A Whole Bunch of Loki's

The Stable Lad

It had been a few months now since he had started his work in the Asgardian stables and Loki found himself as enamoured as he had the first day.

There didn't seem to be anything outstanding about him, he was your average Asgardian in looks, nothing compared to the men and ladies of nobility that he'd meet regularly.

Yet there was still something about him.

It kind of annoyed Loki, somewhere deep in his roots, that he couldn't pinpoint exactly what drew his attention.

Was it his friendly attitude and bright smile?

Was it that he never seemed to turn down a chance to help, while also still having enough attitude to tell people where to stick it if need be?

Could it possibly have been that slight twang in his accent that was somehow rather endearing?

He didn't know, all he knew was that he was enamoured with the new stable boy.

This man had arrived one day from seemingly nowhere and took over Loki's thoughts mere days after capturing his attention, something that the God tried to ignore and deny for the first few weeks.

Having failed miserably at that, he turned to learning what he could about the boy.

He now knew that he came from a small, not too well off but not poor family with a sizeable farm of their own just outside of Asgard's territory and that he had come to Asgard to work as the stable boy upon Frigga's request.

They traded within the market square every Wednesday and Thursday before disappearing again, it was during one of their trading sessions that Frigga had talked to the boy and had taken a liking to him and his work ethic.

Now he was here, haunting Loki at every turn.

Loki tried to make it less than obvious that he was watching him for the excitement it gave him, the way his heart would speed up and his stomach would flutter.

As cool and collected as Loki was, even he experienced the excited sensations of a crush.

He parched on a low wall that sat just outside the stables and he'd read, unless no one was looking, then he would watch as the boy worked.

Heaving bales of hay around and whistling merrily as he mucked out the mess, never letting the disgusting job ruin his mood.

Loki had noticed that he seemed most at peace when he was brushing the horses, making sure that they looked ready and suited for royalty at the drop if a pin.

It appeared that today was one of those days.

"Morning, Sleipnir, my old boy."

He patted the strange horse's muscular back and earned a whinny in response, the boy stumbling a little as he was nudged by the horse's large nose.

"Alright, calm down," he laughed, pulling the brush out of the back pocket of his low hanging trousers, "I'm happy to see you too."

Loki watched as the stable boy's calloused hand ran over the hair down Sleipnir's neck before he ran the bristles of the brush through the locks, the horse seeming unphased by the gentle caressing as he ate the hay set in front of him.

Sleipnir was undoubtedly his favourite, that much Loki could tell, but he also knew that he favoured Loki's own black stallion amongst the others as well.

His love for all the horses was evident, but, like children, no matter how often people say they don't have a favourite there is always one that stands out above the rest.

"You know, you stare an awful lot."

Loki looked over and was a little stunned at finally making eye contact with the man he'd been watching for so long.

"Pardon?"

"You spend a lot of time sat there, watching me," he smiled, turning his attention back to the eight-legged horse, "you know, if you're that interested in horses you could just come a bit closer."

"It's not the horses I'm interested in," Loki mumbled, standing from his spot and slowly walking over.

"No need to be shy, they don't bite much, ain't that right, Sleip?"

Loki eyed the beast in distaste, the way his face contorted giving away his thoughts.

"Come on now, Prince, you can't still dislike our boy because of some rumour."

"I can and shall."

He laughed at Loki's petulant tone which in turn caused Loki to smile as well, enjoying the moment between them.

Standing closer now he had a chance to admire him in a way he hadn't before, now that he was stood still directly in front of him, Loki could admire the physique the was welded by the hard labour over the years.

The back muscles that were defined by the fabric of the shirt that was stuck to his body by sweat, the way his low hanging work trousers still somehow managed to accentuate his rear and lean legs.

"So, what can I do for you?"

His eyes flickered back up to the ones that were trained on him, sparkling with mirth as he smiled warmly at the Prince.

"Nothing, I'm just watching."

"You do that a lot, do you have a fascination with horses?"

"Not particularly."

"Really?" He asked, his eyebrow raising, "you sure do spend a lot of time here for someone who don't care for horses."

"I have my reasons, what about yourself? Do you enjoy your job here?"

"I like it, sir, keeps me out of trouble."

"Bit of a troublemaker, are we?"

"You could say I got up to some tricks in my youth."

That cheeky smile made Loki's heart jolt pleasantly and he found himself chuckling.

"I can say I have a reputation of my own."

"Oh, I know sir, I've heard a lot about you over the years, not all good but most certainly entertaining."

Loki nodded, completely unphased with the knowledge that he'd probably heard the worst of the worst about him, that seemed to be a reoccurring theme amongst Asgard and its residents.

Anything to shun the younger prince and make him seem just a little worse than he was, that wasn't to say that he was the best person around, but he most certainly wasn't the worst.

"I must say, I would love to take that stallion of yours for a ride."

Loki had to stop himself from laughing at the small image that came to his head at the comment, instead he cleared his throat and tried to also clear his mind of the thoughts that sprung up.

Instead he tried to keep the conversation on track with; "So you know how to ride?"

There was a brief pause as a smirk snaked across his lips and a chuckle rumbled from his throat.

"I can ride a few things."

Loki stared at him, taken aback by the smooth response that he hadn't expected to come from such a chirpy guy who gave off this, now evidently, false wave of innocence that excited him in a way he hadn't felt for a while.

"I don't believe that," he finally said, folding his arms with a smirk of his own, "you may just have to prove it."

"I'd be more than happy to show you my skills."

An eyebrow quirked suggestively and Loki was beginning to feel himself get riled up at the turn this conversation had taken.

He'd never expected any of his lusts to be reciprocated, but he was more than willing to push this as far as it would mutually go.

"Wonderful, tonight, my room," he demanded, his eyes roaming over the stable boy again.

"As you wish, my Prince."