A Second Chance // Thorki

Chapter twenty three

Loki had learned to love swimming. The weightlessness, the freedom, the quiet, the cool water on his skin- it was an amazing thing. His most favourite thing to do, however, was to just rest, floating on his back with his arms and legs spread. It was peaceful, and Loki loved to just lay there, staring at the ceiling.

Thor, however, had other ideas, sliding up behind him to press a kiss to his collar, then another, then another, growing sloppier the farther he made it up his neck.

"Thor..." Loki groaned, kicking down his legs to stand up, the thunderer using that to his advantage, the rough scrape of his beard against the trickster's rather sensitive skin causing him to shiver.

"You know, Loki, we do have a few hours before we have to go," he purred, leaving kisses up and over his skin, licking and sucking and leaving dark marks over him. "How about we spend some time in the hot tub...?"

"I'm a Jotun, Thor," Loki deadpanned, trying to ignore the anxiety building in his chest. "I'd probably end up sick."

"Nonsense, Loki... can't you use your Jotun powers or something to cool the water down?"

"My Jotun 'powers' won't do a thing. Though I do have a spell that could build up my heat immunity..." Loki sighed, "Fine. But I'm tired, you must carry me if you want me to go so desperately, I need to save my energy for the exploration mission."

Thor gave a soft laugh, lifting Loki over his shoulder in a fireman's carry as he climbed the stairs, crossing the room to get to the hot tub. He placed Loki on his feet right at the side of it, never removing his hand from his waist. "Did you do the spell thing?"

"Yes, Thor. Get in."

Thor took his hand, offering a smile as he lead him into the water, eyes very obviously lingering over his body. Loki scowled at the heat- even with the spell, it still was too hot, even if it relaxed his muscles and he felt rather nice.

Thor pressed a kiss to his jaw with a cheeky smile. "I love you," he purred, trailing sloppy kisses over his body.

Thor's hands explored him, touching and feeling his cool skin, flushing red under his large hands. two big fingers pinched at one of Loki's nipples, and the man just about gasped. "Thor, you-"

"Hush... I owe you one, Loki," he whispered, words heavy and husky against his throat. "I want to make you feel good."

"Thor, I-" the thunderer was in front of him now, and had claimed his mouth with his own, tongue pushing in and taking him deep while a strong hand played with his sensitive chest.

No.

The word was clear as day in Loki's head, yet he couldn't put it into words, mostly because of Thor's tongue practically down his throat.

No. He didn't want this. Not now.

He was pushed up against the side of the pool, legs spread wide by powerful hands that didn't seem to notice the way that Loki trembled, the way he had tried to keep his thighs shut.

A firm hand on his chest, and Loki shoved him away, the thunderer stumbling back in the water. "No, Thor. No."

The thunderer looked confused for a moment, and Loki mused that perhaps this was the first time he'd been denied.

"What?"

"I don't want this, not now, not here."

Thor took a moment almost to process, before he nodded slowly, backing away with hands up, turning to sit beside Loki on the ledge he was perched on. "That's, uh, that's... that's okay!" Thor smiled his usual bright grin, giving Loki a thump on the back. He seemed very much like he wanted to ask why, but he kept his mouth shut.

"I... I don't feel comfortable with being that close yet. After what was said earlier, you'll need to earn my trust back. I'm not sorry."

"You don't need an excuse to say no, Loki." Thor's words were understanding, and Loki was almost caught off guard by it. "You don't want to. That's all I need to know. I shouldn't have tried anything to begin with."

Loki kept his eyes towards the water, shifting back to sit on the edge of the pool, only his legs in the hot tub. Thor remained in the water, leaning back with his arms over the sides, looking up at him with a smile. "I love you, Loki."

Loki said nothing in return, remaining quiet.

There was a moment of tense silence that stretched on for what felt like hours, until the Public Announcement system made its signature screech, Banner's voice following it soon after;

"Thor and his exploration team, to the orgy ship."

There was inaudible shouting, and then Banner continued,

"Sorry, I meant exploration ship. Exploration team to the exploration ship. Sorry! I'm so sorry-"

Thor went pale, smacking the water out of anger with himself as he swore rather loudly.

Loki raised an eyebrow, and flinched away, watching the thunderer calm down and groan, pressing a hand to his head. "I forgot to gather an exploration team..."

"You... you forgot. You forgot." Loki was completely and utterly astonished by Thor's stupidity. "How can you just forget to gather an exploration team?"

"It doesn't matter, what matters is now we have to gather one in the span of about ten minutes."

Loki shook his head, standing and snapping his fingers so they were both dressed properly. "Nope. I've got to prepare for the journey, grab my things. Prepare for the worst." He winked at him, before turning on his heels, waving goodbye, "Make sure no one on the team is out for my head."

With that, the door was unlocked, and Loki was out, leaving it open behind him as he strutted down the hallways as if he owned the place, as usual. Thor was left sitting at the edge of the pool, grumbling about his own mistakes.

————

"So, you forgot to gather a team."

"No, no. Can't you see I've got my team all put together?"

Thor stood with his arms out, a dorkish smile on his face. By his sides stood Loki, facepalming, Korg, grinning, and Miek, snipping his scissor hands in excitement.

"There's four of you." Heimdall had his arms crossed, looking rather unimpressed.

"Well, there could be... there could be seven. Loki, Me, Korg, Miek... and you, Banner and Valkyrie."

"We have to stay here and man the ship, numbskull." Valkyrie practically growled, arms crossed. "Besides, it's dangerous enough to have you on the exploration team."

There was a tense silence, until banner gave a bit of a sigh. "I can go."

Thor lit up like a Christmas tree, "Perfect! See, now we have five! That's enough of an exploration team, right?"

Heimdall shook his head, although he uttered, "Fine... but if there's even the slightest bit of trouble, you're to fly right back up, do you hear me?"

And with that, Heimdall stepped out of the entranceway of the ship, allowing The party to board.