Work Text:
Continuation from last years AU-gust challenge Countryside.
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Day 5 - Pet Sitter
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"Please don't look at me like that."
Thor pours on the guilt as he stares up at you with those huge, sad puppy eyes. His ears hang limp and his usually wagging tail is still behind him. To really grind in that guilt, he lets out the saddest, most heartbreaking whine.
"Thor, baby, please don't." You try to reason with your beloved Yellow Lab as he blocks your bedroom door. You turn away to close your suitcase, triggering another heart wrenching whine. "Thor, you're killing me here."
*whiiiiiiiiiiine*
You hang your head and pray for strength, "Please, sweetie. Mommy will be back in a few days. And the lady taking care of you came highly recommended. She's already promised to take you for your daily walk and at least a half hour of fetch a day."
There's a defeated sigh behind you. When you turn around you find Thor has melted into a massive pile of sad doggo in your doorway. You check your watch and groan. You don't have anymore time to spare on your miserable pup so you grab your suitcase and somehow manage to step over the yellow roadblock in the door. "I'll see you in three days. I swear."
You set your suitcase by the door and pause to make sure you have everything.
Suitcase.... check.
Jacket.... check.
Plane ticket.... check.
Car keys......
Car keys?
Damn it! You know you left the car keys on the kitchen counter. That was their spot. Right on the corner by the toaster.
*Merrow*
You groan as you turn around, "Loki."
Laying on your dining room table (where he knew he was NOT supposed to be) your large black cat looks up at you with a bored face. He blinks his green eyes at you and twitches the tip of his tail.
"Where are they?" You ask your resident feline.
*Mrrr?*
"Don't try to be cute, mister. Where are my keys?" You ask even as you start searching the kitchen. You move everything around, checking behind the microwave and blender but find nothing. You move into the dining room, checked the chairs and under the table. Just as you think you might have to get an Uber, you spot a glint of something metal among the midnight black of Loki's fur.
"You little...."
Loki protests loudly as you pick him up, revealing your missing keys under his fuzzy belly. You grab the keys and put them in your pocket before giving your naughty kitty a kiss on the top of his head, "Nice try, mister."
Setting him on the floor, you grab your jacket and suitcase. Pausing next to the door, you look back. Thor peers around the corner at you, looking like you just told him Christmas was canceled this year. Next to him, Loki gives you some major stink eye.
"I love you guys. Be back in a few days, I swear." With that you close the door behind you, the guilt of leaving your fur babies behind eating you alive from the inside out. Rationally, you know they are going to be fine and the lady you hired will take good care of them but inside you feel like a terrible pet mom.
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"How Dare She?"
With a flick of his paw, Loki flings a spoon from the kitchen counter. The utensil flies across the space to bounce off the refrigerator door before landing on the floor with a clatter.
"How DARE She Leave Us ALONE!?!"
Thor ignores his brother's angry ranting to focus on laying in front of the door and staring at it. The massive dog lets out a sad whine every few seconds as he morns the lack of your presence in the house.
"Stop pouting, brother! You may be stuck as a canine but you are still a Prince of Asgard!" Loki growls as he glares down at his brother.
"But Loki.... what if she never returns?" Thor's whine reaches a new high.
Before Loki can reply, there's the sound of a key in the lock. Thor leaps to his feet and barks, his long tail snapping back and forth. "She Has Returned!"
The door opens but it isn't you. Instead there is an older woman in a sky blue pantsuit. Her long brown hair is dusted with silver and twisted up into an elegant bun. There's a soft smile on her timeless face as she steps inside.
Both animals freeze in shock. It can't be! It just can't be!
"Hello, boys." Frigga says as she closes the door behind her, "I trust you've been behaving yourselves."
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"Loki, I can feel you plotting."
Sitting on your sofa, Frigga slowly runs her fingers across Thor's fur. After a moment of shock, Thor had launched himself at his mother, whining, barking and giving her many doggy kisses before the Queen of Asgard had gotten him to calm down. She'd corralled her excited eldest son into the living room and sat down, letting him climb onto the cushions next to her. After some more slobbery kisses and head pats, Thor had flopped down next to her.
And that is how Frigga ended up here, reclining into the cushions of your sofa with Thor's large canine head resting on her lap as her younger son plots in the shadows.
Frigga sighs, "Loki?"
"This is completely unacceptable."
Out of the shadows next to your entertainment center, a pair of green eyes appear.
"How much longer must I.... we suffer like this? You could easily reverse this curse and return us to our normal forms and yet you refuse!"
Frigga waits with a patience born of millennia of life for her son to finish his tirade, "Loki, dear. I know you think of this as a curse but I believe it has been a blessing for you both. Look at your brother." Frigga scratches Thor behind his ear, setting his tail to thumping the sofa. "Before this he was obsessed with war and glory. He spent every moment training and planning. Determined to surpass your father's success in battle and forgetting to live, to enjoy himself. Now look at him."
Thor rolls over, encouraging his mother to rub his furry belly.
"He's happier then I've ever seen him." Frigga chuckles, giving in to her son's silent plea and giving him a belly rub. "And you." Frigga glances over at the shadows Loki is hiding in, "You can't tell me that your time away from the pressures of the Royal Court and your father's expectations hasn't done you some good. You hid it well but I could see you were cracking under the strain of playing diplomat and trying to please Odin."
The green eyes disappear for a moment and the shadows shift.
"Even in that form I can tell you are much more relaxed." Frigga smiles softly, "Yes, this experience has been good for you both and I'm sure a little more time here won't hurt. Besides...what would that lovely young woman think if she returned to find her beloved pets missing? She's be heartbroken."
There's a moment of silence as Frigga's words sink in.
"NO!" Thor whines loudly, rolling over and sitting up. His big blue eyes look on the verge of tears. "Brother, we can't leave! Not yet! She's been so kind to us, we can't just disappear. She'll worry about us!"
From the shadows there's a soft sigh before Loki's eyes reappear. His midnight black form melts out of the shadows to stalk across the floor. "Fine." He huffs before jumping up on the sofa. Loki curls up on his mother's lap, taking the space Thor's head had previously rested. "We will stay.... for a little longer."
Frigga feels a teensy bit smug, glad to have convinced her boys to stay here. Being away from Asgard has truly been a blessing for them and she wants her children to enjoy themselves for a little while longer.
Thor plops back down, almost squishing his feline brother with his large head. Loki meows in protest but the two of them manage to share the limited space of Frigga's lap. As for the Queen of Asgard, she rests one hand on each of her sons and enjoys having them so close to her again......
..... even if they are both shedding on her pants.
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"I'm home!"
*WOOF WOOF WOOF*
You laugh as Thor nearly tackles you to the ground. You drop your suitcase so you can pet your doggo with both hands. "I guess this means you missed me, huh?"
Thor spins around, his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth and tail wagging a mile a minute. You shed your jacket and drop your keys on the counter before looking for your other furry companion.
*merroooooow*
Loki stalks into the room, glaring at you the whole way.
You snort, "Forgive me my tardiness, your highness, but the traffic was horrible."
Loki gives you an unimpressed look.
*mrrr*
You shake your head as you walk past your pets and head for your bedroom, "Let me get out of these clothes and then we can have a good cuddle on the couch. Okay?"
A few minutes later, you settle onto the couch in your favorite pajamas. You lay down, resting your head on a throw pillow as Thor climbs onto the sofa. He drapes himself over your legs and rests his big yellow head on your stomach, just the right spot for some head scritches.
Loki jumps up on the armrest above your head and you think that's where he's going to settle when he instead walks around your head and lays on your chest. Your beautiful black cat curls into a ball and starts purring.
You can't help but smile as you scratch Loki behind his ears, making the cat purr even louder. For the first time in days you're able to relax, squished under nearly a hundred pounds of dog and with a cat vibrating like a car engine on your chest.
You close your eyes and sigh, "I missed you guys too."
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END