(AU, set in the past, pre-Thor. I wanted to do something set in the past before all this and I thought 'what if this had happened' and it kind of turned into an AU one-shot. Enjoy.)

Loki watched as Thor woke with a splitting headache. "This is what happens when you drink too much," he whispered, trying to be considerate of the hangover the man must be feeling. He sat on the edge of the bed as the man rolled over a little, clearly nude. He ghosted his fingers over the thunder god's forehead briefly before pouring him a glass of water. Was this his fault? …Probably. "Do you remember anything of last night?"

"Not a thing," Thor moaned, unsteadily reaching for the glass. "Not even what we were supposedly celebrating."

Because there was nothing to celebrate. I just wanted you drunk. That was hardly something he could say, though. Thor forgave him a lot, but even he could get angry at him. It wasn't a prank, though Thor would see it as that. It was sincere, though it did have a purpose behind it that he was unwilling to ever tell his brother about. It was not, after all, brotherly in the slightest and he'd only grow disgusted.

"Why are you never in pain afterwards? What spell is it you use?"

"I don't use a spell," Loki told him, smiling just a little. Thor never realized that he would illusion his drink. He saw ale or wine, but in truth, it was merely water. The last thing that Loki wanted was to be drunk with him and muddle his own thoughts. "How many times must you ask that question?"

"How many times must you evade it?"

So he wasn't as oblivious as he seemed. Despite his hangover, Thor was still perceptive. Loki shrugged and put the cup back on the bedside table when the water was gone and he watched as his brother flopped back on the bed. "I had the strangest dream last night, brother."

"Oh?" he replied, closing the curtains to keep out the morning light. He wore a simple green tunic and brown trousers with boots, nothing elaborate. Every other day of his life, Thor took care of him; only when Thor had a hangover or was actually drunk did Loki take care of him. "What was it? Another of Lady Sif threatening a watermelon for a slight to her family?"

"No. It was about you."

Loki stiffened just a little and then eased it quickly lest his brother catch on. He moved back toward the bed, but didn't sit down. "Was I heroic in this dream then? Perhaps I wielded Mjolnir? Two impossible feats for me to be sure."

Thor didn't rise to the bait, though. Instead he abruptly reached out and gripped his shirt. "Why do you wear such a high collar, brother? It is so hot today."

"It's one of my favorite tunics," he said with a shrug he didn't feel.

"Is that all?" Thor whispered before yanking him back onto the bed. Loki grunted and landed on his knees on the edge, bracing his hands on either side of Thor's head so he didn't end up falling on the muscular man.

"What sort of dream did you have?" he asked, smoothly pretending he had no fear that Thor might have found out. "Did you have a dream of battle? Was I injured?"

"…Yes. Let me check to make sure it was merely a dream."

"Very well. Where was the wound?"

Fingers pressed right at the base of his neck and shoulder and Loki almost gulped. He had lied, of course, there was a very specific reason he had chosen this shirt on such a warm day. If he lowered it, then… However, he could always claim that it was another that put the mark there. That he had bedded someone else after Thor had passed out. He reached up with one hand and loosened the collar just a little, pulling it down to reveal a bite mark on his pale skin.

"As I thought."

"Thor, this isn't… It isn't what it looks like," he said desperately.

Thor was having none of it and Loki almost shuddered in fear at the anger in those blue eyes. Hands grabbed him and tossed him on the bed, rolling over until he was pinned beneath the big man. The only thing between them were his own clothes and the bed sheets. Everyone knew that Thor had a hangover, or so he had told everyone, and they wouldn't approach the room. He was…alone with his brother's righteous anger.

"Pray tell, brother, what do I think it looks like? It looks like a mark to me. Someone's teeth."

Maybe, just maybe, he could salvage this. "…Yes, that's what they are, Thor. I...bedded someone last night in my drunken foolery."

"Bedded someone…or did they bed you?"

A cold shudder went through his stomach. Was Thor…disgusted with him? "…Very well, Thor. You're right. I was bedded. I let a man hold me."

If anything, however, the admission only made Thor angrier if the expression on his face was any indication. "I tire of pulling half-truths out of you, Loki! Tell me truly! Was it my bed you were in?"

Though it was a question, Loki could see in his eyes that it actually wasn't. Thor knew. Giving up, he sighed and prepared for his brother's judgment. "Yes," he whispered. How could he feel like a little boy again, the crushing weight of sadness when he had disappointed his dearest brother? He'd only ever wanted Thor's love, his attention.

"How many times, Loki?! That was not your first!"

"I promise, Thor, I will answer every question you have if you answer one of mine first."

Thor's head tilted a little and he eyed him suspiciously. "What do you ask?"

"Were you truly drunk last night? Your hangover…"

"Is but a light headache. No, I was not drunk…not entirely. I have been drinking much lately and thought to stop for awhile, but I could never turn down an invitation from you. You rarely ask for anything. I was drunk, a bit, but not enough that I would not remember last night. Now that I have answered your question, you answer mine."

Loki looked away, not trying to struggle. He could still feel the sensations of the night before, how he'd almost screamed. "No, it was not my first, Thor."

"Did you get me drunk deliberately?!"

His eyes closed. "Yes."

"How many times have you done this?!"

"Getting you drunk and then bedding you? Think of every time in the past six months you've been drunk."

He risked opening one eye and glancing at Thor, seeing the stunned look on his face. "Every time?"

"Yes. Every time, Thor." He braced himself for the condemnation.

"Why, Loki?! Why did you have to do such things, take what I would have freely given?!"

Loki blinked in shock, seeing the sadness replace the anger on his brother's face. "What?"

Instead of holding him down, those hands eased up to his face. "Loki, I would have happily given you what you desired. You had but to tell me of your feelings."

"I did not want your touch because I asked! I wanted your feelings, your love! I love you Thor, and not just as a brother should. You have always, always doted upon me, given me everything I desired most! I did not want you to hold me just because I asked!"

"Are you so blind as that?! I would never have bedded you merely out of obligation!" Thor sat, straddling his thighs and preventing him from leaving. Loki really wished he wouldn't do that because it gave him a very unfettered view of his brother's body that he didn't need at that moment. "I have spent years silently speaking to you of my feelings! You did not have to give in to a foolish desperation and get me drunk!"

Foolish desperation? Loki laughed in frustration. So everything he had done was for nothing. He had debased himself, tossed aside all dignity, when it wasn't necessary. Thumbs caressed his cheekbones and he almost cried. "…I'm sorry, Thor. What I did to you…it was rape."

"How could it be rape when I love you and would have done so willingly if you'd but given me the chance?"

"You were not in your right senses, Thor. What you would have done while sober makes no difference."

There was silence for a minute before Thor whispered to him, and he could almost hear the smile. "Then I forgive you."

Finally Loki sat up and squirmed out from underneath Thor, but strong arms wrapped around his torso and waist, yanking him back before he could get out of the bed. Could forgiveness really be given that easily? "What do you want, Thor?"

"I do not want you leaving in the middle of the night again, slinking away as if ashamed. I don't want you to leave at all. I wish to hold you again. There's just one final question I must ask."

"…What is it?"

Thor's strong fingers turned his chin to look him in the eye. "What other man has taken you besides me?"

"Thor…you were my first," he protested with a faint flush. "I have never let another hold me like that and I never would, if not for my feelings for you!"

"Good. That means I will not have to fight another over you. I feared you might have bedded Fandral."

He couldn't help but give Thor a look as if he'd gone mad. "Fandral?! You thought I'd bed someone like Fandral?!" Loki grabbed a pillow and smacked Thor in the face hard with it. It caused the man to loosen his hold, likely less because of the pillow and more because of his laughter, and Loki finally squirmed out of his hold and stood up. "Since you do not have a hangover, brother, I suggest you dress. I will not coddle you."

"Loki," Thor protested, whining a little even as he laughed. "I had expected after our passionate declarations of love, that I would get to experience you while sober."

"Then you had best learn how to woo someone other than Mjolnir, brother," he said sharply, but it only caused Thor to laugh harder as he stepped out and slammed the door behind him. Even as he stalked down the hall in annoyance…a smile lingered at his lips.