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“Someone finally manage to land a punch?” Came the voice behind you.
“Hmm?” You asked, taking a sip from your glass as you turned to Steve Rogers walking towards you with his own drink. It was summer in New York city, and most of the Avengers team - including yourself - were making the most of it on the large communal balcony. You were currently stood by the railings, having been looking out over the city scape beyond, watching the heat waves dancing on the horizon.
“The bruise.” He explained, gesturing to your arm, exposed for once thanks to the heat, and you glanced down, noting the small dark, purplish coloured mark on your upper arm.
“No, that’s too small.” Banner point out, having overheard. “I’d say bullet – but not sure how a bullet can form a bruise?”
“Nah, you know what that is?” Tony asked with a grin, also joining in from where he sat. “That’s a bite of passion.”
“A what?” Steve frowned.
“He means a hickey.” Clint chimed in and suddenly all eyes were on you now causing your cheeks to now burn a bright red.
“I don’t know this word ‘hickey’,” Thor piped up with a frown from he had been sipping on a bottle of beer on a sun lounger near Barton. “But I take it is something intimate in nature?”
“You could say that.” Allowed Clint, shooting you a glance, a smirk playing on his lips, and you looked away in embarrassment, back out at the city view. You took another mouthful of your drink, silently praying for the topic to now move on.
“So… kid,” Tony said, now pushing himself up from his chair and wandering over to you, “You landed yourself a guy, eh?” You refused to turn around, keeping your gaze on the city below, not wanting to encourage him. Stark didn’t seem to mind your lack of answer though, shrugging as he walked. “Gotta say it’s about time,” He said, now leaning his back against the barrier next to you “– you oughta be out there –“ He took a drink then gestured with his glass out into the city behind him, “- having fun.”
You still didn’t say anything. and Tony watched your face, clearly looking for something. He turned his head away, taking a sip of his drink, his elbows resting on the railing behind him. “So, when do we get to meet the guy?” He asked casually. You stiffened, really wishing he hadn’t asked that question.
“You don’t.” You muttered.
“One-night stand, eh?” Tony asked with a raised eyebrow. “Didn’t think you had it in you, kid.” He commended, surprised.
“Uh - no – I don’t -“ You stuttered, not wanting people to think you were that sort of person because you weren’t.
“Lay off, Stark.” Natasha muttered.
“Just wanted to know why the guy’s not good enough to meet us, that’s all.” Tony shrugged innocently, appealing to the rest of the group who seemed equally intrigued and looked to you for explanation. You opened your mouth but couldn’t think what to say.
“I – uh – I’m just not ready.” You stammered, embarrassed beyond belief, “We’ve – uh – not – not been together long.”
Tony studied you for a moment, “Alright.” He allowed, pushing himself off the balcony railing, “But I’m holding you to this, kid, we gotta meet him sometime.” He told you, tipping his drink at you as he now walked away.
You swallowed, glad you had at least escaped that humiliation for now, but it didn’t take long before the next question was asked. “So, what’s his name?” Natasha smiled, eager for the gossip.
“Uh – ya know what guys, can we – can we not talk about it right now?” You asked anxiously, turning to address the entire balcony.
“Oh, uh – sure, I guess.” Natasha nodded. “You’re alright though?” She asked, concerned.
“Yeah,” You nodded, “Yeah, no, I’m fine.” You dismissed with a casual wave of your hand. No one looked particularly convinced, but they let it drop anyway and an awkward silence now seemed to fall over the balcony.
You couldn’t stand it any longer and excused yourself with the excuse of getting a refill for your drink - though your glass was still a quarter full – ducking back inside the tower, still feeling mortified that people had noticed the mark. Why hadn’t you noticed the realised how obvious it was earlier?!
“Did you murder someone?” You jumped at the voice to the side of you, your drink sloshing dangerously in your glass, and you placed a hand to your chest, turning to where Loki was sat in one of the living room armchairs.
“You might just have.” You grumbled, feeling your heart beating erratically under your palm.
“It is not my fault that you are woefully ignorant of your surroundings.” Loki pointed out and you rolled your eyes, carrying on towards the kitchen where you put your glass down before turning back towards the elevator - every intention to just head to your room now and hide until everyone forgot about your hickey.
“Tell me, why does everyone look like someone’s just died?” Loki asked, appearing in front of you in the kitchen doorway.
“I know you were listening in, ok? There’s no need for me to repeat it again.” You muttered with a scowl, unamused.
“Oh, but I want you to…” Loki drawled with a devilishly grin as he counteracted your movement, stepping in front of your path when you tried to move around him.
You eyed him, annoyed. “Will you please let me past?” You scowled at him.
“I’d rather you tell me about this mysterious suitor…” He smirked, intrigued.
“Ergh, not you too.” You groaned, “Why do you care?”
“Because you seem rather reluctant to reveal anything about them…”
“I’m still not hearing a suitable explanation as to why I should tell you anything more than I’ve told anyone else.” You growled, “And - if you don’t mind - I think I’ve had a bit too much sun for one day.” You hinted, making a move to step around him again.
Loki stepped with you again, impeding your way once more and you growled in irritation. “Is he Midgardian?” He persisted.
You raised a brow at him in disbelief, “Contrary to what you might think, Loki, I don’t interact with many other alien races.”
Loki rolled his eyes, “I forget how under exposed your planet is.” He muttered. “How did you meet?” He tried instead.
You rolled your eyes as well. “It was just at a – uh - at a coffee shop.” You told him. “Can I go now?”
“You’re lying.” Loki observed.
You felt your cheeks warm. “No, I’m not.” You grumbled, but the god of mischief just raised an eyebrow at you – a silent ‘do-you-really-think-you-can-lie-to-me?’.
You just shook your head at him.
“Tell me then,” Loki muttered, “How long have you known him?”
“Only a couple of weeks.” You muttered, looking out towards the balcony where the normal conversation had resumed. When you glanced back at Loki he was giving you another look of scepticism. “The more you lie to me, the more you intrigue me.” He observed, eying you suspiciously, “And here was me thinking you wanted to escape…”
You rolled your eyes, in exasperation. “What can I say, Loki? It’s not particularly a part of my life I want to share.”
“Now, that only makes me wonder why…?”
“Keep wondering then.” You growled angrily, fed up of the interrogation and shoving him aside to get past. Loki seem to pause for a moment and you thought he was going to let you go, but then he seemed to think better of it, throwing out a hand to grab your arm to stop you.
“My apologies,” He murmured back at you, “I didn’t mean to irk you.”
“Yes, you did.” You muttered, but you felt a smirk twitch in the corners of your mouth. He turned to face you then, realising he seemed to have been forgiven and loosening his hold on you. You sighed, knowing it was hard to stay annoyed at Loki despite his stubborn nature. “Do you even know what a hickey is?” You couldn’t help but ask with a raised eyebrow.
“Of course.”
“Thor didn’t.” You pointed out.
“Unlike my brother, I actually study the alien realms we encroach upon.” Loki muttered, bitterly.
“And ‘hickey’ came up in that studying?” You snickered.
Something flickered in Loki’s eyes. “I perused a large variety of resources when gathering my information.”
“Well now I’m really intrigued.” You grinned teasingly.
“My sources were not particularly… informative on the subject…” He muttered, “At least not in the areas I was interested –“
“It’s a love bite.” You said simply, stopping Loki mid-sentence. He closed his mouth, looking at you oddly. “You know what a love bite is, right?” You asked him, not sure you particularly wanted to explain it.
“Certainly.” He muttered stiffly.
“Good.” You mumbled, staring down at your feet as an awkward silence washed over you, only too aware of the number of times you had wanted Loki to be the one giving you hickeys… A hot blush swept over your cheeks again. You always felt the two of you were relatively close – as close as you could get to a man – or god – like Loki, and sometimes it felt like the two of you had flirted, but it had never gone any further than that. Loki had never shown any signs of ever wanting anything more than a companionship between the two of you.
“It seems an odd place.” Loki remarked, breaking through your thoughts.
“What?” You frowned up at him in surprise.
“The mark – it is in an odd place, for what it is…” He gestured at where it still stood proud against your pale upper arm.
You coloured again. “Oh – uh – well-“ You stuttered, not sure what to say to that and hoping your embarrassment just came across as the details being too intimate for you to want to talk about it. Loki, however, was still looking to you for explanation.
“If it was me,” He now murmured, “I would go for the throat…” He almost growled, his voice low and somehow still smooth, sending shivers through you as you imagined it, surprised when Loki now lifted his hand, reaching for the side of your neck. “Where the skin is soft and sweet…” He hummed quietly leaning in towards you, his hair falling across his cheeks as his finger stroked a line across the area in question. You bit the inside of your lip, wishing you could close your eyes and let yourself embrace the sensation.
This was inappropriate.
Or least it would be if you actually had a boyfriend.
You snapped your eyes open when Loki’s movements stopped - though his touch still lingered on your throat - finding his face surprisingly close to yours, looking at you expectantly.
“You know.” You murmured.
“I always know when you’re lying…” He drawled, his lips twitching. “And, you have never struck me as the disloyal type.” Loki smirked, straightening up and withdrawing his hand - your heart immediately panging at the emptiness that brought.
“Th-that was hardly disloyalty.” You stammered weakly.
“I know you well enough to know that you would think it was.” He said giving you a meaningful look.
You let out a sharp sigh, “Fine, ok, there’s no guy, alright?” You conceded. “Happy? Now can I go?”
“Still wanting to run?”
“Maybe.” You muttered moodily.
“But now we’ve just got to the interesting part…” He smirked, gesturing at your mark again. “How did that come about?”
Your cheeks burned, knowing you couldn’t tell him the truth, but also knowing he wouldn’t accept anything less, and he definitely wasn’t someone to let something go. “Look – it’s embarrassing so I’d really rather not say…” You mumbled, trying to appeal to his good nature and spare you of this moment of humiliation.
“No one forced you –“ He questioned seriously.
“No! God no! I was – I was just messing around.” You confessed.
“You gave it to yourself?” He asked, raising his eyebrows in disbelief.
“Sort of.” You mumbled. “Look,” You said quickly, “I was – I was at my sister’s and she – she’s recently got a boyfriend and she – she happened to mention how difficult it was to actually make a hickey on someone… Then she told me you could try it out on yourself and showed me how…” You trailed off. “So… So I – I gave it a go…” You muttered, dropping your gaze sheepishly. “I – I didn’t think it was an obvious place, but I – uh - didn’t factor in weather…” You muttered. You sighed, “Now everyone thinks I’m with someone and I – I I can’t face telling them the truth - it’s ridiculous and they’re all so excited…” You groaned. “Ergh, what am I going to tell them?!”
“You could tell them it was me.”
“What?” You head snapped up in surprise to where Loki was watching you, an almost gentle expression on his face, not the face of someone looking at a mad women which surely he must think you are.
“Well I would be lying to say I hadn’t thought about it…” He murmured lowly, his eye flicking to your neck again, “But as I said before, I would have had other places in mind…” He grinned slyly and you felt your cheeks burn ridiculously once more, remembering his touch.
“I – I – uh – I’m –“
“[Y/N], hey –“ You snapped your head to the balcony door where Tony, Clint and Natasha now walked back through with a tray of empty glasses. “You alright, kid?” Clint asked, seeing your face most likely looking like a deer caught in headlights, Loki still very close in front of you, bearing over you almost intimately.
Loki now turned to stand by your side facing the others, making you flinch in surprise when he suddenly snaked an arm around you protectively, your speeding up at how close he was to you. “[Y/N] has just been telling me you were questioning her over the mark on her arm?” Loki asked politely - his face a perfect mask giving away none of his sinful teasing a moment ago - but his eyes daring them to deny him.
“Uh – yeah – the bruise.” Natasha agreed eyes flickering to you in confusion, but you couldn’t offer any explanation as to what was going on.
“Yes, well, [Y/N] also explained to me that she hadn’t wanted to talk any of you about it out of embarrassment. I personally believe though, that if I do not speak up now, I am running the risk of another suitor stealing her away.” He said, completely seriously. You glanced up at him in shock and he squeezed you reassuringly.
“You mean the two of you,” He asked, pointing his finger back and forth between you and Loki, “are – together?”
“Uh I –“ You glanced back up at Loki who looked down at you with an almost polite interest, “I guess so?” You asked hesitantly.
“You don’t sound very sure, kid.” Tony observed, frowning suspiciously.
“I –“ You faltered, extremely bewildered by the situation, but deciding you should probably go along with it. It wouldn’t be hard after all, but you just couldn’t let your head get too convinced or else it would hurt when you had to return to normal again. You slipped your arm around Loki’s waist. “I am.” You said firmly, allowing yourself to hesitantly lean against his solid body, tense against the foreign touch, but you couldn’t help enjoying it.
“Well this is… Uh – certainly a surprise.” Natasha remarked nodding as she watched the two of you. “But I’m,” She paused and smiled, “I’m happy for both of you.”
“I give it a week.”
“Stark.” Natasha growled warningly, and you found yourself scowling at Tony, annoyed at his lack of belief even if the relationship was fake.
“Your doubt is noted, Stark, and we shall enjoy disappointing you.” Loki said confidently, making Clint laughed, clapping Stark on the shoulder as he now walked past him, heading for the kitchen with Natasha and, eventually Tony, following on behind him, leaving you with Loki again.
You removed your arm from around his waist and grabbed his arm, tugging him to the other side of the room so you would definitely be out of earshot. “What are you doing?” You demanded, “Now they think I’m with you!”
“Is that such a bad thing?”
“It’s still a lie!” You exclaimed quietly.
“It doesn’t have to be.” He pointed out.
That stopped you, and your heart seemed to skip. “Are you – are you –“
He moved closer to you, your chests nearly touching now, bowing his head to meet your eyes. “You cannot comprehend the relief I felt at finding out it wasn’t another man that made that mark.” He murmured, raising a hand to lightly touch the bruise, tracing it slowly. “Nor can you comprehend how much I want to be the one to make the next one.” He growled lowly, and you could only watch, lips slightly parted, as his eyes flickered back up to yours, breath brushing your skin, and then he suddenly caught your lips up into a kiss.