the laundry room
a/n: Just a little AU/AH drabble that came to me earlier that I thought might be kinda cute. I'm sort of in love with it. (Sorry for the over all cheesy, romcom feel, but I thought they deserved some fluff).
I have never and will never claim to own anything you recognize.
-
'the laundry room'
Close the laundry door, tiptoe across the floor
Keep your clothes on, I got all that I can take
Teach me how to use the love that people say you made
-
Jane Foster wasn't asking much to come out of her life, she'd just really like to get married to her somewhat clumsy, yet still adorable, boyfriend without murdering his mother. She wondered if all women, after pushing children from their loins, suddenly moved all their priorities to how aesthetically pleasing their grandchildren would be. She sighed as she shoved her and Thor's dirty clothes into their shared laundry basket.
She had found Thor, wondering around lost in streets of Chicago, looking cold and pathetic. She had stopped to ask if he was lost and with his adorable Australian accent he confirmed her suspicions. His name had been harder for him to explain, allegedly his mother was mad about Norse mythology and her son from her first marriage was named after another famous Norse figure.
Loki was, for lack of a better word, elegant, much more so that Thor who tended to knock over most things in his vicinity. Loki, as it happened, had met Jane before either realized who the other was. He lived in her apartment building and they tended to run into each other in the laundry room late at night. Jane was there late from all the hours she pulled at the lab and Loki- well, she didn't really know why he chose to do his laundry so late, but he tended to be a mystery in general, so she just sort of let it go.
However, once she began telling him about her fiancee, (he'd inquired after seeing so many pairs of boxers in her folded piles), that he remarked that he thought she was, in fact, going to be related to him. It was just one of those things in life, she guessed, it wasn't odd that she hadn't met the raven haired man as one of the Odinsons. Loki and the rest of his family didn't really... get on. After the divorce of his mother and father, Thor's father had never really treated his adopted son with the same generosity as his biological child. Thor was set to inherit his father's company and vast fortune and Loki was left to be a starving artist, as it were.
Then again, the older brother did fairly well on his own. Jane had caught him sketching in the laundry room sometimes, and they were always beautiful even if the pieces were raw. Loki managed to see things not many other people could see, Jane could appreciate that. She spent most of her life staring through telescopes trying to rediscover the universe- mostly it was a hobby, she was in school for medical training, not star gazing. (She thinks this is probably a good thing, given Thor's parents already disapprove of her midwestern background, being a crazy scientist would not help matters.)
"How is the wedding planning going?" Loki asked as Jane threw her clothes in the washing machine with a bit more force that usual. Loki laughed at this, "That good, huh?" His British accent caught her off guard sometimes before remembering that his mother was English and it was Thor's father that was Australian. (It was really a mess keeping that family straight sometimes.)
"I know she's your mother, too, but I really would like to give her a nice kick up the-" But Loki's wolfish laughter cuts her off and before she can help it, the infectious noise has her laughing too until her sides hurt.
"God bless her, she just wants to keep her bouncing baby boy but also have beautiful grandchildren, I think she's in a constant state of warfare with herself." He chuckled as he moved his darks from the machine next to her. Their fingers brush ever so slightly as she reaches over to steal some of his laundry soap. They both ignore the electric bolt that runs up their spines at the contact.
"One day I am going to sneak into your flat and steal all the laundry soap you never bring down as pay back." He says, sending a mock glare in her direction and she snorts because she can literally see him doing this and resolves to move the spare key somewhere less obvious than under the door mat.
"Yeah, you'll scare the hell out of Thor. He'll be trying to make coffee and you'll sneak in looking for laundry soap. I won't even be phased, actually." She smiled gently, glancing up to where he towered over her.
It was hard to believe they were brothers, considering how football playerish Thor looked and how... not football playerish Loki was. Loki was not unattractive, though, any woman would be foolish to assume otherwise. However, the lean man never spoke of a girlfriend or partner, though Jane was fairly sure Loki wasn't gay- some of his clothes really said it all.
"Knowing Thor, he probably wouldn't even notice, I'm not sure he's ever done laundry in his life." He voiced, not unkindly, as his hands folded his dark shirts with speed and accuracy.
"I would wager you're probably right. Guess I'm starting my wifely duties earlier than scheduled." She spoke calmly, as Loki sighed and gave her a gentle smile.
"Well, that's all mine sorted. Don't let mother get you down this week, you're going to make a very beautiful bride." His words struck her because it's the first honest compliment he's ever directly given her. Her eyes widen as he retreats back up the stairs to his apartment and she finds it strange that she misses him already.
-
Jane made her way up the stairs of her apartment building in an angry fashion, she was so tired of Thor's mother and really Thor for how readily he defended the evil woman. She had come to dread the dress fitting, but nothing could beat the epic fight that had just taken place in that poor shop owner's fitting room. She stomped up to the third floor and was about to make her way to the next flight of stairs when a door on the hall flew open and a familiar back of a head made it's way out.
"Jane?" Loki's soft voice seemed surprised but he caught glimpse of the murderous look on Jane's face and he quickly surmised she was not happy.
"God, what happened?" He asked, dropping his hand from his door and taking three strides to close the gap between them. Jane just threw her hands up in agitation.
"Your mother and I just had a yelling match in a dress shop and Thor took up for her and ugh, I just.. stormed out and I know that if I go up there," She thrust an angry finger up at the ceiling, "He'll be there and I'll just want to punch him in his stupid Australian face! I just want to star gaze and live without hassle and I don't think that's too much to ask for!" The words fall from her lips like lava and Loki had a comically concerned look on his face as he reached up to put an arm around Jane to stop her babbling.
"You can come in my place if you want? I mean, I was gonna go get some food, but I think that can wait." He smiled kindly, already leading her to his dark door. Jane felt slightly embarrassed after her tirade but as she walked into Loki's warm apartment she smelled the familiar cool scent she associated with Loki tinged with the flagrance of old books. His apartments was relatively well sized with a lot of black leather furniture and dark wood tables and cabinets. A telescope in the corner of the room caught her eye, but that train of thought was lost when she saw the painting mounted next to it.
"This... this is beautiful." She stammered, reaching out without thought to touch the frame. The colors blended smoothly together in a symphony. Loki walked up behind her, his face holding some emotion that she couldn't quite give a name to.
"Yes, I admit I didn't have the heart to sell it." He smiled gently before the thrill of his cellphone startled her. He gave her an apologetic smile, "Sorry, I've got to take this, it's an interested buyer." He said quickly before stepping out of the apartment.
In his absence Jane took to roaming around his apartment, studying his tastes. It was like being invited into the Batcave or Fortress of Solitude- she didn't think many were privy to seeing Loki's life so up close. In the corner of his living room she found a binder of lose paper, she opened the cook cautiously and took in the paintings. Some were of the people on the streets of Chicago, others of flowers. She continued to turn the pages until her heart stopped. She held the painting cautiously, as if she could shatter it with her bare hands. It was a woman, painted with obvious care and emotion; it was like she was looking into a mirror.
"Yes, it's you. You may keep it if you so wish as a wedding present." Loki's steady voice did little to hide his nerves from Jane. Her hands were shaking as she turned around to stare at him, his painting ability was nothing less than pure magic, but she didn't really know what to think about this.
"Why me?" She finally manages to choke out, though she'd been aiming more for, "I don't understand this at all." Close enough.
Loki looks over her head to his window, trying to collect his thoughts. She steps towards him trying to pressure him into speaking. He finally looked back down to her, his face full of chagrin and a touch of sadness.
"You know why, Jane. It would be foolish to say otherwise." She does know why, she'd only pushed it to the back of her mind recently.
"How long?" She asked finally, deciding hyperventilating right now would only serve to freak them both out, she breathes deeply before looking back up at his handsome face.
"Long before I knew about Thor, possibly within the first five minutes I met you." He said, sighing heavily, feeling terribly exposed to her. He was used to not getting things that his brother wanted and so he had resigned himself to the role of best friend, that seemed to be blowing up in his face now.
"I- I have to go." She spoke quickly, and he watched as the woman he had been in love with for so long made her way out of his apartment, and in all likelihood, life.
-
It really shouldn't have come as a surprise to Jane Foster when she found herself dashing like a madwoman through the streets of Chicago in a wedding dress that should be at a final fitting and most assuredly not being drug through a large city. Still, she couldn't quite get over the satisfaction of the horrified expression on Thor's mother's face when Jane had announced she didn't want to become part of their family.
Well, at least, not that part of their family.
Her heels were sure to be completely blistered, but she didn't even care as she pushed her way down the stairs to the laundry room. It sort of made sense, that's where it had all started, so it should probably all be resolved there too. Sure enough, he was a creature of habit and his Sunday night laundry lay in neat piles around him.
"Jane- what on earth?" He said, dropping his cup of laundry detergent on the black and white tiled floor. She sucked in a huge breath and smiled at him.
"It's been you, ever since the first five minutes I spent with you." The words don't come out near as smooth as she would have hoped, but that's life. His expression causes her to laugh before he makes his way across the now soap-stained floor to where she stands.
His lips hit hers and she smiles against him, her fingers knotting into his dark curls. He smells like paint and spice and she loves it. His mouth his warm and inviting and she wonders why she hasn't been kissing him long before now.
They pull apart, both laughing like idiots and he looks down at the floor and back at her.
"You owe me some laundry soap, Jane Foster." He smirks and she giggles.
She rolls her eyes before kicking the door behind her closed, "Yeah, yeah. Just shut up and kiss me again."
The second kiss definitely doesn't disappoint.