Bedtime Shorts

Having spent the last two hours getting ready with Tony constantly coming in and interrupting, you finally entered the doorway to the party with finished hair, lazy makeup, and a basic green dress which fell right above the knee. Making your way to the bar causes you to run into a few of the others that always gather there during these events, just far enough to avoid the crowd of the bar but close enough to order drinks quickly when needed. Nodding and smiling to the group of boys, (Thor, Steve, Bucky, and Sam), is finally finished with a smile to the bartender for a whiskey sour.

As the drink is set in front of you, a shoulder glides against yours causing you to pause your motion for your drink and look up to the head it belongs to. Loki's gaze falls elsewhere as he calls to the bartender for a drink of his own, acting as if your arms weren't touching. "Well, hello to you too I guess." You chuckle at him as you take a sip of your drink and turn to rest your back against the bar.

Loki rolls his eyes at your comment, "I do not wish for small talk."

Taking another sip you start a path to the men you'd greeted earlier while backpedalling, yelling towards Loki, "I'm not drunk enough for your bullshit. Come back after two more of these then I'll remind you how to talk to a woman!" Raising your cup towards him causes his eyes to roll while he looks back towards the bar. Loki always has this ridiculous need to be hated or tolerated snd you didn't care for it. Never picking a fight because that's what he wanted, you labeled him a 'pick-me' a few months prior. Having to explain the term to everyone at least twice eventually got a general group agreement.

Even when everyone else agreed, they still played into his facade. Though it was a game at first, picking apart his schemes became more of a needed step before missions. Getting too elated with the idea he would come up with made him overlook steps, causing possible danger. In his arrogance, he would act angry and storm off but you continued to do it through his fits.

You reminded him that this was not only about him, just to be met with an outlash which you met with sternness. No man, especially a god, is allowed to direct anger towards you. Even if you had caused the anger, there is a proper way to deal with that and a tantrum is not it, so you let them know it. Tony knew it within the first week, Bucky within a few days, and Loki in minutes. These powerhouses were used to the people around them making excuses for their behaviors because they were in pain - which allows the process to continue.

Though, they each took these 'lessons' in different ways. Tony had formed a sarcastic sitcom-like banter with you out of respect; Bucky would apologize and feel comfort in you calling him out; Loki - however - Loki despised your call outs. He would exit a room entirely even if a conversation would mention you, feeling a knot in his chest rise from it. But, he couldn't stop listening to the room he left, even from his own room. He would cast a listening spell into a cup before leaving and would wait in his room to allow his reaction to fill his privacy.

Outwardly he would shut down at your advances to pick him apart. It had grown from jokes to genuine interest. He didn't see this, he saw you trying to manipulate him when all you had wanted was to understand him even if he didn't want to be understood. A knot grew for him in your chest as well, though you couldn't pinpoint from what.

After finishing his own three batches of hidden asgardian malt Loki stumbles as he follows behind you on your way to the dance floor with Sam and Steve, the three of you laughing the whole way as you insisted on teaching Steve modern dances while Sam needed a video of it happening. Thor watches from across the room with Bucky still by his side, finishing his drink to the view of the party. A loud thud erupts behind Bucky as Thor slams his drink down, watching the pursuit of Loki start.

Loki shifts his way between you and Steve. Having had your fourth drink of the night moments before, you allow him to stay while you dance to the music blasting behind you. After the song is finished and Sam has enough video evidence of Steve being a horrible modern dancer, you exit again in laughter before Loki's dulled senses can catch on. He watches you walk away with a small pout and catches Thor's gaze, causing the black haired god to find himself beside his brother and sneaking another drink.

Thor pats his brothers back as he booms, "I'm glad you are enjoying yourself! You've been moping for too long." Loki smirks towards his brother as his response falls from free lips.

"Ah, yes, brother. Moping. That's what that was. Not some brute force of a woman who annoys every part of my being." Loki sneers the line, clearly directed at you, as Thor's posture straightens with a flat line of a mouth. Loki spins to find you facing them with a drink for both him and Thor in your hands, a shadow of a smile now drawing on your face.

Understanding the intention of the comment partially sobers you, forcing the drinks from your palms to theirs as you set the one designated for yourself on the bar beside Loki's arm. A tight and polite smile flashes in a scrunch on your lips while tears prick at your eyes. You nod to Thor and let your eyes catch Loki before turning away and exiting to the balcony to join a group of smokers for semi-fresh air. Bucky follows, leaving the gods alone.

Loki turns back to his brother in a drunken slouch and chuckles to himself, seeing that he was finally able to upset you just as you always tried to upset him. Thor's reaction to Loki's enjoyment makes his pride turn to disappointment. "Loki, must you make her so upset? What causes a comment like that to escape you?" Thor's nose scrunches as he smells the malt, the cause of Loki's missing filter - even the tiny one he had. "You've pulled malt again, what should I expect? Someone attempts to be your friend and you react by insulting them away." Thor huffs as his arms cross across his chest.

Bewilderment lights up Loki's features, "Friend? She is not trying to be my friend. She ridicules each idea I form, attempts to gain access to my memories in order to belittle me, and refuses to converse over any topic!" The malt on his breath seeps its way from a slur to a yell towards Thor.

Taken aback from his brother, Thor's facial expression drops into a knitted brow. "Brother, the Lady does none of those things. She explains flaws in your plans to ensure you, and the rest of us, stay safe; she asks about your memories in order to converse with you and that's just what people do to learn about one another; she refuses to fight you, not a conversation."

Loki scoffs at the idea causing Thor to elaborate, "Tell me, brother, what does she gain from pointing out possible traps or moves from an enemy when presented with your plans? Does she not do this to everyone?" Loki's smirk falls slightly without a chance to respond. "Where does your favorite book or a funny childhood story land on your scale of belittlement? Better yet! Why would she choose to converse with someone always so eager to insult those surrounding him?" Thor's anger gets the best of him as he turns from Loki and walks away, leaving Loki to reflect in his influenced state.

Loki thinks about interactions with you that lead him to feel the knot of fire in his chest, the one's that stapled your presence to him with such rigor. Times in a committee where you reminded him of the powers and technology the enemy had so he could rework his plan, moments of conversations surrounding dinner where you pulled him from his book to ask for his input, times where he exited his own room finding you curled up in the library reading the book he had been in the middle of. These things he thought you had done to undermine, make fun of, and annoy him were attempts to reach him. He realized now that firey knot wasn't hate.

He looked from his hands where his mind had wandered to the door leading to the open air, Bucky reentering as Loki finally found his footing to make way for the exit. Loki passed the smokers who were coming back inside as he spun his head in search of you. He found your figure at the corner of where the two railings meet, folded over on your elbows as you watched the city below. He attempted to straighten himself in his saunter towards you as the alcohol still rang heavy in his system.

Your eye traveled around all the lights below, blurry from the water that was now drying on your cheeks. Bucky had come out to comfort you but you truly just needed to be left alone. Drunk and hurt didn't go well for anyone, and especially not when Loki was involved in anyway. His comment solidified who he truly was for you, marking him as a monster. You'd given into the tiredness your your body while you lean over the railing, listening to the symphony of the cars as an arm brushed against yours, joining the lean.

You look over to see Loki looking across the city as well, in response you pull away from the railing and stand up straight. He brings his eyes to yours as you move before you can walk away.

"I apologize." The words nearly frantically leave him as his posture matches your own. "Will you stay here with me for a moment?"

Licking your lips from the cracks the breeze brought leaves the pause between the question and your response more anxious in Loki, "Why should I stay here when you just admitted I only exist to annoy you?" Hurt fills your tone where you had hoped anger would.

Unsure of how to respond, Loki's eyes move from you to the city as his face paints a picture of confusion within himself. He sighs with a slight smile of embarrassment, "I'd like you to correct me now," He eyes return to yours, "won't you let me explain why before you refuse the offer?"

Curious as to his game you nod and return to the corner your arms had just been placed as he does the same to your left. You both look over the life below you as he searches for words. Finally, he's able to bring a voice to his thoughts, "I'm not a very nice person. I'm not used to those around me being kind to me if they're not to gain from the action." He pauses, looking at you as you continue the tracing of streets as he speaks. "You were not attempting to pick me apart and it went against an unfortunate instinct I've had to adapt to. You wanted to be my friend, not my enemy. I'm sorry for my reactions." He waits for you to respond with eager eyes and anxious thoughts.

Quietly, without returning his gaze, you correct him. "No, you're not." Your jaw flexes as you exhale through your nose and choose to find all the taxis on the street.

Sincerity and near regret forms in Loki's face and tone, "I swear to you I am sorry. I don't know how I'll be able, if ever, to correct the mist-"

You cut him off by turning your head and snapping your eyes to his, "You're a nice person." Your eyes scan over his face before turning back to the city, having nearly cried all of your intoxication out with the cool wind that helped clear your fuzzy brain that aided you in your correction.

An astonished scoff leave his mouth as his tongue scrapes his molars with an anxious smirk, "I understand you're playing games with me but I'm truly attempting to be open with you, my dear."

Letting a chuckle escape your chest with a small hum of understanding you turn to him with a raised brow, "I'm not playing games, I'm correcting you. Is that not what you wanted from me? You wanted me to tell you that you're nice so we could move on. Go back to the party, Loki, I'm not doing this anymore." Before you can turn back to the rail Loki's hands move to your shoulders and force you to stay facing him.

Brows of confusion rest above his eyes, "I wanted you to correct me by clarifying you did not intend to be my friend."

You shrug his hands off your shoulders and take a step back, "No, that was right. I did want to be your friend for, like, months. I tried for nearly a year to be your friend. I wanted to understand you and prove to everyone in that room right now that you were just someone who needed to be shown some good. But you went and fucked that up didn't you? You placed yourself right in everyone else's definition of you when I gave you every chance to redefine yourself. So yeah, Loki, I did what to be your friend. And now- now I want to-" Noticing your anger had raised your volume to a near scream caused you to stop, as well as the wall of body at the end of your finger. You had closed the step you took away from him with a finger to his chest. Your chest fell up and down quickly in attempt to replace the air you had released in your rant as your eyes stay focused on Loki's.

His own eyes flickering between yours caused the knot in your chest to tighten and you grabbed your bottom lip between your teeth in anger, pulling yourself back with a huff. But before your hand could return to your own body, it was caught by Loki's and placed onto his chest. His hand draped over yours which was now placed above his heart, sharing with you how quickly its rhythm had become. Your teeth released your lip which caused his eyes to watch the movement and return to the glare which was softening on your face as you noticed your own heartbeat in your chest.

Loki swallowed hard as he let his eyes fall to your lips again before retreating to your eyes and you unintentionally took in the sight of his own parted lips. As your eyes grazed the sight of his face and met his stare they fell shut as you were pulled forward into his body, his hand still encasing yours on his chest with the other on the back of your neck. Your lips were met with his quickly before he pulled himself back and started to apologize before being cut off with you tugging his shirt down to bring the kiss back.

The hand holding yours tightened as he sighed relief into the motion of your mouth on his, running a thumb against your cheek. You pulled your lips back for air but kept the pressure between your foreheads as your eyes stayed closed. Allowing a small smile to form on your lips drew a small laugh from the body in front of yours.

"And what would you like to do now, darling?" The taunt that came from Loki made you scoff and open your eyes as your smile widened.

"Right now? I want to argue with you over that." Laughter erupted from his chest as Loki placed a kiss to your forehead and smiled against the skin.

"I fully expect you to, and I'll promise to be ever so angry the entire time." You rolled your eyes at his promise and smiled against his chest as he very cautiously pulled you towards him, letting his hands caress your hair and back as you both watch the lights below run streams.