After the incident with Thanos, it recently came to light that Loki survived having the life choked out of him by Thanos’ purple hands. Since then, he was moved to the Avengers compound so the Avengers, who clearly didn’t trust the dark-haired god, could keep him under their watchful eye.
Loki, ironically against what he was best known for, kept to himself, not doing much to cause mischief. Sure, there was the occasional salt and sugar switch on his oaf of a brother, but that was just about it.
He often kept to himself and stayed in the library, taking in as much Midgardian literature he could get his hands on. He often enjoyed reading Midgardian poetry and novels that often had a bigger picture and symbolism. His interest in Midgardian literature surprisingly didn’t stop at the works of the great writers such as Shakespeare.
Instead, he began reading more mediocre works he could find in the library. At first, he began reading them to poke fun at Midgardians and to contrast them to the books of Asgard; stories quite literally documented by gods. However, a small part of himself found enjoyment in these books.
In fact, he was reading a book about a murderous canine when y/n l/n, one of the lab assistants he didn’t interact with too often, wandered into the library, her hands skimming over the books lining the shelves, occasionally tapping her nails on the hardback spines of the books. His curiosity grew as his book, long forgotten, slipped from his hands as he made his way towards her.
“Are you looking for anything?” y/n heard Loki’s velvety voice come from behind her as she spun around to face the God.
“Putang ina, kinabahan ako,” he heard her mumble under her breath as his brows furrowed in confusion. Sure, he knew there were plenty of languages and dialects around Midgard, but her words were some he never heard around the compound. Not directly, at least.
At times, he heard Natasha and Bucky occasionally utter a few words in Russian, Peter with Spanish (and Latin, yet another language class he decided to take), Steve with the occasional French words here and there, and Wanda teaching Vision Sokovian.
During his first few weeks, Loki debated learning the languages he’d heard around the compound—he accomplished it all, though he was quite rusty—but he found himself growing more curious of the h/c-haired girl.
“What?” Loki questioned her, tilting his head to the side as she shook her head.
“It’s nothing,” y/n chuckled, dismissing him as she continued to walk through the library in an attempt to avert his gaze away from her.
“No, I find that languages can be quite interesting. Please, at least tell me what you said,” Loki pleaded, suddenly bored of just reading books. His words caught her interest as she stopped in her tracks, turning to face him again.
“Well, it’s Tagalog, which is spoken in the Philippines and I threw out a profanity with the words ‘I was startled’ along with it. I take it you just want to learn the curse words? Just like every other person who’s asked me about it?” y/n questioned, raising her brow at Loki.
“Gods, no. How would I be able to appreciate the beauty of a language when the only knowledge about it I’m blessed with is learning a few words of profanity?” Loki grinned, watching as y/n’s expression changed to that with a smile.
“Yan, assume pa kase,” (That’s what you get for assuming) she whispered to herself before turning to Loki, “Well, I guess I could teach you a few words,” y/n smiled at him, forgetting about her personal mission to find a book to read to pass the time, instead choosing to pass the time by teaching Loki a few Filipino words that day.
A few words shifted to become a few phrases here and there. The day of lessons stretched out to become months of them spending time in the library with y/n even printing out flashcards—to which he complained, stating he was not a child after he’d seen a woman on television using the same cards to teach a child—to help Loki learn. He appreciated the effort she put into immersing him in the language and she also appreciated how determined he was to learn the language.
“I’ll get rid of the flashcards if you can tell me how to say ‘Can I please have some food?’ in Filipino,” y/n challenged him. With a proud smirk, Loki began putting his knowledge of the language to use.
“Bakit? Gusto ba ng pagkain?” (Why? Do you want food?) Loki questioned her, as she chuckled, noting the missing “mo” from the sentence. She knew he couldn’t form perfected sentences, but she was proud of how hard he tried. He’d even managed to shake his accent to enable him to pronounce the Tagalog words better.
“Oo, medyo nakakagutom magturo ng diyos,” (Yes, teaching a god makes me kind of hungry) y/n responded in Filipino as Loki’s face dropped. Not because of what she’d said, but because he couldn’t quite understand her.
“You and I both know you haven’t taught me those words! I only understood ‘oo’ so I’m assuming you want food?” Loki huffed, pouting as he plopped onto the couch next to y/n.
“Yes, and about the words, you’ll learn them soon, don’t worry about it,” y/n winked reassuringly.
“As long as you’re the one teaching me. The words sound much more beautiful leaving your lips,” Loki smirked as y/n jokingly punched his shoulder.
“Landi mo, swerte ka nalang na mahal kita” (You’re a flirt. You’re lucky I love you) y/n chuckled before covering her mouth, immediately realizing what she said. Loki tilted his head, looking curiously at her before speaking.
“What did you say?” Loki questioned her, studying her features as she shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.
“Oh, uh it was nothing. Just ignore the fact that I said that,” y/n chuckled nervously, trying to dismiss the incident.
“No, I am very much in the dark with what you said. You kind of forgot to teach me a few of those words,” Loki shrugged as y/n nodded slowly in relief and understanding.
“They’re more…difficult sentences to explain. It’d probably take a few more weeks for me to be able to teach the words to you,” y/n shrugged nonchalantly, earning a slow nod from Loki.
“Alright. So, do you want to go out and get food?” Loki questioned, earning a nod from y/n before she realized something.
“Aren’t you not allowed to leave the compound?” y/n questioned, her brows furrowing.
“I am,” Loki insisted, as y/n shook her head, laughing.
“Not unsupervised,” y/n pointed out.
“Which is why you are going with me,” Loki smirked confidently as y/n shook her head.
“I’m pretty sure I can’t be counted as supervision. I’m a lab assistant, I don’t have the qualifications to babysit an Asgardian God,” y/n chuckled.
“Actually, anyone with these count as supervision,” Clint, who y/n didn’t notice was in the library too, shrugged, leaving a pair of intricately-carved golden handcuffs in y/n’s hands.
“Agent Barton, I hate to break it to you, but I’m a lab assistant. I have no idea how to use handcuffs,” y/n chuckled nervously, trying to put the cuffs back in Clint’s hands.
“Alright then, lemme show you,” Clint started, taking the cuffs from her hands and flipping them over, “This nifty little button right here was designed to activate the cuffs to latch right onto Loki’s wrists if you press them. It’s a simple trick but it was pretty effective when we found Loki over here heading to the Seven Eleven near the compound.”
“Yes, that was definitely an enjoyable experience,” Loki rolled his eyes.
“Alright. I guess we’ll be back in an hour or two,” y/n smiled, nonchalantly shoving the cuffs in her pockets.
“Finally, something other than pizza deliveries and Chinese food!” Loki cheered as y/n led them out the library.
The pair found a nice restaurant to eat at, relieved he no longer had to eat the food the Avengers liked ordering a little too often. He, of course, couldn’t order any food for himself. Not since the bright-eyed Peter Parker was banned by Tony from giving Loki spare change after the Slurpee incident.
No, seriously, the Avengers looked through cameras all over the world just to find out Loki somehow made his way to the nearby Seven-Eleven store to buy a Slurpee he’d once found Peter drinking.
“So, you seemed pretty panicked when I asked you for the meaning of what you said earlier,” Loki started as they got into their seats.
“What?” was all y/n could get out as she chugged down a glass of water as Loki, his brows furrowing, observed y/n’s expression as the conversation progressed.
“What did those words mean, y/n? You and I both know I don’t need to know the meaning of every individual word just so you could explain what it meant,” Loki crossed his arms over his chest, leaning into his seat.
“Alright, I need you to promise not to laugh or lash out or anything, okay?” y/n questioned, dragging her words out so she could make something out on the spot.
“I make no promises, but I’ll try my best,” Loki nodded slowly.
“I made a quick jab at how stupid your joke was,” y/n shrugged nonchalantly, a bitter taste in her mouth as she scrambled to find the words.
“Can you tell me specifically what it translated to?” Loki questioned, raising a doubtful brow at y/n.
“You and I both know Filipino insults are difficult to translate,” y/n shrugged, letting out a sigh of relief when the waitress arrived at their table with their food.
Loki narrowed his eyes before nodding, “Alright. Thank you for getting me out the compound, even if it was just for a day,” he smiled at her, smiling down at the meal in front of him.
“No problem,” y/n smiled.
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful…well, there was the small fact that Loki spent the night on google translate in an attempt to perfect his little speech for y/n.
Finally, after hearing the words slip from her lips a few hours prior, he was ready to come clean about how he truly felt for the e/c-eyed girl. He was through with waiting. He was a god; he’d lived longer than any lifetime anyone on Earth had ever lived, yet those months with y/n without being able to express how he’d felt for her had been the longest months of his life.
The next day, when they were set to meet in the library, Loki had his speech memorized so well, he could probably recite the whole thing backwards.
They both settled comfortably on the plush couch of the library, Loki forcing out a groan as y/n brought out a keyring of flashcards.
“If you don’t want me to bring out the flashcards, you’ve got to prove you’ve learned shit from me,” y/n responded, pulling a confident smirk from Loki. Things were going just as he’d planned.
“Alright then,” Loki smirked, clearing his throat, “y/n l/n, ikaw ang ilaw ng buhay ko at hindi ko alam kung ano ang gagawin ko kung mawala ka sa tabi ko. Hindi ko maipaliwanag sa iyo kung ano ang naramdaman ko nang dumaan ang mga matamis na salita sa iyong mga labi kahapon; ang mga salitang “mahal kita” sapagkat ang mga salitang iyon ang nararamdaman ko sa iyo. Mula sa araw na nagtagpo ang aming mga landas sa silid-aklatan, at sumang-ayon ka na turuan mo ako ng iyong wika, natagpuan ko ang higit na namangha sa bawat pagdaan na daw at nahanap ko ang aking sarili na nahuhulog sa iyo.” (y /n l/n, you are the light of my life and I don’t know what I’d do if I live life without you by my side. I cannot explain to you how I felt when sweet words passed through your lips yesterday; the words “I love you” because those words describe how I feel about you. From the day our paths met in the library, and you agreed to teach me your language, I found myself even more amazed with every passing day and I found myself falling head over heels for you)
y/n found her breath caught in her throat and whispered the first words that came to her mind, “I think you meant ‘Mula sa araw na nagtagpo ang ating mga landas’ and well, I don’t understand the last sentence much, I think you got lost in translation over there, bud.”
“Shit,” Loki huffed before turning to y/n with a hopeful gleam in his eyes, “Did you at least understand what I was trying to say?”
“Despite this kind of obviously being from Google Translate, yes. How the hell did you know the meaning of ‘mahal kita’ when I said it yesterday, though?” y/n questioned.
“I’ve been meaning to tell you about my feelings for quite some time. There was a point I just considered telling you mahal kita to catch you by surprise,” Loki chuckled nervously.
“Well, I meant it when I said it,” she chuckled nervously, “Mahal kita. I mean it.”
“Really?” Loki questioned, his eyes growing wide.
“I said it yesterday, and I said it again today. You can’t possibly still be questioning me,” y/n giggled as Loki scooted closer to her, his arms wide open.
“May I?” Loki questioned, earning a slow nod from y/n. He wrapped his arms around her in a tender embrace, something he’d wanted to do for a while. That was when they both realized just how much they needed each other; how touch-starved they both were.
“Now, come on, I still need to teach you how to speak in Tagalog properly, so you don’t have to refer to Google Translate anymore,” y/n chuckled, trying to pull away from Loki to retrieve her ring of flashcards.
“Can we please stay like this? Just for another moment?” Loki questioned, enjoying the warmth he was provided with by y/n.
“Wait, I have an idea,” y/n smiled, sitting up straight so her back was to his chest, and pulled his arms around her shoulders as they sat comfortably, y/n using the flashcards to explain how Loki could have corrected a few phrases in his confession speech.
Neither of them knew it yet, but those lessons would definitely come in handy a few years later when the tall god asked the h/c-haired girl for her hand in marriage.