Abandoned

Bucky didn't know what Loki would do next. He didn't know if the god would simply shrug away from him, or hit him, or throw him against the wall... But he'd been hit before. Not by a god, but by super-soldiers. He'd been hit, slapped, punched, beaten, thrown down stairs, electrocuted... the point was, he wasn't afraid of Loki. He just didn't want to offend Loki.

The god's body went rigid, but he didn't make any sudden movements. So, no hitting. That's good. Bucky thought. 

Loki's arms were down at his sides, and Bucky noticed that his shoulders were tense- so tense Bucky couldn't imagine how he managed to turn his head. He idly wondered if Loki walked around like that all the time. It was a long moment before Loki moved, but Bucky continued to hug him; knowing that Loki probably hadn't had any real friendly physical contact in a very long time. Finally, the god dropped his head a half inch. 

"Are you going to stay like that?" Loki asked, almost threateningly. 

"Do you want me to let go?" 

In truth, Loki didn't, but he couldn't very well say that. He was shocked that anyone would actually touch him, much less risk hugging him. He was armed to the teeth and even if he wasn't, everyone believed he would kill them where they stood. Evidently, Bucky either didn't believe that, or he had a death wish. 

"If you two are going to kiss, I'm leaving!" Thor bellowed from the opposite side of the room. 

Loki's body tensed again, and Bucky let him go. Before Loki could respond, Bucky stalked toward the bigger god. 

"Do you ever shut the fuck up? You claim to be his brother, yet you can't go one day without finding some way to humiliate him in front of everyone here! You need to go out there and make up for this. If you were any kind of brother, you would be the one hugging him, even if he didn't hug you back. That's what brothers do." 

Thor didn't respond. He shouldered past Bucky and slipped out the door without saying anything to Loki, which is exactly what Loki had expected. 

"You're wasting your breath on him," Loki muttered. 

Bucky was pacing back and forth; obviously angry at the confrontation. 

"Has he always been so...inconsiderate? I mean, what you just told him... I shouldn't have been listening. I'm sorry, man. I really am. I didn't mean to. I just- when I saw you leave the room that way, I was coming to see if you needed to talk, and I heard you. I just felt so..." 

Bucky turned to look at Loki with an undefinable expression. 

"Your life...it hasn't been easy." 

Loki scoffed, "Suits me. I was born a monster." 

"Monsters don't rescue kittens, Loki. That man who was abusing Fennie- he was a monster. You are no monster. Now, can we go play with her and forget all this bullshit for a while?" 

Loki nodded, smiling for the first time in half an hour. 

Fennie had been curled up on Loki's bed sound asleep, so Bucky poured some food into her bowl and waited. They both knew she would smell it and wake up with renewed vigor.

They didn't have to wait long. A few seconds passed before a black blur flew through the hallway and skidded to a stop in front of the bowl; wolfing food down as if she had been starving for days. Loki folded his big body into a crouch and stroked her back while she ate, taking pleasure in watching her arch against his hand. It made him feel good knowing something needed him, even if no one did. 

"Hey, you should do the thing again..." Bucky chuckled. 

"I think you just want to see me naked," Loki smirked. 

"Dude! You have fur!" 

Loki suddenly wondered if he could stand being a cat forever if he had to. Then he decided that if Fennie needed him to be a cat, he could. Only for Fennie. 

"I suppose I do, but I'm still naked." 

"Fuck, man, you just ruined it." Bucky shook his head in disgust. 

With that, Loki closed his eyes and transformed. He enjoyed chasing Fennie around in this form anyway. At least she couldn't outrun him when he was feline. 

Loki chased Fennie around the Avengers' living quarters, leaping up onto the counters, diving under the tables, and jumping over everything in between until Fennie finally darted under the couch. Unfortunately, Loki was too big to fit, so he resorted to trickery to get her back out. At first, he stalked around the edge of the sofa, letting out soft mewls as if he had no idea where she could be. When she poked her head out to look at him, he gave chase once more. 

The fun ended when he heard Tony's voice. 

"Watch out, Fennie. I hear Loki has quiet a way with quadripeds..." 

Loki's sudden anger caused him to loose control of his Seidr, and before he knew what was happening, he was standing on two feet again. He glared in Stark's direction, pulling a dagger from the hidden compartment inside his pants. 

"That's IT! I will not stand by while you continue to mock me! Especially when you don't even know what you're talking about!" 

His feet were carrying him toward Tony, but Tony didn't look concerned at all. He looked... amused? 

Then, Loki heard Natasha laughing. 

"What is so funny?"

Loki was seething. These mortals had a way of making him so angry, he felt he could light every single one of them on fire and walk away without a backward glance. The thing was though, he only felt that way. He knew deep down that he would never actually do it. They were too simple of mind to punish for their insolence. 

"Um, Loki? You.... you... still have ears..." Bucky whispered. 

Ears? Loki reached up to feel his head. His eyes widened as he felt a furry protrusion atop his head. It did seem as if everything was in surround sound, but he was used to having extra sensitive hearing. 

At least Bucky has the decency to be discreet. 

"And a t-t-tail!" Natasha wailed. 

That one, I could douse with gasoline. Natasha had been a constant thorn in Loki's side since the moment he set foot on Midgard. As far as menaces went, she and Stark ran a very close race. He detested her. 

It was then that Loki felt something tugging at his back. He turned just in time to see Fennie with her tiny jaws clamped down on the end of his now very large black furry tail. 

"Fuck!" 

Loki scooped Fennie up from her place in the floor, allowing her to keep his tail between her tiny teeth. He was done with the idiot mortals in the common room, and now he needed to find a way to get rid of this new addition to his body. He had never dealt with extra parts before. He'd had missing ones, but never extras. This was going to take some time. 

Bucky watched Loki leave the room with a scowl on his face. It was almost comical how his face contrasted with the furry ears and tail. Almost. Bucky didn't dare laugh though. It was clear that Loki was done with everyone at the moment. Unfortunately, he had taken his favorite "person" with him. Fennie had become Bucky's favorite too- aside from Steve. Actually, if Bucky were honest, sometimes Steve wasn't a whole lot of fun. He idly wondered what Loki would do if he tried to go talk to him. Then he decided that he didn't really have anything better to do. Making the God of Mischief angrier wouldn't fuck up his day too badly. 

When he knocked on Loki's door, he received the exact response he expected. 

"Fuck. Off."

Loki's voice was muffled, and Bucky wondered what he could be doing, so he stood there for a moment before deciding to try again. 

"Loki? It's Bucky. I just...I wanted to see if Fennie wanted her toy?" 

Quickly, so as not to blow his cover, he ran to grab Fennie's toy from the floor in the common room before Loki had a chance to open the door. To his dismay, Loki was already standing there with the door open when he returned, watching him with an amused smirk. 

"You didn't come to see me. You came to see my cat." 

Bucky rolled his eyes. "Yeah. That's what I said, isn't it?" 

"Go to Hel, Barnes," Loki muttered, but he stepped aside to let Bucky in nonetheless. 

Bucky smiled. For whatever reason, Loki's insults were never offensive to him. They were just amusing, and he even found that he enjoyed them. 

"What are you doing in here anyway? Are you just hiding?" 

Loki spun on his heel and faced Bucky; his eyes blazing. 

"No I am not hiding! I'm trying to get rid of this blasted tail!" 

Bucky laughed. "So, you're keeping the ears then?"

"NO! Gods, are you trying to piss me off more?" 

Actually, Bucky was just bored. He needed some interraction that didn't include planning another mission- especially if that included talking about whether or not he would end up in the same room with Hydra's minions.

"I've never seen your...magic get fucked up like this. What happened, man?" 

Bucky tried his best to be more sympathetic with his questioning so Loki wouldn't throw him out. He really was enjoying the little game he had going with Fennie. He would drag her toy across Loki's bed, and Fennie would shake her butt and run at it. It was the cutest thing Bucky had seen in a long time. 

"The metal man pissed me off, and I just...lost control. He should never have made a comment like that. Suggesting that I would ever take advantage of her..." he cast a look down at Fennie. "She's like my..."

"I know, man. I know. She's like your kid, right?" 

Loki didn't answer, but Bucky knew he was right.