The next few weeks saw Thor and Loki settling into something of a routine.

Since he'd bought Thor's car, Loki had started putting in more hours of his time at the shop. Every weekend, and most week nights, Loki watered the plants, locked up his apartment, and rode his bike all the way to Vanir Motors, either in the dark or the growing light of the dawn.

Every Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, he took Thor with him.

Thor hadn't even had to insist. Loki, it seemed, simply enjoyed his company.

Thor was, he thought, a fairly likeable guy, but still, he had never felt himself become so comfortable so quickly with another person than he had with Loki, despite Loki's duplicitous nature. He only hoped Loki felt the same. No - actually, he was pretty certain he must.

They'd spend the nights together in the same room; Thor in a corner trying to get his work done as far away as possible from the chains and heavy machinery draped around the workspace Loki'd claimed, and Loki around or under the red corvette. Either in companionable silence, with Loki's iPod hooked up to the speaker system and Thor typing away (Freya had surprisingly good wifi), or making light conversation. Sometimes Freya would join them with cocoa, straddling a chair with her arms crossed over the back rest, reciting anecdotes about daytime customers.

Thor spent his time at Freya's almost in a daze, watching spring approach outside the window and on the drives up, but completely safe and removed inside the garage. He sometimes felt suspended in time. The shop was special; no wonder Loki guarded it so well.

Thor wondered if he should have said anything to his flatmates. It had sort of been inevitable; after a while they'd realized he wasn't spending the weekends home alone, and was going off somewhere. Thor had simply told them he was working on the car with Loki.

'It's nice to have an extra face around here, especially at night,' Freya told Thor one night from her usual seat. Thor had been removed from the conversation, which was about coworkers he didn't know, but had eventually drifted to Thor himself. Freya leaned in, covering one side of her mouth with her hand and lowering her voice in mock secrecy. 'Things get so quiet at night. And I'm sure poor baby Loki gets lonely too, alone in his apartment and then alone in the shop.'

'I'm can still hear you,' Loki muttered, crouched on the floor on the other side of the room. 'But please, don't let it be a bother.'

Thor grinned, then closed his laptop lid, shuffling forward on his office chair to join them. 'You live alone, Loki?,' he asked, turning to face the space he knew Loki occupied behind the car.

'I, uh… yes.'

'You never considered a flatshare, or joining a college and living in halls?'

Loki's head popped up above the car, so that Thor could see him shrug. Loki wiped his forehead with a greasy forearm and leaned forward across the bonnet.

'It's what I was used to,' he said, simply.

'You had your own place before? What, on a gap year?'

'No, but I lived alone in sixth form.'

Thor cocked his head. A little alarm bell was going off in his subconscious, but his curiosity compelled him to ignore it. 'Not with your parents,' he wondered out loud.

Loki frowned, obviously reluctant to answer, or apprehensive about where the conversation was leading. '…No, I didn't. I was an emancipated minor.'

Oh.

In a moment of uncharacteristic divulgence, Loki clarified: 'My mother died when I was young. My father, he's… not really in the picture any more. So…'

Thor stilled, wondering what to say. Freya glanced between the two of them and bit her lip. 'I'm sorry,' Thor told Loki, meaning it.

Loki shrugged. 'That's alright. I assume it probably wasn't your fault.'

Thor folded his arms and glanced down, still feeling guilty.

'Thor.'

He looked up.

Loki was mirroring his pose; arms crossed, but more confident. He gazed very pointedly at Thor's cast, and then back at Thor. 'Honestly,' Loki said. 'Don't worry about it.'

Thor grinned. It'd been a while since that was brought up. It was like a get out of jail free card for foot-in-mouth disease. He leaned back in his seat, nodding in acquiescence.

Loki smiled, as if he'd won something. He turned to return to his work, but then he paused. 'Oh,' he said, 'but now I am feeling very hurt and sensitive.' His smile grew into a wicked grin.

'Freya,' Loki purred. 'Dearest Freya. Light of my life.'

Freya scoffed. 'What do you want, Loki? More of my equipment to trash?'

'No…' Loki sung, sidling up to her.

Freya leaned away from Loki as if repulsed. 'I'm not letting you back on my computer, you little technophile.'

Loki feigned offense. 'I wouldn't dare to be so bold, my lady. You think too lowly of me.'

'Loki.'

Loki draped himself across the worktop in front of Freya and Thor, hand on his forehead as if he felt faint. He gave a pathetic cough and whined, 'I'm so cold, sweet Freya. Cold and thirsty.'

Freya scoffed and rolled her eyes. 'Yes, dear, of course I'll make you some more cocoa,' she chirped, falsely sweet.

Loki sprung up with a shit-eating grin, only to be shooed away by Freya as she got up.

'Thor…?' she asked, turning to leave.

'Yes, please.' Thor smiled, perking up. Freya narrowed her eyes at the two of them.

'Children,' she tutted.

Once she was gone, Loki took her chair, and faced Thor, who raised an eyebrow. 'I wasn't just trying to get her out of the room, by the way,' Loki said, 'I really do love her hot chocolate.'

Thor had to agree. OK, so Loki didn't want to berate him. Good. Hopefully they could slide back into their normal conversation and forget about Thor's blunder (God, and he'd been getting so good at shutting up).

Loki stretched in his seat like a cat, before turning back to him.

Loki peered at him. 'What are you thinking?' he asked.

Thor pursed his lips. 'To be honest, I'm a little envious. First the cars, then… you're good with computers too?'

Loki nodded. 'All… systems, really.'

'Is there anything you can't do?'

Loki pretended to think about it, inspecting his nails. He reminded Thor a bit of Tony in that moment. 'Nope,' Loki said, 'I'm perfect.'

'Hmm.'

'Don't forget my stunning good looks, though.'

'Oh?' Thor pretended to size him up. 'I… suppose. I mean-'

'Ass,' Loki laughed, and kicked the base of Thor's chair, sending him spinning backwards.

Later that night, on the back of the Ninja, Thor realized that, despite the time they'd spent together, he really knew next to nothing about Loki. His entire past before Midgard was a mystery. Or, at least, it had been, until tonight.

There was still a barrier between them, he knew that. Trust with Loki took a very long time to build. Even though Thor was Loki's closest school friend (that he knew of), Loki would still miss class, or come in late looking haggard, or have 'down' days, and Thor didn't feel comfortable to talk to him about it unless Loki himself brought it up. Which he never did. Even the slightest genuine interaction, or instance of intimacy, or laugh from Loki seemed hard to come by, although they were coming more frequently now. There was something there… something that needed to be breeched. But Thor knew that he couldn't push it. Not any more.

It didn't matter. He could wait.

Although they rarely spent time together outside of the shop, Thor had taken to sitting next to Loki in the classes they shared. He'd come and go with his friends, sure, but during class, they would sit together, and make snide comments about Sitwell when his back was turned, which was enriching and good for the soul.

So Loki noticed when Thor didn't turn up to class.

Thor never skipped class, Loki thought. He felt like there must be a reason, and that maybe he should know it, but his mind drew a blank. He considered asking Thor's friends if they knew where he was, but… there was a whole group of them, and Loki didn't know any of them, and it wasn't really important, after all. Loki decided to just sit back and let himself zone out like he usually did, typing up notes as if on autopilot.

Half an hour in, though, Thor called him.

Loki swiftly piled his things into his bag, and excused himself silently out the back of the hall to take the call.

He ended up in the second floor corridor the back door lead to. 'Hello?' he asked, once he was sure the door had closed.

'Loki! Wow.' Thor sounded breathless. 'You actually picked up! Aren't you in class?'

Now that he could hear everything was OK, Loki sighed, slightly peeved. 'Yes,' he said, 'I was. But I always answer my phone, in case something absolutely devastating or very important has happened. Which is, I assume, the case, seeing as you've just knowingly disrupted my very precious education.'

'Oh, it is important,' Thor said, and Loki could hear the idiot grinning down the line. 'Turn around.'

Loki jumped and spun around, suddenly afraid that he wasn't alone. The corridor was empty, though, and he furrowed his brow, peering about. What did Thor mean?

He looked out the floor-to-ceiling window. Then he did a double take, and immediately became very grateful that the reflection in it would hide his blush from people standing outside.

Thor was on the green that the window looked out onto, looking not at all embarrassed, and holding up a giant handmade sign with both hands. It read 'LUNCH?,' and the text had arrows beneath it, pointing excitedly down to where Thor's left hand was.

Of course. Today was the day that Thor got his cast off.

Loki groaned out loud, dragging his hand across his face. He hung up on Thor and leaned against the glass, mouthing the word 'idiot' as obviously as he could. Thor obviously understood, because he started laughing out loud, but he didn't move to get rid of his stupid sign.

That moron.

Loki ran down to meet him before someone saw.

'I thought we could get some celebratory lunch,' Thor explained, enfuriatingly pleased with himself. Loki shoved his hands in his pockets. 'I could tell,' he muttered, trying not to be infected by Thor's chipper attitude.

Loki glanced around. 'Come on then, let's get out of here. Before somebody sees us.

'And throw out that stupid thing.'

They ended up in the café in the forum, treated to Ms T's best paninis. They sat by the window, where they could people watch. Thor's posture was always one where his (now pale) hand was obviously on display. Thor's poster was rolled up in Loki's bag.

Loki sat across from Thor and tried to glare, but eventually he cracked, giving a small smile he tried to cover with the back of his hand. Thor, though, noticed, and got even more excited, wriggling in his seat like an overeager puppy.

'A toast,' Thor declared, raising his coffee mug. 'To friendships forged unconventionally.'

'To avoiding being charged with GBH by befriending your victim,' Loki replied, jovially, and clinked their mugs together.