 
As a result of this, he had become a bit more comfortable with the workers in
his yard, saying hi to them when he was coming or going.  Thor was still a pain
in his side, but Loki had begun to think that it wasn’t necessarily that Thor
had a problem with him, but instead that Thor just enjoyed seeing him get all
worked up.  He was practically teasing him at every chance he got; like an
immature bully.  And that was just too strange for Loki to comprehend.  Thor
was an adult, so why wasn’t he acting like one?
 
Loki knew he had the capability.  Once or twice Loki would hear Thor in the
kitchen discussing plans with his father.  Standing at the top of the stairs,
hidden out of sight, Loki would listen in to the conversations and would always
be perplexed about how Thor sounded.  He was serious, respectful and mature. 
Loki had quickly had his suspicions confirmed that Thor was “in charge” just by
the fact that he seemed to do most of the actual paperwork with Laufey.  In
addition, during the times Loki did spend more than a few minutes talking with
the other guys, he had been informed (usually by Fandral, who was, by far, the
chattiest of the bunch) that Thor was in fact the only one out of them who was
an actual “family member” of “Borson Family Contractors” and that they were all
Thor’s good friends who he had hired to help with his father’s business.       
 
Loki didn’t know how to feel about the fact that Thor went out of his way to
pick on him.  It was never anything truly insulting.  One time, after Loki had
come back from a run and tendrils of his shoulder-length black hair had slipped
loose from the messy bun piled on top of his head, Thor had made a comment on
how curly his hair was and said it was “pretty like a girl’s.”  Another time he
had looked at Loki perplexedly, asking how he got himself into his very tight-
looking jeans.  At all times, the look Thor gave him was always intense.  As if
his eyes were looking right through Loki’s clothes; like they were devouring
him.  Loki would always flush hotly at Thor’s questions, and he knew the older
man could clearly see his reaction on his pale skin.  Then Thor would laugh and
roll his eyes as Loki, annoyed, stomped away. 
 
Today was nothing different.  Loki had just returned from the town bookstore. 
There really wasn’t much to do around here, and even though Loki had seen some
kids milling about who looked to be around his age, he hadn’t gotten desperate
enough to try to approach them yet.  He still had a whole summer to go; there
was lots of time to figure out he hated all the kids he would be going to
school with.
 
As he walked through the backyard on his way to the kitchen, he pointedly
ignored Thor and his friends, even though he could tell Thor was looking at
him.
 
“Back from Carter’s store, I see,” Thor said as he glanced down to the bag in
Loki’s hand, which was sporting the store’s logo.  “Why am I not surprised
you’re the bookish type?  What’ve you got in there?  Emo poetry about how hard
life is? And how no one really gets you?”
 
Loki came to a halt and turned to glare a Thor with an unimpressed expression.
 
“I don’t know why you seem to think anything I do concerns you in the
slightest,” he huffed out.  “But, if you’ll excuse me, I’d rather spend my time
with an intellectual pursuit, instead of losing brain cells talking to a
muscle-head like you.”
 
Loki had said the last bit quite snippily, even though all he had in his bag
were some comic books and graphic novels.  Loki knew he was pretty smart, but
he really had no plans to spend his summer on any type of academic pursuits. 
He wanted to play video games, watch TV, and read comics.  But Thor didn’t have
to know that.  Loki could use an opportunity to feel superior to the snide man
who seemed to always know just the right thing to say to make Loki feel small. 
 
Loki watched as one of Thor’s golden eyebrows lifted slightly, as if the
comment had offended him slightly, but he didn’t end up taking the bait. 
 
“Why don’t you come out here and give us a poetry session, huh?  I’m sure that
stuff would sound nice coming out of your lips,” Thor said as he looked Loki up
and down.
 
Loki tensed, feeling himself flushing again.  As usual.  Thor always said
embarrassing things.  And Loki didn’t know if it was on purpose, but they
always seemed borderline suggestive.  He glanced around to the three others who
were milling about the backyard.  They clearly seemed as if they were
pretending not to notice Thor antagonizing him.
 
With a huff of indignation, Loki rolled his eyes and tried his best not to
stamp his foot before he turned on his heel and stalked into the house.  If
this was how his summer was going to go, Loki wasn’t looking forward to it. 
===============================================================================
 “Thooor,” Fandral complained as he came up behind his taller friend.  “Why do
you keep picking on that kid?  Couldn’t you, you know… be decent?  Or try to
say something that would motivate him to stick around instead of always having
to run into the house seeming like he’s about to have a fit.  Getting that
worked up every day can’t be good for him.”
 
“This isn’t Big Brothers of America,” Thor said pointedly.  “There’s nothing in
my job description that says I have to make the kid of the guy I’m working for
want to hang out with me.  Besides, look how up-tight and snotty he is.  He’s
practically said that he thinks I’m a Neanderthal.  Trust me when I say I doubt
he’d be interested in anything I’d have to say to him.”
 
“Aww, well I wouldn’t be so sure.  Loki seems a bit more interested than I
think you’d expect,” Fandral said with a knowing smile.
 
Thor furrowed his brows as he looked at him with confusion.
 
“What’re you talking about?” he asked flatly.
 
Fandral just continued to smile as he glanced up and over Thor’s head, then
back down again, smile getting a little wider.
 
Frowning, Thor turned around and looked up to where Fandral had just glanced. 
When his eyes found the second-story windows that overlooked the backyard he
was surprised to see Loki standing there, staring down at him.  Apparently Loki
hadn’t expected to get caught and froze as soon as his eyes made contact with
Thor’s.  But then, as Thor raised an eyebrow questioningly, Loki quickly
stepped away from the window and he was gone from their sight. 
 
“See?  I’m sure he’s interested in what we’re doing out here but just doesn’t
know how to strike up a conversation and with you being so aggressive that
isn’t going to make it any easier on him.  Besides, I haven’t seen him hangout
with anyone since we started working here.  And when he leaves the house—as
rare as that is—it’s only ever for like an hour.  I’m sure he’s actually
feeling pretty alone over here,” Fandral continued. 
 
But Thor didn’t say anything as he continued to look at the now vacant
windows.  He wondered if that was Loki’s bedroom.  He also wondered if Loki had
been looking at them from there every day.  That was interesting indeed. 
 
Thor couldn’t deny that he found Loki… intriguing.  Although Loki was all long-
limbs and pale flesh—seemingly delicate on the surface—he was fiery and could
most definitely hold his own.  Thor had never really had anyone snap at him the
way Loki did, and the kid was only 15 (a fact he and his friends had found out
just a few days ago).  Maybe Loki was so bold because he was new in town and
didn’t know who Thor was; didn’t know that he should be afraid. 
 
Most people in this town understood that Thor was someone who should not be
crossed.  Even if they might not fully understand why, or what, exactly, he,
his friends, and his family were up to, they still knew enough just by looking
at him that he meant “trouble.”  Loki didn’t seem to have that sense of self-
preservation, and something about that was thrilling to Thor.  The thought that
maybe he would have a chance to teachLoki to respect him always sent a pang of
arousal to his gut.  It was a thought he often had when Loki turned those
defiant green eyes on to him.
 
And the fact that he was also quite easy on the eyes, well… Thor would keep
those thoughts to himself.   But, he really liked the look of Loki.  Small and
thin, with pretty lips and big eyes. He had skin that Thor knew would bruise
easily, but it made him all the more eager to touch.  And Thor really liked
that thick black hair.  He could tell Loki probably spent hours straightening
it, but it ultimately ended up just poofing up in the high summer heat, but
Thor liked seeing it curl.  And whenever Loki said something snarky or
dismissive to him, Thor always felt his fingers itching to just reach out and
grab him by the hair and pull until the boy was on his knees and obeying
whatever Thor said.          
 
It was interesting that he had caught Loki looking. He knew that whenever he
teased Loki the boy’s eyes always became wide and color would jump to his
cheeks.  Thor wasn’t stupid.  If Loki really had a problem with talking to him,
he would just ignore him.  Thor could tell he was smart and probably knew how
to talk his way out of most any unpleasant situation.  But Loki always stopped
when Thor called out to him; he always responded.  And Thor could tell that
when Loki came through the backyard his eyes were always scanning for him.  The
boy probably didn’t realize it, but he liked the attention Thor gave him.  And
Thor wouldn’t lie—getting Loki worked up was fun.  But he was starting to
wonder if maybe he could have a different type of fun…
===============================================================================
 
Loki wanted to kick himself when he realized that he had allowed Thor to catch
him looking.  How could he have been so stupid??  But, Loki had been looking at
Thor out of his bedroom window since the first day of the project, and the
older man had never caught him.  Loki knew it was because he had let his guard
down.  From the looks of it, Fandral had been the one to draw Thor’s attention
to Loki’s window.  He always forgot about Fandral.  Even though Fandral seemed
to be a laid back, happy-go-lucky type, he had keen eyes and seemed to observe
everything.  The other two were less involved.  Hogun barely paid him any
attention, and Volstagg, while friendly and boisterous, mostly only seemed
interested in Loki if he had some food to offer.  But, Fanrdal?  Fandral was
nosy.
 
Sighing, Loki uncurled himself from his position below the window.  He had
dropped down there as soon as his brain had been able to process that Thor was
looking at him.  To say he was embarrassed would be an understatement.  Apart
from the fact that showing Thor any kind of attention would undermine the
“indifferent” persona Loki had been able to build up when it came to Thor and
his jibes, Loki also knew it probably told Thor something else.  That, not only
was Loki’s dislike of him partially a show, but that Loki was actually
interested in him.  The thought made Loki’s face flame up in embarrassment yet
again.  Letting out a groan of frustration, he dropped his burning face into
his hands. 
 
Could this day get any worse? 
===============================================================================
A few hours later, Thor and his friends were packing up the van and getting
ready to head out for the day when they looked up to see Laufey walking briskly
out of the house and calling out to them.  When he reached them, he seemed a
little out of breath and slightly panicky.  The four men glanced between each
other, not sure what was going on. 
 
“I know I said you boys could head out for the day, but I just got called into
my office.  Seems there’s some type of emergency and I need to get over there
ASAP,” Laufey quickly began to explain.
 
“I had wanted to catch you all before you left, because Loki and I have been
having a lot of trouble in the plumbing for our upstairs bathroom.  I had hoped
I’d be able to get to it myself, today, but I doubt I’ll be back before it’s
dark out.  I just want to make sure I get that fixed before Loki and I have to
go another night with ice cold showers.  So, could one of you check it out for
me while I’m gone?  I’ll add whatever the cost is on to the bill, of course,”
Laufey said with a beseeching look.
 
Thor glanced back at his friends.  They had all just agreed to meet up at the
local bar for drinks and a couple games of pool.  Everyone had been looking
forward to it.  He didn’t want to cut into their evening by asking one of them
to do it.  And, besides, if it was an easy fix Thor figured he’d be able to
meet up with them within the hour.
 
“No worries,” Thor said, as he forced a smile.  “I’ll check it out for you and
give it the old Borson stamp of approval.  I’m sure I’ll have your pipes
working good as new.”
 
Fandral, Hogun and Volstagg were silent behind him, but Thor could sense the
change in their demeanor.  They all seemed relieved.  And Laufey’s bright grin
as well informed Thor that his “sacrifice” had been greatly appreciated.
 
“That’s great, Thor.  Thank you so much.  Seriously. That really helps me out,”
Laufey said as he patted Thor on his shoulder.  “Loki’s in the house, so if you
need anything just holler for him.  And when you’re on your way out, just make
sure to let him know so he can lock up behind you.”
 
Before Thor could say another word, Laufey was slinging his satchel over his
shoulder and hurriedly making his way to his car. 
===============================================================================
Loki was somewhat relieved when his father hurriedly told him he had to run to
the office.  Of course, he wasn’t happy that there seemed to be some kind of
emergency in the new office-space.  But, Laufey had been home every day since
they moved.  He had said he thought it was important that he be around in the
first few weeks to ensure Loki’s transition to the new house and neighborhood. 
He wasn’t set to start work “full time” until the end of the summer, but had
agreed to work on a few cases part-time until then.  But Laufey had made sure
to promise Loki that, as part of their “fresh start,” he would be better at
being home for dinner and around on the weekends.  He told Loki he really
intended to be there for him.
 
That was all fine and dandy with Loki (to an extent; Laufey was trying a bit
too hard to be his dad and his mom).  But Laufey’s constant presence was
starting to become somewhat smothering.  Especially because it had started to
cramp Loki’s style.  Loki had barely had a moment to himself, and, more
importantly, a chance to jack off in peace since they moved.  And a furtive
quick tug in the bathroom—purely for relief, not for fun—wasn’t the way he
liked to do it.  
 
But now that Laufey had been called into the office—having only been able to
promise Loki that he would try to make it back at least for dinner if the
crisis wasn’t as major as the assistant had made it seem—Loki figured he had at
least a couple of hours to be alone.  And what did Loki want to do in that
alone time?  Watch porn. 
 
Loki liked watching videos of boys being dominated by bigger, stronger men.  At
first, he didn’t know why he liked it so much.  His interest in porn had
started like any general first foray—it had been vanilla.  But soon he had
gotten bored and found himself looking at videos of women dominating men. 
Those had made his heart beat faster and eyes widen.  It was the idea that
someone could be in control of a man, be in control of him. But soon after
that, he had started to realize that that just wasn’t enough for him.  Maybe it
was because the women didn’t appeal to him as much, or maybe it was because he
couldn’t imagine himself in the scenarios.  So he had kept searching. 
 
And when he had stumbled across his first gay video—and came harder than he
ever had before—he hadn’t known what to think about his reaction. All he knew
was that watching it had made his mouth go dry, his heart beat faster, and his
body heat up.  And somewhere deep down inside he knew that part of the reason
he liked it so much was because those strong, demanding men were everything
Loki wasn’t.  They were the complete opposite of him.  And when he imagined
himself in the place of those boys, he didn’t think of himself as weak. It just
felt “right.” Even now, he didn’t think there was any point in analyzing what
liking those videos really meant.  He told himself it didn’t say anything about
him at all. They were just… a hobby.
 
Slipping on his headphones as he plugged them into his computer, Loki quickly
typed in the address for his favorite site.  He also made sure to get his
supplies out which consisted of copious amounts of tissues and a small bottle
of lube. 
 
He hesitated for a second, hand hovering over the button to his jeans,
wondering if the coast was really “clear” for him to do this.  Loki was pretty
sure his dad said the contractors were done for the day, but even if they
weren’t, there would be no need for any of them to come upstairs.  So, grinning
to himself, Loki quickly pulled the zipper down and slipped out of his jeans. 
===============================================================================
Thor took the stairs two at a time, glad for the thick carpeting which muffled
the sounds of his heavy work-boots hitting the floor beneath.  He didn’t need
Loki—wherever the kid was—complaining to his dad about him clomping around
their house.
 
As he arrived on the upstairs landing, Thor paused and looked around a bit. 
There didn’t seem to be much up there except for rooms, as he could only see
one hallway and 4 doors.  Laufey had shouted to Thor over his shoulder that the
bathroom was at the opposite end of the hallway. 
 
There were a few pictures on the walls in the hallway.  Some were clearly
school photos of Loki when he was in elementary school.  Others had a woman
with curly dark hair and blue eyes.  He immediately recognized that she must be
Loki’s mother.  While Loki very clearly had his father’s coloring, it was
apparent that his fine facial features came from his mother.  Even his skin
tone.  Laufey wasn’t anywhere near as tan as Thor and his friends, but he had a
ruddier complexion than his almost porcelain-pale son. 
 
Shrugging to himself, Thor decided it’d be best to keep his mind focused on
what he came here to do.  His friends were waiting for him down at the bar. 
Stepping further down the hallway, boots practically mute on the carpeted
floors, he noticed that the door to the left of the bathroom was cracked
slightly open.  He wondered for a second if Loki was actually upstairs, but he
didn’t hear any noises coming from inside. 
 
He had a sudden desire to know what Loki’s room was like; how the boy lived.
 But he didn’t think it was worth it for him to be found snooping around. With
his luck, as soon as he pushed the door open and stepped inside, Loki would
come upstairs.  And Thor knew if Loki caught him, he would never hear the end
of it.  Rolling his eyes as he shook his head, he walked past the open door and
turned the handle on the door at the end of the hallway.  To his relief, it
really was the bathroom.  Stepping in, Thor closed the door behind him, ready
to get to work.  
===============================================================================
It had taken Loki more time than usual to find what he was looking for.  He had
started a few videos, only to abandon them before he even got a good hard-on
going.  His was a very particular taste, often dictated by his moods.  However,
for some reason, today the guys just didn’t look right.  He had clicked out of
a number of videos because some of the guys weren’t big enough, but he also
found himself passing on videos where the guys were too big (Loki had never
liked the look of a guy who seemed like he had chemically-induced muscle-
mass).  In some of the videos the guys were too hairy, but Loki also found that
he was disappointed if they didn’t have a beard or at least a little scruff. 
He also wanted them to have longish hair.  And for some odd reason he wanted
that hair to be blonde…
 
Blushing, Loki grumbled to himself.  He refused to put much thought into it. 
It shouldn’t be surprising that his recent tastes had turned into something
that seemed similar to Thor. All the guys here were Thor-like.  It didn’t mean
anything at all.  Sighing, Loki continued to browse through the videos until he
paused over one in particular.  From the image he could see a burly man with a
thick, yet neatly trimmed beard and dirty blonde hair.  He was a bit bulkier
and seemed maybe 10 years older than Thor, but he was close enough in height
and coloring that Loki immediately felt his pulse quickening.  And the boy
featured in the video was slight in build (still more muscular than Loki, he
noted a bit enviously), fair-skinned, and sporting straight black hair with
longish bangs.  Close enough, Loki thought to himself.
 
Quickly pressing play, Loki made himself comfortable as the video began.  As
the images appeared on his screen, he could already tell that he was going to
like where this was headed.  The burly man was playing the role of the younger
one’s stepfather and he was chastising the boy for having gotten in trouble at
school.  He told him that he needed to be disciplined and roughly grabbed the
boy, pulling his clothes off.  As the boy resisted, Loki felt his breathing
quicken and body heat up.   And when the bigger man threw the naked boy on to
the bed, Loki had to stifle a moan as his hand slipped down to palm at his own
throbbing cock.
 
He pushed himself to his knees and then positioned his body so that he was
lying on his chest with his ass in the air.  This was the position he liked the
best.  It allowed him to pretend he was being pushed down, smothered, and
dominated.  It made his fantasy real.  Quickly grabbing the bottle of lube,
Loki squeezed out a dollop and rubbed it between his fingers.  With panting
breaths, he brought two slick fingers up to his hole and began to caress the
fluttering muscle.  Almost immediately, an unbidden moan slipped from his
lips. 
 
Loki liked the feeling of touching himself there, stroking at and circling his
hole.  But he had never actually tried to put his fingers inside.  For some
reason, the thought of it made him nervous. He always imagined what it would
feel like—fingers, toys, a tongue… a cock.  But his imagination, coupled with
the stimulation he got from teasing the sensitive nerves there, while he
stroked his cock, had always been more than enough for him to get off.  And he
had never had a need to go further. 
 
Sighing as his eyes followed what was taking place on the screen, Loki stroked
his hole like the man in the video was stroking the boy’s.  He brought his
other hand up to his cock and began a slow rhythm.  When the boy in the video
let out a low moan as the man slipped one of his thick fingers inside, Loki
found himself moaning as well, and turned his head, biting the collar of his t-
shirt, filling his mouth with fabric to try to keep the noise down.  Even
though he was naked from the waist down, he always liked to keep his shirt on. 
He liked the feeling of it rubbing over his sensitive skin and nipples, and he
liked that it was something to hold on to; it helped keep him grounded.
 
As the man began to fuck the boy with his fingers, his moans got louder and
needier.  The boy had quickly given up his fight.  He had tried to pretend he
didn’t want it, but soon he was crying out “Daddy” over and over again; begging
for it.  Loki began to whimper as his hand moved faster over his straining
cock, and his slippery fingers massaged his hole.  All that was going through
his mind were the words “Thor, Thor, Thor,” and as Loki felt his climax
nearing, he wondered what it would feel like if Thor did this to him.    
===============================================================================
As Thor stepped out of the bathroom, having successfully dealt with the faulty
pipes, he heard a strange sound that caused him to stop in his tracks.  It
sounded like whimpering.  At first Thor thought it was the sound of someone in
pain, but as the sound of a long moan filled the hallway, he immediately knew
what the sound was and felt a jolt of arousal shoot to his groin.  That sound
definitely wasn’t pain. Thor grinned to himself.  Loki was upstairs, after
all. 
 
Dropping his toolbox next to the bathroom door, Thor stepped over to the room
on the left with the slightly ajar door.  Toeing the door open with his foot,
Thor wasn’t quite expecting what he saw.  He thought he was going to catch Loki
with his pants down, and the boy would quickly scramble to cover himself and
hide in embarrassment.  He had thought he would have been able to
humiliateLoki.  But, instead, he came upon the sight of Loki, with his ass in
the air, fingers playing with his hole while his other hand worked between his
thighs, and his t-shirt stuffed in his mouth, but doing little to quiet his
moans.  The boy had headphones on and seemed to be watching some type of porn.
Or, hehad been watching.  Loki was so far gone in his own pleasure that his
eyes were squeezed shut, but Thor was sure that the sounds he was hearing
through his headphones were probably more than enough to give Loki what he
needed to get off.
 
As Thor stepped further into the room, unable to stop himself after the sight
his eyes had taken in, he could now more clearly see what was on the screen. 
It was a big, blonde man roughly fucking a skinny, dark-haired twink.   That
turned Thor on so much he literally felt his thickening cock jump in his
jeans.  If this wasn’t a sign that Loki wanted him, Thor didn’t know what was. 
And, was the fact that Thor had walked in on Loki, with his firm, plump little
ass on display as he played with his hole, really a coincidence, or had this
been the boy’s plan all along? 
 
He grinned as he closed the door behind him and toed off his boots.  The sounds
of Loki’s soft moans were like music to his ears, and, as he approached the
bed, he undid the button on his jeans, reaching inside the waistband to give
his cock a squeeze, hoping to take some of the edge off.   Closer now, Thor
could see the flush highlighting every inch of Loki’s skin, from his neck to
the cheeks of his ass and even the  tips of his ears.  And he liked the way the
loose t-shirt hung off of Loki’s shoulder, making the boy seem more lewd than
if he had been fully naked.   Thor felt his mouth go dry at the thought of
actually fucking Loki and, even though he had initially come into the room to
play a prank, he now knew that he wouldn’t be leaving this room until he got
what he wanted.   
 
Coming up behind Loki, Thor leaned one knee down on the bed, and Loki’s eyes
flew open in surprise, having felt the shift beneath him.  As Loki looked at
Thor in shock, the clear dread registering on his face, he tried to scramble to
get up, but Thor quickly wrapped one of his big arms across Loki’s chest,
securing the boys arms to his sides and pulling Loki so his back was flush with
Thor’s chest. 
 
“What the fuck!?” Loki almost screeched as he twisted and turned to try to free
himself from Thor’s grasp.
 
Thor chuckled as he expended little energy to keep Loki still, and laughed
outright when Loki’s struggling caused his headphones to pull out of the jack
in his computer and the sound of loud moans and frantic fucking filled the
room.  He watched as Loki’s face became even more horrified.
 
“What are you doing, you motherfucker!?” Loki asked, voice breaking as if he
were about to cry.  “Let me go! You think this is funny?? You’ve gone toofar
this time!  Just let me go!!”
 
“Shh, shh,” Thor said into Loki’s ear, the warm breath making Loki shudder.
“Don’t get so upset.”  
“Let me go, right now, o-or I swear to God I’ll-” Loki started, and Thor could
see the wetness forming in his eyes.  The boy was obviously mortified, but
something about his vulnerability, and the shame he was experiencing, made
Thor’s cock stiffen even more.  For some reason, he wanted to see Loki cry.
 
“Do you want me to tell your father what I caught you doing, huh?” Thor asked,
voice harsh.  “Does he know you’re a little queer?”
 
As soon as the words left Thor’s mouth, Loki’s body went still.  Thor couldn’t
see his face anymore, as he had hung his head, the long, messy locks hiding him
from Thor’s view, but he could still hear him.
 
“Please,” Loki said softly, voice barely above a whisper.  “C-come on, Thor. 
Don’t do that… My father doesn’t have to… Please don’t tell him.  Please.” 
 
 “I won’t tell him,” Thor said after a moment had passed.  He felt Loki
physically relax against him, and couldn’t help the predatory grin that spread
over his lips as he reached down with his free hand.  When his hand closed
around Loki’s semi-hard cock the boy jumped in surprise and began struggling
again.
 
“Wh-what are you doing??  Let go of me, you asshole,” Loki spat, trying to
shake Thor loose.
 
“Hmm… why would I do that?” Thor asked as he languidly began to stroke up and
down Loki’s shaft, feeling the boy’s cock quickly come back to life.  “I didn’t
say Ihad a problem with queers.”
 
It seemed like Loki was going to say something in protest, but instead a long
moan spilled unbidden from his lips as he threw his head back, the back of his
head colliding with Thor’s shoulder.  Thor watched as Loki’s half-lidded eyes
met his own and the boy’s face reddened in embarrassment.  But, instead of
mocking him, Thor just gripped his cock more firmly and began to increase the
speed of his hand.  Loki’s body tensed and he began to buck up into Thor’s
hand, seemingly against his will. Thor watched with hunger as more moans
tumbled from Loki’s rosy pink lips, and his cock jumped again when Loki’s
tongue darted out to wet them.
 
“Shit,” Thor growled as he released Loki's cock and pushed his body forward,
rolling Loki on to his stomach.
 
“What’re you doing?” Loki asked, panic clear in his voice as he felt Thor's
hand pressing down on his upper back, restricting his movement. 
 
“Where’s your lube?” Thor asked, voice thick with lust.
 
“What??” Loki asked, as he tried to push up off the bed, but found that he
couldn’t shake Thor off of him.
 
“Lube, now,” Thor demanded again as he reached down to palm at his own cock,
feeling like he was ready to burst.
 
“Thor, no, seriously, you can’t-” Loki began as he turned his head to try to
look at Thor over his shoulder.  Thor could hear the fear in his voice, but he
ignored him.
 
“Kid, I’m not going to ask you again,” Thor said. “I can do this without, but,
trust me, you’re not going to like it.”
 
Loki let out a sob of disbelief and turned his face away, burying it into the
covers, refusing to respond to Thor’s demand.  Thor let out a growl of
frustration.  He had half a mind to slap Loki’s ass to get the boy talking, but
then he spied the bottle of lube tucked under one of the pillows and reached
out for it.
 
When Loki heard the click of the bottle opening, he tensed up again, resuming
his struggle and turning to look at Thor again.
 
“Thor, please,” he said, looking at him with wide eyes.
 
“Don’t act like you don’t want this,” Thor said as he moved between Loki’s
legs. 
 
Spreading Loki’s thighs with the force of his own, Thor let out a hum of
approval as Loki’s cheeks parted. He squeezed the bottle above him, pouring a
dollop of the slick substance right between Loki’s cheeks, causing him to jump
at the coldness.
 
“Thor, don’t,” Loki said, voice cracking as he began to cry in earnest.
“Please, please don’t.”   
 
“Shut up,” Thor huffed as he tossed the bottle back on to the bed, and slid his
fingers between Loki’s cleft, feeling the warmth there.  Loki trembled beneath
him and Thor could hear him sniffling into the bed covers.
 
Thor let his fingers slide back and forth in the crevasse, coating them with
the lubricant, before he spread Loki’s cheeks with his thumb and forefinger to
get a better look at the small, pink hole.  Before Loki could open his mouth to
protest again, Thor began pressing his thick finger against the tight furl of
muscle.  He could hear Loki whimpering beneath him and when his finger finally
bullied its way inside Loki let out a sharp yelp of pain.
 
 “Ow! No! Stop—that hurts!  Don’t do that!” Loki protested as he tried to twist
away from Thor’s grip.
 
Thor let out a grunt as he held Loki down more firmly and steadily worked his
finger inside the pulsing channel.
 
“Shit, you’re tight,” he panted as he watched his finger worm its way deeper
inside.  “You don’t fuck your hole often, do you?”
 
“N-no.  I’ve n-never put anything inside.  Oww.  It hurts, please,” Loki whined
through his tears.
 
Thor paused for a moment and looked up at Loki.  The boy’s eyes were squeezed
shut, teeth gritted and shoulders hunched and tensed.  Thor didn’t know why the
news had surprised him.  The Loki he had seen writhing on the bed only moments
before, ass on display like a cheap whore, had seemed so wanton and lewd.  But
hearing that not even he had touched himself in this way before had Thor’s
already leaking cock becoming even stiffer in his jeans.
 
“Virgin hole, huh?” he asked gruffly, voice thick with desire, as he looked
down at the place where his finger was sunk deep inside of Loki’s body.  “That
makes me want to do this even more, kid.”
 
Loki whined as Thor slowly pulled his finger out and then plunged it back in. 
But it was less forceful than the first time.  His insides throbbed and he felt
like he couldn’t catch his breath, but it didn’t burn like it had when Thor had
first pushed in. Trembling, all Loki could do was ball his hands into fists on
the bed as he tried to relax. 
 
Watching Loki try to adjust to the size of his finger within him made Thor’s
head fuzzy with need.  But, even though his cock felt like it was near to
bursting, Thor knew he wouldn’t be able to fuck him today.  Thor loved the fact
that Loki was a virgin.  The idea that no one else had ever gotten a chance to
see him this way and that Thor would be the first to teach him all about
fucking, made Thor feel possessive and powerful.  But he also knew that
breaking Loki in would take time.  It couldn’t be a quick fuck, and time was
something he just didn’t have today.
 
Instead, he decided he’d give Loki a taste of what was to come.  Leaning
forward he moved his hand off of Loki’s back and let his upper body rest on top
of Loki’s pressing the smaller body down into the mattress.  Loki let out a
whine of displeasure as he felt Thor on top of him, the weight of his body
almost squeezing the air out of him.  He felt smothered and overwhelmed.
 Fitting his body against Loki’s, Thor began to kiss and suck against the back
of Loki’s neck, and he smirked when he heard a whimper that sounded close to a
moan.  He began to pump his finger in, in slow deep strokes, listening to the
mewls and whimpers Loki would make.
 
With Thor on top of him like this, Loki could concentrate on nothing else.  The
way Thor was kissing on his neck… the feel of his warm breath on his skin and
his beard scratching his neck made Loki’s stomach clench up and his heart beat
faster.   And he could smell Thor all around him, a musky mix of sweat, the
outdoors, and something that made Loki’s mouth water.  Instead of being put
off, Loki felt like he couldn’t get enough of it, breathing it in with every
pitiful breath he was able to take.   And he could feel the heat of Thor’s
body.  How big he was; how much stronger he was.  And the feeling of Thor
inside of him.  It was just his finger, but it was thick and it was spreading
him open.  And even though it was uncomfortable, Loki still found himself
getting hard.  He found himself trying to fight the urge to push back against
Thor’s hand every time he thrust the digit inside of him.  And he just couldn’t
help it.  He moaned.
 
“I told you, you fucking wanted it,” Thor panted against his neck.  “You’re
such a slut for me, aren’t you?”
 
Before Loki could respond, Thor began to thrust his finger faster, causing Loki
to let out broken gasps and moans.  Eyes squeezed shut, and lost in the feeling
of Thor dominating him, Loki barely noticed when the pressure was removed from
his back and Thor sat up slightly.  But his eyes sprang open when he felt the
hot flesh of Thor’s cock against his ass.  He flinched and tried to turn
around, but Thor’s hand had returned to his back, pressing him down, and he was
slipping his finger out of him.
 
Loki gasped when he felt the thick length slide between his cheeks, in the
place where Thor's finger had just been, and his body tensed with fear.  But
instead of pushing into him, Thor proceeded to slide his cock between the slick
cheeks, grunting.  Loki trembled and pressed his face into the covers, to hide
it from Thor.  His face was burning with a mixture of shame and excitement. It
thrilled him to feel Thor like this, with him so close to taking him.  But it
also embarrassed him that he actually wanted it.  Shouldn’t he be angry? 
Shouldn’t he be fighting more?  Why was he letting Thor do this?
    
And then a broken moan was ripped from his lips as he felt Thor’s cockhead
catch on his ring on one of Thor’s downward strokes and couldn’t stop himself
from bucking up to meet him.
 
“Relax little slut,” Thor said as he pushed down on his back again to get him
to lay still.  “I know you want my cock, but not today.”
 
Loki was so embarrassed that he wanted to cry, but instead he continued to
press his face into the sheets, hoping Thor couldn’t hear his soft moans.  But
he did like it.  He liked feeling Thor’s thick cock between his ass cheeks, and
knowing that Thor could do anything with him that he wanted. 
 
Thor’s thrusts began to quicken, and Loki knew he was close.  Loki already knew
that he, himself, had made a mess of his sheets with the amount of pre-come he
was leaking and that every time Thor’s cock brushed against his sensitive hole
more and more spilled out of him.  As Thor’s thrusts became more forceful, Loki
felt Thor’s thighs slamming against his own, and the sound of skin hitting skin
served to turn him on even more.  He just wished he could actually touch his
cock, but Thor’s weight on top of him barely gave him enough room to breathe,
let alone move.
 
But then Thor was grabbing his hair, pulling his head up and causing his neck
to strain as he gave a few more rough thrusts and then Loki heard him grunt in
his ear before he felt warm liquid hitting his lower back and ass.  He gasped
and trembled as he realized that Thor had come.  With a few more languorous
thrusts, Thor released his hold on Loki’s hair, allowing his head to drop to
the mattress. 
 
And then Thor was climbing off of him and buttoning up his jeans as if nothing
had happened.  Loki turned over his shoulder to stare at Thor in shock,
wondering what the hell he was supposed to do now.  He watched on as Thor
pulled his cellphone out of his pocket, and read over a few messages, and then
looked on, stupefied, as Thor spent time writing a response before he tucked
the phone back in his pocket and looked up at Loki.
 
“What… ? I don’t... I don't understand…” Loki began in a breathy voice, unable
to formulate a coherent sentence.   
 
But Thor just smirked at him as he began to pull on his boots.  
 
“What is it that you don’t understand, huh?  I gave you what you wanted, didn’t
I?” Thor asked.
 
Loki blushed as he looked away, feeling anger and shame coming over him at
Thor’s mocking tone.
 
“Don’t worry.  We’ll have more fun next time.  See you, kid,” Thor said as he
winked at him.
 
And then, just like that, he walked out of his room.
 
Loki flopped back down on his stomach, unwilling to roll over on to his back
with the copious amounts of come he could feel was plastered across it.  He was
frustrated and embarrassed.  He was confused.  But more than anything else, he
was still hard.   His body throbbed from everywhere Thor had touched.   Thor
had done with him as he wanted; gotten Loki all worked up, and then had left
him unsatisfied.  It was clear Thor didn’t care whether Loki had enjoyed it or
not.  All Thor had been interested in was getting himself off.  Thor had used
him. 
 
The thought caused Loki’s stomach to clench uncomfortably.  He didn’t know what
to think about what had happened tonight.  Thor had scared him initially, and
although Loki now knew he couldn’t deny he was attractedto the older man, that
didn’t mean he liked him.  Thor was still an asshole who thought he could do
whatever he wanted.  Even in this, something as significant as sex, Thor was
still making fun of him.  Thor didn’t respect him.  And if Loki didn’t put his
foot down, Thor was going to walk all over him. 
 
As Loki got to his feet and shrugged off his come-stained t-shirt with a look
of disgust, he told himself that, regardless of what Thor thought, he was never
going to let this happen again. 
===============================================================================
A/N: What’d you think of that for a first chapter?? It was really supposed to
be a PWP, with the “main action” (of course) being this last bit at the end. 
But I felt like I had to explain who Loki was and give, at least, an inkling of
insight into Thor’s character, and I ended up having pages and pages of non-
smut. Haha.  Anyway, hope to see you in the next installment (which hopefully
won’t be as whopping-ly long as this one O_O)!  In the meantime, please let me
know your thoughts.
***** Chapter 2 *****
A/N:  Thanks so much for all the great responses I got to this fic! Love you
all! (Love this fandom!!)  Now prepare yourself for more trashy Thorki fun :3. 
Oh, and I have a tumblr now!  Nothing much there yet, but follow me if you’d
like!  laydee-liesmith.tumblr.com/
===============================================================================
Following Thor’s abrupt departure, Loki had quickly squirreled himself away in
the bathroom.  Soon after stepping into the shower, he had preceded to jerk
himself off, spurred on by the pounding of his heart and the sound of water
drumming all around him, as he rehashed what had just happened.  It only took
him about 5 firm strokes before he was tensing up and coming, gritting his
teeth to keep the sounds down.  But, seconds after that, once his head had
cleared and he was able to catch his breath, Loki found himself sobbing.
 
He leaned up against the wet tiles, and found his body giving over to the heavy
sobs.  He was embarrassed, and angry, and feeling like he had been made a fool
of.  Was he easy?  Should he have fought more?  Clearly, Thor hadn’t done those
things because he liked him.  Instead, Thor acted as if he was doing Loki a
“favor;” as if Loki should be grateful that Thor had even given him a moment of
his time.  And that made Loki feel low and ashamed.  But, the fact that Loki
had gotten hard—that he had moaned and pushed back to meet Thor’s thrusts, and
had liked it—made him feel like a slut.  Like he didn’t deserve better than
what Thor had done to him. 
 
Wiping a hand over his face to clear it of the tears, Loki frowned.  He
realized he probably “liked” Thor.  More than just finding him attractive, or
finding something about his intimidating bulk and his dangerous features
exhilarating, Loki liked Thor and he wanted Thor to like him.  Granted, Loki
couldn’t quite put his finger on what about Thor he liked, since the man had
said few words to him and, when he did deign to speak to Loki, it was usually
something insulting.  But hearing that deep rumbling voice always made his
stomach do flip flops.  And he always felt a thrill go through him whenever
those sky-blue eyes landed on him, giving him all his attention.  And, to be
honest, Loki liked it when Thor smiled at him—as rare as that was.
 
So, Loki knew he couldn’t blame himself for being weak and succumbing when Thor
was finally close enough to touch.  When the searing heat of Thor’s big
body—noticeable even through his layers of clothing—was pressed up against
Loki’s smaller frame.  When he could inhale Thor’s scent with every breath he
took.  And when Thor had gotten hard, for him.  The thought of it made Loki
blush as his mind flashed back to the feeling of Thor’s thick, hot cock
pressing up against his skin.  Just thinking about it made Loki tremble. 
 
But, just because Thor reacted to him, didn’t mean he liked him.  Loki truly
believed that he could’ve been anyone, and Thor would have reacted the same
way.  Sure, Thor had all but promisedthat there would be a repeat of what had
happened that afternoon.  A thought that made a nervous flutter arise in Loki’s
stomach.  But, that didn’t mean Loki was anything special.  Again, that didn’t
feel good. 
 
Loki knew he was young.  He knew he didn’t “get” a lot of things. But the one
thing Loki understood was pride.  And, whether he liked Thor or not, he wasn’t
going to let Thor think he could just take what he wanted.  Thor wasn’t
entitledto him.  At least that’s what Loki told himself.      
===============================================================================
The days following “the incident,” as Loki had dubbed it, were tense.  He was
afraid to see Thor.  Most of it was because Loki really didn’t trust himself to
stand his ground.  Even though he told himself Thor was a bad person, and that
he really shouldn’t have done the things he had done to him, that didn’t stop
Loki from staying up at all hours of the night plagued by his memories, body
hot and pulsing with need as he touched himself.  It didn’t stop him from
hoping that Thor would kisshim the next time.  Or wondering, as he walked
through his house, almost as if on eggshells, if Thor would jump out from
somewhere and grab him, pressing him up against a wall, and press his body
against his, showing Loki how much he wanted him. 
 
But some of it was also a certain sense of genuine fear.  Thor was big, and he
was brash.  And Loki just wasn’t quite sure if Thor would stop if Loki didn’t
want to do something.  He didn’t seem like he had had any intention of stopping
the last time.  And Loki wasn’t quite sure the extent of what he would be
willingto do with Thor.  He just didn’t have that much experience.  Well, none
to be more exact.  He had kissed a few people back in high school, mostly at
parties or on dares.  But nothing… nothing like what Thor had done to him in
his room that day.  It had ultimately felt good—once the pain of Thor’s
roughness had passed—but not having control, and not knowing whether Thor would
stop or not, was scary in the cold light of day. 
 
So he had taken to avoiding Thor.  It had become somewhat easier because after
the “crisis” at work, which had included a pipe bursting and injuring one of
the partners at the small, three-person firm, Laufey had been unceremoniously
recruited to cover the injured partner’s caseload.  Which meant he suddenly was
out of the house for a greater portion of the day.  And which also meant that
he was too busy to worry about Loki “wasting his summer” locked up in the
house.   Loki knew that the contractors had very little reason to come into the
house and, so far, after four days, he hadn’t run into a single one of them.
 
On the fifth day, Loki did start to get a bit stir crazy, though, since he had
gotten somewhat accustomed to walking aimlessly around the town.  Or at least
going for a run.  So, on that morning, he got up at 7am and went for a jog,
knowing that the workers often didn’t arrive until around 9am.   When he was
rounding the corner back on to his street, he came to an abrupt halt, seeing
the telltale van parked at the curb.  It was only 8:30.  Attempting to avoid
any contact, Loki hurriedly began walking past the backyard fence, intent on
going through the front door.  But then one of the van’s doors slammed and he
flinched as someone called out his name.
 
Turning around, already preparing himself for the worst, Loki was somewhat
relieved to see it was just Fandral.   
 
“Hey, Lokes!” Fandral called as he walked toward him, balancing a long piece of
lumber on one of his shoulders. 
 
Loki couldn’t help but make a face at the nickname, and Fandral laughed out
loud. 
 
“Where have you been?  We were so used to seeing you at least once a day and
then you just up and disappeared.  Volstagg has been just downright devastated
since you’ve stopped bringing him treats,” Fandral said with a rueful shake of
his head.
 
Loki relaxed slightly and shrugged one shoulder noncommittally.
 
“I guess I got busy,” Loki said hurriedly.
 
He couldn’t help his eyes from darting around, looking at the van, then the
backyard, then back to Fandral again.
 
“Um… what are you guys doing here so early?” he asked, trying to feign
indifference but, internally, he was anxious that Thor would walk out of the
backyard at any moment.
 
Fandral let out a heavy sigh.
 
“Well, to be honest, we’re usually supposed to be here this early.  Thor’s not
exactly a morning person so, because he has the van, we usually have to wait
for him to get his shit together,” Fandral said with an eye roll.  “But he’s
got some um… other business to do today.  So he let us take the van so we could
get to work without him.”
 
Loki’s eyes widened.
 
“Thor’s not here?” he asked.
 
Fandral shrugged. 
 
“Nope. And depending on when he finishes the extra job he’s working on, he
might not be here at all today.  Why?” Fandral asked as he arched an eyebrow
and smirked.  “You miss him?”
 
Loki flushed and glared at the obnoxious man.
           
“No,” he said.  “Quite the opposite actually.”
 
“Ah, I see,” Fandral said, smile dropping a bit.  “Well… I’m not surprised. 
Thor’s a bit… ah… “difficult” to deal with, if that’s the right word to use. 
But, he’s really not so bad once you get past all his multifaceted layers of
“impossible-ness.”
 
Loki couldn’t help but laugh a bit at that.
 
“Buuut,” Fandral continued, smile returning.  “We had wanted you to come out so
we could show you our surprise.”
 
“Surprise?” Loki asked, as he wiped at his forehead.  The sun had started to
beat down in full intensity, and Loki was already sweaty and winded from his
run.  All he wanted to do was jump in the shower and then tumble into his bed
to take a nap.
 
“We’re done resurfacing the pool!” Fandral exclaimed.
 
Loki blinked in surprise.  He thought back to the small in-ground pool, with
its cracked flooring and derelict fence.  He remembered sneering at it when his
father had showed it off proudly, as one of the more attractive features of
their new house.  The pool wasn’t anything special, but it was true that Loki
had never had a pool before.  It seemed that having a pool was standard down
here, where the summers got so hot that most time was spent either indoors or
near a body of water.  So he had been a bit excited when his father told him
they would have one in the new house.  But, what he had seen had seemed
unsalvageable. And, in his disappointment, he had practically pushed its
existence out of his mind.
 
“Yup,” Fandral continued.  “It was one of the first things we worked on.  Your
dad made sure of it.  And, well, we’ve been kind of keeping it a secret, but we
finished a few days ago and couldn’t wait to show it to you. It’s gonna be a
scorcher today. Why don’t you hop in?”
 
Loki considered it for a moment. He had a pool all of a sudden.  Thor was
apparently tied up somewhere else, and Loki really didn’t want to spend yet
another day lurking around his own house.  Biting his lip in consternation as
he imagined himself floating in the cool water, finally (maybe) getting a tan,
Loki decided that he was getting in that pool.  
 
“Um… I guess…  Yeah, fine,” Loki said, as he gave Fandral a small smile.
 
Fandral’s eyes widened and he was soon grinning at him.
 
“Whoa!  A smile!” he exclaimed. “You should do that more often.  You’re really
cute when you smile.”
 
Loki flushed and glared at him, causing Fandral to laugh. 
 
“Sorry, sorry.  I guess you don’t want to hear that, huh?  Well, don’t let my
stupid comments keep you away.  Just come on out whenever you’re ready.  The
pool’s all yours,” Fandral said with a wink before he turned and walked back to
the fence, hefting the heavy lumber higher on his shoulder.
===============================================================================
And Loki did just that.  Twenty minutes later, he was dipping his toe into the
clear blue water staring down at the impressive changes he could see below its
surface.  The pool had been resurfaced with bright white tiles and a mosaic
pattern on the floor in light blues and yellows that looked almost like
thunderbolts.  A new five-foot white vinyl fence that separated the pool from
the rest of the expansive yard had been erected in place of the dilapidated old
wood one that had clearly not been seen to in years.  
 
The new pool felt like a sort of oasis, so different from what Loki was used to
back home, where everyone had small yards and the houses were pressed close
together.  The backyard at their new house was large and surrounded two sides
of the back of the house.  The pool was on the furthest side of the yard and,
while Loki could still hear the sounds of the construction going on in the main
part of the yard, it was still relatively quiet and secluded.  It was a place
where he could just forget everything else going on around him.
 
Letting himself slide down into the cool water, Loki let out a sigh of relief. 
Ducking below the surface, he let it cover his head and basked in the sudden
muteness as the water blocked out everything else going on around him.  He
pushed off with his feet, swimming underwater until his lungs burned and he was
forced to come back up for air.  As he broke through the surface, swiping his
hair back and gulping in air, he found himself feeling more relaxed.  Allowing
himself to float lazily on his back, Loki stared up at the clear sky.  He
imagined to himself that if he could just stay here, floating forever, things
wouldn’t be all that complicated anymore.    
===============================================================================
As Thor parked his motorcycle around the side of the house, he could hear the
raucous sounds of his friends talking and laughing with each other over the
continuing construction.  Shaking his head, he cut off the engine.  He wasn’t
in the greatest of moods.  The deal he was supposed to be brokering—by request
of Odin himself—had practically fallen through.  The buyers were, in Thor’s
opinion, trying to cheat them and after two hours of attempting to negotiate,
Thor had kicked the table over and stormed out, telling them all to watch their
backs.  Before he had even made it back to the offices, he had gotten a call
from Tyr, telling him that “the family” was very displeased with how things had
gone.  It didn’t matter that they were trying to cheat them; Thor was expected
to be more “diplomatic.”
 
So Thor had had to sit through an almost hour-long lecture from his father,
telling him again how he was sure Thor wasn’t ready to take things over.  Thor
had practically stormed out of that meeting as well.  Now, all he wanted to do
was hit something with his hands. And he’d take hammering a nail into wood if
that was all he could get at the moment.   Anything to work this frustration
out of his body.  
 
Throwing his leg over the side of his bike and planting his heavy boots on the
ground, Thor quickly strode over to the back fence and pushed his way in.  His
eyes scanned over the progress going on.  Things were going slow, but steady. 
And Thor was at least pleased to see that everything they had been able to work
on so far looked good.  He was particularly proud of the pool, their first
completed project.  Everything else was being worked on in increments.  He saw
that Volstagg and Fandral were working on paving the walkway that would lead
from the backdoor to the deck they would be building outside.  And Hogun was
busy digging space for a retaining wall around the large tree that cast the
majority of shade across the backyard. 
 
“You’re back early,” Fandral hailed him as he caught sight of Thor.
 
Thor lifted his hand in greeting, pulling off his sunglasses and tucking them
into the pocket of his red and blue plaid shirt. 
 
“And, good news: Loki’s finally using the pool,” Volstagg announced. 
 
Thor paused and glanced at the burly red-head. 
 
“He is?” Thor asked.
 
“Yeah.  It was weird. It’s like he’s been a ghost lately, right?  But Fandral
caught him coming back from a run this morning and when he told him about it
Loki seemed pretty excited.  He’s been back there for a few hours already,”
Volstagg said with a laugh.
 
“Is that so?” Thor said, as the corners of his lips lifted up in a smirk.
 
He hadn’t seen Loki in days.  Not since he had had him pressed down under him,
writhing and moaning.  He knew the kid was avoiding him.  That much was
obvious.  But the game of cat and mouse had started to become tedious for
Thor.  Remembering the sounds Loki had made, and the way that soft, warm body
had felt under his, made Thor want a repeat of it all very soon.  And it
annoyed him that Loki was making it harder than it needed to be.   On top of
being frustrated with work, Thor was sexually frustrated.  Sure, he could get
tail anywhere he wanted—it helped that he was a mob boss’s son and was
attractive on top of that—but all he seemed to be able to think about lately
was Loki. 
 
“Guess I’ll go check out how the pool’s holding up, then.  See if our bratty
client has any problems he’d like to bring to our attention,” Thor said as he
tied back his hair.  “You boys keep up the good work.  I’ll be back in a few.”
 
With that he began stalking his way to the back of the house.  He didn’t see
the strange looks his friends exchanged as he walked away. 
===============================================================================
When Thor walked through the open gate, he came upon the site of Loki lying out
on the wooden deck surrounding the pool.  He was on a bright blue towel, his
lithe body exposed to the sun, like he was hoping to pick up a bit of color,
long hair fanned out around his head in a wavy halo.  Thor’s eyes raked down
the pale chest and pink nipples, focusing especially on the way his hip bones
jutted out above the waistband of his low-hanging black trunks. 
 
It was more than Thor had seen the first time, when his thoughts and vision had
been clouded by his drive to ‘take, take, take.’  It had been a whirlwind of
flushed, supple skin, silky black hair, and breathy moans.  He hadn’t given
himself quite enough time to appreciate how objectively beautiful this kid
was.  Now, Loki looked to him like the featured dish in some succulent buffet,
ripe for the picking. 
 
Thor pulled the gate closed behind him, causing a clang to resonate out as it
locked, and he watched as Loki’s body jerked with the sound.  Squinting his
eyes open in the glaring son, Loki pushed himself up to his elbows and his
whole body tensed when he took in the sight of Thor standing by the gate.  The
one and only exit.   Thor could see the panic clear on the boy’s face as Loki’s
eyes widened. 
 
He watched on silently as Loki pushed himself to his feet, grabbing the towel
up as if it could somehow protect him from Thor.  As if Loki could keep
anything from Thor.
 
Pushing away from the gate, Thor stepped toward Loki and saw how the boy
flinched.  But he didn’t back down or step away as Thor walked closer to him,
closing the distance.  When he was about a foot away, it seemed Loki finally
remembered how to make his mouth work.
 
“Wh-what are you doing here Thor?  I… I don’t want anything to do with you
anymore,” Loki said as he squared his shoulders and stood to his full height,
hoping to appear more imposing.
 
Thor’s eyebrow arched inquisitively, but all Loki’s words had seemed to do was
amuse him.
 
“What am I doing here?  I came because I want to get my dick sucked and
someone’s been hiding from me, making it particularly difficult to accomplish
that,” he explained plainly.
 
Loki’s eyes widened and this time he did step back.  Loki hadn’t seen Thor in
days.  And while the image of this god-like man, bronze body looking oh-so-
perfect and hair practically shimmering in the sunlight, was a sight for sore
eyes, Loki didn’t expect that to be the first thing Thor would say to him.  His
eyebrows lowered and the corner of his lip turned down in a scowl. 
 
“You… you can’t be serious.  There’s no way I’d do that!” Loki hissed.
 
Thor grinned at him.
 
“Oh, really?  From the way you were moaning and grinding your ass on to me the
last time, I’d figured you’d just be dying to get this in your mouth,” Thor
said as he reached down and grabbed at his cock through his jeans.
 
Loki’s cheeks flamed and he looked away in shame.  But then he steeled his
shoulders and turned back to glare at Thor, a determined look on his face. 
 
“What you did last time… you know it’s a crime right?  You can’t… I’m 15, and
you can’t do things like that to me.  I could tell my dad.  I could tell the
police,” Loki threatened, feeling suddenly so much bolder as he considered the
actual logic of his words.  Loki knew he was right; there’d be no way Thor
could come up with some kind of comeback to that.    
 
Loki watched on as Thor’s expression darkened slightly as he tilted his head to
the side and studied Loki, but Thor did not seem phased in the least, as if the
threat was meaningless to him.  Instead, he just seemed displeased that Loki
had brought it up in the first place.
 
“You’re right.  You coulddo that.  But that wouldn’t be smart, Loki,” Thor said
as he stepped forward, getting into Loki’s space and crowding him up against
the fence. 
 
“Wh-why not?  I see no reason why it would be against my favor to report you,
you asshole,” Loki growled, hoping he came across more confident than he was
currently feeling in the moment.
 
Thor was looking down at him with cold blue eyes that made Loki shiver. 
 
“I’m a very bad man, Loki,” Thor said as he grabbed the boy by his arm, fingers
squeezing in to his bicep, not hard enough to bruise but hard enough to make
Loki hiss in discomfort.  “I guess you don’t know it, but my family’s what
you’d call ‘connected.’”
 
Loki looked up at him skeptically.  He didn’t know very much about Thor at
all.  And yes, he definitely was imposing and demanded attention, but Loki
didn’t know if he could really believe Thor was… involved in organized crime.
  The older man was often boorish and immature when he spoke to Loki.  But Loki
did notice a type of quiet dangerousness about him. Often when Loki would look
down at him from his window, and when he was sure Thor wouldn’t notice him, he
could see Thor standing there, arms crossed over his powerful chest, and brows
drawn down in concentration, as he oversaw the things that were going on around
him. It was as if his eyes saw everything.  And there really did seem to be
this calculating intelligence about him, even though he often acted as if he
wanted people to think differently.  Thinking about it, Loki thought it really
could be possible.  But, Thor could also be lying, just to scare him into doing
what he wanted.  And Loki was having none of that. 
 
“I don’t believe you,” Loki said, eyes narrowing as he looked up into Thor’s
blue ones.    
 
Thor laughed.  It was a mean laugh, but Loki still found the sound made
something inside his stomach clench pleasantly. 
 
“Look me up,” Thor practically purred as he stepped closer to Loki, plaid-
covered chest almost pressing up against Loki’s naked flesh.  “The Borson
family has quite a history of being implicated in crimes that somehow end up
just… going away.  We make it so that we can operate how we want to, and the
charges just never stick.  That’s what we’re good at.” 
 
Loki blinked at him in surprise. 
 
“So… sure, you could run your pretty little mouth and tell someone that big bad
Thor Borson did some nasty things to you.  But, unfortunately, sweetheart, it
wouldn’t go anywhere,” Thor said, smile dropping.
 
He then stepped forward and grabbed a fistful of Loki’s hair, causing him to
let out a yelp of pain.
 
“And… see, the people I work with don’t like snitches.  We don’t like the
hassleof being questioned or dragged down to the station. Of having our names
smeared in the papers. And the people here?   They know better than that.  So,
when someone fucks with us like that, we fuck with them back,” Thor said, as he
pulled Loki’s face close to him, staring at him with hard eyes, hot breath
ghosting over Loki’s lips. 
 
Loki stared up at him with terrified eyes, hands scrabbling up to try to
dislodge Thor’s grip from his locks.
 
“Bad things would happen.  We could make things very hard for you guys here. 
Like I said, we’re good at things like that.  And people tend to get hurt when
my guys get involved.  Something very bad could happen to someone you care
about.  Like your dad, Loki,” Thor warned him, eyes searching Loki’s for
understanding.   
 
Loki froze, breath stuttering in his chest.  Thor couldn’t be serious could
he?  He couldn’t really mean that he would hurt his father if he didn’t do what
he said.  Thor was cruel, but not this cruel. 
 
“Thor, what’re you saying?” Loki asked, voice trembling slightly.
 
“I’m saying, get on your knees and suck my cock and we won’t have a problem,”
Thor growled out, already feeling frustrated with having been kept waiting.
 
“I… I don’t want to,” Loki complained, trying to pull away again.
 
“You’re a liar and we both know it.  You’re a little cock-slut, Loki.  And if
you need me to push you around so you can let yourself be who you really are
I’m fine with that.  But I also have only so much patience.  So don’t make me
really have to force you,” Thor warned.
 
Face flushing in shame, Loki told himself that that wasn’t true. But he still
found himself nodding silently, giving in, and hoping Thor would at least let
his hair go since he was cooperating.  But instead, he felt Thor pulling
downwards on his strands, clearly telling him he wanted him down, and fast. 
 
Whimpering, Loki lowered himself to his knees, hands reaching out to hold on to
Thor’s waist to keep his balance.   Swallowing thickly he allowed himself to
look up hesitantly, staring at Thor through his lashes.  He hoped the man would
change his mind.  That he wouldn’t subject him to this.  But, he also knew that
he wouldn’t put up much of a fight even if Thor went through with it.  His
mouth was already watering, his heart was already pounding in his chest, and,
to his embarrassment, he was already getting hard.   He prayed that Thor
wouldn’t notice it through the clinging material of his still-damp swim
trunks.    
 
But instead, Thor looked down at him, eyes looking darker than usual, and
pupils seeming to have taken over most of the blue.  Loki couldn’t help it as
his eyes darted down, following the movement of Thor’s other hand as he reached
down to adjust himself within his jeans.  And when Loki realized that the bulge
in front of him was Thor’s thick cock, he couldn’t help but inhale sharply.  He
had felt Thor’s hot skin against his before, but he had only been able to
imagine what Thor’s cock was really like.  Now he would actually see it.
 
Smile returning to his face, as if he was aware of some secret that Loki was
not privy to, Thor reached out to run his thumb over Loki’s plump bottom lip,
pulling down slightly to expose Loki’s bottom teeth. 
 
“You ever suck cock before?” Thor asked, voice low and sultry.
 
Loki closed his eyes, unable to maintain Thor’s intense gaze, and shook his
head.  His cheeks burned with embarrassment.  He shouldn’t be ashamed to tell
Thor he hadn’t done something like this.  It was normal not to have done
something like this.  But, for some reason, Loki didn’t want to disappoint
Thor, and he knew that not being good at this would leave Thor dissatisfied.
 
Letting go of his bottom lip, Thor sighed in a way that seemed like he was
saying “it can’t be helped.”
 
“Well, practice makes perfect,” Thor said, chuckling to himself.  “Just
remember, don’t use your teeth and don’t spit at the end.”
 
Loki’s eyes widened and he struggled again, trying to pull away from Thor’s
grip.
 
“I’m not--! I’m not going to swallow,” he protested.
 
“We’ll see about that,” Thor said gruffly.
 
He then pulled on Loki’s hair again, pulling him forward so that Loki’s cheek
was pressed against his crotch, flush with the warm bulge.  He struggled for a
bit, but then Thor loosened his hold allowing Loki to sit back, glaring up at
him with a flushed face and a petulant pout.
 
“Now get to work.  Show me how badly you want to keep me happy,” Thor said.
 
Trembling, Loki hesitantly brought his hands up to the prominent bulge, rubbing
it tentatively through the coarse material of Thor’s jeans.  He was surprised,
and somewhat encouraged, to hear Thor let out a soft moan.  With wide eyes,
Loki continued to rub at the thick mass underneath his fingers, amazed by how
he could feel Thor actually stiffening and growing bigger under his
ministrations. It was exciting to know he had this effect on the older man, and
he could feel his own cock throb between his thighs in response. 
 
“Don’t play around,” Thor warned him, tugging softly on Loki’s locks, but there
was little actual heat behind his words.
 
Taking a deep breath, Loki reached up to slowly unbuckle Thor’s leather belt.
He fumbled with the button to his jeans, and once it was undone, he tentatively
pulled down the zipper.  He chanced a glance up at Thor, and when he saw how
intensely he was staring down at him through his thick lashes, Loki had to look
away.  Being watched by Thor made his entire body feel electrified and he had
to squeeze his thighs together to stop himself from reaching down and touching
himself. 
 
Licking his lips, Loki brought his hands up to the waistband of Thor’s jeans,
pushing down slightly and watching as they fell down to Thor’s knees, revealing
his strong, muscular thighs.  But Loki only had eyes for what he could now see
even more clearly now that Thor was in nothing but his black boxer-briefs.  It
was the outline of Thor’s notably impressive cock.  He could even see a little
patch of moisture dampening the cloth near what he could only assume was the
head.  Loki wanted to take his time; take everything in.  But Thor was
apparently impatient as, with his other hand, he tugged down his briefs, cock
jumping out and on full-display.  
                                                                               
The first thing Loki thought was, Wow, as he inhaled sharply.  Thor’s cock was
thick and long, bigger than he had even expected.  The heavy appendage was
standing almost fully erect, leaning slightly to the left, with a fat, flushed
pink head.  Up close, he could see the thick vein that ran alongside the
underside of the rigid shaft.  And the thick base, nestled in a bed of dark
blonde hair, looked bigger than Loki’s own wrist. 
 
“Kid, stop fucking around,” Thor said again, pulling Loki a bit closer, as he
glanced around him.
 
And just like that, Loki remembered they were outside.  In broad daylight. 
Where anyone could walk up and see them.  They were lucky that the fence was
five feet high.  While anyone who approached the pool would be able to see Thor
standing next to the fence, no one would be able to see that his pants were
down.  And they definitely would not be able to see Loki on his knees in front
of him.  But that didn’t stop Loki’s face from flushing hotly and shame to
start twisting his stomach into knots.  He couldn’t believe he was doing this.
He couldn’t’ believe he wanted to do this so badly that he had completely
forgotten where he was and how inappropriate this was.    But he told himself
that he was doing this because he had no choice, and that helped him push down
some of his sense of disappointment with himself. 
 
Reaching up, he wrapped both hands around the thick cock, and began to stroke
tentatively, marveling at how different, but at the same time similar, it felt
to touching his own cock.  The skin was soft and smooth.  And Thor was so hot
and heavy in his hands.  He squeezed a little tighter as his fist ran over the
shiny head and watched as a fat drop of clear fluid leaked out.  He had to hold
back his own moan at seeing it.  Biting his lip, he looked up at Thor to make
sure he was doing it right—that Thor liked it—and the heated look in Thor’s
eyes was all the confirmation he needed.
 
“Come on, don’t just play with it.  Open your mouth,” Thor breathed as he
brought his other hand up to Loki’s lip again. This time, however, he pushed
in, forcing Loki to part his teeth.
 
Loki shuddered, and he couldn’t stop himself from closing his lips around
Thor’s thumb and suckling softly.
 
“Good boy,” Thor said as he licked his lips.  “Now I want to see these pretty
lips wrapped around my cock.”
 
He then pulled his thumb from Loki’s lips.  Loki watched on, lips parted and
panting softly, as Thor grabbed his cock and guided it to Loki’s mouth.  Heart
beating wildly, Loki closed his eyes as Thor pressed the head against his lips,
and instead of fighting it, he parted his lips a little more and let him slip
inside.   Immediately his mouth was flooded with the salty taste of Thor’s pre-
come and he felt his mouth start to water.   It was only the head, but Loki
felt how his lips were stretched and wondered what he looked like right now, on
his knees with his first cock in his mouth.  He felt his body start to react as
he imagined how it would feel to have all of Thor inside of his mouth. 
 
Feeling bolder, he shyly poked his tongue forward, letting it run over the
spongy head and almost jumped when he heard the soft moan from Thor above him. 
Loki didn’t know what he was doing, but he had watched enough porn to at least
know what he should try to make Thor feel good.  And he liked hearing that he
was already part of the way there. 
 
Thor let him suckle on the head for a few moments more.  Loki’s face was
flushed with embarrassment as he listened to the wet sounds he was making, as
he sloppily laved at the tip, the only sounds other than Thor’s heavy breathing
and the birds chirping around them.  Then Thor began to rock forward a bit,
pressing more of his length into Loki’s mouth.  And Loki couldn’t stop the moan
as he felt his jaw being forced open and his lips stretching more to
accommodate the girth. 
           
Thor’s hand moved from tangling in Loki’s hair, to cupping the back of his
head.  It didn’t do anything to lessen the control he had over Loki, but for
some reason, Loki liked the feeling of Thor touching him like this better.
  And his resultant moan let Thor know it.
 
“See, I knew you wanted this,” Thor said, in an almost soothing tone, as he
stroked the back of Loki’s head.  “Now, I’m gonna need you to open up a bit
wider.”
 
Loki squeezed his eyes tightly shut as he felt Thor push deeper into his
mouth.  It already felt like a lot and Loki knew that Thor was barely halfway
inside.  Loki’s hands were still stroking what he couldn’t fit in his mouth. 
As he felt the head bump into the back of his throat, he let out a whine of
displeasure and tried to pull away.  But Thor’s hand was a solid grip at the
back of his head, holding him in place.
 
“Shh, shh, relax,” Thor said as he rocked his hips forward again.  “You can
take it.  Just relax.”
 
Loki tried to shake his head as he opened his eyes, blinking up at Thor.  But
Thor seemed to be indifferent to his plight, as he stared down at Loki with a
heated look of determination.  Thor’s hand dropped down to Loki’s jaw, stroking
it briefly, before he squeezed, using his grip to keep Loki in place as he
pushed forward again, this time with more force.
 
A muffled cry of panic escaped Loki’s lips around Thor’s cock as he felt it
press into his throat.  It hurt and his jaw throbbed from being forced open. 
He tried to struggle, to free himself from Thor’s grasp, but he was being held
immobile.
 
“Relax your throat,” Thor said, continuing to rock forward in a steady rhythm.
“Come on, let me in.”
 
Thor was panting above him, sounding like he was enjoying himself.  But Loki
felt like he was being smothered; like he couldn’t enough air.  And hot tears
began to prickle at the corner of his eyes as Thor continued to press against
the tight closure of his throat.  And then with another steady push, Thor was
in, and Loki felt himself begin to gag as he struggled to get air.  The tears
began to spill as he pressed his nails into Thor’s hips, hoping he would pull
out.
 
“Breathe through your nose, relax,” Thor cooed.  “You’re doing so good.  It
feels so fucking good.”
 
But Loki was panicking.  He couldn’t breathe and he wasn’t all that confident
that Thor would care if he died while sucking his cock.  With his vision
blurred by his tears, he continued to protest around the obstruction in his
throat, voice coming out in muffled groans, as he tried to pull away.  But Thor
just moaned as Loki’s throat continued to convulse around him.      
 
“So good, so good,” Thor panted. 
 
Loki was convinced Thor would never relent, but after two more thrusts Thor
appeared to take pity on him and eased up, pulling out of Loki’s throat but
cock still heavy on his tongue.  But as soon as Loki could breathe again, Loki
pulled away, Thor’s wet cock slipping from his mouth.  Turning his face away,
he gulped down lungfuls of air. His jaw ached and his throat throbbed from the
rough treatment, and he hadn’t even taken Thor’s whole cock in his mouth yet. 
Loki had no idea how the pornstars did it, but this was no easy task.
 
“Come on,” Thor said, voice rough and wanting as he stroked his cock in front
of Loki’s face.  “Try again.”
           
“Thor, I can’t,” Loki whined, trying to blink away his tears, and hating how
scratchy his throat felt.
 
“You just did,” Thor said.  “You can do it.  You just gotta make me come.  The
faster you do that, the faster it’ll be over.”
 
Loki tried to turn his face away again as Thor pressed his cock against his
lips, but Thor turned him back, thumb pushing into his mouth and holding it
open as he slipped his cock back inside.
 
“You’re not bad for a first-time cock-sucker, Loki,” he praised as he held firm
to the back of Loki’s head, keeping him in place.  “But you can definitely get
better.”
 
Loki let out a sound of displeasure at Thor’s criticism, but decided to do what
Thor had asked.  The faster he made him come, the sooner he could finish.  So
he hollowed out his mouth and began bobbing his head and sucking with earnest,
hoping this would be enough and that Thor wouldn’t want to use his throat
again.  Thor seemed to like it as he moaned a bit louder and began rocking his
hips.  The force of his thrusts increased, causing Loki to whimper but it was
still better than having him in his throat, so he forced himself to keep
quiet.  But soon, Loki could no longer keep up, so he let Thor move his head as
he wanted, pistoning his hips and fucking his mouth. 
 
After only a few minutes, Thor was pushing in deep again, his thick cock
pressing insistently even through Loki’s muffled sounds of displeasure.  And
soon, he was pressing through, opening up his throat again, and Loki had no
choice but to swallow around his thickness.  A long, loud moan escaped Thor’s
lips, followed by a hissed yes.   Loki’s vision became watery as tears sprang
to his eyes again, and all he could do was hold on to Thor’s hips. 
 
Thor pushed and pushed, going much slower, but also going deeper.  He grunted
his pleasure, seeming to love the pressure and friction.  Loki’s throat was
burning and he was getting light headed, and even though Thor seemed to be
having a good time, Loki wasn’t quite sure how much more he could take.  And
then suddenly, his nose was pressing into the coarse hair at the base of Thor’s
cock. He let out a startled groan, shocked and terrified that somehow he had
been able to take it all.   But that just seemed to make Thor even more
excited. 
 
“Shit, so good,” Thor breathed, as he continued to thrust in, slow and deep. 
“Almost there.  Almost there.” 
           
Thor rocked forward a few times, thrusting into his throat but never pulling
out all the way.  Loki groaned and scratched at him, feeling like he really
might vomit.  But then, with two more hard thrusts, he heard Thor let out a
hard grunt and he felt his cock pulsing in his throat.  Thor pulled back and
Loki’s mouth was flooded with Thor’s come as his hips jerked and he continued
to thrust shallowly into his mouth. 
           
Even spent and panting heavily, Thor held on to Loki’s jaw when he tried to
pull away, cock still in his mouth, as he made sure Loki didn’t move.  So,
reluctantly, Loki swallowed down, feeling the thick, salty fluid coating his
mouth and tongue.
 
Satisfied, Thor pulled back and grinned down at him as he stuffed himself back
into his underwear.  But Loki wasn’t smiling.  He was mortified.  And pissed. 
 
“I can’t believe you did that,” he almost shouted as he shakily pushed himself
to his feet and wiped angrily at the tears on his face.  “That was horrible.”
 
“You seemed like you liked it well enough,” Thor said as he glanced down to the
front of Loki’s swim-shorts, where Loki’s erection was clearly tenting the
front. 
 
Loki glared at him, eyes watery and seeming like he was on the verge of crying
again.  But he didn’t know if it was because he was just that angry, or if it
was because he was frustrated with himself for, again, proving Thor right. 
 
So, instead of answering, he grabbed the forgotten towel off of the pool deck
and pushed his way around Thor, unlocking the gate and rushing out.  Thor
watched him hurriedly make his way across the lawn, wiping the tears from his
cheeks and making sure to keep the towel held securely over his crotch.   
===============================================================================
A few minutes later, when Thor walked around the side of the house and back
into the yard, he noticed that Hogun was looking at him curiously, an
unreadable look clouding his face.
 
Thor raised an eyebrow at him, as if challenging him to say something. 
Instead, Hogun just shook his head, shrugging his shoulders and returning back
to his work.   
 
Nodding to himself, Thor glanced up at the house, eyes going straight to Loki’s
second-floor window.  Loki was fun.  He was petulant, and snotty, and thought
he was above everything, but ultimately his body couldn’t lie. No matter what
the boy said, he liked what Thor did to him and Thor knew it.  He just had to
get Loki to realize that.
 
Thor was looking forward to more fun. 
===============================================================================
 
A/N: There’s chapter 2.  I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Hahha.  Poor
confused Loki!  But, anyway, please let me know if you’re enjoying it!  I'm on
winter break and finding it hard to motivate myself to write, but if I don't
write now who KNOWS when I'll have the time D:.  So please help to give me a
(kind) kick in the pants! hahaha
xoxo
***** Chapter 3 *****
A/N:  I don’t know why my chapters end up being so long D:. Haha.  But, I guess
no one’s really complaining?? O_O  So, here, have some plot with your porn!  I
think some of you will be happy with this chapter—Loki finally gets some
“service," and Thor’s a wee bit nicer too :3.    
This whole fic is unbetaed, btw, so I apologize for any previous (and current)
mistakes!
Find me at laydee-liesmith.tumblr.com/
Happy reading! 
===============================================================================
All good things come to those who wait, and Thor… well Thor had had a very good
weekend.  Two days after having had Loki suck him off (which had been good
enough to make his toes actually curl, but he would never let Lokiknow that),
Thor had found himself in his father’s underground club playing host.  It was
the Borson group’s annual casino night, an event to which all the big bosses in
a 500 mile radius would come out.  Thousands of dollars would be lost on the
tables, not to mention the thousands that went to good liquor and even better
“company.” 
 
When Thor had walked in, fashionably late as always, his eyes had scanned the
crowd looking for opportunities.  On the surface, the night was meant to be for
entertainment, but everyone knew what the real deal was—business.  Major deals
usually went down at this event.  Crime syndicates from states away who would
never have an opportunity to cross paths would strike up agreements, talk about
new endeavors, and facilitate trades.  And while it was a good time for
collaborative work, no one was fool enough to think that everyonewould get
along, and there was always, without fail, at least one knife fight and a few
firearms being brandished before the night was over.  Two years ago, Thor
himself had been carted off to the hospital with a cheek fracture.    
 
But Thor had outgrown that.  And when he walked into this year’s casino night,
his eyes fell on a pretty young redhead.  He had heard whispers about her, but
had never met her in person.  And when he sidled up to her at the bar, offering
to buy her a drink, she had ordered for him instead, and they had taken three
shots, each, of authentic Russian vodka—the good stuff—before she had even
conceded to give him her name.  Natasha Romanova.  But he already knew that. 
She was the daughter of a well-established Russian mob boss. Her father had
been former KGB, and his business practices reflected that the man really knew
how to work in secret.  Very few people had ever met him, but everyone always
knew the Romanova signature on a job or a transaction. 
 
Natasha was also very rarely seen in public, so Thor had been surprised to have
had the opportunity to catch her “alone.”  Even though Natasha was seated at
the bar, Thor had already clocked four guards, armed by the way they were
walking with their weight shifted to one side or the other, all within 15 feet
of her.  Thor wasn’t stupid enough to try anything—even being the son of Odin
Borson—and her bodyguards seemed to be aware of that as he gave them an
acknowledging nod. 
 
Hearing that a Romanova was going to be in attendance—such a rare
occurrence—Thor had come with a plan.  He didn’t know much about her, other
than that she was a woman, and if Thor knew how to do anything it was seduce
women.  Thor had no problem “taking one for the team,” if it meant he could
seal a deal.  And when he sat next to her, watching her flip her fiery red hair
over a shoulder as she stared at him with amused eyes, he found that it
wouldn’t really feel like chore, even if his heart wouldn’t really be in to
it.  Natasha was easy on the eyes, that was for sure.  She was around Thor’s
age, with a slight Russian accent that made her sultry voice sound even
sexier.  But all Thor found himself wanting as he looked at her full, red-
painted mouth, was silky dark locks, big green eyes and pouting pink lips. 
 
But, to Thor’s surprise—and almost relief—Natasha didn’t seem all that
interested in him either.  She seemed to know how to carry herself around men
and where Thor thought she’d turn to putty in his presence once he leaned close
and whispered in her ear (pretending like she wouldn’t be able to hear him over
the loud din in the club unless he got thatclose), instead she arched an
eyebrow at him and smirked as she asked him if he could handle another shot. 
 
Finding that the way to Natasha’s heart was to treat her more like one of “the
boys” than it was to try to get her into his bed, Thor’s night had taken a very
pleasant turn.  After knocking back two more shots of liquid fire, Natasha and
he had proceeded to make a killing at the craps and poker tables, to the
chagrin of many of the older bosses.  Their night had even included a bar
brawl, that featured Natasha breaking a bottle and brandishing it at the handsy
youngest son of the infamous Colleti family, before her guards had stepped in
and put an end to the tussle.  Thor had looked at her like she was insane, hand
already on the butt of the gun concealed in his jacket to help fight their way
out if he needed to, and Natasha had just laughed her head off.  He had grinned
back at her, wondering if he should introduce her to his friend Sif.  He had
never seen a woman more ready to fight than her, and he could already see them
being a formidable duo if they ever paired up.    
 
And when the night was over, Thor almost unable to see because of how drunk he
was, he had received a (very coherent, damn her) text from Natasha saying that
her father would like to meet him the next day to talk about a possible
partnership with the Borson group.  Apparently, Natasha had had a good time
with him and “vouched” for him with her father.  No one from the Borson group
had ever been able to set up a meeting with Nikolai Romanova; not even Odin
himself.  And Odin, having heard of the potential meeting the next morning, had
given Thor a firm pat on the back and told him he would let Thor handle it.  By
himself.  There had been an underlying understanding that Thor was not to fuck
it up, but Thor had confidence in himself that he would be able to pull it
off.  And after a short, albeit tense, meeting with Nikolai Romanova, Thor had
become the middle man between the Romanova group and the Borsons.  He had
accomplished something even his father had not, and the knowledge of that was
elating. 
 
In celebration, Thor had spent another night getting shit-faced, this time with
the Warriors Three and Sif (who happily worked on the “finance” part of things
for his family’s company by day, and was a long-range rifle-woman if the need
ever arose for it, by night).  Things were changing now, and they all knew it. 
It was like Thor was finally being legitimized in the eyes of his father. 
Having been trusted with such an important responsibility by Odin made Thor
feel less stressed out.  And a less-stressed Thor meant less tension for his
friends, because when Thor was in a bad mood he was impossible to deal with. 
 
And Monday morning found him back at work, on time even, and taking point on
most of the projects for that day.   He watched through his shades as Loki came
out early that morning, followed by Laufey, as the two went for a morning
swim.  It was another extremely hot day, and by the time it had reached 10 am,
it was nearing 90 degrees.  So Thor had watched on, unsurprised, as, about an
hour later, Loki trudged back into the house, skin looking pink. 
 
It wasn’t lost on Thor that Loki had come and gone and hadn’t even spared him a
glance.  The little brat was so rude, but Thor couldn’t deny that he found
something somewhat endearing about his petulance.  Or, maybe it was because
Thor was in such a good mood.  In any case, he let his eyes follow Loki’s thin
form as the boy hurried into the house, licking his lips as he watched as the
damp trunks, this time red, clung to his plump bottom.       
 
“Earth to Thor!” Fandral said as he walked into Thor’s line of sight.
 
Thor frowned as he looked up at him, pausing in the process of mixing cement. 
 
“Uh… what were you looking at?” Fandral asked, eyebrow arched and seeming a bit
suspicious as he looked back at the direction Thor was looking, only to see the
back door swinging shut.
 
“What do you want?” Thor asked instead.
 
“I said—three times, in fact—that we need to make a run down to the hardware
store.  We ran out of paving stones and Laufey said he wants the path to lead
all the way around the back of the house,” Fandral said, arms on his hips and
frowning slightly. 
 
Thor sighed as he stopped what he was doing and stretched his arms over his
head.
 
“I guess I’ll be the one doing that, huh?” he asked as he glanced at his
curious friend.
 
“Yeah…” Fandral said, as he glanced behind himself again, seeming distracted. 
“You okay today?  I’ve never seen you… zone out like that before…”
 
Thor frowned.  He didn’t like all these questions.  But he forced himself to
smile because he didn’t need to give Fandral a reason to ask more questions.
 
“We got wrecked last night, man,” Thor said as he clapped him on the shoulder,
hard enough for Fandral to stumble a bit.  “It wasn’t bright doing that on a
Sunday night when we knew we had to be on site the next day.  I’m still trying
to recover, and I would’ve preferred to be just sleeping this off right now. 
So sorry if I’m a little slow on the uptake.”
 
Fandral laughed as he nodded in commiseration.
 
“Shit, you’re telling me.  What was with that Romanova girl sending over a case
of vodka?” Fandral said as he grimaced.
 
“What was with you two thinking you had to try and finish all of it?” Hogun
asked flatly as he walked by them, pushing a wheelbarrow.
 
“Hey! Come on now. If I remember correctly, you helped us with at least two of
those bottles,” Fandral whined as he turned and started following Hogun, who
seemed very uninterested in listening to him. 
 
Thor looked after them with an unreadable expression, glad that Fandral had
been sufficiently distracted.  He had been caught practically ogling Loki, and
he was lucky that his story had been believable enough to get his overly
perceptive friend off his back.  But he still didn’t like that he had let his
guard down enough to have been put in that situation in the first place. 
 
Thor knew he was playing a risky game here, pursuing Loki without his friends,
or Lok’s father, being any the wiser.  But that was the fun of it.  He liked
the thrill of cornering Loki, knowing that they could be caught at any moment
and seeing the panic in Loki’s eyes mixed with the boy’s unmistakable want.  He
liked seeing that war raging in Loki’s eyes as the boy struggled against him
but ultimately gave in.  And Thor couldn’t lie; the thrill of possibly being
caught excited him as well. 
 
But Thor knew that, even if he was caught, there probably wouldn’t be that many
repercussions.  He was careful to stay off of Laufey’s radar; he wasn’t risky
enough at the moment to do it right under the man’s nose. Thor could see how
much Laufey cared about his son, and whether Laufey knew the Borsons were
“connected” or not, Thor was sure the man would fight tooth and nail if he ever
figured out what Thor was doing to his son.  Laufey would lose—Thor was almost
sure of that—but the ensuing “complications” that would arise from Laufey going
to the police, or worse, Odin,was more of a headache than Thor wanted to deal
with.  So Thor had made sure to at least show some restraint in that sense. 
And Laufey was out of the house so often recently that he was almost making it
too easy on Thor. 
 
The only ones really left to worry about were his “Warriors Three.”  And that
wasn’t to say that they would, or could, stop Thor from doing anything he
wanted.  But he was also sure they wouldn’t approve of what was going on
between him and Loki.  He and his boys had robbed, cheated, tortured, and even
murdered together all in the name of “Borson.”  But they didn’t necessarily do
any of that for “fun;” they did it out of necessity and only to people they
thought deserved it.  Thor was the most likely out of them to go “berserk” and
use his fists on someone until he had to be dragged away from the broken body
to preserve the unlucky fool’s life.  They lived in a crooked world, but they
prided themselves on being fairat least.  So, Thor could already imagine the
lecture he would get from someone like Volstagg who had an especial soft spot
for kids and had mentioned, on more than one occasion, how he was concerned for
Loki and thought the boy needed to eat more.  Thor just didn’t have time for
that kind of shit.  He wanted Loki, and he wasn’t going to make any excuses to
anyone about why. 
 
Wiping his bandana over the drops of sweat that had beaded on his forehead
while he stood there under the blazing sun, Thor glanced once more back at the
house.  And then, pushing Loki from his mind, he pulled off his gloves and
tossed them on the ground.  Telling himself he need to push Loki out of his
mind and focus on work for now, he began trudging over to the van.  He knew he
would have another opportunity to play with Loki again later, even if it was a
couple of days from now.  All good things to those who wait, indeed. 
===============================================================================
Loki sighed as he threw himself unceremoniously down on the couch.  The sun was
brutal that day and he had been forced to go back inside once his dad had
started to get concerned that Loki’s attempt to get a tan would just result in
a painful sunburn.  Loki glanced at his shoulder, which looked a little pink
but wasn’t painful to the touch.  He rolled his eyes as he decided his father
had probably been right to send him in when he did.  In any case, Loki didn’t
do well in the heat and probably wouldn’t have lasted outside for very much
longer any way. 
 
Even though they had air conditioning, it seemed to be just barely working, so
Loki had traded in his usual t-shirt and tight jeans combo in exchange for a
pair of loose fitting basketball shorts and a baggy tank top; anything to keep
his skin cool.  He had let his hair air dry after his shower because the
thought of blow drying it with the house already so hot made him cringe.  But,
now, as he ran his hand through the tangled wavy strands he knew he would
probably regret that decision later.  
 
But Loki couldn’t worry about that.  He had more pressing things on his mind. 
Namely, the big blonde in his backyard whose eyes had practically bored into
Loki as he had walked across the yard, pointedly ignoring him.  Loki had a lot
of reasons to be mad at Thor.  Most importantly, he had had a sore throat for
days after Thor had forced him to suck his cock.  On Friday, when Thor had
cornered him by the pool, Loki’s throat had felt sore but he hadn’t known how
bad it would feel that night, hours later. 
 
It was hard to swallow and he sounded like he had a frog in his throat whenever
he tried to talk.  His father had been concerned and Loki had had to tell him,
blushing the whole time, not to worry and that he thought he was just coming
down with a summer cold.  Laufey had even brought him a cup of tea that night
before bed, and Loki had guiltily accepted it.  His throat was a bit better
now, two days later, but Loki had hated how the scratchy sensation in his
throat reminded him of Thor every time he swallowed.  That brute of a man had
made it so that Loki hadn’t been able to think of anything buthim for the whole
weekend. 
 
Loki had thought, after suffering through those reminders all weekend that he
would be prepared to face Thor today, but he had realized that just lookingat
Thor brought even more vivid memories.  He would be suddenly assaulted with
reminders of the taste, feel and smell of him and his face would flush hotly,
like he had some guilty secret.  He just knew Thor would know exactly what he
was thinking about if he looked at him. So he avoided looking at Thor.  But
Thor did not have the decency to return the favor.  Loki could feel Thor’s eyes
practically undressing him, and he wondered how no one else seemed to know what
was going on. 
 
It was like some secret that only he and Thor knew.  And while Loki still felt
his stomach twist into nervous knots whenever he saw Thor, he couldn’t deny
that the quickening of his pulse was also related to his own excitement.  He
was constantly on edge because he never knew when the next time Thor would
corner him would be, and the anticipation in itself was nerve-wracking.
 
Sighing, Loki decided he had spent too much time on trying to figure out Thor
and what the older man’s intentions toward him really were.  At least, for now,
he had picked up on the fact that Thor wouldn’t do anything with his father
around.  Loki still couldn’t understand how the man felt bold enough to do it
with his friends around, and suddenly wondered if they were all “in” on it, and
actually knew what Thor was doing with him whenever he snuck away from them. 
Frowning, Loki found that hard to believe. 
 
For the most part, the three seemed disinterested in him, but Loki couldn’t see
them actively helping Thor do something like this.  Even when he had ran from
the pool the other day, face flaming with shame and tears still wet on his
cheeks, he had seen the quieter one, Hogun, stop and look up from his work.
 Loki had looked away quickly, embarrassed and not knowing what he looked
like.  He had, for a moment, wondered if he had traces of Thor’s come on his
face, or if Hogun would be able to tell why he was holding the towel so
awkwardly over his front.  But before he had turned away fully, he had seen
Hogun look at him with concern, as if he was going to ask him a question. 
Instead, Loki just picked up his pace and was running inside before the man had
made up his mind.     
 
But, thinking of those friends of his, and Thor’s bragging about being
“connected,” Loki remembered that Thor had said to “look him up.”  In all the
commotion from before, Loki had forgotten about doing it.  But, now… well, now
Loki wanted to call him on his bluff. 
 
With a huff, Loki pulled his laptop on to his lap and quickly opened it.  He
immediately typed in the name “Borson” and his brows furrowed when the results
came back.  Scrolling through the local news articles, Loki saw a good amount
of positive press coverage—the Borson family, on top of being in the
contracting business for over 30 years, also seemed to be philanthropic and
donated to a few charities around town.  But he also saw a number of concerning
articles, most of them dealing with Thor. 
 
Clicking on one, his breath hitched as he saw a picture of Thor in handcuffs
being placed into the back of a police cruiser.  Looking at the picture, Thor
looked a few years younger, but his eyes were blazing and fierce.  His muscles
bulged under the t-shirt he was wearing, as if he was struggling with the
cuffs.  And Loki could see that the two officers that were escorting him seemed
anxious, as if even they weren’t quite sure they’d be able to control him. 
Thor looked like an animal. 
 
Quickly scanning the article, Loki discovered that, when he was 19, Thor had
been arrested on suspicion of being involved in the murder of three high-level
gangsters who were part of the “McMurphy group.” Following links to other
articles that covered the case, Loki found that Thor had been released from
holding two days after his arrest (after his father had posted a $50,000 bail)
and had been cleared, all charges being dropped, just a week after that when a
solid “alibi” mysteriously turned up. 
 
In one of the pictures, Loki could see Thor walking out of the courthouse, a
triumphant smile on his face.  Behind him, looking far more serious and
dangerous than Loki had ever seen them, he could see Hogun, Volstagg and
Fandral flanking Thor (apparently they had been named as possible
accomplices).  There was also a beautiful, but serious-looking, dark-haired
woman in an impeccably-tailored suit walking in front of Thor.  She looked as
if she would take a bullet for him if she had to.  A little off to the side,
but walking in front of all the rest was an austere-looking older man in an
impressive black trench coat.   He was shorter and stockier than Thor, but Loki
could tell that the man, even at his age, probably concealed respectable muscle
under that coat.  He looked even more intimidating than Thor because of the
wizened appearance of his face; as if he had been to hell and back, and lived
to tell about it.  The black eyepatch didn’t help things either.  Loki knew,
almost instinctively, without having to look at the caption of the picture,
that that was Thor’s father.  He shivered. 
 
Eyes dropping down further, Loki saw that there was a note at the end of the
article saying that the chief of police had personally apologized to the Borson
family following the dropping of the charges, saying that he was embarrassed
that such a mistake had occurred and that he would make sure his detectives did
better investigatory work before dragging a family that was such an exemplary
pillar of the community through the mud. 
 
Loki’s eyes widened as he continued clicking through articles.  There were a
few more articles covering Thor’s exploits from when he was 18 up until about a
year and a half ago.  They showed Thor being accused of an offense—charges
ranging from drug trafficking to money laundering, with a slew of brutal
assaults mixed in—and then being cleared by either an alibi or someone else
conveniently coming forward and confessing to the crime.  But there were also
some articles that just seemed to chronicle the folly of youth.  Loki couldn’t
help but roll his eyes at one from when Thor was 18 that showed a totaled Audi
with the title “Borson Heir Involved in Likely DUI.”  Although he let out a
huff of indignation, when the follow-up article stated that Thor’s breathalyzer
had tested negative and that he had crashed because of a “defect” in the car. 
Yeah right,Loki thought to himself. 
 
However, there were also some articles that seemed like someone had tried to
set Thor up—a few notable instances were when the cops had found planted drugs
in his gym bag or an unregistered gun in his car after a “tip”—and the Borson
family’s legal representative, someone named “Heimdall,” had argued as such. 
But even in those circumstances, it was always the same thing; Thor ultimately
got off.   His curiosity getting the best of him, Loki had clicked on more
related articles and had shuddered to see coverage of “mysterious” deaths of
noted higher ups in the local crime scene only a few weeks after Thor’s arrests
in those cases.  One had “drowned” in his own bathtub; the other had been
involved in a hunting “accident.”     
 
Sitting back in awe, looking at all the tabbed articles that were sitting in
his browser, Loki bit his lip in consternation as he considered the information
he had just learned.  Any idiot could see that someone who had gotten into
thatmuch trouble over the years wasn’t an innocent lamb.  No everyday
contractor was being dragged into an interrogation to be asked about the murder
of powerful movers and shakers in the world of organized crime.  But, every
article Loki had read had all came to the same conclusion; Thor was innocent
because they had no evidence that could prove him guilty.  So, Loki didn’t know
what to think of that.  Was Thor the unluckiest guy in the world, or had he
really been involved in all those things he had been accused of?
 
Loki’s father was a lawyer, and while he did tax, and not criminal, Laufey
would probably tell Loki that as long as no conviction was obtained, Thor was
innocent.  At least innocent in the way the law defined it.  But, Loki didn’t
know if he could look at it that way.  He tried to imagine Thor—those powerful
fists, those piercing blue eyes—actually holding a gun to someone’s head.  He
shuddered.  But Loki wasn’t fully sure it was a shudder of fear. 
 
The slamming of the screen door off the kitchen startled Loki and he jumped,
dragged out of his disturbing thoughts, and quickly closed out of the web
browser.  He listened as he could hear his father’s voice, rising in volume as
the man walked briskly into the living room.  Seeing Loki staring at him,
perplexed, Laufey gave him a tight smile, but the smile quickly faded as it was
obvious that he hadn’t liked whatever he had just heard on the phone.
 
“What do you mean she won’t sign??” Laufey almost shouted.  “The agreement was
set, Bill.  No! I don’t give a rat’s ass! I worked on that for almost two whole
days.  Well, you tell her she better get down to the office and make a better
offer or we’ll sue.  Yes, sue!”
 
Loki cringed as he listened to his father’s booming voice.  Whoever was on the
end of his wrath was probably quaking in his boots.  Laufey paced out of the
living room and Loki could hear his voice echoing throughout the rest of the
first floor as it appeared Laufey was taking his conversation into the dining
room, and then into the study. 
 
Shaking his head, Loki went back to his computer, reopening the browser and
trying to decide whether his newly obtained “knowledge” about Thor changed
things or not.  It was scary to think that Thor would actually use his
connections to do something bad to Loki or his family.  But everyone in the
articles who had been “allegedly” hurt by Thor, or his friends, had all been
related to organized crime in some way.  There really didn’t seem to be any
complaints against the Borson family by everyday civilians.  Loki let that
assuage a bit of his concern by telling himself that Thor was just bluffing. 
At least he hoped. 
 
And then Loki also had to deal with the fact that thinking Thor really did have
that kind of power—that he moved in the underworld of organized crime and was
the son of some big-time crime boss—kind of excited him.  It made Thor even
more mysterious and the dangerousness, that Loki could practically feel pulsing
around the man, all the more real.      
           
“What’re you doing?” came Laufey’s inquisitive voice, breaking in to Loki’s
musings.
 
Loki jumped again, and reflexively slammed his laptop shut.  He cringed almost
immediately after doing it, knowing that that probably looked especially
suspicious.
 
“Loki…” Laufey said, raising an eyebrow and looking uncomfortable.
 
Loki knew exactly what his father thought he had been doing. 
           
“I’m not--! It’s not… Ugh, I wasn’t doing anything weird, dad.  You just
startled me.  What’s up?” Loki asked, hoping his face wasn’t flushing as much
as he felt it was.
 
Laufey gave him another unsure look, but it seemed that he would be more
comfortable going with Loki’s story than asking any more questions, so he
shrugged. 
 
“Um… So, I’ve got to go back into work again.  Sorry about that, kiddo,” Laufey
said as he sighed.
 
Loki looked up at his dad, a bit strangely.  Laufey hadn’t called him “kiddo”
in probably a good 5 years.  But, Laufey also looked like he was feeling
guilty, and Loki sighed.
 
“It’s totally fine, dad.  Don’t worry about it.  Work is work, and I understand
if you need to be there,” Loki said, sincerely.
 
Laufey smiled at him.
 
“I know,” he said reluctantly.  “But, I was at the office all weekend and I
told you I’d at least be home today…”
 
Loki shrugged, wanting his father not to feel so bad.  It was true; Laufey had
been gone for the better part of the weekend and Loki had eaten dinner alone
both nights.  But Loki wasn’t a brat.  He knew that his father was trying
really hard to get them established in this new life he had made for them and
while sometimes it was a little lonely, Loki definitely didn’t resent him for
it.
 
“Really, I understand,” Loki said again.  “Besides, it sounds like whoever this
woman is who reneged on this deal with you really kind of needs to get her ass
handed to her.”
 
Laufey laughed and shook his head ruefully. 
 
“So, you heard all that huh?” Laufey asked.
 
“Kinda hard to miss you screaming on the phone, dad,” Loki said as he playfully
rolled his eyes.
 
Laufey smiled at him and then patted him on the head.  Not appreciating the
gesture which made him feel like a little kid again, Loki gave him a petulant
look that only caused Laufey to smile wider.
 
“Ok, I’m going to run over and I’ll try not to be too late coming back,
alright?” he asked.
 
“Sure thing, dad,” Loki said as he watched his father pick up his keys and make
his way out of the living room. 
===============================================================================
When Thor returned from the hardware store, and pulled the van into the spot
closest to the backyard fence, he could see Laufey walking towards his car. 
The older man waved at him and Thor waved back, rolling down his window. 
Laufey changed directions and jogged over to Thor’s side.
 
“Glad to catch you, Thor,” Laufey said as Thor cut off the engine.
 
“I let the other boys know I needed to run to the office for a few hours and
they told me you were out getting more paving stones for the changes I made,”
he continued.
 
Thor nodded as he smiled tightly, opening the car door as Laufey stepped back. 
He wasn’t necessarily happy that Laufey kept making all these changes.  Sure,
it was extra money for his father’s company but it wasn’t really like the
construction company was the bulk of Odin’s income.  And the more Laufey kept
on adding to the project, the more it seemed that Thor would be spending his
entire summer working on this one house.  The only perk to this project was the
fiery little brunette housed inside.
 
Laufey was apparently still talking, though, and Thor forced himself to pay
better attention.  Had Laufey said something about going to work?
 
“So things are busy again at work?” Thor asked, feigning interest.
 
Laufey nodded tightly.
 
“Yup.  I don’t know if you have the same experience in your line of work, but,
litigation, Jesus.  It’s like these people are out here to rip each other's
throats out.  It never ends.” 
 
Thor couldn’t help a small chuckle at that.
 
“Hmm, you’d be surprised.  It gets pretty cutthroat in our line of work too,”
he said, thinking of the times situations had gotten literally cutthroat.
 
Laufey smiled back.
 
“Well, I’m glad we could commiserate over it then,” he said as he patted Thor
on the shoulder.
 
“In any case, can you boys hold down the fort?  I probably won’t be back before
the end of the day, so, as always, just let Loki know when you’re heading out
for the day, alright?  And don’t worry about bothering him. Lately that boy
seems to be becoming a part of the couch,” Laufey said as his brows furrowed a
bit. 
 
“No problem,” Thor said, grinning at the mention of Loki.
 
“Great.  Talk soon,” Laufey said, already distracted by a call coming in on his
mobile.
 
Thor disinterestedly watched the man walk away for a bit, thoughts already
straying to how lucky he was today.  He was having a good day and the only
thing he had been disappointed about was that he wouldn’t get a chance to
“share” his good mood with Loki.  But, now, with Laufey gone for the day, it
seemed he’d have a chance after all. 
 
Grinning he turned and strolled into the back yard, seeing his men hard at
work.
 
“You lot unload the van,” Thor called to them, not even stopping on his way
towards the backdoor.
 
“What?  Why?” Fandral said as he looked up from the paving he, Volstagg and
Hogun were working on. 
 
Thor frowned as he came to a halt, halfway between them and halfway between
getting to Loki, as he whipped off his shades.
 
“Because I just spent two hours running around to four different stores to get
this stuff because you jackasses ordered some random custom bricks that no one
in this damn town seems to have,” Thor said as he glared at them.  “And then I
had to load it all in the van by myself.  So excuse me if I think I’m allowed
to pop in the house for a few minutes and take a piss while you unload the
truck.”
 
Fandral looked appropriately chastened and the other two grumbled in agreement,
seeming to find Thor’s reasoning pretty solid.
 
“Any more complaining??” Thor asked, forcing a hard edge into his tone.  In
reality, there wasn’t very much that could ruin his mood at that minute.
 
“Nope,” Volstagg said, waving Thor away.  
 
Thor nodded, satisfied, and then walked away from them, letting himself in to
the house.
===============================================================================
Loki had gone upstairs to get another DVD and to raid his personal candy stash
(Laufey had a thing about candy and what it could do to his teeth so Loki
tended to hide most of what he consumed away from his father’s eyes).  When he
walked into the living room, munching on a handful of Skittles, he stopped in
mid-chew as he saw who was sitting on the couch waiting for him.  Heart
stuttering in his chest, Loki gasped when he saw Thor. 
 
The older man was sitting there, arms crossed over his chest and long legs
propped up on the coffee table.  Thor was smiling at him, probably the nicest
expression Loki had ever seen him give him and still his eyes looked like they
were devouring him.  He watched Thor’s eyes drag up and down his body and Loki
shuddered, suddenly feeling underdressed in his shorts and tank. 
 
“Come here,” Thor said as he patted the seat next to him.
 
Loki frowned and backed up a step, looking like he was trying to map out his
escape plan.
 
“Are you kidding me?  No way,” he said flatly, sneering at Thor. 
 
Thor laughed.
 
“What?  Don’t look at me like that.  I have something good for you.  I
promise,” Thor said as he gave him a sultry look.
 
Loki flushed, unable to deny to himself that he was at least curious about what
Thor meant.  Thor was being a lot nicer than usual… even playful. And there was
something somewhat enticing about the mischievous look in Thor’s eyes.  But
Loki also had a good sense of self-preservation.  So he shook his head.
 
“Why do I find that hard to believe?” he asked sarcastically.
 
Thor laughed again.
 
“No, trust me.  I’ll make you feel good, Loki,” he said, voice dropping to a
purr.   
 
Loki looked at him uncertainly.  Swallowing, he still felt the irritation in
his throat.  He knew he’d probably be a fool to listen to anything Thor had
said.  Eyes traveling down to the man’s large hands, he knew that, more than
anything, those hands were prone to hurting him.  But the promise of something
good… well, Loki thought he was owed something good by this point.
 
So, hesitantly, he stepped forward.
 
“I… Don’t try anything like what you did last time,” Loki warned, stopping just
out of Thor’s reach.  “I’ll scream. I swear.”
 
Thor’s eyes darkened as Loki mentioned “last time,” and Loki couldn’t suppress
his own shiver. 
 
“If you scream this time it’ll be from pleasure, baby,” Thor said with a
smirk.  “You might be begging me to stuff your mouth with something just to
keep you quiet.”
 
Loki flushed, feeling his stomach clench pleasantly at the thought of Thor’s
promise, and stepped forward a few steps more.  And then Thor was reaching out,
grabbing Loki by the waist and pulling him forward.  Loki stumbled as he let
Thor pull him and found himself maneuvered in to Thor’s lap, straddling his
waist.  Blushing, he brought his hands up to Thor’s shoulders, pushing away
until he had the older man at arm’s length, intent on keeping his distance,
even in this close proximity.
 
Thor was very much pleased with the way things were turning out.  He had Loki’s
warm soft body in his lap and the boy wasn’t putting up all that much of a
fight.  He could feel Loki trembling, fidgeting and obviously nervous. His
breathing came out in little pants and his big green eyes flitted around,
seeming to want to look at Thor, but not, at the same time. 
 
Thor didn’t have that problem.  He looked his fill.  Up close, Loki was so
pretty.  His eyes traced over those fine, dark eyebrows, high cheekbones, and
thin, delicately pointed nose.  Loki’s eyes were a startling shade of green,
framed by thick dark lashes that Thor imagined would look more beautiful when
dampened by fat tears.  Thor even found himself staring at Loki’s parted pink
lips, imagining sliding his cock between them again and feeling himself throb
in response.  It was nice to have the solid weight of Loki sitting on top him,
the boy’s knees anchored around his waist. 
 
Thor squeezed Loki’s hips, liking the feeling of the boy’s narrow bones beneath
his hand and was rewarded with a soft gasp.  His hold was firm, but not tight
enough to hurt.  It was enough to let Loki know he wouldn’t be going anywhere
anytime soon.   He pushed the hem of Loki’s baggy shirt up so he could feel the
actual flesh of his hip bones and stroked at the skin there, causing Loki to
sigh in pleasure.  Thor grinned.  The kid was like putty in his hands.  Loki
even shifted forward a bit, spreading his knees wider to sit closer to Thor and
unconsciously pushing his chest forward.  From where Thor was sitting, he could
see right down the front of Loki’s top, the neckline low and loose enough to
give Thor an eyeful, and he groaned as he could see that Loki’s pink nipples
were already pebbling and standing at attention under the material.
 
With hungry eyes, Thor looked back up at Loki and saw that the boy was looking
back at him, with eyes half lidded and lips slightly parted.  And when Loki saw
that he had been caught looking, his eyes shifted again, face flushing.  Thor
continued to stroke at his hips, liking the soft sounds Loki was making.  And
while it was clear that Loki was unable to hold Thor’s intense gaze for long,
Thor noticed that Loki’s eyes had dropped down and lingered on his lips. And
then it dawned on Thor what the boy wanted.  Amused, he licked his lips and
watched as Loki flushed, eyes darting away from Thor’s wet lips up to his eyes,
and then away again, when he noticed Thor looking at him intently.
 
“Kiss me,” Thor ordered, as he shifted one of his hands to stroke at the bare
skin of Loki’s thigh.
 
Loki jumped at the touch, his eyes darting up and looking at Thor with surprise
at his request. Thor could see the pink flushing his cheeks.  The boy was so
coy.   Thor almost had to hold back a smile at the thought that the same boy
who he had caught stroking himself to kinky porn blushed when asked for a kiss.
 
 
“Come on now,” Thor said as he stroked at Loki’s thigh again. 
 
And then, after a moment of hesitation, Loki leaned forward, eyes fluttering
closed, and pressed his lips to Thor’s.  After the briefest of touches, with
just a little bit of pressure, Loki was pulling back, averting his eyes shyly. 
Thor was surprised.  While Loki’s kiss wasn’t a tiny peck, it was still just a
quick, firm touching of lips.  The boy had had his cock in his mouth, and Loki
thought he could get away with an innocent little kiss?
 
“That’s not a kiss,” Thor said, before Loki could pull too far away. 
 
And then Thor was grabbing him, one hand firmly gripping the back of his head,
the other squeezing at the fleshy meat of his inner thigh, as he pulled Loki’s
face to his.  His lips caught the boy’s, Loki’s mouth partly open in a small
gasp.  And Thor kissed him, showing him how grown-upskissed.  It was hot and
wet. Thor’s tongue dominating Loki’s, teeth sometimes knocking together. 
Shuddering, Loki let out a moan, the sound a mix between panic and pleasure;
like he was overwhelmed.  Panting, they breathed each other’s air, Loki’s hands
scrambling for purchase on Thor’s shoulders.
 
Pulling back slightly, Thor licked at Loki’s wet, swollen lips, savoring how
the boy was trembling in his arms.  Loki’s knees were squeezed tight around
Thor’s waist, and their chests were almost flush.  It was easy for Thor to slip
a hand in between them and start to rub Loki through the front of his shorts. 
Surprised, Loki let out a startled sound, as if embarrassed, and tried to pull
back.  But Thor just brought him forward once more, hand still firmly cupping
the back of Loki’s head and slotted his mouth over the boy’s again. Loki let
out a soft moan, sighing into Thor’s mouth and relaxing against Thor’s body. 
Thor grinned as he felt Loki slowly begin to buck up into his hand.  
 
“See, what’d I tell you?  You like it, don’t you?” Thor breathed hotly against
Loki’s lips.
 
Loki whined as he pulled back and shook his head, suddenly aware again of where
he was and who he was doing this with.  Eyes fluttering open, Loki glanced
around him.  It was two o’clock in the afternoon and he was in his living room,
sitting in the lap of someone his father had hired to work on their house, who
was also most likely a cold-blooded criminal, letting that man touch him in
notably questionable ways. The curtains weren’t even drawn for God’s sake. 
Anyone could see.  But, then Thor squeezed at his cock again, causing Loki to
whimper and buck his hips, blowing those thoughts from his mind.  And when
Thor’s mouth closed over his again, muffling the sounds of his cries, Loki
couldn’t quite remember why he had stopped in the first place. 
 
Thor smirked against Loki’s lips.  It was so easy to turn the boy’s mind into
mush and do away with his fiery little retorts.  Hand still massaging the boy’s
stiff cock through his shorts, Thor watched as Loki whimpered and jumped, nails
digging into Thor’s shoulders.  And Loki seemed almost desperate for Thor’s
kisses.  Whenever Thor pulled his lips away, Loki would blindly search him out,
eyes closed and chin tilted up beseechingly.  Licking his lips, Thor reached
his into the waistband of Loki’s shorts and wrapped his hand around his cock,
pulling it out.  
 
Loki moaned again, trembling and biting at Thor’s lips, but he didn’t pull away
and he didn’t tell Thor to stop.   
 
“Good boy,” Thor murmured as he stroked over the wet head with his thumb.  “I
like it when you’re honest.” 
 
Loki shuddered, but all he could do was tuck his head into the crook of Thor’s
shoulder, breathing heavily.  He wound his arms behind Thor’s neck, fingers
gripping the material of his t-shirt as if he needed something to hold on to. 
Humming happily, Thor mouthed at the side of Loki’s neck as he continued
rubbing his thumb over the wet head of his cock.  Loki bit down on his lip,
groaning with the pleasure, and Thor began to pump his cock in earnest.  With
bleary eyes, Loki looked down, watching his cock sliding in and out of Thor’s
big fist, hips jerking up to meet every downward thrust.  He was so sensitive
and overwhelmed, he felt like he could come at any moment. 
 
“Hey,” Thor panted in his ear.  “Don’t be selfish now.  You can’t be the only
one having fun.”
 
Loki looked at him, half-gone with pleasure and not entirely following what
Thor was saying.  But Thor had no problem showing him.  Unwinding one of Loki’s
arms from around his neck, Thor brought Loki’s hand down to the front of his
jeans to let Loki feel how the material was tented by his own erection. 
Moaning, Loki shut his eyes as he rubbed at Thor’s stiff cock.
 
“Good boy,” Thor praised again.  “Now take it out.  Come on. I want you to
touch me like I’m touching you.”   
 
Loki’s eyes fluttered open again, haze clearing somewhat, and he looked at Thor
hesitantly.  Thor’s cock was amazing and intimidating all at the same time, and
Loki was concerned this would end up with Thor’s cock down his throat again. 
But Thor was making him feel so good right now, and Loki wasn’t quite sure he’d
put up all that much of a fight if Thor forced him to his knees again.  And
then Thor was nuzzling at his neck, whispering dirty things in his ear, telling
him how much he wanted to see Loki’s little hand wrapped around his big cock
and Loki shivered.  Biting his lip, Loki gave in and quickly began fumbling
with the buttons to Thor’s jeans.  In a matter of seconds, he had fished out
Thor’s cock, fingers barely closing around the base of it as he began
stroking.  In reward, Thor bit at his ear, licking the lobe and told him how
good he was. 
 
Moaning, Loki closed his eyes and continued stroking the thick cock in his
hand, feeling it become slick as Thor started leaking pre-come.  But he
couldn’t concentrate.  Thor’s hand on his cock was turning Loki’s mind to mush,
his hand slowing on Thor as he became lost in his own pleasure. 
 
Growling, Thor nipped at Loki’s shoulder, hard enough for him to let out a hiss
of pain and batted Loki’s useless hand away from his cock.  Loki’s eyes opened
then, mourning the loss of Thor’s hand on his own cock and he looked down just
in time to see Thor wrap his hand around both their cocks, pressing them
together.  The sight of Thor’s thick adult cock lined up against his smaller
one made Loki’s stomach flip.  And then Thor stroked upward and the slick, hot
slide had Loki’s eyes rolling back as he bit his lips and thrust up hard into
the tight warmth.
 
Holding on to Loki tightly with his other arm slung around his waist, Thor
proceeded to jerk them both off with slow, tight strokes, twisting his fist
around the sensitive heads, spreading their pre-come everywhere.  Loki began
whimpering, arms going back up to wrap around Thor’s neck, head tucking back
into the crook of his shoulder, as he clung to Thor as if he was the only thing
keeping him from falling off the edge.  And Thor couldn’t help but moan as
well, his breathing strained and mouth feeling dry.  His mind was blown by how
pliant and downright sexy Loki was in his arms.  All he could think about was
what he would do this boy once he got the chance to actually fuck him,
imagining Loki clinging to him like this, legs wrapped around his back as he
took Thor’s cock.
 
Grunting, Thor squeezed their cocks tighter, thrusting up and causing Loki to
let out a litany of needy gasps.  And then, with one more swirl of his thumb
over the head of Loki’s cock, Loki was crying out, his cock pulsing out ropes
of come into Thor’s hand.  As Loki collapsed against him, whimpering in his
ear, Thor felt himself nearing his own climax and continued to thrust up in to
his hand, seeking his release.  Using the slickness of Loki’s hot come, sliding
his cock against Loki’s over-sensitized one, Thor groaned as he came, coating
both their cocks. 
 
Breathing heavy, with Loki still clutching on to him and panting hotly in his
ear, Thor looked dazedly down at his fingers, covered in their come.  And then
he grinned lazily, a nice thought crossing his mind. Sitting back, he
maneuvered Loki until the boy was resting on Thor’s thighs, looking up at him
with wide, dreamy eyes, pupils blown and hair a tousled sweaty mess.  Loki
looked so relaxed for once, Thor just wanted to kiss him.  But instead he
brought his fingers up showing the sticky, dripping mess to Loki.
 
“Open up,” he told him, smirking. 
 
Loki blinked slowly as if having trouble processing what Thor was asking him. 
Then, as realization dawned on him, he made a face, and shook his head, trying
to pull away.  But Thor brought the hand that had been around Loki’s waist up
to cup the back of Loki’s head and held him in place.
 
“Come on,” Thor said, voice taking on a harder tone, not liking Loki’s
resistance.
 
Loki pouted at him, but he understood that he shouldn’t fight.  Thor had been
gentle with him this time.  His body was still buzzing pleasantly with the
after effects of what had been a mind-blowing orgasm.  He realized he liked
having Thor’s attention and liked being given attention, too.  He wanted a
repeat of that.  So, reluctantly, he opened his mouth. 
 
Thor smirked and pressed his wet fingers into Loki’s mouth, sliding them over
Loki’s hot tongue, coating his mouth and his teeth.  He spread his fingers,
watching the corners of Loki’s mouth stretching, and remembered how good the
boy had looked sucking his cock only a few days earlier. 
 
“Suck them,” Thor ordered, voice a little breathy.
 
And with a petulant look, Loki proceeded to do so, closing his mouth and
glaring at Thor as he suckled at his fingers.  Thor couldn’t deny how
attractive Loki looked doing that, and felt his cock give a weak throb of
interest.  He couldn’t help the slow grin that spread over his lips as he
pushed his fingers deeper into Loki’s mouth and watched the flush rise on the
boy’s cheeks as he moaned.  Looking at Thor shyly he sucked more earnestly,
running his tongue between Thor’s fingers.  Thor looked at him with half-lidded
eyes, wondering if he had time for another go…time to show Loki some new
things.
 
“Thor!” a hissed whisper-shout came from somewhere in the back of the house.
 
And both he and Loki froze.  When they heard the sound of the back door
slamming shut and the sound of someone tripping and cursing, Loki scrambled to
get off of Thor’s lap, Thor’s fingers sliding from his lips with a wet ‘pop.’ 
Loki immediately began fixing his clothes, afraid that someone would walk in
and they would immediately be able to tell what he had just been doing.
 
“Shit,” Thor groaned as he pushed himself to his feet, leisurely tucking
himself back into his jeans, already knowing who had been calling out for him. 
“What the hell is he doing in here?”
 
“Thor??” Fandral called again, seeming a bit closer.
 
Loki looked on with wide eyes, seeming terrified that they would get caught,
but Thor just grinned at him. 
 
“Don’t worry,” Thor said as he pulled Loki close and planted a wet kiss on his
lips.  “No one’s going to come in here.”
 
And then, just like that, he turned on his heels and walked out of the living
room.
 
Loki stared after his retreating figure, heart pounding in his chest. He felt
flushed, but he wasn’t sure if it was from his recent orgasm or the stress he
was feeling from almost getting caught. 
 
“What’re you doing here?” he heard Thor ask from a few rooms away, most likely
the kitchen.
 
“What do you mean?  You said you were gonna take a piss and it’s been half an
hour, dude.  I started to figure you either skipped out on us or someone
kidnapped you.”  
 
“And you thought it’d make sense to go prowling around our employer’s house,
calling my name out?” Thor responded, voice getting farther away.
 
Loki strained to hear, stepping a bit closer to the doorway.
 
“Well what about you?  You were in here for half an hour.  That doesn’t seem
like prowling to you?  Shit, Thor. What were you up to?  I mean, I know
Laufey’s not around, but what if Loki caught you?” Fandral asked, voice
dropping a bit lower as if suddenly remembering that the person in question
might be able to overhear him.
 
“I wasn’t ‘up’ to anything,” Thor responded.  “I got a phone call. You know,
business.  I wasn’t about to miss the call.”
 
Fandral was quiet for a few minutes, before he responded, voice more serious. 
It sounded like he and Thor had moved farther away, probably right by the back
door.
 
“Everything good?  You need us to do anything?  Talkto anyone?” Fandral asked. 
 
Loki flinched hearing Fandral’s question.  Fandral and Thor’s conversation
seemed benign and mundane on the surface, but the way Thor’s tone had changed
when he mentioned “business,” and Fandral’s accompanying seriousness made Loki
feel like they were talking in code.  And it gave further credence to Thor’s
likely not-so-empty boasting about being ‘connected.’ 
 
“Nope.  Everything’s still good,” Thor responded, and Loki could hear the sound
of the screen door opening. “So, what do you say we get back to our “day job,”
huh?”
 
Loki stood there, heart pounding against his chest as he considered what he had
just heard, the taste of Thor still strong on his lips.   
===============================================================================
A/N: So, we come to the end of another chapter with these two crazy boys,
haha.  Let me know if you like it!  
Also, I think the update rate is going to slow down a little bit from here on
out. I’ve been pretending that I don’t have school-related work to do, and I
can’t really justify spending hours writing smut (as much as I want to) and
straight up ignoring my research D:.  But, hopefully I’ll have something new in
a week or so!!
Happy Holidays if I don’t post before then! xoxo
***** Chapter 4 *****
A/N:  And here’s chapter 4! So sorry it took me so long to get the next chapter
out (Happy belated New Year by the way! O_O)  The new school term has started
and it’s been a beast!  I’ve also been playing around on Tumblr and reading all
the amazingfic that’s been posted in the last month or so, so that may have
been where all my free time has gone! Haha.  But, I was finally able to whip
this up, so I hope you like it!  I also need to confess that I commit a bit of
a porn-cliché in this chapter, but… well, I think it was actually kind of
fitting based on the ‘location' of the events ;p. Enjoy!
===============================================================================
Following his and Thor’s most recent tryst in the living room, Loki had spent
the night going over and over the events in his head.  He was somewhat giddy. 
Not because he thought that this suddenly made what he was doing with Thor
“okay”—no, Loki knew enough to know that it was most definitely not okay—but
because of what he had felt and what Thor had done. 
 
Everything from the feel of Thor’s breath on his ear, to his large, calloused
hands on his hips, to the hot grip of Thor stroking his cock was permanently
seared into his mind.  Even the way Thor had kissed him had Loki whimpering at
the memory.  Loki had thought he knew how to “kiss” before that, but when Thor
had kissed him—practically dominated his mouth—Loki realized that all the
kisses he had had before that were merely child’s play.  No one had ever stuck
their tongue in his mouth before.  No one had ever practically stolen his
breath away. 
 
When Loki was around Thor, something came over him.  He figured this was what
people called lust.  But Loki hated that he was so weak to his own desires;
that he could be made to bend to Thor’s will just because the man was gorgeous,
and smelled nice, and was big and powerful, and all the things Loki realized he
wanted.  He made Loki’s insides throb whenever he was near. 
 
Thor infuriated him, but at the same time, Loki wanted to be wanted by Thor. 
He wanted Thor’s eyes on him. He wanted Thor to care about him.  But, Loki
wasn’t quite sure Thor even gave him a second thought once they parted ways. 
 
And that thought was always pretty effective at cooling his fires a bit.  Loki
still had no idea what he meant to Thor, or what Thor was getting out of this
(other than the sex, that is).  He wanted to know why him?  He hated the
thought that maybe Thor went home and laughed about him, or that Thor told his
friends about him, like he was some desperate fool.  Or, worse, that Thor had
someone else—someone who actuallymattered. 
 
But Loki also knew that he could never ask Thor these questions.  Thor barely
let him talk when they interacted.  And Loki was afraid that if he asked he
would upset some kind of delicate balance in which, as long as they didn’t talk
about it, they could keep going on.  But Loki feared that the longer this went
on, the more his feelings would get involved and the more he would be
devastated when Thor finally said he was done with him. 
 
Loki already knew his “feelings” were involved.  He thought about Thor
throughout most of the day, wondering if he would see Thor that day; if Thor
would talk to him; if he would touch him.    And, before Thor had actually
kissed him for the first time, Loki had spent more time than he was willing to
admit imagining what kissing Thor would feel like.  And now that Thor had, Loki
wanted to do it over and over again.  If that wasn’t a lovesick fool, then what
was?  The kiss, and everything Thor had done afterwards, had shifted something
within Loki.  He had discovered that Thor could be gentle if he wanted to be. 
And that Thor could make him feel good, if he wanted to. 
 
All the other times, Loki had (to his sheer mortification) gotten off even
though Thor had been forceful and cruel. But he had been able to tell himself
that he had no choice and that he could blame Thor for it.  Now, Loki had
willingly gone to Thor and had come by his hand and he had loved it.  He was
sure that if Thor ever became aware of that fact the older man would lord it
over him.  He had only known Thor for a short time, but he already knew that
Thor was a smug bastard. 
 
Thor was still intimidating to Loki, who found him unpredictable, demanding,
and reckless, but now he was also far more alluring.  That was a dangerous
combination for Loki.  How could he ever expect to kick his Thor-habit now?  
===============================================================================
The days following the incident in the living room found Loki antsy and in a
bad mood.  Thor hadn’t been back to the house in days. The construction project
was still moving along as planned, however, and every day Loki watched Fandral,
Hogun and Volstagg (sans Thor) unload the van and begin to work as he bit at
his lip and wondered what Thor was getting up to.  He even once had the
embarrassingly illogical thought that Thor was spending his time working on
another building project and that there was some other boy who was benefiting
from Thor’s attentions.  
 
To distract himself from the useless thoughts, once Loki realized Thor wasn’t
going to be showing up for the day, Loki had taken to spending most of his days
out and away from the house.  He had begun to explore the town center, finding
more shops he liked and places he could possibly see himself frequenting once
the school year started.  He had even taken a walk to the high school, just to
see what it looked like.  To his displeasure, he had run across some students
hanging around in the courtyard.  They had been nice enough, asking him what
grade he would be entering in the fall, but Loki had felt awkward and
uncomfortable, and hadn’t stayed for long.  Thankfully, none of them would be
in his grade and Loki doubted he would have to run into them again.      
 
More than anything, Loki had found a bit of a safe-haven at the town library. 
It had also been a convenient discovery because just that week Laufey had
complained to Loki about always asking for money especially since Loki seemed
completely uninterested in getting a summer job.  Loki wasn’t about to kick his
online shopping habit, but he had decided that maybe he didn’t actually need to
buyevery book or comic he wanted to read.  So he had ended up at the library
and his activities there had been doing a pretty good job at distracting Loki
from Thor—or the lack thereof, to be more exact. 
 
But when Friday morning rolled around and there was still no sign of Thor, Loki
finally decided he would have to get some kind of an answer or he would drive
himself mad.  It was almost noon and Loki had made plans to meet someone for
lunch in town, but he had tried to stay at the house as long as he could to see
if Thor would finally show up.  But, seeing no sign of him, Loki slipped on his
shoes and made his way outside, purposefully marching over to Fandral.
 
Standing at the far side of the backyard, the blonde seemed to be relating some
kind of fantastic story as he leaned on a shovel and gestured animatedly with
his other hand.  Volstagg was almost red in the face with laughter and even
Hogun had a look of mirth on his usually stoic features.  Although the three
often seemed like they were having more fun than actually working, Loki could
see that the backyard was starting to come together.  Just within the last day,
the three had constructed the raw beginnings of a wooden gazebo which sat upon
an intricate brick patio at the end of the paved walkway. And a few days ago,
Loki had seen that they had started framing the addition to the house, which
would become his father’s new office.
 
“Hey!” Loki called out as he came closer, gaining the attention of the three
men.
 
“Oh, Loki,” Fandral said as he turned around and smiled at him.  “We haven’t
seen much of you in the last few days.  It seems like you’ve been out and about
a lot lately.  Going on little adventures?”  
 
“Not really… This town’s pretty boring, but I figure there must be something to
do around here,” Loki said with a shrug.
 
Volstagg laughed.
 
“Hmm, well it all depends on if you know where to look,” he said.  “Have you
tried Helga’s Bakery?  The cupcakes there are to die for.” 
 
Loki smiled slightly.
 
“I actually have tried it,” he admitted somewhat bashfully.  “It was pretty
good.” 
 
Loki then realized he was getting distracted from his main goal.  If he didn’t
ask soon, he would never know and a whole weekend would pass by with him
worrying about what Thor was up to. 
 
“I haven’t seen— Uh… Where’s Thor been lately?” Loki asked, trying to feign
nonchalance as he looked around the backyard.
 
Fandral’s eyebrow rose inquisitively as Loki fumbled over the words and Loki
felt himself getting hot under the collar.
 
 “Oh, Thor?” Fandral asked as he glanced over to his friends.  The way the
blonde-man’s eyebrows scrunched up and his mouth drew tight around the corners,
Loki could already tell that he was thinking up some lie to tell him. 
 
“Hmm… well, Thor got pulled away to do some…uh business for his dad.   He’s
been out of town for the last few days,” Fandral said with a shrug and a forced
smile. 
 
Loki blinked.  Well… that sounded better than “Thor’s on a vacation with his
girlfriend,” but it was curious that Fandral was being so tight-lipped about it
if it was something as mundane as a business-trip.  And then Loki stiffened a
bit when it dawned on him what “business” most likely meant when it came out of
the mouth of Thor and his friends.  Was Thor out of town doing something
criminal? And, worse yet, was he hurting someone? 
 
“But, don’t worry, he should be coming back either today or tomorrow,” Fandral
said, cutting into his thoughts, the friendly tone now returned to his voice.
 
Loki flushed, eyebrows drawing together and mouth pulling down into a small
moue. 
 
“I’m not worried,” he said with a huff. “Just want to make sure my dad’s not
paying that guy to slack off.” 
 
Fandral laughed.
 
“Well, he did clear it with your dad,” he explained.  “And, besides, do you
really have so little faith in us to think we can’t get the job done without
Thor here?”
 
Loki felt a bit embarrassed and quickly tried to correct the misunderstanding.
 
“No, no, that’s not what I’m saying. To be honest, you guys look like you take
the work far more seriously than Thor does,” he said. 
 
That gained another boisterous laugh from Volstagg.
 
“That may be true, but don’t let Thor catch you saying that,” Volstagg said
with a wink. “His majesty seems to think these side jobs are beneath him.  He’d
rather spend his time working on the realstuff.”
 
Loki’s eyebrow rose at his words, and he watched as Volstagg’s face fell and
eyes widened while Hogun and Fandral shot him withering looks.
 
“What he meansis just that Thor doesn’t really love it that he’s sent to do
construction. He’d rather be more involved with the business side of his
father’s organization.  You know, all the moving and shaking,” Fandral hurried
to explain. 
 
Loki gulped to himself as he looked at the three men.  It was so easy to forget
that they were likely just as ruthless as Thor made himself out to be.  And
even though it was clear they were trying to skirt around the issue—and pretend
like they didn’t lead double-lives—the things they were saying were making Loki
more and more sure that Thor hadn’t been lying when he said he was
“connected.”  Loki couldn’t help but shudder.   
 
“Um… ok.  Well, I… I guess I’m gonna head to town then,” Loki said, as he
averted his eyes.  
 
“Oh again?” Fandral asked, playfully.  “Now I’m starting to think you’ve got a
girlfriend there or something.”
 
Loki blanched. The first thing that crossed his mind was that he didn’t want
information like that—wrong as it might be—getting back to Thor. 
 
“D-definitely not!” Loki protested.
 
But Fandral just laughed, seeming to believe the complete opposite.  Sighing,
Loki rolled his eyes and turned on his heel.
 
“Have a good time, Loki,” Volstagg called to him.
 
Loki waved back at them, but for some reason his stomach was twisting in
knots. 
===============================================================================
Half an hour later, Loki was stepping off the bus in the center of town.  It
only took him about a block’s walk before he was pushing open heavy wooden
doors and stepping into the large library, with its hushed atmosphere, soft
light, and cool air, smelling of old books. Looking around him, he took a
cursory account of the few people scattered at the tables and in the stacks as
he walked toward the circulation desk.
 
As he came to a stop, he could already see the person he was coming there to
meet standing with his back turned as he filed a number of books on the returns
shelves behind him.    
 
“Hey, Steve,” Loki hailed shyly, still somewhat unused to the fact that he was
supposed to consider this guy his “friend.”
 
The blonde turned around, blue eyes lighting up with genuine pleasure at seeing
the reticent youth.  
 
“Hey, Loki.  Great timing, I’m just about to start my break,” he said. “You
ready to go?”
 
Smiling back, Loki nodded.  
===============================================================================
Thor gripped the handlebars of his bike a bit tighter than usual as he rode
through town, coasting toward Main Street.  His teeth were grit, his mouth
turned down into a small frown, and his eyes were narrowed behind the
reflective lenses of his sunglasses.  He wasn’t angry.  But, oh, was
he annoyed. 
 
His father had sent him out of town to oversee a smuggling deal with a low-
level crime ring.  They were dealing in small electronics, and Thor had to
waste his time making sure that none of the product they were trying to pass
over on to the Borsons was faulty and that they were actually getting
everything they had been promised. It was practically like he was doing quality
controland the thought of it soured his mood even more.  It was beneath him.
 It was petty.  And Thor couldn’t understand why—so soon after having secured a
relationship with the Romanova family—his father was still doing this to him. 
 
Thor couldn't decide if Odin was mocking him, or if the old man was really
trying to teach Thor some type of "lesson" or skill that would later be useful
to Thor once he took over the business.  He was more inclined to feel slighted
by it, but Fandral, Hogun and Volstagg had each warned him that going to Odin
to complain over it would be like looking a gift horse in the mouth.  Odin was
still giving him important duties, and brokering a deal (no matter how trivial
it seemed to Thor) still meant that Thor held a lot of clout in the
organization.  Odin hadn't asked one of the Warriors Three to do it, after all.
 They were capable and reliable, there was no doubt about that, but Odin still
saw them as soldiers—to be led and commanded—not as captains.  They were pretty
much fine with that, enjoying teaming up with Thor and being trusted as his
right-hand men.  But they wouldn't be able to continue that lifestyle if Thor
got himself kicked out of the family for overstepping the bounds of his
father's patience.  So Thor had decided to try to make his peace with that, and
look at it as some kind of trust exercise, keeping his dissatisfaction to
himself, for once.
 
He let out a frustrated sigh as he approached the town center and turned on to
Main.  He knew he would have to head back and report to his father and it was
better to calm himself down before having a one-on-one with Odin.  The man
could always tell when Thor was itching for a fight and Thor was half convinced
that sometimes Odin goaded him into one just to see if he was still immature
enough to take the bait.  Thor would try his best not to do that either.  But
then just as Thor was about to make a right something caught his eye and he had
to stop himself from making a hard brake.  Instead he pulled slightly off the
road, easing his bike into an idle as he stared at the sight before him, trying
to convince himself that he wasn’t actually seeing what he thought he was
seeing. 
 
He watched carefully, eyebrows drawing down and mouth twisting into a scowl, as
someone he immediately recognized as Loki walked out of the ice cream shop
across the street, flanked by Steve. Fucking. Rogers.   Thor felt something hot
and nasty well up within his chest.  He used to actually be friends with Steve
back in high school.  He had been two years ahead of Thor and they had even
been on the same wrestling team for a short while.  But Steve had gone into the
military for four years following graduation and in that span of time Thor had
more boldly embraced his “birthright.”  When Steve came back and started to get
an idea of what Thor, and the Borsons, were up to, he had made his disapproval
unmistakably clear.  And whatever sense of "friendship" that had existed
between them had, for the most part, disappeared. 
 
And there Loki was, staring up at Rogers with a wide smile and big eyes. Half
of his wavy black hair was pulled back into a bun, the rest of it curling
nicely on his shoulders.   It was a cooler day, still warm but not sweltering
like it had been for most of the brutal summer, and Loki was decked out in one
of those loose t-shirts that Thor always liked seeing him in, one shoulder
hanging askew, showing a bit of his pale skin.  Thor watched, frown deepening,
as Loki’s little tongue darted out to lick at the rainbow sprinkle-coated
vanilla cone in his hand.  It looked like the little slut was flirting, and
Thor couldn’t STAND it. 
 
Bringing his bike to a full stop, Thor cut the engine with an angry flick of
his wrist.  As he whipped off his aviators, he saw a group of women who were
walking past him on the street flinch, startled by his abrupt appearance and
undoubtedly intimidating demeanor.  Thor shot them a fake smile as he pushed
his hair back from his face, swiping away the strands that had worked
themselves loose from his bun.  The women, seemingly charmed by his appearance
once they got a chance to get a better look at him, gave him shy, nervous
smiles back and then continued on their way.   Thor's smile dropped as soon as
they turned their backs.  He pushed himself off his bike, heavy boots hitting
the sidewalk solidly and made his way over to the unlikely pair standing in
front of the ice cream store.    
 
“What do we have here?” Thor asked as he approached them, eyes fixated on the
back of Loki's head.  
 
Loki jumped, flinching noticeably as he turned around and looked at Thor with
wide, almost comically large eyes.  Loki looked like he had seen a living,
breathing ghost.  Or something that was just as horrifying.  
 
Steve frowned, noticing the reaction but couldn’t linger on it long as he
watched Thor come to a stop in front of him, hands on his hips, sizing him up. 
Steve had always been impressive among the other guys in his platoon.  But,
Thor was even more impressive than that.  Thor had a few inches on him, and
definitely beat him in the bulk area as well.  Steve just wished Thor had put
that physique to use doing something more honorable.  The contractor position
would’ve been great, if that was all Thor was doing.  The fact that Thor spent
his nights raising all kinds of hell disappointed Steve.
 
“Thor,” Steve said as he nodded towards him. 
 
Thor frowned as he blatantly looked Steve up and down.
 
“Rogers,” he said, in a clipped tone.
 
Steve frowned.
“We know each other a bit better than that, Thor,” Steve said, with a tight
smile, not looking forward to dealing with a Thor who was itching to pick a
fight. 
 
“Oh yeah?  Since you came back it seems like you’ve been wanting to act like
you barely know me,” Thor said as he smirked nastily and crossed his arms over
his chest.
 
Steve sighed and decided to ignore the bait. 
 
“Um, so to what do we owe the pleasure of your company?” Steve asked as he
stepped a bit closer to Loki, noticing the boy was still standing stiffly, ice
cream cone forgotten in his hand and eyes now trained on his shoes, as if he
was trying to disappear.  
 
Steve wondered if Loki was afraid of Thor.  Thor was a big guy and currently he
was giving off aggressive vibes.  Steve wouldn't be surprised if a kid like
Loki felt threatened by his presence.  
 
“Loki?  You aren’t going to say hi to me?” Thor called as he looked down at the
top of Loki’s dark head, ignoring Steve's question completely. 
 
Steve raised an eyebrow in confusion.  He thought Thor had come over to talk to
him, as strange as that was.  But now he was starting to catch on that the
focus of his interest had been on the boy the whole time. 
 
“You...know each other?” Steve asked the obvious question, but he wanted to
make it clear to Thor that, even if they did, it seemed like Loki didn’t want
to talk to him.
 
Thor turned his attention back on to Steve and gave him another smile that
didn’t quite meet his eyes.
 
“Yeah, you could say Loki and I know each other very well.  Wouldn’t you,
Loki?” Thor asked, the tone of his voice insinuating that he expected an answer
this time around. 
 
Loki finally looked up, glancing nervously between Steve and Thor before he
nodded.
 
“Y-yeah. Thor’s the one working on my house this summer.  Well him and his
friends,” Loki explained.
 
Steve blinked, surprised.  Loki had mentioned that his house was under
renovation.  Steve just didn’t know why it had never crossed his mind that the
Borsons would be involved in that project.  Crime-family or not, the Borsons
were still reputable when it came to the quality of their work in that area.   
 
“So, what’s going on here?” Thor asked again, a sneer on his face.  “You two on
a little date or something?”
 
Loki's eyes widened as he looked at Thor.  Thor was smirking but Loki could
tell it was just for show.  He did not look happy and Loki shuddered, already
imagining what the repercussions of this encounter would entail.  
 
“N-no,” Loki said quickly as he stepped in front of Steve and looked up at
Thor, eyes searching the older man’s. “That’s not… Steve’s my friend.” 
 
“Yeah, Thor, I’m not quite sure what you’re implying here.  We’re just getting
some ice cream…” Steve explained, looking between the two suspiciously. 
 
“Is that so?  How exactly do the two of you know each other?” Thor asked, the
question again aimed at Loki.  Steve was starting to feel like nothing more
than a spectator in this conversation.  
 
“W-we don’t…. not really.  Well, I met Steve at the library.  He’s working
there part time,” Loki said as he shifted from foot to foot. 
 
Steve furrowed his brows as he listened to the exchange, feeling completely at
a loss.  Thor and he barely acknowledged each other nowadays so he couldn’t
understand why Thor was so interested,all of a sudden, in anything that
involved Steve.  Things weren’t exactly hostile between them, but Steve had
never held back on telling Thor how “disappointed” he was in the path the
younger man had taken.  And Thor was definitely someone who didn’t like being
told what to do.  Steve felt confident that, whatever tension there was between
them now, Thor still respected the fact that they used to be friends enough
that Steve wouldn’t have to be in fear that he would ever be the unlucky target
of a Borson hit.  But that didn’t make Steve feel any better.  He hated the
fact that Thor was involved in this type of life at all.  And Steve hated what
the repercussions of having a crime syndicate in their midst was doing to their
community. 
 
Steve knew that someone like Loki, new as he was, probably had no idea what was
really going on in their town.  They lived in a quaint suburb; a town with
history and an abundance of family-owned stores. Everything seemed picture
perfect with moms driving by in their SUVs, and fathers coming to and fro in
business suits. Everyone was middle class or better, and the houses and
buildings reflected that. Thor’s family lived in a swanky house at the end of
town—not showy enough to raise suspicion, but they were, easily, one of the
more well-off families in the town.   No one, looking in from the outside,
would imagine that such reputable people were up to such appalling levels of no
good. No one would think anyone from their town could be like that. 
 
But the Borsons were smart enough not to live where they shit.  The real dirty
work took place in the city, almost half an hour away.  And Steve saw the
effects there.  The drugs, the guns, the girls working on the streets.  But no
one in their town had to see those nasty parts of it.  No one would be stupid
enough to bring crime into the same town the Borsons lived.  And the
townspeople benefited from that as well.  Having the Borsons here kept them
safe; it kept the dangers of the city out. 
 
But Steve lived in the city now.  He was renting a small apartment and he was
going to school.  He had been naïve before he left for the military.  But when
he had come back, more mature and more jaded, and had decided to live on his
own, he had quickly caught on that things were much different than he had known
them growing up as a kid.  Steve wanted to join the police force.  In fact, he
was only a year away from graduating with his degree in Criminal Justice.  He
didn’t know what would happen once he was actually in a position to do
something about his knowledge of what the Borson family was getting up to.  He
knew one day he himself would probably bring Thor in, and he knew that would
not be a pretty day.  The sense of safety he had in knowing that the Borsons
would leave him alone would probably not exist anymore. 
 
Steve knew he would cross that bridge when he got there, though.  For right
now, something about this situation with Loki was making him uncomfortable.  He
had never seen Thor interact with a kid before, and seeing him do it now was so
uncharacteristic it was creeping Steve out.  Sure, Thor had a little brother,
but the kid was already so indoctrinated in the “family ways” that he seemed
older than his almost 13 years.  And, besides, Thor had always been cocky and
pig-headed.  He was the type who might be a perfectly fine “big brother” behind
closed doors, but wouldn’t deign to be seen with Balder out in public.  So…
what did Thor find so interesting about a quiet, quirky fifteen-year-old?
 
“You two seem to be quite friendly,” Steve stated as he looked at them,
studying their body language.  In the few minutes they had been talking, Thor
had moved closer to Loki and he was now standing closer than Steve would expect
for "acquaintances."  He was practically crowding the boy.  And Loki, while not
stepping away, seemed to be cowering in Thor’s presence, as if he wasn’t sure
if he wanted to get closer or further away. 
 
Thor looked up at Steve and grinned, in his usual smug and cocky way.  The way
that grated on Steve.
 
“What, Rogers?  You jealous?” Thor asked.     
 
Steve frowned at him with a pinched expression.
 
"Not quite sure what I have to be jealous of.  Kind of seems like you're
bullying this kid here, Thor," Steve quipped back, crossing his arms over his
chest.  If that was really what was going on--if this grown man was really
bullying a teenager--Steve was about ready to get involved, wrath of the Borson
family be damned.  
 
But then Thor laughed.  Actually laughed.  As if Steve's accusation was so off
the mark he thought it was ludicrous.  And, as if to show Steve how wrong he
was, Thor smirked as he turned toward Loki and leaned over, taking a long lick
of Loki’s ice-cream cone.  Loki stiffened, looking into Thor’s eyes as the
man’s pink tongue lapped at the sprinkle-coated white ice cream.  His eyes a
veritable mixture of anger and lust.  Loki felt himself tremble.
 
“Thor, what the hell are you doing??” Steve asked from behind him, sounding
almost scandalized. 
 
Thor laughed again as he stood back up.
 
“I wanted a taste.  And Loki and I are such good friendsthat I thought he'd be
up for sharing. You don’t mind, do you, Loki?” he asked as he looked down at
the speechless boy.
 
“I bought that for Loki, Thor,” Steve said, drawing Thor’s attention back to
him.  “You can’t just-”
 
Thor frowned and rolled his eyes before reaching into his back pocket and
pulling out his wallet.  Opening it, he fished out a bill and then held it out
to Loki with one hand while he grabbed the cone from him with the other. 
 
“Here, I’ll take this one.  You go buy a new one,” Thor said, smiling.  “And
you can keep the change.”
 
“I wasn’t askingyou to do that, Thor!” Steve said, frowning now. 
 
“Th-this is a fifty dollar bill…” Loki said as he looked more carefully at the
note in his hand, wondering if Thor realized his mistake. 
 
“I know,” Thor said as he shrugged and licked indifferently at the cone in his
hand.
 
“Um, that’s really okay, Thor.  I… I don’t need you to buy me a new one,” Loki
protested as he tried to hand it back.
 
Thor's expression darkened.
 
“It’s rude of you to reject my gift, Loki.  And you don't want to be ruder than
you've been already, do you?" Thor asked.   
 
Loki flinched as he stared at Thor, unable to answer, knowing full well that
Thor was displeased with him, but not knowing how to fix this situation in the
slightest.
 
"Go buy a new one.  Now,” Thor said, leaving no room for misunderstanding in
his tone.
 
Loki still hesitated though, glancing back and forth between Steve and Thor,
seeming as if he was afraid about what would transpire in his absence.  But
after seeing that Thor’s look was souring even more Loki sighed and turned back
toward the ice cream shop.  Steve and Thor watched Loki in silence for a few
moments until they saw the glass door swing shut behind him, the wind-chimes on
the door tinkling, and turned to face each other.
 
“Thor, what the hell is going on?” Steve asked,  arms still crossed
aggressively over his chest.
 
“I feel like I should be asking youthat.  Ice cream with a teenager, Steve?”
Thor asked nastily.
 
Steve flushed, frowning.
 
“Again, I don’t know what you’re implying but I don’t like the sound of it,”
Steve said.
 
Thor shrugged.

"Maybe I'm  not implying anything," Thor said.  "It's up to you to confirm or
deny."
 
Steve blanched and looked at him with disgust.
 
"Not everyone is as depraved as you Thor.  Maybe it's because you've become so
twisted that you can't help but find ulterior motives in everyone else around
you.  Loki and I are friends.  He's just a lonely kid that's been spending his
time in the library this summer so I've offered to help him get to know the
town some more," Steve spat.  "But not that that's any of yourbusiness." 
 
Thor gave Steve a placid look as he continued to eat the sweet ice cream.  He
didn't even like ice cream.  But Thor had taken the cone just so he could
deprive Loki of it. It gnawed at him that Steve had bought it for the boy.  And
Loki had looked so happy about it too.  Thor had never seen Loki look at him
like that and it enraged him to think that there was something going on between
them behind his back.  But, watching Steve bluster and stammer, seeming so
offended about what Thor was suggesting had pretty much confirmed to Thor that
maybe Loki and Steve were really just "friends."  Which was good.  Because Thor
wasn't quite sure what he'd do if he found out something to the contrary.  For
a moment he found himself envisioning what it would be like to snap Steve's
neck.  Steve would probably put up a fight.  It wouldn't be easy.  But Thor
often liked a good fight. 
 
"Well, what the hell do you even care, huh?? It doesn't look like Loki quite
likes your company.  What, are you feeling a little jealous?" Steve asked,
feeling as if Thor had practically lost interest in him once Loki had
disappeared from their sight and wanting to take a jab at the smug man himself.
 
Thor raised his eyebrows and regarded Steve like one would look at a gnat.
 
"You don't know the half of what we get up to, Steve," Thor said with an
innocent shrug, but the look in his eyes didn't seem half as innocent and Steve
frowned.  "Loki's not as bored as he would want you to think.  Maybe he's
spending time with you because he feels sorry for you?  Must be pretty boring
trying to be so righteous all the time." 
 
Steve narrowed his eyes at Thor as he tried to look past the insult and figure
out exactly what Thor was hinting at. 
 
But then Thor was sighing and pulling out his phone, looking as if he was
disappointed that something had interrupted their exchange.  Steve watched as
Thor read whatever was on the screen before he slipped it back into his back
pocket.  
 
"It's been fun, Rogers, but "duty" calls," Thor said feigning an apologetic
look.
 
Before Steve could respond—already having a few choice words to say about
Thor's "duties"—the chimes on the door behind them sounded again and Loki
reappeared, holding a fresh sprinkle-coated cone.  Again, something in the
atmosphere changed when Thor and Loki met each other's eyes.  It was something
charged, that Steve couldn't quite understand.  But then Thor was turning back
to him, almost as if he was making a point of ignoring Loki.
 
"Make sure you get the boy back home in one piece.  I'm holding you to being
responsible for him," Thor said, again with that fake smile that was edged with
something a bit more threatening. 
 
Steve blinked in confusion, but then Thor lazily waved at him with two fingers
before leaving them, not even sparing Loki a second glance. Steve and Loki
stood there on the sidewalk, as Thor ambled away nonchalantly, watching the
long lines of his legs in his jeans and his broad back outlined in a dark
leather jacket.  Steve was looking at him with suspicion, but Loki's look was…
something else.    
 
When Thor was far enough away, and Steve could see him climbing on to his bike,
Steve grabbed Loki’s wrist, startling the younger boy and forcing him to drag
his eyes away from Thor's form.  Loki looked up at him with wide eyes,
confused.
 
“Loki…you need to stay away from Thor Borson, alright?” Steve asked as he
looked at him, eyes looking troubled.
 
Loki flushed.
 
“Um… I-I don’t really have much to do with him, Steve.  He’s just doing
construction on my house,” Loki mumbled.
 
Steve frowned.
 
“Loki… Thor doesn’t just… he doesn’t just stop by for little “chats.”  He’s not
that kind of guy.  I don’t know what he’s told you, or why he’s so interested
in you, but he’s dangerous.  Do you hear me, Loki?  He’s not the kind of guy to
get involved with,” Steve warned.
 
Loki felt uncomfortable.  He didn’t want Steve to find out what his
“involvement” with Thor was.  Loki, himself, didn’t quite understand what he
and Thor were doing, and he was sure Steve would never understand it. 
 
Shaking off Steve’s grip on his wrist, Loki forced a smile.
 
“Don’t worry, Steve,” he said.  “I’m definitely not going to get involved with
Thor.”  
===============================================================================
Less than an hour later Loki was back at home.  He was already thinking about
how to properly apologize to Steve the next time he saw him.  After Thor had
left them on the street all Steve had seemed like he wanted to do was talk
about Thor , grilling Loki about him and warning him to “stay away.”  And Loki
wanted to talk about anything but Thor.  Having been caught like that had made
Loki so anxious thinking about what Thor would do to him once they were alone
again.  Thor had pretended to be fine—even cordial—but Loki knew it was all a
farce.  Loki didn't understand why he felt like he was in trouble.  There
really should have been nothing wrong with him making friends with people he
met in town. And Steve, of all people, was a great guy.  He was more of a
stand-up citizen than Loki was, chastising him on more than one occasion when
Loki let an expletive slip out of his mouth.  But, Loki had immediately known,
once Thor looked at him, that he had done something very very wrong.  At least
according to Thor.  His stomach had been twisting in knots ever since Thor left
them, and the worried and suspicious looks Steve was giving him weren't
helping.  So, after finding that Steve was uninterested in dropping the
subject, Loki had pretended like he had gotten a text from his father asking
him to come home earlier than he had originally planned and had apologized and
left.
 
When he arrived home, Loki had practically slinked into his own house, nervous
that when he returned Thor would be there waiting for him.  But once he made
his way to the kitchen window (after having come in from the front door) and
peeked outside, he only saw Hogun, Volstagg and Fandral in the backyard,
seeming to be almost in the same spot he had left them earlier.  Loki was
definitely relieved, but some part of him was still somewhat disappointed.
 While he didn't want to face Thor'swrath, he still wanted tosee him.  He had
been waiting to see Thor for so long, and even though his chance encounter with
him hadn't been what he had been expecting, he couldn't deny that his heart had
jumped in his chest when he laid his eyes on Thor, tall and big and beautiful.
 But, shrugging, he had decided that at least not seeing Thor today would give
him some time to come up with a good excuse for what he had been doing (and
most certainly not doing) with Steve Rogers.   
 
It had been almost three hours since then and Loki had been able to calm
himself down somewhat.  His father had asked him to prepare something for
dinner and Loki was actually looking forward to it.  Laufey had been working
late for most of the week and by the time he came home it was late in the
evening.  Loki didn't think he'd miss his father's company as much as he had,
but it was a big house that was usually empty and now, with the move, he didn't
have his friends to take up his time.  There was only so much texting and
Facetime could achieve before someone really started to feel lonely.  
 
Sighing, Loki opened the large kitchen pantry, pulling the string to the dim
bulb hanging from the ceiling.  It was a walk-in.  Nothing too fancy.  It was
barely big enough for Loki to stretch his arms out, his fingers landing firmly
on the shelves on either side.  But he liked it.  It seemed fitting with the
old house that Loki was, begrudgingly, starting to like. 
 
From inside the pantry, Loki heard the screen door in the kitchen clatter open,
but thought nothing of it, assuming one of the guys was coming in for a break. 
But then a few moments later, the space suddenly got darker, as if something
was blocking the light coming in from the much brighter kitchen and Loki spun
around, wondering who was standing behind him.   When his eyes landed on Thor,
practically taking up the entire doorway, he gasped.  Thor was pushing him
further into the pantry and pulling the door shut behind him before Loki could
even open his mouth to say one word.   
 
Thor moved in, cornering Loki, and the space suddenly felt tiny when shared
with Thor's impressive bulk and intense body heat.  Loki let out a whine of
surprise when Thor grabbed him hard, pushing him up against one of the walls of
shelves.  The light was dim to the point of almost being useless now, with the
door closed, but it was still enough to see the look on Thor's face.  It was
that mix of anger and lust Loki remembered seeing when Thor met him on the
street but far more intense.  It was unbridled.  And Loki was afraid. 
 
"Wh-what are you doing here?" Loki stuttered out as he tried to twist out of
Thor's grasp, but the man's tight hold on his biceps wouldn't budge.
 
"What do you think?" Thor asked, voice low and gruff.
 
Thor knew Loki meant what he was doing at thehouse, and Thor could have simply
told him he had come to check up on the progress of the project.  And that had
been what Thor had been doing.  Initially.  From where he was standing looking
disinterestedly at blueprints for the addition to the house, he had seen Loki's
dark head through the kitchen window and he had immediately felt a hot flash of
anger, still displeased about what he had witnessed earlier on the street that
day.  But Thor didn't need to tell Loki that.  He didn't have to explain
anything to Loki.  This wasn't what this arrangement was about, and it was
about time Loki realized that.  
 
Then he moved closer to Loki, pressing his body up against his and Loki's eyes
widened.  Thor was rock hard. 
 
“A-are you insane?  My father… My father’s just in the other room, Thor!  He
could come in here at any second,” Loki hissed through his teeth, wanting to
scream at Thor, but not wanting to risk drawing attention to them.
 
All Loki could think about was that he had left Laufey in the living room, his
father tiredly engaging in a conference call.  There was nothing to stop him
from walking into the kitchen.  There was no telling how long it would be
before they werediscovered.  Loki felt his stomach clench with anxiety.
 
“You just need to be quiet, and everything will be fine,” Thor said
indifferently as he caged Loki in with his much bigger body, moving his head
down to mouth lazily at the exposed expanse of Loki's long neck.  
 
“Thor, please.  I… I can’t do this here.  We can… we can do it later, ok?   J-
just let me out,” Loki said as he struggled against him, clearly upset.
 
“You didn’t mind being seen on the street with Steve Rogers, flirting with him
like you couldn’t wait for him to bend you over,” Thor growled in his ear, grip
tightening on Loki's arms. 
 
Loki stiffened, eyes going wide.  So that was what this was about.  Loki
couldn't quite say he was surprised, but he had never expected Thor would
punish him this way.  It was reckless and sadistic, and Loki was convinced that
Thor probably really didn't care about the possibility that they could get
caught.  And that was enough to make Loki panic.  
 
“Thor please.  You have to believe me.  That’snot what was going on.  I promise
you.  I swear.  Can you...can you just let me out of here.  I don’t want… My
dad’shome,” Loki pleaded, eyes starting to grow wet. 
 
Thor growled again, ignoring him as he pushed Loki's body up further against
the shelves, lifting him until he could maneuver himself between Loki's legs,
holding him there with his body.  Letting go of his arms, he grabbed Loki's
thighs, raising them until Loki was forced to wrap them around Thor's waist. 
Loki grabbed on to the shelves behind him, to steady himself, looking at Thor
with wide and distrustful eyes.  His heart was hammering in his chest, his
mouth dry with worry. He didn't know what Thor planned to do, but his eyes
didn't look kind. 
 
Thor pressed one hand up against Loki's chest, holding him in place, as his
other hand dropped to the crotch of Loki's pants.  Thor squeezed him through
the fabric, causing Loki to gasp and jerk, his body responding even though he
didn't want it to.  Smirking to himself, Thor rubbed Loki a bit, rough and
hard, until he could feel Loki stiffening before moving his hand to the waist
of his shorts.  He was appreciative that Loki had changed in to another pair of
the loose-fitting basketball shorts, just like that day on the couch, since it
was now so easy for him to tug them down, maneuvering them past the boy’s hips
and the swell of his bottom.  Thor let out a satisfied hum of approval as he
watched Loki's cock spring up, already firm and standing at attention.
 
Loki tried to struggle, twisting against Thor, even so much as bringing his
hands up to push insistently against Thor’s chest.  But Thor could tell Loki
was too afraid to make much noise, and likely too afraid to actually strike
him.  So it was easy enough to subdue him.
 
"Behave," Thor growled out as he wrapped one hand around Loki's cock and
squeezed it hard enough that it touched on the border of painful. 
 
Loki hissed, glaring at Thor with venomous eyes, but his body stilled. 
 
"Good boy," Thor sneered as he released him. 
 
Loki watched silently as Thor reached behind him for something on the shelf
above his head, and when Thor pulled back, a clear bottle of olive oil dangling
between his fingers, the only sound that permeated the tight quarters was
Loki's sharp intake of breath.  He looked on with wide eyes as Thor
meticulously poured the contents over the fingers of his left hand.
 
"Thor," Loki hissed, quietly as he could but voice still sounding enraged.
"What do you think you're going to do with that?" 
 
Thor glared at him, and before Loki had time to think to regret his tone, he
felt Thor's right hand come up around his throat.  It wasn't hard enough to
block off his air, but it was hard enough for Loki to feel frightened. 
 
"You have such a mouth on you," Thor whispered, leaning in close to Loki's
ear.  "Maybe I was too nice to you.  I should've shoved my cock down your
throat more often, so you'd learn to be a little more respectful, huh?"
 
Loki couldn't say anything to that, squeezing his eyes tightly shut as he was
overwhelmed by the feeling of Thor's body around him and the way that Thor's
breath against his ear made his body tremble.  It made him want.  And he was so
mad at himself for still being able to be turned on, even though Thor was
treating him like this.  He still wanted him.  He was still hard. 
 
And then Loki flinched and whimpered as he felt Thor's other hand, slick with
the pungent-smelling oil, trail over his hip and across the curve of his ass
until he felt it slip down between his cheeks, fingers prodding at his entrance
 
"Thor," Loki whined, trying to twist his body away. "D-don't-"
 
Even though Loki had watched him pour the oil on, even though his mind must've
known at that point what Thor's intentions were, Loki was still taken by
surprise that Thor really meant to dothis to him.  In his kitchen pantry.  With
his father at home.  What was Thorthinking?    
 
But Thor seemed not to hear him, or not to care, as Loki felt his finger push
up against the tight muscle of his hole.  The pressure was insistent and
unrelenting and Loki gasped as Thor's thick finger bullied its way inside. 
  
“Ah! W-wait.  Hurts, Thor,” Loki hissed, bringing his hands up to Thor’s chest
again and pushing.  “It hurts.”
 
Thor had to suppress a groan as the boy’s tight channel clamped down around his
finger like a vice.  Loki was so hot and soft inside.
 "Relax," he said, voice thick as he pressed his face into Loki's neck. 
"You've done this before.  You'll get used to it." 
 
Loki whimpered as Thor's finger pressed deeper, opening him and stretching
him.  Strangely, it felt better than the first time, the sharp burn going away
much faster only leaving behind a somewhat pleasant throb.  Loki had been
thinking of that day ever since, wondering to himself what it would feel like
to have Thor touch him again.  But he had never imagined it'd be in a situation
likethis.   
 
He keened quietly as Thor slowly pumped his finger inside of him, sliding
easily aided by the oil.  He couldn't stop himself from humping against Thor,
spurred on by the feeling of Thor's hard cock pressed against the underside of
his thigh.  Loki didn't want to show this side of himself to Thor, hating
proving the man right, but he couldn't stop himself.  After only a few deep
strokes he felt Thor's finger slip out of him, drawing an unbidden whimper of
protest from Loki's lips, a noise that made him blush in embarrassment.  But it
seemed Thor wasn't abandoning him, as Loki had feared.  Instead, he felt Thor
rub two of his fingers against his hole and Loki's eyes widened, fingers
clenching on to Thor's shoulder in an attempt to dissuade him.
 
"I'm not ready for-" Loki started, but his voice was cut off as he felt the two
thick digits push inside of him. 
 
He bit his lip to hold back his cry.  That hurt.  Thor was stretching him far
more than he had before and Loki felt his eyes water, unaccustomed to the tight
fit and much sharper sting.  He squeezed his eyes tightly shut, letting out a
choked sob as Thor's fingers sunk deeper in to him.  He couldn't help his
whimper and quickly clamped his hand over his mouth to keep quiet, wondering
how he could ever get used to feeling so uncomfortably full and somewhat
horrified at the thought that Thor was muchbigger than his two fingers. 
 
But then Thor crooked his fingers a little, rubbing against something inside of
him, and Loki felt like he was almost seeing stars.  A rather loud and throaty
moan echoed from his throat, sounding alarmingly loud to Loki's own ears,
causing him to clamp his other hand over the one already covering his mouth in
the hopes to better muffle himself.  He blinked misty eyes open to look at Thor
in wonder.  Thor only smirked back at him, a heated and predatory look in his
eyes as he continued to pump his fingers inside of him at a torturously slow
pace.  Loki panted and whimpered behind his hands, slowly getting used to the
feeling of Thor's fingers inside of him.  And every time Thor was generous
enough to brush against that bundle of nerves inside him, sending a delicious
jolt of sensation throughout his body, Loki thrust his hips down to meet his
fingers with even more enthusiasm. 
 
Thor's fingers started to pick up pace, twisting and plunging deep, and
sometimes spreading apart, gaining tiny muffled gasps from Loki's covered
mouth.  Thor leaned against Loki to bite and suck at his throat, and Loki
vaguely wondered if that was such a good idea.  It might leave marks. But,
somehow, Loki found himself wanting to see the evidence of Thor's kisses after
this was over.   Loki found himself half-considering abandoning his commitment
to keep quiet and moving his hands so he could kiss Thor.  He was so dizzy with
pleasure he couldn't think straight.  
 
But then Loki heard his father's voice approaching and his blood went cold, all
the haziness brought on by his pleasure evaporating like someone had thrown
ice-water on him. 
 
"Loki!" Laufey called as he walked into the kitchen.  "I was thinking maybe we
should do vodka sauce instead… Loki?" 
 
Loki looked at Thor, eyes wide and teary as he listened to his father rummage
around the kitchen and mutter "where did that boy go?"  He assumed Thor would
stop.  Laufey was right in the kitchen.  But instead, Thor smirked at him
nastily and twisted his fingers again, bumping them right up against Loki's
prostate.  Loki's eyes rolled back as he clamped his hand even tighter against
his mouth and forced himself not to moan.  He could hear the sounds of his
father in the kitchen, so close, and he felt his face flush in shame at the
thought that he might get caught. 
 
He listened as Laufey began rummaging around in the cabinets, opening the
fridge and closing it.  It sounded like he was making himself a snack or
something.  But all Loki wanted was for him to leave. It was torture.  He was
torn between the sweet pleasure-pain of what Thor was doing to him and the
overwhelming guilt and shame he felt at the idea that he was enjoying this, and
letting this happen, while his father was just a few feet away. 
 
Loki felt tears well in his eyes, turning his head away from Thor, angry at him
for putting him through this.  But it seemed like Thor didn't like the loss of
eye contact, as his fingers picked up the pace, nudging Loki's prostate almost
nonstop.  Loki grit his teeth, trying to fight against his urge to moan out
loud, glaring at Thor and hating him all while wanting him not to stop.  His
cock was rock hard.  Loki wanted to come.  But he didn't want to do that with
his father on the other side of the door.
 
Then the sound of a ringtone cut through the tense silence. 
 
"Laufey," Laufey responded, somewhat tersely. It sounded like he was unhappy
with whoever was calling. 

There was a pause as Laufey listened to whatever the person was saying on the
phone before he let out a frustrated sigh. 
 
"What?  You want me to come in again? No, Pat.  Listen…" Laufey muttered
angrily, voice growing momentarily louder as he walked past the pantry and then
fainter as he made his way away from the kitchen.  
 
Loki let out an inaudible sigh of relief once he was sure his father was far
away.  But that contentment only lasted a few seconds as he felt Thor's hot
hand close around his cock.  Loki gasped, bucking up into Thor's hand as Thor
began to stroke his straining erection.  And Thor's fingers within him didn't
stop either, pressing against that spot inside of him until, only after three
strokes of his cock, Loki's toes were curling and he was coming, groaning
loudly behind his hands. 
 
Loki was only faintly aware of the sound of Thor's dark chuckle against his ear
as the tremors of his orgasm rolled through his body.  Then Thor slowly pulled
his fingers out of Loki's clenching hole, causing him to whine, and moved
backward so that Loki was forced to stand on his wobbly legs. He watched hazy-
eyed as Thor wiped his hands off on a dish towel that was hanging inside the
pantry, speechless and mind absent of coherent thought, having trouble
remembering even why he had been mad at Thor in the first place.   
 
“Now, on your knees,” Thor said as he stood in front of him and palmed at his
very obvious erection through his jeans.  The tone in his voice left no room
for argument. 
 
Biting his lip, Loki gave him a petulant look but slid to his knees anyway,
knowing that there was no way he was getting out of this closet without sucking
Thor off. As he settled on the ground, he winced uncomfortably.  His ass was
throbbing, unused to the stretch and the uncomfortable feeling of being so open
with nothing to fill him.
 
Thor smirked down at him.  Loki would almost say that he looked a bit proud, if
that wasn't a completely insane thing to think of Thor.  Thor wasn't proud or
pleased with him; Thor just wanted to humiliate him. 
 
Huffing, Loki reached forward and quickly undid the buckle of Thor's belt and
tugged his zipper down.
 
"Eager, aren't we?" Thor asked as he placed his hand on top of Loki's dark
head, running his fingers over the silky tresses.
 
"I just don't want my dad to come back in the kitchen and catch me in here with
you," Loki said, as he glanced down, feeling his cheeks heat up.  "I want to
get this over with."
 
He told himself he was going to be blasé about this.  Act as if Thor had no
effect on him.  But when he tugged down Thor's jeans and underwear and watched
Thor's big cock spring up, flushed and already dribbling pre-cum at the tip, he
couldn't help but inhale and feel his stomach clench with a mix of trepidation
and anticipation.   
 
Closing his eyes, Loki took a deep breath before he leaned forward, licking
tentatively at the bulbous tip.  He still felt shy and inexperienced, but he
couldn't stop the flutter of excitement in his chest when he heard Thor hiss
with pleasure and felt his hand tighten in his hair. 
 
"I'm not going to go easy on you," Thor warned, as he began to rock his hips.
 
Loki frowned as he felt Thor's pre-come smear across his lips and looked up at
him sardonically.
 
"You went easy the last time?" he asked flatly.
 
Thor only grinned down at him, something looking a bit wild in his eyes, and
Loki suddenly found himself wondering if he would ever learn to keep his damn
mouth shut. 
 
"Open up," Thor ordered, seeming in control but his voice sounded strained.
 
Loki closed his eyes again, and tried to relax as he opened his mouth and felt
Thor's thick length slide past his lips.  His mouth immediately began to water
as his lips were stretched and he felt the solid length push back against his
throat. 
 
Thor sighed, hands moving down to cup Loki's jaw, and Loki steeled himself as
Thor thrusted into his mouth at a steady pace.  He bumped against his throat,
making Loki gag slightly, but he wasn't as rough as the first time.  He
breathed through his nose, trying to suck and lick as best as he could,
flushing as he heard the wet noises fill the space around them.  After a few
moments, Loki had to pull back, gasping,  and looked up at Thor, making it
clear that he needed a break.  Thor arched an eyebrow at him, expectant, and
Loki leaned forward, using his tongue and hands to stroke at Thor's cock as he
tried to catch his breath. 
 
Thor seemed content with that for awhile as he stared down at Loki.  The heavy
hand on his head, tilting his face up just so made it obvious that he wanted
Loki to maintain eye contact, and Loki forced himself to do it even though
Thor's gaze on him made his entire body burn hot with shame.  He held Thor's
eyes as he tongued and kissed at his tip, and Thor actually grinned down at
him, making Loki's heart leap in his chest.  But Thor was soon moving Loki's
hands away and angling his cock back into Loki's mouth, one hand on the back of
his head to keep him in place.  He started thrusting again and Loki found
himself somewhat content in letting Thor fuck his face, as long as he wasn't
too rough.  Closing his eyes, Loki tried to relax his jaw and take as much of
Thor as he could. 
 
But then he felt Thor's thumbs push into the corners of his mouth, spreading
his lips even wider.  His eyes fluttered open as he looked up at Thor and let
out a moan of protest, wondering how obscene he must look with his mouth
stuffed full of cock.  But it seemed that Thor liked that, as his thrusts
became harder and more insistent, pushing at the back of his throat, and Loki
could already tell what Thor wanted.
 
"Shit," Thor said, voice strained. "Come on.  Finish me off.  Make it good for
me."
 
Loki looked up at him, his displeasure clear on his face, but he didn't fight
as he felt Thor push into the tightness of his throat.  His eyes watered and he
clutched at the fabric of Thor's jeans as he forced himself to try to breathe
through his nose.  One.  Two.  And then Thor was pulling back.  Loki took a
deep gulping breath and then Thor was pushing in again.  He gagged, but Thor
stayed in the tight clutch of his throat for a few seconds longer before
pulling back.  Loki let out a wet sob around his cock and clutched tighter at
Thor's jeans, hoping he would stop soon.     
 
"One more time baby. Open up, I'm almost there," Thor groaned. "You want to
make me happy, don't you?  Make up for what you did today?" 
 
Loki let out a pitiful mewl but he opened wider, letting Thor in.  Thor pressed
in one more time, pushing harder than Loki was used to but he pulled back
almost as quick and with a hard grunt he was coming.  Loki squeezed his eyes
shut as he felt Thor's come fill his mouth, flooding over his tongue and
spilling down his throat.  He already knew he was expected to swallow and he
gulped down as much as he could before pulling back to catch his breath,
gasping and coughing.  Loki could hear Thor breathing hard too, but he
recovered faster than Loki did, the sound of him zipping up his jeans and
redoing his belt buckle filling the air.  
 
"Come on," Thor said, voice a bit breathy.   
 
He grabbed Loki by the arm and pulled him to his feet.  Loki groaned as he
tried to adjust his clothing, tugging his shorts back up from where they had
been left bunched up around his thighs.  He wiped at his eyes and face, trying
to make himself as presentable as possible.  
 
Thor opened the pantry door a crack, poking his head out to make sure the coast
was clear before he pushed it open wide and walked out, dragging Loki out
behind him. 
 
Loki blinked under the harsh fluorescent lights of the kitchen, finding it all
very sobering and suddenly very much aware that he had just allowed Thor to do
something crazy to him.  
 
He watched with a frown as Thor leaned up against the kitchen island, smug look
on his face, and seeming completely unaffected.  Like he hadn't just had his
cock sucked by a teenager in a kitchen pantry. 
 
“Virgin, huh?” Thor said thoughtfully as he reached over to where Loki was
standing across from him and wiped a stray trickle of his come from the corner
of Loki’s lips. 
 
Flushing, Loki stepped back, distancing himself from Thor, and looked up at him
with a glare.
 
“What of it?” Loki asked, the petulance clear in his voice, hating how he could
already feel the soreness at the back of his throat. 
 
Lifting an eyebrow at him, Thor regarded Loki carefully, as if warning the boy
not to let himself get too out of line.  They stared at each other for a few
beats—Loki’s eyes wide but not looking like he was going to back down any time
soon.  And then Thor shrugged his shoulders as he smirked amusedly before
crossing his arms over his chest. 
 
“I'm just kind of surprised, is all,” Thor replied, that same smug look
returning to his face.  
 
Loki’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion, having trouble deciphering what Thor was
getting at.
 
“It's not...  I’m fifteen.  Why is that surprising?” Loki asked, looking
somewhat offended.
 
Thor chuckled.
 
“Well, I’ve been fucking since I was 13,” Thor said, as if he was proud of
himself.
 
Loki gave him a disgusted look, feeling his face flush in embarrassment.
 
“You and I live very different lives.  Obviously,” he said as he turned away
from Thor and began rummaging for a glass.
 
It was odd to stand around and “chat” with Thor.  Especially after he had just
swallowed down the man’s come.  Loki wasn’t sure if he could have a serious
conversation—if that was what one could call whatever Thor was doing right
now—when he could still taste him on his tongue.  Or that he felt comfortable
having it in his kitchen when anyone, from Thor's friends to Loki's father,
could stroll by and overhear.  He also didn't like that he could feel Thor's
gaze on him from where he stood leaning against the counter.  He felt like he
could smell and fell Thor all around him, and it was distracting.  He needed to
rinse the taste of him out of his mouth. 
 
“It's not just that,” Thor continued, and Loki could sense that Thor was close
again.  Not crowding him, like he had been in the pantry, but still close
enough that Loki was acutely aware of his presence.  He could sense how big
Thor was and it made him shudder involuntarily.
 
“There’s something about you…you have this vibe,” Thor said, and this time he
did get close, as he lifted a strand of Loki’s dark hair and ran it between his
fingers.
 
“What “vibe,”” Loki snapped as he pulled away, hair sliding out from Thor’s
grasp. 
 
Grumbling to himself as his hand closed around a glass, Loki turned on the tap
and proceeded to fill the cup up, trying to ignore how… weird Thor was being. 
He was being predatory in a way Loki wasn’t used to.  Like he was suddenly
interested in Loki.  Like he cared about what Loki had to say.  But Loki wasn’t
foolish enough to think that that was Thor’s real purpose.  Thor always had an
ulterior motive and Loki was sure he wasn't going to like what was going to
come out of Thor's mouth. 
 
“A vibe like you need to be fucked,” Thor whispered.
 
And Loki jumped, feeling the words against his ear, his hand stilling as the
water filled the cup and then over-filled it.  Thor was right behind him.  Body
not touching, but close enough that Loki could feel his heat.  He whimpered. 
 
“Am I right?” Thor breathed.  "That's what you want, isn't it?"
 
Loki trembled as Thor got even closer.  His hands came around on either side of
Loki’s waist.  He didn’t touch him.  In fact, one hand reached up to turn off
the faucet.  But, Loki couldn’t help his eyes from slipping closed and his body
from tensing.  He fought against the urge to lean back against Thor’s broad
chest.  That’s what his body wanted, but Loki’s mind knew better than to do
that.  He couldn’t let Thor see how weak he made him.
 
“I know I'm right,” Thor continued after he realized Loki was in no condition
to respond.  Loki could even hear the smirk in the man’s voice and he decided
he’d be better off keeping his eyes shut.  Seeing that smug look on Thor’s face
would ruin him.
 
“You've got that look about you,” Thor said, voice soft and deep against the
shell of Loki’s ear. “Everyone can see it.  I bet even Steve could see it too."
 
His voice changed a bit at the mention of Steve's name, but Thor continued as
if it was a non-issue.   
 
"You've got these big eyes that try to play innocent, but really, you want
someone to show you what life’s really like outside of your clean and perfect
world.  You want someone to dirty you up,” he whispered. 
 
Loki trembled at Thor's words, almost dropping the glass he was holding down
into the sink.  Thor moaned and Loki bit his lip.  With one hand Thor grabbed
the glass out of his hand and set it on the counter.  With the other he let the
tips of his fingers brush lightly over Loki’s bottom lip, before pulling them
away. 
 
“And you talk back to people with that pretty little mouth of yours, when you
know you really shouldn’t.  You know it gets you in trouble.  But you’ve been
waiting all this time for someone to come and shut you up, haven’t you?  You
act big and tough because you need someone to teach you that you’re not.  You
want someone to push you down and dominate you, don’t you?” Thor asked.   
 
“Th-that’s not true,” Loki managed to say, forcing his eyes to flutter open.  
 
“Oh yeah?  Then why do you get so hard whenever I touch you?  Why do you moan
like a whore who can’t wait to be spread open and used?” Thor asked.
 
Loki bit his lip to try to stop just such a moan from slipping past his lips. 
 
“I know you want me to fuck you, Loki.  You can whine and deny it all you want,
but your body doesn’t lie.  And the more you try to pretend like it’s not what
you want, the more you make a fool out of yourself,” Thor said, stroking at a
strand of hair again.
 
Loki couldn’t help the flush that jumped to his cheeks.  He knew that, on some
level, Thor was right.  Loki would never—never—admit it to Thor's face.  But,
he did think about Thor fucking him.  To Loki, at this point, it was almost an
inevitability.  Not “if” it would happen, but when.  Somehow, not knowing when
Thor would decide to take him was part of the appeal to him. It was
exhilarating. And it made Loki’s body thrum with excitement.  The tension.  The
danger of getting caught. The feeling of doing something wrong, dirty, bad,
naughty.  It made his toes curl and his mouth water.  These were all the deep
dirty secrets Loki kept to himself.  The things he would never tell another
person.  And the fact that Thor wanted to do them all—without Loki even needing
to ask—made Loki almost dizzy with desire. 
 
But that was completely separate from what Loki thought about it practically. 
His body might want Thor to push him down and fuck him; it was a fantasy Loki
had entertained often.  But Loki figured his hormones were probably addling his
sense of judgment.  That was a fantasy, and in fantasy-world, things were rosy
and passionate and there were no consequences.  In reality, Loki was nervous
about the idea of Thor fucking him.  For one, he had no idea how to do it, or
what it would feel like.  It would be his first time, and he was sure that
whenever Thor did decide to take him it would be hard and rough. 
 
But that didn’t stop Loki from getting hard whenever he thought about it. Loki
was pretty convinced that he must be sick.  Something must be wrong with him to
desire being mistreated that way.  And especially to desire it from someone
like Thor.  A person who Loki probably would never have spoken to if the man
hadn’t been plopped into his life through coincidental means.  Loki surely
would’ve looked at Thor if he had seen him around town or in passing.  Thor was
Loki’s type—big and strong, cocky and assured; confident that if he demanded
something he would always get it.  But that didn’t mean Loki would’ve ever
talked to him.  He wouldn’t have had the nerve.  But, now, he was being caged
in by this big man in his kitchen.  A man who had no business sniffing around a
fifteen-year-old.  And all he wanted to do was give in.  But he couldn't. If he
did, Thor would win.  Loki didn't know what exactly it was that he would win,
but he just knew he couldn't let him. 
 
“No, I don’t like it,” Loki forced himself to say, gritting his teeth and
tensing his body.  “I hate it, actually.  I’m only doing it because you’re
forcing me.  Because y-you threatened me.  I would never… I'd never let you
touch me otherwise.”
 
“Oh, is that so?” Thor asked, expression going dark.
 
“Yes,” Loki said as he looked away.
 
“Huh.  Good to know,” Thor said simply as he pushed away from Loki.
 
Loki looked up in surprise, shocked by the instant loss of Thor's heat and
presence around him. 
 
Thor looked at him, eyes unreadable and mouth pressed into a thin line. He then
walked around Loki and out the back door.  And Loki was left there, staring
after him, mouth slightly agape, feeling as if he had done something very
stupid. 
===============================================================================
A/N: Ok.  Whew! One more chapter down! I hope you liked this and all the crazy
inner-Loki angst. Haha. Loki sucks at being honest with himself, and we'll see
where that lands him :3.  I would love to hear your thoughts and feedback on
this chapter!  Also, I really rushed to post it so I hope there aren't any
errors.  Next chapter actually might not be very porny at all (O_O), but the
chapter afterthat… well, I think it might be nothing but smut ;p. 
 
See you next time! (Come say hi on Tumblr!)
xoxo 
***** Chapter 5 *****
A/N: So so sorry it took so long to get this out!  On top of being super busy
with school, this chapter was one of those hump chapters. I feel like in every
fic there’s one chapter that’s just like an uphill battle and it is a
strugglefor me to complete it.  But, hopefully after this one, things’ll flow
much smoother!  Thanks for all the lovely comments and for being so patient in
waiting! :D
 
Also, it looks like Tony and Bruce have now wormed their way into this fic (as
supporting characters).  Wasn’t really planning on all these cameos, but I had
a fun time writing Tony-banter, haha!
 
I also want to give a shout-out to my new beta Sarah, thanks for your tireless
back and forth email-brainstorming :)
 
xoxo
===============================================================================
Loki was going stir-crazy.  Thor had resumed his usual schedule, showing up at
Loki’s house every day.  It should have felt better than the prior week when
Thor was missing and Loki found himself obsessing over the older man’s
whereabouts.  But even though Thor was a constant presence—albeit strolling in
late in the morning most of the time—it felt like Thor was miles away;
unreachable; untouchable.  Thor was ignoring him. 
 
Loki had gone to the pool two days ago (even though it really wasn’t all that
hot out) in the hope that maybe Thor would follow him.  His heart had hammered
in his chest like a beating drum as he imagined what Thor would do.  His
imagination filled itself with thoughts of Thor sneaking up behind him,
covering him with his body, and pressing his mouth against his, coaxing out
moans and sighs.  His mind also strayed to darker thoughts; of Thor grabbing
him, pushing him up against a wall, and takingwhatever he wanted from him. Both
thoughts had Loki dizzy with desire.  He realized that, even if it meant Thor
would approach him, angry and forceful, Loki still found himself preferring
that kind of attention to none at all.  But Thor never came and Loki had left
the pool two hours later, dry as a bone, and feeling utterly rejected. 
 
He couldn’t even jerk off like he used to anymore.  Anytime he tried to touch
himself, he felt unsatisfied, realizing that he liked the rough calloused feel
of Thor’s much larger hands on his skin better than the now too familiar feel
of his own hand.  He found himself missing the smell of him, the almost
suffocating heat as Thor crowded up against him. He missed the dirty things
Thor would whisper in his ear.  The way Thor’s electric blue eyes reflected a
myriad of things; mischief, raw lust, a hint of cruelty mixed with a hint of
infatuation, and that always present sense of entitlement.  The look in Thor’s
eyes always told Loki that he was Thor’s; that Thor was touching him like
that—using him like that—because he already owned Loki.  That he could do
anything to Loki and Loki had no say about it. 
 
And thinking thoughts like that would often be good enough to have Loki gasping
and rocking himself into his hand, desperately trying to recreate the
exquisiteness of Thor’s touch.  Because Loki liked it. 
 
Regardless of what he had told Thor the las time they spoke, Loki liked the way
Thor seemed to have eyes for nothing else but him whenever they encountered
each other.  He had never felt attention like that.  He had never been
wantedlike that.  And that was why the lack of that heavy gaze on him now made
Loki feel raw and abandoned.  It was cruel of Thor to have given him that
delicious, thrilling feeling of being desired, and then so abruptly take it
away.  Loki couldn’t admit it to himself, but he wanted it back.   
 
So Loki had stayed home for four days, trying, subtly, to get Thor’s
attention.   But while Volstagg, Fandral, and even Hogun, once or twice, would
greet Loki when they saw him, Thor was noticeably quite silent.  Loki would
watch him out of the corner of his eye when he brought out drinks or midday
snacks to the laboring men.  While the others would stop what they were doing,
grateful for the break, and gather around Loki, Thor never approached the
group, conveniently needing to take a phone call or ‘finish up’ sawing a piece
of lumber or measuring dimensions. 
 
Once Fandral had even jokingly commented on it, saying that Thor must be
playing hard to get, but Thor hadn’t even raised his head from its position
bowed over the worktable, eyes obscured by his sunglasses.  Loki had flushed,
quite convinced himself that Thor was giving him a purposeful cold shoulder. 
But instead of feeling vindicated, he had only felt the unpleasant sensation of
his stomach clenching in worry.  Because Thor had seemed so indifferent.  His
thick blonde brows had been drawn down behind his shades, but instead of
seeming to indicate that Thor had been annoyed by the jibe, it looked like he
was just concentrating on his work. It had sent a pang of ‘something’ through
Loki’s gut to know that Thor couldn’t even be bothered to acknowledge him. 
 
By the middle of that fourth day, Loki had decided that staying home was quite
possibly the worst idea for his sanity.  He had come to this realization while
wistfully staring at Thor from his bedroom window.  When his father had walked
by his open door and jokingly remarked that Loki was sighing like some lovelorn
maiden, Loki had immediately pushed himself away from the window ledge, blush
high on his cheeks, and slipped on his sneakers. Laufey could only raise an
eyebrow in question when Loki pushed past him, mumbling ‘Library,’ before he
ran down the stairs.
 
Making sure to grab his keys, and tuck his cellphone into his back-pocket, Loki
made his way through the house and out the back door.  Head tucked down, and
cheeks still burning with embarrassment, Loki didn’t spare any of the work crew
a moment’s glance as he rushed through the yard and out the back gate.  He
didn’t notice the way Thor raised his head and followed him with his eyes, a
frown tugging down the corners of his lips.
===============================================================================
Once Loki was out of the house and able to take his mind off of Thor, he
realized that going to the library was probably actually a good idea.  He
hadn’t spoken to Steve again since their awkward run-in with Thor outside of
the ice-cream shop.  He felt like he owed Steve a proper apology.  He didn’t
quite know what he’d say to explain the strange atmosphere that had existed
between him and Thor, but Loki still didn’t want to lose the friend he had made
in the caring older man.  If anything, he at least wanted to properly thank
Steve for treating him to lunch and ice cream, even if Thor’s appearance had
practically ruined their day.   
 
Walking into the library, Loki suddenly felt at peace.  It was cool and quiet,
illuminated by the early afternoon light.  He walked between the rows of tables
as he made his way toward the circulation desk.  He knew Steve was working
today—it was a Monday; Steve was always here on Mondays—but as he approached he
didn’t see the tall blonde at his usual post.  In fact, the desk was deserted. 
There weren’t very many people in the library that day (it was the middle of
the summer, after all), and Loki figured Steve was probably using the downtime
to do some restocking or paperwork in the back room.  In fact, the only people
Loki saw were two older boys huddled at the table closest to the circulation
desk. 
 
One boy, sporting wire-rimmed glasses and fluffy-looking dark hair, was typing
furiously at a laptop, brows furrowed and clearly in deep-concentration.  The
other boy, who had dark, overly-coiffed hair and a pristinely-trimmed goatee,
looked far less studious, leaned back in his seat with one leg propped up on
the table as he played on what looked to be a very expensive smartphone.  Loki
would have assumed the two boys were from completely different worlds, if they
weren’t sitting so close together and if the flashier-looking one with the
goatee didn’t have an arm casually slung across the back of the hard-worker’s
chair.
 
Loki thought he would be able to make his way past them without gaining their
attention, but the bored-looking one was apparently more astute than Loki had
given him credit for and as soon as Loki was within a foot of the table, the
boy’s eyes darted up and gave him a quick once over, eyes roving up and down
his body.  Loki bristled when the boy raised a mildly-curious eyebrow at him
but then just as quickly went back to what he was doing on his phone.  As if
Loki wasn’t even worth his attention.
 
Huffing as he rolled his eyes, Loki continued his pace to the circulation desk
and tapped the small bell, hoping that Steve would return soon and he could get
out of there.  He did not play well with others and he was already prickled
that he had been dismissed so thoroughly by the posh-looking kid.  However,
contrary to his initial conclusion of dismissal, apparently Loki had gained the
older boy’s attention.
 
“Look, Brucie, there actually is somebody else who is as big a nerd as you
are,” Loki heard from behind him.
 
Frowning, he glanced around.  There literally was no one else on the main floor
of the library.  The boy could not have been talking about his friend,
“Brucie,” so that only left Loki as the subject of his jibe.
 
“Excuse me?” Loki asked as he turned fully around, eyebrows drawn and green
eyes flashing. 
 
“Well, come on,” the smug looking boy said as he smirked at Loki. “It’s the
middle of the summer, kid.  Why’re you in the library?  I mean, Bruce here
thinks he’s going to be the next great nuclear physicist and actually wants to
waste his summer applying for research grants.  But, you don’t look the
quantum-physics type so… what’s your excuse?  Ain’t got no friends, new kid?” 
 
Loki couldn’t believe the nerve of this guy.  He didn’t even know him, so what
right did he have to talk to him like that?  It was obvious this boy was used
to saying outlandish and presumptuous things and getting away with it.  On top
of that, Loki was quite floored by how he had been able to fit so many insults
in to such a short diatribe.  Loki could already feel his hackles rising.  He
hadn’t gotten into a good verbal fight with another person in a long time, and
he had a lot of pent up frustration to let off.
 
“If you haven’t noticed, you’re also at the library during summer break. 
What’s your excuse?” Loki snapped. “Too maladjusted to find other people that
actually want to hang out with you?
 
The boy laughed.
“Oh, ho!  So the little kitten has claws, huh?  Sorry to disappoint you, kid,
but I do quite alright in the popularity area.  I’m really just here for the
eye-candy,” he said with a big grin as he waggled his eyebrows. 
 
“Tony!” the other boy admonished, finally speaking up, as he turned toward
Loki’s antagonist.
 
“What?” Tony said as he leaned back.  “It’s the truth.  It’s not like I’m here
to do “research.”  Who the heck uses libraries anymore anyway?”
 
Loki was confused.
 
‘Eye candy?’he wondered to himself.  He could see no other patrons in the
library.  Other than staff, the place was empty.  And, then, as soon as the
thought crossed his mind Loki gasped.
 
“Do you mean Steve?” he asked incredulously. 
 
Loki thought he saw Tony’s expression darken slightly, but the older boy
maintained his nonchalant smirk.
 
“You see anyone else here who’d qualify as eye-candy?” Tony asked.
 
And then he glanced at his bespectacled friend who had, by this point, already
turned his attention back to his computer screen.
 
“No offense, Bruce,” Tony said.
 
Bruce rolled his eyes without even bothering to look at Tony.
 
“None taken.  I’m actually quite happy to not have to be the object of your
affections,” Bruce responded.
 
“Well, don’t speak too soon, Brucie.  Your time may yet come,” Tony said as he
nudged him and made eyes at him.  Bruce pointedly ignored him.
 
Loki was flabbergasted watching the exchange between the boys, who he had
pieced together were named ‘Tony’ and ‘Bruce.’  He was taken aback that Tony
was so casual about his interest in Steve.  Granted, Loki could already tell
the guy would most likely grate on his nerves, but that didn’t stop him from
respecting the fact that he could be so honest with his feelings. 
 
It seemed like this Tony character threw caution to the wind, as if
consequences and proprieties didn’t matter.  Aside from the fact that Steve was
a guy (which clearly didn’t seem to bother Tony), Tony looked to be in his late
teens—18 max.  Steve was most likely at least ten years older than him.  Loki
highly doubted Steve returned the brazen boy’s affections.  But did Tony really
not care what others would think about him when he so openly boasted his
affections? 
 
“Um…but... isn’t Steve… you know… a little old for you?” Loki piped up, his
hesitant voice breaking into Tony’s teasing of his friend.
 
Tony stared at him for a moment, as if confused by the question.  Then he
laughed, throwing back his head as if it was the funniest thing he had ever
heard.  Loki frowned, not liking how much the other boy was having fun at his
expense.
 
“You sound like some virginal little lamb, kid,” Tony said. “He’s ‘too old for
me?’  Who thinks about stuff like that?  Hot is hot.  Besides, I’m 17. I
practically don’t even qualify as jail-bait anymore.  I thought the bigger
issue you’d be concerned about is the fact that the sexy librarian I’ve got the
hots for just so happens to be a guy, but seeing as you didn’t, I can only
conclude you’re probably batting for the same team, huh?”
 
Loki blushed up to his roots.
 
“Y-you can’t conclude anything,” Loki said.
 
“Tony,” Bruce said with a sigh as he pulled off his glasses and rubbed at the
bridge of his nose.  “Can you leave—”
 
Bruce trailed off and looked up at Loki, as if just realizing they had been
talking to him for the past five minutes without even knowing his name.
 
“Um… and you are?” Bruce asked, looking at Loki apologetically as he reached
his hand out.
 
Loki wasn’t used to kids his age “shaking hands,” but he quickly reached out to
grab Bruce’s, if out of decorum more than anything else.
 
“Uh...I’m Loki,” he said.
 
“Bruce,” Bruce said as he nodded before turning back to Tony.  “Tony, can you
leave Loki alone?  He might be new, but that doesn’t mean he has to put up with
your nonsense.”
 
“How come you guys know I’m new?” Loki wondered.
 
Tony rolled his eyes dramatically, as if exasperated with Loki, and Loki shot
an annoyed glare in his direction.
 
“This is small-town America, kid,” Tony said, seemingly disinterested in using
Loki’s actual name. “Everybody knows everybody.  We all know you moved in here
a few weeks ago.  Your house is the one over on Osage getting all that
construction, right?”
 
Loki nodded dumbly.  He had never seen these two guys before, but apparently
they—and whoever else “we all” referred to—had seen him. 
 
“Oh!  Wait, who’s doing the construction?” Tony asked, eyes lighting up, as if
Loki was suddenly interesting to him.
 
Loki blanched, wondering if there was some ulterior motive behind his
question.  It was too much of a coincidence that Tony had honed in on the one
topic that had been the center of Loki’s attention the whole summer.    
 
“Uh… a company called B-Borson, I think,” Loki muttered dropping his eyes to
the ground.
 
“Oh, shiiiitttt,” Tony said in such a high, excited voice, that Loki couldn’t
help but cringe.  Even though it was empty, they were still in a library, which
Tony seemed to have no respect for.
 
“You know that guy Thor’s practically a criminal,” Tony said, looking
conspiratorial, as if he couldn’t wait to dish some juicy gossip.
 
“Tony!” Bruce chastised again, seeming to be uncomfortable with the direction
this conversation was taking.
 
Loki had so many questions.  There might be some benefit in talking to these
boys.  But he didn’t want to give himself away by appearing too interested.
 
“Um, who?” Loki asked, feigning ignorance.
 
Tony gave him a strange look.
 
“Thor.The 6’4” blonde beefcake with bulging muscles who looks like he could be
a Norse god,” Tony stated flatly.  “You’d have to be blind not to have noticed
him.  Unless he’s not working on this project…?”
 
Loki felt like he had just drawn attention to himself, instead of deflecting
it.
 
“Oh… oh yeah,” he fumbled over his words. “Yeah I’ve seen him.  He’s working on
the project too, but I don’t… I haven’t really talked to him.”
 
Loki felt his face burning the more he talked.  ‘Haven’t talked to him,’ was
the lie of the century. He had talked to him, kissed him, and even sucked his
cock. 
 
Tony rolled his eyes and scoffed.
 
“You might not have talked to him, but you’ve definitely checked him out. 
You’re bright red, kid.  It’s okay, though.  I think everyone in town can
collectively agree that Thor Borson was blessed with some damn good genes. 
But…I wasn’t kidding when I said he’s a criminal. He’s pretty much bad news.
Kind of like a ‘look but don’t touch’ situation there…. Unless, I guess, if
you’re into the sociopath type,” Tony said with a laugh. 
 
Loki frowned. He had to bite his tongue to stop himself from asking Tony if he
thought Steve was interested in the narcissisttype, because Tony was a textbook
example. But he calmed himself down, wondering why he suddenly felt such an
urge to stand up for Thor of all people.  Thor hadn’t done anything to deserve
Loki defending him.  Nor had he done anything that would help Loki be able to
refute the accusations Tony was making.  But, still, Loki didn’t like to hear
the older boy say those things about him.
 
“You seem to know a lot about him, for someone you seem to think is ‘bad
news,’” Loki said instead, tone snippy. 
 
Even Bruce glanced up at that, giving Loki a curious look.   And Loki couldn’t
help but flush more, averting his eyes.   
 
Tony laughed again.
 
“Like I said, Thor’s attractive.  And I’m an equal opportunity business, so of
course I’d take notice of him.  But he’s really not my type.  I kind of like to
be the one pursuing, if you know what I mean,” Tony said as he wagged his
eyebrows suggestively.
 
Loki frowned, confused.
 
“No, what do you mean?” he asked.
 
Tony sighed and rolled his eyes, smiling.
 
“I like to top, kid, and I’m 100% sure Thor Borson’s not about to bend over for
me,” Tony said matter-of-factly. 
 
Loki blushed once the words had left Tony’s mouth, now immediately
understanding what Tony had been insinuating. 
 
“For the love of God, Tony!” Bruce said as he elbowed him.  “We’re in public,
or did you forget that?”
 
“What?? We’re in a place of learning, and Loki here apparently needed an
‘education,’” Tony said, trying to hold back his laugh. 
 
“But, in all honesty.  Thor might be the kind of guy I’d consider bottoming
for, but he’s a little too scary for me.  I’ve only talked to him a couple of
times and he and his friends really gave me the vibe that they’d be more than
happy to put a bullet between my eyes just to shut me up,” Tony said as he mock
shuddered. “I’m sure I’m not Thor’s type either.  Which is fine by me. Captain
Rogers has basically been the focus of my attention for months now.”
 
“But…” Tony trailed off as he looked Loki up and down again, this time seeming
to take a closer look. “I feel like you’d be just Thor’s type.”
 
Loki’s brows furrowed, perplexed by that and wanting to ask more questions, but
the words died on his tongue when the sound of the door to the office behind
the circulation desk creaked open. All three boys turned in the direction of
the sound, and were met with the surprised face of Steve Rogers.
 
“Loki!” Steve said, face lighting up with a smile as he moved from behind the
counter.  “When did you get here?”
 
“Uh… I dunno, just like a few minutes ago.  I hit the bell but there was no
response,” Loki explained.
 
Steve frowned.
 
“Tony,” he chastised as he glanced at the unapologetic-looking teen. “I told
you I was going down in to the archives and to let me know if anyone came into
the library!”
 
“I had to scope him out first to see if he was a threat. I wasn’t just going to
lead someone to you if they were competing with me for your affections,” Tony
said as he grinned up at him.
 
Steve blushed.  He actually blushed, and Loki had to bite his tongue to stop
from letting out a snort of laughter.  This was a side of Steve he had never
seen before.
 
“God,” Steve said in a huff as he turned away from Tony and back to Loki.
“Please ignore him.  He’s the bane of my existence.  The summer has been pretty
peaceful since he’s been away at his family’s vacation home, but now Tony Stark
is back and my headaches have returned with him.” 
 
“Hey, hey, hey,” Tony said, feigning insult.  “You know you’ve missed me!  You
wouldn’t have responded to all my texts if you thought I was the so-called
‘bane’ of your existence, would you?”
 
Loki glanced between the two and watched as Tony smirked at Steve with a
mischievous glint in his eyes and wondered what the extent of their
relationship really was.  He couldn’t quite figure out if Steve was putting up
with Tony as an annoying younger brother type, or if maybe there was something
more there. 
 
“Well, when you text me nonstop until I respond I don’t have much choice, do I,
if I plan to ever get any sleep, let alone any workdone?  I also regret ever
letting you have my phone number,” Steve murmured. 
 
“Technically you didn’t actually give it to him,” Bruce piped up, attention
still on the screen in front of him as he typed methodically.  “He helped
himself to it that time you asked him for help with setting up your
smartphone.”
 
Steve frowned as he trained his blue eyes on Tony.
 
“Now that you remind me of that, I’m half tempted to ask you guys to find a
different library,” Steve said as he rubbed at the bridge of his nose. It
seemed like the whole conversation was giving him a headache.
 
“Aww, don’t be mean,” Tony whined.  “If we couldn’t come here, where would
Bruce go to be boring and extra-studious?”
 
“Are you guys working on summer research projects?  Do they make the students
do things like that at this high school?” Loki interjected.
 
Tony laughed, in that smug-sounding way that Loki was beginning to hate. 
 
“What’s so funny about that?” Loki asked. 
 
“That you think we’re in high school,” Tony said, grinning at him.
 
Loki’s brows furrowed in confusion and Steve let out a loud sigh.
 
“Ignore Tony.  He seems to forget that his lifestyle isn’t the norm.  Even
though they’re only 17 and 18, both Bruce and Tony already have college
degrees,” Steve explained.
 
Eyes widening, Loki stared at the two seemingly innocuous teens. 
 
“But… What?  I don’t get it…” Loki said.
 
“We’re this town’s resident geniuses.  Well…I’m more genius-y than Bruce, but
who’s counting?” Tony said, grinning widely.   
 
Bruce rolled his eyes.
 
“Although Tony and I graduated high school in the same year, Tony seems to
think that because he was 13 at the time, whereas I was 14 and a half, that
that that somehow means he is entitled to call himself some kind of more
superior genius,” Bruce explained.
 
“I mean, duh, how else does it work?? I’m younger than you, but I graduated
high school and college at the same time you did, so, by definition, I’m
smarter,” Tony said, shrugging his shoulders.
 
“Get your PhD before me and we’ll talk,” Bruce said back.
 
Tony pouted.
 
“They just make you go through so many requirements before they’ll give you the
stupid degree.  It’s like they know I’m smarter than all the faculty they have
there.  So what if I won’t hand in a stupid thesis,” Tony griped.
 
“You can’t get your degree if you don’t write a dissertation and you can’t
write your dissertation if you don’t write a thesis.  And you’ve been told
numerous times already that you can’t write a thesis if you don’t even do
research Tony,” Bruce explained as he pointed at his computer screen, pointing
to said research. 
 
“And this is what I deal with for the entire day when these two are around,”
Steve said as he turned to Loki and gave him a pitiful look.  “I really would
probably ask them to leave if I didn’t know that Bruce was actually doing
research and working on his thesis proposal.”
 
Loki smiled.  It seemed, no matter how put out Steve appeared to be, that he
actually kind of enjoyed Tony and Bruce’s company. And Loki could tell that
while Tony was probably exhausting to deal with, Bruce and Steve seemed more
than capable to keep him in line. 
 
“But, let’s not let them get us too distracted,” Steve said.  “Did you come for
anything in particular?  I don’t think any of the books you took out last time
are due for at least another two weeks or so.”
 
Loki flushed, being immediately reminded about why he had come here in the
first place.  Listening to Tony banter back and forth with Steve and Bruce had
distracted him.  But now that Steve had asked about it, Loki was immediately
reminded about Thor, and the ‘incident’ on the street.
 
“Oh… Ah… Well, I just… Well after the last time we kind of got interrupted
after lunch, I just wanted to-” Loki began, before he was abruptly
interrupted.  
 
“Lunch?” Tony asked, butting into their conversation. “You two lunch together?”
 
Loki rolled his eyes. He could see the way Tony was looking at him
distrustfully, but it was so ridiculous that Loki could do little more than
ignore him.  If Tony knew anything he would know he wouldn’t have to worry
about Loki interfering with his little crush on Steve.  Loki had his own big
blonde to worry about, and Thor was a much more concerning problem than Steve
could ever be. 
 
“And I didn’t get to properly say thanks and apologize for all that craziness,”
Loki continued.
 
Steve shrugged and smiled, but it seemed like he had become a little more
somber.
 
“Don’t worry about that.  I mean… yeah, it was a surprise.  I didn’t think you
knew Thor, so it kind of threw me for a loop.  Plus he’s kind of an intense
guy, so things can often get…a little crazy when he’s involved.  But… well,
what can you do, you know?  I had a good time and if you ever want to try to
meet up for lunch again, I’ll be more than happy.  We can discuss that new
fantasy book I recommended you read,” Steve said enthusiastically.
 
Loki’s ears burned when Steve mentioned Thor’s name. He could feel Tony’s eyes
on him like lasers, but he forced himself not to look at Tony as he nodded in
agreement to Steve’s statements.
 
“Ok, well I need to get back to my filing in the archives.  It’s rare that
there aren’t a lot of patrons, and I need to take advantage of the lull. Give
me a holler if you need something and can’t find it,” Steve said. 
 
Loki nodded.
 
“And, you guys,” Steve said as he turned to Tony and Bruce, voice already
sounding scolding.  “Can you please remember to let me know if someone comes
in?”
 
“Don’t worry sweet-cheeks, I’ll come down and get you personally if someone
needs you.  And, who knows, we can even play naughty librarian for a little bit
while we’re down there,” Tony suggested with a grin.
 
Steve rolled his eyes and let out an audible ‘ugh,’ before he turned on his
heels and headed back into the office.
 
“So… ‘I don’t talk to Thor much,’ huh?” was the first thing out of Tony’s mouth
once Steve was out of earshot.
 
Loki immediately cursed his fair skin as he felt his face heat up to
uncomfortable levels. 
 
“I-!  I need to get going,” Loki said as he began to turn away from them, dead
set on beating a quick retreat back home.  Hopefully no one would be around and
he could die of mortification in peace.
 
 “Hey, hey!  Slow down there.  Gimme your phone for a sec,” Tony said as he
held his hand out expectantly.
 
“What? Why?” Loki asked, his face twisting into a look that clearly showed what
he thought about Tony’s demand.
 
Tony rolled his eyes again and sighed loudly.
 
“Because I’m gonna exchange numbers with you, so that I’ll have it in case I
ever wanna talk to you.  You know, if I get bored enough that is,” Tony said
with a shrug.  
 
Loki frowned.  He kind of liked the idea of having some more people to hang out
with, but he hated how Tony made it sound like he was doing him a favor.
 
But then Bruce looked up, and cleared his throat.  Loki glanced over to him to
see him smiling.
 
“Don’t worry, Loki, I’m well-versed in interpreting the language of “Stark.” 
What Tony is really trying to say is that he had fun talking with you today and
he’d like to get to know you better.  So you two should really exchange
numbers.  Plus, even if you get to learn that your initial assessment of the
fact that he’s a jerk was probably right, Tony’s house has all the latest tech
and a killer movie collection, so at least it’ll be somewhere fun to hang out
for the summer,” Bruce said with a grin.
 
Tony pouted, but he didn’t say anything to refute Bruce’s assertions.  Loki let
out a small huff of laughter, figuring that was the closest thing to a
concession that he was going to get from “Tony Stark.”
 
“Ok, we can exchange numbers but I’m not letting you touch my phone,” Loki
said, smirking. 
===============================================================================
When Loki returned home he felt leaps and bounds better than when he had left. 
Tony Stark was a force to be reckoned with, but arguing with him had reminded
Loki of the way he used to get into ceaseless petty tiffs with Amora back
home.  They would squawk at each other like an old married couple, his friend
Sigyn had once said to him, but would make up and go right back to being
partners in crime by the end of the day.  They were fiercely protective of each
other, and Loki missed having that type of strong support system.  It made him
nostalgic, but it also made him imagine that maybe he could actually find a
place for himself here. 
 
And he knew he had to start to try to immerse himself, in some way, into this
new environment. It wasn’t like he had any good excuses to remain at home. 
Even though there was constant activity, between the workers in his yard and
his father perpetually pacing back and forth through the house yelling on his
phone, Loki found himself feeling more and more lonely at home.  And even
today, he had yet again been shown that he wasn’t a priority.  While exchanging
numbers with Tony, Loki had seen that he had missed a call and a text from his
father, telling him that he had been called into the office (yet again), and he
wouldn’t be back when Loki got in.
 
Huffing to himself as he walked into the kitchen, Loki didn’t know what to
think about the situation with his father.  He had actually been excited to
tell Laufey that he had made some new friends.  Excited like a little kid would
be to run home and show off a stellar report card.  It was stupid, Loki knew,
but he felt like he owed it to his father to show that he was getting adjusted
to their new life. 
 
He had been quite impossible in the weeks leading up to their move, fighting
with his father day in and day out, saying hurtful and spiteful things, and
even “running away” for a night (he had just gone over to Sigyn’s) in a show of
protest.  He had finally begrudgingly given in when he realized that nothing
was going to stop the move and he could see that the whole ordeal was becoming
stressful on Laufey.   Loki only had one parent left, and he knew he had to
cherish that.  All their disagreements and differences aside, Loki appreciated
his father. 
 
Sighing, Loki stilled as he came to a stop in front of the large window over
the kitchen sink that looked out onto the backyard.  The sun was high in the
sky and he could see sweat glistening off of the three workers as they moved
around the yard, appearing to be finishing up for the day. Noticeably missing
was Thor, and Loki felt a small pang of longing.  It was nearing the end of
their shift, and Loki assumed Thor had cut out early.  Another day had gone by
without Thor acknowledging him, and as Loki thought about it he closed his eyes
and turned away from the window, leaning his hip against the sink. 
 
This was really it; it was final.  He had pissed Thor off.  He had insulted
him.  And the repercussion was that Thor had lost interest.  His indifference
made it clear that he didn’t want Loki as badly as Loki wanted him.  While Loki
was standing here practically pining, Thor acted as if nothing had ever existed
between them.  It was like Thor was completely unaffected.  Was he really of
such little consequence to Thor? 
 
One part of Loki was angry.  Where did Thor get off touching him, and teasing
him, and getting him so worked up, only to drop him like a bag of bricks?  
Loki wanted to give him a piece of his mind—a tongue-lashing to end all tongue-
lashings.  But the other part of him (a part he was really trying to ignore)
was wondering what he could do to get Thor back.  This small part of him
imagined himself doing anything, maybe even groveling, just to feel the man’s
big warm hands on his back or the feel of his lips on his neck. 
 
Loki knew that, to a certain extent, he had only had himself to blame for his
current situation.  He just couldn’t be honest.  It wasn’t in his nature. 
There was no way he would’ve toldThor that he liked some of the things the man
did to him. Just the thought of that made his cheeks flame and his stomach
twist.  But wasn’t it okay sometimes to play hard to get, to be a little coy? 
 
And it wasn’t like Thor had given him any reason to want to behonest.  Thor was
rarely nice to him.  Loki had no idea if this was just some game for Thor, or
if Thor actually liked him. Why should Loki be the one to have to say how he
felt, while Thor was entitled to just smirk and lord it over him?  What if Loki
admitted to wanting Thor, and Thor just laughed in his face?  Loki wasn’t sur
he’d ever be able to live that down. 
 
However… For whatever it was worth, Loki wasat least somewhat confident that
Thor was attracted to him.  He knew because he could tell that he turned Thor
on.  There was no way to ignore the feel of Thor’s sizeable cock pressing up
against him.  And Loki had personally felt the weight of it on his tongue, the
girth of it stretching his mouth.  Just thinking about it made Loki’s body
pulse with heat.  And even though Loki was far more inexperienced than Thor
would probably ever want, Thor always moaned, his breath always quickened, and
his pupils were always blown wide whenever Loki touched him.  He couldn’t be
faking that. 
 
But Thor was all around bad news.  Even if Loki could hang his hat on the fact
that Thor was at least physically attracted to him, it was obvious Thor still
had the upper hand.  Because when Thor was around Loki, Loki’s mind went to
mush.  He didn’t make good decisions.  He never said no, even though he knew he
probably should.  Loki didn’t consider himself a kid, but he knew that society
did.  And society had told him over and over that ‘kids make dumb decisions.’ 
Loki never let himself fall into stereotypes like that.  So, why, even knowing
that, couldn’t he stay awayfrom Thor? 
 
Objectively, Loki knew he should probably stick to his guns—he should try to
push Thor out of his mind so he wouldn’t have to take back what he said and
prove Thor right.  But, that option only left one outcome—Thor would never
touch him again.  And the subjective part of Loki—that raw, emotion and
hormone-driven, part that loved the attention, loved being touched and held and
wanted—couldn’t handle that being the case. 
 
Loki could have probably spent the entire afternoon wallowing in his self-pity,
but the sound of the kitchen door creaking open dragged him out of his musings,
causing his eyes to snap open. 
 
And what he saw caused his heart to stutter in his chest.
 
Thor was standing there, only a few feet away from.  Big, and tall, and
glistening with sweat, strands of his blonde hair sticking to his neck.  Thor
looked at him with fierce eyes, his expression unreadable, but nonetheless
intense.  Seeing Thor there, watching him, brought back all the memories of
what had transpired in this very kitchen not even a week ago, and Loki felt his
face flame and his body tense with anticipation. 
 
Thor didn’t say a word as he continued to stand in the door way, but he did
allow his eyes to drag up and down Loki’s form. Loki couldn’t help but
shudder.  And when Thor’s eyes finally returned to meet Loki’s wide ones, Loki
was sure he had seen a flash of desire. 
 
But Thor still remained silent, and as if breaking some spell that had been
cast over the quiet kitchen, Thor began to walk toward him.   The sound of
Thor’s heavy boots on the tile floor sounded like they were echoing through the
empty house, and Loki trembled.  Thor had such a big presence.  As if anything
that was lying in his path would have no choice but to yield or be demolished
by him.  And all that did was excite Loki, who was already imagining the feel
of Thor’s heavy body pressing up against his.
 
Loki stood frozen as Thor walked straight up to him, so close that Loki could
smell the musky mix of his sweat and his cologne.  This close, Loki had to tilt
his head back to look up at Thor.  And he looked his fill.  His eyes flitted
from his thick blonde lashes, to the fullness of his lips, to a small smudge of
dirt on his cheek.  He wondered briefly what would happen if he reached up and
touched the roughness of Thor’s scruffy beard.  But, more than anything, Loki
was drawn into the blue of Thor’s eyes.  Those eyes gave nothing away, doing
little to alleviate Loki’s anxiety, but oh, how he had missed seeing them. 
 
Loki frowned to himself, as his mind tried to make sense of what was
happening.  What would Thor do?  He didn’t seem angry, but he didn’t seem happy
(or like he wanted to make up) either.  Instead, he just seemed calm; placid. 
Loki’s heart beat rapidly in his chest, feeling as if it was moments away from
jumping out of his ribcage. 
 
He gulped when Thor moved even closer, the space between them dwindling down to
mere inches.  Thor reached an arm up, pressing a hand to the cabinet behind
Loki’s head, caging him in, and Loki instinctively closed his eyes and tilted
his head back. Face blossoming into a flush and mind whirring with a jumble of
thoughts, Loki almost couldn’t believe it.  Thor was going to kiss him!
 
But, instead of feeling lips against his own, all Loki heard was Thor saying,
“Um… Do you mind moving out of the way?  I’m trying to get some water.” 
 
Loki’s eyes shot open.
 
Thor’s expression was still calm and controlled, but Loki knew he wasn’t
imagining the mirth he saw dancing in Thor’s blue eyes.  Thor knew what Loki
had been expecting and he was making fun of him.  It was cruel. 
 
Blinking back hot tears—tears Loki wasn’t sure were solely from his
embarrassment—Loki pushed against Thor’s chest, forcing the bigger man to move
out of his way.  Thor put up little fight as he allowed Loki to move around
him. 
 
He watched on as Loki scurried out of the kitchen, and listened to the sound of
the boy stomping up the stairs, followed by a resounding door-slam that made
the chandelier in the dining room shake. 
 
Smirking, Thor opened the cabinet containing the glasses and pulled one out for
himself.  He turned on the tap, and thought about what had just transpired as
he filled up his glass.  Not only had Loki expectedto be kissed, he had wanted
it.  He had closed his eyes and leaned his head back, puckering his lips
sweetly.  When Thor had seen the boy’s dark lashes fanning against his cheeks,
the soft, pouty pink lips, and the long delicate curve of Loki’s neck, he had
felt a moment of weakness where he had considered just giving in and kissing
him. 
 
But he hadn’t. 
 
Because Loki was still being punished, and kissing him would send the wrong
message.  He was being taught a lesson for having the audacity to say he didn’t
wantThor.  If Loki really wanted him to believe he didn’t like it when Thor
touched him then Thor wouldn’ttouch him again until Loki asked for it.  And
Thor had no problem waiting.  He knew it wouldn't be long before Loki came
crawling back to him. 
===============================================================================
Upstairs in his room, Loki felt mortified.  He hid his face underneath his
pillow as he vacillated between wanting to scream and wanting to cry.  Thor had
been so smug.  So completely blasé.  As if Loki’s feelings meant nothing.  Loki
knew Thor had purposefully led him on.  He didn’t believe it had all just been
in his head.   But he also knew Thor was making a point.  Loki had said he
didn’t want to be touched, but as soon as Thor was in a room with him alone,
Loki was giving him an open invitation.  
 
Thor was right.  Loki couldn’t deny it.  He had wanted Thor to kiss him,
consequences be damned.  He still didn’t know, however, if he could ever bring
himself to admit that to the older man. And Loki had picked up on the fact that
that was exactly what Thor was going to be expecting.
 
Biting at his lip in consternation, Loki flopped back on his bed and let out a
disgruntled sigh. Life had never been this confusing before. 
===============================================================================
Three more days passed like that, with Thor ignoring him and Loki fruitlessly
pining.  The only saving grace had been that Tony had texted him yesterday to
hang out.  He had gone over to Tony’s house and was floored when he realized
that when Tony had said ‘hang out at my place,’ he had neglected to mention
that said place was a mansion. 
 
Spending the day with Tony and Bruce had been a welcome distraction.  It had
been a heat wave for the past few days and Thor, and the other guys, had taken
to working with their shirts off.  Loki wasn’t too bothered by the others, but
seeing Thor’s broad chest and rippling muscles, which he hadn’t had the luxury
to see so bare before, had made Loki almost whine with want. 
 
He had hoped to maybe beg Tony if he could come over again today (they had only
made it halfway through one of Tony’s video games yesterday), but before he
could even send a text this morning, Laufey had cornered him in the living
room, coming down on him for neglecting days’ worth of chores in the house. 
Loki was told he wasn’t allowed to ‘disappear’ until he had seen to his
housework.  And it just so happened that Laufey planned to be home all day. 
Loki wouldn’t have the opportunity to slip out without getting it done. 
 
After spending the early part of the day doing that, Loki found himself in the
muggy kitchen sitting at the island, munching on a bowl of cubed watermelon. 
He had texted Tony a few minutes ago asking if they could hang out again now
that he was done with his ‘sentence,’ but Tony had responded that Bruce had
spontaneously dragged him to some science exhibit and they wouldn’t be back
until later that day.  He had told Loki he could come by tonight and they could
hang out in his pool, which was equipped with a fiber optic underwater light
show.  Loki hadn’t yet responded though.  He didn’t need a distraction at
night; Thor would have gone home by then.  But…he still found himself
considering it.  It might be fun to watch.  Plus, maybe he could even sleep
over and save himself the torture of having to be here tomorrow when Thor,
undoubtedly, showed up as radiant and as frustrating as ever. 
 
Rolling a piece of the sweet fruit around in his mouth as he fiddled with his
phone, mulling over what to tell Tony, Loki wasn’t prepared when the back door
swung open and Thor strolled into the kitchen.  He choked on the fruit,
sputtering embarrassingly.  Sitting up straight, he covertly tried to
straighten out his shirt and his unruly, humidity-induced curls. 
 
But it was all wasted effort because Thor didn’t even spare him a single glance
as he walked through the kitchen, passing by where Loki was sitting at the
island and through into the hallway.  Loki’s face burned in embarrassment at
the dismissal and he felt that familiar sweeping sense of disappointment he had
been experiencing relentlessly for the past week.
 
And Loki had had enough. 
 
He couldn’t sit there feeling like a kicked puppy every time Thor refused to
acknowledge his existence.  Tossing his phone down on the counter, Loki quickly
pushed himself to his feet, the sound of the bar stool scraping on the floor
sending a grating noise through the empty kitchen.  Ignoring his bowl of fruit,
Loki scurried after Thor.  He knew exactly where he must be going; there was no
other reason for the workers to be in the house other than to get a drink or to
use the bathroom. 
 
As soon as Loki made it into the hall, he could see Thor at the end of it,
catching him right before he placed his hand on the handle of the hall bathroom
door.  He must have made a good amount of noise in the kitchen, because Thor
paused and glanced back at him expectantly, as if he had been waiting for him. 
But he didn’t look happy to see him.  Seeing Thor’s look, Loki felt his heart
begin to thud in his chest as he walked closer, but he forced himself not to
falter.
 
As Loki came to a halt in front of Thor, he was torn between standing tall and
trying to make himself as small as possible.  The hallway was narrow,
containing nothing but the powder room and a linen closet, so there were only a
few inches between their chests.  It wasn’t built for two people to comfortably
stand side by side. At least not if the other person was Thor’s size.  So they
each stood there, facing the other, Thor looking somewhat annoyed and Loki
looking anxious.
 
“What, you here to complain that you don’t want me using your bathroom?” Thor
scoffed.
 
Loki frowned.
 
“No, I… Why have you— I mean, I don’t get it… How come…” Loki trailed off as
his eyes dropped to his feet, unable to articulate his frustration.  Now that
he was actually face to face with Thor, he found it impossible to tell him all
the things he had been feeling over the past week.   
 
“What, cat got your tongue all of a sudden?” Thor mocked, voice sounding mean.
 
Loki looked up at him, eyebrows drawn down and frowning.  He tried to give off
the impression that he was just as annoyed as Thor was, but he felt vulnerable,
his feelings were hurt, and he was sure it showed on his face.
 
“Why… why have you been ignoring me,” he asked quietly, feeling his cheeks burn
in shame.
 
Thor paused, eyebrow arching inquisitively.  He feigned confusion as he leaned
back against the closed bathroom door and crossed his arms over his broad
chest.
 
“Ignoringyou?” he asked, as if the concept was foreign to him.
 
“You don’t… you don’t talk to me…You don’t try anything,” Loki admitted in a
low whisper, face growing hotter. 
 
“I thought you told me you hated it when I touched you,” Thor sneered.
 
 “I…I shouldn’t have said that…” Loki murmured. “It’s… not true.”
 
He couldn’t look at Thor, but at least he could make himself admit this.  He
had had enough.  He was tired of going through Thor’s silent treatment.  He was
tired of being punished.  
 
“Prove it,” Thor growled as he stepped forward, closing the few inches of space
in between them and crowding Loki up against the wall.  He pushed him with such
force that Loki could hear the framed pictures above his head rattle on the
wall. 
 
Loki looked away, glancing around him, as if suddenly remembering where he
was.  His father was most likely in the living room.  Thor’s friends were in
the backyard.  Anyone could walk in. Thor couldn’t be serious.  But then Thor
was grabbing him by the jaw and turning his face back towards him and Loki
could see that he was very serious. 
 
His eyebrows were narrowed, his eyes dark, the grip he had on Loki’s chin tight
to the point it was bordering on painful.  Thor was intimidating in that
moment. But all Loki could think was that Thor’s expression told him that he
wanted him.  He had all of Thor’s attention now.  No more of the cold shoulder;
no more of the ‘you don’t exist.’  And having Thor’s eyes on him like that sent
a thrilling sensation throughout Loki’s entire body.   
 
Hesitantly, Loki reached up, fingers caressing the coarse texture of Thor’s
scruffy beard.  Thor blinked at him, slowly, as if unsure about what Loki was
doing.  But he released his grip on Loki’s jaw, searching his eyes, as if
daring him to act.  Loki nervously licked his lips and watched as Thor’s eyes
immediately dropped down to follow the path of his tongue as it darted out of
his mouth.  Feeling emboldened and throwing caution to the wind, Loki cupped
Thor’s face in his hands and pulled him down so that he could press his lips
against his. 
 
It was a soft brush at first, just Loki’s lips pressing against Thor’s—Loki
wondered if Thor was too surprised to react—but then Thor was pushing him back
against the wall, mouth hot and hungry as he took control of the kiss.  It was
all the things Loki had been fantasizing about for the last few days.  It was
just what he needed.  The heavy feel of Thor’s body, the dominance of his
control, the heat of his unapologetic passion. 
 
Reaching up to grab at Thor’s shirt to steady himself, a soft breathy whimper
escaped Loki’s lips and it was like the sound had unleashed something in Thor.
 
Thor pushed him against the wall harder, hips flush with Loki’s, as he
dominated his mouth.  Wet sounds filled Loki’s ears as Thor’s tongue slid
slickly over his own.  But he was too overwhelmed to feel embarrassed.  He
could barely breathe, as if his breath was being stolen by Thor.  And Loki
found himself thinking that he wouldn’t even care if he died this way, as he
moaned again and rubbed his hips against Thor, cock already hardening in his
jeans. 
 
But then, Thor placed his hand against his chest and pushed him back, holding
him in place against the wall.  As he pulled away, he caught Loki’s bottom lip
between his own, nibbling at it briefly before releasing him. 
 
Loki stood there, pinned in place as he trembled and panted, looking at Thor
through bleary, wanting eyes.
 
“Looks like we’re both on the same page,” Thor said with a smirk as he looked
Loki up and down, eyes roving from his flushed cheeks and swollen lips, to his
heaving chest, and all the way down to his tented jeans. 
 
Loki was embarrassed to be so obvious in his need, but he forced down his gut
reaction to deny it and instead, just silently nodded at Thor.
 
The smirk disappeared from Thor’s lips as he twisted his fingers into the
fabric of Loki’s shirt, grabbing him and pulling him closer.  He leaned in and
Loki’s pulse quickened. 
 
“Good, because I don’t want to hear you complaining again, you got that?” Thor
whispered in his ear. “You’re mine, kid.”
 
Loki’s eyes widened, and while his stomach twisted into knots at the
implication of those words, his cock also throbbed in excitement.
 
The smirk returned to Thor’s lips as he pushed Loki away from him.   As Loki’s
back bumped the wall behind him, he stared dazedly as Thor opened the bathroom
door and stepped inside.  Thor winked at him, and then shut the door in his
face.  Loki had been clearly dismissed.  
 
Blinking to try to clear his mind of the lust-induced fog, Loki turned and made
his way back down the hall.  He couldn’t stop trembling as he walked, heart
hammering, body feeling like there was fire in his veins.  Passing his father,
who was sitting in the living room busily reading over some printouts, Loki
quickly walked by, hiding his face, fearing that his father would be able to
tell what he had just been up to.  He climbed the stairs as quickly as he could
and was relieved when he made it into his bedroom. 
 
Sinking down on to his bed, Loki sat there, still in a daze, as he tried to
make sense of what had just happened.  He had no idea what he had just gotten
himself into. 
 
Loki was excited.  Loki was scared.  But at least he had Thor. 
===============================================================================
A/N: So this chapter wasn’t porn-y at all!  Sorry about that! Sometimes plot
just necessitates that, haha. But did you like it?  Loki-kins is going through
a lot of stuff, and of course Thor is the root of all his problems, ha!  I
anticipate pornz in the next chapter! (rubs hands excitedly ;])
 
(Also: if there are any additional tags you think I should add for this fic
that might help better categorize it in case you think I’m not properly warning
for some things please let me know!)
Find me on tumblr
***** Chapter 6 *****
A/N:  Thanks for all the really positive feedback, and for being so patient
between updates, you guys!  And also, thanks to Sarah, again, for beta reading
;3. 
===============================================================================
Thor was pleased with the way things were going.  Loki—often petulant,
dishonest, and pompous—had come crawling to him a few days before, practically
begging for Thor to pay him attention again.  Watching the boy’s furrowed brows
and worried eyes, as he looked for Thor’s approval, had been unexpectedly
stimulating.  It was as if the only thing that existed in that moment for Loki
was Thor, and that Loki would do anything to please him, as long as he asked
for it. 
 
If Thor really took the time to think about it, he knew he’d have to admit that
there was probably something wrong with him for liking something like that.  
Well, at least that other people would think there was something wrong with
him.  But Thor had made it pretty far in life not following the rules of “other
people.”  And if there was something wrong with him, there was probably
something wrong with Loki. 
 
The kid liked it.  Thor could tell. 
 
Thor knew Loki liked it when he came sniffing around him, making demands of
him, touching him all over and throwing his world off kilter; he even liked it
when Thor got a little mean. If he didn’t, he would’ve run and told his father
already. Or, at the very least, he would have taken the opportunity to
permanently remove Thor from his life when Thor had decided to stop paying
attention to him.
 
But, he hadn’t. 
 
Loki’s eyes had followed Thor for a week, looking like a lost little puppy. 
The boy didn’t think Thor was aware of him, but, oh, did Thor know.  Thor’s
senses were fine-tuned.  He’d be able to feel a pair of eyes on him from a mile
away.  And Loki’s eyes werealways on him.  Whether from the kitchen window, or
from up in the boy’s room.  Loki was always, always watching him.  And even
when Loki came outside to strike up small talk with the Warriors Three, Loki
would surreptitiously glance Thor’s way.  His body was always canted slightly
in Thor’s direction, a seemingly unconscious action on the boy’s part. It was
as if he was saying “notice me!” over and over again. 
 
And notice him Thor did.  It wasn’t hard.  If Thor was being honest with
himself, he found Loki fun.  Not when the boy was being disobedient, that was
for sure.  But Thor had taken careful steps to ensure that wouldn’t happen
again.  And he had even had a little fun in teaching Loki that important
lesson, in any case. What he did like about Loki, however, was his feistiness. 
Loki could fight him tooth and nail—complain and whine as much as he wanted—but
Thor always knew what to do to get the boy to moan, and, when he did, Loki
turned to putty in his hands. 
 
Thor wasn’t stupid.  And it wouldn’t have taken a genius to have Loki pegged.
 Thor already knew just what the boy liked.  Loki liked his hands, his size;
how powerful he was.  Thor knew Loki likedto be dominated.  Even if it meant
being held down until he would be honest with himself about it.  And because
Loki’s default reaction was notto be honest, he always fought; at least a
little bit.  But Thor liked that too; it always got his blood pumping and his
heart racing and made that moment when Loki finally, finally, submitted all the
more sweet.  But to tell Thor he didn’t want him touching him? Well, Thor was
having none of that.
 
Loki had learned his lesson well enough though, and since then, Thor had had
the pleasure of having all of the boy’s poorly-hidden attention.  They hadn’t
had a true moment to be “alone” together again since the meeting in the
hallway, but Loki had gone out of his way to be in Thor’s eye-line more often
than normal. 
 
Loki was spending more of his time outside; asking questions about the building
progress, joking around with the contractors, and even giving some of his
feedback on some changes he would personally like to see be made to the house. 
And often this was either on his way to, or from, the pool, so Loki was
sometimes bare-chested and dripping water.  Thor wasn’t quite sure that the boy
was trying to be a tease.  But having to see him so often when the coast wasn’t
clear enough for Thor to actually do anything about it was frustrating. 
 
So far, all Thor had been able to do was steal brief touches.  He once passed
him on the stairs as Laufey was leading Thor to check the leaky faucet in the
second-floor bathroom, and as they were ascending Loki was descending.  The
stairs were wide enough for them all to fit, albeit it somewhat tightly, and as
Loki squeezed past, Thor took the opportunity to covertly graze his knuckles
along the expanse of Loki’s thigh exposed by his shorts.  Loki had let out the
cutest sounding little “eep,” and Laufey had stopped on the stairs to turn
around and stare at his son quizzically.  Loki had blushed and floundered for
words, ultimately settling on saying that he had thought he had seen a spider. 
Laufey had shaken his head in disbelief and Loki had practically run down the
stairs. Thor had to fight to contain his laughter.
 
If he walked past the boy in the kitchen, Thor always made a point of touching
him somewhere.  He would lightly touch the nape of his neck, if his hair was
up, or he would run his big hand through Loki’s hair, and watch as Loki visibly
shuddered, sitting up straighter and crossing his legs.  Thor was always
thoroughly amused.  His effect on Loki was so immediate.  Of course, Thor also
knew some of it had to do with the fact that Loki was a teenage boy and, quite
honestly, almost always ready to go.  But Thor liked being the only one who had
access to him; the only one who could see how worked up he got, as those pale
cheeks flushed with color and those plump lips parted in a soft gasp.  
 
But those moments were few and far in between and Thor was getting frustrated. 
  
 
Yesterday, Loki had stood outside in a bright red loose-fitting tank top and
black shorts, as he sucked on a popsicle while he engaged in an extensive
conversation with Fandral and Volstagg about installing a tire-swing to hang
from the old oak tree at the far end of the property.  Seeing the boy’s lips
close around the frozen treat had made Thor grind his teeth in a mixture of
frustration, annoyance, and want.  Loki looked so good like that, and he was
even wearing Thor’s colors. 
 
He half wanted to tell the kid to get back in the house and stop “distracting”
his workers.  But it had actually been Volstagg who had stopped Loki in the
first place, after mentioning that they had come across a big rig tire that
would be “perfect” in the backyard, if Loki wanted it.  Loki originally scoffed
at the idea of it, saying he was too old for something like that, but Fandral
and Volstagg had ribbed him about it, telling him how much fun it would be, and
soon Loki had warmed up to the idea.  He actually seemed pretty excited about
it.
 
Today, Volstagg had hefted the big tire along to work and he, Fandral and Hogun
had installed it.  Loki hadn’t had a chance yet to see it, but the three of
them were actually quite looking forward to showing it to him.  Thor hadn’t
participated because, out of the lot of them, he was the only one who was
actually certified as a carpenter, and he was left measuring and cutting lumber
for the addition they were building on the house.  But Thor was starting to
feel a bit annoyed by how much Loki was enjoying talking to his friends, and,
even more so, how much it seemed his friends were taken with Loki.
 
Fandral, in particular, liked pretty things.  And Thor especially didn’t like
the way the other blonde’s eyes sometimes followed the boy as he walked through
the yard.  Fandral often commented about how “cute” Loki was.  And Thor didn’t
quite know why that bothered him so much.  But it was really starting to grate
at him.  Like a bad itch he just couldn’t scratch.  Or, maybe more accurately,
a fly he couldn’t squash. 
 
As the three walked over to him, Thor could hear them joking around.  Stopping
what he was doing, he pulled off his gloves and tossed them on to the work
table.
 
“Finally done with your little project, huh?  Anyone here ready to help me do
what we’re actually being paid for?” Thor asked, as he crossed his arms over
his chest, but there was little heat behinds his words.
 
Fandral laughed.
 
“Aw, come on.  Don’t be like that.  You know you always get crazy when we try
to cut the wood since apparently our measurements are always off.  So it’s not
like we could’ve done anything while you were busy with that.  Besides, Loki is
going to be so happy when he sees this.  I can’t wait to see his face light
up,” Fandral said, with a grin.  “It’ll be so cute.”
 
Thor groaned as he rolled his eyes, feeling that annoyance bubbling up in his
gut again.
 
“Can you stop saying that?” he asked, trying to keep any hint of annoyance out
of his voice.
 
“What?  It’s the truth.  The kid’s cute.  He’s gonna be a lady killer when he’s
older,” Fandral said with a shrug and a smirk, a mischievous look in his eye. 
“Or a man-eater.  He definitely has a universal appeal… if you get my drift.”
 
Thor’s eyes narrowed and his hands clenched into fists, while Volstagg
frowned. 
 
“What, are you saying now that you’re so indiscriminate that you’re looking at
even Loki like that?” Volstagg asked.  It was clear he disapproved. 
 
“No,” Fandral scoffed.  “I mean… he’s 15. And, well, a boy.”
 
The three men stared at him skeptically for a few beats, and then Fandral’s
face broke out into a grin as he gave his friends a knowing look. 
 
“But… I mean… in like 3 years?  Maybe I’ll swing by and see what he’s up to,”
Fandral admitted with a wink.  “A boy like that’s not bound to get any less
pretty.  And I could probably be convinced to make an exception for him.”  
 
Thor had had enough.  That was more than even he was willing to let slide.  Who
did Fandral think he was?  Loki belonged to Thor.  The anger he felt was almost
white-hot, akin to what he felt when he would go into one of his “rages.”    
 
“Hey!” Thor snapped as he grabbed Fandral by the collar and pulled him close. 
“You want to stop saying stupid fucking shit that’s going to get us fired!  Are
you a fucking idiot?”
 
“Shit, Thor!  I’m just kidding!  Kidding, man!  I promise.  I don’t see Loki
like that.  None of us would be so stupid as to try anything with the kid of
our employer.  And, again, I stress, he’s a kid!” Fandral complained, as he
pried Thor’s fingers from his shirt.
 
Thor almost growled as he stepped back from Fandral, wanting nothing more than
to knock some sense into the smug man, but he forced himself to get his
breathing under control and relax his aggressive posture knowing his friends
were all looking at him with surprise. 
 
“You okay?” Volstagg asked.
 
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Thor said gruffly as he ran his hand through his blonde
locks.  “Just—I don’t need anyone overhearing shit like this.  Okay?  We don’t
know these people.  What if Laufey heard you talking like that?  Or the kid
himself?”
 
Fandral had the good sense to look slightly chastened. 
 
“It was just a joke,” he mumbled.
 
Thor rolled his eyes.
 
“Why don’t you three make yourselves useful and get the tools out of the van so
we can start laying down this lumber,” he said as he tilted his chin in the
direction of the van.
 
“Aye aye, captain,” Fandral said with a sigh. 
 
The three turned around and started heading toward the van and Thor could still
hear their continued conversation.  
 
“But, you should be ashamed of yourself,” Volstagg scolded as he nudged
Fandral. “You shouldn’t drag little Loki into your unapologetic perversions.
He’s really innocent, you know?”
 
Fandral laughed as he shook his head again.
 
“I was kidding,” he repeated. “But, I still stand by what I’ve always said:
it’s the innocent ones you need to watch out for.”
 
The three of them laughed as they got further away.  Thor turned his back on
them and leaned on the worktable, frowning down at his hands.  He didn’t know
why he had gotten so angry.  He and his friends talked like that all the time. 
Thor was just as likely to start conversations like that as Fandral was. 
 
He knew he had given a believable excuse for why he had scolded Fandral:
“Professionalism.”  But, it wasn’t like they hadn’t worked on other projects
where they had talked about the “hot MILF” who pranced around in short-shorts
and bikini tops, or a family’s buxom daughter home from college for the summer
who flirted with them incessantly.  Thor had never stopped the guys from
talking then.  But he really, really, hadn’t liked hearing Fandral talk about
Loki like that.  He didn’t like that anyone else looked at Loki like that. 
 
Balling his hands into fists on the table, Thor told himself he needed to get
it together.  Loki was just a little bit of summer fun.  He didn’t mean
anything.  It shouldn’t matter that other people found him attractive, or
interesting, or funny.  It shouldn’t matter, but… for some reason, it did.
===============================================================================
Loki did ultimately grin like a kid on Christmas when he saw the swing. 
 
Thor had watched him from the far side of the yard as he jumped on it and
swung, quite recklessly, around on it while Volstagg, Fandral and Hogun cheered
him on.  And the one time Loki’s eyes caught Thor’s the boy had blushed,
looking a bit sheepish.  And Thor couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at
the corner of his lips.  Loki had looked a bit stunned at that, and Thor had
turned around almost immediately, going back to the band-saw he was using to
resize some of the wood.  He didn’t look at Loki again for the hour or so the
kid was outside.  And then Loki was being called back in the house by his
father, and the yard was quiet again.
 
Laufey had come out to get Thor a little while after that, asking him if he
could take a look at their air conditioning system.  Apparently the thing
tended to work arbitrarily and when it did decide to finally lurch itself to
life it usually only put out feeble bursts of cool air.  So Thor had stopped
what he was doing and tasked the guys with laying the lumber he had cut. 
 
When Thor walked into the house, Loki was nowhere to be seen.  He was a little
disappointed, but he shrugged it off as he followed Laufey to the
malfunctioning units.  As Laufey showed him what the issues were, his mind
quickly switched to the task at hand as he began working on it, thinking, only
briefly, how it was such a waste to fix the units because he liked how the heat
made Loki seem perpetually flushed and how his hair was often damp along his
hairline, curling ever so slightly. 
 
With a bit of tinkering, Thor was able to make the units function somewhat more
efficiently, but ultimately came to the conclusion that it would make more
sense just to replace it with a more modern system.  The current one was
clearly over 20 years old and Thor had to tell Laufey that there was nothing
that would make it work like the units he was used to.  Getting to his feet as
he wiped his hands on the front of his jeans, he told Laufey that if he wanted
it fixed he would draft up a bill and proposed work detail, and Laufey could
get back to him about his decision.   The man had smiled tightly, remarking
that maybe taking on renovations on such an old house was a bit of a misguided
undertaking.  Thor could only shrug as they shook hands and he then excused
himself to return to the work outside.  
 
When Thor walked into the kitchen, he stopped in the doorway, pleasantly
surprised to see Loki sitting at the kitchen island.  He was staring at his
phone intently with a silly smile on his face as he began typing off a
message.  Thor watched him for a few seconds, eyebrow arching and frown
settling on his features.   These were the rare sides of Loki that he never
saw, and something about that bothered him. 
 
 “What’s got you smiling like that?” he asked, startling Loki.
 
Jumping, Loki looked up to see Thor standing in the kitchen looking at him
suspiciously, and he couldn’t help his instinctive reaction to hide his phone
behind his back.  
 
Thor’s face darkened, and he walked across the kitchen to where Loki was
sitting at the island.
 
“Give me that phone,” he demanded.
 
Loki blanched.
 
“What?  No!  You can’t just go through my things-” Loki began, but Thor paid
him no mind as he easily wrestled the phone out of Loki’s clenched fingers.
 
Loki watched on nervously as Thor began to look through his messages, feeling
his face flush as he imagined the multitude of things the older man could
possibly be thinking.  He saw a variety of expressions play over Thor’s face,
but was unable to decipher any of them.  Things between him and Thor were…
confusing.  Since Loki had admitted he wanted Thor’s attention, Thor had been
giving him exactly that. 
 
While the past few days had included nothing like the heated stolen moments
they had shared before, Thor did make an effort to touch him at least once a
day.  Loki was never quite sure when it was going to happen, but the quick
caresses always left a trail of heat in their wake and Loki’s skin would tingle
for hours afterwards.  And just the feeling of Thor’s gaze on him was often
enough to make Loki tremble.  There was something like promise in the man’s
eyes.  As if he was trying to tell Loki “just wait until I get you alone.” 
 
But time alone hadn’t been so easy to come by lately, what with Laufey working
on a project from home over the past week and the “Warriors Three” seeming to
be paying more attention to Loki as of late.  And Loki had found himself
feeling especially… antsy. 
 
He didn’t want to upset Thor again, but he also wanted more. He just never knew
how to initiate it.  And he could never tell what Thor was thinking.  Sometimes
Thor seemed amused, other times he seemed on the verge of snapping.  He could
so quickly transition from teasing to a tightly-controlled fury.  And right
now?  He didn’t look all that amused. 
 
“This “Tony” you’re talking to… is this Tony Stark?” Thor asked finally, as he
glanced up at Loki over the top of the phone.
 
He was frowning, but Loki wasn’t sure why he would be upset.  There really
wasn’t anything contained in the texts except for some harmless jibing between
himself and Tony.  Loki swallowed as he forced himself to hold Thor’s electric
blue gaze. 
 
“Uh… yeah…?” Loki said tentatively.
 
Thor tossed the phone on to the counter as if he was no longer interested.
 
“Stop talking to that fucking kid.  He’s such a little asshole.  Plus, he’ll
try to fuck anything that can walk,” Thor said dismissively. “Stay away from
him.”
 
Loki felt his face heat, but it was from a mixture of anger and embarrassment.
 
“You can’t tell me who I can and can’t talk to,” he said pointedly as he
crossed his arms over his chest, feeling his emotions switch quickly from
uncertainty to annoyance.
 
However, Thor shot him a look and Loki felt himself waver a bit.
 
“B-besides…” Loki trailed off as he watched Thor’s displeased expression. 
“It’s not like he… Tony isn’t interested in me for that…”
 
Thor rolled his eyes as he picked the phone back up again.  And Loki found
himself wishing he had been quicker to keep it out of the older man’s reach.
 He didn’t need Thor looking for more reasons to be angry with him. 
 
“Yeah, I’m so sure.  I told you not to talk to him.  That’s the end of it. 
This isn’t debatable,” Thor repeated.
 
“Thor!” Loki complained as he tried to reach for the phone but was thwarted by
Thor simply holding it above his head, like some sort of schoolyard bully.
 
“I can’t just… Tony is one of my only friends here.  Well, him and Bruce,” Loki
admitted, feeling as if he shouldn’t have to even explain himself.  But he
remembered how angry Thor had been about Steve…
 
“And Tony told me he’s not interested in me.  He likes someone else,” Loki
explained.  “So… you don’t have anything to worry about.”
 
Thor scoffed as he went back to looking through the phone. 
 
“‘Worry about?’” he repeated flippantly, eyes still on the screen, as if he
couldn’t be bothered to seriously consider Loki’s accusation.  “Who said I’m
worrying about anything?  The kid’s grimy and it’s in your best interest to
stay the fuck away from him.” 
 
Loki bit his lip as he watched Thor’s thumbs move across his screen. 
 
“I just… I like them.  They’re my friends,” Loki muttered quietly. 
 
Thor looked up at him and something changed momentarily in his eyes before
returning to their guarded expression.
 
“Fine… if you’re that fucking bored in this town.  But you don’t go anywhere
alone with that kid,” Thor said gruffly.  “I know he hangs out with Banner most
of the time.  So keep it to that.”
 
Loki pouted, but he supposed that was the best he was going to get out of
this.  He didn’t know why Thor cared who he hung out with.  But he couldn’t
deny that Thor’s possessiveness made him feel strangely good.  Even though Thor
would probably never admit it was possessiveness.
 
“Can I have my phone back then?” Loki asked grumpily. 
 
Thor cocked his head to the side as if considering something, and then smirked
as he began to type something into Loki’s phone.
 
“W-wait!  What’re you doing?  Don’t write anything weird!” Loki whined as he
tried again to get the phone back.  Thor was just as successful in keeping it
from him as he was the first time.
 
“Relax, kitten,” Thor said snidely.  “I’m just putting my number in here. 
Since it’s apparent you’re so bored that you need to flirt with Stark I’ll let
you expend all that pent up energy on me.”
 
Loki flushed at the implications of that, and Thor gave him a predatory grin. 
Loki had to look away, feeling himself getting worked up for no good reason.  
 
“I- I’m not flirting with Tony!  Gross,” Loki spat.   
 
Thor seemed unconvinced, but passed him the phone back anyway.
 
“Let’s both hope that’s true, baby,” Thor said as he grabbed his chin and
forced Loki to turn back to face him. 
 
Loki stared up at him with wide, green eyes and parted pink lips and Thor felt
a sudden urge to kiss him.  But even he was self-aware enough to know that,
with Laufey only a room away, a kiss was probably not the best idea.  Instead,
Thor let his thumb drag briefly over Loki’s plump bottom lip.  And when Loki
shuddered, eyes fluttering as if he was already preparing to close them to
receive Thor’s kiss, Thor pulled his hand back.  He leaned close to Loki’s ear,
breath hot on the shell as he told Loki a little secret.   
 
“Because I don’t like to share,” he whispered.
 
Pulling back, Thor grinned at him, liking the way Loki’s cheeks were flushed
and his eyes looked so needy.  That was good enough for now, he decided.  Loki
wouldn’t be able to spend his time thinking about Tony Stark if he was looking
at Thor like that. And, satisfied, Thor winked at him before turning and
heading toward the kitchen door. 
  
Loki watched after Thor, heart thudding in his chest and mouth suddenly feeling
so dry.  Thor had a way with words.  Thor just had a way about him, in
general.  Whenever he was around, he made Loki practically melt.  And Loki
would kick himself if he didn’t know that he actually liked it when Thor was so
demanding like that. 
 
Mulling these thoughts over, he waited until the door closed and he was sure
Thor was sufficiently far away before he rushed to pick up his phone.  He was
relieved to see that no new text messages had been sent to Tony.  He wouldn’t
have put it past Thor to send some threatening alpha-male type message to
Loki’s new friend.  In that scenario what bothered him the most was the thought
that Tony would have confirmatory “evidence” that Loki knew Thor better than he
had first admitted to.  And Loki wasn’t quite ready to have that conversation
(or any conversation close it) with the older boy just yet.  But Loki was quite
impressed with Thor for not taking the childish route. Instead, he had just
made sure Loki knew not to get too close to Tony.  Loki rolled his eyes.
 
But then he remembered the other thing Thor had mentioned—putting his number in
Loki’s phone.  He flushed at the thought.  Thor giving him his number, well…
didn’t that mean something?  That Thor wanted to talk to him outside of the few
hours he saw him while he was working on their house?  Loki didn’t know if he
was naïve to think that, but all he did know was that he suddenly had Thor’s
number and he hadn’t even needed to ask for it.  He wasn’t sure, however, how
exactly Thor wanted him to use it.  Was Thor really serious when he said that
Loki should… flirt with him?  The thought made Loki a little worried. That was
something he definitely hadn’t had much practice in.  Would Thor be bored by
the meager attempts of someone as inexperienced as he was? 
 
Forcing the thoughts out of his mind, he quickly scrolled through his contacts
in search of the alleged new entry but could find nothing under “Thor” or even
“Borson.”  He couldn’t figure out what name Thor had given himself in his
phone.  Biting his lip for a moment, he wondered how he’d ever know when Thor
actually texted him.  But then a thought crossed his mind.  Thor didn’t have
his number.  Unless… Unless Thor had called himself from Loki’s phone.
 
Frowning, Loki looked at his recent calls and when he saw the most recent entry
he blushed up to his ears. 
 
Thor had entered his number as Daddy. 
 
“Ugh!” Loki huffed, halfway between totally disgusted and quite enamored. 
 
Despite whatever Thor thought he was achieving by calling himself that (the
implications made a deep dark part of Loki thrum pleasantly), Loki would have
to make sure he changed that ASAP. His actual father’s name in his contacts
list was “Dad,” and it would be too embarrassing to fathom accidentally mixing
those two up.  And Lord help them all if Loki’s father ever caught him getting
text messages from someone named “Daddy.”
 
Laughing to himself, Loki smiled down at his phone, wondering when his first
message from Thor would arrive.  
===============================================================================
That message came sooner than Loki had anticipated, and in a pointedly
unexpected way.  
 
It was almost 11 o’clock and Loki was lounging in his bed, lazily scrolling
through his favorite websites and listening to music.  He wasn’t tired, but he
also wasn’t energetic enough to do anything like play video games or actually
stimulate his mind.  He was considering starting a movie (that he would
probably fall asleep halfway through, by the looks of it) when his phone buzzed
and dinged from its place next to him on the nightstand.
 
Pausing, Loki pulled his headphones off and glanced at the illuminated phone. 
Eyebrows furrowed, he reached over to it, confused as to who would be texting
him this late at night.  His friends back home tended to be dead to the world
around 10 o’clock and even Tony, who seemed to be a bit of an insomniac, tended
to text around more ungodly hours of the night, like 3 or 4 in the morning. 
Loki often was (luckily) too deeply asleep by that point to be bothered by
Tony’s insistent messages.  But if it wasn’t his friends from home and if it
wasn’t Tony, then…?  
 
His breath caught in his chest when he saw the words on the screen.  Loki had
renamed Thor’s contact as Asshole and the message he had received was clearly
from the older man.
 
Asshole:  What’re you wearing?
 
Loki blushed as he gripped the phone.  Was Thor serious?   
 
Me: Are you serious right now?
 
Asshole: Have I ever joked around with you?
Asshole: Come on, don’t keep me waiting. 
 
Loki bit his lip, wondering if he should really reply.  He knew what Thor
wanted…the point was for it to be sexual.  Thor wasn’t just asking about his
fashion choices for the night.  But Loki wasn’t quite sure how to be seductive
for Thor.  Besides, it wasn’t like he was some girl decked out in lingerie.  He
was in a t-shirt and shorts.  But he also knew that if he didn’t respond Thor
would just be annoyed.  And, more than anything, he did want to make Thor
happy, if it meant that would keep his attention.  Grumbling, he decided he
could only be honest.  It was Thor’s own fault if he was disappointed.
 
Me:  A t-shirt and shorts.  Real exciting.
 
Loki waited for a few seconds as the screen showed that Thor was typing back a
response
 
Asshole: You can be sexier than that
Asshole: And we BOTH know it
Asshole: So come on.  Get me worked up. 
 
Loki sighed.  That was exactly what he didn’t know how to do.  But before he
could respond, Thor had sent another text message. 
 
Asshole: Actually, why don’t you SHOW me?
 
Frowning, Loki typed back.
 
Me: How exactly do you expect me to do that? 
 
But Thor’s answer wasn’t what Loki wanted to see.
 
Asshole: Take a picture, genius
Asshole: Better yet, Facetime me
 
Loki’s eyes widened.   That was… Thor wanted to see him, live?  Loki’s heart
pounded, but he glanced toward his door, and before he knew what he was doing,
he had gotten to his feet and walked over and locked it.  Settling back on his
bed, he saw that Thor had already sent him another impatient message, urging
him to hurry up.
 
Sighing, and trying to push down his nerves, Loki sat in front of his computer
and decided to initiate the call from there.  He could keep his headphones on
and ensure that nothing Thor said would be accidentally overheard.  He knew his
father was sleeping, and Laufey was usually a heavy sleeper, but Loki wasn’t
taking any chances. 
 
When the call connected and the black screen was replaced by the image of
Thor’s bright blue eyes, blonde beard, and smiling mouth, Loki suddenly felt
flooded with nervous excitement.  He couldn’t see much; the room appeared
dark.  But he was happy to just be seeing Thor.  Immediately he felt closer to
him.  And it made him happy just to think that Thor wanted to talk to him
outside of the limited hours he was working on the house.
 
“Well, well, well,” Thor said, his deep voice filling Loki’s ears.  “Look at
you.” 
 
Loki flushed and frowned, embarrassed.  There was nothing to look at. 
 
“I don’t know what you really wanted to see,” Loki muttered as he titled his
screen, letting Thor get a good look at him.  His own room was illuminated, so
he knew Thor could see him a lot better than he could see Thor.  Loki sat there
with his legs crossed in front of him, hunched over somewhat self-consciously,
and wondering if his hair looked crazy, piled on top of his head in a small
bun.  
 
“I wanted to see exactly what I’m looking at now.  You, all alone, so I could
look my fill,” Thor said, eyes looking hungry.
 
Loki bit his lip, and couldn’t help but to look down bashfully.  Under Thor’s
gaze, he did feel desirable.  But Thor also made him feel self-conscious and
clumsy.  He made his heart race and his words come out clunky and
inarticulate.  Looking back up, he met Thor’s eyes.
 
“Wh-what do you want me to do?” he asked shyly.
 
And Thor grinned.  A look so devilish Loki already knew he would do almost
anything the older man asked him to.
 
“Take your clothes off.  All of them,” Thor said without any hesitation. 
 
Now, that was something Loki hadn’t done before. And the thought of it gave him
pause.  It was almost too embarrassing, to be completely exposed like that. 
 
“I… I can’t get completely naked,” Loki whispered. 
 
Thor sighed, looking displeased. 
 
“You can… you’re just being shy.  But you have no reason to be shy with me. 
I’ve seen you at your most exposed,” Thor purred. 
 
Loki shook his head.  It was different.  Thor had been in control.  But, for
Loki to do it himself?  He didn’t think he could. 
 
“Can I just… can I leave some of them on?” Loki asked.  “I’ll do what you want,
but… completely naked is too much.”
 
Thor rolled his eyes.
 
“I wonder why you always think you’re in a position to negotiate?” Thor asked,
sounding genuinely curious. “It makes me feel like I’ve still got a lot of work
to do with you…”
 
Loki looked down, feeling chastised. 
 
“Fine, then.  Take off your bottoms and touch yourself for me,” Thor
instructed, voice breaking the silence. 
 
Loki gaped at him.
 
“What?” Thor said, smirking.  “You had no trouble doing it that first day I
came across you.  Legs spread, ass in the air, moaning like you all you wanted
was to be fucked. So greedy for it.” 
  
Loki’s ears burned, he was blushing so badly.  Thor’s voice was so deep and
heady, and even though Loki didn’t want to be so transparent, Thor’s words—and
the memories it evoked—had Loki’s cock stirring within his shorts. 
 
Biting his lip, Loki brought his hands up to the waistband of his shorts,
pulling them off, along with his underwear, and tossing them to the side.  His
hand immediately went to cover his already half-hard cock, and Thor grinned. 
 
“Don’t hide from me.  You know you want to show me,” Thor breathed. 
 
Closing his eyes, Loki shifted his hand, pulling up the hem of his shirt and
revealing himself to Thor.  
 
“Nice,” Thor said, voice rolling over Loki like liquid fire.  “Show me how bad
you want me.” 
 
Loki couldn’t believe himself, but his hand was moving on its own, closing
around his cock and stroking it to the sound of Thor’s voice, hips jerking and
mouth parting in soft gasps. 
 
“Yeah, just like that.  Thinking about me gets you off, doesn’t it?” Thor
asked. 
 
Loki nodded, too swept up by the thought of Thor watching him to even try to be
coy.  His hand soon became slick, ears flooded with the sound of his own
whimpers and moans, as he stroked himself harder and faster.  But what really
pushed him to the edge were the sounds he was hearing coming from his
headphones.  It was the breathy sound of Thor’s own strained voice and when
Loki’s eyes fluttered open, the image he saw made his heart hammer in his
chest.  Thor was panting, eyes half-lidded and dark as he looked at him, and
Loki suddenly realized that Thor was touching himself too. 
 
“I love looking at you like this,” Thor said, voice strained and heavy with
lust.  “When you’re turned on, you can’t lie to me.”   
 
Loki flushed, but he knew Thor was right.  He had never wanted anyone the way
he wanted Thor.  And no matter how much he had fantasized, thoughts fueled by
what he could find in porn, he had never been turned on like the way Thor could
turn him on.  He knew it was dangerous, he knew it was wrong.  But he also knew
he loved the way it made him feel. 
 
“And only I can make you come like this, isn’t that right?” Thor asked.
 
And that was it for Loki.
 
“Th-Thor!” Loki cried out as he squeezed his eyes shut and came all over his
stomach. 
 
Breathing heavy, Loki opened hazy eyes to look at Thor, who was smirking at
him.
 
“You went and came all by yourself, huh, baby?  That wasn’t fair,” he scolded.
 
Loki blushed, but he was still too wrecked from his release to form any
coherent words.
 
“But, that’s alright.  I liked seeing you be so honest.  Getting off just from
hearing my voice… hmm?  Let’s just say you owe me one for next time then,” Thor
purred.
 
Licking his lips, Loki nodded dumbly.   Then Thor winked and the connection
went dead.
 
Sated and feeling almost giddy, Loki collapsed back against his pillows. As his
breathing started to even out, he thought about what he had just done.  It
hadn’t taken much for Thor to convince him to strip halfway naked and touch
himself on camera.  His cheeks burned at the thought.  Thor had seemed so
pleased—so amused—and Loki knew that this would probably be a recurrent event. 
 
As he felt his lids getting heavier, the warm feeling of his orgasm lulling him
to sleep, he realized that the thought of that didn’t seem to bother him much
at all. 
===============================================================================
The next day found Loki lounging on the floor of Tony’s luxe bedroom on a pile
of over-stuffed throw pillows.  Tony was sitting on his bed, fully immersed in
some high action first-person shooter video game, while Bruce was curled up in
a comfy armchair typing furiously, as usual, on his laptop.  Loki had taken a
few turns on the game but Tony was at an unfathomable level, in addition to
having added his own mods, and Loki had given up, finding it almost impossible
to win.  Unfair as the game was, it was fun to watch Tony master the levels. 
 
Loki laid there, a bowl of popcorn balanced on his chest, as he cheered Tony
on.  Then his phone buzzed in his pocket.  Brows furrowing, Loki reached down
to retrieve it and when he saw who it was he felt heat flood his face.  
  
Asshole: Next time I want you to show me more
Asshole: Wanna see you spread those legs
Asshole:Use your fingers and show me the way you want me to use mine on you
 
Loki sat up quickly, almost forgetting about the bowl balanced on his chest and
having to scramble to catch it.   
 
Tony glanced at him, taking his eyes off the screen for only a split second.
 
“What’s wrong with you?” he asked, eyes returning to the images in front of
him.
 
“Ah…nothing.  Sorry, just… uh, choked on some popcorn,” Loki lied, as he held
the phone down by his side, irrationally concerned that the other boys would
somehow find out what the messages had said, even though they were seated a
number of feet away from him. 
 
Tony shrugged and went back to aggressively pounding the buttons on his
controller.
 
Sighing, Loki turned his attention back to his phone, still somewhat in
disbelief that Thor had written something like that.  Glancing back over his
shoulder at Tony and Bruce, who seemed to be paying him no attention, Loki
relaxed.  He then responded to Thor.  
 
Me:  I don’t think that’s ever going to happen!
 
Asshole: Oh, we’re back to lying again?
 
Loki frowned, taking the words as a challenge.
 
Me: I’m NOT lying.  I’m just not going to do that.
 
Asshole:Just like you said you wouldn’t take your clothes off for me?
Asshole: Be a good boy
Asshole: Tell me you’ll do it
 
Loki’s face flushed.  He hated himself for wanting so badly to receive Thor’s
praise. But the times when Thor looked at him like he was the only person in
the room were the moments Loki yearned for the most.
 
Me:I don’t know
 
Asshole: Oh, you don’t?
Asshole: You wanna know what I know?
Asshole: I know you liked what you did last night
Asshole: And you probably went to sleep thinking you can’t wait to do it again
 
Loki began to wonder if Thor was some kind of mind-reader. It was embarrassing
to think that Thor could see through him so easily. 
 
Me: That was a one-time thing
Me: And it doesn’t mean I’m going to go any further than that
 
Asshole: That’s what you think, but we both know you sing a different tune when
I’m touching you
 
Loki could almost picture the smirk that was probably on Thor’s face after
saying something like that.
 
Asshole: It’s not that you don’t WANT to
Asshole: Own up to the fact that you’re just scared to do it
Asshole: I’ll teach you the ropes
Asshole: We both know that’s what you want
 
Loki almost whimpered at the thought, but forced himself to hold it in as he
locked the screen.  He wasn’t going to respond to that.  What was the point? 
Thor already knew.  And Loki knew he wasn’t going to get far by trying to deny
it. Besides, he was starting to realize that he really seemed to like something
about the way that Thor was so rough and demanding with him. Deep down, he
liked that Thor did away with his need to make choices; Thor made decisions
forhim. 
 
“I think I’m a masochist,” he muttered in disbelief as he slipped the phone
back into his pocket. 
 
He heard Tony spit out what he had just been drinking, and Loki looked up at
him from his position on the ground.  He had forgotten that other people were
in the room.  And now Tony was staring at him with wide eyes, looking at him as
if Loki had just paraded through the room stark-naked.  Loki could see that
Bruce was looking at him curiously as well, and he couldn’t help but blush.  He
really must be a masochist for saying something like that and expecting he
wouldn’t have to explain himself.     
 
“What did you just say,” Tony asked, pausing his game.  “Are we all airing our
dirty kink-laundry right now?”
 
Loki’s face was on fire. 
 
“I’m not-!  I didn’t mean…” Loki floundered, but he was at a loss for words.
 
“Is that what you’re into?” Tony asked as he waggled his eyebrows at him, his
eyes shining with mirth.  He looked far too excited and Loki was not looking
forward to what Tony could think up to make this situation even more
embarrassing. 
 
“I’m not into that!” Loki protested. “I didn’t mean anything by it… It was just
a stupid thing to say.  You don’t have to try to read into it.” 
 
“Oh? Who were you just texting then?” Tony asked instead. 
 
Loki paused.  He had tried to text as covertly as he could.  And he had been
sure Tony’s attention was immersed in his game.  But the look Tony was giving
him now—a self-satisfied smirk—told him Tony was apparently very good at multi-
tasking.
 
“It was no one,” Loki huffed, turning away from Tony.
 
“Is that so?  I know the only people you talk to here are me and Bruce, so
whoever you’re texting must be someone from back home.  You sure you’re not
hiding a Daddy Dom from us?” Tony asked.  “And here I thought you were so
innocent.  I don’t know if I should congratulate you or scold you.”
 
Loki whipped back around to stare at him.
 
“A what?” he asked, tone a mixture of confusion and annoyance.
 
Tony rolled his eyes, interest seeming to wane a little.
 
“You don’t know what a Daddy Dom is?” he asked, eyebrow arched.
 
Loki blushed.
 
“Am I supposed to?” he asked, hating that Tony always talked down to him like
he was some kind of idiot.
 
Tony sighed, dramatically, as he turned back to his game, un-pausing it.
 
“I guess you really are the innocent little lamb I pegged you for initially.
How boring,” he whined, eyes back on the screen.
 
Loki rolled his eyes, annoyed with the dismissal but also relieved that Tony
had seemed to lose interest.  
 
“But,” Tony said as he glanced back at Loki, a small smirk on his face, “you
really do seem the type who would like that sort of thing.  How about one of
these nights I bring you to one of the clubs in the city?  I’m sure you could
find a lot of what you like there.”
 
Loki frowned.
 
“A club in the city?  Like we could even get in,” he said, unimpressed.
 
Tony laughed.
 
“Kid, I’m Tony Fucking Stark, I can get in anywhere,” Tony said, winking at
him.
 
Loki furrowed his brows as he mulled over Tony’s words while Tony returned his
attention fully to the game.  Loki had no interest in going to any
clubs—especially if the point was to find a guy, which is what he surmised Tony
was talking about.  He highly doubted they could even get in, Tony’s boasting
aside.  But the thought that stood out most in his mind was that Thor probably
wouldn’t like it.
 
Pausing, Loki frowned at that realization.  Since when did he do anything just
because someone else told him he couldn’t?  If Tony really could get them into
a club, then Loki decided he was going to go.  Thor be damned.    
===============================================================================
Loki spent a few more hours at Tony’s and finally went home when his father
started complaining that he hadn’t seen him all day.  To an extent, that had
somewhat been Loki’s plan.  He had been too embarrassed at the thought of
facing Thor after their video exchange the night before and had holed himself
up at Tony’s.  By the time he got home, the workers had been gone for hours. 
 
At dinner, he had casually asked his father about the progress in the yard,
hoping to hear some news of Thor, but his father had told him Thor hadn’t been
on site that day. 
 
That was surprising.  Loki had thought it was strange when Thor texted him
earlier that day but hadn’t called him out on running away from him, but now he
realized that Thor hadn’t been there to notice he was missing.  As he showered
that night and prepared for bed, Loki’s thoughts were plagued with questions
about where Thor had been.  
 
Before he climbed into bed, he looked at his phone again, disappointed that the
thing had been silent for hours.  Thor hadn’t contacted him again since earlier
that afternoon and Loki was starting to worry that Thor was back to punishing
him.  Loki had chosen not to respond to Thor’s last message after all.  He had
a strong urge to check in with him; see what he was up to.  But, he just wasn’t
confident enough to initiate messages with Thor.  He didn’t know what Thor got
up to when he was away from him.  Other than activities undertaken in the
vaguely hinted at “underworld” that he and his friends seemed to operate in,
that is.  And Loki wasn’t about to send a pitiful “I miss you” type message to
an alleged crime lord. 
 
Sighing, Loki put the phone back down and got under the covers.  Sleep came
relatively quickly.  He didn’t know when he fell asleep, but he did know that
the sound of his phone ringing had woken him up.  Sitting up bleary-eyed, Loki
reached over to his phone, squinting at the illuminated display.  When he saw
that “Asshole” was calling, he quickly felt more awake.
 
“H-hello??” he whispered into the phone.  
 
“Come outside,” Thor said brusquely.
 
Loki’s eyes widened.  He glanced down at the phone, seeing that it was 1:53 in
the morning.
 
“Like right now?” he asked incredulously.
 
“Yes,” Thor said, sounding exasperated.  “Did you think I meant two weeks from
now?”
 
Loki frowned, not appreciating the attitude.  He wasn’t being the unreasonable
one here. 
 
“It’s almost two a.m.,” Loki hissed.
 
“I can also read a clock, kid.  Come out here.  Now,” Thor repeated. 
 
Loki could tell by Thor’s tone that he wasn’t in the mood to be disobeyed.  He
could sense that there was a hint of urgency in Thor’s voice, and Loki couldn’t
deny that he was somewhat intrigued by the fact that Thor was asking to meet
him in the middle of the night.  There was already something like electricity
starting to buzz under his skin at the thought of it.  Debating for a few
seconds as he looked around his dimly-lit room, and then down at himself, Loki
finally let out a groan of defeat. 
 
“Give me like 10 minutes.  I need to get changed,” he began to explain but then
Thor cut him off.
 
“Come in what you’re wearing.  Get out here now,” Thor said.  “I’m parked
behind your house.”

And then the line went dead.  Loki stared down at the phone in his hand for a
few seconds, incredulous.  Who did Thor think he was?  That he could just order
Loki to get out of his bed in the middle of the night for some kind of
impromptu meeting?  It was preposterous.  Even with that thought in his mind,
Loki found himself pushing back his sheets and climbing out of his bed.  As he
slipped on a pair of flip flops he mulled for a second if he should still
change out of his shorts and tank top, but he decided against it knowing that
Thor was probably actually timing him.
 
Rolling his eyes, Loki grabbed his phone and then made his way into the dark
hallway.  He paused for a moment as he looked at his father’s closed door
across the hall, feeling guilty.  This was actually the first time he had ever
had a need to sneak out of the house.  All of his whining and griping about his
father aside, they had a pretty high level of trust between them.  But, now…
Loki was violating that trust.  He just hoped his father never found out. 
Shaking his head, he forced himself to move past the closed door and quickly
down the carpeted steps.  He made his way through the living room, kitchen, and
out the back door in less than two minutes.  As soon as the door closed behind
him, he was hit by the cool night air. 
 
He looked around the yard for a second, shivering to himself, before he made
his way across the yard and to the wooden fence in back. Peeking his head out,
he looked up and down the street, not exactly sure which car would be Thor’s,
when he saw a pair of headlights flash at him.  Sighing, Loki made his way over
to the dark vehicle. It was a shiny black truck with attractive silver
accents.  Clearly expensive.  And clearly fit for someone like Thor.
 
Hesitantly, Loki reached out to grab the door handle to the passenger side, not
sure if Thor actually wanted him to get in, but when he looked through the
glass he could see Thor staring at him impatiently.  Pulling the door open,
Loki climbed in and settled into the plush leather seat, the material chilly
against the bare skin of his thighs.  The lights hadn’t gone on when he opened
the door, so he sat in the dark interior, eyes adjusting to the lack of light. 
This close to Thor he could smell his cologne and swore he could feel the heat
coming off of him in the small space. 
 
“So what exactly was so important that you had to see me right now?” Loki
asked, trying to focus on the annoyance he had felt earlier. 
 
“Come over here,” Thor said instead as he grabbed Loki by the wrist.
 
Loki gasped and struggled slightly as Thor practically dragged him across the
center console and into his lap.  Loki could do little as Thor maneuvered him
until he was sitting with his knees straddling the older man’s hips.  His
breath came out in little pants as he tried to get his bearings, nervous and
excited at the same time. 
 
“What do you think I called you out here for?” Thor asked, hands immediately on
Loki’s waist, squeezing him softly.  
 
And then Thor’s mouth was on his, and Loki’s response was being swallowed up by
the hot press of Thor’s lips and tongue.  He couldn’t help the moan that
slipped out as he grabbed on to the front of Thor’s shirt and his eyes
fluttered closed, letting himself get carried away by the storm that was Thor. 
 
Loki wasn’t privy to the real reason Thor had come and sought him out that
night.  And Thor couldn’t quite explain it himself either.  He had been angry,
so angry, after leaving a meeting with his father earlier that night. 
 
Odin had had a long-awaited meeting with Ronan, one of the second-in-commands
in a group led by Thanos, a crime boss the Borson family had had very few
pleasant interactions with.  They weren’t exactly enemies, but relations were
tense enough that any little slip up could lead to an all-out war.  And Odin
had invited Thor to this meeting with specific instructions to stay quiet. It
was supposed to be a lesson in diplomacy for Thor; an opportunity to show him
how to deal with people the family didn’t get along with without having to
ultimately engage in bloodshed. 
 
But Thor didn’t trust them.  He never had.  And Ronan was a relatively young
upstart that had sneakily climbed his way up in Thanos’ ranks.  Thor had had
more than a few opportunities to interact with the slimy little cheat and he
hatedhim.   And when he saw Ronan that night, learning that he had moved his
way up to second-in command and that Odin actually had to be politeto this
little creature, he had been unable to hold his tongue.  He had openly
announced to his father that they shouldn’t trust Thanos and his crew, and had
called them all deceitful wolves.  Thor suspected that the last exchange of
drugs, a deal that had been personally handled by Ronan, had been cut,
resulting in bad reactions.  It made it look like they sold bad product and it
made their family look bad. 
 
But Odin hadn’t been pleased by Thor’s candor, and before Thor knew what was
happening, Odin had backhanded him, pain bursting across his face as the sharp
edge of one of Odin’s rings caught him across the cheek.  It had been
infuriatingly embarrassing.  Thor had been forced to remain in the meeting,
even though all he wanted to do was break things, as Odin actually apologized
to Ronan for his outburst.  Ronan had looked at Thor with a smirk as he
concluded the meeting, declaring that maybe tonight wasn’t the best time for
them to be talking about any deals seeing as how Odin’s own son seemed to not
trust them.
 
Once Ronan had gone, Odin had roared and raged at him for over half an hour. 
He didn’t care about Thor’s accusations; what he cared about was that those
thoughts were aired in public.  If taking Ronan (or Thanos) out was ultimately
necessary, they would do it.  But Borsons, Odin had said, never showed that
kind of emotion in front of the enemy, they kept their cards close to their
chest.  Thor’s actions, however, had forced Odin to apologizeto a subordinate
of a family he didn’t even respect.  Thor had forced them into a position of
weakness.  And the one thing that stuck with Thor as he stormed out of the room
was that Odin had said, in a calm and resolved voice, that Thor was still the
“hot-head” he always knew him to be. 
 
And after hearing that all Thor had wanted to do was see a certain feisty
brunette.  He didn’t want to drink and break things with his Warriors.  He
didn’t want to call up some old conquest.  He wanted to see a bratty 15-year-
old kid.  Hating his own weakness, he had driven around aimlessly for almost 20
minutes. But before he realized it, he found himself turning on to Osage Drive
and parking two houses down from Loki’s.  
 
And now Thor definitely didn’t regret it.  He had a lapful of soft, warm,
receptive Loki.  The boy smelled freshly-showered and whatever shampoo he used
permeated the car; something that smelled like pomegranates.  His mouth was so
sweet; hot and wet and wanting.  Thor had to stop himself from biting the boy’s
lip as Loki let out the softest little moans and mewls.  Loki didn’t know
enough to keep his voice down.  He wore his pleasure on his sleeve. And Thor
could already feel the boy’s stiffening cock pressing into his stomach.   
 
Pulling away, Thor sat back and looked at Loki, taking him in.  As those big
eyes fluttered open, Loki looked at him with a dazed and needy gaze, panting
and squirming in his lap.  But then Loki frowned as he looked more closely at
Thor’s face and reached out to stroke his cheek.  Thor froze, not expecting the
touch.
 
“What… What happened to your face?” Loki asked as he gently touched the tender
skin under Thor’s eyes.  And then Thor remembered. He probably had a cut there
and most likely a bruise. 
 
Thor frowned and grabbed Loki’s hand, pulling it away from his face. 
 
“Nothing,” he snapped.
 
He didn’t come here to be fussed over.  He wasn’t some little kid who was going
to cry over a bruised face.  He had gotten much worse over the years.  He
barely even felt this one now. 
 
“But… how’d you get this cut?  It looks like it really hurts,” Loki continued,
looking at Thor with something like…worry?
 
Thor growled in frustration, pushing Loki back until the boy was braced up
against the steering wheel and Loki let out a gasp of surprise.
 
“I didn’t come here for that,” Thor said. “I came here for you to get me off.”
 
He smirked at Loki, feeling like being mean on purpose, but Loki didn’t glare
at him or tense up, as if he was ready to fight, as usual.  Instead Loki just
continued to look at him with those wide eyes, as if he was seeing something on
Thor’s face that Thor wasn’t aware of being there.  Before Thor could demand to
know what he was looking at, Loki’s eyes dropped demurely down to their laps
and Thor watched on as the boy reached out to the buckle of Thor’s belt.
 
Loki was doing what he was told?  Without putting up any fight?  Instead, Loki
looked like he wanted to comfort him.  And Thor had never really seen that
expression on anyone’s face.  It was foreign and unexpected and… it was fucking
him up. 
 
“Shit,” Thor cursed, frustrated with himself for feeling that way.
 
Loki looked confused, but then Thor was grabbing him by the waist and turning
him until Loki was laid flat on his back on the passenger seat with Thor
looming over him, knees up around Thor’s waist.  Loki stared up at him with
startled, wide eyes, and all Thor wanted to do was kiss him. 
 
And so he did.
 
Loki gasped against his lips, arms coming up to lock around Thor’s wide back
and knees pressing close around his waist. Thor couldn’t help it as he pressed
his hips down, grinding against Loki. Loki let out a series of sweet moans,
blowing hot puffs of air against Thor’s lips.     Panting, Thor’s hand snaked
down in between them and palmed at the front of Loki’s shorts, feeling the
boy’s obvious erection.  He wanted to hear more of those moans. He suddenly
didn’t care that he wasn’t going to get what he had originally come here for. 
This was good enough. 
 
Then his hand was sliding down into the elastic waistband of Loki’s shorts and
pulling out his stiff cock, stroking it.  He watched with rapt attention as
Loki squeezed his eyes shut and tossed his head back, exposing his long, pale
neck.  And Thor’s mouth was drawn there, almost as if second nature, pressing
hot kisses against the exposed skin.  He could already tell he was going to
leave the boy red and marked, the idea of it making his own cock pulse. 
 
Loki’s grip on his back tightened as he began to thrust his hips up to meet the
slow and steady strokes of Thor’s fist around his cock.  Loki was so wanton and
open under him.  Thor knew he could do whatever he wanted and Loki wouldn’t
stop him.  But all he really wanted right now was to make Loki come.  The sight
of Loki writhing under him, so needy for it, was making Thor so hard. 
Groaning, Thor reached down with his free hand to fumble with the buckle of his
belt and after a few clumsy seconds he was pulling down his own zipper and
pulling his cock out. 
 
Taking them both in one hand, he began to stroke them in tandem and Loki let
out a little squeal of surprise.  But then it turned into a long, throaty moan,
eyes moving rapidly behind his lids as he tried to control himself.  But Thor
didn’t want that. He wanted Loki to come undone. 
 
He brought his lips back to Loki’s, sucking and nibbling at the boy’s bottom
lip and Loki let out a pitiful mewl as if he was overwhelmed with the
sensations pouring over him.  Pulling back, Thor moved to kiss a trail from
Loki’s jaw to his ear, licking and biting the skin in his wake.  His hand never
stopped for a moment, stroking them both in a tight, hot grip. 
 
“You’re gonna come for me,” he whispered, breath warm and moist against Loki’s
ear.
 
Loki let out a groan, knees squeezing Thor’s waist. His hips were thrusting up
frantically, as if trying to get more friction, but Thor maintained his
leisurely pace.
 
“Easy,” Thor said as he continued to nibble on Loki’s ear lobe.  “You’ll come
just from thinking about what I’m going to do to you the next time I get you
alone, baby.”
 
Loki whimpered, hips bucking upward.  Staring down at him, Thor thought he
could almost see tears forming at the corners of his tightly-squeezed shut
eyelids.  Smirking he decided to take pity on him.
 
“Tell me what you want,” he whispered, tongue darting out to sweep along Loki’s
neck.
 
Loki’s eyes fluttered open, watery, just as Thor had expected.
 
“Fa-faster,” Loki gasped. “Please. Please. I need to-”
 
And Thor didn’t even wait for him to finish as he increased his pace, the added
friction making him groan as well.  He listened to Loki gasp and moan as he
brought him closer and the sounds made his own cock throb almost painfully. 
And it was only a few short moments before he felt the tell-tale tightening of
the boy’s body as Loki’s orgasm approached. 
 
“Thor, Thor, Thor,” Loki moaned, words spilling from his lips almost like a
mantra, right before he came.
 
And the sound of his name so needy on the boy’s lips had Thor’s body tensing up
as he was hit by his own orgasm.  He groaned as he spilled, come splattering
across Loki’s quivering stomach.
 
The car was silent except for the sounds of their heavy breathing as they both
tried to catch their breaths.  Thor recovered first, looking down at Loki
splayed out beneath him, hair damp at his temples and splayed out behind him on
the seat, cheeks flushed, lips swollen from their kisses. Come was covering his
stomach and shirt.  The boy was a mess. Thor had made him that way.  And he
felt a hot surge of possessiveness come over him.
 
Sighing, he shifted off of him, moving back to the driver’s side.  Loki lazily
opened his eyes, feeling the loss of Thor’s presence, and pushed himself up to
a seated position.  He looked over at Thor, somewhat at a loss for words.  Thor
had been…different just now.  Loki didn’t know what to say, but his chest felt
tight for some reason. Like his heart was trying to squeeze out of it.   
 
“Go to bed,” Thor said, voice breaking through the silence in the car.
 
“Huh?” Loki asked dumbly.
 
“You heard me.  We’re done. So you can go back in the house,” Thor said without
looking at him.
 
Loki’s eyebrows rose and he stared at Thor in confusion. 
 
“Um… okay. I— Ah… never mind.  Good night, I guess?” Loki mumbled as he opened
the door.
 
By the time his feet hit the sidewalk, Thor was already starting the engine. 
Loki looked back in at him and saw that Thor was watching him, an unreadable
expression on his face.  Then, as if he caught himself, Thor straightened up
and winked at him.
 
“I’m sure that’ll keep you satisfied until the next time I see you.  I know how
lonely you get without me,” he teased. 
 
Loki flushed and frowned as he slammed the door shut. 
 
He could hear Thor laughing, and then watched as the truck pulled away from the
curb.  As he drove away, Loki stood there staring after him, wondering what he
was really signing himself up for.       
 
***** Chapter 7 *****
A/N:  Thanks so much to all of you for being so patient and encouraging between
updates. I know it’s been almost 2 months and I am SO sorry about that D:  But
it’s summer now and hopefully writing will come a lot more quickly!  And thanks
to Sarah for beta-reading as always!
===============================================================================
Loki sighed heavily as he looked up at his ceiling.  He was lying haphazardly
across his bed, headphones on, with some current indie rock playlist floating
in to his ears. But he couldn't pay it much attention. 
 
He felt disgruntled. 
 
Things had been somewhat… tense with his father lately. On top of the fact that
Loki was currently dealing with the very confusing feelings he was harboring
for Thor, he was also dealing with the fact that he was getting into almost
constant fights with his father whenever he saw him.  And seeing him was few
and far between. That was part of the whole problem in the first place. 
 
Despite everything Laufey said about making sure that things were going to be
“different” here, he was falling back into his old habits.  He missed dinner
more often than not and when he was home, he spent more time arguing on the
phone with clients and other attorneys than he spent actually talking to Loki. 
Loki found himself getting snippy with his father in the rare moments the man
was around, and more often than not what started as simple conversations would
blow up into screaming matches.
 
Loki wasn’t that out of touch with himself not to realize that he was picking
fights on purpose; anything just to get his father’s attention.  But he
wondered why Laufey couldn’t see that.  It made him feel as if he didn’t
matter. 
 
And the biggest issue of contention that had led to a number of recent fights
was the problem of Laufey’s “lady friend.” 
 
Regardless of what his father had said, Loki knew that part of the reason they
had picked up and moved to this god-forsaken town was because the woman Laufey
had been seeing sporadically over the last year or so lived close by.  Laufey
had met her during some business conference. 
 
Loki hadn’t really paid much attention to the story of how they met; hearing
about the wonderful world of tax law always made his eyes glaze over.  But by
the time Loki had started to pay attention, his father was already taking
little weekend trips across the country to spend time with this mystery woman. 
Back in New York, Loki had still been able to ignore it.  If Laufey was gone
for a weekend, that just meant a sleepover or getting up to some kind of
trouble for the weekend with his friends.  And by the time Laufey came back on
Sunday night, all bright-eyed and “smitten” (as Loki had termed it), Loki was
already throwing himself into his school-week and there was never any time (or
need) to talk about it. 
 
Back then, Loki had figured things with this woman weren’t serious.  She wasn’t
brought up often, and, really, Laufey only saw her if they came across each
other on business trips or the few times he would take a weekend away to go
visit her.  Loki really did believe they were just friends.  And, if anything,
maybe Laufey had some type of middle-aged crush on her.  But he didn’t figure
it’d actually go anywhere. 
 
But when his father had flippantly said, “And you’ll finally get to meet
Jarnsaxa in person!  She lives only about an hour away from the town we’ll be
moving to,” as one of the plus factors when he was trying to convince Loki
about how great it would be to move him away from all his friends, and right in
the middle of high school on top of everything, Loki had pitched a fit.  A
royal fit.
 
But he had been forced to meet her anyway. 
 
About three months before they were set to move, Jarnsaxa had been in New York
for a business meeting and Laufey had brought her over.  To the house.  Without
telling Loki. 
 
He had been forced to sit through dinner with a woman he had had no intention
of ever meeting. So Loki had pouted, and had been snide in the few instances he
did choose to respond to her questions, all throughout dinner. 
 
However, Loki was very much aware of the fact that he was being unfair. 
Jarnsaxa seemed nice enough.  She was pretty, and had a warm smile. With dark
hair cut into a fashionable bob, and dark-rimmed glasses, she gave off a cool
vibe.  She even worked in a less-boring area of tax than his father did.  On
top of that, she also seemed to have a good sense of humor.  But Loki was angry
at his father, and so he had shut her down every time she tried to get close to
him. 
 
It had been just him and his father ever since Farbauti died. 
 
Loki didn’t know what Laufey was thinking when he tried to get Loki to “like”
her.  Did he think he suddenly wanted—or needed—a new mom?  The thought made
him feel like retching.  It was absurd.  If Laufey thought Loki would be
excited about the fact that his father was dating he could go fuck himself. 
All this was doing was making Loki feel like Laufey was trying to forget about
his mother.  And Loki wasn’t ready to forget about her just yet…
 
Groaning as he rolled on to his stomach, Loki punched at his pillows.  It
wasn’t like he wanted to be this unreasonable, moody, and downright bratty. 
But Laufey just infuriated him sometimes.  He was so out of touch and holier
than thou sometimes that Loki felt like they would never see eye to eye or
understand each other.  And other times, Laufey was the dad that Loki
remembered from back when his mom was still alive.  But, right now?  Right now,
Laufey definitely felt like the “enemy.” 
 
It was only mid-morning on a Saturday and Loki had already gotten into a fight
with his father.  Laufey was apparently going to be home that day—surprise,
surprise—and had come in to his room to inform Loki of this that morning.   He
had asked Loki if he wanted to do something that day, but Loki had snippily
responded that he already had plans and that Laufey couldn’t expect him just to
sit around dying of boredom until he deigned to find some time for him. 
 
Well, Loki hadn’t said it quite that eloquently and, seemingly to avoid blowing
a gasket, Laufey had walked out of the room telling Loki to come down to
breakfast when he was feeling a little more respectful.
 
Loki had laid in bed for almost 2 hours after that—unable to go back to sleep
and starting to find it harder and harder to ignore his growing hunger.   He
figured now was about as good a time as any to show his face. Besides, he
hadn’t been lying when he said he had plans that day.  He was supposed to meet
Tony and Bruce over at Tony’s house.  And it was already close to noon.
 
Grumbling to himself, Loki pushed himself to his hands and decided to face the
day.    
===============================================================================
When Loki walked into the kitchen, dressed and with a backpack slung over his
shoulder, he saw his father at the small kitchen table, opened newspaper
blocking his face as he raised a cup of coffee to his lips. 
 
Ignoring him for the time being, Loki made his way over to the fridge to forage
for something to eat.  He paused for a second when he saw a saran-wrapped plate
with eggs, bacon and toast, but chose to bypass it so he didn’t give his father
the satisfaction of watching him eat it.  Instead, he went for the large
container of fruit salad, liking that he could see grapes along with nice
chunks of pineapple, honeydew and watermelon through the plastic.  Pulling it
out of the fridge, Loki spooned some out into a bowl and popped the container
back into the fridge. 
 
Quietly he made his way over to the table and sat down across from Laufey, the
sound of the chair scraping on the tile the only sound that had passed through
the kitchen in the last few minutes. 
 
Sighing, Laufey placed his newspaper down and looked at Loki with an eyebrow
arched. 
 
“Is that all you’re eating?” Laufey asked.
 
Loki huffed to himself, choosing not to look at Laufey.
 
“I’ll be fine.  I’m going to meet up with my friends in a little bit.  I’ll
just eat something there,” Loki said as he popped a piece of the sweet
pineapple into his mouth.  He watched disinterestedly as the sticky juice
trickled over his freshly painted, dark-green nails.
 
“Hmm…” was all Laufey said, as he picked the paper back up again. 
 
A few more moments of silence passed through the kitchen as Loki ate more of
the fruit, before Laufey spoke again.    
 
“So you’ve made some friends in town, huh?” Laufey asked as he looked up at
Loki over the top of his newspaper.
 
What bugged Loki more than anything was that Laufey decided to “parent” at the
most random moments.  He went days without checking on Loki and then suddenly
when Laufey was home and Loki announced he was going “out,” Laufey wanted to
play the role of concerned parent? 
 
Loki raised an eyebrow at his father, not even trying to hide the surly
expression on his face.
 
“How nice of you to notice,” he responded.
 
Laufey frowned, but ignored the bait.
 
“If you’ve made friends with some kids in the town, you know you can bring them
over here,” Laufey continued.
 
Loki rolled his eyes and went back to stuffing grapes in his mouth. 
 
“Bring them over here?  Why?  It sounds like a warzone around here with this
nonstop construction.  And this house is so old barely anything works.  I’m not
bringing people over here,” Loki muttered. 
 
“It’s not that bad, Loki,” Laufey said on a sigh as he looked back down at the
pages in front of him. “Besides, the boys did a nice job restoring the pool. 
And Thor will start working on the air conditioning system this week.  You
don’t really have that much to complain about.”
 
Loki still never understood why Laufey always referred to Thor and his friends
as “boys.”  Yes, they were probably a good 20 years younger than Laufey, but
they were big, burly, bearded men.  There was nothing boyish about them.  And
that immediately had Loki thinking about Thor, the golden stallion that he was,
and he had to force himself not to blush.  He had to stay on track.  He was
supposed to be mad at his father, not fantasizing about Thor.
 
“Believe me, my friend’s house is way nicer than this.  He’s not going to want
to come over here,” Loki grumbled, eyes now averted for a different reason. 
 
Laufey looked up from the paper again.
 
“I highly doubt any teenage boy has the wherewithal to be snobby about this
house, Loki,” he said with an exasperated edge to his voice. 
 
“He’s not just some teenage boy; he’s Tony Stark,” Loki said, as if it should
mean something to his father. 
 
Loki would never let Tony hear him say something like that, though. It was
likely the older boy’s head would explode from its inability to contain his
over-inflated ego upon hearing it.  But, Loki couldn’t deny that there were
some advantages to having privileged friends. 
 
“Tony Stark?” Laufey asked, the name clearly unfamiliar to him.
 
Loki rolled his eyes as he pushed the remainder of his breakfast away.
 
“Tony is only the richest kid in town,” Loki explained.  “Needless to say
things are much cooler over at his place.”
 
Laufey huffed and rolled his eyes.
 
“I didn’t know you were so materialistic Loki,” he said offhandedly.
 
Loki frowned. 
 
“I didn’t say I liked it over there only because of the stuff he has,” Loki
said snippily.  “There’s never anyone here, so of course I’d rather spend my
time with my friends.  The few of those I even have now that you made me leave
all of my other friends behind!” 
 
Laufey paused, looking up at Loki with guilty eyes. 
 
“Loki-” he began, but Loki didn't let him get very far.
 
“Forget it!” Loki said, abruptly getting to his feet. “I’m going out.  See you
later.”  
 
“When will you be back?” Laufey asked.
 
Angrily, Loki raised the bag he had previously had over his shoulder and shook
it in his father’s face.
 
“I’m staying over at Tony’s tonight, so you don’t have to worry about trying to
think up something to do with me,” he snapped.
 
“Loki, you know, it’s not by choice that I haven’t been around,” Laufey tried. 
“It’s a new job.  There’re a lot of things going wrong with this transition. 
I’m trying my best.” 
 
“Trying your best, huh?  When’s the last time you even asked me what I do with
my day?  If you haven’t forgotten, I’m fifteen. I could be getting up to a
whole bunch of crazy shit and you wouldn’t even know!  How do you know I don’t
have a drug habit or something,” Loki said nastily. 
 
Laufey’s eyes narrowed and suddenly he looked very much like the “dad” Loki
remembered when his parents used to play “good cop, bad cop.”
 
“Loki, are you-” Laufey began before Loki rolled his eyes and cut him off.
 
“Jesus Christ, Dad, of course I’m not!  But you wouldn’t know even if I was,”
Loki complained.
   
No, Loki wasn’t doing drugs, but what he had going with Thor felt just as
dangerously addicting.  A nasty part of him felt like telling his father what
he really got up to in his free time.  That, when his father wasn’t around, he
let a 25 year old man, who was also very likely a criminal, touch him. Kiss
him. And lick him.  And that he let him touch parts of his body that Loki had
never let anyone else touch before.  That Loki likedit when Thor touched him.
And that he liked touching Thor back. 
 
Just to see what Laufey’s reaction would be. 
 
But Loki also didn’t want to bring an end to what he had going with Thor
(whatever that was, exactly).  And he knew that as soon as he uttered the
words—as soon as he even hinted at something like that going on—Laufey would
put a stop to it immediately.  Laufey might sometimes be an absent father, but
he was fiercely protective, often to the point of babying him, and if Laufey
knew someone was taking “advantage” of his baby, well… Loki wasn’t sure he
wanted to see the aftermath of that.  In a battle between Thor and Laufey, Loki
was pretty confident Laufey wouldn’t win.  He didn’t want to see either one of
them get hurt. And he didn’t want to give Thor a reason to ignore him again, or
Laufey a reason to take him away from Thor. 
 
So Loki held his tongue.  He might be impulsive, and emotional, and sometimes
driven by spite, but he was smart enough to know when enough was enough.  And
Laufey was sighing, as if the whole conversation was taking years off his life.
They both were finding the circumstances less than ideal. 
 
“Loki, I know you’re a little angry at me right now.  But please don’t think
I’m not thinking of you every day.  Did you know… did you know that when I get
home late at night, and you’re sleeping, that I still come in and kiss you
goodnight?” Laufey admitted somewhat reluctantly.
 
Loki felt his face heat up in embarrassment.
 
“What? Dad!  Gross,” he complained. 
 
But he couldn’t deny that he was surprised by that.  He was also now extremely
grateful that he always slept with his phone under his pillow; the texts Thor
had been sending him lately—often in the late hours of the night—had been
increasingly perverted.  The thought caused him to avert his eyes. 
 
Laufey smiled at him, probably thinking Loki was feeling bashful over the show
of affection.  But that was a bit off the mark. 
 
“I know you may think I don’t care.  But you’re still my little boy, Loki,”
Laufey explained.  “I appreciate how autonomous you are. And how mature you’ve
been about this move and trying to find your place here.  I wish I could’ve
done more to help you get adjusted, but I’m proud that you’ve found some
friends and things that make you happy.”
 
Loki felt his cheeks burn hotter, but now it was out of shame.
 
“So, go out and have fun with your friends.  You can stay over tonight, even
though you haven’t actually asked for permission,” Laufey said with a feigned
look of chastisement.  “I think you deserve to have fun.” 
 
“O-okay… Thanks, Dad,” Loki found himself grumbling.
 
He threw his bag back over his shoulder and waved quickly to his father as he
turned toward the kitchen door.  Before he could make his way out, his father
called out to him.
 
“And remember to be good, Loki!” Laufey said.
 
“I always am!” Loki shouted back, not wanting to think about how much that
often wasn’t very true.     
===============================================================================
Hours later, Loki was regretting having agreed to spend the night at Tony’s
house. 
 
He regretted a lot of the things he did with Tony, if he was really honest with
himself.  But now, based on what was coming out of the older boy’s mouth, Loki
was definitely thinking he had picked a somewhat deranged person to call his
“friend.”
 
“I’m tellingyou, it’ll be easy!  Let’s gooooo,” Tony whined as he sat back in
his chair, groaning his exasperation.
 
“I think it’s an awful idea, and there’s no way we’ll actually get in,” Loki
said, feeling just as exasperated.  “I don’t want to make the effort to go all
the way out there only to have to turn back around.”
 
“We won’t have to.  Why do you have such little faith in me?  And, besides,
getting to the city only takes like half an hour.  Even less than that when I’m
driving,” Tony said with a wink.  “Don’t act like I’m asking you to leave the
freaking state.” 
 
Loki groaned and looked over to Bruce for some help, but the other boy seemed
to be pointedly ignoring them as he typed away on his computer as usual. 
 
“You’re just a little chicken.  What other reason would you have for not
wanting to go to the hottest nightclub in this town on a Saturday night,” Tony
asked with an eyebrow raised.  “You always whine about how boring this town is,
and now when I’m giving you an opportunity to not be as lame as usual, you’re
giving me a hard time?”
 
Loki glared at him. 
 
He had been having this conversation with Tony for the last twenty minutes. 
Tony had had the brilliant idea that they should all get dressed up and go to a
club in the city called “The Realm.”  According to Tony it was where all the
young who’s who spent their weekend nights.  However, from what Loki could
surmise, it sounded like Tony himself had never been there.  The whole
conversation in itself was pretty unreasonable. 
 
Loki knew the boy had boasted about wanting to do it the last time they hung
out, but Loki had thought it was all talk.  Tony was, for the most part, an all
talk kind of guy.  But when Loki walked into his house earlier that day there
had been a bit of a manic glint in Tony’s eyes.  It was clear that Tony was
really the one who was bored out of his mind, and he had made it his primary
goal to rope Loki into whatever he had planned for that evening, no matter how
poorly thought out that plan was.   
 
But trying to talk sense into Tony was pretty pointless.  It didn’t seem to
matter that Loki wasn’t all that interested in going to clubs, the reasons for
which he had listed out to Tony although they seemed to have fallen on deaf
ears.  For Loki, clubs were always too loud, and he hated how drunk people
spilled things everywhere (including, often, on him).  However, Loki couldn’t
deny that there were a few attractive elements to Tony’s idea.  Loki had not
yet been to the “city” since he had moved here.  Further, he felt like being a
little reckless that night.  He was torn between still being a bit angry at his
father and feeling guilty about being angry at his father, and he didn’t really
want to think about either one.  Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to go
out, get a little wasted, and try to have some fun? 
 
But he wasn’t going to make it totally easy for Tony.  He didn’t want to see
the boy’s smug look.
 
“Fine,” Loki finally conceded as he crossed his arms over his chest.  “But,
only if you can get Bruce to go too.”
 
Hearing his name mentioned, Bruce looked up from his computer and shot Loki an
incredulous look.
 
“Sure. Done. He’s coming,” Tony said, as if it was the simplest thing. 
 
“Um, what?  I’m most definitely going to stay home,” Bruce said quickly. 
“Don’t drag me into this.” 
 
“You can’t leave me with him,” Loki complained. 
 
“I am not the type to go a club, you guys,” Bruce said shaking his head.  “You
two will be totally fine without me.” 
 
“Shut up, Bruce.  You act like I’ve never gotten you to come out with me
before,” Tony said as he grinned at him. 
 
“That is exactly what I’m remembering.  I was drunk out of my mind and it’s not
an experience I want to repeat, thank you very much,” Bruce grumbled.
 
Loki looked at the older boy with surprise.  He couldn’t really imagine the
straight-laced, mild mannered Bruce being “drunk out of his mind.”
 
Tony snickered.
 
“Yeah, that was actually pretty hilarious.  Banner’s a monster when he’s
hammered, kid,” Tony said as he nudged Loki. 
 
“But, Brucie, you are going," Tony said as he turned back toward him. "If you
ever want to use my lab again, that is.”  
 
Bruce glared at him, and the two boys engaged in a stare off for a few seconds
before Bruce finally gave a hefty sigh and raised his hands in defeat. 
 
“Perfect.  So no more excuses, Loki, we’re going to The Realm!” Tony said, grin
bigger than Loki had ever seen it before.
 
Loki decided he did not like that look.
 
“But...you’re not exactly dressed to go out,” Tony said as he frowned a bit and
gave Loki’s tank and skinny jeans a discerning look.  “You kind of look
especially your age today.”  
 
“Well sorry,” Loki snapped.  “You didn’t tell me we’d be trying to sneak into a
club tonight.  Without any fake IDs, mind you.”
 
“Meh, don’t worry about the IDs,” Tony said with a wave of his hand.  “Who do
you think I am? I can whip up any kind of government-issued ID that I want to. 
You just happen to have a baby-face.  It doesn’t help to have ID when they
won’t even take it ‘cause you look so young.”
 
Loki glared at him. 
 
“But,” Tony continued, seeing that Loki had had quite about enough, “we just
need to make you look a little older. Let me see what I can do.”
 
The grin that Tony gave him made Loki shudder. 
===============================================================================
Thor downed his drink as he looked disinterestedly out across the bar.  It was
his third for the night and he knew he probably should pace himself if he
didn’t want to get so buzzed that he wouldn’t be able to shoot straight if the
need to use his gun arose that night.  Right now he was in the “sweet spot”
between relaxed and tipsy.  But boredom often led to bad decisions.
 
And right now Thor was pretty bored.  He was waiting for a meeting with a new
“business” partner.  It was a relationship that had been brokered by the
Romanova family.  Someone Natasha’s father had thought would bring good
business to the Borsons, as long as the Romanovas got a cut of some of the
action.  It all seemed like a pretty good deal, in Thor’s opinion.  But Thor
wasn’t impressed that this guy was making him wait.  He was already almost an
hour late.  The only thing keeping Thor from storming out was that Natasha was
waiting with him and she was somehow especially good at keeping him calm. 
 
At the moment, she was making a phone call outside, and had left Thor waiting
at the bar of one of the Romanova’s many front locations, in case their tardy
associate showed up.  
 
To keep himself busy (and stop his idle hands from asking for another drink),
Thor had begun scrolling through his phone.  And he wasn’t surprised that after
a few minutes of feigned interest in social media, he ended up in his text
messages.  Aside from texting, he hadn’t seen Loki in person for the last few
days.  It was clear from the first couple awkward messages that Loki had no
idea how to “sext.”  The boy was, however, becoming very good at turning him on
without even knowing it, and Thor would find himself returning to the text
threads in his free time.  
 
Thor had felt a little awkward following their hook-up session in the car a few
days ago.  He didn’t know what had come over him.  And the image of Loki
looking at him with wide eyes, lips swollen and hair tousled, as he stood
outside Thor’s car had stayed with him.  He wasn’t supposed to be getting
sympathetic about the little minx. That wasn’t what this was about.  And he
hadn’t liked the feelings that had come over him when he had been hovering over
the boy in the tight confines of his car, their breaths mingling. How hearing
Loki pant his name and squeeze his shoulders desperately had made him want to
grab on to him tight and not let go.  It was pathetic. 
 
So Thor had been somewhat grateful that his father had sent him on another out
of town assignment.  He hadn’t had to face Loki, and it had been a useful
reprieve to help sort his thoughts out. To help remind himself of who he was. 
 
He wasn’t some sniveling fool. 
 
He didn’t need to be “comforted.” 
 
And he definitely didn’t do romance. 
 
Thor considered himself a warrior; emotionless and willing to do anything for
the “family.”  People talked of him going “berserk” when he got angry enough. 
That he was almost otherworldly.  And he had the brawn and ruthlessness to back
it up.  And sometimes?  Sometimes he was even a killer.  Killers didn’t get all
messed up in the head because some fifteen-year-old brat looked at him with
teary eyes.   
 
And Loki needed to know that.  So Thor had strategically avoided mentioning
what had happened in the car.  Instead, he texted Loki filthy things; things he
knew would make the boy blush up to his roots, but would also get him hard and
needy in a matter of seconds. Things about what he wanted to do to Loki the
next time he saw him.  About what he expected Loki to do.  And about how much
he knew the boy would like it.  And while Loki’s responses were always
hesitant, they had become more and more eager, and Thor had been pleased with
the progress.  It appeared Loki was more honest when Thor couldn’t see his
face. 
 
The boy was smart, never really showing his cards, so to speak.  But if Thor
pressed, Loki would respond teasingly, saying things like “Only if you ask
nicely.”  And the thought of it made a delicious shiver run up Thor’s spine. 
But even though he had become a bit bolder in his responses, Loki still never
initiated the texts.  Thor imagined he was probably still a little bit too shy;
a little uncertain in his command of his sexuality to actually be the one doing
the enticing.  But that was something Thor was looking forward to changing. 
Just the idea of having the saucy little brat say something like “Please fuck
me,” made Thor tremble.  The thought of getting filthy things to come out of
that perfect little mouth, well… that shiver down Thor’s spine would become a
full-body quake. 
 
It wasn’t lost on him that he was really getting off on being Loki’s first
everything.  The boy admitted to being a virgin, but it was even more than
that.  Thor knew from how hesitantly and inexpertly the boy had kissed him that
he was Loki’s first “real” kiss.  His was the first cock the boy had ever
tasted; probably the first he had ever seen.  His fingers were the first that
had ever been inside of him.  And Thor knew he was the only one who had ever
seen Loki at his most undone; all glistening eyes and heaving chest. 
 
Thor couldn’t wait to claim him, fully and completely.  If Loki thought he
didn’t belong to Thor already, he sure wouldn’t have any doubt of that once
they had fucked.  Thor would make sure of that. 
 
“You do know you’re leering at your phone like some kind of pervert right now,
don’t you?  I hope you’re not looking at nudes in public,” Natasha said,
cutting into his thoughts.
 
Looking up at the bombshell redhead as she stood there with one hand on her hip
giving him an unimpressed look, Thor had the sense to at least appear somewhat
embarrassed as he shoved his phone into his back pocket.
 
Natasha rolled her eyes but smirked at him anyway.  
 
“If that isn’t confirmation, I don’t know what is,” she teased.
 
Thor laughed.
 
“What, you jealous, Romanova?  I can make some room for you too if you want?”
he teased back, eyebrow raised and smug grin challenging her. 
 
“Nice, Thor,” she said, eye roll more cutting this time.  “Get your mind out of
the gutter and get in gear.  Our guy is here.”
 
That caused Thor to straighten up and his lewd expression to drop.
 
“What’s his situation?” he asked, seriously.
 
Natasha appeared exasperated, but at the same time somewhat fond, as she
thought over the question.  It was an expression Thor hadn’t really seen
before.   
 
“He’s…kind of an idiot,” she said, with a short laugh.  “Every second word out
of his mouth is some kind of joke.  It’s impossible to take him seriously. But,
he’s apparently really great with intel on rare procurements.  Plus, I also
hear he’s one hell of a marksman.  So the Borson family might find him
beneficial to keep around.”
 
Thor frowned, eyebrow raised in confusion.
 
“I can’t tell if you’re saying you’re endorsing him or criticizing him right
now,” he said.
 
“A little of both.  But, come on, you’ll understand what I mean when you meet
Barton yourself,” she said as she gestured over her shoulder.  “I have him
waiting in the Red Room.” 
 
Thor shrugged as he pushed himself to his feet, heavy boots hitting the sleek
wooden floor. 
 
“And do me a favor?” Natasha asked as she turned around to look at him, a sleek
eyebrow raised pointedly.
 
Thor paused, looking at her expectantly. 
 
“Try not to sext your latest piece of tail while we’re having our meeting, ok?”
she said, lips quirking up in a smirk.
 
Unamused, Thor shot a glare in her direction. 
 
“I’ll try my best,” he muttered as he followed her out of the room.   
===============================================================================
Loki was learning a lot of things through his friendship with Tony Stark.  One
of the things he had learned with almost crystal clarity was that he was
definitely not attracted to Tony. He knew this because having the goateed mug
of the self-proclaimed genius looming over him, so close that they were
practically breathing the same air, made Loki feel the complete opposite of
everything he felt when Thor did that.  In fact, it made him want to punch said
genius because the boy refused to get away. 
 
“Stop fighting me,” Tony complained.
 
“Why do you even haveeyeliner in the first place?!” Loki asked instead,
sneering as he tried to push Tony’s hand, with the offensive eyeliner, away
from his face.
 
“Don’t worry about that,” Tony said as he grabbed for Loki’s chin.  “Now just
stay still so I can put this on.”
 
Loki scoffed as he succeeded in batting Tony’s hands away.  It wasn’t like Loki
was shocked that Tony had eyeliner because he found something distasteful about
it.  Loki owned some guyliner himself.  He just didn’t see Tony Stark as the
type to have it, and highly doubted Tony would know what to do with it.  He
wasn’t about to let that over-confident guy paint him up to look like a
raccoon.  So he snatched the tube out of his hands.
 
“I’ll do it myself,” Loki said with a sigh. 
 
Pushing to his feet, Loki strolled into Tony’s ensuite bathroom and shut the
door behind him.  He didn’t put it past Tony to invite himself in.  Looking at
himself, Loki turned his head from left to right to fully take in his
appearance.  True to his word, Tony had demanded that Loki change.  And since
Loki hadn’t brought any clothes for anything more than a lazy Saturday spent at
a friend’s house, he found himself at Tony’s mercy. 
 
Tony had “allowed” Loki to keep his dark-wash skinny jeans because, according
to Tony, it was the first pair he had seen Loki wear that didn’t have rips or
tatters on them.  Loki had taken offense to that, saying that his jeans were
well-worn, not “tattered,” as Tony seemed to think.  But Tony had demanded that
Loki trade his oversized screen-printed tank for a sleek black t-shirt, with a
shimmery embellishment that when Loki moved, and the light hit it just so, he
realized was animal print. Leopard to be exact.  Loki rolled his eyes.  Yet
another “big question:” why did Tony have this shirt and in a size that would
fit Loki?  
 
But Loki had decided there was no point in fighting.  He was going to this club
tonight.  So the least he could do was make it worth his while. 
 
He leaned over the bathroom sink as he unscrewed the tube of liquid eyeliner. 
Pushing his hair back behind one ear with a huff of frustration, he remembered
that Tony had stolen his hair tie.  His hair was currently framing his face in
a bit of a messy, wavy halo.  Tony had pulled out his hair tie, releasing his
hair from its earlier haphazard bun and had refused to give it back.  He had
said he liked Loki’s sexy bed head. 
 
Loki tried not to roll his eyes and focused on concentrating on drawing a
careful line across his eyelids.  Once he was satisfied, he stepped back to
take in the overall look.  It had been a while since he had felt the urge to
“get dressed up,” and even though Tony was a royal pain in the ass, Loki
couldn’t deny that he was somewhat excited the older boy had convinced him to
go out. 
 
Turning in a slow circle so he could check himself out, Loki decided that it
actually wasn’t quite bad.  He thought he looked too skinny and wasn’t quite
used to his shirt being so tight.  But he did like the way his butt looked in
his jeans, now that the shape was actually visible for once. And with the
carefree hair and edgy eyes, he did think he looked a little bit older,
strangely enough.   
 
Staring at himself in the mirror, Loki suddenly found himself wondering what
Thor would think of him.  Would he like him better like this?  But then a sharp
knock from the other side of the bathroom door jerked him out of his musings
and caused him to blush, hating that he had been caught entertaining such
stupid thoughts.
 
“Come on, stop preening in there, princess!  If we want to make sure we get in
before the club hits capacity, we gotta leave now.  So move your ass!” Tony
called through the door, pounding on it once more for effect.
 
Rolling his eyes (an action he found himself doing much more often now), Loki
gave himself one more look over before he headed out the door.
===============================================================================
Negotiations with Barton, who insisted on being called “Hawkeye,” had gone
fairly well and while Thor thought the wise-cracking bespectacled smart-ass was
probably a bit too big for his britches he also found him to be quite amusing. 
So, after having shaken hands on their new venture, he had invited Barton to
accompany him and Natasha to The Realm.  It would give him an opportunity to
meet the Warriors Three, and maybe even Sif, if she decided to put her work
down for a second and join them that night. 
 
Arriving at the club, the trio was ushered around to the back and entered
through the VIP entrance.  This entrance led immediately to a private, roped
off area filled with plush velour couches and booths, accompanied by its own
premium bar.  The dance music from the outer portion of the club was a bit more
muffled here, allowing for conversations and, more often than not, high stakes
business transactions.
 
Immediately seeing Hogun, Volstagg and Fandral at their regular table, at one
of the booths furthest in the back, Thor nodded toward them.  Guiding Natasha
and Barton through the heavy line of bouncers that separated the general VIP
section from the exclusiveVIP section, Thor was a few feet away from the table
before Natasha put a hand on his arm and stopped him.  She smiled as she looped
her other arm through Barton’s.
 
“Thor, make yourself useful and get us a round of drinks, won’t you?  I’ll
introduce Clint here to your friends in the meantime,” she said, red lips
quirking up in a smile.
 
Thor rolled his eyes, but nodded with a sigh.  Turning on his heel he headed
back through the crowds and toward the bar.  It wasn’t like it was a big
inconvenience. He was the son of the owner after all.  Drinks were always on
the house. 
 
When he arrived at the sleek glass bar, he nodded toward one of the regular
bartenders and the man immediately stopped what he was doing to come over to
him. 
 
“Nice to see you, Mr. Borson.  What can I do for you?” the man asked, eyes
lighting up.
 
Before Thor opened his mouth, something from across the club caught his eye and
his expression twisted into one of displeasure.   He had been in a relatively
good mood when he had arrived but that quickly dissipated when he saw Ronan
dispersing shots in the VIP section.  Thor watched shrewdly as the man grinned
at the club patrons, shouting over and over again “drinks on me!” 
 
Thor glared.  This asshole was buying shots in his club like he was the big dog
there. 
 
Thor turned back to the nervous-looking bartender.
 
“Bottles of Moët to every table, courtesy of Thor Borson,” he said to the
bartender in a clipped tone and the man nodded briskly.  “And then a round of
Louis XIII for my friends.”
 
As the man rushed to prepare the order, Thor kept his eyes on Ronan.  He
watched as the smarmy bastard went around shaking hands and introducing
himself.  The people in the VIP section ranged from generally wealthy patrons,
who could afford the table cover and wanted to appear special, to actually
important business partners to the Borson family, and Thor was sure that
Ronan’s generous offering wasn’t just to be friendly.  The man was trying to
get in on business and Thor was surprised he would do it so blatantly.  
 
The guy really had a pair on him.  
 
But, owned by the Borson family or not, the place was still a legitimate
business and unless Ronan caused trouble Thor had no right to toss him out. 
Well, Thor probably could think up a reason—or makeone himself—but he was sure
word would get back to Odin.  And knowing that his father was still annoyed
with him after what had happened the lasttime he and Ronan were in a room
together, Thor knew it would be in his best interest to notstart anything with
the bottom feeder. 
 
Scowling to himself, Thor turned back to the bar and forced himself to ignore
Ronan’s antics.  At least for now. 
===============================================================================
When they arrived at The Realm, Loki wasn’t very surprised when Tony’s “I can
get in anywhere” ended up turning more into “I can pay to get in anywhere.” 
After standing in the line for almost half an hour, when they finally got to
the door, the bouncer took one look at them and shook his head “no.”  Tony
tried to sweet talk him a little bit, hinting that he was the Tony Stark, but
the bouncer had all but laughed in his face.  It took about 20 more minutes of
Tony’s whining, and a wad of five $100 bills before the bouncer was lifting the
velveteen rope and ushering them in with a firm warning to “behave.” 
 
Almost immediately, Tony was pushing them to the bar and ordering a round of
tequila shots.  The bartender paused for a second, giving the three of them a
suspicious look.  But then Tony was pulling another $100 bill out of his wallet
and the bartender shrugged as he started to pour the libations.
 
Under Tony’s guidance, Loki had taken three shots of Patrón in quick succession
before Tony had deemed them all relatively loosened up enough to make their way
on to the dance floor.  Even with three shots in him, Bruce still seemed
extremely hesitant.  So Tony had conceded to allow Bruce to stay at the bar as
long as he promised to have another drink in the meantime.  To grow some
“courage,” Tony had said.  Bruce had given him a deadpan look and Tony had
lovingly patted him on the head. 
 
Then Tony grabbed Loki and all but dragged him to the dancefloor. 
===============================================================================
Thor realized that there were definitely perks to being the son of the
proprietor, but there were numerous drawbacks as well.  Whenever anything
occurred that could result in having to get the cops involved, Thor was
immediately called.  So when a fight broke out in the back parking lot, the
bouncers had rushed to get Thor’s attention.  His friends had all stood up,
offering to accompany him but Thor had waved down their concern.  A parking lot
brawl was nothing to get worked up about.
 
Once Thor arrived outside, he could see two clearly drunk men tussling on the
ground.  As two cars were blocking the parking lot, both still running, and
with one car’s backend connected to the side of the other car, it was easy to
see that the dispute had arisen from what looked to be a fender bender. 
Quickly walking around the cars Thor could see that there didn’t seem to be
much damage other than a slight ding.  If anything, the fight had probably
arisen more from a battle of egos. 
 
Clapping his hands loudly, to get the attention of the scrapping men, Thor
barked at them to get up.  The men continued to scream and snarl at each other,
and within seconds Thor had instructed the bouncers to pull them apart.  Once
the men came face to face with Thor’s serious expression, and even more
intimidating physical presence, they both quieted down.  With his ice blue eyes
trailing over both of them, he had calmly explained to them that they would
quietly leave the premises and would not return, if they knew what was good for
them.  When one of the men started to complain about the damage to his car,
Thor had quickly gone in to his wallet and threw 10 crisp bills at him.  The
man gaped as he scrambled to pick up the money. 
 
Thor made sure the bouncers knew to escort the men off of the premises before
he turned and made his way to the front entrance.  He considered the
disturbance well-handled.  A thousand dollars wasn’t a big deal if it meant
it’d keep the cops from sniffing around.  They were holding a couple of kilos
of coke in the basement of the club.  And cops were looking for any reason they
could to get into a Borson establishment.  Letting some idiots call the cops
just wasn’t worth it in the bigger scheme of things.  That was why Thor was
saddled with the responsibility of “damage control.”  His father didn’t trust
anyone else to have the best interests of the family in mind.  And while it was
tedious, Thor appreciated that his father still had faith in him to do it. 
 
As he walked up to the club’s main entrance, he scoped out the number of people
still standing and waiting to get in.  Stopping for a moment to whisper in the
ear of the bouncer who was controlling the line, he instructed him to close the
doors after the next 20 patrons.  The club was getting too full and the more
people there were, the more likely it was that they'd run into more fights like
the one he had just put an end to.  The bouncer nodded and opened the rope to
allow Thor in.  A chorus of protests arose from the people waiting in line, the
disgruntled guests feeling slighted that Thor had somehow been able to skip the
line. Thor ignored them as the bouncer shouted for them all to quiet down. 
 
Walking into the packed club, Thor was bombarded by the heavy bass beats of
some popular dance song.  He could see a sea of bodies gyrating on the crowded
dance floor.  Not in the mood, he skirted around it on his way back to the VIP
section.  But when he was almost past the floor he saw a flash of long dark
hair out of the corner of his eye and he froze in surprise. 
 
There was no way he was now imagining seeing Loki out in public, was there? 
Doubting himself, he still turned toward the dancefloor and was shocked to see
that he had been correct.
 
There was Loki, in some shimmery, clingy sleeveless top, hands in the air,
swaying along to the music with a goofy grin on his face.   
 
And just like that, Thor was seething.  So many things were going through his
mind at that second.  But then he saw some slimy creep sidle up behind him,
fitting his hips against the boy’s narrow ones and grind on him.  Thor saw
red. 
 
Storming out on to the dancefloor, pushing aside anyone who was stupid enough
not to move when they saw him coming, Thor quickly made his way over to Loki
and the unknown dead-man.  Before Thor got there, he saw Loki turn around in
surprise and move away from the interloper, but it was too late for Thor to
care as he came up behind them.  Pushing the slimy guy away with a harder-than-
necessary shove to his chest, Thor grabbed Loki by the wrist with his other
hand.
 
Loki whipped around in surprise, already pulling his arm away from who he
thought was a stranger, but when his eyes took in Thor’s less-than-pleased face
he froze completely, like a deer in headlights.  Sneering, Thor tightened his
grip and dragged Loki off the dancefloor, ignoring the angry shouts of the guy
he had just shoved.   The bouncers in the club were good at their job.  For the
most part they stayed discretely out of the way, often materializing when
needed, as if out of thin air, and before Thor had even made it off the
dancefloor with the still-struggling Loki in his grip one of the bouncers had
come up next to Thor to ask if everything was alright.
 
“Get that asshole out of here. Immediately. Before I kill him,” Thor said
angrily as he gestured with his thumb over his shoulder at the guy who had
started to follow them, still shouting aggressively. 
 
Nodding, the bouncers moved toward the angry man, and Thor turned his back on
the scene as he continued to drag Loki behind him.  Once they were as far away
from the crush of the dancefloor as they would most likely get, Thor grabbed
Loki by his biceps and pushed him up against the nearest wall. 
 
“Are you out of your damn mind??” Thor barked at him. 
 
Loki looked up at him with wide eyes, mouth practically hanging open. Thor was
the last person he was expecting to see there that night.  And he had
absolutely no idea what he was supposed to say.
 
“Wh-what are you doing here?” was the only intelligent thing Loki could
manage. 
 
“My family owns this club. It's my job to be here. You’re the one who’s not
supposed to be here,” Thor said, angry eyes searching Loki's.
 
Loki flinched.  He was so unused to this type of Thor.  Thor always talked to
him with a cocky sense of self-assuredness.  He was often smug.  And if he was
angry, it was often because he hadn’t gotten his way, his sense of entitlement
clearly showing through.  But now, Thor looked genuinely angry—an anger that
seemed to stem from worry and actual concern.  There was no playfulness in his
demeanor. 
 
“I… I’m just. Uh. Here with friends. We’re… we wanted to have some fun,” Loki
said meekly. 
 
“You’re 15!  How the hell did you even get in here?” Thor demanded, slamming
his palm against the wall above Loki’s head in frustration and causing Loki to
jump. 
 
“Uh- I… I mean, T-Tony… h-he gave the bouncer some cash, so-” Loki stuttered
out, so startled he couldn’t even come up with a lie. 
 
“Tony?” Thor asked, eyes growing darker. 
 
He knew that damn Stark kid was trouble.  And looking at Loki’s face, his hair
slightly dampened around his temples and what looked to be eyeliner smudged
around his bright green eyes, pupils suspiciously dilated, Thor realized that
the boy wasdrunk.  He was sure that was Stark’s idea as well.  But that didn’t
do anything to quell his anger. 
 
“You were drinking?” he asked sharply. "No wonder you let some grimy asshole
put his hands on you." 
 
Loki frowned up at him, not liking this accusatory, paternalistic tone. 
 
“So what if I was drinking! We’re in a club with a bar,” Loki snapped back. 
"And I didn’t let that guy do anything to me, for your information.  But so
what if he wanted to dance with me? That doesn't mean anything!"
 
Thor’s face twisted into a scowl, and it looked like he was preparing to
literally snarl something back at Loki, when a voice called out to them.
 
“Thor Borson!” Tony said as he sidled up next to Thor, giving the pair an
amused once-over. 
 
Glancing over his shoulder, Thor could see that Tony Stark and his friend Bruce
Banner were standing next to them.  Tony looked like he was watching the latest
episode of some trashy reality TV series.  Bruce just looked very
uncomfortable.
 
“Funny running into you here.  And all pressed up to our little Loki, too?”
Tony asked as he raised his eyebrows suggestively. “I was really surprised when
I turned around and saw that Loki had disappeared.  If you weren’t so tall and
blonde, I probably wouldn’t have been able to see you practically dragging him
off the floor.  Took us a little while to catch up to you guys, though.  What’d
we miss?”
 
“Stop with the bullshit, Stark,” Thor growled, throwing an angry glare in his
direction. “You know my family owns this club.  So what the hell are you doing
here?  And why would you bring this kid here?”
 
Loki didn’t like the way Thor was talking about him.  Suddenly Loki was a
“kid?”  Suddenly he was too young to do “grown up” things like go to a damn
club with his friends and drink?  This was the same guy who had cornered him in
his pantry, to do decidedly grown upthings to him, when his father was just in
the other room.  Thor did not get the right to treat him like a kid.
 
But Loki's displeased expression was lost on Thor, who was still glaring at
Tony and his taunting jibes, even though Thor's hands never loosened their grip
on Loki's arms, as if he didn't want to give Loki the chance to get away.
 
“Poor Loki wanted to have some fun," Tony said, grinning.  "Who am I to deny
him that?  It should be a testament to your family’s great influence that I
decided to bring him here.”
 
Thor's expression darkened. He often wanted to wring the young Stark’s neck
whenever he had the displeasure of running into him, but tonight the urge was
more salient than usual. 
 
“Are you an actual idiot, Stark?  This isn’t a game!  I’ve told you to stay
away from this type of shit.  And instead of listening to me, you bring this
kid here??” Thor barked, voice leaving no room for nonsense. 
 
Tony’s smug smile fell at Thor’s sharp tone, and before Loki could get a word
in edgewise, another voice interrupted their conversation.  It seemed that they
were drawing a lot of unwanted attention. 
 
“What’s going on here, Thor?” a familiar voice asked and Thor flinched.  It was
the last voice he wanted to hear right now.
 
 Looking over his shoulder, he could see Ronan, flanked by two of his own
goons, looking at Thor with derision but also with a hint of pleasure in his
eyes.
 
“Oh, so this is what you’re in to?” Ronan asked, looking Loki up and down, the
smirk on his face widening with his appraisal. 
 
Loki flinched under the man’s gaze.  He was probably around the same height as
Thor, but something about him appeared more sinister.  His eyes looked dead. 
They were nothing like Thor’s, whose bright blue eyes showed a range of never-
ending emotions.  Instead, this man looked like nothing mattered to him, and
that made him feel dangerous.  Loki didn’t like that his attention was now on
him. 
 
Thor immediately let go of Loki’s arms and stood to his full height, facing
Ronan, and purposefully blocking Loki from his view. 
 
“This has nothing to do with you, Ronan,” Thor said gruffly.  “And if you knew
what was good for you, you wouldn’t try to get in my face right now.”  
 
Ronan smirked, looking amused, but Loki could see that the emotion still didn’t
reach his eyes.
 
“Oh, is that so?  Did I strike a chord there?” Ronan asked as he moved to the
side to take a good look at Loki again.  “I was going to ask if you suddenly
joined Big Brothers of America, but seeing as how you’re getting your panties
all in a twist, I’m inclined to think this kid may be… something else?”
 
Thor glowered at him.
 
“Don’t hurt yourself trying to think too hard.  These are a bunch of kids from
the town.  One of which is the son of one of my father’s construction clients,”
Thor said, giving Ronan a warning look.  “They were just leaving.” 
 
Ronan didn’t seem convinced, and with a grin, he reached his hand out to Loki. 
 
“Ronan,” he said, by way of introduction.  “And you would be?”
 
Before Loki could open his mouth, Thor shoved Ronan’s hand away, stepping in
front of him again. 
 
“Since you seem to have some business with me, let’s go to the backroom,” Thor
said, holding Ronan’s unwavering stare.  Ronan smirked and nodded. 
 
“And, you three?” Thor barked over his shoulder, not even bothering to spare
them a glance.  “Get out of here.  Now.”
 
Feeling the obvious tension in the air, Loki looked to Tony, uncertain about
the situation but Tony was staring at the man in front of Thor and, for once,
Tony seemed to have nothing smart to say.  Looking at Loki and Bruce, Tony just
shook his head and motioned toward the door.  Everyone seemed to be in
agreement that they needed to leave.  Now.  So, with one final look back at
Thor, Loki followed them out. 
===============================================================================
Later that night, Loki was lying awake on plush blankets on Tony’s floor,
staring up at the ceiling.  The drive back had been quiet and uncomfortable. 
All of Tony’s bravado had been sucked out of him following the strange run-in
with Thor and the mysterious man, and Tony had seemed overly focused on the
road ahead of him as he drove.
 
Loki had tried to ask if either Bruce or Tony knew who the guy was, but both
had said they didn’t.  Bruce had said, however, that if anyone was able to
bring out such an obvious reaction of distaste in Thor, he probably wasn’t good
news. They had all agreed on that point.  The conversation in the car had
turned to the fact that none of them, even the two who had lived in the town
their entire lives, really knew what Thor and his family got up to in the
city.  A lot of it was rumors and none of it had actually ever been confirmed.
And while Thor and his friends were considered “dangerous,” everyone in town
knew that they weren’t an actual threat to the community members. It was an
unspoken rule.  That was different for strangers.  And going into the city
meant that there was a chance that they could run across people who didn’t
abide by the same rules that those who worked for the Borson family had agreed
to. 
 
Bruce had pointedly told Tony it had been a stupid idea to go to The Realm,
specifically for that reason.  And Loki had questioned them why no one had said
anything about the fact that Thor’s family owned that club before they had all
decided to go there.  Eyes still on the road, Tony had admitted that he had
thought it would be more fun that way.  It sounded like he regretted that
decision in retrospect.  When they got back, the mood had lifted somewhat, and
they ended the night eating ice cream and playing video games.  It was almost
3am before everyone had settled down and the lights had been turned off. 
 
And now that the room was silent, Loki was left wide awake ruminating about the
events of the evening.  He was nervous about how things had ended with Thor. 
From the anger he saw on Thor’s face when the man had pinned him up against the
wall, he knew Thor was displeased with him—a position he most definitely did
not want to find himself in again.   But… this time, it really wasn’t his
fault.  Sighing in frustration and knowing he’d never be able to go to sleep
without knowing what the outcome of his transgression was going to be, Loki
picked up his phone and quickly typed off a message. 
 
Me: is everything ok?
 
Loki waited anxiously for a response.  When one finally came in, only 7 minutes
had passed but, to Loki, it felt like an eternity. 
 
Asshole: Just go to bed kid.  It’s late.
 
Loki wasn’t sure if that meant things were alright or not.  He suspected the
latter, to be honest.  But at least Thor had responded.  That, in itself, was a
relief. 
 
Rolling over on to his side, Loki tucked his phone under his pillow and willed
himself to go to sleep.  He didn’t know what Thor would do or say the next time
he saw him. And the thought of that left his stomach in knots.  
===============================================================================
A/N: Thanks for reading!  Things are not as bad as they may seem.  Haha.  I
just like to make life hard on Loki.  Smut to come next chapter!  I promise, I
promise!! Please let me know your thoughts in the meantime.  xoxo
***** Chapter 8 *****
A/N: I am SO sorry it took me over three months to post the next chapter.  I
apologize for my delinquency; I'm a grad student and finding time to write has
been really hard :c. But thank you all for your great comments on the last
chapter and for being so patient in the meantime!  This chapter got insanely
long so I had to cut it in two, so some of the things I promised last time
won’t take place in this chapter :/, but because of that the next chapter is
already well under way and should hopefully not be too far behind this one!
 I'd also like to give double thanks to Thorkysand Sarah for being my beta-
team!!  :D
===============================================================================
Radio silence.
 
That was what Loki had been experiencing ever since he had run into Thor at the
Realm on Saturday night.  Other than Thor’s brusque response telling him to go
to bed, Thor had not responded to a single one of Loki’s texts. 
 
On Sunday, Loki had sent a simple, non-committal “hey,” as a way of feeling out
the situation.  But then Sunday morning, afternoon, and evening passed by with
noresponse from Thor.  That night Loki sent another, more searching, text,
asking Thor “is everything ok?” 
 
But, yet again, no response. 
 
At his wit’s end, Loki had laid in bed and debated with himself for almost all
of Sunday night, vacillating between his sense of pride and the growing sense
of anxiousness that was twisting his stomach into knots, before he had
ultimately convinced himself to send a follow-up text, saying nothing but “I’m
sorry.” 
 
But, still, Thor hadn’t responded.  
 
And Loki had no idea what to do about it.  And that frustration carried him
into Monday morning where he thoughthe would have an opportunity to finally
confront Thor.  However, while Thor’s friends had noisily made their way into
his backyard early on Monday morning, Thor hadn’t been with them.  So Loki
hadn’t been able to just askThor if he was angry with him like he wanted to. 
 
He had, as was in his nature, tried to covertly ask Hogun, Fandral, and
Volstagg where Thor was.  But he could only ask so many questions before the
guys would get suspicious.  He already knew they thought his interest in Thor
was “cute.”  That they were all convinced that he was in some way a fan of
Thor’s—that he found the older man “cool,” or something—but just didn’t want to
admit it.  Loki would let them think that—it was far less embarrassing than the
truth—but he couldn’t give them any reason to get even more suspicious, or look
at things any more carefully.  So when they told him Thor was off-site working
on another project, he had had to nod quietly and pretend to not be interested
in knowing more.  But that left him with no way to know what Thor was doing
(or, more importantly, thinking). 
 
All he had was texting.  And he was too much of a chicken to actually
callThor.  He didn’t think he had that right, or that Thor would even
appreciate it, if he was annoyed with Loki like Loki was guessing he was.  And
Loki was nervous about appearing too desperate.  He was concerned that the more
he pushed and tried to get Thor’s attention, the more likely it was that Thor
would ultimately get tired of him—on top of getting annoyed—and stop talking to
him altogether. 
 
But not doing anythingwas something that was very difficult for Loki to force
himself to do.  Loki considered himself pretty resilient; there wasn’t much
that life could throw at him that he couldn’t handle.  But the one thing Loki
couldn’tdeal with was being ignored.  It had happened once already and the
experience had left Loki wholly convinced that he did not want to go through
that again.   
 
So Loki sat and stewed. 
 
Tony had invited him over on Tuesday.  Apparently one of the cooks was making
homemade ice cream and Tony had made her make 8 different flavors.  Tony
insisted Loki hadto come over to help him and Bruce eat it all.  It was only
right.  Poor Bertie had had to do so much work.  Loki had held out though,
giving Tony noncommittal answers for the earlier part of the day, hoping that
if he stayed home Thor would stroll in and he could get a chance to talk to
him.  But by the time 1:00 rolled around and Loki hadn’t seen Thor that day, he
decided that maybe he wasn’t doing himself any favors sitting home and
obsessing about Thor.  Going over to Tony’s and getting sick off of eating way
too much ice cream would probably be a welcome distraction.     
 
And Loki definitely needed to be distracted, because it had been three days.
 
In the bigger scheme of things, Loki knew that there was nothing particularly
“alarming” about not having talked to Thor for three days.  That Thor was an
adult who engaged in activities outside of the construction project he was
working on this summer.  That Thor’s life didn’t revolve around Loki.  And that
wherever Thor was he probably wasn’t thinking about Loki. 
 
Loki didn’t know who Thor was—or what he got up to—when he wasn’t around him. 
But there wasn’t much Loki could do about that.  He didn’t know where Thor
lived.  He didn’t know how to talk to, or see, Thor outside of the hours Thor
was working on his house.  And Loki knew that, in only a matter of weeks, when
the project finally came to an end, Thor might quite literally disappear from
his life.  It made Loki so much more aware of the fact that he had no control
over this situation.  That Thor knew so much about him, and Loki knew so very
little about Thor. 
 
Thinking those thoughts only led to more worry and doubt.  And Loki had no idea
how to quiet his mind.  He hoped ice cream would do it.  So Loki had dragged
himself to the bus stop and made the trip over to Tony’s.  He hadn’t seen Tony
since the night at the club, and he feared that being around the older boy
would remind him about how royally he had fucked up with Thor by going there in
the first place. 
 
But, to Loki’s great surprise, spending time with Tony and Bruce had been more
fun than anything else.  He had enjoyed himself enough that Thor had only
crossed his mind a few times.  He had started to feel hopeful that he would be
able to push Thor out of his thoughts entirely.  That maybe the rest of the
week would go by and the anxiousness would reduce; that not being able to see
Thor would get easier.  But when Loki tumbled into bed later that night, mouth
still sticky with ice cream, the last thing on his mind before he succumbed to
sleep was still Thor. 
 
When Loki woke up late the next morning, he laid in bed for the first few
minutes feeling groggy and grumpy.  All he had eaten yesterday was gallons of
ice cream and, unsurprisingly, he felt gross.  Eating his feelings—it was such
a cliché.  He was angry with himself for being so pathetic.  He hated hat the
highs and lows of his happiness were so easily influenced by the things Thor
did and said (or didn’tdo or say, for that matter). Loki groaned as he rubbed
his hands over his face, hating the idea of having to get up and face the day. 
 
But then a sound floated through his open window and he shot up in bed in
shock.
 
That was Thor’s voice.  Thor’s laugh.  Thor was there! 
 
Completely forgetting how disgruntled he had felt only a few seconds ago, Loki
scrambled to get out of bed, almost tripping as his feet got tangled in the
sheets.  All he wanted to do was run straight downstairs and talk to Thor.  But
he reminded himself that he didn’t want to look too desperate. Besides, he
definitely needed a shower.  There was no way the first time Thor had seen him
since the night in the club was going to be Loki with bedhead and un-brushed
teeth.
 
Heart racing in his chest with unexpected excitement, Loki quickly made his way
to the bathroom.  He pulled off his clothes as he turned the tap on, waiting
impatiently for the water to heat up. He knew it was ridiculous, but he was
afraid that Thor would be gone again before he was done.  And there was no way
he could let that happen. 
===============================================================================
Fifteen minutes later, Loki was thumping down the stairs, wet hair piled on top
of his head in a sloppy bun and cheeks flushed.  He pulled absentmindedly on
his clothes, trying to adjust them and smooth the wrinkles out of his t-shirt,
as he bounded around the corner and ran past the living room. 
 
“Loki!  What’s with the racket?  Where are you going in such a rush?” Laufey
called from the living room.
 
Loki screeched to a halt, having not anticipated running into his father. 
 
From where Laufey was sitting he couldn’t see Loki.  The couch was obscured by
the wall that separated the living room from the hallway.  However, it wasn’t
rocket science for Laufey to figure out that the sound that was similar to a
pack of stampeding horses was his son, who had been missing for the better part
of the morning.      
 
Loki quickly scrambled to think up a good enough excuse for his hasty descent
down the stairs
 
“I um… I just got a notification that a package I’ve been waiting on just
came,” Loki called back, making up a lie as he went along and hoping his father
wouldn’t make him come into the living room.
 
Loki was a good liar, but he did still feel guilty sometimes when he was made
to lie to his father’s face.
 
“And you think if you don’t run the package will suddenly disappear?” Laufey
asked back with a laugh.
 
Loki flushed.
 
“Ah… it’s a pre-order. I’ve been waiting for it for weeks!” Loki called back. 
 
Laufey laughed again, sounding bemused.
 
“Alright then. I’m sure it’s something you’ve spent a ton of my money on, so
it’s only fair you start enjoying it as soon as you can,” Laufey teased.  “Have
fun.”
 
“Thanks, Dad,” Loki shouted before he quickly continued on his way past the
living room and through the kitchen.
 
When he came face to face with the door, leading from the kitchen to the
backyard, he hesitated for a moment.  He pressed his face up against the glass
panes to see if he could get a glimpse of Thor.  His eyes quickly scanned the
part of the yard that was visible from the door, and while he could see
Volstagg and Hogun, he was disappointed that he couldn’t see Thor.  His stomach
twisted, wondering if his fear—that Thor would leave in the amount of time it
took him to get himself cleaned up and presentable—had come true.  But he
convinced himself he was being foolish.  He had heard Thor—he was sure of
it—laughing in his backyard less than twenty minutes ago.    
 
Taking a deep breath, Loki pushed open the screen door and stepped out into the
warm yard.  As soon as the sound of the door slamming shut behind him echoed
out throughout the backyard, Volstagg looked up from what he was doing and
waved at Loki with a cheery grin.  Hogun glanced up as well, giving Loki a
small smile before turning back to his work.  He was never much for chatting,
but the same could never be said for the boisterous red-head next to him. 
 
“Loki!  You’re looking in a better mood than when we saw you on Monday,”
Volstagg greeted him, as he put down the shovel he had been using.
 
Loki flushed as he began walking over to them, hating that even these guys—who
barely knew him—could tell that he had been in such a funk.  And he wondered if
just the thought that he would be seeing Thor soon had made such a
noticeabledifference in his face. 
 
“I wasn’t in a bad mood,” Loki mumbled. 
 
“Yeah right,” Volstagg said with a deep laugh.  “You looked so sour you made
even Hogun seem friendly.” 
 
The man in question scoffed but Loki could see that he was trying to hold back
a smile of his own.  Even Hogunagreed with Volstagg.  Loki felt his cheeks burn
hotter. 
 
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Loki protested.  “It’s not like I act
like some happy go lucky idiot all the time.”
 
“Ok, ok,” Volstagg said as he smiled and held up his hands in defense.  “So
what’s brought you out here to grace us with your presence today?”  
 
“Nothing… just… you know, looking around.  Is it only you guys working today?”
Loki asked, as nonchalantly as he could.
 
Volstagg and Hogun exchanged a meaningful look and Loki tried to ignore how
embarrassed that made him feel. 
 
“No, it’s not just us today.  Fandral and Thor are around the other side of the
house,” Volstagg said with a kind smile. 
 
Loki felt his heart-rate speed up at the mention of Thor’s name and really,
really, hoped that his cheeks weren’t as red as they felt right now.
 
“Oh… ok.  That’s interesting,” he said as he looked down at his fingernails so
he wouldn’t have to look either man in the eyes.  “What’re they working on?”
 
“Thor’s working on the addition to the house and Fandral… well, he should be
working on your HVAC, but who knows if that’s what he’s actually doing,” Hogun
said with a sardonic shake of his head and a shrug.
 
“Um… maybe I’ll go check it out then,” Loki said.
 
“You want to check out building and HVAC installation?” Volstagg asked,
amusement apparent in his voice.
 
“So??  What’s with the 20 questions all of a sudden?” Loki asked as he crossed
his arms over his chest.  “I’m allowed to take interest in the things that are
going on around me.”
 
“Ok, have fun Loki,” Volstagg said with a wink.
 
With a grumble, Loki turned on his heel and began to march toward the back side
of the yard.  He had never felt so completely unsophisticated before.  But he
was starting to realize that he was a lot more inept at handling this situation
than he would have imagined.  He didn’t want to admit it, but he was really out
of his element. 
 
As soon as Loki made it around the back of the house, he saw Fandral sitting on
the ground next to tools and the HVAC unit.  The blond was scrolling through
his phone, with a look of concentration on his features.   A few yards away,
Loki could see the frame for the addition to the house, which had taken on a
much more discernible shape in the days they had been working on it, and could
hear the sound of hammering.  That meant that Thor was there, and Loki’s
stomach did that flip that it had been doing so much more frequently lately. 
 
All Loki wanted to do was go to Thor. All he wanted to do was see Thor.  But he
couldn’t just walk past Fandral.  As soon as he passed the guy, Fandral would
take notice and Loki wouldn’t benefit from appearing as if he was in a hurry to
get to any particular destination, namely getting to Thor.  And Fandral was the
one who seemed to pay him the most attention.  He joked around a lot, but there
was always a glint of intrigue in his eyes, as if he was always trying to
figure something out or see down to someone’s most secret layers.  
 
“What’re you doing?” Loki asked, breaking Fandral’s concentration.
 
The sandy-haired man looked up and gave Loki a big grin. 
 
“Lokes!” Fandral said with excitement as he got to his feet.
 
“I haven’t seen you in a while.  I thought you got bored with us.  What’re you
doing back here?” Fandral asked as he gave Loki an inquisitive look up and
down.  It was clear Loki wasn’t out for a swim that day and Fandral was looking
for some kind of justification for Loki’s sudden venture into the otherwise
unappealing backyard.    
 
Loki was smarter this time, however.  He wasn’t going to give Fandral any
reason to get too nosy.  He had a lie already on deck. 
 
“My dad wanted me to ask Thor to check in with him about the progress going on
out here,” Loki said.
 
Fandral furrowed his brow.
 
“And you came out here just for that?” Fandral asked.  “It seems like that’s
something you’d only agree to kicking and screaming.”
 
Loki frowned.
 
“I don’t know why everyone has such a negative opinion of me,” he responded.
“I’m not a total brat.”
 
“Not when you don’t want to be,” Fandral said with a wink.
 
“You’re one to talk.  I never see you actually doing any work,” Loki said,
hoping to change the subject, as he pointed to the tools lying scattered on the
ground.
 
Fandral laughed, but had the good sense to look chastised.
 
“To be honest, I was just taking a tiny break, but in my defense, this stuff is
hard, Lokes,” Fandral whined.
 
Loki rolled his eyes, but he was satisfied that it seemed like Fandral had been
sufficiently distracted. 
 
“So I’m going to go do that thing for my dad-” Loki began as he started to turn
away.
 
“Hey, wait up a minute, Loki,” Fandral said, cutting him off.
 
Perplexed, Loki turned around.  Fandral was looking at him with a serious
expression and Loki wasn’t quite sure how to take it. 
 
“I haven’t seen you in a bit, so I didn’t get a chance to mention this, but
Thor told us you were at the Realm on Saturday night after you, Stark and
Banner left,” Fandral said.
 
Loki’s eyes widened.  He was surprised that Thor had mentioned it to his
friends. 
 
“You need to stay away from places like that, Loki,” Fandral said, voice
holding no hint of playfulness for once.  “That’s no place for kids like you to
hang out.”
 
Loki gave him an incredulous look.  What was it with people here always trying
to tell him what to do? 
 
“Ok, I get it that ‘underage drinking’ maybe isn’t the best, but are you guys
seriously that worried about that?  It’s just a little bit of fun.  And don’t
worry, I promise I can take care of myself,” Loki scoffed.
 
Fandral shook his head and sighed.
 
“Believe me, that’s the least of what we’re worried about,” Fandral said.  “And
if you don’t listen to anything else I say, at least listen when I tell you
that Thor does not want to catch you there again.”
 
Loki blinked at him in surprise and all Fandral could do was raise his hands
and shrug. 
 
“Just thought that I’d do my due diligence.  He was livid, kid.  Remember, his
family owns that club, so if anything happened to you there, they’d be
responsible for it,” Fandral said.
 
Loki bit his lip, but nodded.
 
“Well… you don’t have to worry.  I don’t really have any plans on going there
again.  Or listening to any other bright ideas from Tony, as a matter of fact,”
Loki said as he rolled his eyes.
 
Fandral smiled.
 
“Good to hear, kid.  Besides, you’re too cute to be going to a place like that
anyway,” Fandral said with a wink. “You’d get eaten up in a second.”
 
“Ugh,” Loki said as he flushed with embarrassment.
 
Fandral laughed.
 
“You’re cute when you blush too, you know?” he said.
 
Loki rolled his eyes and turned on his heel.  He could hear the echo of
Fandral’s laughter behind him as he stomped his way over to where the sounds of
a hammer banging were getting louder.  At least being annoyed with Fandral
would distract him enough to make him less self-conscious when he faced Thor,
Loki told himself.  
 
But when Loki made his way around the pile of planks stacked next to the framed
out addition and his eyes finally fell on Thor, his mouth went dry and his
stomach did that very annoying flip-flop thing again. 
 
Thor was crouched down over a number of long planks of wood, hammering them
together.  He was wearing a white tank top, stretched taut across his broad
chest, showcasing his tanned and sculpted flesh, already glistening with
sweat.  His golden hair was pulled back into a low bun and he had sunglasses
settled on top of his head.  The muscles in his biceps rippled every time he
brought the hammer down and Loki was immediately reminded about how big and
solid Thor felt when he wrapped his arms around him.  He was embarrassed about
how quickly that thought sent a shot of desire straight down to his groin. 
 
Swallowing nervously, Loki inched closer until he was within hearing distance
of Thor.
 
“H-hey,” he called out.
 
Thor stopped and glanced up at him, clearly not expecting to see him, and then
his eyes narrowed minutely before he turned back down to his work and kept
hammering.
 
Loki frowned.
 
“So you’re actually going to just ignore me?” he asked, feeling his chest
tighten.
 
“I’m not ‘ignoring’ you,” Thor said gruffly, not even sparing him a glance. 
“I’m working, as you can see.  The work your father is paying us to do.”
 
Loki blanched.  It was like Thor was dismissing him.  Telling him he had no
time for him.  And even though that was what Loki had been fearing for the last
few days, having to experience it in person made Loki bristle.  All he could
think about was how unfair it was.  Why the hell had he spent days moping
around about Thor, when Thor clearly didn’t give two shits about him?  Why was
he always the only one who was affected?
 
“Yeah?  You’re working??  That never stopped you from taking time out of your
busy schedule to try and get in my pants,” Loki hissed. 
 
Before Loki could blink, the hammer was clattering down on to the plank below
it and Thor was on his feet, stalking toward him, closing the distance between
them in a few quick strides.  Loki sucked in a breath as Thor loomed over him,
body tensing and eyes wide as he stared up at the imposing blond.
 
“You don’t know your fucking place,” Thor growled at him.   
 
He was so close Loki could feel the heat of his breath on his face.  There was
so much emotion in Thor’s electric blue eyes and Loki was fascinated by it. 
Yes there was anger there—and that made him a bit nervous—but Thor was looking
at him; Loki was the sole object of Thor’s attention. 
 
“You say so much shit just to get a rise out of me but then act all scared when
you really get what you want.  Don’t stand here and pretend that if I really
stopped giving you the attention you so desperately seem to need that you’d be
happy with that.  You think I need to ‘get in your pants?’  Kid, please.  Don’t
flatter yourself,” Thor said, sneering at him. 
 
Loki’s face flushed with embarrassment. 
 
“I’m not flattering myself,” he said, hoping he sounded bolder in that
conviction than he felt.  “You… you clearly… You’re the one who startedit! 
Don’t act like this is all just me.”
 
“You’re not worth the trouble half the time,” Thor continued, eyes still
flashing angrily.  “You’re just supposed to be a bit of fun; a distraction. 
Not getting all caught up in the other parts of my life.  All you do is fucking
stress me out!”
 
Loki blinked, not really understanding what Thor was saying and unable to say
anything in response.  Thor was clearly frustrated, but it seemed more like he
was frustrated with himself than with Loki.  And what did Thor mean about him
getting caught up in the other parts of his life?  Loki didn’t think Thor
thought about him at all outside of when he saw him.  He didn’t think he
mattered to Thor that much. So how could he be stressing Thor out?
 
Loki stared at Thor as he watched the older man’s expression change, as if
something had dawned on him, and Thor quickly looked away. 
 
“Shit, why the hell am I standing here arguing with a fucking kid?” Thor asked,
more to himself than to Loki. 
 
He huffed before throwing his hands up in frustration and stalking back over to
the pile of wood.  He crouched down and began hammering again. 
 
Loki couldn’t understand why Thor’s discomfort gave him this strange tingly
feeling, but he found himself following behind Thor.  He stood off to the side,
only about a foot away from Thor, so that he could look down on what Thor was
doing without getting in the way.
 
“What did I do to get you so angry?” Loki asked.
 
Thor didn’t stop hammering away, but Loki could hear him scoff.
 
“If you don’t know the answer to that, you’re dumber than I thought, kid,” Thor
said. 
 
Loki rolled his eyes.  Thor was being difficult.  Well, it wasn’t like Loki
didn’t have some idea about what was bothering Thor, but the issue was that he
didn’t get it.  Thor was angry that he had run into Loki at the club.  Was it
just because he was there?  Or was it that Loki was dancing—not even by his own
will—with that unknown guy?  Loki didn’t doubt Thor was the jealous type, but
he couldn’t really imagine that situation would be enough to set Thor off like
that.  But maybe it was what Fandral had mentioned—the possibility that Thor
and his family would be liable if something had happened that night and minors
had been found to be in the club?  It seemed like it was more than that though…
 
“I mean… I know you were angry seeing me at the club…” Loki offered, hoping
Thor would fill in the blanks if he was at least close to the target. 
 
Thor’s shoulders tensed slightly, but he continued his work seemingly unfazed. 
 
“You think I just care that you went out with your stupid little friends and
did some reckless shit?  I expect dumb kids to do things like that,” Thor said
gruffly.  “It’s that you came to the Realmto do that.”
 
Loki frowned.
 
“What?  What’s the big deal?  So it’s a club owned by your dad.  And?” Loki
asked.
 
Thor turned to look at him over his shoulder, brows drawn down and mouth set in
a firm line. 
 
“Did you forget what I told you?  About who my family is?  About what we do? Do
you know how many people in there had guns that night?” Thor asked, looking at
Loki with hard eyes. 
 
Loki shuddered and bit his lip in consternation.  No, he hadn’t known that. The
club looked like any other club. It had been fun.  Why would he have thought
there were dangerous people in there?  But he guessed that was what Thor was
talking about when he called him a dumb kid.  And Loki suddenly realized that
maybe he was more naïve than he thought he was. 
 
“Did… did you have a gun that night?” Loki asked hesitantly.
 
Thor scoffed as he tilted his head to better look up at Loki, squinting at him
in the sunlight.
 
“Of coursed I did.  I had two,” Thor said plainly before turning back to the
wood in front of him.
 
Wow, Loki thought to himself, eyes widening in surprise. 
 
“Do you ever have to use them?” Loki asked, voice no more than a whisper.
 
Thor let out an exasperated sigh. 
 
“Of course I have to use them sometimes.  I wouldn’t carry them if there wasn’t
a need,” Thor said, dropping the hammer with a clatter. 
 
He looked at Loki sternly for a moment, seeming to be considering his next
words, before continuing.    
 
“And that guy… the one who came and interrupted us?  He’s bad news.  There’s a
reason why we keep what happens in town separate from what goes on in the
city.  And why people from town stay out of the city.  You don’t want someone
like that knowing anything about you,” Thor said, eyes unreadable. 
 
Loki blinked in surprise.  He couldn’t believe it.  Thor really sounded like he
was… worried?  It sounded like the thing that had actually bothered Thor the
most was that that man—the one with the creepy, dead eyes—had taken notice of
Loki.  That he was dangerous.  And having him pay attention to Loki was
dangerous. 
 
The thought of it was definitely scary.  And now that Thor had mentioned it,
Loki began to realize that going to a club that was frequented by criminals
probably would expose him to a lot of unnecessary danger.  He could have been
bumping elbows with violent robbers, thieves, drug dealers, and even
murderers. And it reminded Loki that Thor very likely could be that type of
person as well.  It was sobering. 
 
But looking at Thor from his position on the ground, staring up at Loki with a
frown—appearing for all intents and purposes concerned—made Loki feel an almost
tangible sense of protection.  Like if something had gone down in the club that
night—that if Loki really had been in danger—Thor would have protected him. 
Thor would have made sure that he walked out of that club in one piece. That
made a warm feeling bloom deep inside Loki’s chest.  It was so big he didn’t
know what to do with it.    
 
He felt an urge to do something crazy; something he wasn’t quite sure Thor
would allow him.  Loki hesitated for a moment, but decided that he wasn’t going
to let his uncertainty stop him.  He stepped forward, getting in Thor’s
personal space and watched as Thor tensed up, craning his head back a bit, to
keep Loki in his sight.  And although Thor frowned, he didn’t make any attempt
to stop him. 
 
With a deep breath, Loki placed his hands on Thor’s shoulders then leaned down
and placed a gentle kiss against Thor’s forehead. 
 
Thor’s skin felt warm against Loki’s lips.  Probably warmer than normal,
because of the sun beating down on them.  And, this close, Loki could smell
Thor’s enticing scent; a mixture of cologne and sweat.  It made his toes curl. 
 
“I’m… I’m sorry about making you worry about me,” Loki said softly, as he
pulled back slightly. “I didn’t know that something like that could happen.  I
swear. I didn’t know it was… um… involved in the work that you do.”
 
Thor blinked in surprise, as if he didn’t quite know how to process what had
just happened, before his eyes narrowed and he reached out—hand moving so
quickly Loki missed the movement—and grabbed Loki’s wrist.
 
“What was that, huh?” Thor asked, lips quirking up in a somewhat sinister
smirk.  “Is this the same brat who was just complaining a few minutes ago about
me trying to get in his pants?  You want me to get into them, don’t you?”
 
Loki flushed and tried to pull his hand back.
 
“I- I didn’t say that,” he protested.
 
“Yeah?  You wanna tell me that if I touch you right now you won’t get hard in a
matter of seconds?  That if I just lick your neck and bite on your ear a little
bit, you won’t come all over yourself?” Thor asked.
 
Loki couldn’t help the shudder that rolled through his body.  Just the thought
of it was making heat pool low in his stomach.  It had been so long since Thor
had touched him.  The last real time had been that impromptu visit in Thor’s
car.  And while that had been the material for more jerk off sessions than Loki
was willing to admit, it really hadn’t been enough.  Loki would be lying if he
said he wasn’t anticipating the next time Thor would touch him. 
 
And the blush on his cheeks was apparently confirmation enough for Thor, as his
smirk widened.
 
“You missed me, huh?” Thor asked, loosening his grip on Loki’s wrist but still
keeping it tight enough that Loki couldn’t get free.  He began to lightly
stroke the inside of Loki’s wrist with his thumb, right over his pulse point,
and the feathery motion sent shivers up Loki’s spine.  He had to bite his lip
to hold back a moan.
 
“You wanna show me how badly you missed me?” Thor asked, as his eyes dropped
down to his own crotch.
 
Loki’s eyes followed the motion and he swallowed as he saw the tenting of
Thor’s jeans.  Unexpectedly, he felt his mouth start to water and he flushed,
ashamed of himself for actually responding like that.  And so quickly.  Just
like Thor had said.  
 
But then the sound of the screen door slamming echoed out throughout the yard
and Loki could hear the faint sound of his father calling for him.  His eyes
widened as he saw Thor’s eyes narrow, and then Thor reluctantly released his
wrist.
 
“I guess you owe me one then,” Thor said, as he held Loki’s gaze with his own,
eyes full of promise. 
 
The look Thor was giving him made Loki’s heart thunder in his chest, and he
quickly tore his eyes away before turning and running back to the house to see
what his father wanted.    
===============================================================================
Thor watched Loki go, frustrated but fairly amused all at the same time.  Loki
had caught him somewhat unawares. 
 
He hadn’t seen Loki in more than three days following his run in with the boy
in the club.  He was aware Loki had sent him a number of messages to which he
hadn’t replied.  That was partially on purpose and partially because he had
just been too busy dealing with businessto take the time to respond to a 15-
year-old kid who had a crush on him.  And while he knew Loki didn’t do well
with being ignored, he hadn’t been expecting the boy to come out and find him
like he had. 
 
To a certain extent, Thor had appreciated the unplanned distance from him.  He
didn’t want to admit it to himself, but seeing the way that Ronan had looked at
Loki in the club on Saturday night had made his stomach twist with worry. 
 
Worrying about others was something Thor just wasn’t used to. 
 
Yes, he was always thinking about the safety of his family and his crew.  If
anyone threatened Odin, Thor would never hesitate to track them down and make
an example of them. And God help them if anyone ever went after Frigga or
Balder.  Thor felt the same way about his crew.  Hell, his crew was practically
family.  He knew he didn’t need to worry about them—the Warriors Three, Sif,
and Natasha were the type that could take care of themselves—but if anyone was
ever stupid enough to go after one of them, they would have the whole force of
the Borsons raining down on them.  These were situations Thor always knew he
could handle.  He never felt worry.  Instead he engaged in cold calculation. 
He problem-solved.   
 
But what Thor felt when he saw the gears turning in Ronan’s head as he looked
at Loki, standing there all big eyes, flushed face, and skin-tight clothes, was
a foreign sense of helplessness.  Like there was some way that Ronan was going
to try to get at Loki and Thor wouldn’t be there to protect him.
 
The fact that that thought had even crossed his mind was frustrating for Thor. 
He told himself he only cared because taking an action against Loki would be
Ronan’s way of disrespecting him.  Thor had made it clear to Ronan that he
expected him to leave Loki alone, and Thor was sure that just saying that might
have the completely opposite effect.  He knew Ronan liked to step out of
bounds, just to see Thor seethe.  But deep down Thor knew that there was more
to it than that.  That, for some reason, Thor worried about Loki.  He didn’t
mind teasing him and making the kid cry, but the idea of someone else doing
it?  It made Thor see red.
 
And a lack of control of his emotions seemed to be the theme when things
involved Loki.
 
Case in point: what had the kid been thinking when he leaned down and oh-so-
sweetly kissed his forehead?   Thor hadn’t known what to do.   He didn’t think
he could remember anyone having done that to him—save his mother, years ago. 
And the simple, innocent gesture made something inside Thor’s heart squeeze. 
It made him feel that ever-present urge to grab Loki and kiss him breathless.  
 
It was startling and disarming. 
 
More and more, the lines were blurring for Thor.  Loki was just supposed to be
something fun.  Like he had told the boy, he was using him as a convenient
distraction.  But then why did he think about Loki when he couldn’t see him? 
 
And it couldn’t just be that he wanted to fuck him.  While Thor definitely
wanted to fuck him—he was looking forward to that with almost an unfathomable
sense of urgency—he knew it was more than just that.  He fucked a lot of
people.  It kind of came along with being attractive, 6’4,” stacked with
muscle, and dangerous.  People flocked to that.  And Thor never had to work for
it.  He hadn’t remembered really feeling anticipationabout a conquest since he
was in his teens.  And that was before he realized that acting aloof actually
got him further than acting interested.  
 
But with Loki, the anticipation was suddenly back.  Maybe it was that sense of
not knowing.  That he had gone so long knowing that he wanted, and yet he
hadn’t tasted the forbidden fruit yet.  He and Loki were playing this cat and
mouse game—preventing Thor from just taking when he wanted to—and that sense of
being denied made Loki interesting. 
 
But maybe things would change once Thor actually got what he wanted.
 
Smirking to himself as he picked back up the hammer he had abandoned, Thor
nodded, telling himself that was what he needed to do.
 
He needed to taste the fruit.     
===============================================================================
Loki hadn’t been able to find an opportunity to sneak back out into the
backyard to see Thor after his father had called him inside.  As he hurriedly
made his way across the yard and back to the house, where his father was
waiting for him by the back door, he had been nervous that his father was going
to yell at him about something—you could never really tell when your parent
shouts your name whether it was going to be something good or bad. 
 
But apparently all Laufey had wanted to tell him was that a client he had
scheduled for the afternoon had cancelled and he wanted to take advantage of
the unexpected free evening by going out and getting groceries so they could
cook (and actually eat) dinner together.  It was an unexpected change in
events, and even though Loki thought it was a little dorky he still found
himself smiling and agreeing to it.  It had really been too long since they had
done something like that and Loki imagined it’d be good to cut through the
sometimes awkward tension between them that had been rising lately.
 
So Loki found himself piling into his dad’s car and watching out of the window
as they drove past the backyard and saw Volstagg and Hogun seemingly arguing
about the hole they were digging (or filling, Loki couldn’t be sure).  Loki
couldn’t see Thor from the street and he felt a pang of disappointment as they
drove away. 
 
The shopping trip turned into more than just groceries, with them stopping into
a few clothing stores in the shopping center and even an electronics store
after Loki had pointed out a new computer game in the window that he had been
eyeing.  By the time they were returning from their outing, it was already late
afternoon and they could see Thor and his friends packing up the van as Laufey
parked the car.  As Loki helped his dad unload the groceries from the car, he
listened to Laufey saying goodbye to the guys, and watched covertly as Thor
lifted heavy tools and loaded them into the back of the van. 
 
Right after slamming the van’s door shut, Thor looked up and met Loki’s eyes. 
And Loki felt his stomach do that flip again.  Flushing, he looked away, but
not before seeing Thor’s lips quirk up in a self-satisfied smirk.  Loki ducked
his head back into the trunk of the car to grab another bag, and listened as
the guys called their goodbyes to him and his father.  He didn’t come back up
until he heard the van pulling away. 
 
“Why’re you so red?” Laufey asked as he looked at Loki, an eyebrow arched in
confusion.
 
“It’s hot out here,” Loki said quickly as he made his way around his father,
avoiding his eyes.  “Let’s get in the house!  I’m starving.”  
____________
On Thursday morning, Loki woke up to a string of (whiny) texts from Tony
begging him to come meet him at the library.  From what Loki could gather,
apparently Tony wanted to go “visit” Steve but had been explicitly warned by
the older blond that he would not be allowed in by himself because he was prone
to “causing trouble.”  Bruce was out of the question since he was in the city
meeting with a professor he wanted to collaborate with for some of his
dissertation research.  He had invited Tony to come along, but Tony had said
he’d rather spoon out his own eyeballs.  So Tony needed Loki. 
 
And since there had been no response from Loki for most of the morning (because
he was asleep, which Tony never quite seemed to respect), Tony had already
started bartering, promising to treat Loki to lunch.  Or buy him a copy of one
of his games that Loki had said he really liked.  He even offered to let Loki
drive his car around town, even though he knew Loki didn’t have a learner’s
permit. 
 
Tossing his phone on the bed, Loki let out a disgruntled sigh before rolling
over on to his stomach and bruying his face in his pillow.  Loki didn’t need
all those promises of gifts and favors.  They made no difference in the fact
that Loki really didn’t want to go.  Not when he hadn’t seen Thor for days and
yesterday Thor’s eyes had looked so hungry.  Just the thought of it made Loki’s
stomach squeeze pleasantly. 
 
But, Loki was also a good friend.  The thought that Tony—as annoying as the
older boy was—“needed” him made Loki feel obligated to help out.  Even though
it was for a stupid reason. And likely nothing good would come from it.  And
Loki would likely have a miserable time.  But he couldn’t begrudge Tony having
a crush; Loki knew what that was like.  And, besides, it was refreshing once in
a while to see Tony let his guard down and show his true colors.  The fact that
Tony was even respectingSteve’s rules was a clear indicator that he must really
like and respect the straight-laced librarian and that he badly wanted to see
Steve.
 
It was kind of cute.
 
Cute was something Tony Stark didn’t often personify, and Loki could already
imagine the number of ways he could tease Tony about it in the future.  With a
sigh, Loki realized his mind was already made up.  He would be disappointed
that he wouldn’t get a chance to see Thor that day, but he promised himself
he’d make up for it on Friday.  He’d make it a pool day and spend as much time
out in the yard as he could.  He’d get a chance to see Thor and maybe… do some
other things.  Just the thought of it made him blush.
 
Giggling softly to himself, Loki pushed himself up on his elbows and typed out
a quick reply to Tony.
 
Loki:  I’ll take pity on you.  Meet me at the library in an hour.  
===============================================================================
Unfortunately, it took Loki quite a bit more than an hour to actually make it
to the library.  When he was getting ready to leave the house, his father had
intercepted him, announcing he was also going to be heading in to work soon,
and offered to give Loki a ride into town.  Loki had protested of course—who
wanted to be dropped off by their parent?—but the more he declined the more
adamant Laufey had been about taking him. 
 
Loki wondered if his father was for some reason suddenly suspicious about what
Loki got up to in his free time, and if he was lying about where he said he was
going.  Loki immediately regretted facetiously suggesting he was taking drugs
to his father the last time they had argued.  He definitely did not need Laufey
suddenly paying more attention to his comings and goings. 
 
When Laufey finally dropped Loki off at the library in the center of town, Loki
could feel his father watching him the entire time he made his way up the grand
cement steps.  Shaking his head, Loki gave his father a cursory, dismissive,
wave over his shoulder before pushing open the heavy glass and wood doors and
stepping into the cool confines of the library.  He immediately felt relaxed,
breathing in deep the smells of polished wood and old books. 
 
Taking out his phone, he glanced down to see the number of texts Tony had sent
after Loki had told him he was going to be late. Shaking his head, Loki looked
up and around the library to try to find Tony.  It wasn’t long before Loki
spied him, sitting exactly at the same table he had been sitting at the first
day he had met him and Bruce there.  Conveniently located as close to the
circulation desk—and Steve—as possible. 
 
He couldn’t hear what Tony was saying, but the older boy was leaned back in his
chair, mouth moving a mile a minute, apparently in the middle of regaling Steve
with some kind of story.  Loki had to hold back a laugh as he watched Steve
leaned over the desk, trying to peruse a register, with two fingers pressed
against his temple and a tight expression on his face, as if he was already
experiencing a headache. 
 
It looked like the blond needed a break.  Loki quickly made his way across the
shiny wood floors and toward the pair.
 
“Finally,” Tony remarked once he saw Loki approaching.
 
“See??” he asked as he turned to address Steve over his shoulder.  “I didn’t
make it up.  He really was on his way.”
 
Steve looked up and gave Loki a pleased, albeit weary-looking, smile. 
 
“Long time no see.  If you didn’t show up within the next half hour I was going
to ask him to leave,” Steve said.
 
Loki laughed as he waved in greeting at Steve.
 
“Why do you always act like that Steve?  You know you’d be bored out of your
mind if I didn’t come visit you once in a while.  Really, I’m doing you a
favor,” Tony said as he grinned at him.
 
Steve rolled his eyes, but Loki could tell that his exasperation was only
feigned. 
 
“Now that you’re here, Loki, I’ll trust that you’ll keep Tony busy so I can
actually take care of my work?” Steve asked as he gestured down to the thick
catalog in front of him.
 
“Yup, I’m here to babysit,” Loki said as he gave Steve a thumbs-up and slid
into the chair across from Tony.
 
Tony rolled his eyes.
 
“I’m not the one who needs babysitting.  Have you even hit puberty yet?” he
asked.
 
Loki glared at him, and ignored the chuckle that came from Steve’s direction.
 
“So, what’s going on with you?  Your dad’s suddenly turned into a helicopter
parent?” Tony asked, with an eyebrow arched.   
 
Loki let out a dramatic sigh.
 
“I mean, I don’t get what’s with him lately.  He goes from super MIA to super
hands on and then disappears again.  He needs to learn how to strike a
balance.  Basically, he’s left me up to my own devices all summer, not seeming
to care, mind you, that he picked me up and moved me across the country away
from all my friends,” Loki complained.  “I don’t think I exactly owe him an
explanation as to what I’ve found to do with my spare time.” 
 
Tony laughed.
 
“Well, he probably thinks you’re getting up to some weird shit.  You can be a
bit shifty,” Tony said.
 
Loki stuck his tongue out at him.
 
“Shifty?  What about you? If my dad really knew what kind of person you were he
probably wouldn’t even let me hang out with you,” Loki said.
 
Tony feigned offense, grabbing at his chest as if scandalized.
 
“What’re you talking about? I’m a model citizen,” Tony said, trying to hold a
straight face.
 
Loki snickered and rolled his eyes.  Almost everything he did with Tony
involved some harebrained plan that was likely to get them in trouble.  But it
wasn’t like Loki was some goody two shoes who shied away from breaking rules. 
He and his friends back home had gotten up to quite a lot of trouble on their
own as well.  But at least he and his other friends knew they were breaking
rules—they just chose to do it anyway.  Tony seemed to not get that rules
applied to him.  Which made him seem all the more reckless to Loki.  Was that
what being filthy rich was like? 
 
“Shit, Bruce is calling,” Tony said as his phone started ringing, some loud,
obnoxious techno-sounding song—not surprising coming from Tony—filling the
quiet library.  
 
Tony pulled his phone out and engaged the call.
 
“Brucie!!” Tony said, smiling.  “So nice of you to finally return my call. 
Guess who I’m with.  Loki!  He’s showing you up for friend of the year,
Banner.” 
 
Loki laughed and shook his head.
 
“Shh,” Steve hissed at Tony from his position at the desk behind him.  “Take it
outside.”
 
“Are you serious?” Tony asked with a frown as he pulled the phone away from his
ear and looked around the sparsely populated library.
 
Steve gave him a warning look and Tony let out a defeated sigh.
 
“Fine,” he said as he pushed to his feet. “I’ll be right back.” 
 
Loki watched as Tony made his way toward the main doors, listening as he told
Bruce “Can you believe Steve’s making me go outside?”
 
When Tony was out of sight, Loki could hear the sound of the divider that
separated the circulation desk from the main floor and the backroom lifting and
turned back around to see Steve coming out to greet him.
 
“I don’t know how to put up with that guy,” Steve said with an exasperated
chuckle.  “He’s taking years off my life.”
 
Loki laughed.
 
“Well, it can’t be that bad.  You always blush when Tony flirts with you,” Loki
said.
 
“If I blush—key word if—it’s because Tony says extremely inappropriate things,”
Steve said in his defense. 
 
Loki smiled and gave him a knowing look and Steve could only shake his head in
exasperation.
 
“So… I’m actually glad I got a chance to talk to you one-on one,” Steve said,
and Loki stared at him curiously, wondering where Steve was going with this. 
The blond was giving him a serious look.
 
“Tony was telling me that you guys had quite the exciting weekend,” Steve said,
blond brows furrowing.
 
“It wasn’t my idea,” Loki said preemptively.
 
Steve sighed.
 
“Believe me, I figured that.  But I still need to talk to you about this.  The
city’s a very different place than the suburbs, Loki,” Steve warned him.
 
“Apparently.  Everyone’s been telling me that,” Loki said, exasperatedly as he
pulled out his phone.  Yet another lecture?  
 
“Are you still hanging around Thor?” Steve asked.
 
Loki stilled, his fingers pausing over his phone and looked up at Steve,
blanching slightly.  Whenever Steve brought up Thor, Loki couldn’t help but get
extremely nervous.  He didn’t want Steve, of all people, to find out about him
and Thor.  More than anything, it was because he didn’t want anyone telling him
he should stop, and Steve would definitelytell him to stay as far away from
Thor as possible.  But he also didn’t want Steve to be disappointed in him. 
And Steve seemed to have such a bad impression of Thor that Loki strongly
believed he would be thoroughly disappointed if Loki said anything even
remotely pro-Thor.
 
“I don’t know why you keep saying that.  It’s not like Thor and I meet up for
coffee or play Xbox together,” Loki said, dropping his eyes back down to his
phone screen, trying to act as nonchalant as he could.
 
“Loki look at me.  I want to have a serious conversation here,” Steve said as
he sat down across from him.
 
Loki sighed as he put his phone down.
 
“Doesn’t it kind of seem like I don’t want to talk about this?” he asked with a
shrug, letting out an uncomfortable laugh. “I mean… I told you. Thor is just
the guy doing some work on my house this summer.  That’s the extent of any
interactions I have with him.”
 
Loki found that that wasn’t that hard to say. It was kind of true.  The extent
of their interactions had revolved around Thor being at Loki’s house this
summer.  He just wasn’t being so truthful about what he and Thor got up to when
he was around.  Loki felt his face heat, and glanced down at the table.
 
But it seemed Steve wasn’t paying too much attention to Loki’s reactions as he
let out a loud sigh.
 
“I felt a bit awkward bringing this up before—it’s not usually in my nature to
pry or get into other people’s business. And Thor and I… well, we used to be
friends, so I don’t like to bad mouth him or anything,” Steve began, looking a
bit uncomfortable himself.
 
Loki’s brows furrowed.  Steve was such a nice guy.  And it seemed obvious that
this conversation was the last thing he wanted to be doing right now.  Yet, he
was still doing it. 
 
“But now hearing that the three of you guys went out to that club on Saturday,
I feel as if I’d be doing you a disservice if I wasn’t a little more real with
you.  Maybe it’ll help you understand better if I don’t talk in vague hints and
suggestions,” Steve said, frowning, as if he was disappointed with himself for
not taking this approach in the first place.
 
“I told you I’m intending on joining the police force after I graduate, right?”
Steve asked as he looked at Loki, waiting for him to nod before he continued
on.  “I’ve interned with them a few summers.  And I think those experiences
have helped shed light on what’s really going on in this place, more than what
the average townsperson would know.” 
 
“More than 40% of this area’s narcotics pass through The Realm.  The force
suspects a number of other contraband passes through there as well, like guns,
laundered money, smuggled liquor and goods.  People also go there to broker
loans and under the table business relationships.  And when someone can’t make
good on their bargain, bad things happen.  A number of missing persons cases
have involved many of the people who frequent that club.  Suspected murders as
well,” Steve said.  “These are the kinds of things someone like Thor and his
friends are associated with.”
 
Loki’s eyes widened.  It wasn’t that he was so surprised—he had used his own
imagination to think up some of the possible things Thor and his friends got up
to.  But a lot of what he knew were just rumors people—mostly Tony—would
whisper.  And while Thor made sure to insinuate that he was a “very bad man,”
Loki could never be sure how much of it was talk and how much of it was true. 
Having Thor tell him about his guns had definitely been sobering.  But it was
still difficult to really think of generally friendly people like Volstagg,
Fandral and Hogun being ruthless criminals.  It was so much more real when
another person confirmed it though. 
 
“Have you… have you ever seen them do any of this stuff?” Loki asked quietly,
biting on his lip in consternation.
 
He didn’t really know how to feel about it.  Sure, the idea that Thor and his
friends were capable of killing was scary.  But Loki also knew that he felt
protected and safe at the thought that Thor was so powerful—so feared.  That if
there really were dangerous things out there, Thor would be able to keep him
safe from it.  He wasn’t quite sure knowing what Thor was capable of was
something he would have trouble living with. 
 
“No,” Steve said, with an angry-sounding scoff.  “These groups are too smart to
get caught by the cops.  How do you think they’ve become so established?  It’s
because they operate in an underworld where there’s an unspoken rule that no
one talks.” 
 
Loki blinked at Steve in surprise.  Clearly crime was something Steve felt
passionately about.  Loki wondered if there was more of a story there.
 
“But, I’ve known Thor since we were in grade school,” Steve said, continuing
with a more calm voice.  “He has a pretty wicked temper.  So I have seen him
beat people pretty bad.  And that’s with his bare hands.  But Thor has calmed
down quite a bit since we were kids, and really hasn’t been caught up in
physical fights for which he could get arrested in quite a while.  But I don’t
think that makes him any less dangerous.  It just means he can better channel
his actions into calculated aggression.  I keep saying that guy should invest
his time into more positive activities…”
 
Loki wasn’t surprised to hear that Thor’s physicality was one of his greatest
weapons.  Part of what he loved so much about Thor was how big he was—how big
his hands were, how powerful his body felt.  Loki was sure that if Thor
actually had to put that physical strength to the test, there wouldn’t be many
who could stand their own against him.   
 
“But, what I’m trying to say here, Loki, is that, I getit. Okay?” Steve said,
drawing Loki out of his musings.  “Even with all his flaws, even I have to
admit that Thor is charismatic.  I don’t fault you for being drawn to him. And
maybe thinking he’s cool.  Or that his lifestyle is attractive.  It makes sense
that you want to hang around with him, maybe find out more about him and what
he does.  But I don’t want you making mistakes at such a young age.  You know,
getting in with the wrong people. It’s dangerous.  He’sdangerous, Loki.”
 
Loki flushed.  What did Steve think?  That Thor had him running drugs for him
or something?  The thought was almost laughable.  And so very far from the
truth. But Loki didn’t know what would be worse for Steve to believe—that Loki
liked Thor enough that he would let him involve him in criminal activity, or
that Loki liked Thor enough that he was very strongly considering letting said
dangerous man fuck him.   All he could picture was Steve’s scandalized face if
he found out what was really going on.  
 
But even though Loki knew Steve was probably right—there was so much telling
him that Steve was right—it did nothing to lessen how badly Loki just wanted to
be Thor’s.  And if that meant lying through his teeth to his friend so that the
older man would just leave him to walk down the path into Hell on his own, then
so be it. 
 
“Steve, I appreciate your concern.  But, trust me, I know better than to get
involved with people like Thor,” Loki said.  “I don’t really talk to him other
than for things related to the work he does for my dad.  If we ever run into
each other outside of that, it’s purely by coincidence.”
 
He watched as Steve looked at him for a moment, as if trying to discern the
truth of his statement, and then the blond smiled and nodded at him.  He
reached over and patted Loki on the shoulder, seeming relieved.  
 
“Okay, I’m really glad to hear that, Loki,” Steve said.  “I know you’re new
here and still trying to figure things out. So I want to look out for you.”
 
“No, I totally get it.  You don’t need to worry about me, but thanks for taking
the time to talk to me about it in any case,” Loki said, ducking his head to
hide how guilty he felt. 
 
Just then they heard the sound of Tony’s sneakers squeaking on the polished
floor as he walked back over to them.
 
“What’s going on here?” Tony said, giving Loki and Steve as suspicious look. “I
step out for a few minutes and you two are getting all cozy.”
 
Steve let out an exasperated sigh as he stood to his feet.
 
“No, I was just taking the time to give Loki the same scolding I gave you about
your little outing last weekend,” Steve said, giving Tony a pointed look.
 
Tony pouted.
 
“Jeeze, are you serious?  I told you it was a mistake and we wouldn’t do it
again.  I can’t believe you gave Loki a “talking to.”  You’re only 27, Steve. 
Stop acting like everyone’s dad,” Tony said.
 
Steve flushed.
 
“I-I’m not.  I’m just worried about you guys,” he protested.
 
“Wait a second, actually….” Tony said as his eyes lit up and he gave Steve an
appreciative look.  “I think I can work with the Daddy angle.  If I’m bad, will
you punish me?”
 
Steve’s face reddened so fast Loki was actually impressed.
 
“That’s it.  Get out. Out,” Steve said, as he pointed at the door.
 
Tony burst into laughter.
 
“It’s a public space!  You can’t kick me out. I’m here to do work with my good
friend, Loki,” Tony said as he went over to Loki and grabbed his shoulders.
“Isn’t that right, Loki??”
 
Loki laughed and shrugged helplessly as he looked at Steve.
 
“Ugh.  Tony Stark, I swear if you talk to me again before my shift is over I
will personally ban you from this library.  Public or not,” Steve warned as he
stomped back to the circulation desk.
 
Once Steve was far enough away, Loki elbowed Tony in the side.
 
“You know, you could go a little easier on him.  I think we’re a little too old
for the kindergarten method of bullying the one you like,” Loki whispered to
him.
 
Tony laughed as he pulled out the chair next to Loki.
 
“Believe me, Steve is the type who needs to be worn down.  Once you get him
good and tuckered out, he’ll finally just give in,” Tony said with a smirk as
his eyes followed the tall blond, who was now filing returned books. 
 
“I don’t know.  I think if you just told him you honestly really liked him,
without making all the perverted jokes, maybe he’d actually take you
seriously,” Loki said, giving Tony a deadpan look.
 
Tony rolled his eyes and turned to face Loki.
 
“What would you even know about it?  You’re so obviously a virgin.  Sorry if I
don’t want to take advice from someone who doesn’t actually know how to pick up
guys,” Tony said with a laugh.
 
Loki blushed and sputtered.
 
“You don’t know that!” Loki defended himself.
 
Tony scoffed as he pulled out his phone.
 
“I can read it all over you like it was stamped on your forehead.  You can’t
even admit you like guys in the first place. I’m sure you wouldn’t know what to
do with a cock if it was staring you in the face,” Tony said matter-of-factly. 
 
Tony’s crass comment made Loki’s thoughts fill with unbidden thoughts and
images.  Of how, yes, the first time Thor had held him down he hadn’t known
what to do.  But now the thought of tasting Thor in that way always made Loki
squirm and his mouth water.  But that was nothing he was going to share with
Tony. 
 
“You’d be surprised,” Loki muttered, huffing as he crossed his arms.
 
Tony gave him a curious look and raised an eyebrow.
 
“Oh, you got some dirty details to share?” Tony asked.
 
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Loki asked as he turned away from Tony and made a
show of casually immersing himself in his phone, clearly dismissing Tony.  
 
He could feel Tony’s eyes on him for a few moments before the older boy
muttered out a “yeah, right” under his breath, then Loki could hear the sound
of a game coming from Tony’s phone. 
 
Loki wouldn’t admit it, but it bothered him that Tony was so smug about things
like that.  And that he somehow thought he had Loki pegged.  So what if Loki
didn’t have all that much “experience?”  Loki was sure that what he was getting
up to with Thor was far more exciting than anything Tony had ever done. 
Besides, Tony was quite the boaster—Loki took everything he said with a grain
of salt anyway.  It was highly likely that Tony’s claims were all bravado. 
 
But that didn’t stop Loki from feeling curious.  He wanted to know what those
things felt like himself.  He covertly opened up the texts he had received from
Thor over the last few weeks.  Thor had said so many things; made so many dark
and dirty promises.  They made Loki nervous but at the same time filled him
with dizzying anticipation.  There was something so exciting about knowing that
Thor would be this uncontrollable force, dominating him but bringing him to the
heights of pleasure all at the same time. Thor was always unpredictable. 
 
Loki wanted to be a little unpredictable too.  He wanted to show Thor that he
wasn’t the dumb, inexperienced kid that everyone seemed to think he was. Loki
wasn’t sure he was ready for everything, but he at least knew that he wanted
Thor.  And he was willing to be a little more daring if that meant he could
have him.
 
Maybe tomorrow he could show Thor that.  Maybe he could try to turn on some of
his charm, make Thor be the one caught off guard for once.  Loki blushed just
thinking about it. 
 
He couldn’t wait for tomorrow. 
===============================================================================
A/N:  So there we have it!  Please let me know your thoughts!  In the meantime,
I'm going to try to keep writing, celebrate getting another year older
(birthday's on the 13th!) and continue to procrastinate on my thesis (ugly
sobbing).  Feel free to come say hi to me over on tumblr!  xoxo
***** Chapter 9 *****
A/N:  Thanks for all your awesome feedback and your patience, as usual! Really,
you guys help keep me motivated to write this fic :).  This chapter has gone
unbeta-ed, so any mistakes are all mine! The struggle is real, y'all, but I
really wanted to get this up before the end of the year! (Here's an early
Christmas, Hannukah, Winter Solstice, and non-denominational/other holidays
gift to you guys XD)
 And as for what is going to happen in this chapter?  All I can say is….finally
popping that cherry ;3
===============================================================================
When Loki returned from the library with Tony, his thoughts had been filled
with ideas of his pool day and his plans to seduce Thor the next day.  But
Friday found Loki in a bad mood, as he sat pouting on the couch for the early
part of the afternoon.  It had been pouring when he woke up, all thoughts of
spending the day by the pool evaporating.  But what was even more disappointing
was that the crew hadn’t shown up.  While Loki was eating breakfast he had
eavesdropped on a call between his father and who he assumed was likely Thor. 
It seemed as if the crew wouldn’t be able to get any work done with all the
rain, but that if the weather let up later in the day they would come by. 
 
Loki’s mood was about as dour as the sky outside. 
 
So it came as no surprise that, when Laufey found him lazing on the couch, body
draped quite dramatically over the expanse of it, headphones on, and frown on
his face, Loki wasn’t the politest he could possibly be. 
 
“So, have you given it some thought?” Laufey asked as he came to a stop in
front of Loki and crossed his arms over his chest.
 
Loki wanted to pretend that he hadn’t heard his father over the music playing
in his headphones, but he knew Laufey wouldn’t be fooled.  It didn’t change the
fact that he didn’t want to have this conversation.  He knew exactly what
Laufey was referring to—a conversation they had had this morning—but Loki still
thought it was an insane proposition.  And the fact that his father had offered
it, at all, was insulting in itself. 
 
Seeing that Loki wasn’t going to respond, Laufey let out a heavy sigh. 
 
“Loki… you know, I think you should really consider coming with me tonight. 
Jarnsaxa would love for you to spend the weekend,” Laufey prodded. 
 
Loki rolled his eyes.  Did Laufey seriously believe that Loki would ever want
to spend the weekend with him and girlfriend?  Pretending like they were some
happy little faux family?  That was probably the last thing Loki could think of
for how he wanted to spend his weekend.  And it was offensive that Laufey still
couldn’t seem to understand that Loki wanted nothing to dowith that.  That he
wasn’t readyfor that.  And the fact that his father apparently was, made him
feel angry and betrayed. 
 
He had to fight back the urge to say something nasty.  Something along the
lines of “Oh, I wouldn’t want to get in the way of your weekend fuck-fest” had
come to mind.  But Loki wasn’t so sure he wouldn’t get slapped for saying
something like that.  Not that his father had ever done that before.  But Loki
knew there was always a line, and he was pretty skilled at dancing on the edge
of danger without ever unnecessarily going over it.   He'd like to keep it that
way.  Besides, making his father feel guilty was far more useful to him than
making his father angry.
 
“I’d rather stay here, thank you very much,” he said as he continued to click
aimlessly through the sites on his computer.
 
“But… you… We don’t spend a lot of time together, Loki,” Laufey tried.
 
Loki paused, fingers hovering over the keyboard.  He could hear the unspoken
plea for compromise in his father’s voice, but the situation made Loki bitter. 
Laufey realized he wasn’t spending time with his son, but he still thought
asking Loki to spend a weekend with him and his girlfriend was the appropriate
solution?  Loki suddenly felt an uncontrollable urge to be mean. 
 
“Big surprise there when the first thing you decide to do when you have a full
weekend off is to leave town,” Loki spat. 
 
Laufey let out a heavy sigh.
 
“We're going around in circles, Loki.  I know you’re angry about this, but
sometimes we just have to adapt to change.  These last couple of years have
been...hard for us.  But we both have to try.  I’m not going to force you, but
I can’t wait for you to meet me halfway forever,” Laufey said. 
 
“Meet you halfway?  When have you ever met me halfway?” Loki asked, finally
locking eyes with his father. 
 
Laufey’s jaw tightened visibly.
 
“You don’t think I’m meeting you halfway?  Allowing you to throw these little
tantrums and stomp around the house like you’ve suffered some type of grave
injustice?  Do you know how many people have it far worse than you, Loki?”
Laufey asked.
 
Loki frowned.
 
“But I doit,” Laufey continued, “because I understand that you’re in pain,
Loki. But if you refuse to talk to me about it, what do you expect me to do?  I
know this has been a big change, but do you ever wonder that maybe things would
have been harder if we stayed in New York?  That we would have been reminded of
her everywhere we went?  We were living in the past.” 
 
“And you’re living now like you want to completely erase her!” Loki shouted. 
 
Laufey looked stunned. Hurt.  And Loki immediately regretted what he said.  He
felt his bottom lip quiver, already poised to apologize for the mean jab.  But
then his father’s phone rang.  And Laufey pulled his eyes away from him. 
Almost as if he was relieved to not have to look at him. 
 
“We’ll…talk about this later,” Laufey said tightly, before he walked out of the
room. 
 
Loki sat there, feeling sorry for himself.  He didn’t know why he always ended
up being so nasty to his father.  He did blame him for a lot of the things he
felt were wrong with his life right now.  He didn’t, however, blame him for his
mother’s death.  But while her pictures were still prominently displayed around
the house (and Loki knew his father had kept a number of his mother’s things,
now tucked away at the back of his closet), they didn’t talk about her.  Loki
felt guilty about that.  Wasn’t it wrong for his father to “move on” so
quickly?  Wasn’t it wrong for them to have a “new” start?  Didn’t that sound as
if they were saying they were leaving her behind?
 
And even Loki, having moved to this new town, even with its ups and downs,
found himself thinking about his mother far less than when he lived in New
York.  Laufey was right.  There were reminders about her everywhere.  His
mother had bee a nurse at the only hospital in their town.  She volunteered in
the community.  And while Loki had regretted leaving his friends behind, it was
true that things had been somewhat difficult with them because they always
seemed to look at him with pity.  When holidays like Mother's Day,
Thanksgiving, or Christmas rolled around—things you’d likely spend with your
family—his friends always stumbled over their words, as if trying not to talk
about the nice time they had had with theirmothers.  It had always made Loki
feel guilty. Like he was some kind of burden.
 
Here, no one had really even asked about his mother.  They didn’t know anything
about his past, and he liked it that way. Steve, of course, being ever polite
and genuinely interested, had asked about his parents early on, and Loki had
considered not telling him.  He had ultimately decided to divulge to the
friendly librarian, and while Steve had expressed his genuine condolences it
didn’t hurt as badly as when he had to talk about it with someone who had known
his mother for his entire life. 
 
And he liked that Tony and Bruce seemed to just take him for what he was.  They
hadn’t needed to know very much about him before bringing him in to their inner
circle.  And they seemed to accept him unconditionally.  (Even if Tony would
like to pretend otherwise.)  Loki didn’t need to focus so much of his energy on
maintaining a strong façade like he had around his old friends and schoolmates,
when he was looked at with pity.  As the kid with the “dead mom.”  It was
strangely freeing to not be known.  To be able to be a regular teenager.   
 
And Thor…? Well, Loki was sure Thor wasn’t at all interested in knowing much
more about him than the here and now.  And even if Thor did know—it was likely
he had found out from Loki’s father—Loki was sure the last thing Thor would do
would be to pity him.  And while there were many things about Thor’s attitude
that Loki took issue with, his honesty and blunt nature were some of the things
Loki actually really admired about him. Thor wasn’t deceitful.  He made it
clear what he wanted, and what he was thinking. And there was something
immensely freeing about that as well.  Thor was unpredictable, but Loki had
started to realize that he had gotten tired of predictable.  Tired of routine.
 
Loki’s thoughts were interrupted when Laufey walked back into the room.
 
“So, it looks like Thor and the boys will be heading over here soon,” Laufey
said as he held up his phone.  “The worst of the rain seems to be over and the
forecast predicts clear skies for the rest of the day.  They’re going to work
into the evening to make up for the lost time.  So you might want to consider
taking your pity party upstairs if you don’t want to be interrupted by the
noise.” 
 
Loki had enough sense to look properly chastised. All of the fight that had
been amping him up only a few minutes ago had all but fizzled out now.  But he
also couldn’t deny that his mood had perked up when his father mentioned that
Thor would be coming over after all. 
 
Seeming satisfied that his message had gotten across, Laufey made to leave, but
then turned on his heel right before he reached the entranceway to the living
room, as if he just remembered something.
 
“And try to stay out of their way, Loki,” Laufey suggested. 
 
Loki’s eyebrows rose in surprise.
 
“I know I had originally suggested you show some interest in their work to get
you out of the house.  But you’re out there pretty often chatting with them,”
Laufey said, looking at him curiously.  “And while that’s nice, and I’m happy
to see you being a bit more outgoing, I’m starting to notice they get easily
distracted.  That one Fandral seems to sit around more than anything else.  And
Volstagg is going to end up eating us out of house and home.  I’d like this
project to be over sooner, rather than later, and we’ve already had a number of
setbacks.”
 
Loki felt his face flushing, and tried to hide it by ducking his head and
focusing back on his computer.
 
“I don’t intend to go out there today anyway,” Loki muttered. “It’ll be all
gross and wet.”
 
“Hmm,” was all Laufey said, before he left.
 
Loki frowned down at his keyboard.  Even his father had noticed how often he
went out there and interacted with Thor and his friends.  Laufey had looked
perplexed; like he couldn’t quite understand what the appeal was for Loki. 
Loki just hoped he hadn’t noticed that, more than anything, Loki was interested
in Thor.  And as soon as Laufey started to suspect something, it would all come
crashing down around them.  Best case scenario, Laufey would pack them up and
move them off to some other place where Loki would have to readjust all over
again. Worst case scenario?  He’d actually confront Thor, and there were a
number of really disturbing outcomes that could stem from that, that Loki
didn’t want to even think about.  
 
Loki bit his lip and stared out the window, watching the clouds with
consternation.  He knew they were playing a dangerous game.  But for some
reason he just didn’t want to give Thor up.  That, in itself, should have been
concerning to him, but it wasn’t.  And that was the problem. 
 
Looking away, Loki let out a heavy sigh and wondered if maybe he should rethink
things.  Before they went too far.  Before he got involved in something he
couldn’t get himself out of.     
===============================================================================
When Thor arrived at Laufey’s house, he was riding the tail end of an
adrenaline high.  He switched his truck into park and flexed his hands on the
steering wheel, looking down at his bruised knuckles.  He grinned, remembering
back to how they had spent the earlier part of their day. 
 
Although the rain had postponed their plans to continue working on the
construction project, none of them had been particularly disheartened by it. 
Because just that morning, Odin had sent a message saying that he had a “job”
for them.  So Thor and the Warriors Three found themselves walking into
Johnson’s Liquor Store on the outskirts of the city.  It was still early in the
morning, so no customers were around.  But with just a head nod from Thor,
Hogun was flipping the “Open” sign to “Closed,” locking the door behind them,
and turning out the lights in the front room.  There was one scrawny, high-
school-age kid manning the register and all Thor had to do was raise one finger
up to his lips and the boy nodded quickly holding his hands up and pointing
toward the back office. 
 
The four of them walked quietly into the back room, startling the six men
sitting there, parsing through boxes of contraband products. 
 
“Borson!” the fattest one said as he stood to his feet.
 
Volstagg stood in front of the door, blocking it, while Fandral and Hogun stood
on either side of Thor.
 
“Johnson,” Thor said simply.  “I’m sure you know why I’m here?”  
 
Johnson glared, his fat face flushing red.  The other men jumped to their feet,
looking similarly angry, but Thor could also see fear in many of their faces. 
They were smart.  Or at least he hoped so. 
 
“You can’t just come in here.  I told your father we would settle up next
month,” Johnson said as he backed up.
 
Thor grinned.  No one just told Odin they’d settle up later.  Money was due
when it was due.  And Johnson had been short this month.  So Odin had sent them
over there to make a point.  No guns, no weapons.  Just good old fashioned
skull-bashing.  But that was only because this was a first warning.  And they
were only short five grand from their monthly fifteen.  If they hadn’t paid at
all?  Well, this meeting would be going a bit differently. 
 
“Well, since I’m standing here, I’m sure you understand that my father didn’t
quite appreciate that message,” Thor said as he cracked his knuckles.  “That’s
just not how we do business.”
 
Johnson scowled. 
 
What happened next was a flurry of activity.  One of the guys to their left
picked up a bottle of vodka, smashing it and rushing toward Thor.  Hogun jumped
between them deflecting the blow with a quick elbow to the man’s neck.  To
Thor’s right, another of Johnson’s goons had picked up a bat that was tucked
away in the corner and was lunging at Fandral.  Volstagg charged from his
position by the door, body-slamming two of the men who appeared to be reaching
for something underneath the desk. And then everyone was fighting; fists
swinging, chairs breaking, glass shattering.  Through all of this, it did not
go unnoticed by Thor that Johnson had scrambled toward a back door and was
making his getaway.  Thor followed him. 
 
When Thor found him, Johnson was standing by his car, fiddling with his keys. 
Thor whistled to get his attention and when Johnson looked up to see him
standing there he dropped his keys in fright.  Thor grinned, feeling the
familiar thrill of a fight start coursing through his blood, before he brought
his fist down, a sickening crack resounding through the deserted parking lot. 
 
When he walked back into the office some time later, he quickly took account of
the damage they had left.  All five of Johnson’s men were laid out on the
floor, groaning and bleeding, and a bit worse for wear, but looking otherwise
whole.  Thor couldn’t say the same for Johnson.  Odin had told him to just
rough them up.   Thor hoped leaving Johnson with a jaw that would probably need
to be wired back together fell within the purview of what his father would
accept. 
 
He called his father to report their progress, and that Johnson had promised
(through a mouth full of blood) that Odin would have the rest of the money by
the end of the day.  Odin seemed pleased.  He then told Thor that he expected
them to make their way over to Laufey’s following their stop at Johnson’s
store.  According to Odin, the project was taking longer than anticipated and
he wanted them to speed things up.  While engaging in legitimate work on the
side was expected to keep suspicions low, too many complications related to
their family business had been popping up that summer that he needed them on,
and he didn’t like having to split their time.  Protecting the family’s
interests was more important, even if it meant having to field more questions
from nosy cops than they were used to.  He had even mentioned to Thor the idea
of assigning two of the Warriors to finish the project and pulling Thor and
someone else off so they could focus more on enforcement for the family
business. 
 
Thor had frowned at that.  Any other time before this he would have killed to
have his father pull him from a construction project.  Thor liked working with
his hands and building, but he wanted to be further entrenched in his father’s
real business.  But as soon as Odin suggested pulling him from this project,
Thor found himself feeling somewhat cheated.  Like he’d be missing out if he
wasn’t there.  Thor knew exactly what he’d feel like he was missing out on, but
he didn’t let himself entertain the thought too much. 
 
Instead, he told Odin that pulling them off the project wasn’t necessary.  That
they should be done in just a few short weeks, guaranteed.  And that he would,
personally, make sure the crew stayed on task and completed the job without
cutting any corners.  He told his father he didn’t want Laufey to lose faith in
them, or think that they didn’t prioritize his project, because that would be
bad for business.  Odin had seemed to agree.  For now.
   
And now Thor found himself helping to unload more materials from the truck as
he and his friends prepared to get back to work, and all he really wanted to do
was anything but.  Stopping in his tracks, he looked up at the familiar window
that faced the backyard.  He could see a light on in the room.  It was a
shame.  Thor felt exceptionally pent up.  Like there was an itch he couldn’t
scratch.  And seeing Loki—teasing him, playing their little game—felt like
exactly what he needed today. 
 
However, in actuality, Thor was already more than tired of the game.  He wanted
more. But there were very few opportunities to get Loki alone long enough for
what he really wanted.   And that reality was driving Thor crazy.  He was at
the point where there was a high chance he was going to act recklessly.  And
that was something he wasn’t going to let himself do for a bratty 15-year-old,
no matter how pretty his eyes, or tempting his mouth.   
 
“Thor, what’re you doing?  Help me with this!” Fandral called out, breaking
into his thoughts.
 
Thor turned toward him to see Fandral struggling with a heavy slab of stone he
was unloading from the van. 
 
“It’s Friday for crying out loud,” Fandral said.  “It’s already a pain that
your dad wants us to step the speed up.  I’m not trying to be here late on a
weekend.”
 
Thor rolled his eyes and nodded.   He found himself fighting the urge to turn
back and look at Loki’s window again. 
 
Maybe he needed the distraction anyway.
===============================================================================
Laufey shook his head as he stepped outside and locked the door behind him,
hefting a small duffle bag over his shoulder.  It was approaching 6:00, and
while he had made a valiant effort, in his opinion, to convince Loki to join
him for the weekend with Jarnsaxa, he couldn’t spend any more time lingering if
he wanted to make it for the dinner reservations they had at 8.  He was already
going to be cutting it close.  The drive usually took about an hour and a half,
if there wasn’t traffic.
 
Frowning, Laufey made his way over to his car.  He didn’t like the idea of
leaving Loki alone by himself for the weekend.  But Loki was15.  He would be
16, soon, actually, in just under three months.  It wasn’t like he couldn’t be
left on his own.  But it still made Laufey a little uncomfortable.  He trusted
Loki, for the most part, but he knew how stupid kids could get when left up to
their own devices.  He had been a kid once, as well. 
 
He knew Loki had bene hanging out with two neighborhood boys for the better
part of the summer: Tony Stark and Bruce Banner.  Laufey had asked around about
them.  Both boys were apparently geniuses, having placed out of regular
education and currently pursuing accelerated advanced degrees.  Most of what he
heard about Bruce had been positive—a quiet boy with a good head on his
shoulders, who generally liked to keep to himself and didn’t seem to associate
with many other kids his age, except for Tony Stark, who he had been best
friends with since grammar school.  Bruce seemed like a perfectly acceptable
friend for Loki.  Besides, maybe his dedication to schooling would rub off on
Loki, who was bright, but quickly grew bored with the material he was learning
in school. 
 
It was the Stark boy, however, that concerned Laufey.  He was apparently the
son of the wealthiest people in the town (wealthiest people in the state, it
seemed, as well).  From what Laufey had gathered, Tony Stark was privileged and
reckless, with parents who were rarely around and a credit card with a
nonexistent limit.  The boy had no rules; no control.  He definitely wasn’t the
kind of influence Loki, who already liked to push limits, needed.  Laufey
couldn’t quite understand what the appeal was for Loki anyway, who he knew
liked to be the smartest person in the room and didn’t often respond well to
posturing and bravado from others.  The way others in the town described the
young Stark, it seemed like the word obnoxious was high on the list for many
people.
 
But while Laufey couldn’t quite make sense of Loki’s choice in friends, there
was also little he could do to intervene in any relationships Loki decided to
strike up with these boys.  It appeared Tony didn’t have a criminal
record—which was the first thing Laufey had investigated about him—so he didn’t
have a good reason to tell Loki to stay away from him.  And without that,
Laufey wasn’t going to be the kind of “because I say so” type of parent and
forbid Loki from interacting with Stark, purely because he didn’t like the
sound of him.  He knew Loki was finding it hard to make friends here.  What
kind of father would he be if he restricted him from one of the only two
friends he had? 
 
Laufey didn’t really know what Loki got up to when he spent time with Banner
and Stark though.  And no matter how much he asked, all he ever got was some
grunted answer or a disinterested shrug from his son.  His teen.  It was to be
expected, Laufey knew.  But it didn’t make it any easier.  What had happened to
the little, affectionate toddler who used to follow him around, staring up at
him with big, green eyes?   Lately, all he saw those green eyes do was roll
every time Loki thought his back was turned. 
 
But even with all the attitude, Laufey knew Loki had a good head on his
shoulders.  But he had been acting quite strangely all summer. Like he had some
kind of secret.  But Laufey didn’t see any particularly concerning signs to tip
him off to any specific issue.  Loki didn’t sneak out late at night.  He didn’t
seem to be dabbling in any substances either.  Laufey was ashamed to admit it,
but he had even spent one afternoon when Loki was out with his friends
searching his room and hadn’t come across anything; not even stashed porn.  The
most he found was a half-empty bottle of lube in his nightstand drawer, but
that didn’t even faze him.  He was just happy he hadn’t found drugs.  It really
seemed like all Loki wanted to do with his time was read comics, play video
games and text, excessively.  Which all seemed to be quite consistent with what
one would expect from a modern day teenager. But while one teenager was
manageable, teenagers in packs were a different story. 
 
So while Laufey didn’t like the idea of Loki staying home by himself, he
disliked the idea more of Loki spending the night over at the Stark boy’s house
when he was out of town.  So he had made it clear to Loki that if he was going
to stay home he was not to go out at night and he was definitely not to have
anyone over.  Laufey didn’t know how much Loki would actually listen to him. 
But he had put on his no-nonsense face while he had laid down the rules.  The
town was small enough that Laufey thought his threat that he “would know” if
Loki disobeyed held enough weight that Loki would not try to risk it.  Loki
knew Laufey was the king of grounding, and would restrict Loki from anything
that wasn’t strictly necessary for survival if he found himself in the
unfortunate position of being punished.  On top of not being able to leave the
house, Loki would lose his computer, his phone, his games, all his books, and
the TV, for weeks, if he got grounded.  The look Loki gave him as he left made
Laufey confident that the boy was not willing to risk his summer ending in what
was akin to solitary confinement. 
 
Laufey shook his head as he pulled his car keys out of his pocket.  He didn’t
wantto be the bad guy all the time.  He had left Loki with a stocked fridge and
$50 to get him through the weekend, in case he wanted to pig out on junk food. 
While he wouldn’t be able to get up to foolishness with his friends while
Laufey was gone, he still thought Loki should be able to have a nice weekend.
 
As he pressed the button to unlock his car door, the sound of a buzz saw
whirring cut into his thoughts and he turned to look back toward his back
yard.  He had forgotten that the Borson company boys were still in his back
yard.  He had just assumed, with it being so late, that they had already gone
home. His schedule was so erratic that he was often gone before the crew showed
up in the morning and came home hours after they had already left.  It was
normal for him to go days without seeing them in person, even though he could
see the progress, little by little, being made on the project.  It was rare for
them to still be there past 4:00 on a Friday afternoon, but the set back with
the rain had shifted their schedule.   
 
An idea came to Laufey’s mind, and putting his keys back in his pocket he
turned and headed toward the backyard.  Pushing open the gate, he took a quick
look around the yard, spying Hogun and Volstagg working on the saw, cutting
what appeared to be a number of paving stones.  He couldn’t see Fandral, but he
wasn’t surprised.  He had noticed that Fandral was very often conveniently
absent when actual work, or heavy lifting, was being done.  But he did seem to
have an eye for design, Laufey had to give him that. 
 
He paused as he came across the hunched over form of Thor, working, seemingly
painstakingly, on an intricate paving pattern for the walkway.  Laufey observed
him for a few moments.  The man was strapping—tall and muscular, with sun-
bronzed skin.  His body was the epitome of youth.  Laufey felt a sudden, yet
fleeting, spike of envy.  But he quickly shook it off.  With age came wisdom,
and there were many things about being in his 20s that had led him to do very
stupid things.   
 
As he approached Thor, Laufey could see that the man’s knuckles were bruised—a
clear indicator that he had hit something, or someone—recently, and he had to
hold back a rueful smile.
 
“Staying late?” Laufey asked.
 
He watched on curiously as Thor’s body went completely still.  It wasn’t the
“startle” reaction most people would have when taken unawares. Instead of
seeming thrown off, Thor appeared on alert; as if his body was coiled for
action.  But then the tension quickly melted from his form, and he turned
around to look up at Laufey.
 
“Yeah… Figured I’d get the rest of this walkway done before the weekend.  It’ll
probably take us another hour or so, and then we can let it set until we get
back on Monday,” Thor explained.
 
His blue eyes then flitted over Laufey’s form, as if taking everything in, and
lingered on the small duffle bag clutched in his left hand.
 
“Going somewhere?” he asked, blond brow arched as he nodded toward the bag.
 
Laufey flushed and adjusted the bag, suddenly feeling awkward to mention his
weekend plans. 
 
“Um… going to visit a…a friend,” he said.
   
That blond eyebrow arched a bit higher, and there appeared to be a smirk
tugging at the corner of Thor’s lip.  Laufey decided to ignore it.  He didn’t
need some cocky 20-something making fun of him.  He came out here for a
completely different reason, anyway, and he was already running late.   
 
“So, I wanted to ask you for a favor,” Laufey began. 
 
Thor looked a bit put upon, but he put down the tile he had been working with
and looked up, giving Laufey his full attention.
 
“I’ve… noticed that you and Loki talk,” Laufey said.
 
He saw that Thor stiffened minutely at the statement, and assuming that Thor
thought he was accusing him of something, Laufey quickly continued on to
explain himself better. 
 
“I just mean that it seems like you get along.  I’ve seen you sometimes when I
look through the back window.  I often find myself wondering what it is you two
talk about… What you say that gets him to want to talk to you,” Laufey
admitted, somewhat sheepishly.
 
Thor observed him quietly for a few moments, his ice-blue eyes unreadable
before he shrugged.  
 
“We don’t really talk about much at all,” Thor said, as he continued arranging
the bricks in the pathway.
 
“I’m sure it’s not anything riveting,” Laufey said with a sigh.  “But Loki says
more words to you in ten minutes than he’ll sometimes say to me in a day.  I
have to wonder if there’s something about you that makes him more interested in
talking to you than he is with me.” 
 
Thor’s jaw tightened almost imperceptibly, and Laufey wondered if he had
offended him somehow.  It was hard to judge with the often-stoic Borson son. 
Laufey had dealt with Thor’s father earlier on, who, while intimidating in his
own right, seemed to have better diplomacy skills.  Thor could be pleasant when
he wanted to be, but it always seemed to depend on what mood you caught him
in.  Laufey chalked that up to, yet again, his youth. 
 
“Loki’s a kid,” Thor said, by way of explanation.  “I guess I kind of know how
to talk to them.  I’ve got a little brother myself.”
 
“Oh, you do?” Laufey asked, interest piqued. 
 
“Yeah,” Thor muttered, dropping his eyes back down.  “He’s 12.”
 
“Oh.  Hmm, quite an age gap, huh?” Laufey said, laughing. 
 
“Yeah,” Thor admitted, quirking a small smile himself. “He was definitely a
surprise.  I wasn’t expecting to suddenly have a sibling for the first time at
13.”
 
“I’m sure your father must’ve had his hands full with you two, then, huh?”
Laufey said.  “A teenager and a newborn.  God, I don’t know if I could’ve been
able to do it.  Loki was a little monster when he hit puberty.  And, between me
and you, he still kind of is.  But I’m sure he’ll grow out of it. At least I
hope.” 
 
Laufey smiled fondly, almost wistfully. 
 
“So, uh, about that favor I had mentioned,” Laufey said, getting a bit more
serious. “Loki’s going to hate me for asking but… I mentioned I’m going away
for the weekend, right?  I don’t really like the idea of leaving him alone.
Back home I’d always make sure he’d spend the weekend over at one of his
friends’ houses. But here, I don’t know the parents of any of the friends he's
made so far.  That's partially my fault. I need to do better once the
schoolyear starts.  But for right now, I’d feel more comfortable if he wasn’t
out of the house while I’m away.  And… well, while he’s definitely old enough
to be on his own, he’s sometimes a little irresponsible.  I told him to make
sure he locks everything down and stays safe, but… could you just pop in and
check on him before you leave?”
 
Thor’s eyebrow arched as he considered what Laufey was saying.  Laufey watched
a multitude of minute expressions pass over Thor’s face, but they were all too
brief to discern.  Laufey really had no idea if Thor was going to outright
refuse or if he was going to graciously accept.  So he was surprised when
Thor’s lips spread into a wide grin, showing him a perfect set of white teeth. 
 
“Sure,” Thor said. “It’d be my pleasure.”
===============================================================================
Almost an hour later, Thor watched on as Fandral, Hogun and Volstagg began to
pack up the van. 
 
He couldn’t believe how things had worked out earlier.  Laufey had left.  For
the whole weekend.  It would be more time than Thor had ever been given access
to Loki before.  He already had more than a few ideas of how he wanted to use
that time.  And Laufey had even asked Thor to check up on his kid.  Who was he
to go against the man’s explicit wishes? 
 
Thor had to fight back the urge to grin. 
 
“Hey, you ready to head out?” Fandral asked, breaking into his thoughts as he
slammed the van shut.  “We’re thinking of meeting up at the bar to play some
pool in about an hour.  You in?”
 
Thor shrugged, schooling his face and trying his best to appear nonchalant.  As
if he wasn’t imagining walking into the house in the next few minutes and
pushing Loki up against the first hard surface he could find. 
 
“I think I’m going to have to pass. Laufey’s gonna be away for the weekend and
he asked me to make sure his kid wasn’t doing anything stupid to the house
while he’s gone.  So I’ve got to check in.  Make sure everything’s locked up. 
And, I guess, that the kid is still alive,” Thor said, feigning distaste.
 
“Really?” Fandral asked, looking confused.  
 
Thor couldn’t fault him.  Being charitable wasn’t usually high on the list of
things Thor did.  Fandral looked at Thor carefully for a few moments, and Thor
stared back, face unreadable.  And then Fandral just shrugged. 
 
“Alright, well, come meet us after then,” he said. 
 
“No can do.  I’ve got plans after that,” Thor said with a smirk.
 
Fandral’s eyes widened and he let out an amused laughed.
 
“Oh, do you?  Since when?  And who is it?  Now it makes sense why you’re being
all weird and shifty.  You’re trying to ditch us, huh?  Did Romanova finally
change her mind about you?” Fandral asked, smirking back. 
 
Thor scoffed and couldn’t help but laugh.
 
“What? No.  I definitely can’t even look at her like that anymore,” he said.
 
“So?” Fandral asked excitedly.
 
“So, what?” Thor responded.
 
“Who. Is. It?” Fandral repeated.
 
Thor laughed.
 
“Yeah, right. I don’t kiss and tell,” Thor teased as he turned his back on him
and began to gather up his tools.
 
“Oh, I call total bullshit, Thor.  Like hell you don’t!”  Fandral groused.
 
Thor shrugged and laughed again.
 
“That may be, but I’m not telling with this one,” he said.
 
Fandral groaned.
 
“You are unbelievable, man,” Fandral said.  “But, I can’t deny I’m jealous that
you've got some sweet thing lined up tonight.  I'll be spending my night with
two stinky guys.” 
 
Thor shrugged again, self-assured smirk on his lips.
 
Fandral shook his head and muttered “dick” under his breath as he laughed, and
turned around.  Before he had made it even a few feet away, he turned on his
heel and called back to Thor.    
 
“Hey, you don’t want to keep her waiting though, right?  Do you want me to
check on Lokes instead?  And you can just head out?  I don’t mind,” Fandral
offered.
 
“No,” Thor said quickly, and wanted to kick himself before the single syllable
had even fully left his lips.
 
Fanral’s brows furrowed in confusion.
 
“Laufey asked me personally,” Thor said.  “So I should be the one to do it. 
Besides, it won’t take a long time.  Don’t worry. I’ll be in and out.” 
 
Fandral stared at him for a few seconds more, before nodding. 
 
“Okay. Sounds good.  Have fun tonight, then, huh?” Fandral said, before winking
and heading back to the van.
 
As Thor watched his three friends pull away in the van, he couldn’t help but
think that Fandral hadn’t looked all that convinced.  But there was no point in
worrying about that now.  Thor wasn’t one to let a good opportunity go to
waste.  And right now, Loki was waiting for him like some kind of decadent
buffet. 
 
He was going to, finally, taste that forbidden fruit. 
===============================================================================
Loki sat in his bedroom, clicking idly through his favorite blog as he waited
for the pizza he had ordered to arrive.  He was grumpy because his father had
put him on practical house arrest for the weekend, but things could be worse he
supposed.  Laufey could have forced him to go with him.  With the way the
conversations—and Laufey’s mood—had been progressing throughout the day, Loki
was almost convinced Laufey was going to go that route.  But Loki had tried to
be conscious of it and keep the snippiness out of his tone.  Besides, he was
still feeling pretty guilty about the jab he had taken at his dad earlier in
the day.
 
So when it was time for Laufey to actually leave—and Loki knew he had lingered
longer than he wanted to just to see if Loki would miraculously change his mind
and decide to come along—he had listed out a very strict set of rules with a
stern face. But he had ultimately told Loki he trusted him to stay home by
himself, and to be, for all intents and purposes, a “good boy.”
 
Loki scoffed at the thought.  “Good boy?” Loki was basically planning to spend
his weekend eating junk food, playing games, and jerking off to porn.  His
concern that he was maybe getting involved in something that he couldn’t handle
by messing around with Thor had gone out the window soon after he had heard the
crew arrive earlier that afternoon.  Instead, all he could think about was how
hornyhe was.  He knew he should probably be frustrated with himself and how
much of a stereotype he was—teens being driven by their hormones, and all
that—but he couldn’t deny that whenever he thought about Thor his head got all
fuzzy and his body became tingly and warm, a feeling that flowed from his toes
all the way up to the roots of his hair.  And all he could think about was how
good it felt when Thor laid his eyes on him.  Laid his hands on him.  
 
Loki was annoyed he hadn’t even been able to really get a good glimpse at Thor
all day, even though the man had just been a few feet away, in his own
backyard.  Laufey had been hovering, and after his father’s concerning comment
that Loki had been showing a suspicious amount of interest in the work Thor and
his friends had been doing, Loki had made sure he was especially careful in
trying to appear not to “care” when they had shown up that afternoon. 
 
He had been able to get one brief glance out his window into the yard when he
had went upstairs to his room, his heart thumping wildly in his chest when he
watched the muscles in Thor’s broad back moving under his white t-shirt as he
worked on the paving.  There was a familiar, pleasant tightening in his lower
stomach as he pressed up against the glass of the window to get a better look. 
But then Laufey was walking into his bedroom, asking if Loki had seen his phone
charger, and Loki had jumped away from the window, sure he had looked as guilty
as he felt.  Laufey stared at him, eyebrow raised but had, thankfully, not
inquired further about it.  And Loki had made sure to fight the urge to look
out the window again after that. 
 
But once he had stopped thinking with his lower body parts, Loki realized that
it was probably all for the best.  He could talk big—could try to convince
himself he was bolder than he really was—but when push came to shove, Loki was
sure he’d quake like a leaf if he ever had to make the first move with Thor. 
And with all their teasing and touching they were hurtling toward a very
obvious destination.  Sex.  No. Fucking.  That’s what Thor would call it, Loki
was sure.  Loki had fantasized so many different scenarios with Thor.  From
sweet, gentle love-making in the backseat of Thor’s car, to rushed and dirty
rutting up against the side of the house.  
 
But that was all fantasy.  Loki was still convinced Thor was just toying with
him.  That he was some plaything Thor entertained himself with whenever he was
around.  But as soon as he packed up his truck at the end of the day, Loki
never crossed his mind.  Except for that one time when Thor came over in the
middle of the night.  He had seemed amped up; stressed out but trying not to
show it.  And he had had that bruise on his face that he had seemed to not want
Loki to acknowledge.  Thor had been so different that night.  And Loki had felt
strangely important.  But there was never any telling with Thor.  And after
that night, Thor had been distant again, almost like he was pretending the
night in the car hadn't happened
 
Although, what happened the night at the club couldn't have been predicted. 
And Thor had definitely not kept his distance, appearing irate, but also
worried. And Loki had went back to thinking that he meant something to Thor. 
He just could never be sure.  And he was definitely not brave enough to ask. 
Because, what if Thor actually told him he meant nothing?  Loki wasn’t sure he
could handle that.   
 
The sound of the doorbell ringing startled him out of his thoughts.  Pushing
his laptop off his lap, Loki shot to his feet and hurried down the stairs. He
grabbed one of the 20s his father had left for him on the hall table and
grabbed the handle to the front door.   
 
When the door swung open, Loki was stunned by who was on the other side of it. 
It wasn’t the pizza delivery guy, like he had been anticipating. Instead it was
Thor.  Standing there with a seductive smirk and looking like sin in his tight
white t-shirt, faded jeans, and boots.   Loki literally gawked.  He wondered if
he was dreaming.
 
But, Thor was more than real, as he placed his hand on Loki’s chest and pushed
him aside, letting himself in.  And locking the door behind him. 
 
Loki took a step back, brain slowly switching back into a functional state as
he watched Thor approach him. 
 
“W-wait!” Loki sputtered.  “What are you doing here?’  
 
“You look surprised.  Expecting someone else?” Thor said, a mocking tone to his
voice but Loki could tell there was an edge to it.
 
“I’m waiting for a pizza,” Loki said.  “And you didn’t answer my question.” 
 
Thor smirked again.
 
“Your daddy asked me to check on you.  Apparently he doesn’t trust you not to
get up to trouble while he’s gone,” Thor said.  “And I think he has good cause
to be worried.” 
 
Loki wanted to hold his ground as he watched Thor continue to approach him. 
But he wavered under the predatory look that Thor was giving him, and felt
himself warily backing up until his back hit the wall behind him. 
 
“I don’t believe you,” Loki said, voice coming out in a whisper. 
 
Thor was upon him in the blink of an eye, caging him in against the wall with
his body, one arm pressed up above his head, the other hand reaching up to
stroke Loki’s cheek.  Loki's heart hammered in his chest as he strained his
neck to look up at Thor.  Loki was always floored by how blue Thor’s eyes were,
and how unreadable. 
 
“Oh, you don’t believe me?” Thor asked, as he ran his thumb along Loki’s jaw
until he came into contact with his bottom lip.  “I take it very seriously when
I make a promise to someone.  In all aspects of my life.  And if I remember
correctly, I’ve made some promises to you.” 
 
Loki found it was hard to swallow, as he continued to stare up at Thor,
mesmerized by the rumbling tone of his voice, and the headiness of his
proximity.  And then Thor was leaning in, tongue darting out to lick the shell
of Loki’s ear.  Loki shuddered, eyes slipping shut.
 
“You ready to give that ass up to me?”  Thor whispered in his ear.  
 
Loki’s eyes snapped open as he looked up at Thor.  The look in his eyes made it
clear he wasn’t joking.  He looked hungry. And Loki was at a loss for words.  
 
“I want you to go upstairs and get undressed,” Thor said, running his knuckles
against Loki’s cheek.  “I’m gonna fuck you tonight.” 
 
Loki was stunned.  He couldn’t really process what Thor was saying, but his
body had no problem making sense of it.  And he felt himself get hard so fast
it almost winded him.  He let out a soft whimper and Thor’s smirk widened into
a grin.
 
“Upstairs.  Now,” Thor said, as he stepped back, giving Loki some room.   
 
And Loki found himself listening.  He swallowed thickly as he stepped away from
the wall, eyes still trained on Thor.  As he turned to head toward the stairs
he was forced to break eye contact, but he could still feel the heavy weight of
Thor’s gaze all over him.  It made his body feel hot and tingly.  Loki wanted
to play it cool, but he couldn’t help it as he took the steps two at a time in
his rush to get upstairs.  
===============================================================================
Thor watched the boy scramble up the stairs and once he was out of sight, he
palmed at the stiff bulge in his pants.  He was too excited.  He needed some
time to calm down.  Besides, it’d be good to let Loki stew up there a while. 
Let the anticipation build. 
 
Loki was delicious.  Thor didn’t have a better word for it.  He wanted to
bitehim.  If only to see the way his mark would look on that supple skin.  He
loved how pale Loki was.  It was always so easy to see the effect he had on
him.  Loki flushed absolutely everywhere, from his cheeks, to the tips of his
ears. 
 
Taking a deep breath, Thor willed himself to settle down. He wasn’t going to go
up there and give Loki the impression that he had ruffled him.  But that sound
the boy made—the whimper—when Thor had whispered in his ear had almost made
Thor come undone.  It was pathetic.  Thor needed to be the one in control when
he went upstairs. 
 
So Thor took his time.  Walking around the house, locking up the windows and
doors.  He had promised Laufey, after all.  He was keeping his promise by
making sure Loki was in the house and the house was secure.  He hadn’t made any
promises to keep Loki safe from himself though.  He grinned as he thought about
it. 
 
Then the doorbell rang and Thor tensed, hand instinctively moving to his
waistband until he realized he didn’t have his gun.  He frowned, but forced
himself to relax.  It was highly unlikely anyone who was at the door was coming
to see him.  And even if they were, Thor was more than capable of handling
things with his fists anyway.
 
When he pulled the door open, he was faced with a scrawny, pimple-faced kid in
a tacky uniform, holding a large pizza box.  The boy was tall, but Thor still
loomed over him, and was likely double his size in bulk.  The boy trembled.
 
“Uh—here’s the pizza y-you ordered?” the boy squeaked out as he held the box
out to Thor. 
 
Thor had to force himself not to laugh at how scared the kid was.  Instead he
schooled his face, giving the kid a look that he knew would make grown men
quake in their boots. 
 
“How much?” he growled out.
 
It looked like the boy was really considering telling Thor it was free. 
 
“Um…$13.95?” the boy asked, as if it was negotiable.  
 
Thor reached into his pocket and pulled out a $20.   He grabbed the pizza box
and then shoved the bill in the kid’s hand.  Before Thor even closed the door,
the kid was halfway down the front walk, scrambling his way back to his car.
 
Thor walked into the kitchen and tossed the box on to the counter, before he
flipped it open and saw a piping hot pie, covered in pepperoni, sausage and
mushrooms.  Loki had good taste. That’d be a nice snack for after.
 
But for right now?  Thor had kept Loki waiting long enough. He grinned as he
headed toward the stairs.
===============================================================================
Loki paced back and forth along the length of his bedroom.  Even though Thor’s
instructions had been very clear, Loki had found himself overcome with nerves
when he made it upstairs.  And he couldn’t bring himself to undress.  He was
considering talking his way out of this.  But he wasn’t entirely sure that
would be possible with someone like Thor.   
 
But then he heard the heavy thump, thump, thump of booted feet hitting the
carpeted steps, and in a matter of seconds Thor was walking into his bedroom
and closing the door behind him.
 
As soon as Thor saw Loki standing across his room—still fully dressed—his
expression darkened. 
 
“Why aren’t you naked?” Thor asked. 
 
Loki floundered for something to say. 
 
“I… I was thinking… Um, maybe tonight’s not a good night after all?  How
about…how about I suck you off instead?” Loki offered.
 
Thor laughed. 
 
“Oh really?  You’re not a good enough cock-sucker for that to be a tempting
offer, kid,” Thor said as he stepped closer.
 
Loki flushed, feeling insulted by that and not quite knowing why.  He knew Thor
was saying it just to get a rise out of him.  But the humor quickly left Thor’s
features. 
 
“Enough fucking around already.  Strip.  Unless you want me to do it foryou,”
Thor said, as he sat down on the edge of the bed. 
 
Looking at Thor’s face, Loki wasn’t quite sure it would be a good idea to take
him up on that offer.  So instead, Loki hesitantly began to take his clothes
off, feeling his skin heating up as Thor made no attempt to look away.  First
went his socks. Then his skinny jeans.  Then his t-shirt.   and when he got to
his underwear, he felt his fingers begin to tremble.  He really couldn’t do
it.  He couldn’t just stand there in front of Thor, completely naked. 
 
“Is it… is it going to just be me?” Loki asked, self-consciously.
 
Thor’s eyebrow rose in question.
 
“I mean… Aren’t you going to get undressed, too?” Loki asked. 
 
“I will when I feel like it,” Thor said simply. “Now come here.” 
 
Loki swallowed thickly as he walked forward, closing the small space in between
them.  When he got within arm’s reach of Thor, Thor grabbed him by the waist
and pulled him down so he straddled his lap. Loki gasped, feeling the heat from
Thor’s big hands as they wrapped around his hips.  But he preferred this.  He
had been expecting Thor to just throw him down on the bed. 
 
“You scared?” Thor asked, amusement evident in his voice, as he held Loki’s
gaze with his clear blue ones.
 
“No,” Loki sneered, looking away.  Yes, he thought instead. 
 
“Oh?  So kiss me then,” Thor said.  Like it was a challenge.    
 
Loki was surprised that a kiss was what Thor wanted, but he couldn’t deny how
his heart fluttered in his chest.  He closed his eyes and leaned in, pressing
his lips to Thor’s gently.  It didn’t take long for Thor’s arm to slink around
his waist, pressing them chest to chest, and his other hand to thread through
Loki’s hair, grabbing it by the fistful.  Thor took control of the kiss,
opening his mouth and pushing his tongue into Loki’s.  A sharp inhale and
breathy moan escaped Loki’s lips unbidden.  And he couldn’t stop his hands as
they scrambled for purchase on Thor’s shirt.  Their tongues battled, and bodies
pressed, and soon Loki found himself grinding against Thor’s stomach, seeking
relief for the erection he was now sporting. 
 
Thor pulled away and looked down at Loki’s lap. 
 
“I knew you wanted it,” Thor said with a laugh, before he nodded toward the bed
behind them.  “Get on your hands and knees.” 
 
Loki stared at him, somewhat frozen in place as it dawned on him what was going
to happen next.  But Thor seemed to be tired of waiting for him to follow his
orders, so he picked Loki up and bodily moved him from his lap to the bed,
ignoring Loki's squawk of protest.  And in a matter of seconds, Thor had yanked
down Loki’s underwear, leaving Loki stark-naked on the bed, trying to cover
himself. 
 
“Th-Thor… Really.  Wait.  I don’t think I’m ready for this,” Loki said, feeling
his heart pounding wildly in his chest. 
 
But Thor ignored him as he grabbed his hips, and pulled him so that his face
was down on the mattress and his ass was sticking up in the air.  Loki squeezed
his eyes shut as he felt Thor pry his thighs apart.  His mind was racing a mile
a minute, wondering what Thor would do.  What would it feel like?  Would he be
able to take it? 
 
But then Thor did something Loki wasn’t expecting.  He licked him.  Tongue hot
and slick, laving against his hole. 
 
Loki let out an undignified squeak, as he tried to move away, unprepared for
the feeling, the hot wetness, Thor’s stubble against his skin.  But Thor held
on to his hips with a tight grip, mouth hot and hungry against his quivering
flesh.  He licked in long, broad strokes, darted with his tongue, and sucked
noisily at him.  He even bit him, nipping playfully at the meatiness of his
cheeks. 
 
Loki gasped, fingers clutching desperately at the sheets underneath him.  It
felt good.  So insanely good. 
 
“Hah!  Oh my God.  Thor!” Loki cried out. 
 
He both felt and heard Thor’s throaty chuckle as Thor continued to attend to
him.  And although Loki was embarrassed that he was letting Thor do such a
thing—that he was enjoyingit—Loki couldn’t help himself from pushing back
against Thor’s probing tongue.  And when his tongue finally sunk inside, Loki
moaned loudly, the sound so embarrassing that he scrambled for one of his
pillows so that he could bury his face in it.   
 
“You're gonna pretend like you don’t like this, huh?” Thor asked as he briefly
pulled away.  “You look like you’re going to come any second.” 
 
Loki couldn’t deny that.  He was painfully hard and almost delirious with
pleasure. He never knew something like this could feel so good, and all he
wanted was to get off.  But Thor was barely letting him move as much as he
wanted, holding his hips in a firm grasp, doing with him as he wished. 
 
Loki let out a frustrated moan as he twisted his body, trying to move his hands
out from underneath him so he could get at his neglected cock.  But before he
could do so Thor batted his hand away, pulling it up and behind Loki’s back and
holding it there.  And with his other hand Thor grabbed Loki’s cock, stroking
it roughly as his tongue continued to delve into Loki’s now sopping wet hole.  
Loki saw stars.  He could scarcely cry out before he came all over Thor’s hand,
a soft whine escaping his lips. 
 
Shaking and panting, Loki collapsed on the bed.  He was barely cognizant of it
when Thor turned him over on to his back, but then Thor was looming over him
and Loki looked up at him with glazed eyes. 
 
“Lick it off,” Thor told him as he held his hand up in front of Loki’s face.   
 
Loki blushed, but he didn’t have it in him to fight.  Besides, he felt so good;
blissed out.  Eyelids lowering slightly, he grabbed Thor’s hand and brought it
to his lips.  He looked up at Thor through his lashes as he licked the salty
spend off of Thor’s rough fingers, allowing his tongue to dip and wind between
the digits.  He watched as Thor’s eyes darkened, the pupils widening and
overtaking the blue. 
 
Thor licked his lips, eyes following Loki’s tongue until he had licked his hand
clean.  Then Thor traced the swell of Loki’s bottom lip with his thumb, pushing
it in between Loki's lips, before he looked back up at Loki.  Loki’s heart
leapt in his chest when he saw how hungrily Thor was watching him.  
 
“Where’s your lube?” Thor asked gruffly.
 
With a shaky hand, Loki pointed to his nightstand.  As Thor shifted to the edge
of the bed and rose to retrieve it, Loki found himself watching his body
again.  Thor really was an amazingly attractive man, body seemingly sculpted
from marble.  All Loki wanted to do was run his hands over him, but he didn't
dare.  When Thor found the bottle he tossed it on the bed and then turned
toward Loki before he reached down for the hem of his t-shirt and pulled it up
and over his head in one smooth motion. Loki felt himself flushing as Thor’s
chest was revealed to him.  He had never had the opportunity to look at Thor
this up close, and he allowed himself to look his fill.
 
Thor caught him staring though and let out a huff of laughter as his hands went
to the button of his jeans.  Loki knew he probably should have felt self-
conscious to be staring so openly, but he wouldn’t miss out on his chance to
watch.  Thor kicked off his heavy boots before slipping the jeans down his
long, muscular legs.  And then his thumbs dipped into the waistband of his
black boxer-briefs, before snapping the elastic, causing Loki’s eyes to dart up
to his.  Thor smirked at him, to make sure Loki knew he was doing this for his
benefit, before he pulled them down and off, and Loki watched with wide eyes as
Thor’s impressive cock sprang up.  He gulped.  Loki’s eyes followed Thor’s hand
as it moved down to palm at his hard cock and he couldn’t help the blush that
rose to his cheeks.  This was real.  They were really going to do it.   
 
Seemingly having had his fill of the teasing, Thor climbed on to the bed and
over Loki, his body covering Loki’s completely.  Loki trembled as his arms
reached up to try to encircle Thor’s back as his thighs spread unconsciously to
accommodate him between them.  Thor felt so big all around him, but Loki liked
the feeling.   Thor’s hands were all over him, touching and stroking, like he
owned him.  And his mouth immediately went for Loki’s neck, licking and biting
a path down his chest.  When Thor’s lips landed on his nipple, Loki gasped,
hips arching up and rocking into Thor’s.  He could feel Thor’s cock pressed up
against his hip, hot and already slick at the tip.  Loki bit his lip to hold
back his moan.
 
He found himself fighting the urge to ask Thor to fuck him.  Even though that
was the thing he was most afraid of.  But Thor did things to his head.  And all
he wanted was to be consumed by him, no matter what hurdles he had to jump to
get it. 
 
But Thor didn’t seem to need any prodding, as one of his hands slipped down
between Loki’s legs and prodded at his sensitive hole.  Loki jumped at the
unexpected touch, grasping on to Thor’s shoulders in surprise, fingers digging
in.  But Thor didn’t look at him or seem to be dissuaded from his goal at all. 
Instead he reached for the lube.  Loki watched as Thor squeezed a healthy
dollop of the slick liquid on to his fingers. His thick fingers.  Loki
remembered what those felt like inside of him and he felt a shiver go through
him.  He pressed his legs together unconsciously. 
 
“Open up,” Thor said.  His voice was gruff, strained.
 
Loki followed the order without a second thought, legs falling open even as his
heart was jumping in his throat.  Thor laid his hand on his hip to keep him in
place, and Loki marveled at how big it was, spanning from his hip bone to the
upper part of his thigh.  And then Thor’s fingers were stroking at his hole,
sending tendrils of pleasure up his spine.  Thor looked up at him, eyes still
darkened and pupils blown wide, and then he pressed the first finger in. 
 
Loki tensed up, mouth forming into a silent “o,” as he tried to get used to the
feeling again.  He let out a long breath, trying to relax, and then he felt
Thor’s finger slip even deeper.  Thor began to pump his finger, slow but deep,
causing Loki to pant each time he pushed inside.  Loki threw his head back, a
long moan slipping from his lips as he brought up a hand to stroke at his
stiffening cock. 
 
“Fuck,” Thor said.  “You’re so tight.”
 
And then he was pressing two fingers in and Loki gasped.   Two of Thor’s
fingers still felt too big, and he let out a hiss of discomfort.  But then Thor
was pressing up and rubbing at that place that made Loki’s toes curl.  He was
making him feel so good that it trumped the pain, and Loki found himself
pushing back on Thor’s fingers. 
 
“Good boy,” Thor said.  “Fuck yourself open.  ‘Cause next you’re getting my
cock.”
 
Loki whimpered at that thought as his eyes slid open and he looked down at
Thor’s thick cock.  Jesus Christ.  
 
Then Thor was pulling his fingers out and grabbing Loki’s thighs, pushing his
legs up and apart, so that Loki’s knees were almost touching his shoulders. 
 
“I had wanted you to suck me off before I fucked you, since you offered so
nicely,” Thor said, breathing sounding a bit labored.  “But we’ve been playing
around too long, and all I really want right now is to get in that tight, sweet
hole.” 
 
Loki’s heart thudded in his chest.  It was happening.
 
“Here, hold on,” Thor said as he reached for Loki’s hands, making him grab the
backs of his knees.
 
Loki blushed, feeling ashamed of being so on display as he held himself open
for Thor to do with him as he pleased.  But he also liked the fact that Thor
seemed to only have eyes for him in this moment.  That Thor seemed less
composed and aloof than he usually did.  And that Loki actually had the ability
to get Thor so worked up.  He watched, slack-jawed, as Thor poured more lube
and slicked himself up.
 
And then Thor was leaning over him, one hand flat on the bed next to Loki’s
head, bracing himself, the other guiding his cock.  Loki found himself thinking
that he wished Thor would kiss him as he felt the blunt head start to push into
him.  But as soon as it breached him, all thoughts were pushed out of his mind
and his eyes widened.
 
Loki gasped, shocked by the sharpness of the burning stretch.  It felt so much
different than when Thor had used his fingers. 
 
In a panic, he brought his hands up against Thor’s chest and dug his knees into
his sides to try to push him away.  But Thor just grunted, grabbing Loki’s
hands in one of his own and pulling his hands up above his head, pinning them. 
With his other hand, he grabbed the inside of Loki’s thigh, holding his legs
open and pushing in a few inches more. 
 
“Thor! Stop! I can’t, I can’t,” Loki pleaded, tears stinging the corners of his
eyes. 
 
“Shh,” Thor said, voice tight with strain. “Relax.”
 
“No,” Loki choked out, shaking his head.  “Please.  Please, Thor.  It hurts.” 
 
Thor grabbed Loki’s chin and turned his head so that he was now facing him.
 
“Hey.  Look at me,” Thor ordered. 
 
Loki’s eyes sprung open and he forced himself to look up into Thor’s face. 
 
“Relax.  You can take it.  Just breathe,” Thor instructed.
 
Loki’s face crumpled, tears falling now, overwhelmed by the myriad of
sensations coursing through him.  He felt raw.  Stripped of all his
protection.  Completely vulnerable and exposed.  Impaled and broken open.  And
he knew Thor wasn’t even close to halfway inside yet.  He whimpered. 
 
“Shh,” Thor said again.
 
But Loki couldn’t calm down.  He was feeling too many emotions. 
 
“Hey," Thor said, grabbing his face and forcing Loki to look at him.  “Kiss
me.  Come on.”   
 
Loki blinked through his tears, confused at what Thor was saying.  But then
Thor’s mouth was on his.  Hot and wet, his tongue licking into his mouth, and
Loki moaned.  Thor still held his hands above his head, restricting his
movement, but Loki found himself melting into the kiss. Thor gave a shallow
thrust of his hips and Loki hissed against his mouth, feeling himself opening
up even more.  It was hard for Loki to will himself to relax and let him in. 
It went against everything his body was used to.  But kissing Thor—having his
big, hot body all around him—was doing a good job at distracting him. 
 
Thor licked and bit at his lips, sucking on Loki’s tongue and making Loki’s
mind turn to mush.  And then Thor’s hand slipped from Loki’s face and down in
between their bodies, stroking Loki’s cock back into hardness, and Loki found
himself bucking his hips slightly, pressing up into Thor’s hand and back down
onto Thor’s cock that was insistently pressing its way inside of him.  Thor
continued to kiss him as he slowly pumped his hips, driving himself deeper each
time.  He wasn’t exactly gentle, but Loki knew Thor was going easy on him. 
Letting him adjust.  And he was grateful.  Thor felt huge inside of him, but
there was also a pleasant throbbing blossoming inside of him from being so
completely filled.
  
Once Thor was fully seated he came to a stop and Loki let out a shuddery
breath.  It was overwhelming and incredible. He needed something to anchor
him.  He pulled his hands, trying to free them from Thor’s grip and Thor
tightened his hold on his wrists, a clear sign he wanted him to stop
struggling.
 
 “I-I need… I want to touch you,” Loki whimpered, bucking a bit and trying to
free his hands again.   
 
Thor stared down at him, his clear blue eyes framed by his spiky, blond
lashes.  He looked like he was on the edge of control, face flushed, and brows
furrowed in concentration.  Like he was really trying to hold back.  And Loki
was sure part of that was being accomplished by Thor controlling his
movements.  But Loki neededto touch him.  He whimpered, swiveling his hips a
bit and watched as Thor’s lashes fluttered, pleasure clearly passing over his
features.  And then Loki felt the grip on his wrists loosening. 
 
As soon as his hands were free, Loki was wrapping his arms around Thor’s broad
back, pulling him closer.  And it was like the reins had been snapped.  Thor
started thrusting harder, deeper.  The slick, wet sounds filling the room made
Loki blush.  But his toes were curling and he couldn’t ignore how good the drag
and pull of Thor’s cock inside him felt.  He couldn’t hold back his moans,
panting in Thor’s ears and softly whispering “yes” every time Thor pushed back
in.  It seemed Thor liked that because then he let out a grunt as he grabbed at
Loki’s hips, pulling his legs up so he could better leverage his thrusts. 
 
Loki let out a startled gasp as Thor shifted within him.  But it wasn’t from
pain.  Thor was hitting that spot inside of him that made him see stars, and it
was even better than when he did it with his fingers.  Loki’s nails dug into
Thor’s shoulders and he let out a high-pitched whine when Thor hit that spot
again.  And it was like he had told Thor “X marks the spot,” because Thor
proceeded to pound into him, hitting that spot over and over again. 
 
“Fuck, Th-Thor!” Loki yelped as he felt himself coming again. 
 
His orgasm ripped through him, making him feel completely undone, and he came
hard, his come arcing up and painting his chest.  
 
“Shit,” Thor said, as he was forced to come to a stop, Loki’s body clamping
down around him. 
 
As soon as the tension left Loki's body, he felt Thor pull out.  Loki whined at
the loss of him inside of him, and how strange and empty he felt.  But then
Thor flipped him over on to his stomach, and pushed back in making Loki gasp. 
Loki felt boneless, on top of displeased that he was now lying in his own come,
but his body was still humming with sensation, and he couldn’t help the soft,
breathy moans he let out as Thor pounded into him with hard, deep thrusts as he
sought his own climax.  It started to feel like almost too much as his body
became over-sensitized, but then suddenly Thor was tensing up and coming with a
long, low moan.  Loki felt as if he could actually feel his cock pulsing within
him.  Grabbing his hips tightly, Thor thrust a few more times before he finally
pulled out.   
 
Then Thor slapped his ass—actually slapped his ass—before he flopped down next
to Loki in the bed, folding his arms behind his head and looking quite pleased
with himself.  Loki wanted to get angry with him, but Thor was giving him a
smug, heady-eyed look and instead of anger, Loki felt his stomach doing that
flip-flop all over again, and more than anything he was fighting not to smile
lazily back at him.   Loki knew he should probably get up, since he was
currently lying on his stomach in his own come and could already feel the
sticky trail of Thor’s come running down his thighs, but he found he could
barely keep his eyes opened.
 
Instead, he continued to look at Thor as he felt his eyelids getting heavier. 
He didn’t think about all the problems that would stem from this.  Or that he
still really had no idea what he meant to the cocky blond lying across from
him.  The only thing he was aware of thinking was that he was just happy Thor
was there. 
===============================================================================
When Loki woke up a few hours later, he was groggy and bleary-eyed.  He was
having trouble piecing his thoughts together.  It felt late, but he had no idea
what time it was.  He also didn’t understand why his body felt like it had been
hit by a freight truck.  But then he shot up into a sitting position when he
suddenly remembered, and it all came flooding back to him with startling
clarity.  His body had been hit by a truck. If you called a 6’ 4” blond a
truck. 
 
Looking around, Loki realized he was in the room alone.  And the feeling that
hit him in his gut at that realization was raw and painful.  He hadn’t really
expected Thor to still be there when he woke up—this was all just about sex for
him, of course—but he had never expected the actual feeling of being tossed to
the side to hurt so much. 
 
Loki felt tears burning at the corner of his eyes, and angrily wiped them
away.  He knew he was being stupid to feel so used.  But he knew exactly why he
did.  He had given something to Thor that was important. Didn’t it matter to
Thor that that was his first time?  Couldn't he have at least stuck around to
make sure Loki was okay?  Was Thor really thatheartless?  On top of that, Loki
couldn’t ignore the niggling feeling that, now that Thor had gotten what he
wanted, he would just drop Loki like a toy that had lost its novelty.  Now that
he had no more use for him.
 
Loki immediately found himself worrying if he had made himself too easy. 
Should he have held out more, if he wanted to keep Thor?  But he told himself
that that wouldn’t have worked.  He had already felt so uncertain that he even
mattered to Thor before last night. But when Thor had been holding him, kissing
him, and looking at him like he was the only thing that mattered in that
moment, Loki had felt somewhat treasured.  And knowing that Thor had gone easy
on him, instead of just taking his pleasure, indifferent to Loki’s, had made
Loki start to think that maybe Thor felt more for him than he was willing to
show. 
 
But, none of that mattered now.  Thor had just snuck out on him, in the middle
of the night.  Clearly he didn’t careif he could just do something like that,
without even saying goodbye.  Loki felt his throat tightening, the familiar
feeling of tears coming on.  But before he could give himself over to open
self-pitying sobbing, the door creaked open. 
 
Shocked, Loki grabbed the sheet and pulled it over himself, terrified that
maybe his father had come home early.  But when he looked toward the door to
his bedroom, the only person he saw standing there was Thor. Shirtless, with
just his jeans on, and a slice of pizza hanging from his mouth.  Thor. 
 
Thor stared at him, and Loki could see his expression change as his eyes roved
over him, and suddenly Loki realized that he must looklike he’d been on the
verge of crying.  He flushed, but fought the urge to wipe at his eyes.   That
would just confirm Thor’s suspicions.  Even with his embarrassment, more than
anything, Loki found himself fighting to hold back a smile, so relieved was he
that Thor had actually stayed. But he didn’t want to show this to Thor. 
Somehow he knew that it wouldn’t be wise to show Thor how attached he was after
what had happened last night.  That that would likely drive him away.
 
“What the hell is wrong with you now?” Thor groused as he made his way back
over to the bed. 
 
Loki watched as he sat down, feeling the excitement bubbling up in his chest. 
 
“Wh-what’re you still doing here?” Loki asked instead, blinking rapidly to help
clear the remainder of his tears away.
 
“Oh?  You want me to leave, huh?” Thor asked with a quirked eyebrow.
 
“No!” Loki almost shouted, but then blushed as he realized how desperate he
sounded.  “I didn’t say that.  I’m just… surprised, is all.”
 
Thor frowned, chewing silently to himself as he settled back against the
pillows.  Loki couldn’t help but stare at him.  It was rare that he had ever
been able to just look at Thor like this.  He seemed so much more
relaxed—mellowed out even—in the dark quiet of the bedroom.
 
“It’s a pain to go home right now,” Thor said with a shrug.  “Don’t worry
though.  I highly doubt I’ll be here when you wake up again.”  
 
“Well...my dad is gone for the whole weekend, so...I mean, you don’t have to
go,” Loki said shyly, as he looked down at his fingernails.  
 
Thor laughed.
 
“Aw, you get honest when you’ve been thoroughly fucked, don't you?  It’s cute,”
Thor said as he flicked the tip of his nose.  
 
Loki flushed and glared at him, feeling his hackles rising as usual.  Thor
always brought out the worst in him. 
 
“What makes you think it was any good?” Loki asked, snidely.   
 
Thor smiled at him.  But it wasn’t a nice smile.
 
“Oh?  Is that so?  So all of the “oh, Thor” and “yes, yes, yes,” was just for
show?  I guess you coming all over yourself, twice,was an illusion as well? 
Please.  You’ll never get it as good as you got it from me.  But if you seem to
think I need to prove you wrong, I won’t go as easy on you next time,” Thor
said, as he leaned in close. 
 
Loki felt himself tremble, a familiar feeling of want pulsing in his lower
stomach.  But he couldn’t entertain that look Thor was giving him right now. 
He was way too sore to go another round.  Especially if Thor was promising not
to “go easy.”
 
So Loki looked away, and said nothing. 
 
“Admit it.  You liked it,” Thor said as he lay down, making himself comfortable
as he continued chewing on the pizza.   
 
Loki lay down as well, feeling as if this was surreal; like it was a dream from
which he would wake up at any moment.  He couldn’t really believe that he was
lyingin bed next to Thor—close enough they could be snuggling—and there was no
sense of urgency.   It was like they were in their own little bubble.
 
“Hey, I asked you a question,” Thor said, frowning at him.
 
Loki flushed, remembering what Thor had said, and looked away, not really
knowing how to talk about things likethat. 
 
“Um...well...It...it wasn't bad,” Loki said.
 
“It wasn't “bad?”” Thor repeated with a laugh.  “Came two times, remember?”
 
Loki's face reddened even more.
 
“Fine.  What’s so wrong if I liked it?” he asked, snippily.
 
Thor sighed as he closed his eyes and smiled. 
 
“You can never be honest, can you?  That’s why I liked messing with you so much
in the first place.  You’re so easy to work up.  Kinda like clockwork,” Thor
said. 
 
Loki frowned, and scooched a little closer.  Thor thought he was predictable? 
Well, Loki was always one to prove someone wrong.
 
“Ok, I liked it,” he admitted, whispering in Thor’s ear.  “I really liked it
when you… you licked me.  And I liked how big you felt inside of me.  I almost
thought I wouldn’t be able to take it at first, but once it was all inside I
started to ask myself how I had ever lived without it.” 
 
Thor's eyes shot open, and Loki felt his heart stutter in his chest at how
heated his gaze was. 
 
“You trying to get me to fuck you again?” Thor asked as he looked at him
suggestively. 
 
Loki flushed, and shook his head “no.”   
 
“Then go back to sleep,” Thor said as he wrapped his arm around Loki’s
shoulders and pulled him down, so he was pressed up against Thor’s side. 
 
Loki froze, heart hammering against his rib cage, and afraid to move, lest Thor
push him away.  But minutes ticked by and soon Loki realized that Thor had
fallen asleep.  He felt his body relax against Thor’s, as he slung an arm
around Thor’s waist and laid his head on his chest.  Sleep came easier to him
than it had in a long time.     
===============================================================================
Thor snuck out a little before dawn.  When he woke up, Loki had been wrapped
around him like an octopus.  It wasn’t surprising that the kid would get
clingy.  What with Thor having been as sappy as he had been throughout the
night.  He had never intended to give Loki so much attention.  His plans had
been all about going upstairs, fucking the kid hard, and getting him out of his
system. Instead, as soon as Loki had looked up at him with those teary eyes,
Thor had found himself kissing him.  And the idea that he could get Loki out of
his system had been proven to be a foolish one as well.  Because, now that he
knew what Loki felt like, what he tasted like, Thor found himself wanting
nothing more than to indulge in him again and again. 
 
The fact that he had even been there when the kid woke up the first time was
telling in itself.  Thor’s excuse that it would be a “pain” to go home had been
weak at best.  In reality, it would have been better for Thor to have snuck out
then. It was just after midnight.  Instead, he found himself heading to his
truck, which had been conspicuously parked on the street all night, a little
before 5 am in the morning.  Who knew who he could run into?  There were always
nosy neighbors.  And while he didn’t worry that they would do or say anything
to him, Thor definitely didn’t need gossipy housewives telling Laufey that Thor
had been sneaking out of his house at some ungodly hour.  While Laufey was out
of town.  And his teenage son was home alone.  Too many questions indeed. 
 
Grumbling to himself, Thor piled into his truck and headed across town to his
parents’ estate.  He had forgotten he was supposed to be meeting with Odin
later that afternoon, and wondered to himself if Odin had been curious as to
what Thor had been up to the previous night.  Thor had a penthouse in a high
rise in the city, owned by his father’s company, where he often went when he
got up to things he wanted to do outside of his father’s purview.  But he also
spent a good majority of his time at the guesthouse at his parents’ place.  It
was important to be able to be close to home, especially with Odin having so
many enemies, and with him being unable to be home with Frigga and Balder at
all times.  Thor liked to keep an eye out for them, even with the security they
had.  No one protected family like family.  Frigga was pretty good with a
variety of guns.  He knew his mother could hold her own.  But Balder was pretty
much ignorant to the inner workings of their business.  And no one would task a
12-year-old with that type of responsibility anyway. 
 
Even though Thor was the boss's son, Odin kept tabs on him. They weren’t
formal, but it was like a grapevine of information.  If Thor was with the
Warriors Three over at the Realm, then they reported back to Tyr, and Tyr
reported to Odin.  If Thor was with Sif, going through the books, then she
would update Odin.  It was important to know where Thor was because if the son
of the boss went missing, there was often something very sinister afoot.  Thor
had actually even been kidnapped once, when he was a kid, by a rival family’s
boss.  That man hadn’t lived to see the end of that day.  Even with all that
said, it wasn’t like the idea of something happening to him was entirely
unheard of.  But Thor was a big boy, and was more than capable of handling
himself. 
 
Though that didn't stop Odin from obsessing.  Or, more accurately, as Odin
liked to put it, “anticipating all possibilities.”  In other words, Odin
expected to know everything, at all times.  But Odin hadn’t called him last
night.  Fandral had probably insinuated that Thor was “with some girl.”  Odin
wouldn’t like that Thor was off the map, but he wouldn’t find it too
suspicious.  Thor was known for things like that anyway. Thor only hoped his
father didn’t ask any questions. 
 
When Thor pulled up the long driveway to their four-car garage, the sun was
already rising in the sky.  Thor wanted to tumble into bed and get a few more
hours of sleep before he had to deal with meeting with Odin and Tyr at noon. 
They were going to be discussing the negotiation of some new trade deals.  And
looking at contracts.  All the boring things Thor hated.  But Tyr had stressed
to him that if he wanted Odin to take him seriously as the successor, he needed
to show equal levels of interests in all aspects of their operation. 
 
Thor jumped out the car and walked into the main hall.  He was going to get
some quick breakfast before heading over to the guesthouse.  The “guesthouse”
was a three-bedroom, two bath villa, equipped with a chef’s kitchen.  But Thor
hated to cook and he never remembered to leave a grocery list for the maid.  So
his kitchen was always quite pitifully empty. 
 
When he made it back to the kitchen, he was surprised to see Odin sitting at
the large marble island, drinking coffee and reading the paper. 
 
Odin looked up at him over the top of his paper, lone good eye taking in Thor’s
appearance from head to toe.
 
“Early morning or late night?” Odin asked simply.
 
Thor chuckled as he turned his back on his father to get a mug out of the
cupboard.
 
“When have you ever known me to do early mornings?” Thor asked.
 
“Hmm...” was all Odin said.
 
A few moments of silence ticked by, in which Thor helped himself to the French
press coffee that was sitting on the counter, before Odin spoke again.
 
“You’ve been distracted, lately, Thor,” Odin said. 
 
It wasn't a question.
 
Thor froze in mid-sip of his coffee and frowned. 
 
“What do you mean?”  he asked. 
 
“You aren’t as focused as you usually are.  I’ve been hearing reports that
you've been letting your emotions cloud your judgment again...  Like that
situation that happened with Ronan at the club the other night.  I heard you
two almost came to blows,” Odin said with a frown.  “And no one knew where you
disappeared to last night.  So now you’re even keeping things from your crew?" 
 
Thor scoffed.
 
“That thing with Ronan had nothing to do with me.  That asshole needs to stay
off our turf.  And, no offense dad, but I don’t really owe it to my boys to let
them know who I fuck,” Thor said. 
 
Odin glared at him, making it clear that Thor was toeing the line of
disrespect.  He then took a deep breath, as if calming himself, before he spoke
again.
 
“The point is that you need to remember what's important.  None of us can
afford distractions if we want to stay in this business.  And if you can’t seem
to avoid distractions on your own, then I’ll make sure to get rid of them for
you. Is that clear, Thor?” Odin said. 
 
Thor frowned as he put the coffee down, no longer having an appetite.
 
“Crystal, sir,” he said.
===============================================================================
A/N:  There you have it!  I hope you guys enjoyed! :)  It went a little
differently than I had originally planned, but my characters often tend to
hijack my stories, so what can you do?  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Anywho, sorry again for the
loooonngg time in between updates :/.  It’s been hard juggling this fic and
school.  I think I may need to take a bit of a hiatus from it for a little
while to get back my mojo!  But don’t panic! In the meantime, I’ll be working
on some one-shot WIPs I’ve been wanting to write for forever.  That always
helps to get my head back in the game. I’ll return to this fic as soon as I get
a better idea of where I want to go next with it!
 
Happy Holidays, and see you in the New Year!!  tumblr
 
Xoxo  
***** Chapter 10 *****
A/N: Hi everyone, I’ll try to keep this short and sweet.  So sorry about the
more than a year since I last posted.  Unsurprisingly, the responsibilities of
life have been taking a toll on me, and with juggling being in a PhD program,
some family things, and some personal things, writing was at many times not
possible and at other times the last thing I wanted to do.  With that said, I
do not want to abandon this story, so I will continue to try to update when I
can find the time.  This chapter may not be so exciting, but it follows most
naturally from where things left off in chapter 9. 
Also, wanna give a BIG thank you to SatansSin for beta-reading this chapter
(and for always being my cheerleader on this fic! x3)
===============================================================================
When Loki woke up again it was already late morning.  His brows furrowed as his
eyes opened, unable to continue to fight against the bright light streaming in
through his window.  He groaned in protest as he shifted, body twinging and
throbbing.  Loki squinted as he turned on his side, hand reaching out blindly
for his cellphone.  He was vaguely aware that that had been what had woken him
up in the first place. 
 
Once his hand landed on it and he blearily blinked at the screen, he frowned to
see four texts from Tony.  There were no texts, however, from Thor.
 
Thor.
 
Loki rolled on to his back, not even bothering to read Tony’s texts and took a
deep, shaky breath, his heart squeezing painfully in his chest.  He didn’t have
to look around to know that, this time, Thor really was gone.  The bed beside
him was cold.  The house was quiet.  There was no way Thor was going to still
be in his house at—Loki picked up his phone again to glance at the screen—10:25
in the morning. 
 
Apparently Thor didn’t see him as something that was worth hanging around for,
once he had gotten what he wanted. 
 
Loki sighed heavily, closing his eyes and forcing himself not to think about
the litany of things his brain was itching to think about.  Like, what did it
mean that he and Thor had finally had sex?  Did he mean more to Thor now? 
Less?  Would things be different between them?  
 
Loki shifted in place.  The night before almost felt like a dream.  But Loki
knew it hadn’t been.  He could feel everywhere Thor had touched, tingling,
making his skin buzz.  He throbbed inside.  And he was sticky between his
thighs.  He blushed at the thought.  Thor had left a trace on him.  Another way
to make sure Loki wouldn’t forget the night before.  He wondered if he’d ever
feel the same again, or was he forever changed? 
 
He sighed heavily, and threw his arm over his eyes.
  
Loki didn’t quite understand his feelings.  He liked Thor.  Loki knew that for
sure now.  He could tell it to himself, without denying it or trying to
convince himself otherwise.  He wasn’t surprised that he felt this way, even
more concretely, after what had transpired last night.  Sleeping with Thor had
changed things.  It solidified Loki’s desire to want to be with him.  To want
to know more about him.  For Thor to want to know more about Loki. 
 
And Loki had definitely liked what Thor had done to him, a thought that dawned
on him with certainty, making his cheeks flush and his stomach throb
pleasantly.  Sure, it had been scary at first.  He had been nervous, his brain
racketing with hundreds of thoughts.  He wasn’t sure if he would do it right. 
If he would fumble things up.  Embarrass himself.  And the fear of the
unknown—not knowing what to expect—had sent butterflies battering around his
stomach.  But then Thor was kissing him.  And touching him.  Making him see
stars.  Making him tremble.  It had been…great.  And Loki wanted Thor to do it
again.  He wanted Thor to want to do it again.  And, right now, Loki wasn’t
sure Thor would. 
 
Had Loki been good enough?  Was he exciting for someone like Thor, who had
probably slept with dozens of people?  Loki was frustrated with himself.  That
he had just laid there and made Thor do all the work.  In his fantasies, Loki
had always seen himself as being much more in control.  But when the real thing
finally happened, Loki had been completely overwhelmed.  By emotions, and
sensations, sounds and words.  It had exceeded anything Loki could have thought
up on his own.  And all he could do in the moment was just experience it. Loki
had tried to be seductive, afterward, once he got over the shock of realizing
that Thor had stayed.  He had tried to be more confident than he had really
felt, flirtatious and bold.  It had seemed like Thor had liked that.  But Loki
had no way of knowing for sure.  He really had no idea what he was doing.
 
Did everyone find navigating this stuff to be so complicated?  Or was Loki just
defunct in some way?  
 
Groaning to himself as he tried to push the spiraling thoughts away, Loki
couldn’t deny that he felt like crap that morning.  It would’ve been nice to
just lie in bed all day, but he knew that all that would lead to would be more
wallowing and unproductive thoughts.  It wasn’t like Thor was going to be
spending his Saturday obsessing about Loki. 
 
Picking his phone back up, Loki decided to finally read Tony’s messages and see
what he wanted.  Scrolling through them, Loki could see Tony was insistently
asking if they were still planning on meeting up that morning.  Loki had
forgotten all about it.  He had texted Tony yesterday about his dad going out
of town and how bored he was going to be.  Tony had first quipped about
throwing a “rager” in Loki’s father’s absence, or getting up to some other
monumental level of no good, but when Loki had balked, Tony settled on engaging
in plebeian activities, like a simple weekend hangout with just Tony, Loki, and
Bruce.   
 
Sighing, Loki quickly tapped out a message: Not feeling so great today. Not up
to going out. 
 
Dropping the phone back down on his chest, Loki stared up at his ceiling
sullenly.  Was he really going to just lie in bed all day, moping about Thor?
 
Picking his phone back up, he sent another message: But you guys could come
over here if you want. 
 
The last thing Loki really wanted was to spend his day listening to Tony drone
on.  But Loki didn’t want to be alone, either.    
 
It was only about two minutes later when he received a response.
 
Tony: Oh?  We’re finally deemed worthy enough to come over?  I’m guessing it’s
cuz daddy’s out of town huh?  :p
 
Tony:  We’ll be there at 1. Prepare to get your MIND. BLOWN.
 
Loki sighed again as he tossed his phone back on his pillow, not even bothering
to encourage Tony with a response.
 
He had an hour and a half before Tony and Bruce would show up.  Until then, he
would be left in his big, empty house, at the mercy of his own thoughts. 
 
Loki had so many emotions tumbling around inside of him and he was just itching
to talk to someone.  Anyone.  But who could he tell? 
 
It wasn’t like he could talk to Thor about it.  That was out of the question. 
And he didn’t trust Tony enough not to make fun of him, or find some way to
embarrass him.  And while he did like Bruce, and was sure the older boy
wouldn’t make fun of him, Loki was too embarrassed to discuss things
like…relationships, and feelings, and sex with Bruce Banner.  Steve was also
completely out of the question.  On top of Steve being likely to clutch his
pearls and give Loki a lecture about being “sexually active,” Loki was smart
enough to know there was bad blood between Thor and Steve and Steve would
likely use any information he could to bring Thor down.
 
No, it really felt like there was no one to talk to.  No one here at least. 
But that gave Loki an idea.  He didn’t know if it was the best idea, but there
were too many thoughts in his head for him to think clearly and rationally at
the moment.  He just needed to get it out of his system. 
 
Taking a deep breath, Loki picked his phone back up, and scrolled to a name he
hadn’t texted in a while.
 
Sigyn.
 
He and Sigyn had texted every day, multipletimes a day, when Loki had first
moved.  He had been miserable, and lonely, and angry at the world, and Sigyn
was one of the only constants that never failed to make him feel better.  But
Loki had soon realized that hearing about what his old gang was up to, and
being practically thirsty for gossip about people who were more than 1500 miles
away, was just making him more homesick. So he had made the difficult decision
to ask Sigyn to help wean him off and force him to stop pining for a life he no
longer had.  And,  little by little, the texts had dwindled to once a day, then
once every few days, until now they texted maybe once a week.  He found that it
was ultimately for the best.  He couldn’t see his friends or be a part of the
things he missed from his old life, so it was better (as Sigyn had encouraged
him) to try to find things he could enjoy in his new town.  He, was, however,
looking forward to traveling back home to see his friends over winter break. 
Until then, he had to make do with the restricted texting schedule they had
devised.
 
But this moment was an emergency.  And Sigyn’s opinion was one he valued more
than most others.  But he hadn’t told her anything about Thor, not even
something as simple as “there’s a hot construction worker in my backyard,” and
he was worried that she would be angry or feel betrayed.        
 
Loki’s stomach was in knots as he envisioned what her reaction might be, but he
forced himself to quickly type out a simple message: “I slept with someone.” 
No beating around the bush. 
 
Three painfully slow minutes crept by, Loki’s phone clutched in a white-knuckle
grip, before his phone blew up with a slew of back to back messages:
 
“WHAT??????”
 
“OMG, you’re shitting me. Whaaaaat??!”
 
“ahhgghhhhh!!!!”
 
“Who?!  When??”
 
“Omg, Looooookkkiiii!!!!”
 
Before Loki could even type a response, his phone was ringing.
 
He gulped, feeling almost like he wanted to vomit, but knew he had to answer
it.  You couldn’t just throw a statement like that out there and then refuse to
answer your phone.
 
Hesitantly he brought his phone up to his ear and accepted the call.
 
“Loki!” Sigyn all but screeched in his ear, causing him to wince. “What??”
 
It seemed like Loki had broken her.  Once articulate Sigyn was now reduced to a
limited vocabulary of “Loki,” “OMG” and “what.”
 
“I didn’t even know you were dating someone, much less fucking!” she said,
voice still in the same high octave that she had berated him with when he
answered. 
 
“Shhh, you’re too loud!” he hissed, already worried that her parents would
overhear her and go running to his father with the “news.”
 
“Oh, get over it, no one’s home, and don’t try to avoid the subject. Spill! 
Who are you dating??” she insisted.  
 
“I’m not…dating anyone,” Loki said, admitting the words more painful than he
thought it would be. 
 
“Wait, who is it then?  Is it one of those guys you’ve been hanging out with? 
Tony?  Or Bruce?” she asked.
 
The sheer thought made Loki shudder.
 
“Eww, no,” Loki said.  “It’s not… well I haven’t talked about him before.”
 
“Ooh, so some other guy from the neighborhood?  Someone you’ll be going to
school with?” Sigyn asked, and Loki could already picture her making suggestive
waggles with her eyebrows.
 
Loki huffed. 
 
“He’s not in high school.  Sigyn, can we focus on what’s important here?” Loki
asked.
 
“Not in high school?” she asked, completely ignoring him.  “What do you mean
not in high school?”
 
Loki hesitated for a moment, but it wasn’t like she would let it go.
 
“He’s… older,” Loki offered.
 
“Older?  How much older?” she asked.
 
And Loki groaned, she sounded like a broken record, repeating everything he
said back to him. 
 
“Older,” Loki said, trying to avoid going in to details.
 
“Loki, cut the bullshit,” Sigyn, said, voice taking on a serious tone.
 
Loki flinched.  Sigyn always had that power over him.  She was just one year
older than him, but Loki had always felt like she was so wise and rational. She
was always the person Loki ran to when he had a problem, and he knew she would
always have his back. So if Sigyn ever seemed displeased, Loki always wanted to
strive hard to get back in her good graces.  Her opinion of him really
mattered.   
 
“Sigyn… I can’t really… Can we not?” he pleaded.  “Can you just talk to me
about this, but don’t ask too many questions?”
 
She was silent for a second, before letting out a soft sigh.
 
“Ok, Lo-Lo, but just tell me this: did you sleep with him because you wanted
to?” she asked.
 
Loki knew exactly what she was asking.  She was worried he had gotten himself
caught up in something he didn’t want.  Loki wasn’t naïve; he knew that almost
everything about what he had with Thor was “problematic.”  Thor was 10 years
older than him.  Thor was an adult, and Loki was a minor.  What they
did—everything they did together—was illegal.  And their first encounters
definitely had blurry lines.  But did Loki want what happened last night?  If
he was being honest with himself, the answer was emphatically YES.  When he saw
Thor show up last night at his door, with no warning, Loki’s heart felt like it
was going to jump out of his chest. 
 
He hadn’t been mentally prepared in that moment, but as soon as Thor had
uttered the word—promised that he was going to come upstairs and fuck him—Loki
had never been more turned on his life.  But even more than that, Loki wanted
it because it was Thor.  Because Loki liked him.  He knew now that it wasn’t
just his body reacting in ways he couldn’t control.  He reacted to Thor because
he wanted him.  All of him. His good parts and bad parts, both. 
 
“Yeah,” Loki whispered.  “I wanted it.” 
 
Sigyn was silent for a few moments more, before replying.
 
“Okay then, then I won’t judge. I promise,” she said.  “Now tell me all about
him.” 
 
Loki felt a sense of relief wash over him as he laughed.  He wasn’t fooling
himself; he knew Sigyn probably didn’t approve. But it meant a lot to him that
she was willing to listen anyway.
 
“I don’t know how much there is to tell.  Uh… he’s tall, really muscular, blond
hair, blue eyes,” Loki said, feeling embarrassed to be describing Thor, but
feeling himself smiling at the same time. 
 
“Why am I not surprised?” Sigyn asked, with a chuckle.  “You’ve had a type that
you’ve always crushed on, that’s for sure.” 
 
Loki rolled his eyes.
 
“So you think he’s handsome?” she asked, and Loki could picture her making
those teasing eyebrow waggles again.
 
“Yes, he’s handsome,” Loki muttered begrudgingly.
 
“So, you kept this guy all to yourself for who knows how long.  Why’d you
suddenly want to tell me about him now?” she asked.  “I don’t think it’s just
because you’ve slept with him.”
 
Sigyn was always unnecessarily perceptive.  Something Loki loved and hated
about her.
 
“I… just, I don’t know, I’m pretty confused now that we’ve taken this step,”
Loki said, hoping for some advice from her.
 
“Confused in what way?” she asked. 
 
“Well…most of what we’ve done together has been…uh, physical,” he admitted,
face heating up again. “I just don’t know if he wants anything more than that.”
 
“Wow, Lo-Lo, you really have been busy and not filling me in at all,” she said.
 
Loki huffed.
 
“Okay, okay,” Sigyn said.  “I’ll focus on what you want to talk about, for
now.  So…you guys started out physical, and now you’ve caught feelings but
don’t get the vibe that he’s interested in anything more serious?”
 
Loki cringed. He hated to admit it, if only just because it again affirmed that
he was at a disadvantage to Thor. But Sigyn’s evaluation was pretty much spot
on.
 
Taking his silence for assent, Sigyn continued.
 
“Why don’t you just ask him?” she suggested.
 
“Ask him what?” Loki asked.
 
“Whether he wants something more,” she said simply.  “A lot of people go crazy
in their own heads wondering “what if,” and “does he like me, or doesn’t he,”
and don’t spend the time actually just talking to each other.  It could be as
simple as that.”
 
Loki shook his head and sighed.
 
“This guy and me, well, communication isn’t exactly our best skill,” Loki
groused.
 
“Hmm,” Sigyn said.  “You know what that sounds like to me?  Sounds like you’re
afraid of the possibility of his answer being ‘no.’”
 
Loki bit his lip and closed his eyes; he could feel the telltale burn of tears
threatening to fall under his eyelids.  But this wasn’t want he had called
Sigyn for. He wasn’t going to let her see him cry over some guy.  He was better
than that. 
 
“I just… we don’t communicate well,” Loki repeated again, opting to not address
Sigyn’s question.  “He once suggested that I was, you know, attracted to him.
And I denied it.  And he straight up ignored me for weeks.  And I realized how
much I hated that.  So I practically begged him to pay attention to me again. 
But he was so freaking smug about it.”
 
“Okay…well, he sounds like kind of an asshole?” Sigyn offered.
 
“And yet I like him anyway?” Loki said with a sigh.
 
“So, you’re afraid to ask him if he has feelings for you because you don’t want
him to be smug?” she asked, sounding confused.
 
Loki knew it sounded silly.  The bigger reason was probably what Sigyn had
suggested first: that he was afraid.  But, yes, Loki was also afraid Thor would
say no, and then laugh in his face. More than anything, Loki was afraid Thor
would be turned off if Loki started to want more. And Loki wasn’t sure he was
willing to lose Thor altogether.  Could he really be okay continuing this
“thing” with Thor, never knowing whether Thor had any feelings for him at all?
 
“I just think it’s… kind of early,” Loki muttered weakly.  “It might scare him
away?  Especially since this whole thing started with us both…kind of hating
each other’s guts.”
 
“Omg, Loki, you’re kind of kinky, aren’t you?  Are you into hate sex?” Sigyn
asked, laughing.
 
“Shut up,” Loki groaned.  “I’m not. Well… I don’t think I am?  He infuriates
me, but even with all that said I still find him ridiculously sexy.  Like, his
cockiness and asshole-y nature just…ugh… I can’t hate him even if I want to.”
 
“Hmm…Now I gotta ask: how was it?” Sigyn asked.
 
“Huh?” Loki asked, brows furrowing.  “How was what?”
 
“You know, getting your cherry popped!” she said with a laugh.
 
“Oh my god, Sigyn, I can’t believe you just asked me that,” he said.
 
“Oh come on, you are not actually surprised I asked you that,” she said. “You
act like you don’t know me.”
 
Loki laughed and rolled his eyes.
 
“Um…is it enough just to say that I, uh, wouldn’t mind doing it again?” he
asked, feeling his cheeks heat up.
 
Sigyn cackled. 
 
“Oh, that’s a boy who liked his first ride, if I ever heard one,” she teased. 
 
“Sigyn!” Loki growled. “Be quiet. That is not what I wanted to talk to you
about!”
 
 “So, how about you finally tell me what you want to ask me,” Sigyn pressed.
 
Loki forced himself to take a deep breath.  He wanted to talk to Sigyn because
he wanted someone to listen to his worries. He wanted someone to give him
advice.  Someone who wouldn’t judge him. And, more importantly, someone who
didn’t know Thor.  Someone who could be objective. 
 
“I guess… I guess I want to ask if I’m messed up in the head for still wanting
to be with him, even though he could possibly want nothing to do with me
romantically, or, at worst just be using me for sex.  And whether I’ll really
regret it if I let myself get more invested in this… I’ve never been
heartbroken before, Sig, and I’m worried that this could lead there at some
point,” Loki whispered.
 
Sigyn sighed, but Loki could tell it was a sympathetic one.
 
“Look, I’m all for having sex just ‘cause it feels good, Lo-Lo.  But if you
want feelings to be involved, and it doesn’t seem like that’s what the other
person wants, you might want to try to avoid having sex with that person to
save yourself the heartbreak,” she offered.  “At least, maybe, until you’ve had
a chance to figure out more whether he could be willing to be in this for real
with you, or if you, on the other hand, are okay with leaving your feelings at
the door.” 
 
Loki bit his lip, thinking about what she said.  Could he really… take a break
from Thor?  The thought of it made his heart squeeze painfully.  Loki realized
he might already be deeper in this than he first thought he was.
 
“How does that sound to you?” Sigyn asked.
 
“Hard,” Loki whined. 
 
“I’m sure it is, kid,” she said with a laugh. “You literally just got your
first taste, and I’m not surprised you’re already hooked.  I can’t help but
admit I’m kind of impressed.  You’re growing up so fast.”
 
“Sigyn,” he groaned.
 
“But in all seriousness, Loki,” she said, voice losing the playful tone, “I
want you to be careful, more than anything else, okay?  I already don’t love
the sound of this mysterious older guy you’re hooking up with.  And I can’t
help but to say I’m concerned since it seems your feelings are more invested
than you think they are.  I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
 
Loki felt that burning sensation behind his eyelids again, but quickly blinked
them away.
 
“I won’t Sigyn, I promise. I’ll be careful.  It was helpful talking to you. 
Really. But, I gotta go now, okay? I have some friends coming over in a little
while,” Loki said quickly.
 
“Well, this conversation isn’t over, okay?  I want you to talk to me again, and
let me know if you need help making your decision.  I want to be here for you
if I can, Lo-Lo,” she said.
 
“Thanks,” Loki said, smiling softly.
 
“Love you, butthead!” she said.
 
“Love you too,” he said.
 
He then forced himself to hang up, before he got all emotional.  Dropping his
phone on his comforter he took a deep sigh.  That had been helpful.  It was
helpful just to talk to someone else about this, something he felt he hadn’t
been able to do for the last few months.  But he didn’t necessarily think it
made making his decision any easier.  Thor felt like a habit he just couldn’t
shake.  It didn’t matter if Thor was a bad habit.  Loki knew he was already
hooked. 
 
And that meant he also knew he wouldn’t be able to break things off with Thor,
even if that might be the smartest decision right now.  He couldn’t even stop
himself from thinkingof Thor.  As he forced himself to finally roll out of bed
and face the day, he could only hope that Thor was thinking of him too.  
===============================================================================
Thor sighed to himself as he sat at the bar at The Red Ballerina, the
Romanova’s restaurant in the heart of downtown, nursing a snifter of whiskey on
the rocks.  It was a swanky establishment, with a live pianist at night.  But
right now, the place was dead.  Unsurprisingly so, as it wasn’t even lunch
time.  Which also meant that Thor should likely be ashamed that he was already
two drinks in at that moment, but he couldn’t be bothered.
 
He’d do anything if it meant he could distract his mind from the brat. 
 
His conversation with his father that morning should have been warning enough. 
Thor was changing.  So much so that it was piquing the interest of people he
definitely did not need sniffing around his business. Namely his father.  But
if Odin was noticing, then it meant something was really off.  And if his
father—who preferred to keep anything Thor got up to out of sight, out of
mind—was taking note, that likely meant others would notice too.  Like those
who could use information like this against him.  Whatever Loki was doing to
him was becoming troublesome.  It was becoming the one thing Thor wasn’t
willing to tolerate within himself. 
 
A weakness.
 
Thor grit his teeth, the thought of it turning the amber liquid in his mouth
bitter and tasteless. 
 
What was happening to him?  Since when was he the type to turn to mush over a
little bit of tail? 
But no matter what Thor did to distract himself, the next thing he knew he
would find his mind wandering, taking him back to the previous night.  To the
feel of that tight heat, sucking him in.  The look of Loki’s flushed skin,
those wide, teary eyes, looking up at him with awe, desire, and…trust. 
Something about that was sexy in itself.  What the actual fuck? 
 
It wasn’t like it was his first time adding a “pretty young thing” to his list
of conquests. So it wasn’t the novelty of it, that was for sure.  And it wasn’t
like Loki was charming, or was the type of sweetheart that could be expected to
melt Thor’s heart of ice.  He was almost the total opposite.
 
Loki was mouthy, bratty, clumsy, and definitely liable to be a clinger. 
 
Liability.  That’s all Thor could think of. 
 
But, even with all that glaring evidence working against him, for some reason
Thor still found himself hooked.  He thought that fucking the kid once would
get him out of his system.  But, no, instead he found himself jonesing more for
him than he had before he had gotten a taste.  So what wasit?  It wasn’t like
Loki was a particularly good lay.  Thor had slept with porn stars before, who
had been so creative that Thor had found himself out of his elements.  Compared
to them, the kid had no idea what he was doing in the bedroom.  But Thor found
himself more turned on by an inexperienced arrogant little brat than he had
been by anyone he’d slept with in years.
 
And now here Thor was, two whiskeys in and pinching himself to stop from
looking at pictures of Loki on his phone.  But Thor had never been particularly
good at denying himself what he wanted.  Maybe it was a function of growing up
rather spoiled and with a proverbial silver spoon in his mouth.  But he didn’t
have particularly great impulse control.
 
So, with one covert glance over his shoulder to make sure no one was around,
Thor slipped his phone out of his pocket and opened his text messages.  He
quickly scrolled through to the last picture Loki had sent.   He couldn’t stop
the grin that tugged at the corner of his lips when his eyes landed on the
picture. 
 
Loki had only sent him one selfie when Thor had requested a “nude” a few weeks
back.  Loki was so shy—and clearly not experienced with flirting via text—that
the most he was willing to share with Thor was a strategically angled picture
of his bare chest, taken in the mirror.  Objectively, Thor didn’t think anyone
would consider it a sexy picture.  But because it was Loki, to Thor it was
mouth-watering.
 
His eyes trailed over the pale chest, the dusky pink nipples, the little
freckles he could see peppering the otherwise flawless skin.  From the angle
the picture was taken, the most Thor could see of Loki’s face was his pointy
little chin and a little bit of his plump bottom lip.  His eyes continued to
sweep over the picture, following the slightly defined muscles of his taut
stomach and down to the sparse dark trail of hair leading from his belly button
down into the waistband of his jeans.  In his mind’s eye, Thor could imagine
himself peeling those tight jeans off and spreading Loki out before him like a
feast.  Now he knew what Loki looked like when he touched him.  All the places
he blushed, and where to touch him to make him moan.  
 
“Who’s that?” Thor heard from behind him, and he couldn’t stop himself from
jumping in surprise.
 
His heart hammered in his chest as he cursed under his breath and quickly
locked the screen, as if that could do anything to undo the damage. Then he
turned around to lock Natasha Romanova with his steeliest glare.  But it did
nothing to stop her from opening her mouth. 
 
“Looking a little jail-baity there, Borson,” Natasha said, finely arched
eyebrow rising in a taunt.  “Plus, since when are you into the less fair sex?”
 
Thor’s frown deepened, unimpressed with her teasing.
 
“Since when were you such a nosy busybody?” Thor sneered. “What’re you doing
sneaking around here like some fucking spy for anyway?”
 
Natasha laughed, red lips spreading in a wide grin.
 
“You’d be surprised what I’ve been trained to do,” she said.  “I’ve also been
trained to spot when someone is trying to change the subject.”
 
“Get off it,” Thor said, pushing his glass away and standing to his feet. “Why
do you care who I fuck?  You getting jealous now, Romanova?”
 
Natasha tilted her head to the side and looked at him curiously.
 
“That’s the second time you avoided my question.  Is this guy actually jail-
bait?” she asked
 
“This guy’s none of your business.  But if he’s your type,” Thor said, forcing
a smirk on to his face, “I can find you someone like him.  Maybe we can all
have some fun together?”
 
Natasha rolled her eyes.
 
“You’re disgusting.  Is that really all you have on your mind?” she asked as
she pushed past him and began walking toward the back of the restaurant.
 
Thor followed close behind, frown returning to his features.  The fact that
Natasha had caught him drooling over a picture of Loki leant yet more support
to his conclusion that this kid was going to be no good for him. 
 
“As I find myself constantly saying to you,” Natasha continued as she unlocked
the door that led to the establishment’s basement, “I need you to focus on what
we’re here to do.  You seem to always have your mind on your dick.”
 
“It’s a very impressive part of me, why wouldn’t I pay it attention,” Thor
joked, as he followed her down into the basement.
 
He let out an “oof” when she reached behind her and elbowed him in the gut
without even missing a beat in her conversation.
 
“I’m sure you think it’s much more impressive than it really is, but that’s
often the problem with guys like you.  Now focus.  We’re here to talk about
that,” she said as she pointed to a stack of glassine baggies filled with what
looked like neon-colored pills.
 
“That them?” Thor said, becoming more serious.
 
“Yeah,” Natasha said as she grabbed one of the bags.  “Someone’s been flooding
the market with these new pills.  It’s really fucking people up.  There’s no
real way to tell what their reaction is going to be.  For some people it’s an
upper, for others it’s a downer.  The effects last about four hours.  And
people have been crushing them and snorting them to get the high faster.  It’s
like the new party drug.  And because of that, now it’s starting to get on the
cops’ radars.  It’s becoming a lot harder to move the other stuff.”
 
Thor grabbed one of the little packets and rolled the neon pill between his
thumb and forefinger.
 
“So someone’s compromising the business we’ve been doing, and on top of that
cutting into our market and not offering us a part of the take,” he said,
frowning. 
 
Natasha nodded as she jumped up to sit on one of the tables.
 
“Have any ideas about who’d be dumb enough to do that on your territory?” she
asked with a smirk.
 
“I have a few ideas, and the list is pretty fucking short,” Thor said, crushing
the pill between his fingers.
 
“Well, let’s try to narrow that list down to one person.  Because my father
doesn’t like that we’re starting to lose money.  This deal he struck with your
father is looking less and less ideal to him.  We were promised that
collaborating with the Borson family and opening our channels to allow you a
more widespread distribution stream would be nothing but beneficial to us.  But
we had some of the city cops poking around one of our clubs last weekend.  Some
girl OD’ed on this fairy pill bullshit in the bathroom and almost died.  So
they came back to investigate,” Natasha said rolling her eyes.
 
Thor frowned as he listened to her.  When she said she needed to discuss a
problem, he didn’t think it would be this.  If Nikolai Romanova was starting to
have doubts about their partnership already and decided to back out, all the
work Thor had done to garner respect from his father would all be for naught. 
If anything, Odin would likely blame him for souring things with the
Romanovas.  Odin always preferred neutral relationships over friendships,
because friends could quickly turn into enemies.  Thor was the one who tried to
convince him that it made more sense for the Borson family to start branching
out and working with other families.  Thor knew Odin wouldn’t hesitate to rub
his face in it if this thing went tits up. 
 
Natasha gave him a sympathetic smile, as if sensing his distress. 
 
“Don’t worry, Thor,” she said.  “My father’s business managers were able to
convince them that the drugs didn’t come from our club.  To be honest, no one
has ever seen this shit before.  So it’s believable. I’m almost sure she didn’t
get it from any of our guys.  My father isn’t necessarily doubting you.  But I
think he doesn’t like that there are unknowns out there.  So if we can, I think
it’s best if we nip this in the bud before it turns into something bigger.  If
my father starts to feel that the market will bring us more attention from the
cops, he’ll pull out.”
 
Thor nodded as he looked down at the pink neon dust coating his fingers.
 
This type of flashy, reckless move stunk of Ronan.  But Thor had to be sure
before he moved forward.  Getting into a battle with Ronan could mean a war
with Thanos, and that was something Thor wasn’t willing to enter into lightly. 
 
“I’ll handle it,” he said, as he looked up at her, a frown on his face. “Trust
me.”
_________
 
When Loki opened the door, he was greeted by the grinning, goatee’d, face of
Tony Stark.  Behind him he could see Bruce smiling and waving good-naturedly. 
 
“Ugh, took you forever to get the door,” Tony said as he pushed past him and
let himself into the house.  “I was freaking melting out there.  I need a cold
drink.”
 
“What?” Loki said, gawping as Tony walked further into his house.  “You rang
the bell two times.  That’s hardly forever.”
 
“It was two times too many,” Tony called from down the hall.
 
“And where the heck are you going?” Loki shouted after him, ushering Bruce in
and quickly locking the door behind him.  “You don’t just go wandering in to
someone else’s house!”
 
Loki and Bruce finally found Tony in the kitchen, opening and closing cabinets.
 
“Oh, I’ve been in this house before,” Tony said nonchalantly, as he continued
to look through Loki’s cabinets.
 
“Huh?” Loki asked.
 
“Yeah…I knew the people who used to live here.  A girl named Pepper…” Tony
trailed off.
 
Loki’s brows furrowed.  He glanced over to Bruce for an explanation, but Bruce
just shook his head, telling Loki in no uncertain terms to drop it. 
 
“Ah, but they moved away two years ago.  So it’s interesting to see what you
guys’ve been doing with the place.  Surprised it’s not just a tear down.  I
don’t know why anyone ever wants to restore old stuff.  In with the new, I
always say,” Tony said as he turned around to face them.  “Guess your dad is
the nostalgic type?”
 
Loki shrugged.
 
“Probably. It has been pretty ridiculous trying to make repairs to this place,”
he said. 
 
Tony smirked.
 
“But you get the benefit of having the Borson team be the one to work on your
house,” Tony said with a wink.  “You can’t deny that you’ve appreciated that
eye candy, I’m sure.”
 
Loki flushed and glared at Tony.
 
“Oh come on, Loki,” Tony said with a laugh as he leaned back against the
counter top.  “The more you deny you think Thor Borson is hot, the more I’m
going to be convinced you do. Have you never heard the phrase ‘the lady doth
protest too much?’”
 
“I don’t have the energy to argue with you, Tony,” Loki said instead. 
 
“You really do look like shit though,” Tony mentioned as he stepped back a bit
from Loki, as if he would catch something.  “Paler than your usual, and you’re
even stumbling around a bit.” 
 
Loki flushed, and glanced away.
 
“Ah…Well, I just woke up feeling all out of it and achy   You know how it is,”
Loki said with a shrug.
 
He saw Bruce glance at him curiously out of the corner of his eye, and Loki
felt his face heat up more.
 
“Well whatever it is, make sure I don’t catch it,” Tony said dismissively. 
“Where does your dad keep the booze around here?”
 
Loki gave him a deadpan look.
 
“It’s like…one in the afternoon,” Loki said. 
 
“And?   I’m bored,” Tony whined. 
 
“There’s no way we’re drinking.  Plus, my dad is definitely going to notice if
we take anything from his liquor cabinet. Trust me, I’ve been through that
before,” Loki muttered. 
 
“How about we go for a swim instead?” Bruce offered, glancing out the kitchen
windows.  “You said they just revamped your pool, right?”
 
Loki flinched.  A swim would be great.  That is, if Loki’s body wasn’t covered
in the physical signs of Thor’s attentions. 
 
When Loki had stepped out of the shower that morning and seen his body in the
mirror, he had gasped.  His body was peppered with small bruises, trailing from
his neck, to his collarbone, and even across his nipple.  He had been almost
mesmerized by it, running his finger from mark to mark, as if he was mapping
out the path Thor’s hands and lips had taken across his body.  He had blushed,
shocked by how much he had kind of liked it.  It looked like Thor had laid
claim on him. But it had made picking something to wear a bit difficult, since
Loki often preferred loose-fitting tanks in the summer, which tended to
showcase his collarbones and even his ribs. Today, however, he had opted for a
graphic tee.  It was hot, but he didn’t have much choice. 
 
And there was no way Loki was going to agree to get into his swim trunks.  Not
if it meant he’d have to answer questions about the marks all over his body. 
So swimming was out of the question.
 
“Ah…I’m not really sure I’m up to that. You know, sick and all,” Loki said
hurriedly, and forced a soft cough out.  “But, how about we make smoothies or
milkshakes or something?  I’m sure we’ve got lots of stuff for it.  And we can
go upstairs and play video games.”   
 
Tony gave him a curious look, tilting his head to the side and rubbing his
goatee, a look that Loki hated. 
 
“Why do I feel like you’re hiding something from me?” Tony asked.
 
“I-I’m not,” Loki said, voice cracking to his horror. “I just…my dad told me
I’m not supposed to have people over. So it’s better if we just keep it low key
and don’t make a mess or anything.  I don’t want him to know you guys were
here.”
 
“How’s he gonna know if we were in the pool?  You have video surveillance or
something?” Tony asked, unconvinced.
 
“Look, it’s my house, so we’re going to do what I say, okay?” Loki said,
growing frustrated.  “When I come over by you, you make me do whatever you
want, in addition to playing test dummy to some of your stupid inventions.  So
if I say I want to drink milkshakes and play videogames, that’s what we’re
doing.”
 
Bruce and Tony blinked at him in surprise.  Then Tony was grinning, and Loki
prepared himself to hear some annoying quip. 
 
“Hmm, never thought I’d say this, but I like it when you’re the dominant,” Tony
said with a laugh.  “Lead the way, master.”
 
Loki rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help but smile back. 
===============================================================================
In a tastefully appointed office on the other side of town sat Odin Borson,
stroking his beard in contemplation. 
 
One thing Odin did not like was “complications.”  He had worked hard to exert
control over his surroundings, to know when, how, and where things would happen
around him.  But, now, this situation with his eldest was starting to stink of
“complicated,” and Odin was not pleased.
 
It was obvious something was going on with Thor.  Odin knew Thor well enough to
know his son was wild—sex, drugs, and violence were a regular Saturday night
for Thor.  He could not exactly say he condoned his son’s showy lifestyle; Odin
believed the key to success was to hide in plain sight.  He also imagined a
good part of why he and his son butted head so much was because Thor considered
his father to be old fashioned, while Odin considered his son to be rash and
incapable of seeing the big picture.  But it wasn’t surprising; Odin had been
almost 40 when he had had Thor. 
 
Odin had lived so much of his life, and had seen what the world was like,
before he brought order to it.  Thor had only ever lived in a world that Odin
had curated for him, through blood and sweat.  Thor’s life was easy.  But Odin
never forgot what things could be like when in chaos.  And Odin was not willing
to let things devolve back into disorder because Thor could not control
himself.  However, Odin was content to pay little attention to Thor’s
activities as long as Thor could be trusted to put the things that really
mattered first. 
 
And what mattered most was family.
 
Thor had always found it difficult to connect with people.  After much urging
from Thor’s schools, Odin and his wife had been encouraged to have Thor
evaluated.  The handful of child psychologists had thrown words around like
antisocial tendencies and aggression and adjustment issues.  Odin had responded
in turn by bestowing Thor’s school with a large endowment.  No further requests
for evaluations came from the school after that. 
 
Odin couldn’t be bothered with how outsiders thought of his son.  His son cared
about the only people he was supposed to—his father, mother, brother, and the
men and women who comprised the Borson enterprise.  He was a born leader.  He
was ruthless and an exemplary soldier.  Thor would do anything for the Family. 
Whether it was lie, cheat, steal, or kill.  Thor was still immature in his
tastes, but, for the most part, Odin trusted in him not to let the Family down.
 
But, now, it was apparent Thor was distracted. 
 
Odin did not care to hear of his son’s exploits from his own mouth.  But he was
always kept abreast of Thor’s comings and goings by Thor’s Warriors. It had
always been that way, ever since Thor was in his early teens.  Thor was their
direct commander, but Odin was their general.  If Thor was shit-faced and
passed out at his penthouse in the city, Odin wanted to know, just the same as
Odin wanted to know if Thor had been stabbed in a fight and was being rushed to
the Family’s physician to get patched up.  The fact that the Warriors had no
idea where Thor had disappeared to last night had been…troubling.
 
Thor’s response to Odin’s warning that morning had left Odin’s concerns
unassuaged, to say the least.  Odin didn’t know if Thor had been sneaking
around because of some girl, or if he was dabbling in some new vice.  But the
fact that Thor thought he had to hide it was something Odin was not used to. 
Thor was more likely to boast about the latest wild thing he was involved in. 
If only to watch as Odin’s face tightened and eyebrow twitched in anger.  Odin
could only imagine Thor was being so shifty because it was something that had
the potential to be damaging for the Family.  And if that was the case, Odin
needed to know now more than ever. 
 
 If Thor wasn’t going to tell him, Odin would find out through his own means.
 
Odin picked up his phone and pressed the quick-dial next to the name Heimdall. 
He only had 5 people on his quick dial, and three of those were his wife and
children. 
 
When Odin first began his business, he had been distrustful of any and all
people.  He believed he had to be his own eyes and ears everywhere his
influence touched.  He soon learned that if you’re watching your back all the
time, you likely wouldn’t be able to watch your front.  And he had learned that
lesson the hard way, having been ambushed in a set up that would have been so
clear to him if he hadn’t been spreading himself so thin.  He had lost his
right eye that day. But he gained the knowledge that his enterprise could be
still be efficiently run, even if he had to rely on others.  He just had to
carefully select those he kept close. And Heimdall was one of those select
individuals. 
 
Heimdall joined the Borson family over 20 years ago, and now served as Odin’s
eyes and ears.  It was almost as if he was all-knowing.  Odin did not care to
know how Heimdall got his sources, or where from, but he knew he could always
trust the man to have accurate information, and to have it before any of his
enemies could get it.
 
“Heimdall,” Odin said once the call connected.
 
The man’s deep voice resonated in a simple response, “Who and what, Sir?”
 
“Thor,” Odin responded.
 
He could hear the pause on the other line.  Heimdall had known Thor since he
was in grade school.  But if Odin could trust anyone to be objective in their
loyalty it was Heimdall.
 
“What would you like to know?” Heimdall said, voice calm and steady.
 
“What he’s been up to.  He’s been distracted the past few weeks.  I suspect
it’s some girl.  Or maybe he’s gotten himself involved in some foolish side
hustle. Or it's drugs.  Whatever it is, I want to know everything about it. 
And I don’t want Thor to know you’re looking into it,” Odin said.
 
“Of course, Sir,” Heimdall said.  “I’ll report back when I’ve gathered my
intel.” 
 
Then the line disconnected.
 
Placing the phone down, Odin sighed heavily to himself.  Whatever it was, Odin
would not hesitate to snuff it out.   He had warned Thor.  Now Thor would be
the only one to blame for whatever befell him. 
===============================================================================
A/N: Ok, that’s all she wrote for now!  I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. 
Sorry there was no direct Thor x Loki interaction in this one.  Let’s call this
a transition chapter?  I spent a little time rethinking the direction I want to
take this story. So hopefully that works out well. In any case, hopefully the
next chapter will be up in a somewhat reasonable amount of time, but you never
know with me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.  It helps to let me know what you think though, haha. 
xoxo
Please drop_by_the_archive_and_comment to let the author know if you enjoyed
their work!