The Sweetest Rose-LokixOC

Chapter 16

"Loki!" Thor's bellow roared through the main floor lobby with a thunderous clamor. He stood near the receptionist desk wearing his usual commoner clothing, his fair hair tied in a top knot.

Loki ignored his brother and stormed toward the exit. Thor jogged up to him, beaming broadly. Clueless as usual. "Brother, what is the hurry? I have brought joyous news."

At any other time, he would wonder why Thor was so exceedingly happy and how he might change that state of affairs. "Fascinating. I need to be going." Loki said in clipped tones slipping out the revolving door.

He plowed onto the sidewalk, eyes narrowing against the brightness of the afternoon sun. It was a chilly fall day and many of the mortals bustling down the sidewalks wore thick jackets and scarves.

Loki scanned the street for a cab. He spotted a yellow vehicle idling at the curb on the other side of the street. Drivers honked angrily as he wandered into traffic to reach the cab. A few vehicles slammed on their breaks to avoid hitting him. A round of angry honking ensued.

Thor, never one to take a hint, followed at a jog, threading through the vehicles crowding the street.

"Hey, its Thor!" A man called from a nearby vehicle and snapped a photo on his cell phone.

Loki rolled his eyes. What did these Midgardians see in his brother?

Thor waved graciously at his fan and joined Loki on the sidewalk, tucking a hand into his pocket. "Loki, what's this about? You are acting very agitated."

Instead of replying with a snappy retort, Loki yanked open the rear door of the cab and climbed in. "177 A Bleecker Street." He ordered.

The cab screeched away from the curb as Thor slid in beside Loki, pulling the door shut. The top of his blond head brushed the ceiling. "Why are you going to see Strange?"

"I do not need you along." Loki said through clenched teeth. He gripped his thighs to keep from going for his brother's throat. "This is my affair."

Thor regarded him soberly. "I hope you aren't going to do something stupid. Not when you've made so much progress blending into society."

At his brother's words, something inside of Loki snapped. He whipped his head around, lips peeling back in a snarl. "You are always so quick to judge me when you know nothing!"

"That's not true. I-"

Loki sliced his hand through the air. "Spare me your feigned sentiment!" He turned and faced the window, an oppressive silence falling over the back seat as they sped through the city.

Familiar anger and pain swirled around Loki's heart which had never healed from Odin's betrayal. Thor always looked down on him and assumed the worst. He had never seen him as an equal, not really.

To Thor, Loki would always be his little brother. Not a god capable of living free of his shadow.

Steepling his hands together, Thor sighed heavily. "Perhaps, I am being unfair. I did not come to lecture you. The truth is I found out I'm going to be a father."

Shocked to his core, Loki gaped at his brother. Of all the news Thor could deliver, he never expected this. He always believed Thor's relationship with Jane would end eventually. A child changed everything.

Thor shifted under Loki's assessing stare, the corner of his mouth curling up slightly. "I wanted you to be the first to know."

"Why?" He asked, genuinely confused, though he felt a traitorous spark of hope.

"Because you are my brother." Thor squeezed Loki's shoulder, blue eyes warm with affection. "You are going to be an uncle."

An uncle? For a moment Loki imagined a precocious tow-headed demi-godling tottering on unsteady legs toward him begging to be picked up and spun around. An unexpected longing filled him. Oh, the tricks he could teach that child to torment its father!