Horrible Terrible Things

Chapter Seventeen

I continued despite Thor's chin jutting out and his gritted teeth, the sky outside thundered with the threat of lightning. Fuck it, it had been a shitty past twenty-four hours - or three weeks depending on the timeline, if he wanted to make the conversation about him I would give him one,

'I'm in no mood to be lectured by the likes of an absentee father who has spent my entire life too consumed in swinging around his giant, shiny tools and showing off to his costumed friends than raising his own daughter.' the words flew out of my mouth in a rush of quick breaths and they must have hit Thor hard because he actually flinched.

His mouth opened to offer a weak excuse of an apology, his blue eyes softening and the neon lighting even made it look like his eyes wavered with unshed tears but it was the sound of Loki's rasped laughter that had us both pausing and turning to look at him seated beside me.

Loki had raised both his hands to his face and laughed into his palms - now clean I noticed - and his chest shook with the deep and rumbling tone until he removed his hands and his eyes lit up with amusement, at seeing him so carefree, wearing such a delighted expression, my heart squeezed.

He turned to me and smiled and I felt the world had - only if for a small moment - stopped turning because that smile was directed at me. Smile lines creased the sides of his blue eyes as they sparkled, his cheeks rounded with the width of his smile which only showcased two twin dimples on either side of his face and the God of Mischief glowed.

His aura was lit with a soft green light which had my fingers aching to reach out and touch it if only to feel the purity of it, the goodness of it. He could have kissed me with poison on his lips and suffocated me with promises of my own death and I would have bowed at his fucking feet at that moment.

Loki Laufeyson was consuming me and I was spinning out of control, something in my chest felt pulled toward him, I needed him, I needed him to consume me, to claim me in some animalistic and ancient way I had no capable way of understanding.

Loki's smile fell into an impish smirk and I could do nothing but blink at him and watch as his hand reached out to tug on a piece of my hair,

'Darling Eva, never in all my years have I heard someone reduce my dear brother, the God of Thunder down to an image comparable to that of a manic blacksmith.' his tone still conveyed humour and that delicious rasp from his dissipating laughter.

'Enough, the both of you.' Thor cleared his throat and straightened and Loki's smirk reappeared as he rolled my hair between his thumb and forefinger, my skin flushed and my heart beat rapidly in my chest at his closeness, I wanted to slip his fingers into my mouth and suck on them.

'Can't take a little joke, dear brother?' Loki finally dropped my hair and reclined in his seat, looking up at Thor with a lowered brow, 'She's right though, you should have been slightly more concerned about where she had been for three weeks.'

'I don't need your judgment Loki.' Thor snapped and looked then to me, 'I was concerned. I did what I could to find you.'

'Everything except look yourself.' Loki's eyes rolled and Thor hadn't liked the gesture as his brows lowered and his forehead creased into a tight frown,

'I had a kingdom to run.'

'Eva is your daughter,' and all dramatics from Loki were gone as he stood swiftly to face Thor, 'Shouldn't family take precedence over everyone else?'

'Suddenly you believe yourself to care for this family, where have you been for six years, brother?'

Loki stiffened as he and Thor stared one another down, I could only anticipate the worst as thunder boomed around us, so close the ship shook. My hands grasped onto the straps across my chest as if truly Thor might crack the ship wide open.