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"Make it stop," Loki complained for the seventh time in the last five minutes of their walk.
They were on a dirt road, in the middle of nowhere, where there was nothing but trees for miles around. Needless to say, it was some distance from the nearest town, and very far from New York. All in the name of spending much-needed time together. But being so rural was never Loki's idea. Nor was it his idea to go on such an exhaustingly long walk. Thor had called it relaxing. Loki had called it boring. Still, he agreed because he liked to be in Thor's company. Until the rain came.
It had started slowly, but now the rain was coming down in fat but gentle drops. Loki had tried to shield himself with his hood at first, but after five minutes it was soaked through. Both he and Thor were dripping wet, and while Thor never minded the weather -- especially not a nice, warm rain like this -- Loki reacted to water much like a cat.
"Fly me home," Loki grumbled, ducking his head awkwardly as if that would keep him any drier.
"You know I can't," Thor answered. This technically wasn't true. He could, if it were a true emergency, but he had left Mjolnir sitting in the room they'd rented. If Thor summoned her, she'd tear a hole through the building. It just wasn't necessary. And even if they were suddenly set upon by a hundred Jotuns, Loki knew that his brother would start fighting them with his bare fists.
"You're the god of thunder, make it stop raining," Loki demanded again, a whine in his voice that fit all too well with his young age.
Thor couldn't help but grin. Even when Loki was fully grown, he would sometimes run out of clever things to say and start fussing like a petulant child. Thor had always enjoyed those moments the best, to watch Loki's silver tongue get tied up and see the cool, collected trickster get flustered because he wasn't getting his way. He especially enjoyed how his amusement made Loki even more irritated with him. Now Loki simply was a petulant child, far more inclined to lose his patience and almost immediately resort to undignified whining.
Loki happened to look up at his big brother and caught Thor smirking at his expense. "THO-OR!" he blurted out, bumping his little body against Thor's hip in retaliation, but it hardly made Thor so much as falter in his step, and instead invoked a hearty laugh. Loki made another fussing noise, but now he tried a new trick – pressing against Thor's side as they walked, trying to use his brother as a shield against the rain. It did little more than make them both stumble awkwardly until at last Thor put a hand on Loki's little shoulder and made him walk upright.
Loki huffed and once again drew up his wet hood. "It's not fair. You think it's funny, don't you? You think it's funny to make me get all sopping wet, and I'm gonna catch a cold and... and die!"
"Loki, you are immune to all earthly diseases," Thor reminded him, amused. "And even if you were to catch a mere cold, you would only sniffle for a few days. So really, it would not be noticeable at all – ow!" Thor shot a glare at the little imp who had just kicked him in the shin. Loki's eyes went wide at the realization that Thor might retaliate and he quickly turned away, feigning innocence.
Of course, Thor would never strike his brother. Not even if Loki wasn't ridiculously tiny compared to him. Instead, Thor laughed and rubbed his little brother's head, purposefully making his hood slip off while Loki groused in protest. Before Loki could swat his hand away, Thor stole a quick touch, running his fingers affectionately through short, black hair. The locks were tousled, dripping with rain, and it hit him with a strong sense of nostalgia. He missed his brother. It was odd that this child, this new Loki, could be so painfully familiar, and entirely alien at the same time.
Loki sighed, and tugged his hood up again with a huff. Thor disliked it, hated how it hid most of Loki's face from him, but he let it go. Loki was holding himself tensely, as if truly angry. After so many wasted years, Thor had learned to take his brother's feelings more seriously. Even if he hadn't meant to upset him. Clearly his brother's mood was wearing thin, and his own was troubled now. He didn't want to start a fight. It would not do to start their new relationship with more fighting. Thor had sworn to himself that this time, this second chance, he would make things right between them. It would not end like last time. It could not.
But now... Loki was quiet, and Thor could tell by the set of his shoulders that he was no longer amused. The rain made Loki miserable, but it was almost in a humorous way at first. Thor supposed he had laughed at Loki too much. Perhaps Loki thought he was refusing to stop the rain, for no other reason than to torment him. Perhaps he shouldn't have called Loki sniffling. Perhaps knocking his hood down had also been a little too much.
"I cannot control it the way you think," Thor said, breaking the silence between them. "If I could merely send it away, I would."
Loki was quiet for a long, tense moment, and then he finally spoke, spitting out his words. "That's a poor lie. You summon lightning all the time, Brother. You have a great deal of command over it. You could send this rain away if you wished, but you don't wish. You like the stupid rain." An unfortunate rock in Loki's path was given a swift kick, and relocated into the ditch.
"I do not mind a bit of rain," Thor corrected. "Or even wind and lightning. One has to get used to it, when they have an affinity for such things. But I swear to you, I do not have as much control as you think. I can summon the lightning in the heat of battle, yes, but other times the rain simply comes on its own. I think it reacts to my mood at times. And I cannot help my mood."
"Wait, you're..." Loki stopped walking, as did Thor, and they stared at each other. Loki's eyes were huge and awestruck, as if a wondrous realization had just dawned on him. "Are you saying it's raining because you're... sad?" As he spoke, Loki's excitement rapidly waned, realizing what it meant. His face fell, eyes still wide but shadowed by a brow creased with worry. His lips pinched together, pensive, and tilted downwards in a crooked frown. For a second, Thor was struck by how truly expressive his brother could be, and how honest and mercurial his emotions were. It had been centuries since he'd seen his brother's face so unguarded.
"No, Loki," Thor reassured him. "I'm not sad." But his tone was far from convincing.
"I know you miss him," Loki said, shivering although the rain was not so cold. "You always look at me like... but then you stop, like you realize I'm not the same. I hate it," he confessed quietly. "I wish you loved me as much as you still love him."
"Loki, you're my brother," Thor said. "I do love you. Sometimes too much, I think."
"No, not too much," Loki snapped, frustrated, and his mood shifted again. "You're still sad. If you loved me, you wouldn't be sad. Unless..." he seemed to think something over, his brow scrunching in concentration and lips pinching together. Then his expression relaxed fractionally, green eyes looking at Thor again with a bit of light, a bit of mischief sinking in, like he'd figured it all out. "Oh, you're an idiot," Loki said. "And I'm an idiot too, but you're the biggest idiot of all, just... just because!"
Loki took a big step forward, engulfing the space between them so completely that as he leaned in, he was nearly flush against Thor's chest. Thor arched away somewhat in surprise, but Loki caught a fistful of his shirt and tugged. There was considerable strength in his grip, but Thor resisted; Loki succeeded in keeping Thor close to him, but not in drawing Thor any closer to him.
"Loki...?"
"You think you're protecting me, keeping this distance between us," Loki said. "You think I'm too young for this kind of thing. But I'm ages old, Thor. I remember so much. And I know it's not the same. I'm all new, too. I'm learning from my old mistakes. So maybe I'll finally learn... not to wait around for you to make the first move."
Loki tugged harder, twisting his fists into Thor's shirt, and raised up on his tip toes to reach, his eyes falling shut. That alone would not have been enough to make up for their disparity in height, but Thor crumbled and gave in, stooping down to meet Loki's lips with his own. His brother tasted exactly as he used to, but sweeter. Loki's lips were soft, and his mouth yielded to him so willingly. Thor knew it was wrong. This was wrong. But it not much worse than loving Loki had ever been.
Thor let himself take, if only for a moment, if only in this way. His tongue swept thoroughly into Loki's mouth, claiming him as Thor always wanted to. Drawing his brother closer, Thor squeezed Loki's little frame as tightly as he dared, and eased off when Loki went a little breathless against him. At last, Loki had to slip away from the kiss, gasping faintly. Thor let him catch his breath, taking the opportunity to kiss and nip at his pale neck instead. Loki whimpered softly – Thor growled in response, pleased – and above them, a loud peal of thunder suddenly crashed through the heavens.
The noise startled Loki, enough to make him twist out of Thor's arms. Immediately, Loki stared up at the sky, and their surroundings, incredulous at how the weather had changed.
The clouds overhead had gone from grey to black, and therefore it seemed as if the sun had just set, despite the fact that it was barely past noon. A breeze had picked up, and the warmth in the air was turning to a slight chill. To the west, the charcoal-colored clouds lit up pink with lightning. Then another flash made the entire horizon white. A second later there was a distant growl of thunder.
Loki couldn't understand it. Then he heard another noise, like a sudden rustling of leaves high in the treetops. An instant later, the heavy, lazy rain changed to a downpour.
Loki's shoulders went rigid and he hunched slightly, his eyes wide as saucers, but otherwise he did not react. Thor tried to bite his lip, but when Loki finally turned his gaze back to him, he couldn't help a big, sheepish grin.
"You..." Loki began, but he couldn't find words.
"I told you I wasn't sad," Thor said, shrugging.
Loki's mouth dropped open, and then snapped shut. "You're a real freak, you know that?!"
Thor laughed, not offended in the slightest. "Takes one to know one."
Several squawking noises of indignation came from Loki's mouth, and then he stamped off, putting several paces between himself and Thor while his brother continued to chuckle. Thor started walking after him a moment later, catching up easily by taking long strides. He snagged Loki with one arm when he was finally close enough, wrapping himself around his little brother's back and capturing Loki for a moment.
"I am sorry," Thor said, pressing close to Loki. He bent so he could place another kiss on Loki's head, and then dared to place another, less innocent, on Loki's neck. He smiled when Loki sighed softly in response. "Although, you know, I can't help it. You did kiss me. You and your clever solutions."
"Yeah, my clever solutions, forever making things worse," Loki huffed.
"So much worse," Thor agreed with a dramatic and put-upon sigh, squeezing Loki tighter. "Now that I've kissed you once... I'll never... be able... to stop," Thor said, pressing kisses all over Loki, from the top of his head to the nape of his neck, between his words.
Loki gasped in response, straightening up. The instant Thor's lips left his skin he whirled around, staring at his brother with bewilderment plain on his face. He searched Thor for any sign that he was truly joking, truly just having a laugh at Loki's expense. But despite the playful smile on Thor lips there was a real heat in his eyes that made Loki's spine tingle in anticipation.
"You want to kiss me?"
Thor's smile widened and he stepped in closer to Loki, having to bow his head to look down at his brother. Loki had to tilt his face nearly straight up in return, but Thor's proximity was sheltering him from most of the storm. The storm that had brewed from Thor's lust. Loki was smitten.
"I always want to kiss you," Thor told him. "In your previous life, in this one, and I suspect in the next as well. I would be happy to do so for the rest of eternity, I think."
Loki's mouth dropped open, and then he pinched his mouth shut, sucking in his bottom lip. Thor wondered briefly if he was even aware he was doing it, or aware of the fact that it made Thor want to bite the lip for him. His own thoughts made him pause... he wasn't kidding when he had implied that Loki had opened a floodgate. He had managed to keep himself distant from Loki for so long, but now that he had broken that resolve he didn't see a reason why he should hold himself back anymore. He couldn't.
"Just kissing?" Loki questioned, a gleam in his eye that reminded Thor all too well of the mischievous old Loki that he knew and loved.
Thor let out of breath of laughter at his incorrigible little brother. "For a few years, yes."
The corner of Loki's lips quirked up into an impish smirk. "I think your mouth would get tired."
"We'll have to see about that," Thor chuckled.