Work Text:
Snow/Counting Down
©MischiefsLady
Christmas Night
The sun has already set by the time Darcy and Loki make it back to her apartment. The lights are low, her little Christmas tree is lit and soft music plays in the background. If anyone had told Darcy a month ago that she would end up cuddled on her couch with Loki, ready to exchange Christmas gifts, she would’ve laughed in their faces. Still, the time spent with Jane and Thor today opened up her eyes even more than some of the other things they shared the last week or so.
She doesn’t see him the way much of the world might see him. He isn’t just the villain. Well, perhaps to some he always will be, but listening to Loki and Thor tell stories from their youth, watching them interact with their mother has given her some perspective. She’s always been curious about the wickedly smart, irritating, vaguely menacing god. Now she sees why Thor and Frigga fought so hard for him to have another chance to be free.
She snuggles deeper into the corner of the couch, her back along the arm and her legs thrown over Loki’s lap. He’s seated, legs splayed open like always and his head is tilted back, eyes closed and a slight smile is playing at the corners of his mouth. Darcy thinks it’s the most relaxed he’s ever been after time spent in Thor’s company.
“What’s got you smiling over there, Mischief?” Her question causes him to raise his head and look at her.
“I’m not smiling.” The words are said quite seriously, but Darcy’s not buying it.
“Of course. So what’s got you not smiling then?” His hands, which have been resting on her lower legs slide up over her knees to her thighs.
“Impertinent minx!” He says, squeezing her thighs affectionately. “I was not smiling over how the last week and half has wrought many changes for me.” He gives her a pointed look.
“Oh? What changes are you referring to?” He doesn’t answer right away. Instead Loki moves his hands to her hips and lifts, forcing her to sit so that her legs are on either side of his as she faces him. Darcy places her hands on his chest to steady herself, then decides to keep them there. Something about the feel of his warmth and the beat of his heart beneath her palms, she not sure what, but it moves her. Like she’s touching something that no one else really ever has.
Loki watches her eyes as she gazes at her hands on his chest. He can’t say he loves her. No, it would be too soon for that, but she’s become important to him and he’s sure he’ll never want anyone the way he wants her. She is beauty and light and everything opposite his own dark nature. Is he ‘reformed’ as Fury and his motley crew of Avengers want him to be? The best he can offer is to play nice for as long as it suits him. But for Darcy, for Darcy he knows he’ll defeat all the monsters in Helheim and bring about Ragnarok if she asks it of him.
Darcy brings her eyes up to his and her breath hitches at the intensity of Loki’s gaze on her. Those gorgeous green orbs of his have always told her more than his silver tongue ever could. She sees it all right there staring back at her: want, need, dark and light and a glimmer of something she dares not hope for.
“Loki?” His name. A question. An answer. A benediction.
One breath. Then two.
Suddenly his hands are framing her face and pulling her in for a kiss. His lips are hard on hers and she opens to him. Her hands slide up to his shoulders and then wrap around him as heat flows between them.
Loki places his hands on her waist, gripping tightly as he pulls her closer to him. Darcy knows what he wants and grinds herself on him. Both of them break the kiss, panting heavily and Darcy rests her forehead against his.
“This,” Loki says between breaths, “is the change I refer to, Darcy. I never expected my time here to be filled with any meaning. I imagined boring days in the lab or some stupid Avenger mission to fill my days. And just when I thought to plead for a return to Asgard, there was you.”
Loki’s arms wrapped around her, hugging her as close to him as possible. Darcy felt as though her heart was about to burst. There had been touches, caresses, looks over the days they had recently spent together but these words; she feels the power behind them, and she understands that it isn’t easy for him to say them.
“You matter, Darcy.”
Her own arms wrap around him and she hugs him as tightly as possible. They stay that way for a while before he stands with her in his arms and takes her to bed.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Sometime later Darcy stands at her bedroom window watching the snow fall over the city. She’s not sure when it started but she loves how peaceful and serene everything looks. It’s a snapshot of a normally chaotic city in a rare and quiet moment. Much like Loki’s words earlier gave her a glimpse into the part of him that he seldom shared with anyone else.
Movement behind her lets Darcy know he is there seconds before one arm slides around her waist and a gentle kiss is placed upon her neck.
“The bed is cold without you to warm it, sweetheart.” His breath across the sensitive spot below her ear makes her shiver and Loki grins into the darkness.
He brings his other hand up in front of her, holding out a small wrapped box.
“Merry Christmas, Darcy.” She turns to face him.
“Hang on, let me grab your gift and then we can exchange them together.” He nods and she dashes out into the living room to get her gift to Loki then returns and seats herself on the bed. Loki comes to sit next to her.
She grins up at him, excitement flashing in her eyes, and Loki thinks he glimpses what she must have looked like as a girl on Christmas morning. The thought makes him return her smile.
“I’m going to count down and when I say one we’ll exchange gifts at the same time, okay?”
Loki nods.
“Three. Two. One.”
Eagerly Darcy takes the small box from Loki and hands over the wrapped journal she has for him. When she sees he is just watching her, she motions for him to open his gift as well. He complies, but slowly as he already knows what awaits him. Besides he wants to see the look on her face when she opens hers.
Finally, Darcy gets the wrapping paper off and opens the black box and gasps at the contents.
“Loki…” She breathes stunned by the gorgeous pair of sapphire blue earrings that lay within the box. “They are beautiful. Stunning, really.” Her eyes lift to his.
“They are formed of crystals found on Asgard. I know a brother and sister pair of light elves that craft such pieces. The color reminds me of your eyes,” he tells her.
She leans in and kisses him on the lips softly, sweetly. “Thank you, Loki.” Looking down she notices his half-opened gift. “Will you finish opening your gift, please?”
Loki removes the rest of the wrapping paper to reveal the leather bound journal he had overheard her speaking with Jane about. He smiles once again at her.
“Now you can write down all your spells and tricks and anything else that takes your fancy,” she explains.
“Perhaps I’ll draw you naked instead, since that image seems to take my fancy quite often,” he replies and laughs when she blushes lightly in response.
With one hand on the back of her neck he pulls her in for another kiss. “Thank you, Darcy, for such a clever thoughtful present.”
Another kiss.
“Merry Christmas, Loki.”
“Merry Christmas, Darcy.”