thor, bruce, & tutoring

IV: car rides, dogs, & cupcakes

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"I like you
Sorry I never meant to but who're we kidding, It wasn't like I had a say."

(I Like U by NIKI)

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The three of them entered the parking lot, not that Bruce had really noticed. He was internally freaking out about how close he'd be to his crush for probably hours and how awkward it would be in the confined space of the car and good LORD where do I sit?

(Normally, people don't stress about where they sit in a car. Unfortunately, Bruce had more anxiety than the average person and was, therefore, stressing.)

He snapped out of his internal freakout as Thor approached an old, beaten-up Jeep and started unlocking it manually, to which Bruce tried to suppress his surprise. He was pretty sure the Odinsons were rich, after all, so why was Thor still driving a car that had stopped being made in 2001?

The blond swung the door open and unlocked the other doors, to which Loki responded to by immediately hopping into the backseat and shutting his door with a slam.

Bruce slipped into the passenger seat, dropped his backpack on the floor, and buckled up. When he was all settled, Thor started up the car. It puttered to life, with Bruce hoping to the Dear Lord of Cars for it to not break down.

"Hey, um, the air conditioning doesn't work so we're going to have to roll down the windows, okay?" Thor asked, his tone concerned.

"Sure, yeah, that's fine. I don't mind."

"Alright."

Thor put the car in gear and they were off, wind whipping through the windows and tangling Bruce's curls. He was sure they'd be giving him hell when he tried to untangle them later.

"Do you mind if I play some music?" Thor asked, breaking the silence, quickly glancing over at Bruce. He noticed that Thor was a very careful driver, which he thought cute.

"No, of course not," Bruce replied, a little hurriedly; he cursed at himself internally. Stop being so awkward.

Thor looked over at Bruce and smiled and pushed a cassette into the tape player. Music streamed through the speakers, and he turned up the sound so they could hear it above the wind. Bruce recognized the song as one of the Beatles'. Nice.

Bruce watched as the city eventually turned into the countryside outside his window, nodding his head slightly to the beat of the songs as they played. He wasn't that into upbeat songs (he preferred more calming ones), but he actually really liked the Beatles, and it made him happy to know Thor did too.

Thor turned onto a dirt road and drove down it for a couple minutes before turning onto a gravel road, a house coming into view from behind the trees. It was a nice, cozy house; two stories tall with a wrap-around porch (which wasn't exactly what Bruce was expecting given the Odinsons' large bank account), and he liked the homey feel it gave.

Maybe it was because of the Beatles, or maybe it was because the car ride lessened his anxiety, but Bruce had a good feeling about this.

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"Do you want to set up at the dining room table?" Thor asked Bruce as they walked up the stairs to the front door.

"Sure."

Thor pulled out his keys. "Oh, also, do you mind taking off your shoes? My mom doesn't like us wearing them inside."

"Um, okay. Where do you want me to put them?"

"You can just toss them with the others," Thor replied as he opened the door and kicked his shoes off to the side. Bruce stepped inside and did the same, Loki following suit.

"You can set your backpack on the table," Thor told Bruce, pointing at the long table in the room to their right. "I need to check on the dogs."

"You have dogs?" Bruce asked, his face lighting up. He loved dogs.

"Two. Want to meet them?"

"Yes, please."

Thor and Bruce walked over to a door that led to the back porch, and Thor opened it. Two dogs ran up the porch steps and into the house, barking and jumping on Bruce as a greeting.

"What are their names?" Bruce asked as he sunk onto his knees, petting them both as they continued to circle around him and try to get as close to his face as possible.

"The yellow one is Valkyrie and the other's Dodger," Thor replied.

"Valkyrie?"

"Like the female warriors from Norse mythology," Thor explained. "I wanted to be one when I was little."

"Then why is this one named Dodger?" Bruce asked, laughing a little as said dog licked his cheek.

"Steve named him, and we all know how much he loves the Dodgers," Thor said, rolling his eyes.

"Ah, that explains it. But why Steve?"

"He found Dodger on the street a couple or so years ago but couldn't keep him, so he gave him to me."

"Oh, well I'm glad he has a good home now," Bruce smiled at the dog and ruffled his fur one last time before standing. "Do you wanna get to work now?"

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The session went well, and Bruce was impressed; Thor was a quick learner and understood most of the information upon first hearing it.

He thought he was falling harder for the blond.

"Oh!" Thor exclaimed, standing up. "I have something for you."

"What is it?"

"Follow me." Thor led him to the kitchen and opened a container from on the counter and showed it's contents to Bruce.

"Cupcakes?"

"Yep! Red velvet. I gave some to Steve earlier and I had some left over and thought maybe you'd want some?"

"Of course! They look delicious," Bruce smiled, taking the cupcake from Thor's outstretched hand. Just then, Loki (who was Skyping a friend in the other room) yelled "Brunnhilde!" causing the dogs to bark and Bruce to jump, the cupcake flying out of his hand and smearing all over his shirt before falling onto the floor.

All in all, Bruce fucked up.

Shit.