Thor thought he was alone in what SHIELD called a locker room. It was a clean, tiled space with metal cabinets locked up for individual use and metal benches each few feet to sit down on. There was a door on the far side of the room that led some public showers, but that was closed off.
Thor had come there because it was quiet, and he felt like he could do with a moment by himself. He wasn't usually this way after victories, especially ones like the Battle in New York. Battles won were a time to eat and drink and celebrate as was the custom with his people, but this time he was not celebrating on his home planet and the only Asgardian in a thousand light years was Loki, and there would be no revelries with him.
Perhaps there would be somewhere on the Helicarrier that was celebrating, but when they arrived after their post-battle shawarma trip everyone had seemed far too preoccupied assessing the damage done to the city. The Avengers themselves had been ushered away to seek medical attention, but Thor brushed the healer's ministrations aside. Thor was more than fine, considering their real efforts should be put on his mortal team mates. There was a swarm of staff buzzing around Tony, checking his vitals and figuring out what affects his brief stint in space could mean long term.
It was easy for him to slip away, surprisingly enough. He randomly explored empty corridors of the Helicarrier until he came across this room. He sat down on the metal bench and began to remove his armour. If the room next door really did have showers, the idea of washing away all the dirt and sweat from his weary body was too good to pass up.
He winced a little as he dislodged his breastplate, feeling the stab wound on his side twinge as he twisted up his torso. Luckily his armour had protected him from Loki's knife getting too deep. All things considered, the wound was no more than a scratch, just one in a tender location.
He'd only removed the top half of his ensemble when he heard a noise coming from the bathroom. He froze for a second, hand twitching slight in temptation to call for Mjolnir. The noise rang out again, a low groaning sound louder than the first and Thor relaxed slightly. Whatever it was was human, and judging by the sound it was in pain and not a threat to him. But it did make him curious. He made his way over to the door as quietly as he could. It was only slightly ajar, so Thor pulled on the handle until there was a gap large enough for him to peer through.
There was a row of mirrors basins on the left side, and a row of shower cubicles on the other. At the furthest basin stood Steve Rodgers, hunched over looking into the mirror. He was holding up soiled rags to his stomach, his hands and the sink already stained with blood. Before Thor could think better on his intrusion, he rushed forward.
"Captain, are you alright?"
Steve jolted at the words, looking over at Thor in alarm. He twisted his body away from view, but the action itself made him flinch. Thor hovered, wondering if it would be wise to get closer.
"Huh? Thor? What are you doing here?"
"You should see a medic." Thor ignored the Captain’s deflection.
"This? It's fine. No point bothering anyone about it." He looked down at the wound on his stomach, as if contemplating it for a moment before turning back to Thor with a shrug.
"You're bleeding." Thor pointed out. It must have been from when he was shot with a Chitauri gun. While it seemed the spangled suit he wore was durable, it wasn't very good against alien energy blasts.
"I heal pretty fast, compared to what's normal I'll be right as rain in a couple of days. It just opened up again when I tried to get changed."
"Tell me you at least got it cleaned." Thor sighed, leaning up against the door jam. Steve looked away guiltily.
"There's no point, I'm fine. It can't get infected my immune system is too strong now, trust me-"
"Against infections on earth," Thor pointed out. "I know little of the Chitauri, but who's to say their weapons weren't designed with that in mind? Many dark forces poison their weapons so that if they do not kill you in battle, you will feel the effects long after."
Steve blinked as it was clear those thoughts hadn't crossed his mind. Still, he remained stubborn.
"If that's so, there’s still more people who're gonna need doctors before me. Not to mention civilians who got caught up in this."
"I cannot convince you, can I?" Thor sighed. "Very well. Then I demand you at least let me clean out your wound."
"What?"
"I've been doing battle for hundreds of years, Captain. I promise you I have ample training in basic healing." Thor ducked back into the locker room before Steve could protest. He remembered a small medical kit he'd seen on top of one of the lockers. It should have enough supplies in there for this.
He emerged a minute later with the kit, Steve too surprised to protest until Thor began to walk over to him.
"That's not necessary."
"Either this or I drag you to the medical bay. I'll admit I am a little weary from battle but I believe it would be no great feat."
Steve wasn't sure he'd want to fight Thor right now. He remembered how the Asgardian had almost torn Tony's suit apart with his bare hands. Steve was strong, but he was no god.
"How are we gonna do this?"
Thor lead Steve over to one of the metal benches. He gingerly set himself down as Thor began to ruffle through the kit for bandages and antiseptic.
"It's not like I just ignored seeing the doctors." Steve began rambling as Thor searched for the human equivalents to what he was familiar with. "They said it looked okay, they gave me a shot of something for the pain and I was fine. I was just when I tried to change the thing reopened."
Thor was finally close enough to get a good look at the wound. He'd admit he was impressed at how it was already looking a lot better than what he'd expected. If it wasn't for Steve's serum induced body, the singed blaster hole could probably have torn right through a human.
Finally, he got his hands on a bottle of thin amber liquid and some wipes. He scrutinised the label for a moment before conceding this would suffice.
"If you were on Asgard, I'm certain there would be better things for me to treat this with." Thor sighed.
"The way you talk about it, this Asgard must be one hell of a place."
"It is indeed, Captain." Thor smiled to himself sadly has he dabbed some of the liquid onto a piece of gauze. He knelt onto the floor in front of Steve so he was at eye height with the injury. "Fair warning, this might sting."
"I think I can manage." Steve scoffed.
Thor decided not to be as gentle as he planned, if that was going to be his attitude. He started at the edges of the wound, wiping away the blood and tiny bits of debris. To his word, Steve didn't seem too fussed until Thor made his way towards the middle, where the wound was deeper.
"Ah," Steve hissed, jumping away from Thor. His well-defined abdominal muscles twitched under Thor's hand. "I don't think whatever the doctors gave me is working too well."
"Perhaps I should call a medic to find you something stronger."
"No point. There isn't. Part of the serum, most pain killers don't work on me. When I came out of the ice they told me they were working for a way around it, but I can't blame them for not getting too far. This isn't a need. I can handle a little pain."
"This doesn't seem to qualify as little." Thor glared at the offending hole on the man's flank. It was overall about the size of Thor's fist. "But I think I can understand why you do not wish for medical attention. It is hard to accept help when you know there are those who need it more than you."
"Yeah. Like Stark. Jesus, it's hard to think he almost died there." Steve hadn't had much time to reflect on it until now.
"If it is any consolation I saw Stark several minutes ago. Judging by his refusal to sit still and be quiet, I trust he will make a full recovery."
"I hope so." Steve sighed, still twitching a little as Thor continued to clean out the dried blood and god knows what else. Thor gripped a little tighter with his other hand on Steve's bare hip to keep him still. "I don't think it would sit well if one of the last things I said to him was about how much of an asshole he was."
"We all said things we regret under the sceptre's influence." Thor himself was still guilty. For him to be so dismissive of humanity even for the briefest of moments, calling them tiny and petty after every kindness and lesson they had showed made him a little disgusted with himself.
"Still, it was wrong of me to make out like he doesn't care."
"Sometimes humans have strange ways of showing how they care." Thor mused. "Not a trait they are unique in possessing."
The gauze in Thor's hand was soaked through. He'd need another one to get through the rest of the deepest and most sensitive parts.
"Keep talking," Thor encouraged as his drizzled antiseptic over a new piece of gauze. "It seems to be taking your mind off it."
"About what?"
"Anything."
Steve hummed, tapping his foot against the cool tiled floor.
"When I was little I was scared of thunder storms." Steve began, seemingly out of the blue. "I don't really know why, they were just loud and miserable to me. Whenever storm clouds were rolling in it would fill me with dread. Sorry, God of Thunder, but I hated the way our whole apartment shook in the storms and the way it felt like it would just never stop. Back then it was awful. Bucky and I would build pillow forts to try and keep my mind off it."
Thor doesn't stop to ask who Bucky was. Thor guessed from the length of human lifespans contrasted against the time Steve was frozen meant he had few close friends left if any at all. Thor had lost many friends and allies in galactic conflicts, but to have lost everyone he'd known and loved in one go, to be the last man left and hopelessly out of time seemed impossible to bare. It would take a worthy soul to carry on like that.
"I guess I just grew out of it. By the time I was actually fighting you didn't have time to get spooked over every loud noise you hear. Thunder, gun shots, grenades, the sounds didn't faze me anymore."
"I'm sorry." Thor said quietly.
"Why?"
"A loss of innocence is an easy one to mourn. War and battle can harden the kindest people."
"I guess then I'm sorry too." Steve watched Thor chuckle at his words.
"Please don't feel the need for that, it was a long time ago. Besides, I ran into battle with far less noble intentions than you did."
"Still, everyone's a kid at some point, right? Even guys like your brother. I'm sorry for that too. Must be hard knowing someone for so long turn on you like that."
"Thank you." Thor said a little shakily. The truth was it was a loss he was still grappling with. He was too tired to hide his emotions this time. "He was my brother, and it is a type of loss I am unfamiliar with. He deserves to face actions for all the grief he has caused, but when I look at him I still see the boy I grew up alongside. I blame myself."
"You shouldn't."
They both fell silent for a moment and Thor finally realised the strangeness of their current situation. He was kneeling in front of Steve Rodgers, both only half dressed. He had his hands on Steve, one cleaning away the last of the dried blood and the other resting gently on Steve's uninjured side. There was no reason Thor could give for why he needed it here, thumb pressing soft lines up and down Steve's exposed hip bone. It wasn't the proximity, or even the touch that made this precariously intimate. It was the fact that Steve had trusted another man, for the most part a stranger, to care for him in this way.
"You're kind of a hypocrite, you know that?" Steve said in a low voice. There was no one else around to hear, but it felt only right to be quiet on principal.
"How so?"
"All this talk I should see a doctor when I can see your stab wound right there." Steve's knee tapped against his injured side as he spoke.
"Oh please, Loki stabs me all the time. It's practically tradition."
That answer startled a laugh out of Steve, surprising them both. Looking up at him, Thor noticed how beautiful he looked when he smiled. It was by no stretch to call Steve a handsome specimen by any standards. Even by the high ones on Asgard, he could still easily be considered quite the treasure.
"You Asgardians sure are strange" Steve laughed, Thor shook his head and finished up his task.
The wound was properly clean now and it had stopped bleeding for the time being. Thor took out the rest of the strips of gauze and went about making a bandage out of it. Before he got very far Steve stopped him.
"Wait. Before you do that, can I take a shower first? I'm dying to clean up, it's kind of why I came here in the first place."
"Of course." Thor stood up and away from Steve's space. The idea of a shower seemed heavenly to Thor right now, but he could wait. He didn't know how Steve would react if they had to shower at the same time. Showering at the same time. Thor repeated to himself. Not together. Just coincidently in the same space. "I'll leave you to it."
Humans could be quite prudent when it came to nudity around others. It was a habit Thor had picked up on, or at least adopted out of politeness.
"What, you don't want to wash the New York gunk off you?" Steve turned to Thor.
"I do, but I am content to wait if you would prefer some privacy."
Steve waved his hand nonchalantly which Thor took as an invitation.
They were in separate cubicles, and Thor chastised himself for his worry. So what if a naked Steve was only a partition away, a thin slab of plasterboard he could break through without even trying?
Thor managed to make it through his shower dignity intact, but faced a conundrum of his own stepping out. His armour was filthy and he had no midgardian clothes he could change into. He sat in the locker room wearing only a towel for a few minutes until Steve appeared fully dressed and looking marginally better. His face was clean, wet hair sticking up at odd angles and his skin still flushed pink from the hot water. Thor had finally had the chance finish bandaging Steve all the while he completed his task still only wearing a towel.
"Oh, you don't have any clothes, do you?" Steve frowned.
"It wouldn't usually be a problem, but I don't think the fine folk of SHIELD would appreciate it if I forwent clothes while I cleaned the grime off my own."
Steve tutted at him playfully, and spoke. "You can borrow some of mine, I'm guessing you didn't have time to pack before you came here."
"No, too busy casting summoning spells to get off Asgard and all." Thor agreed. "I wasn't planning on staying this long either."
"I have a bag. Most of the stuff I didn't buy myself, I'm still trying to figure out what exactly fashion is these days, but it’s all in my size. Some of it should fit you, I think." Steve sized Thor up. He was taller and broader than Steve in most places, but not by much of a gap compared to everyone else.
Steve brought out his shoulder bag from the bathroom and placed it down on the bench for Thor to peruse through. He ended up selecting a pair of soft and stretchy sweat pants and the largest of the undershirts Steve had packed. Steve raised an eyebrow at Thor's choice of comfort over formality, but said nothing.
When they were patched up and dressed and decidedly ready to face the world again, they left the locker room. They were only about half way down the hall when Agent Hill appeared.
"Oh good! Director Fury was looking for you." She exclaimed and rushed over to them before continuing. "There was a small debriefing planned but Fury decided to move it back to tomorrow morning. If you have been cleared by medical already, you're welcome to rest back in the personal quarters designated to each of you."
"Wait, if there's important debriefings that needs to take place, we should prioritise that first."
"Usually, yes. But given the nature of today's events, it was decided giving you all a few hours to rest and recollect yourselves would be the best option here. As far as I know Banner is already out for the count and the others aren't far off."
"Some rest would serve us all well." Thor spoke before Steve could continue his line of argument. Steve let it go, and followed Agent Hill back to one of the lower decks where individual bedrooms where assigned.
Thor was extremely pleased when they ran into Tony Stark talking with a tall strawberry blonde-haired woman in the elevator.
"Stark!" He shouted. "You look well!"
"Thor, Cap." Tony gave a tired smile and nodded towards the woman. "This is Pepper Potts."
"Pleasure to meet you, ma'am." Steve stuck out his hand.
"Likewise. Always nice to meet Tony's...work friends" She said shaking his and then Thor's hand.
"Hey, nice clothes big guy, they look a little tight though." Tony eyed Thor's outfit and Steve tried very hard not to blush.
"Made do with what I could." Thor laughed, raising his arms up in way that made the fabric across his shoulders strain and the shirt hem ride up to his bellybutton. Gods have bellybuttons, Steve discovered.
The elevator doors sprung open and they all filed out into another Spartan hallway.
"See you old folks later." Tony said on the way pass, making a direct beeline for his room to probably faceplant into the mattress and not move for ten hours. Pepper followed him, wishing them both a good night and then it was just the two of them in the hallway. Steve's room was the one he'd been given when he first arrived, but the empty one next door was now assigned to Thor.
"Hey, thank you." Steve said, now they were alone.
"Think nothing of it." Thor smiled.
"No really, you didn't have to do any of that. Not just patching me up, talking too. Talking was nice. I haven't really done that in a while."
"Anytime at all, I'm happy to converse with you." Thor said, softly trying to emphasise how much he meant it. He would most likely be leaving for Asgard again in as soon as a few days to return Loki and see him face justice, but he was as always hesitant to leave earth. It seemed like each time he came, he left with a stronger reason to return.
"Thanks." Steve smiled up at him brightly, but Thor could tell his second wind of energy was fading fast,
Steve put out his hand again inviting Thor to shake it as was custom. He considered for a moment before brushing the hand aside to reach forward for a hug. Steve made a muffled noise of surprise against his collarbone but hesitantly reached around Thor to pat him on the back.
The two men stood there in an embrace. It was not the act alone that had surprised Steve, although it had been a while since he felt such a physical connection with anyone. It was the fact that this warrior, this stranger from another planet, pressed close against him was who he had finally opened up to.
"Steve?"
"Yeah?"
"I am glad you are no longer afraid of thunder."