"FUCK!" Loki slammed the book shut and shoved it away, irritation bubbling in his veins. He knew he could do this! He knew it! But his patience was buckling to a point where the chances of him snapping completely were high. Dangerously high. Loki seethed, scowling at the notebooks and laptop set up on the coffee table. The words on them were all blurring together into nonsensical babble. He couldn't focus, but he HAD to! Finals were already in full swing, and he still had two classes left to knock out before he was finished.
Head in his hands, he sucked in several shaky breaths and resisted the urge to burst into tears. It didn't work as well as he'd hoped. His eyes were burning in two seconds flat, just in time for him to hear the front door open and-
"Loki!" Thor's boisterous voice filled the room. It was joined by the sound of bags rustling, and the delicious smell of takeout as the blond wandered deeper into the room. "I thought you'd be holed up in the library! You never like to study here."
Feeling his throat grow tight as he suppressed a harsh sob, Loki pretended to be absorbed in his notes. "It was overcrowded. I couldn't get a moment's peace." Subtly, he angled his body to the side, fearing exposure. "Shouldn't you be at Sif's, celebrating? Your finals are over."
"That they are! But Sif still has one to go, so she's at her dorm studying." There was more noise as Thor took the bags into their apartment's interconnected kitchen and started unpacking the food. Italian, by the smell of it. In no time at all he had a bowl of steaming spaghetti that he carried into the living room. If Loki's stomach wasn't too busy roiling, he might have felt tempted. But it was. He grimaced, careful to keep his face carefully turned away, praying his flushed cheeks weren't a dead giveaway.
Of course it was. Because fucking Thor, only attentive when Loki least wanted him to be. "Loki? Are you ok?" The bowl of food appeared in his peripheral vision, right on top of his advanced mythology notes. Then came Thor, crouching down beside him with a frown. "Loki?"
"Leave me alone. I'm trying to study." Loki shoved the bowl off his notebook and focused on it, painfully aware of those stormy blue eyes watching him. No, not watching. Assessing. Thor wasn't the sharpest crayon in the box, but he wasn't dumb either. And it was dangerous to have him paying such close attention. "Thor, I told you to leave me alone! I'm-"
"Crying." The blond grabbed his chin and forcefully tilted Loki's head to the side, roaming his eyes over every inch of his blanched features. "You're crying, Loki." Thor swiped a stray tear off his cheek. Damn. Loki hadn't even realized he'd started crying. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"
Loki smacked his hand away, scowling at the coffee table. "Nothing's wrong, you idiot! Now go away!" The chances of that actually happening were slim though. Loki knew that better than anyone. "Thor, please. Just go away," he sighed and looked at Thor from the corner of his eye. "I have to have this all memorized by Friday. My scholarship's counting on it."
"Your scholarship? Loki...is that really what you're worried about? You're one of the smartest guys studying here! You don't need to worry about your grades." Laughter bloomed from Thor's chest. "Honestly Loki, one of these days you're going to give yourself grey hair."
Did-was Thor really laughing at him? "Maybe that's the mindset you have, but some of us actually give a damn about getting a good education! We can't all be stupid, muscled jocks getting by with barely passable grades because their daddy has a good name!" Loki pushed the offending idiot away and gathered up as many of his notebooks and papers as he possibly could. "Some of us have to work, Thor! Work hard! Do you even know what that's like? How stressful it can be?"
To his credit, Thor didn't retaliate as Loki would have expected him to. "You're stressed. Loki, this is exactly what I'm talking about! If you keep at it, you're going to make yourself sick." Or worse. It was silently implied, but that didn't stop the brunette from bristling, self conscious.
"Of course I'm stressed! Isn't that what I just said?" He shot daggers at Thor while he finished collecting his stuff. It was a hefty weight in his arms, and Loki almost stumbled, catching himself by sheer luck. Fuck, he was tired, hungry, emotionally wrecked. Once finals were over, he'd be all the happier for it. "If you'll excuse me, I'll be studying in my room. Try to keep it down," Loki muttered.
For one brief, shining moment, it looked like Thor was going to let him go. That moment ended as quick as it began. "No." Thor rose with him and promptly took the books from his arms, setting them back on the table. "Enough studying. You need a break Loki." Smiling brightly, he took Loki by the wrists and forcefully sat him back down on the couch, stuffing the bowl of food into his hands. "Eat. Relax. It won't kill you, I promise."
"Are you kidding?" What the hell was the big oaf thinking?! "Thor, I don't have time to take a break! Didn't you hear what I said? My finals are Friday! In two days! I have to-"
"Loki, the only thing you need to do is stop stressing yourself out." Thor took control, as he always did, and cupped Loki's face between his hands. "I know you. You've probably been in here, studying for hours. You haven't stopped for food, a drink, anything. And you're beating yourself up over it, because you worry. Pointlessly," he added with a stubborn frown. "You'll be fine, Loki, but you need to take a breather. Ok? If you can't do it for yourself, then do it for me."
"For you?" Loki didn't mean to spit the words like he did, and almost immediately felt a twinge of guilt over it. Thor just seemed so...earnest. As always. He was just a lovable brute half the time anyway. Grimacing slightly, Loki fixated on the bowl of still piping hot spaghetti in his hands, rubbing his thumb over the rim. "You can't ask me to do this right now. I-Thor, I really need to study. Advanced mythology isn't exactly a walk in the park."
"I bet. But you're a genius, Loki. If anyone can get it nailed down, it's you. Besides," Thor got a teasingly fierce look on his face. "Who said anything about asking? If need be, I will resort to force." Grinning ear to ear, he captured Loki around the waist and dragged him against his side, fishing the remote out from under a stack of papers on the floor to turn on the tv. When Loki started, Thor pecked him on the brow and smudged another stray tear mark on his face. "Can't say I didn't warn you."
Stubbornness was clearly a trait they shared. But Loki didn't really want to argue; he was too tired for that. "You're an ass," he mumbled, picking up the fork and spinning it around in the noodles, peevishly sticking a big helping in his mouth. He wanted to get back to his books. He still needed to brush up on the history of the Jotnar. Clearly though, that wasn't happening. And...well, he was hungry.
"An hour. I'll give you an hour, Thor." Loki curled more into Thor's side and dug into his food, aware of the blond's smile even before he nuzzled the top of his head and laughed softly.
"Whatever you say Loki."
