Chapter Text
Night had fallen over the ship — or at least, something close to it.
It wasn’t late, but late enough for silence to have swallowed the corridors. The voices had vanished.
Near the top of the ship, there was a secondary observation room, more discreet, more intimate. A glass bay and a massive dome fused into one, offering a panoramic view where a few asteroids drifted by.
Brunnhilde was there, sitting on the edge of a metallic structure, legs dangling into the void, a bottle in her hand.
She heard the footsteps before seeing who it was. Heavy. Steady.
Thor.
She didn’t turn her head. She knew it was him.
“I figured you’d show up eventually” she said calmly.
He walked closer, slowly. “I’m not waking you?”
“Not at all.” She raised the bottle. “Sit down, if you want.” So he came and sat beside her. Silence. But not an unpleasant one.
Then she handed him the bottle. He took it, looked at the neck for a moment, then took a sip. He winced a little. “Burns going down.”
“You’re exaggerating” she replied with a half-smile.
Thor spoke softly. “It’s beautiful here. Like… really.”
“I know.”
Thor was staring at the stars. Then he lowered his gaze. “Did he talk to you this afternoon?” he asked directly.
Brunnhilde instantly knew who he meant. She slowly shook her head. “No. But I saw the look in his eyes earlier at dinner. Well- before Selyara and Thérynne kept him… otherwise occupied.”
Thor let out a short amused breath. “I didn’t think they’d end up liking him that much.” He paused. “He looked… switched off” he said finally. “Like… I don’t know. Like there was nobody left inside. He avoided interacting with me as much as he could.”
Brunnhilde slowly turned her head toward him. She said nothing. Not right away.
Thor continued. “I keep thinking about it. The way he fades away. Even when he speaks. It’s not shyness. It’s… deeper. Like he doesn’t believe he’s allowed to be here.”
She nodded slowly. “That’s called surviving. Some people do it by screaming. Others… by disappearing. Remember this morning, when he talked about that fear he sometimes has? That fear of making noise, of being noticed, of existing.”
Thor shrugged, exhaled, and put a hand to his face. “All it took was a few words from Loki, and it all fell apart.”
Brunnhilde looked at him, for a long time. Then said “It’s not you he’s running from.”
“I know.”
“He’s running from himself. And you… you remind him of something too big. Maybe too gentle. That’s scary, you know, when you’re not used to it.”
There was a long pause before he spoke again.
“Last night, at dinner, I saw something I wasn’t supposed to see” he said in a breath. Brunnhilde looked at him carefully. “His arms… There were scars on them. Self-inflicted. I know what that means. It’s not common in Asgard, you know that, but I know what it means. And with everything I understood today, with what he told me, with what I saw… I can’t help but see it all differently now. It hits different. I can’t stop wondering what he must have lived through, to try so hard to barely exist.”
Brunnhilde stared at him. Then lowered her head. “Wow. I… wow.”
A pause.
Then she said, quite simply “You care about him.”
He opened his mouth. Then closed it. Then furrowed his brow. “Yeah. He’s my friend.”
She tilted her head back slightly, looking at him. “Loki must’ve really hit where he shouldn’t have. Why do you think he did that?”
Thor looked at her, then back up at the stars. “Loki is… complicated, I know that. He’s always felt rejected and different. I don’t understand everything, but I think it’s connected.”
Brunnhilde took a sip from the bottle sitting between them.
Thor continued. “I’ve never experienced anything like this with anyone else, and honestly, I’m trying to follow Bruce. I saw how off he seemed at dinner earlier. I notice when something’s different. But all his reactions, the reasons behind them, Bruce himself — I’m trying to follow it all, but it’s still blurry.”
Brunnhilde simply said, softly, “Sometimes, you don’t need to understand everything, you know. Just do what you feel you need to do. The answers will come on their own, little by little.”
And then, nothing more. They just stayed there. Side by side.
Admiring the starry wash before them.
𑁍
The light was dim. Just a small lamp on the bedside table cast a warm, comforting glow on the metallic walls of the room.
The door was closed. Bruce was sitting on his bed. Cross-legged, back hunched, shoulders slumped.
In front of him, on his knees: the notebook. The one he had dropped earlier, the one Thor had gently closed and set back down.
He’d picked it up again without a word, after Thor had left.
He had held it close for a long time. Too long. Like a burning object in his hands, heavy with meaning—something that could soothe what Loki had torn open.
Then, finally, he opened it.
The pages still bore the marks of that moment. Creased pages.
He slowly flipped through the few pages where the flowers, and the Asgardian alphabet written by Thor, were still visible.
And then he stopped on the first blank page.
He picked up the pencil. Pressed the tip to the paper. And started writing. He scribbled words. Thoughts he couldn’t bear to say out loud.
I don’t understand why it’s so hard to exist gently.
I don’t want to take up too much space. I don’t want to bother anyone.
But sometimes I feel like even breathing is too much.
I don’t know how to live without feeling like I’m too much, or not enough.
I’m tired. So tired. And yet, I’m still trying.
His fingers began to slow.
He turned to the next page. He started drawing. Nothing elaborate. Just a shape. He traced a silhouette. Broad at first. Square. Strong. The shoulders, the hair, the jaw. He knew it all by heart. It wasn’t detailed. He wasn’t aiming for realism. He was drawing from memory. From feeling. The figure was sitting on the floor.
Then he added a second silhouette, tiny in comparison, curled up beside the first, back against the wall, head resting on the other’s shoulder.
He wrote something just beneath it:
You stay even when you don’t understand.
You stay even when I say nothing.
Even when I’m worth nothing.
And that’s when it began to tremble.
First just his fingers. Then his breathing. Then his whole torso.
He shut the notebook abruptly, as if that might contain what was rising up. He pressed it tightly to his chest.
But the tears came anyway.
No screams. No outbursts.
Just that heavy weight in his throat. That broken, uncontrollable breath.
He tried to hold it back. To fight it.
But the tears fell, silently, down his cheeks.
For a long time.
He slowly buried his face in the crook of his arms, the notebook still pressed against him. And the memories, they floated behind his eyelids, the false hopes. Loki’s cutting words.
He felt like he was living between two worlds: One where he existed too loudly, and one where he wasn’t even sure he existed at all.
𑁍
Thor knocked three heavy times on Bruce’s door.
He waited. He knew Bruce was asleep.
He was about to knock again when the automatic doors unlocked.
Bruce appeared in front of him, half-asleep, hair a mess of tangled chaos. He’d clearly just woken up.
“Thor? What… You- Is something wrong?” “Get dressed. I want to show you something.”
“Thor- !” But he was already walking away.
So, still half-asleep, Bruce quickly grabbed some clothes and threw them on. He brushed his hair hastily and stepped outside.
Thor was waiting at the end of the hallway, arms crossed, a faint smile on his face. He didn’t say anything. Bruce — and some sleepy part of him — followed without a word through the silence of the ship.
They walked for a few minutes, climbed catwalks, passed through long, seemingly forgotten corridors.
Little by little, Bruce began to wake up, curiosity taking over.
“Where exactly are you taking me?” he finally asked, voice still a little hoarse.
“Somewhere you haven’t seen yet” Thor replied with a tone that bordered on solemn. “I think you’ll like it.”
Then they stopped before two large doors. Thor pressed his hand to a sensor on the side. The doors opened silently, revealing a massive room bathed in a soft half-light, touched with blue, violet, and orange hues.
Bruce stepped in slowly, and froze.
The main observatory.
The room was enormous. A vast dome, nearly invisible, its walls entirely made of glass. It opened above them to the deepness of space.
As far as the eye could see, stars stretched in every direction. Instruments of advanced technology filled the space.
Bruce approached a wide device that appeared to be capturing live cosmic waves. He ran a hand over it, mesmerized. “This is… incredible.”
Thor, still by the doors, watched his reaction closely, silently.
“I found this place yesterday while looking for Brunnhilde — who found it herself,” he finally said. “And when I saw it, I thought of showing it to you. I had to show you.”
Bruce nodded, saying nothing. A small smile crossed his lips, like he was rediscovering a forgotten feeling.
Thor stepped up to a console, brushed a command. The dome’s glass darkened, plunging them into shadow. A live holographic projection filled the room: a star system, planets emerging from the void, complex orbits.
They could almost wander through that part of the galaxy.
“This too, I had to show you” Thor said. “Because it’s so beautiful.”
“No way you figured out this projection on your own” Bruce chuckled.
“Well… I may have activated it by tripping over something and falling into the console that runs it. That might have caused it to switch on. I admired it for a while, and when I tried to turn it off…”
Thor didn’t finish. He made another gesture, and the image shifted. A deep red nebula bloomed across the space around them, edged with violet and golden threads.
Bruce opened his mouth, ready to whisper something, but nothing came out.
“It’s called Eirhala ” Thor said. “A starstorm in the making.”
Bruce turned to him, looked him in the eyes. His own glowed with their usual blue, lit now with red, violet, and gold from the nebula. There was something different in his gaze — a mix of surprise, gratitude, and a strange calm. Bruce’s eyes were shining too.
Shining with the nebula’s light.
Shining with wonder.
And they gave off a quiet warmth that reached Thor.
“I don’t even know what to say. This is… so beautiful. And it’s all for me…?” he asked softly.
Thor gave a slight shrug. “I figured you’d like it. I really wanted you to see it. The scientist in you.”
They stood in silence for a moment, watching the nebula drift across the projection.
When Thor finally shut it off, Bruce had turned toward a scientific instrument Thor couldn’t name, but he’d seen it before. “What’s this thing for again? I saw you with something similar once, and you were like-” Thor mimicked Bruce with an exaggerated, clumsy gesture. “And you made this face, like this-” then he imitated an overdone serious expression with furrowed brows.
Bruce couldn’t help but laugh. Not a loud, nervous, or controlled laugh — but a real one.
Something free echoed in his voice.
“I think it’s a kind of cosmic wave receiver” Bruce explained, pointing at the consoles “to transfer the data and study it properly.”
He spoke with knowledge, and with fascination. Thor only half-listened — caught somewhere between Bruce’s technical explanation and the beauty of watching him come alive through it.
It warmed Thor’s heart more than he cared to admit.
𑁍
Bruce had just returned to his room after dinner. He was in a good mood and had talked more than usual, thanks to Thor.
Loki hadn’t been there. Not at breakfast either.
He was about to head into the bathroom to take a shower when someone knocked on the door.
Two timid knocks.
Bruce walked toward the button to open the door — and instantly stiffened.
Loki.
“Can I come in?” There was no venom in his words. No threat in his eyes. No violence or defensiveness in his posture.
Bruce didn’t even notice that. Loki was still Loki.
A faint green shimmer passed over Bruce’s skin. He stepped aside to let Loki in. And Loki entered, cautiously.
“What do you want, Loki?” Bruce’s words didn’t sound like a question. They sounded like a threat, an attack. Loki turned slowly to face him. Bruce hadn’t moved from near the door. He went on. “You think you can just show up like that, come in like this place belongs to you?”
“I’m not here to cause trouble, Bruce. I’m here to-”
Bruce didn’t let him finish.
“You don’t need to add anything to what you said yesterday. That’s why you’re here, right? Isn’t it? You came to twist the knife even deeper, right where you knew it would hurt! No one knows how I feel about your brother, and you had to be the one to notice!? It had to be the damn great Loki who figured it out.” Bruce was pacing, shooting deadly glares at Loki every chance he got. His eyes had started to shine, and the green on his neck was slowly spreading. It scared Loki.
“Seriously, I know what you said yesterday was true, but was that really the way to say it ? I know Thor will never feel the same way. But I had hope! That hope kept me going. It was like a light in the shadow I live in. And you snuffed it out with a few words. You came and ruined everything in a single damn morning. You came to extinguish that light proudly . AND YOU DARE COME BACK HERE, IN FRONT OF ME!? Let me laugh…”
Loki’s chest tightened. Too tight. His throat too. Breathing was difficult. His eyes shimmered. He did everything he could to hold back the storm raging inside. He stepped forward, slowly, cautiously, hands slightly raised to show he meant no harm.
He began to speak softly. “Bruce… please, listen to me-”
And Bruce began to transform.
“SHUT UP.”
Hulk.
It was already too late.
Loki was trapped in the room, powerless. Hulk stood between him and the door.
He didn’t waste time. Hulk charged at Loki, trying to hurl him across the room. Loki dodged just in time and used the opening to escape the room. He slipped into a corner and cast an illusion of himself as a decoy.
Behind him, Hulk could be heard smashing things, chasing the fake Loki.
Once Hulk was far enough, Loki ran to Thor’s room, panicked. He didn’t even knock. “Thor-” But he wasn’t there. “No no no… Damn.”
Loki turned around and nearly sprinted away, short of breath, heart pounding. He needed to find Thor to fix this, to stop anyone from getting hurt.
He still heard the distant roar of Hulk, walls collapsing, furniture flying.
He tried to breathe calmly. Impossible. But he knew where to go.
The training room.
So he ran. Fast. He had to talk to him — urgently.
The door was ajar. Artificial light spilled in a golden rectangle across the ship’s metallic floor. Loki slowed. His heart, which had barely calmed for a second, began racing again.
He gently pushed the door open.
Thor was there. Shirtless, sweating, hitting what looked like a punching bag with all his might. Again and again.
Loki froze in the doorway. He didn’t dare speak. But Thor had heard him. He’d stopped without turning around.
“Thor…”
A single word. Simple. But it held everything. Loki was panicked. Truly panicked. He was filled with guilt.
He stepped forward slowly. “Thor… I… I didn’t know where you were. I… I’m really sorry… I didn’t mean to- I screwed up.”
Thor finally turned around. His face was tense, tired — but not angry. Just worried, and wary, worn out from Loki’s actions. But this time, he could sense something was wrong.
Thor spoke gently, stepping closer. “What did you do this time…”
Loki lowered his gaze, ashamed. He had never felt so… exposed. Defenseless. Unmasked. He began to speak fast. Too fast. “I… I went to see Bruce, and- he transformed. He… he was… angry. So angry…”
Thor moved closer to him, eyes locked on his. “Loki, calm down. Did he hurt you? Are you okay?” Loki just nodded. “Seriously, Loki! What did you say to him this time? What were you thinking!?”
Silence fell. Long. Heavy.
Loki hesitated. He lifted his eyes. They were shining. Then, in a low voice, almost a whisper, he replied. “I just wanted to apologize.”
That look from Loki hit Thor hard. He stepped even closer, gently took his brother’s forearm to comfort him, softly running his thumb across it to keep him grounded in the moment.
He had only seen Loki like this a few rare times, and it always hurt.
Loki looked away again, staring at Thor’s hand on his arm. “Listen to me. I know that everything you say to people reflects a lot of pain inside you. Pain you still refuse to share. I don’t know exactly what you said to Bruce yesterday, but I know there was something heavy behind it. As always. And I’m glad you wanted to apologize. I don’t blame you for triggering Hulk, because it wasn’t on purpose. First, let’s go calm Hulk before he hurts someone, okay? Then we’ll talk it all through, calmly. You know you can talk to me. I’m not here to belittle your emotions, Loki, or to ignore you. I’m here to support you, and to stand by you when things go wrong. You’re my little brother, and I love you.”
Loki inhaled sharply. His breathing was shaky. What Thor had just said had violently shaken something deep inside him. He looked up at Thor, timidly. He pressed his lips together to avoid collapsing completely, but they only formed a thin line. A few tears still rolled silently down his cheeks.
He whispered, voice broken, “I’m really sorry… for being like this… For everything…”
Thor didn’t reply. He pulled him into a warm, comforting hug. They stayed like that for thirty seconds or so, letting a few tears fall. Then Thor pulled back, his hands slowly trailing down Loki’s arms.
“Let’s go calm him down. Then we’ll talk.” He gently kissed Loki’s forehead, then released him and headed to the door to find Hulk, grabbing his shirt on the way. Loki, wiping his eyes, followed. He felt a little lighter than before.
So they rushed to the main hall. Loki trailed just behind.
When they entered, they froze.
Overturned tables. Dented walls. Two injured Asgardians on the floor, surrounded by others trying to help them up quickly. A child crying, clinging to his mother’s leg.
At the center of the chaos: Hulk . Huge, trembling, furious, his muscles tense and his eyes filled with a deep, quiet pain. He growled, lashing out around him like a cornered animal.
Loki and Thor were horrified.
Heimdall was there too. Trying to protect the Asgardians from Hulk, panicked.
“Heimdall, evacuate the room.” Thor said, his voice strong but calm, authoritative. “Take them elsewhere, get them away from Hulk. No sudden movements.”
People scattered in organized chaos. Hulk roared, stumbling back against a wall, as if he didn’t understand what was happening. As if he was in pain and didn’t know where to go. He punched the ground, then ripped a section of the wall away with a powerful cry.
Thor slowly raised his hands as he approached. He remembered what Natasha used to do. Words. A calm tone. A soothing rhythm. “Hey… hey big guy. It’s okay. It’s me, it’s Thor.” He spoke softly, like to a wounded animal. He walked slowly, every step calculated, while Loki stayed back, ready to intervene if needed.
Hulk suddenly turned his head toward him. He growled.
Thor didn’t move.
“You’re safe now. You don’t have to fight anymore. You don’t have to be afraid.”
A long silence. Hulk’s heavy, ragged breathing filled the room.
“I’m here, Bruce.” Thor murmured, barely more than a breath. “I’m here… I know you're here...”
Thor was just a meter away from Hulk.
Then suddenly, with the wall panel he had ripped earlier, Hulk struck Thor hard from the side, shouting:
“GO AWAY. Thor bad! Loki bad! Bruce not happy…!”
Thor crashed violently to the side, the metal panel slicing deeply into his flank. Blood poured out.
Loki, panicked, took a step forward, ready to react.
But Thor looked at Loki with a look that made him freeze. He tried to stand, teeth clenched, muscles shaking with pain. “Don’t move, Loki… Don’t worry, I’m fine.”
“Hulk… Bruce… Bruce, listen to me.” He limped, his pain obvious. “You’re not a monster. You’ve never been a monster. Please… come back.”
Slowly. Very slowly. Hulk calmed. He stopped moving.
His expression changed. He stared at Thor heavily, as if he recognized him. As if some piece of consciousness, of clarity, was surfacing.
Thor, still calm, still with that warm, reassuring tone, kept speaking. “Come back… For me.”
Hulk struggled internally.
And suddenly, he let out a scream—a gut-wrenching roar of pain… and began to shrink.
Hulk slowly gave way to a trembling figure, covered in scraps of torn clothing. Thor caught him, dropping to his knees with him. Bruce held his arms around himself as if holding himself together.
Loki immediately stepped closer. He slid his long coat over Bruce’s shoulders, who was still trembling slightly. Thor rested his hand on his shoulder.
Bruce, concerned, asked, “Did I hurt anyone? Tell me I didn’t…”
“Only two people. But nothing serious, just surface wounds.”
Bruce lowered his eyes, guilt-ridden, then saw Thor’s injury. “Oh god- Thor- did I do that? Are you okay? It’s bleeding a lot I… I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to…”
Thor cut him off, helping him up. “Bruce, it’s fine. I’m okay.”
Loki watched them a moment, saying nothing. His throat tightened again, for reasons he couldn’t explain. He lowered his eyes, ashamed once more, and just stood there. Present. Silent.
Thor tried to walk on his own, but eventually leaned on Bruce. “Let’s get to your room, find you some clothes.”
“And patch you up.” Bruce replied.
Loki watched them walk away. He didn’t know what to do anymore.
𑁍
Thor and Bruce were slowly making their way down the ship’s corridors toward Bruce’s quarters. Thor was still limping, his arm firmly draped over Bruce’s shoulder. Blood trickled softly between his fingers, but he downplayed the severity of the wound.
Bruce’s face was closed off, tense with worry.
They finally reached Bruce’s room. The doors opened silently, revealing a slightly messy space — no doubt from the earlier moment with Loki.
Bruce gently guided Thor toward the bed so he could sit. Then, without a word, he went to look for a first-aid kit, hoping to find one in the bathroom. His movements were mechanical, precise, but his heart was pounding.
Thor lay down on the bed, watching Bruce closely. He could see he was tense, blaming himself.
Bruce came back with gauze, a small bottle of antiseptic, thread, and a sterilized needle. He sat down next to Thor. “Take off your shirt so I can see.”
Thor obeyed without a word. He removed the hand that had been pressing against his wound, then pulled off the shirt. Bruce could tell it hurt. Thor downplayed it.
The wound was long and deep. Bruce gently placed his fingers just above it and poured some antiseptic. His fingers trembled slightly. The antiseptic stung. Thor winced.
“Sorry…” Bruce murmured. His voice was nearly inaudible. “It’s nothing” Thor said softly, frowning. “Are you okay?”
Bruce didn’t answer. He took a piece of gauze and wiped away the blood that had flowed. He moved mechanically, as if those actions were the only things keeping him grounded.
“Bruce” Thor repeated. This time, he placed a hand on his. “Talk to me.”
Bruce looked up. His eyes were bright. Wet. Filled with everything he kept buried. “Why are you like this with me…” Thor frowned. “Like what?”
“Kind. Always kind. Even after what I just did. Even after what Loki said to me.” Thor’s jaw tightened. “What did he say?”
Bruce looked away. “It doesn’t matter. He just… said what I already knew. What I have to accept.” Holding gauze over the wound, he picked up the needle to start stitching. Thor winced again when the needle entered. “Sorry…” Bruce said again “I know. You don’t have to say sorry every time.” A pause. Thor knew that this apology wasn’t just for the pain — it was for what had happened earlier. “It wasn’t your fault what happened. It was Loki who messed up, not you.”
Bruce pressed his lips together, his hands freezing for a second. The needle suspended mid-air, just above Thor’s skin. He didn’t look up.
“I messed up too… I let myself go. I let myself believe that…” He cut himself off and breathed in slowly, closing his eyes for a moment. “Never mind.”
Thor looked at him with quiet intensity. He could tell something was missing from the puzzle. But he also knew Bruce — and pushing him would only make things worse.
So he simply said “You have the right to break down sometimes. You’re human.”
Bruce let out a humorless laugh. “Human, sure. Until I turn a place into a ruin… Then I become the living nightmare.”
“You think you’re a nightmare?” Thor asked calmly, without judgment, eyes fixed on Bruce’s closed-off face.
“Sometimes. Yeah.” He placed the final stitch slowly. Then cut the thread with a quick motion. He still hadn’t looked up.
Thor gritted his teeth from the pain but didn’t flinch. Then, with all the gentleness he could muster, he murmured “You know what I see? Someone who keeps going, no matter what. Someone who could’ve run away a thousand times but stays. Someone who’s afraid of himself but still chooses to stay close to others.” Thor took a slow breath. “You’re not a nightmare, Bruce. You’re the bravest of us all.”
Bruce didn’t know what to say. He looked at Thor now, still sitting beside him. “I know I’ve said this before… You always find the right words.”
Thor just let out a soft laugh, smiling slightly. He sat up. “I’m going to my room to grab a shirt, then I’ll check if everyone’s alright and get some rest.” Bruce only nodded. “Of course.”
They looked at each other quietly, saying nothing.
Thor looked at him intensely — too intensely. He didn’t even realize. “Thank you…”
Bruce simply smiled.
Thor left the room after one last look at Bruce. He walked slowly through the corridors, his side still aching, his mind buzzing. Bruce’s last words echoed in his head. But that wasn’t what occupied his thoughts now. It wasn’t Bruce.
It was Loki.
He had let himself go in his arms for a moment. Had murmured words Thor had never heard him speak so honestly. He knew what it meant. He knew something was happening with Loki.
He was in his room now. The gentle dimness. He grabbed a clean shirt from the back of a chair, slipped it on slowly, then headed toward Loki’s room.
Loki’s door was closed.
Thor knocked. Once. Then a second time. No answer. He frowned.
“Loki, it’s me. Please open…”
Still nothing. But he knew Loki was there. He could feel his presence, that unique aura, laced with magic, with loneliness. Then the door opened. Loki tried to appear calm and indifferent, but Thor knew it was only a mask.
Thor stepped forward, Loki stepped back and sat on the edge of the bed. They looked at each other. Neither moved.
Silence.
Loki was shutting down already. Thor recognized that look — that mask that said I’m fine, I don’t need anyone. A lie he had told himself his entire life.
Thor quietly sat next to him. Loki stared at a spot in the distance; Thor stared at him. “Tell me what’s going on… Talk to me.”
Silence. Then a whisper, barely audible. “What does it matter anyway…” Thor looked at him fully, and it almost burned Loki. “It matters to me.” A pause. Thor wasn’t forcing anything. Loki inhaled—slowly, with difficulty. “All my life… I’ve felt like I didn’t belong. Like I was never in the right place. I mean, who wants to talk to Loki, the God of Mischief…”
Thor froze for a moment. “Loki…”
“I know I’m different. I always have been. And I’m tired of always spreading chaos around me.” His eyes were shining again. “You say you love me, that you’ll always be there. But how many times have I seen the looks change when I enter a room? How many times have I felt like I was too much? Like people put up with me out of pity? Out of obligation?”
Thor slowly shook his head, his eyes glistening too. “Loki, I’ve never looked at you with pity. Never.” Loki dug his nails into his palm to keep himself from breaking down. Thor noticed. His voice cracked. “Then why am I so afraid that you're gonna forget me?”
A deep silence fell. Thor gently reached out, placing his hand over Loki’s. Loki took it in return, their fingers intertwining. Thor had never seen his brother like this. So fragile. So open. So vulnerable. “Because you never learned what safety feels like. Because you still think you have to fight to exist without being a burden.”
Loki didn’t answer. He was looking at their joined hands.
“But you don’t have to fight with me.” Thor moved a little closer. “Bruce matters to me. Yes, that’s true. I care about him. He’s… special. But you, Loki, you’re my brother. You’re the most important person in my life. Nothing can change that.”
Loki closed his eyes. A single tear slid down his cheek. “Even if I keep making mistakes?” Thor let out a small amused breath, still perfectly serious. “ Especially if you keep making mistakes, idiot. That’s when you need love the most. And I’ll always be here.”
A long silence followed.
Then, in a hesitant, fragile movement, Loki leaned against Thor, resting his head on his shoulder. Thor wrapped his arms around him, this time without needing any words.
They stayed like that for a while.
The walls Loki had spent so long building, reinforcing, protecting — were slowly beginning to fall.
𑁍
Heimdall had returned to the main hall, telling the Asgardian people to evacuate to the secondary hall. He was discussing with Brunnhilde, who had just joined him. “Hulk looked really eaten away by what Bruce buried deep inside him”
Heimdall added. “He wasn’t at dinner yesterday, neither at noon nor in the evening,” Brunnhilde said in a bitter tone. “It’s still because of Loki. Yesterday, I was training with Thor in a gym we found, and Loki showed up. He seemed troubled. From what I gathered, he went and said atrocious things again. And this time, his target was Bruce.”
Heimdall chuckled, a reaction filled with bitterness. “People say Bruce is a threat on board the ship. The real threat is Loki.”
At that moment, Thor entered, heading towards them. “Is everyone okay?”
Heimdall replied “Everyone’s fine, yes. They were just scared. Only two people were hurt, but it’s just superficial.” An asgardian approached, followed by a small crowd behind. “Your Majesty, with all due respect, this Hulk is too big a threat.” A woman behind added. “How can we be safe if we have this kind of monstrosity with us?”
Thor replied, perplexed. “Bruce stays with us. It was just an accident, and I made sure it won’t happen again.”
There was nothing in his tone, but he was firm, protective in a way. Brunnhilde said, still behind Thor. “I hope you yelled at Loki good enough, I haven’t been back long and I’m already fed up with his crap.”
Thor replied, still firm. “Loki didn’t mean to do it. Give him some time.”
And then Thor left, giving orders to clean up the damage in the main hall.
𑁍
Bruce was in the immense observatory that Thor had shown him that morning. He sat on one of the desks, calm, his mind swirling with too many thoughts to think clearly — Loki’s words from the night before still echoed in his head, the wound he had inflicted on Thor, his reaction to Loki maybe too extreme? Or was he right and had nothing to blame himself for, having been so angry? His past, his present, and his future — all of it mingled together in his mind.
He was drawing in his notebook, again. Like he had done earlier. Bruce had never been a fan of drawing before, but since it was one of the few activities available on this ship, he found it rather soothing now. All his drawings were just vague sketches, unfinished—lacking details. Bruce liked them that way.
This time, a silhouette. Standing, head slightly turned, gaze lost in the distance. Tall. Broad. Long hair. Smiling. Warm. Radiant. Bright. Welcoming. Captivating.
Always Thor.
Flowers surrounded him. Bruce loved flowers. They were so beautiful, smelled so good. They seemed so cheerful, so warm, so radiant, so bright, so welcoming, so captivating too.
The door behind him opened, violently pulling Bruce back into the present moment. Then, a bad feeling.
He slowly turned around.
Loki.
Again.
Loki looked at Bruce. He didn’t move from the doorway. He didn’t dare. Another mistake would be unthinkable. “I'm sorry... I- I thought no one was here... I'll leave, sorry.” He was about to go when Bruce stopped him. “Loki. It's okay. You can stay.” Bruce didn’t even know why he said that. He moved over and made room for Loki. So Loki cautiously stepped forward and slowly sat down.
Bruce closed his notebook and grabbed something next to him. “Here, it’s your vest that you put over my shoulders earlier. I took it with me in case I ran into you when leaving my room.” Bruce looked at Loki, hesitant. Loki, who was looking at Bruce as well, took his vest calmly and then looked at his hands holding it. “Thank you.”
A pause.
Loki continued, in a low voice. “About this morning... I never meant to make you so angry. And I don’t blame you for losing your temper. I just wanted to apologize. Because you're right, that wasn’t the way to say it. Actually, it wasn’t something to say at all.” Loki inhaled deeply, though it was difficult. Bruce listened and watched him carefully, frozen.
“I don’t know how Thor feels about you. It was so stupid of me to say all that, but it’s always what I do when I feel threatened, I can’t help it- it’s stronger than me. And yet, really, I try to change... The thing is, my whole life, I’ve felt... different, apart. People looked at me strangely, they stared. I quickly developed a defensive and avoidant attitude. And that didn’t help me fit in. Today, people are afraid of me. They tolerate me only out of obligation and put on a good face, but honestly? Who really likes me?”
He let out a bitter, humorless laugh. He was still looking at his hands, gripping his vest firmly. “If I said all that to you... it's because I was afraid that your feelings were mutual, or that Thor just really liked you as a friend. I was afraid that Thor would forget me because of you, but that was just stupid. So I wanted to push you away from him. I know it doesn’t excuse anything. But I just wanted you to understand.” He closed his eyes, trying to keep his tears from falling. “I'm really sorry for saying all that to you.”
Bruce didn’t even know what to say. When Loki dared to raise his now-moist eyes, Bruce was looking at him too, wide-eyed. What Loki could see in his gaze was only surprise, understanding, pain, and gentleness.
Bruce lowered his eyes to the notebook he still held. “Did Thor force you to apologize? Does he know what you said to me?” Loki understood his worry. “No. Thor didn’t force me to do anything. I wanted to because it was so unfair to you. I chose to open up to you and confide in you. And I didn’t tell him anything about what I said to you. I made sure he knows nothing about your feelings because I respect you, and I respect your feelings.”
Bruce ran his thumb over the notebook’s cover. He glanced at Loki slightly, then went back to the notebook. “Thank you... for apologizing. And for not saying anything to Thor. I understand why you did it. Damn, I understand too well why. And I don’t blame you at all.”
Loki didn’t respond. A silence settled between them — not a cold or awkward silence, but a charged one. Something human, almost fragile. He slowly breathed in, then resumed in a calmer, almost gentle voice. “You know... I see myself in what you said. This constant fear of messing up. Of being seen the wrong way. Of ruining everything without understanding how. I’ve always been a bit... on the outside. Even before Hulk. I was just... too much. Too shy, too smart, too strange. And then, afterward, I became... too dangerous.”
He lifted his eyes to Loki, who wasn’t looking away. “You say people tolerate you out of obligation, that they pretend... I know what that feels like. That feeling of never really being at home, even among people you know. You’re not the only one.”
Loki blinked. Another discreet tear. He briefly looked away to wipe it off with his sleeve. But Bruce didn’t comment. He didn’t need to.
“And then...” Bruce hesitated. He hesitated for a long time. “Thor will never forget you. He talks about you in a way... He loves you, Loki. He loves you more than you think. You could do anything, and he would always come back.”
Loki’s jaw tightened momentarily, trying to contain the emotion surging within him. His voice, rough, barely rose above a whisper. “That’s what scares me the most.”
Bruce understood. He slowly nodded in silence.
Then, in an unexpected, uncalculated moment — Loki asked calmly. “Can I see your drawings?”
Bruce hesitated. What was inside was precious, intimate. Despite everything, he handed it over, because Loki would understand. He knew he would understand the sketches, the little notes left inside.
Loki took the notebook carefully, as if it contained something fragile. It did.
He opened it slowly, then turned the pages with care. A few sketches of stellar landscapes. Barely outlined faces. Details of hands, eyes. Flowers. A lot of flowers. Thor. Thor again.
Then, on the last page.
Thor. Standing. Majestic. Smiling. Surrounded by flowers that seemed to bloom from him. Like light.
Loki froze before the image, then slowly raised his eyes to Bruce, who was watching him with a certain nervousness.
“You see him like this.” He murmured. It wasn’t a question. More of a realization.
Bruce simply looked away and nodded.
A brief silence followed. Then Loki gently closed the notebook and returned it to Bruce. He looked at him for a long moment before saying simply “He’s lucky.”
Bruce frowned slightly, confused. “Who?”
Loki smiled softly, tired, sincere. “Thor. To have someone who sees him like that.”
Bruce didn’t know how to respond to that. He looked at the notebook still on his lap, slightly caught off guard by the remark. He felt something tighten in his chest — a mix of gratitude, pain, and that strange feeling he couldn’t name, but knew too well.
He gently placed the notebook beside him. His fingers remained resting on it, as if letting go now would cost him something. He glanced at Loki, who, for once, wasn’t hiding behind irony or superiority. He was just there. Human.
“You know” Bruce said after a moment “I think you need someone who sees you… differently too.”
Loki slowly turned his head towards him, surprised.
“Someone who doesn’t see you as the God of Mischief or as a threat. Just you. Someone who sees… what you’re trying to become, and not just what you’ve been. You could tell the truth to people, you know. I mean… the proof is, I see who you really are now.”
Loki wanted to respond, but no words came out. He seemed almost destabilized by such clarity, such disarming kindness. He didn’t deserve it.
Another silence settled, but it was different from before. Less heavy. Less tense. There was something fragile yet peaceful, like a delicate balance neither wanted to break.
And then Bruce, as if the thought had just struck him, added in a soft voice. “You know, you could talk to him too. To Thor. Really talk. He listens, you know. Even when you think he doesn’t.”
Loki sighed gently, the way someone burdened with an old, persistent exhaustion would. “It’s not that I don’t want to talk to him. It’s that I’m afraid of what I might hear if I do. And I really hate talking about how I feel.”
Bruce slowly nodded, understanding better than anyone. “Then we’re two.”
They exchanged a long, genuine look.
And for a moment, the immensity of the observatory, the stars, the ship — everything disappeared around them. There were only two fractured beings, connected despite themselves by an invisible thread woven from different pains but a similar solitude.
Bruce finally stood up slowly, without abruptness. “Come on. We’re not going to sit here brooding all night.”
Loki raised an eyebrow, almost mockingly, almost like himself. “Are you inviting me on a sentimental stroll?”
Bruce gave a tired half-smile. “I’m inviting you to take a walk. Just… breathe. Maybe afterward, things will be a little clearer.” Loki hesitated for a moment, then he stood up.
They left the observatory together, Loki with his hands in his pockets, silent at first, each lost in their thoughts. Their footsteps echoed faintly in the pristine corridors of the ship, a distant echo of their conversation — too intimate to be commented on further. But the atmosphere was no longer heavy. It was strange, floating, suspended — as if something had shifted between them.
After a few minutes, Bruce was the one to break the silence, his voice lighter, almost hesitant, unsure of what he was doing. “You know, I recently discovered that Thor doesn’t know how to use a microwave, even after I explained it to him countless times.”
Loki turned his head toward him, eyebrows raised. “Excuse me?”
Bruce let out a small laugh. “No, really. One time, he put Mjolnir inside. I’ve never seen a god back away from an appliance so fast. Everything exploded. He told us he was trying to warm it up because it had been in the cold for too long.”
Loki blinked, then made a sound — a quick, surprised chuckle, but sincere. He shook his head. “That’s not true… Actually, that doesn’t surprise me. He’s always had this naive enthusiasm for Midgard’s objects… but never reads the manuals.”
Bruce smiled. “Once, he thought a soda vending machine was some kind of trap. He attacked it with Mjolnir, again. Just because the can got stuck.”
Loki put a hand over his mouth, this time unable to hold back a clearer laugh. “Oh, by all the realms, of course he did. I remember a banquet in Asgard where he mistook an enchanted mirror for a window into a parallel world. We were children — he spent two hours talking to his own reflection. He almost proposed to himself.”
Bruce laughed. “Seriously?”
Loki responded theatrically. “He probably would have said yes.” “Of course.”
They looked at each other, and this time, they both burst into laughter. A real laugh. Free of the previous weight. It was absurd, unexpected, but deeply necessary.
They resumed walking, more slowly now, as if simply existing side by side in this empty corridor had something healing about it.
“You know” Bruce said, slipping his hands into his pockets, “sometimes I forget how… human he is. Thor. Even though he’s technically not at all.”
Loki nodded slowly. “Yes. He is… full of light, and yet so simple, sometimes. That’s what makes him so infuriating. And so difficult to hate.”
Bruce smiled softly. “That’s what makes him so easy to love.”
Loki didn’t respond to that. He just kept walking, his gaze fixed ahead, calmer than he had been in days.
A moment later, as if wanting to prolong this truce, Loki said lightly, “When Thor was little, he called Mjolnir Mimi .”
Bruce chuckled. “Aww, that’s adorable.”
Loki continued, still theatrically. “But if you repeat that, Banner, I swear I’ll trap you in an illusion where you’re chased by a hundred singing Mjolnir for a week.”
Bruce was already laughing too much to take the threat seriously. He still protested. “Why did you tell me if I can’t repeat it! I can’t believe this… Fine, deal.”
They stayed like that for a few seconds, walking side by side in the silent corridor, almost at peace.
Then Loki sighed, with a small ironic but not cruel smile. “You know, you and me… we’re terribly mismatched.”
Bruce looked at him, hands in his pockets, a thoughtful expression. “And yet… it works, doesn’t it?”
Loki raised an eyebrow. “That’s real chaos.”
Bruce smiled. “I’ve seen worse.”
And without another word, they kept walking. Away from the stars, the responsibilities, the regrets. Just two battered souls who, for once, didn’t need to explain themselves.
Just exist. Together.
At some point, they reached the corridor where their rooms were. Loki said calmly, “Nice nighttime walk. Good night, Bruce.”
Bruce simply smiled. He slipped into his room and, looking at Loki, slowly closed the door. Loki, calmer than before, did the same.
Both of them went to sleep, more at peace than before — thanks to this truce, these apologies, and these ridiculous but warming anecdotes.