Loki scowls at you and Thor from across the room. Loud, boisterous… in no way is it a suitable environment for reading. Your unladylike shrieks of laughter as Thor swings you around, his oafish belly-laughs as you smack his shoulder. Loki rolls his eyes and turns the page of his book.
His anger is simmering just under the surface of his skin– do neither of you notice him here? What did he expect… Thor never did, it would make sense that his silly new playmate wouldn’t either. He clears his throat pointedly and glares over the pages of his book.
You and Thor are still ear-splittingly loud as you giggle and talk about some ball of dirty fluff you hold in your hands. Loki trembles with rage, and before he even recognizes what he’s doing, he clenches his fist and the matted fur ball explodes in a shine of light.
He sits up shocked, quickly standing to apologize, but Thor’s already approaching him murderously.
“Brother, I-” he chuckles, his face apologetic in the only way he knows how to. A slight smirking smile and wide eyes.
“Save it, Loki. How dare you! That was a precious item, something dear to the lady’s heart-” Loki glances around Thor’s frame to look at you, standing still with the scraps of what was left of whatever it was.
“What-” you squeeze your hands together, keeping the mess contained inside of them, and walk to bump Thor’s side with a smile. It’s not genuine.
“It was only a stuffed animal, Thor, I’m sure he didn’t mean it,” and now you’re looking at him, and Loki swallows. He can barely meet your eyes, the clear sadness contained in them.
“Can I repay-”
“No,” you cut him off. “No, this is -was- from when I was a kid,” you give a dry chuckle, and Loki flushes with guilt.
“I’m- I’m sorry-”
“Hey!” your eyes brighten, and his body tightens in expectation of something, “You owe me something!”
“What?”
“You owe me a movie night!!”
“WHAT?”
How Loki found himself outside your door hours later is beyond him. He raises his hand to knock on the door, and the door shoots open before he makes connection with it.
“LOKI! You’re- oh, come on, man,” you laugh at him, and frowns.
“What is it now?”
“Why are you wearing a suit?? It’s a movie night! You’re supposed to be in pajamas, or at the least, loungewear,” you gesture to your own sweatpants and fuzzy sweater.
Loki’s embarrassed again. Well, that didn’t take long.
“How was I supposed to know? You gave me no instructions!”
“Thought it was common knowledge,” you shrug, holding the door open for him. Huffing angrily, he strides inside, and is pleasantly surprised by how… clean? No, that’s not the right word. Your home isn’t a messy hodgepodge like he’d expect Thor’s friend’s place to be. It’s definitely not the surgical clean that he keeps things, but there’s no rotten food or bloody weapons laying about. Just knick-knacks and touches of warmth and memory everywhere to the point where the whole house feels like a story.
It feels like a story where Loki doesn’t belong.
And he’s guilty, all of a sudden. He would’ve never thought you’d be like this. He never bothered to learn your character, only to assume it.
“Come on, Mischief Man, I’ll give you some of my oversized stuff,” you pat him on the back, pulling him out of his trance. Loki follows you awkwardly into the closet: his eyes widen at the small size. You couldn’t fit a quarter of his wardrobe in there.
“It’s… minuscule-”
“Gee, thanks,” you roll your eyes at him, and he flushes again, murmuring a quiet apology. You chuckle and sort through the clothes, throwing them at him until he’s holding some black sweatpants with lint on it and an old college sweatshirt. Loki grunts at it, and you whirl around and smile at him.
“Put that on?” you don’t let him answer, just pat his pectoral and then leave with, “I’ll pick a good movie!”
Loki watches you go, beyond bewildered before starting to undress carefully.
Yes, this is nothing like what I’d thought it would be.
He quickly strips off the pants, suit jacket, and dress shirt and dons the new clothes. Loki moans at the feel: warm, soft… they fit him just barely but the comfort of them is something he’s never felt before. He hugs himself, snuggling into the sweater.
“OY! Mischief! Get a move on,” Loki jumps and remembers what he’s doing. Trudging into the living room awkwardly, you clap when he enters. “Looking cozy!! It’s nice, right?”
“Yes…”
“Yeah, hehe, I live in sweatpants. Anyway… there’s one last thing! Wait, two,” you pat the spot next to him rapidly, and he daintily sits beside you. Of course, he squawks in surprise as you thrust your hands into his hair and mess up his hair. He shoves you off of him, glowering at your laughs.
“What?? Now you don’t look stuck up at all,” you giggle. He blushes, doing his very best to glare.
“It was- unnecessary,”
“Sure, but that means nothing,” you shrug, getting a bowl from your feet and handing it to him.
“This is… food?” you point at the yellow-white pieces and pop one in your mouth.
“Yep! Popcorn. Classic movie night shit. Man, we need to get you out more. What do you do all day?”
“Read… practice magic, I presume,” he murmurs, trying one of the pieces. His face twists, and then brightens: Salty, but good. You beam at him, and steal some, shoving it in your mouth unceremoniously.
“Sounds like a lot of studying. Pretty lame, Mischief. Maybe try some new things. Or even cause some actual mischief, you know. Not really living up to the name so far,” you chuckle and take the remote, clicking into a movie.
Instead of answering your question, he asks another.
“Have you seen this before?” you settle into his shoulder, and he tenses for a moment before your smack his leg.
“Hey. I’m not going to do anything, just cuddling up to you. You’re nice and cool, and then I can take this,” you pull a warm blanket over the both of you, “and have the best of both worlds. If you’re really not comfortable with it, I’ll move.”
“No… it’s- it’s fine. Just unusual,”
“Damn, alright. Better get used to it, then,” you give him a large grin, and he struggles to give you one in return. “Anyway, to answer your question. Yes, I’ve seen this movie a million times before. It’s… it’s nice to watch it again. No surprises. Just familiar and warm. Like relishing in the embrace of a loved one.”
He feels what you’re saying somewhere in his bones. Even if he can’t relate to it, the feeling is something that radiates through him, swirling through him and filling his body to the brim with emotion.
“That’s… odd,”
You laugh.
“Is it? Oh, heads up, I’ll probably pass out before the climax of the movie, so just wake me up when you want to go home,” you take more popcorn, whole handfuls in a way that must be unsanitary, and turn to the movie.
Loki stays as still as he can throughout the movie, even after you fall asleep on him. He dares peek down at your face: it’s quiet. You look so… relaxed. Comfortable.
He sees the appeal of this movie night.
It’s nothing like he expected.
It’s so much better. His lips stretch into a small smile. Loki sighs, closes his eyes, and rests his head on yours.