chocorainbowbiach gave me the prompt: "Loki's inner beast when it comes to Clint."
Needless to say, I was excited to write this.
As the God of Mischief, Loki had no problem with touching other people's things. You had to know what it would hurt people to lose, what was important enough that they would lose sleep until it was recovered. It was all part of the trick, you see, and it was one of his favorites. As a child he often wondered what would happen if he'd been able to hide Mjolnir.
And he always wanted to gain something from it. He wanted to play with the new toy, sneak a bite of whatever was for dessert that night. And as he grew he began to covet more dangerous things. Spells, weapons, armies...people.
When he had fallen from the Bifrost, a part of him had broken, split itself wide open, and all the feelings Loki had suppressed or tried to hide from himself all those years had consumed him. His envy, his rage, his sadness, his loneliness...they filled him with the urge to steal and covet.
So when Loki found himself in the position to take what he wanted, to gain a companion, a lover, a friend...
Who could blame him for taking Clint Barton?
Because surely he was more to Loki than a servant, a bodyguard or a lap dog. He had shared his secrets with Loki. They had a connection. They were similar.
But as it was, as comfortable as Loki was with coveting what wasn't his, he was not okay with others taking his things. He protected what was his, what he claimed as his.
And he intended to keep his archer for as long as he could.