17.
Just because you see two naked people in bed together, Fandral reminded himself, doesn't necessarily prove sex was involved. The case it made to the contrary was so strong, however, that he had no sooner walked into Thor's room that morning than he groaned a very loud "Fucking hell", facepalmed heavily and backtracked out of there at a rapid rate.
Fandral, as he often said, would have hated his life if it did not make him such an appalling amount of money. He was not quite sure what was worse; having to spend the last week literally dragging Thor out of bed and into the world, keeping the secret of Loki's abysmal showmanship from him or what he had seen just now, walking in, as far as he had know, to drag Thor once more from his pit only to find a very naked Loki asleep almost entirely on Thor's chest like a cat and just as almost entirely uncovered by the un-obliging bedsheets.
Luckily his expectorations had been loud enough that he only had to sit gently groaning into a cup of coffee in Thor's kitchen for some twenty minutes before his two shining stars ambled in, Thor on the cusp of happy again and Loki, curiously, somewhat sheepish.
"Thanks for keeping me so well informed there, Loki."
"You're welcome!" Loki smiled far too brightly, but the grin stayed on his face, as though pissing off Fandral was all that was needed to make his resurrection complete.
"Well you have been better informed than I at least, it seems." Thor eyeballed his manager accusingly, at least for a little while, before setting to making fresh coffee.
"That's yesterday's, you realise," he gestured the cup in Fandral's hand. Fandral shrugged.
"And Loki probably spat in it," Thor added, casually. Fandral looked up at Loki wearily.
"Probably," Loki confirmed happily. It said a great deal about Fandral's weariness that he carried on with the coffee anyway.
"I am so glad you two are back and functioning. I cannot tell you the source of my delight," he deadpanned, wondering if it was still too early to add whiskey to the doubtless defiled coffee.
"Pancakes?" Thor offered. Loki beamed; the complicit domestic happiness was making Fandral a little nauseous –
"Worst thing about being dead," Loki sat down at the table across from Fandral, fresh coffee in hand – "Being dead without your pancakes."
"You did once say you couldn't live without them."
"Please stop," Fandral sighed – "I am going to add vomit to this coffee."
Loki wrinkled up his delicate nose in disgust.
"Thoooor, when are you going to get that new manager?"
"Fandral?" Thor raised an eyebrow – "You wanna work for Loki instead? After that stab in the back and everything."
"Now Thor – he told me to - and seriously you should see how much money we made in the past week, Loki being dead has done more for album sales than a hundred years of life might have – no offence."
"None taken," Loki shrugged – "Oh wait, I'm lying."
"Thor, don't make me work for him."
"I could put you out on the streets."
"Thorrrrr!"
They had gone through so many variances of this same argument over the years that Fandral barely paused for breath before heading straight from banter into business –
"So boys, what's the plan?"
For the first time the unified front wavered as Thor and Loki looked at each other uneasily. They had avoided having the what happens next plan so very intently that it was a shock to suddenly have to come up with one for a third party. They had not even, as Fandral had erroneously suspected, had any kind of sex the night before. This however, far from being a point of coldness between them, made Thor come as close to blushing as any of the things they had done in the past. He remembered; rustling down beneath the covers with Loki clasped to him, Loki all but clinging, soft grabby hands and contented little sighs. How they had fallen asleep so sweetly and with so little need for anything more than that. It left the most exquisite ache in Thor's chest, letting him know, more than a whole night's antics could have done, that Loki was back to stay for real this time.
"Uh," he said.
"We're going back to England," Loki announced, as though they had been working this out all night and it was a solid decision between them. The fact that it was nothing of the sort did nothing to diminish the breath of relief Thor managed to keep quiet when he realised that if he had known what he had wanted it would have been this. He wondered, not for the first time, if Loki had some kind of magic power to have known this. Loki gave him just the quickest of glances before carrying on;
"Well, I'm dead here, after all. I can't just come back to life where everyone can see. London. We should go back to London and just – lie low for a while. Let the news of my miracle creep slowly back across the sea, reach the new world after we leave it."
"You –" Fandral frowned – "Want to lie low? Do nothing? Am I hearing you right?"
"Yes," a flash of irritation darted across Loki's face – "I can't – I can't have everything in my life be for public consumption."
"Well, that's a first."
"Fandral shut up," Thor stepped in, reading something on Loki's face that he did not want to say to Fandral, if anyone – "You said yourself, sales have never been better since Loki was dead. Best to draw that out as long as we can, don't you think and then – from England –"
"Start again." Loki finished quietly. This time when he looked up he caught Thor's eye almost shyly and Thor could not stop himself from smiling;
"Yes –" he stood behind Loki's chair, and put a hand on his shoulder, echoing his words more for their sakes than for Fandral though it may have looked otherwise –
"Start again."
_x_
"How did you know?" Thor turned to Loki when Fandral was gone – "That I wanted to go back to England?"
"I didn't really." Loki shrugged – "Did you?" Thor shrugged;
"Not until you said it I didn't. Why do you want to?"
"Unbelievable as it may sound, Thor –" Loki's voice was accusing but his eyes were smiling – "I sometimes tell the truth a little. I meant what I said to Fandral – I can't do everything for the benefit of the ever watching world. Sometimes I think –" a curious flush crept into the pale cheeks – "I might like to live just for me for a while."
"And?" Thor pressed gently, there was still something else. Loki all but closed his eyes trying to look away even more than he already was;
"And for you," he admitted.
_x_
Heyyy I lied! There's still one more chapter! And yes I've been gone forever, y'all should trust me that I WILL finish this all the same! Family happened; it was awful!
By the way, for anyone who's interested enemiesbrotherslovers has done a beautiful illustration of my Heroes Loki on tumblr here:
post/127895278468/illustration-for-my-lovely-partner
