Work Text:
Fire
©MischiefsLady
Darcy spends the Saturday after Tony’s holiday party nursing a terrible hangover. Most of it is spent on the couch watching sappy Hallmark channel movies about family and Christmas cheer and happily ever after. As much as Darcy is a sucker for a happy ending, the family moments squeeze her heart and put a lump in her throat.
She misses her daddy something fierce.
Two years ago she went home for a week during the summer. Her brothers, Hank and Jim had also flown in that week to surprise their mom for her birthday. Laughter flowed from the Lewis household as friends and relatives rotated in and out to visit with the family. On Darcy’s fourth night home, everything changed.
Jim and Hank and Darcy had run out to the store buy some steaks for the grill and the makings for salad. Darcy loved time with her older brothers even more now that it was so rare for them all to be together. Hank just rolled the car into the driveway when their mother had come racing out of the house.
Darcy will never forget the words her mother had screamed out in that moment.
“Call 911! Your father’s had a heart attack and Uncle John can’t revive him!”
All the medical knowledge and prayer power in the world couldn’t bring Michael Lewis back to his loving family.
Now that Darcy is on her own this year for Christmas the pain of the loss seems worse than it did last year when the family celebrated their first Christmas without him. With a sigh, she turns off the T.V. and stands up. On the left wall of the living room is a fireplace mantle that Darcy had refinished and repurposed for decorative reasons. Where an actual fireplace should be, there was a mirror on the wall and dozens of soft white candle in front of it. Darcy reaches for the Zippo lighter she keeps on the mantle and lights the candles one by one. For each candle she says a soft prayer of thanks for the family and friends in her life.
She believes in acknowledging her blessings, it helps to balance out the grief.
A soft knock on the door draws her attention and she heads over to open it. She is surprised to see Loki, casually dressed in dark denims, grey t-shirt and leather jacket, at her door. He eyes her sweatpants and t-shirt with a small smirk.
“Loki, hey. What are you doing here?” She asks. She is interested in why he is here, but thoughts of her father still linger and she isn’t sure if she truly wants to force a happy interaction with anyone right now.
“I thought I would see if there were any ill effects from last night’s teleportation.”
“Is that how I got home?” The details are a bit fuzzy, she only remembers being in the lobby and then waking up on her couch.
“Indeed.” Loki slides his hands in his pants pocket, wondering why she seems less cheerful than she had been the last few days. He’d come over with the idea of seeing how much teasing he could get away with before getting her to admit her attraction to him. However, given her lack of natural exuberance, he thinks it prudent to drop that plan. For now.
“I’m cool. Felt icky this morning when I woke up but it passed.” Darcy opens the door wider. “Come on in.” Strangely, Loki hesitates. She isn’t giving off a feeling of unwelcome as much as sorrow. And it leaves him slightly uncomfortable.
“I wouldn’t want to intrude,” and he turns to head back towards the elevator.
“No, it’s okay. Maybe company is a good thing. I’m debating tossing a frozen pizza in the oven. It’s no trouble to add one for you as well if you like.”
Loki enters her apartment and they make their way to the living room. He notes the quietness of the space, and the candles that are lit in the faux fireplace.
“Darcy, I’ve clearly caught you at a bad time.”
“It’s nothing.” She says, but he knows it for a lie. He sighs internally. He has never had patience to listen to the troubles of others. But the look on her face is so fraught with sadness he wants to help her. Odin help him. Was he becoming soft?!
“It certainly is something. Come let’s sit and you can tell Loki all about it,” His words have the desired effect as a there is a slight smile on her lovely lips.
“Dude, don’t talk about yourself in the third person. It’s weird.” Darcy takes a seat on the floor in front of the candles and Loki lowers himself in the corner of the couch closest to her. They sit silently for a few minutes. Darcy stares in the flames of the candles. Loki stares at her.
The minutes tick by but neither one feels uncomfortable in the silence. It is an odd feeling for Loki to be in the company of someone who enjoys the sound of silence while not being completely alone. However, she seems to need this time and he wants to give it to her.
“This is my first Christmas without my family. And it is the second one without my father.” Her voice is soft and she’s still staring at the flames. She needs to talk though, to share with someone the feelings inside.
Loki remains silent letting her dictate the pace of what she needs to say.
“I miss him. He was my best friend. I could talk to him about anything, you know? And he would just listen. And it didn’t matter how foolish I sounded or if I was completely wrong. When I was done he would tell me he loved me and he knew I would do the right thing.”
She takes a breath. And then another. She feels her heart breaking all over again when she thinks about her father. Slowly, she brings the words to the surface and between tears and sobs she tells Loki about the day he died.
By the time she is done she feels strong arms wrap around her. In a blink she is lifted up and then he is settling them both down on the couch, her in his lap. Darcy hates when other people see her cry and so struggles a moment to get away. Loki’s arms remain locked around her and he leans his head down to speak in her ear.
“Hush, Darcy, let me hold you a while.” She stills her movements and buries her head in the crook of his neck. His kindness is her complete undoing. It’s nothing she ever would have expected from him. She cries harder, releasing all the pent up sadness she’s been clinging to.
Loki just holds on, letting her tears soak into his shirt. He enjoys the weight and warmth of her body tucked into his own. Yes, he is still very sexually attracted to her, but in this moment her vulnerability makes him feel protective. Having her close, relying on him for comfort is a new feeling. He’s had lovers in the past but none that he would have offered comfort to had they cried. But for this mortal woman? Loki knows he is dangerously close to having real emotions for her.
When her cries quiet down some, Loki conjures a handkerchief and hands it to her. She takes it and dries the tears from her eyes. Darcy sits up and raises watery blue eyes to piercing green ones.
“Thank you, Loki,” she says and then lets out a little laugh when she sees his shirt. “I soaked your shirt. I’m sorry.” She attempts to get up, but again his grip keeps her where she is.
“My shirt is of no concern. But stay. Tell me about your father,” It is not a question. It’s a command, softly given and Darcy suddenly wants to talk about her dad. She isn’t unaware of her physical closeness to Loki, though and hesitates a moment before snuggling back into his chest and tucking her head on his shoulder. She is quite sure she’ll want to touch him more after this, but for now it’s about her dad and Loki wants to hear her talk about him.
So she talks. She tells him about the time he taught her how to make and throw a fist because Michael Lewis didn’t want his little girl to be without some form of defense. Especially if she was a pro at running her mouth. She laughs until she cries about the time she and her brothers had camped out in the back yard and her dad decided to scare them. Darcy’s brothers had ran screaming into the house for their mom. Darcy was the only one to survive the whole night in her tent with her dad on the back porch keeping lookout of course.
As she speaks Loki watches the glow from the firelight catch her face. She is a beauty, truly. Her eyes speak volumes that her mouth never says. He is drawn in, despite his efforts to remain aloof. After all, he is only here to help Thor. Or so he’s been telling himself, but he could have returned to Asgard at any time.
Eventually Darcy talks herself into exhaustion and falls asleep in Loki’s arms. This is the second time she has fallen asleep on him, and Loki doesn’t mind at all. In fact, he finds that it makes him feel surprisingly…content.