Muffins - Loki & Ylva alternate universe stories

The handler IV

The deep timbre of Loki's voice by my ear slowly wakes me. I roll over and open my eyes, only to find his face mere inches from mine. I immediately freeze, though hopefully he doesn't notice that since I'm buried underneath the covers.
"So, you're a top bunk girl, huh?" he asks with a smile. Loki rests his chin on his arms, leaning on the rail of the top bed.

"Only because some guy once fell on top of me when I was in the lower bed," I explain with the blanket still pulled up to my nose. "He didn't see me in the dark, he thought the bed was empty."

"Ouch," Loki grins. "That's a tough way to wake up."

"I like this better," I whisper before I can stop myself. Seriously, I've got to get myself in check! This is Loki, the God of Lies and Mischief, a demigod and above all someone I work with. I should not be thinking about how nice it is to have him around like this, to see more of him than just the special agent who only comes in for a job.

Loki pretends to not have heard my last remark. "How are you feeling?" he asks instead.

I think about that for a moment, considering how I'm feeling. "Better, the headache is gone. I could sleep some more though..." I push the blanket down to my waist and sit up. "Can't sleep while I'm on the clock."

"Sorry about that," Loki says, pushing himself away from the bunk bed by stretching his arms. "If it weren't for me, you would probably be at home, in bed."

"Maybe," I shrug. "Or maybe something else would've come up."

"Maybe," Loki replies with a half smile. "Right now, it's Thor who is asking for you."

"Thor is here?" I grab my jeans from the foot of the bed.

Loki nods and goes over to the door. "He came about an hour ago. I'll wait for you outside so you can get dressed."

Meeting Thor is quite the experience. You'd think I'd have met the guy before, working for SHIELD as his brother's handler, but the opportunity never presented itself.
"Lady Ylva, at last we meet!" Thor grabs my hand in his large hands. "My brother always speaks highly of you." He leans over to whisper in my ear, though Thor's whisper is anything but quiet. "And you must be very special if you can put up with him."

"I can hear you, you know," Loki scowls from behind his brother.

Thor shoots him a grin before he looks back at me. "Is he giving you much trouble?"

"Apart from having to figure out what happened to him?" I shake my head with a smile. "No, he is actually quite nice like this."

Thor laughs heartily at that and invites me to come sit with him. They have cleared one of the break rooms for him and Thor puts his large body down on one of the couches. I knew he was big, but this big?! Loki is as tall as his brother, but Thor is almost double as wide. His biceps are easily as big as my thigh. Impressive!

Loki takes my arm before I can join Thor. "Was I really that bad before?" he whispers urgently at me. I guess it's really bugging him.

I nudge his shoulder playfully. "You think I'd still be working with you if that was the case?"

"Don't worry about the past, brother," Thor assures him jokingly from the couch. "It's more important that she'll still like you after you get your memory back again."

I sit down across from Thor. "So you believe it too? He really has lost his memory?"

Thor understands what I'm getting at. "My brother is a trickster, though he'd sooner make a fool of other people instead of himself. However, there is a chance he has brought this upon himself."