“Why is it always Steve?” Natasha asked, curious, as she and Loki ate a whole pint of strawberry cheesecake ice cream and watched some medical soap that Loki liked.
“Excuse me?”
“Today, in the meeting. That was not Steve, that was you. That’s why people were so surprised about him being all sneaky but clever. It could have been Steve and your performance was nearly flawless, but I know for a fact that he was with Wilson in some veterans hospital.”
“I think my ideas are more appreciated when it’s not me that says them. If it’s one of your precious Avengers…”
“But it’s not one, is it? It’s not one random Avenger that is missing. You could play Thor flawlessly, you were raised with him and yet you never do.”
“I wouldn’t stoop so low.”
“You could pretend to be me, since we’re both such sneaky ambivalent people who just want to be loved. And we’ve eaten enough ice cream together for you to be able to mimic me. But it’s always Steve.”
Loki focused on his ice cream, trying to come up with an answer that would make sense, while Natasha smiled knowingly. This felt like such a revelation, and she wondered how she had never seen it before, when it had been right in front of them.
“Even when you barely knew us, after the Hulk smashed when you first came to Earth. You shifted into Steve, repeated what he said.”
“Maybe I just think he’s the most preposterous of all you.”
“Nonsense. Hulk is much more preposterous, he can’t even do grammar. And besides, you like preposterous, you don’t mock it. There’s another reason why it’s always Steve.”
“Natasha, you are an intelligent woman and you know I appreciate that, but I fear you are reaching a wrong conclusion.”
Natasha grinned. Oh, how much she could use this.
“Do not smile like that my way, Natasha Romanoff!”
“So… Why don’t you make a move? You know he’s single, you know that Bucky and he are not together, you guys are friendly enough. And if you’re wondering if he swings that way, trust me, Lokes, he does.”
“You are getting the wrong idea.”
“I am not! You’re practically blushing!”
“Natasha…”
“That’s why you shift into him so much, because you wanna touch that body, don’t you? You got a little crush. But I will not… force things. If you need to come to terms with it on your own, that’s okay.”
“I do not! … You are wrong, Rogers is merely an easy man to imitate, nothing else. I understand why you may have gotten this ludicrous idea, but you are wrong. Now shush, I want to know if Bree having twins will break up her relationship. Or her job in the ER. Just… shush.” Loki said, aggressively taking another spoonful of ice cream, mostly to drown out all the excessive justifying. He couldn’t give her any clues.
But Natasha would find the clues, she was certain.
*
It didn’t take long for her to do so. She was a spy, after all, getting information was kind of her speciality. She spoke with Bucky and Wanda, some of the bffs of both of them, and gathered that yes, Loki and Steve did spend time together, and that yes, now that she mentioned it Loki was kind of less snappy when he was with Steve. Which was good enough evidence on its own, because a) Loki didn’t spend time with people he didn’t like and b) maybe he wasn’t snapping at Steve because he wanted to stay in his good graces. Because he wanted more than the casual friendship that he had with her, for example.
But there was more evidence, there was much more. You only needed to focus a bit on Loki when they were both him and Steve on a meeting or something. The way he looked at the soldier while he was talking, while he was saying something that didn’t exactly obey the rules, that offered them an edge in a smart but convoluted way… That was the face of a man (or a god) in love. And so Natasha took some pictures, and showed her evidence.
“You can’t deny it any more, Lokes. You’re practically the heart eyes emoji every time you look at Steve.”
“Where did you get those pictures?”
He did look ridiculously awestruck, something not befitting at all of a god, a master villain, an entity of pure mischief with no attachment whatsoever to these insignificant beings. But he looked at his face in the pictures and could practically see the attachments. He cringed. Shame flooding him.
“From the last meeting I was wearing a microcamera. See, this one is from when Steve said, “it is against the law, and it’s exactly why we should do it, because the law is unjust.” You can practically see the love in your eyes when you zoom.”
Loki huffed. This was something that couldn’t get out of, and Natasha… She was his friend, but she was also dangerous.
“What are you going to do with these images? Some sort of extortion? What is it that you want?”
Natasha wore another of her femme fatale smiles. It was nice to have someone who understood her so well, with so little judgement.
“What I want is first… Tell me about it.”
Loki sighed, looked at the ceiling, then put his face on his hands. This was so unbecoming for a guy as important as him.
“I don’t know, I just… I never meant to. But he came all “I know what you did for the Asgardians, Loki, we’d be honored to have you”. And he would ask for my opinion, and then I learn that he lied his way to the army, that he brought down an entire agency to help a friend….” Loki was really distressed, and Natasha thought it was quite cute that his crush was this deep. “I thought it would be better when he got that beard, I thought he would remind me of Thor, but he doesn’t! He looks handsome as a golden statue and I can’t control my eyes from drifting. Is it that obvious?”
“Don’t worry, it’s not obvious at all. I’m just good at noticing things the rest of the world doesn’t.”
Loki half smiled, somehow happy to get all of this off his chest. And definitely happy that it had been Natasha who’d found out and not someone who would use it against him, or someone who would immediately tell everyone because they thought it was hilarious. No, Natasha could keep a secret.
“Loki.”
“Yes?”
“I think you should make a move. Go for it.”
Loki just sighed.
*
This madman had been against Steve since day one, and now he was choking the life out of the Captain in front of an audience. The Avengers had tried to get to him, but there was some sort of shield…
“We have to do something!” Clint said. “That man is going to kill Steve!”
“No, he isn’t.” Steve’s familiar voice said, appearing after being waking from a magically induced sleep. “That’s not me.”
Natasha understood it all now.
“Shit. They’re making him wear one of those anti-magic cuffs!”
“Why would…” Thor muttered, and then realised. “Loki!”
“Wanda, you’re stronger than any shield. Focus your red… energy on it, on breaking it. Thor, the moment she breaks through you direct…”
“.…Mjolnir to that anti-magic contraption so that Loki can break free. It will be my pleasure.”
The did and sooner rather than later, Thor was throwing his hammer expertly.
“HOW DARE YOU HURT MY LITTLE BROTHERRRRRR”
He broke Loki’s wrist in five different places with Mjolnir, but it was enough for the anti magic tech to break, allowing Loki to go back to himself, and freeze his captor long enough so that he would be disarmed and taken into custody.
Loki had some bruises on his neck and his wrist would take a while to heal even with the best magic, but it was a good ending. No one was gone and they had defeated the madman, together.
That night, Steve was contemplating life and looking out of the window when a figure appeared behind him, hoping to get some ice cream. When they were in New York, they often stayed in the tower, to avoid press and endangering neighbors.
“Loki. I’m glad you’re here.”
Loki changed the ice cream for vodka. He was going to need this more.
“What you did today… You knew that man was dangerous, and you went in my place. You put yourself in danger for my sake.”
Loki made a dismissive gesture.
“It was nothing. You know how I love applause.”
“No, Loki, it wasn’t nothing. You put yourself in harm’s way, when you knew…. I could have handled it, all right?”
“Bitter that I stole your chance to shine?”
“No, bitter that you got hurt on my behalf. How’s your neck?”
Steve walked closer, and then closer and closer… To inspect the bruises. Loki shivered.
“Better than other bad days I’ve had.”
Steve’s blue eyes were focused on Loki’s green ones. The god left his drink on the counter and allowed Steve to inspect his neck…
“It does look a bit painful, but…”
Before Steve could finish his sentence, he was grabbed by Loki and there was a violent, passionate kiss. Before he realised, he was kissing back, and suddenly they were both against a wall, a tidal wave of unspoken feelings exploding.
*
It was 2:13 am when Natasha received a text message with a picture, coming from Loki.
In the picture you could a slightly tipsy Loki, neck bruises and all, being kissed in the cheek by her other friend, the bearded and darker Captain America.
The caption simply read.
“I made a move!”
And Natasha smiled, happy.
It was a good move. A great one even.
The rest of the guys had more trouble believing.
“You’re doing what with whom??? Steve!”
Thor was just happy.
“You will look after him, won’t you?”
“You have my word, Thor.”
An honest word, some friends, and a love beyond the worlds
What more could one ask for?