(Just an idea I’ve had for a while about Loki and how he might mull over having feelings for the reader who he’s friends with~ LOVE ME SOME LOKI SO I HOPE Y’ALL ENJOY 💚 💚 )
Friends.
That's what you were. If he was putting labels on it. Should he put a label on it? You didn't seem to think it was important. He had known you for what felt like forever though it had only been a few years, having met you on one of his trips to earth. Book stores were his favorite to haunt and he often stuck to himself, off in a corner, never looking up from the words on the pages beckoning to him.
You had been different.
You had accidentally bumped into him, making him almost drop his book and you had apologized profusely, your face an embarrassed shade of red. “Aren't you cute…” was the first thing he thought though he hadn't said it out loud, calming your anxiety with a friendly hand and introducing himself.
“Loki? Like the God of Mischief?” “I am the God of mischief.”
He was so used to Thor getting all the attention that when you acted genuinely curious and interested in him he was a bit taken aback but seemed comfortable answering your many inquiries. He hadn't realized the hours you had spent there until the employees asked you to leave at closing time.
You had waved goodbye and he honestly thought that would be the end of it, never seeing you again but that wasn't what fate had in mind apparently. You had literally bumped into each other again a month later, different book shop but same you. He was surprised and though he didn't know how to really use one he had gotten your phone number. He taught himself how to use a phone just to talk to you. At that moment he realized he must have felt...some kind of way.
You were charming and funny and while he hadn't laughed out loud you managed to get a chuckle or two out of his stoic demeanor and that was a true victory. Most of the women he met were clingy or preferred Thor to him in terms of swooning. Not that he minded, he preferred to be alone.
Until he met you.
Something was just drawing him to you and he wasn't sure how to explain it or even what to do. He was so used to being in the shadows, the bastard, the last one chosen...it was nice to be well, the one for someone. He started to come around more and more, especially when you admitted to being lonely. How could someone as wonderful as you be lonely? The very thought!
Being with you was so comfortable, things he used to find mundane or annoying became things he looked forward to. It always started with a text from you. Hey Loki! I have to go to the mall to do some gift shopping, do you wanna come? Or Ugh, another doctor’s appointment, would you mind walking with me?
Not at all.
Anything you wanted he was there. He didn't even hesitate. The mall was interesting, people often stared at him like he was some sort of spectacle but he hardly noticed when you kept calling him over to look at things. Not that he wandered far. He only ever left your side when you needed to shop for more personal things.
“Uh, I need to go to Victoria's Secret, do you mind waiting out here?”
He would lean against the wall and wait patiently though there were a few times he couldn't resist taking a peek at you inside the store making you blush and shoo him away. Everyone asked if he was your boyfriend and at first he simply shrugged and denied it, not feeling anything in particular but now?
It made him blush.
Especially when you would accidentally do cutesy things completely on accident. Like when you asked to borrow his jacket because you were cold or when he’d hold your hand to cross the street or that one time you were at a cafe and he offered you a taste of his food off his finger. He hadn’t even realized he was doing it, that was how cozy he was with you. And the cozier he got well, the harder it was to be without you.
Even Thor noticed he was miserable when you weren’t around, often teasing him about his apparently obvious feelings for you. Which he denied. Why give his brother the satisfaction? Though his thoughts had become more centered around you and what you thought of him lately. Did you notice a simple text seemed to summon him? Or that he gazed at you longer than he should? Or that he seemed to smile only when you were near him?
Did you think about him? The way he smiled at you? Or looked at you? Or wanted to find any excuse to hold your hand? Did you notice his subtle brushes across your hand when you went to movies together? Or feel him pressing closer to you than he had to when on the subway or in crowded places?
Did you notice that he loved you?
Not that he ever thought about it.
Your text had come to him in the middle of the day and he always answered immediately. He was with Thor, checking in with Dr. Strange about something when he had received it. He pulled his phone out nonchalantly, so as not to attract attention and Thor grinned at him.
“Ah, a text from lady y/n?” He said cheekily but Loki’s face remained a stoic mask as he looked over the message you had sent.
“Lady y/n?” Dr. Strange asked and Thor put an arm around his brother rubbing his fist into Loki’s temple in a half-hearted noogie.
“Ah yes, a lovely human woman from here that my brother has grown quite fond of-” Thor explained and Loki shoved him away by pressing a hand to his brother’s face and pushing him out to arm’s length.
“Stop.” Was all he said and Thor only chuckled, continuing on with his conversation with Strange as Loki gazed down at your text he had yet to answer. It was simple, only a few words, but the words had him completely flummoxed.
Hey Loki, do you want to go on a date with me?
Were you joking? Did you mean it? Or was this one of those “I have an extra movie ticket” things? He wouldn't know until he answered you but he didn't know how. His brain was blank except for the words there on his screen. He remained, as ever, completely composed, telling his brother he needed some air and walking outside.
Where he began pacing like a mad man.
What should he say? Had he been taking too long? Were you messing with him? You were quite the tease at times. When you wanted to be. He only stopped pacing when another text chimed in, causing him to look down at the phone in his hand.
I have to go to a wedding and I could use the company, my cousins a real drama queen
He relaxed suddenly when he read that, sighing with a shake of his head and a smile. Ah, of course, he had overthought it. This was y/n he was talking about, obviously, you hadn't been seriously serious about wanting a date with him. Obviously.
Obviously…
He felt deflated as he texted back, saying he would be glad to accompany you. He quickly typed out another message before his thumb hovered hesitantly over the send button. He shouldn’t. It was a joke, you just needed someone to go with you to a wedding. He didn't need to take it so seriously. He shook his head and pocketed the phone, heading back inside to his brother, an unsent message sitting on his phone.
y/n, why don't we go on a real date?
