Walk a Mile

"...it's your fault we've been so out of the loop lately."

April 25

Loki and Anthony stood in the centre of his lab watching the screen with almost horrified faces. They couldn't believe what they were seeing. Thor sat on the cold floor of gym with his hands wrapped around himself. The sound was all they had to convince themselves they weren't going crazy. That what they were seeing was indeed real. The sound of Thor's shaky breaths and hiccups filled the room.

__1 Hour Before__

Loki and Anthony had been spending every hour with each other now that the spell was over. And thats where you find them now.

"I do hope you don't mind me reading in here Anthony."

"Of course not Lokes but why?"

Loki sat down on the couch in the corner of lab and opened up one of his books. Anthony had ordered half of his TBR without him knowing and gifted them to him.) "It's quiet in here."

"Ha. Yeah right."

They both knew he was lying. It was anything but quiet in Tony Starks lab. Truth is Loki loved the sounds that filled Anthony's space. The machines humming in the background, Anthony muttering under his breath as he tinkered and journaled his findings, DUM-E and the other robots moving things around. And how could he ever forget the soft sound coming from Stark's chest. Every so often he would catch himself listening for it, honing in on it to lull himself to sleep.

"So what are you reading today? Another old ass 'tome'?" Anthony looked over his shoulder to see the spine of the book. In the end he couldn't see exactly what it is. Only that it wasn't one of his normal novels.

"It's a manga. Deadpool wanted me to read it so he could have someone to talk to about it."

"Aw how cute. What's it about?"

"It's called Anti-Romance. Its about two childhood friends that have lived together for years. And over the years they begin to gain feelings for each other. The twist, it seems is that neither of them know the others feelings. I'm only a few chapters in and you can already feel the tension between the two of them."

"So you like it?"

"Absolutely yes."

Anthony raised an eyebrow. "Are these gonna become a staple in your library?"

"Most Likely. The art is beautiful and the dialogue is very well written."

He laughed lightly. "That's good. Anytime I've tried to read something thats more than 100 pages I fall asleep."

Loki finally looked from his book to the mechanic. His eyebrows raised the slightest bit in surprise. "Mangas are probably perfect for you then. They're surprisingly short. I would have thought you would actually like reading."

"Maybe. You know me well enough to recommend me something I'll like for sure."

"Action and Sci-Fi? Very basic Anthony."

"Meh. I like Thriller and Suspence more."

Loki threw a small hex toward the man. "Since when? I haven't seen you even watch a trailer for a horror movie. Not once in the 3 ½ months we've known each other."

"Well I did say suspense. Thats not necessarily horror. I like to get the mind rolling and the blood pumping!" He hit the table causing Loki to jump a little. "Kinda like that. Something that can get me jumping."

Loki pursed his lips. Not impressed with Anthony and his antics. "Speaking of suspense, have you been feeling the tension in the compound lately?"

"I definitely have. Something happened and they're keeping it from us."