"Trouble in Paradise"
Chapter 4
"I brought you food from the breakfast feast, brother." Thor held out the roll and orange he had taken to Loki.
Loki didn't move. He was back in the same curled position on the bed, as he had been last night.
"Loki…" Thor sighed in exasperation, and Loki still didn't speak.
"LOKI, SAY SOMETHING!" In his frustration, Thor threw the roll at his brother, who jumped and caught it, shock written plainly on his face.
"What should I say?" Loki spoke calmly, just above a whisper.
After a long pause, Thor groaned, "I do not know."
"Then, why do expect me to know?"
"Because you are the Wordsmith? The God of Lies and Mischief? I thought, perhaps, your wit would allow you some ability to speak to your brother." Thor pointedly ignored the look that crossed Loki's face, when he said "brother."
A sneer slowly twisted across Loki's face, "Lies are all you expect from me. If you do not expect the truth, why waste my breath and your time speaking at all?"
"Loki, I did not say that."
"You meant it."
"Why do you twist my words?!"
"I need not twist them."
"You know very well I did not mean that!"
"It is what you have meant your entire life."
"DO NOT TELL ME WHAT I MEAN!" Thor's voice boomed, so that it obviously echoed down the hall. Loki held a finger mockingly to his lips. Thor clenched and unclenched his jaw. "Loki, why were you crying last night?" He whispered, nearly cringing at the matter-of-fact tone in his voice.
Loki's eyes widened, and Thor saw a look cross Loki's for the first time in a long while.
In Loki's green eyes, there was no resentment, no anger, and even fear was not quite there, just plain, unmitigated horror.
Thor instinctively reached to Loki, who stumbled back. A second later, Loki grinned, eyes now blank. "So sentimental, Thor."
With a sigh, Thor grumbled, "Well, let us leave the room. The sun is bright, and it is a beautiful day to see the great waters."
Loki groaned but exited.
Thor followed him closely. In an odd way, Thor was pleased by this latest exchange. The horror in his eyes now and his confusion from earlier had been the first emotions, other than anger, resentment, and despair that Thor had seen cross Loki's face. They weren't the expressions he wanted his brother to wear, but at least they were not part of Loki's carefully constructed mask.
Slowly, he felt like he was wearing down the walls that surrounded his brother's heart.
Bruce pursed his lips, when he saw Tony stretched out on a beach chair. His sunglasses hid his eyes, but Bruce could see the tension in the hand that held a bright red drink and the firm line of his jaw. A heavy sigh escaped Bruce's lips.
"Hey, Tony." Bruce said in a monotone voice.
"Brucie!" Obviously forcing a grin to his face, Tony's voice was painfully overenthusiastic. "Pull up a chair!"
Bruce looked down the coastline lined with lounging beachcombers. "There don't seem to be any…"
"Huh…that's too bad." Tony took a sip of his beverage, stretched and tilted his head back, indicating he would be asleep in a few minutes.
Bruce rolled his eyes. "Lovely, Tony. Just keep being flippant. It's not like you've already pissed off half team. Keep going and piss off everyone. Why go halfway?"
"Ugh," Tony groaned, "What do you mean?"
"Thor's angry because you're telling him his brother is a waste of time."
"He is–"
"Immaterial. Mr. Values Rogers probably hates what you said about family, Natasha may not like her family, but she's pissed as hell, because you made her think about her past, and Clint is mad because you upset Natasha. Really, I'm the only person who doesn't currently want to stab you, so you should be nice to me."
"Since, when did sweet, PhD, Banner become so sassy?" Tony had taken off his sunglasses, and Bruce could see Tony's perfect combination of boredom and annoyance.
"You've rubbed off on me, I suppose."
There was a long silence. Bruce pulled off his glasses and rubbed his hand over his face, then he replaced them and dropped onto the sand, sitting with his back against Tony's chair. After a moment, Bruce felt a cold, wet circle press against the top of his head. "Tony!" He called, as he moved away and turned to Tony, "I am not a coaster."
"Sorry."
"For using me as a table or being a dick earlier?"
"Using you as a table. While I didn't intend to make everyone hate me, I am not sorry for what I said earlier…"
"Well, it's a step in the right direction."
"I try."
Another long silence stretched between the two of them. Tony took a sip of his drink, and Bruce looked out, watching the waves crashing on the shore, and vaguely recognizing the sounds of laughter from beach-goers.
"Tony…" Bruce whispered, still looking at the water.
"Hmm?"
"What happened to make you hate family?"
Tony sighed heavily. "I really don't want to talk about it."
"Please."
"Bruce…I just…"
"Okay, fine. You don't need to tell me." Bruce turned to look Tony in the eyes. He thought he imagined it, but Tony's breath caught slightly, as their eyes met. "But, you know, if you ever, you know, want to talk…or something, I'm always willing to listen." Bruce's lips tightened into a sad smile.
Tony stared at Bruce for several moments. "Thanks."
With a cough, Bruce finally broke eye contact and turned from Tony, picking up his book, and leaning back against the chair.
Sheepishly, Bruce smiled and rolled his eyes, as he felt Tony place his drink back on his head.
Clint pushed his earlier conversations with Natasha from his mind, when he dove into the ocean. The cold water stung the few cuts he had from assignments. He ducked his head under the water and quickly came back up.
Natasha waded into the water. Not slowly, but smoothly letting the water rise up her legs, like Venus returning to the waves.
Catching an eye of her, Clint swallowed hard. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, which brought the insecurities of earlier bubbling right back up.
He ducked down beneath the surface and swam back behind her, as she gazed into the horizon. He quickly stood wrapped his hands around her waist and swung her in a circle.
She let out a shriek, before she began giggling brightly, and he put her down. She turned to face him, and their eyes met. He smiled and took a step forward, when his foot hit an algae covered rock. With a yelp, he slipped.
"Clint!" Natasha shouted.
Quickly, he sat up, fortunately unhurt. However, he had a mouthful of incredibly salty water, which he turned to spit, accidentally spraying Natasha.
"Hey!" She sounded annoyed, but her smile was fond, as she looked down at him in the water.
"I'm sorry." He said through his grin.
"No, you're not, liar." She smirked.
"No. I'm not." He admitted.
With an eyeroll, she laughed and reached out to help him up. Once standing, he wrapped his arms around her. For several seconds, they just stood together. Then, Clint pulled away slightly; Natasha's eyes flickered from his eyes to his mouth and back again. "Tash…" he whispered.
Slowly he leaned down, but just before his lips met hers, she pulled back. "Thor," she said, as she stepped to the side. Clint turned and grimaced.
"Lady Natasha! Warrior Barton!" Thor strode as much as one could stride through the water in red and gold swim trunks.
"Hey, Lightning Bolt," Clint smiled. As upsetting as the ruined moment was, the jollity in Thor's voice was hard to ignore.
"Are you enjoying this respite?" Thor asked them, as he reached them.
"It's cool." Natasha murmured. She was not quite as tolerant of Thor's interruption as Clint was.
"Cool? Indeed. The cool waters are quite a fine complement to the hot sand and air."
"Not quite what I meant by cool, big guy…" Natasha finally cracked a smile.
"What else could you mean? The water is cold, but everything else is quite warm."
"She meant 'cool' as in nice, good…relaxing maybe." Clint interjected.
"Ah! So there is an alternate meaning for the word cool on Midgard? This I did not know." Thor smiled. Clint and Natasha nodded, and Thor continued, "I am very glad to know this. Thank you, friends."
"No problem." Clint said, as he punched Thor lightly in the shoulder.
Natasha piped up, "How's the Ice Man dealing with the heat?"
Momentarily, Thor's brow furrowed, before he asked, "You mean Loki?"
"Yeah…"
Thor frowned and turned. Clint and Natasha followed his gaze to where Loki sat on the sand, arms curled around his knees. "He…is not happy. He never liked the warm months because he was forced to follow me and train outside. During the winter, he could excuse himself to the libraries of the palace, which he enjoyed. But, now…now, he is even worse. Even more quiet and introverted than I knew him to be as a child."
"At least he's not killing anyone." Natasha offered.
Thor smiled sadly, "Yes, of course, that fact pleases me, but I remain concerned. He does not want to kill now, but there is nothing that has replaced that misguided passion. Loki is an ambitious man. It is not right for him to have no desire for anything."
"Sorry, man." Clint muttered.
"Loki!" Thor called, turning to shore. "How do you fare, brother?"
Loki didn't answer. Thor turned to Clint and Natasha in apology, before taking the short trek to Loki.
"Loki, what is it?"
Loki glared.
"Answer me." Thor demanded.
"I do not understand the appeal of sitting on a filthy sand dune in the blazing sun. It is uncomfortable and unhygienic."
"Join me in the water. It is refreshing."
"Oh no. Not a chance." Loki stood, "I will return to our chamber. Do not worry, I will sit quietly until your return."
"No!" Thor shouted.
"Just be silent; I am going."
Loki turned to leave, but Thor caught him by the arm, and spun him around. "Wha–?" Loki cried in confusion, as Thor dug his shoulder into Loki's waist and lifted his brother into the air. "Thor, what are you DOING?"
Thor did not answer, but marched towards the sea.
"For the sake of Valhalla, Thor, put me down!" Loki screeched that and other similar protests, as Thor carried him.
"Thor! Thor, no! Thor!" Loki continued to scream and struggle against Thor's grip, completely failing to free himself.
Once he reached the water and waded a few feet in, Thor easily lifted Loki from his shoulder and dropped him, unceremoniously into the water. Clint and Natasha chuckled at the God of Mischief's squawk, as he landed, splashing in the water.
For a brief second, Thor saw Loki as a much younger man in Asgard. A flash of one day, when they had been hiking together, and Loki, curious about a specimen of waterfowl, ventured out and slipped on the rocks, landing in the lake. Thor had panicked, running to make sure his brother was unhurt, but Loki was grinning, laughing at his own clumsiness.
For one moment, Thor believed he saw that light in Loki's eyes again. Unconsciously, a wide grin spread across Thor's face.