(Skawgs-ra. Just do your best. ;))
"Hi." He greets me softly and gently shuts the door behind him. I make room for him on the bed and he settles beside me.
"Hey." I return and reflexively lean into his shoulder. Just the simple touch soothes me slightly.
"I brought you a plate." He holds it out to me and I chuckle at the sweet gesture, taking it and setting it on the bed beside me.
"Thanks. I'm...sorry about Loki, Steve. I didn't tell him to ask you anything he just saw right through us."
He sighs and nods with a knowing expression on his face. "Figured. He knows I'm guessing?"
"Yeah, he knows."
"So, he was intentionally baiting me?" He asks rhetorically and chuckles slightly. "Makes sense."
"I'm sorry," I whisper and he looks over at me, crystal blue eyes scanning my expression with concern. Sighing, he shrugs and leans forward a bit, leaning his elbows on his knees.
"It's not your fault," Steve tells me and cranes his neck to look back at me, eyes soft and bright. "I'm sorry Loki has apparently chosen you to prey on. Honestly, it seems like he just likes you." I laugh lightly and push into him a bit playfully.
"Jealous, Captain?" I question teasingly. He chuckles and shakes his head.
"Would it bother you if I was?" Steve questions and a bit of earnestness sneaks into his voice and makes me consider his words a little more seriously.
"Not sure what you'd be jealous of." Silence embraces us as our eyes consider one another's. Mine questioning and his warm. "It's not like Loki and I met before now and did something none of the rest of the team knows about." I tease again and feel the weight of that...something, maybe, perhaps, lift from the room.
"Right." Steve allows with a handsome grin. "Anyways, I'll leave you to eat." He stands up and my little comfort bubble wavers at the thought of him leaving.
"You could stay if you wanted," I tell him and swallow when he looks back at me, pleasant surprise scrawled across his features. "Still have no clue how to work this t.v." My hand waves to it dismissively as my eyes take in his bright smile and amusement dancing in those light pools of blue.
"You're asking the hundred-year-old to help you with technology? Must be desperate." He teases and I shrug.
"Maybe I am."
* * * * *
I grimace at the sudden influx of sunlight in the room and raise a hand to rub across my eyes, then shield them as they open. Blinking reveals the room as I left it last night only with sunshine gleaming through the windows and while I'm not a fan of the stinging light, the heat is more than welcome. I look away from the windows and stop just as I'm about to stretch out. Another pair of legs is stretched out beside mine, long, thick, with white and grey socks attached to the feet. I lift my head and turn to my left to find my pillow was actually a super-soldiers' chest and the blanket around me is his arm. I blink and turn wide eyes to his still sleeping face. Golden light has yet to reach his face but the light splayed across his shirt colors his face brighter than just fluorescent light.
His face is sculpted soft, strong jaw and smart mouth relaxed into sleep. Hair is tousled from sleep and it looks longer uncontrolled. Steve looks younger this way with all the worry and responsibilities stripped from him. Like this, he's just another twenty-something year old with too much waiting for him when he wakes. I didn't get the chance to see him sleeping the last time I was in a position to. Steve woke up first and had to go, a mission probably or embarrassment, but all I found was his number and warmth that hinted someone once laid next to me. It's a privilege to see him now, although not the greatest of circumstances.
My eyes snap over to the door when there's a sharp knock and Steve stirs. I meet his eyes and pink brushes across his cheeks. "Hold on, I'm not decent!" I shout and wince at my sleepy voice. Steve cracks a smile. Quickly, I roll out of bed and brush my fingers through my hair. "Down." I mouth to Steve and he quietly lowers himself on the floor on the other side of the bed. For a moment I feel like a teenager again, then I open the door. It swings on its hinges to reveal a very curious Loki, already dressed finely in a black suit. "The hell, Loki." I sigh.
"Morning." He greets me with shining eyes. "I thought perhaps we could go for a walk?" He offers and I pause for a moment. Suddenly he lifts his hands to reveal two coffees and a muffin. "I brought a peace offering." Sighing, I look between the bounty and his eyes. I know I should go. Other than Thor, I may be the only one willing to spend time with the man. But there's something else in me that just wants to close the door and go back to a minute before.
"Alright. But I need a few minutes to get dressed." He perks up and nods while I duck back in my room and shut the door behind me. Steve pops up and I stifle a nervous laugh. "Loki. Got to go." My words are soft and scratchy and the left side of my body still tingles where Steve and I were pressed together. Steve nods understandingly while his eyes flit over my body a bit nervously.
"Guess we fell asleep." He excuses us waking up in the same bed as I grab some clothes.
"Guess someone picked a boring show." I return with an easy smile directed at his sunlit form. He smiles back and my heart feels a bit funny at the sight. "Do you mind waiting until we're gone to head out?" I question as I'm about to step into the bathroom to change. He nods.
"No problem. I'd like to give Loki as little ammunition as possible to hit us with." He agrees as he straightens his shirt and runs hands through his hair. My eyes stall on him a moment more before I nod and duck into the bathroom. I change quick as I can and step out, my breath catching strangely in my throat again when Steve is waiting just inside the doorway for me. "So, I'll see you later." He says softly, both of us unsure despite the warmth gathering in my chest.
"Yeah, definitely." We both pause, words unsaid drifting between us before there's another knock at the door. "I should step out," I tell him and myself, but he takes a step forward instead. Wall at my back, Steve in front of me, my body is all heat and indecision. Our eyes lock and my lips part as if by a silent command. His press together. "We...we both know he'll come in here after me." I joke lightly and softly. His pink lips turn up and I freeze when he reaches up and tucks a stray hair, one of many I'm sure, behind my ear.
"Tempted not to care." He murmurs and I swallow. Steve's head dips as his hand falls to my neck, thumb just over my thundering pulse.
"Steve." I plead and warn all in one. His blue eyes burn and I feel the smolder all the way to my toes. Finally, he leans forward and presses a warm kiss to my cheek.
"Later." He bids me or promises, before pulling back and I slip out the door as he hides behind it. Loki's still waiting there and I happily accept his offered coffee and apple crisp muffin.
"You look very fine this morning." He comments, eyes slightly suspicious. I shrug with my face hiding behind my cup of coffee.
"And you look pretty chipper." I return and he smiles.
"Who wouldn't be with a lovely woman like you by my side?" My eyes roll as we wander to the bottom floor and outside. It's getting colder and the wind sneaks into the small holes in my knit sweater. I jump slightly when Loki's jacket settles over my shoulders, but I accept it happily when the breeze picks up.
"Flattery suits buttering me up, but I think I'd rather have an answer as to why you requested to come here and meet me." My eyes meet his and catch the slight turning up of his lips.
"Always an observant one." He clasps his hands behind his back as we walk along the pines near the river away from the facility. "Curiosity, in short. Bluntly, I wished to see if I could use what power you display for myself." My eyebrows raise and he shrugs with a wider smile.
"Well, I appreciate your honesty," I tell him genuinely. "But what now? Since you can't manipulate me, what's your goal here?" He hums lets his fingers drag along the trunk of a tree.
"Well, it might not surprise you to learn there are other...people, even races, that would see me incarcerated or dead. Remaining with whoever is most powerful is simply wisest." He responds and I nod. It makes sense and I am honestly not surprised at all by his words. "Darling," My eyes narrow and my lips curve up at the silly endearment. "may I ask if you have any other tattoos?"
"Why, do you think you'll be seeing any others?" I quip and his thin lips curve up with amusement.
"Wouldn't object, but I'm merely curious." He answers and further cements my skepticism.
"Actually, I'd like to ask you a couple of questions, Loki." I start and his smile widens. He waves a hand towards me.
"Whatever you like, darling. Ask me anything." He tells me and we finally come to a stop, now completely surrounded by trees. I cross my arms as he leans on a pine tree across from me.
"That word you said earlier, please don't bother denying it, what did it mean?" I question and now his bravado is gone.
"You see, dear, I was actually going to work my way up to that. Foreplay is the best for these occasions." My head cocks and my eyebrows raise.
"I wish you would just tell me. I know you know something." I accuse and watch as he finally releases hold on his assholey bravado. He walks over to me and stops just a little closer than necessary.
"Skogsra." He says it clearly this time, but it still makes no sense to me. "It's one name for what you are and it's why you have those enticing markings." Shock hits me first and my mouth parts to question him further, but we're interrupted by the other god we're rooming with.
"Rea, Loki, glad to have found you." Thor greets us as he jogs up the slight incline.
"Is something going on?" I ask a little confusedly. He doesn't look concerned. He shakes his head.
"Stark and Banner have information for you. And I'm fairly certain you'll want to hear it now."
"Then why don't you just tell me?" I ask as we start lightly jogging back to the facility.
"I'll follow in a bit!" Loki shouts after us and Thor chuckles to himself.
"Stark is much too excited to tell you himself." He responds and I'm surprised by the warmth in his voice. I decide more questions can wait until later. For now, I just focus on jogging up these stairs which seemed like a good idea but is turning out to be a horrible one.