"I could get used to this," Loki's voice was a whisper, his lips against your hair. You shifted a little, murmured something softly, and tried to find the cool spot on your pillow to lay your head. Loki laughed. "Dearest, I am not a pillow that you can flip over to find the cool spot," he told you warmly. His chest rumbled when he spoke and the rumble was coming from under your head. He was your pillow. He didn't seem to mind except not wanting to be flipped over to find the cool spot. That was ok. He was one giant cool spot.
"Can," you murmured. It was hard to wake from the pain pills that work on Thor, they were a touch too strong for you.
"Fair point. I would however greatly appreciate not being flipped over,"
"M'kay," you snuggled better into his arms, your head comfortably on his chest. He kissed your forehead.
"Yes, I could get used to this indeed, my darling little Valkyrie," his voice was a warm purr.
The conversation finally got through your sleep addled brain and your eyes snapped open. You were in Loki's room. In his bed in fact, and there was every nothing that you'd been there all night since Loki had tucked you in after feeding you pain pills. However, you knew you hadn't fallen asleep cuddled up with Loki. It wasn't embarrassing or uncomfortable. It felt no different than the thousands of naps you'd shared over the years. And quite a few of those naps had lasted all night too. Asgardians didn't see anything wrong with such things.
You shifted and kissed Loki's cheek. "Good morning, my prince," you greeted him warmly, not teasing his title this time.
He turned his head to kiss you properly. "A very good morning indeed, my darling Valkyrie," he replied with soft love in his voice. You sat up slowly, a little stiffly and took inventory of your injuries. Besides being a little stiff, a little sore, and your ankle was a little tender yet, you were healed. "Better?" Loki asked when you'd taken inventory, sitting up and propping himself with pillows against the headboard.
You nodded. "Told you I'd heal by morning," you reminded him.
"So you did," he agreed. "You also did try to warn me about the affect of the pain medication on you," he added with gentle teasing. You blanched. What the hell had happened for him to be teasing you over?
"Great Odin's Ravens! I tried to warn you. What happened? Whatever it was, I'm sorry!" you told him quickly. He smirked. Your use of 'Odin's Ravens' as a curse told him you didn't remember. The ravens were spies and saw and heard everything; by cursing by them it was a cue to the listener that you didn't remember, see, or recall the event.
Loki laughed and waved off your concern. "Don't worry. You were just distraught and wouldn't calm until you were using me as a pillow. It was the only way to convince you I was safe and you had done your duty of protecting me. It was adorable, little Valkyrie," his eyes were bright and loving, his smile warm. He wasn't teasing. He thought it was legitimately adorable.
You sighed in relief. That wasn't so bad, insisting on doing your duty to protect the prince wasn't embarrassing. "Oh. That really explains why I was laying on Thor last time..." you commented, thinking over the last time you'd been on those pills.
Loki snarled and there were daggers in his hands. "If you will excuse me, Kyrie-love, I must go destroy that idiot brother of mine," he told you as he moved to get up to do just that. You sighed, grabbed his arm, and, with a couple of quick practiced movements, had him disarmed and pinned on his back on the bed. You were straddling his waist, pinning both of his wrists above his head with one hand, the other hand on his chest to keep him from squirming too much
"Stop that," you told him firmly. He snarled and struggled to get free, but you held him firm. He seemed impressed that you had pinned him and even more impressed that he was stuck pinned. It wasn't like you hadn't done it before. Though he hadn't been so...excited... the others times.
Except that time with the love potion.
No one spoke of the love potion incident and Loki claimed he didn't remember it. You hadn't been a full-Valkyrie yet, so you couldn't do anything to the court lady who had done it, besides report her and take care of Loki after. Your Lady Mother had dealt with that bitch and she'd never been seen again.
"He touched what's mine. He has to die," he struggled again and you tightened your grip.
You sighed, exasperated. "Lohk, your brother may be an idiotic oaf, but even he's not that dumb. He has never made any moves romantically, even when he didn't remember who I am. And no, he didn't see the sigil on my arm to figure it out," you'd worn gloves or long sleeves constantly until Loki had gotten here. "He pretty much hated me when I got here. It didn't help that he mistook me for you when we first re-met. Anyway..." you'd gotten side tracked, oops "all he did was his duty to a Valkyrie, in his care, which is all of them since he's a prince as you well know. Honor would have demanded it if I was as distraught as you made it sound. He sat on the couch, had me burritoed in a blanket so I couldn't hurt anyone, and let me use his leg as a pillow. That's it.
Now will you stop trying to kill your brother for the crime of doing his duty? Or do I have to make you?" you teased with a smirk. He seemed to have calmed while he was listening to you.
He took the bait. You knew he would. "And just how do you plan on stopping me from fratricide?"
You smirk grew and there was a mischievous glint in your eyes. "By distracting you until you forget about that little plan," you told him too innocently.
Before he could ask how, you leaned down and kissed him. It was tentative at first, you wouldn't force him or pressure him, but you would keep him from killing Thor. Instead of fighting, he kissed you back. He tried to tug his wrists free of your grip, but you weren't giving him up that easily. He wasn't distracted enough to not go kill Thor, or at least stab him. So you kissed him, then moved to nibble gently on his earlobe. He squirmed and gasped in a surprised pleasure. You kissed your way down his neck and he tilted his head for you. If you remembered correctly... there was a spot... there! He gasped, moaned, arched his back when you found the exact weak point on his neck. You kissed it and sucked on it until he was properly melted and distracted and had long since stopped fighting you.
You kissed his lips again. "So what was it you were doing, my darling prince?" you asked him too innocently.
"No idea, Lady Valkyrie," he purred softly at you. You kissed him again and let him go.
"That's what I thought,"
*
"Brother, what happened to your neck?" Thor blurted as you and Loki sat down for breakfast. The entire team looked over to see the red and purple mark on Loki's neck. His shirt wasn't high enough to cover it and he hadn't bothered with an illusion. You couldn't tell if he was embarrassed, pissed off, or proud of the mark you'd accidentally left. That hadn't been your intention...
Before Loki could answer, Tony started laughing. "An unconscious Smurfette too much for you, Reindeer Games?" he teased, roaring in laughter. You stormed to your feet and strode toward him. Loki's hand clamped around your arm before you could pass his chair to get to Tony at the other end of the table. You turned and glared at him. Tony looked relieved.
"You forgot your gloves, dearest. You would not like for him to be an icicle when he hits the ground. It would make such a mess," Loki informed you kindly and used magic to summon elbow-length gloves onto your arms for you. Tony went back to looking terrified when he realized that Loki wasn't stopping you from defenstrating him, just from killing him with ice first.
"So considerate," you told Loki warmly and kissed his forehead. He let go of your arm and you strolled gracefully over to Stark. You lifted him easily from his chair by his throat before he could scramble away. "Do not insult my prince's honor," you snarled at him, holding him off the ground. Your threat delivered, you threw him through the window, hard.
"I think that might be a new record," Nat commented dryly, watching the Iron Man suit go flying out the window to rescue Tony. You took your seat again and dive happily into your breakfast. Bruce was pulling up the footage on a Jarvis screen.
"She almost beat Thor's record, another couple of centimeters and she would have," Bruce announced to the table. Tony was back in the window a minute later.
"Oi, kid. Fix the window," he told you. You growled at him, but waved your hand and the window was repaired.
"So, Loki, how did you get that mark on your neck?" Nat teased, but she was so kind about it that Loki didn't kill or stab her for it. It was a gentle teasing of friendship, not the harsh teasing of Stark.
He just gave her a polite smile. "A gentleman does not kiss and tell," he told her just as politely. Nat gave you a wide grin, knowing exactly what that meant and returned to her breakfast. The guys took turns giving Loki knowing applauding glances when they thought you weren't looking. Loki looked pleased to be accepted, even if it was through teasing, the gentle kind teasing of friends, not whatever Tony had been doing...
Men were always the same.
*
"You're adorable, darling, now give that back. We are supposed to be looking to see if I have something appropriate to wear for the press conference this evening," Loki reminded you, reaching for his helmet, which was currently on your head.
You rolled your eyes. "You know damn well that you can magic a perfectly fitting suit for it," you reminded him and took a step back. "And I'm not giving it back. It you want it, you'll have to come get it!"
You turned and ran from the room, slightly unbalanced by the horned helmet. You literally ran through the door via magic, giggling as Loki mock-roared and chased you. You teleported down to the living room between one stride and the next. Loki followed right behind.
"What are you two doing?" Nat asked as you leapt over where she was sitting on the floor cleaning her guns.
"She stole my helmet!" Loki called as he also leapt over Nat and her guns.
"I got him!" came Clint's voice from the ceiling. He had a Nerf bow in his hands and shot Loki square in the forehead with it. You laughed and kept running. An illusion of Loki appeared directly in front of you. You ran right through it. You'd always been able to tell his illusions from the real thing. He should have remembered that.
"Thor! Protect me!" you called and ran behind Thor, using him as a human shield. He was laughing and held his arms out wide to stop Loki's chase. It wasn't going to stop his brother, so you turned and ran, still laughing at your silly game.
A new illusion of Loki appeared in front of you. Again you ran right through. "Oof!" you exclaimed as you collided with the very real Loki who had been hiding directly behind the illusion. Sneaky Trickster. His arms wrapped firmly around you before you could get your balance again and flee.
"Game's over, darling," he told you warmly. He kept one arm firmly around you and reached up to pluck his helmet off of your head. "Mine," he told you firmly. You were pretty sure he wasn't talking about the helmet...
"Thor, get them out of the tower!" Tony whined from where he was sitting on the couch with a bunch of screens around him. "They're annoying my planning of this press conference,"
"Stark, of course they're bored cooped up in the tower all the time. Kyrie, why don't you take Loki to the mall, a movie, the amusement park, or something, eat something out?" Nat suggested helpfully. You gave her a smile. Apparently, she decided she liked your nickname too and had adopted it. Loki's arms were still securely around you, though he turned you so your back was to him and you could see the rest of the room.
"Lohk, you got your helmet back. You can let me go," you told him.
He leaned forward and down the few inches between your heights. "I could but I do not wish to," he whispered in your ear, his arm tightening around you to hold you more securely against him.
"Stop being adorable and get out of here," Tony growled, half-heartedly.
"I expect you both back here by 4 to get ready for the press conference," Cap called from the dining room. They were using your annoying them as an excuse to give you both a reason to get out of the tower.
"Would you like to see the shops of Midgard?" you asked Loki. Of the options given, the mall was one of the closest and would allow you plenty of time to have fun and get you both back before the deadline.
"That sounds enjoyable," Loki replied. He wanted to get out of the tower too, even if that meant spending time with the mortals. He hadn't been since Thor had brought him here. He let you go and you took a step away from him, using magic to change from your pajamas into an adorable sleeveless sundress and sandals. The material was lightweight. It was full summer and you didn't do well in the heat. The problem was usually the mortals, though...
You turned to Loki and saw the concern in his expression. You were only just getting comfortable around the tower without gloves and sleeves. He was wearing dress pants and a button-down shirt. "Lohk, you're going to melt. It's summer. Thor got Stark to keep the tower a reasonable temperature for us, but it's like 20,000 degrees out there. Just wear shorts like everyone else," you told him, gesturing at the rest of the men who were, in fact, wearing shorts.
"Peasant's garments," Loki growled. You sighed at your silly peacock who was too obsessed with looking fashionable.
"If I have to carry you home because you pass out from heat stroke..." you threatened him. You didn't know what you'd do to him if he made you carry him home, but it wouldn't be pleasant.
"It's not that hot out," Stark told you grumpily.
"For us, it is," you reminded him sourly. "We're frost giants. We don't do well in the heat." There was a reason you were risking being out with no sleeves.
"Very well," Loki told you grumpily. His magic shimmered and instead of the shorts you were expecting, he was wearing a green and black tartan kilt with a wide black belt and a black lightweight shirt. You smiled brightly and kissed him.
"Odin's Beard, it's been a long time since I saw a man who could pull off a kilt properly." Kilts were hot. So was your Loki. The combination of the two...
"Brother, Midgardians do not wear kilts anymore..." Thor tried to protest. You were supposed to fit in.
"Like you can talk about fashion, Thunderhead. Besides, some Midgardian males do," you countered. "Most just do not wear them well..." you corrected. "We're going to draw attention regardless," you shrugged and summoned your purse and a set of Stark's car keys. Before anyone could protest again you turned back to Loki. "Shall we, your highness?" you asked with a bit of teasing in your tone.
"As my lady Valkyrie wishes," he replied warmly and offered you his arm. You placed your hand on his arm.
*
You had a fun outing with Loki. He enjoyed visiting the shops and kept wanting you to try on everything. He also wanted to purchase the entirety of the jewelry stores for you, but that was illogical and impractical. You both got a lot of stares since you were both pretty famous. Plus there weren't that many men who went around wearing kilts, so it drew attention.
You had lunch at a cute little Asian restaurant in the mall and laughed at Loki's attempts to use chop sticks. He growled at your skill with them and insisted on trying.
Even though the mall was crowded, most people gave you your space. No one wanted to get too close to Loki, he was intimidating when he felt like it, and today he felt like keeping people away from you. There was an incident, a man not paying attention to where he was going and nearly ran into you. Loki spun you gracefully out of the man's way, pushing you behind him, and let the man collide with him instead. He growled at the man.
"Oh shit. I'm so sorry!" the man stuttered, shaking when he realized that he had just collided with Loki of Asgard.
"Watch where you're going," Loki told him coldly. "You nearly ran over my lady,"
You touched Loki's arm. "Love, it was an accident. The mortal apologized. There's no need to smite him," you told him calmly. It was then that the mortals nearby grew to appreciate your presence, for Loki calmed, softened, and gave you a small smile. It was learned very quickly that Loki's lady could calm his temper.
He kissed the top of your head. "You're alright?" he asked with concern. He didn't like that your secret was in danger.
"Yes, darling," you turned to the man and gave him a bright smile. "Sorry about him. He's... protective. C'mon, Loki, there's a bookstore over there," you pointed in the direction you'd been walking. You waved to the man, who looked like he was going to be paying extra attention to where he was walking from now on.
"Miss?" a little girl, no older than seven stopped you on your way to the bookstore. You turned to face her politely. Loki stood at your back, watching, but not stopping the girl or even looking mean or intimidating at her. It was always amazing how good he was with kids.
"Yes, little one?" you asked her kindly, kneeling down to be on her level.
"Is that a tattoo?" she asked, pointing to your arm. Loki stiffened behind you. You waved at him behind your back with your other arm. You were fine. You could keep one little mortal safe from your skin. You flipped your tattooed arm over so the girl could see it.
"It is. You can look, but not touch," you told her firmly, but kindly.
"Mommy says ladies can't have tattoos," the girl said sadly in a tone that clearly said this was a long standing argument of what 'ladies' could and couldn't do.
"Where I come from, this tattoo is very special. Only Ladies are allowed to wear it, and only very, very special ladies at that. The only Ladies who can wear this tattoo are very skilled warriors," you explained. Her mother would hate you, but that wasn't your problem. Making the little girl happy was your problem.
"Girls can be warriors too?!" she asked with such excitement it warmed your heart.
"I am," you told her. "In fact... and this is a big secret," it wasn't, but the little didn't need to know that. "He's a prince," you gestured to Loki with your thumb. "And I did so well studying to be a warrior that they let me be his bodyguard,"
"Really?" she asked with her eyes wide. You smiled and nodded.
"It's a lot of hard work, but anyone can be a warrior," you warned her before she thought it was easy. She grinned, thanked you, and ran back to her parents. You stood and took Loki's arm again.
"Well handled, darling," he told you. He'd been concerned, you could see it in how he relaxed now that the child was gone.
"Midgard has some strange ideas of what girls can and can't do. I like to break those ideas as often as I can," you told him.
You entered the bookstore and watched with joy at Loki's mouth drop at all of the books. You strolled through the shop after him while he investigated every single book they had. He gleefully picked out books to rescue from the store and you eventually had to drag him out before you ran out of time.
On the way back to the car a group of early drunk teens, or maybe some gang teens, it was hard to tell with teens, decided that they didn't recognize Loki and were going to cause trouble. "What's with the skirt, twink?" one of them asked as they blocked your path.
You were instantly standing in front of Loki, your dragonfang blade in one hand a dagger in the other. "Leave us alone, idiot children," you snarled at them.
"Darling, you should not stab the mortals. They die so easily and it's quite troublesome," Loki reminded you calmly.
"If they let us pass, then I shall not stab them," you replied equally calmly, not at all concerned about fighting in a skirt.
"Bitch!" one of the others snapped. "Give us your purse,"
You sighed, vanished your blades, and summoned your gloves instead. "Only because it's troublesome to kill the mortals," you said as you slipped the gloves on casually. The teens finally seemed to realize that everything wasn't as it seemed.
"Shit, that's Valkyrie and Loki," one of the teens finally recognized you. He wisely fled.
"I don't care who they are," another said and charged you. A couple quick jabs and he was on the ground at your feet, very unconscious. It had taken no effort on your part. The rest of the teens were terrified at that and fled.
You vanished your gloves again and turned to Loki. "Those kids were dumb," you commented.
"They did not stand a chance against your might," he agreed and kissed you. You stepped over the unconscious one. His friends would be back to claim him soon and walked with Loki back to the car.
You had to get back for the press conference and the stupid socializing afterwards.
You didn't want to do either.
So you procrastinated getting ready after you got back to the tower by curling up next to Loki on the couch to watch TV until the last possible moment. By watch TV you meant kiss him. A lot. "If you're going to wear a kilt, learn to sit like a lady and not a whore," Stark growled when he saw Loki sitting on the couch in the living room with you.
Loki smirked knowingly and made absolutely no move whatsoever to sit like a lady.