Chapter 46
Loki and Sylvie went to change for their dinner date. As they rode the elevator down Sylvie brushed the back of his hand with hers and he slowly intertwined their fingers. There was a sort of tension building between them now that they were no longer focused on helping The Avengers. Tonight was about the two of them, and only them.
They reached the room that had become temporarily theirs and went inside.
“So Natasha and I looked at dresses on her phone—probably just about the most ‘normal’ thing I’ve ever done,” Sylvie said with a smirk of amusement.
“Oh? And did you find one you liked?” Loki grinned as he walked over to her.
“I did,” Sylvie phished a basic Stark Tech phone out of her pocket and opened a newly received message, “she gave me this phone in case they need to reach us, and she sent the photo to me.”
Sylvie handed the device to Loki who flicked between the different angles and smirked before handing it back. He held a hand up and turned his wrist with a flourish of green magic. A long black dress appeared, the hook of its hanger perched delicately in his hand.
“My lady,” he said softly, handing the garment to her with a slight bow of his head like a servant might. She smirked and held out her other hand.
“Shoes?” She said expectantly, leaning into the role haughtily.
“Of course, similar to last night or shall I surprise you?”
“Surprise me,” she grinned.
He thought for a moment then conjured a black shoebox which he handed to her before bowing dramatically.
Sylvie took the box and shook her head with a faint grin before she headed to change in the en-suite bathroom.
Loki sighed to himself, knowing the dress would be twice as lovely on her and unsure how he would manage not to stare the whole night. He looked in the mirror on the wall and considered his own attire, opting for an all black suit, shirt and tie with a gold bar tie clip and cuff links. He cocked his head appraisingly, then added a dark emerald waistcoat beneath the dinner jacket and smirked.
Sylvie stepped out of the bathroom fully dressed and Loki could swear his heart stopped.
It was a long black dress with a high collar and an open back which he knew would be endlessly distracting. The shoes were black and rather simple, a wide strap over her toes and one around the ankle with a stripe of gold around the bottom of each heel.
Sylvie quirked a small smile at the way his face paled as he swallowed nervously. She walked over to the side table and retrieved the earrings from the previous night and put them on, showing off the back of her dress.
“It’s—” Loki cleared his throat, “‘s a lovely dress, couldn’t have chosen better myself,” he fumbled awkwardly, feeling a bit hot under the collar.
“Glad you like it,” she said softly and walked over to him, “tie clip is a nice touch.”
He smiled nervously and cleared his throat again, “are we ready then?”
Sylvie nodded, “Suppose so.”
Loki held out his arm for her politely and she took it, smiling nervously as she held onto his bicep.
Downstairs they reached the entrance and Loki opened the door for Sylvie acting as the perfect gentleman. There was a sleek black town car idling out front with the passenger window rolled down.
“You two must be the lucky couple,” a slightly irritable voice called in a strong Queens accent as he emerged from the driver’s side.
“Yes, and you must be Happy,” Loki said laying on the charm as Tony’s driver walked around the car to open the door for them, completely ignoring the hand which was being held out to him.
“How could ya tell?” The man rolled his eyes and gestured for them to get in.
Sylvie climbed in with a hand from Loki and he followed, the door closing behind them. Taking their cue from the grumpy man the two rode in silence save for the radio playing quietly up front.
There was a growing sense of awkwardness as they occasionally glanced shyly at each other before looking back out the windows. It seemed the tension made them strangely nervous around each other.
“Here we are, The Beekman, don’t forget to tip yer driver,” the man turned back to look at them with a deadpan expression, “it’s a figure of speech, Tony pays me plenty—now come on, I’m in a red zone.”
“Oh, um, Stark said this was a restaurant…?”
“Restaurant’s on the top floor, just go inta the lobby and they’ll point the way. I’ll be back here in the morning to pick ya up at 11–”
An impatient honk came from a car behind theirs and Happy turned just slightly to yell out the window, “I’m goin’! Keep yer hair on!”
Loki hastily climbed out of the car, extending a hand to help Sylvie out onto the sidewalk. No sooner had Loki closed the door than the man pulled away from the curb, shouting at the car who had swerved to go around him.
“So I guess we’re staying the night?” Sylvie said with a look between amusement and trepidation.
“I suppose so, though if we want to leave I’m sure you could message Natasha and she’d send the surly man back for us,” Loki said teasingly.
“No thank you, I don’t need anymore of that man in my life than is strictly necessary,” Sylvie laughed and they both smiled.
“My lady?” Loki offered his arm once again and she took it with a more relaxed smile as they went inside.
The building’s doorman held open the entrance for them and they went inside where a well dressed concierge greeted them. At the mention of Tony’s name the level of eager politeness only increased. He hastily checked them in before leading them to a bank of elevators.
The concierge handed Loki a small folded card with a key card inside and informed them how to get to the restaurant, then how to find their room from there.
Loki thanked him graciously and the man bowed before scurrying off.
“It seems Stark is his own kind of royalty down here,” Sylvie said sounding slightly entertained by all the fuss over their arrival.
“Wonders never cease,” Loki said with a smirk and pressed the up button for the elevator.
Once inside Sylvie released Loki’s arm, adjusting her dress and giving her hair a little fluff as she looked at the mirrored reflection of herself on the doors. Loki watched her fondly, eyes soft and a faint smile tugging at his lips.
“You look beautiful,” he said softly, “even more beautiful than usual, I should say…”
Sylvie smiled shyly, pink tinging her cheeks slightly.
“I’m so glad you agreed to this, I could never have dreamed up a vision half so lovely as you…”
Her cheeks flushed further and her lips parted softly, “I’m starting to see the benefits of your little scheme…”
She smiled coyly and stepped closer, hands straightening his jacket and tie before looking up at him, “and I’m quite pleased to know we’ll have a private room waiting for us after dinner…”
Loki swallowed thickly and tried to hide his nerves in a confident grin, “I suppose I shall have to thank Stark more thoroughly tomorrow…”
He leaned down to kiss Sylvie gently as her eyes closed and lips parted. She hummed faintly as Loki’s hand slid down her shoulder to the middle of her back, the exposed skin making his heart rate climb.
The elevator came to a stop and they parted reluctantly as the doors opened.
“I see now, you enlisted the spy to help find the perfect thing to torture me with…” he murmured breathily against her lips.
Sylvie hummed and smirked, “you should’ve seen what Natasha wanted me to wear… I doubt we would have made it to dinner…”
Loki huffed a laugh and followed as she stepped into the hall where a large wooden door stood ajar to the restaurant.
A hostess greeted them warmly, taking their reservation name and leading them inside.
The curved glass ceiling was covered in arches of wisteria which hung down here and there, and string lights twinkled amongst the vines to create a breathtakingly ethereal feel.
They followed the hostess to a secluded table tucked amongst the greenery where she seated them and set down two menus before leaving them alone.
“Oh…wow…” Sylvie said softly as she looked up at the trellises of purple flowers overhead.
Loki watched, unable to take his eyes off her for long. The soft lights combined with the sunset trickling in from above to give her a dreamy romantic glow which held him in a kind of trance.
When she looked at him she smiled shyly and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear self consciously.
Loki forced himself to look down at the menu so as to not gape at her too long. When the server came to the table he ordered them an expensive bottle of champagne. They then made their selections from the three course menu and the server promptly nodded and headed for the kitchen. A sommelier stepped up next with their champagne, popping the cork before pouring two glasses and placing the bottle in a standing bucket of ice by the table.
Sylvie took her glass a little hesitantly as Loki held his up to toast.
“To you, Sylvie… always to you,” he smiled affectionately.
They clinked their glasses and Sylvie blushed as she sipped her drink.
“Not bad,” she said faintly.
“Mm,” he added from behind his glass, “I could get used to lovely drink like this… and even lovelier company,” he smirked and she rolled her eyes.
“You seemed pretty convinced about leaving earlier…” Sylvie said, an unreadable expression on her face as she set her glass down.
Loki sighed wearily and set his glass down as well. He looked at her with his brow knit sadly,
“I just… I’m beginning to fear that if we stay too long, I’ll have trouble leaving at all…”
Sylvie’s eyes softened, “Is that what you really want? To leave? Or would you rather stay…here, on Earth… with your brother?”
Loki looked torn, “I don’t know… I hadn’t really considered it… I spent so long telling myself I would finally be happy once I had a throne and people to rule. I never really thought about doing anything else, and now… I really just want to spend the rest of my days seeing you smile,” he said looking a little nervous.
Sylvie looked touched, smiling softly.
“That’s the one,” he murmured fondly.
“To be completely honest, I sort of thought, perhaps, we might make up for all the times you had to run… Visit the world’s you liked best but never got to enjoy, make… better memories…”
Sylvie’s heart clenched with emotion, “Wha-what made you think of that…?” she shook her head slightly as her eyes watered with disbelief.
Loki looked worried and placed a hand over hers on the table, “I’m sorry… it was just a thought—I just thought if I’d had to run every time I ever got comfortable, I would regret all the things I missed…”
Sylvie bit her lip and nodded, eyes closing. She took a deep breath, “so many things… so many places… too many world’s dying around me…”
“We don’t have to go anywhere if you don’t want to…” Loki said gently.
Sylvie sniffed and shook her head, turning her hand over to hold his, “There are so many places I’d love to show you,” a faint smile tugged at her lips, “even if you talk the whole time…” she teased with a teary laugh which made his eyes crinkle with affection.
“I’d go anywhere with you,” he said softly and she kicked him lightly under the table.
“Ow, what was that for?” He pretended to rub his leg but grinned nonetheless.
“I’m already in love with you,” she huffed a soft laugh, “don’t go making it worse.”