[fic] Loki Found the Whole Thing Hilarious 3/3 END
Last Part! \O/
Title: Loki Found the Whole Thing Hilarious
Chapter: 3/3
Rating: PG-13ish
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Fluff
Word Count: 3711
Chapter One ~ Chapter Two
~~~
Tony Stark thought of himself as a pretty easy going guy. Very laid back. Little phased him these days and even less surprised him. However, he felt he was well within his rights to be surprised, taken aback, and alarmed (he most certainly did not scream like a little girl) when he shuffled groggily into the kitchen one morning and found Loki, God of Mischief, his teammate's brother and The Avengers' enemy (who last he knew had been gravely injured) sitting at his breakfast bar.
In normal people clothes.
Drinking coffee out of his mug and eating a bowl of his cereal. (No really, it was his cereal. They were shaped like little Iron Man helmets and tasted of cinnamon.)
To add insult to injury, the Trickster seemed completely nonplussed at Tony's presence and simply sipped at his coffee. Then, he had the audacity to look over at him and smirk across the rim of the mug. "Oh good morning, Stark. Do you normally shriek like a banshee this early in the morning, or was that just for me?"
Tony opened his mouth, closed it, and just stared, dumbfounded. "--You--What--I don't-- Why are you here?!" Tony demanded. "If you're better, shouldn't you, I dunno, be off eating some babies or something?"
Loki widened his eyes in mock surprise as he set down the mug and raised his bowl of cereal. "Why Tony," he gasped. "I can't believe you would say that to me." Tony's eye twitched as Loki batted his eyelashes. "Why, I would never eat a baby."
"Somehow, I wouldn't put it past you," Tony said flatly, crossing his arms.
Loki laughed and then smirked, a mischievous glint in his green eyes. "Babies are barely a snack. I prefer grown ups, of course."
"...I walked right into that one, didn't I?" the Iron Man asked with a groan.
"Oh I'd say it was more like you ran into it, Tony," Steve said as he walked into the kitchen.
"Steve! --Are you seeing this? Why are you walking by like nothing's wrong?--" Tony spun to face Loki. "You're projecting yourself, aren't you? You're making it so only I can see you. What exactly are you plotting--"
"Loki, can you pass me the cereal? I'm out," Steve asked politely.
Tony gaped as Loki wordlessly picked up the box of his cereal and passed it to Steve.
"Steve, what are you doing?!" Tony demanded.
Steve raised an eyebrow as he poured cereal and milk into his bowl. "...Eating breakfast."
"No! No! You're fraternizing with the enemy! --Cerealizing with the enemy!"
"Tony, that's not a word--"
"IT IS NOW!"
"Tony, you're being ridiculous."
"No I'm not!! I mean-- just look! He's already got you participating in a crime!"
Steve stared at him blankly, spoon halfway to his mouth. "..A crime," he repeated flatly.
"Yes!" Tony exclaimed, gesturing emphatically at the box of cereal sitting next to Steve's bowl. "Theft!!"
After a long moment, the war hero spoke slowly, trying to keep his words small. "..Tony. I'm eating your cereal because we're out of mine and you, who were in charge of groceries this week, went carousing last night and then when you did get back, you locked yourself in your lab. I'm sure there's a reason Loki is eating it too."
Tony looked over at the Trickster, eyes wide, crazed, and demanding an explanation.
Loki shrugged. "If you must know, Thor's cereal is a little too snap, crackle, pop for me."
Tony stared at him, then looked at Steve in alarm. "Did he just say that?--How does he know these things?!"
Steve chewed his cereal, completely unfazed. After he swallowed, he replied, "That Thor's cereal goes "snap, crackle, pop" or the fact that it's a Rice Krispies reference?"
"The reference!" Tony was utterly dismayed. "He's not supposed to know Earth things! He's not allowed to know Earth things!!"
Loki's eyes twinkled mischievously once more. "I also wanted to know if the Iron Man was truly as magically delicious as the rumors suggest."
Tony turned on him slowly, pointing an threatening finger at him. "Oh I'll show you how magically delicious I am," he said dangerously.
"Tony Stark, please stop propositioning my brother," Thor said as he walked into the kitchen.
"Oh, I'll stop when you tell me what the hell you were thinking when you--wait what?!" Tony demanded, sputtering. "I'm not!--I--Wh--NO!"
Thor blinked at him in surprise and then laughed. "Forgive me, my friend, you just--your words and your state of... dress--I had assumed..."
"More like state of un-dress," Steve piped up, looking incredibly amused at the whole situation.
Tony blinked. Then he blinked again and glanced down at himself. His boxer-clad self.
Loki grinned, resting his elbows on the table, folding his hands and resting his chin on them. "So, Tony, how magically delicious are you?"
The Iron Man sputtered, opened his mouth and then shut it before storming out of the room.
Thor let out a rumbling laugh and Loki only smiled wider. If someone had told him before this whole ordeal began that being honest about something so risky as his feelings for his brother would be the best decision he had ever made, he would have laughed in their face and then done something particularly cruel for daring to bring up such a topic. But as he watched Thor laugh, pour an overly large bowl of cereal and set four pop-tarts to toast, Loki was very glad that he had taken the chance.
~~~
Loki had only held the kiss for a few seconds. When Thor did nothing, the Trickster pulled back quickly and turned his head away; he could not bear to look at Thor’s face. When he made to get up, however, Thor’s hand shot out and grabbed his wrist. “--Loki--Why did you..?” Thor began, dumbfounded.
Loki stopped his movement to rise, but still didn’t turn back to look at his brother. “I should think it obvious, Thor. Why does one normally kiss another? Or do you think it to be a trick of mine?” Loki’s stomach did an uncharacteristic flop at that thought and he half-heartedly tugged at Thor’s hold on his wrist.
“--No, brother--that’s not it--I simply,” Thor floundered, stammering a bit. “I simply wanted to make certain I was not misunderstanding you.”
“Oh, I’m sure you understand just fine,” the Trickster said bitterly. “Go ahead and laugh, brother.”
But true to every other recent event, Thor did not do as Loki had expected. The grip on his arm tightened slightly and Loki found himself pulled into Thor’s embrace for the third time in two days. “Do you really believe me so cruel, brother?” the Thunderer asked and Loki scowled at Thor’s armored chest as his brother had the gall to put a hand on his head.
Loki raised an arm and knocked Thor’s away, trying once again to pull back from his brother’s embrace, scooting backwards across the Bifrost. “It is more cruel to lead me to hope for things I cannot have!”
“Loki--Brother!! Stop fighting me and let me speak!” Thor exclaimed as he tried to hold onto him.
Loki sneered, pulling harder at Thor’s hold. “Let go of me and perhaps I will listen!”
Thor’s grip only tightened. “No, because I know that the minute I let go, you will make to escape.”
The Trickster let out a frustrated noise and pulled hard once more against Thor’s iron grip before slumping slightly, the effort not worth the futile attempts. “You already have that woman,” Loki gritted out. “I do not see what more you can say.”
Thor’s eyes softened. “..It is true,” the Thunderer began, “I do have Jane. And I love her.” Loki scowled down at the Bifrost and with his free hand Thor gently turned his brother’s face so that the Trickster was looking at him. “But you and I share a bond that transcends lifetimes, brother.”
Loki stared at him openly, then tried to turn his head away again. “Do not pity me, Thor...!” he hissed, renewing his efforts to get free.
“Brother--brother--please!--” When nothing swayed Loki’s attempts, Thor gave up on words and leaned in, covering the other’s mouth with his own in a fierce kiss.
The Trickster froze, his green eyes wide. Then, slowly, he returned the kiss, closing his eyes. They stayed like that for what felt like a blissful eternity. When Thor pulled back from the kiss, Loki stared up at him, still wide-eyed, and slightly out of breath. “Wh...what..?” Loki whispered breathlessly.
“Loki,” Thor began, brushing a stray strand of his brother’s hair behind his ear. “You and I have been a part of each other’s lives forever and we will continue to be. I am not so naiive as to not realize that Jane... the Avengers... they have mortal life spans and... one day they will not be there. ...But you and I will be. And though we have had many differences in the past, brother, the bond you and I share is on a whole other level and no matter what, you will always be my brother. I would have no other by my side. ...I have always been yours, Loki.”
Loki stared, for once not sure what to say. And when Thor kissed him again and his eyes slid shut, tears welled behind his closed eyelids, much to his dismay. But everything was just so... perfect. Nothing had ever gone so right for him, not in his entire life. Now, everything was falling into place. No longer an enemy in the place he once called home, his brother’s friends--his friends--giving him a second chance, Thor kissing him, loving him. It was too good to be true. He almost started to believe it was a dream, or Hel, a trick, or something other than reality again, because really, nothing could be this perfect. But he found that he didn’t care. If this was a dream, he’d dream it. Whatever it was, he’d let it fool him because he couldn’t bear to fight it anymore.
So he sank into Thor’s embrace and returned the kiss with fervor, wrapping his arms around Thor’s neck. And for once, Loki held on. He held on tight and he had no intention of letting go. In fact, it wasn’t until Thor had scooted them back so their legs no longer dangled over the edge, lay him back on the Bifrost, and slipped a hand up under Loki’s tunic, that the Trickster broke the kiss with a gasp.
“T-Thor,” he said breathlessly, looking up at him. Thor for his part, seemed to have no idea why Loki would have stopped and looked at him questioningly. Loki found himself flushing slightly and pushed half-heartedly at Thor’s chest. “Heimdall is right there! He’s probably watching!” he hissed.
Thor lowered his lips to Loki’s again, murmuring with a smirk, “Brother, Heimdall is always watching.” And with that, he kissed Loki again. Thor slid his hand from his brother’s tunic, lowered it down between his brother’s legs, and Loki found that he had lost the ability to think or care about anything else.
~~~
Loki was brought out of his extremely pleasant memory by Tony Stark storming back into the kitchen, completely dressed. “All right! Now you will tell me what’s going on! Why is Loki of all people--gods--whatever-- in my kitchen! In my house?! And why does no one seem to think that this is weird?!” he demanded, gesturing wildly while the other three occupants of the room stared at him.
Smiling brightly, Loki leaned back on the stool he was sitting on, crossing his legs. “Oh, well, Tony, you got back so late you missed it. I’m going to be an Avenger too!”
Anything that Tony was going to say immediately left his brain. His mouth opened and shut several times before he was finally reduced to making incoherent noises of dismay and consternation. Steve sighed heavily and took his cereal bowl to the sink before walking over to his blank-faced, mortified friend. “What happened, Tony, was that Thor showed up with Loki last night. Loki survived everything and he and Thor talked a lot and Loki doesn’t seem like he’s going to be doing the evil thing anymore. At least for a while.”
Loki spread his hands. “But I’d be incredibly bored doing the ‘normal’ thing, so I thought I might offer my assistance. Besides,” his grin became dangerous, “I owe Doom.”
Tony shuddered. “...Okay so... you’re on our side. At least temporarily. How temporary is temporary?”
Loki’s grin went back from dangerous to amiable. “Oh I’m sure it will be rather semi-permanent, but I can’t make any guarantees, of course. What would that do for my reputation? As long as I don’t get too bored. But I don’t foresee myself getting bored any time soon. Between tormenting you and giving my old... ‘friends’ their just desserts for daring to lay their hands on things mortals ought not touch, I think I’ll be quite entertained.” Tony nodded his understanding, slowly starting to get comfortable with the idea since everyone else seemed to be. “And besides,” Loki continued smoothly. “I have Thor to screw my brains out, so that won’t ever get boring.”
Tony’s brain exploded. It was quite messy.
~~~
That night Loki lay awake, staring at Thor’s bedroom ceiling. He was content, plotting his next bout of Avenger-directed mischief, when he felt Thor shift beside him. The Trickster glanced to his side then frowned when he saw Thor’s face, brow furrowed, expression pained. Loki began to rise just as the Thunderer thrashed and Loki quickly moved over him when he noticed Mjolnir start to scoot towards them. “Thor--” He began, touching Thor shoulder. Mjolnir scooted closer again and Loki took Thor’s face in both of his hands. “Brother--wake!”
The God of Thunder jerked and his eyes snapped open, Mjolnir jumping to his hand despite Loki’s attempts to leave the great hammer out of the whole ordeal. The God of Mischief didn’t move from his spot, however he did let go of Thor’s face. “Brother,” he repeated, and Thor’s eyes seemed to finally focus on Loki’s face. Just as they did, Mjolnir was dropped and Loki found himself pulled into Thor’s crushing embrace. With a muffled grunt, the Trickster managed to push himself away enough to speak. “Thor--Thor I do need to breathe. It’s kind of one of those things that is rather necessary for my survival.”
That seemed to do the trick and Thor let go of him quickly. Loki sat back on Thor’s legs, looking down at him, bemused. “Now what on earth brought that on?”
“Forgive me brother,” Thor began, glancing off to the side. “I had a... disturbing dream.”
The Trickster blinked, genuinely surprised. “Out of the two of us, you are not normally the one to have nightmares, brother. What was it about?” The prospect that something actually could disturb the ‘Invincible, Fearless, Mighty Thor’ piqued Loki’s curiosity greatly. When Thor didn’t say anything, Loki scooted forward insistently. “Come on, Thor, tell me. Talk to me about it so I can tell you how silly you are for worrying over whatever it is.”
Thor remained silent for a long moment, but when he did speak, he was uncharacteristically quiet and subdued. “...You died, Loki.” That gave Loki pause and the Trickster blinked down at him, having not expected that answer. “You died in my arms,” Thor continued, finally looking up at him.
“...Thor,” Loki said, bending at the waist to take his brother’s face in his hands once more. “We both know that didn’t happen. Everything worked out better than either of us could have possibly imagined.”
The Thunderer didn’t look so sure. “But what if next time--”
Loki put a finger to his lips. “First of all, who is to say if there will be a next time? I certainly don’t plan on brushing against death for a while yet. My quota has been filled for this century.” Thor rolled his eyes and grimaced behind Loki’s finger but the Trickster continued. “And we can ‘what if’ until we’re blue in the face, but no one can be certain of anything. Take it from someone who is very keen on controlling his own destiny, and succeeding rather well I might add, recent encounters with lethal magical spells notwithstanding. You will drive yourself mad with all the ‘what if’s. Trust me.”
Thor sighed and removed Loki’s hand from his face. “All right. ...I do trust you, brother.”
The Trickster laughed and then smirked playfully in his brother’s face. “I don’t know that trusting me is very wise. In fact I think it’s rather foolish.”
The Thunderer grinned despite himself and smirked right back. “Well you are always calling me a fool, brother,” he murmured before catching his brother in a kiss. Loki decided he could get very used to this Kissing Thor thing.
After several minutes of on and off again kissing, Loki lay back down beside his brother and gave him a light punch to the shoulder. “Everything will be fine, Thor. Stop worrying so much. It’s not like you and it’s throwing me off my game.”
Thor snorted and wrapped one arm around his brother. “Oh yes, of course. We can’t have that, can we?”
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you sounded sarcastic, Thor,” Loki sniffed before scooting back further into his brother’s embrace, muttering unconvincingly about how cold it was and how Thor was such a great bag of hot air and that’s why he had to be so close.
As he started to drift off again, Thor could have sworn he heard Loki say “It will be all right, Thor” again.
~~~
Just as had happened in Asgard, the next day Thor was reassured that everything would in fact, be all right.
The morning began fantastically, as Tony Stark entered the kitchen, shouting “Don’t say anything! over the loud thrum of dance music following him around from no particular power source. Thor would have said something, but he was too fascinated by the way the Arc Reactor, with no change to its functions, was projecting different, pulsing, strobing colors of light in time with the music.
Loki sipped at his coffee and didn’t bother trying to hide the smirk on his face.
The day progressed in even more wonderful ways when it came time to suit up due to a threat downtown. Steve came clicking his way outside, everything appearing normal but for what was on his feet. “I--my boots were missing and no other shoes, even the sneakers I was wearing yesterday wouldn’t fit and when I tried to leave barefoot, they pretty much flew onto my feet so--yeah...” he muttered, embarrassed, as he shuffled on the high heels he was wearing. Aside from a few snickers, the team was very understanding.
Surprisingly enough, he ran perfectly fine in them as they rushed to the scene. When asked how he was managing so well, the Captain flushed deeply, muttered something about a bet and Howard Stark and Tony pointedly stopped listening.
Coulson was waiting for them when they arrived and the group stopped and stared. (All save for Loki, who pointedly moved to the side to window shop.) No one had anything to say and the Shield agent briefed them on the situation as if nothing was out of the ordinary. “Any questions?” he asked, straightening the pale pink tie around his neck and adjusting the bright pink blazer he was wearing.
The Avengers vehemently shook their heads and moved on. Nonplused, Coulson noted that it had been the easiest mission brief he had given them to date.
When they arrived on the scene, Hawkeye notched and drew an arrow. Then he stopped, and then he stared. At the end, instead of a point, was a rubber duck. A bright yellow rubber duck. He contniued to stare. And stared some more. He was so busy staring he almost didn’t dodge a shot from an enemy gun. With a scowl, he turned quickly and let the Bath Toy Arrow fly. It flew true and hit its target. Then, it promptly exploded.
Clint blinked in surprise and then slowly smirked, promptly letting loose a barrage of exploding rubber duckies into the enemy ranks.
The rest of the minions fell quickly. Iron Man’s incessant music would draw their attention, the strobing colors would blind them, Hawkeye would take out several with exploding duck toys and then Cap would throw not only his shield, but a deadly high heel after the stragglers. Thor, was of course, smashing away at many other henchmen, ignoring the mighty squeak Mjolnir let out every time it came into contact with an enemy body.
When Doom finally arrived on the scene, Loki decided to make his appearance. The immediately surrounding henchmen turned to ice almost instantly and the temperature in the area dropped dramatically. Thor’s anger sparked off some menacing clouds and lightning, which only added to the theatricality of Loki’s entrance.
The henchmen that were still left ran.
Doom took one look at Loki, working with the Avengers, and Thor, and the clouds, and his dramatic speech died in his throat.
Doom fled.
As his brother sent a nasty looking illusion chasing after the man and Tony Stark’s unstoppable audio track switched to something that sounded like video game victory music, Thor knew (again) that everything really would be fine.
Loki turned back to the group of celebrating Avengers and laughed. Not only at their appearance (which was absolutely ridiculous, high heels, squeaky toys, music, rubber duckies and all) but the entire situation, because really, the whole thing was hilarious.
<3 ~~~END~~~ <3
Title: Loki Found the Whole Thing Hilarious
Chapter: 3/3
Rating: PG-13ish
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Fluff
Word Count: 3711
Chapter One ~ Chapter Two
~~~
Tony Stark thought of himself as a pretty easy going guy. Very laid back. Little phased him these days and even less surprised him. However, he felt he was well within his rights to be surprised, taken aback, and alarmed (he most certainly did not scream like a little girl) when he shuffled groggily into the kitchen one morning and found Loki, God of Mischief, his teammate's brother and The Avengers' enemy (who last he knew had been gravely injured) sitting at his breakfast bar.
In normal people clothes.
Drinking coffee out of his mug and eating a bowl of his cereal. (No really, it was his cereal. They were shaped like little Iron Man helmets and tasted of cinnamon.)
To add insult to injury, the Trickster seemed completely nonplussed at Tony's presence and simply sipped at his coffee. Then, he had the audacity to look over at him and smirk across the rim of the mug. "Oh good morning, Stark. Do you normally shriek like a banshee this early in the morning, or was that just for me?"
Tony opened his mouth, closed it, and just stared, dumbfounded. "--You--What--I don't-- Why are you here?!" Tony demanded. "If you're better, shouldn't you, I dunno, be off eating some babies or something?"
Loki widened his eyes in mock surprise as he set down the mug and raised his bowl of cereal. "Why Tony," he gasped. "I can't believe you would say that to me." Tony's eye twitched as Loki batted his eyelashes. "Why, I would never eat a baby."
"Somehow, I wouldn't put it past you," Tony said flatly, crossing his arms.
Loki laughed and then smirked, a mischievous glint in his green eyes. "Babies are barely a snack. I prefer grown ups, of course."
"...I walked right into that one, didn't I?" the Iron Man asked with a groan.
"Oh I'd say it was more like you ran into it, Tony," Steve said as he walked into the kitchen.
"Steve! --Are you seeing this? Why are you walking by like nothing's wrong?--" Tony spun to face Loki. "You're projecting yourself, aren't you? You're making it so only I can see you. What exactly are you plotting--"
"Loki, can you pass me the cereal? I'm out," Steve asked politely.
Tony gaped as Loki wordlessly picked up the box of his cereal and passed it to Steve.
"Steve, what are you doing?!" Tony demanded.
Steve raised an eyebrow as he poured cereal and milk into his bowl. "...Eating breakfast."
"No! No! You're fraternizing with the enemy! --Cerealizing with the enemy!"
"Tony, that's not a word--"
"IT IS NOW!"
"Tony, you're being ridiculous."
"No I'm not!! I mean-- just look! He's already got you participating in a crime!"
Steve stared at him blankly, spoon halfway to his mouth. "..A crime," he repeated flatly.
"Yes!" Tony exclaimed, gesturing emphatically at the box of cereal sitting next to Steve's bowl. "Theft!!"
After a long moment, the war hero spoke slowly, trying to keep his words small. "..Tony. I'm eating your cereal because we're out of mine and you, who were in charge of groceries this week, went carousing last night and then when you did get back, you locked yourself in your lab. I'm sure there's a reason Loki is eating it too."
Tony looked over at the Trickster, eyes wide, crazed, and demanding an explanation.
Loki shrugged. "If you must know, Thor's cereal is a little too snap, crackle, pop for me."
Tony stared at him, then looked at Steve in alarm. "Did he just say that?--How does he know these things?!"
Steve chewed his cereal, completely unfazed. After he swallowed, he replied, "That Thor's cereal goes "snap, crackle, pop" or the fact that it's a Rice Krispies reference?"
"The reference!" Tony was utterly dismayed. "He's not supposed to know Earth things! He's not allowed to know Earth things!!"
Loki's eyes twinkled mischievously once more. "I also wanted to know if the Iron Man was truly as magically delicious as the rumors suggest."
Tony turned on him slowly, pointing an threatening finger at him. "Oh I'll show you how magically delicious I am," he said dangerously.
"Tony Stark, please stop propositioning my brother," Thor said as he walked into the kitchen.
"Oh, I'll stop when you tell me what the hell you were thinking when you--wait what?!" Tony demanded, sputtering. "I'm not!--I--Wh--NO!"
Thor blinked at him in surprise and then laughed. "Forgive me, my friend, you just--your words and your state of... dress--I had assumed..."
"More like state of un-dress," Steve piped up, looking incredibly amused at the whole situation.
Tony blinked. Then he blinked again and glanced down at himself. His boxer-clad self.
Loki grinned, resting his elbows on the table, folding his hands and resting his chin on them. "So, Tony, how magically delicious are you?"
The Iron Man sputtered, opened his mouth and then shut it before storming out of the room.
Thor let out a rumbling laugh and Loki only smiled wider. If someone had told him before this whole ordeal began that being honest about something so risky as his feelings for his brother would be the best decision he had ever made, he would have laughed in their face and then done something particularly cruel for daring to bring up such a topic. But as he watched Thor laugh, pour an overly large bowl of cereal and set four pop-tarts to toast, Loki was very glad that he had taken the chance.
~~~
Loki had only held the kiss for a few seconds. When Thor did nothing, the Trickster pulled back quickly and turned his head away; he could not bear to look at Thor’s face. When he made to get up, however, Thor’s hand shot out and grabbed his wrist. “--Loki--Why did you..?” Thor began, dumbfounded.
Loki stopped his movement to rise, but still didn’t turn back to look at his brother. “I should think it obvious, Thor. Why does one normally kiss another? Or do you think it to be a trick of mine?” Loki’s stomach did an uncharacteristic flop at that thought and he half-heartedly tugged at Thor’s hold on his wrist.
“--No, brother--that’s not it--I simply,” Thor floundered, stammering a bit. “I simply wanted to make certain I was not misunderstanding you.”
“Oh, I’m sure you understand just fine,” the Trickster said bitterly. “Go ahead and laugh, brother.”
But true to every other recent event, Thor did not do as Loki had expected. The grip on his arm tightened slightly and Loki found himself pulled into Thor’s embrace for the third time in two days. “Do you really believe me so cruel, brother?” the Thunderer asked and Loki scowled at Thor’s armored chest as his brother had the gall to put a hand on his head.
Loki raised an arm and knocked Thor’s away, trying once again to pull back from his brother’s embrace, scooting backwards across the Bifrost. “It is more cruel to lead me to hope for things I cannot have!”
“Loki--Brother!! Stop fighting me and let me speak!” Thor exclaimed as he tried to hold onto him.
Loki sneered, pulling harder at Thor’s hold. “Let go of me and perhaps I will listen!”
Thor’s grip only tightened. “No, because I know that the minute I let go, you will make to escape.”
The Trickster let out a frustrated noise and pulled hard once more against Thor’s iron grip before slumping slightly, the effort not worth the futile attempts. “You already have that woman,” Loki gritted out. “I do not see what more you can say.”
Thor’s eyes softened. “..It is true,” the Thunderer began, “I do have Jane. And I love her.” Loki scowled down at the Bifrost and with his free hand Thor gently turned his brother’s face so that the Trickster was looking at him. “But you and I share a bond that transcends lifetimes, brother.”
Loki stared at him openly, then tried to turn his head away again. “Do not pity me, Thor...!” he hissed, renewing his efforts to get free.
“Brother--brother--please!--” When nothing swayed Loki’s attempts, Thor gave up on words and leaned in, covering the other’s mouth with his own in a fierce kiss.
The Trickster froze, his green eyes wide. Then, slowly, he returned the kiss, closing his eyes. They stayed like that for what felt like a blissful eternity. When Thor pulled back from the kiss, Loki stared up at him, still wide-eyed, and slightly out of breath. “Wh...what..?” Loki whispered breathlessly.
“Loki,” Thor began, brushing a stray strand of his brother’s hair behind his ear. “You and I have been a part of each other’s lives forever and we will continue to be. I am not so naiive as to not realize that Jane... the Avengers... they have mortal life spans and... one day they will not be there. ...But you and I will be. And though we have had many differences in the past, brother, the bond you and I share is on a whole other level and no matter what, you will always be my brother. I would have no other by my side. ...I have always been yours, Loki.”
Loki stared, for once not sure what to say. And when Thor kissed him again and his eyes slid shut, tears welled behind his closed eyelids, much to his dismay. But everything was just so... perfect. Nothing had ever gone so right for him, not in his entire life. Now, everything was falling into place. No longer an enemy in the place he once called home, his brother’s friends--his friends--giving him a second chance, Thor kissing him, loving him. It was too good to be true. He almost started to believe it was a dream, or Hel, a trick, or something other than reality again, because really, nothing could be this perfect. But he found that he didn’t care. If this was a dream, he’d dream it. Whatever it was, he’d let it fool him because he couldn’t bear to fight it anymore.
So he sank into Thor’s embrace and returned the kiss with fervor, wrapping his arms around Thor’s neck. And for once, Loki held on. He held on tight and he had no intention of letting go. In fact, it wasn’t until Thor had scooted them back so their legs no longer dangled over the edge, lay him back on the Bifrost, and slipped a hand up under Loki’s tunic, that the Trickster broke the kiss with a gasp.
“T-Thor,” he said breathlessly, looking up at him. Thor for his part, seemed to have no idea why Loki would have stopped and looked at him questioningly. Loki found himself flushing slightly and pushed half-heartedly at Thor’s chest. “Heimdall is right there! He’s probably watching!” he hissed.
Thor lowered his lips to Loki’s again, murmuring with a smirk, “Brother, Heimdall is always watching.” And with that, he kissed Loki again. Thor slid his hand from his brother’s tunic, lowered it down between his brother’s legs, and Loki found that he had lost the ability to think or care about anything else.
~~~
Loki was brought out of his extremely pleasant memory by Tony Stark storming back into the kitchen, completely dressed. “All right! Now you will tell me what’s going on! Why is Loki of all people--gods--whatever-- in my kitchen! In my house?! And why does no one seem to think that this is weird?!” he demanded, gesturing wildly while the other three occupants of the room stared at him.
Smiling brightly, Loki leaned back on the stool he was sitting on, crossing his legs. “Oh, well, Tony, you got back so late you missed it. I’m going to be an Avenger too!”
Anything that Tony was going to say immediately left his brain. His mouth opened and shut several times before he was finally reduced to making incoherent noises of dismay and consternation. Steve sighed heavily and took his cereal bowl to the sink before walking over to his blank-faced, mortified friend. “What happened, Tony, was that Thor showed up with Loki last night. Loki survived everything and he and Thor talked a lot and Loki doesn’t seem like he’s going to be doing the evil thing anymore. At least for a while.”
Loki spread his hands. “But I’d be incredibly bored doing the ‘normal’ thing, so I thought I might offer my assistance. Besides,” his grin became dangerous, “I owe Doom.”
Tony shuddered. “...Okay so... you’re on our side. At least temporarily. How temporary is temporary?”
Loki’s grin went back from dangerous to amiable. “Oh I’m sure it will be rather semi-permanent, but I can’t make any guarantees, of course. What would that do for my reputation? As long as I don’t get too bored. But I don’t foresee myself getting bored any time soon. Between tormenting you and giving my old... ‘friends’ their just desserts for daring to lay their hands on things mortals ought not touch, I think I’ll be quite entertained.” Tony nodded his understanding, slowly starting to get comfortable with the idea since everyone else seemed to be. “And besides,” Loki continued smoothly. “I have Thor to screw my brains out, so that won’t ever get boring.”
Tony’s brain exploded. It was quite messy.
~~~
That night Loki lay awake, staring at Thor’s bedroom ceiling. He was content, plotting his next bout of Avenger-directed mischief, when he felt Thor shift beside him. The Trickster glanced to his side then frowned when he saw Thor’s face, brow furrowed, expression pained. Loki began to rise just as the Thunderer thrashed and Loki quickly moved over him when he noticed Mjolnir start to scoot towards them. “Thor--” He began, touching Thor shoulder. Mjolnir scooted closer again and Loki took Thor’s face in both of his hands. “Brother--wake!”
The God of Thunder jerked and his eyes snapped open, Mjolnir jumping to his hand despite Loki’s attempts to leave the great hammer out of the whole ordeal. The God of Mischief didn’t move from his spot, however he did let go of Thor’s face. “Brother,” he repeated, and Thor’s eyes seemed to finally focus on Loki’s face. Just as they did, Mjolnir was dropped and Loki found himself pulled into Thor’s crushing embrace. With a muffled grunt, the Trickster managed to push himself away enough to speak. “Thor--Thor I do need to breathe. It’s kind of one of those things that is rather necessary for my survival.”
That seemed to do the trick and Thor let go of him quickly. Loki sat back on Thor’s legs, looking down at him, bemused. “Now what on earth brought that on?”
“Forgive me brother,” Thor began, glancing off to the side. “I had a... disturbing dream.”
The Trickster blinked, genuinely surprised. “Out of the two of us, you are not normally the one to have nightmares, brother. What was it about?” The prospect that something actually could disturb the ‘Invincible, Fearless, Mighty Thor’ piqued Loki’s curiosity greatly. When Thor didn’t say anything, Loki scooted forward insistently. “Come on, Thor, tell me. Talk to me about it so I can tell you how silly you are for worrying over whatever it is.”
Thor remained silent for a long moment, but when he did speak, he was uncharacteristically quiet and subdued. “...You died, Loki.” That gave Loki pause and the Trickster blinked down at him, having not expected that answer. “You died in my arms,” Thor continued, finally looking up at him.
“...Thor,” Loki said, bending at the waist to take his brother’s face in his hands once more. “We both know that didn’t happen. Everything worked out better than either of us could have possibly imagined.”
The Thunderer didn’t look so sure. “But what if next time--”
Loki put a finger to his lips. “First of all, who is to say if there will be a next time? I certainly don’t plan on brushing against death for a while yet. My quota has been filled for this century.” Thor rolled his eyes and grimaced behind Loki’s finger but the Trickster continued. “And we can ‘what if’ until we’re blue in the face, but no one can be certain of anything. Take it from someone who is very keen on controlling his own destiny, and succeeding rather well I might add, recent encounters with lethal magical spells notwithstanding. You will drive yourself mad with all the ‘what if’s. Trust me.”
Thor sighed and removed Loki’s hand from his face. “All right. ...I do trust you, brother.”
The Trickster laughed and then smirked playfully in his brother’s face. “I don’t know that trusting me is very wise. In fact I think it’s rather foolish.”
The Thunderer grinned despite himself and smirked right back. “Well you are always calling me a fool, brother,” he murmured before catching his brother in a kiss. Loki decided he could get very used to this Kissing Thor thing.
After several minutes of on and off again kissing, Loki lay back down beside his brother and gave him a light punch to the shoulder. “Everything will be fine, Thor. Stop worrying so much. It’s not like you and it’s throwing me off my game.”
Thor snorted and wrapped one arm around his brother. “Oh yes, of course. We can’t have that, can we?”
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you sounded sarcastic, Thor,” Loki sniffed before scooting back further into his brother’s embrace, muttering unconvincingly about how cold it was and how Thor was such a great bag of hot air and that’s why he had to be so close.
As he started to drift off again, Thor could have sworn he heard Loki say “It will be all right, Thor” again.
~~~
Just as had happened in Asgard, the next day Thor was reassured that everything would in fact, be all right.
The morning began fantastically, as Tony Stark entered the kitchen, shouting “Don’t say anything! over the loud thrum of dance music following him around from no particular power source. Thor would have said something, but he was too fascinated by the way the Arc Reactor, with no change to its functions, was projecting different, pulsing, strobing colors of light in time with the music.
Loki sipped at his coffee and didn’t bother trying to hide the smirk on his face.
The day progressed in even more wonderful ways when it came time to suit up due to a threat downtown. Steve came clicking his way outside, everything appearing normal but for what was on his feet. “I--my boots were missing and no other shoes, even the sneakers I was wearing yesterday wouldn’t fit and when I tried to leave barefoot, they pretty much flew onto my feet so--yeah...” he muttered, embarrassed, as he shuffled on the high heels he was wearing. Aside from a few snickers, the team was very understanding.
Surprisingly enough, he ran perfectly fine in them as they rushed to the scene. When asked how he was managing so well, the Captain flushed deeply, muttered something about a bet and Howard Stark and Tony pointedly stopped listening.
Coulson was waiting for them when they arrived and the group stopped and stared. (All save for Loki, who pointedly moved to the side to window shop.) No one had anything to say and the Shield agent briefed them on the situation as if nothing was out of the ordinary. “Any questions?” he asked, straightening the pale pink tie around his neck and adjusting the bright pink blazer he was wearing.
The Avengers vehemently shook their heads and moved on. Nonplused, Coulson noted that it had been the easiest mission brief he had given them to date.
When they arrived on the scene, Hawkeye notched and drew an arrow. Then he stopped, and then he stared. At the end, instead of a point, was a rubber duck. A bright yellow rubber duck. He contniued to stare. And stared some more. He was so busy staring he almost didn’t dodge a shot from an enemy gun. With a scowl, he turned quickly and let the Bath Toy Arrow fly. It flew true and hit its target. Then, it promptly exploded.
Clint blinked in surprise and then slowly smirked, promptly letting loose a barrage of exploding rubber duckies into the enemy ranks.
The rest of the minions fell quickly. Iron Man’s incessant music would draw their attention, the strobing colors would blind them, Hawkeye would take out several with exploding duck toys and then Cap would throw not only his shield, but a deadly high heel after the stragglers. Thor, was of course, smashing away at many other henchmen, ignoring the mighty squeak Mjolnir let out every time it came into contact with an enemy body.
When Doom finally arrived on the scene, Loki decided to make his appearance. The immediately surrounding henchmen turned to ice almost instantly and the temperature in the area dropped dramatically. Thor’s anger sparked off some menacing clouds and lightning, which only added to the theatricality of Loki’s entrance.
The henchmen that were still left ran.
Doom took one look at Loki, working with the Avengers, and Thor, and the clouds, and his dramatic speech died in his throat.
Doom fled.
As his brother sent a nasty looking illusion chasing after the man and Tony Stark’s unstoppable audio track switched to something that sounded like video game victory music, Thor knew (again) that everything really would be fine.
Loki turned back to the group of celebrating Avengers and laughed. Not only at their appearance (which was absolutely ridiculous, high heels, squeaky toys, music, rubber duckies and all) but the entire situation, because really, the whole thing was hilarious.
<3 ~~~END~~~ <3