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Thor didn’t know this was going to be so hard. He had it planned for weeks but when it came down to actually completing the task he was woefully unprepared for the difficulty.
Another small white ball escaped from his fumbling grasp and he cursed, scrambling after it before it could escape from the bed.
The surface of the blanket was already covered in the little balls inked with the word PROM? in large block letters.
Looking around the room Thor sighed, he had almost finished the first bulk bag he had ordered and he had 21 more to go. It had taken him an hour to finish as far as he had and he needed all of them done by the next morning.
Hearing a noise outside of his room in the hallway he hurried to drag the blanket over the finished balls, panicking as he realised he had no way to hide the remaining bags that littered every available surface in his room, piling up on each other in an attempt to fit.
Leaping to his feet he ignored the cascade of white ping pong balls that followed his movement, slinking around the edge of his door and slamming it shut behind him.
Turning sheepishly from his vibrating door he came face to face with Loki, the slighter boy looking up at him in shock from his sudden exit, hands clutching the frayed edges of his sweater.
Realising how silly he must look the dark haired boy closed his mouth with a quiet click, the corner of his lips curling up in a slight smirk. Thor felt his heart flutter at the action, stepping away from the door to invade the shorter teens personal space.
“Do I even want to know?” Loki giggled, hands fisting in the thick material of Thor’s varsity jacket, pulling himself up onto his tiptoes to press a soft kiss to the blonde boy’s lips.
“Probably not,” Thor said sheepishly, shuffling his feet as he wrapped large arms around a tiny waist, pulling Loki closer to kiss him soundly, one hand slipping up from his waist to tug at long ebony strands.
Loki grinned as they separated, running elegant fingers down the side of Thor’s stubbled cheek affectionately. “I have assignments to write,” he said quietly, stepping out of Thor’s embrace with obvious reluctance.
“I’ll invite the other Avengers over then and we can have a movie night in the den,” Thor brightened suddenly, inspiration striking as he thought of the help his friends could provide.
“I cannot believe you keep that silly nickname,” Loki huffed amusedly, hands gripping broad shoulders as Thor tugged him closer, wrapping the slighter form in his muscled arms, lips pressed to the crown of his head.
“It was Principal Fury who first gave it to us but Coach Coulson kept using it and it just stuck.” Thor protested, the affronted tone completely disregarded by the fact he nuzzled into Loki’s hair, breathing in deeply before pressing a final kiss to his hairline and urging him towards his bedroom.
“Now go finish your assignment, I will not have you failing a class,” Loki shot him a suspicious look but slipped into his room, the door clicking shut behind him.
Shooting the closed door a final look Thor hurried back into his own room, slipping in and grabbing his phone from where it had been discarded on the floor, hurriedly opening his messaging app and slipping onto the Avengers group chat.
You are now logged in as GodOfThunder
GodOfThunder – I NEED OF EVERYONE’S HELP!!
Within minutes all of his fellow avengers were logged on, concerned replies flooding his inbox along with the obligatory snark filled but ultimately caring response from Tony.
BlackWidow – What do you need Thor?
Hawkeye – I’m bored anyway; I’ll help…. As long as it doesn’t involve me being injured again
Captain - Of course Thor
Barnes – Who’d you hit, what precinct and what’s the bail?
IronMan – Honestly Thor we’ve had this discussion before. When typing use lowercase letters, we know you’re loud we don’t need to be reminded all the time. As for the help whatever you need buddy
Hulk – As long as it’s not like the last time I’ll help Thor
GodOfThunder – You are all indeed great friends. I need help at my house, come as soon as you are able it’s an emergency
Thor logged off with a pleased grin, his friends were some of the best people he had known and the fact they were so willing to help without knowing the details gave him a warm feeling in his chest.
Half an hour later all the Avengers were clustered in the den, staring in shock at Thor who was surrounded by the giant bags of ping pong balls, those he managed to complete laying on the floor near the table.
The blonde man shrugged sheepishly, subtly kicking a bag out of the way as he hurried to join his friends, staring proudly at the bags that covered every surface in the room.
“What the hell are you doing point break?” Tony finally managed to get out, wading into the room and poking at one of the bags, giggling as it jostled and split open, the balls cascading out in a waterfall of white that covered the floor.
Steve joined him a moment later and tenderly removed the genius from the wall of white, setting him back on the ground near the others and cuddling him close to prevent him from touching more of the bags. Tony pouted for a moment but still cuddled back into his boyfriend’s embrace, unable to deny the tall blonde anything.
“I am going to ask Loki to prom,” Thor explained, handing them a finished ping pong ball, the large black ink PROM? standing stark against the white background. “But I cannot get them all done by tomorrow. I plan to put them in the nets above the court and when the game is finished get Loki on the courts and let them all fall.”
Natasha laughed, “You don’t do anything by half do you Thor? Loki is a lucky guy.”
“I’m the lucky one,” Thor objected, throwing the ball back to land amongst the meagre amount finished. “Will you help me?” he begged, unable to think of what he would do if they refused.
“Of course we will Thor,” Bucky said, clapping the blonde on the shoulder and moving to grab the first of the bags.
Clint nodded, moving towards where Bucky was sitting, Bruce grabbing one of the markers Thor held out and smiling at the blonde.
“We’ll help to.” Steve said, speaking for both him and Tony, finally allowing the genius out of his arms.
Thor chuckled excitedly, joining his friends around the first bag that had been carefully split open on the table. “We must be quiet though, Loki’s upstairs working on an assignment and if we’re to loud he’ll come down and tell us to be quiet so he can work.” Thor explained, Steve nodding along in thought for a few minutes, his face screwed up in concentration.
“Okay here’s it’s going to work. Clint you’re on lookout since you’re nearest the door, even the slightest hint of Loki and you warn us so we can hide everything before he comes in. Natasha you’re the best at subterfuge, if he comes down you have to get rid of him quickly. Bruce we need a movie so it looks like we’re doing something and he doesn’t get suspicious. Thor we need food to, there’s no reason we’re just hungry. Bucky, Tony we’re going to find a way to set up an area to keep the one’s we’ve finished. Let’s do this.”
Smiling widely at his friends increasing excitement at the idea Thor headed to the kitchen to make some huge bowls of popcorn, grinning at the sight of his friends already working diligently on inscribing the small ping pong balls.
The game was close, seconds on the clock with only a few points in it. At the last second Steve stole the ball from the opposition, passing it skilfully to Bucky who dodged the player tailing him and passing it off to Thor. With a final burst of speed Thor launched the ball at the basket, fingers crossed as it circled the rim before dropping into the net.
The court exploded into sound, the band striking up in victory and the cheerleaders whipping the crowds into a frenzy. Thor ignored all that, eyes searching the stands for the familiar slim features of his love.
His eyes found emerald green and he felt his face break into a huge grin, Loki was flushed with excitement, his hair escaping its ponytail in small strands that framed his face, cheering with his friend Sigyn by his side. His smile widened when he caught Thor looking at him, the pleased glint in his eyes turning Thor’s stomach into butterflies.
His view was stolen seconds later as the team thundered up, crashing into him and sweeping him up into a victory group hug, jumping and shouting as they celebrated.
“Are you ready to do this?” Tony was there seconds later, holding out the commentator’s microphone with a pleased smirk, his other hand clasped firmly in Steve’s who was staring at him in fond awe.
Thor suddenly felt his stomach drop, his palms becoming clammy and his mouth dry up. He was really doing this; he was really going to ask Loki to prom. What if he said no? What if he didn’t want to go with Thor and go with someone else instead?
He was jerked out of his thoughts by Steve’s hand landing on his shoulder, smile reassuring as he cuddled Tony into his side. Thor could see the other Avengers had joined him on the courts, grouping behind him in support.
“You’ve got this Thor. Loki may not like many people but he adores you, he loves you. There’s no way he’s not saying yes.” Steve encouraged, his other friends nodding behind him.
Thor nodded resolutely, raising the microphone to his lips and turning back to the cheering crowd.
“Can Loki please come join me down on the courts? I have an urgent situation that requires his presence” His voice filled the gym and the cheering turned down to a more manageable level as people turned to stare at Loki who was looking at him in confusion. The crowd parted to form a walkway to the stairs and the lithe brunette followed it, movements uncertain as he slowly descended the stairs.
Thor turned to hand the microphone to Tony who smiled brightly from his place by Steve’s side. Thor looked at his other friends, Bruce cuddled up under Bucky’s arm, Natasha resting against Pepper, Clint standing a little too close to the coach, their hands subtly entangled as they watched.
Breathing in deeply to steady his nerves he turned back to face Loki who was hovering uncertainly on the edge of the courts, hands twisted in the mint fabric of his sweater, conversed feet scuffing against the polished wood.
Thor beckoned him forward and the brunette shuffled towards him until they were a few feet apart, standing in the centre of the court. Thor rolled his eyes and pulled Loki closer, their bodies inches apart as he gazed into Loki’s eyes.
“Loki you have been with me through everything, you have been my rock, my safe place. You are there when I feel sad or angry. You snark and you bitch but you’re caring and you do everything to help someone you think has been wronged. You are the most contradictory person I have ever met, the only one who has me confused about whether I want to hit them or kiss them. You are in short the most amazing person I have ever met and I have a very important question.”
“Thor what are you doing?” Loki’s voice wavered with nerves and Thor placed a finger beneath his chin, tilting his head back to press a feather light kiss to his lips, subtly, signalling for the nets to be released. Hundreds of ping pong balls flooded from the ceiling, covering the stands and court in a layer of white that mimicked an almost snow like fall.
Loki knelt down and with a shaking hand picked up one of the balls, turning it over in his hands with a gasp as it revealed the boldly written PROM?
“Loki you are the love of my life, would you do me the honour of going to prom with me?” Thor asked, heart clenching as the seconds passed without an answer, the stands were silent as everyone seemed to hold their breathe.
“Thor you absolute idiot,” Thor felt his heart fall at the words, missing the fond smile curving at the corner of Loki’s lips. “Of course I’ll go to prom with you.”
Thor glanced up in shock, seeing the wide grin on Loki’s face. A bellow like laugh left his chest and he lifted the slighter form into his arms, swinging him around in joy as he pressed kisses across every inch of the pale face before finally reaching peony lips, hand buried in dark tresses as he celebrated.
The stands had erupted in a frenzy of excitement at the affirmation and his fellow Avengers were cheering loudly when a second lot of ping pong balls exploded from the ceiling, these ones covered not only with black ink but a rainbow of colour.
Loki broke the kiss to bend down and pick several up, laughing as he saw the words scrawled across all of the surfaces. HE SAID YES!!
“Oh you were that confident I’d say yes were you?” he jokingly pressed, holding up the ball.
“No... but I hoped,” Thor grinned, tugging Loki close again and pulling his hair free of the ponytail, the strands cascading over fragile shoulders. Winking at his friends, who waved back, he wound his fingers through ebony strands, hauling Loki closer to claim his lips in a passionate victory kiss, ignoring the cheering crowd converging on the court around them.