At first he thought he was interrupting something. What was he supposed to think, when he saw Loki seated behind the pretty girl from the club, his mouth to her neck and she leaning back against him, expression clearly showing pleasure. He tried to leave the room and give his brother some space, but didn't get farther than one step when he was noticed and Loki's eyes rose to meet his. He tried to whisper a quick "Sorry!" and continue his retreat but before he got the sound out, his brain registered the splash of red oozing from the girl's neck and painting his brothers mouth, rendering him silent and standing there gaping like a moron in cluelessness.

"Thor." Loki greeted him in an eerily calm voice, one that Thor didn't find at all appropriate to use when you get caught sucking someone's blood.

Loki didn't break eye contact, and Thor couldn't, so they just stared at each other for a minute that stretched out far too long for the blonde's liking. His attention was only (thankfully) drawn away when the girl came out of her reverie and looked around while blinking repeatedly as if trying to wake up. Apparently noticing that Loki was done, she got up from the couch a little unsteadily, and put a hand over the wound still trickling blood. "Um, I guess I'll see myself out…" She murmured when neither of the men said or did anything directed at her, easily grasping the message that she shouldn't stay any longer. "Call me?" She flashed a hopeful smile to Loki, who only raised his chin in her general direction to acknowledge he had heard her. Her smile faltered at his sudden disinterest and she moved to shuffle past the large blonde, who barely spared her a glance, unable to look away from the piercing green eyes still concentrated on him.

The door opened and closed behind him and Thor was still unable to speak for a few minutes, mostly because that ridiculously calm gaze was still spearing him, and it completely muddled up any reasonable thought he tried to form. It was clear that Loki wasn't going to utter another word before he did, and was contented to sit here in the most uncomfortable silence Thor had ever experienced for as long as it cared to last. Maybe he could just leave, would his brother let him do that?

He inched to his left experimentally, and his brother's now very unsettling gaze followed him, but that was it. So he took another step. Still not a word to stop him. It appeared that he would be allowed to escape this most awkward of situations, so that's exactly what he did, shifting around the wall opposite the couch in order to stay as far away as possible from the man on his couch whose lips were still stained with the blood of another. He made it to the hallway with those green eyes still following his every move before turning tail and bolting the rest of the short distance to his room and slamming the door behind him. Once inside he fell backwards onto his bed and immediately let his thoughts reel, trying to make sense of what he had just witnessed.

Outside his door Loki had gotten up and gone to the kitchen to clean his face, and then returned to the living room and plucked a book from the shelf before retaking his spot on the couch. He never lost that calm, completely collected expression and began to read the tome as if nothing had just happened.

A half hour later, and Thor was still laying sprawled across his bed. He hadn't moved since coming in here, he hadn't thought to, because he was pretty freaked out right now. Because who does that? He had spent the last half hour trying to rationalize the situation for himself so that maybe he wouldn't have to have one of those uncomfortable long talks that always ended up being more dramatic than necessary, because he didn't know how to navigate them properly, while Loki always sat there looking like he knew everything already, and it just got him pissed. To be truthful he hadn't gotten very far in figuring out what he had just seen, and had let his mind go blank for about ten minutes because he had hit a dead end. But so far, he had to figure that either

A) This was some weird, stupid fetish that his brother had picked up. He had heard about bloodplay becoming more popular since the influx of sexualized vampires in the media. Or that's what the news said, at least.

Or B) Loki actually believed he was one of those real life vampires. It's not as if Thor absolutely refuted the possibility that those kinds of things existed, but open-minded as he was it was one thing to believe there are such things as vampires, and quite another thing to believe that your brother was one. It was just weird.

Either way he really wished Loki hadn't brought those kinds of activities into his home. Yeah, he had come home early, and yeah he knew that the man had probably assumed he would never even have known. But that didn't stop Thor from being just a little indignant that he had had to witness whatever it was.

The blonde sat up in his bed with a huff. The shock was more or less gone by now, and he was left frustrated at his brother for doing these kinds of things. He didn't want to deal with whatever explanation Loki had for him, but he didn't want to hide in his room all day. He was already really bored. But he couldn't go to a bar, it was too early in the day, and if he came home drunk he would get an earful about it the next morning. He couldn't call up a friend, because the only thing he could contribute to conversation would be the bizarre incident that had taken place this afternoon. They didn't need any groceries. Thor supposed he could go see a movie, it would kill a few hours. Upon checking his phone he saw that the action movie he had been seeing previews for was now playing in theaters. It looked pretty cool, lots of explosions, something that he wouldn't be bored watching. And there was a showing in about twenty minutes. Okay, good. Convenient.

Making the decision to avoid his brother for a few more hours, Thor grabbed some loose cash from his bedside table and looked for his shoes before realizing he had never taken them off after coming home. He then opened the door and charged down the hallway as quick as he could while still walking, and threw a brisk "I'll be back later." over his shoulder. If Loki responded he didn't see or hear it before he was shutting the door behind him.

Approximately two and a half hours later, Thor was back and leaning his forehead against the door, not wanting to go in but having no excuse to stay away longer. He just really wasn't in the mood to talk, and the usual curiosity he held was nonexistent in this current situation. To be quite honest, he didn't even care what Loki had been doing anymore. If the man really did believe he was a vampire, then that was his problem. If he didn't, well hopefully he would be courteous enough in the future to not make Thor aware of his unusual activities.

He knew he wouldn't be lucky enough to escape confrontation a third time. Which was probably a good thing, because he knew it wouldn't just be forgotten and swept under the rug. Regardless of how much he wished otherwise. So taking a breath to steel himself to get through whatever storm may or may not be raging in Loki's head, Thor turned the key in the lock and pushed the front door open to find nothing but the smell of less than fresh pizza. Huh. He didn't know what he had been expecting to greet him, but he was pretty certain there hadn't been pizza in the house when he left.

The blonde walked down the hall and saw the source of the aroma laying open in a box on the table. So Loki had ordered pizza? Except it was untouched, and the raven haired male rarely ate the stuff anyway.

"I ordered it for you. But it's probably cold by now." The cool voice came from the couch and nearly made Thor flinch, because for a moment he had forgotten that's where Loki always was. He was too concentrated on the delicious looking sustenance calling to him.

Glancing over at his brother he saw nothing out of the ordinary, just his brother half curled up in the corner of the couch and reading one of his books, holding a half full glass of wine in his off hand as if the story was so enthralling that he had forgotten to put it down.

"Uh, thanks." Thor replied warily as he grabbed a plate and filled it with a couple slices. He was waiting for Loki to bring it up, to start that inevitable dramatic conversation, or to at least give some casual excuse for his behavior. But either he had forgotten already that Thor was there because he was just so captivated with his book, or he was as content with silence as he had been while impaling the blonde under his stare earlier.

Thinking perhaps that maybe he was off the hook after all, Thor lifted the pizza to his mouth. Loki was right, it had gotten cold. It still wasn't too bad though, and he had barely started to chew when the smooth voice cut the silence again.

"You know as well as I do that we'll have to talk sometime."

Shit. Thor didn't have a reply that would get him out of it so he just grunted around his mouthful of pizza and sat down at the small round table to eat his late lunch/early dinner that he guessed had been a peace offering. A damn good one, too. Even if Thor was thundering, good pizza was the surefire way to get him to shut up and cool down.

Loki was rather impressed with himself for being able to keep up this calm exterior. Initially, he had tried to immerse himself in the book and pretend that Thor hadn't come home early, and he wasn't about to be kicked out of two houses in the same week. It hadn't really worked, but he had managed to distract himself enough to quell that small amount of anxiety that was pooling in his stomach. He had even kept his cool after Thor had practically stormed out of the apartment, leaving Loki to wonder if he was monumentally pissed, still completely freaked, or just avoiding the smaller man like the plague now. About an hour and a half later, he had managed to calm himself down for real, and was able to face the fact that what would happen was gonna happen whether he denied it or not. That didn't mean he couldn't try to have some influence on it, though, he had thought while dialing the pizza place his brother usually preferred and having one delivered. When it had arrived Loki was rather pleased with himself, thinking that maybe he could talk his way out of this one like he had been too startled to do properly with Odin.

But then fifteen minutes later and the anticipation was getting the better of him, and the man had decided he needed a little something to calm the nerves. So he had poured himself a little bit out of the bottle he kept stashed away in Thor's cabinet for when he dropped by. Luckily wine just wasn't to the blonde's liking, so he was able to leave it here safely. Which was good, because he bought the expensive stuff. And he would be broke by now if Thor drank it instead of beer.

Approximately twenty minutes after that and the alcohol had taken a little bit of the edge off, but it threatened to return when he heard Thor entering and approaching. He offered a cool explanation to the mysterious food that had appeared in the blonde's absence, and watched as it was indulged in. He heaved an internal breath of relief and gathered himself so he wouldn't sound shaky when he finally called attention to the elephant in the room.

Luckily, he succeeded in keeping his calm. Even more luckily, Thor didn't blow up right then and there. Although Loki had been expecting more than just a grunt. In fact, he was a little peeved that that was the only reaction he received. "Wow, Thor, thank you for that wonderful insight to your current mood. I know you hadn't noticed but you're killing me over here." He thought to himself sourly, mouth twitching down as if to frown but still frozen in the expression Loki was forcing outward.

It had never taken anyone this long to eat three slices of pizza, ever. Nearly fourty minutes later and Loki was just about at his breaking point from a mix of anticipation and total annoyance at how long Thor was dragging this out. Finally, finally the great oaf wiped his face with a napkin and threw it down on the plate, signaling that he was finished. The raven haired man watched as his brother threw the paper plate away, stood there for a moment in indecision, and then trudged his way over to sit opposite him on the couch. Loki tucked a bookmark in the tome and put it aside, setting the glass next to it and then turning back to show that Thor had his full attention, and he wasn't going to be difficult about this. He knew how uncharacteristic of him it was to be so submissive in situations like this; usually he would lash out instead of taking his punishment quietly, but he really didn't want to be thrown out. He didn't have anywhere else to stay at the moment, and honestly, he did like it here. Thor was an easy person to live with. He would do what he could to keep his place here, even if it was temporary.

Neither of them spoke for a few minutes, both at a loss for how to begin such an awkward conversation. Loki kept his eyes on Thor, while Thor looked around abashedly, clearly not wanting to match the intense stare.

Loki almost jumped when the blonde finally spoke in a somewhat strained tone. "I'm guessing this is why dad kicked you out."

Not the most promising starter. Loki swallowed thickly and nodded.

"Don't you have an explanation for me?"

Loki was a bit taken aback, having expected Thor to ask questions to which he could respond with small things. He didn't have a full explanation prepared that would make any reasonable sense to a sane person.

"I, um. You'd think I'm crazy."

Thor snorted. "It's not like you can make this look much worse." The blonde sighed and finally turned to meet Loki's eyes. "Let me guess, you're a vampire." His tone was mocking, probably to try and lighten the atmosphere that had settled over them, but Loki could hear the edge of nervousness that said it was the conclusion Thor had come to, but which he was really hoping wasn't true.

". . . Yes." Loki answered bluntly, knowing that alone wouldn't convince his brother of his situation.

". . . You're serious?"

"Yes."

"Great." Thor let out a laugh that said he didn't think any of this was funny at all. "And that girl earlier, you were drinking her blood?"

"Yes, Thor." It came out condescending, even though he was trying to give the blonde a little leeway. It wasn't exactly normal news.

The smaller man's tone earned him a glare before speaking again. "So, uh, you're the stuff of legends and all that?"

"Not really."

"Then what in hell are you?"

Loki could tell Thor was a little frustrated, just because he didn't know what was going on and Loki did, and it was always that way. "It's really quite simple. I'm not human. My system works differently than yours." Perhaps if he kept this simple, Thor would understand. It really wasn't hard to grasp, just weird for the average person. "I don't produce everything I need to keep my body running properly. There's a certain kind of energy that I don't have enough of. The only place this energy exists in a high enough concentration to be of any use is in human blood."

"You can't get a pill or something?"

"No, Thor. It's not something that will show up in medical tests. And even if it did, they don't make medicine that will work." His tone was a little sharp now, implying that of course he had tried that in the beginning, and did his brother really think that if he could just 'get a pill' he would have any need for the actions he engaged in?

"So how much do you need?" Well, it was a little surprising that he had accepted the premise so easily and was now moving onto the details seamless. Surprising, but good.

"Depends on the person. I've gotten used to one meal about every two weeks."

Thor looked just a little appalled. At what, he wasn't sure. "Do you really have to call it a meal, just so casually like that? It's not like you're sitting down for spaghetti, Loki, you were literally drinking some poor girl's blood!"

The raven haired male rolled his eyes. "Whether you like it or not, Thor, it is my food. For me it is just like eating a regular meal, except it tastes twenty times better."

"Ugh, don't say that."

"And it incites a feeling you wouldn't understand."

"What the hell?"

"Never mind, Thor. I don't expect you to get it."

The blonde responded to this with a stern expression. "I'm trying, aren't I? I'd like to see you have this pushed on you."

Loki just blew an audible puff of air out his nose.

Another minute of silence followed before Thor spoke again, this time rather tentatively. "If I hadn't walked in, you wouldn't have killed her, would you?"

"No, Thor. I'm not a monster. I've never killed anyone."

The blonde let out a breath it sounded like he had been holding and Loki rolled his eyes again because wow, thanks for the vote of confidence in his character.

"And before you ask, none of the legends are true. Garlic, mirrors, all rubbish."

Thor just nodded and looked around again, and it gave Loki the impression that the conversation was over, at least for now. It had gone better than expected. There hadn't even been any yelling, and that was kind of saying something. Maybe Thor had still been freaked out more than the smaller man had thought.

The atmosphere had settled enough that it was more or less comfortable again, and Thor was at ease enough to switch on the television. Loki picked his book back up and resumed reading, the wine glass mostly forgotten now that the anxiety had gone. They didn't bother with dinner, Thor just getting another few slices of pizza when he got hungry again and Loki not being bothered by hunger at all, his own kind of meal earlier that day had probably been enough for about thirty six hours before conventional hunger would set in. They passed the rest of the evening by only talking to each other for little things that didn't incite conversation, and both turned in early for the second night in a row.

Thor felt a little better as soon as he was out of Loki's company, and went to bed a little confused about it all still but pacified enough to get to sleep after the normal amount of tossing and turning. Loki was unconscious as soon as he found a comfortable position, and slept like a baby through the night, knowing he was off the hook.

A/N: No blood drinking in this chapter, just Thor being confused and avoiding conflict and then coming to terms with it. Also gives you guys more of an idea of how I think about vampires. It's not particularly exciting, I suppose, compared to the last one, but it's not totally boring. It is longer, though, longer than I had intended and probably about as long as my chapters are going to get. Unless I surprised myself again, who knows?

At this moment, I'm fairly pleased with this chapter. It flowed out much easier than I thought, and I didn't think the product was too bad. However it's 3 am and I'm far too tired to proofread it to see if it's actually shit.

As usual, comments, praise, constructive criticism all greatly appreciated. It would make me very happy if you guys let me know what you think of the plot, my writing style, anything you have an opinion on since I'm still a new writer and seeking validation to continue.