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bingo-writes · 2 years

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Swing

Word count: 10,600

Pairing: Loki x female reader (pre-dating romantic)

Warnings/Disclaimer: I have no formal dance training, so please accept my hodge-podge of knowledge from youtube and from my high school swing team days 😂 Also, do NOT try aerials at home, kids - take it from someone with experience, you need spotters and a soft place to land 😅

Here it is - the swing dance competition Prompt by 🩰 anon! I’ll admit, it was difficult to write out some of the swing dance aerials in words, so bear with me (and YouTube it if you want a visual 😉)

"Oof. I don't understand how anyone manages to wear these godforsaken torture devices."

You collapsed into your seat the moment you boarded the quinjet, practically ripping the stiletto high heels you'd been wearing off your aching feet. Nat sat down across from you, her eyes twinkling with amusement at your heaving sigh of relief as you finally planted your feet flat on the floor for the first time in three hours.

"You just haven't built up a tolerance yet," she quipped, crossing her legs daintily with her own heels still secured to her feet. "Maybe you should add that to your training regimen."

"Absolutely not," you groaned, letting your head fall back against the headrest behind you.

"Or - here's a thought - you could wear flat shoes," Clint countered teasingly, dropping into the seat beside Nat as Steve headed to the pilot's seat.

"No, that'd be a dead giveaway," Nat argued.

"Yeah, any villain would be able to tell I'm an undercover spy from a mile away."

"Are you sure villains are that up to date on their fashion?" Steve called back, firing up the engine for takeoff.

"I'm not taking my chances." You pulled your phone out of your purse and began to peruse through your email, reviewing the messages you'd missed while the four of you were gone. "Damn, we missed cupcakes for Bruce's lab intern's birthday today."

"Aww, what the hell," Clint whined. "All the good stuff happens while I'm out."

"Anything else that I should actually care about reading?" Nat asked sarcastically. You scrolled through a few junk mail messages, landing on one from Tony. Attached to the email was a flyer for the fundraiser he'd been trying to help Pepper plan for weeks.

"Looks like Stark finally picked a theme for the charity event," you announced, reading through the document. "It's going to be a dance."

"Like... prom sort of thing?" Clint asked quizzically.

"No... oh, interesting. They decided to hold a swing dance competition."

"Wait, really?" Nat pulled out her own phone, scrolling through the message herself. "Did you read the actual email? He wants us to sign up."

"I have some dance experience, actually," you noted. "Might be kind of fun."

"I call dibs on Mr. Roaring '20s over there," Nat declared, nodding her head toward Steve.

"Damn. Wait, I'll ask Bucky then." You began typing up a text to send to the metal-armed soldier:

Hey. Wanna be my dance partner? 😁

"I just know Laura is gonna make me do it," Clint grumbled as you typed.

"Not if you don't tell her about it," Nat suggested. He sighed, grinning defeatedly.

"She asked Tony to be added to his email list months ago. Said I was 'boring' and never told her about any of the fun stuff he planned."

Your phone buzzed, a text message response from Bucky flashing on the screen:

Sorry, Wanda beat you to it. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Scowling, you immediately began typing a message back:

What?? 😠 Why doesn't she dance with Vision??

"Ugh, Wanda already snagged the other swing era expert," you muttered sullenly. "Now who am I gonna ask?"

"There's plenty of other guys in the tower - just ask one of them," Clint suggested. You scoffed, lifting your phone to glance at the response from Bucky:

She says he's too robotic

You let out a huff of breath through your nose in annoyance as you responded back:

So she steals one of the only two people who actually swing danced back in the day?? 😒

"I can't just ask anyone," you responded to Clint's suggestion, rolling your eyes. "Not everyone will be able to learn how to dance."

"You should ask Bruce," Nat interjected.

"Why? Can he dance?"

"Not sure. But it'd be damn funny to see his reaction."

Your phone buzzed again - another message from Bucky:

Are you calling me old?? 😠 Now I'm glad I'm dancing with Wanda. 😝

Grunting, you tossed your phone onto the seat cushion beside you. Bucky wasn't getting any more responses from you now.

Through the remainder of the ride back, you ran through your options in your head. A few text messages later and you were still coming up short. Thor had asked Jane. Bruce said 'absolutely not' (which made Nat chuckle at least). Stephen had 'better things to do than participate in Stark's nonsense.' You were fast running out of options.

There was only one other person you could think of to ask. And you knew he wasn't going to be easy to convince.

You had to do this strategically. Loki was quite vocal about his distaste for the less elegant Midgardian dance formats. As a royal Prince of Asgard, he was well trained in the art of dance, but his style was very balletic and graceful. His movements were broad, polished, theatrical in nature. A flowing waltz might get him up on the dance floor, but it was doubtful that you'd ever find him willingly participating in a jaunty jive or a choppy cha-cha.

Fortunately, you had experience in such matters of persuasion. The key to convincing someone to do something you knew they wouldn't want to do was to elucidate their intrinsic motivation and exploit it to your advantage.

For example - with Tony, a surefire way to get him to do something was to stroke his ego. Flattery would get you anywhere with the overcaffeinated billionaire. Peter typically needed a bribe of some sort. Thor was satisfied by the simple notion that he was making someone happy by doing whatever it was you were requesting.

Loki was more of a challenge to sway. He saw right through adulation, the price of bribery was always far too high to pay, and he could care less about altruism. With Loki, you had to outwit him. Make him think it was his idea. Flaunt the potential benefits of the request without blatantly suggesting them out loud.

You had one shot at it. Better make it count.

Some time after arriving back at the tower, you stretched out on the sofa in the common room with your laptop perched atop your legs, setting the scene for Loki to stumble upon when he inevitably wandered in with a book that afternoon. Making no effort to hide the screen from prying eyes, you popped your headphones into your ears and began sifting through videos of swing dance routines on the internet. Loki was particularly nosy, and you knew you wouldn't need to say a word to bring up the subject with him - his own curiosity would land him right inside your trap.

A few others team members shuffled in and out of the common room while you waited for the trickster's appearance. One or two of them asked what you were up to, but most simply minded their own business when they saw the headphones, clearly recognizing you were engrossed in something. Growing tired of waiting, you began to actually pay attention to the videos, bobbing your head subconsciously to the music as you watched a lindy hop routine on the screen.

Then suddenly, someone tugged one of your earbuds out of your ear. With a startled yelp, you tilted your head back to look up at your antagonizer. The God of Mischief stood gazing down at you with a self-assured smirk on his face and a spark of curiosity in his eyes.

"You know, Loki - most people just tap someone on the shoulder or wave in front of their face or something when they need to get their attention while they're clearly listening to music," you chastised. He blatantly ignored your griping, gesturing toward your computer screen.

"What are you doing?"

Perfect. He took the bait.

"I'm looking at swing routines," you responded simply, returning your attention to the screen with an air of nonchalance.

"Why?"

Feigning exasperation, you paused the current video and removed your other earbud, shifting to sit up on the sofa so you could hold this conversation without craning your neck. "Stark's fundraiser."

Loki shot you a look of confusion, tilting his head. You let out a single breath of a laugh at his reaction.

"Do you ever read your email?"

"What for? It's mostly Stark rambling on about nonsense - parties, galas, fundraisers..." Loki rolled his eyes, seemingly unamused.

"Well, you can't pretend like nobody tells you anything if you won't read your email." He scowled at you. "Anyway... he's holding a swing dance competition as a fundraiser. Ever since we watched that movie the other day, he's been fixated on 'capturing the feel of a 1920s speakeasy' in one of his events. Really, I think he just wants to see Pepper wear a flapper dress."

"And you intend to participate?" He stepped past you to take a seat on the newly opened sofa cushion by your side, setting his book unopened on his lap and twisting to face you.

"Why not?" You shrugged, glancing at him through the corner of your eye. "I took dance lessons for years. I think I've got a pretty good shot at it. I just need to find a partner."

"Have you not asked Barnes and Rogers? They certainly must have first-hand experience with this sort of thing."

"Yeah, but they have partners already. Steve's taking Nat, and Wanda beat me to Bucky before I could ask him."

"And the others?"

"Tony obviously has a partner already, Bruce won't tell anyone if he can dance because he's already refused to join, and while I appreciate Peter's enthusiasm, he's too young to participate." You sighed, preparing to drop the bomb. "I'd have asked you, but I'm really hoping for a win, and I know you don't know how to dance anything but a waltz here on Midgard."

"Now hang on a moment."

Hook, line, and sinker.

"What made you discount my dancing abilities so quickly? I am a wealth of knowledge of various styles of dance. Far more than you could possibly have learned in your short lifetime."

"Do you know how to salsa?" you asked.

"Well, I-"

"Samba? Rumba? Tango-"

"Ah-ha!" He snapped his fingers, pointing. "I know that one!"

"Have you ever swing danced before?" you continued, ignoring his outburst. He folded his arms haughtily across his chest.

"I'm certain I'd be more than capable of learning any Midgardian dance style should the need arise."

"I don't know... there's a lot of tricky footwork. It's nothing like a waltz - you have to be three steps ahead to keep track of what you're doing."

Loki scoffed. "Darling, I am always three steps ahead. I would master any 'tricky footwork' in a heartbeat."

The irony in his statement was not lost on you.

You turned to face him more fully, shooting him an expectant look. "So you're saying you want to be my partner?"

He was silent for a moment. You watched the phases of realization play out on his face. Surprise, confusion, deep thought... finally ending in a narrow-eyed glare. He knew you had him backed into a corner of his own making. Say no, and risk being teased for being unwilling to put his money where his mouth was. Say yes, and he would be willingly offering to participate in an activity he had very little desire to do.

"You sly little fox," he growled, the corners of his mouth curling up into a grin. "I suppose I'm rather impressed that you managed to swindle me."

"Oh, I learned from the best," you hummed, flashing him a mischievous smirk. "So? What do you say?"

Loki let his head drop in defeat, chuckling self-depreciatingly. Then, he looked back up at you with a renewed intensity in his gaze.

"I certainly hope you are as excellent a dancer as you purport yourself to be. I expect nothing less than exceptional if we are to win this competition."

A giddy grin spread across your face. "Oh, don't worry. You won't be disappointed."

* * *

Not one to waste time, you scheduled Loki's first lesson for the following evening. Tony set up a sign-up schedule to use the training room in two-hour blocks. Not that it was his idea - it was Pepper who had the foresight to prevent the inevitable brawls that would occur with so many enhanced beings fighting for time in the only wide-open space in the tower. As the last pair to sign up, you were left with the latest time block. No matter - Loki preferred the later hours of the evening anyway.

Loki entered the training room behind you for your allotted time block and let the door close, causing a silence to fall over the normally bustling room, interrupted only by the nearly inaudible echoey hum of the fluorescent lights overhead. It occurred to you, then, that you'd never actually spent any time alone with the God of Mischief prior to this arrangement. Sure, you worked together frequently, and you often found yourself in one-on-one conversations with him in the back of the room during team gatherings, but there was always someone else around during those times.

You made your way toward the center of the room, stopping there and turning around to face the sullen and unamused-appearing god. He gazed at you with an expectant look on his face, wordlessly awaiting instructions. Clapping your hands together, you decided to fight his bored façade with your own enthusiasm and jumped right into the lesson.

"Ok, so - the first thing you need to learn is the basic footwork pattern." You pointed down at your feet to direct his attention to your movements. "Before moving anywhere, let's just go over the step. I assume you want to be the follower, yes?"

Loki shot you an indignant look. "I think not."

"Kidding! I was kidding!" you assured with a laugh. Under your breath but loudly enough for him to hear, you added, "Your ego is too big to be the follower anyway." Before he could open his mouth to retort, you plowed on. "SO - for leaders, you'll start with your left foot. It'll look like this."

You demonstrated the one-two-triple step count in place, glancing up from your own feet to get a read on Loki's expression. He was watching you with one eyebrow raised, his mouth drawn into a flat line. Pausing your demonstration, you motioned toward him.

"Now you try."

The god sighed with a roll of his eyes, repeating the step you'd shown him without looking down. "Ta-da."

"Great. Could use a bit more bounce."

"A god doesn't bounce."

"Well, this god is gonna have to if he wants to have a shot at winning this competition." You folded your arms sternly, nodding your head down toward his feet. "Again. With bounce."

Seemingly startled that you had the courage (or the audacity) to order him around, he nevertheless obliged, repeating the step and adding the jaunty bounce you were demanding of him. Nodding approvingly, you held up a hand to stop him.

"Now - same thing, except now with some forward and back movement." You demonstrated the change in step, and he followed without questioning, mimicking your movement. "Excellent."

"You say that as though you expected any less of me," he boasted.

"Still needs more bounce," you countered with a grin. "You know, you're gonna make yourself dizzy rolling your eyes like that."

"Let's move on, shall we?"

"Ohh, alright. We'll work on the bounce later." Ignoring his murmurings at your persistence, you continued on to demonstrate more of the basic steps he'd need to know.

Admittedly, he wasn't lying about being a fast learner. You barely had to demonstrate a full eight count before he'd picked up on each step, performing them in exact sync with your movements. It was the energy you'd need to work on. He was dreadfully regal and proper in his movements. For a waltz, his style fit perfectly. But for a lively lindy hop, it was really putting a damper on the overall spirit of the dance.

"Ok, Mr. Dancing Expert - let's see how you do with music," you declared, scrolling through your phone to find a good beginner's swing song. Pressing play, you set it down on the floor in the corner of the room and returned to join Loki. Swallowing the awkward anxious butterflies that bubbled up in your stomach, you boldly reached for his hand and pulled him into a closed partner hold. His brows leapt up his forehead, but he didn't say a word as he placed his free hand on your back. "Alright... one-two-three-"

"I beg your pardon - but am I leading or are you?"

Scoffing, you shook your head in defeat. "Go on, then. Lead away."

With a satisfied huff, he took over the count, pulling you into the basic step and rhythm you'd taught him. While the step was technically correct, the mismatch between your pep and his smooth elegance was painfully obvious now that you were dancing together. You found yourself tripping over his feet on occasion where he didn't lift enough or hop back out of the way of your intended path.

"Loki." You stopped and grasped his arms above the elbows after the fifth time you stepped on his toes, staring him straight in the eye. "You have to work with me here. This isn't a waltz. I need you to-"

"Don't tell me to 'bounce.'"

"I know, I know. Just... a little peppy energy might be nice?" He scowled. "Feel the music. No one cares about your regal posture - they want to see liveliness and vigor."

"Yes, yes, alright."

You glanced down at your watch. "We have enough time for one more run through tonight. Let's go through all the basic steps once more to the music."

You swore he was dragging his feet on purpose. Clearly this was punishment for tricking him into this.

"Alright... let's call it a night." Pinching the bridge of your nose in frustration, you turned the music off on your phone. "I'm assigning you homework tonight."

"Homework?"

"Yes. Go on the internet and look at videos of lindy hop dance. You're getting the footwork, but the technique is lacking." Loki scowled at you, eliciting an exasperated sigh. "Don't you want to win? You must want to beat Thor at the very least."

"Thor is participating?"

Why hadn't you thought of this before? If there was one surefire way to motivate Loki to do something, it was to make certain it was at the expense of his older brother.

"Yes. Thor and Jane signed up. Didn't he tell you?"

"He may have mentioned it during his ramblings over breakfast this morning. Honestly, I wasn't listening to a word."

"Nice." It was your turn to roll your eyes. "Well, now you know. Maybe that will motivate you to bounce a bit more, hmm? Thor certainly has that part down."

"Fine. I'll complete my assigned homework before our lesson tomorrow," he drawled.

"Thank you." You motioned for him to head toward the door ahead of you, following him out. "Same time tomorrow, then?"

"Looking forward to it," he responded, voice drenched in sarcasm.

"And here I was thinking you enjoyed hanging out with me," you teased, nudging him with your elbow. He let out a puff of air through his nose, but you were pleased to see his mouth twitch upwards into the beginnings of a grin.

* * *

The following evening, you arrived to find Loki standing outside of the training room ten minutes prior to your two-hour time block. He was gazing at something on his phone screen in his hand, seemingly so invested that he didn't notice you approaching.

"Bucky and Wanda still in there?" you asked, nodding at him in greeting when he glanced up. "Wait - are you doing your homework now?"

Loki gestured broadly around himself. "I do reside here. Is it not still 'homework' now?"

You rolled your eyes, shaking your head and trying to suppress a grin. "You know, when I was in school, if the teacher caught me doing my homework in the beginning of class, I got in trouble for it."

Chuckling deep in his throat, he took a few steps closer to you and brought himself to his full height in an intimidation gesture. "Are you suggesting that I am in trouble with my teacher?"

You tried to suppress a blush at the involuntary thoughts that ran through your mind at his phrasing - thoughts he surely hadn't intended to invoke. Rather than shrinking away, you stood up straighter and squared your shoulders, holding his gaze firmly.

"Are you suggesting you're not afraid of me?"

Loki began to genuinely laugh at that, though he clearly tried to recollect himself and regain his serious and intimidating façade. "Tell me - what exactly is the consequence for not completing my 'homework' on time?"

"I could make you run laps."

"Make me?"

You shrugged. "I found a way to make you join this competition with me, didn't I?"

He leaned closer to shorten the distance between your faces, narrowing his eyes. As he opened his mouth to speak, the door to the training room swung open, drawing both your attention and Loki's toward the open doorway. Bucky and Wanda emerged from inside the training room, appearing winded.

"All yours," Bucky offered, motioning to the now empty room. "Break a leg!"

"I hope you mean that figuratively," you jested, taking a casual step backward to put a respectable amount of distance between yourself and your dance partner.

"Oh, I wouldn't count on that," Wanda interjected with a teasing edge to her tone. "He nearly broke my leg trying to teach me how to do a backflip."

Bucky clicked his tongue at Wanda, shaking his head in disagreement. "Excuse me - I had control over your fall the entire time."

"Yeah, and that's why I twisted my ankle on the landing," she retorted sarcastically, shoving his shoulder playfully. He threw his head back in exasperation.

"Alright, we'll work on it on the sparring mats next time."

"Why in the name of Odin are you doing backflips during a ballroom dance?" Loki asked, clearly both confused and curious.

"It's one of the aerial moves we're doing in our routine," Wanda explained. "Here - Bucky, let's show them."

"I thought you said I was going to break your leg."

"Yeah, well I'll take my chances."

She snatched his hand up in hers, standing with their arms stretched straight between them before spinning inward. Bucky fell straight into step, pulling her into his side and shifting his arm to her waist before using his free arm to scoop up her legs and flip her backward, his outstretched arm at her waist serving as the fulcrum for her to pivot in a full backflip before landing gracefully on the floor.

You winced as you saw a spark of interest and amusement flash in Loki's eyes. You'd been hoping to avoid this aspect of the dance for many reasons - the primary being that you were dancing with a literal god who could likely throw you clear across the room if he used his full strength. Especially considering that god was the God of Mischief.

"That was much better," Wanda praised Bucky with a smile. Turning to you and Loki, she waved in parting. "Have fun you two!"

"And don't actually break a leg!" Bucky added as the two of them stepped past you and headed down the hallway and out of sight.

Bracing yourself, you turned to look at your partner, who suddenly appeared much more earnest to head into the training room and get started. You followed hot on his heels, shaking your head with an incredulous laugh before he could say a word.

"Oh-ho no, I know what you're thinking."

"Why have you not informed me of this aspect of swing dancing?" he demanded, spinning around to face you with a smirk playing on his lips as he continued to walk backward. "It would seem there are far more interesting moves to this style of ballroom dance than these choppy basic steps you've been teaching me."

"Why - because you'd get to throw me around?"

"What's not to enjoy about that?"

"First of all - the fact that you find that enjoyable makes me concerned for my own wellbeing." Loki shrugged, his smirk only growing wider. "Second of all - you can't do an entire routine of just aerials. You do need to know the basics. And third - I never learned how to do them myself."

"Perhaps you should be doing homework as well, then."

"Perhaps if you had done your homework on time, you'd have learned about aerials before Bucky and Wanda went and put crazy ideas in your head."

"If we are to win this competition as you suggested, should you not be thorough in your training?" he countered.

"'Thorough' as in... teach you how to swing me around and risk injury?" you laughed.

"Pfft. Please. I would never drop you."

"How do you know that?"

Loki held a hand to his chest over his heart, mocking offense. "Darling - do you not trust me as your dance partner?"

"As my dance partner? Maybe. As the God of Mischief? Absolutely not." You busied yourself getting the music set up on your phone as Loki sucked the back of his teeth in annoyance.

"Ooh, you're no fun," he griped. You glanced up from your phone and sighed defeatedly.

"Alright, here's the deal. You prove to me you're invested in this - learn the steps AND the technique - and then I'll consider learning a few aerial moves to appease your curiosity."

"I beg your pardon? You are interested in winning this competition, are you not? There's no reward without risk, darling."

"Oh-ho, we're using proverbs now? How about - 'you have to learn to walk before you can run?'" you retorted, setting your phone down on the floor as the music began to play so you could rejoin your partner. "Do we have a deal?"

Loki stared long and hard at you before extending his hand, offering it to you to shake on your bargain. "Deal."

"Wonderful. Maybe now you'll add a little bounce in your step, hmm?" You flashed him a sly smirk, to which he responded with his characteristic eye roll before taking your hand and pulling you into a closed partner hold.

Suddenly, Loki was a much more enthusiastic dance partner than he had been the evening prior. Not only did he repeat the basic steps, but his technique was damn near flawless. You were able to move on quickly to some intermediate steps - turns and kicks like the tandem Charleston.

You'd finally found a way to motivate the sullen god. But of course it would be at your own expense.

By the end of your two hour rehearsal, you were breathless and Loki was smug as ever. He'd left you no room to complain about his degree of effort this time. And while you weren't exactly excited about it, you weren't someone who went back on their word.

"Well then, teacher? Have I proven myself invested enough?" he gloated, smirking as you glowered at his suddenly upbeat demeanor.

"You were... passable, yes."

Loki folded his arms haughtily, undeterred by your indifference. "Then we'll be learning aerials tomorrow, yes?"

You groaned, massaging your temples with your fingers. "Yes, alright. But I reserve the right to veto any that I don't like."

"After we've at least attempted them once," he bartered. You glared at him through narrowed eyes, although you were beginning to find it difficult to maintain your irritated front with the spark of giddy excitement in his eyes.

"Fine. But if I get injured, I'm telling Tony he can sub you in on any missions I would have had to go on." You wandered over to collect your phone and turn off the music.

"I assure you, you'll remain completely unscathed."

"For your sake, I hope so." Phone in hand, you motioned for Loki to follow you out. "I do a lot of undercover missions, and I'm not sure you'd look quite as good as I do in a dress."

"Oh no?" With a shimmering green flash of light, you were suddenly walking beside an exact mirror image of yourself, wearing the little black dress you'd donned on your most recent assignment together. While you were naturally startled seeing your own clone smirking back at you, something about it made you blush furiously.

Perhaps it was the fact that he'd recalled every detail on that damned dress.

"Cut that out," you muttered, shoving his (your?) arm playfully. Snickering, Loki dropped the illusion, looking pleased with himself at your reaction.

As you parted ways, you promised you'd 'do your homework' and research some aerial swing dance moves for the following evening's lesson. Your muscles ached as you rinsed off under the steaming hot water in your shower, only marginally improved by the time you slid under the covers of your bed.

While lying there scrolling through videos on your phone, you were both surprised and a bit unnerved to find there was a lingering buzz of excitement in your chest at the thought of your next lesson. And you could say with certainty that it wasn't the prospect of learning the aerial stunts. You had a nagging feeling it was more about your student than the lesson itself.

* * *

"Alright - we're going to start with some easier ones first before moving on to anything crazy," you insisted sternly at the start of rehearsal the next evening.

"Makes no difference to me," Loki concurred, "I will have no difficulty lifting your mortal self off the ground."

"I'm... not sure if I should take that as a complement or an insult." You pulled up one of the videos you'd saved on your phone the night before. "Ok - this one was the easiest one I found. It's called a 'frog jump.'"

Loki's eyebrows bumped upward skeptically as he leaned over your shoulder to watch the video. "Why would you mortals name a dance move after an amphibian?"

You gestured to the screen as the follower jumped up with a boost from her partner. "Does that not look like a frog jumping to you?" He shrugged. "Alright, not important. Should we try this?"

"Seems rather simple."

"Exactly the point." You grabbed Loki's hand, pulling him into closed partner hold to prepare to try the move. As simple as this aerial was, you already felt butterflies in your stomach at the thought of executing it. "Ok - now... don't launch me to the ceiling, alright?"

"Nervous, agent?" he drawled with a smirk.

"Very. Now focus - I'll count us off."

With a four-count lead, you stepped back into the rock step shown in the video, then planted your feet and sprang upwards in a hop. Loki boosted your momentum, pushing upwards against your hand held in his. You let out an embarrassingly high-pitched squeak as your jump peaked at Loki's shoulder height, stomach somersaulting as you dropped back down and landed on your feet. True to his word, Loki stabilized you with his hand at your back, preventing you from falling over on landing.

"Whahat was that noise?!" he asked teasingly with a laugh. You scowled, releasing his hand and running your fingers through your hair to self-soothe.

"Don't laugh!”

“Don’t tell me you’re afraid of heights.”

“No! Just… well, only when I don’t have control over how high up I am.”

Loki placed both his hands on your shoulders, ducking to capture your gaze. He was still grinning, but he had a serious look in his eyes. “I swear to you, I won’t allow any harm to come to you.”

You gave him a hard look. “… promise?”

“I promise.”

“Ohh… alright, let’s try again.” You stepped back from Loki, pacing around a moment and shaking out the nervous tremors in your hands as you let out a heavy breath. Then, returning to your place in front of your partner, you nodded to confirm you were prepared. “Ready. Ok.”

“Ok.” His blue-green irises shimmered with amusement, earning him a scorning look.

You allowed him to count off this time, executing the lift once again, sans squeaking. You were pleased with yourself on that, although the same embarrassing sound had nearly burst out of your throat once again as your momentum peaked at the top of the jump and gravity took hold. Once again, you landed safely with Loki’s hand on your back to steady you.

“That went quite well, I’d say,” he praised with a grin, his eyes still dancing with the unspoken teases he surely was suppressing. “Shall we try another?”

“Ugh, alright.” You searched your video files to find another seemingly simple lift. None of them seemed nearly as easy as the one you’d just learned, and even that was a struggle. After grappling with yourself internally for a few moments, you showed Loki another lift you were willing to try. “This one is called an A-frame jump. It sets the framework for additional, more complex lifts later on.”

“Alright then. Let’s give it a try.”

You turned your back to your partner, heartbeat ticking up in anticipation of the lift. As demonstrated in the video, Loki placed his hands firmly on either side of your waist, and you clasped your own hands around his wrists. You allowed him to count off once again, preparing to spring straight upwards so Loki could boost your jump height by lifting you at the waist.

At the end of the count off, you bent your knees to jump as Loki’s fingers dug into your sides to get a firmer grip. The suddenness of it made you splutter and laugh and fold in on yourself at the ticklish touch, all efforts to jump into the lift forgotten. You knew before he’d even said anything that there was no way to spin a lie around what just happened.

"Oh dear. A bit ticklish, are we?"

"N-no... Lo-KI!" You squeaked as his fingertips contracted into your sides just once. Squeezing his wrists in protest, you twisted to free your waist of his hands, but he held fast. "Nohoho! Thi-HIS" - another jab at your sides - "Loki this isn't h-HA-helping!"

"On the contrary - you appear much less tense," he argued teasingly, shifting his hands forward a bit and scratching gently at the sides of your belly where his fingertips rested.

"Ohokay I'm relAHAXED damnit!" you squealed, knees buckling a bit underneath you. "LOKI! We hahave to practice!"

"Ohh alright." He relented, allowing his hands to rest more firmly on your sides while you recollected yourself and straightened your posture. "Shall I count off again, then?"

"Yes, go on."

"Are you going to burst into giggles this time?" You whined, throwing your hands over your burning cheeks. A rumble of a laugh escaped your dance partner. "I've never seen you this flustered, agent. I'm learning such interesting facts about you this evening."

"Sh-AHAH-shut up!" you growled, jolting as he threw in one last squeeze for emphasis. "Now count off before I change my mind."

He obliged finally, careful this time not to dig his fingertips into your waist so much as he hoisted you up in tandem with your jump. But the God of Mischief couldn't simply let this slide. At the peak of the lift, he began tickling your sides once again, causing you to jerk and involuntarily slam your heel into his stomach. With a grunt of pain, he lowered you back down to the ground, still careful to place you steady on your feet before doubling over with his arms wrapped around his abdomen.

"Sorry! I'm sorry!" you gasped, throwing your hand over your mouth as you turned to face him. You did feel badly, of course, but you mostly wanted to hide the self-righteous smirk that spread across your face. "Are you ok?"

"Mmhmm." His voice was a bit strained. "Darling, I'm a god, you can't possibly injure me that badly."

"Well you sure sound like it hurts." Folding your arms across your chest, you gave him a chastising look. "Maybe that will teach you not to tickle me, hmm?" He didn't respond as he recovered from the sting of the blow, slowly lowering his arms from around his torso as the pain ebbed away. "Can we try the lift for real this time?"

He conceded, setting himself up behind you to attempt the aerial once more. This time around, you successfully executed the move, testing it out once more after that for good measure. You were beginning to feel more at ease. Loki's hands were steady, his arms strong. Safe, even. Familiar.

When did that happen?

"A-alright, let's try another one," you suggested, fumbling to hide the feeling of the sudden burst of butterflies in your stomach. You selected a more complicated lift this time, now that you were feeling more comfortable with the notion that he, indeed, wasn't going to launch you across the room with his godly strength. Avoiding his gaze, you passed your phone to him to view the video instruction for the move.

"Are you certain you're ready for this one?" he asked, an air of surprise in his tone.

"Yup. I'm just gonna rip the band-aid off and give it a shot."

"You know..." The wary edge to his voice drew your gaze up to meet his. "... you have to trust me completely if we are to do a lift this complicated."

"I know. I... I trust you."

"Are you certain?" he pressured. You nodded, taking your phone back to place it off to the side in a safe corner. "Alright, then. On your count."

You stepped out beside Loki with your hand held in his, arms outstretched between the pair of you. The lift required you to leap into his arms, where he would catch you in a cradle hold position. Following this, he would have to swing your legs around and catch them behind himself across the back of your knees. The final, most challenging piece was when he'd need to maintain his hold at your legs and swing your upper body back around to catch you in a cradle hold once again. The move was aptly titled 'around the world.'

After counting off, you turned and kicked your legs up so Loki could catch you in his arms. You wrapped your own arms around his neck and braced your core muscles for the next part, but he simply held you there a moment.

"You know... you really shouldn't put such trust in the God of Mischief," he hummed, a smirk breaking out across his face. As you opened your mouth to ask what he was playing at, you felt his fingers scratching at your uppermost ribs under your arm where his hand rested. You screeched, kicking frantically as you were consumed by ticklish laughter.

"LOHOKI!! YOU JEHEHERK!!" you cried, bringing your arm down from around his neck to block your side with your bicep. Undeterred, he continued wriggling his fingers rapidly in the shrinking space between your arm and your ribs, adding a gentle scribbling of his fingers on his other hand where they rested against the side of your leg. "PUHUT ME DOHOWN!"

"Mm, no, I think not. We haven't yet addressed the fact that you kicked me."

"Ihit wahas YOHOUR FAULT!" You were squirming harder now, twisting in your best attempt to get him to let your legs drop to the ground. He paused to toss you up a bit and adjust his grip, then re-initiated his efforts, digging his thumbs each into the back of your thigh and the back of your ribs.

"Care to say that again?" Your thrashing was clearly beginning to make him nervous about dropping you, so he slowly lowered you down to lay on the floor where he could safely continue his ticklish assault, latching both hands onto your lower ribs.

"I-hi... LOHOKI! IHI APOHOLOGIZED!!"

"Yes, but your heart wasn't in it, I think." His deft fingers kneaded and pinched their way up your ribcage. "Especially considering you are still blaming me for the incident."

"I STAHAND BY IHIT!"

Loki cocked his head to the side with a pitying click of his tongue. "You're just begging for me to tickle you senseless."

Heat rushed to your cheeks at his teasing remark, eyes widening as his tickling fingers shifted to a particularly sensitive spot on your belly just below your ribcage. "No-no-nohoho - OHOKAY I'M SOHORRY!!" You hooked your fingers underneath his in a desperate effort to block his access to this newfound spot, only serving to make him increase his efforts, scribbling rapidly with all ten fingers against the fabric overlaying the soft skin. Giving up, you threw your head back and beat your heels against the floor in desperation. And at last, he ceased his attack, grinning impishly down at your disheveled state.

"Perhaps now you'll find the aerials less stressful?" he suggested tauntingly, offering you a hand to sit up as the residual giggles escaped your lips. "Now that I've discovered a foolproof method to make you laugh."

"Yohou are the wohorst," you grumbled, hardly sounding annoyed with that silly grin still plastered to your face. "Can we please rehearse now? You've wasted like ten minutes of our rehearsal block."

He feigned offense at your statement. "I believe you know as well as I that we are far beyond where you anticipated we would be in terms of learning the steps. As I understand it, we still have a week remaining before the competition, is that right?"

"Well... technically, I suppose..."

"Then you've got nothing to worry about," he assured.

"Yes, but we still have to finish learning these aerials, and then I need to choreograph a routine, and we'll need time to practice it-"

"Darling, if you don't relax, I'll be forced to make you."

Heat prickled in your cheeks at the implication. "Ok, ok. I'm fine. I'm relaxed. Let's try it again, but for real this time."

You refused to admit to him that you were more relaxed after he'd tormented you into a fit of giggles. It took a couple of attempts to get the lift completely right, but you succeeded eventually. With each new move you attempted, you felt less and less nervous. Loki - a powerful, sometimes vengeful being - was so uncharacteristically careful and delicate in the way he swept you up in his arms or lifted you up off the ground. And while he was persistent in his teasing, he always kept things light-hearted - never causing you to feel inadequate, even when you accidentally elbowed him in the face or stepped on his foot.

"I think next rehearsal we're ready to start building a routine!" you declared enthusiastically as your two hour time block came to a close. "We really could have a shot at winning this."

"Did you ever have any doubts?" Loki asked haughtily.

"Well..."

He raised his eyebrows, tilting his chin down to gaze at you warningly. "Consider your answer carefully."

"Nope! No doubts," you spat quickly, eyeing his hands at his sides warily. A teasing smirk spread across his face. "Same time tomorrow then?"

"Looking forward to it."

That night, you found your mind drifting blissfully to the feeling of being cradled in Loki's arms.

* * *

As the days passed and time drew closer and closer to the night of the competition, your thoughts strayed to your dance partner more and more often between rehearsals. Now that Loki had stopped being so sullen and cranky about having to participate, your practice time was productive and, dare you say, enjoyable. You'd always been personable with Loki, but outside of any group gatherings or team missions, he didn't otherwise occupy much space in your brain. But now, having grown accustomed to the teasing and playful banter between the pair of you each evening throughout your rehearsals, you found your heart aching at the notion that this was all going to end in just a few days.

You couldn't help but wonder if he'd miss your rehearsals as well. Not that you'd ever ask.

The evening of the competition arrived far too soon for your liking. The anxious, excited energy was palpable in the tower throughout the entirety of the morning. With the training room off limits, couples were finding anywhere they could to practice - the hallways, the kitchen, the common room... Tony even dragged Pepper outside to practice on the sidewalk in front of the tower at one point. Fortunately for her, the city of New York already knew of Tony Stark's eclectic tendencies.

Gradually, the participants began to disappear into their rooms to get dressed and ready for the event. Tony had hired a limousine to transport the attendees to the venue from the tower, and so you had a deadline to meet to catch your ride. You pulled out the vintage-styled dress you'd chosen for the occasion and slipped it on, smoothing out the wide-flared skirt against your legs as you gazed at your reflection in the mirror. With your hair and makeup done up to fit the theme, you looked like you were straight out of the 1950s.

A quiet knocking at your door pulled your attention from the mirror.

"Door's open," you called, turning around. The door opened to reveal your Asgardian dance partner for the evening, already donning his own swing dance outfit.

Maybe it was the dress shirt, vest, and tie combination. Or, perhaps it was the black fedora he had settled upon his dark locks with the brim tilted slightly downward in the front. Either way - damn he made retro look good.

With a debonair grin, Loki crossed the room to close the distance between the pair of you, scooping up your hand and lifting it over your head to twirl you around. The skirt of your dress flared around you, settling back against your legs as he caught you in his arms and dipped you backwards. A giggly squeak of surprise burst from your throat.

"Loki! You're supposed to warn me when you're going to dip me," you scolded half-heartedly, trying to give him a hard look but failing miserably at hiding your grin.

"Ah, yes, you mentioned that. But where would the fun in that be?" He pulled you to stand upright once again just as you were beginning to lose control of the blush forming in your cheeks. "Are you ready to depart?"

"Lead the way."

He offered you his arm, and you slipped your hand around the crook of his elbow. Together, you headed down to the lobby of the tower where the limousine would be waiting outside to pick up the group.

Seeing everyone in their swing attire really began to set the scene for the evening's soiree. The guys were all dressed in various degrees of formality, ranging from a simple dress shirt, suspenders, and tie that Clint sported all the way to a full fledged zoot suit worn by none other than Tony Stark himself. For the ladies, various flouncy dresses and shirt-skirt combinations, all with brightly-colored fabrics and bold patterns.

The venue itself, though, was what really tied everything together.

Tony had rented out a dinner theater hall, complete with a broad platform stage and show lighting. The room was brightly lit for the wait staff to begin serving the donors and ticket holders as people gradually filtered in and found their tables. Outfits ranged across decades, including attire as early as the flapper dresses from the 1920s to the wide-skirted shirt dresses and poodle skirts of the 1950s. The décor was reminiscent mainly of the 20s era, with glittering golds, blacks, and whites throughout the tables and the walls.

Tables had been reserved for the dancers toward the front by the edge of the stage to allow couples to watch one another's performances (and, also, eat their own dinner of course). Tony directed your group toward the corner table, where twelve chairs had been set around a circular table set with black and white place cards and a feathery centerpiece in a vase. As you took your seats, a waiter stopped by to hand out champagne flutes filled with sparkling wine.

"Shall we toast to a fun and friendly competition, then?" Thor declared, holding up his glass.

"Friendly? Who said anything about friendly?" Tony jested. Pepper nudged him hard in the ribs with her elbow. "Ouch, alright I'm kidding!"

"Cheers to our fine-looking band of misfits," Bucky toasted, tapping his glass against Wanda's before turning to meet Steve's glass next. You laughed, joining in the clinking of glasses before taking a long sip of the bubbling liquid.

As the salad course began to come out, Tony took the stage to provide his characteristic grand welcome speech and to thank all the generous donors for providing to the charity fund. He then turned the evening over to Happy, the emcee for the evening, and ducked backstage to prepare for his and Pepper's dance.

The nerves began to set in as the lights dimmed overhead and the stage lights brightened, spotlighting Pepper and Tony on the stage. You barely ate a bite of your salad, pushing a tomato around your plate with your fork as you watched their near flawless dance routine. Who knew Tony could actually dance?

A hand suddenly rested atop your knee beneath the table, startling you. Whipping your head around, you shot Loki an annoyed look.

"Nervous?" he asked over the round of applause erupting throughout the room.

"N-no, of course not. What made you think that?"

"Your knee has been bouncing for the last ten minutes."

It was only then that you noticed you'd been anxiously bouncing your leg under the table, even despite Loki's hand pressing down against your knee in efforts to make it stop. Now that you were conscious of it, you allowed yourself to relax and try to sit still.

"I'm fine. Not nervous at all."

"Good, because we're up next."

"What??" You nearly leapt out of your seat, much to Loki's amusement. He laughed, shaking his head teasingly.

"It was a joke. But I'd say that proves my point."

"I'm not nervous."

"Darling, you can't lie to me," he whispered, pinching the muscle above your knee ticklishly to emphasize the word. With a squeak, your hand shot out involuntarily to grab his wrist under the table as you shot daggers at him with your eyes.

"Don't you dare."

"Don't I dare... what? Do this?" He squeezed your knee rapidly a few times, making you giggle and squirm to escape his touch.

"Yes. That- Lohoki!" You shrieked as he released your leg to slide his hand around to the underside of your knee, scratching gently at the bare skin just below where the hem of your skirt rested. A playful swat to his arm made him stop and retract his hand, smirking as he gazed at you out of the corner of his eye. "You're flustering me right before we're supposed to dance."

"Perhaps I enjoy flustering you, agent." His hand latched onto your side and pinched swiftly, just enough to make you double over sideways to arch away from his touch.

"Not before we dance."

"After, then? Is that explicit permission?"

"... No." Your face was white hot. Luckily he couldn't see you well in the dim overhead lighting. Glancing up to find anywhere else to divert your attention to while Clint and Laura got set up on stage to dance, your eyes met Natasha's across the table. Her eyebrows bumped upward as her eyes flitted down to the table where clearly she'd elucidated something was going on underneath. You shook your head wildly when you realized what she must be thinking, covering your face in your hands much to her amusement.

One by one, each couple was called up to dance, each outdoing the previous couple before them with their skill and artistry. There were a few other couples from outside of the Avengers who'd signed up to compete, but none could hold a candle to Bucky and Wanda's amazing and technically challenging routine.

And then, Happy was calling you and Loki to the stage.

You couldn't recall the last time you'd felt this nervous about something. All the dangerous and terrifying stunts you'd had to pull on missions, and yet this was what did you in. Although, in all fairness, there weren't hundreds of people watching when you performed your crazy moves on missions.

The white stage lights were blinding when you reached the center of the stage and gazed out into the crowd. At least you couldn't really see the sea of faces with such bright bulbs shining down in your eyes. You turned toward Loki to prepare to start the dance, and he took your hand in his and gave it a squeeze.

"You'll be wonderful," he whispered honestly, no hint of a smirk on his face for once.

"Thanks," you breathed in response. You took your starting position then, waiting patiently for the music to start.

And then, you began to dance.

The rhythm of the song was infectious, with a bold brassy melody and a syncopated drumbeat driving the percussion section. Loki had complete control as he led you twirling across the dance floor, executing every step in perfect synchronization with yours. All the nagging about adding 'bounce' to his step had really paid off - his technique was near flawless. The nervous butterflies in your stomach slowly ebbed away as you lost yourself in the dance. The buzz of the crowd swelled with each lift you performed, but you barely paid any mind - you were too focused on the strong, safe, confident grip of your partner as he effortlessly swept you up in his arms.

As the song came to an end, Loki tugged to spin you inward toward himself and whisked you into a dip, one arm securely wrapped around your waist. The radiant applause filled your ears as you smiled giddily up at him, breathless from the energy of the dance.

"You were amazing!" you praised, throwing your arms around Loki the moment he'd stood you upright without giving it much thought. Hesitating only a moment, he returned your embrace, squeezing you tight. You took your bows before stepping off stage to head back to your table.

"Did you expect any less of me?" Loki asked teasingly. "Though, I suppose I must admit, your lessons helped some."

"Oh, did they? Just 'some' you say?"

"Yes, I already possessed the natural prowess for the art of dance, even before your lessons."

You snorted. "Without my help, you'd have been as robotic as Vision."

"Brother!" Thor's booming voice captured your attention as you reached your table in front of the stage. "I'd no idea you had it in you!"

"Oh, believe me, it took quite a bit of practice," you muttered, earning a pinch to the side from your partner.

"Ah, yes - you should win an award of your own for putting up with Loki's mischief for so long, agent," Thor bellowed, patting you on the shoulder heavily as you took your seat between the brothers.

"Heh. Yeah," you concurred with a half-hearted chuckle. In the back of your mind, you wondered if it was really all that tedious. The reminder that you would no longer have these evening dance rehearsals together made your heart sink.

With the dancing part of the evening over, you were much more relaxed as you chatted and ate dinner with your fellow teammates. You were acutely aware of the fact that Loki had reached over and draped his arm across the back of your chair casually as he engaged in conversation. Secretly, you wished he'd have just wrapped it around your shoulders to pull you closer.

"Alright everyone - the results of your votes are in!" Happy declared as the wait staff cleared dinner plates from the tables. "I'd like to call our lovely couples to the stage for one last round of applause."

The room erupted with cheers as you stood with the other dancers of the evening. Loki took your hand in his without a word, lifting it to usher you up the stairs to the stage as he trailed behind. Happy was making some dig at Tony's suit as you and Loki took your place between Thor and Jane and Steve and Nat. Loki released your hand in favor of sliding his arm around your waist, resting his hand at your hip.

"Our third place couple this evening is..." Happy glanced down at the paper in his hands, chuckling. "Obviously Pepper did the heavy lifting here - Tony and Pepper!"

"You're just jealous you don't have moves like I do," Tony retorted, nudging Happy with his elbow as he and Pepper stepped forward to claim their title.

"Oh I don't have moves like you do, but jealous might not be the right word for it," Happy countered with a grin. "Anyway - our second place couple is... Wanda and Barnes!"

"Wow. I'm surprised they didn't win it after executing that crazy aerial," you mumbled, applauding with the others as Bucky and Wanda took their bows.

"And now... our first place winners of the competition this evening..."

Loki's grip on your waist tightened, tugging you closer to his side in anticipation. You'd resolved yourself to the fact that you hadn't placed this evening. Steve and Nat had a flawless routine, and Thor and Jane were bubbly and bouncy enough to draw raging applause from the crowd. One of them had clearly won the competition.

When Happy announced the winner, your ears were ringing too loudly to catch the names. It was only when Loki suddenly turned toward you with the most excited expression you'd ever seen grace his features that you realized it was your own name Happy had announced.

"We won?" you asked, wide-eyed. Loki laughed at your dumbfounded expression, grasping your waist with both hands.

"Yes, darling - we won!"

An excited shriek burst from your throat at his confirmation, and you threw your arms around his neck. Loki used your momentum to wrap his arms around your waist and lift you off the floor, twirling you around once in his hold. The pair of you stepped forth to take a bow, overwhelmed by the loud applause of the crowd - the loudest coming from your teammates behind you.

The remainder of the evening was a whirlwind of congratulatory wishes from your friends and colleagues as the fundraiser wrapped up. Tony closed by announcing he'd be matching the total amount donated for the evening before submitting the funds to charity, earning himself a roaring round of applause. By the time you'd all climbed in the limo to head home, the exhaustion was evident on every one of your teammate's faces. The steady rumbling of the tires rolling down the road and the scrolling of the streetlights shining through the window lulled you to sleep, awaking to find you'd slumped over onto Loki's shoulder once you'd arrived home. You muttered sleep-rasped apologies as you sat up and exited the limo to head inside, to which Loki insisted you needn't worry about it.

Collectively, everyone opted to retire to bed for the evening. Loki continued to be the gentleman he'd been all night, walking you to your room. For someone who had taken so much pleasure in pushing your buttons, he'd been behaving quite out of character for most of the evening. You certainly weren't complaining.

As you approached your bedroom door, the reality of this being the end of your one-on-one time together weighed on your heart. Of course you'd see him around the tower as you always did, but it just didn't feel like enough.

"So... was it really all that terrible doing this competition?" you asked teasingly as you paused in front of your door.

"While I'm still a bit resentful that you found a way to trick me, I'll admit... it was... enjoyable."

"Well, thanks for earning me a win."

"The credit goes to you, darling."

You were silent a moment, trying to decide what to say. Resting your hand on your doorknob, you smiled weakly up at Loki. "Well... I'll see you around?"

"Yes, I suppose you will." His expression was blank, unreadable. With a nod, he turned and began to head down the hallway to retire to his own room. Your heart was pounding in your chest as you watched him recede, battling internally between the desire to call out to him and the innate instinct to hide your feelings. The end result was somewhere in between.

"Loki!"

He turned at the sound of his name, those fiercely blue-green eyes of his capturing yours and trapping the words in your throat. His head tilted slightly, urging you to continue.

"I... uh..."

"Yes, agent?" he asked, the corners of his mouth curling up into a devilish grin as he realized you were stammering.

"I just thought maybe... er..." You choked on your words as he took a few steps towards you.

"You seem rather flustered again, darling. What is it you're trying to tell me?"

"Oh, shut it, you."

"That's rather rude of you. I am merely trying to be polite and listen to whatever it is you have to say." His grin broadened as your eyes narrowed and your cheeks began to burn. "Go on, then."

"You know what? Never mind," you stated with a huff, folding your arms across your chest.

"But now you have me curious, agent. Tell me what it was."

"Nope. You're out of luck - no-no, don't you dahare Loki!" You shrank backwards as he reached out suddenly and grabbed your waist, gently kneading his fingers into your sides. "Nohoho! Noho, that's nohot fair!"

"Then spit it out, darling." His fingers darted up your ribs and you grasped his wrists, giggling helplessly and squirming away from his ticklish touch.

"I-hi... Lohoki! I juhust... HEHEY!" You squeaked as he slotted his fingers up under your arms, doubling over and squeezing his forearms in protest. "I JUHUST WANTED TOHO... LOHOKI I CAHAN'T!"

He tickled his way bad down to your sides to allow you the wherewithal to speak. "Well?"

"I-hi wanted toho ask if you w-aha-wanted to doho something tomorrow."

Loki's fingers stilled at your sides, hands resting firmly against your waist. "Do something?"

"Y-yeah, like... I don't know... hang out?"

A fond grin broke out on his face. "Agent - have you taken a liking to me?"

"Pshh... I-I just figured that you'd miss me now that you're done with my lessons."

"Oh-ho, did you?" He gently pushed against your waist and you stepped backward, your back hitting the wall behind you. You held Loki's gaze, noting how his expression softened.

"Well... wouldn't you?"

He chuckled deep in his throat. "Yes, darling. I would."

With that, he ducked down and captured your lips with his. You melted into his kiss, wrapping your arms around his neck as his slid around your waist.

As it turned out - you hadn't tricked Loki into doing anything. If you'd simply asked him to dance in the competition with you, he'd have said yes in a heartbeat. Because, when it came to finding Loki's intrinsic motivation, there was one surefire thing that could get him to do most anything:

You.

#AAAAAA this is so great!!!#I used to dance!! I did a few semesters of modern and jazz! never swing though but it’s always seemed super interesting!!#I love this so so much holy hell #you have such a way with words dude omg. this felt like a movie!! I could see everything happening in my head it was lovely!!#this is definitely one of my favorites you’ve written 💕#I just!!! aaaaaa!!! this was so fun!!#I’ve been pretty sad for a while and I did so much smiling and laughing and squealing while reading and it felt good 🥺#I always get so excited when I see a new post from you! I’m excited to keep reading your work 🥰#loki laufeyson #not mine

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bingo-writes · 2 years

Text

Belonging

Word count: 5,650

Pairing: Wanda x female reader (platonic)

Warnings: Mildly traumatic past, reader with social anxiety

It's been a hot minute since I've posted, but I've finally finished a fic! By request in this Prompt from 💃🏻 anon, here is my first Wanda fic!

I haven't been using "y/n" in my fics recently, but this one includes it as a specific request by the prompt requester. There was also an added prompt from another anon that I incorporated (the prompt refers to Gone Soft, requesting that reader gets Wanda back).

Thanks for being patient!

That first morning you awoke in your new bed in the Avengers tower, you wondered if you were still asleep.

It wouldn't be the first time you'd dreamt of having a real home. You hadn't known the comfort of a soft bed in years. Not since the day they'd stripped you from your family and locked you away in an icy, sterile research laboratory.

They'd studied you. Observed you. Run countless tests and experiments to try to elucidate what it was that made you unique. How did a young girl such as yourself, one with no known exposures to the Infinity Stones and without a magical lineage to speak of, become graced with the power of telekinesis?

The HYDRA scientists never hurt you physically. You were far too valuable for them to inflict the torturously painful analyses you knew they were treating many of the other test subjects to. At the time of your capture, you had the benefit of being young and naïve, willing to go along with anything they requested of you so long as they provided you the room and board you'd been promised for your cooperation. But although they treated you compassionately in comparison to the others, you were still isolated and alone.

Any memory you had of your previous life, before you were taken into captivity for almost a decade, was a hazy blur in the depths of your mind. You had come to accept that this was how you'd live out your days - alone, with no family to speak of, a mere lab rat in HYDRA's twisted labyrinth of tunnels and glass rooms under constant surveillance by dozens of eyes.

When the door to your holding cell burst open suddenly three days ago, you're first assumption was that they'd tired of playing nice, and had come to drag you kicking and screaming to the Mind Stone chamber. Two men charged inside, much stronger-looking than the men you were used to interacting with in the research facility. You launched a chair across the room with your powers as a distraction, ducking down beneath the hard white bench you'd called a bed for so long and pleading with them not to hurt you. They knelt down beside you with a softness in their eyes that you just didn't trust.

"We're not gonna hurt you," one of them assured, holding out a hand that you were surprised to find was made of some metallic substance. You shied away from him, receding further into your hiding place with trembling pleas for mercy.

Grimacing with a glance at his hand, the man rose to his feet and took a few steps back, mumbling something under his breath. Then, a woman, previously hidden from view behind the two men's bodies, knelt down in his place.

Her stormy blue eyes locked with yours, and almost instantly you felt a sense of calm wash over you. She offered you a kind, sympathetic smile, holding out her own hand just as the man standing behind her had done previously.

"Take my hand. You're safe now."

Her voice was gentle, melodic, with a hint of a foreign accent as though she'd just recently been learning to drop it. Hesitantly, you reached out toward her outstretched hand, your own fingers trembling as they met the warm skin of her palm. Her fingers curled around yours, gently tugging to lead you out from your hiding place and lift you to your feet.

"My name is Wanda. This is Bucky-" she motioned toward the metal-armed man, "-and Sam-" she turned and gestured toward the man standing beside Bucky. "We're here to rescue you."

"Rescue... me?" It couldn't be possible. Surely, HYDRA was attempting some new experiment on you to make you hallucinate. No one knew of your existence. No one even knew where to find this research laboratory, housed in a remote area of the Faroe Islands. How could this woman possibly be telling you the truth?

A blast echoed from down the hallway, followed by pounding footsteps. The three alleged rescuers glanced at one another for only a moment, exchanging resolute expressions before the two men - Bucky and Sam, as Wanda had called them - leapt into action and sprinted down the hallway.

"Wait- wh-where are we going?"

Wanda slid her arm around your shoulders, shielding you with herself. "I'll explain when we're safe. For now - I need you to trust me. Can you do that?"

Her stormy eyes met your wide ones, pleading with you to to believe her. Taking a steadying breath, you nodded.

"Yes. I trust you."

With a weak smile, Wanda began to usher you along with her, through the door of your cell and out into the hallway. The pair of you sprinted side by side, her arm still wrapped tightly around your shoulders as you huddled against her side for protection, trusting in this woman fully to keep you safe.

You knew these hallways well. A trained rat in a cage, you had traveled them time and time again in your years here at the HYDRA research facility. And yet, they looked so foreign to you now that you were without specific direction, without an escort to ensure you arrived in the proper observation room. These rescuers were attempting to lead you to the one place HYDRA never trained you to find.

Bucky and Sam cleared the path ahead of any assaulting HYDRA officers as the four of you tore down the halls. When a man suddenly leapt out from a side room in front of yourself and Wanda, she'd lifted her free hand before you could even consider what you might launch at the offending officer with your telekinesis, slamming him with a burst of scarlet red magic emanating from her fingertips. Before you knew it, you were seeing something you'd long since given up hope of seeing ever again in your lifetime:

Daylight.

The journey from there was all a blur in your mind. You recalled boarding an aircraft piloted by a third man - blonde, this one - and found a seat close to a window so you could sit and marvel at the sunshine and the wispy clouds whizzing past. The men spoke to one another in hushed tones, glancing at you with pity-laden expressions. The woman, Wanda, spent the first half of the trip explaining where you'd be going, who else you'd be meeting, where you'd be staying, how you'd be under the protection of a team called the Avengers whom the four of them worked for. The second half, she sat by your side in silence, offering you intermittent comforting smiles as she likely realized how egregiously overwhelmed you were.

Before you knew it, you were being led inside a skyscraper from a landing pad on the 81st floor. A dark-haired, spectacled man met your rescuers at the door, glancing at you warily before shooting them a questioning look.

"What is this, adopt-a-hostage?" he asked sarcastically. Wanda shot him a sharp glance, and you swore you saw a tint of red blaze in her irises.

"She's been there for almost ten years. Found her file," Sam responded coolly, handing him a folder. "She has nowhere else to go."

"And we have more than enough space, don't we, Tony?" Wanda added, more as a statement than a question. The man - Tony, apparently - was too busy flipping through a stack of pages housed in your file to respond at first. After apparently reading everything he felt he needed to know at that moment, he flipped the folder shut and fixed his eyes on you.

"You have telekinetic powers?"

"Uh... yes." You nodded slowly, unsure what else to say.

"Are you going to be a threat to us?" he pressured, gaze unwavering.

"I- no, of course not, sir."

Seemingly satisfied, he nodded approvingly, reaching out and patting you firmly on the shoulder. "Welcome to the team, kid."

"What? Oh, no, I-"

"There will be plenty of time for your recruiting efforts another day," Wanda interjected, her expression resolute. "What she needs now is a place to sleep and start getting back to living a normal life."

Bucky snorted at her comment. "You think living here is a normal life?"

"Alright, as normal as it'll get right now." With a huff of annoyance, Wanda took you gently by the elbow and began to lead you to a wide set of silver doors, which slid open to reveal an elevator. The pair of you stepped inside and rode up to the 87th floor, where Wanda then led you across an expansive lounge-like seating area and into another room.

After so long living in a cell with nothing but sterile white walls and uncomfortable furniture, you were certain any bedroom would look appealing. Still, the grandeur of this room was more than you had anticipated. With walls painted soft lavender, the room was at least three times the size of your cell at the research facility. Not to mention, it housed a large, palatial-appearing four-poster bed - far more comfortable-looking than the unforgivingly solid bench you'd slept on.

"I know you're probably completely overwhelmed right now," Wanda stated softly, drawing your gaze away from the sturdy-looking oakwood dresser to store the clothes you didn't possess. "I underwent HYDRA experiments too. Both my brother and I."

You gave her a weak smile. "Thanks for getting me out of there."

"My pleasure." She gestured to the door. "My bedroom is a few doors down. If you need anything... well, Tony technically owns this place, but I can just ask his girlfriend. She's a lot less... irritating." She winked, and you chuckled despite yourself. "Get settled. Take as long as you need."

Wanda left you to yourself for the evening, giving you the space to process everything that had happened. Part of you was incredibly anxious about being in a new place, surrounded by unfamiliar faces. And yet, the soft allure of the mattress of your new bed was so inviting, you managed to drift off to sleep soon after lying down with little difficulty.

Now, here you were - awakening in the room you couldn't yet call home, but certainly closer to it than the cell you'd slept in only yesterday. You had to pinch yourself to make sure you weren't actually dreaming. But this was real - the bed, the window, the sunlight streaming into the room and casting a glowing beam along the plush carpet.

A soft knock at the door alerted you to Wanda's presence in the doorway. She smiled earnestly at you from across the room, eyebrows bumping in question.

"Did you sleep well?" she asked.

"Yes, thank you. Better than I have in years."

Her face contorted into a pitying wince. "Yeah, they don't exactly provide the most comfortable accommodations, those HYDRA experimenters." It was then you noticed the clothing she held bunched in her arms. She must have noticed your shifting gaze, because she crossed the room to set the clothing on the edge of your bed. "I thought you might need an outfit that wasn't standard issue from HYDRA."

"Yeah, I can't say I'll be saving these," you chuckled halfheartedly, glancing down at your plain gray, scratchy polyester T-shirt and pants. You took the outfit Wanda had laid out for you in your hands, inspecting the pair of jeans and the soft cotton T-shirt. "Thank you for this. For everything."

"It's the least I can do. These guys did the same for me after my time with HYDRA. I figure I can pay it forward." Wanda smiled kindly, patting your knee through the blanket before taking a step backward. "Why don't you take as long as you want to get cleaned up, and we'll have breakfast ready for you? I'm sure the others will want to meet you."

"Oh. Yeah, er... sounds great!"

Truthfully, you thought to yourself as Wanda exited your bedroom, you weren't sure how much they really wanted to meet you. After Tony's reaction yesterday, you feared you'd be perceived as a threat. At minimum, you would certainly appear as an outsider to these heroes who called themselves the Avengers. It had been so very long since you last had any human interaction outside of the experimentation. You weren't even certain you knew how to behave around other people anymore. They'd probably just think you were weird.

After a long, hot bath, you dressed yourself in the outfit Wanda had selected for you. It fit almost perfectly. You'd have to ask her how she knew what sizes to give you. With a deep breath, you turned and exited your bedroom, wandering the halls of the vast tower for the first time on your own in search of the dining area for breakfast.

"Ah, I believe your new companion has located the dining room," a male voice stated as you entered the room where, already, a crowd was huddled around the table eating breakfast. Gaze flitting around the room, you realized it was a purplish-red-colored android who had spoken. Beside it (him?) stood Wanda, who turned and met your gaze with a welcoming smile. She introduced you by name to the others sitting around the oversized table, motioning for you to take a seat and have something to eat. The android - Vision, he told you to call him - placed a stack of pancakes on a plate and slid it across the table to rest in front of where you sat.

You sat and ate your pancakes as the tower inhabitants made pleasant conversation with one another, listening wordlessly. The others didn't ask you many questions over breakfast. You preferred it that way - you were far too overwhelmed to even make friendly small-talk, let alone discuss the intricate details of your past. As a result, you didn't attempt to participate in any of the conversations going on around you. Not when Thor and Steve got in an argument over which brand of syrup was best, or when Sam began teasing Steve about his old-fashioned outlook on life. ("Seriously - nobody's even heard of that syrup brand in this decade!")

You couldn't help but see the parallels between your current situation and your previous - watching everything happen around you, but not taking part in any of it. Of course, at least now you weren't separated from the world by glass. These people seemed to have such a strong bond with one another - it was at least refreshing to hear playful banter, versus the angry German shouting you'd grown so accustomed to.

The moment you'd finished eating, you stood and carried your plate to the sink, hoping to prove that you were going to pull your weight around here by cleaning up after yourself. As you turned on the faucet, someone grabbed the plate from your hand and turned the water off. You spun around to find Wanda standing beside you, stooping down to place the plate inside the dishwasher you'd clearly overlooked.

"Tony's got most stuff automated around here," she explained casually. "Don't worry about cleaning up after yourself. He's got Iron Man suits programmed to do all that."

"Wow." You couldn't think of much else to say. Wanda seemed to recognize the uncertainty in your expression, because she continued on speaking to prevent you from having to say anything.

"You must need more clothes than just that outfit, right? Why don't I grab Pepper - that's Stark's girlfriend - and we can go buy you some more clothes of your own?" she suggested kindly.

"Yeah... sure, that sounds good." Truthfully, it made you nervous to go shopping with these strangers. But so far, Wanda had been nothing but nice to you. There was something comforting about being in her presence that you couldn't fully understand.

Those first few days in the tower were more of the same. You felt as though you must be an alien to these people, which was ironic considering Thor literally was an alien of sorts. Wanda continued to go out of her way to ensure you were comfortable and had everything you needed. You appreciated that more than you could express in words.

As the days turned into weeks, you couldn't help but continue to feel out of place. These people had years to get to know one another, and you were simply an outsider residing in their home, sharing their space. After so long being isolated and lonely, it was difficult to find the words and the energy to try to make casual conversation.

None of the others were ever mean to you, of course. They just never went out of their way to try to get you to talk to them. Part of you knew they were just trying to give you your space, to open up to them on your own terms. Still, you couldn't help but feel envious of the fun and playful friendships they'd built with one another. How could you ever learn to let loose like they did? You barely even knew how to socialize.

The only person you felt comfortable talking to was Wanda. She had been through so many similar traumatic experiences. If there was anyone in the tower who could possibly understand what you were going through, she was it. And she took on the task of making you feel welcome as though it was her duty to help you integrate into the team. So many evenings, you'd find yourself dragged out to the common area to hang out with the team after Wanda knocked on your door and insisted you accompany her to their game night, or movie night, or simply to sit around and have takeout and chat. She really was trying. You were simply too timid and anxious to do much more outside of finding your place at the outer edge of the group, observing from afar as they bantered and laughed with one another.

One evening, things began to change.

You had just settled down under your covers in your pajamas with a book spread across your lap, prepared to spend a quiet night to yourself, when the familiar rapping of knuckles against the door echoed into your room. The door swung open gradually, revealing the red-headed witch on the other side with an earnest smile on her face.

"Perfect! You're already in your PJs," she proclaimed, stepping inside and striding across the room to stand by the edge of your bed. "We're having a movie night in our pajamas. Thor's suggestion. You should come!"

"Oh, thanks Wanda, but I'm already pretty sleepy... I might turn in early for the night," you responded with a weak, apologetic smile. She sighed, taking a seat on the edge of the bed beside you and resting a comforting hand on your knee through the blanket.

"Sweet y/n, you know by now I know when you're lying."

You slipped your bookmark into your book to mark your page, shutting it and setting it down on the side table next to you. "I just don't think they really want me there. They all joke and laugh with each other, and I just sit and take up space."

"Take up space?" Wanda shot you an appalled look. "Everyone here likes you! They want you to be there. They just... aren't sure how to talk to you without making you uncomfortable. I know it's hard, but you should try to just jump into a conversation! Chat with Vis and I if you'd like."

"Well... alright. I guess." Reluctantly, you untangled your legs from under the covers and slid out of bed. Wanda pulled you into a one-armed hug for a moment, squeezing you comfortingly before leading you out to the common room to join the others.

There was far too much shouting echoing down the hallway for the team to be watching a movie as you approached the common room. The two of you entered through the doorway, stumbling upon a rather amusing scene of Peter and Thor playing a team-based first-person shooter game against Clint and Scott. Most of the others were either watching the game unfold or were otherwise more invested in their own side conversations around the room.

"What happened to movie night?" Wanda asked, gesticulating toward the wide-screen television in annoyance.

"Well, Peter was finishing up playing his game when Barton and Lang told him they could easily 'smoke him' because 'dads got more skill,'" Nat explained, using finger quotes to emphasize with a roll of her eyes. "And big guy here" - she added, pointing at Thor - "butted in to inform them just how wrong they were, and... here we are."

"Ah-ha! How did you like that explosive, Barton?" Thor shouted triumphantly, holding up a hand to high-five Peter with his eyes still trained on the screen.

"So... I take it no movie night, then?" you asked hesitantly. Nat shook her head with an apologetic smile.

"Not unless you want to be the one to unplug the game system."

"Er... no, thanks."

You turned with every intention of heading back to your room when suddenly Tony called your name. Startled, you turned to face him, trying to tone down the bewildered expression that you knew had broken out on your face.

"Why don't you stick around for a while? It may not be a movie, but I promise they're far more entertaining," he assured.

"Oh! Uh, well..."

"C'mon. You want a drink? Here, I'll grab you something." With that, he turned and strode away toward the bar, leaving you standing there dumbfounded next to Wanda. You glanced at her with your brows raised in confusion, earning a smug grin.

"Told you." She grabbed your elbow, tugging you toward the sofa where Vision was seated alone. "Come on, let's go sit! Stark will find you with your drink."

Wanda took a seat beside Vision, turning to give him a chaste kiss as you sat on her other side. He leaned forward and nodded at you in greeting. Of all the other tower inhabitants, Vision was probably the one you were most familiar with next to Wanda. The couple were often found together, and so naturally you encountered him often when seeking out Wanda. He was quite friendly, but you hadn't had many actual conversations with the android. After all, he only spent time with you because Wanda did, you assumed.

The seating arrangements put you closer to the center of the group than you'd have liked, normally preferring to hang out on the outskirts of the crowd. You sat somewhat stiffly, not quite allowing yourself to relax back against the backrest of the sofa, and allowed your gaze to roam around the room. The wide-screen TV in front of you was flashing as Clint's character blasted Thor's in revenge for his earlier demise at the hands of the God of Thunder. Across the room, Steve and Bucky were in some sort of heated debate with Sam and Bruce that you couldn't quite make out the context of. Nat sat nearby the four of them, searching something on her phone and glancing up intermittently to interject with what was most certainly a sarcastic, witty quip.

"I hope you like margaritas. I make the best margaritas."

Tony's voice startled you once again, and you turned to find him placing a translucent lime-colored beverage on the side table next to you with a flourish. Recalling Wanda's advice, you decided to make your best attempt at a witty retort.

"Can't say that I've tried one... HYDRA isn't exactly known for their bars." A grimace appeared on Tony's face as he realized his blunder, but you merely grinned up at the apologetic-appearing billionaire and winked. "It was a joke."

Visibly relieved, Tony grinned back at you and patted you hard on the shoulder. "You had me there, Matilda! That was good."

You furrowed your brow and turned to Wanda in confusion as he swanned away to join in another conversation. "Matilda?"

"You just earned yourself a Stark nickname," Wanda explained with a smirk. "You know, Matilda? The kid in the book with the telekinetic powers?" You stared at her blankly. "Anyway, it's a good thing. He mostly gives nicknames to people he likes."

"Oh. Well... great!" you responded hesitantly. Wanda sighed exasperatedly at your lack of enthusiasm.

"Relax! Loosen up a bit. You're doing fine!" She emphasized with a playful pinch to your side, eyebrows shooting halfway up her forehead when you squeaked and jolted away from her touch. "Are you ticklish?"

"I, uh..." You felt your cheeks heating up and an involuntary grin tugging at your lips at her question. Glancing around wildly, you looked to see if anyone else was watching this whole interaction.

"Sweet y/n, don't you dare try to lie to me now." Wanda dug her fingers into your side more intentionally, sending you into an immediate fit of giggles that had everyone turning their heads. You turned to Wanda with wide eyes, shaking your head and grabbing at her wrist half-heartedly.

"Wahanda, wahahait!" you pleaded.

"Ohh, you have been stiff all evening - this is for your own good." She reached across with her free hand to skitter her fingers across your belly, drawing a shriek from you as you leaned sideways against the arm of the sofa in a fruitless effort to evade her tickling fingers. Wanda simply leaned over you to continue her attack, her hand at your side kneading up your ribcage and slipping under your arm. Your giggles exploded into full-blown laughter, and your arm clamped down tight against your side on instinct, trapping her fingers there.

"OHOKAY, I'M RELAHAXED!" you protested, twisting to try to pull her fingers out from the vice grip beneath your bicep. With a few more ticklish scribbles to your belly with her other hand, she relented, smiling warmly at your disheveled state.

Truthfully, you didn't mind being tickled all that much. It had been quite some time since anyone had tried - it wasn't exactly in HYDRA's list of experiments, after all. But to have everyone's eyes on you made you incredibly shy and flustered.

Except, when you glanced around, there weren't a dozen eyes on you as you'd expected. Most of the team had gone right back to what they were doing, as though this was a totally normal occurrence. Perhaps it was, you thought to yourself as you sat up and smoothed the wrinkles in your pajama shirt.

You glared playfully at Wanda, folding your arms across your chest indignantly. She chuckled at your expression, reaching over to squeeze the muscle above your knee once, snorting when your leg kicked out on reflex.

"Oh, come on - you know the rules. When you find out someone's ticklish, you have to tickle them," she insisted, smirking.

"I know nothing of the sort. That's a made up rule and you know it," you retorted, trying to fight back the grin threatening to play across your lips.

"No it's not! That has been an unspoken rule for centuries!"

"Are you gonna take that sitting down, Matilda?"

For the third time that evening, Tony's voice surprised you as he interjected in your conversation. Both you and Wanda glanced up to find him lounging lazily on the sofa beside Nat, sipping casually on his glass of whisky. She, too, was watching the pair of you nonchalantly with a half smirk on her face.

"Nobody gets away with that without retaliation around here," Nat added, lifting her wine glass to her lips and peering at you over the rim expectantly.

"Hey! Nobody asked for your input," Wanda countered, drawing your gaze back to her.

"Actually, Wanda dear, I can't help but agree with them," Vision cut in, suddenly reaching over and grabbing hold of her wrists to pull her arms behind her back.

"Vis- HEY!" she exclaimed disgruntledly, though with an involuntary smile on her face. Vision ignored her grizzling, gathering her wrists in one hand.

"Might I suggest right... here." He reached over with his free hand and scratched at her lowest ribs on one side, smirking up at you as she shrieked and let out a few surprised laughs, twisting away from his fingers.

"VISION! You TRAITOR!"

"Sorry, Wanda darling, but you do sort of deserve it." He added a few more ticklish squeezes down her side before glancing at you expectantly. With a smirk, you reached out and dug your fingers into her lower ribs where Vision had recommended. Wanda immediately burst into loud, high-pitched laughter, curling her knees up to her chest to block as much of her torso as possible.

"You're right, Vision - this is effective!" you chuckled fondly. She tugged desperately against Vision's grip on her arms, squirming ineffectively.

"HOHOW IS THIS FAHAIR!?" she demanded, squeaking as you averted your attention to her socked feet where they now rested on the couch cushion beside you and scratched at her sole.

"Ah, yeah that's another good spot," Nat chimed in from afar, nodding approvingly. You grabbed hold of her ankle and skittered your fingers along the inner arch of her foot, laughing as she tried to kick out with no success against your hold.

"Don't forget her stomach!" Steve called, an impish lilt to his tone.

"Noted!" you responded, shifting to slip past her defenses while her knees weren't bent so tightly against her torso and clawing at her belly. Wanda leaned her head back against Vision's shoulder and laughed helplessly, kicking her heels against the sofa cushion in ticklish agony.

Deciding she'd had enough torment, you relented in your revenge. She continued giggling for a few seconds after you'd ceased your attack, chest rising and falling heavily as she caught her breath. Vision released her arms once he'd recognized you weren't going to start tickling her again. She sat there unmoving for a moment, leaning heavily against Vision's torso as her breathing shallowed to a more normal rhythm.

Then, she pounced on you.

"Wait- NOHO WANDA!!" you screeched, collapsing back against the armrest as her fingers darted randomly up and down your sides and belly.

"That was WAY worse than I got you!" she argued, toggling her fingers gently into the fronts of your lowest ribs. "We're uneven now. I should ask someone to hold your arms behind your back."

"DOHON'T YOU DAHARE!"

"Did someone say they required assistance?"

Wanda's fingers stilled against your ribs, and you tilted your head back to find Clint standing over you with a grin on his face. He shook his head pityingly, snatching your wrists up in his hands and causing you to yelp in surprise.

"As I tell my kids - don't dish out what you can't take," he chastised teasingly.

"Whahat?? Noho, Clint, why ahare you on her side??" you demanded.

"Look, I just think Wanda was at an unfair disadvantage, so I'm evening the playing field. Nothing personal," he assured with a teasing wink.

In truth, you were pleasantly surprised that someone had decided to come join in this little game. All these weeks living in the tower, you'd watched from the sidelines as the others made jokes and teased one another. It looked like such fun. You longed for that sort of relationship with the team, but you'd feared they'd always see you as an outsider. To suddenly be right in the thick of this friendly bantering made your heart swell.

Although, you still couldn't help but feel a moment of panic when Clint dragged your arms up above your head.

Already giggling, you spouted incoherent pleas for mercy as you tugged uselessly at your wrists. Wanda clapped her hands, rubbing her palms together threateningly with a mischievous grin.

"Now we're even," she declared. Then, her hands darted up to scratch at the taut skin under your arms. You squeezed your eyes shut and dissolved into hysterics, pulling desperately against Clint's grip on your wrists to try to lower your arms. After a few moments, you recognized there was no overpowering him, and you simply went limp against the sofa and accepted your ticklish fate.

Suddenly, Clint shouted in surprise, releasing your wrists abruptly. Wanda stopped tickling you at the same time, gasping before snorting out loud. You opened your eyes to find Clint kneeling beside the sofa, scooping up a stray throw pillow that definitely hadn't been there on the floor before.

"Did you just use your powers to smack him in the back of the head with a pillow?" Peter asked incredulously, having paused his game in favor of observing the chaos unfolding on your side of the room.

"I didn't... wait, did I?" You sat up, eyes wide with surprise.

"Well it wasn't me who made the pillow soar through the air of its own accord," Wanda quipped, her eyes sparkling with the threat of tears of mirth from withholding her laughter.

You clapped your hand to your mouth, eyes darting up to look at Clint. "I am so sorry! I didn't mean to... I've never... I didn't know I could..."

"Relax, kid." He patted you comfortingly on the shoulder. "You were just fighting back! I'm not mad."

"I'm definitely not mad, because that was hilarious!" Tony announced. He pointed at you across the room, grinning broadly. "I like her. She's my new favorite teammate."

"Can you do it again?? That was so cool! What else can you do?" Peter gushed, leaving his game controller on his seat and moving to join the little group that now surrounded you.

As you began explaining the breadth of your powers to the others, you caught Wanda's gaze, and a smile crossed her face. You grinned in return, silently thanking her for dragging you out of your shell. Because suddenly, you didn't feel like an outsider.

You felt like you belonged here.

#jessa this is so sweet 🥺🥺#I needed a good fluff bomb omg #I’ve been having a rough time lately and this made me feel all warm and happy inside 😭 thank you!!#this was such a fun read!!!#I’m so happy to see Tony appearing in more of your fics I love him 🥰#and Clint!! I love him too!!#SPEAKING OF CLINT #NO ONE ASKED FOR HIS aSsIstAncE OH MY GOD 🙈#I read this at like 5 this morning before I passed out and that had me whining into my pillow 💀💀#fantastic job as always friend!! 💕#wanda maximoff #not mine

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bingo-writes · 2 years

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hi bingo i hope youre doing okay!

Hi anon! I’m just kinda existing tbh 😅 this is always a difficult time of year for me, and recent events have made it even harder. But I’ll be okay!

Thank you for thinking of me, I really appreciate it 🥺

#I’ve been chipping away at a couple fics little by little #I’ll be back soon!!#bingo answers

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bingo-writes · 2 years

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rereading my own writing is just a constant fluctuation between "damn, girl, you wrote this? (affectionate)" and "damn, girl, you wrote this? (derogatory)"

#honestly 💀#I haven’t been able to read confession since I posted it in June. every time I try I’m like bitch what the fuck is this #but I’ll read tickling the ivories and go ‘wow she’s really good 🥰’ in demi lovato’s voice

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bingo-writes · 2 years

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Aiding and Abetting

Word count: 5,000

Pairing: Nat x gender neutral reader (platonic)

Warnings: None

OK friends - here it is, my first attempt at writing for a female character in the MCU! It was definitely harder to capture her mannerisms, but hopefully it turned out alright!

This was a request by @maniac4marvel-fluff-addition for Nat x reader (prompt). We're going a little ways back to the holiday season, but it's not too in-your-face Christmas-y since it is March already 😂 Hope you enjoy!

You loved many things about the holiday season, but nothing could quite compare to the Avengers’ holiday celebration.

It didn’t even typically happen during the actual holidays. Most of the team either went to visit family, or otherwise remained in the tower to spend a quiet holiday with the few remaining members. Once everyone had returned, the team would choose an evening to celebrate together in a casual gathering.

At least, as casual as things could get when Tony Stark was the keeper of the party budget.

Keep reading

#GDHDFHDHDHF I’M DYING I CAN’T BREATHE OH MY GOD #I am in LOVE with Natasha I LOVE HER #I FORGOT THIS WAS ON YOUR LIST HDHDGDGF I WAS NOT READY!!!!#MY GAY LITTLE HEART IS BEATING OUT OF MY CHEST #FUCK 😭😭 I LOVE THIS SO MUCH 😭😭😭😭😭#I haven’t had the privilege of reading too many nat/reader fics so I am going to cherish this fic like it’s my first born #STRAIGHT to my favorites folder 😭🥰#ALSO?? MA’AM??? I SQUEALED INTO MY PILLOW FOR A SOLID MINUTE OVER NAT TICKLING TONY I WAS NOT EXPECTING THAT #I ADORE IT I ADORE IT SO MUCH AAAAA #I was like IS THIS HAPPENING?? AND THEN IT DID #clint’s story KILLED me omg I could picture it perfectly 💀💀#and the guys just TELLING Nat where to tickle oh my GOD #I have a very long day of set building and rehearsing ahead of me and this put a little life into me 🥰#amazing as always jessa!!! thank you!!!#I’m gonna take this fic to the courthouse and marry it #natasha romanoff #not mine

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bingo-writes · 2 years

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*reads the last post*

🎵go

little

rockstar🎵

*hug tightly* :c

Oh thank you anon 🥺 this made me smile!! 💕

#I needed this today 🥺 I'm running on coffee and hope #bingo answers

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bingo-writes · 2 years

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I love being a performing arts student, but oh my GOD I’m tired 😭

#I just had an orchestra concert and now we’re getting ready for our opera and then there are TWO MORE concerts after that #plus I’m working two jobs right now #I need a break 😭😭😭#bingo rambles

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bingo-writes · 2 years

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The Stealthiest Among Us - Part 2

Word count: 9,500

Pairing: Loki x reader, pre-romantic (no pronouns used); featuring a whole bunch of other characters

Warnings: Mentions of "murder" and "killing" (but not actual violence - check out Among Us if you've never played!); ruthless Loki

As requested by @cllame34 - here is part 2 to The Stealthiest Among Us! You'll definitely need to read part 1 first if you haven't yet.

I included a lot of the newest updates from the actual game - we play once a week with family and friends via Zoom, so I'm pretty invested in the details 😂 Apologies to those who aren't familiar with the game! There are youtube videos out there if you don't feel like trying it out yourself (but you should, it's fun!)

Since the evening Peter introduced the group to his live-version game of Among Us, you found yourself in Loki's company more frequently than usual.

You quite enjoyed being around him. And you thought - or, at least hoped - he felt the same. Both of you still used the guise of the still-unanswered question as an excuse to spend more time together - you simply had to determine who was the stealthiest of the pair of you at some point. And yet, you each continued to find excuses as to why the other could not yet be declared the winner of this little competition.

Obviously, you didn't want to lose to the Asgardian trickster. It had nothing to do with the concern that you'd stop having these little get-togethers with your mischievous friend. Not at all.

While the two of you continued to battle for the title of the stealthiest, Peter was hard at work making upgrades to the game for the following month. The virtual version of the game had been given a number of updates, and he was excited to incorporate them. Not to mention, there were aspects of the game he couldn't capture in the first go-around that he and Tony were working to find solutions for. Things like using the vents as imposters, being able to cut through walls as ghosts, using some of the sabotage features like closing doors... Peter was bound and determined to find solutions to all of these.

By the time team game night arrived the following month, the enthusiastic teenager was practically shaking with the excitement of showing the group the updates he'd been toiling over.

"OK! So! Mr. Stark and I have made some major changes, so pay attention!" Peter declared, standing in front of the team ready to demonstrate.

"You tellin' me what to do, kid?" Bucky growled. Peter's face paled.

"Uhh, n-no, Mr. Barnes, I didn't mean-"

"Dude, I'm just messing with you!" Bucky chuckled, stepping forward to give Peter a gentle punch on the arm in jest. Peter chuckled nervously, rubbing his arm where Bucky had tapped him with his fist.

"Aheh... right. I knew that. Uh, anyway..." Peter cleared his throat, regaining his composure. "The first update is - we have a vent system!"

"Wait... seriously?" Clint asked in surprise. Peter nodded excitedly.

"Yeah! Mr. Stark let me use the vents from the old HVAC system!"

"Don't worry - I made the kid crawl around inside and clean them all out," Tony interjected. "No spider webs in there. Well - except maybe any webs Arachnakid left behind."

"Hey! I was careful with my web fluid..." Peter mumbled sheepishly. "Only the imposters and the new 'engineer' role can use the vents. They won't unlock if you're not one of those roles."

"What next? Tell me you found a way to let us walk through walls!" Strange exclaimed sarcastically. Peter grinned excitedly, holding up a finger in triumph.

"Nope!" A few groans chorused around the room. "But! When you're a ghost, you can use your comms device to virtually traverse through the tower and complete your tasks remotely! It's the next best thing to walking through walls."

Not a bad workaround, you thought to yourself. But still, not as exciting as walking through walls.

"I already mentioned the engineer crewmate role. The scientist crewmate will be able to see the vitals screen on their comms device to know if anyone has been 'murdered.' And the guardian angel will be whoever becomes the first ghost - you'll also have the ability to protect people on your device! They will be immune to imposter attacks for fifteen seconds."

"Wait... what about the shapeshifter?" Wanda asked curiously. Peter's grin grew even wider at the suggestion.

"Glad you asked! That's my proudest achievement." He stepped around behind a wall and vanished for a moment. When he returned, he was wearing a red jumpsuit that appeared to be made of a silky style fabric. "The vests are so last month. Check out our new gear!"

"Uhh... hate to break it to you, kid, but that looks like a fancy red prison suit," Sam quipped. Peter scowled in response.

"Ok, maybe it looks like a prison suit, BUT - watch this!"

Holding up his matching red comms device, he pressed a button and gazed at the group in anticipation of their reaction. Suddenly, with a flash of blue light skimming up the entire length of his body, he transformed before everyone's eyes into Tony, including the darker maroon-colored suit Tony usually chose as his color. Excited murmurings erupted from the group.

"How... how did you do that?" Steve asked in awe.

"It's a hologram! See - I still sound like myself," the false Tony declared in Peter's usual bubbly voice. "The suits are designed with thousands of microscopic projector lenses to allow the wearer to transform into whoever they want!"

You nudged Loki beside you with your elbow. "Guess you're not the only person who can shapeshift now, hmm?"

Loki chuckled darkly. "As if you could fool me with such subpar projection techniques. Only I have the ability to create a perfect replica of myself."

"Ok, the last update will be a surprise!" Peter declared as he changed back into himself. "There are new sabotage options available to the imposters. Crewmates beware!"

"Wait - if we don't have the vests, how are we supposed to know where to attack to 'murder' someone?" Bruce asked frantically.

"Just tap your weapon stick somewhere on the upper half of the suit!" Peter explained, grabbing one of the other player's weapons off the workbench and tapping it against his chest. The suit responded immediately, creating a red glow outlining Peter's body that looked somewhat supernatural. "See? Now I'm ghost Peter!"

"Clever," Nat mumbled with a nod of approval.

"I suggest we begin playing a round now, Mr. Parker," Vision recommended. "Based on the average playing time of fifty-three minutes and forty-nine seconds from the last game night, we will be playing past Mr. Barton's preferred bedtime if we do not begin within the next seven minutes and fifteen seconds."

"Hey! No need to call me out like that, man," Clint grumbled sheepishly as Nat covered her mouth with her hand to hide her laughter.

Peter distributed the new and improved gear, and you suited up in your cyan-colored jumpsuit over your T-shirt and shorts. It was surprisingly light-weight and aerodynamic for something with so much microscopic tech embedded into the fabric. You attached your imposter weapon to the built-in holster on the belt of the suit, sliding your comms device into the pocket at your hip.

When you turned around and saw Loki wearing his own jumpsuit, you nearly burst into laughter on the spot. You'd never seen him wear anything besides his Asgardian leather, or otherwise business casual Midgardian attire. To see him wearing this green one-piece suit was very out of character for him.

And yet, as your eyes skimmed up and down his body, you realized that the look sort of suited him in a weird way.

"Are you ready to kneel before me when I am crowned the stealthiest?" you teased haughtily. Loki huffed out a laugh in response, a wolfish smirk spreading across his lips.

"I suggest you don't get too cocky before your inevitable defeat. You wouldn't want me to force you to do something humiliating when I earn the title."

"Please. I am the master of this game, and you know it."

"Well, I suppose we're about to prove you wrong, aren't we?"

You enjoyed this playful banter with Loki. As strong as your desire was to defeat him at his own game of lies and deceit, you also had grown to appreciate the way he challenged you. You liked to think he felt the same.

With the group suited up and ready, all fifteen players dispersed throughout the designated floors of the tower to find a starting location and await their roles for the first round. You and Loki exchanged resolute, determined glances before parting ways, and you headed to the common room for the start of the game.

As you entered the room, your comms device buzzed in your pocket. Your heart leapt with anticipation as the lights dimmed slightly around you, and you pulled out your comms device to see what role you'd been assigned first.

Imposter - Shapeshifter

Alright Loki, you thought, let's see how good you really are at teasing out illusions.

Your non-shapeshifter co-imposters were Peter and Sam this round. It was almost unfair, having three skilled imposters working together right off the bat. Not that you were complaining.

You wasted no time testing out this new shapeshifting feature, scrolling through the list of people available to impersonate before settling on Clint. With the press of a button, your outer appearance transformed to look like the archer, complete with his yellow jumpsuit color. You gazed down in wonder at your hands, which now appeared as the calloused hands of your teammate hiding your own familiar skin. A glance at your comms device told you this wouldn't last very long - the moment the illusion took effect, a countdown timer started from 60 seconds and was ticking down fast. You had to find someone to 'kill' to frame Clint.

What you didn't anticipate was running into the archer himself as you stepped into the hallway. Quite literally, actually.

You both stumbled backwards as you collided, almost mirror images of one another as you both straightened your posture and regained your balance. As Clint took in the sight of the person he'd bumped into, his eyes widened and his brows shot up his forehead.

"Woah-woah-woah - what the hell??" he muttered, taking a few steps backward. "This is... so freaking weird..."

You said nothing, unwilling to give away your identity through your voice. As Clint visibly finished processing what was happening, and began to turn to run, you ripped your imposter weapon off your belt and lunged forward to tap it against his back. He swore under his breath as a yellow glow surrounded him, making him appear ghostly. Smirking, you stepped backward and shot him a wink with the illusion still in effect, then turned and sprinted in the opposite direction to find cover before you changed back to yourself.

The timer on your comms device had dropped to ten seconds already, and you were still standing in plain sight. Unwilling to risk someone rounding a corner and seeing you change back to your own appearance, you glanced around wildly, seeing one of the vents inset into the floor at the end of the hallway. You bolted toward it, ripping the vent cover off as you felt it click unlocked beneath your fingers. The moment you swung your legs inside and let yourself drop into the dark crawl space, the holographic projection of Clint's features surrounding your own body vanished.

Phew. That was a close one. What were the odds of running into the one person you decided to impersonate, honestly??

Keeping your motions smooth and light so as not to make noise, you crawled through the vent tunnel in search of another opening. After taking a couple turns through the vent system, you found a few slits of light shining on the metallic surface of the tunnel up ahead. You made a beeline straight for it, pausing briefly to peer through the slats in the vent cover and listen for any sound indicating someone was flitting around nearby. Met with silence, you cautiously slid the cover off the vent above you and hoisted yourself out, replacing the cover swiftly before anyone caught you.

The echo of heavy footsteps sounded in the hallway outside of what you now realized was the library. Playing it cool, you pulled out your comms device and took a few deliberate steps away from the vent, acting as if you were searching for your crewmate tasks on the screen while remaining on high alert for whoever's footsteps were nearing your location. As they rounded the corner, you glanced up as though preparing yourself to run should the need arise, but relaxed when you realized it was Sam in his dark blue jumpsuit.

He tilted his chin at you with a questioning look, avoiding saying anything out loud in case there were others nearby. In response, you gave a subtle nod, a ghost of a smirk playing at your lips. Sam shot you a wink, returning your sly smirk before walking past you into the library. At that moment, your comms device buzzed to signal a body had been reported.

The remaining players convened in the conference room to discuss. Notably, Clint was not the only one missing - both Steve and Scott had also been offed already, and it was Steve who had been found in the fitness room. A concerned grumbling erupted among the group, which you joined in with to avoid suspicion.

"Obviously we're dealing with some skilled serial killers here," Tony declared, his eyes flitting over to you. Feigning surprise, you held your hands up innocently.

"Woah - look, I'm flattered and all, but my hands are clean," you insisted. Which wasn't technically a lie - you 'killed' Clint as himself. "Besides - if it were me, I'd have gone after Loki first."

"Careful, agent... you don't want to become predictable," Loki warned tauntingly. He didn't seem suspicious of you at the moment, so at least you were in the clear for now.

"I just want to mention, Thor was acting pretty sus in the kitchen a couple of minutes ago," Peter announced. Thor laughed heartily.

"Are you attempting to accuse me of murder?"

"Alright, Thor's in the clear," Bucky decided aloud.

"What- how do you know I'm innocent??" Thor demanded.

"You always own up to it when it's you and someone calls you out!" Bucky retorted.

As Thor went on a strange tirade about how no one should assume his innocence, despite not being an imposter, you began plotting your next move. You knew you needed to take advantage of the fact that you were the shapeshifter this round and prove to Loki that he could be fooled. There was no telling whether you'd get this opportunity again this evening, with fourteen other people being randomly assigned roles each round.

Ultimately, no one was voted off as a suspected imposter; most of the discussion period had been consumed by Thor's insistence that he could be the imposter ('perhaps I'm simply skilled in deceit!' he'd stated. That made Loki laugh pretty hard.) As the group dispersed and exited the room to continue working on tasks, you were cautious to keep enough distance from Loki so as not to make him suspicious that you might be planning to follow him. You stepped out into the hallway and held out your comms device in an attempt to feign searching for your next task, when really you wanted an excuse to glance up and determine where Loki had gone off to.

You caught sight of his green jumpsuit vanishing around the corner just in time. Keeping some space between yourself and the trickster, you followed him and watched as he stepped into the stairwell and shut the door behind him.

He had to be going down to the lab. There were few other locations that needed to be accessed through the stairwell, you knew.

Wanda was in the hallway behind you, so you stepped into the broom closet beside the stairwell door to pretend to do a task. Wouldn't want her seeing you follow Loki down the staircase - that would surely be suspicious, even if you 'killed' him in someone else's image. After a suitable amount of time to make it believable that you were actually completing a task, you exited the closet and slipped into the stairwell.

You didn't bother keeping your footsteps light to avoid detection. If you were truly one of the other crewmates, you'd be too busy focusing on your tasks to consider being sneaky. Just as you descended the final flight of stairs, you used your comms device to shapeshift into the one person you knew Loki would be least intimidated by in a game of stealth.

As the illusion of Bruce appeared around you, you shoved open the door to the lab and stumbled inside, pretending to be hyperfocused on your comms device just as Bruce would be. You didn't dare keep your gaze on Loki for more than a second as you glanced around the room as if trying to locate your task, furrowing your brow in much the same way as the two-faced scientist would do. A code task caught your eye, which stood between Loki's current position and his exit. You got to work, squinting at the numbers on the panel and channeling Bruce's energy to appear as unsuspicious as possible.

It worked.

Loki completed his own task, passing within feet of where you stood on his way out the door. Swiftly, you whipped around and tore your imposter weapon off your belt in one smooth motion, pressing it to Loki's back between his shoulder blades with a nearly-inaudible triumphant whoop.

His eyes practically were glowing along with his jumpsuit when he whirled around to face you, no doubt recognizing your voice was not the usual tone of the mild-mannered scientist. Only seconds later, the illusion of Bruce dissipated to reveal your true identity.

"I knew I could get you to fall for it," you whispered with an impish grin. "And you thought you were above the tricks of the shapeshifter."

"Agent..." Loki's voice was a low, ominous growl. "I don't suggest taunting the God of Mischief. You know from experience that gets you into trouble."

"Oh, but it's so worth it," you teased, shooting him a wink before scurrying out of the room. You knew he wouldn't follow and break the rules, lest you get on his case for cheating and not staying put for someone to stumble over his 'body' later and report it. Still, deep down, you knew he would be plotting his revenge.

Fine, then, you thought to yourself as you hopped into the vent near the stairwell. We'll see if he can muster the skill to beat me.

You had to climb up a ladder inside the vent tunnel to reach the next floor up. Once you'd reached the next horizontal section of tunnel, you caught sight of the slits of light shining through the vent cover up ahead.

Still riding the high of having beaten Loki at his own shapeshifting game, you were a bit too careless in your approach, not bothering to take the time to listen for sound above you. You were therefore startled when the vent cover lifted as you reached for it, revealing Nat's face hovering above your head gazing down into the vent.

"How did you..."

Right. Engineer, you remembered, answering your own question before you'd finished asking it.

Nat, of course, wasn't waiting around now that she'd seen you. As quickly as she appeared in your line of sight, she'd vanished, her boots clicking rapidly against the floor as she sprinted toward, no doubt, the emergency button in the conference room. You had to act fast if you were going to spare yourself a vote-off.

Planting your palms on either side of the vent opening, you swiftly hoisted yourself out, springing immediately to your feet. As you made to begin chasing her, you realized two problems - one being the cooldown counter that was still ticking down on your comms device, preventing you from 'killing' anyone else after your recent conquest. The second was the recognition that you'd surely appear suspicious if anyone witnessed you sprinting after the sure-footed assassin. Your best bet was to allow her to reach the button and prepare to lie your way out of this. Perhaps channel Loki's energy this time.

You followed slowly behind Nat, waiting for the moment your comms device buzzed to signal the convening of the group. After a few minutes, you began to wonder where she had really run off to. Did she forget about the emergency button? Was she searching for a 'body' to report?

Then, you saw her.

She looked rather sour, a ghostly glow around her rose-colored jumpsuit as she stood in the middle of the hallway waiting for someone to locate her 'body.' When her eyes met yours, she scowled, motioning to her eyes with her fingers and then to you to signal she was watching you as you passed by.

Figuring it'd be rather suspicious if anyone caught you wandering casually past a 'dead' crewmate without doing anything about it, you decided to report it yourself, pulling out your comms device with a smirk.

"She was there in the middle of the hallway," you explained to the group once they'd all arrived in the conference room. Loki and Nat were absent, of course, but you were pleased to note that Bruce was also missing.

"How can we be sure you didn't off her yourself and self-report?" Tony demanded.

"I was monitoring the vitals screens, Mr. Stark," Vision interjected. "There were approximately twenty-two seconds between Natasha's 'murder' and the reporting of the 'body.' It is unlikely that it would be a self-report."

"Huh. Fitting that the game made Vision the scientist," Bucky chuckled.

"Ok, but guys, we need to figure out who at least one of the imposters is - there's only nine of us left. One kill each and the imposters win," Peter urged. Damn, clever move, you thought.

"You guys think Thor was actually telling the truth when he said he wasn't innocent?" Sam queried suspiciously.

"Unlikely. We all know Thor is a terrible liar," Stephen argued.

"I am not!"

"Are you suggesting that you did do it then?" you asked.

"I... I'm merely suggesting that you shouldn't write me off so easily," he responded, his tone conflicted.

"Ok, let's wrap this up people, we've got twenty seconds until go-time," Tony pressured.

You met Peter's and Sam's eyes for a brief moment each, nodding just slightly toward Thor to indicate your plan as you selected his name for your vote. The tally popped up a few moments later, with four votes Thor, three votes Tony, and two votes you. Thor was voted off.

"Ugh, guys I told you he's a terrible liar," Stephen griped as the comms screens noted he was not an imposter.

"Ok - everybody finish your tasks!" Peter ordered as he sprinted out of the room. Everyone else followed suit.

With only two 'kills' left to victory, you waited impatiently for your cooldown counter to tick to zero so you could make your final 'murder' of the round. You set your sights on Bucky, feigning completing a wiring task in the hallway as he entered the fitness room nearby. You didn't bother shapeshifting this time, knowing if you could land your kill, one of your co-imposters would inevitably strike down the one additional person needed to win the round within a few minutes.

The moment your countdown finished, you dashed inside the fitness room and caught Bucky in the back of the shoulder with your imposter weapon. He groaned out loud as his black suit developed a ghostly grayish glow.

"I knew it!" he mumbled under his breath, shooting you a playful glare. You returned his glare with a smirk, which only broadened when the comms devices began to buzz in your pockets to signal the imposters had won with Vision's 'murder' by Peter.

"Better luck next time, Buck," you taunted.

"Watch it, or I'll start rooting for Loki to beat you," he retorted. You gasped, feigning indignance as you both began heading back to the conference room to reconvene before the next round.

"Ouch. I like to think you like me better than him, Bucky. I'm offended."

"Loki's not the one who murdered me just now."

"You know he would though."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right."

The group gathered in the conference room, bubbling with various conversations about the last round as Peter got the next one set up. You high-fived Peter and Sam for a job well done, boasting loudly about your imposter prowess knowing Loki was listening.

"Say what you want, agent. You'll eat your words soon enough," Loki warned.

"Whatever you say, Loki. So far, looks to me like I'm the one who's winning."

He shot you an unnervingly devilish smirk. "Just you wait."

You made sure to put some distance between yourself and the Asgardian after that look, heading to start the round in the lab as he turned toward the library. Pacing back and forth, you stared impatiently at your comms device until it finally showed you your role for the round:

Crewmate - Scientist

At least you'd get to try out another new role, you thought to yourself, although your heart beat a bit faster at the thought that you may have just landed the rodent role in this game of cat and mouse with Loki. There was no way to know if he was an imposter, but you weren't planning on getting close enough to him to find out.

A couple of your tasks were located in the lab, so you decided to get those out of the way given you were already here. The door to the lab opened behind you as you were completing a lengthier task with flashing buttons that had to be pressed in a specific order. Your ears pricked up the moment they stepped inside, and you whirled around to find Bruce wandering in with his nose buried in his comms device. He appeared to be acting like the real Bruce, but after your trick the last round, you weren't going to trust anyone. You remained on high alert, fumbling with the buttons in front of you on your task as you tried to keep one eye on the scientist until he finally finished his task and exited the room without a word.

With a sigh of relief, you returned your full attention to your task, having to restart at this point after pressing a few buttons in the wrong sequence while you were distracted. You completed it at last, making your way swiftly to the other side of the room to complete a wiring task before heading toward the door.

A sudden clicking noise a few feet from the door had you on edge, weight shifted to the balls of your feet in preparation to run should the need arise. The vent cover in the corner shifted, lifting up and off to the side before the dark-haired trickster you were trying to evade revealed himself.

For a brief moment, you locked eyes with Loki, who seemed startled to see you standing there. Without waiting for him to come after you, you took off running toward the emergency button, bounding swiftly up the stairs from the lab to the conference room. You had no idea if he was following you or not, so you ran as if he might be. Within thirty seconds, you'd made it to the conference room and slammed your palm down on the button, taking a moment to lean forward against the table and catch your breath while you awaited the arrival of the others.

The group gradually filtered in with confused but curious looks on their faces, gazing at you expectantly. Notably, Scott and Wanda were both missing from the group. Obviously Loki must have intended to off you as his first target, but you'd thwarted his plan expertly.

"I just watched Loki vent," you declared, pointing at him accusatorily. There was a murmuring among the group as you folded your arms haughtily, smirking at the God of Mischief as all eyes turned toward him.

"Loki's an imposter, then?" Clint asked finally.

He shrugged nonchalantly, his expression unreadable. "I am the engineer this round. I was merely utilizing the vent system to reach my task in the lab."

"What!? No, no way. I don't believe that for a second," you argued animatedly. "You were clearly coming after me, and you got caught. You wanted to get back at me for last round. Admit it!"

"I suppose I could see why you might believe that," he responded calmly, gazing around at the others without even the faintest hint of his characteristic mischievous grin on his face. "I assure you, I am not an imposter."

"Oh, come on! Are you guys seriously going to believe him?" You looked frantically around the room, searching for anyone who appeared as though they may back you up. "Isn't there someone else who is the engineer? Go on, speak up."

You were met with silence. Huffing frustratedly through your nose, you pulled out your comms device to cast your vote.

"Well, I'm voting for Loki. Believe what you want. I know what I saw."

"You two sort of have a grudge match going on there, Jack the Ripper - forgive me if I don't believe you when you immediately accuse him two minutes into the round," Tony quipped.

"But... he... I... ugh." You knew Tony had a point. No way were the others going to believe you now, not without more evidence.

Sure enough, most people skipped their vote, and Loki survived the emergency meeting you'd called. You muttered in frustration under your breath as the group dispersed to work on their tasks. As you made your way out of the conference room, you locked eyes with Loki for the briefest moment. There was a gleam in his eye that hadn't been there during the voting period as you passed by hm, which unnerved you despite the fact that his expression remained neutral.

No way were you hanging around for him to catch you.

You decided to put as much distance as you could between yourself and the mischievous god, heading off to complete the remaining task that was located farthest from the conference room.

The game lounge was a new inclusion in the Among Us map that Peter had laid out. In true Tony Stark fashion, the room had been furnished with oversized chairs around a sizeable table intended for card or board games, with plush sofas set out in a couple of seating areas for people to hang out, drink, and socialize while awaiting their turn to play. A sorting task had been set up on the table with a deck of cards, which was where your comms device was directing you.

Before starting the task, you glanced quickly at the vitals screen on your comms device. Already, an imposter had offed another crewmate - Sam this time, likely a revenge kill for the last round. It meant the imposters' kill cooldown had finished, which put you on high alert. Best to keep moving quickly, you thought.

As swiftly as possible, you sorted the cards into their respective piles and completed the task. Glancing at your map, you turned to head off to your next task.

About five feet from the door, it slammed shut in your face.

A wave of anxious panic washed over you as your brain registered you'd been trapped inside the room by an imposter. With fumbling fingers, you dug into your pocket for your comms device so you could use it to open the door. As your fingers closed around the device, the lights overhead went out, drenching you in darkness.

And then suddenly, someone's arm wrapped tightly around your waist from behind.

You couldn't prevent the shriek of surprise from bursting out of your mouth at the sudden contact. It was clear to you who it was even before you heard his devious laughter rumbling in your ear. A solid object prodded into your back, and your suit gained the ghostly glow that indicated you'd been 'killed.'

"What was that about winning the title of the stealthiest?" Loki goaded, tightening his hold around your waist as you shoved at his arm. Unwilling to admit that this had been a pretty clever sequence of sabotages he'd pulled on you, you huffed a laugh through your nose and turned your head toward him in the darkness.

"I see you decided to forgo the monologuing before killing me this time. You're catching on, hmm?"

His arm around you stiffened. "You are in no position to be taunting me. I not only succeeded in 'killing' you, but you were quite obviously startled by my attack." You could practically hear the smirk in his tone despite not being able to see his face. "Obviously you didn't even know I was in here. Which means I succeeded in deceiving you."

"Pshh... I knew you were here," you fibbed, "I was just... startled that you grabbed me. You know you don't need to physically trap me to 'kill' me, I should hope. Or perhaps you need a refresher on the rules of the game?"

"Oh-ho, agent. You've become far too brazen with me."

You gasped as you felt his other arm wrap around your waist, stiffening when his hands slid down to latch onto your hips with his thumbs poised against the soft spots inside your hipbones.

"N-noho, Loki, dohon't you daHAHARE NOHOHO!!"

You instantly succumbed to desperate, unbridled laughter as he toggled his thumbs into those wretched spots on your hips. His chest rumbled against your back with his own chuckling as your knees buckled and you sank to the floor. Unfinished with his attack, he followed you down, relentlessly kneading his thumbs into those same two spots knowing very well the effect it had on you.

"I tried to warn you, agent. On multiple occasions, in fact. You're far too bold for your own good."

"Yohou... yohou JAHAH...yohou juhust... OH MY GOHOD MOHOVE SOHOMEWHEHERE EHELSE!!"

He laughed devilishly. "No, I rather enjoy this spot, actually. It seems to render you speechless."

The lights flipped on overhead, which meant at least you could see your assailant now, though it didn't seem to make it any less overwhelmingly ticklish. Especially not once he added his other fingers to the fray, scratching at your sides just above your hips while continuing his ruthless attack with his thumbs at the same godforsaken spot.

Only when your laughter had started to become breathless did Loki offer you mercy, his hands stilling against your hips as you sucked air hungrily into your lungs.

"Learned your lesson yet, agent?" he asked teasingly. You knew you were about to make things worse on yourself, but it was just too tempting.

"Aha... ahas I was saying... you just don't want to admit you've met your match."

With a playful growl, he suddenly wrenched you sideways to tackle you the rest of the way to the floor, pinning you down on your belly with his weight planted on the backs of your legs. Giggly pleas began spilling from your lips as you felt his hands latch onto your hips on their matching sides this time, his fingers slotted underneath your belly to reach their target.

"Asking for more?" He didn't await your response before curling his eight fingers into that same soft spot, bracing his thumbs at the sides of your hips. You didn't realize he could make it any worse than he had before. Each contracture of his fingertips into the hypersensitive pliant skin sent shockwaves of ticklish sparks through your entire body, leaving you breathless as your feet pounded against the floor in desperation.

He paused when your comms devices suddenly buzzed, indicating a body had been reported. You sighed audibly with relief, shifting to try to stand.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"They called a meeting!"

"You don't have to be there. You're a ghost, as you may recall." His fingers began pinching at your sides, traveling up your ribcage. You squealed, bursting into giggles.

"Buhuhut YOHOU doho!"

"Ah, yes..." Without pausing in his attack, an illusion of Loki appeared in front of you, waving cheekily as it turned and exited the room. "Easily remedied."

"Wahahait! Yohou can't... hohow is THIHIS fair!?"

"I'm not breaking any rules - I'll release you when the voting is complete. Have to prepare to take my next victim, after all."

You turned onto your side to look back at the trickster. "Doho you treheat all yohour victims like this??"

"Only the brash ones," he growled, punctuating it with a dig at your belly with one hand. "Seems you're the only one of those around here."

You rolled back onto your stomach again to block his tickling fingers, glancing around in search of an escape route. Without getting Loki's weight off you, there was little hope of getting away. Then, you recalled how you escaped the last time. Reaching around behind yourself, you latched a hand onto Loki's knee where it rested on the floor by your leg, squeezing rapidly at the muscle.

He barked out a surprised laugh, jerking his leg away from your hand. You reached for the other knee, taking advantage of his shifted weight to roll over onto your back and scoot backwards with a digging of your heels against the floor, freeing your legs from under him. Leaping swiftly to your feet, you backed away toward the door as you reached for your comms device to open it, not once taking your eyes off the Asgardian.

"Ticklish knees too, hmm?" you hummed, smirking. A dusting of red blossomed in his cheeks at your taunt, only serving to widen your smirk. "You'd best watch yourself - one of these days I'm going to get you back."

Loki laughed at the mere suggestion. "Unless you somehow find a way to sneak up on me, I seriously doubt you'll succeed in that, darling."

"You doubt my prowess? Don't go underestimating me."

"Ah, yes, how silly of me." He smirked, glancing down at his own comms device as the vote result came through and Thor got voted off. "Seems my dear brother has wrongly implicated himself as an imposter once again."

"Damnit Thor!" you muttered under your breath. You flinched as Loki suddenly advanced toward you with a few powerful strides, holding your hands out protectively as you giggled nervously. With a sly grin, he reached over your shoulder, holding his comms device up to the door sensor.

"Glad to see you've learned to be nervous around me." He brushed past you without another word, no doubt off to find his next victim.

I was nervous around you long before this, you thought to yourself.

As you were now 'dead' and had to complete the remainder of your tasks virtually, the rest of the round was rather dull. It came as no surprise when the imposters were declared the winners for the second round this evening. Tony sheepishly admitted he was wrong to doubt you when you arrived at the conference room to rejoin the group. Turns out he, too, had been 'murdered' by the God of Mischief.

Vision suggested this next round should be the last, noting that 'Mr. Barton would be wanting to head to bed soon,' to which Clint shot back that if Vision had three kids, he, too, would desire an early bedtime. Peter got to work setting up the final round. While the others around you chattered about the previous round's events, you approached Loki with a determined look.

"What is it, agent? Have you come to admit defeat?" Loki inquired with a smirk. You folded your arms across your chest, shaking your head.

"As I see it, we're tied one to one tonight." Loki rolled his eyes at that, but didn't argue with you. "What do you say this next round decides the winner once and for all? Whoever wins is deemed the stealthiest."

"And what if we're on the same team?" he questioned. "It is a random role assignment, after all."

"If we're both imposters, we'll say whoever scores the most 'kills' without getting voted off. And as crewmates, whoever finishes their tasks first or whoever gets 'killed' last wins."

Loki pondered for a moment, considering your terms. Then, he nodded, holding his hand out to shake on it.

"Deal."

You clasped your hand around yours, gasping when he suddenly tugged you closer by your hand so he could lean forward in an effort to intimidate.

"I hope you're prepared to lose, agent," he growled, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Likewise, Your Highness," you quipped back, holding your ground along with his gaze. He shook your hand once before releasing it, stepping backward as Peter announced the beginning of the round.

"I rather like the sound of that. Perhaps you should start calling me that more often." He shot you a wink before turning to exit the conference room, leaving you standing there with a blush forming on your face.

You were torn as you wandered out into the hallway and toward the kitchen to start the final round. On one hand, you desperately wanted to defeat Loki at his own game and prove yourself the master of deceit. On the other, if the pair of you determined a winner this evening, that would mean there was no excuse for you to spend time together going forward. At least, not just the two of you.

You weren't sure you were ready for that to end.

As you approached the kitchen, your comms device buzzed to provide you your final role of the evening.

Crewmate

Damn, you thought. You'd hoped you'd be an imposter this last round. No matter - you'd still find a way to beat Loki and earn the title you were after.

You found Stephen was already in the kitchen when you entered. He was slipping his comms device into his pocket, glancing around the room for a moment until he locked eyes with you. Warily, you side-stepped around the opposite side of the counter, keeping a barrier between the pair of you in case he was one of them. There was a short task on your list to complete in here - simply flip on the trash disposal. You did just that, your gaze never leaving the sorcerer's as you made your way back out of the kitchen.

Ok, so maybe he wasn't an imposter then? He certainly hadn't gone after you.

You made your way swiftly through the tower, on your guard as you completed the tasks on your list. About halfway through your tasks, you were interrupted by a meeting called to the conference room for a reported body. Groaning, you dropped the wiring task you were working through and headed off to convene with the group.

There were startlingly few people in here for the first meeting of the round. The first person you noticed was present was, of course, Loki. Among the missing included Nat, Vision, Tony, Peter, and Bucky. Five down already - had it been that much time since the start of the round?

The group began deliberating the possible killers, and you glared at Loki suspiciously. No way had it been long enough for two of the imposters to have achieved two 'kills,' had it? Someone must have been cheating, and you had an idea of who it was. Only one person in this room could manipulate the game without touching the electronics.

Loki had the nerve to glare at you suspiciously in return. You knew he was trying to get the others to become suspicious of you without verbally calling you out just yet. More than likely, he would come up with some sort of lie to implicate you in one of the next 'murders' the next time a round of votes was called. You placed your vote for Loki, and you just knew the one vote you received was from him. But no one was voted off, and the three imposters remained at large.

You got right back to completing your tasks, hoping to finish before Loki managed to find you and 'kill' you off. Three tasks remained, though one was a multi-part wiring task. Hurriedly, you headed off to the closet by the staircase where the first wiring panel was located to get that one started.

Just as you reached the door, the lights went out.

You could hear your heart beating in your ears as you glanced around wildly, listening for any signs of movement in the darkness. It would do no good for you to stay put in the darkness - that was just asking to be 'murdered.' The circuit breaker to fix the lights was located down in the lab, which happened to be down the staircase you were standing beside. Forgoing your wiring task for the time being, you swung yourself through the door to the stairs and carefully made your way down to the lab.

The second you entered, you knew something wasn't right. You could just sense it - someone was awaiting you in the shadows, preparing to land their 'kill' and knock you out of the game. And though you couldn't see more than a foot in front of your face, you knew exactly who it was.

"Loki! I know you're in here!" you called out to the darkness. There was a sudden shuffling sound coming from the wall by the circuit breaker. It dawned on you then, what his plan had been. He was waiting for you to come close enough that he could 'kill' you in the process. "Did you seriously think you could trick me into standing still for you to 'murder' me while I fix the lights?"

"While I'm certain I absolutely could, I know you're trying to lull me into a false sense of security," Loki's voice rumbled through the darkness. "Don't bother to come any closer - you won't be succeeding in 'killing' me this round."

"What?! Oho, Loki, you are trying so hard to trick me! It's not going to work. If I have to finish my tasks in the dark, so be it."

"Perhaps I won't fix them, then, if you don't need them. I know your little game, darling. You won't get me to turn my back on you this time."

You opened your mouth to retort, but you were cut off when you felt a solid object prod into your back. The familiar ghostly glow surrounded your suit, and you cursed out loud.

"Damn you, Loki!!"

"You conniving little scoundrel!"

"Wait..." You paused, confused when you heard Loki cursing you simultaneously. "That wasn't you?"

"No. I'm fixing the lights, remember?" He paused a moment then as well. "Then... it wasn't you who 'killed' me just now either?"

Two new voices piped up from the shadows.

"Nope!"

"It was us!"

Suddenly, the lights flipped back on, revealing Thor standing at the circuit breaker beside Loki with his imposter weapon held in his free hand. You spun around to face the source of the other voice, groaning when your gaze landed on Bruce standing behind you.

"Ha-ha!! You should see your faces right now!" Bruce laughed.

"Yes, are you surprised, brother? Did you truly doubt me that much?" Thor queried, patting his brother hard on the shoulder.

"I... wow," you sighed, shaking your head. "Alright, I've got to hand it to you guys - you got us pretty good."

"Don't you have other crewmates to go 'murder,' dear brother?" Loki muttered, shooting daggers at Thor with his eyes.

"Unlikely. If Steve succeeded in his plan of attack, the game should end very... ah!" Bruce held up his comms device, pointing to the screen indicating the imposters had won once again. Thor strode over to Bruce proudly, offering him a seriously overpowered high-five that made Bruce grunt in pain and shake his wrist.

"Come now! We must rejoin the group and celebrate the imposter victory!" Thor declared, motioning for the rest of you to follow. He and Bruce disappeared into the stairwell, leaving you and Loki staring at each other in disbelief.

"So...?"

"Did we...?"

"Yes, I believe we both just lost to two of the least skilled players in the game," Loki groaned defeatedly.

"Yep, that's what I thought." You shook your head, laughing despite yourself. "After all that, we still don’t have a winner."

"I beg your pardon - I think we can both agree that I did a much better job deceiving you."

"Oh yeah? So you... didn't fall for my trick when I shapeshifted into Bruce?"

Loki glowered, and you laughed.

"I suppose we'll need to wait until next month to find out the answer, then, won't we?" he asked.

"Yes, I suppose you're right."

The whole group gathered in the lounge for a while afterward as you often did, rehashing the game and sipping drinks. Gradually, everyone parted ways as they headed off to bed one by one. Soon, only you, Thor, and Loki remained.

You knew Loki's routines well enough by now to know he wasn't going to go straight to bed like the others. He was a night owl, often wandering the tower into the late hours of the night and taking advantage of the rare hours of solitude. Most often, he'd take up residence in the common room on the armchair by the window, reading a book while intermittently gazing out at the stars, or listening to the rain pattering against the window pane.

Not that you were observing him that closely. He was just... predictable.

In any case, it worked out to your advantage this evening. You hadn't given up on winning the battle and being deemed the stealthiest tonight, and you had a healthy dose of revenge you wanted to dish out simultaneously. So, when Thor rose and bid you both goodnight, you did the same, pretending to go to bed but instead finding a hiding spot in the hallway to wait for Loki to head to the common room.

For this to work, you had to be sneakier than you'd ever been. No one sneaks up on Loki. He had this way of just sensing your presence, or perhaps it was his enhanced hearing abilities that allowed him to hear the lightest footsteps. You slipped your sneakers off and left them in the hallway, keeping your weight shifted to your toes to reduce the likelihood of detection as much as possible.

Sure enough, moments later, you observed with bated breath as Loki strolled by on his way to his usual reading spot. You waited long enough to put a few feet of distance between you, remaining outside of his field of peripheral vision, then crept as light-footed as possible along behind him. You didn't even dare to breathe, for fear he might hear the slightest noise of the air passing through your nose.

He entered the common room, suddenly pausing in the middle of the room. You just knew he was on to you, so you had to act fast. Without really thinking about it, you lunged forward, throwing your arms around his waist and squeezing hard, wasting no time in digging your fingers into his ribcage.

"Pffft- whahat in the Nihine..." His hands closed around yours and began prying your arms off of himself.

"NO! I'm getting my REVENGE!" you shouted, resisting as best you could while wriggling your fingertips into every inch of his torso you could reach.

Then suddenly, Loki burst into frantic laughter, his grip on your hands loosening.

"What's this??" you asked teasingly, taking mental note of the spot that you were currently targeting just below his ribcage on his sides.

"A-eheh-agehent! Dohon't even thihink-"

"Think about exploiting your weak spot? Oh, it's too late for that." You dug your fingers in harder and faster, holding tight to his waist as he began thrashing in your arms, much to your surprise. "Wohow! Loki, do you really think you should tease me about my ticklishness when you're clearly just as bad?"

"AHAM NOT!"

"Mm, receding to childish arguments? I think that proves my point."

He fumbled to try to pry your hands off those trigger spots you'd discovered, but you held fast, sneaking in a few more moments of well-deserved revenge as you took in the warm, rumbling sound of his laughter.

With one last mighty tug, Loki managed to free himself from your torment. He whipped around instantly to face you, your wrists still in his grasp as he shot you a devilish, playful glare.

"Did you really think that was a good idea, agent?"

He spun the two of you around so your back was facing into the room, taking powerful strides forward to back you up as you spluttered giggly protests and excuses. The backs of your legs struck the soft cushioning on the front of the sofa, and your eyes widened. With a wolfish smirk, he pushed you down onto the sofa and clambered up to sit on your legs, pinning you on your back.

"Did you think..." He wrestled your wrist down to your side, pinning it beneath his knee before beginning to fight with the other. "... you could sneak in here, tickle me, and get away with it?"

You chuckled as he managed to pin your other wrist beneath his other knee, earning a confused look from your captor.

"What's so funny?"

"You said I 'snuck in here.' Which means I succeeded in sneaking up on you."

Loki clicked his tongue, latching his hands onto your sides. "And look where it got you?"

"Worth i-HIHIT!!" You burst into giggles as his fingers kneaded into your sides, pinching randomly up and down in the most ticklish way possible.

"You may change your tune when I'm finished with you."

You felt your face start to burn at his playful threat, a flustered, giggly whine escaping your lips. His smirk broadened at the sound of it, and he reached behind himself with one hand to squeeze at your knee while clawing at your belly with the other hand. Kicking your leg out reflexively, you tugged helplessly at your wrists as his fingers frayed your resolve.

"Still think it was worth it, darling?" he asked, allowing his hands to go still while you caught your breath. You giggled, nodding your head. It was absolutely worth it, if this playfulness was your reward.

Then he slotted his hands into the space between your arm and your ribs and began scratching at that triggering rib he'd discovered the last time, and you exploded with desperate laughter once again.

"NAHAHAH LOHOKI YOU JEHERK!!"

"Oh-ho, you brought this on yourself, agent." He was relentlessly precise once he'd found his target, digging two fingers right into the spaces along the back of that rib, chuckling as you squirmed and writhed beneath his fingers. "Oh dear... I forgot how effective this spot was. Nearly as effective as..."

"No, no, NOHOHA NOHOT THERE!" You kicked your feet against the sofa cushions as he slid his hands down to your hips, bracing yourself and laughing before he'd even started tickling you. He grinned fondly, releasing your hips and instead turning his upper body, reaching back and skittering his fingers along the sole of your socked foot.

"Have you learned your lesson now? Never to sneak up on the God of Mischief?"

"Y-ye-hah-yehes!" you insisted breathlessly, nodding frantically. For good measure, he scratched gently at the spot just below the ball of your foot for a moment, snickering at your high pitched giggles before finally relenting and releasing your wrists. You wrapped your arms around your stomach, which was aching from laughter. "Gohod Loki! You're merciless!"

"I take pride in it." He lifted his weight off you and offered you his hand, helping you to sit up before taking a seat beside you on the sofa. "Now you know better than to mess with me, I hope."

"Oh, absolutely not. I'm not forgetting this spot." You poked his side for good measure, earning a teasing glare. "So... er... what are we going to do next to try to figure out which of us is the stealthiest?"

"Hmm... perhaps another game?"

"Mm... sure. Tomorrow, then?"

"Agreed."

You rose to your feet, turning to bid Loki goodnight before heading toward your room. Around the time you'd reached the doorway, Loki called your name, stopping you in your tracks.

"What's up?" you asked, turning to face him. His expression was soft, an inquisitive, almost hopeful glow in his eyes, yet still with a hint of a mischievous smile dancing on his lips.

"Perhaps... perhaps we should simply stop with these games."

Your heart sank a bit in your chest. "Oh."

Loki nodded, rising to his feet. "Perhaps we should simply go out to dinner instead?"

Heat rose in your cheeks, an involuntary smile tugging at your lips. "Oh?"

"We can always determine who is the stealthier of the two of us later, of course. But... I think we can both accept the fact that this stopped being about our competition a long time ago. Wouldn't you agree?"

You allowed the smile to overtake your features at the suggestion. Slowly, you nodded.

"Yes... I can agree with that."

#JESSA DOES IT AGAIN!!!#okay first I love Clint being teased about his bedtime 😂😂#and I love how you incorporated the updates!! I hadn’t played in a while until just a few minutes ago #I got engineer and I was like oh shit just like jessa’s fic!! 💀#I got SO scared when Loki shut the door!! AND WHEN HE SENT THE ILLUSION TO GO IN HIS PLACE??? I DIED DJDMFMSG #he’s as ruthless as ever I love it sjfjsjfjsjg #I’M SO HAPPY REVENGE TICKLES HAPPENED AAAAAA I AM SO SO SO SOFT FOR TICKLISH LOKI #oh my goddd the way all he could do was thrash at a certain point??? I am PASSING AWAY #today’s been a 😐 kind of day but now it’s a little more ☺️#thank you jessa!!#loki laufeyson #not mine

170 notes · View notes

bingo-writes · 2 years

Note

🥰 I love that you love my Dr. Strange fic! Would definitely be open to writing for him again!

He’ll make a guest appearance in my next one (among us part 2)! 👀

-Jessa

@just-another-blog-of-fluff I love it SO much! Something about him is just so 🙈 when it comes to tickly scenarios!! You captured his character beautifully!! I can't wait to see more of him in your work!

AAAAA I am so excited for your next fic! It's been a hot minute since I read part one, perhaps I'll remedy that right now 😂

#bingo answers

3 notes · View notes

bingo-writes · 2 years

Text

Good Doctor, Terrible Patient

Word count: 6100

Warnings: mild injuries

This was a fun one to write 😊 Based on a Prompt from a lovely anon asking for a Dr. Strange and Loki tag team. Definitely not a pairing I've envisioned before now, but I hope I made it work!

Thanks again to @writingfics-passingtime for the plot assist (someday I'll come up with my own fantastic plot ideas 😂💚)

“Hey Stephen! How are you today? Do you need a coffee or-“

“I’m still not teaching you magic.”

“Ugh!” You plunked yourself down on the chair beside his in the library, feeling deflated. “Why won’t you teach me??”

“I’ve already told you - you have no need for magic. You’re a doctor.” He glanced up from his book, looking exasperated.

“And so are you. What’s that got to do with anything?”

“Because I am one of the protectors of the universe. You are the team’s lead physician. There should be no need for magical combat skills in your line of work.”

“Now, hang on a minute! What if some villain decides to try to take down the Avengers from the inside? Hit ‘em where it hurts, so to speak. They could come after me, you don’t know that.” You gave him a snide grin, knowing you were beginning to get on your friend’s nerves. He carefully placed his book down on the table, ensuring it remained open on the same page, before turning to face you head on.

“That is the most ridiculous excuse you’ve come up with yet.”

“Is not!” You glared at Strange as a shadow of a smirk crossed his face. He, too, knew he was getting on your nerves.

“You’re acting like a child again, doctor. It’s unbecoming.”

You narrowed your eyes, leaning in so your face was a little closer to his. “You’re infuriating, you know that?”

Strange shot you a cheeky grin, reaching over to pinch your cheek tauntingly. “And yet, somehow, you still never leave me alone.”

You swatted his hand away from your face, rolling your eyes as you rose to your feet in defeat. “Fine. I’ve got patients to see, anyway. But I’m not going to stop asking until you teach me!”

“Then I suppose we’ll be trapped in an endless time loop, won’t we?” He shot you a wink as you threw your hands up, spinning on your heel to leave the library.

“Don’t forget to grace the med bay with your presence every once in a while, oh Supreme One,” you shouted over your shoulder as you retreated, not bothering to look back to see if the sorcerer was inevitably flipping you off or making some other obscene gesture.

You’d known Stephen Strange for a long time. Long before the accident, long before he went off to Kamar-Taj and learned magic from the mystical woman he called the Ancient One, long before he became the Sorcerer Supreme. When you’d met, you were both young, naïve medical students at Columbia University. You’d struck up a friendship early on in your years of school, likely because you were one of the few of his colleagues who could both tolerate his immense ego and bring him down a few pegs with your sarcastic wit every once in a while. The pair of you spent a great deal of time together, studying and learning your way through the complex science of medicine.

Ultimately, you had gone on to complete a residency in emergency medicine while he trained to become a neurosurgeon. You had been the one to introduce him to Dr. Christine Palmer, who was one of your coresidents at the time. The two of you lost touch after the accident, when he’d become dangerously obsessed with regaining the use of his hands.

Stephen respected your skills as an emergency medicine physician, although he didn’t frequently say so out loud. The main reason you knew this was because after he’d officially joined the Avengers, he reached out to you personally to invite you to lead the medical team assigned to treat the group of heroes. You’d been skeptical at first, figuring he was pulling your leg with such an outrageous offer just to have some excuse to become closer friends again. When he’d introduced you to the actual Avengers, though, you were shocked to find he hadn’t been making up some grandiose tale to impress you - it had all been true. And of course, it was an offer you couldn't turn down.

You headed down to the med bay where you spent a significant portion of your day. There were a number of other physicians that worked in the med bay, Strange included, but you personally saw to the Avengers when they had their regularly scheduled wellness checks. Having spent a significant amount of time in the Avengers tower, you had become good friends with many of the inhabitants.

When you glanced at today's schedule, you winced when you saw who your morning appointment was with. It wasn't that you disliked Loki - you found him quite entertaining, actually, and he'd become a friend of yours - he was just a very difficult patient.

Loki was prompt, as always, sulking through the door to the med bay with his trademark scowl on his face. You smiled extra sweetly at the brooding Asgardian, knowing he hated it when you barraged him with positivity during these appointments. He rolled his eyes as he all but threw himself down to sit on the examination table, his arms folded stiffly across his chest.

"Well aren't you just a barrel of sunshine, Loki?" you teased, sitting on the stool beside the exam table and opening his chart on your laptop.

"You know as well as I that these silly appointments are a waste of time. I do not require a mortal to assess my health once a month."

"Well, your brother says otherwise."

"Hmmph. Yes, he is rather persistent. That is the only reason I continue to attend these check-ins." His shoulders loosened a bit, now that he was sitting and chatting with you and the initial annoyance of having to haul his royal self to the med bay had faded.

"Wow, that's very brotherly of you to listen to him," you chuckled.

"The alternative would be far worse, I assure you. My brother is not above using brute force to get me to come to these appointments."

You snorted, earning a glare from the trickster. "Sorry, I just got an image of Thor carrying you into my exam room - it was pretty funny."

"Yes, yes, laugh all you want..." he muttered. "Shall we get on with this, then?"

"You know the drill by now." You poised your fingers over the keyboard to prepare to take notes, suddenly adopting an overzealously professional tone. "How has your health been recently, Mr. Laufeyson?"

"That's your highness to you, actually," he bit back, although you caught a slight twitch of the corner of his mouth as he tried to hide a grin at your cheekiness. "My health has been excellent, as always."

"Any complaints today?" He shook his head. "Any recent injuries that I don't know about?"

"Why, yes, in fact -" he nodded, a smirk crossing his face as he rolled up his sleeve to reveal a large gash in his forearm. You rolled your eyes.

"Come now, Loki - I know a real wound when I see one. Drop the illusion."

"Tsk, you're no fun." With a wave of his hand, the cut had vanished to reveal perfectly normal, undamaged skin.

"If you're finished with the theatrics, I'll take your vitals," you directed exasperatedly. He reluctantly sat quietly while you pressed your stethoscope to his chest to listen to his heart and lungs, took his pulse, and assessed his blood pressure. As you sat back down to document the results in his chart, he spoke again.

"Do you honestly ever expect to find anything abnormal on these little examinations of yours? Why not just exempt myself and Thor from these onerous check-ins?"

"Ouch. And here I was, thinking you liked spending time with me," you jested. "And to answer your question - I don't exempt the super soldiers from their wellness appointments, so you're not getting out of this."

"Do you not find my brother to be insufferably cheerful?"

You shrugged. "No more than I find you to be insufferably sour." He glared, and you gesticulated toward him to note that he was proving your point. "Alright, Loki - another clean bill of health, as always."

"Excellent," he sighed sarcastically. He stood from the exam table, coming to his full height. "I suppose I'll see you here again next month, doctor."

"Sorry it's such a chore for you. But yes, I'll put you on the schedule in a month."

Loki began to leave the med bay, and you were watching his back retreating from the room when a sudden thought occurred to you. Without really thinking too much about it, you called after him.

"Hey, Loki! Wait up a minute!"

He turned around in confusion, looking at you inquisitively. You crossed the room to close some of the distance between the pair of you.

"You know how to do magic."

He stared at you blankly. "Yes. Obviously."

"Can humans learn Asgardian magic?"

"With the assistance of an Asgardian relic, it is possible, yes." He furrowed his brow as he gazed at you curiously. "You're not suggesting that you want to learn to wield Asgardian magic, are you?"

"Yes, actually. Why do you sound so skeptical?"

He chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief. "You understand that it takes years of training to truly harness the ability to control magic."

"I'm a fast learner." You looked at him hopefully. "Would you teach me?"

Loki laughed at the suggestion. "You want me to teach you magic? Is Strange not good enough for you?"

"He refuses to teach me anything," you grumbled. "Insists that it's unnecessary for me to learn how to fight with magic."

"He's not wrong."

"You're not helping." You sighed. "I just want to have some way of holding my own in combat, in case I ever find the need to defend myself. This isn't exactly a low-risk line of work."

“Do you not have faith that your benevolent heroes will protect you from harm?” he asked teasingly.

“Consider it to be… an insurance policy, of sorts.”

Loki gave you a long, hard look. “You just want an excuse to learn magic.”

“Ughh, ok YES, happy? Can you please teach me?? I’m so sick of Stephen being all high and mighty with his ‘supreme sorcerer powers’ while I don’t even know a single combat move to defend myself. And he won’t teach me no matter how much I ask.”

Loki pondered for a moment, turning your request over in his mind. “What would I be getting out of this?”

“The knowledge that you’ve done a good deed for a friend?”

“I don’t do deals for sentiment.”

“Damn.” You thought for a moment. “What if… I tell you I’ll ‘accidentally’ forget to schedule you for a wellness check for the next few months?”

“Hmm… a tempting offer. Although, that won’t suffice to keep my brother off my back.” He gestures toward you, wordlessly telling you you’d need to do better than that.

“How about I prepare false appointment summaries in case he comes asking, then?”

“Is that even allowed? I understand you mortals have quite strict medical regulations,” he asked suspiciously, but with a sly smirk on his face. You shrugged.

“It’s not moral, I suppose. But I won’t save them in your actual medical record. Just for Thor, if he gets nosy.”

You could tell he was seriously considering the offer now. “And you’ll tell Strange that I am the more skilled sorcerer, I hope?”

“Oh of course. I can’t lie to him.” You shot him a wink, and he chuckled with a shake of his head.

“Alright, I suppose we can attempt one lesson. Come see me when you’re off work.”

He strode out of the med bay, leaving you to prepare for your next appointment. You couldn’t wait to shove it in Stephen’s face when you learned something from Loki and showed him up. He could use to be taken down a few pegs, you thought.

That afternoon, on your way out of the med bay, you crossed paths with the sorcerer himself as he was entering. Your eyebrows shot up in surprise, tilting your head with a snarky grin.

“Wow. Here’s a face I haven’t seen around here in a while.”

“Some of us have other things on our plate besides these little clinic appointments,” he countered with a roll of his eyes. “Where are you off to in such a hurry?”

“Some of us have plans, Stephen,” you responded, mimicking his snarky tone. “Planning on staying a while?”

“I suppose. Wouldn’t want you to think I’m not pulling my weight around here.”

You bade him goodbye and headed up to the dormitories to track down Loki. He often spent the afternoon in his room, reading and otherwise staying clear of any of the overbearing heroes. Sure enough, when you knocked on his door, he appeared in the doorway moments later with a sly grin.

“Are you certain you want to do this?” he asked, stepping out into the hallway and shutting the door behind him.

“Uh, yeah. Why wouldn’t I?”

“Magic can be fickle. When performed incorrectly, without control, it can be dangerous.” He gazed at you intensely. “I just need to be sure you’re prepared.”

“Yeah, I’m prepared. Let’s go. What are we waiting for?”

Loki’s grin expanded at your eagerness. Motioning for you to follow, he made his way down to the training room, which was currently vacant. Once there, he lifted his hand and a staff appeared with a flash of green light. It was gold, with a rounded end at the top and ornate designed etched into the shaft. He handed it to you, and you looked at it quizzically.

“This is an Asgardian artifact, I assume? It kind of looks like a fancy walking stick that an old rich guy might carry.”

“Yes it’s an Asgardian artifact,” he scoffed, rolling his eyes as he shoved it into your hands. “Now, tell me - what is it you are hoping to learn in this single lesson I’ve offered you?”

“I want to learn how to create a magic blast thingy like I’ve seen you do in combat.”

Loki chuckled condescendingly. “You can’t simply jump right in to something so advanced. It would be highly unlikely, nigh impossible for you to conjure a blast of magical energy without learning some basics first.”

“Try me.” You stood up straighter, lifting your chin confidently. Loki sighed exasperatedly.

“Fine. Allow me to prove to you how unlikely it would be.” He began to demonstrate, a small ball of green light forming in his upturned palm. “To create such a blast, you must first create a focus of energy. Control it, build upon it, until it reaches the desired size and strength. Then, you must redirect the focus toward your opponent.”

“Does that mean I get to try to blast you?”

“Absolutely not. Even in the improbable event that you do succeed on your first try, I will not subject myself to the dangers of beginner’s magic.” With a wave of his hand, an exact duplicate of himself appeared. The real Loki stepped off to the side, far out of your line of fire. “You may try against an illusionary opponent.”

“Alright, fine.” You gripped the staff in your non dominant hand, lifting your other palm and staring hard at the center where you intended to create a focus of energy as Loki instructed. The sensation of the magic flowing through the staff was unique, a pleasant warmth flowing through your body emanating from the artifact. As you concentrated, a small orb of light began to flicker in your hand.

“That’s the easy part,” Loki called from his safe corner. “Now you must build upon it.”

Throwing all of your focus into the little ball of light, you watched as it expanded before your eyes. A part of you did feel like you were controlling it, although some part of you was still in awe that this was even happening.

"Now what?"

"Now redirect it toward the illusion."

"Alright..." You scrunched up your nose in concentration, trying to send the large orb of light flying at the illusion. This part was difficult - you weren't succeeding in getting it to move, in fact, if anything it was just growing larger. "Uh, Loki? Any suggestions for how to -"

BOOM

The orb exploded into a wave of magical energy spreading outward from its center. The blast hit you full force, and you felt your feet leave the ground as you were thrown across the room on impact. Mere seconds later, you felt your back strike against the solid plaster of the wall before you collapsed to the floor.

Gasping for breath, you rolled to lie on your side as you took stock of the situation. Your ears were ringing from the blow, but you swore you heard Loki muttering 'oh, shit' before suddenly his boots came into view in front of you.

"Are you alright?" he asked, voice laden with genuine concern as he crouched down beside you. You wheezed, but nodded in response, holding your chest. In truth, you weren't certain if you were ok, but you didn't feel as though you were on the verge of passing out, so that was at least something.

Gradually, you took deeper breaths in and out, forcing your lungs to fill completely before releasing the air and repeating the process. As you caught your breath, the pain in your chest ebbed away. You suspected you simply had the wind knocked out of you, maybe some bruises, but nothing more serious than that.

Carefully, you sat up on the floor, leaning your forehead on your knees while you waited for the adrenaline to fade. Loki placed a hand on your forearm, prompting you to look up at him.

"You should seek medical attention."

You snorted. "L-Loki, I'm fine." You hated that your voice still sounded a bit wheezy, but it was slowly improving. "I'm a doctor, I'll check myself out."

"No, you'll downplay anything you find. You need to go to the med bay."

"No way." You scowled at him. "I'm not going to the med bay so that Stephen can tell me 'I told you so.'"

Loki sighed, giving you a hard look. "If you won't go willingly, I'll take you there myself. You were injured under my instruction, and I insist you get a proper medical assessment."

"You'll take me there yourself? What's that supposed to me-AHH LOKI what the hell?!"

In response to your unfinished question, he suddenly scooped you up in his arms and began carrying you out of the training room in the direction of the med bay. You protested at first, trying to flail enough for him to want to put you down, but he held fast and you were still somewhat breathless. Still, you grumbled about it the entire way to the med bay, just to make perfectly clear how unhappy you were with this arrangement.

Upon entering the med bay, Stephen glanced up from the desk in the corner where he sat reading some kind of medical paper, raising his eyebrows at the sight that met his eyes.

"Alright, what did you do?" he asked flatly, giving Loki an irritable look.

"What did I do? Your colleague begged me to teach her magic, and significantly overestimated her abilities," he retorted. Stephen's eyes darted to yours.

"Seriously? You went crying to Loki because I wouldn't teach you?"

"Yeah, yeah... save it, alright?" you groaned dismissively. Strange motioned for Loki to set you down on the exam table, pulling up a chair for him to sit beside you. "I'm fine, seriously. I didn't even want to come here, but clearly that wasn't a decision I was allowed to make." You shot Loki an annoyed glare for emphasis.

"She requires a proper medical examination. I don't believe her to be capable of performing one on herself without ignoring any injuries she might identify," Loki explained.

"See? Even he knows what a terrible patient you are," Stephen quipped, smirking.

"Shut up and get on with it, will you? I don't want to spend my entire evening in the med bay where I work," you growled. Strange walked around behind you to inspect the back of your head, ensuring there was no bleeding or bruising from the impact against the wall.

"You realize I should technically put you in a cervical collar until we confirm you don't have a neck injury..."

"Not happening."

"Mmhmm. Didn't think so." He palpated the back of your head carefully, and you winced only once where his finger pressed against a sore spot. "No bleeding there, probably just a bruise. Any headache?"

"Nope."

"Would you inform him truthfully if you did have one?" Loki asked skeptically.

"Yes I would. I don't have a head or neck injury, I promise. I hit my back against the wall, it knocked the wind out of me, and now I'm fine."

"You could have rib fractures. I'll need to take a look." Stephen walked around to stand in front of where you sat with your legs dangling off the exam table, gesturing for you to lie down. With a scowl, you did as you were told. "Honestly, I still don't understand why you thought learning Asgardian magic was a good idea. I mean, Loki's not exactly known for being cautious."

"I beg your pardon??" Loki stood from his chair, eyes suddenly livid. "Are you insinuating that this is my fault?"

"Well, you did teach her the spell that caused her to injure herself. I'd say that makes you pretty guilty," Stephen argued.

"First of all - I did warn our dear friend here that magic can be dangerous when not controlled. Second - she'd not have even come to me if you'd not been so self-centered that you wouldn't teach her yourself for fear of her powers exceeding your own."

"I refused to teach her because I didn't want her to sustain any unnecessary injuries while practicing. Clearly, you have no regard for her well-being."

"Ok, STOP." Both Loki and Stephen turned their gazes toward you as you sat up from the exam table, looking heated. "Seriously, this was clearly my fault for trying to do too much too fast. Just please, stop arguing! Honestly, the two of you are more alike than you think."

"Oh hell no-"

"I beg your pardon-"

"Nope! Not another word. You're both magical sorcerers and your both pains in the ass. I'm sticking to it - you're more similar than you think. Now, if you could please just get on with whatever exam you're going to force me to sit through so I can move on with my evening?"

"I would, but you have to lie down," Stephen ordered. Scoffing, you laid back down to rest your head on the table, folding your arms defiantly across your chest. "You need to move your arms. I can't assess you for rib fractures with you pouting like a child."

"Ughh. Fine." You let your arms rest at your sides. "Happy?"

"Thank you." Strange placed his hands on either side of your ribcage, gently palpating for sore spots or any unstable fractures. The moment his fingers touched down against your ribs, you squeaked and grabbed his wrists out of pure instinct. He sighed exasperatedly. "Seriously? You still can't tolerate this?"

"Is she injured?" Loki asked, brow furrowed with concern.

"No. She's too damned ticklish to tolerate trauma exams."

"Stephen!" You gave him a wide-eyed, mortified look. "You can't just tell people that!"

"Why not? He's gonna figure it out anyway by the time I finish examining you. Now let go of my wrists so I can finish."

Reluctantly, you released his wrists as requested, taking in a deep breath in preparation to try to block out the ticklish sensation. He prodded carefully along each rib as he made his way up from the bottom, pressing into the sides and along toward the fronts before moving on to the next. It was far too much for you to ignore the sensation, and you burst into giggles as you reactionarily grabbed hold of his wrists once again.

"I never knew you were so ticklish, doctor," Loki hummed in amusement as he watched the scene unfold, likely relieved that you weren't shouting out in pain.

"Yeah, try being her partner in med school for the acute trauma life support class. It was damn near impossible to get through the required practice physical exams - she kept bursting into hysterics and sliding off the exam table."

"STEPHEN!" You pressed your hands to your face, horrifically embarrassed that he'd dared reveal this about you. It didn't last long, as he pressed into your fifth ribs on either side and your hands shot back to his wrists. "You're doing it on purpose!!"

"No, this would be on purpose." He splayed both hands out wide across your ribcage, scratching gently in the divots between your ribs for a few seconds. You shrieked and dug your heels into the table, shoving at his hands to push them off. When he stopped, you glared at him as menacingly as one could with a ticklish smile on your face.

"You are such a nuisance," you griped.

"Hey, I didn't ask for this - next time, practice magic when someone else is on duty in the med bay if you don't want to deal with me." He gave you a hard look. "Now then, are you going to let me finish? Or do I need to pull out the restraints to get you to hold still?"

"Excuse me?"

"There's no need for that - I'm happy to assist," Loki suddenly interjected, stepping closer to the side of the exam table. He gazed down at your blushing face with a sly smirk on his. "If you continue to hinder the good doctor in his examination, I'll be forced to hold you down."

"That's not... you're... ughhh just GET IT OVER WITH damnit! My ribs aren't brok-EHEHEN!"

Strange began prodding at your ribs once again, and you could tell that while he wasn't being so conspicuous about it this time, he was purposefully being extra gentle and spending extra time around the spots that made you twitch. Unwilling to let Loki hold you down, you balled your hands into fists and took long, deep breaths to try to prevent yourself from reacting. You did pretty well at fighting your instinct to push his hands away until he reached your seventh or eighth rib on either side. The second he prodded his fingertips into that spot, you shrieked and shot your hands back to clasp around his arms.

Loki and Stephen both glanced up simultaneously, meeting the other's gaze. "Loki - would you please restrain her so I can finish ensuring she isn't seriously injured?"

"With pleasure." Loki grabbed both your wrists and pulled them effortlessly off of Stephen's arms, dragging them to rest by your head and pinning them to the table. This was ten-times worse than the damned bedside restraints Strange had threatened to use - at least you would have had some sense of protection with your arms near your sides. Like this, you felt incredibly exposed.

"Loki!! Let go of me!" you demanded, tugging against his hold.

"Not until the doctor completes his examination, darling." He nodded to Stephen, who continued his assessment. A smile began pulling at his lips as your shrieking and giggling became more violent. He was having far too much fun at your expense.

"Okahay, okahahay, are yohou satisfied - wait, HEHEY that is NOHOT part of the exahaham - DAMNIT STEPHEHEHEN!" You began to beat your heels against the table in protest as he pressed into your uppermost ribs, essentially poking and prodding around your armpits at this point. With a chuckle, he relented, shaking his head at you as you sucked in deep breaths.

"Clearly your ribs are fine. I don't feel any evidence of fractures, and it obviously wasn't painful for me to press on them," he drawled sarcastically.

"Ehe... excellent. Now let me go, Loki."

"Hang on a moment." Your eyes darted up to look at the trickster, who had a dangerous-looking smirk on his face, and notably had not released your wrists. "Are you certain you've completed a full physical assessment? Perhaps you should confirm there were no abdominal injuries in the accident."

"NO WAY are you-"

"Excellent point. How could I have neglected that portion of the exam?"

"STEPHEN! I swear, I will kick you!"

"Wow. That's awfully violent of you. Are you sure you don't have any head trauma? I'm sure you know agitation is a symptom of traumatic brain injury." He was wearing a full-on smirk now, mirroring the smirk on Loki's face. "I may need to run some additional tests."

"UGH!" You decided to simply stop talking at this point, realizing you weren't getting very far arguing with the sarcastic duo.

"Now, doctor - be a good patient and lie still while he finishes examining you," Loki insisted teasingly. "I would be simply devastated if he missed any injury that I may have lead you to sustain."

"You know very well I only hit my back on the wall," you growled through gritted teeth.

"And you know the importance of being thorough," Stephen interjected. "Now then - tell me if anything hurts."

“I’ll tell you what’s gonna hu-RAHAH STAHAP THAT!” You burst into a renewed bout of laughter as he palpated your belly, purposely sliding his fingers along the sensitive skin each time he moved to press on a different spot. Loki was grinning now, clearly amused by your zealous reaction.

“Is that a yes, doctor? This hurts?” Stephen asked cheekily, poking repeatedly at the spot right below your navel that had you squirming twice as hard as anywhere else.

“STEHEHEPHEN I will assiHIGN YOU night shihift for A WEEHEEK!!”

“Now, that’s funny. You think you’re my superior?” No longer messing around, he brought his other hand down to your belly and began clawing into the pliant skin, not bothering with the 'exam' ruse any longer. You screeched and twisted away from his hands to no avail, pounding your feet against the table in ticklish agony.

“O-HO-KAHAHAY I’M SOHORRYHY!” You sucked in a deep breath as he paused his torment at your apology, looking down at you lying limp on the exam table as you tried to regain your composure.

“I'm not sure why I never thought of this before, actually. Next time you won't get out of my hair, I'll know exactly what to do," Stephen teased, pinching your side for emphasis.

"Are you finished torturing me now??" you demanded, glaring up at Loki who had yet to release your wrists.

"Actually, Strange, I suggest you run more tests," Loki recommended facetiously, winking. "In fact - why don't you teach me one. It could be quite useful to have a better understanding of mortal medicine. Especially if she plans to request that we continue these dangerous magic lessons."

"Loki... don't you even..."

"Ah, yes. I do still need to assess for head trauma. This is a simple test." Strange moved down toward the end of the exam table, suddenly grabbing hold of your ankles and pinning them down with both hands. "You can release her wrists now - I'm going to demonstrate how to assess the Babinski reflex."

"No! No, I don't think so!" you argued. Loki's brows shot up at your sudden protesting, moving to stand by Stephen near your feet.

"This reflex will help determine if there is spinal cord damage. Hold here, please," he instructed, motioning with his head toward where his hands rested on your ankles. Loki took his place, watching as Strange removed your sneakers while you shouted threats at him, which were quickly beginning to become laced with giggles. "I'll warn you - this was always the most challenging physical exam for her to tolerate in med school..."

"My spinal cord is FINE!"

"I'll be the judge of that, thank you." He placed his index finger against the outer edge of your heel, sliding it up the length of your sole and then across to the ball of your foot. The simple motion made you jolt and bark out a laugh. "Unfortunately, this test is often inconclusive... you see, some patients are simply too ticklish to sit still enough to attain an accurate result."

"Maybe I could give it a try," Loki suggested with a smirk.

"Loki!"

"You can certainly give it a shot. It might take you a few tries to get it right, though." Ignoring your whining, Strange took back his position holding your ankles down while Loki shifted to stand at the end of the exam table, his smirk positively sinister as he placed his fingertips against your heel.

"Alright - you're the expert, Strange - tell me if I'm doing this correctly." He began scratching randomly up the length of the bottom of your foot, eliciting a screech from you. Throwing yourself back against the exam table, you yanked against Strange's hold with little success.

"THAHAT'S NOHOT HOW YOU DOHO IT!!" you hollered.

"Mm, she's right. You need to focus on the outer edge more, you're too medial."

"Ah, I understand." Loki followed Strange's 'recommendations' and scratched along the outer edge of your foot, unable to stop himself from laughing when you began to squeak when his fingers swept over the spot just above your heel. "Hmm. This still doesn't seem to be working correctly."

"Maybe you need to desensitize her to it."

"Excellent idea." Foregoing his attempts at eliciting a proper reflex, he simply scribbled his fingers along the bottoms of both feet, purposefully just trying to find where it seemed to tickle most based on your reactions.

"YOHOU GUYS AHARE THE WOHOHORST - NOHOT THERE!!" you cried, tears of mirth forming in your eyes as he discovered the super sensitive spot just below the ball of your foot and began to target it relentlessly.

"I suppose if she's moving all four extremities, a spinal injury is unlikely..." Stephen mused as he observed your torment.

"That does seem logical. Hang on a moment - I'll run one final test." Finally deciding to leave your feet alone, Loki reached up and began to knead his fingers up and down the length of your sides.

"No, NO NOHOHO!" You swatted frantically at Loki's hands for just a moment before succumbing to the ticklish sensation, muscles completely weakened from laughter. Only then, when he realized you were no longer fighting back, did he finally show you mercy.

"I think we can safely say there are no major injuries," Stephen concluded. You sat up, coughing as you tried to catch your breath.

"As I said - you two are damned pains in the ass," you groaned. Still, they were at least getting along. Even if it was at your expense. "Am I discharged now, doctor?"

"Yes, I suppose. Now get out of here."

"This is my med bay!"

"And you're not on shift. So get out." Stephen glanced up from the laptop he'd just opened up to enter data in your medical chart. The slightest of smirks graced his lips. You couldn't help but grin, knowing he was actually trying to be nice for once underneath his snarky attitude.

You looked at Loki as you neared the door to the med bay, speaking loudly enough for Strange to hear. "So - are we going to continue our lesson now?"

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Stephen's head whip up to look at you across the room. Loki's brows shot up in surprise at your eagerness.

"Are you certain that's a good idea?" Loki asked skeptically.

"I'll go easier this time, I swear."

"Just so you know -" Stephen called from his seat at the desk in the corner, "- if you end up back here tonight, you know how it's going to go."

You felt your face begin to heat up as you registered what he was implying. Turning to Loki, you laughed nervously. "On second thought, can I take a rain check? I think I've had quite enough of that tonight."

Loki smirked at your flustered expression. "How about tomorrow?"

"Sounds great."

Perhaps it would take a little longer than you'd hoped to learn magic. But, you supposed, there were few people in this world that could say they were friends with two people who could teach them the mystical arts. Even if they were, indeed, pains in the ass.

#I am metaphorically flopping on the floor like a fish #I don’t think I’ll ever get through this one without giggling like an idiot no matter how many times I read it 💀#this fic is so good and flustering and I love it!!! I’ve got a weak spot for doctor strange hdhdhfhggh #you write him so well!! I hope you’re open to writing for him more in the future!!

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bingo-writes · 2 years

Text

Intriguing

Word count: 9,500

Pairing: Loki x f!reader (platonic or pre-romantic, interpret as you'd like)

Warnings: A touch of angst, but a fluffy ending as always!

I'm back to prompts! This combines three: two similar ones (Prompt - Loki x shy reader/Prompt Loki tries to get to know shy reader better) as well as another prompt where Loki sneakily uses magic to tickle reader from across the room. That part was a challenge - I hope it worked out! 😊

Nothing interesting ever happened around here.

Sure, Loki lived with a horde of heroes from various walks of life, most of whom had superhuman abilities or genius intellect (by Midgardian standards, of course). But Loki was accustomed to being around enhanced beings - that was hardly anything to sneeze at. And most of them made every effort to ignore his presence anyhow.

He preferred this way, of course; he had no desire to really get to know any of them on a more personal level than the occasional passing nod of greeting, or the painstakingly brief conversations in the kitchen while awaiting the coffee maker to finish brewing in the morning. Their personality quirks drove him quite mad - for example, Rogers was insufferably righteous, Parker oppressively upbeat, and Stark was simply unbearably obnoxious.

Thor was the only member of the team whom Loki was required to interact with in some way. If he had it his way, he wouldn't even have to do that much. He much preferred to observe from afar, to listen to their conversations from his secluded corner of the room and not have to speak to anyone. But Thor was Hel-bent on encouraging Loki to socialize with the intolerable inhabitants of the tower, dragging him to their game nights and ice cream outings and other frivolous nonsense of the like. And every time it was more of the same - Loki had to sit and pretend to be engaged in the group conversation or activity, despite how dreadfully boring their conversations had become.

Back home on Asgard, Loki socialized with all sorts of fascinating beings from across the Nine Realms. As a member of the royal family, he participated in diplomatic discussions and attended magnificent banquets and celebrations. With perhaps the exception of his time in the dungeons, there was never a dull moment. But here, living in this same godforsaken tower with these dull benevolent heroes, the God of Mischief was excruciatingly bored. If only something... anything new would come along and stir things up in the mind numbingly monotonous tower.

And then you came along.

Loki likely wouldn't have learned of you for quite some time had he not been forced to visit Stark's lab to complain to him that once again the heat would not turn off in his quarters. He was beginning to think this was an act of sabotage rather than an unfortunate malfunction. This was the third time this had occurred, and he hadn't heard even a whisper of anyone else in the tower experiencing a similar problem.

Stark was attempting to brush Loki off once again, insisting he'd have FRIDAY 'get right on it' (which was code for 'I'll get to it when I get to it') when Pepper suddenly appeared in the lab, her heels clicking on the tile floor with every brisk step. She whispered something in the billionaire's ear, then took him by the elbow and led him out, calling over her shoulder that she'd personally see to Loki's heat problem.

He’d believe that when he saw it.

Overcome with curiosity as to what she could possibly have needed to whisk Stark out of the lab so swiftly, Loki followed at enough of a distance that his presence would not be intrusive, but close enough to keep an eye on the hurried couple. He'd anticipated she would lead him to her office, which is typically where she would drag the billionaire off to when she needed to speak to him in private. Loki was therefore surprised when Pepper instead led him to the lounge directly outside of the lab and pointed to the television mounted on the wall.

"We have a problem," she stated ominously. On the screen, the news station was displaying a fiery-looking view of the city of Chicago, where a flurry of small mechanical drones were whizzing through the streets. These drones were apparently equipped with rather advanced weaponry - they were making quick work of blasting through walls of buildings as they went, explosions of brick and mortar bursting all around them.

"You gotta admit - these guys are getting pretty creative," Stark jested sarcastically.

"That's because they had help."

A close-up image of one of the drones flashed on the screen, one that had been brought down by military personnel flocking to the city. Pepper pointed to a small mark on the surface of the drone, just as the screen flashed to another scene.

"Woah-woah-woah, hey FRIDAY - show me a close-up of that image from five seconds ago," Stark demanded. Obediently, FRIDAY sent the requested image to Stark's handheld holographic device, where it hovered with a blue shimmering border over his palm. He zoomed in further with two fingers, inspecting the mark on the surface of the drone, which Loki could now see from where he stood was a logo or a name of some sort.

"Do you think she would have..."

"Shit. No, you know as well as I do she wouldn't do it willingly. They've got her somewhere."

Suddenly developing a sense of urgency, Stark pressed a button on his holographic device to close the screen, and another to activate one of his metal suits. The red and gold metal pieces whizzed past Loki's head on their way through the door to the lab toward their target, encapsulating the spectacled scientist in the familiar iron armor.

"If I'm not back in two hours, tell Capsicle to send in reinforcements," he instructed Pepper before blasting off the ground and out the open window he'd designed specifically for a rapid take-off from the lab. The blonde sighed exasperatedly, looking anxious as she hurried over to the elevator and stepped inside, not even registering Loki's presence as the doors shut behind her.

What was that all about? he thought to himself with his brow furrowed. Stark rarely found anything to be urgent enough to just take off without first informing the star-spangled captain. Clearly that logo must have meant something to the two of them.

Stark didn't return for a few hours. Not that it made any difference - Pepper had gone straight to Rogers to inform him of the billionaire's whereabouts the moment Stark left. A small team, including Thor, headed out on the quinjet to catch up to him and provide assistance. Although Loki was not emotionally invested in... whatever this was, he couldn't deny that he was intrigued by this sudden flurry of activity. After months of hearing about nothing but trivial nonsense from his brother and company - bank robberies, assaults, money laundering... nothing of any substance - this was an interesting turn of events. Who could blame him for listening for the quinjet's return to the tower while he went about his usual business?

The moment he heard the whir of the engines drawing nearer, Loki made his way to the landing pad, which just so happened to be on the same floor of the tower as the lab. He sauntered casually back to the lab, plotting to pretend he had returned to have words with Stark about his heat should anyone decide to ask questions.

He needn't have worried about that. The heroes were far too consumed with an extra passenger that they'd apparently picked up along the way. Stark, ever the impatient one, scooped the extra person up in his arms and sprinted inside, headed straight for the lab. As he rushed by, Loki caught his first sight of you up close, dangling limp in his hold.

You were obviously Midgardian, appearing to be of an age similar to Romanoff or Wilson. There were no external signs that you'd been injured, so it was unclear why exactly you were unconscious. Stark was obviously concerned about your wellbeing, which led Loki to believe he must know you from somewhere. He rarely saw Stark so worried about anything, with the exception of his coffee, and perhaps Pepper.

Banner was standing in a far corner of the lab, glancing up the moment he heard the door open as if he were expecting the company. Too curious not to listen in, Loki entered the lab along with the other few team members who had attended what apparently had been a reconnaissance mission to rescue you. Rogers and Barnes passed by him without a second glance, but Thor paused to look at Loki with a somber expression.

"I see you've heard about Lady Potts' niece," he stated, though it was more of a question.

"I... might have heard a bit of the conversation, yes." Loki watched from a distance as Stark laid you down on an examination table, where Banner got to work assessing you. "What did she do?"

"She was mind-controlled. Assisted the enemy with the development of a dangerous fleet of weapons."

Loki felt the slightest pang of guilt for being so insensitively invested in your story after hearing that. He, unfortunately, could relate to the experience of having your mind taken over by a tyrant. Probably better than anyone else in the tower was capable of doing, with the exception of Barton, perhaps.

"Stark and Banner are attempting to break through to her, but they aren't certain how the enemy inflicted their control."

"They don't know how to reverse it?"

"Not yet. But I'm certain they shall determine a solution!"

Thor stepped away to join Stark and Banner at your side. Feeling out of place, Loki decided to leave the scientists to their work, heading down to his own quarters.

Loki didn't hear anything more about you until the following morning, when he decided he could no longer tolerate the blazing temperature in his room. He stormed back to Stark's lab, prepared to have a sharp word with the infuriating scientist. He could see the man standing at one of his work benches through the glass doors to the lab, growing even more furious at the fact that he appeared to be bobbing his head to whatever music was playing in his earbuds.

"Stark! If you don't fix the damned heat in my quarters in the next hour, I swear to you I will turn you into a frog and I'll-"

He stopped dead in his tracks as he heard a small giggle from across the room. Whipping his head around, his eyes landed on you, seated at another workbench with your hands poised over the keyboard of a laptop, your gaze fixed on him and a smile on your face. The moment he locked eyes with you, your cheeks brightened, and you returned your focus immediately to your work with a swift swiveling of your head.

"Sorry, what was that, Jack Frost? Couldn't hear you over the Rolling Stones."

Loki looked back at Stark, who had removed an earbud and was staring at him with an innocent, yet sly expression. Suddenly, he'd lost the bite to his anger that had him storming in here in the first place. He pinched his fingers to the bridge of his nose, shaking his head in frustration.

"Just... fix the damned heat in my room. Please. It's hotter than Muspelheim in there."

"What's the matter, Frosty? Can't take the heat?"

Loki narrowed his eyes, muttering under his breath as he turned to leave. He allowed his gaze to land on you once more, catching you glancing at him for a second before returning your attention to your computer screen. Despite his piquing curiosity, he chose not to address you directly, leaving the room without another word.

It was strange to him, how his thoughts kept returning to you after that brief interaction. Loki prided himself on being able to read people with ease, but you were a mystery. He barely knew a thing about you, and yet he felt unexplainably drawn to you. Perhaps it was your shared experience of having had someone take control of your mind that had him so curious.

He wasn't about to ask Stark about you, so Loki went to the only inhabitant of the tower who wouldn't be suspicious of malicious intent if he suddenly decided to strike up a conversation.

Thor was where he always spent his afternoons - in the common room, watching some ridiculous Midgardian cooking show. Loki never could understand the concept. Why were humans so fixated on trying to outdo one another at literally any skill they could come up with?

"Brother! Have you finally decided to watch the food channel with me?" Thor bellowed brightly. Loki rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"No, of course not. You know my feelings on this ridiculous television program."

"Then why have you decided to grace me with your presence, dear brother?"

Loki sat down on the armchair across from Thor, folding his arms across his chest. "I was wondering what happened to the girl you all rescued yesterday."

"Ah... have you taken a fancy to her?" Thor asked with a teasing wiggle of his eyebrows. Loki scoffed at the suggestion.

"Of course not! I merely saw her working in Stark's laboratory this morning. I assume this means Stark and Banner determined a way to break the mind control over her, but I want to be certain, lest she become a threat."

"A threat? Are you beginning to actually care about us, brother?"

"Not one bit. I meant a threat to myself. She is clearly a skilled inventor. I need to know if I should be on my guard, with this unstable weapon-builder living in the same building."

Thor nodded slowly, a slight smirk still tugging at his lips. He clearly didn't believe Loki, but he didn't push the issue.

"Yes, Stark and Banner broke through to her. However..." he winced, "... she does not recall any of what happened whilst she was under the enemy's control."

"Oh, is that right?" Part of Loki felt you were lucky to have no memory of what you'd done under someone else's control. He'd have appreciated such a courtesy after his treachery under the mad Titan's influence. Although, another part of him felt it was unfair to you not to know what you'd done. It would only hurt you that much more if you found out through an outside source. "Are they planning to tell her what happened?"

"Stark feels strongly that he doesn't want her to know. He wants to shelter her from the pain it will inevitably cause."

"And what right does Stark have to decide such matters? Does she not have a say in this?"

The sudden outburst surprised even Loki. He couldn't understand why he felt so strongly about protecting your wellbeing. He barely knew you - in fact, he really didn't know you. He hadn't even learned your name, he hadn't formally introduced himself, he hadn't said a word directly to you.

Thor appeared surprised as well, and that infuriatingly snarky smirk returned to his face. "He is her uncle. And are you certain you haven't taken a fancy to her?"

"Yes, I'm certain, Thor." Rising abruptly to his feet, he glared down at his annoyingly self-assured-looking sibling. "Forgive me for questioning the crazed, sleep-deprived scientist's decisions."

Without another word, he strode out of the room, leaving Thor to watch his juvenile television show. Perhaps it was a mistake to ask so many questions about you. Clearly even his dim-witted brother became suspicious. Loki would simply need to find a way to learn more about you on his own.

Unwilling to return to the Hel that was his bedroom, Loki decided to take a walk in the small courtyard behind the compound and find a place to read in peace. Best that he cleared his head and stopped thinking about this strange Midgardian so much.

As dinnertime approached, the sun set, and it grew too dark to see the pages of his novel. He reluctantly returned to his room, hoping to get through a few more chapters before his insufferably upbeat brother inevitably came pounding on his door requesting his presence at the dinner table.

Anticipating being hit with a heat wave the moment he opened the door, Loki was pleasantly surprised to find it was actually mildly cool in his room. He glanced at the thermostat, finding it was set to the temperature he usually had it set to. Curiously, he turned it up a few degrees, hearing the telltale click of the heat turning on.

Well. It was about damned time Stark fixed the heat.

Rather than awaiting his brother's arrival, Loki decided to head to the dining room for dinner on his own accord. He took his seat beside Thor, who looked rather shocked that Loki had come without his usual fuss. Before he could comment about it, Stark wandered into the room with you trailing behind him.

"Everyone! I'd like you to meet Pepper's niece," he announced, gesturing toward you with a flourish. As he told the group your name, you seemed to shrink into yourself a bit under everyone's gaze, a shy smile on your face as you lifted one hand to wave sheepishly. "She talks, I swear - it just takes a while for her to warm up to people. Believe me, once she starts talking, she doesn't stop."

"Uncle Tony!"

It was the first time Loki had heard you say anything. Your voice was pleasant, not at all overbearing or exceedingly sweet. You said nothing more than those two words as you shot your uncle a teasingly irritated look and took a seat in one of the empty chairs across the table. Stark took the chair beside yours, offering you a cheeky grin and a wink before turning to the rest of the group.

"I see you've finally found some time in your busy schedule to fix the heat in my quarters," Loki quipped sarcastically. Stark sighed exasperatedly.

“Look, I told you I’ll get FRIDAY right on it, I’m still running diagnostics. Stop being so impatient!”

Loki cocked an eyebrow in confusion. “I was being serious. It is fixed.”

Stark clapped his hands together in excitement. “Excellent! Problem solved! Maybe now you can stop breathing down my neck with your ice breath, hmm?”

“You didn’t fix it?”

“Nope. But I owe a drink to whoever did! Go on - who was it? Claim your reward,” he jested as he gesticulated around the table at the others. No one said a word.

Who had finally fixed it, then, if not Stark? Perhaps Pepper hadn’t been simply trying to pacify him when she said she’d get it repaired? Though he’d have expected she would simply get on Stark’s case about it.

Then he saw it. He glanced across the table and found you to be staring at him intently. Your cheeks brightened the moment he locked eyes with you, and you tilted your head down to focus on the food on your plate. The conversation around the table had since moved on to other subjects, but Loki had a suspicious feeling you were still thinking about his predicament.

Your eyes flitted up to look at Loki again through your eyelashes, and he tilted his head expectantly, mouthing the word:

You?

You didn’t say anything, turning your attention back to your plate. But the tiniest of smiles formed on your lips, and that was all he needed.

Why had you gone out of your way to help him? Loki - former would-be tyrant of New York, least liked in the tower - and yet, you decided to take it upon yourself to finally do what he'd been asking Stark to do for weeks without a second thought. You were quite possibly the only member of this tower who had ever done something kind for him. It only served to increase his desire to learn more about you.

Fortunately, Stark began dragging you along to join the group gatherings in an attempt to get you to open up more. Unfortunately, that meant Loki would need to attend as well if he wanted to use it as an opportunity to observe you. So, much to Thor's pleasant surprise, Loki began to do just that.

You were painfully shy, sticking close to your uncle whenever you joined the team for a movie or a card game. It was rare to hear you speak more than a few words at a time. But you were clearly engaged in the conversations around you, despite not contributing much to them. You would smile and nod, or gasp, or frown in response to what was being said. It was obvious you wanted to participate, but you seemed to recede into your shell the moment you considered speaking up.

Occasionally, the others would ask you a direct question about yourself, and you were forced to say a bit more than your usual few words. Even then, you provided the minimum information necessary to answer the question before ending your response with a shy smile. Loki learned you were an engineer by trade, which is why you formed such a strong mentor-like connection with Stark after he and Pepper got together. You'd be staying in the tower for a while to help Stark with a few projects at his request (likely an excuse to keep you here without telling you the truth about what happened, Loki thought). You responded vaguely to questions about personal facts - a simple shrug in response to your favorite movie genre or a chuckle and an 'I don't know' when asked about your favorite kind of music.

Quite possibly the strangest part about you was how you seemed to start to gravitate toward Loki as well. As you grew more comfortable, you began to stray from Stark's side and find a seat nearby Loki's, offering him that shy smile of yours but never saying more than a quick 'hello.' Once or twice, it seemed as though you might actually say something more to him, but the moment you took in a breath to speak, your cheeks would brighten and you'd look away as you let it out slowly through your nose.

Clearly you weren't going to be the one to initiate conversation. If he was going to get you to talk to him, he'd have to put forth the effort.

Worried that he might scare you off if he tried to point blank strike up a conversation with you, Loki instead aimed to be more subtle. One evening, while the team watched a film together, he whispered some sarcastic comment about the scene on the screen just loud enough for you to hear beside him. He was pleased to hear a breathy laugh puff out of your nose in response. It encouraged him to do it again, randomly whispering little jokes or quips throughout the film in an attempt to get you to laugh out loud. Whenever you came close to an audible laugh, you'd throw your hands over your mouth and nose to muffle the noise and turn to look at him with wide eyes, a telltale crinkling at the bridge of your nose to prove you were grinning under your palms.

He slowly began attempting to ask you questions in an effort to get you to say a bit more. A simple 'how are you' or 'how has your day been' would at least draw a one- or two-word response from you. Whenever he asked you to tell him something specific about yourself, however, your cheeks would change color and that shy smile would spread across your face as you shrugged or gave a non-specific response. So, Loki went with a different tactic and began asking about your work.

And suddenly, you began to speak up.

You were obviously passionate about your projects. At first, you'd give Loki a one-line description of what you were currently working on. As he began to probe for more details, you became more open about providing them. You still shied away from telling Loki anything about yourself, but you were more than willing to tell him exactly where you were stuck in your programming, or how excited you were to test out the plasma shield you were building.

Loki still didn't fully understand it, but he was so intrigued by you. Perhaps he saw it as a challenge - it was normally so easy for him to get people talking with his silver tongue talent, but you seemed immune to his influence. He wished you'd open up to tell him about yourself, beyond your skills with electronics. Perhaps if he stopped by while you were working, you'd be in more of a mood to chat.

He began to swing by the lab every once in a while at times he knew Stark wouldn't be present. The first time he stopped by, you appeared surprised but excited, that same trademark smile spreading across your lips as you waved him inside to show him what you were working on. After the first few times, you began leaving an empty stool by your workstation in case Loki decided to stop by. He slowly started slipping in more personal questions about you into your conversations, and you were distracted enough by your work to start providing responses without shying away as you usually did. In this way, he learned simple things about you. Things like:

Did you choose that color because it's your favorite?

I'm going to get some coffee - would you prefer milk or cream?

One afternoon, Loki sat on the stool you'd provided him as you gushed about the glasses you'd been developing that could snap a photo of what the wearer was looking at with a press of a small button. The eyewear was intended for undercover operations, to subtly obtain photographs of persons of interest or of evidence of a crime.

"Here - give them a try!" you insisted, carefully placing the glasses on Loki's face. You handed him the activation button, which was small enough to fit in the palm of his hand without anyone the wiser that he was holding something. With a smirk, he turned to look at you.

"Alright - smile, then."

You blushed furiously, throwing your hands up over your face as you shook your head. "No, not me! Something else!"

"Why not? Do you not like having your photo taken?"

You peered through your fingers warily, hiding your eyes once again as he held up the button teasingly in his hand. Loki chuckled at your reaction, turning and looking at the door to the lab instead before snapping a photo with the button you'd handed him.

"Alright, alright. I'm taking them off," he assured, watching as you slowly lowered your hands while he carefully placed the glasses on the workbench. You breathed a visible sigh of relief, pulling out your phone and showing him the photo he'd just taken with an excited sparkle in your eyes.

"See? High-resolution photograph of exactly what you were looking at when you pressed the button!" You zoomed in with two fingers, pointing to the sign next to the door to the lab. "You can even read the words from far away if you zoom in enough! No need to get close and put yourself in danger if you need a close-up of a document or something."

"Impressive." Loki looked up at you as you slipped your phone back in your lab coat pocket, a proud grin on your face. "You didn't answer my question."

You narrowed your eyes suspiciously, a smile still plastered to your face. "I know what you're doing, Loki."

"Whatever do you mean?" he asked innocently.

"Asking me questions all the time, thinking I don't notice - I know you're trying to get me to tell you more about myself."

"Well, you could just tell me instead. Then I wouldn't have to ask questions."

You covered your face with your hands as your cheeks brightened. "It's hard to talk about myself."

"I've gathered that, darling. Which is why I've started asking you instead."

You lowered your hands, that shy smile gracing your lips. "Why do you want to know about me?"

"Is it so shocking to you that someone might want to get to know you?"

"That wasn't an answer to my question."

Loki clicked his tongue, a grin tugging at his lips. "Touché." He rose to his feet, gazing at you inquisitively. "I'm going to get some water, would you like me to get you some?"

"Sure." You grinned slyly. "But you're avoiding my question."

"And you've avoided many of mine," he retorted as he backed out of the lab, watching as you grinned sheepishly. He knew he had you there.

When Loki returned to the lab, he paused at the door when he saw that Stark had since entered. He had managed to avoid the billionaire thus far in his trips to visit you in the lab, so he wasn't quite certain how to proceed. He suspected Stark would find it unusual that his niece was spending time with a former villain - while the men were no longer enemies, they weren't exactly friendly either. And although Loki didn't much care about what Stark thought, he knew you would. If Stark had reservations about Loki hanging around, he feared it would ruin his little visits with you going forward.

Fortunately, neither of you seemed to have noticed Loki standing outside the door. He watched from a distance, hoping that Stark's visit would be brief. The doors weren't soundproof, at least not to someone with Loki's advanced hearing, so he could hear the two of you talking from where he stood.

"Hey Uncle Tony - smile!" you instructed, a teasing edge to your voice as you placed the glasses on your face and looked him head on. Startled, his face contorted into a confused expression as you pressed the button in your hand. Loki heard you giggle as you pulled out your phone, your hand rising to cover your mouth as you presumably observed the photo you'd just taken. "Oho my god, I'm so showing this to Aunt Pepper!"

"Hang on, let me see that." Stark leaned over your shoulder to peek at the screen, grimacing when he saw himself. "Hell no! Give me that - I'm deleting it."

"No way! You've taken plenty of bad pictures of Aunt Pepper - I'm keeping this as revenge on her behalf." You held the phone out at a distance when Stark swiped for it, sticking out your tongue at the scientist, which Loki couldn't help but think was rather adorable.

"If Pepper wants revenge, she'll have to take her own bad photo. I've never taken a single bad picture of you." He darted around to the other side of you swiftly, reaching for the device in your hand once again and grunting in frustration as you passed it to your opposite hand to keep it out of reach. "Oh-ho, kiddo, you're asking for it."

"I'm not a kid, Uncle Tony! You know I hate it when you call me that."

"Well you're sure acting like one."

"So are you!"

"Oh yeah?" He suddenly grabbed hold of your outstretched arm above your elbow, reaching for the phone as you laughed and struggled to keep it out of his reach. Your laughter increased as he slipped his fingers under your arm and tickled you, holding your arm up out of his way. "Who's acting like a kid now?"

"STILL YOHOU!" you shot back, grabbing his hand under your arm with your free hand. He released your arm, digging his fingers into your other side and causing you to fold into yourself on instinct. It provided him the perfect opportunity to swipe the phone from your grasp, relenting in his attack in favor of putting a few feet of distance between you while he poked the screen a few times and shouted triumphantly.

"Ah-ha! Deleted it!" Stark handed the phone back to you with a victorious smirk, chuckling as you glowered at him with a grin still spread across your face.

"That's so unfair!"

"It's not my fault you're ticklish, Giggles," he countered, pinching your side for good measure and smirking wider as you yelped and squirmed away. "You got everything under control in here? Pepper and I are going out to dinner, I'll be back in a bit."

"I've got it. Go on - out with you," you shooed him, waving your hand dismissively.

"Oh, stop pretending you're mad at me, kiddo. I'll see you later."

Loki ducked out of sight around a corner as Stark exited the lab, waiting a few moments before stepping back out and entering himself. You still had a dusting of color on your cheeks and a small smile on your face, which increased in size when you saw Loki returning.

"You just missed Tony!" you informed him, none the wiser that he'd been standing outside the lab.

"Perhaps that's for the best."

"Don't tell me you're scared of him," you teased. Loki rolled his eyes, wondering if he should use this newfound fact he'd learned about you and dig his fingers into your side. You'd most certainly know he'd been observing your interaction with Stark if he did, so he decided against it.

But after all the teasing you'd been doing today, he was not about to let you get away with it without getting back at you. Especially not now that he'd finally gotten you to start coming out of your shell.

That evening, the team gathered for a game of poker in the lounge. Stark had set up a large table with cushioned chairs just for this sort of occasion. It had taken some time to learn the rules of the game, but Loki had become rather skilled at it. A game of deceit was perfect for the God of Mischief.

You had become his most formidable opponent, not because you had a good poker face, but because you had a terrible one. In that way, you actually excelled at deceiving people, because you were constantly wearing a shy smile no matter how good or bad your hand might be. It was only recently that you'd begun to realize how competitive Loki was, and you reveled in the fact that he simply couldn't read you the way he did the others.

After a few rounds, you had taken a clear lead over everyone, and you knew it was getting to Loki. He knew you knew by the way your eyes flitted up to meet his across the table each time you won a round, that infuriatingly adorable shy smile on your face.

It was your turn to deal next. Loki watched as you carefully shuffled the cards in your delicate hands while everyone around the table fell into their own casual conversations. It seemed as good a time as any to stir up a bit of mischief.

With a wave of his hand under the table out of sight, Loki called on his seidr, manipulating the air by your head and causing your hair to rustle a bit. You barely seemed to notice, brushing your hand over your ear subconsciously in response. Fighting back a smirk, he repeated the gesture, this time sending a thin tendril of a breeze grazing across the soft skin of your neck just below your ear. This time, you flinched, your hand rising to block your neck instinctively as you looked around you in confusion.

Now this was adorable.

You started to deal the cards, so he relented for a moment, watching as your face fell neutral and the confusion wore off. Loki waited until it was your turn to bet before flicking another stream of air to ghost along the other side of your neck this time.

"I ra-hee-haise!" you squeaked, shrugging your shoulder to protect your neck and glancing around wildly to see who was poking at you. Stark tilted his head in confusion, brow furrowed.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that."

"Uncle Tony!" you muttered through gritted teeth, yet still with a smile on your face.

"What? What did I do??"

Loki watched as you leaned over and whispered in his ear, amused at the color blossoming in your cheeks. Stark laughed as you sat back in your seat, shaking his head.

"You must be imagining things, kiddo. I didn't do anything this time."

"Tony! I know when you're lying!" you insisted, folding your arms haughtily across your chest as you tried to bite back your grin.

He held his hands up to prove his innocence. "I swear to you, I'm not!"

This was getting better and better. You were none the wiser that it was Loki using his magic to tickle you, and you were blaming Stark for it. How wonderful.

Loki waited a while to attack again to lull you into a false sense of security. As the group was wrapping up the last round for the evening, he called on his seidr once again just as you were placing your chips in front of you to place your bet. This time, he sent a gentle tendril of air dancing along both sides of your neck, up around your ears. You squealed and knocked over the stack of chips as you flinched to shrug your shoulders protectively, then whipped your head around to glare playfully at Stark.

"Ok, I know you're messing with me, Uncle Tony!"

"Kiddo, I'm really not sure what you're talking about," he responded, genuine confusion written across his face. You opened your mouth to speak, then thought the better of it and leaned over to whisper in his ear once again. He raised his brows, gazing at you with amusement. "You sure you didn't get into Banner's stash of hallucinogenic sedative drugs?"

"Tony!!"

"Relax, I'm kidding!" He shook his head, placing his own chips out in front of him. "I promise you, I'm not messing with you. Maybe you should interrogate Thor instead." He tilted his head toward the elder Asgardian sitting on the other side of you, who perked up when he heard his name.

"Interrogate me? What for?" he queried loudly. Your face brightened from your neck to your ears.

"N-nothing," you muttered, turning your attention to the game with that shy smile tugging at your lips.

Your eyes roamed around the table warily as everyone continued placing their bets, pausing as they landed on Loki. He hadn't realized he had an involuntary grin on his face until you began squinting at him thoughtfully. The moment realization dawned on you, Loki watched your eyes widen slowly, the color in your face intensifying as your jaw slackened slightly. Feigning confusion, Loki cocked his head and furrowed his brow. You mouthed the word:

You?

Damn. He'd been caught. Still, he didn't say anything as it came time to place his own bet, merely winking at you as he pushed his chips out in front of him.

He finally managed to defeat you that game. Although, in some sense, he felt as if he may have cheated.

Vision suggested a movie as Stark put away the poker set. Normally, Loki would complain about having to spend additional time with the team that evening, but he found he didn't mind so much, knowing you would be joining as well.

Loki entered the common room, making a beeline for his usual seat when suddenly a hand clasped around his wrist and tugged him down to sit on the sofa he was standing beside.

"How?" you whispered low in his ear.

"How what darling? You'll need to be a bit more specific."

You let out a flustered whine, glancing around as others began filtering into the common room and finding their seats. Your hand held fast to Loki's wrist to keep him in place. Not that he had any intentions of moving now that you'd parked him beside you.

"How did you know?"

"That's your question? Not 'how did I do it?'"

"That too."

Loki chuckled. "I saw you and Stark in the lab earlier." You groaned. "And as for how I did it - allow me to show you." He raised his hand from his side only slightly so as not to draw attention from the others. A faint green glow emanated from his fingertips as he demonstrated his ability to manipulate the air, sending a faint breeze fluttering against your ear. You let out the tiniest of squeaks, raising your shoulder to your ear protectively. "I'm not certain I've known anyone with ticklish ears before. It's rather charming."

You began to blush furiously, hidden by the dimming of the lights as Rogers started the film. "They're not - you just startled me."

"Oh really?" Loki took advantage of the fact that you'd released his wrist in your efforts to shrug away from his magic, raising his hand to trace one finger along the outside of the shell of your ear swiftly. You let out a tiny stream of squeaky giggles in response, swatting at his hand.

"Ok, fine. Happy?" you admitted in a whisper, trying to sound grumpy but unable to hide your smile.

"Quite, actually. You've finally told me something about yourself."

You gasped almost inaudibly. "I did not!"

"Yes, you did."

Loki was entertained by the huff of air that escaped your nose as you folded your arms and leaned back against the couch, not saying another word. He leaned closer to whisper in your ear.

"Are you giving me the silent treatment now, darling?"

You tightened your arms across your chest, pursing your lips in an attempt to appear annoyed. Loki could see the involuntary grin tugging at the corner of your mouth in the flickering light of the television screen. You wouldn't admit it, but you were enjoying this teasing banter just as much as he was.

"It makes no difference to me," he whispered. "I know I can get you talking. I've done it many times before."

Silence.

Loki waited a few moments without saying anything more, hoping to catch you off guard. The moment he saw you begin to relax a bit more into the sofa cushions, he subtly lifted his hand toward your side, suddenly latching his fingertips onto the soft skin just above your hip and gently kneading into the spot. You jolted at his ticklish touch, clapping a hand to your mouth to prevent any giggles from slipping out while the other arm lowered to your side protectively.

"Ah - ticklish here as well?" he teased in a whisper, snorting out a laugh as you shook your head no. "No? It's rather difficult to believe that when you're crushing my fingers with your arm."

You shot him a playful glare out of the corner of your eye, slowly lifting your arm away from your side in an effort to prove your obvious lie to be true. Loki allowed his fingers to crawl up your side, grinning fondly as your arm clamped right back down and you folded away from his hand. With limited range of motion, Loki simply wriggled his fingertips rapidly into your side.

Suddenly, you stood up and began walking out of the room, throwing that same playful glare his way as you walked past him with an involuntary grin on your face. Feeling particularly mischievous, Loki created a double image of himself to remain on the sofa while he carefully followed you out of the room at a distance, ensuring you didn't see him.

You paused when you'd gotten out of the room into the hallway, and Loki managed to side-step around behind you undetected as you turned to see if you'd been followed. He watched as you let out a breath when your eyes landed on the back of his projection's head. Intriguingly, from the small sliver of your facial expression Loki could see without stepping into your field of vision, it actually appeared as though you were disappointed he hadn't followed you. A small frown formed at the very corner of your lips, one that he found he didn't like one bit.

Well - if it was mischief you wanted, it was mischief you'd get.

Loki leaned in toward your ear from behind, getting as close as possible without actually touching you before speaking in an ominously low rumble.

"Hoping I would follow you, hmm?"

You shrieked in surprise, moving to whirl around to face Loki, but he'd anticipated your move. Before you could turn around, he threw his arms around your waist and pulled you to his chest, digging his fingers into your sides. A restrained gasp left your lips as your hands clamped down over Loki's.

"Lohoki!! They'll hehear me!!" you whispered.

"Oh, is that all you're afraid of?" He stooped to scoop your legs up from behind your knees, carrying you away from the doorway down the hall as you squirmed and giggled in his grasp. "Quite frankly, I'm insulted you aren't afraid of me. I like to think I'm quite intimidating."

"Whyhy would I be afraid of you?" you asked. Loki had to consciously remind himself to keep walking and not stop dead in his tracks at your question.

"You certainly seem afraid to tell me about yourself," he countered, rounding the corner and whisking you into the empty kitchen.

"I'm not afraid, I'm just shy."

"Mm, no, you were shy. You've told me quite a bit about your work." He set your feet down on the floor, swiftly wrapping his arms around you to keep you from trying to run off. "Now, if you aren't afraid to tell me about yourself, I have to believe you've just been taunting me. Is that what you're up to?"

"Whahat?? Noo!"

"Darling, that was the least convincing lie I've ever heard."

You squealed as his fingertips found purchase on the sides of your belly, wriggling maddeningly gently against the soft skin through your shirt. "Ohokay!" you exclaimed, prompting Loki to pause in his attack to allow you to speak. "I wasn't taunting you! I... I like that you find me to be sort of... mysterious. And... I wasn't lying when I said I find it hard to talk about myself either."

"Ah, so you simply wanted me to work at it to learn more about you, is that right?"

"I... well..."

"Because I think you'll find I can be rather convincing when I want to be." He tightened his grip around your waist, shifting to dig his fingers into your lower ribs with renewed vigor. You burst into the most charming stream of giggles, knees buckling beneath you as your muscles weakened from your laughter. "Is this convincing enough for you? Or should I seek out a weaker spot?"

"Nohoho!!" You began to slide down in Loki's grip toward the floor, your legs no longer supporting your weight. Loki simply followed you, working his fingertips in between your ribs as he let his hands travel upward. The moment his fingers met the middle of your ribcage, your squirming suddenly became desperate, giggles evolving to belly laughter. "WAHAHAIT!! LOHOKI! PLEHEASE!!"

"Have I discovered a weak spot?" he teased in your ear, lightening his touch to allow you to speak, but instead finding your laughter became even more desperate as you nodded frantically. "Oh, dear. Have I found the weak spot?" Again, a wild nodding of your head. Feeling somewhat merciful, he let his hands drift back down to your lower ribs, where it seemed at least to be more bearable for you. "This appears to be a rather effective method of getting you to tell me things about yourself. Perhaps I should try this more often."

"NOHO! Nohot FAHAIR!" You curled your knees up to your chest as his fingers traveled back to your belly, clawing at the spot just above your waistband. Curiously, Loki shifted one hand to latch onto the muscle above your kneecap and pinch rapidly, laughing when your leg kicked out in reaction to his touch and opened up more space for him to torment your belly.

"You seem conflicted, darling," he chuckled, repeating the motion each time you brought your knees protectively to your torso and scratching more rapidly at your belly when your legs kicked out in protest.

"Ihit's YOHOUR fault - AHAH NOHO!!" you whined, batting weakly at his hands as he slotted them behind your knees the next time you curled in on yourself. He paused in his torment to let you catch your breath, grinning fondly as you slowly relaxed a bit more with each breath. "Ahare you done torturing mehe?"

"Torturing you?" He released your knees in favor of latching his hands onto those trigger spots on your ribs he'd discovered earlier, chuckling as you squeaked and began thrashing in his arms even before he'd started tickling you. "As I recall, you were disappointed when you thought I hadn't followed you out of the common room. You're an intelligent mortal - you had to know this was coming if I were to come after you."

"I... shut up," you grumbled, squealing when he began scratching ever so gently with just two fingers at your ribs.

"Do you enjoy this?" he asked teasingly. You huffed out your nose, refusing to respond verbally. "Sorry, I didn't catch that." He dug all ten fingers into your ribs all at once, laughing along with you as you screeched before dissolving into hysterics. "You're not answering my question."

"LO-HAHA... LOHOKI! I-hi... LOKIHIHI!!" You couldn't seem to muster any words besides his name, clearly overcome by the ticklish sensation. He lessened the weight in his touch to gently scratch at the spot for a moment, then relented entirely when your laughter became breathless.

After taking a moment to catch your breath, you sat up in an effort to turn to face Loki. He allowed it this time, releasing his hold on you. Once you'd turned around, he could see the bright color in your face and the broad smile on your lips. He tilted his head toward you expectantly, waiting still for you to answer his question. You sighed, averting your gaze with a flustered laugh.

"I-hi like the playfulness," you stated finally. Teasingly, you added, "That's all you're getting out of me, so don't bother asking for more!"

"I'll take what I can get, I suppose."

You both sat in silence for a moment as your breathing slowed to a normal rate. Loki rose to his feet and offered you a hand up, which you accepted. There was a shadow of a question in your eyes as you gazed at him.

"You never did tell me why you were so interested in learning more about me."

Ah, there it was. The question that even Loki himself didn't have a complete answer to.

He pondered for a moment, trying to determine how best to put it into words. You stood patiently, awaiting his answer. Finally, he spoke.

"I suppose a large part of it is because I felt an unspoken connection to you. Because we shared a similar experience."

"A similar experience?" You tilted your head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

That's right. They hadn't told you.

Loki grimaced, turning his gaze away from you. "I simply mean... being the newest here in the tower. I went through the same situation quite recently."

"Loki."

The sharpness of your tone startled him, causing him to look at you once more. You had a resolute look on your face, a firmness he'd never seen on your features.

"You're lying to me. Tell me the truth."

"I... I apologize. I shouldn't have said anything."

"You know something about what happened to me, don't you?" You gazed at him hopefully, urging him to tell you. "I-I have this void in my memory, and no matter how hard I try I can't remember a thing. Please. I need to know."

Loki let out a slow breath, his eyes filling with sadness as he pondered the best way to break this to you. "Your uncle doesn't want you to know."

"Tony treats me like I'm a kid. I can handle the truth. Just... please."

"He'll kill me, you know."

"I promise I won't tell him."

Loki nodded slowly. He never agreed with Stark's decision to hide it from you in the first place. He knew very well, if he were in your shoes, he'd feel the same way you did. Sheltering you from the truth would only hurt you in the long run.

With a steadying breath, he explained to you everything he knew. The capture, the mind control, the use of your inventions for mass destruction. He tried to gloss over some of the more harrowing details, but you were persistent in your questioning, leaving no room for him to leave out a single detail. His chest began to ache as he watched a hollowness form in your eyes, the shy smile he'd come to adore fading from your face.

When he'd finished, you were silent. You stared blankly at a random spot across the room, motionless. Loki was patient, giving you the space to process everything without asking you to say anything.

Finally, you spoke. Your voice was wavery, as though trying to hold back tears.

"H-how do you it?"

"Beg pardon?"

"You remember the time that you were influenced by the mind stone. H-how do you manage to cope so well? I-I don't even remember any of what I did, a-and I... Please. Just... how do I move forward from this?"

The tears you'd been fighting back began rolling down your face, and you threw yourself into Loki's arms. He was startled for only a moment before wrapping his arms around you, holding you tightly to his chest as your shoulders shook with silent sobs.

He let you cry into his shirt for a few moments, trying to come up with the best words to console you. He decided, perhaps, you simply needed a caring embrace right now. So, he held you, his fingers running gently through your hair as your sobs gradually lessened and faded.

Only when you'd gone still, the tears finally ceasing, did Loki finally speak.

"You are far more pure of heart than I. Rest assured - I don't believe a single person thinks you intended to hurt anyone."

"And I don't believe you did either." You leaned back slightly, gazing up at him with tear-stained cheeks.

"You've not seen the malicious side of me."

"No. But I have seen the kind, gentle side of you that you keep hidden from everyone." Your eyes had regained some of their color as you fought with him about himself. "I don't need someone who's perfectly benevolent right now. I need someone who understands, someone t-to walk me through this. I need you. Please. Tell me what to do."

"If I'd known how to cope with it, perhaps I wouldn't have been so desperate to get to know you." He smiled sadly. "But in all honesty, the closest I've come to forgiving myself was when I heard you say you don't believe that I meant to hurt anyone."

"I don't," you whispered.

"Everyone else does. I've come to believe it myself." He sighed, rubbing a firm hand up and down your back in an effort to comfort you. "Perhaps if I remind you of all the benevolent things you've done each day, it will eventually chase away the guilt you're feeling."

"Alright... but only if I get to do the same for you," you bartered, that small, shy smile finally breaking through your pained expression. It made Loki smile too, simply seeing the heartache fading from your face.

"You'll have a much more difficult challenge than I, but I'll allow you to try, if you so insist." He released you from his embrace as you began to step back, wiping your tears from your eyes with the back of your hand.

"Oh, I'm sure there's more good in you than you think. I'll just have to learn more about you," you insisted. Loki's brows shot up his forehead, and he chuckled at the suggestion.

"Oh, I don't think so. Not until you tell me about yourself. I've been trying so desperately to learn more about you."

You grinned, that lovely color blossoming on your cheeks. "Alright. I'll allow it."

"You'll answer anything I ask?"

You shrugged. "You've been trying so hard, I guess I can gratify you with a few facts about myself."

"A few?" Loki chuckled, advancing suddenly toward you. You backed up on instinct, that charming giggle of yours spilling from your lips. He scooped you up by the waist, lifting you effortlessly to sit on the kitchen counter so you were more at eye level. "As you stated, I've been trying so hard to get to know you... I should think I get to ask you as many questions as I like."

"Alright... and what is it you'd like to know about me?"

Loki grinned and shot you a wink, leaning forward with his palms resting on the countertop on either side of you.

"Everything."

#AAAAAAAAAAAA I ADORE THIS I’M SO SOFT FOR LOKI BEING SOFT #I think I recall you saying that you worry about writing for Tony but you’re doing amazing!!! I laughed so hard at ‘Jack Frost’ 💀#also I really really REALLY don’t appreciate the use of Giggles as a nickname. you’ve got 90 days to submit a written apology or else #and him straight up asking ‘do you enjoy this?’ ugh shut UP 😤#and the ending 🥺 they’re helping each other!! they need each other!! I’m so 🥺🥺🥺#lovely as always Jessa!! 💕#ooh fun fact: my phone has FINALLY stopped autocorrecting your name to Jesse 😂#loki laufeyson

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bingo-writes · 2 years

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Bitter (Alibi Drabbles #4)

TASM!Peter x female reader

This is the fourth in a short series of drabbles based on my fic, The Perfect Alibi

Word count: ~2050

CWs: mentions of violence and death, blood, swearing. This one is hurt/comfort, the tiniest bit of fluff at the end if you look real hard.

💜 thank you to the amazing @raylan-c for making headers for this drabble series 💜

It was almost one o'clock in the morning, and you were still awake.

Peaceful in bed, partially propped up by your small collection of pillows, you struggled to keep your eyes open as the opening credits rolled for the finale of the limited series you'd been binging for the past day. Part of you knew you should wait until the next morning, to enjoy it more and take it in, but that 'next episode' button was far too tempting to ignore. Just as you wondered if you should make some hot chocolate in your tiny dorm microwave, he returned.

You reached over and opened the window for Peter - something you sometimes did to say 'hey, I'm still awake.'

Peter's spider-senses were scarily keen and they were probably what you were most jealous of when it came to his powers. Whether or not they'd rubbed off on you from all the time you’d spent together, or whether it was just getting to know Peter Parker over the past eleven and a half months, the second he came into your view you knew something was off. He climbed through the window, moving far too feebly, and you knew for sure.

"Peter?" You asked what was wrong with just his name. Your eyes darted around his body, bathed in the blue light of your laptop screen. There were no obvious injuries. He stepped carefully over your bedside table, then sank to the floor. "Peter," you repeated, sliding off the bed to kneel beside him. He pressed his back against your roommate's hardly-touched bed, curled his knees into his chest and placed his shaking head in his hands. "What's wrong?" You whispered, feeling the panic rise in your chest. "Look at me, please." The anxiety had gripped your voice, which cracked with your plea as your fingers broke past his defences. He let you take hold of the bottom of his mask and he removed his hands to allow you to pull it over his head. Against the pale blues and greens of the dark colour-graded frames glowing from the laptop, supplemented by the warm lamp of the refracted streetlight pouring in the window, slivers of moonlight joined in the scene as he looked into your eyes. His brown eyes were glassy, hollow, and shaken. He looked away and choked out the words:

"I think I just killed someone."

Since he'd spoken those words you'd both been silent. Silent as you walked over and picked up his change of clothes. Silent as you walked back and kneeled beside him. Silent, as you found the zip at the base of his neck and pulled it down your friend's stiff and shaken body. You'd heard of the thousand-yard stare, seen pictures of it too, and it was so much more terrifying up close.

When you wrapped your hands around his to pull the suit from his torso his fingers nearly slipped through yours. Looking down, you finally saw the blood still glistening in the slivers of illumination.

"I took him to the hospital, just-..." Peter's strangled admission startled you, and you flinched as you looked up at him. He was looking at his hands. And yours. There was a lot of partially-dried blood. "I-I dumped him on the doorstep."

He pulled his hands toward himself, gripping the fabric at his shoulders to strip away the skin-tight suit. For the first time, of all the times he'd taken it off in front of you (which was never a big deal considering he always wore briefs underneath), it felt heavier. It felt like shame.

You sat back and passed him some makeup wipes to clean the blood that'd smeared onto his skin, taking several for yourself to remove the stranger’s blood from your palms and between your fingers. Peter sniffed once or twice, taking deep breaths, his eyes were still glassy.

"He was, uh..." His voice was watery and wavered. "He was mugging this woman and he was roughing her up. Unnecessarily violent, I mean she was doing what he wanted- she was listening and-and giving him the bag. He didn't just want her money, he wanted to hurt her and I-... just lost it." He pulled the shirt over his head, then paused again. His jaw set, and he looked up with a steady, solemn stare. “He deserved it.”

“Whatthefuck,” you blurted out. “Y-you don’t mean that,” you got more urgently to your knees, disbelief rife in your plea: “Tell me you don’t mean that.”

“No, you didn’t see her,” he argued back with shimmering eyes full of defiance. “She was almost unconscious, she- he- he was gonna kill her and I had to stop him but I-...” He sighed. “I gave him to the cops two, three months ago.”

“What?”

“Guess he’s out on parole,” Peter laughed humourlessly, before scoffing and shaking his head. “Me, the cops, the whole system… we all went too easy on him the first time. Maybe if I stop pulling my punches-”

“No, Peter-”

“If I’d broken his legs the first time-”

"No, you listen to me," you gritted your teeth and sniffed back the tears, taking his head in your hands to force him to look at you. "You can stop a bus with your bare hands, Peter." As much as you didn't want them to, a few tears spilled over. "You can't do this, you hear me? You can’t do this if you can’t pull your punches,” you grabbed the mask and stood to your feet, shaking your head in defiance. “I won’t let you.”

The look he gave you was strange and melancholic. You both knew with one flick of his wrist he’d have that mask back in his hand and there was nothing you could do to stop him. But you wanted to stop him, so that had to mean something.

“You’re bitter,” you sniffed, wiping the tears on the back of your free hand. “I get that. But this city needs Spider-Man. Not an executioner.”

Peter’s eyes didn’t leave yours as he got to his feet in front of you. Your chest heaved with sadness as you held back the tears, clenching his mask tight in your fist. The suit was still on his lower-half, there were small smudges of blood now on the hem of his t-shirt and just above his collar, and more on your hands where it’d transferred from his mask - the mask you didn’t know if he was about to rip from your grip before walking out the door, showing you how powerless you truly were to stand between him and the man he should never become.

He looked at the mask, not taking it from you. His lower lip trembled as he spat out a single cry, his voice broke as he finally admitted, “Sh-She looked like Gwen. The woman she-... she looked like Gwen.”

Your shoulders deflated with the release of your deep breath, full of sympathy and understanding. Before wondering if he’d even want it, you took a step forwards and threw your arms around his neck. You didn’t need to perch up to your toes, because Peter’s head hung and he buried his face on your shoulder while he tried his best to keep it together. Behind his head his bloodied mask was still held in your hand, your other hand lacing through the hair at the nape of his neck in some kind of automatic motion as everything but your words called to him saying, I’m here, and you’re okay.

Peter’s arms did find a place around you too, and he held you tight as his breathing turned deep and steady and came back under his full control. After so many minutes of accepting your comfort, he began to pull away. “You’re right,” he whispered. He bent down, still right in front of you and picked up some of the fresh scented wipes, then rose and gently guided your wrists to sit between you. With his elevated sight, he didn’t need to turn on a lamp to see the now-dried blood smeared across your hands. With intentional care, he cleaned your free hand. Smoothing the cool, clean cloth over your soft skin until it was pure again. He shifted to clean the other one, which still held fast to his mask. When he closed his own fingers around it, you relented knowing it was a losing battle. But he did the most peculiar thing: instead of tucking it under his arm, he cleaned it, and put it back in your freshly clean hand.

You looked at him curiously, caught off-guard, as your fingers once again tightened around the mask. Peter didn’t look at you. Not your eyes, anyway. Instead he focused his attention on where he was making sure every last fleck of blood was gone from your hands. When it was, he held the stained wipe in his hands, watching it carefully.

“You’re right,” he repeated with a nod and a sniff. “I am bitter.” His lower lip trembled but he held it in this time. His eyes were still glassy as he met your gaze, and he bit his lower lip before letting out a resigned sigh and taking your free hand to place it also around his mask. “Maybe you should, uh, hold onto this for a little while.”

It didn’t feel right to have that kind of leverage, that kind of power to control whether or not Spider-Man slung between buildings in the dead of night. To have the responsibility to decide when he was alright to go back into the streets. It also didn’t feel right to argue with him. Not right now, anyway. Not when he still had half a suit on and dried blood smeared at random points across his clothes and skin and hair. So you looked at the mask, and then back at him.

“Please stay tonight.”

Without hesitation, still looking at the ground, he nodded.

“You should have a shower. I’ll find you another shirt.”

He nodded again, still looking at the ground, he shot a web out to pull the sweatpants into his grip as he walked past you to enter the bathroom. He shut the door.

You held in your tense puff of breath, knowing he’d hear it even under the hot spray of the shower head. He probably wouldn’t be long, so you put the mask in your laundry hamper to think about tomorrow. Spider-Man could wait. Peter Parker needed help right now.

You found a shirt that would easily fit Peter and placed it in an obvious on the edge of your bed, and put a spare blanket on Liv’s bed for Peter to use before climbing between your sheets and lending a nervous ear to the sounds of him drying off and changing. Thank goodness Olivia wasn’t here on this night of all nights. You couldn’t imagine what he would’ve done. Where he would’ve gone. How he may have spiralled.

Peter emerged in the sweatpants, his damp hair rained a few droplets on his bare shoulders before he pulled the shirt on with ease. You didn’t think you needed to mention the blanket you’d left out for him - it was plain to see on your roommate’s bed. Whether he missed it or ignored it, you didn’t know. All you knew is that instead of finding his sometimes-place on the bed across the room, Peter, in seconds, was settling in next to you.

A small, sad smile pulled at your lips as Peter turned on his side and placed his head on the place where your shoulder met your chest. His arms were curled against himself, his knees slightly tucked, he didn’t seem willing to speak, his eyes were already shut tight.

Without a second thought, your hand was once again working through his hair. With gentle ministrations, you traced your fingertips around the places behind his ear, by his temple, down by the collar of the shirt. Careful to have just the right amount of weight in your touch, and careful to keep your breathing steady and soothing. You didn’t quite know how he managed, but he was asleep in less than ten minutes.

Once he’d fallen into a deeper slumber, you, as gently as possible, reached over and picked up your phone. There was an alarm set for your eight-a.m. class.

You turned it off.

#HOW COULD YOU????#YOU DO THIS ON THE DAY OF MY DAUGHTER’S WEDDING-#I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS 😭😭😭😭#MY HEART IS IN PIECES I’M GONNA HAVE TO PICK THEM UP AND PUT THEM IN A JAR #THIS IS SO GOOD I LOVE PAIN #ag!peter parker

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bingo-writes · 2 years

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Speed Racer

~6000 words of ruthless Loki tickle fluff

Pairing: Loki x female!reader (platonic)

CW: swearing, otherwise SFW

Based on this prompt from a lovely anon, who asked for a story in which the reader fakes an injury when being chased by Loki 😏

“Down here!” You reached out to grab onto Loki’s collar, sleeve, anything, to signal him to follow you down the alleyway. Bullets grazed the walls, leaving large holes and spraying your back with shattered pieces of brick as you ducked into the short passage between the city buildings.

“Brilliant plan, Agent,” Loki huffed a sarcastic laugh. “Truly brilliant, give them a-”

“Left,” you cut him off, careening out of the alley just as your hunter reached the other end of the opening. Screeching tires and scraping metal whipped your heads behind you in time to see four large black vehicles bursting their way through the traffic.

In hindsight, you’d had a pretty shit plan by not mapping a clear getaway route. In your defence, infiltrating a downtown enemy base didn’t seem like a difficult task when you could walk in under the guise of Loki’s illusions. Unfortunately for the both of you, one of the likenesses you stole and wore ended up being on the elevator you were about to walk into.

Now, less than five minutes later, you were running through the streets of New York City with them hot on your tail. Ducking around cars, running through alleyways, looking for any place to hide, or a quick escape route to a safe house. But they were too close to you; if you’d entered a safe house or a drop-point for an escape vehicle the location would be completely burned and you probably wouldn’t have the space to escape anyway. So, for now, you‘d emerged from any alleyway to discover they were tracking you scarily well.

“Oh, shit,” you sighed, kept running, then spotted a saving grace. You hit out at Loki again and pointed to a man idling at the front of a traffic queue, waiting patiently for the red light to turn green, sitting on top of a large motorcycle. “There.” You and Loki dashed over to him, weaving through the cars, reaching him while the light was still red. “We need your bike,” you smiled sympathetically, looking behind you for the enemy who was about to burst out of the alleyway, watching the cars bearing down towards the lines of traffic.

“You’re crazy, lady!” He shook his head. You grunted and looked at Loki, who grabbed the man by the back of his jacket and pulled him off the saddle. “Hey!”

You pulled a card from a pocket near your heart and passed it to him. “Tony Stark will buy you any bike you want.” Loki pulled the helmet from the man’s head and you saw his look of shock and disbelief as he finally recognised you and Loki, presumably from news reports. He held his hands up in surrender and stepped back away from the bike as you swung your leg over the front and grabbed onto the handlebars, revving it in time to feel bullets whizz past your head.

Loki quickly slotted the helmet onto your head, slung himself on behind you and shot a blast of green energy towards the shooter in the alleyway, hitting him square in the chest and knocking him back into the shadows. You shut the helmet’s visor, revved the bike again, and told Loki, “Hold on to me.”

“Really, Agent, do you think I-” His words were cut off by you bursting through the red light. He was pulled backwards by the force of your takeoff speed but managed to wrap an arm around your waist to stabilise himself. You wove through the cars in your path as their tires screeched, their horns blared and their drivers shouted obscenities. “Is there a reason you’re driving?” Loki called to you beneath your helmet.

“I don’t have telekinetic blasting powers,” you yelled over the noise of traffic and wind before doing an impressive manoeuvre between two taxis. “And I’m a better driver.” You picked up the speed, weaving effortlessly in and out of the cars, in and around your lane, putting as much distance as you could between you two and the people chasing you down. A glance in the wing mirror made your mouth go a little dry; the cars were hot on your tail.

Fifty feet ahead of you, a car started signalling to turn into the lane. You held your breath and twisted the handle to speed yourselves past it, tensing when you saw it begin to merge. Loki’s arm shot out over your shoulder, a green light enveloped the car and shove it back into the lane it was merging from, just in time for you to speed past it close enough to nearly clip the wing mirror.

“What was that about being a better driver?” Loki taunted before turning his head and shooting another blast towards the four cars that were gaining on you.

One of their cars swerved, hitting a telephone pole and knocking two civilian cars in the process. You winced and kept your eyes on the road as you approached a highway on-ramp. “You mind keeping civilian casualties to a maximum of ZERO?!” You cried, turning the bike to dodge a distracted cyclist, probably giving them the shock of their life as you shot past at twice the legal limit.

Burning rubber as you fired onto the highway, you gauged the traffic situation. It certainly wasn’t a gridlocked rush-hour, but it was busy. Perfect for you to weave in and out of, less than perfect for all these people who were probably about to have their days ruined by some bad guys smashing through their lanes to come after you.

“We need to stop the flow of traffic,” you called to Loki. “And keep these people away!” Weaving behind a Corvette, you put yourself on the other side of a cement truck to shield you and Loki from view as the enemies after you would no doubt be close to getting on the highway.

“I could bring that bridge down!” Loki pointed to an overpass with several cars queued across it.

“What part of zero casualties do you not understand?!”

“Well, what do you suggest?!”

Before you had time to think, a bullet grazed your wing mirror. You gasped and looked in the partially cracked glass, seeing a hulking black car peaking half-out from the back of the cement truck. The gap between the mid-road divider and the truck was too small for it to get right on your tail, but they were firing as best they could. You revved hard, sending the bike to one wheel for a second, and shot forwards to evade the fire reigning down.

A road sign told you the next exit two miles ahead, but the exit you needed to get back to the Compound was six miles ahead. You weighed the options, wondering which would be safest for all these people on the road. Realising the closer exit would take you back into the heart of the city, you forged ahead down the breakdown lane towards the exit six miles away.

“Agent, I could blow up their cars,” Loki reminded you, his arm tightening around your waist. You shook your head.

“Too fast, too risky.”

He huffed obnoxiously and ducked as a few more bullets nicked the bike and the side of your helmet, a little too close for comfort. You winced, looking at all the civilian cars, seeing the speeding vehicles bearing down behind you in the breakdown lane, and you made the call.

“Blow a tyre.”

“Pardon?”

“Blow their front left tyre!”

Loki did as much, sending the leading pursuit car slamming into the concrete divider between your side and the side of oncoming traffic. Cars screeched to a halt in a chorus behind you as you kept speeding, and you hoped and prayed to all of Loki’s gods that no one innocent was hurt.

Traffic started dissipating behind you as the road reacted to the smashed car, fewer and fewer vehicles now in your wake. Except, two more intimidating black cars broke their way through the halting traffic to swerve between the gaps in the road. You turned the throttle, bringing yourself to a mind-numbingly fast speed you’d only gone a few times before. Loki’s arm instinctively tightened around your waist as you ducked forward to minimise wind resistance, zooming down the breakdown lane at a dangerous speed. They were in the lane behind you and you had put some good distance between you, so you shouted to Loki, “Sabotage the path!”

You heard a mighty rumble behind you and looked in the cracked mirror to see Loki had used his powers to raise a chunk of the road several feet above the ground. Wheels screeched and swerved around you as you continued down the lane, stealing a glance to see the menacing black cars have to weave back into traffic and slow down considerably.

Loki continued sabotaging the road at regular intervals to block them from re-entering the lane to continue on their pursuit, up until the point you wove across all the lanes, through cars, and exited the highway. Catching a little air on the off-ramp, you began to slow the bike down in anticipation of smaller roads and more twists and turns of the asphalt.

You made your path sporadic, unpredictable, weaving through backstreets of the industrial area until you managed to make your way down a long driveway to take shelter and regroup behind a large warehouse. You brought the bike to a halt behind the corrugated iron building, scanning, finding three potential exits before removing the bullet-grazed helmet from your head and gulping in the fresh air. Taking a few seconds to breathe, Loki’s arm around your waist slackened as you leaned forwards and propped your elbows against the handlebars, running a hand through your messy hair.

“Forty one miles back to the Compound from here,” you told Loki after punching in the coordinates on your watch. “We’ll take the private routes, should be there in no time.”

“Perhaps I should drive.”

“Pfft,” you hurled the helmet into the open dumpster next to you, it clanged loudly against the metal as you revved the engine and flipped up the kickstand with your heel. “No way.”

“Rude.”

“Hold on,” you started driving out a different exit, slowly searching around for signs you were being covertly pursued, finding none. You slowed the bike to another halt just before the exit met the road, turning your head to give Loki a side-eyed glare. “I said hold on.”

He scoffed and wrapped both arms tightly around your waist, “Safe enough for you?” He punctuated it with an obnoxious squeeze, which unfortunately sent his fingers into some particularly sensitive spots on the backs of your sides.

“Ugh-hah, L-Lohoki!” You spluttered a laugh and let go of the handlebars, arms shooting down to your sides from pure instinct. Luckily, you and Loki both had your right feet on the ground so the bike didn’t move or fall. Unluckily, you’d just revealed the fact of your ticklishness to the God of Mischief himself - something you’d hidden very well during countless sparring matches and close-combat missions together.

You could practically hear the grin forming on his lips. You certainly heard it in his words. “Agent… are you-”

“Now is not the time, Loki,” you muttered, replacing your hands on the brake and throttle. Knowing he wouldn‘t risk hurting you by fooling around on a moving motorbike, you quickly sped the bike forward again. You cursed yourself for throwing away the helmet, knowing if you could feel the hot blush creeping up your neck and into your ears and cheeks, he could probably see it. He chuckled maliciously and settled himself into holding you firmly, not daring to dig his fingers in again as the bike was moving.

The noise of the wind, engine, and your nervous heart pounding in your throat rendered non-mission-critical conversation impossible all the way back to the Compound, so you both stayed quiet and enjoyed the short ride through the forests of New York as you made your way from the city to the quieter outskirts where the Compound lay.

You tried not to think about what Loki was going to do with his newfound knowledge when you eventually had to turn off the bike. You wondered if you could throw him off it somehow and then speed away before he had the chance to attack. The fuel gauge showed a half-full tank, so maybe you could put a hundred miles between you and Loki’s fingers. But his arms stayed firm around your waist, so there wasn’t much hope of depositing him on the ground without you also being pulled down.

Spying the Compound in the distance, you sped up a little faster and spun a tale in your head to give you the chance to run away when you pulled into the vehicle hangar. The chip in your watch and FRIDAY’s biometric scans of your approaching bodies triggered the front gates to swing open for your arrival, allowing you a seamless entry into the Compound. Taking a right at a small fork in the road, you led the bike towards the hangar where you’d take vehicles for a post-mission service and fix-up. It was a large concrete portion of the building, with tall ceilings and impossibly huge doors that were pretty much the same size as the walls. The vehicle hangar was wide open and you spied one or two people inside. Great. They’d get to witness your demise.

You heard Loki snicker as you brought the bike to a halt, placing your foot on the ground as Tony looked up from where he was tinkering with Sam’s Falcon wings. Before Tony could comment on the bike or ask how the mission went, before Sam could make some funny comment about Loki being stuck behind you, Loki’s heel engaged the kickstand and he stood up with his arms still tightly wrapped around you, effectively pulling you from the seat.

“NO!” You shouted, struggling in his hold as Tony and Sam looked on, taken-aback. “Loki I swear I’m gonna-aha NOHO!” You shrieked and crumpled over his arms as his fingers started digging into those same spaces on the backs of your sides. Loud giggles flowed from your lips and you fought against him to no avail as he wiggled his fingers deep in and around all those sensitive spots. “LOKIHI I NEHEED TO PEE!” You squeaked, hitting at his forearms. He stopped at once, but still held you tight.

“You’re bluffing.”

“Fuck around and find out,” you threatened.

He scoffed, “Very well,” and started carrying you towards the bathrooms near the hallway back into the main Compound. You struggled and squirmed, pushing at his arms, avoiding the questioning amused glares from Sam and Tony.

“I- don’t- need- UGH- A CHAPERONE!” You sniffed and seethed as he hiked you higher, his hold not weakening until he plopped you down in front of the door to the private bathroom, grabbed you by the upper-arm, yanked open the door and then shoved you inside it. “HEY!” He smirked and slammed the door shut, clearly stationing himself right in front of it. “Back off!” You pounded a fist once against the door, near where his head would be. “It’s weird if you listen!”

You heard him tut and then shuffle a few feet away, you then took a second to formulate a plan. Deciding against locking the door, knowing he wouldn’t risk bursting in to find you indecent, you mentally mapped the route from the door to your room. The door’s hinges, from the inside, were on the left. It opened to the right, mere feet from the hallway to the rest of the Compound. That door… Yes, that door was open. You wouldn’t have to stop to open it. But Loki was probably stationed in front of it. You’d need to pull him away, distract him, throw him off course enough to make the break for it; you’d have to hit him with the bathroom door.

After relieving yourself, because you weren’t a total liar, you’d had your plan in motion. You walked up to the door and jiggled the handle. “Very funny, Loki! Let me out.”

“I’ve not done anything,” his wall-muffled voice sighed back.

“Seriously, let me out,” you jiggled it harder, then listened to see if he’d fall for your trap.

Your heart pounded in your chest as his footsteps came closer. You’d got him. It was possible now. Your knuckles whitened around the door handle as you felt his hand land on it from the other side, then, you gave a mighty shove outward with all the strength you could muster. Loki made a noise of surprise and stumbled backwards, losing his balance as you shot out of the bathroom and down the hallway. You heard him recovering, laugh deviously, and then his pounding footsteps hit the marble as he took off after you.

He was less than twenty feet behind and was closing the gap by the second considering his speed advantage, but you had less height and mass and therefore found it easier to duck and change direction. Splitting off down a side hallway, you darted towards an area of the Compound that housed a number of glass-walled meeting rooms.

“Oho, you’ve made a grave mistake, Agent,” Loki snarled from close behind. You held in a gasp, but not your nervous squeak, as you once again changed course and moved down an even narrower hallway towards a staircase.

Loki was less than ten feet behind you now.

Your hand pressed against the door that, thankfully, opened inwards and you started jumping down several stairs at a time. Loki entered the stairwell behind you, his proximity turning your head from instinct, causing you to miss your step. You yelled out as you lost your footing half-way down the staircase and began falling forward towards the concrete stairs and landing. Before Loki had the chance to lurch forward and catch you, to save you from falling, you used your momentum to twist and avoid hitting the edges of the stairs, landing on your shoulder in a free-runner’s shock-dispersing roll. The momentum of your roll brought you back to your feet just in time for your stomach to connect with the metal handrail that spanned the length of the landing. It was a hard and loud blow. You winced from impact and the shock of the hard hit, crumpling to your knees as your hands shot to your stomach and lowest ribs.

Loki was by your side in a second, his firm hand on your shoulder. You sucked breath back into your lungs and grimaced, but knew the blow had just knocked the wind out of you and hadn’t hit any bones. Loki sounded concerned, “Are you okay?” You looked up to see his demeanour had completely shifted from a mischievous hunter to a concerned friend.

Gods, this was an opening if you ever saw one.

Getting out of his ticklish experimentation by saying you were injured was unethical to say the least… or was it? Surely Loki, of all beings, could respect a lie in the name of self-preservation. So, you lied.

“I hit my ribs,” you grimaced. “I’ll be fine, I just need rest, I-”

“Nonsense,” he hushed you and slotted an arm under your waist and one under your knees. “I’ll find Dr Banner,” he promised earnestly. You opened your mouth to protest but Loki had already started rush back up the stairs with you in his arms. “They could be broken.”

“Loki, it’s seriously okay. It’s just a bit sore,” you lied. All the initial pain was gone. “We don’t need to bother Bruce.” Cradling your arms across your midsection, you bit your lip and felt the guilt pang in your chest as you saw the remorse on Loki’s features. He felt bad, he felt like it was his fault. It was too late. You were in too deep. Admitting your deceit now, when you were already in his arms, seemed like the worst possible time to do so.

The lab wasn’t too far away and Bruce, true to his nature, was found tinkering away at his workstation. He, also true to his nature, looked a little spooked when he saw the Prince of Asgard darken his doorstep. Then, you saw his eyes fall to you in his arms. Bruce immediately moved over to the side and signalled to a padded medical table near a wall. “What happened?”

“The Agent took a tumble down the stairs,” Loki clenched his jaw as he placed you on the table.

“I’m fine,” you sighed at Loki, then looked at Bruce. “I’m fine. My ribs are just a bit sore.”

“Let me take a look,” Bruce motioned to you and Loki stepped out of the way. You sat up and held your breath, not meeting Loki’s eye as Bruce inspected your shoulder. “How on earth does a international super spy fall down some stairs?”

“I was being chased,” you muttered, some heat prickling at your cheeks as you cast a glance to Loki, letting Bruce remove your arms from where they were wrapped around your ribs to inspect them. The doctor chuckled once and looked at Loki from the corner of his eye.

“Perhaps our teammates face enough threats in the field, Loki,” Bruce commented carefully.

“She wouldn’t let me drive,” Loki mumbled.

“That’s no excuse for an unfair, unevenly matched tickle attack,” you snapped back.

“God, I love staying out of the field.” Bruce lightly pressed his fingers against the place your stomach became your lowest ribs, shaking his head at you two.

You quickly realised this may have been the worst idea you’d ever had. His fingers trailed gently over your shirt and you bit your tongue, wondering how you could have been so stupid. You cursed yourself for not choosing a less ticklish spot for Bruce to now inspect. If you couldn’t feign pain because you were giggling so hard, Loki would for sure find out you’d been faking. If you could pass off his ticklish prods as pain maybe-

“C-careful!” You grimaced, sucking your teeth to disguise a smile as Bruce padded his fingers along your lowest ribs.

“No obvious breakages…” He mused, looking intently at where his hands were pressed through your shirt. “Can you please lift your shirt up?”

Bruce could be a little quiet and awkward at times, but he was a doctor first - he had excellent bedside manner and a way of making these things feel normal. Not wanting to make him feel weird or uncomfortable by making a poor excuse to refuse his offer, you nodded and grimaced again in fake pain. Taking the hem of your shirt between your fingers, you pulled the fabric up to where your sports bra started.

You sucked your teeth and tried to focus your mind on anything else as Bruce’s fingertips met the sensitive skin where your stomach met your ribs. Thankfully, just as Bruce hit a sensitive spot your eye caught a lab safety sign Tony had obviously defaced. You giggled and nodded to the sign.

“Are those really necessary?”

Bruce looked up to where you were nodding and smiled before turning back to his inspection. “Pepper insists. I don’t feel any breakages, maybe- sorry,” he sighed as you jumped and grimaced, trying to pass off the ticklish feeling as pain. Bruce’s brow furrowed as he looked at your skin. He reached over and grabbed your shoulder in one hand, your hip in the other, and gently curled you over. Not understanding how to fake it, you winced and decided on a way to move. Bruce hummed. Loki looked on with his lower lip between his fingers. Bruce’s fingers met your ribs and he pressed firmly enough to not tickle. You moved against his hands and grimaced, he then met your eye and gave you an unimpressed look before dropping his hands away. “For future reference, you’re should shy away from the pain if you’re trying to fake it.”

“E-Excuse me?” You scoffed and spluttered, pulling your shirt down and making to move, faking the effort it took to bring yourself to a sitting-up position. “I am not faking it,” you glowered at Bruce, feeling Loki’s eyes bore into the side of your head.

Bruce reached out and prodded his fingers into your ribs. The shock of it made you giggle and forget to fake the pain, completely giving yourself away. You dared to look at Loki, and watched as his face morphed from concern, to confusion, to realisation and then to a dark glare. You blushed and cradled your elbows back towards your stomach, shifting your eyes as you slowly came to terms with your lie being unravelled. “… Ow?”

“You conniving little-”

“Okay, I’m leaving.” Bruce threw his hands up and backed away, shaking his head and not looking at your pleading eyes.

“Wait, Bruce! Dohon’t leave me,” you whined, watching how Loki folded his arms. The doctor simply shook his head again and excused himself, not willing to interfere with any drudge match involving Loki of Asgard. He retreated, muttering something about lunch or coffee, and you watched as your last hope vanished.

The door clicked shut, and the lab was quiet.

“Loki, wait, I-”

“You are in a world of trouble.”

You gasped and scrambled off the table, but not fast enough to evade Loki’s long arm swiping for you and catching you around the waist. He pulled you against his chest with one arm, then slung the other arm over yours to keep them pinned to your side.

“LOKI!” You squeaked, kicking your feet out as he carried you away from the cluttered tables and expensive equipment and over to a couch near the small kitchenette.

“I wasn’t planning on seeking out all your little weak points today,” he began, hoisting you higher as you squirmed. “Then you lied to me,” he dropped you on the couch, clambering on top of you. “You hit me with a door,” he clicked his tongue and grappled with you for your wrists.

“Loki, plea-”

“You faked an injury, wasting my time and the good doctor’s,” he chuckled incredulously, catching each wrist as you shook your head in protest. He shifted himself around to pull your wrists to be pinned beneath his knees, cocked his head, and smirked. “So I think I’ll have some fun with you, Agent. Take my time.”

“Nonono, I’m sorry! I’m sohorry!” You shrieked as he moved his hands closer to your belly, forcing yourself to look away.

“I‘ve found you mortals to be surprisingly resilient,” the five fingers of his right hand met your belly and began lightly scribbling and scratching in the dead centre of your stomach. You immediately started squirming and bubbling with giggly laughter. “Though, I wonder how much you can take,” he tutted and you looked up at him with pleading eyes, horrified to see how casually devious he looked. “What if I told you…” he teased out, looking at where his hand was currently skittering around your t-shirt, “I’m not moving this hand for the duration of your restitution.”

You squeaked as he added more pressure to his fingers, prodding around for several seconds before going back to the light scritching that made you giggle and squeal. “N-nohoho,” you whined, then let out a little yelp as his fingers found the especially sensitive spot right below your belly button.

“How convenient,” he chuckled, scratching four fingers at the place and laughing as you jolted and squealed beneath him. “Perhaps I’ll just stay right here,” he threatened in a low and dangerous voice, lightening his touch to be maddening and insufferably ticklish. You squirmed hard, trying to throw him off target as he focused on the vulnerable spot. Just as you opened your mouth to protest, his left hand slipped between your arm and your body and began clawing at the sides of your ribs.

The harsh digging and vibrating between the bones of your ribs combined with the light scratching at your lower belly sent you throwing your head back against the couch, descending into belly-laughter. You thrashed under Loki as his touch stayed against your body, tickling without mercy. His fingers began to worm their way higher so you squeaked from nerves and pressed your bicep against your upper ribs, blocking his access. Your feet kicked out helplessly as you tried a hand at kneeing him in the back, but his seat across your hips made that near-impossible.

He clicked his tongue again as he found himself blocked from his desired target. He retracted his left hand, still not relenting with his right against your belly as he assessed his next move. You laughed and kicked and giggled and pleaded but he was too far in his playful zone to stop. And, truth be told, you were enjoying this side of him too much to put any discomfort or true fear in your voice. But, gods, if ever touch of his fingertips against your stomach wasn’t you bringing you closer to the edge of what was bearable.

He gave you the smallest reprieve imaginable by expanding his fingers to target the wider area once again. He still had you in helpless shrieking giggles, but at least your mind was all there again as you wriggled at his mercy.

“Thihis is TOHORTURE!” You yelled out, throwing your head back again as he dug and vibrated his fingers into your belly for a few seconds, then resumed with the light touch, faster this time.

Loki grinned at your rosy-cheeked giggly laughter and smirked, slowing his fingers to creep along your belly, giving you the headspace to listen to him. He took your right hand from under his left knee and moved it to be held above your head. “How does it feel, Agent?” He shot his hand down and slotted it in the soft space under your arm as you squeaked, clamped your arm down and jerked to the side. He contracted his fingers once and your jumped, then fell into those same helpless giggles from his hand at your belly. “Knowing you’re completely at the mercy of the God of Mischief?” He flinched his fingers again, wiggling them deep for a few seconds. You yelled out and thrashed, eyes shutting hopelessly. “Knowing how easily I can reduce you to an adorably helpless mess,” he sighed, “Aren’t you supposed to be tough as nails?” He wiggled his fingers harshly, pressing deep into the space under your arm before pulling his hand back to dig into your upper-most ribs.

You screamed out and fell into loud laughter, trying to turn to the side and curl in on yourself, but Loki’s fingers held steadfast. He wiggled his middle finger deep into a susceptible point on the back of your upper rib and grinned in delight as you gasped with loud laughter, unable to form a coherent word. He smiled at how you were still grinning, how you didn’t try to suppress your laughter, how you couldn’t help but submit his devious touch.

“LOKIHIHI!” You shrieked and arched your back, but that only sent you further into the fingers that were at you belly.

He stopped his attack under your arm and pulled his hand away. You kept giggling as he smirked down at you and squinted, feigning confusion. “I’ve stopped, why are you- tsk- that’s right,” he shrugged at the fingers that had once again taken to targeting the smaller patch of skin below your navel. He grabbed your flailing free hand and pulled it back under his knee, which made you whine through your laughter as you were immobilised again.

“EHEENOUGH!” You yelled, hiccuping with laughter and slamming your feet against the couch. His relentless fingers against your belly had been driving you further into hysterics, made worse by knowing he’d continue his onslaught in that specific place until he felt he’d taught you a lesson. The scratching of his blunt nails through your shirt at the lowest part of your stomach made you feel like you were going to burst.

Loki simply chuckled and shifted his hand to target one of the sides of your belly while he began kneading his free hand at your hipbone. You squealed and thrashed beneath his touch, breathless high-pitched laughter ripping through your chest. Your eyes shut tight and you tried to form pleading words with your lips.

“Ihi… I ca-cahan’t…” You gasped out before falling into a renewed bout of laughter when his thumb pressed deeper into the soft space next to your hipbone, drilling and spinning harshly into the susceptible skin. “I CAN’T TAHAKE IT!” You screamed out and yanked hard on your arms, and Loki finally retracted both his hands and laughed down at where you were gathering your breath. “No mohore. Please, pl-plehease,” you giggled deliriously and looked up at him with pleading eyes.

“You truly believe that was a sufficient punishment?” Loki squinted a bit and rolled his sleeves up further.

You felt your eyes widen as you watched him settle and bring his fingers slowly back towards your sides. “NOHO! NO I’M SOHORRY!” You squeaked and writhed beneath him, bucking your hips to find they had very little movement. Loki must have sensed you were nearing your wits end, so he chuckled deviously and didn��t continue on his war-path, instead pulling your wrists into his hands and getting to his knees above you. He pinned them above your head and brought his face close to yours.

“Going forward, you best watch your tone with me, darling. Now that I know about your little weakness.”

“Oh, come ohon,” you whined and adverted your eyes to will some of the heat out of your cheeks.

“Blushing, are we?” Loki cooed, ducking his head to catch your eye. “What’s the matter, Agent? Worried I’ll live up to my threats? Worried I won’t?”

“Loki!” You scolded, chuckling nervously, shaking your head to escape his gaze. “S-stop teasing me,” you bit your lip and squirmed with the flustered giggles building in your chest.

“I think I’ll be driving from now on.”

“FIHINE!” You squeaked, flustered beyond repair at his low seductive whisper, the way he was holding you at his mercy, the way he was calling you out.

“Ooh, so compliant,” he taunted. “What else can I scrounge from this little weakness of yours?”

You growled in frustration and pulled on your wrists. “Oh, screw yohou!”

He grinned and finally released your wrists, stepping off the couch to let you up. “This will certainly make our partnerships more entertaining.”

You glowered up at him as you took his offered hand to stand to your feet with his assistance. “You wouldn’t blow a mission like that,” you muttered, rubbing at your stomach to fix your disheveled shirt.

“Hmm, perhaps not,” he half-shrugged, then smirked. “But nothing like a little mischief to liven things up, wouldn’t you agree?” He winked.

You buried your burning cheeks in your hands and groaned. Loki chuckled and gave a few pokes to your side, forcing you to remove your hands to fight him off. Looking up at him, trying to look sheepish and grumpy, you couldn’t stop the smile from spreading to your cheeks. You swatted his shoulder as his grin widened, but before you could attempt to threaten him to keep quiet about this whole ordeal, Happy burst into the lab with his phone against his ear.

“Hey,” he snapped his fingers at you. “Why’s some guy named Greg demanding Tony buys him a Harley?”

You looked at Loki, then back and Happy. Sidestepping around the demigod, you walked over to where Happy was standing near the doorway. Shooting a look to Loki, one full of mischief, you winked to him from out of Happy’s line of sight.

“Loki stole a motorcycle.”

Not willing to stick around to hear Loki’s protest, you took off down the hallway as Happy began tutting and whining at your teammate. A grin spread to your cheeks as you made your quick getaway, knowing Loki would be far less merciful this next time around. But, hey, maybe he wouldn’t catch you again. After all, you were an expert at quick getaways.

#GAAAAAAH FUCK I HAVEN’T READ THIS ONE IN A WHILE AND I FORGOT HOW DHFJDJFJKDGD IT IS #first thing’s first: ‘fuck around and find out’ made me CACKLE oh my god #I could feel the ‘oh god oh fuck’ energy in the scene with Bruce it made me WRITHE #JJ what the fuck is going on in your head to write something so teasy and ruthless good lord 😭😭😭#in the words of one of those kardashian people: you’re doing amazing sweetie!!!#loki laufeyson

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