A/N. I own no one.

Loki shuffled down the stairs to his kitchen. There was still coffee in the pot from yesterday. Eyes still half-shut, he went through the motions: get cup, pour coffee, microwave.

Beep. The microwave chirped softly. Open microwave, get coffee, close microwave, and sit at the table. One hand wrapped around the cup, the other keeping his head from hitting the table.

A fully-dressed, fully-awake Thor trundled down the stairs. "Good morning, brother!" he said cheerily.

"Meh," Loki grumbled. At least, that's what it sounded like to Thor. It could have been anything, really.

Thor noticed that the coffee-maker was off, but Loki was still drinking coffee. Which begged the following question: "Loki, why are you drinking cold coffee?"

Sleepy green eyes stared back at him. " 'S not cold," Loki mumbled, mind starting to function a little more.

"But the coffee maker is off!" Thor protested.

Loki cocked an eyebrow at his clueless brother. "Microwave," he said as if it should be obvious. The more he woke up and thought about it, Loki realized that was probably not the best way he could have responded. Thor didn't understand microwaves either.

Thor stared at the microwave. "It doesn't work," he informed Loki.

"Do you even have anything in there?" Loki asked. He could have just as easily been referring to Thor's brain as the microwave.

"Do I need something in there?" Thor asked, thinking Loki meant only the microwave.

Crap… "Not necessarily…" he said warily. As gifted a wordsmith as he was, Loki had the hardest time wording things so Thor could easily understand.

He poured himself another cup of coffee and put it in the microwave. Thor immediately snatched it back out. "It's still cold," he said.

Loki grumbled angrily under his breath and put the cup back in the microwave. He set the timer for 30 seconds and hit the start button.

Thor watched in fascination as the coffee cup turned 'round and 'round as the microwave hummed.

Beep. The microwave chirped again. Thor opened the microwave and grabbed Loki's coffee cup. He nearly dropped it. "It's hot!" he exclaimed.

"Yes Thor," Loki said patiently, adopting the tone one used with a child.

"But how?" Thor wondered.

"You wouldn't get it," Loki muttered. "All you need to know is that it works. And don't do anything stupid. Stay away from my microwave."

Thor didn't respond. He was too busy staring at the microwave.

"Probably the best thing about Midgard, other than the coffee," Loki observed to one of his several cats. "There are so many ways to keep an idiot busy."