Summary: When your winter walks with Loki take on a sharper edge of discomfort, will he notice? Will he make you go back?
Warnings/Notes: I know, I know: another āyou hate the cold but you like walking around with Lokiā story so soon after the last one, but Iām pretty sure last week was the last week of winter in my area, so I was trying to look on the bright side of all the cold-ass weather, you know?
New but Retroactive Reminder for this and all of my fics: I do not, have not, and will not give anyone permission to copy/paste, translate, or otherwise take or modify this story to post it anywhere else. You can find my stories here on Tumblr or under kaeorin on AO3, but nowhere else. This does not apply only to fics which hold this disclaimerāNONE of my works are to be stolen or modified. Additionally, please remember that Liking a post on Tumblr does not increase the author's exposure. I don't run your life, but readers should be reblogging the works they like.
Talk Honestly
You didnāt like the cold.
Never had, never would. There was no real tragic backstory associated with it, either: you just hated the feeling of being not-warm: the way your skin prickled, then stung, then went dead and numb. The way your eyes watered and your nose ran. The way you shivered until your body ached and you couldnāt think of anything else. When it got below a certain temperature, it was like it was wholly impossible for you to don enough layers to keep yourself comfortable. For most of your life, youād done your absolute best to avoid the cold as much as you possibly could, which meant spending a lot of winters holed up in whatever shitty apartment or safe house you could find.
And then youād met Loki.
Heād been more of less trapped in the Tower with the rest of the Avengers. Thor had given some sort of explanation for it, but you could barely remember it most of the time. It didnāt matter. Youād never cared why he was there, or howāall youād really cared about from Day One was how miserable he looked. Immediately, youād set about working to befriend him, feeling rather like you were in one of those movies where a kid tries to make friends with an angry wild animal. Heād lashed out at you plenty of times, but you just kept working at it. You didnāt take it personally, because he didnāt know you personally.
After quite some time, and a lot of self-doubt and licking your metaphorical wounds, he seemed to soften to you. He began to tolerate you a little more, and even started talking to you. Like, of his own free will. Sometimes heād seek you out and strike up a conversation out of absolutely nowhere, and you tried hard not to let him know how happy that made you. He probably knew. He knew so much else about you anyway. Itād be harder to feel weird about that factāabout how much he was apparently learning about youāif he wasnāt also doing his best to allow you to learn things about him.
He liked to walk. Or maybe it wasnāt a matter of liking it so much as merely needing it. Often, he slipped out of the Tower (usually when Thor was being especially buoyant or the others were making too many of their stupid jokes at his expense) and roamed the city. Not long after learning that about him, you started accompanying him. He told you so much on those walks, so many things that you couldnāt help but assume you were the only other one to know about. Maybe the physical activity made it easier. Maybe it was the fresh air or not being surrounded by the Avengers. Maybe it was just the fact that, unlike the other people on the streets, you didnāt give him weird looks or cross the street to get away from him. Whatever the real reason was, you had truly come to love taking your walks with him.
And then winter fell in around the city. There was never much of a build-up of snow in New York, that was true, but when the frozen winds whipped around the skyscrapers and through alleys, it never failed to find its way through all your many layers to make you shiver.
You did your best to keep it hidden from Loki for as long as you possibly could. On your last walk, the cold air had jarred something loose in him, and he told you about his apparent origin story. He did it quietly, almost under his breath, and youād had to inch a bit closer to him to be sure you caught all the words. It was clearly something that weighed on him, but he still struggled to find a way to say the words to you. On that walk, itād been easy to push aside all thoughts of your discomfort in favor of giving him your complete attention. When heād trailed off into a silence that lasted longer than the others, you had not hesitated to reach out and take his hand in yours, squeezing it tightly. You searched for the right words to say, but all you really managed had been a mumbled āIām sorry they kept all that from you. Iām glad youāre here.ā
Today, your conversation ran a little closer to normal. You had to assume that either Loki regretted sharing his deepest and darkest secret with you yesterday, or else that heād simply run out of things to say to you. That was fine. What counted was that heād still invited you out. Heād watched as you bundled up in all your many layers, and, as usual, had laughed when youād offered him one of your spare scarves or pairs of mittens. Every time he watched you dress up like this, it made you sort of shrivel up inside, and sort of made you want to wear a few less layers than usual, but you knew better than that. Today it felt especially ridiculous. Lokiāan Asgardian prince, a Jƶtunn prince, a man born in a realm of snow and iceāwatched you armor up for your brief walk out in the Midgardian winter, and he did not utter a single word to make you feel bad or silly about that. When you were finished, you did your absolute best to give him a grateful smile and to thank him sincerely.
You walked together for a long time. The sun was already on its way past the horizon when you set out, so as you strolled and chatted here and there, that odd city-darkness began to settle in. At some point, it had started to snow, so frequently your attention was drawn to the sight of the flakes against the lights and the night sky. Maybe winter wasnāt all bad.
The two of you walked side-by-side. Your shoulder would brush against his arm, or heād just barely lift his elbow to nudge you when he wanted to direct your attention elsewhere. Tonight, though, you found yourself pulling away from him pretty quickly. It was cold. Already the cold was seeping in through your coats and hoodies, and youād begun to shiver. If you pressed this closely against him, he was sure to notice, and you were coming to realize that he was the kind of man whoād insist that the both of you head back to the Tower.
You didnāt want that.
You wanted to walk with him. You knew how important these outings had become to himāand, in all honesty, how important theyād become to you, too. If you were the one to cut things off this early, you wouldnāt be able to deal with the guilt. It wasnāt a big deal to pull a little further away. Youād spent plenty of time together not touching, and he wasnāt likely to notice anyway.
If youād been looking at him, you might have caught the quick way he looked at you through the corner of his eye.
The walk went on. Normally, Loki used these outings as a way to vent off all the anger and frustration that grew inside him while stuck with the Avengers. He would tell you things that heād clearly kept pent up inside, and every time you responded with thoughtful sympathy, he would give you such a lovely lookāsurprise, pleasureāthat it made you feel like maybe all that venting could help him feel better. But tonight, things started to shift. He fell silent for a couple of blocks, and then started asking you questions about yourself.
Youād never liked talking about yourself to people in general, but you were especially reluctant to say much about yourself while walking beside literal alien royalty. It wasnāt like you had any deep-seated issues with self-esteem or anything, it was just that your thoughts and problems all seemed so bafflingly small compared to the things that Loki had already shared with you. It felt wrong to tell him about the things that went on inside your head because he knew things about the universe that humans like you could only dream of knowing: he didnāt have room to give a shit about stuff like your quiet long-running grumpy monologue about life as you knew it.
After a few too many excruciating minutes of talking about yourself, you did finally find the presence of mind to start turning the questions back around to him. He was the one with the better stories, after all. And if he was the one talking, it gave you something pleasant to focus on in the midst of this frigid wasteland. Silently, you begged him to go with it, to take over the conversation again, and your heart skipped a few beats when he did just that.
But it did still get harder to listen to what he was saying. The wind was blowing straight into your face, which meant that not only was it piercing through your hood, but it was also sending all those snowflakes and little bits of ice crashing against your cheeks and eyelids. They were so pretty when they were up in the air and you could watch them floating through the sky on the breeze and the updrafts. Why did they have to hurt so badly when they hit you? Every few steps or so, you caught your hand (the one further from Loki, of course) creeping up to try to shield some part of your face from the wind, but you couldnāt allow even that small comfort. It was too obvious. Loki would see it and heād know exactly what you were doing.
Your nose started to run.
Fuck.
Was this hypothermia? Was this what it felt like to freeze to death? No, surely not, right? Because you kept hearing about something called paradoxical undressing, right, where a personās body went haywire and they started taking off all their clothes because they thought they were overheating. You were still absolutely chilled to the bone, nearly frozen, but at least you knew that you were cold. You were probably fine then, just a big whiny baby who was clearly not appreciating this time with Loki the way you should have been.
At one point, he turned his head to look at you, and all but stopped in his tracks. Before you could figure out how to ask what was wrong, he grabbed your arm and pulled you slight off of the sidewalk, to shelter against the wall of a building. In doing so, he turned you slightly out of the wind, giving you a brief but lovely respite from the snowflakes hellbent on dive-bombing your face.
āAbout yesterday.ā He started off strong, but then trailed off into a heavy sigh. āForgive me. I never meant to make things strange. I never meant to make you uncomfortable. I shouldnāt have told you those things. If I could take them back, I would. With all the snow, they were just especially close in my mind, and Iāve come to know you as someoneā¦ Well, regardless. I am sorry.ā
Your brain slowly sputtered back to life. He was apologizing for telling you all that stuff about Jotunheim? About where heād come from and what little heād discovered on his own when his so-called parents refused to tell him anything at all? He had practically bared his soul to you yesterday, and today he thought he had to apologize for it because he thought itād made you uncomfortable?
āNo! You didnāt! Loki, no!ā You reached for him without thinking and took his hands in yours. āWhat are you talking about? You didnāt make me uncomfortable. Itās okay if you regret telling me something so private, but please donāt think I didnāt appreciate it! Thank you. Is thanking you weird? Thank you?ā
He was looking at you cautiously, eyes slightly narrowed as though searching for any hint of dishonesty.
āThenāit appears Iāve misunderstood. Youāre behaving so strangely tonight. Have I done something else to harm you?ā He let you go on holding his hands.
You felt your shoulders slump as his question sank in. Here you thought youād been sneaky enough to keep quiet about all your misery, butā¦ clearly not. Now it was your turn to sigh, which you immediately followed up with a giant sniffle.
āIām just cold, okay? I didnāt want you to know because I figured youād send me back and I love taking walks with you, but I hate being cold.ā
You expected him to laugh at you. You didnāt expect him to lean away from you, only for a moment, before leaning in again as a smirk curled his lips. āYou hate being cold. Youāve taken up with a Frost Giant and you hate being cold.ā
If he were anybody else, you might have been embarrassed. You might have shrugged him off and turned away to go on walking. But he was looking at you with a certain kind of light in his eyes that made you feelā¦ well, a little bit warmer. So instead you ventured a careful smile up at him. āYeah, well. I contain multitudes and all that. Letās go.ā
But he didnāt turn to go. Instead, he raised one hand to cup your cheek in his palm, and his hand, ungloved and unmittened, should have made you recoil from the cold, but it was just warm enough to make you want to sigh and press a little bit closer.
He muttered something under his breathānot English, maybeā¦ Asgardian?āand slipped his other arm around your back to pull you flush against his body. āYou should have said something sooner.ā
Was it strange, being wrapped up in Lokiās arms like this while the winter went on raging around you? Maybe, but you wouldnāt have traded it for anything. You couldnāt resist the urge to press your forehead against his chest, burrowing against his winter coat in search of further shelter.
āI like listening to you. I donāt want to go back yet.ā Maybe that was saying too much. You had to hope that maybe the wind would keep your words from making it to his ears.
He didnāt respond to that, just went on holding you. He smelled so nice. You were definitely letting your mind run away with you, but what was the harm in that now? Here? As you stood there, you felt something like a warmth begin to spread through your body. But a real warmth, not just from letting yourself go all moon-eyed over him. It was a warmth like a cozy blanket, like a heated blanket, tucking in around your whole body. It didnāt take long before it had you whimpering in relief and leaning a little more heavily into Loki for support.
Loki.
It hit you all at once, and you pulled back to get a better look at his face. This had to be magic, didnāt it? Your whole body was beginning to relax with the warmth that suffused your muscles: there was no other explanation for that except magic. Sure enough, when he met your eyes, he smirked at you, the streetlights catching on the angles of his cheeks and giving him an especially roguish air.
He held your gaze for a few more moments before gesturing onwards down the sidewalk with a tilt of his head. You nodded. He took the smallest of steps away from you, and you braced yourself for the way the cold would surely tear through your clothing again, but the magic held. You remained surrounded by a lovely, soothing warmth.
The both of you wandered through the night, Lokiās words in your ears and his magic warding off the winter cold.
No Language Left to Say It (Loki/Reader Lullabies #229)
Fandom: Marvel/Avengers
Pairing: Loki/Reader
Category: Angst borne from yearning? Hungry fluff?
Rating: G.
Summary: Thereās something about you that confounds Loki and does all sorts of strange things to his insides. What does it mean?
Warnings/Notes: This is for the lovely anonymous person who, ages ago, requested a jealous Loki. I was initially going to make him jealous of the readerās romantic partner, but then I realized that, if I did that, Iād have to break them up and have Loki deal with the readerās heartbreak, and I was not ready for that. Instead, please enjoy an emotionally-stunted Loki who has no idea what these feelings are.
New but Retroactive Reminder for this and all of my fics: I do not, have not, and will not give anyone permission to copy/paste, translate, or otherwise take or modify this story to post it anywhere else. You can find my stories here on Tumblr or under kaeorin on AO3, but nowhere else. This does not apply only to fics which hold this disclaimer--NONE of my works are to be stolen or modified. Additionally, please remember that Liking a post on Tumblr does not increase the author's exposure. I don't run your life, but readers should be reblogging the works they like.
No Language Left to Say It
Heād been stuck in this realm for a long time, now. Long enough to have found some sort of uneasy detente with the Avengers, anyway. He lived in their ridiculous Tower, ate their Midgardian food, went out on their so-called heroic missions to save their world. They didnāt like him, but that was more than fine, as he didnāt particularly like them either. Still, he was stuck here, imprisoned as heād always been, and, in terms of prison cells, it was, in some regards, not the worst heād ever been in. He kept to himself, having precisely zero interest in befriending the mortals whoād seen him in one of the worst states of his life and sought to destroy him nonetheless. It was hard to blame them, really, as he fully understood how his actions would have come across to the Midgardians, but something small and dark and bitter somewhere inside him, it blamed them all the same.
So he participated in their missions. Though it stung his pride, he largely kept his thoughts to himself in hopes of not roiling up any more of their deep-seated hatred of him. He even humored themāorā¦ Thor, reallyāby making an occasional appearance at one of their insipid team-bonding nights, despite the grim looks heād often catch them exchanging when they thought he couldnāt see them.
That was where heād first spotted you.
At first heād written you off as easily as the rest of them. You were, after all, one of them. He didnāt recognize you from the time heād been sent here, but there was a lot about that time that he didnāt remember. Youād been nestled onto one of the sofas with the witch, heads bent low as you chatted and laughed together. The sound wasā¦ the closest thing to music that heād ever heard in this realm. Heād forced himself to look away from you before you could catch him staring, so he wouldnāt watch the happiness drain from your eyes and be replaced with discomfort.
Thor started some film and someone else dimmed the lights. As always, Lokiās attention shifted. The films were always terrible: no nuance, no mystery. But rather than drifting into idle thoughts, Loki found his mind turning to you. Sometimes, youād whisper something to the witch, or she to you, and he couldnāt quite make out any of the words, but each time you laughed, something inside him went cold. Who were you? Why were you here? Why did you so easily attain a position here, when Loki himself could barely scrape by?
As though you could read his mind, he heard you rise to your feet and slip away from the room. A hollow sort of satisfaction bloomed in his chest. Good. You didnāt belong here any more than he had; he was glad youād run off.
Even though your absence forced him to retreat back into his own thoughts.
A little while later, he heard someone approach him, jarring him free. He didnāt bother to ease the glare from his face as he turned to look, but the smile you wore did not waver. You didnāt flinch, only held out a large bowl to him.
āWhatās a movie without popcorn?ā You whispered, and your smile widened. āI thought you might like your own bowl so you didnāt have to share with anyone.ā
At that point, he looked around. Youād apparently scattered several other large bowls throughout the room, and the Avengers were sharing them amongst themselves. There was a weight in his chest. Youād been making popcorn for the others, and not only had you also thought of him, but youād put enough thought into it that youād made him his own so he wouldnāt have to share or be left out. Feeling numb, he reached out to accept it from you, thanking you only with a quiet grunt and a nod of his head.
*
It took some time before his thoughts truly started to shift, but youād gotten his attention. He fought it for a long time: he didnāt care about anyone in the Tower, and you were certainly no exception. But his mind betrayed him. Often, his gaze was drawn to you. You were easy to look at. It wasnāt necessarily that you were some paragon of beautyāMidgardian or otherwiseābut he found that he couldnāt shake his appreciation for your appearance nonetheless. You smiled a lot. It suffused your features with a light from within, and usually made him want to smile himself.
As a result, he started spending even more time alone in his quarters.
One evening, Thor all but dragged him to Starkās lab. They needed his input, his brother claimed: something about how Stark was working on a way to combine Midgardian science with Asgardian magic. Loki was hardly thrilled at the idea of having to spend time with Stark and Thorāneither of them was particularly adept at shutting his damnable mouth and listening to reasonābut it wasnāt worth it to argue with either of them.
Banner was there, too. Loki kept a careful watch of where that man went in the lab: he did not look forward to an encore performance of the rage-beast. But Banner hardly even seemed to notice him. It was hard to tell whether he should be insulted at that. Just as things with the two morons started to reach an intolerable level, Loki heard something that nearly made him spin around to look behind him.
Your laughter.
Just as itād been that night with the film, it was quiet and appreciative, but musical all the same. After taking a moment to compose himself, Loki did turn his head to find you in the lab. You were standing at the table beside Banner: working with something on the table itself while he grinning into the eyepiece of a microscope. He said somethingāLoki could see his lips moving, but once again he couldnāt quite make out the wordsāand you laughed again before biting your lip and leaning forward to take a closer look at whatever you were working on. You missed the way Banner turned his head to look at you. You missed the soft smile on his face, and even the faint color that rose into his cheeks.
Instead of that iciness that had stabbed through him the night of the film, Loki felt something like a fire in his belly, in his chest. He turned away from you before you could catch him staring and threw himself into worthless conversation with Stark and Thor.
*
Whatever it was that you were doing to him, Loki hated it. As a result, it should have been easy to hate you. It should have been the easiest thing in the world. He should have wanted nothing to do with you, since apparently being in your presence was enough to do strange and terrible things to his body.
But you kept pulling him in. When he wasnāt in his quarters, he more or less gravitated towards you. It was difficult to do it without making it obvious, but Loki managed. He started to spend more time in common areas of the Tower: sometimes heād walk into a room where you were already set up and working on something, or sometimes heād get there first so you walked in on him. Neither of you said a word to each other for a long time. Then you started greeting him, and not much else. Then you started trying to make conversation. Small talk remained one of the worst parts of being in this hellish realm, but there was something about you that made it a little less mind-numbing, somehow.
You started sharing first. If he caught you in just the right mood, youād start talking to him about something you remembered from your childhood, or about something that was happening in the latest book you were reading, or about something that frustrated you about the work you were trying to complete. Loki knew that there was a fine line between responding too much and too little. As the god with the silver tongue, it should have been easy for him, but he constantly found himself caught up in worries about whether he was saying too much or too little.
As though you read his mind, you started asking direct questions. As much as it wounded his pride, those were easier to deal with. No matter how much or how little he shared, you listened with careful attention, your eyes rarely straying from his face. You didnāt just listen to what he had to say: for all that he could tell, you also appeared to care about it. You were interested in it.
The night he realized thatāand the fact that you were perhaps the first one heād ever met who gave him that impressionāhe rose to his feet and quietly excused himself to return to his quarters.
The next day, he went to the gym. He knew when you typically worked outānot because he stalked you or made any careful note of such information, but because youād mentioned it in passing and he remembered most of the things that you mentioned to him in passing. Lokiās physique was so different from a mortalās that he didnāt truly need to spend much time here working out or building muscles, but he could appreciate the way that burning off excess energy allowed him to feel a little more settled in his skin, at least for a while.
And if it just so happened that he showed up around the same time that you were usually there, wellā¦ that was mere coincidence.
He wandered around for a bit. He was never fully sure what he wanted to do until he got there, so often he spent his first few minutes in the gym looking. In any case, you were there after all. And so were Barnes and Rogers. The super-soldiers were sparring with each other on the mats, while you stood off to one side holding your water bottle and shouting encouragement at the two of them.
It was almost pleasant to watch their show of strength. Loki had never really been one for brute forceāthat was always more to Thorās likingābut they moved like something beyond mere mortals. Their strength allowed them to hit harder, get up quicker. Watching them was almost like watching Asgardian soldiers spar. When he was younger, heād done it mostly to mutter insults under his breath while Thor grew more and more angry with him, but this still gave him an odd sense of nostalgia.
At least, it didāuntil his eyes started to drift towards you. Were you watching the others too carefully? Was there a little too much longing in those lovely eyes of yours? Was this the sort of thing you were interested in? He wanted to think that he knew you better than that, that he knew you were far more interested in the strength of a personās mind than in the strength of their body, but was that wishful thinking? And why in the nine would it be wishful thinking? Why would Loki have any sorts of wishes regarding anything about you?
He shook himself out of whatever strange spiral heād slipped into and met your eyes across the gym. It wasnāt hard to see the way you brightened a bit and grinned at him before lifting one hand in a wave. Was it his imagination putting that pity into your eyes, or was it truly there? He forced himself to give you a quick nod before stalking over to throw himself into some workout on one of the machines.
Of course, it was hard to ignore the fact that you came over not long after that and set yourself up on the machine right beside him.
*
Back in Starkās lab, things were going surprisingly well, actually. There were still entirely too many times where Loki opened his mouth to say something only to be steamrolled by one of the others, but when he was allowed to speak, they at least pretended to consider what he had to say. When Mark 1 of the tech exploded rather spectacularlyājust as Loki had predictedāhe noticed the way some of the suspicion dropped from Starkās gaze. Granted, Mark 2 fizzled out as well, but there was, at least, considerably less danger from flying shrapnel. By the time Mark 3 failed, Stark seemed ready to take whatever advice he could get, and that was something Loki could get used to.
It was just the three of them one night. It wasnāt quite late enough for worries about Starkās mortality to come to mind, but all the other techs had long since cleared out and gone home. Stark had just slipped off into a tangent about the work of some band or another, rambling away while Thor listened amiably. Loki was the only one to notice when you slipped into the lab. He watched you carefully as you made your way to one of the workstations, and when you caught him looking, you gave him another one of your bright smiles. This time, he felt himself return the gesture.
Just as he was about to work up the nerve to go over and join you, he felt someone clasp his shoulder from behind as they brushed past him. Loki had to watch in horror as Stark swaggered over to your station and pulled you in close with one arm around your shoulder.
āGorgeous! Glad to see you. Youāre a sight for sore eyes, you know that?ā He was leaning in too close to you. Loki clenched his fists.
But you seemed alright. Not uncomfortable, anyway. You offered Stark a careful smile and held up some device for his inspection. Loki was moving towards you before he could make the decision to do it, and when he was finally within reach, Stark took the device from you and held it out to him.
āLook at that. Itās a thing of beauty, isnāt it? Kid does gorgeous work. I could kiss you, really, I could.ā The latter, of course, was directed at you, and actually made Loki take a quick step forward.
āIād really rather you didnāt,ā he said as coolly as he could manage. It was hard to say exactly why the idea of watching Stark kiss you made him so angry, but the least he could do at this point was try to hide the way it made him want to throttle that man. Still, both of you looked at him with just a little too much knowing in your eyes, so he cleared his throat and squared his shoulders. āI thought we were here to work, Stark. If weāve slipped into the part of the evening where you throw yourself at defenseless coworkers, Iāll have to excuse myself.ā
But Stark only tilted his head at him as he fought the smile that clearly threatened to break out across his face. Norns. If Loki didnāt get out of thereāand soonāhe was going to do something Thor would never let him live down.
āSomething bothering you there, Rock of Ages?ā Thankfully, he released his hold on you, allowing you to step away from him. Loki only barely managed to keep from reaching out to grab you, himself.
āDonāt be ridiculous. I just thought we were on the verge of something that might actually work. You donāt appear to agree with me.ā He hated how pissy he sounded. Was it too late for him simply to turn around and leave?
āNo, no, Iām right there with you. Iām doing my best here, Lucky, but youāve gotta help me out at least a little. You could try something like āYou really dodo gorgeous workā?ā He must have known what Loki was about to spit at him next, because he gestured towards you with raised eyebrows. Now you looked uncomfortable, and Loki hated it.
All of this was pointless. He raised his hands in front of himself and took another step backwards. āIām sorry,ā he said to youāand, whatās more, he found he meant it. Whatever was happening here, you didnāt like it, and neither did he.
Finally, he turned around and headed for the door, which apparently made Stark give a loud sigh of exasperation. āAre you really telling me that you came to this planet to take over and enslave all of humanity but you donāt know how to tell someone that you have a big stupid crush on them?ā
The first part of Starkās sentence hit him hardāand pressed so forcefully against such tender bruises deep inside him that Loki could barely make out the second part. He froze in his tracks with absolutely no idea whether he wanted to flee, tear Stark apart, or grab his face and will those nightmares into his brain in order to make him understand what had truly happened. His hands trembled. He heard your voiceāyou were shouting at Stark for somethingāand then felt you slip one of your hands into his.
Heād only just recently started to consider telling you about what had happened before heād arrived here. The questions you were asking, they lead him to suspect that you had suspicions of your own. It seemed better to tell you straight out, instead of leaving you to conjure up your own version of events, but he hadnāt yet brought himself to do it. Itād make you look at him differently, and he was not willing to give up the light that rose into your eyes.
Those eyes searched his. He couldnāt tell what you were looking for, but he knew you found it when your brow furrowed and you reached up with your other hand to stroke his cheek. āHey, itās okay,ā you murmured. āHeās stupid. He didnāt mean it. Will you go for a walk with me?ā
And he must have nodded, because it wasnāt long before you were leading him out of the lab and to the elevators. He was still and silent for a long time, until the cool night air finally hit his cheeks and roused him a bit.
You were still holding his hand as you walked down the street with him. He got the sense that youād been silent for most of the walk, but, as though you knew he was coming back to himself, you turned to look at him.
āI think he got his wires crossed, you know. Tony? I donāt know why he said all that to you, except that heās stupid and doesnāt mean half the things he says, but, uhā¦ I have a big stupid crush on you.ā You took in a deep breath, let it out slowly. āSorry.ā
Sorry. You were sorry? Forā¦ having feelings for him. He wanted to laugh, but he couldnāt. He released your hand, and caught the disappointment that flashed across your features before he turned to face you right there in the middle of the sidewalk. Without a word, he reached up to cup your face in both of his hands so he could lean in to kiss you.
It was awkward at first: your lips bumped together; his nose knocked against yours. But then you twined your arms up around his neck to pull him a bit closer, and he wrapped his arms around the small of your back to do the same, and it was like everything clicked into place.
You were kissing him. He was kissing you.
And heād be content to stay just like that for the rest of time.
Prints are back, folks! Not gonna lie, Iām starting the new year a little rough work-wise, as my full time job in theatre is basically nonexistent. (again) due to the pandemic. So that said, being able to support myself more with my art has been unbelievably helpful, and I want you all to know how grateful I am for the love and support you keep showing. My little shop has grown a lot, and Iām hoping it will keep doing well this year! āŗļø
Can i request a headcanon for first christmas with loki?
Titled: What do you mean Iām a Christmas Tree? ā¢ First Christmas with Loki headcanon
Hello Anon! Sure you can!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
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Wordcount: drabble?
Warnings: pure fluff town
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ā¢ starts at the begining of holiday season Loki grumbling about halloween not getting enough attention. also he does miss your outfit i mean you wore his horns and dressed as him so iā
ā¢ heās a lil grumpy about going around shopping for gifts so you tease him about being a grinch to which he responds āiāve never watched itā and you decide to cut short the shopping trip and you take him back home.
ā¢ while watching the movie he thinks this is a tradition he can get by, with you sprawled across his chest, your chuckles echoing through him.
ā¢ he does like the holiday movies as you make your way through the titles, you find yourself adoring him watch the movies, his expressions make you laugh when he scrunches his nose.
ā¢ āoh i did that once to thorā
āyou made him eat slugs?ā
You gag as Ron Weasley pours the slugs into the bucket.
āyes it was quite funny.ā
āwhat did thor do?ā
āhe tried putting them in my bath waterā
āWhat did you do?ā
āWell i simply told mother thor wanted to bathe first and he didnāt know I didnāt use the bath.ā Loki laughs recalling his brotherās face.
ā¢ you constantly worry about what to even get a literal God?
ā¢ he keeps saying you are enough of a gift
ā¢ honestly part of him wonders if he was on the nice list somehow with you tucked into his side, it was tonyās ugly christmas sweater party and you both wore matching ones to it and Lokiās never felt more at peace in a crowded room with your hand in his.
ā¢ you scroll on your phone for red lingerie, could that be a gift? No? Okay. you buy it anyway
ā¢ loki wonders what to gift to you as well, youāve never really asked for anything other than him being yours.
ā¢ he decides to gift you a notebook of love letters
ā¢ the next shopping trip he scurries away to all the stationery stores, when a notebook with a metallic blue embossed snowflake on the cover catches his eye he knows heās found what he wants to write in
ā¢ when he returns grinning like a lil cutie you chuckle his hair becoming christmas tree like, you touch it
āi think we should buy small ornaments for youā
āWhat?ā He looks at you raised eyebrow
āwell youāre tall, you wear green, hairs like a christmas treeā¦ you are oneā you trail off giggling
āwhat do you mean Iām a christmas tree, Y/N GET BACK HERE!ā
Youāre being chased by the god through the store, you both knock into some piles of decorations and are kicked out, though you both are giggling like little kids causing chaos and he knows heās in love with the right person.
ā¢ when it is christmas even you both decide to walk around the local park enjoying the lights and the weather, the little kids playing make your heard swell.
āyou think we could have that?ā Loki wonders
āa family at christmas?ā You ask
he nods, looking at you
āi mean the kids and i would already have a tree to decorateā¦ā you stifle a laugh and he tackles you into the snow tickling you
ā¢ when the gifts are exchanged you both laugh and the handwritten letters you both decided to write for each other, you even bought him a scarf a sweet lady knitted, in the colours his mother preferred to wear.
ā¢ he bought you a first edition of one of your favourite books you always wanted a first edition of something and now you do.
ā¢ you make him wear a headband with a light up star, so he puts a bow on you and you both take a picture which finds itself on the mantle of the home.
ā¢ he teaches you how to say merry christmas in the languages he knows, and you both attempt to sing various carols in different accents.
ā¢ loki wondered why he had never celebrated christmas but now he knows the fates were waiting to have his first celebrated with you
ā¢ also he kisses you under every mistletoe (heās hung several through the house and grabs you every chance he gets)
[image ID: an AO3 tag that readsĀ āimplied suicidal thoughtsā but with exclamation marks in place of the letters i]
if you do this, congrats, youāve totally defeated the purpose of the tagging system!
AO3 is not tiktok. it is not run by a mega-corporation that sanitizes content for advertisability and shadowbans or deletes content. itās an ARCHIVE.Ā
by doing this, it means people wonāt be able to exclude or include your tags. and if they use a text-to-speech reader, youāve made it ten times harder to understand.Ā
this goes for tumblr too!! if you putĀ āsu!c!de twā anybody who hasĀ āsuicide twā blacklisted will still see your post. itās not a warning if the words arenāt able to be read or recognized by the systems.
no hate if youāve been doing this! just fix your tags and donāt do it in the future.
Not necessarily in the order that I painted them, though the first and last are in their respective places. My personal faves are the first Art Nouveau, the Jotun profile, and the last with the ravens. :3
My print shop will be open again sometime in January of 2022, so keep an eye out!
I have the first one on my wall, and hopefully I'll have a paycheck when the shop impending again. The quality and detail is impressive, and these deserve to be on display!
It had come as a surprise when Loki, THE LOKI, had expressed his interest in you.
You were a simple desk job worker at one of Stark Industries' latest innovation centres, and if not for Tony Stark's penchant for involving Loki with new projects, you wouldn't even have been introduced to him.
Somehow, Loki had made it a habit to hang out in your little office while he waited for Stark whenever he visited. He had, for some reason, also made it a habit of arriving early, even though Stark was known to be late for meetings (not his fault though, the man was extremely busy).
You hadn't minded his presence there, in fact, you thought you were lucky that he chose to stay and not wander off. The realization that you could hold the interest of this remarkable and beautiful man had been a bit of an ego boost.
You two had many intriguing discussions while he waited for Stark, and he often confessed that you had broadened his horizons pertaining to anything uniquely Midgardian.
You had also developed a hopeless crush on him in the process. Which... you had expected not to go anywhere. You simply weren't in his league, not by a long shot. Even though you had kind of accepted your plus sized body, you knew that the world hadn't. Why would Loki be any different?
But all of that changed the day Loki showed up at your desk with bouquet of flowers (your favourites) and chocolates, a nervous smile playing on his beautiful face.
You had been struck with shock... and you wondered if it was an elaborate prank. He was the god of mischief, after all.
But it hadn't been a prank...
Because here you were, several dates later, in the foyer of his penthouse, with his lips lingering on yours. Your belly was full of butterflies and your head was spinning. He had treated you to dinner and then brought you over to his place, and that could mean only one thing...
He wanted to take the next step with you.
The mere thought of it made you tremble with nerves.
"Mmmm... did I tell you that you smell absolutely delicious?" he asked, peppering kisses across your cheek as he pulled you into the living room. "Enough to eat. I've been looking forward to this evening for weeks."
Damn... that confession rendered you weak in the knees.
"Loki, you really mean that?"
"Of course. Why wouldn't I?"
You hesitated, and that's when he pulled away and gave you a look of concern.
"My intent is honourable, if that's what you're thinking."
"I... I know. It's not you." You looked down, feeling terrible now. "I have issues."
"More than I?" he joked, running his hands up and down your arms. Your very thick arms...
When you didn't respond, he put a finger under your chin and tipped your face up to make you look into his gorgeous green eyes.
"What is the matter, sweet one? Did I say or do something to upset you?"
You shook your head. "I'm just... afraid."
"Of what?"
"Of intimacy."
The look of concern quickly turned into a frown. "Make me understand, please."
"Well, I honestly don't know why you're dating me. How are you even attracted to me?"
"You're asking this after weeks of our continued courtship?"
That caused the dam to burst. You couldn't keep it in.
"I'm just, I still don't understand why you chose me. All my life I've been told, directly or indirectly, that I'm dumpy and fat. Now that I'm past a certain age, I'm not even youthful. My body is simply not attractive or even pleasing to look at, especially not for someone like you."
He sighed, cupping your face. "Is that not up to me to decide? Besides, do you think that your form--which is lovely, by the way--is the only criteria one should have for courting you?"
"I've been single most of my life. What does that tell you?" you asked, your eyes growing wet as your feelings spilled over.
"That perhaps the Midgardians are a hopeless lot. Excluding you, of course."
You tried to laugh it off, even though it was hollow. "No one likes saggy boobs, Loki! Or flab."
"Once again, who are these people you're talking about? And why do you think that a naturally shaped human body is something undesirable?" he asked, pulling you closer. "For me, your company is a boon, intimacy included. We can spend hours together and not run out of things to talk about, we can simply exist in silence and not feel awkward. You've never treated me differently, nor have you been ignorant of my idiosyncrasies or even my violent past. You've accepted me fully, right? So why won't you let me love you in the same vein?"
He was holding you tight now, as though he was afraid that you'd run away from him. There was a very honest fear in his eyes, and it was enough to break you out of your own funk.
"You really mean it?"
"I'm willing to prove it to you, for as long you'll have me."
"Careful, I might decide to keep you forever," you joked, tears spilling from your eyes as you smiled. His words had been so sweet and honest, you couldn't help it.
"You think I'm averse to that?"
He gave you an earnest kiss then, asking you, silently, to let go of your inhibitions. His hands caressed you, eager and reverent all at the same time.
When he took you to his bedroom, he spent a good time kissing each bit of skin he exposed as he removed your clothes one by one. You felt terribly shy and self-conscious, but you didn't stop him this time.
He had asked you to let him show you how much he cared for you... so you were trying to give that to him, despite your discomfort with your own body.
But as he seduced you slowly with his lingering touches and kisses full of desire, your discomfort shifted... growing into arousal.
His lips spread the fire of want all over you, and you couldn't help but moan when he placed you on the bed and began to nuzzle your breasts.
No one had paid them attention like this before. No one had cared. You had always tried to hide them away in baggy clothes and full coverage bras. Years and gravity hadn't done you any favours either...
And now, Loki had exposed them. No, he had exposed them to his attentions. You had expected some sort of negative reaction from him upon seeing them, but he had only shown enthusiasm.
"Loki..." you cried out, arching your back as his lips worked on your nipples, making you feel a million sensations of pleasure all at once.
"Yes?" He lifted his head and gave you a cheeky smirk. "Is my girl sensitive here?"
You opened your mouth to say something, but nothing came out. He was making it difficult to even think straight, let alone talk. His thumb was circling over your nipple, teasing you with the feather-light touch as he watched you lust-laden eyes.
"I'm guessing that you are," he said, maintaining eye contact with you as he took your nipple in his mouth again, grazing it with his teeth as he sucked.
Your whole body shook with desire, and you couldn't look away from him, locked in his hypnotic gaze.
In that moment, you felt cherished... you felt like the most beautiful creature in the world.
And when his hand reached between your legs, you opened up to him without resistance, wanting more of his addictive touch. His fingers slipped in and wove magic inside you--the magic of orgasmic pleasure.
You didn't even realize how and when you reached your peak, so lost were you to these sensations. He simply pulled that lustful bliss from you like a musician pulled a melody from his instrument.
"Beautiful," he murmured as you caught your breath, still reeling from your orgasm. "As beautiful as I had imagined you to be. Everyday I spent with you in that little work chamber of yours, my desire for you grew tenfold. You cannot imagine just how many times I thought about taking you right on your desk, love."
"Oh god, stop..." You hid your face with your hands, feeling like it would catch fire if he continued. "How can you... speak? I'm so... I can't."
He chuckled and shifted, covering your body fully with his. "You're so adorable. I want to devour you."
When he pulled your hands away from your face, you found him looking at you with both hunger and affection. It made you shiver in anticipation.
That shiver turned into a full blown tremble when he pushed forward, parting your chubby thighs with his muscled ones. Your were the opposite of him, but somehow, his hard, toned form fit perfectly against your soft, curvy form.
Your hands gripped his biceps as he thrust inside you, stretching you almost to your limit. His movements pulled gasps of surprise and moans of pleasure from you alike, but he was attentive enough not to hurt you.
Slowly, as you accepted him fully inside you, you began to move with him, your hands reaching up to his shoulders to pull him closer. You were fully into it now... no bothersome thoughts, just the pursuit of being one with him in lustful abandon.
"Loki, Loki..." you moaned his name repeatedly as he gave you deep, hard thrusts, nuzzling your breasts again. "I'm... close."
"Mmmm... me too," he hummed against the swell of your bosom, the sound vibrating right into your core. "With me, love, come with me."
You fell apart just as he began to throb inside you, further intensifying your climax. You didn't know for how long you stayed like that, clutching him like your life depended on it, simply drowning in the waves upon waves of pleasure...
Your breathing didn't come down to normal for several minutes, and when it did, Loki simply began to move inside you again. Much to your surprise, he didn't seem to have a refractory period.
When you looked at him with confused, questioning eyes, he gave you a salacious smile.
"I did say that I'll prove my desire for you," he said, his voice growing rough as he gave you a deep thrust. "I have all night for that, haven't I?"
(Also posted on AO3. Please share and leave comments if you liked it.)
the lord of the rings is so honest. so raw. so sincere. so unabashedly from the heart. no snide fourth wall jokes, no attempts to alleviate the heaviness. it is is wholeheartedly earnest in its dedication to portraying hope and love and faith and loyalty and courage, and that is what makes it feel like home to so many of us. it's true to itself. it doesn't pretend to be cool and care less. it cares, a lot, and that is a rare, beautiful thing. it warms our hearts to care for a piece of fiction that was made to care about and be cared about
Summary: Ā Charlie canāt believe her luck when she lands an apartment all to herself in Quincy, Massachusetts in a decaying triple decker. But life gets more complicated when someone moves into the basement. Specifically her landlord, Adam, who also happens to be a vampire. As life collapses around Charlie, these two forge an uneasy and unlikely relationship. But is their relationship as doomed as the building they live in?
Chapter 1 | The Reluctant Landlord
Chapter 2 |Ā The Reluctant Tenant
Chapter 3 |Ā The Reluctant Agreement
Chapter 4 |Ā The Reluctant Embrace
Chapter 5 |Ā The Reluctant Step
Chapter 6 |Ā The Reluctant Dance
Chapter 7 |Ā The Reluctant Lover
Chapter 8 |Ā The Reluctant Trip
Chapter 9 |Ā The Reluctant Hostage
Chapter 10 |Ā The Reluctant Detective
Chapter 11 |Ā The Reluctant Hero
Chapter 12 | Reluctant No More
One Shots
Help MeĀ Ā |Ā Charlie deals with the aftermath of being kidnapped and held hostage by Jason. Adam tries to help and Charlie officially moves in. Sort of.
Career Change |Ā It has been three months since Adam rescued Charlie. Simone thinks it is time for Charlie to get back to some normalcy. Adam resist the change and Charlie has to break out the legal pad again. Chapter 1Ā | Chapter 2
Bleeding HeartĀ Ā |Ā It is the first Farmerās Market of the season and Charlie hit the motherlode. Including some beautiful flowers. What she forgot was Adam telling her that Bleeding Heart has a powerful effect on vampires. Can she survive the night?
Itās Just a Pumpkin |Ā Charlie is excited for the spooky season and canāt understand why Adam is so against it.
Pressure Points |Ā Charlie gets a paper cut, Adam reacts.
Continuing Education |Ā Charlie is scheduled to attend a conference in Chicago for here work at Clemency. Adam was going to stay behindā¦ until Frank signs him up to take part in a panel about human and vampire relations. Now Adam is traveling along with Charlie and he is not happy about it.
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