Thorki - Love Letters

Thor tiredly entered his room after a long training session, collapsing and sprawling out on his bed. Just as he began to close his eyes, he felt his hand hit a small package.

'Another…?' he thought as he snatched it and shot up excitedly in his bed, tiredness forgotten. As with the last two messages he'd received, it was a letter and a small red box. The box, upon examination, contained a small truffle of Asgardian cocoa. He smiled at the letter, remembering the last ones that had been left.

"Your eyes shine brighter than all the heavens. It is to only you my heart belongs. I hope, one day, I will no longer fear revealing my identity to you."

"Today as I watched you train, I knew that you were superior to all others. In my wildest dreams, you protect me."

Surely, he thought the writer to be a beautiful, lovesick Asgardian maiden. He could practically feel how her cerulean eyes must have looked upon him, almost see the white blonde hair disappear behind a corner as she hurried to her home. How endearing—her shyness, her romantic adoration of him. Upon reading the third letter, his excitement grew.

"When I first looked on you today, I knew I could the wait no longer. I will be on the Bifrost at the sun's set. I can only hope you will join me. Until then, know that my heart burns in longing for you, as my mind cannot stray from you."

A wide smile grew on his face. He would meet his maiden at last! A glance to the sky revealed the sun's set to be very near. Excitement overwhelming him, he hurried out of his chamber and hastily ran out onto the Bifrost, where he stopped and stood to wait for his maiden. Not long after, he heard footsteps approaching him from behind and spun around.

"Maide--!" the wide grin on his face faltered slightly when he was met with only Loki. "Oh, Brother, it… it is you! Did you desire something?" he asked softly, glancing behind Loki for any traces of his admirer.

Loki's face was worried as he spoke, his tone nervous. "Brother, it is not so much that as—"

"Because, you see, you have caught me at a most inopportune moment. I am awaiting my maiden."

"Awaiting your… Your what, Thor?"

"My maiden, Loki!  O, she is beautiful! At least, I believe she is… I have never seen her, of course, nor do I know her name. She has sent me letters… Romantic letters," he grinned excitedly, clasping a hand over his heart, "with such pure adoration, dear brother, she could be naught but beautiful. She gifts to me truffles of the finest cocoa—how she knows it be my favourite I know not—and she—"

"Dear brother," Loki interrupted, biting his lip for a moment, "I believe I must bear you ill news."

"What news could be ill when so delicate a creature wishes to meet me? O, dearest brother, I fear I wish you to leave… She may arrive at any moment…" he craned his neck, searching for her in the distance.

"Brother, I—"

"Really, brother, you should—"

"No, brother—"

"Loki—"

"Thor!" Loki finally shrieked, grabbing his brother roughly by the shoulders and forcing their eyes to meet. "There is no maiden, Brother." He whispered, closing eyes for a moment to keep his composure.

"But of course there is," Thor frowned, "she sent m—"

"No, brother. I… I sent them." Thor paused for a moment, staring hard at him.

"But… This cannot be… Why… Why would you do such a thing, brother? This… joke is truly cruel of you." Thor stared incredulously at his brother. What had he done to wrong him?

Loki flinched. "No, brother, it is not cruelty which sparked my letters to you… Please, Thor, I—"

"Then why would my loyal brother, my greatest friend… why would you fool me so?" Thor questioned despondently.

"Not fooled, do not say fooled…" Loki begged, eyes falling shut.

"What shall I say, then?!" Thor's voice raised dangerously.

"Say not trickery! Say not cruelty, brother, for in saying this you are cruel to me!"

"Then what shall I say, brother?!" Thor bellowed.

"Say but truthfulness!"  Loki screamed desperately. "Say courage! Courage enough to even write those words to you… Say many things, brother, but dare not say that they are lies you have read…"

"I… Brother… why do you say things that cannot…" Thor trailed off, looking uncomprehendingly at his brother. "Why did you write them?"

"Thor, I pray you, do not ask me to answer… You understand my motivation very well."

"I do not."

"Brother, do not do this to me, I—"

"Tell me, Loki!" Thor roared suddenly, grabbing the other's shoulders angrily and shaking him. "Brother, tell me why you much say these lies! Why you write such things to me, I demand it!"

"Because I love you!" he screamed, making Thor go silent. "I love you, Thor… In a way that I should not. The things I wrote to you… They were not lies. My every thought is of only you. I long to hold you, to kiss you in a way that a brother should not. I desire you in a way that a brother should not. My thoughts… My thoughts of you, brother, distract me terribly. Passionately pure… Devilish…" he looked down, closing his eyes and clenching his jaw for a moment as though it pained him to speak. "If you believe nothing I say, know but this; I love you with each fiber of my being. You are the only good in the sea of immorality that lies within me, consumes me…" his eyes returned to meet Thor's, a fire flickering in them that his brother had rarely seen. "Therefore, hate me if you will. Detest me and deny me your presence, my life with you, but do not deny that I have bared to you my soul, Brother."
Thor was speechless for only a moment, and in those unending seconds Loki could feel the fear and pain of a lifetime. Never had he been so vulnerable to another being—he was a god. A strong, clever, mischievous creature. He did not express his feelings so freely, under any circumstances. And that painfully long silence convinced him to never repeat the act. Thor, at last, spoke.

"Brother…" he choked, reaching forward to rest a hand on his heart. "Why have you not told me these things before? To see you like this… It hurts me, brother." Loki pulled away, turning his back to Thor.

"Torture me no more, Brother… If you intend to desert me, then I beg you do it quickly." He whispered, closing his eyes and gasping as he felt the strong body embracing him from behind. His body seemed to freeze immediately, unable to move, he could do nothing but stare ahead in mild shock.

"Loki…" Thor breathed, "I could no more live without you than I could without my heart. I suppose that, in a way…" he leaned forward, lips brushing against Loki's neck, feeling a shiver go through his spine, "Your feelings are mine as well." Loki's breath caught in his throat, and he bit his lip.

"Brother?" Loki asked softly as Thor spun him around. He barely had time to digest his brother's words before he felt their lips meet softly, a hand cradling the back of his neck to steady him. By the time Thor pulls back, Loki's panting, desperately blinking away the wetness in his eyes. With the pad of his thumb, Thor gently wipes away the tears that fall. Loki smiles slightly up at him, eyes brimming.

"Do not cry, Brother. Never again will I give you cause to. Never again will you have cause to weep." He whispered, leaning back in, capturing his lips again and feeling Loki begin to kiss back.

They returned to the House of Odin as the last light of the sun disappeared, Loki all but hiding in his brother's form as they slipped to his room for the night.