Author's Note: This is the second part of The Sound of Storms / Asgard Industries modern day universe. It's rated M for mild sexual content and it was originally posted the beginning of this month on Archive of Our Own. I hope you lovely readers enjoy. xo.

Blood & Bruises.

The last straw is when Thor catches Loki flirting with his math teacher. He wouldn't have been so angry if it wasn't obvious that the teacher was enjoying it. Thor knew the man; he was married to a pretty teacher in the English department and they had two young children that they were always fawning on about. By all accounts, he should have been a man satisfied with his home life.

And yet, here he was, not only not ignoring a student's flirtations but he was actually responding to them. Thor could tell from the glazed look on his face that he had already fallen for Loki's emerald eyes, had gotten swept away in his low laugh that was reminiscent of a much lewder noise that Thor had heard over and over again. From the spot in the back of the classroom, where he'd been waiting for at least five minutes for Loki to finish up, Thor could barely resist the urge to physically intervene. He wanted to march straight to the front of the classroom, seize Loki and drag him away, all while promising the teacher a variety of pain if he so much as glanced at his younger brother ever again.

But school was not an appropriate venue for such violence and he didn't want to cast suspicion on the relationship he had with his brother. So instead, Thor drummed his fingers on the nearest desk, thankful when Loki finally got around to asking a question that was actually related to math. Even then, the performance continued; despite the, quite frankly, very un-arousing words about integers coming out of his mouth, Loki kept up his act, gnawing on his lip as the teacher spoke.

Thor wanted to bash his head off the nearest hard, preferably not sharp, surface.

The truth was that Loki had been acting… unusual, for the past week. It wasn't the excessive flirting that was the strange part; Loki was always flirtatious but usually, it only bothered Thor a little bit. He was the first to admit that Loki was talented with crafting words (and with using the tongue that formed them) and he often used that to his advantage, procuring favors for both himself and Thor from other students and occasionally the school nurse. But Thor knew that those instances were just acts that his brother put on. He could easily tell the difference between any artificial lust his brother broadcast and the real thing.

But for the past week, many of Loki's flirtations had seemed almost real. If they'd come from any other person, Thor would have believed them to be genuine. The vulgar promises he could make without saying a word looked almost plausible and although Loki had still come to his room late at night (and welcomed Thor into his), he was nonetheless acting strangely cold and detached. Usually, any chance he had, whether it be when they passed in the hallway or across the room during the law class they were both in, Loki would do something tiny to attract Thor's attention. It could be something as small as walking by and carefully scratching his neck in the spot just under his jawbone, right where Thor loved. If they were in class together, he might lean back in his chair and stretch, making his shirt ride up just the slightest.

For lack of a better phrase, Loki was a fucking tease. But for the past few days, there'd been none of that. There was only Loki and his play-acting that was dangerously close to appearing real. If it was a ploy to make him jealous, it was certainly working, loath as Thor was to admit it.

By the time they were finally on the way home, knee to knee in the back seat of the car, still cold from the (silent) five minutes they'd spent waiting for their mother, Thor felt like he was going to explode. The fact that his brother was acting completely oblivious, staring sideways out the window, only made Thor angrier. He knew that it was wrong to be so possessive of Loki but that didn't stop the sickening uncertainty he felt when he couldn't discern Loki's true promises from his fake ones. The fact was that Loki had vowed on many a dark night that the only person allowed to have him was Thor, vowed over and over again until his words had trailed off into gasps and moans. If he was going back on those promises, Thor wanted to know why, wanted to know what he had done to displease his brother. He wanted to know what transgression he had committed that made Loki turn to others, using only a quick gnaw on his lip or a slow blink of his eyelashes to tell them so many vulgar things.

He knew it was implausible, but perhaps Loki had forgotten. Maybe he'd gotten so caught up in his performances that he forgot about the things he'd said, the things he'd breathed onto Thor's lips.

If that was all it was, then Thor just needed to remind him.

Sitting through dinner was nearly impossible; Thor was too worked up to eat properly, which was enough to catch the attention of his mother. He managed to feign being sick rather convincingly, which let him leave the table early, and not a moment too soon. The longer he sat across from Loki, the angrier he got. His brother was doing a fantastic job of pretending like there was nothing wrong; at one point, he'd even stretched one of his long legs out underneath the table and brushed it against Thor's thigh, hiding his smirk in a mouthful of mashed potatoes. Hard as it was to ignore the action, Thor did just that and Loki merely shrugged, which was even stranger. Usually, if Thor didn't respond to his brother's attentions, whatever the reason, he'd receive an indignant glare or a raised eyebrow in response.

Their mother couldn't go to sleep fast enough.

The hours ticked by excruciatingly slowly. Thor tried to distract himself with some homework but he couldn't focus, too aware of the fact that Loki was right across the hallway, possibly continuing his flirtatious games over the telephone or computer. All Thor wanted to do was cross the few feet to his door, but there was no way he could risk that while their mother was still awake. Difficult as it was sometimes, he and Loki were extremely careful about their relationship. When he thought about it, Thor supposed that Loki wasn't the only actor in the family. He'd always been one to show his emotions on his sleeve; bottling things up had never been his style but he'd learned how to do it quite effectively, out of necessity.

Except when it came to anger. He still wasn't good at controlling that. He doubted he ever would be.

At half past nine, his mother popped her head in to say goodnight. His father, who had only been home for an hour, followed soon after, particles of his quickly eaten supper still clinging to his beard as he said goodnight. After that, Thor only had to wait an hour. Just one hour, so he could be certain that both of his parents were sound asleep.

It was the longest hour of his life. At one point, Loki exited his room to brush his teeth and Thor considered getting up and crossing the hall, to surprise his brother when he came back. But he hadn't waited long enough; rushing would be risky and as frustrated as he was, he still wasn't going to jeopardize everything.

At quarter to eleven, he couldn't wait any longer. He stepped across the hallway as quietly as he could, relieved that his brother's door was open a crack; the doorknob always made a terrible noise when it was twisted. Thor was sure to shut it behind him, however, once he'd stepped inside. Loki was lying in his bed, one long arm twisted under his pillow. Between his position, the light from the lamp on the bedside table and Loki's lack of a shirt, Thor could clearly see the sharp angles of his hipbones, peeking out from his low slung pajama pants. For lack of a better term, Loki was completely enticing, even if Thor was still angry with him.

"I thought you were already asleep," Loki said, setting aside the book he'd been holding in his free hand and gesturing for Thor to come sit by him. Thor did him one better, climbing onto the bed and settling between his brother's legs, holding himself up on his arms. Loki didn't flinch; his only response was to raise a questioning eyebrow.

"What did I do?" Thor asked, trying to keep his voice calm and level. Much as he adored his brother, Loki's demeanor was driving him insane.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Loki replied, removing his arm from under his head and setting his hands on Thor's biceps, dragging his nails slightly. Despite the distraction, Thor still caught the glint of a lie in Loki's eyes and he leaned forward until they were practically nose to nose.

"You're lying," he whispered. "And I'm sick of it, Loki, just like I'm sick of you prancing around the school and flirting with anyone with a pulse." Bending his head the slightest, Thor pressed his lips to Loki's jugular, not missing the hitch in his breath. His brother was going to tell him what he'd supposedly done; all he had to do was kiss him in the right spots.

"I was doing no such thing," he muttered, but the words came out in a tone Thor recognized perfectly. Pressing another kiss to the thin skin, he dragged his teeth, relishing in the whimper that came from Loki's mouth.

"You were flirting with your math teacher," he growled, barely resisting the urge to sink his teeth in harder.

"Was not." Thor was certain that his brother was the most stubborn man he'd ever met, but he wasn't going to stop until his brother told him why he'd been acting so wanton.

"Yes, you were," he hissed and this time, he didn't resist. He bit down as hard as he could, teeth sinking into Loki's neck, the skin tearing underneath the pressure. Loki reacted like he'd been electrocuted; his entire body spasmed, his hips pressing up against Thor's, fingernails digging into his shoulders. Instead of cursing or yelling, he was making a strange kind of keening, unlike anything Thor had ever heard. Whatever it was, it was immensely arousing and he shifted his teeth, tearing a little bit more so that the noise got even louder.

It was only when his mouth filled with blood that Thor realized the implications of what he had done. He sat up, horrified, hurriedly wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. Even through the crimson adorning his skin, he could see the ragged gash in Loki's skin, slowly oozing blood onto his collarbone. There was no way Loki would be able to hide the mark with any of their mother's stolen concealer. With one stupid action brought about by frustration, Thor had quite possibly ruined everything.

"What's wrong Thor?" Thor was yanked away from his distressing thoughts before they barely had time to formulate. When he looked downwards, Loki was staring back at him, green eyes flashing, the tips of his black hair grazing over his collarbones.

"Well?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Do you not approve of your handiwork?"

"Loki, do you not realize what I've done?" Thor tentatively reached out and traced over the gash, nearly an inch long and covered in blood. "How on Earth are we going to explain this to our parents?"

"Thor, calm down." Loki sat up and grasped Thor's wrists in his surprisingly strong fingers, moving them away from the wound. "I'll just tell them I cut myself shaving and they'll never be any wiser to the truth. No one has to know that it was you, except for us. And besides…" Words trailing off, Loki reached up with his thumb and dragged it across Thor's lips. When he pulled it back, the digit was tinted red, like some kind of perverse lipstick.

"Doesn't it feel nice to mark me as your own?"

"Loki…" Even as he was filled with hot shame, Thor had to admit that Loki was right. The truth was that he wished he could mark Loki visibly all of the time. He wished that it was possible for Loki to walk the halls at school, hickey on his neck, proudly announcing to everyone that he was taken by Thor. There was nothing else in the world he wanted more than that.

But Thor was a realist, and he knew that his desires practically defined the term possessive. No matter what Loki had promised him in the middle of the night, he wasn't his property. His fantasies and desires weren't normal or healthy; they were those of a caveman, who bashed whoever he wanted on the skull to claim them and as much as some of his friends liked to joke about his physicality, Thor was not a caveman.

"Loki, it's not healthy to be so possessive of you-"

"Who cares about being healthy?"

"I do!" Thor knew that he was probably speaking too loudly but he couldn't help it. His brother always brought out the strongest emotions in him, on both sides of the spectrum. "Loki, I want to be a normal… boyfriend, as normal as possible. I don't want to feel like tearing apart any man or woman who looks at you lewdly. I don't want to feel jealous all the time but I do, and it's wrong!" Thor wanted to get up and leave the room, to return to his bedroom and take his frustration out on something inanimate, but the look in Loki's eyes made him freeze. His brother was staring at him in a way Thor rarely saw. It was completely open and vulnerable and the slightest bit confused.

"You're… jealous?" Loki drew the corner of his lip between his teeth, the action so familiar but so different at the same time.

"Of course I am," Thor replied, reaching out and brushing a strand of Loki's hair away from his face. "I'm always jealous, Loki, even when I can tell that the flirting is fake on your part. When I can't tell if you're pretending or not, it makes it even worse. It's like anger, but so beyond that. It makes me wonder what I've done wrong to make you stop caring."

"Thor, I thought you didn't care." Still sitting up, Loki leaned his forehead against Thor's stomach, his warm breath ghosting over Thor's skin.

"You were so… tolerant, of everything. You never expressed any displeasure about the way people looked at me and I thought it didn't bother you. I thought that you wouldn't care if another person touched me-"

"Loki, if someone else touched you, I would go mad."

"I didn't know that!" The change in Loki's voice was so shocking that Thor actually recoiled. His brother had gone from practically whispering words against his skin to hissing them with pure venom in his voice.

"I know you Thor, I know that you're possessive, but it doesn't bother me! Perhaps it should but the fact is, it doesn't and maybe that isn't normal but Thor, we are the furthest thing from normal. I want you to be possessive of me and I want you to care!"

"I do care, Loki!" Thor had to actually struggle to keep his voice down, lest he wake their parents down the hall. "I care too damn much."

"Then prove it." Using a fistful of Thor's hair as leverage, Loki pulled himself up until he was straddling Thor's lap, nose to nose with his brother.

"Prove it."

His brother's grip on his hair was painful but Loki wasn't letting go. He was clinging to Thor like a drowned man on a life preserver, his lips and fingers and limbs holding on for dear life. All Thor could do was return the favor, with one hand grasping Loki's hip and the other on the back of his neck, fingernails scratching over the thin skin.

"Do you remember Christmas, Thor?" When Loki pulled away, gasping for breath, his lips were swollen and red, although Thor couldn't tell if it was from the force of their kisses or from the blood that was still smeared around his mouth. Either way, the sight was incredibly erotic and Thor added it to his mental repertoire of images to dream about.

"How could I forget?" It had only been a month before but it was more than just the lack of time that had passed since then. The fact was that Thor had dreamed about the events of Christmas practically every night since and as a result, he could recall almost every detail of the holiday. He could perfectly see Loki's fingers scrabbling desperately at the bear skin rug he'd been lying on, nails skittering across the floor, gasping and moaning dangerously loud. It was all too easy to remember how Loki had felt in his mouth, hot and heavy against his tongue and Thor was sure that, if he looked hard enough, he'd still be able to see the teeth marks on his own wrist from when Loki had returned the favor, making Thor throw away his inhibitions, even with their parents sleeping just down the hall of the lodge they'd stayed in.

"You left bruises that night, Thor. On my hips, with your fingers." As he spoke, Loki took Thor's hands and placed them both on his hips, pressing them against his skin. Even as he dragged his thumbs over the bones visible under his skin, Thor couldn't help but open his mouth to say sorry, to apologize for the marks. The word was barely formed in his throat before Loki placed a finger across his lips, effectively shutting him up.

"I stared at them the next day, Thor, when I woke up. I stared at them every day until they were faded in all but my imagination. Seeing them, it made me feel… cared for. That might be strange and unhealthy but I don't care. I want them again, Thor." Slowly, he rocked his hips against Thor's and it took all the control Thor had to not let his eyes fall shut, to not immediately give himself over to the feeling of his little brother grinding against his cock in only pajama pants that left hardly anything to the imagination.

"Bruise me, Thor. Show me that you still care."

Thor didn't have to be told again