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"What?" Loki hisses, red eyes narrowing. His fingers are still curled up and stiff, sparking with a last wisp of oily green fire. His hair is starting to pull lose from his braid and his chest is heaving just a little.
"Nothing," Peter says, quickly ducking to look around the corner. Loki's eyes are nearly slits when Peter looks back at him.
"Nothing," Peter repeats, scowling. "Come on, coast is clear."
Loki rolls his eyes, huffing, but he's steps behind Peter when they head down the hallway.
When did Loki get hot?
***
When they're safely back in their shared bunk, Peter actually starts to consider that this is going to be a problem as he watches the muscles ripple under Loki's skin.
"What the hell is Yondu's problem?" Loki complains, yanking his hair free of its braid.
"Well, you know. He's Yondu to start."
Loki snorts, glancing over his shoulder with a glimmer of amusement in his eyes and yeah, Peter is totally in trouble. Loki isn't supposed to be hot. He's a frost giant, that should be against the rules or something. Not--not--
"Whatever." Loki flops down on the bed next to Peter, just like he always does, just like he always has because frost giant and Loki's not so different than Peter in holding onto what he remembers of where he's from. Frost giants do cuddling, or something. They like being around people, and since they basically grew up together it's not ever pinged as weird for Peter they'd end up sharing a room or anything.
Except now Peter's trying to convince himself not to stare at the way Loki's tracing his fingers idly over his stomach. There's zero reason to make this weird.
"Are you even listening?"
"Uh."
Loki huffs and rolls over, kicking Peter in the ribs in the process.
"I do not know what your issue is, but fix it. I'm going to sleep."
***
Peter is pretty sure this isn't puberty. He did puberty. He still is sort of doing puberty, with the weird hormones and boners at the worst moments.
He has totally never been attracted to Loki. Like ever. That would be weird.
Being a time of crisis, he puts his headphones on and hopes maybe he can find a little peace there.
***
Minus how Loki keeps touching him. Loki totally didn't touch him that much before, right?
"What the hell is your problem?" Peter asks, because there's only so many blurry and unformed sex dreams he can have about his supposed to be partner in crime before his nerves start to fray.
Loki's face goes blank and Peter has no idea where the frost giant is sleeping, but it's definitely not in their staked out hole of the ship.
***
Peter wakes up to lukewarm and clammy and a weight pressing down on him and wonders what the hell happened to the environmental controls before he hears a moan and cracks his eyes open to find that actually, that's Loki who is clammy and running burning hot if he's coming off lukewarm and he is definitely wrapped around Peter and nope-nope, Peter is not fucking up the only semi-sane relationship he has on this damn ship if he can help it.
"Peter," Loki moans right in his ear and he definitely does not allow himself to crumble.
"What the hell, man?" Peter says instead, trying to pry Loki off him. Loki just clings tighter.
"No, no no no." Loki goes silent, tensing, then mumbles into Peter's collarbone.
"What?"
"I said I think I'm in heat," Loki repeats, entirely resentful, like it's Peter's fault his body is doing weird shit.
"I don't know what that means."
Loki punches him in the kidney.
"Hey, that hurt! What the fuck was that for? You're the one glued to me being weird."
"We are never speaking of this again."
"Wait is this why you've looked hot all week?"
There's a deafening silence as the words leave Peter's mouth. It's awkward and horrible as the first time Loki and him got left alone after they picked the frost giant up off Jotunheim.
"Possibly," Loki says the exact same way he always says it, which means yes. He's grinding his teeth, Peter can feel the movement (what can he not feel of Loki right now?), but he hasn't bitten Peter or punched him again so, hey, small victories.
"Just--" Loki bites off, shuddering.
"Just?" Peter prompts.
"Just stay put. And don't do anything."
"Hands above the waist, got it." Peter contemplates offering a companionable shoulder pat just to make sure Loki is aware he understands, and then decides he'd really rather not risk it.
"Hey, how come this hasn't happened before?"
"Shut up. Shut up shut up shut up--" and Loki has unclung just enough to shove one hand in Peter's face. It's surprisingly easy to get it back out of his face, at least, but it doesn't change that Loki's still trying to shove him away while also staying glued to his side. A few awkward minutes pass after the struggle stops.
"It's a Jotun thing," Loki finally mutters. "Puberty."
He shudders, not unlike how Peter did when Yondu gave him the Talk.
"Huh."
Loki sniffs, then he does it again, and Peter tries desperately hard to ignore both his increasing erection and the way Loki's starting to grind against his thigh again.
"How, uh. Long does this last? And why me?"
"You're an idiot."
Peter contemplates how this doesn't really answer either of his questions, but he decides that he'll just have to take it, because Loki is pretty clearly not going to tell him anything else.
***
It is, quite possibly, one of the most awkward nights of Peter's life, but hey, at least it's more awkward for Loki. That's something.
***
"We're not ever talking about this," Peter tells Loki.
"Good," Loki says. "I was worried I'd need to kill you."