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Thor returned later the next day after dropping Maria off, to find two motorcycles now parked in the garage, Loki's black Ducati and another yellow bike of obvious Japanese decent. The owners of said motorcycles partially hidden behind the second bike so just their heads where visible over the seat, both tilted towards one another as though speaking conspiratorially. Odd, Steve had stated Loki never brought dates around. Guess there was a first time for everything.

Thor felt an odd twinge of anger tickling at the back of his mind as he emerged to try to catch the two men's conversation. Loki's well articulated vocabulary carrying smoothly in the tiny garage.

"This is an absolute mess," He exclaimed with a small chuckle. "Did you not let off of it the whole time."

"Hey," The other man retorted, a hand appearing briefly to scrub back through his short blond hair. "I know how to ride."

"The proof would say otherwise."

Thor was almost hesitant to approach, unsure as to what he was walking up on, but the need to know what was going on prevailed and he finally could see the two men kneeling on the other side of the bike, regarding the engine with some consternation. As he stepped closer, he could see a pan had been placed under it and was full of oil as they had removed the engine cover on one side.

"Obviously it's a manufacturer's defect," The blond continued to argue.

"Obviously," Loki repeated, his words dripping with sarcasm and his lips displaying a sly knowing smile, earning him a rough nudge from the other man.

Thor cleared his throat noisily to make his presence known and only managed to earn a slight eyebrow raise from Loki, but the other blond was instantly on his feet.

"Oh, hello," The shorter man greeted with a friendly smile which curled up far too much like the mustache that adorned his well groomed face.

"Hope I'm not interrupting," Thor greeted with what he hoped was a cheery grin of his own.

"Nonsense," The other man replied extending his hand. " Enzo here was just berating me for buying yet another inferior Japanese machine."

"Enzo?" Thor questioned, shaking the other man's hand but eying him questioningly.

"Long story," Loki supplied with a sigh still eying the open engine of the bike with a bit of a grimace, before motioning with one hand towards the two men."Thor, Fandral, Fandral, Thor."

"Oh yes, Loki has told me so much about you," Fandral continued eying the larger man.

"Has he now," Thor asked a bit surprised and curious as to what Loki could've possibly said about somebody whom he hardly knew.

"No," Loki supplied flatly, finally getting to his feet.

"No," Fandral conceited with a shrug.

"Look Fandral, that main clutch spring has had it." Loki continued running a hand through his dark hair as he turned to regard the engine some more. " I'll have to order you a new one. Should be in by the weekend, but don't hold your breath."

"You're the best Enzo," Fandral beamed, patting Loki roughly on the shoulder despite his grimace at the action. "I owe ya one!"

"Yeah, well so does Thor," Loki supplied now regarding him with a smirk. "Perhaps he can give your sorry ass a ride home."

Thor chuckled as Fandral turned to him expectantly.

"Sure," Thor chuckled, seeing his chance to pick the brain of one of Loki's apparent friends. "I'd be glad your stuff."

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"So," Thor began a bit hesitantly as they cruised towards the opposite side of town. "Enzo?"

"It's a nickname we gave him," Fandral replied grinning as he supplied the information. " Enzo Ferrarri?" Seeing Thor was nonplussed by the explanation he continued. "The founder of Ferrari?! Geez and you call yourself a car guy! Anyway, Loki eats, sleeps and breathes Italian. Hell, he even spent a summer learning Italian just so he could read the service manual to his damned Ducati. So Sif, that's one of our other friends, she started it and it just kind of stuck. He kind of looks like an Enzo,really."

"Yeah," Thor agreed chuckling, pleased at how easy Fandral was to talk to. "You've known Loki awhile then?"

"A few years now." Fandral supplied easily. "The man's a genius when it comes to bikes. He missed his calling if you ask me. He should be tuning race bikes for a living not wasting his time at that damn coffee shop."

"I thought it was a bar?" Thor asked a bit confused. While it was obvious from his brief visit there that they did in fact serve coffee, the décor screamed that it was more of an alcohol drinking atmosphere.

"It's that too," Fandral laughed. "We all hang out there from time to time. But if you want a good brew, we usually hit The Pint downtown…..oh turn left here."

"I'll keep that in mind," Thor did enjoy a good ale on many an occasion, so local tips were always helpful. "I've been relying on Steve for tips, but he's not much of a drinker and Loki…..well, honestly, I hardly see the guy. Probably couldn't have picked him out of a police line up until just recently."

"Yeah," Fandral agreed shaking his head thoughtfully. "Loki can really be stand offish until you get to know him. Can't blame him though, what with his past and all."

"What do you mean?" Thor regarded him in interest, now they were finally getting to the meat of the conversation.

"Oh man,"Fandral spewed, excited to be the story teller and divulger of secrets. "You've never heard of the Red Bank Murders?" He could see by Thor's blank stare that he obviously hadn't, so he continued. "Well, back in the late 90's this guy completely loses it around the Holidays. Christmas shopping and traffic got too much for him or whatever. Anyway, he goes out one day after work and buys a gun, just out of the blue. He then comes home and starts going room to room taking out his entire family. His wife, his oldest son, Hell, even the dog! Pop,pop, pop ," Fandral makes the motions of somebody shooting a handgun to accentuate, although Thor find's it's really not necessary. "Everyone except Loki. See, he hears the gunshots and slips out the back. Hightails it straight to the neighbors house and crawls in through the little doggy door they've got there and hides out. Can you imagine that? He was what, 7 or 8 at the time. Must've been a tiny little shit. Still is ..oh, turn right up here at this next light."

Thor is completely taken aback by the story unfolding beside him in the passenger seat. He couldn't even begin to imagine what he would have done if his own father had come home and gone on a shooting spree. He didn't really wish to think about it at all.

"So anyway," Fandral continues seeing Thor's obvious disturbance at the tale as a que to go on with the story.. "The neighbors hear the shots and of course call the police. Then they come downstairs to find little Loki sitting all bunched up in the corner. They said he never cried, not once through the entire ordeal. Could you imagine, It's like a week before Christmas and your whole family is suddenly gone? Just like that?"

"No," Thor answered honestly enough. He couldn't imagine and didn't want to. "So what happened to the dad? Did he kill himself too?"

"Heh, We should be so lucky," Fandral sniffed. "No, he surrendered to the police. Simply surrendered. There was a long, boring court case, paid for by us generous tax payers of course and Loki was called in to testify before being shipped off to whatever foster care was available back in then. Who knew? Hell, he probably doesn't get enough credit for not being a violent psychopath himself."

"Especially after all that," Thor agreed. "Wow. Poor guy."

"Ah, don't let him hear you say that," Fandral warned, his grin returning now that the gruesome tale was done. "And you didn't hear this from me, mind you, especially not while he's holding my Honda for ransom."

"My lips are sealed," Thor supplied with a soft grin of his own,then swallowed,unsure how best to broach the question that's been nagging at him. "So….Are you and him…"

"Are him and I what?" Fandral asked.

Crap, this wasn't going to be easy.

"You know," Thor tried to explain without explaining. "Are you and Loki…um, together."

Fandral burst out laughing as he finally caught onto what Thor was asking, causing Thor to laugh as well as the awkwardness was instantly eased.

"Loki? Hell no!"Fandral continued still chuckling openly, then suddenly paused to pull down the vanity mirror in the visor to check his hair and mustache. "Why? Do I look gay?"

"I don't…I mean, No," Thor stumbled . "I don't really know what gay guys are supposed to look like. I thought I knew, but Loki's gay and he doesn't exactly scream homosexual."

"No," Fandaral chuckled nodding at the admission. "Not our Enzo. And if you call him gay to his face,he'll likely put you down in a heartbeat. He may be little…well, compared to you, he's little. But he knows where to hit a guy to bring them down pretty quick. Seen it a couple of times myself. Oh,He doesn't deny being gay, mind you. Just doesn't care for the title. Says he's sick of society having to label everything. Don't worry, he'll give you the full rant sometime. But me? Hell no! I like the ladies far too much, if you know what I mean?"

"Yeah,"Thor agreed still chuckling himself, then added with a nudge from his elbow."Meeeeee too. I was just, curious, you know."

"Well as long as I've known him," Fandral continued "The only thing he's romantically involved in is that damned Ducati. So word to the wise, don't scratch it."

"I'll be sure to avoid that."

After that the conversation turned to more normal subjects, where to get a good burger or a pint of ale. But Thor couldn't help feeling as though a weight was lifted the whole ride back to the house after dropping Fandral off.

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