A Twist Of Marvel || Infinity War

42. Side Eye

The Hulk's boisterous laugh echoed throughout the room, and dare she say, Naomi found it rather infectious. It was quite the sight to see the champion renowned for his ruthlessness in the arena sit on the ground with his legs sprawled out like a child, and laugh with the literal biggest grin she had ever seen. Needless to say, the Hulk found her millennial humor very funny. Thus, after their mock battle in which Naomi 'overcame' the Hulk, the pair was left giggling like madmen in the middle of a semi-demolished room. Facing toward the Hulk and away from the door, Naomi didn't see the entrance open, and Valkyrie poke her head in with an amused grin.

Naomi also didn't see the arrival of the famed Asgardian brothers, and neither did the Hulk, for his eye were shut from laughter. Instead, he continued his bellowing laugh, and occasionally shouted out, "Funny girl!" to accentuate the point that he found her entertaining.

Thor was simply overjoyed to see two of his friends in the same room, laughing and in perfect health. He was impressed, yes, because he had never seen the Hulk laugh, or smile at anything that wasn't a battle until the Hulk had met Naomi Swanson. However more importantly, Thor felt a sense of peace that in this time of impending war, his allies were alright, and reunited with him finally- even if Naomi had only been absent a short while.

Loki would later look up at the sky and thank Frigga that Naomi Swanson had not seen his jaw hit the floor when he saw her laughing with the Hulk as though it had been a casual affair. Laughing with the green giant as though it was not the same monster that had repeatedly smashed him against the ground with such brute force that it had incapacitated him for a short while. Needless to say, Loki Odinson did not lose any respect for Naomi when the Hulk called her funny, if anything his opinion of her heightened, even against his better judgement.

Valkyrie simply leaned against the wall and watched the princes reactions with unbridled amusement.

Hulk noticed the three first, finally calming himself enough to see that company had arrived. When his face fell as he recognized the Asgardians, Naomi realized that someone was behind her, and finally she turned.

"Finally, what took you so long?" She asked with a grin. Still in training armor, and with the hulk sitting down behind her with a closed expression, Naomi crossed the gap between them and strode to the brothers with familiarity. Her gaze fell first on Loki, a fact that he both noticed and appreciated, storing the information away to think on it at a later date. She grinned at him with warmth in her eyes, and an aura of surprise radiated around the trickster after she turned away to face Thor, and give him the same greeting.

"Naomi, how long have you been here?" Thor asked, a touch of concern gracing his features.

"A little over a week- time works differently here." Naomi shrugged. Thor raised his eyebrows, and glanced over the company she had presumably been keeping.

"You're wearing armor." Loki commented, his arms crossed in front his own set of armor. However he still maintained his green and gold robes, and Naomi was almost sad that she wouldn't get to see him in his Sakaarian outfit. Thor too, was dressed in his more traditional attire, and of course, the long hair. On a few occasions, Naomi had thought that perhaps she was doing more harm than good by preventing Ragnarok, and stopping Thor and Loki's fashion sense from evolving.

"I am, Valkyrie and Hulk have been, uh," Naomi grinned sheepishly, starching the back of her head, "training me the past few days." At her mention of the other two in the room, the brothers simultaneously glanced over them- Valkyrie now making her way over to the group from her previous spot against the wall, and the Hulk still sitting a little across the way, his expression stormy but his posture still relaxed.

Loki opened his mouth to comment further, but was cut off by Thor, who was too eager to wait for his brother. "The Hulk has trained you in combat?" Thor's eyes were wide with excitement, and for a second Naomi thought with dread that perhaps he would want to fight her now too, but the thought passed.

"Yeah, a little bit. He's a good teacher, Valkyrie too." Naomi nodded to the woman now standing beside them, giving Loki a side eye that Naomi didn't miss. Her other, larger teacher decided to finally stand, and with a grunt he slowly began to walkover, every step shaking small pebbles at his feet. Naomi fought the urge to roll her eyes at his overdramatic nature.

The air was tense as the Hulk finally settled for standing behind Naomi and Valkyrie, staring down at the Asgardians. "Puny God." Hulk muttered, his eyes boring into Loki.

Loki's face pinched in undisguised contempt as his ears reddened, his teeth clenched together as he began to hiss out some ancient curse on the champion who couldn't look less intimidated. However, before the God could bewitch the Hulk to turn into a frog or something, he was interrupted by a quiet, badly hidden snort of laughter from Naomi.

The woman held her hand over her obviously grinning mouth, but she clearly wasn't fooling anyone. The smile in her eyes was undeniable, and Loki could see it as clear as sunlight. Thor nearly expected him to redirect the curse onto Naomi, but for some strange reason Loki did no such thing. His posture relaxed, and he simply stared at Naomi like he couldn't figure her out, though he wished to. The blush traveled from his ears to his cheeks as he watched her try to hold in the laughter.

"Oh, I see it now." Valkyrie commented under her breath, raising an eyebrow at Loki's behavior. Thor turned to her, the only one to hear her comment.

"What do you mean?" He asked, genuinely confused. Valkyrie didn't face him, simply continued to watch as Naomi began to apologize to his brother for laughing, her grin unfading.

"What she sees in him. I get it now." She said. Thor turned to watch the pair of them, the Hulk still hovering over Naomi like some roided-up, overly aggressive  guardian angel. Watching Naomi and Loki fall into a conversation, he smiled.

"Naomi Swanson has always seen the good in my brother, even in the places where I cannot. Even now, she looks at him and sees hope for his future, and I am afraid that I cannot always say the same." Thor nodded in satisfaction at his own wise words, a bit of pride bubbling up in spite of himself. Even though he had rejected the throne, he still liked to entertain the idea that he would have been a wise leader, and often impart such wisdom onto his subjects, and-

"I certainly hope you don't look at your brother the way she does." Valkyrie interrupted his inner monologue, giving him a side eye that she had generally reserved for Loki.

Valkyrie walked away before Thor could defend himself, and was left sputtering, much to everyone else's amusement.