Zombie

Loki would be lying if he said he's not worried of this “datey” business he got himself into. Well he can just not call and that's that, but what would he say when Thor shows up for the next session on Friday?

So he texts: calling isn't his forte. The text is simple: the time, the place and the date. No names. No flirty emojis. Nothing. Keep your cool, act disinterested: That's what he's aiming for.

At one point Loki wonders if Thor will realize it's him, half-hopeful and half-dreading that he won't. That all this is one big dumb joke to him.

Thor answers couple minutes later. He texts exactly the way he speaks, deduces Loki: shortcuts, smiles, exclamation marks all over the place.

The raven-haired man sighs: it's a mistake that could cost him. Or them. But he's still looking forward to it like a horny teenager; feeling like he's fifteen again, sneaking around with boys behind his parents’ backs, the thrill and the danger of what ifs… The adrenaline pumping through his veins, as if he's sneaking out of the storage window again to go to a club, or have a beer with a friend.

The clubs. Friends.  Drinking. Gods, it feels like a lifetime ago. Albeit quite correctly, in a way: after all more than a decade has passed.

The stakes have been raised.

The risks are quite different now, as are the consequences.

Thor’s treading on air: isn’t that what they call it? Even the stinging feeling of estrangement from his family can’t ruin his mood. He’s probably way too excited about the prospect of actually talking to the guy he’s been nursing a crush on for a while.

He has no idea what kind of establishment the selected place is, but, frankly speaking, he couldn’t care less.

Those two days to Thursday drag out for a whole entire month. And when the day finally comes, he’s more nervous than he’d ever admit.

Thor arrives at the address given to him a bit late: he’s never been to this part of town before. It’s on the other side of town, way far from both Tattoo studio and his apartment. Thor wonders if Zombie lives somewhere around here (It’s just healthy curiosity though, ok? Not like he’s a stalker or anything!).

It’s a small coffee shop, designed in warm tones of chalcoral, caramel and the shades of brown. Thor likes it a lot: both the smell and the atmosphere. It’s homey. Cozy, with huge armchairs, couple of booths and different sofas in random floral patterns.

His date is already here - waiting for him, sitting in the corner booth - the one farthest away from the windows and closer to the heaters, headphones on. A steaming cup of tea is sitting in front of him.

‘’Hey,’’ Thor says, pulling his helmet off, putting it down on the table and biting his lip: should he hug him? Kiss on the cheek? Is it inappropriate? But how inappropriate can a simple hug be? ‘’Sorry I’m a bit late.’’

‘’It’s alright,’’ Says Zombie, removing the headset and unplugging it from smartphone. ‘’I just got here anyway.’’

Thor takes a seat on the other end of the table.

‘’What are you listening to?’’

‘’Why do you want to know?’’

‘’I dunno, as good a conversation starter as any, I guess.’’ Thor shrugs.

The boy nods.

‘’ABBA.’’ he confesses, shyly, his cheeks heating up a bit.

Thor’s heart does a weird cartwheeling thing.

‘’Didn’t take you for that kinda person,’’ he says.

Zombie side-eyes him.

‘’What kind of person exactly?’’

‘’I dunno, old school kind, I guess.’’ Thor shrugs again, grabbing couple of napkins from the stand and starts tearing them to pieces, in order to have something to do. ‘’ABBA is more like something my mum would listen to. Not that that’s a bad thing or anything!’’ he rushes to add, when Zombie winces uncomfortably.

The silence stretches for about a minute. Thor puts his nose down in the menu, trying and failing to look unaffected. Doesn't work that well, though: he's still dreading that he's fucked up irreparably and the silent treatment is all he's gonna get out of this hard attained outing,

‘’My mom used to like them too.’’ Zombie says after a while, eyes averted.

Used to. Thor doesn’t miss the past tense.

‘’I’m sorry,’’ he offers, sincerely. ‘’I’m not gonna claim to know how that feels. Cause I don’t.’’

‘’Good.’’ Zombie nods. ‘’And thank you. But you don’t need to. It’s been a while.’’

‘’What was she like?’’

Thor has no idea why they’re talking about this. But at least they’re talking.

‘’She… Was bright. Had such a warm smile. Soft hands. She used to sing to me when I was afraid.’’

Thor nods again, to convey the message: I’m listening. I’m interested.

‘’She taught me a lot of things. She was brave, intelligent…’’ Zombie sighs. ‘’I… Sometimes I wish I could ask her for advice. Sometimes, I think that she’d know all the answers. You know, when you’re a kid, your parents seem like they’re invincible. All-knowing. But then you grow out of that.’’

Thor chuckles.

‘’I never really grew out of that, to be honest.’’

‘’Oh?’’

‘’My mom’s still a badass and sometimes she terrifies me.’’

‘’I didn’t know you were so easily scared.’’ Teases Zombie.

‘’I’m not.’’ Laughs Thor in response. ‘’But you don’t know her. Even father’s scared of her sometimes. And he’s Odin.’’

Zombie’s eyes widen.

‘’What? You mean… You’re a son of Odin?’’

Thor nods.

“The Odin?”

‘’Didn’t mean to bring it up like this.’’ he admits. ‘’It slipped.’’

‘’Oh? ‘’ Taunts Zombie. ‘’When were you going to tell me then? That you’re the son of biggest underground overlord in the state?’’

Thor spreads his hands in the universal sign of surrender.

‘’Hey, you even refused even tell me your name!’’ He protests.

Zombie narrows his eyes at him, calculating.

‘’Hello, guys, you a chance to select anything you’d like yet?’’

Both look up at the same time to see brunette girl standing at the table.

Well, not like Thor even really looked at the menu, aside from using it as a cover.

Zombie recovers from it first.

‘’ Standard Caramel Latte, please.’’ he says.

‘’Same for me,’’ says Thor, hoping this place has decent coffee. ‘’And a slice of apple pie if you got it?’’

The girl smiles sweetly at him.

‘’Sure thing, honey. Coming right up.’’ She all but purrs and leaves.

Zombie looks after her weirdly.

‘’I’m Thor, by the way,’’ The blonde says to break the silence, after their drinks are served.

Zombie sighs in defeat, rolling his eyes.

‘’Loki,’’ he says, sipping his coffee.

Thor’s too busy congratulating himself on this major victory. But then it dawns at him.

‘’Oh my God, are you serious?’’

Loki raises eyebrow at him.

Thor bursts out laughing.

‘’Oh my God, this is unbelievable!’’ he cackles. ‘’Thor and Loki. Seriously, what are the fuckin chances?’’

Loki seems to catch up on the joke and his lips curl up in a tiny smile too.

‘’You know what that makes you?’’ Thor goes on, hysterical. ‘’My uncle!’’

‘’What?’’

‘’You know, in myths? Odin and Loki are blood brothers. Therefore you're my uncle.’’

Loki smirks mischievously.

‘’Are you into that kind of thing?’’ he muses.

‘’What?’’ Thor sobers up, baffled. ‘’No! Why would I be?’’

‘’So you’re not gonna start calling me daddy anytime soon?’’

Thor sputters out his coffee.

‘’God, no!’’

‘’Good, I wouldn’t know how to react if you did.’’

Thor points a finger at him.

‘’For one thing, I’m older than you.’’

‘’Oh, really, grandpa? How old are you?’’

‘’Thirty two. And you? Twenty two? Twenty three?’’

Loki scowls at him.

‘’Twenty seven, actually.’’

‘’So you gotta be calling me daddy, then.’’  teases Thor.

There’s a strange look on Loki’s face for a second: something akin to disgust, but it’s gone in a blink of an eye.

‘’Don’t hold your breath for that.’’ He says.

Thor frowns. Ok, obviously a sore spot, that one.

How’s your tat healing?’’ Says Loki after a minute of silence.

Thor shrugs.

‘’Fine, I guess?’’

‘’Does it itch?’’

Nod.

‘’Yeah a bit. Not a lot though.’’

‘’Don’t scratch it.’’ Warns Loki.

The patronizing tone makes Thor smile.

‘’Scout’s honor!’’ he promises.

Thor’s pleasantly surprised: The conversation is light and easy. They joke around, smile and laugh. At some point the blonde works up the courage to slide his hand out and grab the lean man’s thin, delicate fingers in his.

The coffee is good. Cakes too. They order one more round of drinks after the first hour.

Time all but flies. It makes Thor sad: he doesn’t want to say goodbye. If feels wrong somehow. It feels like this was it: the one date, one evening to spend together. Like a page from someone else’s life. Strange melancholy is consuming him.

He tries not to show it through.

‘’Excuse me for a moment,’’ says Loki after their second round of drinks is gone, standing up, stretching his hands out. ‘’I’ll be right back.’’

Thor pulls out his phone after his date is gone, for no reason. He wishes he had a picture of Loki. Or, better still, picture of both of them, together. Maybe, with Thor’s hand wrapped around Loki’s waist. Maybe, with Loki’s head resting on his shoulder. Maybe…

‘’Everything ok here, honey?’’

Thor looks up at the waitress.

‘’Yes, thank you.’’

‘’I’m Mary.’’ She says, smiling at him, fingers playing around her curls,

‘’Thor.’’

‘’So, Thor,’’ all but purrs the girl, leaning on the table, right into his personal space, fluttering her fake eyelashes at him. ‘’Are you free later tonight?’’

Thor blinks, astonished.

‘’My shift is over at twelve.’’ Says the girl, leaning into him. ‘’We could have some fun afterwards, what do you say?’’

‘’Mmm… Mary, listen,’’ Thor says, trying to sound as neutral as possible. ‘’I’m flattered really, you’re a beautiful girl. But not interested. Also, i’m kinda on a date.’’

The girl raises her eyebrows in mock horror.

‘’What, with that thing?’’

‘’That thing can hear you.’’  

The girl turns, facing Loki, whose whole stance screams one word: defensive; hands crossed on his chest, fingers in tight fists, lips drawn in a thin line.

‘’Well, I guess.’’ she says, randomly, pushes past Loki and heads towards the counter.

Without offering any kind of apology.

Loki’s just stuck there, wide eyed, expression of hurt and betrayal on his face.

Thor jumps to his feet; he has to do the damage control. And fast.

‘’Hey,’’ he says.  ‘’Want to get out of here?’’

Loki points a finger at him.

‘’You,’’ he scoffs, ‘’wait outside. I’ll deal with this.’’

‘’Come on, Loki,’’ Thor really does not envy that poor girl: if he lets him, Loki will rip her to pieces. But, well, truth be told, she was horribly rude and sort of deserves it. But you can’t treat people exactly how they deserve: sometimes, there’re law against it. ‘’Let’s just leave.’’

Oh, the glare Loki fixes him with.

‘’Either wait outside,’’ he spits and turns around, ‘’Or fuck off.’’

Loki strides towards the counter, eyeing the girl disappear behind the orange door with a sign says “Staff Only” on it.

He pushes it, then swears and pulls (one day, he'll get it right on the first try, you just wait and see!).

It leads to a small storage unit, with a door to a walk-in fridge on one side, a small write table with two chairs, a change room on the other and an emergency exit door right ahead, cracked open, leading to a back of the building.

Outside, “Mary” is leaning on the wall, hands crossed on her chest, smirking.

Loki levels her with a death glare.

“Hey, stranger,” she says. “Fancy seeing you here.”

“So a thing, am I?” spits Loki, trying not to let the hurt show.

The girl shakes a hand dismissively.

“You know i didn't really mean it, don't you?”

“Do I?” Deadpans Loki.

The girl lets out exasperated sigh.

“Oh, come on, Loki. You know i wasn't really trying to hook up with your only date since 2007, don't you? Girl code, remember?”

“What the fuck were you doing then, Darcy?”

“Why, testing him, of course.“ Darcy shrugs, like that makes sense. “To see if he'd defend your honor and all that jazz.”

Loki gapes at her.

“And he did though!” Darcy says, ruffling the boy's hair in excitement. ”Even said a hard no to all of this!” She says, gesturing around her chest area. “Congratulations baby! you've found yourself a keeper!”

Loki blinks furiously, trying to keep away the tears that threaten to spill. What was the last time someone looked out for him? Or stood up in his defence?

He honestly can't remember.

“That was still uncalled for.” he pouts.

“Hurr burrr, “ sing-songs Darcy. “Cry me a river. Now shoo, go get some, that beefcake looks positively dreamy, don't screw it up! And properly introduce us later, i don’t want a hottie like that to think me a bitch, ok?” she tuts, straightening out his jacket and dreadlocks, giving him and hug and disappearing through a staff door back into the cafe.

While Loki stands out there, for several minutes, dumbstruck by the sudden turn of events, Darcy pokes her head back out, all bit yelling at him to “go and get his ass laid,’’ and ‘’tell the dirty details later.’’

Loki blushes scarlet. While making his way back, he prays to all the Gods he doesn’t believe in (And some superheroes too, just in case), that Thor parked his bike up front and not in the back  parking, where he would definitely hear Darcy’s last comments.

Loki is gone for around fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes of Thor nervously pacing back and forth, questioning his judgement for allowing that ‘’private’’ conversation to take place, and contemplating calling the police to save that poor girl from a certain gruesome death.

When Loki comes back around though, there’s, thankfully, no blood on his hands (well, not that Thor can see) and, while looking like he’s been crying, he seems to be less murderous and more… shy, in a cute sort of way.

Thor raises his eyebrows at him.

‘’So, where did you hide the body so fast?’’ He asks, only half-jokingly.

Loki smirks.

‘’If I told you, I’d have to kill you.’’ He says in response.

“So how did it go?”

Loki gives a long - suffering sigh in response.

“That… Idiot is a friend of mine. She was just messing around.”

Thor blinks, but decides to let it go. Honestly what company Loki keeps is none of his business  (Yet!). But it didn't sound like a funny thing from where he was standing.

‘’So, want me to give you a ride?’’ He suggests instead.

Loki nods and Thor hands him a spare helmet, the one he brought, hoping for this exact outcome. The meaning behind the gesture definitely doesn’t slip Loki’s notice and it fills his heart with weird warmth.

The ride is silent, with Loki’s hand wrapped around Thor’s midsection and his head resting on Thor’s back. His eyes closed, enjoying the rush, the fresh air and casual intimacy that, for once in years, isn’t the one that he’s forced to endure.

They stop by a dirty, torn down apartment block. Thor’s heart aches thinking that Loki actually lives here. He worries about the dangers. The discomfort of long drive to the work Loki has to deal with on a daily basis (if he even owns a car, that is).

He pulls over when Loki tells him to and kills the engine. Loki hops down from behind him, removes the helmet, shaking his braids out of his eyes like a wet cat and hands it back, without a word.

That’s it, thinks Thor. It’s over. He doesn’t know how to ask for a second date. Or if he should at all. Usually, his flirting skills are nowhere this bad and he’s pretty confident in his chances of getting a second date, but these weird, calculating glaces Loki shoots his way? Those, he can not hope to decipher.

‘’Sooo...’’ Thor starts, hopefully, when Loki doesn’t turn his back and walk away as soon as the helmet is out of his hands. ‘’You wanna do this again sometime?’’

Loki purses his lips, eyeing him like the question confuses him. Thor sighs inwardly, his heart giving a weird tug. ‘’Was it that bad?’’ he wants to ask, but doesn’t.

Loki finally raises his head, looking him in the eye. Thor winces and  braces himself for the worst.

‘’Wanna come up for some tea?’’ He says out of the blue.