Summary: Y/N tries to avoid getting homework done by bugging two Demigods. It doesn’t go in her favor…or does it 😉
Word Count: 2,088
Pairings: Ler!Thor Ler!Loki Lee!Reader
You were bored. With everyone on missions or spending time with their families, you needed some entertainment. Being the youngest on the team along with Parker, Stark was making you stay home this weekend and finish homework. Even being an Avenger, school was still important. You argued and insisted that you attend the mission but Stark had the final word.
You’d been “working” on your homework for an hour and decided to take a break and wander the compound. You thought, minus maybe Pepper who was usually in her office you’d be alone. Much to your surprise you saw two demigods sitting in the lounge area. Your lips curled up into a smile. They hadn’t seen you enter the room and you figured you’d sneak up and spook the brothers.
Before you could take a step, without looking up from his book you heard Loki speak.
“There’s no use in trying to sneak up on us Y/N. I know you’re behind me.”
“Ugh! No fair Loki.” you pouted crossing your arms. “How’d you even know I was there?”
“Darling.” Loki scoffed as he closed his book and turned his head to look at you. “You’re talking to the God of Mischief. You can’t get anything past me.”
Your eyebrows furrowed as you looked over at Thor who wore an amused smirk on his face.
“He is unfortunately right young Y/N. Even as kids, I could never best him.” Thor chucked. “But it matters not because you shouldn’t even be down here. Didn’t Stark order you to finish your school work?”
“I uh, decided to take a break.” you said clearing your throat. “Needed to get some air and all that.”
“Ah.” Thor nodded, not entirely convinced by your answer. “Well my brother and I will be here should you need us. Back to it.”
Your eyes widened in realization. “Wait a minute! Stark kept you guys from the mission to be my BABYSITTERS?”
“I wouldn’t put it that way exactly…” Thor started but glancing over at Loki who was clearly amused by your reaction, spoke up.
"Oh I would." he said with a deep chuckle. “Yes. Stark asked us to make sure you did as you were told. Seeing as last time you were left unattended you did not finish your school work and failed an assignment.”
Your pout only furthered more at Loki’s words. “I’m not a baby. I don’t need to be watched.” you said with a stomp of your foot, digging your metaphorical hole deeper.
The brothers both raised an eyebrow in amusement. You huffed, knowing you’d proven their point.
“Okay fine. But I do need a break. I’m bored up there. Can I hang out with you guys for a little while. Pleeeeease?” you asked looking between the two with the biggest puppy dog eyes you could muster.
Going over to Thor, who you knew was the softie of the two, you wrapped your arms around his big torso and looked up at him. “Please Thor? We don’t hang out enough. We are always off doing missions or you guys go back to Asgard and I miss you.”
Thor looked down at you with a soft smile as he stroked your hair gently. The brothers had grown quite fond of you since you’d joined the team. Being the youngest of them, they felt protective of you like big brothers. The world was harsh and it didn’t hurt to have two demigods on your side. You knew Thor was a pushover, it would be Loki that would be the tough one to crack.
“Brother.” Thor said putting his arm around you affectionately. “Why don’t we let the young maiden take a break from her studies? Surely it won’t hurt to take some time to enjoy the company.”
Loki’s eyes narrowed you, his hands on his hips. He pinched the bridge of his nose before letting out a sigh of defeat. “Fine. But only for a short while. I don’t want to deal with Stark when he comes home and Y/N has yet to finish her school work.”
“YAY!” you cheered throwing your arms around Loki.
Not expecting the sudden impact, Loki stumbled a bit but gave you a small pat on the shoulder. He wasn’t much for affection like his brother, but you knew he cared for you nevertheless.
“I mean it Y/N.” he chastised. “Only a short break and then you are to return to your studies. Understood?”
“Yeah yeah sure.” you said with a dismissive wave of your hand.
Sure enough, you break went by entirely too quick. You were curled up on the couch, watching tv with your head on Thor’s shoulder when suddenly the tv clicked off.
“Hey!” you shouted looking over at Loki who shrugged. “What gives?”
“Breaks over. As agreed, it is time to go back upstairs. Should you need assistance with your work, you may call one of us and we will do what we can. We are fairly well versed in Midgardian studies. But until then, off you go.”
“No.” you said confidently crossing your arms.
“I’m sorry. What did you say?” Loki asked closing his book and looking at you incredulously.
“You heard me.” you snarked back, folding your arms once again in defiance. “I said no. N-O spells no.”
You heard Thor snort laugh behind you. He knew how this was going to end but you were digging your own grave and he was enjoying himself.
Loki scoffed a laugh before standing up and approaching the couch, where you and Thor sat.
“Y/N….” Loki said in a warning tone. “This isn’t going to end well for you darling. I’d stop while you’re ahead.”
“I don’t want to do my school work today. Maybe tomorrow.” you said reaching for the remote only to have it disappear in a green flash.
“Hey! Not fair. You can’t use magic to hide things.”
“Oh well.” he shrugged while a smile tugged at his lips. “Off you go.” he said reaching for your hand only for you to shake your head.
“I said no Loki.”
Loki sighed. “Then you leave me no choice.” he said with a fake pained expression on his face.
“For whAT?” you let out a squeak as Loki tackled you to the couch and with little effort had pinned your hands to your sides.
“Lohoki! What the hehell?!” you said nervous giggles building in your chest.
“I’m going to make you regret telling me no. Stark said to use whatever method we needed, to make sure you were not going to skip your schooling. This seems like a great way to do so.”
Opening your mouth to protest was cut short as you felt ten fingers find purchase on your sides. Sporadic giggles began to escape your lips as you tried to twist and turn away from the tickly feeling.
“Lohohoki!” you squealed as his nimble fingers worked their way up your sides.
Loki’s dark chuckle told you that he wasn’t stopping anytime soon.
“Brother, if you wouldn’t mind I could use some assistance.” Loki chided. “The young maiden is quite squirmy.”
“Certainly, dear brother.” you heard Thor chuckle behind you.
You felt slight weight in your shoulders and looked up to see the flowy blonde hair hair dangling above your face, Thor grinning at you through it.
“Thohohor! Hehelp!”
Thor smiled affectionately at you. “I would count myself a fool to challenge my brother. A lesson you dear Y/N have yet to learn.” He chuckled before fluttering his fingers along your neck, eliciting more squeals as you shook your head trying to evade his fingers.
Loki leaned forward toward your face. “Now darling. Are we going to behave now and do as Stark has requested or shall we continue this?” he asked halting his fingers for a few moments.
You took in deep breaths at the momentary reprieve. Truthfully you didn’t hate it. No one really knew but you had a feeling the Asgardian was catching on.
You smirked at the God of Mischief, playfulness dancing in your eyes. The twinkle in your eye caught Loki’s attention and a full grin spread across his face.
“You like this. Don’t you, young one? It’s why you’re being so defiant. You wanted this to happen.” he said starting to snake his fingers up your rib cage, bubbly giggles once again pouring from your lips.
“I do not understand.” You heard Thor question behind you.
As if you weren’t apart of the conversation, Loki continued his tickle attack. Your infectious laughter ringing through the room as you weakly batted at his hands.
“Have you not noticed, that our young friend here has not asked me to stop once? She has been given opportunity to yield and yet she responds with words she knows will get her in trouble?” Loki asked. “She LIKES this. She WANTED this. Isn’t that right little one?” Loki questioned you, his nimble fingers now reaching under your arms, arguably your worse spot.
“LOHOHOKIHIHI!” your hard belly laughter raising several octaves. Pushing on his hands did nothing. He was a God after all and his strength was no match for yours. “PLEHEHEASE! GAHAHAH!” your legs kicked wildly behind him.
Thor smirked as he too realized. “Ah. I see now. She’s yet to ask either of us to stop. Is that right Y/N? You enjoy the tickles, do you not?” Thor chuckled as his fingers made contact with your neck once again, a scream of laughter erupting from you.
Your cheeks a bright crimson color as you turned your head trying to avoid eye contact as the two Asgardians tickled you mercilessly.
“Come on darling. Just admit it. You like this.” Loki teased.
“NEHEVER!”
“Very well.” Thor sighed jokingly. “Brother, if you will.” he said gesturing for Loki to step aside. “Hold her please.”
“Nonono! Thohohor!” you squealed your eyes pleading.
In an instant, the two brothers had switched places with Loki now holding you down with little effort as Thor positioned himself at your waist.
“Now then.” Thor continued “Is my brother correct in his assumptions?”
You bit your lip to bite back a giggle. “Mahahaybe.” you admitted closing your eyes in embarrassment.
“Hehey!” Thor’s deep laugh rang through the room. “Look at me Y/N.”
When your eyes remained shut, Thor dug his fingers deep in your hip, causing a boisterous laughter to come out. You peaked at him with one eye and saw him looking at you with a gentle smile.
“It is nothing to be embarrassed by. Actually, it is adorable. Don’t you agree brother?” he asked looking at Loki who remained sitting at your head, occasionally fluttering his fingers in your neck.
“Indeed it is brother. What I don’t understand is why she shields her enjoyment of it.”
You sighed but a small smile played on your lips. Thor and Loki had released their hold on you, allowing you to sit up.
“Because. It’s not something most people enjoy. I grew up an only child. My parents worked all the time. I wasn’t given affection much as a child. And then…” you continued. “The…thing happened to me and I became a part of this team, this…family and for the first time I felt like I had brothers and sisters and… friends.” you stopped for a moment wiping your eyes.
“Heyyy.” Thor said pulling you to his chest and rubbing your shoulder. “It’s okay. It’s okay to want affection. As a young child you were deprived of what you craved most. It is natural to want that.”
“I hate to agree with my brother.” Loki chimed in which made you let out a muffled laugh in the crook of Thor’s shoulder. “But he is right. And if you need us to step in and be your big brothers, then that is what we shall be.”
You sighed in relief this time, a smile, a real smile this time gracing your face. “Thank you both. I really was bored though.”
“Well then.” Loki chuckled as he patted your shoulder. “We have been distraction enough. As agreed it’s time to return to your studies.”
You looked at him with a slight pout, twiddling your thumbs. “Would um…could you…” you asked embarrassed still.
“She wants us to continue brother.”
Thor grinned at you. “And what kind of big brothers would we be if we said no?” he asked before tackling you on the couch again, your deep laughter once again echoing through the room, your honorary big brothers tickling you to pieces.
Hellooo! If it is prompts you need, then prompts I shall deliver >:)
“What’s with the bad mood? I think that may need to be remedied…”
with ler!Thor and lee!Loki? :)
(sending love <3)
Eeeeh thank you so much for the request @just-a-fluffy-knight, I loved this one. You always give the best prompts my love!
Hope you guys enjoy this! It’s just a little Drabble of everyone’s favourite Asgardian brothers
Not in the mood
Warnings - none
Word count - 1.4k
“Greetings brother”, Thor declared as he waltzed his way into the lounge area, and flopped onto the couch that his slightly less cheerful brother was already lounging on, in a hopeful attempt for some peaceful reading. So much for that plan he thought to himself, as the oversized golden retriever that was his older brother flopped far too close to him for his liking on the equally oversized couch. He only huffed in annoyance and shifted away, in yet another attempt for some personal space.
“Must you do that”, he grumbled. Thor only chuckled in return, “yes I must dear brother”.
“Wonderful”, Loki threw his head back dramatically, rolling his eyes, before returning to his book. Thor chuckled again, “do you really find me that intolerable?”. Loki never even lifted his eyes from the page he was on, and yet they still told Thor everything he needed to know. “I sincerely doubt you want me to answer that honestly” he sighed, the annoyance lying heavy in his voice.
Thor wasn’t having this; he was used to being the happier of the pair but even he knew something was different today with Loki, and as he was the older brother, he decided to take matters into his own hands.
“What’s with the bad mood brother? I think that may need to be remedied...”, mischief lacing his voice, and an unsettling smirk gracing his face. This did not go unnoticed by Loki, who despite his best efforts to pretend he didn’t notice, subconsciously shifted even further away from Thor, so that he was now pressed right against the side of the couch, nervously turning the page of his book. Thor wasn’t exactly wrong. He hadn’t exactly been having the best day so far, hence his mood and attempt at trying to find some peace and quiet. However, it had escaped his mind that as his brother, Thor knew him well enough to know when something was wrong, and worryingly for Loki, Thor had a preferred method when it came to bringing his younger brother out of his moods, despite Loki’s numerous protests against it in the past. And judging by the mischievous glint in his brothers' eyes, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was right to be nervous, especially as he noticed Thor making his way closer towards him.
“Thor, I assure you I am not in the mood for any childish games right now”, as he attempted to back even further into the couch. However, Thor was not away to give up that easily. “Oh, come on Loki we both know you could do with some cheering up today”, making his way closer to Loki still. “Thor, I assure you that is not necessary”, the panic in his voice becoming evidently clearer, as Thor neared closer still, until he managed to get close enough to Loki to pin his arms to his sides with his knees, before he ever got the chance to escape.
“Thor this is childish nonsense that we are much too old for, must this be the way it always goes!”, Loki frantically rambled, as he desperately tried to squirm his way out of Thor’s iron grip. Thor in turn let out a hearty laugh, “you know I might ask you the same thing brother”. Loki shot him an incredulous look, “I beg your pardon”, he questioned, still attempting to worm his way free.
“Loki you are the God of Mischief; a man known for his tricks and illusions, whilst being cunning and sneaky. You’d think a man capable of such feats would be able to escape a situation like this easily, why not rely on your illusions or teleportation's to escape if you truly hate it so much, rather than this child like display of strength”.
Loki went to make a snarky remark to immediately defend himself but found himself unable to do so. As Thor said despite him being known for his deceptions, he found he was unable to explain why he hadn’t truly chosen to escape all the times when Thor had subjected him to this childish torture. Unfortunately, he didn’t get much time to ponder on this, as his train of thought was abruptly disrupted when he felt two strong hands digging into his ribs, causing him to bark out a surprised laugh.
“THOR STOP THIS AT ONCE THIS IS UTTERYLY RIDI-”, he was cut off yet again by his own surprised laughter as a result of Thor suddenly leaving his ribs, only for him to start digging into Loki’s bony hips. Loki attempted another snarky remark, but the unbearable ticklish jolts shooting through him rendered him useless of any strength or ability to speak he may have previously had, much to Thor’s amusement.
“Face it brother, we both know you need this”, and with that, he went in for the kill. Using one hand to knead into Loki’s hip, whilst his other hand spidered its way across his other hip, and up and down his side multiple times before kneading into his ribs. Any hope Loki may have had to escape this situation with any part of his dignity still intact vanished, as he got lost in the million maddening sensations jolting through him, rendering his mind essentially useless and only allowing him to throw his head back in pure unfiltered laughter, as he continued to be subjected to the torturous feeling.
“THOR-” he finally managed to wheeze out in between frantic peals of laughter, as Thor continued to knead into his hip, whilst his other hand had begun to spider up and down his sides and stomach, both torturously light but also with enough pressure for it to still tickle like hell. It was no secret that Thor was enjoying this, knocking his usually stoic arrogant little brother down a few pegs with a few squeezes to his sides. However, he also had the feeling that he was not the only one enjoying it, as Loki was still yet to try and make a proper escape, or any escape for that matter, proving to Thor that he had been right all along, which he couldn’t help but smile at. Loki certainly could have his moods, but at the end of the day he was still his little brother.
Thor couldn’t help but smile at this, and looked down at his younger brother who was still in hysterics, and decided to finally have pity on him, at least for the moment. Slowing to gentle rubs on his sides, Loki’s laughter eventually slowed down as well as he finally regained his breath, uncontrollable giggles still spilling out. “I still think that was ridiculous” he managed to wheeze out, his voice hoarse from laughing so much.
“Careful how you speak brother” Thor warned him playfully, squeezing just above his knee, causing Loki to let out another wheeze that spiraled into yet more giggles.
“THOR”
Thor only laughed. “I’m sorry Loki that was just too easy”. To which Loki only grumbled, but even he couldn’t help the small smile that was tugging at his lips. Just as Thor had realized, this did bring back fond memories for Loki as well. There were countless memories of them as kids where Thor would pull one of these attacks on Loki to see him smile, and to ensure he never felt left out. These attacks would often consist of Thor pinning down Loki and going for his death spots. Loki couldn’t help but shudder slightly thinking about all the times when Thor would go after one of his worst spots. Something that didn’t go unnoticed by Thor now.
“What are you thinking about brother?”.
“Well, I still believe that was completely unnecessary” he grinned. Thor only smiled and rolled his eyes. “I do believe you were still ever so slightly more merciful than when we were children, for which I am... somewhat grateful I suppose” still grinning.
Thor thought for a moment before all those beloved childhood memories came crashing back to him as well, which gave him an idea. “Ah yes, I do believe your neck used to be rather sensitive didn’t it... hhmm I wonder if that is still the case”, and without any warning, he dipped his head into the crook of Loki’s neck, blowing an enormous raspberry causing Loki to wheeze once more.
“THOR”
“I’m sorry brother that was the last one, I promise”. He smirked. Loki, still giggling slightly, only rolled his eyes and shook his head.
summary: there's only one way to wake you up and thor is the only one who knows about it
Next to being an Avenger, sleeping was your favorite thing in the world. Sure, you loved going on missions and training with your teammates, but nothing beat the feeling of falling into a deep sleep after a hard day’s work.
The only downfall of your love of sleeping was that it was nearly impossible to wake you up. There’d been a few times where you’d fallen asleep on the jet after a grueling mission and Steve had tried to wake you. Nothing he did worked and he ended up having to carry you off the jet and back to your bedroom. You woke up the next morning confused and completely embarrassed.
For months, it had been like that. That was until Thor had found the one thing that would work.
He had tried everything, just like everyone else had, when you fell asleep against his shoulder on the couch. In a last-ditch effort, 20 minutes after he’d first tried, Thor pinched at the muscle above your knee, causing a sharp inhale and a small giggled to escape your lips. You shot forward, instantly waking up.
“Ah, the young maiden awakens at last,” Thor bellowed with a teasing smile. “And all I had to do with tickle her.”
“Thor!” You hissed. “What was that for?”
“You have been asleep for an hour and I’ve been trying to wake you for almost half of that,” He answered, moving to stand up to stretch his legs. You blushed, hiding your face in your hands.
“Sorry,” You mumbled.
“It’s quite alright,” Thor chuckled. “Now I know what to do in the future.”
And you found that he used it to his advantage almost every single time you fell asleep in his presence. The rest of the team had been begging him to reveal the secret to waking you, but thankfully Thor kept that piece of information all to himself.
So, on the morning of an important mission you were supposed to embark on, Steve sent Thor in to wake you up after sleeping through and snoozing your alarm… 8 times.
Thor snuck in quietly—not that it would change anything had he come in banging on pots and pans. He did it mostly for dramatic effect—and tiptoed over to your bed. In a swift movement, he ripped the blanket off your sleeping form and immediately dug his fingers into your sides.
You awoke seconds later with a screech of surprise, then fell into boisterous laughter as the ticklish sensation took over your entire body. “AHAHA! THOHOHOR!”
“You were supposed to be awake 2 hours ago. You have to leave in 30 minutes,” The God said, still steadily squeezing up and down your torso.
“YEHEAH, OKAHAY! I’M AWAKE NOHOHOW!”
Thor halted his wake-up call, staring down at you with a fond smile. “I find it so endearing that that is the only thing that will get you up and out of bed.”
“I find it annoying,” You groaned, sitting up and rubbing the tiredness from your eyes. “You still haven’t told anyone, have you?”
“No, I have not, but keep laughing like that and I’m sure everyone will soon figure it out,” He snickered, reaching down to throw a teasing poke at your side. You flinched and yelped, slapping his hand away.
“You suck,” You told him, but the grin tugging at your lips was a dead giveaway that you didn’t really mean it.
I had a ton of fun writing this, but it ended up much longer than I anticipated! (whoops 😂)
The original storyline was based on this Prompt requesting a platonic Loki x reader fic where the reader is working with unkind coworkers, and Loki decides to get to the bottom of it. Another prompt requested to make it part 2 to Family Forged Between Realms, which just fit so perfectly! I hope you all enjoy!
Read Part 1
"Sometime today, please."
"Shut up, Loki - I'm thinking!"
Your tongue protruded slightly from the corner of your mouth as your eyes skimmed along the wooden blocks stacked in front of you. Cautiously, you lifted your index finger to prod ever so gently against the center block on one of the middle rows, retracting it immediately when you realized the block wasn't budging. A sigh of frustration burst through your nose as you continued to search for a loose block.
"Does this Jenga game always take this long?"
"Shh - Loki! Our dear friend is trying to concentrate."
"Thank you, Thor," you hummed, shooting Loki a narrow-eyed glare. He rolled his eyes in response, leaning his elbow on the table and propping his chin up in his hand.
You supposed you couldn't blame him for being bored - it had been Thor who'd suggested the three of you play some games from your childhood. The three of you had already taken turns playing Connect Four, followed by a game of Scattergories where Loki had absolutely decimated both you and Thor. Selfishly, you'd chosen Jenga next, knowing you were skilled at it.
You poked at the block on the right side of a row closer to the bottom, finding there was a bit more give with this one. As you gradually began to slide it out of its place, your cell phone began vibrating in your pocket. The sudden buzzing startled you, causing you to push a bit too hard on the block and jostle the one next to it loose. The entire tower toppled to the table with a crash.
"All that fuss, and this is where it got you?" Loki queried teasingly. The corner of his mouth twitched upward as he heard you groan defeatedly.
"My phone is ringing," you muttered, pulling your phone out of your pocket as you scooted your chair back and stood from the table. "That was an unfair distraction - I call a rematch!"
"Perhaps you shouldn't keep your cellular device in your pocket, if it's so distracting to you."
You turned your head to stick out your tongue at the mischievous god, earning a chuckle as you spun on your heel and left the room to take your call in private. Thor had already begun restacking the Jenga blocks on the table as you vanished into the living area of your apartment.
"Hello?"
“Hey – I have a huge favor to ask of you.”
The voice of one of your university friends echoed through the speaker of your cell phone. Mandy had been one of the few friends who carried through after you graduated from school. She'd started on the same biotechnology track you'd followed, but after a year she realized it wasn't what she truly wanted to do in life. After that, she'd dropped out in favor of pursuing her true passion in clothing design. Still, you'd kept in touch all these years despite how your paths had branched in different directions.
"I'm finally opening my boutique next Saturday."
"Mandy - that's awesome! Congratulations!" you gushed, pride surging through you for your friend. "Did you get that building over on Park Avenue like you'd wanted?"
"Yes! Near the little French café!" The elation was evident in her voice. "I'm so unbelievably excited!"
"I bet you are! But... what favor do you need from me?"
She paused for a moment. You could hear the boys bickering in the other room about how to set up the blocks, which made you snicker silently to yourself.
"I hired enough staff to run the shop from 8:00am to 8:00pm, but one of them just backed out on me. Without her, I'm missing some of the evening shift coverage. I'm working on hiring a replacement, but it'll be at least a couple months before I get someone new onboarded."
"So... sorry, I don't follow. How can I help?" Your brow furrowed in confusion.
"Well - you live a few blocks away, and I know you have flexible hours with Dr. Banner... And I know I can trust you, and you're so smart, and a hard worker, and-"
"Woah, woah. Are you asking me to work in your shop?"
"I would pay you!" she insisted quickly. "I know you'd do a great job, and it would only be until I hire someone..."
"Mandy - are you sure I'd be a good fit? I-hi mean, I don't have any fashion sense, you know as well as I do."
"You don't need to! You'd just be helping with tracking inventory and supervising the shop during business hours. It's all numbers, I swear!" There was a level of desperation in her tone that was starting to break your resolve. "I would owe you big time. Please??"
You sighed, pinching the bridge of your nose. It had been years since you'd worked outside of the science field. And you weren't entirely sure you would fit in with the undoubtedly stylish and trendy patrons who would be frequenting her shop. But Mandy was a good friend. She'd been there for you through some rough times in the past, and you felt compelled to return the favor.
"Alright. I'll help you out for a few weeks."
"You are a LIFESAVER! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!" she squealed. "Let's meet up for coffee tomorrow to go over the details, ok?"
When you returned to the kitchen after finishing your call, you found Thor and Loki already locked in a Jenga match between the pair of them. For having griped so much about you taking your time on your own turn, Loki was spending an inordinate amount of time prodding at the blocks to take his turn. He hadn't noticed you enter. It was an opportunity too good to pass up.
Silently, you crept up behind him, hushing Thor with a finger pressed to your lips as his gaze flitted up to meet yours. Just as Loki finally began to slide a block out from the center of the tower, you extended your hands and dug your fingers into his ribs on either side. He barked out a laugh, jolting and sending the blocks of the tower tumbling across the table.
"What the- you!"
You leapt backward as his head whipped around to look at you, giggling and holding your hands up defensively.
"I-hi was just evening the plahaying field- NOHO LOKI!"
He swiftly advanced on you and caught you around the waist, wasting little time in wriggling his fingers into your ribcage. You twisted in his grip, pleading for Thor to assist through desperate giggles.
"Never mess with the God of Mischief - haven't you learned this by now?" he growled playfully, releasing you after a few more seconds of torment.
"Yeah, yeah..." you shrugged him off, rolling your eyes with a grin as you straightened your shirt.
"Who was it that contacted you?" Thor asked amicably.
"Oh, have I got a story for you two!"
You sat down at the table, rehashing the conversation with your friend. They listened intently, a gleam of amusement in their eyes as you explained how you'd be spending your evenings for the upcoming weeks.
"So our hangouts are gonna have to be a little later in the evening some days, just so you know," you explained.
"Perhaps we could simply come visit you at work?" Thor suggested. You snorted.
"Ahabsolutely not. I'm not giving you the address - you two harass me at work here already, I can't have you doing the same while I'm managing a shop."
"Are you suggesting you're embarrassed by our company?" Thor chided, poking your side.
"Ack- no, that is not what I'm suggesting," you retorted, swatting at his hand. "But you two have a tendency to be annoying big brothers sometimes."
"Who, us?" Loki gasped sarcastically.
"We're nothing of the sort!" Thor added with a poorly disguised grin.
"I'm not telling you - end of story," you declared, a finality in your tone. "Now then," - you reached for two of the blocks closest to your seat, beginning to set up the tower - "Let's get on with that rematch I asked for."
* * *
You arrived the following Saturday at the boutique promptly at 3:30 to begin your shift. The smell of new leather and subtle lavender met your nostrils the moment you stepped inside. Mandy must have been toying with pleasant fragrances to entice people to stay and browse longer, you thought. A clever trick. And you certainly weren’t complaining about the flowery scent.
The shop itself was moderately sized, but Mandy had strategically made use of open space to make it feel much larger. Various rows of clothing racks stocked with vibrant patterns and classic neutrals lined the walls. A few mannequins were scattered throughout the store, fashioning some of Mandy’s favorite outfits to make them stand out. A few lavishly cushioned sofas and armchairs were set out in the center of the boutique. In the back, a small row of fitting rooms with full length mirrors standing outside were available to try on pieces, with aesthetic spotlight lighting overhead to bring out the color and shine of the clothing.
“Thank you SO much for doing this!!” Mandy exclaimed when she spotted you enter, rushing over to give you a hug. “You have NO idea how much I appreciate it!”
“The shop looks fantastic!” you praised with a smile. “Have you had a lot of customers so far?”
“It’s been steady for our opening day!” She beamed with pride. “We’re expecting a rush from 4 to 6 when the weekend workers are out and about, and it should die down before you close up.”
“You aren’t staying?”
Mandy offered you an apologetic smile. “I have to get over to the bank before they close to finish up some finance paperwork. But I have full confidence that you, Chloe and Samantha can close up without me! I trust you!” Her eyes lifted to glance at the checkout counter where a woman stood ringing out a customer. “Oh! Speaking of - I’ll introduce you to the other Saturday evening staff!”
The woman at the counter had an air of trendy elegance about her, both in the way she carried herself and the way she dressed. Her dress was on point with the current fashion magazines, and her honey blonde hair hung loose around her shoulders in effortless loose curls.
“Chloe! This is my friend!” Mandy exclaimed as she tugged you over by the wrist. The woman - Chloe, you gathered - glanced up from the register as she finished thanking the customer for shopping. You felt uncomfortably exposed as her blue eyes skimmed over your dress clothes, a poorly disguised scowl pulling at the corners of her mouth.
“A pleasure,” she stated flatly, returning her attention to her work.
“Where is Sam hiding?”
Chloe looked up without bothering to turn her head. “Around.”
Seemingly unfazed by her indifference, Mandy began to lead you toward the back of the store where a closed door labeled ‘staff only’ stood in the opposite corner from the fitting rooms. As she reached for the handle, the door opened of its own accord, another woman emerging from the other side. She was similarly dressed in the latest style, brunette hair tied back in a loose bun.
“Oh! Hi Mandy, so sorry!” the woman squeaked in surprise. Her smile fell slightly when her eyes landed on you. “Is this a new customer..?”
Mandy introduced you to the woman - Samantha, as you learned. She greeted you with a smile that looked more like a grimace. You were beginning to feel more and more out of place by the second.
With a quick glance down at her wrist, Mandy’s eyes widened as she hastily began making her way toward the exit.
“I have to get moving or the bank is going to close - I’m so sorry! Chloe and Sam will go over all the closing procedures! Just make sure the register is balanced and the alarm is set before you lock up!” she gushed as she walked backwards toward the door. “And thanks again!!”
“It’s no problem!” you responded with what you hoped was a cheerful tone. With that, your friend slipped out the door, leaving you alone with the other two employees.
You decided to spend some time familiarizing yourself with the inventory in the back room and reviewing the log books for the start of your shift. Chloe continued assisting patrons as they checked out their purchases at the register, while Sam flitted around the shop asking if customers needed help or simply complementing their selections. They were, truthfully, both very good at their jobs. You could understand now why Mandy had hired them. Perhaps once you got to know them better, they would warm up to you more.
After an hour or so in the back, you popped out into the main boutique again to find the place flooded with patrons. You made your way over to the register where Chloe stood before a line of customers.
“Hey! I’ll help out up here, it’s getting pretty busy,” you offered, stepping around behind the counter to join her. Chloe raised her impeccably manicured brows at you.
“I’ve got things under control here,” she assured sharply.
“The line is seven people long,” you argued, “I’m happy to help speed things up. It’s a lot for one person.”
With a chaste apology to the customer who had just stepped up to the register, Chloe grasped your arm above your elbow and led you a few feet away from the counter.
“I think it would be best if you stayed in the back,” she suggested in a hushed tone.
“Why?”
“Well…” Her eyes scanned up and down the length of your body. “Mandy is looking to attract a certain clientele. And you… well, you just aren’t dressed the part to bring in those clients.”
You felt a rush of heat in your cheeks, both out of anger and embarrassment. “So then, what exactly do you propose I do?”
"Balance the finance books? Count inventory? Organize the stockroom?" she shrugged apathetically. "I don't really care, to be honest. Just stay out of sight."
Without another word, she turned her back on you and returned to the register to continue ringing out customers. Biting your tongue to keep from lashing out, you swiftly stepped out from behind the counter and made your way to the back room, glad for a moment alone.
As closing time drew nearer, you began to grow restless. There was only so much inventory counting you could do, being only the first day open. Perhaps there was some tidying that you could do as the customer numbers began to dwindle toward the end of the night. Grabbing a broom and dustpan from the storage closet in the back, you made your way back out to the main boutique to sweep up the dust and dirt of the busy New York streets that had been tracked inside over the course of the day.
"What are you doing??"
You froze on the spot, startled by Sam's sudden shrieking. She glanced around hurriedly, as though trying to evaluate how many patrons saw you, before scurrying over to you and draping an arm around your shoulders.
"Don't worry about cleaning up, alright? It will be taken care of, I promise," she assured in a sickeningly sweet, yet condescending tone.
"Who else is going to do it?"
"Er... Mandy has... a cleaning crew that comes after hours." You could tell by her sudden fidgeting she was lying through her teeth. Narrowing your eyes, you set the broom against the wall beside you and folded your arms across your chest.
"What's the big problem with me doing some tidying up? I'm sure the cleaning crew will appreciate the help," you drawled. Sam leaned in closer so she could speak in a low whisper.
"I think it's just better that you stay out of sight, ok? With an outfit like that..." She shuddered as though thoroughly disturbed by your clothing. "Let's just find you something to do in the back room, alright?"
Sam began to pressure you toward the door to the stockroom with the arm still wrapped over your shoulders. Scoffing, you ducked out from under her arm, grabbing the broom from where you'd left it.
"I can walk by myself, thank you."
Feeling no desire to continue the argument, you reluctantly made your way back to the stockroom and slammed the door shut behind you. With a frustrated sigh, you leaned back against the door, allowing your head to rest against the polished wood. You didn't view yourself as a fashion icon by any means, but you didn't think your style was all that bad.
When the store finally closed at 8pm, you were finally able to exit the stockroom without any griping from your coworkers. The three of you worked in silence as you counted the register contents and locked them up in a safe in the back. Trying your best to be cordial, considering you'd be working with these ladies for at least a couple months, you amicably bade them goodnight as you all parted ways. Both responded with a curt farewell before climbing into their cars and driving off down the street.
During your short walk back to the tower, you thought more about the events of the evening. Maybe you'd do a bit of shopping yourself before your next shift just to get these women off your back. After all - you did want Mandy to succeed, and if Chloe and Sam who were good at their jobs thought you weren't dressing the part, maybe you could spare a bit of effort for your friend's sake.
You'd have been lying if you'd said you weren't looking forward to your sneakers and lab coat when you went to work in Dr. Banner's lab the next morning.
* * *
Over the next week, you worked three additional shifts. Mandy had seven people working for her, and by the following Sunday, you'd worked with all of them at least once. And not one of them seemed to like you.
Every day was more of the same. Even after you'd gone out shopping for some new clothes, it seemed you just weren't stylish enough to placate the other trendy staff members of the boutique. By the third shift, you began simply trying to avoid them all rather than attempting to make conversation. It was beginning to wear on you.
"Are you alright?"
"Hmm?" You glanced up from the television screen at the sound of Thor's voice beside you. He and Loki had dropped by your apartment on your evening off to check in and see how things were going. It was unlike you to go longer than a few days without visiting the Avengers suite, you knew. But after working during the day for Dr. Banner and then spending your evenings hiding from your coworkers, the idea of actually socializing was sort of exhausting.
"You seem distracted this evening," Thor elaborated. "Normally you've made at least three or four snide comments about this film by this point, but you haven't said a word since we've started watching."
"I'm just tired," you reasoned flippantly. "Long hours working two jobs, you know?"
Thor leaned forward to gaze at Loki across the sofa. "Brother? Is our dear friend lying?"
Loki squinted at you as he analyzed your facial expression. You weren't certain how the God of Lies executed his magical lie detector tests. Taking slow, deep breaths through your nose, you attempted to slow your heart rate and maintain a straight, casual expression as his eyes bored into you.
"I'm not certain it was the whole truth," he declared finally, folding his arms sternly across his chest. "Come, now. Don't withhold information from us."
"Yes, tell us everything!" Thor concurred eagerly. "We want to support you!"
"I'm telling you, I'm just tired!" you insisted, leaning back against the backrest and stretching your legs out to rest on the coffee table. "I'm not sure what else you're looking for here."
Thor's gaze flitted up to meet Loki's once again. They had some sort of brief, silent exchange that you couldn't quite read. Then, suddenly, Loki's hands clasped around your wrists.
"Wha- LOKI! What gives??" You yelped in surprise as he yanked your wrists closer to himself, holding your arms outstretched from your body. It all fell into place the second Thor's fingers suddenly slotted up under your arms.
"Tell us the truth!" Thor urged, a hint of suppressed laughter in his tone as he scratched at your uppermost ribs. You immediately exploded with belly laughter, yanking desperately against Loki's hold on your wrists to try to block the space under your arms.
"I-HI TOHOLD YOU AHALREADY!!"
"Mm, brother, you're not quite in the right spot," Loki mentioned casually, as if having a normal conversation.
"Ah, yes. Silly me."
Laughter turned to shrieks and noncoherent pleas when Thor shifted his focus to the softer, more pliant skin in the hollows under your arms. Loki's grip was far too strong for you to overcome, especially in this weakened state. Already, you'd become breathless, laughter falling silent. Thor seemed to pick up on it, kneading his way down your ribcage to your sides to allow you a slight reprieve.
"Will you tell us the truth now?" Thor pressured.
"Ihi swehehear I'm nohot hiding thihings!" you insisted desperately. Sensing your exhaustion, Thor relented and Loki released your wrists. You took a few deep breaths, greedily sucking in oxygen. "I'm just... a little stressed... is all."
"We shall take your word for it." Thor didn't sound overly convinced. "But please, know that you can tell us anything. We're family - right, brother?"
"Hmm? Oh - yes. Family." Loki had since gone back to reading, clearly no longer paying attention to anything Thor said. You could tell by the worried creases in his forehead when he looked at you that he was more concerned than he was letting on outwardly.
It really wasn't a big deal, you thought to yourself as you settled deeper into the sofa cushions to go back to watching your movie. It certainly wasn't enjoyable, of course, working with such outspoken coworkers. But as long as you stayed hidden away in the stockroom, the shifts went by fairly smoothly. You liked to think they had Mandy's best interests in mind, although you wished they could be a bit more tactful about it.
* * *
After about a month working in the boutique, you weren't so sure how much more you could take.
Rather than your relationships with your coworkers improving over time, as you'd hoped, things seemed to only get worse between you. Not a day went by that someone didn't make some snide comment about the way you dressed, or the way you'd styled your hair. If you even so much as attempted to help with anything outside of the stockroom during business hours, you received a sharp scolding. It had truly crossed over the threshold from rudeness to straight up bullying.
How ridiculous, you thought. Being bullied in grade school was unfortunately a common occurrence, but you were a full-grown adult at this point. It was childish and silly to get so worked up over bullies at your age. And yet, you couldn't help but wince at the sharp sting of their words every time they said something cruel to you. Each dig sliced deeper and deeper into your skin, reopening the same wound that was simply never given the time to heal.
It felt juvenile to tell anyone about your plight with your coworkers. Informing Mandy about the situation seemed almost akin to "tattling" to the teacher. While you weren't above it in grade school, it felt embarrassing to even consider doing so in your adulthood. There was always the option to quit, you knew, but you knew it would make things harder on your friend. Your altruism and stubborn resolve prevented you from abandoning her in her time of need.
Thor and Loki had already begun to notice your change in demeanor after the first week, but you only seemed to regress further as time wore on. Days at a time went by without them hearing from you. When you did allow them to stop by for a visit, you were distant and devoid of your usual lively spark. They didn't want to pry - you'd made it fairly clear you weren't interested in discussing whatever it was that had been bothering you. But your surrogate brothers were genuinely beginning to worry about you - even Loki, despite the aloof front he put on whenever Thor tried to discuss the matter with him.
After an entire week went by without a word from you, Thor decided he'd had enough.
"Brother!" he shouted as he pounded with his closed fist on Loki's closed bedroom door early one morning. "I know you're in there! Open the door and speak with me - this is important!"
The younger Asgardian finally appeared in the doorway, scowling at the elder for disturbing him.
"What could possibly be so important that you felt the need to come here clobbering my door at this time of morning?"
Thor brushed past him to enter his room as he often did, despite how much he knew it irked Loki. "Have you not taken any notice to the fact that our honorary sibling has not called on us in over a week's time??"
"That is what compelled you to barrage my door?!" Loki pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration as he turned toward his older brother.
"Is our dear friend's welfare not cause enough for your concern?" Thor snapped back.
"Of course I'm concerned! I've been worried sick for weeks!"
The moment the words burst from his mouth, Loki appeared a bit sheepish. Of course Thor knew he cared about you - he simply wasn't one to broadcast his emotions in such outbursts.
Clearing his throat awkwardly, Loki spoke again in a much more controlled tone. "W-what is it that's made you decide today that this is an emergency?"
"They are due to come in to work in Banner's lab this morning," Thor explained. "You and I both know they would never miss work - if they will not come to us, we must go to them!"
"And you think that bombarding them while they work is going to make them more willing to tell us what's wrong?" Loki scoffed skeptically.
"We at least must try! Come with me, brother! They may never admit it to us, but they need our support more than ever."
Reluctantly, Loki trudged along behind his brother as Thor set off for Banner's lab. The God of Thunder was determined to get to the bottom of your troubles. Once Thor had set his mind on something, stopping him was akin to trying to halt a charging rhino.
As the brothers approached the door to the lab, the muffled sound of voices echoed from inside. Thor reached for the door handle anyhow, but Loki snatched hold of his elbow and tugged him away from the glass door and out of sight.
"Let go of me, bro- mmpf!" Thor's bellowing was cut short as Loki's palm slammed over his mouth.
"Shh! Banner is speaking with them - listen!" he hissed. Thor's chest deflated and his shoulders loosened as he calmed down, prompting Loki to remove his hand from over his mouth as Thor, too, began to listen.
"It's just... lately you seem to be sort of distracted when you come to work," Banner stated carefully. "I know you're working another job, but I need you to be on your game when you're working in the lab."
"I'm sorry. I've just... been working long hours lately," you responded shamefully.
"Yeah, I know. But your work here is what's most important, isn't it? Last week you wrote down the wrong number on the results of the nuclear arc reactor test. I nearly blew the place up trying to replicate the results - it was off by a full decimal place."
"I promise, Dr. Banner - I care more about my work here than anything."
"I believe you." Banner sounded frustrated still, but his tone softened. "Just try to let your work reflect that, ok?"
"Yes, Dr. Banner."
The guilt and shame laden in your voice made Thor's heart ache in his chest. He turned to Loki, who wore a similarly pained expression.
"It seems things are far worse than we realized, if our friend's work is suffering as well," Thor lamented.
"Yes, it would seem that way," Loki agreed somberly. "I don't suggest we enter the lab at the moment. They will only be humiliated if they realize we've overheard their conversation with Banner."
"Quite right, Loki. Let us leave them alone for the time being."
Both brothers were lost in deep thought as they returned to their dormitories. It was clear that you weren't going to speak to them about whatever was bothering you. Neither brother could stand to watch you suffer in silence any longer. But what could be done to help?
"Loki - I have another idea," Thor declared suddenly, grasping his brother's arm to stop him in the middle of the empty hallway. "It's obvious that whatever is bothering our sibling has something to do with the shop they have been working at - they were their usual upbeat self until they took the job for their friend."
"How astute of you, brother," Loki chided, rolling his eyes. Thor ignored Loki's outburst, continuing on with his explanation.
"If they refuse to tell us what's wrong, why don't we go and find out for ourselves?"
"And how do you propose we do that? We don't even know where this shop is located - as you may recall, they had no interest in providing us the opportunity to visit them while they were working."
"Loki... I'm surprised at you!" Thor chuckled, patting his shoulder heartily. "This sort of thing is right up your alley, is it not?"
"I don't follow."
"When they leave the tower this evening to go to the shop for work, we must follow them without being seen! Then we shall learn where their place of employment is located, and they will be none the wiser."
Loki snickered condescendingly. "You believe you can sneak around and pursue our dear friend without being detected?"
"Why not?"
"Thor - you are quite possibly the most conspicuous being I've ever known," Loki elaborated, shaking his head in amusement. "There is no possible way you could prowl around without being seen."
"I'll have you know that I am a master of disguise!" Thor argued. "I was able to travel the streets of Sakaar as a wanted man without anyone recognizing who I was!" Loki gazed at him skeptically, one brow raised. "... except Valkyrie of course. But she was the only one!"
"If you insist on following our friend this evening, I won't stop you," Loki sighed, conceding to his determined brother's resolve. "But know that if they catch us, you will be taking the fall for this dreadful plan."
"We won't be caught. Have some faith, dear brother."
The Asgardian duo made plans to meet up and hide just outside the tower entrance around the time you typically left for work. There were plenty of signs and topiaries surrounding the entrance for Thor and Loki to conceal themselves. Although, Loki was still not convinced his elder brother was capable of remaining unseen.
You were punctual as always. The brothers were ready and waiting when you appeared through the front entrance. Careful to keep their distance, Thor and Loki followed as you power walked along the crowded New York streets. Much to Loki's surprise, they were able to pursue you undetected. Thor insisted it was his aptitude for stealth - Loki simply chalked it up to you being obviously distracted, as you had been for weeks.
"Look - see, there it is!" Thor hissed excitedly as he pointed toward the building where you were ascending the small staircase to the front door.
"Yes - thank you, brother. I'd never have deduced that, had you not been here," Loki muttered sarcastically. "Now what?"
"Now we find a way inside without them noticing our presence, of course!"
Loki bit back a loud laugh. "You - the God of Thunder - are going to wander into a boutique completely undetected?"
"Yes... I suppose I am rather recognizable," Thor mumbled under his breath, pondering.
"I have a better idea."
Thor gazed curiously at his brother as a green shimmer of light blurred Loki from view for just a moment. When it vanished, in Loki's place stood a handsome, wealthy-appearing business man. HIs sharp facial features had transformed, now showing the face of a man with a neatly-trimmed beard and slicked back brunette hair, wearing a high-end pair of sunglasses to hide his eyes. Complete with an impeccably tailored navy suit overlaying a collared shirt, Loki now appeared to be the exact sort of clientele that would frequent a boutique such as this.
"Excellent, Loki!" Thor praised, patting him on the shoulder. "No one could possibly recognize you underneath this dashing and stylish façade!"
"I beg your pardon," - Loki smoothed the shoulder of his suit where Thor's massive hand had rumpled the fabric - "I like to think I am equally dashing in my usual form."
"Yes, well... we've strayed from the subject at hand. Go on and enter the shop - see what you can learn about our dear friend's sudden change in demeanor!"
Scoffing, Loki turned away from his brother and strode confidently down the sidewalk toward the entrance to your workplace.
You were nowhere to be seen when he stepped through the doorway into the boutique. A few other patrons were buzzing around the shop, sifting through the pricey fabrics and selecting pieces to try on. The only employee he noticed immediately was the young woman standing behind the front register. Her eyes flitted up to meet his as the door shut behind him, a sweet smile crossing her face as she shot him a seductive wink. Merely nodding once in acknowledgement, Loki began perusing the men's wear section as a ruse while he kept an eye out for you.
A solid fifteen minutes went by without any sign of your presence. Loki was approached once by another employee - a male this time, wearing a collared shirt unbuttoned at the top two buttons - but Loki declined the offer for assistance. He made the mistake of glancing once at the window, nearly groaning audibly when he saw Thor's face peeking through the end furthest from the front entrance. Deciding he'd been browsing for too long to justify not trying something on (and requiring an excuse to avoid eye contact with his gawking brother), he selected a suit off one of the racks and made his way toward the fitting rooms.
Then, suddenly, he caught sight of you exiting a door toward the back of the boutique. You almost appeared evasive, as though worried someone might catch you doing something you ought not to. Swiftly, Loki stopped at the nearest clothing rack to feign interest so he could remain within earshot.
"What is it this time??" the male employee suddenly snarled, advancing in your direction. You immediately bristled at the sound of his voice, shoulders pinned back to stand taller and prouder.
"Relax, Jay - I'm just getting an inventory count on the clearance rack," you sneered, making your way toward a rack in the back corner of the store marked with sale signs.
"In that getup? I don't think so," the man - Jay, Loki presumed - shot back. "You look like you fell into the dirty laundry pile at a thrift shop - it's hideous."
Loki's fist clenched tighter around the set of trousers he'd been pretending to consider buying. How dare this man speak to you in such a way?! Was this the person that was bothering you? He'd have the man's tongue cut out if that's what it took to make you happy again.
"I'll only be a few minutes - I don't think anyone will be blinded by my fashion choices in that short amount of time," you retorted bitterly, turning your back to the man. Suddenly, the woman at the register called out to you as well.
"Jason - what is she doing out again?" she drawled in annoyance. "Can't you supervise the nerd for ten minutes?"
That did it.
Loki turned sharply and began advancing toward the man antagonizing you, eyes blazing with fury behind his sunglasses. He'd nearly made it within arms reach of the man when a frantic waving at the window caught his eye.
Thor stood outside, still peering through the window, his arms flailing in a desperate attempt to catch Loki's attention. The moment he realized Loki had caught sight of him, Thor began motioning for him to exit the shop and rejoin him outside. Loki glanced back at you and your antagonistic coworker, seeing your retreating form as you returned to the back room and slammed the door shut behind you. Reluctantly - though he had a right mind to ignore his brother and lay this man out on the floor - Loki altered his course and strode out of the shop without a word.
"Brother!" Thor hissed once Loki was within earshot. "What happened in there?! You looked murderous for a moment!"
"Those other employees are foul, disgusting swine," he raged, dropping his illusion once he was away from view through the window. "I'm not leaving here until I've taught them a lesson about trifling with an Asgardian-"
"Loki! You cannot go back in there!" Thor interjected sternly. "What would our friend say if they were to see you storming into the shop wreaking havoc??"
Loki growled in frustration. Deep down, although he didn't dare to admit it aloud, he knew his brother was right. You hadn't desired their presence here in the first place - you'd be furious if he suddenly stormed back inside in his own Æsir form and began blasting these miscreants to Hel.
"Then what do you propose, dear brother?" he spat stubbornly.
"Let us return here at another time, while our sibling is working in the lab. We shall have a private word with their coworkers."
"Oh, I'll have more than a word-"
"Loki..."
The younger Asgardian rolled his eyes. "Fine. Let's return to the tower, then, before we're spotted."
* * *
Days later, while you were toiling away in Banner's lab, the brothers did indeed return to the boutique. This time, the pair of them entered together, with no illusions to prevent people from recognizing them. That was the intent, after all.
"Pardon," Thor announced himself politely as he and Loki approached the front register. A different woman stood behind the counter this afternoon, though she clearly shared the same arrogant confidence of her other colleagues. Her jaw slackened when her gaze landed on Thor's bulky form, a tinge of pink blossoming in her cheeks.
"To what do I owe the pleasure, Mr. God of Thunder?" she purred flirtatiously, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. Her words caught the attention of the other two employees in the shop, who suddenly meandered over to the front counter to listen. One of them was Jason, the man from the evening that Loki had entered the boutique in disguise. The other was an unfamiliar woman, walking around in fashionable but terribly impractical six-inch heels.
"We're looking for one of your employees," Loki cut in, nauseated by the woman batting her eyelashes at his brother. He provided them your name, at which all three of the employees immediately grimaced.
"They aren't on until this evening," the woman at the register responded curtly. "Might I be able to assist you with something?"
"No - you see, we aren't here to purchase anything," Thor explained as he casually inspected his hammer. "We were simply looking for our sibling - we thought they might be here."
"Sibling?" Jason asked incredulously, poorly suppressing a laugh.
"You are surprised by this?" Thor glanced up from his hammer, allowing his arm to drop to his side.
"Well... yeah, actually. Aren't you two from another planet?"
"Realm, actually," Loki corrected with a glare.
"Not all family ties are bound by blood," Thor added. "Am I to assume, then, that you don't know where they are at the moment?"
"We... don't really interact outside of work," the other woman reasoned, wincing at the thought.
"Well then - we'd best be on our way. Right, Loki?"
"Yes - it seems we've wasted our time," he concurred. As he began to turn toward the door, he paused and looked back at the three dumbfounded employees. With a flick of his wrist, he conjured a slip of paper and a pen, jotting down the phone number to the tower secretary and handing it to the woman at the register. "Do contact us if you should see our sibling. Thor and I would be rather angry should something happen to them."
"Yes, quite right, Loki," Thor agreed, twirling his hammer in his hand. "They are under our protection, after all." He flashed them an ominous glare, suppressing a smirk as the three employees recoiled in fear. "Good afternoon to you all!"
With that, the brothers sauntered out of the shop, reveling in the stunned silence they left in their wake.
"I believe that went quite well," Thor boasted as they began the short walk back to the tower.
"I still would have preferred you'd have allowed me to make an example of one of them," Loki grumbled, balling his fists. "I'm certain they'd never bother our dear friend again if I'd have fastened that 'Jason' character to the wall by his poorly-fitted shirt with my daggers-"
"Yes, yes - I'm certain you'd have instilled the fear of Odin in them all," Thor sighed exasperatedly. "I feel that this non-violent approach was a much better option."
"You lack vision, dear brother..." Loki tutted with a shake of his head.
That evening, Loki was more than a bit surprised when there was yet another pounding on his bedroom door. With a groan of frustration, he stood from his desk chair and stalked over to the door.
“Thor - for the last time, stop clobbering my… oh.”
He swung the door open to reveal not his older brother, but you, standing there with a wild look in your eyes. Before he could say another word, you’d shoved your finger into his chest accusingly.
“What did you do?!” you demanded.
“What did I do?!”
“Don’t play dumb with me, Loki!” You advanced into his room, forcing him backward with a startling amount of strength for a Midgardian. Not that he was trying to fight you, of course. “Everyone at work was suddenly cowering in fear of me, and I know there’s only one reason that would happen! So tell me - what did you do?!”
“Darling, you’re asking the wrong person, honestly - it wasn’t-”
“What’s all this commotion about?”
You whirled around at the sound of Thor’s voice in the doorway, stabbing your finger into his pectoral muscle instead.
“You were in on this! Don’t you deny it! Tell me the truth, both of you!” Your chest heaved with the exertion of your frustration and bellowing. Thor’s blue eyes flitted up to meet Loki’s, an anxious look passing between the two of them. With a defeated sigh, Thor decided to tell you the truth.
“We… may have followed you to your workplace the other day,” he explained sheepishly.
“You what?!”
“We simply couldn’t take it any longer! Obviously something was very wrong!” Thor reasoned desperately. “It all began when you started working at your friend’s shop, so we decided to get to the bottom of it.”
“The mortals you work with in that establishment are witless, bottom-dwelling slugs,” Loki added furiously.
“Why did you not tell us about them in the first place??” Thor demanded.
“Because I knew this would be the result!” You threw your hands up exasperatedly, spinning on your heel and pacing further into the room. “Do you have any idea how humiliating it is to have your brothers go behind your back and threaten your coworkers??”
“We didn’t threaten them, per se…”
“Not directly, at least…”
“That’s not the point!” You spun back around to face them. “I don’t know what things are like on Asgard, but here on Earth, when someone goes and tells bullies off behind your back, it makes you look weak!”
“Have they said this to you?!” Thor raged. “I shall return there immediately and-”
“No! Ugh,” - you pinched the bridge of your nose in frustration, - “they won’t say anything, but that’s exactly what they’re thinking!”
“Perhaps we should pay them another visit,” Loki muttered angrily, glancing at Thor.
“No! No more ‘visits’! Just… oh, forget it!”
You suddenly stormed out of the room, brushing briskly past Thor in the process. The door slammed shut behind you without another word, shrouding the brothers in silence.
“Perhaps… perhaps we should have spoken to them first,” Thor pondered sheepishly.
“Yes, I suppose that would have been wise.” Even Loki seemed a bit put out by your scolding.
You headed straight back to your own apartment, slamming and locking the door behind you. A frustrated yell burst from your chest. Why didn’t they understand?? At least before, your coworkers made fun of you to your face - now, they were sure to be talking about you behind your back instead, and that was so much worse.
Maybe you’d been a bit hard on them. After all, they weren’t exactly experts on the social constructs of Midgardian culture. But gods, if it wasn’t so frustrating! And you still had no idea when you’d be relieved of your duties at the shop - it could be months before you could leave this all behind.
As if on cue, your phone suddenly began ringing in your pocket. You fought the instinct to answer with a sharp tone, especially when you noticed it was Mandy calling.
"I've got fantastic news! I've got a new employee starting in two weeks!"
A wave of relief rushed through you at her revelation. "That's... amazing, Mandy! Congratulations!"
"Thanks!! And thank you for saving my boutique! I seriously owe you BIG time."
"Oh, it's no problem at all, really!" you fibbed with a falsely upbeat tone. "So... two more weeks?"
"If you can swing two more weeks, I would SO appreciate it!"
You cringed at the thought of two more weeks at this temporary job. Six more shifts of misery. But at least there was a light at the end of the tunnel now. And, you supposed, your coworkers weren't going to bother you so much anymore now that Thor and Loki had threatened to smite them, or whatever they'd said to make them cower in fear. Not that you weren't still mad at them about it.
Exhausted from the tumultuous emotions you'd experienced throughout the day, you decided to head to bed early that evening. Maybe tomorrow you'd feel more up to talking to your honorary brothers again.
* * *
You didn't hear from Thor and Loki for a few days.
The bitter part of you was satisfied that you'd managed to convey your anger enough to chase them away. But a larger part of you was really missing your brothers. Deep down, you knew they meant well when they went to the shop and stood up for you. And after more than a month of feeling too emotionally exhausted to spend quality time with them, it was hard not to have them checking up on you.
Things at the boutique had marginally improved since Thor and Loki paid them a visit. You wouldn't say your coworkers were nice to you now, but at least you could wander the store as you pleased to complete your inventory tasks and get a bit of cleaning done toward the end of the evening. Still, you were counting down the days until you could say goodbye to this place.
The shop was quiet this evening. You'd completed the review of the inventory halfway through your shift, even finding some time to balance the finance records. Now, you were simply finding little tasks to complete around the main area of the shop just because you knew it irked your coworkers, and they couldn't say a word.
Samantha and Jay were whispering to one another behind the register, you noticed suddenly. Initially, you were worried they might be talking about you, but then you saw Jay nod in the direction of a clothing rack by the door. You knew immediately who they were muttering about the moment your gaze landed on him.
A man had entered the boutique, browsing through the clothing selection rather animatedly. More intriguing, though, was the absolutely absurd outfit the man was sporting. He had on a vividly-colored suit that was about three sizes too large for him, the jacket and pants adorned with completely conflicting, flamboyant patterns. His shoes were old, battered sneakers that appeared to have been in his possession for years. In contrast to his hideous outfit, his hair was styled neatly in short, brown curls. He boasted a thick but neatly trimmed beard.
"He must be lost - go ask him if he needs directions somewhere," Samantha hissed at Jay.
"Me?! You know I can't be that subtle, Sam," Jay argued in a hushed whisper. "You go talk to him!"
"I beg your pardon!"
The man suddenly called politely across the boutique to the three of you, smiling kindly. You offered him a friendly smile in return, knowing all too well the dirty looks he'd inevitably be receiving from Sam and Jay simultaneously. If he noticed, it didn't seem to bother him.
"Would one of you care to assist me in selecting attire for a wedding I shall be attending? I'm afraid I'm not well versed in this sort of thing."
"No kidding..." Sam whispered under her breath.
"Mandy wouldn't want you to kick him out," you hissed accusingly. "You both know as well as I do. He's a paying customer."
"Why don't you help him, then?" Jay retorted.
"Me? Didn't you two spend the last month telling me how useless my fashion sense is?"
A sudden crash made the three of you jolt in surprise. You glanced up to find one of the mannequins had toppled over, undoubtedly knocked down by the vibrantly-clothed man. He began spouting profuse apologies, hurriedly moving to scoop up the mannequin but knocking the head off in the process. Samantha and Jay looked absolutely appalled, but you had to fight not to start laughing aloud.
“I-I do apologize,” the man insisted, stumbling over to the mannequin head and swiftly replacing it atop the plastic body. “I’m a bit clumsy, I suppose.”
“A bit, yes,” Jay concurred bitterly. The man took no notice of his tone, approaching the counter with an amicable smile on his face.
“As I was saying before I so rudely made a mess of your shop…” he chuckled, “I would truly appreciate any insight you could provide me on wedding attire.”
He glanced at you for a moment, catching your eye with his fierce aquamarine ones. There was a familiar sparkle of mischief behind them that made you tilt your head with curiosity. In response, he shot you a quick wink, confirming your suspicions.
"You, there!" the 'man' - Loki, you now knew - declared suddenly, turning his gaze to Jay. "You'll assist me, won't you?"
"I-I... er..."
"Of course he will!" Sam exclaimed suddenly, nudging Jay forward a bit. She was likely just pleased that she wouldn't have to be the one assisting this style mishap. Jay shot her a glare, reluctantly stepping forward and following Loki across the store to one of the suit racks. He accidentally-on-purpose stumbled into another mannequin on the way, nearly sending it falling over onto Jay as he walked past but catching it at the last possible second.
You had to excuse yourself to the restroom to avoid bursting into laughter on the spot.
Loki spent the better part of an hour asking ridiculous questions, bumping into things, and essentially making every effort to make your coworkers' lives difficult. Closing time came and went, and yet Loki still wouldn't leave, always coming up with 'just one last question' to prolong his visit.
"Sir - how about I assist you with any last questions you might have while I close up shop?" you interjected finally, trying not to giggle at the desperation written across Sam and Jay's faces.
"Yes - that would be wonderful!" he concurred, though you noticed the spark of disappointment in his eye that you had cut his fun short.
Sam and Jay didn't need to be told twice - they both swiftly scurried out of the shop with a chaste goodbye, leaving you alone with the customer who'd made their lives a living nightmare for the last hour. You busied yourself with counting the register contents, waiting until both of their cars disappeared from view outside to address Loki.
"You can drop the illusion now," you urged with a sly grin, glancing up from the register drawer. With a green shimmer of light, the poorly dressed customer morphed into your friend and brother Loki.
"Why did you have to go and ruin my fun?" he whined teasingly. "I could have kept them here an extra hour quite easily."
"Yes, but I also want to go home sometime tonight." You chuckled, stepping out from behind the counter to carry the register to the safe in the back room. "Are you... headed back to the tower?"
"I'll be here waiting to walk back with you," he nodded in confirmation, gesticulating toward the door. With a smile, you vanished into the back to finish locking up before heading out with Loki.
A charged silence fell between the two of you as you began the short walk home to the tower. You weren't angry anymore. How could you be, after he'd spent so much of his evening just trying to make you laugh? But you weren't certain how to open conversation with Loki without first mentioning the huge argument you'd had a few days ago.
"Thor and I are... sorry for what we did," Loki spoke up suddenly. You turned your head to look up at the sheepish-looking god. "Our intentions were pure, I assure you."
"I know, Loki. I'm sorry I got so upset," you responded gently. "I've been so stressed and upset the last few weeks, I guess it all just came out on you two that night. I do appreciate you looking out for me, I swear."
"Yes, well - you'll have to continue to educate us on the politics of Midgardian relationships." He grinned. "Clearly Thor requires quite a few lessons in such matters."
"Oh, Thor does? Not you, Mr. God of Mischief?"
"I should think I'm ages ahead of Thor in my understanding of Midgardian culture!"
"Pshh, yeah - about as far ahead as your fashion choices were tonight," you teased.
"I thought I looked rather dashing in that ensemble."
"Only because you probably blinded yourself when you looked in the mirror."
Loki shook his head with a laugh, offering you his arm as you reached the crosswalk. You slipped your hand around his elbow, heart swelling now that you had your brother back in your life.
The pair of you laughed about the events of the evening for the remainder of the walk home. All frustrations from the last few weeks were forgotten as you reminisced about the look on Jay's face when Loki had asked him if he had any suits in the color orange. It was the most relaxed you'd felt in over a month.
"Is Thor going to stop by tonight?" you asked as the two of you approached the door to your apartment.
"I suspect he will, yes."
You turned your key inside the lock, finding it to be already open. Warily, you glanced back at Loki, who merely shrugged with a mischievous spark in his eye. Unsure what you were going to find on the other side of your door, you gradually swung it open and stepped into your living room.
"Surprise!"
There in the doorway from your living room to the kitchen stood Thor with an exuberant smile painted across his face. In his hand, he held a baking tray filled with freshly baked cupcakes. You covered your mouth with your hand to hide the amused grin as you observed his lopsided frosting work.
"Loki and I wanted to apologize for the other day," Thor explained. "So - I researched a baking recipe! I think they turned out alright."
"Yehes, Thor - they look delicious," you confirmed, unable to prevent a small giggle from slipping out. You crossed the room and politely took one of the misshapen cupcakes from the baking sheet, wrapping an arm around Thor in a one-armed hug. "Thank you both for tonight! I really missed you."
"We, too, have missed you," Thor responded, his voice thick with emotion. "I hope we haven't made things worse for you at the shop."
"No - everyone still seems to be afraid of me, which is fine by me! And the good news is - I'm leaving my job at the shop next week! Mandy found a replacement finally."
"That's wonderful news!" Thor declared, placing the baking tray on a side table in your living room so he could scoop you into a bear hug.
"Mmpf - yes, it is - don't squish me!" you pleaded, gasping dramatically as he released you. "So... what kind of cupcakes are these, exactly?"
"They are what you Midgardians refer to as 'confetti' cupcakes!"
You gazed warily at the rather dark brown-appearing cupcake in your hand. "Oh! Uh... I see you made them extra toasty?"
"Brother - I told you not to leave them in the oven to 'keep them warm,'" Loki hissed. You snorted, covering your mouth with your hand once again.
"D-did you also leave the oven on when you did that?"
"Well of course - how are they to stay warm if the oven is not heated?"
"That explains the frosting," you giggled, watching as the blob of blue frosting began to slide off the top of the cupcake as it melted.
"At least try them before you poke fun at my baking skills!" Thor retorted, fighting back a grin. Hesitantly, you took a small bite. The outer layer was actually crunchy in texture, it was so toasted.
"Mm... you know," - you swallowed the bite so you could speak - "Once you get past the burnt taste, it's actually not so bad!"
"Yes, yes, alright... I overbaked them. It was my first attempt! Spare me some criticism!"
"You literally needed to simply follow the recipe," Loki interjected. Thor scowled at his brother, although you could tell by his eyes that he wasn't truly angry. He was simply happy to see you acting like yourself again at last.
"I don't think you can make fun of them until you try them," you chastised, grabbing another cupcake off the tray and advancing upon Loki. He grasped your wrist as you attempted to shove the cupcake into his mouth, laughing incredulously at your tenacity.
"No! No - I think not," he argued, holding your wrist tightly to prevent you from advancing the cupcake any closer to his face.
"Hey - if I had to try Thor's burnt cupcakes, so do y-eep!"
You squeaked in surprise as Thor's strong arms suddenly wrapped around you from behind, causing you to drop the cupcake on the floor.
"I've heard quite enough about my terrible baking skills from you this evening," he growled playfully, tightening his grip as you began twisting to free yourself. "I think I'll give you something else to laugh about."
"No- THOR, NOHO!" You shrieked as his fingers found purchase on your lowest ribs, vibrating into the crevices.
"Perhaps you shouldn't have messed with your older brother then, hmm? You know it only ends poorly for you," he teased.
"Peheherhaps you shohould learn hohow to BAKE behetter!"
"Oh-ho, now you're simply asking for it!" Thor dropped his hands to knead at your sides, wriggling his thumbs into the sides of your belly. With a screech, you let your knees buckle underneath you in an effort to make it more difficult for him to hold you upright.
"L-AHAH-LOHOKI, HEHELP!" you pleaded, sinking to the floor as Thor lowered you down carefully.
"Help? After you nearly smashed a cupcake into my face?" he asked incredulously, smirking at your predicament. "You're fortunate that I haven't decided to assist my brother in tormenting you."
"Why not, brother? Clearly they deserve it!" Thor countered, shifting his grip to prevent you from slipping out of it.
"N-noho! Dohon't you dahare!"
"You're quite right, Thor," Loki concurred, ignoring your pleas. Kneeling in front of you, Loki snatched up one of your ankles and scribbled at the sole of your foot.
"LOHOKI! You're thehe WORST!!" you cried, kicking out at him with your free foot. He casually grabbed hold of your other ankle, pressing both down on the floor and pinning them there with his shin before continuing to flutter his fingertips along the bottoms of both feet. Thor had taken to clawing at the center of your belly with one of his large hands, his laugh rumbling in his chest as you began to squirm harder in his grasp.
"Have you learnt not to trifle with us yet?" Loki demanded, reaching up to tickle the delicate skin behind your knee. You nodded frantically, unable to speak coherently through the desperate laughter streaming from your lips. The brothers slowly eased up in their torment before ceasing altogether, chuckling fondly at your disheveled state.
"Do you feel better yet, my friend?" Thor asked teasingly.
"B-behetter??"
"Hmm, perhaps we've not made you laugh long enough..."
"N-NOHO, I feel behetter, yes!" you insisted as his fingertips worked into your ribcage for a moment. And, truthfully, you did feel better. You'd missed this juvenile playfulness with your honorary brothers. It had been far too long since the three of you had the opportunity to relax and simply enjoy each other's company.
Thor helped you to your feet, and you smoothed out your rumpled shirt. He scooped up the tray with the remaining cupcakes, holding them out toward you and Loki.
"Care for another before I put these away?" he asked facetiously.
"I... I'm full now, actually - big dinner tonight - but thanks!" you insisted, grinning.
"Absolutely not," Loki stated flatly. Chuckling, Thor carried the tray into the kitchen to discard the burnt baked goods. He returned moments later, stretching sleepily.
"We should be on our way, Loki," he urged, motioning toward the door. "Our friend likely needs to get some rest before working tomorrow morning."
"Actually-" you interjected as the two of them began to move toward the exit to your apartment, "I'm... working a little later for Dr. Banner tomorrow, if you want to stick around for a little while. We never did get to play the rest of my old board games."
"I'm happy to stay for a while, if you're certain," Thor agreed with a warm smile. "Loki? What do you say?"
"I... suppose I can humor you both for a bit longer," he mumbled. Even he couldn't fully suppress the grin that threatened to overtake his features.
"Great! I'll make popcorn, then?"
"Oh-ho, now you're hungry??" Thor chided.
"Hungry for edible food, yeah!" you retorted, scurrying to the kitchen before Thor could make a swipe for you.
"Don't think you can throw out such thinly veiled insults and get away with it!" he called after you, loud footsteps pursuing you to the kitchen.
Yes, there were a lot of laughs, jests, and teases that evening. You'd had your brothers for such a short time relative to your lifespan. But now, more than ever, you realized you couldn't live without this dysfunctional family of yours.
Hii! I’m finally writing a fic cuz I somehow got the motivation to write one.
Also idk when I’ll get to writing any requests, but someday I will.
lee!Loki, ler!thor
Warnings: Swearing.
Summary: Loki being mischievous, that’s all.
Word count: 1,800+
Everyone wanted to watch a movie together, except Bucky and Sam because they were working out.
“I pick!” Thor said while reaching for the remote.
Tony snatched it, “No, you picked last time. I pick. Plus you have no taste in movies.” Thor rolled his eyes but smiled.
“What about.. this?” Tony picked a thriller movie.
They all agreed.
Tony pressed play.
Halfway tru the movie Bucky and Sam walked into the living room.
“Hey! Wanna watch a movie with us?” Steve turned to the two men.
“Sure! What are you watching?” Bucky asked as he and Sam hopped on the couch next to everyone else.
“Just some movie Tony found, it’s pretty boring,” Thor said, he was extra sassy today.
“Hey! Don’t do that, that’s my thing!” Tony joked.
Everyone chuckled.
When the movie ended Sam suggested watching another one, cuz why not!
“Ok, then what are we watching?” Nat asked Sam.
“Hmm.. oh I know!” Sam clicked on Toy story 3.
Everyone looked at Sam.
“You’re joking, right?” Wanda looked at Sam.
“Oh come on! You’re a kid, plus when was the last time any of you watched this?” Sam looked at Wanda.
“Fine I guess. Could be worse.” Wanda laughed and looked back at the TV.
“I have never watched this!” Thor and Clint said at once.
“What?? Oh well, you’re in for a treat! This is the best part.” Sam looked surprised.
“Yeah, I strongly disagree. The first movie is the best.” Said Tony.
“Uhhh, no? This is the best one! You have no taste.” Sam shot back.
Thor let out a laugh and Tony rolled his eyes.
“Hey! Why don’t you call your brother? Maybe he wants to watch? He’s technically still a kid!” Bucky turned to Thor.
“Ha! Maybe on Asgard, but he’s still older than all of you combined!” Thor laughed.
“Even older than these two combined?” Sam pointed to Steve and Bucky.
Everyone laughed.
“Were not that old.” Steve rolled his eyes at Sam.
“I guess you’re right.. you’re just from the fucking ice age!” Sam couldn’t keep it together after he said that.
Everyone burst out laughing. Even Steve and Bucky.
“Hah! Ehh, I bet your brother would’ve laughed at that, no Cap,” Sam said to Thor.
Thor laughed at the stupid pun, “Loki? HAH! No, there’s no way. Think about it! Have you ever seen him laugh? I think not! Even I haven’t! I mean not really..”
“Oh just go get him! There’s no need to burst his little pride bubble.” Tony laughed.
“Hey! That was a good joke!” Sam looked at Tony.
“Nope,” Nat said while sipping her tea.
“Ouch!” Sam put his hand on his heart and fell backward into the couch, what a drama Queen.
“Fine, I’ll go get him!” Thor scoffed and stood up.
After what seemed like an eternity there was still no sign of Thor or Loki.
“What’s taking them so long?” Bucky whined.
“Be patient, it’s Loki after all,” Bruce said from the kitchen, that he was getting some snacks cuz they have eaten them all while waiting for the brothers.
“Can’t they be faster? These guys are gonna die soon!” Sam pointed to Steve and Bucky.
Nat chuckled.
“Ha. Ha. Very funny.” Steve playfully punched Sam in the shoulder.
Bruce came back with two giant bowls filled with popcorn, drinks, and other snacks.
Suddenly there could be heard fast footsteps running down the stairs.
It was Loki.
“FINALLY! Oh, wait you actually ca-” Sam got cut off by Loki shushing him.
“SHHH!” Loki looked around, went to the corner of the room, and made himself invisible with his magic.
“LOKIII!!” Thor’s voice rang thru the entire Avengers compound.
Then Thor stormed down the stairs, but he wasn’t angry. Instead, he had a smirk on his face.
“Oh boy, what did he do?” Tony turned to look at Thor.
“Oh, he wouldn’t come down to watch the movie with us!” Thor looked around.
“So... why are you chasing him exactly?” Steve asked confused.
“.. No reason.” Thor was still looking around and walking around the room trying to find him.
“Ya know he’s right th- mm.. MMM!” Sam got cut off by something.
“Ah, right.. he’s using his magic.” Thor looked at Sam and chuckled while finally understanding.
There was a sound of footsteps behind Thor, he turned around and saw Loki trying to sneak up the stairs.
“There you are.” Thor ran after Loki.
Everyone looked confused, cuz they had just seen Loki turn invisible in the opposite corner of the room.
“So...” Bruce started but got cut off.
*huff* Everyone looked at the real Loki.
“Exactly why were you hiding?” Nat asked with obvious confusion.
“As he said.. I didn’t want to watch a movie.” Loki said as he started to walk away.
“Yeah, it’s much better to read a boring book!” Sam mocked Loki.
“HEY! Books are way better than.. whatever that.. is.” He pointed at the TV.
Loki didn’t even hear anyone coming down the stairs behind him.
“Mhm, and?” Tony asked with an amused grin as everyone saw Thor coming down the stairs.
“And? And what? You obviously have never read a bOOK-” Thor tackled Loki from behind.
“Hello there brother.” Thor smiled down at his brother.
“Wrong.” The fake disappeared under Thor.
Loki smiled sheepishly from the other side of the room.
No one even bothered to ask anything.
“Also, brother. I think your cape and armor look much better in pink.” Loki smirked.
“Oh no, you did not.” Thor stood up.
“I’m pretty sure he did.” Nat had snuck away to grab Thor’s “armor”.
“HA! It’s really pink!” Sam looked at the suit and laughed.
“Oh, you mischievous motherfucker.” Thor started speed walking to Loki.
Loki’s face turned from smug to *oh shit*.
“Wait! Wait! What are you doing?” Loki asked in panic as he circled the couch.
“Getting you back, bitch.” Thor now had a smirk on his face and gave him THAT look.
“Brother NO.” Loki now was panicking.
“What are they doing?” Steve asked confused as the brothers continued to circle the couch.
“I’m about to kill him.” Thor said in a teasy voice.
Loki let out a small panic giggle.
“OH! OH! Did you guys hear that??” Sam looked at everyone else with sparkles in his eyes.
Loki looked at him confused, “.. what?”
“Loki, did you just laugh?!” Even Wanda looked shocked.
“It appears so.” Vision said entering the room.
Loki was still circling the couch and looked at everyone REALLY confused, “..And?”
“AND?? You have never-” Clint got cut off by Thor.
“And you’re about to hear some more.”
Loki hadn’t noticed that Thor had stopped circling the couch and bumped into him.
“Brother don’t you dare.” Loki gave him a death glare, but Thor didn’t care.
“Oh, I think I do.” With that Thor pounced on Loki tackling him.
“Ok what is happening..?” Bucky was confused.
“BROTHER. BROTHER NO. NO.” Loki was screaming at Thor.
“Loki seems to be panicking.” Vision said.
“Yeah, we can see and hear that.” Steve looked down at them.
For Tony, it finally clicked, and he smirked.
Sam noticed that, “What?”.
“You guys are really dumb,” Tony said as he started laughing.
“AHAH!” Everyone was snapped back to reality when they heard a scream.
“Ah, there we go.” Thor looked amused.
Everyone looked at Thor and then Loki and back to Thor.
“You guys are really shit, he tickling him!” Tony said and everyone’s face turned from confusion to *oooh* to a smirk.
“AAAAGH! BROTHEHER!” Loki tried to fight back.
“Don’t fight it, just let it all out.” Thor chuckled.
Vision looked confused.
Wanda noticed.
“You don’t know what tickling is, Vision?” Wanda looked at vision and laughed.
Everyone turned to look at Vision’s confused face.
Vision shook his head.
“..no?” Vision tried to recreate what Thor was doing in the air.
Sam laughed at Vision.
“AAAAAUUH!” Vision jumped at the sound of the scream.
“Why is he hurting him??” Vision looked concerned.
“He’s not hurting him, Vision don’t worry!” Clint said.
“OK OK OK OK! IHIM SORYHIHI AHAH!” Loki shook his head.
“Anyone else wondering how the fuck we didn’t know about this?” Bucky laughed.
“Well you never really tried it, did you?” Thor looked up at him.
Thor drilled his fingers into Loki’s hips.
Loki bucked like crazy. “AGHAHA! THOHOR I SWEAR TO- AHAHAAA!”
“Okay, okay fine... joking,” Thor said with a big smirk.
“NO. BROTHER. YOU CAN NOT DO THIS!” Loki pushed at his chest to try to get him off.
“Yes, yes I can,” Thor said as he lifted up his shirt.
“NO NO! SOMEONE STOP HIM PLEHEASE!” Loki shut his eyes and threw his head back.
“Since when does he say please?” Steve laughed.
“I’M NOT JOKING! JUST GET HIM OHOHOF!” Loki yelled.
“Ehhh?” Sam looked at everyone and wondered if he should help.
“FUHUCK!”
“Uhh.. yeah. I don’t think I’ll help him. I mean how many times have you seen him laugh? That’s right 0.. also he messed up one of my suits.” Said Tony.
“Friday come to record this!” Tony’s suit arrived and started recording.
“AAAHAHA! YOU BETTER FUCKHING DELETE THAHAT!” Loki threatened, but it wasn’t really threatening ya know... since he was laughing so hard.
“Ok NOW last thing,” Thor said as he bent down and blew a big raspberry on his belly.
When I tell you that Loki SCREAMED.
“Ok, I’m done here. Have you learned your lesson?” Thor still had a smug smirk on his face.
Loki turned on his stomach and curled in on himself. “yehes..”
Thor laughed “I know that still means no but I got my revenge.”
“Uhuh.. you’re awful.”
“Watch it!” He poked Loki’s side.
“okahayokayokayokay!” Loki put his hand up in defense.
Loki flopped on his back and just stared at the ceiling.
Vision hurried over to Loki and started checking for injuries.
Thank you to the sweet anon who sent me this fun idea !! I had a great time writing a whole bunch of rough and playful tickles for this fic.
Word Count: ~7800 words of Loki fluff (ft. Thor)
Pairing: Loki x gender neutral reader (platonic), Thor x reader (platonic)
Prompt: What do you think of a fic where after Loki somehow works out that the reader likes t-words-(probably from people watching, as usual)-he catches her having a really bad day and just bluntly asks if it would make her feel better for him to t-word her? Like asking someone if they want/need a hug? Only after he's talked her into it would the loving but also deadly teasing start.
CWs: violence, brief mentions of killing/death, anxious reader, insecure reader, swearing, wounds/brief mentions of medical procedure (stitches)
“Are you okay?”
You’d flinched when Loki had leaned in to ask you the question, telling him he was a little closer than you’d anticipated anyone to be right now. He recoiled, only as much to give you the space you looked to need. You nodded to him, but he watched that ripple of tension in your jaw, your neck, your shoulders. He watched as it pulsed through you with every step up the ramp of the quinjet.
It hadn’t been enough of an ambush to overpower the team, but enough to make you all put up a reasonable fight. They’d really come out of no where, their guerrilla tactics impressive and terrifying and expertly executed. If it hadn’t been the Avengers, whichever unfortunately group had stumbled upon them would’ve been dead before they knew what was happening.
You’d grappled with one of them for several minutes, holding your own very well against the deadly fighter after you’d taken out one before him. It got to the point where you were so evenly matched that Loki had finished off the last of the men fighting him, and then turned to assist you. Just as the fighter was making a jab you were sure to have dodged, Loki struck down with both blades and ended his life. You’d stood, chest heaving, before nodding up to Loki with a shell-shocked thanks.
Now back on the jet, you were unloading your weapons at the work bench as others filtered on, and you look up warily whenever something moved into your line of sight. You winced and Loki saw you try to lower your shoulders, to loosen your jaw, but you just took a tense breath in and shook yourself out of your own head, falling into the routine of cleaning your blades and stowing them above a seat.
It wasn’t until you’d strapped yourself into a jump-seat next to Loki for take-off that you winced for a different reason.
“Ah, shit,” you whispered, quickly unbuckling the straps once again.
He shot his glance to you. “What?”
You sighed as you pressed a hand to your side over your black tactical clothing, and Loki saw a dark crimson begin to peak through the gaps of your fingers. “I’ve been stabbed.”
Standing up, you looked more annoyed than anything else, and Loki couldn’t fight his wry smile as you grumbled your way to the medical bay and knocked on the door. A few seconds later, Strange opened it and Loki saw you remove your hand and look up at him. A few more seconds after that, you were inside and the door was shut.
Several minutes after take-off, after everyone unbuckled and was going about their business, the door to the private med bay slid open once again. An exasperated Dr Strange shot his head into the main room with a bit of a huff. “I need some help in here,” he called, scanning the room before his eyes landed on the two people not doing much of anything. “You’ll do,” he clicked his tongue at Thor and Loki, nodding them into the room.
“What’s the matter, Strange?” Thor enquired as he stepped over the threshold. Loki listened on as he too stepped inside, hitting the button to close the door. You gave your own annoyed sigh from where you lay on the exam table, partially propped up by your elbows, shirt bunched up just above your lower ribs to reveal a sizeable gash on the left side of your stomach, an inch or two above the waistband of your pants.
“Nothing’s the matter,” you grizzled, although Loki saw a glint of amusement in your eye. “He’s being a drama queen.”
“Says the person who can’t sit still for eight stitches,” he shot back with an unimpressed look, elbows bent with his gloved hands held away from touching anything. Looking back to the brothers, he tilted his head towards where you lay. “I’m having some compliance issues.”
“Aren’t doctors tested on their bedside manner before taking the Hippocratic Oath?” A small stream of blood began seeping out of your wound and Strange gave a groan of frustration. You continued with your stroppy tirade, “Calling in two demigods to physically restrain a patient, I mean-”
“My patient is unwilling to sit still,” he countered, picking up a medical wipe to clean the wound again.
“Willing and able are two different things. A neurosurgeon should know that.”
“And an Avenger should be able to control their reactions.”
“It’s called instinct!”
“As enjoyable as this little show is,” Loki interjected with a hand held up, “What exactly is it that you require our assistance for?”
“Rendering your teammate immobile so I can administer stitches,” Strange smiled tensely, rounding the table to wipe away the blood.
“If pain is the issue, surely there’s-”
Thor’s question was cut off by your loud giggle and the slapping of your hand against the doctor’s as he wiped at the blood on your lower stomach.
“Ah.”
“I see.”
The brothers responded and chuckled, taking steps closer to assist on the mission.
“Wait, no!” You shifted and giggled nervously as Thor placed himself by your upper legs and Loki near your head, both of them on the other side of the table to Strange.
“The local anaesthetic has taken away the pain, but we’re left with all the other sensitivities which already existed,” Strange explained, nodding to the brothers. Thor immediately laid his upper body across your thighs, making you squirm and grimace at first, but ultimately resign yourself to it. With a defeated groan, you lowered yourself down onto your back.
“Why not use magic? I could heal this quickly.” Loki crossed his arms, looking at the wound. “A short incantation and this is all good as new. No need for brute force,” he side-eyed his brother.
Strange scoffed, hooking his foot around the trolley of supplies and pulling it closer. “I’m the best surgeon in the world.”
“This isn’t the only world-”
“Yeah, I like Loki’s idea-”
“We’re doing this my way,” Strange said firmly, then gestured down to you as he took the needle in his hand. “If you’d be so kind.”
The dark-haired Asgardian sucked his teeth before calming his demeanour as to not hurt you when he complied. It left a sour taste in his mouth, getting ordered around by this mortal who fancied himself a sorcerer, but fighting with him about it would only make life more difficult. It would get him benched as a insubordinate, and the boredom of that was unbearable. So he reached down and snatched your wrists without any warning, as to not give you time to try fighting him off.
“Traitor!” You growled at Loki as he put both your wrists in one hand, pressed them up to your collarbone and followed Thor’s lead by leaning his upper body over yours.
“Sufficient?” Loki seethed to Strange with a clenched jaw, being careful to not block your airflow as he ignored your squirms of protests.
“We should be sure,” Thor nodded. Loki caught the small smirk in his brother’s lips just before he reached his free hand out and placed his fingertips on a patch of skin well away from the wound.
“NO!” You squeaked, then erupted in giggles as Thor firmly scratched his five fingers at the bare skin just below your ribs, where your stomach was becoming your side. Loki grinned as they watched you squirm for a few seconds, then made a few minor adjustments to make sure your torso was truly immobile.
“I now see why you couldn’t use standard restraints,” Thor chuckled as he removed his fingers.
Loki turned to see your rosy cheeks taking in air. “Little hellcat,” he chuckled. “A fighter, you are.”
“S-shut up, Loki,” you coughed for a second then tried to peer around him to Strange. “Get on with it then!” You near-shouted with a sigh of defeat, but before you could fully relax you were twitching again and attempting to hold in giggles as Strange cleaned the wound for the third time.
Loki waited for your laughs to turn into winces of pain, but that medicine must have been incredibly well-developed, because the feeling of Strange stitching you up nearly sent you into hysterics.
The brothers could hardly believe their eyes and ears, easily holding your mortal body still between them, but amazed that such a small sensation was bringing about such strength in your searches for freedom. You didn’t bother begging or pleading, instead only trying, and failing, to hold in your laughs as Strange administered stitch after stitch.
Loki again looked back at you and was pleasantly surprised to see that pang of tension fading from your features. From the energy around you. You spluttered out laughs and pulled on your wrists in his grasp as your eyes shut tight, but he didn’t miss the way your shoulders seemed to release their locked-in stress over the short minutes it took to get you all sorted.
“Done,” Strange plopped the metal scissors back on the table. “I’ll dress it and then you can go.”
“Must we continue our duties?” Loki enquired, admiring the admittedly impeccable handiwork.
“Loki, you disappoint me,” Thor chuckled. “Are you not the God of Mischief?”
“Oh hell no!” You struggled, picking up the cheekiness in Thor’s tone.
Loki turned to smirk down at you. “Scared, Agent?”
“So help me, all your gods, I will pop a stitch if you- n-noho THOR!” You squeaked, an immediate smile pulling deep into your cheeks as giggles once again poured out of you. Loki casted a glance to where Thor‘s hand was tucked under your leg, presumably tickling at the skin behind your knees.
“The stitches won’t pop,” Strange said from where he was grabbing a dressing and slipping on a non-bloodied pair of gloves. “I know my work.”
“Guys, plehehease!” You snivelled. “Dohoc, help me OHOUT- AH LOKI!” Your head fell back against the table when Loki used his free hand to very lightly pinch at the bare skin stretched over your lowest ribs. He felt you practically melt beneath him as you burst in bright laughter.
“Norns, brother,” Loki chuckled and tossed a look to where Thor had paused his torment. “I’ve never met a mortal so ticklish.”
“SHUHUT UHUP!” You shrieked in whiny laughter, only serving to make the brothers laugh themselves, and even Strange cracked a small smile as he finished placing the dressing. Behind Thor your feet twitched and shuffled on the table, unable to move much with a demigod draped over your upper legs.
“Done,” the Doctor declared and Loki stilled his fingers.
“Good,” you gulped in air beneath the Asgardians and pulled on your limbs to signal for them to get off you. After a few seconds’ hesitation, and a traded look, they let you go without further torment. Loki slipped his hand around your forearm to help you off the table as you continued to catch your breath. Thor clapped you on the shoulder as you glowered up at the God of Thunder but, try as you might, there was no concealing the truth from the God of Lies.
He caught the way your stress was alleviated, the small smile still pulled into your cheeks and the way your steps seemed lighter. He also didn’t fail to notice the lifting of your spirits, obvious through your resumed usual chatter as you left the med bay. Loki pondered it quietly as the three of you passed Barnes, who had been stationed outside the door awaiting his turn to be patched up. He let his mind wander for a second to hope to the Norns Strange wouldn’t require their further assistance with the former Winter Soldier; your smaller frame was child’s play to incapacitate, but Barnes’… not so much.
Although Loki didn’t broach the subject with you over the following weeks, he certainly didn’t forget it. It simply stayed in the back of his mind, only being brought to the forefront when something seemingly inconsequential would jog his memory.
Things had been hard lately. Your world was falling inwards, socially-speaking, and there seemed to be issues arising at double the rate they normally did. Missions increased in frequency, in intensity, and in emotional toll. Stark and Rogers sometimes lost the good-natured tint in their arguments. Barton suddenly took a few weeks off and declared it was hard to justify keeping the world safe for his family when they could so easily forget his face. Wanda’s birthday brought about a whole host of un-dealt-with trauma at the death of her twin brother - trauma that had been harnessed to lay disastrous waste to an entire enemy convoy before Vision stepped in and they were also suddenly gone for a week.
Loki could see you that you didn’t blame them. He could also see how your workload increased. Sometimes you’d arrive home just to be tapped on the arm by a leaving team asking for your help. You never refused, as much as it was clear to see you probably should. But you put yourself in the zone, slept sitting up in a jump-seat, and switched yourself on for the missions.
The busy period eventually subsided, though its effects came in aftershocks. You seemed okay, just a little tired, until one night when most people were eating at the dining table. A door accidentally slammed near the kitchen and you, bleary-eyed, picked up a knife, stumbled out of your seat and threw your back against a wall with the blade outstretched towards the noise. Barnes, who’d been sitting next to you, quickly and gently disarmed you, then placed a firm hand on your shoulder to bring you back to the moment. Loki had never seen you look so embarrassed. You‘d muttered some kind of apology, some comment about needing to sleep, and then excused yourself.
That moment with the knife was probably why you weren’t called out on the next few missions, and it looked to be the best thing for you. Wanda and Vision had returned and the tasks for that week weren’t too daunting. Certainly not to the extent that the nearly burnt-out Agent would be absolutely vital. So you finally got to sleep a little more, eat proper meals, and rest.
On one quiet evening, when most people were away, save for you, Thor, Loki and Stark holed up in his lab, Loki entered the living room to find you in a somewhat peculiar position. With his brother, no less.
You were perched on the back of the couch with Thor’s broad shoulders between your knees as you twisted and played with the golden Asgardian hair. Loki bumped his eyebrows at the sight, wondering if this meant anything or if perhaps you just enjoyed the physical contact. He’d never seen you get overtly flirty with your touch, your words or with the looks you gave. Furthermore, if he were to think long and hard about it, he’d probably find some memory of you running your fingers through someone else‘s hair, or working the heels of your palms into a teammate‘s tense shoulders. All in all, mere idea of this didn’t seem too out of character.
“What are you doing up there?” Thor asked as you giggled and twisted a few braids together.
“Creating art,” you grinned. Loki properly entered the room with his drink and smirked at the sight he could now more clearly see. You‘d made a bit of a mess. Not a tangled one, but not unlike what one might expect a small child to do when given free reign over another‘s long hair.
“Are you attempting to make some home for a woodland creature atop my brother’s head?” Loki joked as he took his place in a nearby armchair and casted a glance to what you two were watching. It didn’t look all too entertaining. You certainly didn’t seem as interested in the movie as you were in messing about with Thor’s hair.
Thor scoffed and brought a hand up to inspect, but you slapped it away. “No touching.”
“Let me see.”
“Oh, it’s glorious, brother.”
“What’ve you done?” Thor chuckled and brought his hand up again. This time you used your foot to nudge it away with a giggle. “Let me see!” Thor grabbed your ankle and brought his other hand up, and you weren’t as fast to hit it away. His fingers landed upon the mass of his hair and he craned his next to give you a playful menacing stare. “You said you were braiding.”
“There are several braids in there,” you flashed a grin then brought your hands up to keep going. “Let me finish and I’ll take a picture.”
“Like Hel you will,” Thor grunted and used his one hand to hit your two away, finding you were able to get in little pokes to his hair as you laughed at the tussle. A more forceful push from you sent you stumbling a little backwards, but Thor’s grip on your ankle kept you anchored as you pulled yourself upright once again. “Careful!” He laughed. “I may have to let you fall if you will not yield.”
Loki smirked at the scene, as amused as he could be with someone messing with his brother so well. He narrowed his eyes as he saw you hook your free leg over Thor’s shoulder and push your foot against the hand holding your other ankle, trying to prompt Thor to focus his grasp there. It worked. Thor grabbed your free ankle and you once again took strands of his hair as your bright laughter bounced around the room. “You leave me no choice, mortal,” Thor near-growled.
Ah. Loki knew that tint of light-hearted malice. You were in trouble.
Thor swung your other leg over his shoulder and let you fall a bit backwards. You yelped and clutched the back of the couch as Thor let you slip, stopping you when your knees were bent over his shoulders. So there you sat, keeping yourself somewhat upright with a strong hand gripping the sofa, struggling a little in Thor’s grasp. You were in a bit of a helpless situation. If Thor released your legs in this position you’d go tumbling down the marble floor. But if you let yourself down to place your hands against the floor and bring your legs over yourself to land, you ran the risk of Thor not letting go and being hung there vulnerably.
You didn’t have much time to question it or to make a plan, considering Thor crossed your ankles, threw an arm over to pin them against his chest, and then made quick work of fluttering his fingers against the soles of your socked feet.
“H-HEY!” You squeaked, eyes widening in surprise. Loki smirked at your reaction, not grapsing how you could’ve possibly thought this would end any other way. It was mere weeks ago the brothers had been called in to hold you in place because you were unfathomably ticklish. Surely you couldn’t have expected them to forget about it.
No. That would be foolish and you were no fool. Peculiar indeed.
“THOR CUHUT IT OHOUT!” You squealed with laughter and pulled yourself up to wrap an arm around his neck and slap away his hands with the other. Thor, in turn, responded by tilting sideways to pull you over and dump you onto the couch next to him. His tickling hand left your feet and reached up to grab at something else.
“You should know better than to mess with an Asgardian,” he chuckled solemnly then shot a glance to Loki. “Especially an Asgardian raised alongside the God of Mischief.”
You collapsed into frantic giggles and pushed at his hands, wrapping your legs tight around his neck from instinct. It was as if Thor felt nothing, Loki observed, as his older brother turned and propped himself up, shooting forwards to hover over your squirming body on the couch and partially trap you with his knees.
“LOKI HEHELP!” You called to him through the belly-laughs Thor had pulled from you by wedging his fingers up under your arms. You kicked and screamed through your squeal-laden laughter, but you were more thrashing in reaction than in any form of attempt at escape. Loki smirked when he put the pieces together, seeing the under-utilised escape routes, that happy grin in your cheeks, knowing how you so clearly provoked this and provided the elder of the two with the perfect chance to tickle you to pieces. He’d half a mind to ask you exactly whom you wanted him to help, but decided to keep his little revelation a secret. For now, at least.
“You brought this upon yourself,” he drawled, opening his book and pretending to read for the next several moments as Thor reduced you to a panting, blushing little puddle who was genuinely begging for mercy. Once he released you, however, you did the most foolish thing and tried to get revenge.
You really were asking for it.
After another minute or so of Thor teaching you a final lesson, you stayed down and got to catching your breath as you focused on the TV for the first time that evening. Loki looked at you from the corner of his eye and smirked again. You appeared more relaxed than he’d seen you in weeks. Happier. Definitely less tense. He wasn’t sure if that little tickle fight was what you needed in order to get some pent-up energy out, to loosen up your tight muscles, or if you simply desired to physically engage with someone. The more he took note of your subtle content smile and the way you’d practically melted into the cushions, the more he got the feeling it was probably all three reasons.
He, again, filed this away, now much more confident in his assumption.
Another few days went by until you were finally called back out on a mission. It wasn’t anything catastrophic, to do with nuclear weapons or child hostages. It was to be a simple surveillance op, just you and Barnes. From all accounts he heard, Loki knew the mission to have gone well, you and Barnes having executed your tasks perfectly. So Loki couldn’t understand your shrivelled and stony demeanour when you returned. You’d arrived back in the morning, skipped lunch, skipped dinner, he saw you leave in a car late and night and return an hour or so later. You’d probably gotten food and ate it elsewhere.
The next few days were somewhat the same. You smiled and laughed at all the right moments but you seemed to have the weight of the world pulling you to the depths. Your usual confident gaze often fell to your shoes as you walked, progressively curling in on yourself.
After too many days of this and apparently no one else saying anything, Loki took it upon himself to knock on your door just after another dinner you missed. You called for him to come in, peeking over the top of the laptop perched against your upper thighs and bent knees. As Loki approached you closed the lid.
“What‘s going on?” You raised an eyebrow at the lack of his usual snarky or teasing greeting.
“What’s the matter?” He asked, perching himself on the edge of your bed as you put your earbuds in their little pod. He propped himself up with a casual hand against the bedspread, his arm gently pressed against the side of your knee. You sighed and snapped your laptop shut, putting it on your bedside table before playing with the open-close mechanism on your headphones’ pod.
“I don’t know,” you mumbled, snapping the thick plastic shut before opening it again. You shrugged, “Just an off day. Or few days.” You snapped it shut again before catching yourself doing it. Probably fearing it was annoying him, you halted the action and instead played with the closed case in your fingers.
“Is there anything you need?” Loki asked, catching himself off-guard by how pliant he sounded. Never the matter.
“I’m fine,” you bit your tongue. “This’ll all go away in a few days. I’m not trying to be dramatic,” you made haste to explain, looking up at him with eyes willing him to believe you. “I’m not looking for attention.”
“I’m aware,” Loki nodded, and he caught the way the tension in your shoulders seemed to release, even just a little bit. It spurred an idea. A memory. Of times he’d seen that before... Suppose it worked? “Would it help if I tickled you?”
The case suddenly snapped shut with a loud click and you seemed to freeze with your eyes trained on it. You didn’t move for a few long seconds, licking your lips nervously before lifting your head but not quite meeting his eye. “The hell kind of question is that?” You squirmed in your seat, eyes no doubt taking note of how Loki was sat between you and your obvious exit.
“What?” Loki let a smirk come to his lips. “Was I not supposed to notice how it seems to relax you? Relieves your tension-”
“Lokihi,” you gave a nervous laugh. “This isn’t… that‘s not something people-”
“It makes sense, really,” Loki continued, outwardly ignoring the way your cheeks were reddening by the second, inwardly taking the utmost delight in how flustered he’d already made you. “Laughter is a natural stress reliever. It only makes sense tickling would make you feel better, especially since you enjoy it so much.”
“LOKI!” You squeaked, whipping your hands up to hide your burning face, pulling your bent knees closer.
“What?” He asked with fake innocence. He still wore his smirk, and you peeked your fingers from behind your eyes to see it there. “You seem a little flustered, Agent,” he commented.
“Stop it,” you warned, but your heart wasn’t in it. “This is ridiculous. I’m not gonna sit here and listen t- hehey!”
He cut you off with a deft squeeze at the muscle above your kneecap. You jolted your leg and gave him a serious look. Again, there was no heart in it.
“Loki…” You warned with your voice, but made no serious moves to escape. “Stop,” you set your jaw.
He chuckled and retracted his hand before smirking with a tilt of his head. “You don’t mean that.”
You blushed harder, apparently that was possible, and started stammering, babbling, trying to defend what little argumentative territory you had. However, he’d left little room for debate.
“I won’t make this too hard for you, Agent,” Loki chuckled again, making a show of undoing the latch at is wrist and rolling up one sleeve. “I won’t make you ask for it outright. After all, I did come here to help. All you have to do is not tell me to stop.” He shot you a wicked grin as he worked on his other sleeve. “Agreed?”
“L-Loki…” you scoffed. “Th-this is-”
“Agreed?”
You licked your lips again. You were nervous but you didn’t at all make any moves to get away from him, hold your hands up in defence, or give any outward indication of discomfort. Loki had to laugh, dropping his smirk in favour of a genuine smile. “Timid thing, is even that too hard to say?”
You scoffed again and rubbed your own upper arm anxiously. “You’re embarrassing me,” you admitted, hardly above a whisper. Then, your breath caught in your throat as Loki slowly moved his hand to rest against your side. His eyes locked with yours and he saw you bite your blushing lip. You didn’t say stop. So, he replaced his grin and pulsed his squeezing fingers at your hipbone.
“AHA WAIT!” You squeaked and already began sliding down from where you’d been leaning back against the headboard. “STOHOP!” You laughed loudly, but it died in your throat as Loki retracted his hand.
“Alright then,” he smiled kindly. He saw the regret flash across your face as he made to stand.
“Wait!” You rushed and grabbed his arm. Your mouth opened to speak, though you couldn’t seem to bring yourself to say the words he knew you wanted to.
“Instinct?” He smirked. You nodded, another bite of your lip. “Self-preservation.” You nodded again. “Do you need a different word to stop me?” He half-grinned. You didn’t nod. Was that a yes?
“I-I… I can’t.”
“Can’t what?”
“Control my self-preservation instinct.”
Ah.
“If I have an out… I’ll take it.”
Some kind of excitement bloomed in Loki’s chest in a way he hadn’t quite experienced before. Oh, this was far too good. Was this permission? Something about the pure mischief, the pure trust, the implicit reliance on him to understand… oh, it was glorious. He grinned wide before he could stop himself.
“Then there’s no out,” Loki smirked wickedly, and your eyes sparkled in a nervous, excited anticipation. “But no more will I accept subtly, darling; you need to say “yes” if I am to proceed, lest I get this devastatingly wrong. Because once I start, it’s up to me to stop. Your pleas will not sway me.”
He saw you take a deep breath in, and then release it before you gave the world’s tiniest nod. Loki chuckled, bringing the mischief back to his voice, and turned to be kneeling beside you on the bed, looming over you, leering down. Taking your chin between his fingers, he lifted your face to make you look at him. “Your words, darling. Use them while you can.”
“Pfft,” your defiance kicked in as you shook your head from his grasp. “Make me.”
Loki chuckled and wrestled you for your wrists as you bit back grunts of exertion. He kept his smirk as he taunted, “Make you, you say? I tried to make this easy on you, but I suppose I’ve no reservations with making you beg for it.”
“Okay, okay! Fine!” You whimpered as he caught your wrists and pulled you to sit up right in front of him. You bit your tongue, then your lip, then blushed as you looked at his large hand around your smaller wrist. Then, you mumbled a whisper.
“Pardon?” He leaned in.
“Sss.” Was all he caught.
“I can’t hear you.”
You lifted your head with a defeated wince. “I said YES, Loki, don’t be such a-AH!” You yelped as he pushed you down and partially pinned you with his own body, your lower half still trapped beneath the covers.
“Such a what?” Loki scoffed, pressing your wrists to your chest to free another hand to flit under his body and grab at one of the more effective spots he knew. Frantic giggles bubbled over your lips as he firmly circled his thumb into the front of your lower ribs while digging against the sides with his middle and ring fingers. “Care to repeat that little comment?” You shrieked and fell into louder laughter as his thumb found a particularly sensitive space between two ribs, and he refocused his efforts there.
“Nuh-nuh-NO, NOHO!” You yelled through laughter, squirming hard underneath him as he kept kneading at your ribs without relent. He chuckled as your eyes closed and your feet kicked beneath the covers, then slowly moved his hand down your side in search of more sensitive places. His thumb pulsed into the side of your stomach the whole way down, drawing out hard laughter, but not as delectable as that spot on your ribs. “I cahan’t!” You squeaked, a grin pulled hard into your cheeks. “NO, DON’T GOHO DON’T- not theHERE!” You shrieked again as Loki paused just above the base of your hip.
“Bad spot?” He grinned, but your eyes were still closed. He moved his hand over your hip, fingers poised to strike, and your eyes burst open in shock. You looked at him a little desperately and he squinted a bit. “Worst spot?” He tiled his head. “So soon, I’ve discovered it?” You gulped, and he grinned. “Guess I’ll find out.” With that, he latched his fingers into the sides of your hips as his thumb dug into the soft spaces next to the bones.
Laughter exploded out of you as your legs scrambled hopelessly beneath the covers. Loki grinned as your eyes shut tight and he quickly learned that each time he veered off course slightly and targeted the lowest point on that soft space, a little shriek would pop through your lips. He had you laughing so hard you barely noticed when he removed his hand, until you felt it clawing and digging against the side of your lower ribs once again.
“AHNOAHA!” You squealed and tried twisting away, but that only gave Loki access to slip his four finger around the back of your ribcage as his thumb drilled into the side. You slammed that side of you back down with hiccupy laughter, shaking your head through squealing pleas that died at the tip of your tongue. The higher he moved to wedge his hand, the harder you clamped your arm to your side and thrashed beneath him.
“I think you’re hiding something,” he teased. You just shook your head and kept gasping with laughter as he dug his fingers in harder. “Tell me, darling. Are you nervous for what I’m about to do?” He kept tickling as he moved to pull your wrists up and remove the protective power of your clamped upper arms. “I witnessed Thor pulling some delightful squeals from you here a few days ago when you were pretending to be a helpless little thing. Pretending like you wanted to escape.”
“NOHO!” You gasped and fought hard to keep your arms clamped down, once again instinctively wriggling away from Loki’s evil fingers. He halted at once and got to his knees as you caught your breath, keeping your arms clamped firmly at your sides.
“Forgive me, it may take a bit of work to find the most effective way to restrain you,” he grinned as your eyes shot open and you started scrambling out from under the covers.
“L-Loki, you cahan’t, no,” you giggled as Loki tilted his head predatorily, eyes scanning over your body.
“I’m sure you’ll find I absolutely can,” he mused. “Why are you putting up such a fight? You’re getting exactly what you wanted, aren’t you?” He smirked as you glowered up at him.
“That’s not fair,” you huffed, finding yourself up on your knees next to him. “You can’t say stuff like that.”
“Does it make it worse?” He fake pouted, then morphed his face into a satisfied mischief. “Good.”
He lunged for you and you tried to dodge, but he caught you around the waist and pulled your body into his. You hissed and pressed your hands against his shoulders as he wrapped his arms around your waist, both of you kneeling there while you wrestled. It would’ve been much more effective for you to press against his stomach, to keep your arms clamped down, but your shoving at his shoulders made him know for sure: you couldn’t wait for him to exploit that little spot of yours.
So without warning, he jammed his hands upwards and trapped you hard against him with his four fingers wiggling deep into the softest space under your arm.
Immediately, your arms whipped down and clamped to your sides, effectively trapping Loki’s wriggling fingers in the hypersensitive area. You seemed to be caught off guard by the sudden viciousness of his attack, because your screech wasn’t just one of laughter but also of surprise. At least, that’s what it sounded like. It was hard for Loki to tell for sure, given how hard you’d started belly-laughing and the strength of your thrashing against him.
“NONOPLEASE!” The squealing begs fumbled through your lips before you fell into a new spout of deep and desperate laughter, doing all you could to push against Loki as he only dug his fingers deeper and faster into the spaces under your arms. Your feet began drove into the mattress in an attempt to push him backwards, to maybe shove him into losing his balance, so he responded by letting you both fall sideways with your heads at the pillows. He hooked his legs around yours and tightened his grip around your body, so the only thing you could really move was your arms, but they were preoccupied being clamped to your sides.
In no time at all you laughter turn to silent hiccuping and you began weakening considerably, so Loki, as best he could with your arms still stuck beside you, moved his fingers down to harshly scratch at the front of your middle ribs with his middle and ring fingers. You shrieked again and shoved at him, then fell back into that silent laughter.
Loki grinned as he focused on the spot and watched you weakly writhe in his arms, hitting half-heartedly at his shoulders, a seemingly permanent grin etched into your impossibly rosy cheeks. He even noticed a tear or two trickling down as you spluttered and gasped with laughter, sometimes trying to beg but it only coming out in incoherent squeaks and squeals before you fell back into that hard silent laugh and buried your face in his shoulder.
He kept grinning as you squeaked and gasped against him, bringing his fingers even further down to firmly scratch at the sides of your stomach through your thin t-shirt. Your laughter ceased its silence and resumed into helpless giggles as more tears flowed down your cheeks, but you’d stopped fighting him. Instead of pushing against him, your fists had closed around the fabric covering his shoulders and were tugging in ticklish reaction. You only yelped and fought again when his fingers slipped lower and spidered against the soft skin just above your hips. The belly-laughter came back in full-force and your legs tugged hard where they were encased in his, your grip on his shoulders now pushing as you instinctively tried to shove yourself away, finding his iron grip entirely unmoving.
“I think ten more minutes right here should suffice,” he called to you and you immediately gasped, opening your eyes through your hard laughter. He grinned and took his hands away with a wink to let you know he was merely kidding. You sat there, trapped in his arms, red-faced as you sucked air through your smiling lip. He released you and propped himself up beside where you were panting hard and trying to catch your breath.
“The hell!” You coughed. “I dihidn’t think it would be like thahat,” you took another deep breath in, then let it out all at once.
Loki chuckled and pinched at your cheek, “What did you expect?” You swatted him away, but his hand was already gone.
“I dunnoho,” you mumbled, opening your eyes to look at him. “I don’t,” you shrugged with a chuckle. “I suppohose that’s exactly what I should’ve expected.”
“Did it help?”
The question was almost rhetorical, but you answered it anyway, with a sheepish smile. “Yeah, I think it did.”
“You appear more relaxed, at least.”
“Do I?”
“Here,” Loki beckoned you to sit up, and you begrudgingly obliged. He made to move behind you and you let him with only a small skeptical glance over your shoulder. His hands met your shoulders and his thumbs pressed into a place that made you sigh. “Your body holds tension here,” he explained, then ran a hand up to brush his thumb against the hinge of your jaw. “Which affects here. You find it hard to speak when you‘re tense,” he said. It was a half-statement, half-question. You paused, then nodded. He placed his hands back on your shoulders and whispered, “Release.”
He pressed his hands down and you let your shoulders drop as he pulled them back, forcing you stop curling in on yourself. You winced a little, but made a small noise of surprise, as if you hadn’t stood up straight in years.
Loki felt the way you relaxed into his touch and let him change your tense posture. Once he had you sitting up straight you sighed again, nestling a bit into his touch. “Touch is an important need,” Loki hummed. “It is okay to seek it out.”
You chuckled dryly. “Maybe it’s different on Asgard, but people on Earth can misinterpret that easily. I’m not in the business of making things awkward with my co-workers.”
“You need not be embarrassed to come to me,” Loki said, running his hands over your shoulders to squeeze your upper arms. “I’m not of Earth.”
You casted a glance to him over your shoulder. “Why are you doing this? Being so nice.”
Gods, it struck his heart to see those glassy eyes of yours. He squeezed your arms again. “You matter to me. And to Thor. You’re like… our favourite little mortal.”
You scoffed and giggled, turning back away, “You’re making me sound like a pet.”
“Well do you not need care and attention? To be fed and watered?” He teased with a grin. You fully turned and swatted his leg.
“You do too!”
He laughed warmly and leaned back to rest against your headboard. “For lives as short as you live, you Midgardians are insufferably and time-wastingly bashful when it comes to expressing your needs for affection,” he chuckled and picked up your laptop. Resting it beside you two as he opened it with one hand. “Now what silly little programme were you watching-”
“Loki, wait-”
It was too late. He’d opened the lid and seen what you’d been looking at. It floored him. He didn’t even know you’d been hiding something, that’s how well you hid how you truly felt.
“What in the Norns…” Loki breathed out sadly as he saw your search results in various tabs. You sunk a little lower in his hold and your hands met your face as he scrolled through the different open windows.
Jobs in NYC
Jobs in London
Jobs for people who suck at everything
Marines enlistment
Barista jobs Spain
“What’s all this?” Loki tried to look down to you but you wouldn’t let him see your face. Instead, you pulled your laptop away from him and he let you up. Shutting the lid, you placed it back on the bedside table and began gathering the courage to face him. He saw your arm caress the other in a self-soothing motion, so he placed his hand on your shoulder and gently squeezed. “You want to leave?”
“No, but… more days than not… I feel like I’m not cut out for this,” you quietly admitted, only half-turning to him. “I’m not super, or special, or enhanced, I’m just... like, I’d probably explode if you or Thor punched me with full force, my sharpshooting skills will never match Clint’s or Bucky’s or yours. I don’t know why I’m here, and it’s getting harder to pretend to feel like I belong.”
“Hey-”
“I feel like an imposter,” you sniffed, dabbing at a single tear in your eye before sitting up much straighter and composing yourself. “It’s fine,” you shook your head, your body revealing your lie. “I’m fine. Sorry, I’m not looking for attention or compliments or anything like that,” you told him again. He saw that tension creep into your shoulders once again so he placed hands across them both and gently forced them away from your ears. You let him calm you.
“You’re not an imposter. I’ve seen you run circles around your enemies,” he breathed out and pressed into your shoulders soothingly, satisfied when he heard you release a shallow breath and settle a bit more. “I don’t suppose I can prove it to you, can I? Being the God of Lies and all,” he chuckled sadly and you cracked a small smile, finally looking over at him.
“There’ll always be insecure days,” you conceded. “I’m too much of a coward to actually leave and serve coffee in Madrid.”
“You’re certainly not a coward,” he kneaded into your shoulders again, adding a bit of a scolding strength to his voice. “I may be the God of Lies, but I’ve also been trained as a warrior for over nine hundred years. I know cowardice when I see it. I don’t see it in you.”
He saw your eyes well up a bit more, but you smiled and nodded in thanks before looking back down. Desperate to bring you back to a happier place, he added a teasing edge to his voice. “Cowardice does not befall you, but foolishness certainly does. Honestly, provoking my brother into tickling you. Are you mad?”
You blushed, scoffed, stammered. “Wha-what do you-”
“You’ll learn one day that I am exceptionally perceptive,” he chuckled as you flushed even more red.
Then, he saw you smirk and turn to him with an inquisitive look. “You speak as someone who’s been on the receiving end of your brother’s onslaught.”
“Some younger sibling experiences are universal, much to my misfortune.”
“Come on,” you grinned and shifted to face him. “You’ve gotta tell me where you’re ticklish.”
“Not a chance,” he chuckled.
“Then I’ll ask Thor.”
“He won’t tell you. He believes such advantages are to be earned, not freely given.”
“Then I’ll earn it myself,” you jutted out your chin confidently and your eyes sparkled as your shoulders lowered even more.
Loki laughed brightly and then smirked. “Am I to pretend it’s true revenge you seek, and not simply further torment?”
You reached out and shoved his shoulder with both hands. “You’re an asshole.”
“Ooh, spoiling for more? Those are fighting words, Agent,” Loki grinned and you blushed, but less than you had been that evening.
“Not right now,” you laughed nervously, truthfully. “I think I’d just like to watch a movie. You can stay if you want.”
Loki looked at you silently until you looked back up at him. You looked confused at his lack of comment, then a gentle smile pulled at his cheeks. “Ask for what you want. Don’t be afraid to express what you want. You deserve what you want.”
You nodded and bit your lip before staring him dead in the eyes confidently. You were no coward, and you didn’t want to act like one. “I’d really like it if you stayed and watched a movie with me. I could use a friend right now.”
“I’ve got other plans, I’m afraid,” Loki teased, but picked up your laptop and nodded to the space next to him. You rolled your eyes and muttered something about him being a jerk.
He opened the lid, closed all those tabs and then passed the computer over for you to flit around the internet and find something of interest. When you finally found something that looked to please you, you almost turned to ask him if it was alright, but you then said, “I wanna watch this.”
“Very well,” Loki nodded, then pulled it back on his lap, forcing you to lean in a little closer. In no time at all, your head was against his shoulder, your breathing steadied, and, next to your true friend, you fell asleep watching your favourite movie.
Giggle Spot (Uncle Tony/Thor fic feat. Steve Rogers)
This is based one a request from @mettatonlover858 sorry it took so long, I’ve been on vacation!
Title: Giggle Spot
Summery: You we’re having a fun weekend with Uncle Tony until meetings pulled him away from you. But with Thor as your babysitter, time goes by quickly.
Word Count: 965
You gently placed a cucumber slice over each of Tony’s eyes. His face was covered in some avocado concoction that you mustered up in the kitchen and called a face mask.
“Am I supposed to be relaxed now, Munchkin?” Tony asked with a chuckle. Somehow you always managed to rope him into something that made him look and feel ridiculous. Today you were playing spa day.
“What color do you want your nails?” You asked looking through your extensive nail polish collection given to you by your Aunt Pepper.
“Do you have a nice red? One that’s close to or will compliment my suit?” Tony asked.
Though his eyes were still covered by the cucumbers, he could still feel you smile at him.
You chose a red that was almost identical to the red on his suit and started carefully painting his fingernails.
“What is happening here?” Cap’s voice asked with a chuckle as he walked into the living room and surveyed the scene before him.
“We’re playing spa,” you explained, not breaking your concentration of Tony’s manicure. “Uncle Tony is my client and I’m the cosmologist.”
“Why else would I willingly have guacamole on my face, Cap?” Tony chuckled.
“It’s not guacamole,” you corrected Tony, “it’s a face mask.”
Tony stuck out his tongue and licked part of the mask that was closest to his mouth, “A face mask that tastes shockingly like guacamole.”
“Isn’t this a little girly, Tony?” Cap asked.
Tony remover one of the cucumbers from over his eyes and glared at Steve, “Y/N, what do we not have patience in this household?”
Again, you didn’t break your concentration from Tony’s manicure but answered the question casually, “Fragile masculinity.”
Steve’s face contorted, he did not think he was going to be roasted like this by a grown man in a guacamole mask and a little girl. He just decided to shake it off and move on.
“Well I came in here to let you know that Fury scheduled a conference call with us in about 10 minutes.” Steve said leading Tony to shoot him another glare.
“You know I don’t like doing that kind of stuff when Pepper leaves Y/N with me.” Tony said in a slightly pissed off tone.
You finally broke your concentration from Tony’s manicure to see Cap sigh sadly.
“Tony, you know I’m aware of that. But this is really important and it’s gonna be a while.” Steve looked apologetically at both you and Tony.
“Who’s gonna hang out with me while you’re gone?” You sadly asked Tony.
A large man with storybook like armor, long flowing blonde hair, and an alarmingly large hammer in his hand walked into the room, “I can keep the little one company.”
You gave Tony a concerned look, you knew who this person was but you’d never actually met him before.
“I am Thor, son of Odin.” The large blonde man introduced himself.
Your voice cracked, you were staying wary of the large man with the large hammer, “I… I am Y/N, niece of Pepper.”
Tony scooped you up into his arms and have you a comforting squeeze, “Don’t forget munchkin of Tony!”
Thor didn’t know quite what to do with you after Tony and Steve left. You two spent a few minutes staring at each other awkwardly and twiddling your thumbs.
“Can we play spa?” You asked hopefully.
Thor gave you a questioning look, “Spa?”
“Yeah, you can be my client and I’ll give you a manicure and a face mask and you’ll be beautiful.” You explainer and your eyes danced with excitement.
Thor’s face dropped and so did your heart, he was gonna say no.
“You don’t think I’m already beautiful?!” He gasped then dramatically “cried”.
“Aw Thor…” you stroked his long blonde mane comfortingly, “I think you’re very beautiful.”
Thor looked up from his fake sobs and smiled at you, “not nearly as beautiful as you, Miss Y/N!” He playfully poked at your tummy causing a squeal to escape from your lips.
You covered your mouth with both hands and your face flushed. You couldn’t have another avenger know how ticklish you were.
Thor smiles even bigger, he knew. “Are you trying to hide your laugh?”
You shook your head and your hand still covered your mouth, you were a nervous giggler.
Thor gave you a questioning look, “Are you sure, small one?”
You nodded, still covering your mouth.
“So if my finger just settled right here,” Thor wiggled his finger into the little spot in your armpit, “I wouldn’t hear a giggle?”
You couldn’t hold it together, you burst into a giggle fit.
“Oh!” Thor’s finger escaped from your underarm and found a new home in the crook of your neck. “Another giggle spot!”
You collapsed into his lap and through your giggles you still managed to correct him, “IT’S CALLED A TICKLE SPOT!”
Thor chuckled and continued his attack, “But when I touch it, you start to giggle… so it’s a giggle spot!”
You didn’t realize that Tony and Steve had returned to the living room to find such an adorable scene.
“Hey Thor, you’re completely missing her worst giggle spot!” Tony said with a smirk.
You let out a terrified squeal but couldn’t think of anything to say. Tony reaches over and scritched his fingers just above your belly button, making your giggles grow an octave higher.
“Oh c’mon gentleman!” Steve called out, “Give the poor thing a rest!”
Thor and Tony stopped their tickle attack and you attempted to start catching your breath through the residual giggles.
“Thank you, Cap.” You huffed and puffed.
Steve smirked, “Now it’s my turn to find a giggle spot!”
You gasped and jumped from from Thor’s lap to make a run for it, “It’s called a tickle spot!”
summary: thor gets revenge after you eat his last poptart
a/n: i can't believe tickletober is OVER! thank you for reading them all and thanks for bearing with me!
Thor must have gotten lessons from his brother because there was no way that the God of Thunder was this good at taking you apart just by his fingers.
He’d tickled you before—multiple times, in fact—but this time something had changed. He knew exactly where to place his fingers and he knew exactly how much pressure to apply to make you scream with laughter. It didn’t help that you were half his size and had no powers to help defend yourself.
The whole act of it was playful in nature. Thor had found out that you ate the last poptart—his poptart—and he couldn’t let that go unpunished. Who’s to say that he would have dealt this punishment out if Nat or Bucky had eaten it, but he knew you were ticklish and that was good enough for him.
Thor had you trapped beneath him, his legs straddling your waist, careful not to crush you. His left hand had both of yours pinned to the floor above your head, leaving his right hand free to tickle you senseless.
“THOR! THOR! THOHOHOR! I’M SOHOHORRY!” You screeched as he rapidly pinched at your lower ribs. You hiccupped through your laughter to catch your breath due to his relentlessness.
“I’m sure you are, young one, but I’d be remiss if you thought I’d let you off easy with a betrayal such as eating my poptarts,” Thor bellowed over your cackles. He prodded up and down your ribcage to find the one spot that would truly make you beg for mercy and gods, he found it.
It was your upper most rib right underneath the hollow of your arm. One dig and you were screaming for mercy with tears dripping down your cheek.
“I—I-HI CAHAN’T! MEHER—MERCY! THOHOR!”
Thor took notice of the desperation in your voice instantly, releasing your hands and scrambling off of you in a hurry. He watched as you fell limp against the floor, hiccoughing to catch your breath.
“Oh, Gods, are you alright? It wasn’t my intention to kill you,” Thor asked, frightened. You wanted to reply to him, to let him know that you’d be okay, but you were still struggling to catch your breath which only sent Thor into more of a panic. “I’ll be right back!”
You faintly heard Thor’s feet stomping down the hallway, then some clunking in the kitchen, and before you knew it he was back with a cool washcloth and a glass of water.
“Can you sit up?” He asked you with concern. You nodded, taking a deep breath and pushing yourself up with the help of his hand at your lower back. “I’m so sorry, Y/N. I believe I took it too far.”
Thor placed the rag onto your forehead, cooling down your skin, and gave you the water to drink. You took a small sip, sighing in relief after you pulled the glass away.
“It’s okay, Thor,” You assured him quietly. “I was okay until the last couple seconds.”
“Still, though, I should have let you breathe,” He mumbled out, rubbing up and down your back to comfort you. You giggled at the absurdity of the whole situation and shook your head.
“I was convinced you got a lesson from Loki or something.”
Thor became sheepish and he chuckled. “Well, my dear brother did give me some pointers, though I may have taken them and ran with them.”
You took another sip of water and widened your eyes a bit. “Yeah, you definitely did. I’ll never eat another poptart again.”
“Please, young maiden, you can have as many of my poptarts as you want. It’s my recompense for almost murdering you.”
