"When someone blushes, doesn't that mean 'yes'?"

― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

Thor

Thor was eight when he first met Loki. A scrawny, pale-faced boy with unkempt hair, two missing front teeth and green eyes too large for his face, in Thor's opinion. Together with his father Laufey, he had moved into the old house across the road from Thor's which was rumoured to be haunted. Thor watched Loki carry a large carton box in his thin arms and obviously struggling with it. He considered whether he should help him.

Odin, Thor's father and owner of the largest real estate company in the small town of Asgard, had specifically instructed Thor not to mingle with their new neighbours as much as possible, especially Laufey, whom he had described as a despicable miserly old peasant. Clearly, the negotiations on the sale of the house didn't go very pleasantly. Thor wouldn't have wanted to become friends with them anyway, even without his father telling him. As if it wasn't shady enough that they were going to live in a haunted house, he heard that Laufey ran a casket shop. The man also had sharp facial features, a sort of bluish pale complexion and seemed to have bloodshot eyes all the time, which kind of made it hard not to connect him those monsters described in the bedtime stories that he used to listen to.

Anyway, back to Loki. He didn't look as scary as his father did, but he seemed so different from Thor and the other boys he knew. Thor didn't think they would ever become friends, but he decided to help Loki anyway, because that's what heroes do, he told himself. Like most boys his age, Thor enjoyed playing sports and reading comic books about superheroes. Mother had always told him to help others as much as he could and to never be a snob like his father, so that was another reason. He refused to become a snob. He wanted to be kind and strong and popular, like a superhero, like his mother Frigga, a doctor well-loved by everyone in town. Thus, with that in mind, he walked up to Loki. For several years after that, he wondered if it had been the greatest mistake of his life.

"Hey, do you need my help?" Thor offered with a bright smile, "Where's your father?" He figured he should ask just in case.

"Oh," Loki's eyes widened as he looked up from the carton box he was staring at. "He went to get the other stuff," was all Loki said, staring straight into Thor's eyes. It made Thor feel uneasy for some reason, so he decided to look down at the box instead. It was full of old books, the kinds of books that Thor would never read if given the choice. See, he was right about Loki being different.

"Well?" Thor prompted, getting impatient.

Loki tilted his head and gazed at Thor with green eyes that were so clear they reminded him of glass marbles. "What are you standing around for?" he asked. "I thought you wanted to help."

His voice was soft, but the cool tone in which he said it annoyed Thor. Thor resisted the urge to stomp off. "You didn't say yes!" he argued instead.

"It's fine if you don't want to help, you know." Loki sighed. The nerve of him to sigh as if Thor was the one being obnoxious. "You don't really look like you can carry it anyway," muttered Loki as he bent forward to pick up the box. Says the one who looks like a beanpole! Thor's cheeks flushed with anger.

"Who said I can't? Hand it over!" Thor snapped and pulled the box roughly from Loki's arms. He didn't expect Loki to release it so easily, which sadly resulted in the misfortune of him losing his balance and falling hard on his bum. The books scattered onto the ground and one bounced off his head.

Thor heard a snort of laughter coming from above him but he didn't register it until after he had accepted the hand offered to help him up. Loki was smiling, his eyes twinkling with what Thor thought had to be amusement. Thor's cheeks burned, this time in embarrassment and fury. He was going to punch Loki in the face. He would have done it, had his mother not intervened in time.

"Thor!" Thor turned around when he heard his name, and standing there at the gate of his house was his mother, smiling warmly.

"Mother…" It came out as a whine. Never mind how unmanly it sounded, Thor had had enough. He was going to tell Frigga how mean Loki had been to him, even though he was only trying to help. He started jogging towards her, arms out, but before he could reach her—

"Mama Frigga!" Loki was already there, hugging his mother and beaming at her. Thor halted in his tracks, jaw dropped open. What?

"Loki, darling!" Frigga laughed and ruffled Loki's hair. "My, how much you have grown!" She heaved Loki up into her arms and kissed his cheek. Ever since Thor had turned five he was rarely ever carried by his mother anymore, because she said he was already a big boy and that he had become too heavy. Why did Loki get to be carried, of all people? What was this unfairness?!

Thor stomped his foot angrily. "Mother!"

"Thor, sweetie, you remember Loki, don't you?" Frigga finally—finally turned her attention to him. Huh, was Thor supposed to know Loki? Thor squinted at Loki and shook his head. Frigga looked surprised.

"Thor… Loki lived with us for a year, remember? You were both three at the time but Loki was slightly younger. Loki let you call him 'Brother' and you were so happy because you've always wanted a younger brother, remember that?"

Thor shook his head harder. No way!

"You were so sad when he was taken away and you cried so much you came down with a high fever that week. I was really worried… It's been years but I thought you'd love to see Loki again, that was why I convinced your father to sell the house when I saw who the buyer was." Frigga smiled and gazed at Thor expectantly. "I'm glad to see that you two still get along so well!"

No, Thor didn't want to be friends with this guy, let alone brothers! He felt the urge to pull his hair. Before he could protest, Loki had popped out of Frigga's arms and was in front of him, lips upturned and eyes agleam. For a moment Thor couldn't help getting lost in those eyes. Then he was suddenly being hugged and kissed on the cheek by Loki. "Brother!" called Loki happily. Frigga laughed. Ignoring the instinct to push him away, Thor hugged back. What else could he have done? His mother was watching and he didn't want to disappoint her.

Frigga clapped her hands to get their attention. "Alright, now let's help Loki clear up the books, shall we? My goodness... How did these even get all over the place?"

Thor flushed as he remembered what had happened earlier. Loki raised a brow and grinned at him, a mischievous glint in his eye. "Ah," he said. "It was Th—" Thor quickly covered Loki's mouth with a hand before he could finish saying it. "Shut up!" he hissed and squeezed Loki's face, but Loki only blinked innocently. The little devil.

The cardboard box was ripped, so they had to move the books into Loki's house in stacks. Thor swore he had never before stepped onto a front yard so messy. It was sprawled with weeds and tall grass and fungi. And spider webs. Freaking spider webs that also attacked and invaded his perfectly combed golden locks. He knew that there were bats lurking in there as well, because he could sometimes spot them from his bedroom window at night. Talk about creepy.

Once it was finally done Thor hurried back out without waiting for his mother or saying goodbye to Loki. He would surely be chastised for forgetting his manners later, but whatever. He was so eager to get out he almost tripped over something on the way. It was the book which had hit his head earlier—The Little Prince. He picked it up and glared at it.

"You can have it if you like," Thor heard Loki say, but he ran off with the book without turning around. "It's my favourite book," Thor didn't hear Loki say. He went home and shoved the book into a corner of his desk drawer.

Loki

Loki was three when he first met Thor. He could only remember the details vaguely though. He was ill and his father brought him to a clinic. Laufey said that the doctor inside was a very kind lady and that she would help him get better. He said that she was in fact the doctor who helped give birth to Loki and that Loki should stay with her for his own good, and then he left him there. Loki was small and malnourished, but Frigga took him in and nursed him back to health. Thor helped him get better too. He shared his toys with Loki and chatted with him, happily called him 'Brother'. They fought and played together all the time, until the day Laufey came and took Loki away. That was when Thor wasn't home. They moved to a town which was cold almost all the time. Loki missed Frigga and Thor at first, but he eventually stopped thinking of them after a while.

Loki was seven when Laufey found them a house in Asgard. He didn't recognise the place at first. Their new house was much bigger and nicer than where they had lived before and it even had a lawn with an apple tree. He tried one of the apples and it was really sweet. It was more than Loki could ever ask for. He didn't think things could get better, but that was until he saw Thor. Thor's hair was as golden as ever, and the blue of his eyes the colour of deep sea. Loki recognised him immediately. Thor didn't seem to recognise him though. He had a big silly smile on his face and was asking Loki if he needed help. Loki thought that maybe if he stared at Thor long enough Thor might remember him, but it didn't work at all. He couldn't help feeling a little sour. How could Thor have not recognised his face?

Loki knew he had a pretty face, because that was what his father always told him since he was little, that he was the prettiest child in the country. He was smart and perfect, he would be able to make friends with anyone he if wanted. But he did not, because he felt that they were all beneath him and often found them too dull for his liking. Thor was the only exception. Later, when they started attending school, there were people who would talk bad about him behind his back, calling him names like 'Teacher's Pet' and 'Silver Tongue'. They said it to his face sometimes too, but he didn't care. He knew they were merely jealous of his beauty and intelligence. He told Thor as such.

Anyway, back to his little reunion with Thor. Loki was sulky about Thor not remembering him, so his words came out a little cold. It didn't seem to bother Thor though, given that he still insisted on helping Loki. He kept blushing around Loki too. When someone blushed, it meant that they liked you, right? Thor still liked Loki even though he didn't remember him, and that made Loki feel much better about it. It was fine because they would get to know each other again. Besides, Mama Frigga still remembered him. Her smiles and hugs felt so familiar and warm, and she said that Thor was really sad when Loki had been taken away. Loki was happy to hear that he wasn't the only one who had cried then. Thor cared about him after all. He even hugged back when Loki had hugged him.

When Loki saw Thor holding his favourite book and staring intently at it, he decided to let him have it as a gift. He watched Thor run off hurriedly with the book and guessed he was just being shy. He hoped that Thor would take good care of it.

Thor

Thor made friends in school easily enough. He was good-looking, vocal, athletic, friendly, charismatic and helpful, so that was no surprise. He was popular with both the boys and girls in school, and he quickly formed a clique with his new friends—Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg and Sif. Everything was going well, except for one problem—Loki.

Loki, who had been following him around ever since the first day they started attending school. He was quiet and soft-spoken, except when it was time to answer questions in class. He always had smart answers and was often praised by the teachers. Loki was no doubt a good student. The problem was that the other students didn't like him very much, and those had included his friends as well. They saw him as a weirdo because of his cold attitude, and called him names like 'Teacher's Pet' and 'Silver Tongue' because he had his ways of getting in the teachers' good books. Some even passed around the rumour that he was a vampire child because of his dark hair and pale complexion, and the fact that he was living in a rumoured-to-be-haunted house. Despite everything, Loki kept to himself most of the time and didn't seem to mind what they were saying at all...

Right, like hell he didn't mind. Loki kept to himself most of the time, but in the times that he didn't, he was almost always chattering to Thor, on the way to school and on the way home. He would tell Thor about how stupid and pathetic those students were, how they must be so jealous of him that they felt the need to slander him. He seemed to think himself too smart and attractive for them (Thor sometimes looked at Loki's messy overgrown hair and the ragged, oversized clothes on his thin frame and wondered if he should tell him). Loki would tell Thor about how he had snitched on Clint who had badmouthed him, telling the teacher about him copying someone else's homework, as well as how he had snuck earthworms into Natasha's pencil case and made her scream, also how he had stuck chewed gum inside Tony's helmet so that it stuck to his front hair and he had to cut it off… And the list went on. Since they walked together on the same route everyday Thor had no choice but to listen, sometimes in horror, sometimes in disgust, sometimes in awe. Loki was definitely a master at making mischief. Thor started to believe Sif when she told him that the apples Loki gave him might be poisoned and decidedly threw them away in secret every time.

There was one time during class when a classmate found frogs in his schoolbag and immediately accused Loki of it. The teacher in class then was also the fearsome discipline master, Mr Fury. Thor held his breath when Mr Fury made Loki stand up and started to question him. But Loki only shook his head mutely and looked at him with wide innocent eyes. Then his eyes started welling up with tears and he looked like he was biting his lip to stop himself from crying. Thor's heart wrenched without his permission. Mr Fury looked like he was at a loss and Steve the class rep told the boy who accused Loki to apologise immediately. Everyone was suddenly looking at Thor expectantly for some reason. Thor slowly stood up and placed his arm around Loki's shoulders awkwardly. "Loki…" he whispered. Loki let himself be turned around and buried his face in the crook of Thor's neck. "Brother, shh… It's okay, don't cry…" Thor continued to console him, stroking his back. Then Loki raised his head a little and winked playfully. Right, what did Thor mention before? Devil.

See, that was the problem. Everyone had already associated Thor with Loki. It was like they existed as a set now—Thor and Loki, Thor/Loki, Thor-Ki—whether Thor wanted it or not. His friends would remark on how kind he was to be willing to tolerate someone like Loki all the time, and he always laughed it off good-naturedly. During those times Loki would always quietly excuse himself from the group. Thor would be torn between wanting to stay with the group and going after Loki, because he had promised Frigga that he'd look after Loki like a brother. He could only hope that things would get better when they were older.

Loki

He and Thor had become the best of brothers again. They were always together, they would walk to school and back home together every day, on the way they would chat about everything and Thor would laugh. It was Loki's favourite part about attending school. Other than that it was actually boring most of the time. He had to listen to the teachers explain the same concepts again and again even though he had already understood them the first time, because some of the students were too dumb to get it. Those were usually the ones who liked to call him names and incidentally, the regular victims of his pranks. There were also some smart ones though, particularly the midget named Tony, who was pranked on partly because he talked too much too loud and disrupted Loki's reading, but mainly because his presence irritated Loki in general.

Thor had his own group of close friends that he regularly hung out with in school, but other than Fandral Loki didn't like them at all. They were just like the other students who were jealous of him, and sometimes Thor would ignore him when he was with them. There was one time they were talking about having a slumber party and Thor had asked Loki if he wanted to join them, but Thor's friends simply assumed that he wasn't going to be interested and answered for him as such, even though he hadn't even said anything yet. Because of that Thor actually thought that Loki wasn't interested and he didn't get to join them in the end.

It was fine though, because Loki didn't care about them at all. Loki was the one that Thor liked the most anyway. After school he would often go to Thor's house and they would spend time together. They did their homework together, though it was mostly Loki helping Thor with his. After that they would play games, read books together or play with Thor's pet cat Mjolnir. Loki would bring apples from his tree for Thor and Thor would always save them for dinnertime to share with his parents. During her days off Frigga would be at home too and she would read stories and bake desserts for them. He never stayed for dinner, even though Frigga always asked him to. It was partly because he knew Odin didn't like him very much, but also because he didn't want his father to be alone for dinner.

Contrary to certain foolish beliefs, they didn't actually feed on human blood. Laufey cooked for them when he came home in the evening and while his cooking wasn't nearly as good as Frigga's, it wasn't bad at all. All in all, Loki's new life was pretty bearable.

Thor

Thor didn't know if he could say that things had gotten better in middle school. At least the insults had died down, Loki didn't follow him around all the time anymore and had started talking to people other than Thor. By some twist of fate he was still assigned to the same class as Loki, but Sif, Fandral, Volstagg and Hogun were in a different class. They met one another less frequently and he started to hang out more regularly with a group of friends from the drama club instead.

That's right, Thor had joined the drama club, together with Loki. Thor had to say that when it came to stage acting, Loki was definitely in his natural element. He was expressive, dramatic, graceful; qualities which Thor had none of. The question was why Thor would decide to join the drama club too. Well, he was pleased to admit that he only joined the club because he wanted to be part of the Avengers, the famous play about superheroes that was traditional and unique to the one and only Midgard Middle School. That was where he made friends with Tony, Steve, Natasha, Bruce and Clint, who were his classmates from elementary school too. They did not like Loki very much, which was not a surprise, and Loki did not like them either. Even though they did not have concrete evidence, by this time they had all derived that Loki was the culprit behind those pranks all along. Clint in particular held a grudge about Loki snitching on him and causing him to get zero marks for his assignments.

As for why they were convinced that it was Loki, there was actually a good reason for it and no, it wasn't Thor who told them. The thing was, ever since they had moved on to middle school, Loki had become more vocal in his opinions of others and was not in the least reserved about criticising them right in their face. He started giving insulting nicknames to people too, for instance 'Tony Shortstack' and 'Clint Birdbrain'. Thor often had to step in and stop them from fighting. Fortunately, they soon got split into different groups during club activities—Thor in the 'Heroes' group with his friends and Loki in the 'Villains' group with the students who would play the members of his army in the story. On several occasions Thor thought he had felt Loki staring at him from the opposite side of the club room, but it must have been his imagination, because whenever he checked Loki would be paying attention to instructions or chatting with his own group. Gradually, Thor hung out less and less with Loki. Later, Thor was invited by Jane—a smart, beautiful girl and one of the top students of their level—to join her study group, so he eventually stopped studying with Loki at his house after school. The only times they were together anymore were during official class hours and their journey to school, sometimes from school.

One time when they were walking home after club activities, Loki told Thor that some of the students from his group in the drama club were trying to hit on him, and that when he was changing they were all staring and looked as if they wanted a piece of him. Thor rolled his eyes and told him that he was imagining things. Honestly, Loki thought too highly of himself and his own looks. Thor realised he had less and less patience for Loki's nonsense.

He didn't really mean for it to happen. It was in the club room before the teachers came in, and Loki was making sarcastic remarks at his friends again. He was always making everyone unhappy. He called Tony 'Hobbit', Clint 'Ugly Cuckoo', Bruce 'Wimpy Nerd', and Steve 'Captain Holier-than-thou' when Steve started to chastise him for being rude. Loki always thought he was smarter, prettier, better than everyone else. He was so blind to everything around him. Thor couldn't take it any longer.

"Enough!" he roared, and everyone in the room quieted. He met Loki's wide eyes as he stomped towards Loki and roughly pulled him out of the room by the arm.

"What?" snapped Loki as he shook his arm out of Thor's grasp.

"Shut up."

"Thor…" Loki looked shocked. There was something in his eyes Thor couldn't tell. Was it hurt? Anger? Thor couldn't be bothered anymore, it was time to set things straight.

"You don't have the right to insult everyone like that. You think you're smarter, you think you're prettier than everyone else? Nobody likes you, can't you see that? Just look at you, your hair is a mess and your clothes! They're so tattered you look like a homeless person! You're not pretty at all, you're as thin as a skeleton, and you have weird eyes... Your heart is uglier than your face, and poisonous words spew out of your mouth all the time, sometimes I think it's because you eat too many of those poisonous apples!" Thor spat the words out without meeting Loki's eyes. When he finally glanced, he saw that there were tears brimming in them. Thor's heart twisted, but he continued relentlessly. "I'm not going to fall for that, I know you. You're a liar, a trickster—"

"There's nothing wrong with my apples!" Loki shouted, and shrunk into himself immediately after. "You ate them too…" he added softly.

"No, I didn't." Thor stated coldly. He wanted Loki to get the point already.

Loki's eyes widened. Then his gaze became hard. "You threw them away."

Thor took a deep breath. He might as well lay everything out while he was at it. "Yes I did. Have you seen your own front yard? It's disgusting. It's full of weeds and spiders and poisonous mushrooms. Who's to say that your apples aren't infected? You should get your lawn cleaned up, by the way. Mother tripped on a vine and fell when she went to deliver some cakes to your house the other day. Father was so angry about it—" Loki's soft whimper stopped Thor from going on. Tears were streaming down his face uncontrollably and it looked like he was trying to calm his breathing enough to talk. Thor waited, forcing down his uneasiness.

"Do you," Loki eventually forced out, voice small and hoarse, "Do you really think so little of me?" At that instant Thor suddenly wanted more than anything to swallow all the words that he had just said. He was hit with the urge to brush the tears from Loki's eyes, to hug Loki tightly and console him like he used to. But he only stood rooted, helpless.

Loki gave a sardonic smile that only lasted a second. "Just one more question," he sniffled and carelessly wiped off the tears with the back of his hand, "You said that nobody liked me—" Thor's heart ached. "What about you?" Loki whispered, "Do you like me?"

It should have been an easy question, but Thor found that he didn't have an answer. He had to admit that he didn't like Loki at first, he didn't want to have anything to do with Loki, but— Thor's eyes widened. He didn't realise that he had just said his thoughts out loud. He felt like slapping himself in the face. He risked a glance at Loki. Loki's eyes were bright with tears, his lips pursed. He lowered his gaze and nodded, then he turned away from Thor and ran. Thor's mind went blank.

He was startled by a rustling sound and dazedly turned to look at the source. Five heads popped up in the window of the club room. It was his friends. They all stared at him awkwardly. Tony was the one who broke the silence. His cough turned into an 'ow!' because Natasha elbowed him the moment he made the noise. "Don't say anything stupid," she hissed at him. Tony rolled his eyes. "I was only gonna say—" "Thor, you look like a kicked puppy." "Yes, that too, thank you Clint. Actually, what I really wanted to say was—" "Thor, are you okay?" Steve's voice was gentle, clearly concerned. "Why do you people keep interrupting me? You know what, never mind, that's not the main point. Listen—" "I think we should be more worried about Loki," Bruce provided timidly, raising a hand. "Exactly what I was about to say! Earth to Thor! What the fuck are you standing around for? Go chase after your boy!"

Thor shook his head and walked back into the club room. What else could he say to Loki? He already said too much.

Loki

Loki's chest hurt. It had never felt so painful before. He thought Thor was different, but he was just the same as everyone else after all. He didn't like Loki at all. He thought Loki was ugly and irksome. Loki thought himself so smart, yet he couldn't even see that—how ironic was that? Thor probably only let Loki into his house because he needed help with his homework. Once he had found someone better—Jane, Loki thought bitterly—he instantly kicked Loki aside without any hesitation. Thor's friends were right; Thor was only tolerating Loki out of pity. Loki kept running in the direction of his home. Distracted by his thoughts, he accidentally bumped into someone when he rounded a corner. He looked up and it was Odin—Thor's father. The thought of Thor made Loki feel like crying again. He told himself to keep it together.

"Boy, are you alright?" asked Odin.

Loki nodded meekly and he had an abrupt idea. "Sir, how do I look?" he asked seriously. He knew Odin didn't like him, so he most likely wouldn't lie about what he truly thought.

"What?" Odin was looking at him as if he were crazy.

"Tell me, please." Loki pleaded. Odin looked him up and down warily.

"Well, if I had to say…" He squinted at Loki, "I'd say maybe like a dirty runt."

Loki smiled wryly. He bowed to excuse himself and walked the rest of the way back home. Laufey was a big fat liar. He lied that Loki was beautiful and he lied that their lawn was nature's special and wonderful gift to them. Loki decided to confront Laufey about it when he came home from work.

"Who said that?" Laufey looked furious, "My baby boy is the prettiest little thing in the universe, don't ever listen to that nonsense."

"I already know that you're lying! Thor said—"

"Thor! Ah, that little princess thinks he's better than everyone else! Like father, like son, I see! Hmph, I should have known…" Laufey hissed, gritting his teeth. "I was foolish to think that you would be happier here. We shouldn't have moved here at all, that boy is a very bad influence—"

"So can we renovate our front yard or not?" Loki asked again, impatient. Laufey sighed and looked at him apologetically.

"Son, we do not have the money to spare…"

Loki stomped back to his room and slammed the door shut. He felt bad after thinking about it over the night though, so the next morning he woke up earlier to make breakfast and left an apology note. The other, more important reason he had woken up earlier was to avoid seeing Thor and walking with him. This would be the first time he walked to school alone. The thought of having to see Thor in school later upset him, and for once he loathed that they had to sit beside each other in class at the back of the classroom due to their almost matching heights. The more Loki thought about what Thor had said the day before the more indignant he got. He decided to skip school for the day and turned to walk in a different direction instead. He didn't really need the classes anyway; they were too easy for him.

He bumped into someone when he rounded a corner—again. He was caught by the arm before he could fall on his ass. This was getting annoying. He glared at the giant imbecile in front of him.

"Are you okay?" The idiot had the nerve to ask.

"Let go of me, you foolish fool from the land of fools of a foolery of a foolishly foolish— Oh, it's you."

It was the guy who was supposed to play the evil titan-warlord in the Avengers play. Loki recognised him even though he had only ever joined them for club activity once, thanks to his very distinct appearance. Looking at his face, Loki suddenly felt infinitely better about his own looks. Oh yeah, what was this guy's name again? Right, Thanos.

TBC