"Thor! Where are my socks?" Loki yelled as he pilfered through the dryer.
"I don't know. Where ever you put them."
"You didn't throw any of my stuff in with your load last night?"
"No."
"Well why not?"
"Loki, I'm not mom. I'm not doing your laundry for you. You're 17." Thor said, irritated with his younger brother. Their mother had coddled him too much, and every other minute he felt like a dick for not doing all the little things she used to do for him.
"You're right. You're not mom." Loki slammed the dryer shut and turned his back on Thor to hide his moistening eyes, yet again.
"Loki, please don't cry…"
"I'M NOT CRYING!" Loki yelled, though his broken voice gave him away. His arms wrapped around his torso like they always did when he shed tears. Thor longed to reach out with his own and show his little brother just how much he loved him. The realization snapped him out of the reverie. He straightened his spine and gritted his teeth.
"I have some clean socks in my dresser. We'll work on the laundry when we get home tonight." Thor said.
"Fine." Loki wiped his eyes and rubbed his face before turning around to face him.
"I need lunch money." He said.
"I thought you normally pack your lunch?" Thor asked.
"I do. We ran out of bread and string cheese…and those salad bowls I like." Loki said.
"We'll go grocery shopping too." Thor said, pulling out his wallet and handing his brother a $10. They both hopped into Thor's jeep and headed out for the day. Thor dumped Loki at school, then headed off to the construction site. He was a welder, by trade.
"Oh my god, it's so good to see you." Sigyn said as she pulled Loki in for a hug.
"I don't know if I can do this." Loki said. He could feel hundreds of eyes on him. Everyone in school knew about his parent's deaths. It had made the evening news.
"A bunch of people made cards and banners and shit to show their support."
"Fuck. I don't want their fake pity. I just want to be ignored. Like normal. You know damn well they are all waiting for the water works."
"I have an idea." Sigyn said. She pulled out her binder and a sharpie. Loki watched as she wrote a sign. I don't want your condolences, kindly fuck off.
"It's beautiful. Let's go find some tape."
XxXxXxXxX
Thor pulled into his work site and breathed a sigh of relief. After the last ten days of sheer heartbreak and hell, he was anxious to get out of his head for a few hours and forget about his life. His boss, a burly man with beard by the name of Volstagg was a nice guy, and very understanding. But deadlines were deadlines.
"Welcome back!" Volstagg said. "How are you?"
"Wrecked. I just want to light a torch and melt metal until my arms go numb." Thor said.
"Well, I've got plenty of work waiting for you." He said. "How is everything else?"
"Awkward, difficult. But at least the check from the insurance company cleared. Loki's inheritance is in a savings account he can't touch until his birthday in a couple months. I managed to pay off the house, but I need to talk to Loki about keeping it."
"It's paid off. Why leave? I mean, you grew up there. It's got sentimental value, doesn't it?"
"It hurts to be there while my parents are not. It's this constant reminder and I don't know if I'll be able to stand it long term. Everywhere I look I am reminded of them."
"You want my advice?" Volstagg asked. Thor shrugged. He was sure he was going to hear it anyway. "Don't sell it. I know it hurts right now, with the loss so fresh. But give it time. Eventually you will find comfort where you currently find pain."
"I don't know. It might take too long for me to get to that place in my head." Thor said. He heard music then. The song, Hot For Teacher, blew up his phone. Thor cursed under his breath and answered.
"Hello?"
"Mr. Odinson?"
"Yeah?"
"This is Mr. Ryan. Long time no see."
"Yeah well, I should hope so. I graduated years ago. What did Loki do?"
"I'm afraid, Loki is not ready to return to school. I need you to come get him."
"I'll be there in ten minutes." Thor hung up the phone. He looked at his boss and frowned. "Look, I'm probably not ready to come back yet either. Take me off this job. I'll get the next one." He said. Volstagg nodded.
"Alright. I'll call you when the contract for Meyer building comes in." He said.
"Thanks man." Thor said and left. The drive back to the high school was too short. He needed to make an appointment with a grief counselor for them both. Thor headed to the office. Sitting outside in the hallway was a young woman with a bloody nose and eyes that appeared to be blackening. The tissues that had been shoved up her nose to stop the bleeding looked crusted and disgusting. Thor went into the office and found Loki there with a satisfied evil scowl.
"You punched a girl in the face?" Thor asked.
"It was the right thing to do." Loki said.
"No, Loki it was NOT the right thing." Mr. Ryan said.
"She's evil."
"She only offered condolences." Mr. Ryan said.
"No she didn't! She said it was such a terrible shame my parents died that way and she hoped they didn't suffer too much. She's a mean girl and an expert at getting away with saying cruel shit to other people." Loki said.
"Loki…" The principal started.
"Mr. Ryan. If I weren't afraid of going to prison, I'd punch that little bitch in the face myself. I'm taking Loki home for the rest of the week. Call it what you want, suspension, a leave of absence, whatever. But that shit starter in the hallway had better get suspended too. Come on Loki." Thor said. They walked back to the jeep in silence, not speaking to one another until they were on the road.
"Did you put your weight behind it?" Thor asked.
"Yes. Yes I did." Loki said.
"Good. Don't ever do that again." He said.
"What?" Loki asked.
"You only get one freebie Loki. That was it. Mr. Ryan won't look the other way if you do it again." Thor said. "You only have this semester to go and then you'll be done with high school. I want you to enroll and EverTech for the fall. I make good money as a welder and I think you'd like it."
"I don't want to be a welder Thor."
"They have other programs. You could be a plumber or electrician." Thor said. Loki gave him a look.
"Alright, fine. Loki, what do you want to be when you grow up?"
"A pole dancer." He said.
"Be serious man. You turn 18 in two months. Do you know what that means?"
"It means I'll have access to a quarter million dollars and you're scared shitless that I'll piss it all away on bullshit."
"Yes."
"Fuck you. You must really think I'm stupid."
"You're a teenager. Of course I do. It's the defining trait of your age."
"You are only three years older than me you fucking hypocrite!"
"Yeah, and I'm expected to finish raising you and be your parent. I'm old enough to arrange funerals and take care of my parent's affairs. I'm old enough to manage hundreds of thousands of dollars that don't even belong to me because you can't touch it yet. I'm old enough to be the responsible one, and do the laundry and wash dishes and shit. And I'm only three years older than you. So cut me some fucking slack."
"I can do all of those things too."
"Good. You can take out the trash when we get home."
"Fine."
"Fine." They got home and used housework to avoid one another the rest of the day. Loki washed the dishes and took out the trash while Thor did yardwork. The grass needed to be mowed anyway.