Chapter Text
You let out a long breath and pull some eye drops out of your purse. The endless review of expense reports and spreadsheets started to wear on you, and your beloved coffee mug emptied hours ago. You rolled your chair away from your desk, getting in a good stretch. You took off your glasses and massaged the bridge of your nose. Today was another day in the office, you sigh to yourself.
The trip to the common room was short, a small luxury of having your own office. Everyone else’s cubicle was spread throughout the floor, not as close as your five-second walk. You’re grateful to see Natasha already mixing her coffee, leaning against the counter.
“Long morning? You look like you could use some of this,” She knows the drill as she fills up your mug.
“Not long enough. Feels like I got a lot done, but nothing at all.” You take a big snuff of the coffee, the aroma rejuvenating you. “All these reports are making me dream about numbers when I rather dream about other things,” You sipped the warm contents of your mug.
“I feel sorry for you.” Natasha smirked at you as you both leaned against the counter. Natasha appreciated you as a coworker, the two of you having been close classmates back in college. Seeing you from then to know, she knew how hard of a worker you always are. You deserved to give yourself a break, Natasha knew she was a handful to manage, no less an entire accounting department.
“Oh, here comes your man,” She snickers, elbowing you. You both notice the familiar figures walk by the entrance. Your gaze latches on to the raven set of hair. Your heart picked up in pace, and it’s almost as if Natasha could hear it next to you.
“You know, you're good enough friends with the boss man," She nudges you with her elbow. You knew exactly where this was going; you were best friends with Thor, ever since your college days, however that was not meant to be your foot in the door to his brother.
“I bet he could hook you up with-,” She doesn’t even finish her comment, you spit out your coffee mid sentence. You’re thankful you’re the only two in this room, that would have been embarrassing if you sprayed anyone.
“Natasha,” You set down your mug and gather paper towels. “I’m not even looking to date right now, thank you very much,” You turn away from the entrance, your tone hushed.
“Mmhm, keep telling yourself that,” She smirks as she helps you wipe the surfaces. Natasha totally knew you had a puppy love for the brunette.
You frowned at her. As much as you appreciated the encouragement, even thinking of dating one of your closest friend’s brother was out of the question. You loved Thor too much to even touch that subject with a ten foot pole. “As the saying goes; don’t shit where you eat,” You shove her playfully, making sure you don’t spill your cups. You were a straight shooter in your job right now, and you very much saw a promotion within the next few years. You were not going to allow temptation to creep in.
You did indeed have a small crush on the younger Odinson, ever since you had been in contact with his quiet but forbidding stature. He had been on your mind since you started here. You did not speak to him much, your only relation was work and even then it was mostly Thor doing the talking. You were only close to his brother, and as withdrawn as the sibling was around you, Loki made your heart dance.
You also knew better than to pursue someone that was technically your boss.
Odin Automotives was a large company, owned by Odin himself. Having retired within the last decade, of course the chairman’s family legacy continued through his children. Thor was the Chief Executive Officer and Loki the Chief Financial Officer. There were quite a few positions between you and Loki, so not overstepping your professional boundaries was a trait you were proud to have.
The meeting today just happened to be on your floor, the elevator and the conference room were on opposite ends of the building. Thor and Loki were on their way, skimming over reports to each other via their tablets. They walk by the breakroom and barely catch the exchange between you and Natasha, Thor lighting up at the sound of your voices.
“Hey guys!” He stops his conversation with Loki to mingle with you both.
Loki rolls his eyes, checking his watch. They still had ten minutes before the meeting started, and to him if you weren’t early, you were late. He noticed it was the redhead and… You. He leaned near the doorway, arms crossed as he uninterestedly scrolled through his tablet.
“Mr. Odinson, how do you do.” Natasha gives her signature side smile. Her gaze flicks to Loki for a moment, noticing the brunette staring past Thor. His stare meets Natasha’s and he immediately averts his eyes. She followed his previous line of sight, leading back to you.
“Why Natasha, how many times have I told you to call me Thor even when we’re at work!” He groans. The whine was unsuitable for a man his size, making it all the more hilarious.
You giggle at his reaction. The laugh makes Loki’s ears perk up. “We’ll call you Thor when it’s after five-thirty, we’ve been over this.” You tsk at him. The three of you still got together outside of work; the occasional end-of-the-week drink or weekend cookout was when you all got to reminisce about your earlier days and dream for the future of the company. You and Natasha were close even in the office, but until you left the building, you kept Thor at the respectable distance due to his position.
“Also, are you on your way to a meeting or not? I never see you or Loki on my floor,” You address them, glancing over the blonde’s shoulder. Getting a good look at Loki, you see his focus is in whatever email he was responding to on his tablet. You inwardly sigh, wondering why you would give mental space to a man that had no interest in you.
Loki almost lifts his head in recognition, unexpecting to hear his name from you. You don’t notice the tick in his jaw at being addressed. “Yes, it begins in two minutes, so we must get moving, Thor.” Loki speaks. It’s been a while since you’ve heard the velvet timbre of his voice, it almost makes your knees buckle.
“Yes, my brother and I are very much on our way to a meeting, but I know Loki doesn’t mind,” Thor says. The younger Odinson looks up from his tablet, nearly glaring directly at Thor. He looks towards Loki, urging him with his eyes to come over and talk. He senses and deflects the signals easily. He hated how Thor constantly tried to socialize him with his girlfriends.
The last time you heard him speak just happened to be when you shared an elevator with a few other passengers. Your body naturally hums at the sound, and you can only hope you weren’t blushing. You turn to Thor, “Exactly, so get back to work, you hear?” You tut, the playfulness in your grin giving you away.
You’re oblivious to the way Loki takes one last look at you as he turns to leave, he wishes he was not so attentive to your presence. Your closeness with his brother always perturbed him, discouraging him to engage in conversation with you.
Natasha takes note of the subtleties, tucking them away for later. You may not have wanted to get involved with Loki, but he did pay attention to you whether you noticed or not. She smirks to herself, she’ll have to talk to Thor later about her observations.
“As you wish,” Thor winks at you, following his brother through the doorway.
“Bye Thor,” You and Natasha wave. You would have tried saying goodbye to Loki, but he was already out of the room. Natasha peered to her side, your body deflated and your expression somewhat defeated.
“And that’s why I have not asked him out. As if I need any other sign that he isn’t interested,” You trudge out of the breakroom with your coffee, shutting the door to your office. You let out an exasperated breath, already logging back into your computer.
Natasha remained in the breakroom, thoughtful and sipping on her mug. “Hmm.” She hums. If she could do some more digging, things would get very interesting.