Stepbrothers
Chapter five
Up until now, Thor had been simple to understand.
Young, handsome blond with blue eyes, tall and strong, popular, quarterback and good student (a rare combination in Loki's experience)... Although a liiiiitle bit like a big golden retriever puppy waggling his tail with a look full of hope whenever Loki was around. Basic. Simple. At best, boring. At worst, damn annoying and pushy.
Now, it was chaos.
Thor was secretive, silent, over conscious of Loki. It was all deep underneath the surface. To inattentive eyes, like the lovey-dovey future newlyweds, Thor was absolutely the same, laughing, happy, chatty, Mr. Popular guy. But Loki started to know how to read the discreet signs...
During a family dinner, while everyone was chatting or eating in silence, it was usual for Thor, in-between smiles and private jokes, to give a very brief but clear sad glance of longing to Loki. As fast as a blink but not fast enough for Loki not to see it.
If they all went together to church or any social event, Loki couldn't help but notice, when no one was looking at them, Thor's hand initiating a movement to grab Loki's. But Thor always held back at the last minute and Loki felt the tiny blast of air as discreet as a caress. And just worse.
At school, when the parents were not there to see them, Thor's attitude was the epitome of normalcy. As king of the school as ever without ignoring his future stepbrother. Yet Loki was careful never to be alone with Thor for sometimes the tension emanating from his body was just suffocating...
So much to avoid, so much to think about to prevent any awkward or dangerous situation, so much pressure not to provoke any disaster that would jeopardize the whole family's frail balance... It was exhausting. And Thor was only making things even more difficult with his eyes that seemed to burn through Loki...
As he was walking on this very tiny thread, Loki had no time to reflect on his own feelings. Keeping the peace with such an impulsive individual like Thor was time-consuming. Thor was holding back but exactly like a bomb, Loki suspected. As such, Loki didn't know what to think. He had accepted Thor's feelings as genuine. Maybe Thor was wrong, maybe it was a simple crush that went too far, but for Loki, Thor was totally sincere. As for Loki ? He was trying to keep everything under control. After the wedding, he would find a solution to calm Thor down (how, he had absolutely no idea) and settle things right (whatever it might mean...)...
But now everything was chaos and Thor's secret gloomy eyes didn't help at all.
On the surface, everything was normal. They ate breakfast, went to school together, sometimes crossed each other's way and went home together or not... They had supper with the parents, they participated in the family life. Thor sometimes went out with his friends, the parents stayed at home or received company to plan the wedding, Loki kept studying and the next morning they did it all over again.
That routine was the only thing to protect them. As long as they followed the pattern, they had little chance to fall astray, little chance for Thor to be alone with Loki for too long, little chance to isolate him, grab him and drag him to...
Loki felt weird.
He had to accept his father's change in life, him moving forward while his mother was in her grave, replaced by a woman Loki didn't want (although she was actually kind to Loki and good-natured). He had to plan his future if he wanted to escape this painful spectacle and now... He had to keep under control something that was starting to look like incest.
And there was something else...
Something even worse.
Maybe... Maybe... Loki might have a thing for Thor.
It was really obscure but being super aware of the big blond puppy had made him a constant in Loki's life. Paradoxically, Thor being a different kind of threat, not of taking Loki's place but putting him on an unwanted pedestal, made him a lot more dangerous. Loki was more afraid of Thor's love than of his potential as a rival.
And yet Thor was not DOING or SAYING anything per se. No, as usual he was just there. In fact, he was a lot more discreet since the incident than before. Loki had more space but didn't feel more secure or at peace.
Because each time Thor set his deep-blue eyes on him, he could feel his cheeks burning.
And burning they were that evening. Fran and Thor were having dinner with Loki and Larry. Manuelita was out but she had cooked a feast, Italian pasta and wine with antipasti and other delicacies Francesca used to love. It made Loki feel nostalgic but not so sad anymore.
When all was said and done, the atmosphere was rather merry. His father was laughing while telling the antics of his job lately and Fran was finding it hilarious. Thor was smiling quite sincerely and for once, Loki allowed himself to chill. It was a nice change, actually and he didn't feel like he was betraying his mother for once. She would have liked the good-natured Fran after all...
They were as usual, chatting about the wedding (it was due in a month). Loki allowed himself to smile. He was still aching for her, his one and only mum. He was still mad at his dad for moving on so soon. Yet, there was joy at this table this evening where until recently his father was not even eating anymore, staying locked up in his office. When all was said and done, they now looked like a family.
That was why Loki was not going to let two burning blue eyes ruin everything. That was a certainty.
How ironical...
Larry had a tendency to monopolize the conversation when he had drink a little too much. And he lacked his usual reserve about some things... Maybe that was why the following scene ensued.
He was laughing too loud now about some of their cousins that couldn't stand each other and would be forced to sit at the same table. For some reason, their embarrassment was hilarious to him. Fran and Thor made forced giggles and Loki smiled. At least, his father's attention was focused on something else than Thor and Loki's weird attitude.
"And by the way, Fran-ee... Why is there so little people at your side of the church ? Barely your sister's family and some friends. What is it, six, five people ? That's really few compared to our rather larger-than-life pack !"
Fran instantly froze. Thor's jaw clenched.
Contrary to his boisterous father, Loki sensed the change of mood at once. Red alert on his mind.
It wasn't the first time. Fran and Thor seemed not that much enthusiastic to share about their private background, other than school and job life. They were overly patient when Larry was rambling about his life with Loki (though he mentioned Francesca as little as possible) and Thor was clearly eager to hear anything that Loki had to say about himself first and foremost.
And yet, they didn't seem to reciprocate. As if they had started living when arriving in town.
Loki realized that if he never talked about his deceased mother, he had absolutely no clue about who Thor's father was, what was his name, even if he was still alive.
IF there was a father at all.
And aside from that, no other family beside a younger sister of Fran's, supposedly coming for the wedding with her husband and their two children. Two young girls and the only cousins Thor was willing to talk about (mostly that they were bratty pests and deserved "a proper walloping" for having glued the insides of his football sports gear as a joke...).
"Well, honey..." Fran murmured, "what can I say ? The family got scattered away...
Babe," Larry grinned, "I know you don't like me prying but, seriously, can't you call them to come ? It's gonna be lame if only our work relations make an appearance... And my side of the family..."
Then Larry made a slurred speech about family values and stories that didn't make sense. Loki was feeling himself turning red. His father got rarely drunk but when he did, he got tangled in nonsensical anecdotes no one understood. Fran was trying to calm him down while he was blabbering something about his uncle's hat and a fishnet of all things... She helped him stand and clearly made way to the bedroom they shared.
"Loki, your father needs to rest. Boys, will you take care of the table and close the house ? I'll tend to Larry. Good night."
Loki and Thor rose to clear everything. Loki surprised himself by being less angry about Fran giving orders. Fran, being a respected business woman and single mom of a larger-than-life only son, knew how to take charge and did so in Loki's home since the proposal. At first, it had made Loki mad though he didn't utter a word. That whole lady-of-the-house part was his mother's, not hers. It still irked but it was less painful.
"She doesn't want to take your mother's place..."
Thor's voice broke Loki's train of thought.
"She only wants... To give you back something of a home... I think. Something that looks like a normal family... She doesn't mean to disrespect..."
Thor stopped and raised his hands, not knowing what to add to make his point clear.
Loki frowned. He didn't like it when Thor was playing all-knowing. Considering the tension he was putting Loki under, he had no right to play the paternalistic pal. That was the last straw.
I do not think my mother is any of your or your mother's concern !
Thor made him his hurt-puppy look. It exasperated Loki.
And by the way, since we are meddling with each other's private business, my father is right. How come no one mentions YOUR family, your father, anyone ?
Seeing Thor's expression, Loki felt he might have crossed an invisible line. Thor looked... trapped. Scared.
Super-Thor, football hero, honor student, ambiguous stepbrother was actually SCARED.
He mumbled something unclear about many people dead or gone, and so on, and so forth. Then he proceed to clear the table, talking about loading the dishwasher and getting ready for tomorrow and how he was glad to go to training, etc.
If it wasn't denial, running away and avoiding the subject, Loki didn't know what it was...
Something was rotten in the Odinsons' perfect little world. And it wasn't only Thor's little incestuous issue. Well, maybe big part of it, but not the essential issue.
Thor and his mother were hiding something and Loki was determined to know what.
One month left before the wedding. No way that Thor (or his mom) were going to answer truthfully if asked bluntly. Loki's case was going to be difficult. Thor and Fran were (supposedly) from Dallas and so was Fran's sister and her family. They were actually still living there. That was the one thing that seemed sure, having seen Fran talking to them on video screen. And even that...
Websearch didn't give much. Fran Odinson was acknowledged as an up-and-coming business asset in Loki's father company. Her involvement with charities, events, the community, was glorified in the local press, as well as Thor's success in school. There were many articles about the engagement party they had at the office but nothing more. Not even the mention of her being divorced or widowed, or the existence of a Mr. Odinson somewhere... Although you rarely talk about previous relationships when you talk about an up and coming marriage...
In short, nothing that Loki didn't already know. Nothing that wasn't public knowledge actually.
Frustrating.
Loki couldn't see himself going to Dallas to investigate himself. Not when the whole household was upside down with catering, invitations, flowers, napkins and such. Not when he and Thor had an appointment in that tailor shop for their own wedding costumes. He was supposed to be his father's best man and Thor would be his mother's... whatever. They were supposed to have matching suits. The parents found it super cute. Loki found it super lame.
So, he couldn't disappear like that. He would be spotted the minute he tried to sneak out of the house. Not to mention his personal amorous bodyguard would be on his tail in seconds.
Thor was already a mighty pain since the evening the matter was put on the table. He had a tendency to chase Loki around as if he had guessed that something had changed. And he was so obvious..."You all right ? You okay ? You sure you all right, Loki ? I know you don't like me but we could talk. Are you sure you are..."
ALL. DAMN. DAY.
He was a pest. Loki didn't think he was intrusive enough to spy on Loki's web research but he had like a sixth sense concerning Loki and he felt something was amiss.
So Loki had to be even more discreet than ever, he had to act normal while the giant lab puppy was tagging along sniffing his trail. Lovely.
Recent and local information was not giving anything. So Loki took the problem with a different angle. As long as he was not leaving the house, the web data gave access to ancient Texan news. It was like looking for the proverbial needle in the haystack and after many unproductive search, Loki stayed in the Texan trail but with a third new approach.
A dark feeling made him look into the miscellaneous news items, especially the ones about domestic abuse. But nothing, or at least nothing that concerned an Odinson family.
That was when Loki had a disturbing idea. The possibility that Odinson wasn't Fran or Thor's real name, that they might be under false identities... Which would make everything almost impossible to find. It made him chill.
He wanted to go to the bottom of things. He was telling himself it was for safety, to protect his father from eventual suspicious individuals. Deep inside he was hoping for something fishy enough to force Thor into stopping his sentimental harassment... Or maybe even preventing the wedding.
Curiously this last point was not that much pleasing.
If Fran and Thor were driven out of the house, by their own will or by Loki's dirty trick (for Loki hadn't fallen so low to pretend his investigation's motives were entirely pure and prying on someone else's private life was not contemptible), what would happen to his father ? Or even to him ?
Back to silence ? Moody lonely evenings ? Non-communication until Loki left for college ? The shadow of the dark piano looming over them until kingdom come ?
Loki was seriously reconsidering. Curiosity killed the cat and all of that...
Until he found it.
Or at least, a good decent trail...
Six years prior, in a cozy resident area of Dallas, an up-and-coming trader was accused first by his wife, and second by his 12 years old son of a rather scary list of domestic abuse.
Sequestration, beatings, psychological and physical abuse and so on and so forth.
The man claimed his innocence. Yet there was a considerable amount of evidence, mostly on the wife and child's bodies. There was a cave underneath the house that looked like a confinement cell where they were sent for hours or even days if they didn't behave. They were saved by a suspicious neighbor and some of the boy's teachers. They were wondering why the boy, an honor student, was missing so often and also why the woman, a serious homemaker who was trying to go back to college, had brutally ceased all her of her involvements with the community events. They went to the house and saw the boy behind the tiny bathroom window beating on the glass, screaming for help, his face completely bruised and cuts on his hands. He had managed to escape his father's rage and lock himself in the bathroom.
Nevertheless, the man still yelled in court that his whore of a wife had framed him and took 20 years with possibility of parole, instant divorce, deprived of parental rights and forbidden to approach his victims within 10 yards or something like that. He went to prison cursing at the court and the whole world in general. One of his lawyers tried to plead insanity and indeed, the man didn't look all the ticket...
There wasn't any pictures of the victims nor their names were mentioned for protection of course but there was one of the culprit. And his name. He looked like an older, disheveled, mad version of Thor.
His name was Olaf Odinson.
