“Did I just discover your tummy is ticklish?”With ler Loki please 😊
“Did I just discover that your tummy is ticklish?" Loki gasped, fluttering his fingers at the side of your belly.
His arm was draped across your torso, your back to his chest. A common occurrence for when you two cuddled. You giggled quietly, not entirely sure if it was from the ticklish feeling or at what Loki said.
"Myhy tummy?" You snickered, lacing your fingers into his. "Who are you and whahat have you done with Loki?"
Grabbing your wrist with his free hand, Loki continued lightly tickling you, adoring the way you buried your face into the pillow.
"Don't try and change the subject, love. I just learned some positively delightful information about you!" Loki exclaimed. His fingers wiggled just above your hip bone and your leg kicked out in response. "Oh-ho, bad spot?"
"Lohoki, no nohot there. I'm too tihicklish there," You whined, lacing it with adorable giggles. Loki just nuzzled his nose into your neck, only making you recoil more, goosebumps rising on your skin.
"So forthcoming about your sensitivities," The God chuckled, whispering into your ear. "Tell me, darling, are you afraid of me?"
Loki slipped his hand under your pajama shirt, but flattened it to keep from tickling you. You sighed in contentment, in bliss.
"No, Loki, of course not."
Leaning in closer, Loki placed a soft kiss onto the shell of your ear, sending a shiver down your spine. "You should be."
Without warning, he wrapped his leg over yours to keep you pinned to the bed, then resumed tickling that horrid spot on your hip.
"WAHAHA! LOKIHI!" You squealed, trying your hardest to squirm out of his grip. "I-HI CAN'T!"
"Oh, but I'm certain you can. Where else are you ticklish, dove?"
You were too busy laughing to answer, though you'd never give him a map to all your weak spots. He'd have to earn them.
No matter, Loki thought. He had all the time in the world to deduce you to a giggling mess.
Warnings: angst, sexual innuendos/humor (but SFW), drinking of alcohol (no drunkenness), kissing, the old 'there's only one bed' trope, marriage (but not reader's), Jessa's attempt at writing in original characters
Here it is - my 100th fic posted! It's hard to believe I've posted that many 😅 Thank you all for continuing to read my ramblings and for enjoying my work!
The plot for this was inspired by real-life recent events (although the specifics are all fictional.) I'm sure many people have had a friend who became a bit... challenging while planning a wedding. I wondered how such a scenario might work if Loki were to have to come as the wedding date 😉 When I started writing it, I decided I wanted to write in a reader with enhanced abilities for a change, and I sort of got carried away from there...
I hope you enjoy! It was a lot of fun to write 💚
As an Avenger, you'd fought against a host of villainous creatures. But of all the monsters you’d faced, the 'Bridezilla' was truly the most fearful you'd encountered thus far.
It had taken up residence in your best friend’s body like a parasite, feeding off her emotions and stress and growing stronger with each passing day. There was no defeating this monster - defeat would surely mean a lost friendship. Fortunately, the Bridezilla’s days were numbered. You just had to survive it’s fury for the next two weeks.
And then came the phone call that put you directly in the center of the Bridezilla’s target.
"Don't be mad, but... I can't come to the wedding with you anymore."
"... What do you mean?"
"I got assigned to go to a work conference that week. I tried to get out of it, but the boss isn't hearing it."
Your heart sank. Derek was your only guy friend that you felt comfortable taking as a date to weddings. There was absolutely no pressure with him, no worry that you might get caught up in the romance of the evening. Mostly because he wasn't interested in women. But, also, because he'd been one of your best friends since you were kids.
"I'm so, so sorry. I know this was important to you-"
"No, Derek, it's ok! I'll just go by myself, its not like I don't know anyone there. You can't make your boss mad again..."
"Don't remind me." He laughed on the other end of the phone, and you smiled despite yourself. "We'll get together soon, though, ok?"
"Ok. I'll hold you to it."
You sighed heavily as you hung up the phone, letting your head flop back against your mattress in exasperation. The wedding was only two weeks away; you'd already RSVP'd for two, and you just knew your friend was going to freak out when you told her you were going alone. You loved her dearly, honestly, but over the last couple of months a monster had emerged from deep within her.
Allowing yourself a moment of peace, you finally picked your phone back up and dialed your friend's number, ready to get this painful conversation over with.
"What?? No. No, you can't," she stammered into the phone. You could envision her running her fingers through her hair in a frenzied panic. "You RSVP'd for TWO people. If you go alone, there will be an EMPTY chair. I can-NOT have an empty chair at the BRIDAL PARTY TABLE!"
"I'm sorry, Leah! I'm not going to make Derek get in trouble with his boss. What am I supposed to do?"
"Find. Someone. Else."
You laughed humorlessly. "Someone else? Leah, have you met me? I don't exactly have a whole list of guys to go down that might come to a wedding with me in the Bahamas."
"Then bring a woman."
"Not the point."
Leah huffed into the phone. "Look - I don't care who it is, but you have to bring someone. Bring another friend, bring a coworker, a family member... whatever. But there will NOT be an empty chair at my bridal party table!"
You sighed, pinching the bridge of your nose in frustration. Part of you was desperate for this wedding to be over - as happy as you were for Leah, you just wanted your laid-back friend back.
"Alright. I'll ask around."
"Thank you!" she exclaimed, suddenly flipping a switch and becoming her friendly self again. You had pacified the Bridezilla for now. "Can't wait to see you!"
"You too," you responded with feigned enthusiasm.
You'd thought that phone call would be the most difficult part of your day, but the real challenge was just beginning. Who could you convince to come with you to this destination wedding on two weeks' notice?
Before even considering approaching anyone, you sought out Wanda for advice that evening.
The connection between you and Wanda had developed almost instantly after you joined the Avengers. She was the only person who could truly understand your past experiences. Not that the others were insensitive. It was one thing to hear you speak about your traumatic past, but to have someone who had lived through it made your burden much easier to bear.
Before Wanda and her twin brother had volunteered for HYDRA's experiments, you had been selected as one of the civilian guinea pigs on whom they would test the powers of the scepter, and consequently, the mind stone. Most of the other civilians who were subjected to its power were killed in the process. You had lasted longer than most of them, enduring painful periods of exposure to the scepter but never for long enough for it to kill you as it had the other test subjects. They'd hoped that gradual increases in exposure might make you immune to the inevitable demise that met every subject that came before you.
During the final experiment, you were locked in the room with the scepter, cowering and awaiting your judgement. As it had with so many others, it unleashed a burst of power that knocked you to the floor. You were barely breathing, but somehow, you managed to survive. However, your vital signs were nearly undetectable.
HYDRA assumed you'd perish like the others and tossed you unceremoniously into an unlocked cell, awaiting your eventual death. Something sparked inside you, then - an innate survival instinct that triggered a sudden burst of power from within. You practically glowed with the energy radiating from your skin, a strength building that you'd never known before. As the radical energy surged inside you, so followed a powerful rage that flared beyond your control. Most of the events that followed were a blur in your mind as that blinding fury consumed you. You managed to escape the HYDRA facility without any assistance, striking down anyone who dared get in your way. By the time you'd made it to safety, you collapsed from the sheer exhaustion of expending so much energy all at once.
When you awoke, you were on the Avengers helicarrier, lying on a stretcher within their med bay. You'd been unconscious for three days. Fortunately, they'd received intel that there was a superhuman being who'd managed to flee from HYDRA's captivity, and they'd come looking for you. Better to have you on the right side of good and evil, they'd decided.
And so, you joined the ranks of SHIELD and became an Avenger.
It was rare that you exerted the full extent of your powers. At baseline, you did have heightened senses and slightly enhanced strength, which made you a formidable opponent. On the few occasions you did let loose the full force of your abilities, you'd completely lost control. The first time, it had taken three Avengers to restrain you until you expended the swell of energy and collapsed. The next time, they were more prepared - injecting you with a tranquilizer intended for much larger beings and locking you away in a high security cell until the episode was over.
You'd been working closely with Wanda to try to gain control over your powers, and you'd made some progress thus far, but you were still too fearful to completely unleash the chaos inside of you intentionally. Even on Wanda, who had proven already that her powers were enough of a match for your own that she could defend herself while talking you down.
Naturally, she was the only person you felt comfortable talking to about some of the more personal issues that came along with your abilities. On the field, you were confident, unshakable, as long as you kept your cool. But during your down time, you just didn't know how to relax anymore. None of your friends outside of the Avengers knew about your enhanced abilities. You lived in constant fear that someone might find out about them; or, worse - that you might injure someone you cared about in one of your rage fits. Though Wanda thought you were too hard on yourself, she understood how you felt. You could go to her for consolation and advice, and she provided a calming presence to ease your worry.
Above all, you resolutely refused to get involved in a romantic relationship. There was far too much risk to anyone who chose to be your partner - if HYDRA ever came looking for you, they could easily capture someone you loved to use them against you. Or - just as you often worried about with your friends - you, yourself, could harm them mistakenly should your powers be set off accidentally. You'd decided it was best that you kept your head down and focused on your work.
"Who the hell am I going to get to come with me on a four-day trip to attend a wedding for a couple they don't even know??" you groaned, flopping melodramatically back against the sofa cushions. Wanda set a glass of wine out in front of you on the table wordlessly, and you sat back up with an appreciative half-smile.
"She really won't let you come without a date?" Wanda asked incredulously as she took her own seat beside you, setting her glass on the table.
"I mean, I doubt she'd bar me from coming to the wedding if I came alone, but I'd never hear the end of it..." You took a sip from your glass, closing your eyes as the acidic fruity flavor washed over your tongue. "And as crazy as she's been, she is still one of my best friends. I want her wedding to be everything she's dreamed it would be. Even if her demands are a bit..."
"Outrageous?" Wanda finished for you.
"I was going to say 'unorthodox,' but yeah, that about sums it up." You turned toward Wanda a bit more, fiddling with the rim of your glass absently. "You sure you can't just come as my date?"
"You know I would, but that charity event is the same night."
"Oh, that's right. Damn." You'd forgotten there would be a fundraiser that evening, hosted by none other than Tony Stark. Most of the team was going to be in attendance in an attempt to increase ticket sales to the general public, and the few that weren't attending needed to be on standby to save the world. 'Evil doesn't wait until it's convenient,' Steve would insist. "Ugh. That limits the pool of people available for me to ask even more."
"Sorry," Wanda lamented, placing a comforting hand on your knee. She pondered for a moment. "What about that new lab tech Bruce hired?"
"Larry? Hell no - he doesn't stop talking. EVER. I am NOT spending four days with him.”
"Right. Fair point." She took a sip of wine, then made an ah-ha noise in the back of her throat before swallowing it. "Oh! What about the senior SHIELD recruit? He's definitely had his eye on you."
"Kyle isn't my type."
"No one is your type."
"Yeah, but he's definitely not my type. He's incredibly condescending. I've seen him talking down to his trainees. He's a world-class jerk."
"Are you sure you aren't just making excuses because you don't want to date someone?" Wanda asked skeptically.
"No..." You sighed. "You know how I feel about dating. It would be irresponsible of me. But even if I did want to date someone, Kyle would not be that person."
"Well... there's always Loki." She flashed you a sly smirk. You felt your cheeks start to burn at the suggestion.
"Wanda! You know I can't ask him."
"Why not? You two are friends, you clearly like being around him... what would keep you from asking him to come with you?"
"I... Wanda, you know what the implications of that would be!"
"What, that your date backed out last minute and you need a friend to fill in to prevent Bridezilla from biting your head off?" Her smirk only grew as your mouth opened and closed, helplessly at a loss for words. "Seems to me it would be the perfect solution to your problem."
"What if he gets the wrong idea?"
"What, that you like him?"
"Yes. That."
Wanda placed her hand on yours where it rested on the sofa. "You're allowed to be happy, you know. I wish you'd stop punishing yourself."
"I'm not punishing myself. I'm being practical."
"Ok. Let's take it from a practical standpoint, then. Loki is from Asgard, he's a god with magic powers. If your concern is hurting him, I don't think you need to be too worried about it."
She had a point. His powers were likely at least an even match for yours, though you were afraid to test that theory. But that was only part of what was truly holding you back.
You did like Loki. A lot. Too much, actually. He was a good friend, one of the few others in the tower who had an inkling of an understanding of what you'd gone through. He, too, had experienced the effects of the mind stone, and the control it had exerted over him had turned him into a monster. In some sense, it had done the same to you - just not quite as obviously as it did for him.
But that wasn't the reason you'd developed feelings for him. He was witty, sarcastic, knowledgeable... He wore a regal confidence that was extremely attractive to you, but without the condescending nature that you hated in people like Kyle the SHIELD recruit. And he made you laugh - gods he made you laugh. Even when you didn't want to, he managed to find a way to draw a bit of laughter from you, and instantaneously you'd feel so much better.
Allowing yourself to fall in love with Loki would only give you something to lose. Something that could be used against you if an enemy decided you deserved it. And worse - it would give him something to lose if anything ever happened to you. You couldn't let yourself fall completely for him, because the fear of losing him or hurting him had a choke hold on you. So, you'd convinced yourself that falling in love would only be an unnecessary distraction from your work. Loki could be a friend, and nothing more.
"Why don't you just explain to him what happened? Then he'll know this isn't intended to be a 'date' in the romantic sense," Wanda suggested.
"Well... he does owe me a pretty big favor."
"Perfect. Tell him you're cashing in."
"Ugh... fine. But only because I can't think of anyone else who will be free that I'd be able to tolerate for four days." You propped your feet up on the table in front of you and leaned back against the sofa cushions. "I'll talk to him tomorrow. Right now, I need to finish this glass of wine and talk about how I regret my life choices."
"Cheers to that," Wanda laughed, clinking her glass against yours.
You changed the subject after that, asking about how Wanda's relationship with Vision had been going. Still, the thought of asking Loki to go to this wedding was stuck in the forefront of your mind. It was a huge ask - being in your friend's bridal party, you had a number of extra responsibilities over the course of the few days you'd be spending in the Bahamas, and inevitably he'd have to do a lot of socializing. Not to mention, you couldn't imagine a Frost Giant would be overly keen on the tropics. Not that the subject had ever come up in conversation.
By the next morning, you'd nearly psyched yourself out of asking him. You couldn't possibly subject him to such a torturous experience just so you would have someone to fill the empty seat at your table.
Unfortunately, Wanda had picked up on your reluctance. The moment Loki entered the kitchen where the two of you were having coffee, she spoke up before you could even say 'good morning.'
"Oh, perfect timing! I'll leave you two alone so you can talk to Loki," Wanda exclaimed, leaping to her feet. You shot her a glare as she grinned at you before turning and walking out of the room, brushing past a rather confused-looking God of Mischief.
"Talk to me about what?" he asked, a hint of concern in his tone. You took a breath, putting on your tough façade to hide the nervousness.
"You remember that time that I let you tag along on my mission to Mexico, just so you could escape your brother when he was going through that sappy romance movie phase of his?"
Loki winced at the memory. "Yes, I remember it rather clearly."
"You remember you said you owed me one?"
"Yes...?"
"I'm cashing in."
Loki wore an expression of curious skepticism, crossing the room to sit down in the chair that Wanda had so swiftly vacated upon his arrival. "I'm listening."
"Yesterday, I got a call from my friend telling me he could no longer come to the wedding I'm going to in a couple weeks." You paused for a breath, and Loki's eyebrows shot up as he tilted his head, urging you silently to continue. "So I called my friend who's getting married, and she freaked out about having an empty chair at the bridal party table."
At this point, you assumed Loki would have figured out where you were going with this. If he did, he showed no sign of it.
"Go on," he prompted.
"Ok... that leads me to my request. I'm asking if you would be willing to take his place."
Loki was silent for a moment. He didn't appear disgusted, at least, but he didn't exactly seem overly thrilled about the prospect either.
"What are the terms of the agreement?" he asked finally.
"Well... you'd come with me to the Bahamas for the wedding, attend the rehearsal dinner and the wedding with me... try your hardest not to make fun of the wedding festivities in front of the bride... that's about it, I think. You'd get a free three-night stay in a fancy hotel, if that's any consolation."
"I see." Loki fell silent again, and the excuses began bubbling up in your throat, your stern façade dropping just as quickly as you'd turned it on.
"I'm, er, not saying you have to go. I know it's a big ask, and probably an unfair one at that... and you won't know anyone else there, so if you feel like it might be too awkward..."
"Darling, when have you known me to appear awkward when schmoozing with strangers?" A slight grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. "They don't call me silver-tongued for nothing."
"Alright, but still. I'm not forcing you to go. Just making that clear."
Loki chuckled. "As if you could force me to do anything."
"Hey! You've never been on the other end of one of my rage fits," you retorted, a grin overtaking your face. He was teasing you, which made this all feel much less uncomfortable. You were used to him teasing you. "I need an answer - if you say no, I've got to go ask Larry the chatterbox, and I'm really hoping to avoid that."
"Oh, dear. You should have led with that. Of course I'll go - I won't subject you to that dull lab rat."
You nearly leapt out of your chair, managing to rein in your excitement at the last moment and instead smile brightly at your companion. "Thank you so much! You've no idea how much this means to me!"
"Does this mean you owe me a debt now instead?" he asked with a smirk.
"Depends on how you perform as a wedding date," you teased, winking at him. With a shake of his head, he stood and headed over to the stove to heat some water for his tea - the real reason he'd walked into the kitchen in the first place, as he reminded you with feigned annoyance.
The two weeks that led up to the date of your departure were somewhat of a blur. You were grappling back and forth between the insuppressible elation of having Loki coming with you on this trip and the stubborn resolve that you weren't going to allow this to make you fall for him. By the time the pair of you were leaving for the airport two weeks later, you had convinced yourself you were more than capable of handling this situation without allowing your feelings to get the best of you.
You claimed the window seat the moment you boarded the plane, getting yourself settled as Loki dropped into the seat beside you.
"Have you ever flown on a commercial plane before?" you asked as he buckled his seatbelt across his lap.
"It's been a few decades, but yes, I did once."
"Really?" His answer surprised you. You'd always assumed he simply traveled by bifrost everywhere - what need did he have for Midgardian travel? "Where were you going?"
A slow smirk spread across his face, piquing your curiosity. "Nowhere in particular." You tilted your head in confusion, prompting him to continue. "Have you ever heard of the infamous D.B. Cooper?"
"I have... wait- no. No WAY were you... seriously??" Your jaw dropped open as Loki nodded, his self-assured smirk widening. "You devil!"
"Hehey, it wasn't my decision! I lost a bet to my dear brother," he insisted, chuckling as you shoved his shoulder playfully.
"Still! I can't believe that was you!"
"Why so surprised? I always have enjoyed a bit of mischief."
"Yes, but this is an unsolved American mystery! You've fooled an entire nation!"
"That's nothing."
Loki proceeded to tell you about his mischievous endeavors in his younger years as the plane took off and set course to your destination. You listened intently, laughing at his wild tales. This felt normal to you, this chatter and joking and laughter had always been a part of your friendship. It helped take your mind off the fact that you were about to spend the next four days in Loki's company, without allowing yourself to succumb to your feelings.
A thought that only became more blatantly obvious when the two of you finally made it into the hotel room you'd be staying in for the next three nights.
You cursed under your breath when your gaze landed on the solitary bed in the room. One bed. Of course. The room itself was nice, with beachy wicker-style furniture and sage green walls, all very tropical. A set of double doors on the far wall led out to a small patio area on the beach, and a single door on the wall to your left opened into the bathroom.
"I'll talk to the woman at the front desk," you mumbled, trying not to catch Loki's eye as you left your bag by the side of the bed unopened. "They must have a room with two beds."
"Alright." His response was nonchalant, noncommittal. Clearly he wasn't as mortified as you felt internally. Then again, he wasn't the one trying to suppress feelings for the other person sleeping in this room.
You ducked out of the room and made a quick stop at the check-in desk, where the concierge informed you that, unfortunately, all the rooms had been booked. Sighing defeatedly, you made your way back to the room, finding Loki already stretched out on top of the bed with a book in his hand. Frankly, you were too flustered to work out sleeping arrangements at the moment; fortunately, your friend had you on a tight schedule.
"The other rooms are all booked. We can figure this out later - I've got to get ready to meet up with the bridal party. There's a sort of 'meet and greet' gathering tonight." You busied yourself sifting through your suitcase in search of a suitable outfit for the evening, mostly so you had an excuse not to look at Loki. A soft thumping sound told you he'd shut his book, and a shifting of the mattress clued you into his movement. Risking a glance, you looked up to find Loki leaning over the edge of the bed, staring down at you inquisitively.
"Should I be planning to join you?"
Taken aback by his question, especially given how he'd asked without a shred of reluctance or irritation in his tone, you paused in your scrounging through your belongings.
"I wasn't planning to force you to come," you responded. "You're already doing enough by coming to the wedding with me, you don't have to feel obligated to attend every one of these pre-wedding events."
"Would your friend Derek have attended?"
"Well... probably, yeah, but-"
"Then it's settled. I will accompany you this evening."
"Are you sure? It's going to be a lot of... well, socializing."
Loki chuckled a little, a smirk pulling at his lips. "While I clearly don't enjoy 'socializing' with my brother and his exceedingly upbeat companions, I am partial to casual parties. I attended quite a number of them on Asgard."
"Oh, really?"
"Why the tone of surprise? I am a prince after all." His smirk grew wider. "I am an exemplary social companion. You should consider yourself lucky."
"Wow. I'm pretty sure I just saw your head grow three sizes larger!" you jested, rolling your eyes with a grin.
After a quick change of clothes, you found yourself on your way to the outdoor hotel bar with Loki at your side. Already, many of the member of the wedding party had arrived and were mingling with drinks in hand. The moment the bride caught sight of you, she hurried over to wrap you in a hug in greeting.
"I'm so happy to see you!!" she exclaimed, releasing you with a huge smile on her face. Her eyes flitted over to Loki for a moment, then widened as she glanced back to you. "And you brought a date!"
"Yes, this is Loki. He's a... friend from work," you explained, cringing inwardly at your awkwardness. Fortunately, Loki took over from there - holding out his hand to accept a handshake from Leah.
"A pleasure to meet you. I've heard quite a bit about you."
"Oh? All good things, I hope!" Leah laughed.
"Oh, most certainly."
"Well, I look forward to hearing more about you - but I have to find my lovely fiancé... I know they're around somewhere." She grinned at you once more before scurrying off into the crowd.
"You liar - I barely talk about my friends outside of the Avengers," you whispered, trying to suppress an amused smile. Loki shrugged.
"I did tell you I've been said to have a silver tongue. That doesn't mean everything I say is true."
"Oh really? Well, how often are you lying to me, then, with that 'silver tongue' of yours?" you asked, half teasing but half genuinely curious.
"Now, what would I have to lie to you about?" He winked, a ghost of a smirk playing at his lips that had your face feeling warm. "Would you care for a drink, darling?"
"Yes, please." You were more than ready to grab something from the bar, hopefully to cool the heat in your cheeks before Loki started to notice.
Loki was, surprisingly, quite the gentleman; he asked you what you planned to have to drink, then ordered it for you along with his own. Not that any Midgardian liquor would even come close to making him feel its effects, but he did enjoy the taste of a decent quality malt.
You couldn't recall the last time you'd spent more than five minutes at a social gathering that wasn't somehow related to a mission. To say you were feeling a bit rusty at the whole 'making conversation with semi-acquaintances, semi-strangers' thing was an understatement. And yet, Loki made it look so easy, so effortless to strike up conversation. Once you'd started to sip your drink and ease yourself into socializing, you began to become a bit more relaxed, feeding off Loki's social energy.
That is, until you were asked 'the question' for the first of many times.
"So... how did you two meet?"
"Huh?"
You'd only been half-paying attention, while the other half of your mind seemed to be fixated on the warm, rumbling sound of Loki laughing after one of the groomsmen finished telling a funny story. The maid of honor - Vicky, who had been Leah's childhood best friend and, consequently, a friend of yours as well - was staring at you expectantly. It took you a moment to register what she was really asking, but when realization struck, you began stammering almost incoherently.
"Oh, er, no, we're not together like that..." You motioned between yourself and Loki for emphasis. "We're... he's just..."
"What she means to say is, we met through work," Loki interjected, his voice much more cool and collected than your own. "She is one of SHIELD's strongest agents. Naturally, she spends quite a bit of time with the Avengers."
"We're friends," you added firmly, finally regaining the ability to string words together in a sentence.
"Aww, really? You two would be great together, you know," Vicky teased with a grin. The few others who had been involved in the conversation murmured in agreement. You struggled to come up with a response as your face caught fire, when Loki interjected to spare you yet again.
"She's very focused on her work," he explained, a hint of pride in the way he stated it. "Perhaps, someday, she will free up some time to find romance." He caught your eye out of the corner of his with his last sentence, shooting you a wink.
"Perhaps," you echoed, a finality to your tone that indicated you were finished with this discussion. Fortunately, Vicky took the hint, moving on to other small talk. But while the conversation progressed, your mind was still stuck on Loki's words. What did he mean by what he said? Was it more smooth talk from the silver-tongued god? Or was there a deeper meaning behind it?
No matter, you thought. Regardless of what he truly meant, you couldn't allow yourself to fall for him. Because that was more terrifying than anything he could have possibly intended with his words.
By the time you'd called it an evening and headed back to the room, you were socially drained and mentally exhausted. So much so, you'd forgotten about your sleeping arrangements predicament until you flipped the light on in the room, eyes landing immediately on the solitary bed. Apparently you groaned out loud, because Loki suddenly brushed past you and grabbed one of the pillows off the bed.
"I'll take the floor," he offered.
"What? No, I can't possibly make you sleep on the floor. You're only here because I asked you to be. I'll take the floor instead."
He shot you a stubborn glance. "I will not subject you to sleeping on the cold floor." Loki tossed the pillow in his hand onto the floor.
"Nope. Not happening." You swiped one of the other pillows off the bed and chucked it at him, striking him in the back of the head. He spun around to face you with a shocked expression on his face, a glint of mischief in his eyes.
"You dare strike the Prince of Asgard with a pillow?" Loki demanded, stooping to pick up the pillow you'd thrown at him and advancing on you. Instinctively, you held your hands out protectively in front of you, taking a step back.
"W-what are you doing?"
"Fighting back." He swung the pillow up over his head in both hands, bringing it down on top of your head. The fabric of the pillowcase dragged a huge section of your hair into your eyes.
"Pffft - Lohoki!"
"I demand you accept my ultimatum and allow me to take the floor," he ordered, beating you repeatedly with the pillow. You began to laugh, covering your head with your forearms and curling in on yourself to hide from his vicious fluffy attack.
"Oh-oof-ohokahay!! Okahay!!" The pillow strikes suddenly stopped, and you straightened your posture and ran your fingers through your tangled hair. Loki had a youthful grin on his face - one that complemented him nicely, you couldn't help but think. "Look - we're... friends, right? If you're alright with it, I wouldn't mind just... sharing. The bed, I mean."
"It's no difference to me, darling. I've shared a bed with many a Midgardian."
Your jaw slackened indignantly at his response. You prepared to scold him, but he began to chuckle, and you just knew he was being facetious. While you appreciated him lightening the mood, you couldn't allow him to get away with putting such an image in your mind.
"You dirty little scoundrel!" you chastised, swiping the other pillow off the bed and returning the favor, beating him over the head with it. "You have not shared a bed with that many!"
"Ahalright!! I - oof - for Odin's sake! I yield!" He caught the pillow on the last swipe, tugging it from your hands. "Norns, you're vicious!"
"Come, now - you can't be naïve enough to think anything less of me by now." You paced across the room and stooped to pick up the other pillow, smirking when Loki flinched as you approached him, then relaxed when you tossed the pillow down on the bed where it belonged. "I'm gonna go change for bed."
You disappeared into the bathroom to put on pajamas, returning to find Loki already lying in bed propped up against the headboard with his lower half under the blankets, his book in his hand once again. He'd changed into sleep clothes as well - a soft-looking cotton long-sleeved shirt on his upper half, and the waistband of what appeared to be a pair of actual Midgardian pajama pants peeking out from beneath the hem of the blanket over his waist. It was different than you were used to seeing him.
It suited him.
Suddenly feeling shy, you averted your gaze and focused your attention on the blankets on your own side of the bed as you turned the sheets down and crawled underneath. You lay flat on your back and settled into the pillow, staring straight up at the ceiling as Loki's book thumped shut beside you.
"You can read if you want to stay up, the light won't bother me," you insisted.
"I'm rather tired." With a wave of his hand, the overhead light flicked off, shrouding the room in darkness. With your sense of sight inhibited, you were acutely aware of the sound of his shifting against the mattress, his breathing in such close proximity to you.
"Well... goodnight," you mumbled.
"Goodnight."
You turned over onto your side facing away from Loki, eyes still wide open despite the fact that you couldn't see two inches in front of your face. Thoughts raced through your mind at light speed. What if I accidentally invade his space while I'm sleeping? What if he hears me snoring? Or worse... what if I say something in my sleep?
Beside you, Loki's breathing gradually slowed and deepened, and you assumed he had fallen asleep. Something about that was comforting to you - knowing that he felt comfortable enough in bed next to you to just drift right off to sleep. You shut your eyes, then, hoping sleep would come to you as well.
* * *
When you woke the next morning, Loki had already risen and vacated the bed. It was both a blessing and a curse - you weren't sure how you'd feel about waking up next to him, but you also couldn't know if you had accidentally rolled into his personal space during the night.
Loki had already prepared two mugs of coffee in the small coffee maker in the room. The smell of it was perhaps what woke you in the first place. You ran your fingers through your hair to smooth it down before shifting to sit up against the headboard, letting Loki know you were awake. He turned from where he stood at the counter where the coffee maker sat, pacing over to you with one of the mugs and placing it on the side table. Notably, he was still in his sleep clothes.
You'd been right - he was wearing Midgardian-style pajama pants. Green plaid, actually. It was oddly adorable.
"Sleep well?" he asked, rounding the bed to sit on the edge on his own side.
"Not bad. You?" You grasped the mug of coffee in both hands and took a sip, breathing in the bitter scent.
"Fine." He suddenly smirked. "How does it feel, knowing you are one of the few Midgardians who can boast about having been in bed with the God of Mischief?"
"Loki!" You swatted his arm. "What happened to having 'shared a bed with many a Midgardian'?"
He scoffed. "That was obviously a joke. I do have standards after all."
"I hope your 'standards' aren't too high," you teased, "I'd imagine there are many Midgardians who would decline your advances."
"What makes you say that?" he asked indignantly.
"Not everyone likes mischief. Especially in a lover."
"I like to think a bit of mischief in a lover keeps the relationship interesting."
"And yet you're still single."
Loki narrowed his eyes at you for a moment, then cocked one eyebrow and smirked. "Perhaps I simply haven't found someone who lives up to my standards."
"Pshh. You keep telling yourself that." You threw your legs over the side of the bed and got up, hoping to escape this conversation before he somehow managed to turn it on you.
The rehearsal dinner was that evening, so you had most of the day to yourself to decompress. You had gotten yourself dressed in casual clothes and were preparing to head out to a late breakfast when there was a knock at your hotel room door. Curiously, you paced over to the door and raised an eye to the peephole.
"Who is it?" Loki asked from his seat on one of the cushioned wicker chairs.
"Leah." You all but groaned out loud. If Leah was at your door, that could only mean one thing-
"It's wedding party bonding time!!" she squealed as you swung the door open.
"Bonding time? I haven't eaten breakfast yet."
"Breakfast? You realize how late it is, right? It's time for brunch!" She reached out and grasped your forearm, tugging for you to come with her. You turned your head and shot Loki an apologetic look.
"What about Loki? He hasn't eaten either."
"Then bring him! The whole wedding party is coming - no discrimination between guys, gals, and nonbinary pals."
"Oh - I'm sure he-"
"I'd be happy to join you," Loki interjected before you could make an excuse on his behalf.
"Perfect!!" She turned and motioned for the two of you to follow her, making long strides as she hurried down the hallway. You fell back to walk beside Loki, giving him a skeptical look.
"You know you don't have to come, right? Why are you so easily convinced to hang out with the wedding party?"
"Obviously you need me - you've no idea how to relax and have a bit of fun," he whispered, the corner of his mouth twitching upward. "And perhaps I'm intrigued by the idea of you owing me a debt. You did say that was contingent on my 'performance as a wedding date', after all."
"First of all - I know how to relax just fine on my own, thank you very much. And what exactly are you hoping to make me do?"
"I'm certain I can think of something."
Leah led you to the outdoor hotel restaurant where most of the wedding party had already sat down at a cluster of tables. The mid-morning sun was shining overhead, unhindered by cloud cover with nothing but clear blue skies for miles. Despite the blazing sun, the air wasn't exceedingly humid - it was a pleasantly dry heat, with an occasional cool ocean breeze providing just enough relief from the warmer temperature. The restaurant itself was set out on a large deck by the beach, with small white wooden café tables and umbrellas propped through the centers for shade. Add to all that the background of beautiful palm trees lining the beach, along with the soft rush of the ocean waves, and it was heaven on earth for someone like Leah who absolutely adored the tropics.
Surprisingly, Loki didn't appear overly uncomfortable in the heat. He'd even worn a short-sleeved shirt - something you didn't think you'd ever seen him wear before. You tried not to be too obvious about admiring his toned forearms as he animatedly made conversation with the two friends seated at your table. Naturally, they asked if the two of you were dating. The spark of amusement in Loki's eye as you stammered in your response to that question was starting to irk you.
As the waiter was clearing the empty plates from your table, Leah swaggered over with a half-empty mimosa in hand and a grin on her face. On her arm was her fiancé Leslie.
You liked Leslie a lot - they evened Leah out so well with their calm, laid-back demeanor. The way they looked at Leah left no doubt in anyone's mind that they loved her fiercely. An unexpected pang of sadness shot through your chest as the thought flitted through your mind that you were missing that intense love in your life. You reminded yourself that you were doing the responsible thing by keeping your heart closed off to any potential relationships.
"Leslie - how have you been?" you asked cordially.
"Pretty good! Just trying to keep this lovely lady in check until the wedding is over," Leslie replied with a cheeky grin.
"One of us has to do all the planning, Leslie!" Leah whined. Leslie laughed, leaning down to give her a kiss. Leah's cheeks were already tinged red from the mimosas, only amplified by her fiancé's public display of affection. She suddenly turned to you with wide-eyed excitement. "Are you ready to go get our nails done?"
Your eyebrows shot halfway up your forehead. "What? Oh, no, that's not really my thing, Leah-"
"You are one of the bridesmaids - you have to participate in all of the bonding activities," she insisted, a whiny twinge to her voice. "How would it look if you were missing from the photos??"
The fiery red eyes of the Bridezilla within were shimmering through Leah's brown ones as she gazed sternly at you.
"Leah, you know I don't paint my nails."
"Then get clear polish! Even a couple of the guys are joining us. You have to come!"
"B-but what about Loki?"
"He can come too!" She turned to him with a broad grin. "Get your nails done, or just hang out and drink champagne with the other guys if you want. Just don't let her skip out on her bridesmaid duties."
"You're using my date against me now?"
"Now hang on - she does have a point, darling. You must fulfill your duties," Loki chimed in, a mischievous gleam in his eye. You opened your mouth to scold him, but Leah interjected.
"See? I knew I liked him!"
Before you could provide your current sentiment on your Asgardian escort, Leah had begun bouncing along to visit another table. You buried your face in your hands, letting out a frustrated sigh. Beside you, Loki chuckled.
"Are you trying to punish me for something?" you grumbled.
"Oh, of course not. I'm having a wonderful time. It's quite entertaining to see you so far out of your element."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You scorn frivolity. Always straight down to business." Loki smirked smugly at you. "Now that you're being ordered to participate in such events, it's become clear to me that you simply don't know how to relax."
"I do too!"
"I'm not convinced."
You scoffed. "Are you saying I have to prove it to you?"
"As I stated - I'm not convinced."
As you opened your mouth to continue to argue, Leah's call cut you off. You stood from the table, giving Loki a hard, resolute look.
"I can let loose and have fun like anyone else. Just watch me."
"Oh, I'll be watching."
The spa was outdoors as well, a separate shaded area with sandalwood patio flooring and soothing fairy lights laced into a wooden pergola overhead. One of the spa technicians whisked your group over to the nail salon area, seating you in one of the salon chairs where another spa technician instantly handed you a glass of champagne. You smiled kindly as you took the glass, your gaze then meeting Loki's where he sat with a few of the other members of the wedding party and their dates on one of the cushy-looking sofas. With a smirk, you downed half your glass, nearly choking on the sudden burst of bubbles in your throat. Loki's eyebrows shot upward, an amused grin spreading across his face that made you scowl.
Determined to prove him wrong, and now with a bit of champagne going straight to your head, you turned to Vicky beside you and began attempting to make casual small talk.
"So... are you sure you and Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome over there aren't dating?" she murmured in your ear. You took another long swig of champagne to hide the sudden color in your cheeks before responding.
"Yep, pretty sure. We're friends."
"Oh come on! I see the way he looks at you!" she whispered excitedly. "What's holding you back?"
"I'm not really in a position to be dating anyone in my line of work," you responded flatly, nodding and smiling politely to the nail tech who had pulled up a stool in front of you and started filling the foot soaking basin with warm water. It felt soothing on your tired feet. "Anyway - enough about Loki. How is Ryan? Was he busy this weekend?"
"Hmph. Let me tell you..."
Vicky went on a tangent about her ex boyfriend cheating on her with his boss, and you simply sat and listened, nodding politely or gasping in horror at all the appropriate times throughout her story. Secretly, you were just glad to have the conversation on another subject that wasn't you and Loki.
She was only interrupted once, when the nail technician showed you both the polish color Leah had selected. It was a sparkly rose gold color - much more gaudy than you'd have considered for yourself. Not that you'd have considered any color at all, honestly - you weren't lying to Leah when you'd told her this wasn't your thing. Accustomed to knives and utility belts, you weren't exactly one to wear dresses and nail polish.
You considered declining and requesting clear as Leah had suggested, but you glanced up and caught Loki observing you with a shadow of a smirk on his lips. The sudden urge to prove you could relax and let loose outweighed your self-consciousness about doing something so far out of your comfort zone.
"Sure. I'll go with it," you told her with a nod. Beside you, Vicky squealed with delight.
"That color is gonna look amazing on you!" she gushed. You couldn't help but smile at that. You weren't used to people complementing your appearance; mostly because you didn't put much effort into it. Perhaps this wouldn't be so bad after all.
Vicky continued with her story (which had really turned into more of a rant) as the nail technician got started on your pedicure. You’d only had one once before, years ago with another friend of yours, long before the incident with HYDRA. It wasn’t so bad then - you wouldn’t go as far as to say it was relaxing, having a stranger touching your feet, but it was bearable. But this time, the moment she started touching your foot, you nearly jumped out of your chair.
Still trying to politely half-listen to Vicky, you struggled to hold still and keep a straight face as she massaged gritty exfoliating soap into your foot. It had been years since someone had attempted to tickle you, before you'd been christened with your enhanced powers from the mind stone experiments. Apparently, it hadn't just enhanced your strength and your senses. You were never this ticklish before.
You bit your tongue and focused on breathing slowly in through your nose and out through your mouth, gaze flitting intermittently over to where Loki sat chatting with some of the others while snacking on the charcuterie board Vicky had ordered for everyone. He wasn't really paying much attention to you, but you did catch his eye a couple of times. One of those times, unfortunately, the nail technician had started scraping the heel of your foot with the pumice sponge, and you flinched for the briefest moment.
It was enough to pique Loki's curiosity. Suddenly, he was watching you with more intent, a quizzical expression on his face. You returned your focus to your breathing, rolling your eyes up to the sky in an effort to just ignore the unbearably ticklish sensation.
"Are you still listening?"
"Huh?"
You had completely forgotten Vicky was still talking to you. She was staring at you now, her brow furrowed in concern.
"Are you ok? You seem distracted."
"Oh, yeah, I'm fi-HINE!" A giggle slipped out when the technician slid the pumice sponge along the ball of your foot. She glanced up at you apologetically, and Vicky's concerned expression morphed into an amused grin.
"Ticklish?" she asked teasingly, poking you in the ribs.
"AH- hey! Yes, alright?"
"Just squeeze the arm of the chair whenever it gets too bad - it helped me the first couple times until I got used to it."
"Note-HEH-ed." You grasped the arm of the chair as she suggested, reluctantly returning your gaze to where Loki sat with bated breath. He wore a devilish smirk that set your cheeks on fire and sent your heart racing, mouthing the words:
You're in trouble.
Great, you thought. Another reason to be flustered around Loki. This whole 'don't let your feelings get the best of you' oath you'd taken wasn't going so well.
You managed to survive the rest of the pedicure without kicking your poor nail technician on reflex, breathing a sigh of relief when she drained the water in the basin and sent you to one of the manicure tables. While you sat awaiting a technician, Loki took the opportunity to saunter over to you with that same devilish smirk still plastered on his face.
"What was that all about?" he asked facetiously. You scowled, though with less malice than you'd have liked given you were also fighting back a silly flustered grin.
"None of your business," you mumbled dismissively.
"Have you always been so ticklish?" He clicked his tongue, tutting at you tauntingly. "Would be a shame if an enemy discovered that little weakness on the battlefield."
"Weren't you in the middle of a conversation over there?" you demanded, glancing around wildly for a free technician to give you an excuse to cease this discussion.
"Oh, but this is far more entertaining." He prodded your side with one finger, chuckling when you flinched away. "Ticklish here, too? All this time we've known each other and you've kept this secret?"
"Can you blame me?" You breathed a sigh of relief as a nail technician sat down across from you to get started on your manicure, motioning for you to place your hands on the table. "Now, shoo - I'm busy trying to relax."
"Well, I certainly hope for your sake you find this more relaxing." Loki winked cheekily before returning to his former seat. Vicky suddenly swept in and took the seat beside you.
"He was totally flirting with you just now," she whispered in hushed excitement.
"What? No, no he's just constantly searching for new ways to get on my nerves."
"Oh, come on. Ryan used to tickle me constantly before we started dating."
"Your cheating ex? Comforting."
"Not the point. And also, not related."
"He's not even from this planet. Who knows what flirting looks like on Asgard??"
Vicky sighed sadly. "I know how you feel about dating, being a SHIELD agent and all. But as your friend, I see the way you look at him. I just want you to be happy."
"I am happy. But thank you, Vicky." You smiled half-heartedly, reaching over to squeeze her hand.
It wasn't the entire truth, of course. More than ever, you were feeling the dull ache in your chest, the sense of longing to truly love someone. To allow yourself to fall in love with Loki. It was becoming difficult not to allow yourself to slip over the edge from a simple crush to full-fledged feelings. But you had to hold firm in your resolve. This would all go away once you returned home and got back to focusing on your work.
At least, you hoped.
It felt like you had barely any time at all between "wedding party bonding time" and the rehearsal dinner that evening. Fortunately, Leah wasn't asking the wedding party to dress up for this. You were NOT about to put on a dress if it wasn't mandated by the Bridezilla. The wedding would be far more than enough for you with wearing a dress.
Leah and Leslie's wedding ceremony was taking place right on the beach. It was exactly what you'd pictured for her - warm, silky sand along a beautiful backdrop of azure ocean water bubbling up on the shore in gentle, rolling waves. Plus, a beach ceremony meant you didn't have to wear heels. That was a plus.
The Bridezilla had completely taken hold of Leah by the time you and Loki had arrived. Beside her, Leslie had a comforting hand on her shoulder as she argued animatedly with one of the attendants assisting with setup. Only snippets of the conversation were audible - something about the aisle runner being the wrong shade of ivory came rumbling from the depths of the Bridezilla's throat.
"Leslie is a saint for tolerating this chaos..." you muttered to Loki while still out of earshot of the wedding party.
"I'm willing to bet you would be a rather particular bride yourself," he whispered back.
"I would not!" you retorted indignantly.
"Perhaps not about such trivial things as fabric color. But you can't possibly look me in the eye and tell me that you wouldn't have sharp words for anyone who dared to use vanilla frosting on your cake."
You glared at Loki, feeling your cheeks prickle with heat. "So I don't like vanilla frosting. Is that a crime?"
"What about if they put olives in the salad?"
"You've only managed to prove that I'm a food snob."
"Oh? Then perhaps we should move on to discuss the inevitable tantrum you'd throw should the musician play anything from a decade earlier than the 1990s..."
"Shh. They'll hear us." You took advantage of your nearing proximity to the others to cut him off before he could tease you any further. Although, if you were being honest with yourself, it wasn't the teasing that was getting to you - it was the shock of realizing how many seemingly trivial details about you Loki seemed to have memorized. It was simultaneously flattering and terrifying, because it only tugged at your heartstrings knowing how intimately he knew your quirks.
By the time Leah had finally finished her argument over the aisle runner, your stomach was already beginning to growl in protest. If there were any consolation in having to suffer through the actual rehearsal, it was the knowledge that a delicious meal awaited you when you'd finished.
You hoped it was well worth it.
The Bridezilla growled orders at all of you through the entire rehearsal. On your walk down the aisle, your pace was "too fast." You slowed down as she requested, and then suddenly it was "not fast enough." It took everything in your power not to snap, knowing the Bridezilla would soon vacate its host when the wedding was over tomorrow and your friend would be left with the memories of any cold-hearted comments you threw her way.
Three practice runs and an hour later than scheduled, the wedding party was finally ushered to their tables for dinner. It was the same restaurant you'd had brunch at earlier, though with the setting sun and darkening sky, the gleam of the candles on the tables and the blazing glow of the torches lit around the outer edges of the deck changed the ambiance entirely. It only made you curious to know what the actual reception dining area would look like the next evening - this was a rather romantic setting in itself.
"Darling, you're walking too fast," Loki teased as you approached your assigned table. Whipping your head around, you shot him a glare.
"I'm starving. I'll walk as fast as I damn well please," you hissed.
"Oh dear. Do you Midgardians have a name for the monster that comes out when you're hungry?" He stepped out ahead of you and pulled out a chair, motioning for you to take a seat.
"The appropriate term is 'hangry,' and no. Even if there were a name for it, I wouldn't tell you."
"Why ever not?"
"What, you think I'm naïve enough to give you ammunition to tease me?"
"I thought you liked my teasing," he countered, pinching your side as he took his seat. You jumped, holding up a finger in warning.
"You don't want to tickle me when I'm hangry."
Loki smirked. "Is that explicit permission to do it once you've eaten, then?"
"That's not at all what I said," you grumbled, heat rising in your cheeks. Fortunately, before he could respond, the waiter stopped by the table to ask what meals you'd be having that evening. The mischievous glint in his eye told you this conversation was not over, however.
Dinner was, indeed, delicious. Perhaps even more so because you were ravenously hungry by the time it arrived to the table. You didn't even bother taking the time to scold Loki for whatever thoughts might be going through his head as he sat there snickering at you between bites.
"Excuse me, everyone!"
Leslie clinked their spoon against their glass to gain the attention of the group, awaiting the wave of silence before continuing to speak.
"Leah and I just wanted to thank you all for being a part of our wedding. It's been wonderful having so many caring friends and family surrounding us and celebrating our marriage. We couldn't have gotten here without all of you."
"Thank you all so much," Leah added tearfully, a watery smile on her face. "Our wedding day is going to be absolutely perfect, and we have all of you to thank for it."
As the group clapped politely, Leah turned to Leslie and pressed a long, tear-stained kiss to their lips. It warmed your soul to see your friend so happy in love. Still, that nagging, dull ache in your chest was difficult to ignore.
That is, until Leah got into an argument with one of the waiters when dessert was served because the plates weren't the right color. The Bridezilla strikes again.
By the end of the rehearsal dinner, you were frustrated and tired of listening to the Bridezilla's roaring and howling. As soon as was socially acceptable, you stood and bid Leah and Leslie an early goodnight, practically dragging Loki into the hotel to go seek sanctuary in your room.
The moment you arrived back in your hotel room, you stormed straight over to the bed and flopped unceremoniously on top of the mattress on your back, releasing a long pent-up groan of frustration.
"You seem to be quite ill-tempered every time we go to one of these events." Loki stood by the edge of the bed, gazing down at you curiously.
"Leah is my friend. She may be a crazed, stressed-out monster at the moment, but she's my friend. At least, that's what I keep reminding myself." You rubbed your eyes, feeling the weight of the wearisome day pressing on you. "I'm just glad this wedding is almost over."
"You know..." he began, taking a seat on the edge of the bed beside you, "... marriage rituals on Asgard last an entire week."
You cringed, sitting up a bit and propping yourself up on your elbows. "Glad we don't have that on earth..."
"Yes, well, there's quite a bit of mead involved. It's much more enjoyable that way."
"What else is different about Asgardian weddings?"
"Well... for one thing, there's swords involved."
"Naturally."
"There's also a sacrificial goat on the fifth day-"
"A what??" You sat bolt upright with wide eyes. Loki cocked his head at your appalled expression.
"It's a ceremony to promote fertility. The betrothed woman carries a goat up a mountain, where the man then unsheathes his sword and-"
"OH-KAY that's enough," you cut him off, throwing your hands up over your ears. Loki suddenly began laughing.
"Did you honestly believe that was true?? It was a joke, darling! We're not barbarians - we're much more sophisticated than that."
"Loki!! How the hell am I supposed to know what marriage ceremonies look like on Asgard??" He continued to chuckle at your indignance, and so you huffed and shoved his shoulder playfully with both hands. "You're such an ass."
"Did you just push me?" he asked incredulously, turning his body toward you more fully with a dangerously devilish expression on his face. Before you could provide a response, he had grabbed hold of one of your ankles on the bed beside him and began dusting his fingertips along the sole of your foot.
"HEHEY!!" You tugged hard on your leg, kicking wildly at Loki with your free foot. He paused in his attack to swipe your other ankle out of midair, scooping them both into the crook of his elbow and scratching rapidly at both soles with all five fingers on his free hand.
"This is the most delightful little piece of information I've ever learned about you - now I know exactly how to take you down a few pegs when you're getting on my nerves."
"ExcUHUSE MEHE?" You planted your hands beside you on the mattress and pulled desperately to free your ankles from their imprisonment. "Getting ohon YOHOUR nerves?? Mihister God of Mischief??"
"You heard me correctly." He suddenly tugged harshly to pull your legs straight, consequently causing you to be dragged onto your back. His hands latched onto your hips before you had the chance to react to his surprise attack. A shrieky burst of laughter exploded from your chest, which only serve to encourage him to dig his thumbs in harder into the soft spaces next to your hipbones. "Apparently, this is also an excellent method for breaking you out of this sour mood you've been in all day. You're much more pleasant when you're laughing."
"SOHO RUHUDE- NAHAHAH LOKI!!" You squealed in protest when he began to scratch at your belly with all ten fingers, a rather undignified noise coming from a tough Avenger, you thought. Fortunately, you didn't have the wherewithal to dwell on it as his tickling fingers made your mind go fuzzy. Sensing you were tiring, he halted his attack, grinning fondly as you curled up in a ball to protect your vulnerable areas.
"I think that should be sufficient to cure your surly demeanor, don't you?"
"Gohod, Loki... yohou're vicious!" you whined, shifting to sit up against the headboard with your knees curled up against your chest. You couldn't deny the fact that you did actually feel a bit less grumpy. It was hard not to after having laughed so hard.
An added and unintentional effect of Loki's ticklish onslaught was the sudden wave of drowsiness that consumed you the moment the adrenaline had worn off. At least tonight it felt a bit less awkward crawling into bed beside the God of Mischief.
"Thanks again for agreeing to come with me," you murmured in the darkness as the lure of sleep threatened to overtake you.
"You did tell me I owed you." His baritone voice sounded slightly more gravelly than usual, and you suspected he, too, was on the verge of falling asleep. And yet, still, he found a way to tease you.
"I know. But you could have said no still. So... thanks."
"Anytime, love."
The rumbling of his voice echoed in your mind long after he had stopped speaking. It was the lullaby that lulled you to sleep that night.
* * *
You were trying desperately not to grow accustomed to Loki preparing you coffee before you woke in the morning. It would do you no good to allow that to feel like a part of your routine. Especially considering you'd only be waking beside him one more morning.
"What do Asgardian brides do on the morning of their actual wedding day?" you asked between sips of coffee.
"Well... the betrothed couple spend the morning separate from one another - similar to Midgardian custom, as I understand it," Loki explained. "The Asgardian custom is for the betrothed to bathe and cleanse themselves of their past in preparation for their future together."
"That's... oddly beautiful, actually."
Loki's mouth twitched upward slightly. "Historically speaking, the woman would bathe as a symbol of washing away her virginity."
"AND I've heard enough," you dismissed definitively, squeezing your eyes shut to will the heat from your cheeks.
"I simply answered your question," Loki shrugged. "What is the custom here on Midgard, then?"
"The tradition is for the bride and the bridal party to gather to get their hair and makeup done, get dressed, and take photos, while the men often gather and drink. Although, nowadays, people have done many different non-traditional things the morning of their wedding."
"And what will your friend be doing, then?"
"Oh, Leah is a traditionalist in that sense. Which means I'm stuck getting all beautified this morning." You scowled at the thought, drawing a laugh from the Asgardian.
"You make it sound as if she's torturing you."
"It is torture. Have you ever seen me in anything but slacks and a t-shirt?"
"I suppose not."
You drank your coffee as slowly as possible, so by the time you finished the last of it, the liquid was an unpleasant lukewarm temperature. It wasn't that you weren't excited to see Leah on her wedding day - you were just less than thrilled about getting dolled up for the wedding. Not to mention, you wouldn't see Loki until the ceremony. You knew he'd find some way to occupy his time while you were busy with the rest of the bridal party, but you couldn't lie and say you wouldn't be thinking about him until you saw him again.
After showering for the morning, you wrapped yourself in the green robe that Leah had gifted you with your name embroidered on the front. The color almost exactly matched the sage green color of the bridesmaid gowns. Fortunately, you wouldn't have to put that on until later, closer to the time of the ceremony. But the robe was, admittedly, rather comfortable.
Loki looked at you inquisitively as you stepped out of the bathroom with the sage green gown draped over your elbow.
"Is that what you'll be wearing this evening?" he asked, motioning to the garment on your arm.
"Oh, uh... well, yeah. Leah picked it out." You held it by the straps and let the skirt of the dress hang down, providing him a better view of the gown. "I'm not thrilled about how I look in dresses, but I'm doing this for Leah, so..."
"The color suits you."
You stopped talking for a moment, jaw remaining slightly open. "Beg pardon?"
"The color. You look captivating in green."
A fiery heat rose from your neck to your ears. "I, uh... thanks."
You bade Loki goodbye before heading up to Leah's hotel suite, his complement buzzing around in your mind. Had you ever even worn green in front of him until today? Most of your workout clothes were some shade of black or gray. Not to mention, you knew green was his color. All his Asgardian leather had some sort of green hue worked into the fabric somewhere. Part of you felt a semblance of pride, knowing Loki thought his color was fitting on you.
Then the practical part of you recognized you were starting to slip over that edge into true feelings for the Prince of Asgard, and you quickly shook his words from your mind.
Leah was a complete nervous wreck when you arrived in her suite. It was a welcome change from the commanding, angry monster she'd been yesterday at least.
"What's going on?" you asked as you shut the door behind you.
"The hair stylist was supposed to be here ten minutes ago," Vicky explained, clearly trying her hardest to suppress an eye roll. Luckily, Leah didn't seem to notice.
"If she doesn't get here soon, she's going to cut into the time slotted for makeup, and then we'll be late for the ceremony and-"
"Leah." You placed both hands on her shoulders and looked her square in the eye. She paused in her breathless rattling sentence, her lower lip trembling. "It's your wedding day. No matter what happens, the most important thing is that you enjoy yourself. Nobody will notice if it isn't one hundred percent perfect."
She gazed at you silently for a moment, eyes wide. Then, suddenly, she threw her arms around you and squeezed you tight.
"Thank you," she mumbled into your shoulder. "You're right. I'm marrying the love of my life today. Nothing could possibly be better than that."
When she released you and stepped back, she had a watery smile on her face. There wasn't a hint of the Bridezilla remaining in her eyes. Could it have been that simple? Had you found a way to defeat it?
A knock on the door caught Leah's attention, and moments later, the hair stylist was entering with her supplies in hand ready to get started. All was now right in her world.
The morning was a whirlwind of hairstyling, makeup, and photos, laced with some intermittent happy tears from the bride and a single round of champagne to celebrate. You barely recognized yourself in the mirror by the time you were finished getting ready. More surprising, though, was that you didn't hate how you looked as much as you anticipated. It would certainly still take some getting used to.
A small voice in the back of your mind wondered what Loki would think when he saw you.
At long last, it was time for Leah and Leslie's wedding ceremony. Leah looked absolutely radiant in her wedding dress, with her hair in loose curls framing her face. You took your place beside one of the groomsmen, grasping his elbow as he offered it to you politely, and began to walk down the aisle as the music started.
You pasted a smile to your face as you walked at exactly the pace dictated by Leah at the rehearsal the evening before. More than ever, your heart ached with the sadness of knowing you would never allow yourself to walk down the aisle as a bride. You reminded yourself that it would be irresponsible. Reckless. It would put someone you loved in danger of HYDRA's retaliation against you for your escape. It would give you something to lose, something to distract you from your hero work...
And then your eyes met Loki's.
He was seated with a few of the other wedding party members' dates that he'd been schmoozing with these last few days, two seats in from the aisle. You weren't sure you'd ever seen him looking so awestruck. His eyes were wide, brows raised, jaw slack, a dusting of red gracing his cheeks. Those beautiful blue-green irises of his roamed up and down, taking in the entire sight of you. That smile on your face was no longer forced, your own cheeks feeling a bit warmer under the weight of his gaze. You forgot about your heartache - you simply reveled in the feeling of Loki looking at you as though you were the only person in the room.
In that moment, you tipped over the edge. You'd fallen for him. And there was no going back.
Damn.
The moment had passed as quickly as it had begun, and you were taking your place by the altar among the bridesmaids. You took a minute to glance at Leslie standing at the end of the aisle, waiting eagerly for Leah to make her appearance. They wore a white jumpsuit, which suited them incredibly well. More striking was the broad smile on their face, and the shimmer of tears in their eyes as they caught sight of Leah for the very first time when she began her walk down the aisle. They looked so very happy together.
And there was no sign of the dreaded Bridezilla any longer.
The ceremony was beautiful, and you shared a great deal of laughs during the wedding party photos afterward. As much fun as it was, you couldn't wait until your bridesmaidly duties were finished so you could finally see Loki once again.
The moment the wedding party was dismissed, you hurried to join the rest of the guests at cocktail hour in search of your date. You didn't have to look for long. A sudden pinch to your sides from behind alerted you to his presence.
"Ah-ha- Loki!" you whined, your hands grabbing his at your waist out of instinct. Turning your head, you found him leaning over your shoulder from behind to get a better look at your face, an impish grin on his face.
"I couldn't resist," he insisted with a chuckle, turning you around to face him. You got your first good look at his outfit as well. He wore a tailored black suit, paired with a white shirt and simple black tie underneath. His dark locks had been tamed slightly, still hanging loosely around his face. The whole look brought out the vivid blue-green color of his eyes.
"You, er... you clean up nice," you mumbled, overcome by that shy feeling that only he could elicit. Loki's grin widened as he took your hand in his and brought it up to his lips, pressing them gently to the back of your hand. You shivered involuntarily at the gentleness of his touch, face feeling warmer than ever.
"And you look absolutely ravishing," he hummed, lowering your hand and releasing it as his eyes sparked with amusement at your sudden sheepishness. "Would you care for a drink, darling?"
"Uh, yep. Let's do that," you breathed with a nod of your head, earning a warm rumble of a laugh from your companion. He placed a hand on the small of your back, gently guiding you toward the bar to order you something to drink.
The sun was beginning to set overhead, a palette of oranges, pinks, and yellows painting the horizon over the ocean. The guests were buzzing with conversation and laughter, bubbling with 'how are yous' and 'I missed yous' as family and friends reunited to celebrate Leah and Leslie. You felt a pleasant warmth surging through you, though it was hard to say whether it was the joyful energy of the evening or the feeling of Loki's hand resting on your back as he chatted amicably with some of the wedding party that brought it on.
"Have you two finally confessed your feelings??"
Vicky sidled up to the two of you as you were nabbing an hors d'oeuvre off a nearby platter.
"We're friends, Vicky!" you reiterated, popping the snack in your mouth to give yourself an excuse not to have to say any more.
"Sure looks like you're getting a little extra friendly with each other," she teased with a sly grin, motioning to Loki's hand on your back. You nearly choked on your hors d'oeuvre, barely managing to swallow it and opening your mouth to retort, but Loki beat you to the punch.
"I'm simply preparing for the next time she decides to say something cheeky," he explained, his fingers digging into your side for a moment. You spluttered and giggled, leaning into him involuntarily to evade his fingers.
"Ah, I see..." Vicky nodded, her grin widening. "I'll see you two at dinner, then. Don't have too much fun!"
"You sneak!" you hissed, shoving him playfully as you bit back a grin. He shrugged with a laugh.
"I-hi was simply providing you with an excuse - you certainly didn't seem to have one," he teased.
It wasn't long before Leah and Leslie returned from taking photos, and the guests were ushered to the main reception area. The space was absolutely breathtaking. White tableclothed tables and chairs were set out along a large stone-tiled patio space on the beach. Above the dining area were strings of soft warm lights draped over a wooden frame outlining the space. Simple vases of flowers served as the centerpieces atop the tables, nested between sets of small tea-light candles that glowed bright against the darkening sky. You and Loki found your seats at the bridal party table.
Which, notably, did not have an empty seat at it, thanks to your Asgardian prince.
Loki nudged you with his elbow as the waiter swept by and set out plates of salad in front of each guest. You tilted your head quizzically as he gestured to the plate in front of you.
"There's olives in the salad," he informed. You looked down and found that there were, indeed, whole green olives set atop the bed of leafy greens. You groaned out loud.
"Why does anyone want these horrid things in their salad??" you whined. Loki chuckled beside you, earning a glare. "What, you think it's funny?"
"No - I think it's charming, actually, that you get so irritable about such trivial matters." You stuck your tongue out at him, only serving to draw another laugh from the trickster. "Here - allow me."
With a wave of his hand, the olives in your salad disappeared in a flash of green light. Wide-eyed, you glanced around the table to see if anyone noticed, but they were all wrapped up in their own conversations and paying little attention to the little display of magic Loki had just performed.
"Darling - they're well aware I'm not from around here," he teased as he watched you relax knowing no one had witnessed the spell.
"Yeah, well... force of habit." You were referring to your own special abilities, which you kept carefully under wraps from your non-superhero friends. Much unlike the God of Mischief beside you, who chose to flaunt his abilities whenever he saw fit. Still, it was rather sweet of him to think of you when he saw the olives on the salad. You picked up your fork, offering him a half smile. "Thanks."
"Anytime, love. I'll be here when they bring the cake with vanilla frosting."
"Oh, shut it."
Dinner was excellent, as was to be expected coming from Leah and Leslie's wedding. Leah wouldn't have settled for anything less than spectacular. Although, you wondered if she'd even tasted any of her food tonight, watching her bounce from table to table greeting guests with a huge smile on her face and her new spouse on her arm.
Following dinner, the DJ called for Leah and Leslie to have their first dance as a married couple together. You recognized the song they'd selected the moment it began to play - it had been the song playing in the car on their first date. Leah had played it on repeat for a month after that. She'd gotten it stuck in your head every time you'd come to visit.
Leslie took Leah's hand and waist, sweeping her into a graceful slow dance. They gazed lovingly into each other's eyes, and Leah giggled once about something Leslie whispered in her ear. You watched the couple longingly, feeling your heart squeeze painfully inside your chest. It was a beautiful, natural partnership they had, made obvious by the ease at which Leah followed Leslie's every move, never once looking at anyone else around them.
"If this were an Asgardian wedding, they would be holding swords during the first dance."
You turned your attention away from the dance to look at Loki beside you, who was leaning back into his seat after having shifted to whisper in your ear.
"Really? How does that work?"
"It's rather elegant, really. Each holds a sword in their right hand, their left hands free to dance palm to palm as is tradition in Asgard. When they turn the opposite direction, with their right sides facing one another, the swords serve as the connection between them. A way of honoring their ancestors and binding their families."
"Hmm." You tried to envision what such a dance might look like. Though it was difficult to imagine Leah and Leslie participating in a traditional Asgardian wedding dance, you could easily picture Loki dancing elegantly with sword in hand. He fought with a sort of dance quality to his movements, though you'd never seen him actually dance. You were intrigued by the thought, though you weren't keen on dancing yourself.
When you returned your attention to the dance floor, the song was just ending. As happy for them as you were, you were glad not to have witnessed the remainder of the dance. It was only making your heart ache, filling your mind with desires you knew you should never pursue.
The DJ announced the opening of the dance floor, and suddenly you were the only two people seated at your table as the rest of the bridal party leapt to their feet to join the married couple. The music was loud, upbeat, perfect to dance to if you knew how to dance. Unfortunately, you were not one of those people.
"Would you like to join them?" Loki asked. You smiled weakly and shook your head.
"Two left feet," you offered in explanation. Loki's brow furrowed in confusion, and you laughed. "It's an expression. It means I can't dance."
"Oh, that I don't believe. You are more than capable of dancing. I've seen your agility on the field."
"Alright, yes - physically speaking, I can dance. But not well. And certainly not well enough to make a fool of myself in front of all these people."
Loki's eyes narrowed playfully. "Mark my words, darling - I will get you on the dance floor at some point this evening."
You felt your cheeks heat up at the thought.
Glancing around desperately for a distraction, your eyes fell on a middle-aged couple who were standing off away from everyone else. You motioned with a subtle tilt of your head toward the couple, who appeared to be shouting at one another.
"What do you think they're arguing about?" you whispered.
"Perhaps he refused to eat the olives from her salad," Loki responded in a teasing tone. You stuck your tongue out at him once again for poking fun at you.
"I don't know... she looks a little too angry to be shouting over olives." You tried listening for any audible snippets of conversation, but even with your enhanced hearing they were just out of range. "I bet he cheated on her or something. She looks really mad."
The woman threw her hands out to the sides to emphasize whatever point she was trying to make. Then, the man held up a single finger in her face, and she looked positively livid. With a swift retraction of her hand, she swung hard and slapped the man across the face with enough force to make him stumble. You threw a hand over your mouth to hide your shocked expression as she pivoted on her heel and stormed off.
"Alright, I'll give you that one. I don't think she was angry about the olives." Loki's eyes roamed around, landing on a young boy of no older than seven throwing a temper tantrum on the ground in front of his mother. "Ok - what do you think he's upset about?"
"Ooh... that's a tough one, it could literally be anything at that age..."
"Personally - I think he's upset that he can't have dessert yet."
"Really? They haven't even brought out the cake yet." You pondered for another moment as the frustrated mother pinched the bridge of her nose between her fingers. "I think... he doesn't like the volume of the music."
At that moment, two waiters appeared carrying the wedding cake between them, setting it down on a decorative table. The boy pointed to the pastry and wailed even louder, tugging angrily at the hem of his mother's dress from his seat on the ground.
"Oh-ho! Who was right this time?" Loki goaded, smirking at you. You shook your head defeatedly.
"Best two out of three, then?" you asked.
The music suddenly shifted to a slower rhythm, and on the dance floor couples were coming together to sway to the music in each other's arms. Loki rose to his feet beside you, holding his hand out with his palm facing upward.
"My lady - might I have this dance?"
You felt a hot blush gracing your cheeks at his formality and his debonair smile, his sparkling blue-green eyes fixed on you. Unable to speak suddenly, you nodded and took his outstretched hand in yours, allowing him to lead you onto the dance floor for the first time that evening.
Loki found an open space for the pair of you, suddenly twirling you around by the hand before sweeping you up into a dance partner's hold. His free hand fell to the small of your back while the other still held loosely to yours. You blushed at the fact that you giggled like a schoolgirl as you placed your free hand on his shoulder.
"I had no idea you knew how to charm a woman in such a way," you teased. His chin tilted upward slightly with pride, a sly grin spreading across his face.
"I've told you already - they don't call me silver-tongued for nothing, darling."
"You barely even said a word."
He ducked his head down lower, his lips hovering just beside your ear. You could feel his breath graze your skin as he spoke.
"I didn't need to. There's more than one way to make a woman go weak in the knees."
No kidding.
You busied yourself glancing around at the other couples around you to avoid catching Loki's eye for a moment, lest your face actually catch fire. A small chuckle resounded from deep within his chest as he squeezed your hand fondly.
"Are you at least enjoying yourself? Now that your friend is no longer breathing fire?" Loki asked. You turned back to catch his gaze.
"Yes. Yes, it's been fun. And I'm... happy for Leah and Leslie."
"You sound uncertain."
"I'm not." You fell silent a moment, letting Loki gently sway you to the music. "I am happy for them. Truly. It's just hard not to think about what could have been, had I not been given these powers."
"How could you? You'd likely not have met me," he countered, flashing you a smirk. You laughed despite yourself.
"Very true. What sort of life would that be?"
"A rather boring one, I should think."
A more comfortable silence fell between the two of you after that. You allowed yourself to simply enjoy the sensation of his firm hand at the small of your back, the coolness of his palm against yours. Loki danced as gracefully as you'd expected, his feet never accidentally landing on yours, his guidance strong but never overbearing. There was a sense of safety in his arms, and yet there were still nervous butterflies fluttering in your stomach.
The song faded, and a more upbeat tune took its place. You turned to head back to the table, but Loki held fast to your hand.
"I did tell you I'd get you out on the dance floor this evening."
"No, Loki, I can't - I don't know how, I have no rhythm, I-"
"Don’t make me try to charm you into it again,” he whispered low in your ear. You made a noise somewhere between a whine and a groan, and Loki laughed heartily. He took your other hand in his, eyes fixed on yours as he began moving to the music. You sighed and followed suit, making your best attempt at dancing. He grinned and nodded approvingly, suddenly lifting your hand over your head and twirling you around.
“Loki! You have to warn me!” you laughed, stumbling forward with the sudden dizziness and pressing your hands to his chest to steady yourself. He captured your hands in his once again and continued to move with the beat.
The shyness was beginning to wear off as you danced with Loki there to guide you. Before this evening, you’d never have pictured him to be one to enjoy simply moving to upbeat music, always having imagined him to prefer the elegance of a slow waltz. But he was good at this. Not to mention, he had a handsome, youthful grin on his face the entire time he was dancing with you.
As the song ended and a new one began, Loki took your hand in his and bowed theatrically, pressing a kiss to your knuckles.
“Thank you for the dance, my lady. I daresay you are an excellent dancer.”
“We could stay for one more… if you wanted.”
Loki grinned, straightening up and twirling you before catching you around the waist and dipping you back slightly. “Who am I to say no?”
He had you on the dance floor most of the rest of that evening. By the time the DJ announced it was time to cut the cake, you were pleasantly dizzy and tired. Loki led you back to the table to sit down.
You watched as Leah and Leslie took the cake cutter in their hands together and sliced into the cake, carving out a small piece. Leah carefully fed a piece to Leslie, but Leslie made certain to smear frosting along Leah’s cheek. She laughed, pressing a frosting-laden kiss to their lips. And once again, your heart began to ache, longing for something like they had.
Loki seemed to notice your change in demeanor after that, because he didn’t press the issue when the music came back on and you didn’t rise to your feet to rejoin the dance floor. You sat at the table and ate your pieces of cake, and Loki teased you for scooping off the vanilla frosting with your fork first, but you didn’t laugh as hard as you usually would.
As the evening came to a close, you bade Leah and Leslie goodnight and congratulations before heading back to the hotel room. You were silent as you walked, mind racing with thoughts about the evening. It had been wonderful. More wonderful than you would have ever imagined, and Loki was to thank for it. But that was exactly the problem - you weren’t supposed to let this happen. You weren’t supposed to allow yourself to get swept up in the romance of the evening and fall for him. And now, all you could think about was the image of another wedding - your wedding - with Loki twirling you on the dance floor the way he had tonight. A painful lump formed in your throat, knowing that you could never let that happen.
You took your time undoing the pins in your hair, washing away the makeup on your face and carefully hanging the dress after pulling on a soft set of pajamas. When you exited the bathroom, you found Loki was already lying in bed waiting for you so he could turn out the lights. The lump in your throat refused to go away no matter how hard you swallowed.
As you crawled into bed beside Loki for the final time, your eyes began to sting with the burning threat of tears. Keeping your face turned so he wouldn't see, you lay down on your side facing away and let your eyes slip closed. As he turned out the lights, a single tear spilled over and slid down your face, dampening the hair at your temple. You pulled the blankets up to your nose in hopes it would help to hide your sadness.
By now, you should have known Loki was too perceptive.
"Are you alright?"
His voice was low, gentler than you'd heard him speak before. It was laden with worry, uncertainty. Still, you couldn't help but flinch when he spoke, knowing he'd seen through your façade. His hand rested on your shoulder, and the warmth of his touch was enough to push you over the edge. The tears flowed freely, a quiet sob wracking your body.
Wordlessly, Loki ran a firm hand up and down your arm in an attempt to comfort you. He didn't ask you to explain, he didn't turn on the lights, he didn't try to get you to look at him. He simply let you cry, his hand never once leaving your arm - a silent reminder that he was there.
As the tears finally began to subside, you wiped your eyes with the back of your hand and finally turned over to face Loki. You weren't certain how well he could see in the darkness, but you still felt sheepish enough to pull the blanket back up over your nose to hide the redness of your face.
"Would you like to talk about it?" he asked finally.
"I'm just being silly. It will pass," you replied with a dismissive chuckle. His hand found your arm once again and squeezed.
"If it's enough to cause you to hurt this way, it can't possibly be 'silly'."
"Oh, but it is silly. Because I've done this to myself." You let out a watery laugh. "The only reason that I can't have what Leah has is because I'm too scared to allow myself to have it. Me - a SHIELD agent, an Avenger with super strength and enhanced senses, too scared to fall in love."
"Why?"
The question was both simple and complicated all at once. One word, and yet you couldn't formulate a coherent response that would answer the question.
"I... I don't know anymore." You laughed again. "I'm not making any sense."
"I understand."
"You do?"
"You fear the risk of hurting someone who loves you. Physically, emotionally... it doesn't matter. It terrifies you, doesn't it?"
You were silent for a moment, listening to the quiet rush of air with every breath he took. "Yes," you whispered finally.
"Then we are more similar than you realize."
Both of you fell silent then. Loki's presence was both calming and distressing all at once. More than anything, you wanted him to wrap you up in his arms and hold you close, but the thought of that was more terrifying than anything else.
"Are you feeling alright now?" he asked.
"Better, yes." You sighed, releasing the air pent up in your chest. "Can we talk about something else? I need a distraction."
"What do you propose?"
"Anything."
"Alright... how about we discuss how you will repay the debt you now owe me?" You couldn't see his face in the darkness, but you could hear the smirk in his voice.
"What?? Who said I owe you a debt?" you demanded, propping yourself up on your elbow.
"I beg your pardon - I have been an exemplary wedding date, I should think."
"I'm pretty sure that's for me to decide." A smile was tugging at your lips now. He always could make you smile, even when you didn't want to. And gods, you needed it right now.
"Alright then - pray tell, what have I done that would cause you to decide that I've been anything less than the perfect escort?"
"Well... you..." What had he done that you could use as an excuse? "Oh, how about when you teased me for being ticklish??"
"Ah, that's right..."
His tone was mischievous, and you knew what was coming before he'd even grabbed hold of your sides and started tickling you without mercy. With a shriek of protest, you burst into desperate laughter.
"NOHOW I DEHEFINITELY dohon't owe yoHOU!"
"Is that right? Better make it worth my while, then."
"Noho, wait, WAHAIT!!" You squirmed helplessly and grabbed at his hands while his torturous fingers skittered across your belly, up your sides, dancing along your ribs and back down to dig into your hips. The inability to see him made it all the more unbearable, never knowing where he planned to attack next. You could picture the devilish smirk on his face, and it made your cheeks burn.
"Changed your mind yet, darling?" he queried teasingly, slowing to scratch gently at your sides to keep you giggling. You hooked your fingers around his hands and pulled them away from your sides.
"Nohot a chance," you responded resolutely. He chucked low in his throat, his fingers closing around your own where they rested against his palms.
"Do you think this is enough to stop me?" He lifted your hands in his for emphasis.
"Seems to have worked." You knew you were egging him on now, but you didn't care. This was serving as a wonderful distraction, and your spirits were definitely higher now that he had you laughing.
"Oh, I'll show you how well it worked."
Suddenly, you felt him shift to plant his weight on your legs, his hands sliding down to close around your wrists. You squeaked in surprise at the sudden increase in the strength of his hold on you, tugging at your imprisoned arms and babbling giggly protests as he made quick work of pinning your wrists over your head. He shifted his grip to pin them down with one of his larger hands, his free hand now hovering somewhere over your torso in the darkness.
"WAHAIT! I cahan't see you, this isn't fahahair!!"
"Tsk, does that make it worse?" His fingertips dusted briefly over your belly just below your navel, and you jolted and yelped at the unexpected ticklish touch.
"Ye-HA! Yes, it's wohorse!"
"How fortunate for me, then." His fingers ghosted along your side this time, causing you to twist reflexively toward his hand to block it. Suddenly he was pinching at your ribs on the other side, eliciting a screech. As quickly as it began, his fingers left your ribs, only to claw at the soft skin under the opposite arm.
"AHAHAH LOHOKI I CAHAN'T TAKE IT!!" You arched your back hopelessly, giggly laughter bubbling from your lips as he tickled his way down the entire length of your side to your hip and back up again, stopping just before he reached your underarm to jump to your belly and keep you guessing.
"You are so charmingly ticklish, it's rather adorable." Loki released your arms in favor of freeing up his other hand to claw under your arm before you could block his access by slamming your arms down to your sides.
"SHUHUT UP!"
"Rude. It was intended to be a complement, and this is the thanks I get?" His fingers hooked around the backs of your ribs, and you howled with desperate laughter. "Oh-ho, I've got you now."
"PL-AHAH-PLEHEASE!" you pleaded, unable to say anything more as he increased the speed and pressure of his fingers and your laughter became breathless.
"Do you yield? Are you prepared to admit you owe me a debt?"
"Y-eheh-YEHES!" you wheezed, finally breathing a sigh of relief as he relented in his attack. You felt as though you were in a state of drunken euphoria after having laughed so hard for so long. "Wh-ahah-what are yohou so desperate to mahake me do that you want me to owe you so badly?"
"Go out to dinner with me."
The room fell silent after the words spilled out of his mouth. You were acutely aware that he'd made no effort to shift off of you, his hands planted on either side of you to hold his weight above you.
"I'm not saying you have to, of course..." Loki suddenly sounded sheepish, almost as you did when you'd asked him to come with you to this wedding. "I fully understand your stance on... romantic relationships... but I thought, perhaps-"
You didn't know what possessed you to do it. Perhaps you'd had just enough alcohol that evening to feel disinhibited enough, or perhaps the sense of loneliness had finally overcome you. Perhaps you simply couldn't hold back your feelings for the god any longer, now that he'd admitted his own feelings for you.
Whatever the inciting factor was, you found yourself wrapping a hand around the back of his neck, gaining the leverage you needed to surge forward and capture his lips with yours.
A noise of surprise came from Loki's throat before he melted into your kiss, allowing his weight to gently drop down on top of you so he could slide his arms around your back. Without breaking the kiss, he suddenly rolled onto his back with his arms wrapped tightly around you, pulling you to lie on top of him instead. It was your turn to squeak in surprise at the sudden motion, regaining your composure quickly and smiling against his lips. He turned his head slightly to break apart from you for a moment, his chest heaving from his heavy breaths.
"You know... it's rude to interrupt-"
You growled and cut him off once again with your mouth, kissing him harder and more fervently than before. The taste of his kiss was addicting, the feeling of his fingers lacing through the hair at the nape of your neck sending shivers down your spine. His other hand slipped beneath the hem of your sleep shirt to rest against the bare skin of your back, his skin surprisingly cool against yours.
When you'd finally become too breathless to continue kissing him without breaking for air, you gently pulled away, grinning as he lifted his head to press one last kiss to your lips. You sighed, laying with your face buried in his neck and pressing tiny, reverent kisses to the soft skin. Loki hummed contentedly, pressing his palm flatter against your back to squeeze you impossibly closer to his chest.
"What are you thinking, love?" he asked fondly, brushing a stray strand of hair from your face.
"Mm... I'm thinking I'm kind of sleepy."
"Then rest." He turned to roll you off of him, gently pushing on your waist to get you to turn your back to him. His strong arm wrapped around your middle and tugged you close, your back flush against his chest. You could feel the soft puff of air from his nose rustling your hair with every breath. Eyes sliding closed, you felt your consciousness slipping as you slowly drifted off to sleep in Loki's arms.
* * *
What have I done?
Those were the first words to run through your mind when you awoke the following morning, Loki's arm still wrapped tightly around your waist. You remembered everything from the evening before, of course. You hadn’t been drunk. It was intentional, kissing Loki. In the moment, it felt absolutely perfect. But now, as the morning sun rose in the sky and the romance of this whole trip was coming to a close, all you could think about was what this meant for the two of you going forward.
There was no doubt in your mind that you loved him, which made it all the more terrifying. You'd allowed your feelings to get the best of you, to break the promise you'd made to yourself when you'd first joined the Avengers. There was no going back to the way things were after last night.
The thought of an actual relationship with Loki was overwhelming. In some ways, it was exactly what you wanted, and yet that nagging thought in the back of your mind told you it was dangerous. Someone, some way, was going to get hurt. It was inevitable for someone like you, someone in your line of work, someone with your history, your powers. If you truly cared about Loki, you wouldn’t subject him to the inevitable heartache that would come with being your partner. Better to end it now before either of you became too emotionally invested.
Gently, you grasped Loki’s wrist and moved his arm off of you so you could slip out of bed, hoping not to wake him. Unfortunately, he was already awake.
“Where are you off to in such a hurry?” he asked, voice still gravelly with the remnants of sleep, yet still with a teasing air to his tone.
“Have to pee,” you lied, ducking into the bathroom and shutting the door behind you before he could ask more questions.
You still didn't know what to say to Loki when you came back into the main room, so you did what you knew best and avoided his gaze, making a show of digging through your suitcase for an outfit for the day. Loki said nothing while you pulled out a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, rising to your feet with your back facing him and making your way back toward the bathroom.
"You're having second thoughts."
You stopped dead in your tracks, letting out a slow breath through your nose. Slowly, you turned around to face Loki, who had gotten out of bed to stand at his full height. There was a cloud of worry shadowing his face, the same face that last night had worn nothing but a grin and a spark in his eyes. That spark faded quickly as his face fell, realizing his speculations were true when he saw the tears brimming in your eyes.
"I... I never should have let this happen," you whispered, turning your gaze to the floor so you couldn't see the agony in his eyes. "I was irresponsible, I knew what the consequences would be, I-"
"Stop. Stop saying that as though you aren't deserving of love." Loki took a slow step forward, gradually closing the distance between you. "Why can't you simply accept that you can be a hero and have someone in your life who loves you?"
"Because I'm a coward, Loki!" Hot tears spilled over your eyes and streamed down your cheeks, but you held a hand up to stop him from coming closer to comfort you. "Don't you see? I can't possibly love you if it means I'll live in constant fear of losing you!"
"Why do you worry so much that you'll lose me?? Do you think me weak enough to succumb to your strength if you lose control?? Are you honestly worried that you'd hurt me??"
"Maybe?! How could we possibly know?? You've never been subjected to my powers, and I don't intend to test it out!"
Loki chuckled humorlessly. "Foolish girl. You're just looking for any excuse to reject me. Don't try to soften the blow, for Odin's sake - just swing the axe and get on with it!"
"That's not true! Loki, you know that's not true. I would love nothing more than to be with you-"
"Then why are you doing this to yourself?? To me??"
You shook your head, trying to find a way to explain. How could you, when you could barely understand it yourself?
Loki sighed, hanging his head defeatedly and averting his gaze from you. "I'll never understand. But I'm not going to force you to love me when you clearly don't."
"Loki, I-"
"Please. Spare me the hollow apologies and the meaningless consolation. Let's just go home."
Without another word, he turned and strode to the door, swinging it open and slamming it shut behind him. The room fell silent. You were alone.
You'd always be alone.
* * *
The two of you barely spoke during the entire trip home. Loki found somewhere else to sit on the plane so you wouldn't have to go through the discomfort of having to sit by his side and stew over everything that had happened. You found you missed his presence anyway. All you could think about was the story he'd told you on the ride there, about being the D.B. Cooper, and it made you want to laugh and cry all at once.
When you returned to the tower, Loki disappeared into his room without so much as a goodbye. Wanda was waiting for you in the common room. The minute you stepped inside, she sensed something was wrong. You sobbed into her arms for the rest of the evening, recounting everything that had happened in the last four days. She provided you the comfort that only a best friend could, sparing you the usual lecture about sabotaging your own happiness in favor of telling you it would be alright.
You didn't see Loki for days. It wasn't exactly difficult for him to avoid you with the sheer size of the Avengers tower, but you were fairly certain he had stayed in his room for the most part. It took everything you had not to go knocking on his door to apologize, to remind him it was all your fault, that he'd done nothing wrong. What good would it do but to cause the hurt to resurface? He needed time to heal, and you would be of no help with that.
The sadness in you gradually morphed into anger. Anger at yourself for being this way. For letting the fear of the unknown get in the way of your own happiness. Most of all, for hurting the one you loved. So you did what you always did when you started to feel angry - you made your way to the fitness room to fight away your emotions before they got the best of you.
Late in the evening, the fitness room was almost always empty, which made it the perfect time for you to let off some steam without disturbing anyone. You threw on a set of workout clothes, slid your feet into your sneakers and made your way up to the fitness room floor. You didn't bother stretching for very long before jumping right into throwing punches at the heavy bag. The anger was swelling up inside you - you had to release it in the form of physical energy before it overcame your ability to control it.
Thwap
How could you do this to him?
Thwap
Why don't you just let yourself be happy for a change?
Thwap-thwap
You're a coward! You're a monster!
You threw your hands to the sides of your head, pressing them against your temples as the thoughts consumed you. With a growl, you began throwing rapid-fire punch after punch at the bag, each blow harder than the last, watching with satisfaction as the bag began to sway from the force of your fists.
Thwap-thwap-thwap-thwap
COWARD! MONSTER! You're a DANGER to EVERYONE around you!
You sank to your knees, feeling more than hearing a yell tearing from your chest. The pressure in your head made it feel as though it might explode. You cradled it in your hands, trying to hold it together. A blinding light filled your vision, blurring out the room around you. The energy radiated off you in pulsing waves. You heard a mirror on the wall shatter, the pieces clattering across the floor. The chain holding the heavy bag creaked as it rocked with every wave of energy emanating from your body.
The next moments - hours, maybe? You couldn't know - were fuzzy in your mind. You remember the screams that ripped from your throat, the throbbing pain with every thrum of your heartbeat. You remember seeing a shadow in the blinding light around you, a figure coming closer to where you knelt. You remember the feeling of someone's hand in yours, squeezing tight despite your rageful protests. You remember a strong set of arms wrapping around you, a firm hand pressing against the back of your head and guiding your forehead to rest against something soft, something warm.
The pain subsided. The light faded back to the brightness of the fluorescent lights hanging overhead. The screaming ceased, replaced by ragged, quiet breaths as you slowly regained awareness of the room around you. You didn't dare move, for fear that it would all start over again if this figure decided to release you.
You knew who it was before you opened your eyes. The familiar scent of pine and leather filled your nose, calming you with every breath. His fingers ran gently through your hair in an effort to comfort, to soothe. The strong sound of his heart beating rhythmically in his chest grounded you, gave you something to focus on until your breathing slowed and deepened to a normal pace. Only then did you dare to open your eyes and lift your head to look at him.
"How?" you breathed.
"I'm going to need a bit more than that, love," Loki hummed in his familiar, gentle teasing tone. You let out a puff of air through your nose, the best laugh you could muster at the moment.
"How... how did you make it stop? Did you use magic?"
"I didn't."
"Then how?"
"I heard you screaming. I couldn't let you suffer alone." He lifted a hand to gently brush a strand of hair away from your face, tucking it behind your ear. "I wasn't sure what to do, so I just... held you."
"That's... that's it?"
You were in awe that he hadn't used an ounce of magic. How had he not been injured by the energy bursting from inside you? You glanced over to the shattered mirror, where sharp, jagged pieces littered the floor. You'd broken it so easily, and yet here Loki sat before you, completely unharmed.
"You don't have to bear this burden alone. As someone who has done so with my own burdens for far too many years... just allow me to help you carry yours. Please."
A tear dampened your cheek, one you hadn't even realized had been forming. As quickly as it came, Loki brushed it away gently with his thumb. You gazed at him, feeling that same fear welling up inside you that had surfaced so many times before, when you thought you might give in to your feelings for him.
"I don't trust myself," you whispered.
"I don't trust myself either. But perhaps we can trust each other."
You turned his words over in your mind for a moment as he held your gaze, those blue-green eyes of his pleading for you to let him in. Finally, you nodded, a soft smile gracing your lips.
"I'd like that."
A relieved smile overtook his features as he lifted his hand to cup your cheek, steadying himself as he leaned in to slant his lips across yours. You kissed him back, drinking him in as though you needed his kiss to survive.
There, in the comfort and safety of his arms, you finally allowed yourself to accept the one thing you never thought you could.
hey full offense but the ‘use the right pronouns even if the person is horrible!’ statements arent made to coddle horrible ppl, its saying ‘dont view correct pronouns as a fucking privilege that can be taken away once people decide you’ve fucked up enough’, misgendering someone on purpose is transphobic no matter what bc it equates transphobia as a ‘punishment’ for bad people, pronouns are a part of baseline human respect, its that simple
Warnings: violence, injury, strained past relationship with father/past verbal abuse, mourning of past loss of a parent, later gets kind of steamy (but SFW)
This was a really interesting and fun piece to write! 💚💚 I sort of love the relationship between Loki and the reader in this one 😍
Based on a few prompts: one prompt where reader has tattoos that she keeps hidden for sentimental reasons (with an added mini prompt suggestion), and another Prompt where reader doesn’t like her laugh because it’s too cute for someone who is a tough Avenger, and Loki seeks to prove it doesn’t matter.
PLEASE check out the warnings first - there's some sort of heavy content in this fic compared to most of my usual work. As always, completely SFW though!
"Steve - watch your six!"
"Got it!"
Clang.
The offending SPECTER soldier met the unforgiving edge of the iconic vibranium shield, his blaster sent catapulting from his hands as the force of the blow propelled him to the ground. Steve's blue eyes met yours for only a moment, the captain offering you a nod of thanks before you both dove back into the chaos.
A soldier rushed at you from your right. A swift planting of your non-dominant foot into the ground allowed you to aim a roundhouse kick at him before he could get his hands on you. The blow to the gut sent him reeling despite the armor covering his torso, a shout of surprised frustration barking out from beneath his black mask.
They always underestimated you. It was both a blessing and a curse.
Behind you, four more SPECTER soldiers fell victim to the broadside of Mjolnir, a lethal swinging blur in the hand of the God of Thunder. By his side, Loki effortlessly took down another three, the sharp edges of his blades finding the nearly imperceptible points of vulnerability within the soldiers' armor.
"Hey Rambo - there's an opening up ahead. We gotta get in there," Tony's voice ordered in your ear. Your eyes flitted up to the door to the research facility, catching the end result of Nat tackling a soldier to the ground as she wrestled his blaster from his hand. There was indeed a clear path, free from the hordes of soldiers still locked in combat with the other Avengers.
"Roger that." You took off sprinting toward the door, boots slamming rhythmically against the ground as you raced to catch up with the blur of red and gold metal that whizzed past your head. A blue flash of light blasted straight across your path, halting you in your tracks as a soldier opened fire at you from your left. Sunlight glinted against twirling metal just before one of Loki's daggers found its home in the soldier's abdomen, just below the breastplate of his armor. Whipping around, you saw Loki dashing in the same direction you were headed, shooting you a wink as he passed.
"You're welcome!" he called back to you. You raced after him with your renewed goal of storming the facility, scoffing as you caught up to him.
"I could've taken him!" you shot back with a grin.
"Oh, I'm certain of that."
That handsome smirk of his crossed his face, the one that always gave off the sense that he was withholding some snide or flirty comment, and you swiftly returned your attention to the door ahead of you. You couldn't be getting distracted by that in the heat of battle.
The door had already been blown open by a blast - courtesy of Tony Stark - and you and Loki ducked inside, with Bucky hot on your heels to assist. The foyer was teeming with more SPECTER soldiers dressed in black armor and black masks, already engaged in battle with Tony as he zoomed around dodging their fire and blasting right back with his outstretched palms.
Clouds of smoke billowed up around the room from the relentless blaster fire as you three late arrivals jumped into battle. Bucky's vibranium arm took hits without a scratch, and he used it as a personal shield as he charged at a cluster of three soldiers. You dove to the floor as blaster fire sailed over your head, somersaulting elegantly to a crouched position and sweeping the legs out from under the nearest soldier. Pushing yourself up onto your feet, you hooked an arm around the neighboring soldier's neck and wrenched him to the ground.
A second's lull in the attacks aimed toward you (the least threatening of the four of you present in the building by their standards) gave you the chance to glance around in search of the central communications hub. Straight ahead, a long hallway led straight to a set of double doors, behind which you could only hope was the room you were searching for.
"Checking the hallway, twelve o'clock," you muttered into your comms device as you took off in a sprint toward your destination.
"Roger that, Rambo," Tony's voice responded promptly, the echoes of the blasts bursting around the room resounding in the background. "Meet me there in sixty seconds."
You ducked low as you ran, making yourself as small as possible to evade fire. A soldier stepped out in front of you, blaster aimed straight at your face. You dodged right at the last second, the heat of the blast grazing your ear as you grabbed hold of his wrist and slammed your other forearm down against his, disarming him. You heard a shout and a thud behind you, pivoting just in time to see Loki driving his boot into another enemy's chest. You used the apparent distraction to yank on the wrist of the soldier who'd nearly blasted your head off, throwing him face-first to the floor. Loki ran by your side, completing the last leg of the sprint to the end of the hallway just as Tony unceremoniously blew the doors open.
Inside was, thankfully, a vast control panel of computers and radars that clearly indicated this was the communications hub you'd been searching for. You approached the central computer as Tony landed beside you, removing his Iron Man armor and setting it to sentry mode.
"Loki - be a dear and watch the door, will you?" you asked with mock sweetness. He rolled his eyes, grinning all the same at your cheek.
"Take your time, agent."
You got to work immediately, fingers flying furiously across the holographic keyboard as you worked your hacking magic on the enemy's electronics. A good fight was always a thrill, but this was the sort of work you really lived for. It was so satisfying, breaking past the flimsy firewalls and supposedly secure passcodes to enter into a sea of data, all available at your fingertips. Except you weren't seeking to take data this time. You were seeking to erase it.
Tony hovered over your shoulder, pointing irritatingly at the screen in front of you as though you didn't already know what you were looking for. "There - that's the SHIELD files."
"Seriously? For a group that prides themselves on being 'unseen and unheard,' seems like a rookie mistake saving your stolen files in your main hard drive..." you muttered tauntingly, making quick work of deleting the file from existence.
"Alright, good to go?" Tony urged.
"Stark - you know as well as I that we need to do a sweep to ensure there's no traces of data anywhere else in the system," you chastised, making a few additional clicks to scan the intranet.
"Remind me why I didn't decide to call you 'cyberpunk?'" Tony quipped. You glanced at him with a slight turn of your head, a half-smirk crossing your face.
"Because you know I'm a force to be reckoned with."
"Fair point. That, and you're crazy."
"Also a fair point."
"STOP!"
A hollering voice sounded, not from the door, but from the corner of the room. Your eyes flitted upward just in time to see a soldier aim his blaster straight at you. Above him, an open vent told you exactly how he’d slipped past your defenses. Unable to dodge quickly enough, you at least managed to turn your body sideways and minimize the impact as the fiery bullet skimmed across your lower ribs on its trajectory past you. Had you not twisted when you did, it most definitely would have burned a hole through your chest. Instead, it singed a hole in your shirt, sending a blinding, searing pain deep into your skin as it burned from the heat of the blast.
With a hiss of pain, your hands shot to the wound as you doubled over. Loki was on the soldier almost instantly, sending him crashing to the ground. Tony took over at the keyboard to complete the last of the sweep as Loki rushed to your side.
"You're injured."
"Yeah, no shit," you grunted through gritted teeth. Turning to Tony, you barked, "Finish scanning the system yet?"
"Just... about... done!" he responded triumphantly.
"Find anything?"
His face dropped into a scowl. "None of your business."
You snickered. "What would you do without me?"
"Yeah, yeah..." Tony activated the Iron Man suit, the metal pieces slamming in formation onto his body like a magnet. "Let's get you outta here, Rambo."
You waved him off dismissively, swallowing the gasp of pain that leapt up in your throat as you stood up straighter. "I'm fine. Let's go."
The jolting motion of each step sent a fresh wave of sharp pain through your wound, but you'd learned not to let it reflect on your face.
To show pain is to show weakness.
Your father always told you that growing up. No matter how many hits you took, he'd never let you so much as wince without reprimanding you. It was just one of the many harsh aspects of his training that you'd carried with you over the years. You supposed he had gotten you where you were, so he couldn't be blamed for his militaristic training methods.
The battle raged on in the foyer with what remained of the SPECTER soldiers guarding the interior. Loki notably stepped out ahead of you the moment you crossed through the doorway into the foyer, but you shoved your way past him to engage with a nearby soldier. You weren't going to let him shield you like that - not while you were still standing.
If you can stand, you can fight.
Your father's words once again echoed in your head. And fight, you would. Shoving the pain out of the forefront of your mind, you swung your fist in a right hook at the soldier's head, making him stumble from the impact. A hand closed around your forearm, and you nearly slapped it away before you realized it was Bucky's.
"Don't be stupid. You're injured," he scolded, gesturing to the hole seared into your shirt where your skin had been burned. You scowled, ripping your arm from his grasp.
"So I've been told. I'll be fine."
To appease your teammates, you at least began heading for the door, fighting only when necessary if a soldier hindered your progress. Tony had already jetted out, likely working to flag down the helicarrier so you could make your escape. The adrenaline of battle ebbed away at the pain, allowing you to focus on getting the hell out of there now that your mission had been completed. It seemed these SPECTER soldiers were in infinite supply - you may have been fierce, but you weren't foolish enough to think the band of heroes would be able to take down every last one of them.
Loki and Bucky were hot on your heels as you burst through the entryway to the building. Steve, Nat, and Thor were looking battle worn, Steve with a laceration to his forehead and Nat with a small burn on her shoulder where a blast likely grazed her skin. They both eyed your wound with concern, making you roll your eyes at the two of them.
"I'm fine!" you shouted as you slammed your heel into an oncoming soldier. "Let's go - the data's erased."
The deafening hum of the helicarrier approached your position as the aircraft appeared in the sky in front of you. The team bolted in unison toward it, ducking under blaster fire as the SPECTER soldiers followed in hot pursuit. The helicarrier hovered low enough to the ground to let out the boarding ramp, allowing the seven of you to hop on before rising into the sky once more. The sound of blaster fire faded into the distance as the aircraft carried you out of firing range.
Bruce appeared at the top of the boarding ramp, looking somewhat anxious with his glasses slipping down the bridge of his nose and his graying brown curls mussed from dragging his own fingers through them repeatedly. Tony was the first to greet him, confirming that the mission had been successful.
"Now, take this one. She's injured," he ordered, pointing at you.
"Hey!" You scowled indignantly. "I'm just fine!"
"Your skin is torched," Steve argued, taking Tony's side. "Go. Get patched up."
"Ugh. Fine." You dragged your feet as you began to follow Bruce to the lab onboard the aircraft. Glancing back, you shouted, "Steve, you and Nat better come with. I'm not the only one who's injured."
Rolling their eyes, the pair of them followed along, knowing you would refuse help if they did.
Entering the lab, you were met with three of the team's medics who were prepared to treat your wounds. They took one look at you, deciding immediately that you would require the most intensive treatment of the three wounded and leading you to the skin regeneration table on board the ship. You reluctantly sat down on the edge of the table, glaring up skeptically at the medic who had taken on your treatment.
"I'll need you to remove your shirt," she instructed, busying herself at the control panel to the machine. Your heart jumped up into your throat at the suggestion.
"I'd rather not."
She glanced up from the computer, peering sternly at you over her spectacles. "How exactly do you propose we treat your burn, then?"
"Uh... you don't." You folded your arms defiantly across your chest. "It's just a surface wound. I'm fine."
The medic paced impatiently over to your side, kneeling down and inspecting the burn on your ribs. She clicked her tongue, shaking her head at your stubbornness. "This will quickly get infected if we do not treat it. Not to mention, it must be very painful."
"I can handle pain," you muttered bitterly under your breath. She gave you a hard look, and you threw your hands up in defeat. "Fine. Go finish programming your little machine, there."
It wasn't that you were trying to be difficult. Your mother had been a medic, so you had quite a bit of respect for their job. It was how she met your father, in fact. She’d been a SHIELD medic until her untimely death when you were only ten years old. Your father never forgave himself for not being there when the enemy stormed aboard the helicarrier that fateful day. He seemed to sort of snap after that, throwing all his efforts into his work, into training you to follow in his footsteps.
You reminded him of her, he always used to say. You wondered if that was the reason he treated you the way he did - pained by the constant memory of what he’d lost.
The real reason you were protesting so much was what was hidden underneath your shirt. Over the years, you’d accumulated a fair number of tattoos, each one easily hidden beneath your clothes and gear. It wasn’t that you were embarrassed by them - you were quite proud of them, actually - but many of them had a deep underlying meaning that you really weren’t interested in trying to explain to your teammates. It was difficult to talk about some of them. So you chose to keep them hidden, keep them close to you as a personal sentiment rather than wearing them openly as a badge of honor.
The walls of the lab were made completely of glass, which meant anyone outside of the room could easily peek inside and see you. If you made too big of a deal of it, inevitably passerby would recognize you were arguing and become more interested. So, instead, you tried to play it cool, grasping the hem of your shirt and pulling it up and over your head. You had to carefully lift it around the burn to avoid irritating it with the fabric scraping across it. Goosebumps erupted on your skin in response to the cool air of the lab as you laid down on the table in nothing but your sport bra covering your upper body. You tried not to look down at the ink staining your skin to avoid drawing attention to the markings.
The medic started up the machine, and you watched impatiently as it sprang into motion, a strip of blue light kissing the wound as your skin knit itself back together. It didn't hurt, exactly, but it wasn't the most comfortable sensation either. The biggest annoyance, though, was how long it was taking to finish. Your eyes kept flitting over to the glass wall beside you, waiting for the inevitable moment someone passed by and saw you lying there on the table with nothing to cover the colorful markings etched into your skin.
Sure enough, Loki appeared on the other side of the glass twenty minutes later.
You couldn't blame him - he probably wanted to be certain you were alright, and it was taking an awfully long time to get this wound treated. In a way, you were somewhat flattered he'd come looking for you. But when his eyes locked on your bare left side, only partially blocked by your arm, skimming over the dragon tattoo that graced your ribs, you could see the curiosity flash on his face.
For a moment, he appeared to be considering entering the lab to talk to you, to inevitably ask the questions you'd been dreading. Fortunately, the medic caught his eye, shooing him with a wave of her hand as she drew the curtain hanging beside the regeneration table to block his view.
You wished you'd noticed it was there sooner.
It took another ten minutes to heal the wound completely, a raw-looking patch of new skin left in its place. The medic inspected her work with an air of pride before finally releasing you. The moment she did, you tugged your shirt back on over your head. With a hasty ‘thank you,’ you scurried out of the lab to your quarters to replace your singed shirt with a new one.
“Are you alright?”
You shouldn’t have been as surprised to hear Loki’s voice in your doorway as you were. Glancing up as you straightened the hem of your clean shirt at your hips, you were met with a concerned-looking Asgardian, though he was clearly trying to hide it. That was one thing you appreciated most about Loki - he never spoke to you or looked at you as a fragile mortal. He learned early on how fierce you could truly be.
“All healed,” you replied with a smile. “That regeneration tech is really something.”
Loki scoffed. “We’ve no need for that sort of thing in Asgard.”
“Well some of us aren’t literal gods, Loki.”
“Ah, but you fight as though you’re immortal like one.”
There it was - that teasing little smirk of his, his blue-green eyes flashing with the internal knowledge that there was something else going through his head that he wasn’t saying out loud. You tried not to let the heat creep up in your face.
“You were awfully nosy earlier, peeking in on me getting fixed up,” you chastised teasingly. “You know, we have privacy rules in Midgardian medicine.”
“I couldn’t help myself. You’ve never shown that much skin before. Forgive me for being… intrigued.”
Ok, the heat was definitely settling in your cheeks now.
“What was that marking you have on your side?”
Ah. There it was, the inevitable question.
“It’s a tattoo,” you responded casually, breaking eye contact to look down at your hands.
“A tattoo?”
“Yes. Ink etched into skin. A sort of art form here on Midgard.”
You chanced a glance up at him, finding a genuinely curious expression on his face. It made you shift uneasily in your seat atop your bed.
“Might I see it?”
You winced, turning your head. “I’d rather not.”
“I apologize. I didn’t intend for it to sound inappropriate.”
Looking back toward him, you offered a weak smile. “No, it’s not that.” With a chuckle, you added, “When have you known me to be self-conscious?”
Loki grinned. “Never. Though, as I said - you’ve never shown that much skin before.”
You let out a slow breath. “It’s just… well, I don’t like to talk about them. My tattoos.”
“Do you not like them?”
“No, I do. It’s… they’re sort of personal to me.”
He nodded slowly, that smirk returning to his face. “Perhaps someday you’ll feel comfortable showing me?”
“Are you asking for me to get personal with you?”
He shot you a wink as he stepped backward out of the doorway. “I certainly wouldn’t mind.”
Your jaw went slack as he vanished around the corner.
Loki had this way of bantering with you that toed the line between friendly and flirty for quite some time now. You never really thought much of it - just sort of chalked it up to Loki being Loki, the silver-tongued God of Mischief. Though, admittedly, you'd never seen him behave in the same way around any of the others. Still, you never took it too seriously. You couldn't lie and say you would be opposed to becoming something more with him. It just had always seemed so far out of the realm of possibility for a mortal.
But that comment... that was the first time he'd said something that alluded to the possibility that he just might feel the same way.
He began to ask you about your tattoos every so often after that. Probing you to see if you'd cave and let him see, let him in on such a personal attribute of yourself. He never pushed you too hard, of course. The idea of possibly letting him in on those parts of you was simultaneously terrifying and exhilarating. More and more, you found yourself wanting to share them with Loki. To let yourself be vulnerable for once in your life.
That was something your father had never taught you to do. To be vulnerable. Vulnerability was weakness to him, and so you learned to shove down everything you ever felt and pack it away in the back of your mind to avoid letting it reflect on your face, in your movements. You'd seen your teammates be openly unguarded with one another, sharing in their heartaches as they did their victories, and you longed for the ability to do the same. It had been so engrained in you to hide everything since your childhood that you weren't really sure where to start.
Loki wasn't exactly the most open-book sort of person either. Perhaps that was a good thing. You could figure it out together.
It was probably around the sixth or seventh time he’d brought it up that you finally caved.
You’d been in the fitness room back in the tower, now that the team was safely stationed back on solid ground. It was one of those rare instances that the room was otherwise empty, and you were not about to pass up that opportunity.
After only ten minutes of hitting the heavy bag, your knuckles were beginning to sting and sweat was beading on your brow from the intensity of your workout. Around the others, you typically tried to tone it back a bit, but when you were by yourself, your old training regimes came back to you.
Finally feeling satisfied with the divots you’d punched into the leather, you wiped your forehead with the back of your hand and reached down for your water bottle. Just as your fingertips touched the condensation building along the chilled plastic, the bottle suddenly slid a few feet to the left, seemingly of its own accord. But you knew better by now.
“Loki, I’m thirsty,” you griped, glancing over your shoulder at the smug-looking trickster who was now standing behind you. “Can’t you at least save your little tricks for after I get to take a sip?”
"Then it wouldn't irk you nearly as much. Where is the fun in that?"
"Is that the sole reason you came in here? To get on my nerves?" A grin pulled at your lips as you took the swig of water you'd been craving.
"Perhaps I wanted to exercise."
You waved your hand in a sweeping motion around the room. "Have at it, then."
He followed along behind you as you made your way across the gym to the pull-up bar. "But getting on your nerves is much more interesting."
"Of course it is." You plunked your water bottle down beside the mats on the hardwood, rubbing your hands together before stepping under the bar and grabbing hold with both hands. "What else are you planning to annoy me with today?"
"Oh, well that's no fun. I can't irritate you on command."
You pulled yourself effortlessly up, lifting your chin over the bar before lowering yourself down once again. "Then maybe you should go exercise."
He shrugged. "I've lost my interest. A god doesn't need to exercise anyhow."
You sniffed out a laugh, pulling yourself up over the bar again. Obviously he'd come in here with the sole purpose of talking to you. He often hovered as you did your own workouts, chatting with you and making teasing comments about your mortal need to exercise to build your strength. In return, you teased that you would become stronger than he was if he didn't start exercising himself.
You didn't mind having his company. He was the only one you'd allow to hang around you like this while you did your workouts.
"You still haven't shown me these tattoos of yours," Loki stated suddenly as you relaxed your arms to dangle from the bar. You released it in your surprise, feet slamming down onto the padded gym mat beneath you with a thump.
"What made you think of that?"
He pointed to your right hip, where a small phrase was tattooed just above your hipbone on your side, hidden underneath your shirt. "Your shirt rode up a bit just now."
"Did you read it?" you asked hesitantly. Loki shook his head.
"I couldn't see the whole thing." He flashed you his trademark smirk, the one that made you weak in the knees. "I must say, you've got me rather curious."
You grinned. "It's killing you, not knowing what they are, isn't it?"
He clicked his tongue. "You're infuriating, teasing me like that."
"And you're nosy."
"I never said I wasn't."
You sighed, pressing your tongue to the inside of your cheek as you tried to fight back a smile. "Alright. I'll show you. But I need to shower first."
"Fair enough."
You directed him to stop by your room in a half hour, heading up to wash off the sweat from your workout. Once you'd cleaned up, you tied your hair back rather than bothering to dry it all the way, throwing on a pair of sweatpants and a sleeveless top. You only owned a couple of those, preferring to wear shirts with sleeves to better conceal your tattoos. It always struck you how exposed you felt even just baring your shoulders. You threw a zip-up hoodie on over it, despite the fact it wasn't cold, just for the added sense of coverage of your skin.
A knock at your door sounded right at the time you'd told Loki to swing by. You opened the door and allowed him inside your room, shutting the door behind you.
This wasn't the first time he'd been in your room. He'd come by a few times in the past, usually to seek council from you when he was arguing with his brother. Although, once, he'd stopped by to check on you when you'd fallen ill with the flu. That had been a rather unexpected visit, but a pleasant one nonetheless, when he'd delivered you a bowl of hot soup after hearing Wanda say it was something Midgardians did when someone was sick.
Despite all that, it still felt foreign having him in your room today. Perhaps because you weren't sure how best to approach the reasoning behind his visit. He stood in the middle of your room, gazing at you questioningly as though trying to determine whether he should sit down or not. You motioned to the edge of your bed, inviting him to sit down beside you as you perched yourself atop your bedspread.
"Understand that you are privileged to be able to see these," you declared sternly. "I don't go around showing my tattoos to everyone."
"Are you certain you're alright with it?"
The uncertainty in his tone startled you. He had an intense look in his eyes as he gazed at you, as though trying to read your mind. Hesitantly, you nodded.
"Yes. I... trust you. It's just hard to share some of the stories behind them."
With a nervous hand, you unzipped the hoodie and shrugged it off, setting it down on the end of the bed. His eyes were immediately drawn to the words inked just below your collarbone on the right side, covered partially by your tank top sleeve. You pushed it aside and allowed him to read the phrase etched on your skin.
With pain comes strength.
"That one is in memory of my father," you explained before he could ask. "He's the reason I became a SHIELD agent."
"I'm sorry you've lost him."
You cringed at the thought that ran through your mind in response. I'm not.
"He was... difficult," you explained. You could tell Loki knew you were sugar-coating it by the skeptical raise of his brow. "He stopped being a father when my mother died. After that, he became nothing more than my instructor, my fighting coach. He... pushed me to become a SHIELD agent like he was."
"Is that what you wanted?"
"Yes... and no." You turned around to allow Loki to see the tattoo between your shoulder blades, the thin black parallel lines and circles designed to depict a circuit board. "I've always been into computers. If I'd had my choice, I'd have worked in the technology department in SHIELD. Developing new gear, programming new A.I.s, hacking into bad guys' systems from afar..."
"Why didn't you?"
"My father wanted me to be a field agent like he was. He always said the techy agents were the ones who were 'too weak to throw a punch.'"
You felt his finger suddenly tracing along the lines of the tattoo, down along your spine, and you shivered. Loki apologized and retracted his hand.
"It's alright, you can touch it. Just warn me next time, will you?" you griped, turning your head to grin at him and let him know you didn’t mind. He smirked right back, lifting his hand to the markings between your shoulders once again. The pads of his fingers were soft against the smooth skin of your back. It had been years since someone had touched your bare skin. It felt foreign to you, but it felt... nice. His touch was almost reverent as he traced along one of the sharp bending lines that bordered your shoulder blade.
"Show me another one," he requested. You felt an odd sense of loss when his fingers left your back. Turning back towards him, you shifted to point out one of the few colorful tattoos you had inked into the outside of your upper right arm, normally hidden even beneath the short-sleeved T-shirts you wore. It was a small hummingbird, with feathers of blue, green, and pink and wings flared out as though in flight.
"My mother always loved hummingbirds," you murmured, feeling a painful lump forming in your throat.
"What happened to her?" Loki asked quietly.
"Ambush. She was a medic on board the helicarrier that my dad was stationed on. They never saw it coming." You released a shuddering breath. "I was only ten, but I remember it like it was yesterday, the day my father came home and told me she was dead."
Loki placed a gentle hand on your forearm in comfort. You glanced up at him, blinking back the tears blurring your vision as you fought to keep them from spilling over. To show pain is to show weakness. You had to remind yourself again that the reason you chose the phrase along your collarbone was to rewrite those words your father used to tell you in a more positive light. With pain comes strength. You just weren't used to showing it to other people.
"My mother was killed in an ambush as well." Loki’s voice sounded heavy, laden with sadness and possibly even a touch of guilt.
"I'm sorry," you breathed, placing your hand over his where it still rested on your arm. He allowed it for a moment, then cleared his throat and lifted his hand, and you followed suit. With a watery laugh, you told him, "I do have some with happy memories, I swear."
"Go on then. Show me."
You scooted backward a bit on the bed, bending your knee and rolling up your pant leg to show him the small black anchor tattooed on your ankle. "My friend and I got matching ones when we were younger. We used to go sailing every summer. This one's small, but it hurt like hell getting it done."
"Is it often painful?"
"More like... scratchy. But this one hurt."
You let your leg drape back over the bed, shaking it a bit to unfurl your pant leg to cover your ankle once again. Loki's eyes flitted down to your hip where he'd seen your shirt ride up earlier.
"You've yet to show me that one," he urged, gesticulating toward the spot. You let out a breathy laugh through your nose, lifting the hem of your shirt to expose your right side. The words were small, and Loki leaned down a bit to read them.
"You are enough." His eyes lifted to once again meet yours, his face startlingly closer to your own now that he'd shifted closer to see the black ink scrawled across your side. A tilt of his head told you he wanted to know the story behind it. This was quite possibly the hardest story to tell, and you braced yourself for it.
"That one, I got to remind myself that no matter what harsh words my father had for me... I am not worthless."
Loki hummed thoughtfully. "I'm beginning to dislike this man more and more."
You laughed despite yourself. "I doubt you'd have gotten along with him if he were still alive. He was no-nonsense - he didn't like to joke around, always straight down to business. Maybe that's why you and I get along so well."
"Oh?"
"I was a mischievous kid, you know. Dad always hated that. For a while, it only made me try harder to get on his nerves, just to defy him." You grinned at the trickster. "I bet you were a little monster when you were a kid."
Loki let out a rumbling chuckle from deep in his chest, one that made your heart flutter in your chest. "I certainly wasn't an angel - let's leave it at that."
You let go of your shirt to let it drape back over your hip, hiding the black ink from view once again. Loki looked at you expectantly, waiting for you to show him the last one.
"Well?"
"Well, what?" You tried to look confused, biting back a teasing smirk. He saw right through it, folding his arms sternly across his chest with a grin.
"Oh, come now. You can't expect me not to ask about the one on your other side - not after I saw a part of it while you were in the lab the other day."
"You saw the whole thing!"
"Your arm was blocking it. Don't try to get out of this one, darling."
You huffed through your nose, shaking your head in defeat. In truth, this was your favorite out of all of them. It was also the largest and most intricate tattoo you had. You'd debated it for months before having it done, knowing you wanted to be certain you'd love it if you were to get something this extensive inked permanently into your skin. The fact that Loki was so curious about it made you a bit giddy to show it to him, but you simply had to tease him a bit first.
"Oh, alright. I suppose I can show you again."
You turned around to sit with your left side facing Loki, seated cross-legged on the bed. Gradually, you rolled your shirt up to the middle of your ribs, revealing the dragon tattoo you had winding up the span of your side. Various shades of blue and black ink added depth and dimension to the dragon's scales as it twisted from just above your hip to the middle of your ribs.
Loki's eyes roamed curiously over the image inked into your skin. "What's the story behind this one?"
You turned your head just slightly, enough to flash him a sly smirk. "I just like dragons."
A breathy laugh escaped his nose. "I can appreciate that." He lifted his hand hesitantly, catching your eye. "May I?"
You nodded, eyes shifting to watch his hand as he gently touched his fingertips to the bare skin overlaying your ribs, tracing along the snout and head of the dragon. It took every ounce of effort you had not to flinch at his touch. Holy hell, it tickled. It had been some time since anyone had attempted to tickle you, and you'd forgotten how terribly sensitive you were. What you hadn't forgotten was the squeaky, girlish laughter that burst out of you whenever someone managed to find a particularly weak spot. It was far from the tough façade with which you'd learned to carry yourself. So, whenever a friend happened to try to tickle you, you either withheld your reactions long enough for them to grow bored, or you scolded them into thinking you didn't want them to touch you.
But Loki's tender touch was not unwelcome. Quite the opposite, really. If only you weren't so damned ticklish, you could melt right into it. You could not let him know what he was doing to you. You knew the God of Mischief well enough to know that the moment he found out how ticklish you were, he'd go searching for the spots and pressure that might actually make you laugh those embarrassingly cutesy giggles of yours.
His fingertips glided along the dragon's spine, winding back and forth down the length of your ribs. You balled your hand into a fist and curled your toes as you willed yourself not to react. Goosebumps rose along your skin in the wake of his fingertips as they flitted down the softer skin of your side, tracing down along the dragon's tail. You let out a breath you hadn't realized you'd been holding the moment his finger paused at the very tip of the tail, just above your hipbone, only to suck it right back into your lungs as he reversed direction and began tracing back up the way he'd come.
"Am I tickling you?"
He had an impish lilt to his tone that made your stomach flip as your eyes darted up to meet his. You opened your mouth to deny it, and he purposely lightened his touch with the intention to make it tickle as he continued ghosting his fingertips along the image on your skin. Your hand shot to your mouth to stifle a giggle on instinct.
"Damn," you muttered, voice muffled in your palm. That godforsaken handsome smirk spread across his face, and you knew you were in trouble. You brought your arm down to cover your side, releasing your shirt in hopes it would slip down to cover your bare skin and offer a bit of protection, but it was bunched around your midsection where you'd rolled it up.
"I wasn't finished admiring your tattoo, you feisty little dragon," he scolded teasingly, his hand closing around your wrist and prying your arm from your side.
"L-Loki! You brat!" You wrenched your wrist from his grasp, only for him to catch it in his other hand as you swatted at him playfully. "N-noho! Don't you dare!"
His free hand found your side, fingers flitting ticklishly over the bare skin wrapping around toward your belly. You clapped your hand back over your mouth as another little giggle threatened to burst out, shaking your head with wide eyes at your flirtatious assailant. Loki withdrew his hand, releasing your wrist with a concerned, hesitant look on his face.
"I apologize - do you not like to be tickled?"
You lowered your hand from your mouth, tugging your shirt down on instinct but softening your expression. "No, it's not that. I just... it's embarrassing."
"You're embarrassed by being tickled?"
"By my laugh."
Loki cocked his head inquisitively. "You laugh all the time." Boastfully, he added, "I am quite funny, after all."
"You keep telling yourself that," you teased, shoving his shoulder playfully. "I don't mind my usual laugh, but... god this is embarrassing... I sort of laugh... differently when someone tickles me."
Loki's eyebrows shot up his forehead, a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Now I'm very intrigued."
"Well that's a shame, because I'm not gonna- HEY!" You swatted at his hand as it darted out and pinched your ribs, barely withholding a giggle. "No, none of that! I don't want you to hear it! It's embarrassing!"
"Explain to me how your laugh can possibly be that embarrassing that you won't allow me to tickle you."
"First off, no one allows anyone to tickle them-"
"So you'd prefer I take you down by force and tickle you instead?"
Your face caught fire, and you were somewhat mortified to realize that part of the reason was because you didn't mind that idea in the slightest.
"N-not the point. AS I was saying... my ticklish laugh is... ugh, it's-squeaky-and-cutesy-and-terrible." You were surprised Loki could even understand what you said, the words came tumbling out of your mouth so fast. Based on the sly, flirty grin that crossed his face, you knew he understood every word.
"That sounds charming."
You swatted his hand away once again as he reached for your side. "That's exactly the problem! I'm not meant to be adorable! I'm a SHIELD agent - I can take guys down with my bare hands, I know how to handle nine different types of weapons-"
"And you're adorably ticklish. I don't see the problem here."
"Loki!" You hid your burning face in your hands, only to bring your arms right back down as his fingers skittered across your belly. With a non-threatening growl, you smacked his hand away once again. Truthfully, you were loving this playfulness. This sort of interaction was something you seriously lacked as a kid, your childhood stolen away from you in favor of long hours of relentless training and cruel words. Still, you weren't sure how keen you were on allowing Loki to hear your childish-sounding giggles.
"You don't need to be the tough, hardened SHIELD agent every waking hour of the day," he insisted. "In fact, I rather enjoy this softer side of you."
"Really?"
He nodded, a smirk spreading across his lips. "What's life without a bit of laughter?" he asked, experimentally squeezing your hip and earning another slap on the wrist. "Now then. I'd very much like to hear this 'squeaky and cutesy and terrible' laugh of yours. And as you so astutely stated, no one simply allows someone to tickle them..."
You laughed nervously as he caught hold of your wrist, wrenching your free arm out of his reach before he could get his hand on the other one. He tutted at you, shifting to kneel beside you on the bed so he could gain leverage to increase his efforts to capture you in his hold. His hand reached out for yours again, and you swiftly hid it behind your back.
"You are well aware this is a fruitless endeavor, attempting to evade capture." He smirked devilishly at you. "Eventually you know I'll overpower you."
Despite the fact that you weren't exactly excited about the prospect of Loki hearing your less-than-threatening bubbly giggles, you found that you trusted him completely. You trusted that he cared about you - perhaps cared for you, if you could be so fortunate - and you trusted that he would never say something hurtful to you.
You trusted him enough that when he finally did catch your other wrist and wrestle you down onto your back, you didn't fight as hard as you knew you could as he pinned your wrists beneath his knees.
"Lohoki you AHASS!" you cried, squirming under his gaze.
"You wound me, darling." He let his hands hover threateningly over your sides, knowing already that you were ticklish there at least to a lighter tough. You stiffened in anticipation of his impending attack. "Let's hear that laugh then, hmm?"
His hands latched onto both sides, kneading into the soft, sensitive skin. You sucked in a breath and squeezed your eyes shut, trying to withhold your laughter despite how horribly ticklish the sensation was. Undeterred, he let his hands wander in search of a weak spot, one hand clawing its way into the center of your belly while the other ascended your ribcage.
"Come now, darling... laugh for me," he urged teasingly, swapping his hands to dig one into the spot just below your ribs and slotting the other up under your arm. You clamped your mouth shut tight, letting out a screech of protest from deep in your throat through your nose as you kicked your heels against the mattress. He had you writhing with the gentlest scratching of his fingertips at that spot under your ribcage, and the fingers wriggling into the pliant skin beneath your arm were certainly not helping matters.
However, neither compared to the agonizingly ticklish sensation as his hand descended from your ribs to the side of your belly, about halfway between your navel and your side. Just one scratch at that spot and you were done for.
Those silly ticklish giggles poured from your lips, only increasing in speed and volume when he realized what was causing your sudden outburst of laughter and dropped his other hand to the other side of your belly. You giggled and squeaked, writhing and kicking helplessly as a fond grin spread across his face.
"There it is." Loki scratched faster at the torturous spot, his grin widening as your eyes scrunched shut and you threw your head back with desperate laughter. "I don't know what you're talking about - this is a very normal-sounding laugh."
"SHUHUT UHUP, YOHOU!"
"That's quite rude of you - I'm trying to make you feel better. The least you can do is not shout at me." He wrapped his large hands around your sides, toggling circles into those same spots on your belly with both thumbs while scratching at your sides. A giggly screech ripped through your chest as your back arched, then finally you went limp against the bedspread as your own hysterical laughter overpowered you.
But not once did you tell him to stop. Not once did you want him to stop. Sure, the sensation was overwhelming, ticklish shocks shooting through your nerves with every squeeze of his fingers into your middle. But you trusted Loki. Enough to let yourself be vulnerable with him, just as you had been when you'd explained the stories behind each of your tattoos. His touch was mischievous, but it was kind and playful, and you hadn't laughed like this in a very, very long time. Your abdominal muscles ached and your laughter was becoming breathless, but it felt good. Refreshing.
Loki relented, having succeeded in his mission to make you laugh. Your mind was fuzzy as you sat up, smoothing your hair down as your giggles slowly faded. He flashed you his smirk, and you shot him a hardly-menacing glare.
"I don't believe there is anything 'terrible' about that laugh of yours," he assured with a wink. You swatted his shoulder jokingly.
"Yohou suck," you grumbled. Then, with a glint of mischief in your eyes, you dropped your hand down to his side and swiftly pinched at the soft spot a few times. He merely stared down at your hand, unmoving, then looked up to meet your eye with an impossibly wider smirk. Your jaw dropped indignantly. "No. No way are you not ticklish."
"Not in the same way you are."
"So you are ticklish, then."
"In exactly two places, yes."
With a fierce look of determination, you brought your other hand over to dig into his lower ribs. He sighed as though you were boring him, casually taking hold of your wrists and prying them away from his sides.
"Hey!"
"As you stated earlier - no one simply allows someone to tickle them." He grinned, holding fast to your wrists as you tugged and twisted to try to free them from his grip. He was teasing you now, you knew - not doing anything but preventing you from continuing on your mission to find the two solitary places he was ticklish.
"Oh, come on!" you groaned, shifting to sit on your knees to be able to push harder against his hold. "Now I - mmph - I need to know where!"
Loki chuckled fiendishly. "I'm sorry to tell you, darling, but you're going to have to work for it."
Growling, you threw your weight forward to try to catch him off guard and knock him backward. You nearly succeeded, but he regained his balance at the last moment, suddenly shoving your wrists in retaliation and easily slamming you down onto your back once again with your arms pinned beside you. He loomed over you with a self-assured grin, gradually dragging your arms up above your head as you began protesting and laughing all at once.
"What - did you think I was going to make it easy for you, little spitfire?" He gathered your wrists in one hand, lowering the other to your right hip and slipping it up under the hem of your shirt. "Is this tattoo of yours ticklish as well?"
"How should I know- hehey!! Lohohoki!!" You let out a few giggles as his fingers swept maddeningly gently over the bare skin above your hip where the words were inked into your skin. He clicked his tongue, grinning victoriously.
"Ah, I see it is. Tell me - do the tattoos make your skin more ticklish in those spots? Or have you always been this sensitive?"
"I-hi hahate you." You twisted to evade his fingers, and rather than trying to follow you, he turned his attention to the words under your collarbone, lightly tracing his finger along the looping text. A surprised giggly shriek burst from your lips at the sensation, a stretch of skin you'd never anticipated would be ticklish and yet it was making your nerves tingle.
"This one too? Perhaps it's the ink, then?" He shot his hand down to your belly, scratching at the weak spot he'd discovered earlier and throwing you into hysterics. "Although, that wouldn't explain why this makes you laugh so hard."
Your half-hearted protests were lost beneath the sound of own laughter, amplifying when Loki released your wrists in favor of digging into the other side of your belly. Your hands grasped feebly at his wrists, then wrapped around your midsection, all failed attempts to lessen the ticklish feeling of his fingers clawing at your skin. In a last-ditch effort, you slotted your thumbs up under his arms, digging your eight fingers into the backs of his ribs.
Loki spluttered, removing his hands from your belly to sit up and shift out of reach of your fingers. But you were swift. You practically threw yourself at him, not even considering the implications as you wrapped your arms tight around him and pinned his arms to his sides. Without waiting for him to start fighting back, you latched your fingers onto those spots on the backs of his ribs and launched a ten-fingered attack.
"Pfft yohou lihittle..."
Whatever he was planning to call you, you never found out. The rumbling, deep laughter that burst from the trickster's chest was startling. You'd never heard him laugh before. Sure, he chuckled snarkily all the time, but to hear him really laugh... It was quite possibly your new favorite sound. Still, you couldn't pass up the opportunity to tease him for it.
"Ah-ha!! I found one!" you cried triumphantly, tightening your hold as he began trying to throw you off him. You squeaked as his hands found your sides and squeezed, digging your fingers into his ribs faster to deter his counterattack. You could feel his muscles weakening in your hold from his laughter. You leaned back a bit to look him in the eye, flashing him a smirk reminiscent of the mischievous god himself. "Oh-ho-ho, you're so screwed."
His eyes locked on yours for a moment, those blue-green irises practically glowing.
What happened next, you couldn't possibly have anticipated.
Loki suddenly allowed himself to fall backward, bringing you down on top of him with a surprised yelp. The shock of it made you loosen your grip, scrambling to plant your knees on either side of his hips to regain some semblance of leverage, preparing yourself for his ticklish retaliation. His hands found your hips, and you opened your mouth to begin playfully scolding him.
Anything you would have said to him was muffled against his mouth as he captured your lips with his.
For a brief moment, you stiffened, more than a bit shocked by this sudden advance. As your mind processed what was happening, you relaxed into his arms, melting as you sighed blissfully against his lips. Loki's hand slipped under the hem of your shirt, making you gasp and tense in anticipation of more tickling, but he kept his touch firm as he slid his palm along the side where the dragon tattoo adorned your skin. Your lips curled up into a grin against his, parting from him just slightly to look at him through hazy eyes.
"Is that one your favorite too?" you mumbled. That smirk that always made you weak in the knees graced his lips as he nodded, running his palm back down along your side.
"I'd like to see it again."
"Mm... later." You silenced him once again with another kiss, savoring in the taste of his lips. His hand came to rest on your hip once again, the other rising to cradle your neck as he lifted his head slightly to deepen the kiss.
There was no way of knowing how much time passed while your lips were locked with Loki's. And in all honesty, you didn't really care. Not once in the entirety of your life had anyone made you feel this good. If this was your reward for being open and vulnerable with him... well, perhaps you'd need to do it more often.
You let him kiss you until you became breathless, finally forcing yourself to part from his lips to get some air. He let his hand at your neck slide down to your shoulders as he lifted his lips to kiss along your jawline.
"You... you just kissed me to make me stop tickling you, didn't you?" you teased. He grinned, pressing one last kiss to your neck.
"It worked, did it not?" You scoffed and rolled your eyes with a laugh. "In any case, no. I kissed you because I wanted to. That was just an added bonus."
You leaned down to press gentle kisses along his jawline to return the favor, grinning as you heard his breath hitch in his chest. "You know..." you mumbled between kisses, "... you're not getting out of telling me where your other tickle spot is just by kissing me."
Loki hummed thoughtfully, lifting his head to recapture your lips with his once again. You considered scolding him for attempting to evade the question once again, but you allowed it, pressing your lips harder against his and kissing him fervently. His hands slid firmly down your sides and along your hips, coming to rest at the back of your thighs just above your knees. He let his head fall back against the mattress to break apart from your lips once again, and you barely registered the mischievous glint in his eyes in your euphoric daze.
"Why don't I just show you instead?"
Caught off guard after being lulled into a kiss-drunken trance, you didn't have time to react as you felt his fingers hook around the undersides of your knees, shifting up just a couple inches and scratching at the apparently hypersensitive patches of skin just above your knees on your inner thighs. An embarrassingly high-pitched shriek burst from your lips at the sudden sensation, collapsing against Loki and burying your face in his shoulder to muffle your desperate giggles.
"MM-HMM LOKIHI!" you squealed, trying to roll off of him. Loki held fast, his fiery fingers fluttering and sweeping along the cotton fabric of your pants covering those wretched spots above your knees. You kicked your feet against the mattress in protest, earning a laugh from the mischievous god as he finally showed you mercy. His hands left your knees so his arms could wrap tightly around your waist, squeezing you to his chest.
"It seems we have that spot in common, don't we, darling?" he murmured in your ear teasingly. You growled playfully, lifting your head to glare at him.
"I'm beginning to think that kissing me was all a ruse to be able to torment me," you scolded jestingly. He responded by rolling swiftly, pinning you on your back and gazing down with nothing but adoration in his eyes.
"There are many more reasons than that for me to want to kiss you." To emphasize, he ducked his head to kiss you once more, stealing your breath away. You laughed against his lips, drinking in his kiss for a moment before swiftly latching your hands around the backs of his knees and targeting those same spots he'd just demonstrated on you moments ago. He barked out a surprised laugh at your ticklish touch, toppling sideways onto the bed to escape your fingers. You managed to continue a moment longer before he captured your hands in his, raising them to his lips and pressing a kiss to each of your palms.
"Mm... you're no fun," you whined, eliciting an amused laugh from the trickster.
"I beg your pardon - as I recall, I just made you laugh for the last twenty minutes," he retorted with mock indignance.
"That might be an exaggeration. But, I'll let you have it."
Loki propped himself up on his elbow, reaching over and gently grasping the hem of your shirt in his hand with a pleading look in his eyes. "Might I see it again, now? I promise I won't tickle you."
Your cheeks warmed as you nodded, allowing him to slide your shirt up to reveal the dragon tattoo once again. He smoothed his palm over it with enough weight in his touch not to tickle, just as he'd promised.
"This one suits you," he declared after gazing at it a moment longer.
"Oh? And why is that?"
"It's elegant and beautiful, and yet simultaneously fiery and fierce. Much like you."
You turned his words over in your mind, a grin tugging at your lips. "You know... I never thought of it that way. I like that."
It was true - you'd honestly gotten that tattoo because you liked it. The one tattoo that had no story behind it, and yet Loki found a way to make it the most meaningful of all of them. You strove to be fiery and fierce, but you'd never thought yourself to be elegant and beautiful until Loki suggested you were. It was perfect - the perfect blend of your past and the future you were striving for.
Loki smirked as he watched you react to his words, that smirk you were beginning to love more and more each time he showed it to you. He wrapped an arm around your waist and tugged you close, eyeing your lips hungrily as your face burned under the weight of his gaze.
Hi! 👋🏻 I’m just dropping in to say that I LOVE your TFL series!! 💚🖤 The way you write their banter in text messages and manage to capture all of their different personalities is amazing!! I did have a steamy NSFW request for it if requests are still open?
Similar to the way Loki teases her during Movie Night, I thought it would be fun if it escalated to him texting her what he’d like to do to her with various different toys… how he’d tease and torment her with them. I thought it could take place between Movie Night and Ruin the Friendship possibly… or just be a filthy one shot 😏
This is part 6 of the An Embarrassing Secret mini-series! Based on a prompt by @hp-and-mcu asking for a sleepy reader hoping to stay in bed all day. 😴 Just a nice little fluff bomb for you all!
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5
Waking up beside Loki for the first time was pure bliss.
Before even opening your eyes, you were enveloped by the warm, familiar scent of him, emanating from the sheets and blankets which kept you warm. You'd fallen asleep in your own pajama pants but one of his shirts, which felt impossibly soft against your sleep-warmed skin. Your head rested on his chest, gently rising and falling along with each breath he took, your legs entangled with his and your arm wrapped tightly around his middle to keep him close. Never in your life had you slept this well or this comfortably.
The sun woke you much earlier than you'd have liked, and you stirred with the tiniest of groans. Loki, only half-awake himself, lifted a sleepy hand and waved the curtain shut to block out the light before wrapping it around the small of your back and tugging you impossibly closer. You sighed contentedly, nuzzling deeper into his chest and allowing sleep to overtake you once again.
There was no way of knowing how long you'd fallen back to sleep before you were awoken once again, this time by a sound.
"Darling... wake up."
The gentle, velvety voice of your love whispered low in your ear, dragging you back to consciousness. Still in a drowsy stupor, you released a slow sigh and cracked your eyes open slightly.
"I don't want to."
Loki laughed at your stubbornness, a rolling gravelly sound that vibrated against your cheek where it rested on his chest. "It's nearly lunch time, love. We can't stay in bed all day."
"Why not?" You wrapped your arm tighter around his waist, letting your eyes flutter closed. "I wanna stay here and cuddle all day."
"As tempting as that sounds, we really should get out of bed." He pressed a kiss to the top of your head, then moved to roll onto his side in an effort to get up. You held fast, looping your leg tighter around his and whining.
"Nooo... stay here."
"Let go, darling."
"Mm-mm." You snuggled your cheek into his shoulder, making his heart swell. As precious as you were to him, he really did want to get up and find something to eat for lunch. Typically an early riser, Loki felt rather lazy about still being in bed.
He gazed down at you with a sigh. "If you won't release me, I may have to resort to drastic measures."
You stubborn thing - you kept your eyes shut and began breathing in a slow, deep rhythm, clearly pretending to have fallen back to sleep. He knew better. Not just because he knew you never fell asleep this quickly, but because he could feel your heart rate increase at his suggestion. You were egging him on, now that he'd alluded to it.
Fine, then, he thought. Let us see how much 'convincing' this will require.
His palm lifted from your waist where it rested, allowing only his fingertips to rest against your side underneath the blankets. With just his index finger, he began scratching with the gentlest touch against the fabric of his own shirt covering your side. Your brow furrowed sightly, the corner of your mouth twitching upward only for a moment before you let out a slow, heaving breath and nuzzled into him once more.
"Pretending to be asleep, darling?" Loki traced tiny, looping circles along your side, taking note that your mouth twitched once again and your breathing became a bit more shallow. "You can't fool me. I know you're awake." You remained silent, motionless against his chest. Undeterred, he slipped his hand up under the hem of your (well... his) shirt and ghosted his fingertips along the bare skin of your side. You shuddered a little, burying your face a bit further into his shoulder in a feeble attempt to hide from him.
Up and down his fingers trailed, dragging up to your lowest rib before returning on their path down to your hip, only to reverse direction again and ascend a bit higher up your ribcage on the next journey. Your breath hitched when his fingertips skimmed higher, then released slowly as they traveled back down. Until, suddenly, he changed direction and dusted along the silky skin of your belly, sweeping just above the waist of your pajama pants. Your hand at his waist suddenly balled into a fist, the clear workings of a ticklish smile pulling at your lips.
"It's time to get up, darling..." he hummed teasingly, in that sweet sing-song voice he knew would always get to you. Curiously, he let his fingers drift to the skin below your navel, touching the pads of his fingers together and spreading them out like a flower in bloom, grazing your belly along the way. "Ah - was that a giggle I heard?"
You had, indeed, let the slightest of giggles slip, the sound nearly swallowed by the fabric of the sheets covering Loki's bare chest where your head rested. He repeated the pattern, closing his fingertips together and allowing them to blossom outward again in that same spot. It amused him, how your abdomen twitched under his fingers, clearly ticklish, and yet you still were attempting to feign sleep.
"Perhaps I should try elsewhere." He slid his hand around to the small of your back, tracing abstract patterns against your skin. This seemed to backfire, as you settled in with a happy little sigh as goosebumps erupted in the wake of his fingertips. "Oh, no, we won't be having that." Tracing higher, he slowly approached that all-time favorite spot of his, curious to know how a gentle touch might affect you there. Endearingly, you erupted in a fit of giggles before he'd even quite reached the spot, knowing exactly where he was headed. "Ahh... she wakes, I see?"
"L-Lokihi!" You tightened your grip around his waist in anticipation. It was always so precious to him, how you'd only press yourself closer to him the more ticklish the sensation became. You craved his gentle touch, his warm embrace. Having never had someone like that in his life, he marveled at the idea that you wanted to be so close to him in the first place - let alone while he was tormenting your sensitive skin.
"Are you going to get out of bed, love?" Loki allowed his fingers to go still as they came within range of the hypersensitive backs of your ribs, awaiting your response. You merely shook your head against his chest, the cheek that was pressed to his skin puffing up as your silly grin grew wider in giddy anticipation. With a sigh of feigned exasperation, he swept his fingers up to those ribs and fluttered the pads of his fingertips along the delicate skin overlaying the bones.
The effect was immediate. Giggles became laughter as you jolted helplessly with every pass of his fingertips across the sensitive spot. The slightest increase in pressure pulled a giggly shriek from your lips, muffled against his chest as you buried your face deeper. It was exceedingly adorable.
"This isn't working. Perhaps we need to try your other weak spot." He grabbed the wrist you had wrapped around his waist before you could process his threat, holding it stretched across his body and away from your side.
"W-wahahait! Ohokay, I'll get uhuhup!!" you pleaded, tugging uselessly at your wrist against his iron grip. "I prohomise!!"
"I believe you." You sighed with relief. "But I'm still going to do it."
"What??"
"You've been a pest this morning," he teased, emphasizing the word 'pest' with a dig of his fingers into your ribcage. "Refusing to get out of bed... feigning sleep despite clearly being awake... I should think it's only fair I get to tickle you as long as I like."
Loki slid his hand out from beneath your shirt and gradually moved to rest his fingers under your arm. You were giggling and squirming before he even began tickling you there, simply from the sensation of his fingertips against your underarm.
"Nohoho! Yohou don't hahave to do this!" you whined.
"Darling - you and I both know you don't mean that."
Rather than gentle sweeping of his fingers, he caught you off guard instead by suddenly clawing into the soft skin under your arm. You spluttered, screeched, and dissolved into hysterics in rapid succession, writhing in reaction to his ticklish touch. He held fast to your wrist to maintain unhindered access to the hypersensitive spot, tickling you until your laughter became breathless. Then, he stopped his attack and wrapped you tightly in his arms, pressing kisses to your forehead and cheeks, and finally to your lips before loosening his grasp on you.
"I suggest you get up now, love - lest I find the need to tickle you to tears." Loki scooted out of bed, and you allowed it this time, rolling onto your back as you continued to catch your breath.
You appeared so small, wrapped in the covers of his large bed. For a moment, he considered giving in to your desire to stay in bed all day, simply so he could hold you tight and ravish you with kisses. But he had to prove a point, and so he skittered his fingertips along the sole of your foot where it was poking out from under the blanket as he passed by on the way to the bathroom.
"Yohou rascal!" you giggled, retracting your foot beneath the covers.
"If you're still in bed when I come out, rest assured that I will tickle you until you get up. I think you're well aware I can be much less merciful." Loki shot you a wink before disappearing into the bathroom, chuckling as your face flushed at his threat.
When he returned, you'd pulled the covers over your head and pretended to fall asleep again. And, as promised, he tickled you senseless.
But, as you both were well aware - you really didn't mind.
ATTENTION MY FOLLOWERS! I am moving to my backup account because this account is acting weird. I'll still be posting Loki content here, but my fics will be posted on @i-am-an-author
Hello Tumblr world! I have been a lurker for many years, and recently I decided I wanted to become more involved. What’s a better way to do that than by writing a T-word Fanfic! Inspiration only comes my way periodically, so I’m not sure how often I will be writing, but any feedback is greatly appreciated as well as any creative sparks you send my way 💓
Warnings- 100% SFW, Tickle fic
Words -3042, Loki X Reader
Don’t Itch the Bug Bite!
It was just a normal summer day at the avengers compound. So far, you had cleaned your room, helped Wanda prepare dinner for the evening, and had even read a few chapters from one of your favorite books. The compound was quiet, due to almost everyone being off on their own adventures. Peter was hanging out with MJ, Steve and Bucky were off playing frisbee golf, and the others were either training or relaxing in their respective rooms. You really didn’t want to go bug anyone on their day off, so you decided to go to the common room and succumb to bordom and sit on the couch. Not even 30 seconds of you sitting down on cushions, you heard the familiar beep of your phone go off as you received a text message. It was Tony. His text read “ Hey team! All those in favor of a pool party tonight meet me on the patio in one hour! Don’t forget your swimsuits! Dinners on me! -T” You chuckled slightly to yourself as you remembered all the hard work you and Wanda had put in to plan dinner for this evening, but decided a pool party was always worth it. Usually when Tony threw parties like this, pizza was the dinner of choice. Pizza also happened to be one of your favorite meals, so you happily ran off to your room to get changed and grab a quick snack.
Now that was a great pool party. Most of the crew had made it, and it felt nice to relax with the team and have fun. You ended up only getting thrown into the pool once (you can thank Thor for that) and ended the evening with S’mores and ice cream for dessert. The only downside to the outside party was the mosquitoes. For some reason it seemed that the mosquitoes were only fixated on you and no one else. Luckily Steve of all people had bug spray so you thought you were in the clear.
You woke up the next morning and immediately felt the urge to scratch your stomach. It itched soooo bad! You hopped up to see the damage and saw a huge welt on the right side of your stomach. You also had some smaller bumps on your thigh and upper arms. “Oh well!” You thought to yourself. No matter how itchy you were today, it was worth the laugher and team bonding from the night prior.
By the time you had showered and were ready for the day, you glanced at the clock which read 11:30 am. Almost on cue, your stomach started to growl. “ Eesh, I need to eat something,” you thought to yourself. You made your way to the kitchen and started to make yourself a grilled cheese sandwich. You were lost in thought and didn’t realize that you had subconsciously started to scratch at the bug bite on your stomach. You didn’t realize that’s what you were doing until you heard a deep voice from behind you. “ Y/n, what on earth are you doing to yourself?” You froze. You turned around and saw none other than Loki, the God of Mischief looking at you with a puzzled look on his face. You didn’t know Loki as well as you did the other members of the team. In fact, you had only talked to him a handful of times. He only recently started living at the compound, as Thor finally convinced Tony that his brother had changed. Loki intrigued you. He was intimidating, but you were never fearful of him. You also had a slight crush on him. I mean why not? He was tall, handsome, and well a God! “ Oh hey Loki!” You said in a cheerful tone. “ After the party last night I woke up with a few mosquito bites and I guess I was itching one without realizing it”. You chuckled a little, trying not to blush as Loki's expression shifted. He no longer looked confused, but instead had a little gleam of mischievousness in his eyes.
“ One shouldn’t do that you know. It only makes things worse,” he said sassily. “ Well I can't help it!” You defended. “Every time I try to distract myself, it doesn’t work and I remember how itchy it feels! If you have any ideas, I am willing to try just about anything to make them less itchy”. Little did you know, that probably wasn’t the best thing to say to a trickster. You basically opened the door and invited mischief to stay.
Loki pondered this for a moment and then an evil smirk appeared on his face. “ Well actually dear one, I have just the trick on how to distract little midguardions from scratching their bug bites and make the itchy feeling disappear. It’s very special medicine that you may or may not have heard of.” At this point, you were a little nervous. He was reacting differently than you expected and decided to change the subject. “ You know Loki, I think I can handle it on my own. Thanks for offering though!” Loki looked at you doubtfully and then said “ How about we make a deal hmm? If you can go 1 hour of not itching yourself, I will buy you any ice cream you want. But, if you lose, then you must accept my medicine”. You pondered this for a moment. You absolutely loved ice cream and it was a pretty warm day. You still didn’t know what his “medicine” was but you figured it was some Asgardian ointment or something silly.
“Pfft deal!” You said confidently. You glanced at the kitchen clock. “ This means I have until 1:27 pm to not itch. You might as well go buy me some coffee ice cream now because you my friend are gonna lose!” You said this very cockily. Loki just sneered in response. “ Good luck Y/n. Just know that the God of mischief never loses a bet”. He then winked at you. You just rolled your eyes in response and left the kitchen to go watch some Tv.
After watching two episodes of “ Friends” you looked up at the clock to see how much time you had left. 1:12 pm is what it read. “ Sweet! “ you thought to yourself. Less than 20 minutes to go and you would be eating a giant bowl of ice cream. As you readjusted yourself on the couch, the blanket covering your legs rubbed right on the bug bite on your leg which immediately triggered a strong itchy sensation. “ Shit, why did I wear shorts today,” you thought to yourself. You quickly glanced around the room and nearby hallway. Loki was nowhere in sight. How would he know if you quickly scratched it? He was nowhere near your location. As fast as you could, you reached down and scratched your leg. All of a sudden, Friday's voice came over the room's intercom and said “ Miss Y/n has lost the bet. Loki, please report to the common room”. Faster than lightning you shot up from your seat. “ What the hell Friday! You aren’t supposed to tattle on me!” You should have known that the trickster would have found a way to spy on you. He really did take his bets seriously. Just as you exited the room, you crashed into the God himself. Trying to fix your composure, you took a couple of steps back and casually said “ Oh hey Loki, I was just leaving, but the Tv is all yours!”. Without taking his eyes off of you, he took a step forward and smoothly replied “ Well well well, it looks like you are at my mercy now, miss Y/N”. You gulped. “ It’s not my fault that you cheated!” Loki just grinned. “ Okay, so what is this “medicine” you want me to try? Are you gonna bring me some magic lotion from Asgard that will stop the itching” you sassed.
Within moments of you saying this, Loki lunged at you and quickly picked you up, and threw you over his shoulder. Before you could even react to this, you were tossed onto the couch and Loki was straddling your hips. You looked at him with a shocked expression. “ What the hell was that for!” You spat. “ You can’t pin me down forever in hopes to stop me from itching”. Loki ignored your retort and casually pinned your wrists under his knees. Now you were nervous. You really weren't sure what was going on in his head, but you knew you probably weren’t gonna like it.
“ You see Y/n, I was really hoping you would lose the bet because I know of a very special medicine that can help you.” “ So I’ve heard” you snorted. Loki playfully glared at you and continued. “ As I was saying, this special medicine can cure all sorts of ailments. It can make you forget your troubles, lighten your mood, and even help you stop the awful itchiness of a bug bite”. You furrowed your brows and gave Loki a very “ What the hell” look. Why would you want to forget things? And how could it fix your mood? At this point, you were for sure that Loki was just pulling your chain and trying to prank you. “ Okay… so what’s the name of this medicine then?” If it was even possible, Loki’s grin grew even more. He then leaned down inches from your face and without breaking his gaze he whispered “ Laughter”.
Your eyes immediately widened. The pieces were finally clicking into place. It had been years since anyone had attempted to tickle you, and ever since your newfound home at the avengers compound, you had kept it a secret rather well. You decided to play it cool. Maybe he would get bored if you didn’t react. “ Um… Loki that’s a very strange name for a medicine. Must be an ASSguardian thing.” You knew sass probably wasn’t the best idea in this state, but he deserved to be insulted. Loki on the other hand was not buying any of your crap.
“ You know Y/n, insulting me is only going to make things worse for you. I think it’s time that I start this special treatment.” You tried to keep your composure, but the moment his fingers started to wiggle towards you, you lost it. “ Loki please don’t do this. I won’t scratch it anymore I promise” you begged with the biggest puppy eyes. Loki just smirked and said, “ You must be very ticklish if you are already begging. I haven’t even started darling”. And with that, you were screwed. You tried to hold back the giggles that were escaping but it was no use. Loki started by squeezing your sides which resulted in a high pitch squeal. "Loki pleeeasse don’t hahaha I’m soOory”. He then slowly and methodically started walking his fingers up to your ribs. Trying to find the best reaction, he pulsed his fingers over each and every rib individually mentally keeping tabs on which ones were worse for you. “ Oh Y/N I think this treatment is working fantastic! But I think I need to up the dosage some more”. You giggled and laughed hard as he tickled your ribs. He was very thorough. “ Ohh my Gahhhaahah Loki pleeeAase hahaha.” You tried to kick his back with your knee but he had you pinned very well. All you could do was sit through the torture and laugh your heart out. He then bounced between tickling your ears and neck and then would quickly prod at your belly again,(being very careful not to hit your bug bite of course). This new game had you in stitches and your voice was starting to become a little hoarse so Loki stopped for a moment while you took a much-needed breath. “ Seehehe I’m all better noowww you said through residual giggles. I don’t need any more medicine!”
Loki just grinned and said “ Oh darling, I’m just getting started, and then he winked at you. Your face turned an even darker shade of red if that was even possible. “ How about we make another deal hmm?” Loki said confidently. Usually you loved deals and dares, but after losing once to Loki, you really didn’t want to go about making more deals with him. “ How about you tell me where you are the most sensitive, and then I will stop?”. Loki spoke as if he hadn't already tortured you enough. There was no way in Hell you were going to tell him. Your worst spot was your belly button, and you knew that if he tickled you there, you would just die. You shook your head and said “ noooo way! You will just attack me there if I tell you!” Loki pretended to ponder this, but you knew that he was expecting you to turn down this “deal”.
“ Fine, I guess I will have to find it by myself!” Then before you could even process what was happening, Loki touched your forehead with his hand, and you were sent into a memory. You were probably 10 or so in this memory, and back at the orphanage, you lived in most of your life. You watched as your past tense self was laughing and laughing as your fellow orphanage siblings had ganged up on you and were tickling your belly button relentlessly. You had definitely deserved it, you had stolen the last carton of chocolate milk and drank it without sharing it with your siblings. Just as quickly as your memory was relived, you were sucked back into reality.
You knew Loki had some magic that he used, but not once did you even think he would use it on you. “ Soooo Y/n…. It seems that I found your weak spot.” You had never seen Loki look so triumphant before. He was actually happy and enjoying every moment of this. You would never admit it out loud, but this was enjoyable for you as well. It felt good to laugh and you trusted Loki. “ Well my treatment is almost completed. I just need to give you the last dose”. And with that, he quickly dropped his finger into your belly button. He wasn’t moving, just hovering over it, watching your reaction. You on the other hand lost your shit. You were thrashing and giggling very loud. “ Loki please haha I don’t need the last dose hahaha, I’m all better I PromiSsseee.” Loki paused for a moment. He removed his hand from your stomach and said “ Oh alright since you asked so nicely.” You let out a big sigh of relief and dropped your guard.
Well, that was a big mistake. He then swiftly placed his head on your belly and blew a huge raspberry right on your belly button and you screamed with laugher. To top it off he wiggled his fingers up and down your rib cage and even reached back and squeezed your thighs and kneecaps all while blowing raspberry after raspberry on your belly. You were in stitches. “ LOkiiii haha Oh my Gahahah plehease dohant! No MOreheheeee. You then fell into silent laughter and Loki took this as his cue to stop. Once you had caught your breath, you were red in the face and very sweaty. “ Well I think that’s enough medicine for you today Y/n. How do you feel? Any more urges to itch yourself?” You just giggled and shook your head. It was true, for the past 30 or so minutes you hadn’t even thought about your bug bites. Loki hopped off your lap and sat next to you on the couch. You sat up and rested your head on his shoulder. “ Thanks for distracting me Loki. But next time, please go easy on my death spot,” you giggled out.
Loki just smiled and said “ Oh, so there is going to be a next time?” Your face turned beet red. You weren't ready to admit that you enjoyed it. “ Loki just laughed and said “ Next time don’t make a deal with a God”. He then raised his voice and said “ Friday, please send the recording to The Avengers group chat”. “ LOKI IM GONNA KILL YOU!” You screamed as he ran out the door. Your secret was now out to the world. And you knew it wouldn’t take the other avengers very long to try out this newfound information. You then ran out of the room to go find the lovely mischief-maker.
Later that evening, you heard a knock at your bedroom door. You cautiously opened the door a crack, worried that you might be attacked with tickles. But instead, there was a bowl of coffee ice cream with a note attached. It read “ Don’t worry, I liked it too. Until next time. Love, Loki”
Here is part 2 of “ Don’t Itch the Bug Bite” requested by @bearsprit6679 and @hannahg365
I apologize in advance if this isn’t the sequel y’all were hoping for, but I definitely struggled with ideas for it LOL. Hope you enjoy it anyway, thanks for asking💕
You can read part one Here
Warnings: SFW Tickle Fic. Part of Thor:Ragnorok is mentioned, but not any huge spoilers, just brief mentions.
Words: 3169
Midgardian Medicine for The God of Mischief
It had been a couple of weeks since Loki sent the video of him tickling you senseless to the team. Luckily, the team was super respectful and didn’t try to kill you all the time. Usually, it was just playful pokes here and there, but occasionally you would be forced to laugh to pieces if you were too sassy during training or something. Your bug bites were long gone and healed thank goodness. Now you didn’t have to worry about that being the cause of the attacks.
You noticed that Loki seemed to be the instigator most of the time. When you asked him about it he just replied with “ Well it’s kinda in the job description of being the God of Mischief”. You both had been spending more and more time together and the flirting was kinda getting out of hand. Since Loki was the only one that knew you secretly enjoyed being tickled, he used that to his advantage so he could watch you laugh underneath him. You were glad he didn’t tell the team about you liking it because truth is told, Loki was your favorite Ler anyway.
Even with you enjoying it and having a chance to bond with the handsome prince, you still had the desire to get a little bit of revenge on him. He had spoiled your weakness and exposed it to the team and you wanted him to pay for that. The only issue was that every time you were close to tickling Loki back, he easily flipped the tables and wrecked you instead, not that you were complaining.
The only thing you could think of at this point was asking Thor for help. He was Loki’s brother, so he was bound to know some trick on how to tickle his brother and learn where he was most vulnerable.
You went searching for Thor that afternoon after you saw Loki vanish into the library. He would be gone for at least an hour, which gave you ample amounts of time to find Thor and create a plan. When you finally found Thor, he was watching a movie in the common room. You plopped onto the couch next to him nonchalantly. “ Hey, Thor! Can I ask you a quick question? I’m stumped on something and I need your help.” Thor paused the movie and turned to face you. “ Why sure Lady Y/n ! How can I be of assistance?” You giggled. Thor was always so proper when he spoke to you.
“ So um, you know how Loki kinda told the whole team about me being ticklish? I was uh wondering if there was a way you could help me get revenge on him. Every time I try he easily gets the upper hand and tickles me to death! And since you are his brother I figured you might want to tickle him too? I know he can be annoying sometimes.” Thor laughed at this. Thor thought to himself for a moment. Yes, Loki could be bothersome sometimes and he wanted to help you out. “ I would love to help you Lady Y/n on one condition; I am not responsible for what happens once we are done with him. He will most certainly come after the both of us and I want to ensure that you will take the brunt of it.” He winked at you. You rolled your eyes and gave him your hand. “ Deal! this will be worth it!” Thor shook your hand, sealing the deal.
“ Well, the first thing first. Loki’s worst spot is his upper ribs and armpits. But if you want him to giggle like a schoolgirl, you must squeeze his sides and upper thighs. He absolutely HATES having his armpits attacked, so save that for last when he is weakened, otherwise, his revenge will be worse for you.” You engulfed every word Thor told you. This was like winning the lottery!! “ If only there was a way to tickle him all over at once to drain his energy before going for his death spot,” you pondered out loud. Thor wasn’t planning on sticking around for this onslaught so you needed Loki pretty exhausted so you could at least have a chance at extracting revenge.
Thor’s eyes lit up once you said this. You caught it immediately. “ You know of something! Oh please Thor, you gotta help me! I’m only a little Midgardian, I stand no chance up against him!!” You threw on your cutest most innocent-looking puppy eyes, even causing your lip to quiver ever so slightly. Thor laughed at your attempt to woo him and poked you in the ribs causing you to make an Eep sound.
“ Y/n, do you remember me telling you about that time that Loki and I were stuck on that planet Sakaar with that idiot grandmaster?” You nodded. “ Well while I was being held captive, I had this metal sensor stuck to my neck. The Valkyrie woman had a remote to control it every time I stepped out of line that sent electrical shockwaves throughout my entire body. I couldn’t stop it and I was practically immobile while it went off.” You cut Thor off. “ Now wait for just a second Thor. I didn’t mean that I want to hurt Loki! There is no way I’m sticking a metal sensor on him that sends electrical shocks throughout his body.” You were a little surprised Thor brought this up, he never talked about hurting Loki. “ Thor bellowed out a big laugh at your comment. “ oh dear Y/n hold on a minute and let me finish!” You motioned for him to proceed.
“ After we escaped, I was able to remove the sensor which caused it to become slightly damaged. I kept it as a souvenir. A few months ago I found it and I wanted to see if it still worked. If it did, I was going to ask Tony to tinker with it and try to replicate it. This sensor would be a great asset for our missions.”
You blinked at Thor. You were trying to follow with what he was saying. He ignored your confused face and continued. “ To test it out, I put it on my hand and turned it on. It does work, just not in the way you would think. Instead of sending painful shocks through my hand, it pulsed and vibrated sending ticklish energy through my hand instead. It was maddening so I ripped it off and deemed it worthless until now.” Your interest was piqued now. Thor was giving you a golden ticket. If you could attach this thing to Loki, you could tickle him from a distance, giving you a better shot at escaping his wrath. You hugged Thor tightly. “ Oh my gosh, Thor you are brilliant! Can you show me how it works? With this, I won’t need you to help pin him down, so you won’t be at risk of revenge! Loki would never know you even helped! “ Thor thought about this. “ Oh alright. My brother has been a little moody recently and could use a nice cheer up from his special lady friend. I agree to allow you to borrow it. “ You blushed slightly at his statement. Special lady friend? What’s that supposed to mean? But hey it didn’t matter, you had some revenge to dish out.
Thor showed you how the device worked. It was simple really. Once it was activated, all you had to do was press it to someone’s skin and it would stick until it became deactivated. From there, the remote only had two buttons, one for turning it off/on and the other for the power level. You thanked Thor again for his help and placed the device in your pocket. You were ready to find Loki.
It wasn’t hard to find him in an isolated place. You figured it would be best to get revenge where the other avengers weren’t present because you didn’t want to risk embarrassing Loki and losing his trust and friendship. He was a much more private person than you and still really reserved around the team. He only had opened up to you, which made you feel extra special. You had a soft spot for Loki and you were positive he had one for you as well, even if he tried to keep it hidden under his tough-guy attitude.
Loki was in his usual cubby hole. Sitting in the compound’s immaculate library reading a novel. You didn’t understand why the library was so big since Stark industries were all about new and rising technology, but it was nice to have some nostalgia.
You casually walked over to the sofa he was sitting on and plopped down next to him. He just ever so slightly moved the book from his face so he would make brief eye contact with you, and then went back to his book. You swore you saw the slightest hint of a smile hit his face, but you didn’t say anything about it. “ Y/N, this better be good. You know not to bother me while I’m reading. Are you here to ask me about more bug bite medicine?” He reached over and poked your belly while he said the last sentence. You blushed and shifted away from his touch. “ No Loki. I’m not sure I trust your medical advice. I just got bored and wanted to see what you were up to.” You looked over at him innocently. Loki smiled at you and said “ Ah well, you are in luck. I just finished my chapter and I was planning on training a little. Would you like to be my sparring partner?” Crap, you had to quickly figure out how to get the device onto Loki before he left the room. “ Oh, sure! I think I need some practice too. Don’t you need to put your book away first? Tony hates it when you leave them lying around.” Loki gave you a confused look but shrugged it off. “ Oh yes. Let me put away my book before the princess has a meltdown”. Loki smirked and turned around to place the book back in its spot on the bookshelf behind the couch. This was your shot. You noticed his shirt had ridden up slightly as he reached upwards. In one swift move, you quickly dove across the couch and pressed the metal circle to Loki’s side, only a few inches from his belly button. You then rolled off the couch and distanced yourself a few feet from Loki.
When the metal device hit Loki’s warm skin, he dropped his book and spun around to see what happened. He turned to see you giggling across the room. “ What the Hell Y/n! You made me drop my book! What did you put on me a stick—“ Loki cut his sentence short once he realized what you had done. He recognized the device instantly. The last time he had seen it was back in Sakaar when he tried to trick Thor but ended up getting electrocuted for what seemed like hours.
“Get this dreadful thing off of me this instant or I swear I am going make your life a living hell these next couple days Y/n. A God never lies, and I’m not feeling very merciful right now”. Loki was still sitting on the couch as if he was afraid any movement would set it off. You let out a laugh. “ Your threats are meaningless Loki right now. Besides, it’s only fair I get a little revenge on you for what you did to me last week! The whole team has used my ticklishness to their advantage and it’s about time someone stood up to you for all your pranks.” Loki smirked at the reminder of his most recent accomplishment. “ So let me get this straight. I informed the team that you are ticklish, so in retaliation, you think it’s wisest to ELECTROCUTE ME!? Seems a bit low even for me.”
You let out a little gasp as you realized that Loki didn’t know the device was “ broken”. “ Oh my gosh Loki I would never hurt you!! As it turns out this doesn’t shock people anymore.” Loki relaxed slightly at the sound of this but still didn’t move. You continued. “ I thought with this little device I could show you how people on earth use laughter as medicine. I mean it’s only fair because you showed me how and why Asgardians tickle people.” Loki didn’t say a word. You could tell he was getting more and more nervous at what you were saying. He must also be quite ticklish to not even attempt to spit something sassy back at you.
“ Us Earthlings usually use tickling as a way to get confessions out of people, cheer people up when they are in a bad mood, and my personal favorite is to get revenge on someone.” You winked at Loki. “ Option number three seems like the perfect reason to use today!” You then waved the little remote in Loki’s direction. “ Any last words?“ You teased.
Loki looked at you and smirked. “ Okay fine. You can have your fun. But once you are done, I am not responsible for what I will do to you Y/n. You might think I was being ruthless the other day, but dear, that doesn’t even come close to the torture I will put you through.”
You knew that once Loki recovered he was going to get you back, but it would be totally worth it. And with that, you pressed the power level button and activated level 1 of the device.
Loki immediately tensed up. He fell back onto the couch and wrapped his arms around his stomach. He wasn’t giggling yet, but his breathing was getting faster and he was fighting the sensation.
Loki couldn’t believe how ticklish it felt. He was fighting back his laughter even though it felt as if little feathers were pulsing all around his belly and sides. They were constant and never let up.
“ Turn it off you peasant. It’s still early enough I might have pity on you.” You snorted at this comment from the God. You know that the moment you turned the device off, he would attack you in a heartbeat. “ You really think I believe you? No way! You deserve this for all the Mischief you cause.” You walked over to a nearby chair so you could sit and watch Loki squirm up close and personal. His face was starting to turn red and he was biting his lower lip to held control any sound that might escape. You decided it was time to up the anty.
“ Laugh for me Loki! It won’t kill you to be happy!” You said this and decided to hit the power button twice to really help speed things along.
Loki’s eyes bulged from his head and he immediately started laughing. His legs kicked the sofa as his hands scrambled to try and protect himself. Loki had a great laugh. It was deep and joyous, but occasionally it would jump a couple of octaves and he would squeal. You watched as he now had his hand in his armpits. That’s when you realized that every time you hit the button, it not only upped the power of ticklishness, but it also spread to different parts of his body.
Loki was desperate now. “ Y/n plehehease turn it off! You got your revenge! CUT IT OUT NOWAHAHA!” You didn’t really want to hear him beg, so you hit the button until it was maxed out. Loki was losing his shit! He was bucking and shouting profanities at you. He even rolled so hard he fell off the couch. His face was streaming with tears and it didn’t take long for him to give in. “ I YIELD I YIELD!” Loki then went silent. You immediately turned the power to the first setting so Loki could breathe properly. He was laying on the ground on his side. He was curled up slightly and would occasionally let out a snort as little pulses still went through his body. You had never witnessed Loki this happy before. His smile was wide and you could even see a slight dimple on his cheek.
“ Oh my gosh. No wonder you like getting revenge on people. It’s awesome!” Loki tried to glare at you but you held the remote threateningly as if you would hit the button again. Loki saw this and apologized. “ Please do NOT touch that button. I’m sorry darling. I shouldn’t have sent that video to everyone, I should have kept your weakness between you and me.” Once he spoke you shut the remote off completely and ran over to help Loki get back onto the couch.
“ No, I’m sorry Loki. I definitely went a little overboard there. I only wanted to torture you a little bit, but I got distracted by your laugh. You need to laugh more often.” You playfully poked him in the ribs and Loki grabbed your hands and pulled you on top of him. Before you could reach his lips forcefully connected with yours. Your eyes widened but you soon kissed him back. You pulled away after a few seconds and looked at Loki. “ What was that for!? Not that I’m complaining” you giggled.
Loki gave you a wide toothy grin and said “ I’ve been wanting to do that for a while dear. You have been such a good friend to me and I realized it's okay to admit that I enjoyed this little laughter session almost as much as I know you enjoy it when I tickle you to pieces.” You blushed at that comment. “ Besides you were right, I needed a good laugh”. You giggled and kissed him again, but much more passionately this time. When you broke apart you noticed a flicker in Loki’s eyes. Uh oh.
“ Oh dear Y/n, another reason why I stole a kiss was that it makes for the perfect distraction”. You froze. Distraction? What was he talking about?
That’s when you noticed he had the remote in his hand and you felt something cold on your lower back. That little shit. He had played you right into a trap.
“ Loki let’s talk about this! You enjoyed it I enjoyed, so no harm no foul right!? You were giggling madly already knowing what was about to happen.
“ Awe I warned you, sweet Y/n. Now it’s your turn to laugh!” Loki hit the remote to max power and you were lost in ticklish agony. The last thing your brain processed was Loki leaving the library saying “ I’ll be back in a few! Don’t have too much fun without me”
Here is another Loki X Reader fic to brighten your day! 💕 Thanks for all the love guys. I really enjoy writing these and I appreciate the support, even though I’m not as active as I want to be. Gotta love adulting!
Warnings: SFW Tickle Fic
Words: 1662 Ler Loki X Lee Reader
Accidents Happen
“Ugh, how much longer do I have!?” You groaned out loud to yourself. You glanced at the clock sitting on your bedside table. Shit! It was 1:47 am, which meant you only had 13 minutes to turn in your essay.
You typed as fast as your little fingers could. This was the final exam in your English 301 class and was worth a huge chunk of your final grade. You had to pass with straight As. College was much harder than High School, but you had Stark and Banner to help teach you the tricky stuff.
You hit the “ Submit” button right at 1:58 Am. Phew! You had to stop pushing your assignments until the last minute. But in your defense, it’s kinda hard when you live and fight with the Avengers.
You then closed your laptop and slid into bed and drifted off to sleep.
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
You were rudely awakened by your alarm. You groggily rolled over to turn it off and noticed the time read 6:00 am. Great only 4 hours of sleep. You were definitely gonna need your morning cup of coffee so you could make it through Steve’s morning meeting.
You made your way to the kitchen and prepared yourself a steaming hot cup of coffee. Even though the meeting was at 7:30, you liked to wake up early so you could relax in the common room with your coffee and think about the day. The common room had a gigantic window that you could peer out of and watch the animal activity in the garden. Today, it was raining slightly, and you just couldn’t wait to sit next to the window and smell fresh rain and listen to the slight pitter-patter of raindrops hitting the petals of the red roses that were planted next to the window.
You grabbed your hot coffee mug and headed off to your destination. You were still slightly groggy as you made your way which is why you didn’t see Peter’s shoes laying right in the middle of the walkway. You stumbled over them and lost your balance, causing your coffee cup to fly from your hands. You landed face down on the carpet and threw your head upwards when you heard a loud “Ouch what the Hell!”. Loki must have been making his way to the kitchen when you had tripped, throwing your hot coffee all over his nice outfit. It always made you snicker when Loki showed up to Steve’s meetings in a nice dress top and tie. But seeing his nice outfit with a big coffee stain on it, ripped your smile right off your face.
“ I I I am so sorry Loki! I didn’t see Peter’s shoes in the hallway and I tripped on them!!” Loki just looked at you dumbfounded. “ Anyone could have seen those shoes from a mile away! What caused you to be so careless Y/n. You have ruined my outfit! This was my favorite tie too!” You scrambled to your feet. “ I’m sorry!! I stayed up late last night working on my college paper and so I was still a little groggy this morning. It was an accident I swear!” You walked over to the nearby hallway closet and tossed Loki a towel as if that would help. Loki rolled his eyes at your efforts and used his magic to quickly and effortlessly change his outfit.
“ An accident you say? I don’t know dear Y/n. I think you were trying to get revenge on me after I pranked you last week.” You had totally forgotten about that. Last week, Loki had put salt in your coffee instead of sugar. You were upset after this, but not enough that you would intentionally spill hot coffee on someone. “ I would never! I can’t believe you think I’m that horrible of a person!” You chuckled. “ You know, for someone who claims to be a God you sure aren’t smart like one.“ You knew it wasn't wise to poke the bear, but he needed a little sass. He accused you of throwing coffee on him on purpose! “ Mind your tone, Midgardian. Or someone may “accidentally” do something to you.” You scoffed. “ Loki, you can’t plan to “ accidentally” do something to someone. That defeats the purpose of the word “ accident”.
Loki’s demeanor shifted. He no longer looked pissed off, he now looked very very suspicious.
Without warning, Loki lunged at you. You obviously were still groggy due to your lack of sleep so you couldn’t even process what was happening until your back landed on the soft cushions from the couch.
“ Oh, I’m sorry Y/n, I must have accidentally thrown you on the couch. “ Loki teased. “ That is not how accidents work! You planned that, unlike me who really did accidentally spill my coffee on you!” You always enjoyed seeing Loki in a happy mood, but you were nervous about his game plan.
“ Okay, Loki. I get it! I’m sorry for ruining your nice clothes. Even though it was 100% an accident!!” You tried to sit up but Loki just smirked. “ Oh, darling. I’m not even close to being done with you”. You gulped. You didn’t like the tone of his voice.
Loki then swiftly jumped onto your lap and quickly pinned your arms under his knees. “ Oh wow, I can’t believe it. I accidentally pinned you down to the couch, my bad” Loki said lazily as he winked at you. You were already giggling. His teasing was hilarious even though you suspected what was to come.
Loki and the rest of the team had figured out your weakness weeks ago. You were wrestling with Peter and he thought he would try to tase your sides to see your reaction. Needless to say, it went downhill from there.
Loki hadn’t been all that interested in this new information, but you should have known he would have stored it into his “ Ways to torment Y/n box” inside his brain. You two had become pretty good friends, and pranks and tickles fit perfectly into your relationship.
“ Loki, can’t you just accidentally let me up? Then I can go accidentally make you coffee or accidentally clean your clothes!?” You were trying your best not to show your fear, but Loki knew you too well.
“ That would be quite nice Y/n. But first, I think I need to accidentally tickle you to tears don’t you think?” You immediately tried to escape his iron grip but knew it was worthless. He had you pinned and you knew it.
Loki wasted no time in tormenting you. You were already giggling before he even started so it didn’t take long for you to start bubbling with laughter. Loki poked each and every rib with one hand while the other spidered against your sides. You were shaking trying to dislodge him from your hips. You were extremely ticklish and being sleep deprived only made it harder to contain your emotions.
Loki then spidered his fingers all around your neck and ears, causing you to shake your head violently trying to protect your sensitive areas. Loki just grinned and used one hand to hold you neck to one side and gently started blowing on your ears. This was absolute torture. You were giggling like a maniac! Who knew blowing on someones ears could cause such a ticklish sensation. As if Loki could read your mind he said “ Trust me Y/n, I have a brother. I know a few tricks about this type of torture.”You pondered this to yourself as you realized that meant Loki and Thor were ticklish. What an image. But before you could get too lost in thought, Loki moved on and was now viciously attacking your under arms and upper ribs. Now, these weren’t your worst spots, but Loki was skilled in tickles. Every movement was precise and gentle. He even found some spots like made you squeak every time he touched them, which only encouraged him to continue.
“ Loookkkiii plehehease EEP I’m sorry!! I’ve learhehened my lesson! I wohahant stay up late anymore!! EEP” You knew begging wouldn’t work, but it was worth a try. “ I’m not stopping until I see tears darling. How about I go right into your death spots then hmm?” Loki wasted no time to get you into hysterics after this. He slipped his finger into your belly button and used his other hand to alternate between pinching your knees and thighs. It didn’t take long until you were crying with laughter and occasionally you let out a snort. ( Embarrassing you know) OKAHAHAY MERCY PLEHEHESE! You soon became silent. Loki stopped his torture and helped sit you up. You were sweaty and still giggling under your breath, but thankful to be more awake now.
“ You’re such a jerk Loki! Next time I will spill my coffee on you purposefully. Or maybe I will convince Thor to help me tickle you back!“ You playfully sassed and rested your head on his shoulder. Loki leaned in close to you and whispered “ You get my brother involved and I promise you I will not stop tickling you until you are screaming my name, begging for forgiveness, and are motionless”.
You knew we was kidding, but his threat still made you slightly nervous. He was a great guy, but you knew there were certain buttons you didn’t push unless you were asking for mischief.
Loki turned and looked at you. His hair was slightly ruffled from your tussle, but his greenish-blue eyes were bright and gleamed with happiness.
“Y/n, would you like to accidentally have coffee and breakfast with me before we attend this boring meeting run by Mr. America?” You kissed him on the cheek. “ I would love to”. Then the two of you made your way to the kitchen, still giggling madly.
This story is based off a prompt from an anon - I apologize if it's not exactly what you were expecting, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless 💕
Warnings: SFW Tickle Fic
Words: 2696 Ler Loki X Lee Reader
The Sass Queen
Today was not a good day. You weren’t necessarily in a bad mood, but it also wasn’t the nicest mood either. Typically you were a bright and bubbly person and focused on the positive. But today, all the cards seemed to be stacked against you. Days like this made you extremely sassy and blunt. You didn’t beat around the bush about anything and you honestly didn’t even want to laugh or smile.
It all started when you woke up that morning. It was a bright Saturday morning and you had completed all of your homework assignments, or so you thought. Turns out you had missed one in your syllabus that was due last night. You woke up to a confusing email from your professor asking why a smart hardworking student like you was missing such a simple assignment. Luckily, he was going to let you turn it in late, but it came at the cost of a 10% deduction to your final grade. You worked hard to complete this and turned it in by lunchtime.
The next bad thing to happen was while you were in the kitchen making your lunch, you accidentally caught your favorite necklace on the cupboard handle as you turned around to grab a plate off of the countertop. This necklace was one of the only things you had left from your parents. It had been given to you at the orphanage and it had a great sentimental value to it. You quickly slammed the cupboard door shut and it made a very loud BANG sound that echoed throughout the kitchen.
Just as you did this, Loki walked into the kitchen. He had left some toast in the toaster while he ran to grab his current favorite book from his room and had returned to you slamming cupboards. “ Oof did that cabinet look at your funny or something?” Loki snickered. You really were not ready for his teasing right now. You rolled your eyes and quickly grabbed his toast out of the toaster and took a huge bite out of it. Smirking you said “ Thanks for the toast! It was delicious” and then you left the room leaving Loki looking dumbfounded. He couldn’t believe you just did that to his toast!
A few hours later you and the team met for dinner. Saturday nights the team tried really hard to eat a meal together. Steve called it “ Team bonding”. You usually enjoyed it, but after this morning, you didn’t want to talk to anyone.
Wanda had made the team baked potatoes with any topping imaginable. You liked your potatoes simple, so you only had sour cream, cheese, and chives in yours. Bucky saw this and decided he wanted to mess with you a little.
“ Y/n, why does your potato look so naked? You know it won’t kill you to add more toppings right?” He then reached across the table and sprinkled some pepper onto your potato. You gave him a dirty look and quipped back “ Bucky why does your potato look so gross? It doesn’t take a genius to know that a simple potato is the best potato.” You then grabbed the pepper shaker, took off the lid, and dumped it all over Bucky’s potato. Bucky looked at you in complete shock. You just grinned and continued eating.
“Jeez Loki, have you been teaching Y/n your sass? She’s acting an awful lot like you! “ Thor boasted as he elbowed Loki in the side. Loki was about to say something but you cut him off. “ Oh please Thor, Loki didn’t teach me anything. I’m the sass queen and even he couldn’t beat me at that.” Bucky, Sam, and Steve let out an “ Ooooh Burn!” In unison. No one dared to sass Loki before. But frankly, you didn’t care at this point. Loki just turned his head and gave you a shocked expression. He wasn’t expecting this sass either. “ Well someone is being cheeky today. Say Y/n, wasn’t it you this morning who stole my toast!?” You giggled slightly at this. Seeing Loki flustered was the only thing lightening your mood today. You quickly shot back “ Yes. Now, what are you gonna do cry about it!?”
Loki then quickly excused himself from the table without another word and went off in the direction of his bedroom. No one else said anything except for Bucky who was whispering to Steve about how his poor potato was ruined.
You walked back to your room. You felt sorta felt bad for being too sassy, but you knew the team still loved you. Wanda even sent you a text thanking you for standing up to the boys because they liked to mess with the team and weren’t used to push back.
As you made your way down the hallway you heard something fall out of your pocket and bounce across the floor. You stopped and looked to see what it was. You quickly realized it was your precious necklace. You signed and went to pick it up. Just as you were about to place it in your pocket again, a soft but deep voice echoed behind you.
“ Whatcha got there Y/n? A gift from your secret lover” You rolled your eyes and turned to face Loki. He was back to his usual self again. You decided the best course of action would be to deflect. You had not told anyone on the team why the necklace was so important to you, and you weren’t planning on it anytime soon.
“I see you made your way back from timeout. For a second I thought you were gonna cry because someone stepped on your moment.” You smirked. You had heard Natasha say that and liked it so much you stole it from her. Loki mock gasped and put his hand on his chest. “ Ouch, I’m crushed by this.” Loki then dropped his facade and took a slow mischievous step towards you. “ Why are you being so suspicious Y/N. Just tell me what you have and I will leave you alone.” You didn’t want to back down that easily. You also knew he wouldn’t leave you alone.
“It's nothing Loki. Why are you so interested?” You spat back. Without missing a beat Loki replied, “ If it truly is nothing why are you so committed to hiding it from me”. Shit. He had you there. Loki must have noticed that he shut you up because he laughed and said “ Well so much for being the Sass Queen Y/n. The King will now take back his rightful throne and his first command is you show me what you have in your pocket”.
You laughed at this. “ Damn what an ego you have Loki. And no, I won’t show you so sorry!” And with that, you tried to walk away. Loki reach out and grabbed your wrist pulling you into his chest.
“ Fine, then I will just grab it myself”. He then started to try and pull open your sweatshirt pocket. You tried to fight back but he was holding you tightly. As Loki was wrestling with you, he kept accidentally poking his fingers into your sides and ribs. You tried to contain your giggles but he hit an extremely sensitive spot and you let out a little screech. Loki paused what he was doing and immediately gave you a puzzled look. He quickly caught on to your reaction and grinned evilly.
“ Oh my my my. What do we have here! A bit ticklish love? You blushed when he said this. This day was going to shit. Now you potentially had two secrets that were exposed today. “ Loki let’s just talk about this okay? How about you let me go and then I'll consider showing you what’s in my pocket?” Loki laughed at your attempt to bargain and only squeezed you tighter.
“ How about no” he whispered in your ear. And before you knew it, Loki had thrown you over his shoulder and was carrying you to a nearby couch.
“ You know Y/n, you have been in quite a mood today and I think it’s time to cheer you up hmm?” Loki lightly dropped you onto the sofa and pinned you down. “ Tell me what’s in your pocket, and I’ll go easy on you. If you refuse, I’ll use my new findings against you until you admit I’m the Sass King and you tell me what’s in your pocket”. You thought about this. On one hand, it would feel nice to be cheered up a little bit by Loki. The team was still skeptical of him, but you had never been. From the first time you met, you didn’t understand why people didn’t like him. He was also extremely hot, so bonus there. The downside was you would have to tell him about the necklace and you didn’t want to tell him yet.
So instead of responding to Loki as a normal person would, you stuck your tongue out at him and flipped him off with your right hand. Loki’s grin just got bigger and his eyes flashed with surprise. He expected you to cave.
“ Well alright love, I didn’t realize tickling you to pieces was an option, but you just picked it! Laugh for me!”
Loki wasted no time. He started poking your sides and ribs looking for that spot he accidentally found earlier. You didn’t even try to hide your laughter because it would be no use. “ Hehehe Loki I’ll never tell you anything. “ You tried to sound threatening but the giggles kinda blew that cover. Loki now saw this as a challenge. “ Is this a challenge dear? Because Gods never lose”.
Loki then dove down and blew a few raspberries on your neck. This sudden change made your nerves explode and you screamed! Goodness, it tickled soooo bad. “LOKI NO WAIT IM SORRY” Now you really were scared. At this rate, Loki was gonna either kill you or make you talk. Loki smirked when you started begging. “ Oooh begging are we? That just means I’m close to making you crack. I just have to find the right spot.” He then roamed his eyes over your body looking for another vulnerable spot to attack while you were getting some air. You noticed his eyes shift to your feet and you started giggling in anticipation. Loki saw this of course. “ Oh I think I have found it! This is your final warning, tell me what you have and I shall spare your feet from my wrath.” You started kicking your feet wildly at this point.
You looked at Loki and nodded your head. “ Okay okay okay, I’ll tell you… the thing that is in my pocket is…is.. uh…it’s NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!”
Loki narrowed his eyes at you. “ Wow. Well, I shall be seeing you at your funeral dear.” And with a wink, he had scooted his body down to pin your legs down. He slowly removed your socks making sure to lightly tickle your foot the whole time. You were thrashing and begging now. How could you have been so stupid! You should have just told him. You were soon ripped from your thoughts when you felt a finger lightly scratch the bottom of your foot. Your foot twitched and you immediately tried to pull your foot from Loki’s iron grip. “ Any last words dear?” You caved. You couldn’t stand your feet being tickled.
“ YOU ARE THE SASS KING! AND ITS MY BROKEN NECKLACE IN MY POCKET! Please just let me go!” You blurted out.
Loki turned and gave you a shocked expression. He was definitely not expecting that. “ See was that so hard? It really is a shame you didn’t listen to me earlier. Thank you for sharing, but for now, I just want to hear you laugh darling. Try not to be so cheeky next time. And don’t ever mess with my toast”.
Loki then scribbled his fingers all over your soles and you lost it. You had a deep belly laugh and tears came pouring from your eyes. You tried to shake his hand from your poor feet, but it was no use. Loki had weakened you significantly and all you could do was squeal. Loki was absolutely ruthless. He weaved his fingers between your toes and his smile was so wide after listening to your reaction from that. He probably tickled you into oblivion for ten minutes before he slowed his pace to just lightly caressing your feet. You are still giggling maniacally at this point, but the smile you had was real. You enjoyed this time together.
Loki then got off of you and pulled you into his lap. Your face was a bright red still but your breathing was back to normal. Loki looked deep into your eyes as if he was searching for something. He must have found it because he said “ Y/n, why don’t you tell me more about this precious necklace you have?” Your eyes widened. “How how did you know it was important to me? I’ve never told anyone before” you stammered out not making eye contact with Loki.
He just chuckled slightly. “ Dear one, you wear that necklace every single day. When you are nervous you fiddle with it, and you only take it off before you go on a mission because you don’t want to risk breaking or losing it. I know it’s important to you. I noticed you didn’t have it on at dinner and so it made sense why you were in such a foul mood. I excused myself to check your room to see if you had just forgotten it.” He squeezed you reassuringly. “ Please tell me. I want to help you. And if you don’t, I may have to find those cute toes of yours again.” You squeaked when he went to grab your feet again. “ Okay okay, I’ll tell you for real this time.” You told Loki all about your morning. About how you missed an assignment and then broke your necklace. You explained that you honestly didn’t know much about the necklace, just that it was a gift from your parents before they were killed and the lady at the orphanage gave it to you. It was the last thing you had from them and you somehow managed to break it. You broke into tears at this point. Loki rubbed your back and told you to let it all out.
Once your sniffles had simmered down Loki spoke to you in a soft voice. “ Y/n thank you for sharing that with me. I’m sorry that you felt the need to keep that hidden. Nobody here would have made fun of you and it’s nothing to be embarrassed about.” You nodded and placed your head on his shoulder. “ Do you mind if I take a look at it? I want to see what it looks like up close.” You nodded again and fished it out of your pocket. You handed it to Loki and he held it delicately in his hand. Suddenly there was a burst of green light that exploded from his palm. Once it had disappeared, you realized your necklace was no longer broken. Loki had used his magic to fix it. “ Oh my gosh Loki no way! Thank you thank you thank you!” You hugged him hard and long.
Afterward, you went to stand up to get some water. Loki stopped you and said, “ You know, I wouldn’t mind if you were my sass queen. All kings need to have a strong woman fighting beside them”. You grinned widely at this proposal. “ I’ll think about it. I’m not sure I want to be a queen next to someone who eats boring toast for breakfast” you (obviously) sassed back.
Loki’s eyes lit up as you started another challenge. You raced down the hallway running from the God, but before you knew it you were lost in bubbly giggly laughter.
Wowza! I apologize for the lack of writing, this week has been nothing but crazy for me! Thanks to all those who have stuck around this long 💕😁
Warnings: Slight swearing, tickle fic
Words: 3108 Ler Loki X Lee Reader
Go To Sleep
Another cliffhanger!? You couldn’t believe it! You had just binge-watched 5 episodes of your favorite show, and they had the audacity to throw in another cliffhanger!
You were currently curled up on the couch in the common room with a blue blanket wrapped around your body. The lights were off, so the only light illuminating the room was from the Tv. You went to grab the energy drink can that was sitting on the coffee table only to grunt when it was empty. You stole a glance at the clock. If you had any liquid in your mouth, you would have spit it all over the place. The clock read 3:34 am. You could have sworn when you sat down and started your tv show marathon, it was only 6:00 pm. No wait, it must have been closer to 7 or 8 because at 6 you were playing cards with Peter and Wanda. It was slightly embarrassing how invested you were in the show, but damn! The twisting of the plot sucked you in deeper and deeper every time you started to watch it. You started watching it last week after reading about it in a social media tabloid. Yes, you were already on season 4, and no you didn’t have any regrets. Well for the most part.
This show had completely taken your sleeping habits hostage. You told yourself you would only watch 1 maybe 2 episodes a night. But, like with most things, you got sucked into the storyline and ended up staying up way too late. This hasn’t been affecting your life until recently. You had done well with managing your sleep and only staying up past midnight on the weekends. But, you liked staying up on the weekdays better. All the other Avengers went to bed at their respective times leaving you alone to fantasize about your favorite characters without any distractions. The only downside, was your sleep deprivation was affecting your training and mood. Coffee could only so so much in the mornings, and even a couple of cups could barely hold back your grogginess.
You decided it was in your best interest to call it in for the night, so you turned off the tv and silently shuffled to your bedroom. Tomorrow was an early training day, and you needed all the sleep you could get to ensure you wouldn’t feel Steve’s wrath.
Come on Y/n! It’s left punch, duck down, and sweep the feet! This is a simple drill. I’m disappointed in you today.” Steve’s harsh voice echoed throughout the gym. You felt your cheeks flush in embarrassment as Steve berated you about not practicing this new move. You remembered him talking about it last week, and you had been practicing. You were just not ready to sparr against Bucky at 6:30 in the morning and test your new skill.
“ I’m sorry Steve. I’ll get it next time. It’s not my fault you decided training at the butt crack of dawn was a good idea”. You shot Steve a glare and walked over to where your water bottle was and took a sip. Bucky raised his eyebrows at you in pure shock. You weren’t typically one to talk back, especially to Steve. Steve placed his hands on his hips.
“ Y/n, when we are on a mission there is no guarantee when the enemy will attack. You need to learn how to fight under pressure and with a lack of sleep. That’s why our training times vary so much. You know this!” You sighed and gave Steve an apologetic look. “ You are right Steve. Sorry for being an ass. I stayed up a little late last night and am regretting it now. I’ll have that move down next week I swear!” Steve gave you a stern look that said “ I told you staying up too late was a bad move”. Luckily he saved you the speech and sent you to lift some weights.
Steve was a good coach and you felt bad for snapping. You decided the best thing to do after lifting weights was to go take a nice relaxing nap.
***
After your nap, you felt much more refreshed. You took a shower and went shopping with Natasha and Wanda for some new fall clothes. You loved girls' day, but by the time evening came you were ready to watch some tv and relax by yourself. You grabbed yourself a nice cup of wine, your favorite blanket, and cuddled up onto the couch. Just when you clicked the TV on, a voice echoed behind you.
“ You know the electronic picture box isn’t good for your brain right?”
Loki. Of course, it had to be Loki. You were good friends with the God and you knew he disproved of you staying up late.
“ It’s called Television Loki, look it up”. You sassed back. Loki walked in front of you, blocking your view of the screen. He crossed his arms and looked down at you.
“ I heard about your little attitude with the Captain today. Mind to tell me what that was about?” You blushed at his comment. You still felt really guilty about that and didn’t realize Steve went and told the other avengers about it.
“ I was just a little tired is all Loki. Now please move your butt out of the way, I’m in the middle of an important storyline!” You motioned for Loki to move. Loki continued to stand his ground. He looked at you suspiciously as he pondered his next words carefully.
“ Fine. I will leave you to your mortal silliness. But, if I hear from anyone else that you have been staying up late and it’s affecting your normal life, trust me, there will be consequences.” You gulped as Loki exited the room. You didn’t know what these consequences were, but you filed it into your brain for safekeeping. You then snuggled back into your blanket cocoon and started your next episode.
***
You woke up the following morning to your phone's alarm going off. You were surprised to see you were still on the couch. You looked at the clock and noticed it was half-past 7. You didn’t remember falling asleep but knew it was around 2 or 3. You glanced at the Tv and noticed your show was paused with Netflix’s “ Are you still watching?” message. Up until this point, that little phrase annoyed you, but now you were grateful for that setting. It must have popped up and out of pure exhaustion, you fell asleep instead of continuing in with your episode.
You decided you should get up before anyone noticed you didn’t go to bed last night. That would make for lots of teasing. You cleaned up the common room and headed up to your room to change into your swimsuit. Today's exercise was swimming laps in the pool.
You scurried off to your room hoping to not run into anyone.
Loki heard your door slam from where he was sitting in the library. He had also noticed your sleeping figure on the couch this morning. He walked into the common room to read a book but saw you peacefully sleeping instead with the TV still on. Loki shook his head in astonishment that you still decided to stay up late even after his warning. Feeling a little merciful, Loki decided to let you sleep and he headed off to the library instead. He would confront you later, but for now, his book was the only thing in his mind.
***
The pool was a great idea. The warm water lapping against your skin with every stroke. It was relaxing and quiet in the pool room, so you actually had time to think. You swam until your muscles groaned. You hopped out of the pool and made your way to the shower. Your brain was a scrambled mess as you thought about the episodes you did end up watching and tried to guess what would happen next.
You went and changed into your normal relaxing attire and went to find something to eat. You did your best to try and hide from Loki because deep down you were nervous about talking to him. He was like a human lie detector, and you sucked at lying in the first place. If he asked you what time you went to bed, you wouldn’t be able to think of a good enough fib to convince him it was a reasonable time. You still didn’t know what these said “ consequences” would be, but you knew from past experience that if Loki gave you an ultimatum, you better hold up your side of the deal. Thor and Peter came to mind instantly when you thought about this.
You could remember either situation entirely, but you remember the screams and fits of laughter that echoed throughout the compound that day.
Wait….fits of laughter….screams… OH SHIT! You had never actually put the pieces together on what Loki did to them! He tickled the living hell out of Spider-Man and the God of thunder! If he could break them down piece by piece, you were screwed.
You decided your best option was to avoid the trickster at all costs and hope he didn’t ask you about your sleep schedule. You quickly made yourself some breakfast and went to find Peter to distract you.
It wasn’t hard to figure out what Peter was doing on his extra day off. It was a “ Teacher conference day” so Peter got an extra day off of schoolwork. You found him sitting in the game room playing Mario Kart. You took the other switch controller and asked to challenge him. Peter happily obliged and switched over to a multiplayer mode. Oh a normal day, you kicked ass in Mario kart. You always played as Yoshi and seemed to have the best of luck. Peter was playing as Wario and didn’t stand a chance.
Unfortunately, your sleepiness was quite a distraction. After a few rounds, you were starting to lose focus. You weren’t tired per say, but your reaction time was definitely slower than usual. As Wario passed the finish line on Rainbow road in the first place the third time in a row, you called it quits.
“ Damn Peter! You must be cheating over there! I never lose in Mario Kart”. You teased as you put your controllers away. Peter chucked at you “ Oh come in Y/n! I beat you fair and square! I saw you nodding off over in your chair. Maybe you should take a nap!” You glared at Peter and tossed a pillow at him, smacking him right in the head. Peter was obviously teasing you, but subconsciously you felt a little guilty behind the truth in his statement. You decided a nap would be a good idea.
You headed off to your bedroom. The game room was on the far side of the compound from your room, so it took a while to walk back there. Just when you saw your door enter into view, a voice spoke from behind you.
“ And what do you think you are doing dear Y/n. Your not tired are you?” You froze in your path as you heard Lokis cunning voice echo down the hall. So close but no cigar. You turned around and with a confident face, you said “ Oh I’m not tired. Peter just creamed me in Mario Kart so I decided I should go lay down and pout for a while. No tiredness here!” You smiled and tried to read Loki’s facial expressions to see if he bought the lie. To anyone else in the compound, if they heard you say that Peter beat you at Mario Kart, they would probably take you down to see Banner for a check-up. But, Loki didn’t know much about mortal video games, so you were safe. Or so you thought.
“ You know Y/n, just the other day I heard the young spider creature talking with Steve and Bucky about how you are impossible to defeat in that silly little game. Why is it that he defeated you so easily today?” Loki took a few steps towards you and you tried to keep up your bold composure.
“ I’m going to ask you one question. Don’t even try to lie to me because your attempt will be futile. Did you stay up late last night even after I warned you of the consequences?” Loki stared down at you as he waited for a response. You tried to think of a fib, but nothing came to mind. You smiled and said, “ Umm well you see, you didn’t define the term Late, so by my definition, no. I went to bed early actually”. Loki raised an eyebrow at you in pure shock after your snide comment. He took another daunting step towards you and said “ Oh. So I must be mistaken that it was you sleeping in the living room this morning?”
You didn’t realize Loki had seen you this morning. Shit. Before you could speak again, Loki had grabbed you and was carrying you towards the living room. You fought his grip, but he didn’t budge.
“ Please Loki no! I’m sorry! Please don’t tickle me I promise I’ll go to bed early next time!” You heard Loki chuckle to himself and soon found your back pressed against the couch with a demigod sitting on your lap. You were already giggling in anticipation but froze when Loki spoke.
“ You know, that’s a very interesting thing to say Y/n. I was only merely planning on asking Tony to change the Netflix password to hinder your obsession. But you have given me such a splendid idea! I never knew you were ticklish!”
You stared at Loki with your jaw agape as you realized you just gave him the ammunition he needed to torture you whenever he wanted now and in the future. “ Oh well uh I’m not that ticklish, so I think changing the password is a much better punishment” you tried to compose yourself. Loki didn’t buy this for a second.
“ Well if you aren’t ticklish then you won’t care if I do this right?” Loki said as he drilled his thumbs into your sides at a constant speed. You slammed your eyes closed trying to distract yourself from the sensation, but when Loki didn’t let up, little giggles escaped your lips. Loki just smirked at your reaction because he had called your bluff.
“ Tsk tsk. I told you, lying to me is pointless. The trickster always knows. Now, shall we get this show on the road then? I do believe I have some punishment to dish out. I did warn you about staying up. Any last words before you are tickled to tears and beg for my mercy?”
Loki had a huge shit-eating grin on his face as he teased you. His hands had stopped the tickling momentarily as he waited for your response.
All you could manage to say was “ I’m sorrAHH- when Loki cut you off by digging into your sides again. This time, he was pulsing his thumbs in a little spot right above your hips on both sides causing you to cackle. You shook your head and spit out garbled pleas for mercy. Loki didn’t relent though. He soon started to lightly tickle your left ribs, while still pulsing into your side. As his fingers approached your ribs, you slammed your arms down and wrapped them around yourself tightly trying to protect yourself. Loki just rolled his eyes.
“ Darling, you really think that’s going to stop me?” He then easily grabbed your wrists and pinned them above your head. You felt a fuzzy sensation and realized it was his magic holding your wrists down.
“ No no-no-no. Magic is cheating!” You sputtered out. Loki winked at you. “ God of Mischief remember? I don’t like playing by the rules”. You opened your mouth to respond, but Loki cut you off again by antagonizing your ribs again. You soon went back to heavy laughter. You pulled harshly on your wrists hoping for some movement, but nothing happened.
It didn’t take Loki long to find your worst spot. After giving your a breather, he slowly and methodically walked his fingers up and down your sides all the way to your armpits. This didn’t tickle, but the anticipation was killing. You were giggling non-stop as his fingers hit the spot right above your highest rib and below the start of your armpits. When his fingers touched there, you jumped and shook your head.
Loki raised an eyebrow. “ Hmmm, bad spot is this? I bet you regret staying up late now.” You nodded. “ It won’t happen again! I’ll go to bed even when I’m not tired! Just please don’t tickle me there!!”
Loki sat up for a second but kept lightly tracing all-around your worst spot teasingly. He was enjoying the little squeak that escaped your mouth every time he got close to it.
“ Oh my. I want to believe you. But you’ve lied to me twice already! And besides, I think I need to tire you out so I know for a fact you will sleep.” With that, Loki stopped tracing your skin and dove in, massaging your worst spot. You bucked your hips and let out a long string of giggles before laughing maniacally. You shook and bucked trying to do anything to dislodge his fingers, but nothing worked. Loki was ruthless at tearing you apart. On one side he was massaging and the other just lightly scratching which made your nerves explode in ticklishness.
Loki didn’t stop until you stopped bucking and was laughing silently. He released his magic and helped you sit up.
“ Now, are you going to listen to my fair warnings in the future or will I get the chance to find all your weak points?”
You nodded as residual giggles bubbles from your body. “ I-I-I promise I’ll try my best to listen. Although, I do admit I’m pretty tired now.” You said as you wiped the sweat off your forehead.
Loki offered to carry you to your room and you happy agreed. The moment your head hit the pillow, you passed out.
Loki paused for a moment and smiled at your slightly still pink cheeks as you feel asleep.
“ Now that, is adorable” Loki thought to himself. He most definitely needed the laughter, and apparently so did you.
Here is another Loki X Reader fic for y’all! Thanks for reading! 💕
Up next is a Loki X Peter fic requested by Anon that you can find in my “ Upcoming Fics” in my masterpost 💕😁
Warnings: Tickle fic, slight swearing
Words: 3447 Ler Loki X Lee Reader
A Deal Is A Deal
Tony was to blame for your current predicament. If he hadn’t thought to give Loki a cellphone, you would not be running down the hallways with his thundering footsteps hot on your heels all because you happened to lose a bet. And for the record, a stupid bet. Now how exactly did you end up running for your life from the trickster? Here is how it happened.
It was a normal mission. You and Loki often were paired together and liked being partners. Loki's job was to be the getaway driver after you successfully stole a computer chip from a billionaire's home. You had been working undercover for quite some time, pretending to be the rich man’s maid. The team had finally gathered enough information on the man suggesting that he was involved in illegal weapon trafficking. The last piece of evidence needed was his computer chip.
Up until this point, you had always been the driver in getaway cases, but since you were the maid, you needed someone else to be the driver for once.
Since living on earth, Loki refused to own a cell phone. He claimed that us mere mortals were frying our brains with useless technology. But even Thor had a cellphone for crying out loud! It was just Loki being his usual, stubborn self.
The plan for the mission was that once you stole the chip, you had exactly 4 minutes to exit the house before an alarm would sound. Loki was to meet you down the street after racing from the house.
Everything went according to plan. You were cleaning the man’s office while he was at a business meeting, and you successfully swiped the chip. You raced down the stairs and out the door looking around frantically for Loki. Except, he was nowhere in sight.
Later you learned that he had accidentally made a wrong turn and couldn’t figure out the car's GPS to correct himself. He also didn’t have a phone to help guide him. Thankfully, Tony expected something like this to occur and was easily able to remotely access the GPS and get him to your location seconds before the alarm sounded. You heard the blaring of alarms ring out behind you as Loki sped down the street.
After this little incident, Tony and Steve voted on the fact that everyone in the compound should have a cell phone. Mostly for mission liability, but also because according to Tony “We aren’t living in the dark ages”.
Of course, Loki dug his heels a little after being forced into modern Midgardian technology, but eventually, he found himself quite thrilled with it. Since he was your partner, you tried hard to teach Loki how to use said phone and that’s when you realized you had created a monster.
Loki soon became obsessed with the pocket technology. He especially enjoyed blowing your phone up with funny gifs, Tik Toks, and your least favorite…. Words with Friends games. At first, you didn’t mind. Words with Friends is a great way to calm the brain and you were very good at vocabulary games. You easily beat Loki the first few rounds, but once he understood the game, he bested you every single time. Damn him and his 1,000-year head start.
Eventually, it got to the point where you were burned out by the game and deleted it from your phone. This is toll caused lots of teasing from the God because apparently “You were a quitter” and “ Couldn’t stand being beat by Loki”. Of course, this was said fondly and teasingly, but the truth was, you were just slightly annoyed.
The only thing Loki hated about the phone was audiobooks. He hated the idea of not holding the physical paper copy and being able to feel every turn of the page. You agreed with him on this front, but only because you weren’t a heavy reader anyway. You preferred podcasts so you could multitask.
As the weeks went by, Loki was becoming more and more familiar with his phone which meant he also was finding new ways to annoy you. Lok's personal favorite was to spam text you really early in the mornings especially after he knew you stayed up too late. Loki was a notoriously early riser so it was completely normal for him to be awake at 5:30 am. You, on the other hand, liked your sleep and didn’t usually wake up until 7 or 8. You also liked to keep your phone off silent in case you were needed for a mission or in case of an emergency, and unfortunately, one particular God of Mischief knew this about you.
He knew you liked to sleep in. He knew you were getting annoyed. And he knew you had stayed up a little too late last night. But, living up to his title, he continued his friendly torment day by day just to see how far he could push you before you snapped. You were also a very patient person who was very capable of holding your tongue in situations like this. You couldn’t snap at him because that would only fuel his fire and intrigue him to bother you more.
After being awoken at 5:00 am for the third day in a row, you decided enough was enough. The only way you could get Loki to stop would be by making a bet. Loki never could turn down a good bet, and it would allow him to be prideful if he won.
It wasn’t hard to find the God as he was in his usual spot in the Library. Loki made eye contact with you as you walked in. “ Awe there’s sleeping beauty. Maybe I should post your lovely bed head to my Snapchat story hmm?” Loki teased as he shut the cover of his book. You rolled your eyes.
“ Actually, Loki. I’m here to make you a deal. I know how much you love bets.” Loki crossed his arms and nodded at you to continue, a sly smirk plastered to his face.
“I bet you can’t go more than 1 day without using your new cell phone. If you can go more than 24 hours without using it, I will redownload Words with Friends and I swear I will play with you consistently for 2 weeks. How does that sound?”
Loki pondered your offer for a moment.
“ That’s a very tempting offer Y/n. Unfortunately, I think the pot needs to be sweetened a little more”. You looked at Loki quizzically. He proceeded. “Now it would only be fair if you had something at stake to wager as well. I propose that whoever uses their cell phone first, becomes the loser and must abide by the winner's wish. How’s that for a deal?” Loki smirked and walked over to where you stood.
“ Sounds like a deal to me. So if I win, you promise to not bombard me with messages early in the morning. If you win, then I have to play Words with friends with you?” Loki chuckled and walked into your personal space. With a hushed tone, he said “Actually, I have a better idea. When I win, you will have to humor me with a little experiment I’ve been trying to figure out. I think you will be the perfect test subject.” You blushed as Loki nearly whispered the last sentence into your ear. Terrified as you were not knowing what type of experiment, you were also intrigued.
You stuck your hand out to Loki to seal the deal. “ Alright you cocky bastard, it's on”.
You and Loki headed off to the kitchen to coordinate the rest of your deal. It was decided that both phones would be left on the counter in the kitchen. This was a hub for activity, so it would be difficult to try and use your phones without being caught. You both agreed to leave your phones on because that would up the temptation to pique if you heard the familiar chime of a message coming through. With one last handshake, you both exited the kitchen.
You were surprised at how easy it was to distract yourself for the remainder of the day. It happened to be a nice fall day and so you decided to take a walk around the compound and just breathe in the fresh crisp air. After your walk, you did some reading, and then got roped into a competitive game of Gin Rummy with Natasha, Bruce, and Clint. Bruce won by easily achieving more than 500 points and at that point you called it a night. You were shocked at how fast you fell asleep without the blue light cascading around the room after every notification.
You didn’t start to feel the effects of missing your cell phone until day 4. It was a Saturday, so you didn’t have much going on and lots of people were missing from the compound. You were slightly bored and just wanted to be able to listen to one of your podcasts and relax in your room. These past couple of days, you had been avoiding Loki for the most part because you didn’t want to put up with any teasing or boasting. Although the couple times you did run into him, you could tell he was struggling.
Thor went back to Asgard a few weeks ago, so you could tell Loki missed him. They basically talked every day, so it was weird not seeing him on FaceTime.
The day prior, you did give in and decided to sparr with Loki after he had asked you. Surprisingly, no taunts left his lips and he was focused on the fighting. The only thing he said was when Steve had plugged his phone into the loudspeakers and started playing some sort of obnoxious classical music to piss Loki off.
Loki rolled his eyes after the music started playing and said “ If only we had our phones. We could save our ears from this nonsense. Why don’t you go grab your phone and play something good?” You chuckled at his attempt to tempt you and instead told Steve to turn the music up louder which resulted in Loki lunging and successfully pinning you in seconds.
You scoffed at him for outsmarting you and gave him a push to signal him to get off. But, before he rolled off of you, he leaned in close to say something. You blushed as he spoke.
“I can’t wait for you to lose dear one. Another piece of the puzzle has been completed for my experiment.”
Loki then helped you stand and you went your separate ways. His words echoed throughout your brain as you desperately tried to figure out what he was talking about. The anticipation was killing you and was fueling your stubbornness to not lose.
Now to the present day. Day 8 of not using your cell phone and Loki chasing after you as you raced down the hallway to make your escape. Let me fill in the remaining gaps of that morning.
You woke up like usual. You headed down to the kitchen to make some breakfast. The room was quiet except for the hushed hum of the microwave as it cooked your oatmeal. You were lost in your thoughts thinking about what you would do today when you suddenly heard a familiar ringtone echo throughout the room. You casually walked over to your phone to see who was calling you. It was your best friend.
You and your bestie had an unspoken rule to not call each other unless it was absolutely necessary or planned beforehand. You texted basically every day, and you told her you wouldn’t have access to your phone for a while. She knew you were a secret agent so she was used to going days without contact while you were on missions. That’s why it startled you when her name popped up on your screen. You decided it was worth the risk to answer your phone. Nobody was in the kitchen at this time.
“ Hey! What’s going on? You okay?” You asked with a concerned voice. What happened next sent chills down your spine.
“Ohhh poor little Y/n. I believe this means I have won! What a shame you were fooled by your friendly neighborhood spider who helped me pull off this dirty little trick. Now do tell me, rumor has it that you are insanely ticklish. Is this true?” You gasped and dropped your phone in surprise. That was his “experiment”.
A few weeks ago Bucky and you were on a mission where you had to climb a building. Somehow while Bucky helped you remove your harness, he tickled you slightly. You made him swear not to tell anyone of this, especially Loki because he was your usual partner and he didn’t need that kind of information. Apparently, the super-soldier spilled the beans.
You raced from the kitchen trying to leave the scene since Loki knew that’s where you were. If you could get into your bedroom, you could lock the door, and hide out for a while. It didn’t take long for Loki to be hot on your heels calling after you. “ Why are you running? Does this mean the rumors are true?” You ignored him and jumped down the stairs 2 at a time. You spun around the corner and ran straight into something hard. Dazed, you looked up and saw Loki. Right in front of you. “ What the he-“ you started. But then it clicked. Loki and his damn clones.
Startled by his presence and slightly dazed from running right into him, it didn’t take long for Loki to grapple with you and throw you over his back. You drummed your hands against his back the best you could but Loki stopped that by squeezing the back of your thigh and knee sending you into a frenzy of tickles.
“ Well, I’m glad to see you will make a great test subject as it would be rather boring otherwise. Why keep such a thing from your partner. I thought you trusted me!?” Loki sneered with a mock hurt tone.
“ I do trust you! But I knew once you found out about this, you would exploit it every chance you got. Seems I was correct about that”.
Loki carried you to the gym as it was empty this time of day and was somewhat private. At least he was kind enough to give leave you with some dignity. He dropped you on the wrestling mat and scrambled to pin you down as you fought back. With a snap of his fingers, Steve’s classical music rang throughout the gym once again. You fell for this trick too as he used your distracted state as an advantage and pinned you effortlessly and snapped the obnoxious tunes off again.
“You know Partner, if you wouldn’t have hidden this from me, I wouldn’t need to seek it out. Confess to me your worst spots and I’ll consider being merciful”.
Making eye contact with Loki, you let out a sigh of defeat. No matter what you said, you were not getting out of this until Loki was done with his friendly torment.
“Okay fine. My worst spots are my feet, upper ribs, and hips.” Technically, this was a lie. Those were some of your worst spots, but you just left out your absolute death spot. There was a little spot bilaterally just behind the lowest rib on your lower back. It was kind of hard to find, so you didn’t worry about Loki finding it.
Loki gave you an evil smirk. “Excellent intel Partner. I sure hope you aren’t hiding anything else from me because then things will be much worse for you”.
“I’m not lying Loki. Just get it over with” you said with a blush on your face.
Loki had you pinned with your back against his chest with both of you laying on your sides. His legs were wrapped around your calves holding them in place and with one arm pinned against the floor. He then started to purposely blow on your neck and ears, sending ticklish chills down your spine.
You attempted to scrunch your shoulders and twist your head, but this did nothing to stop the sensations.
You were able to bite back your giggles until Loki started to lightly trace your free arm. He would start at your elbow and slowly drag his fingernails up to your shoulder and then slowly drag them down again. The closer he got to your neck, the more breathy giggles escaped.
“ Nohoho Loki stop teaseheheing me!” I gahave you my worst spots, just get it oveheher with!” You begged as Loki was now circling his hand up and down your neck and collarbones. You never knew them to be sensitive, but the never-ending light touches had you shaking your head in a desperate attempt to knock his fingers off their deadly path.
“ Why Partner! Giving in so soon? I never knew you as a quitter, just a sore loser. Too bad you had to answer technologies call for gratification”.
Loki stopped his light torment as you caught your breath. Quickly, Loki rolled you over to put you on your stomach and he straddled your lower back.
You tensed uncontrollably when Loki placed his hands on your side, right below your ribs. You weren’t expecting to be put in this position and now your worst spot was exposed. Loki teasingly scribbled his fingers up and down your sides before instantly switching techniques to where he was kneading your hip bones. Not expecting the switch, you screeched and let out violent bursts of laughter followed by strings of giggles.
“Glad to know you weren’t totally lying about your worst spots”. Loki said as he watched you try and escape his torturous fingers.
“ IM NOHHOT LYIN— “you started but went back into hysterics when Loki moved one of his hands to your upper ribs while the other stayed kneading all-around your hips and sides. You couldn’t form words at this point and you slapped your hands in defeat against the mat.
Loki saw your plea and relented a little so you could breathe but still enough that you were giggling crazily.
“ I’m offended that you think I didn’t see right through your little lie. I know you are holding back a sensitive spot and I will find it. Don’t think I didn’t notice your tension.”
Shit. That’s what you had been afraid of. You internally cursed yourself for reacting.
Suddenly, you let out a shrill shriek that pierced the air. Loki had started poking around your back and had hit the jackpot by pure luck.
Testing the newfound spot, he poked it again, with more intent this time. You let out another shriek and started thrashing desperately again. You heard a deep chuckle come from your friend and felt him shift his weight so he could lean down and talk to you.
“I only ask one thing from you dear partner. Scream for me”.
And that you did.
Loki dug his finger into your spot and didn’t relent this time. You shrieked and your body shook with laughter as Loki didn’t quit. He targeted that little piece of flesh with one hand while still attacking your hips with the other.
You could hardly form words or let alone think properly and finally, you caved.
“ I WILL PLAYAHAHA WORDS WITH FRIENDS WITAHAHA YOU I P-PROMISE” you somehow managed to belt out.
Loki ceased his attack and hopped off of you.
“ Really? Oh, I’m honored! I knew you enjoyed playing with me.” You rolled onto your back and wiped the tears of mirth from your face, giggling like mad.
Loki reached into his back pocket and handed you your phone.
“ Here is your reward for being my test subject. Just know, there are some more spots I need to experiment with so mind your tone with me. It’s rather tempting”.
You smiled at Loki while rolling your eyes. You unlocked your phone and followed through with your new deal by reinstalling “ Words with Friends”.
Loki was a pain in the ass, but he was your partner, friend, and secret crush. You hated to admit that you craved his touch and dreamt of the day it would happen again. And who knows, maybe someday you would be able to experiment on him the next time he woke you up with annoying texts or an ugly picture on his Snapchat story.
Thank you Anon for this wonderfully sweet prompt to fulfill! I hope I did it justice😁💓 Soft Loki is one of my favs!
Original Prompt is here
Warnings: None! Soft Loki tickle fic!
Words: 2264 Ler Loki X Lee Reader
Rain, Rain, Go Away
You woke to the sounds of crackling lightning and booming thunder echoing throughout the silent avengers compound. The wind was howling and there was a steady pitter-patter of raindrops being slammed against your bedroom window.
You jolted out of your sleepy state as another bright flash illuminated your room which was soon followed by another loud boom.
You had always hated these types of nights. The stormy weather always made you uneasy and scared you slightly. Of course, you knew that it couldn’t hurt you, but just the thought of being trapped outside in a storm made you want to vomit.
Being a Shield agent and part of the Avengers, you had been sent out on countless missions in a wide range of weather conditions. This in toll was the reason you feared storms so much.
You and Thor were sent on a mission to spy on a group of arms dealers who were based deep in a South American jungle. You had incredible stealth skills and honestly, you probably could have done the mission solo, but you were so thankful to have Thor beside you once the weather turned. Thor originally was there only for his mere brute strength in case you accidentally were ambushed. These guys were only the middlemen in the trade process, so they didn’t have many weapons with them usually.
After surveying the miniature arsenal for a few days, you had collected all the intel needed. You and Thor had hiked 7 miles to the compound, so that meant you had 7 miles to get back to your camp. It was starting to get dark and you noticed even darker clouds swoop into the sky.
As you made your way back to camp, Thor became distracted by a nearby cave and wanted to scope it out. You rolled your eyes and told him you would meet him back at camp.
“I’ll be fine Thor! I’m not scared of a little storm. I’ll see you soon!”
Thor nodded happily as you had permitted him to explore Midgard and you went on your merry way.
After about 20 minutes of hiking alone, the wind started to pick up. Then next came the sideways rain blasting cold water over your entire body leaving you completely soaked and frustrated. You tried to use your GPS to see how far camp was, but it had severe water damage and was useless now. You made a mental note to remind Tony to create waterproof versions of the GPS device.
Panic started to creep in as you realized you were now alone in a random jungle with low visibility and without a clue on where to go next.
By the time the lighting and thunder started erupting from the sky, you were full-blown terrified. You screamed for Thor as you curled up beneath a tree trunk and tried to calm yourself down.
“THOOOR!! THOOOOR! I NEED YOU!”
Your screams were silenced by the wind and hot tears poured down your face. You were about to give up all hope when you heard a voice in the distance.
“LADY Y/N! WHERE ARE YOU! CALL TO ME ONCE MORE”.
You screamed for him as loudly as you could manage and it didn’t take long before Thor had his arms wrapped around you in a comforting hug as he held your shaking form. You fell asleep curled up in his arms and didn’t wake until you heard chirping birds and felt warm sunlight in your face.
That mission not only created your fear of stormy weather but also created a wonderful friendship with Thor. Ironic you knew, since he was the God of Thunder, but somehow that only comforted you more. Technically, Thor could kinda control thunderstorms. He preferred to not interfere with nature, but on those particularly loud rumbles, he was able to silent them for you.
The next few weeks, you ended up sleeping with Thor every time there was another storm. Thor was delighted by your new friendship and would do anything to comfort you. He partially felt guilty for leaving you alone, but you made sure he understood that you wanted him to explore.
After a few months, you were much better in storms. You frequently checked the weather and if a storm popped up on the radar, the team and Thor did all they could to distract you with loud music, movie nights, or even board games. You appreciated everyone for not thinking of you as a child, but instead helping you embrace your fear and not face it alone.
Another loud clap drew you back from your memories, and you felt your stomach drop. This storm had completely caught you by surprise and you were terrified again. It also didn’t help that you had been thrust out of a nightmare involving Thor being killed on a mission.
Quickly, you put on your slippers and snuck down the hallway to Thor’s room. You needed his comfort after the dream you just had and the storm was only making matters worse. Tears were falling down your face as you tried to fight the embarrassment and fear coursing through your body. When you finally managed to creep down to his door, you wiped your tears and carefully opened the door.
Thor was fast asleep and snoring quietly. He was destined to go on another mission sometime the following day so you knew he had gone to bed extra early to ensure he was well-rested before the long flight.
Even in your terrified state, you couldn’t bear to wake him. You knew deep down he would never be upset with you, but you couldn’t bring yourself to bother him knowing he had a busy day ahead. Instead, you carefully crept back down the hallway and snuck into the common room instead.
You sat on the couch and looked out the window. The rain had slowed down slightly, but you could still hear the distant rumble of thunder. Besides Thor's room, this was your other comfort spot. Tony had built an electric fireplace into the wall that easily could be turned on with a switch. You also had ample amounts of fuzzy blankets and books stashed under the coffee table and so you were completely bundled in warmth.
“You too huh?” A voice said through the darkness. Completely started you jolted up and grabbed your chest as you looked to see who it was.
It was Loki.
Although you were extremely close to Thor, you didn’t know much about Loki. He moved into the compound shortly after your South American mission so you didn’t get much of a chance to bond with him. Thor told you he was completely harmless, but you still felt queasy around him.
He was more of a brooding type, who watched silently from the shadows. He was much more introverted than Thor, and you had only seen him join in on games or movie nights when Thor was present too.
You two were actually quite similar. The two of you were the newest members of the team and were much more stand-offish.
Although very intimidated by the Asgardian, you also felt a deep sensation of understanding. Seeing him here with you hiding from the storm, made you feel more comfortable in his presence.
Loki motioned to the spot on the couch next to you, and you nodded, scooting over to give him more room next to you.
You casually wiped the remaining tears from your face and hoped Loki didn’t notice. But, the soft twinkle in his eye said otherwise.
“It’s alright to be frightened. I’m not too fond of the thunder either.” Loki said with a small smile.
“Why is that? Your brother is the God of Thunder you know.” You teased slightly back. You felt more at ease talking to Loki and you felt the atmosphere was lighter now just with his presence.
“That’s just the thing dear one. Thunderstorms are a strict reminder of my brother. Though I love him dearly, that has not always been the case. Thunder always reminds me of our messy past and I would like to move forward. Oh, and it’s rather loud. Can’t sleep very soundly with it.”
Loki smiled kindly at you.
“Alright your turn. Why are you hiding in the common room wiping away tears from your lovely face? You could have awoken Thor you know”.
You gasped slightly in shock and pure embarrassment. You didn’t realize Loki had seen you run to Thor’s room. But it made perfect sense since he was typically lurking in the shadows anyway.
You bit your lip as you pondered what to say to the God. Loki placed a comforting hand on your knee, squeezing gently.
It tickled a lot more than you expected and you jerked your leg back with a little squeak.
Loki raised an eyebrow at your silly reaction and smiled in recognition.
“Ticklish I see? Well, we shall come back to that later. I want to know what’s troubling you first.” Loki said again with a firmness in his voice.
You signed again and let it all out. Tears started spewing down your face as you retold the horrible memory of being lost in the storm and losing Thor. You even mentioned the horrid dream you had that started this cascade of sadness in the first place.
Loki held you in his arms as you cried and listened intently to every word that escaped your mouth. He had not been around a mortal before who was expressing such vulnerability, but he was estátic that you trusted him enough to show this side of you, especially considering how little you knew of each other.
Loki held you without saying a word until you stopped crying. Wiping the remaining years from your face you looked up at Loki.
“Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk, you can go back to bed now” you giggled as you notoriously coped with your sadness and embarrassment through humor.
Loki laughed quietly to himself and gave you a puzzled look.
“I am happy to be your comfort when my brother is slacking from his duties. But I will admit, I’m confused by who this Ted man is and why his talking is of importance?”
You barked out a loud laugh and covered your mouth as giggles fell out. Loki looked even more confused at your reaction and that’s what made the whole ordeal even funnier.
“It’s a Midgardian thing Loki! I don’t even want to attempt explaining podcasts to you!”
Once you said this, it only took a millisecond for Loki’s demeanor to shift into one from empathy to mischievousness. His eyes twinkled with glee as he calmly scooted his way close to you. With one swift movement, he had pulled your ankles closer to him causing you to fall onto your back and slide across his lap. He grappled for your hands and successfully held them together in one hand and placed his free hand on your stomach.
“You know, Midgardians are such peculiar things. You are so enveloped by your video boxes and pocket technology, and are full of all sorts of rowdy emotions and quirks.” Loki said as you tried to wiggle your way off the couch.
“But I do believe my personal favorite Midgardian quirk is your inability to prevent your ticklishness from being sought out by the world.”
You ceased your squirming when he said this and immediately felt your face flush red.
“I do believe the only way to tire you out and send you off to a happy slumber is through a little bit of laughter. How does that sound?” Loki ended his speech with a rhetorical question as you were violently wiggling around trying to escape his clutches. You were already giggling and soon exploded into laughter when Loki wasted no time clawing at your stomach.
His five fingers shook and vibrated across your belly and ribs. You couldn’t contain your laughter and you threw your head back as he teased out all your sensitive spots. Boldly, he released your wrists and pinched your sides methodically which caused you to roll into your stomach and you attempted to army crawl away.
“Not on my watch Love” Loki growled and rotated his body so he was sitting on your lower back.
“ Lohohki plehehease! Seee I’m hahppy nohowow!” You tried to plead, but Loki just tutted in response.
“What is that dear? Do you still feel sad? Well, let me fix that!”
Before you could retort something back, Loki reached back and ran his nails over the back of your knee and thighs.
With a screech, you frantically kicked your legs against the couch.
Loki noticed you were almost at Witt’s end, so with one last flurry of tickles against your ribs, he stopped his attack.
You rolled back over and leaned against the armrest. Loki smiled down at your sweaty red face.
“Come now. How about I help you wake Thor up so you can have a restful slumber?” Loki went to stand but you quickly grabbed his hand.
“Erm, actually Loki, I was wondering if I could bunk with you tonight? Thor has a busy day ahead and I don’t want him asking questions as to why I’m so sweaty.” You smirked.
Loki beamed with delight and carried you off to his room.
“Good idea, dear. My brother can be quite ruthless in his tickle fights.”
Your eyes widened as you realized that Loki was also ticklish, but decided that would be better saved for another rainy day.
~Ler!Loki~ @sigyn-laufeyson0609 - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag
