Loki slept in his own bed that night, leaving Thor alone to sleep in his parent's bed. The room felt empty without him there. He wanted to go down the hall and carry him back so he could hold him and hear his breath. In truth, he wanted so much more than that.
The morning came and Thor found Loki in the garage organizing it. It was an overwhelming task for a single person to tackle, given the years upon years of crap that had been stuffed into boxes and then stacked away.
"I should help you." Thor said.
"I'm still mad at you." Loki said.
"Fine. I have other things I should be doing anyway." Thor said. He went back inside and riffled through the kitchen drawer where he'd tossed all the brochures and business cards he'd been given. He found the one for Dr. Banner, and placed a call to see him. His next opening was two weeks away. Thor took it and punched the appointment into his calendar app on his phone. After that, the only thing that really needed doing, was grocery shopping. He snatched his keys off the counter and went back outside.
"Going shopping, need anything?" Thor asked.
"I need chips and sodas for my lunches and some more hummus. We're out."
"Hummus? You're eating Cheetos and Coke with your lunch and hummus is the main course?"
"I like what I like. And I need some C batteries. Oh, get the multigrain bread, not that cheap white stuff."
"C batteries?" Thor asked.
"What? Technology." Loki said.
"O-kay." Thor said. He hopped into his jeep and left. Loki turned back around to face the mountain of stuff he needed to sort. He could've chosen any pile to start with, but it was the one labeled Thor's room that caught his attention. He smiled, hoping to find something embarrassing to blackmail his older brother. Or prank him. Or something. He needed to relieve the tension in the house.
It took a good fifteen minutes of pushing, climbing and shoving to get to the boxes he wanted. He didn't want to think about how many spiders might be crawling on his back just now. He got to the first box and finally cracked it open. Clothes. Lots of them. Nothing else. After more cobwebs, real webs, and dust he got out another box. This one was filled with old vhs tapes and sports illustrated magazines.
Loki looked at the labels on each tape hoping to find something obvious and odd. Most of them were old action movies. Then he found a tape simply labeled, TV recording. Jack pot! Maybe. He set it aside and pilfered through the old magazines. They all had pretty girls on the cover of course and pictures of male athletes inside. Loki tried to open one but the pages were stuck together.
"Ew. I hope that's gum." Loki said and tossed it. He pulled out another magazine and tried to open it, but again the pages were stuck together. A light went off in Loki's head. One by one Loki looked through each one and all of them they were stuck together, wherever a gorgeous nearly naked man was displayed.
Loki started to suspect something he didn't dare dream. He snatched up that tape and ran back into the house. He looked out the window to make sure Thor wasn't home yet and popped it into the VHS player. It was an old recording of a men's bodybuilding competition.
"Oh my god." Loki said out loud. His parents had packed away all this incriminating evidence never suspecting that they'd stumbled upon Thor's porn collection. His brother is gay!
But why would that matter? A nagging voice suddenly popped into his head. So what if his older brother is gay and he's gay? It's not like they can fuck one another. Loki overheard the sound of Thor's jeep pulling into the drive way.
"Shit!" Loki yanked the tape out of the player just as Thor walked through the door. He threw it at the couch and put a throw pillow on top of it to hide it.
"Hello brother." Loki said, all smiles.
"Finished with the garage already?" Thor asked.
"Oh no, just taking a break. A spider crawled on me."
"Ah. Here, come help me with the groceries. I bought a lot of stuff." Thor said.
"Did you get my batteries?" Loki asked.
"Yes, and your hummus, and your soda." He said.
"Thor, I hate to ask this now, but did you buy any condoms?" Loki asked. Thor blanched and gawked at him.
"You're having sex? With who?"
"Well, no one yet but mom always made sure the ones I had were not expired just in case I ever got lucky, unexpectedly."
"Oh. Well, I'm sure you'll make some girl very happy soon." Thor said, returning his attention to the groceries.
"Girl? Didn't mom tell you? I'm gay." Loki said. Thor looked about ready to pass out when he turned to his head to look at him again. His eyes looked him up and down in surprise, and something else that made Loki feel positively fucking gleeful.
"Ah, no. No mom never told me." Thor said, quickly turning away again. "Did dad know?"
"No. I mean, I think he did know, on some level, but was in denial or something. I mean it's SO obvious with me." Loki said. "Anyway, mom wanted me to be safe."
"So, have you?"
"No, not yet. Haven't found the right guy yet. They're all assholes at my school anyway." Loki said. Thor swallowed hard, trying to find the right words.
"Well, thank you for telling me. I know how scary coming out can be." Thor said.
"You do?" Loki asked, giving his brother the opening he needed.
"Well, not personally." Thor said, back peddling at 1000 miles per hour. His hands had the slightest tremble as he put food away in the cupboards.
"So did you buy any?" Loki asked again.
"No. I'll get some next time." Thor said.
"Okay. Thanks for the batteries." Loki said.
"What are those for anyway?" Thor asked.
"My vibrator." Loki said, skipping off to his room.