Archive of Our Own ^beta

The first thing Darcy registered was warmth. It wasn't the kind of warmth another human body would provide, though she felt that too. She felt comfortably warm, as if she were engulfed comfortably in a heating blanket. The warmth was accompanied by the smell of a hint of mint. She smiled slightly.

Good combination.

The next thing she noticed was where the warmth was emanating from, fingertips lightly tracing patterns on her back. Darcy was aware, but not fully awake enough yet to care about this strange new development. She attempted to sleep on until something tickled her nose. 

Her face scrunched up, her nose wriggling, she resigned herself to waking up and facing whatever her conscious state was met with. She let out a quiet sigh as she rubbed her nose and opened her eyes, eyes that widened at the sight that was before her. 

Laying before Darcy was Loki, asleep, wrapping himself around her like a cocoon. The fingers on her back became more prominent as the sleeping fog lifted from her brain, skimming and swirling in various patterns against the thin fabric of her shirt. She shivered from the touch as she recalled how she ended up in the sleeping god's arms. 

 Let's see... Went to bed, got to sleep, and then...oh..Oh! 

Last night, Loki drenched Darcy's room. There was a lot of yelling, then tentative making up, and then awkward nodding off to sleep. She had tried to stay facing away from Loki to avoid facing him like this.

Obviously, that didn't work. Stupid body and your need to be comfortable!

She squirmed a little, Loki's fingers continuing their patternless pattern against her back. As she did so, she noticed how dry she was. She didn't remember drying off or changing clothes before going to bed. And even with the amount of time she supposedly slept, she should still be a little wet. So how was she dry?

Another shiver.

Well, mostly dry... to her chagrin

She felt the warmth being sent from his fingers. 

"hmm," she considered.

I guess the warmth from his magic helped me dry faster? 

She internally shrugged and decided that was the best her tired brain could come up with at the time.

Darcy looked up at him to see if he was really asleep. All she saw a relaxed face. There were no worry lines or mutterings of a nightmare, and he remained his pale Asgardian self as he slept, his hair strewn about his face and pillow. He looked so innocent in his sleep. The girly, feely side of her wanted to reach out and just give him a hug while he slept. She made to move the hair from his face that had tickled her nose but stopped herself. It would not do to have him wake up with her admiring his sleeping face. 

Yeah, cuz THAT wouldn't be awkward.

Looking up at Loki, she considered her options. She could scoot her way down the bed until she was out of his grasp and then roll off the bed. But that would lead to his hand stroking her hair and face. The movement or change in pressure on the arm she was lying on could wake him up. And there was also the possibility of coming face-to-face with a certain part of his anatomy she'd rather not think about just now. Also, there's the fact she'd be trapping herself under the covers, scooting that way.

Darcy scrunched her face in consideration.

She could also just scoot or roll backwards. His hold was light enough where it would be quick, easy, and he may barely notice enough to wake up. 

Right. So, door number 2, then?

She bit her lip as she counted.

3...2....

"Oof"

Loki yawns, "Darcy?"

crap

Darcy had rolled quickly; onto her back, feeling Loki's hands and fingers across, onto her side, and then, as she rolled onto her stomach, her arms snagged on Loki's loose grip. She had quickly tugged loose as she rolled again, causing her to roll with more force off the bed onto the floor, bringing her to where she is now, looking up at Loki from the floor.

Darcy feigned a yawn, which turned into a real yawn, and looked around. "Oh.. wow. I must've fallen off the bed," she said. "I move around in my sleep, so I must've rolled out of the bed." 

It wasn't a lie exactly, just not the whole truth.

She stood up and stretched, her voice strained as she spoke, "Well, thanks for a place to rest." She looked over at Loki on the bed. 

He was resting on his side, using his arm to prop himself up. The position stretched his shirt, defining his pecs, and muscles. He was looking over to her curiously, hair disheveled and somewhat in his eyes.

She decided she needed to clear her head of the morning fog. 

"I'm going to go make some coffee," she said as she turned and left the room. 

Yes, coffee. Definitely coffee.

Darcy poked her head around the corner.

"Oh and don't forget to fix my room," she added with a smile. 

Earlier that morning:

Loki awoke to the smell of mint. His magic  again?

He scrunched his eyebrows in confusion as he opened his eyes. He was met with Darcy's face, sleeping mere inches away from his own. He didn't remember her being so close.

Loki glanced around for a brief moment before his eyes widened. And he certainly didn't remember pulling her into his arms. He pulled back slowly, planning on removing himself from around her person. However, a shudder caused him to pause his actions. 

He looked over at Darcy and saw that she was still damp from the previous night's spell. Loki returned to his previous position and placed his fingers on her back. He began to skim patterns of a warming spell on her back. She instantly slackened and sighed. 

Loki looked upon her sleeping face as she relaxed. 

Did she move to my side?

If he recalled correctly, he had fallen asleep on his back, and he was not one to move in his sleep, usually. Either way did not explain his position around her in his sleeping state. 

As he considered, Darcy shifted and squirmed, her body effected by the heat. Her eyebrows slightly scrunched together before relaxing. 

Loki relaxed himself and closed his eyes. It was easier to work the spell silently with his eyes closed than being open, better to focus. Saying the spell out loud would surely wake Darcy, and he did not wish to disturb her slumber more than he already had. 

How did he let this girl affect him so? He was already struggling with being friends with a midgardian on a mental level. Why was his magic acting up? What was it trying to tell him? It couldn't be as obvious as merely needing her.

Could it?

He had not thought of her in that way. Of course, she was attractive. He couldn't deny that. Women of this realm came in all shapes and sizes. Why they chose to obsess with looking like one another was beyond Loki's realm of understanding. Though, he supposed it was much the same as his insecurities growing up with Thor and his hulking size. Darcy's figure was of an hourglass shape and most definitely pleasing to the eye, including all that encompassed. 

Her sense of humor was also evenly matched with his own. He could find no better companion in his mischief than Darcy Lewis when it came to inflicting such on agents of SHIELD. At first, he considered her the perfect patsy for his schemes, but she managed to slip notice or blame every time. He was impressed.

His wit was almost evenly matched as well. Every time he made a comment or insult to Thor or his mortal scientist, she was there to fire something right back at him. He found himself seeking her out just to see if he could best her and leave her grasping at straws. It has yet to occur.

And of course, she had been there in a weak moment of his, and she had not run away. She stayed and comforted him.

She made living on Midgard a tolerable affair. But that did not mean he cared for her in that manner. 

Did he?

Loki continued to ponder this as he drifted back to sleep, his magic warming himself as well as Darcy

Darcy went through her routine of filling up the coffee pot with water, pouring it into her coffee machine, and scooping in the coffee grounds. Then she turned on her own little Midgardian warmer while she got a coffee mug out of the cabinet.

People can tell her single-servings are all the rage and so much better, but nothing beats choosing her own strength of coffee. And most of the time, she ends up wanting more than one cup of coffee. 

She went to get cream and sugar as the coffee percolated, the smell of it permeating the air.

Darcy inhaled deeply and sighed, her stream of consciousness starting to gain its usual fast-paced motion on the tracks circling her brain.

There was no denying Loki was attractive, she thought to herself as she prepared her mug. 

I mean, he's no Thor, but Thor's too... Thor. Loki was the perfect amount of muscle. His hair does that wavy thing, and his smile wasn't bad to look at, especially when she knows mischief is behind it.

She stared out the window.

No ... Wait.. This is supposed to be a peptalk to talk myself out of finding things to like about Loki.

She shook her head. 

I can't like Loki. He's just... Loki. He may have helped Jane and Thor with that whole aether thing, but he pretended to be dead. I mean, who does that?!

Darcy poured herself a cup of coffee, breathed it in, and took a sip.

She sighed in contentment.

Nah. It was just.. a physical thing. And it has been a while since.... So yeah.. No.. no way. Loki x Darcy brotp. Friendzone. 

She sipped her drink again. 

"Yep."

She shrugged and walked towards her bedroom.

Loki stepped into Darcy's room and observed the damage. It had a muggy ozone smell due to the soggy room and his magic. 

He looked around to survey the damage, walking to a far corner of the room. Everything was soaked. 

He narrowed his eyes. Loki didn't like not being in control of his magic. First the monsoon. Then, the incident this morning with the warming spell. He was not blind to the connection. There wasn't any antagonism towards Darcy. She got on his nerves at times, but she was one of the few midgardians at SHIELD to challenge him, and even more recently, show a desire to listen to him. 

It was nowhere near attraction. He thought back to this morning, Darcy in his arms, curled up and sleeping sweetly. The thoughts he had at the time ever present in his mind as he stared around the room.

He was sure he had only done the spell subconsciously because he felt ... bad for the initial spell gone awry. 

Yes, that's it. Midgard is rubbing off on me, it seems. 

Loki began to work his spell, drying the contents of her room. He weaved his magic around his fingers and started threading tendrils of green throughout the room, feeling it work its way between the atoms of each object, absorbing the moisture and leaving behind traces of his magic.

Darcy walked to her doorway and looked in. Loki was concentrating on his fingers as he murmured spells, threading his emerald magic throughout her room. She watched him, mesmerized by the way he focused, the way his fingers moved as the magic laced through them. It reminded her of this morning, the way his fingers felt on the clothe against her skin.  She felt her cheeks heat up at the thought and bit her lip as she went to take another sip of coffee. Darcy followed the magic flowing from his fingers to the items of her room, drying as it touched each pillow, dresser, and even her carpet.

A stream of it flowed by her doorway and she caught a whiff of mint. 

"huh," she exclaimed, which immediately transitioned into a cough and throat clearing to derail Loki from the her initial verbal reaction to his magic. It also effectively alerted him to her presence.

Loki looked up from his hands. His eyebrows jumped at the noise then transitioned to a single raised eyebrow. 

He went back to looking at his hands in concentration, and distraction.

"Unless you are here to relinquish your morning beverage, I suggest you leave me to finish my spell." He looked to her again, gave a small smirk, "I'm almost done," and proceeded to continue casting the spell.

She eyed him curiously, "If I were to say yes to the first part, how exactly would that work? I can't have you stopping this maid service's dream of a spell. But based on your statement, you seem like you have need of it." 

Darcy looked into her mug and then to Loki. She lifted it, as if presenting it to him, and pondered aloud, "I could feed it to you; hold it at your side until you need it, and then bring it to your lips for a sip."

Loki looked up again with raised eyebrows, his magic hovering in the air like visible wavelengths. Before he could speak a reply, she continued.

She considered before cradling it in both hands again, "Oh, but then again. I haven't even finished my first mug, and it's still kinda early. I may accidentally spill some on your green tunic there or the skin underneath it. And it is hot, so that wouldn't be too nice, even for a god such as yourself."

He humphed at that.

Darcy tsk'd, "But you do kinda deserve it."

He raised an eyebrow as if to say, "Oh?"

She looked off into the distance, up at the ceiling, for affect, "Well, I mean a brief bit of pain and loss of a beloved beverage in exchange for the loss of my sanctuary from your madness for the night."

She looked back to him with a teasing smile.

"You could just leave it there," his head nodding towards her dresser near the door, " for after I am finished."

Darcy widened her eyes at him, innocently, "And give you the cup of coffee I slaved all of 10 minutes for and made for myself?" 

She looked from her mug to Loki and went, "naah," and walked back towards the kitchen.

Loki shook his head as he went back to work

Infuriating woman.

A few seconds later, Loki heard a crash and then, "Dammit Loki!"

He smiled to himself as he worked. 

Darcy, startled, inhaled sharply, and, in her surprise, dropped her mug. It broke and there were shards and coffee splattered all over the floor. 

"Dammit Loki!" she screamed.

Oh, it's on!

 Loki emerged from the hallway a half hour later into the kitchen/living area. Darcy was finishing up pouring herself another cup of coffee. She then stood at the counter, reading a magazine.

"You're room is back to its previous homeostasis," Loki said as he wrung his hands and cracked his fingers. He had a satisfied smile on his face as he awaited Darcy's elation or sarcastic reaction to his completion. One could never tell with Darcy, but it was entertaining regardless.

But there was nothing.

Darcy continued to read he magazine, not acknowledging Loki's statement.

"Darcy?"

She sighed as if bored. Turning the page, she took another sip of coffee. 

Loki walked by the island and stopped beside her.

"You cannot possibly be that upset at losing your precious beverage," he began. "You're currently enjoying a cup as I speak." He gestured towards the cup in her hands.

Nothing.

Loki went over to the coffee pot and poured himself a cup. He examined its contents, considering his next thought before he spoke.

"Maybe it is, how do you mortals say, 'your time of the month'? It would explain your mood swings this morning."

Her eyes twitched, but didn't stray from the magazine. 

She turned another page and cleared her throat.

Loki sighed and waved his hand. 

A new cup materialized on the table in front of them.

"Is this a sufficient replacement?" Loki inquired.

Darcy didn't even look up. She took another sip of her coffee. Shrugging, she muttered 'meh' and turned away from the table with her magazine in hand. She bit her lip, holding herself back from speaking, Loki assumed. 

Loki rolled his eyes. He was not going to yield any further to her stubbornness. In his book, he had sufficiently made amends for his magic gone haywire (twice over, since I offered her a place to sleep), and has now replaced her broken mug with a new one. 

Maybe I shall wait to speak with her until she has had more of her coffee. 

Loki nodded a single nod to himself in agreement, picking up his mug to take a sip of his own cup. He chugged the dark liquid, eager to get back to his room to reaffirm his sanity. 

Darcy stiffened as she heard him drinking, looking at the wall on her side of the room. 

He was ready to question why, but before he could finish his drink, he started choking and his eyes started tearing up. He set his drink down as he coughed. Loki felt like his mouth was on fire, burning with the intensity of dragon fire. It traveled down his esophagus and festered in his stomach.

Darcy slowly turned back to him in her chair, a devious smirk on her face.

"Wha-," he wheezed, hand to his chest. He coughed. "What-," he choked.

"I'm sorry. What was that?" Darcy replied. 

He glared at her like he hated her with the fire of a thousand suns, which is currently how she imagined it felt like in his mouth right now.

She laughed, snickered, and sighed. 

"Alright, alright. Hold on a minute."

Darcy got up from the island and headed to the fridge. She pulled out her gallon of milk and passed it off to Loki.

"Chug all of that and you should be alright," she said.

He looked at the carton suspiciously.

Darcy held up her right hand and made the girl scout salute. "I swear, I didn't do anything to the milk."

Loki was sweating, and in desperate need of relief. But with no knowledge of what she gave him, he couldn't counteract the substance. He narrowed his eyes at her.

"Ok, so I wasn't in the girl scouts, but do you really think I'd consider my plan beyond this level of deviousness? It's too early to think that thoroughly," she said.

After a moment, Loki acquiesced to her point, his face reddening and eyes watering with every minute passing. He grabbed the milk from her and gulped the whole thing down in minutes.

As he panted with relief, Darcy wondered where the belch was. He was proper, so he wouldn't normally, but he just swallowed an entire gallon of milk without taking a breath. A gulp of air was bound to sneak past and cause an air bubble. 

Oh, that reminds me

Darcy went over to the cabinet and pulled out the pepcid. 

"Here," she said, handing it to him. "This should help your stomach."

Loki snatched it from her and set it down. 

"WHAT was in that concoction?" Loki rasped. 

The smirk came back to Darcy's face, "Chili powder."

"What?" Loki asked in a monotone voice.

"I kept a bottle of it on my spice rack for whenever I made that recipe I was always considering," she waved off the idea. "After your little stunt, I added to the pot of coffee I already made, putting the chili powder through the filter. ALL of it."

"But. How did you withstand the drink yourself?" Loki asked curiously. 

Darcy reached into her mouth and pulled out two pieces of an opaque substance. She handed it to Loki for analysis. Loki took it, but was displeased at the saliva that currently coated the two pieces. He ran his thumb over it, then sniffed it. 

"Is this wax?"

"Yep. A little wax plus some pepcid equals a perfect false sense of security." She smiled victoriously. Darcy walked right up to Loki and poked him in the chest, "Let that be a lesson to you. NEVER mess with a girl and her coffee." She sauntered out of the kitchen and into the hallway, waving back to him, "Thanks for fixing my room." She disappeared down the hallway.

I never knew her to be so devious. Loki thought. Living with Darcy just.got.interesting. Loki smirked.

Darcy walked into her room and closed her door. She jumped up and down giddily. Curling her hand into a fist, she thrust her arm backwards, bent at the elbow with a whispered, "yes!"

She giggled as she flopped down onto her bed and stretched. She was due for a moment to relax without awkwardness, stress, or arousal in her own bed, on her own sheets. She shut her eyes and rolled onto her side. As she sighed in contentment and breathed in, she caught the faintest scent of mint on her pillows. It was the same scent she smelled when she woke up and when she witnessed Loki's magic. Alone, it was no problem, but coupled with those sense memories, her cheeks reddened as she remember how he smelled and felt. She went to smell her sheets as well, the same scent was upon it.

Dammit! She thought as she laid back, hitting her bed in frustration. Darcy took a breath to settle herself, inhaling his scent all over again.

I guess living with Loki is about to get a little more interesting.