Chapter Text
You were sitting in a spacious chair, curled into a soft and luxurious blanket as you read a book. The light of a small lamp nearby allowed you to continue reading even as the sun set behind you. The large window over your shoulder showed the reddening sky casting a waning, but warm light across the lands below.
You were engrossed in your book, entangled in the old tales of Valkyries and golden kings long gone. You heard the heavy library doors opening, but paid it no mind.
Loki scanned the library looking for you. He had decided if he had to attend the most recent dinner party in Thor's honor over some hunting excursion gone well, he would at least ask you to join him. You always had something exciting to talk about and you always had a knack for making Loki feel content despite his father's frequent praise in Thor's direction.
He started gravitating towards you shortly after you met because you acted genuinely enthusiastic to spend time with him. Most people only gave him the time of day because they felt obligated to as he was their prince or because they actually wanted time around Thor. He remembers clearly the first time you'd turned down an offer from Thor and Sif to train with them, opting to instead to keep Loki company as he studied in the library.
Since that day the two of you spent a lot of time together in the royal libraries when ever you visited. You also began choosing to spar with Loki any chance you had, instead of the other young warriors that typically trained with the two princes.
Despite how much Loki already enjoyed your company and had for many years, he had to admit something shifted recently. Even if you two had yet to talk about it, he knew you felt this change too.
In the library you had stopped working across the table from each other and started working side by side, chairs pulled close together. You also started to get flushed far sooner in the training rings. You didn't seem tired, but rather flustered by the act of keeping up with Loki's movements. This was especially the case when you were in hand to hand combat, it was as if his proximity itself made your breathing uneasy.
He newly found himself distracted all the time. He would be listening intently to his father talk about this or that when you would walk into the room and all other thoughts left his mind except for how your skin looked warm and inviting against the navy and gold toned clothes you typically wore. His mind would melt under the shy gaze and smile you'd offer him, trying not to make any noise and distract from the conversation at hand.
The worst of it all was how Loki felt he had somehow lost control of his own self around you. Twice now had he dropped something he was holding in your presence because he could not focus on both it and you.
Tonight turned out to be another example of this. He turned a corner around a tall bookshelf to see you sitting with a book in hand. Across your face was a look of relaxed concentration. Your lips were parted slightly and occasionally you mouthed a word or two as you read them. Your hair was loose and flowing around your face in a perfect frame. The setting sun behind you looked exquisite, casting you in a light of red and amber that made you look even more exquisite.
Never before had he seen such an ethereal sight. He moved with out thinking, his body out of his control as he acted solely on the draw of the beauty before him. You didn't notice him until he was closer than a step away from you. In a fluid motion, he gently lifted your chin toward him as he leaned over the chair. Your greeting lost before you could even articulate it. His lips descended to yours and the whole world stopped around you.
You were so surprised you barely could respond. It wasn't that you didn't want this. Heavens, you had dreamed about kissing the man before you thousands of times. However, the actual sensation was more than your brain could register. His lips were so soft against your own and his scent surrounded you all over. Just as soon as you melted into the smooth caress of his lips, the sensation abruptly ended.
Loki pulled way from you quickly, a look of embarrassment plastered across his face. "I am so sorry, I was not thinking. I should no-"
Your hands reached out grabbing a fistful of his jacket with each hand pulled him back to you, sitting more upright in the chair to meet him half way. There was not an ounce of hesitation in this kiss. You were ready for it and oh did you want it. He responded instantly wrapping his arms around your back and dragging you up out of the chair and flush against him. Your blanket fell to rest at your feet.
The kiss started off as sweet as its predecessor, but that sweetness lasted only a brief moment before taking a more fiery turn. His lips moved against you with more intent and you clung to him tightly. You raised one hand upwards to his neck, gliding your fingers up until you found the base of his hair, and entwined your fingers in the hair found there.
Your bottom lip slipped between his and Loki took full advantage, sucking lightly on it. You hummed in approval and the noise was nothing short of intoxicating for him. He kissed you over and over each time pressing closer and closer until you felt as if you both would simply merge together if this kept up.
He pulled away just enough to smile at the starstruck expression you had. "I uh..." You tried to say but your mind was still entranced by your kisses and words failed you.
"We should have started doing that a long time ago." He chuckled across your lips.
"Well...we could...continue, make up for lost time, you know?" You mused back at him.
And he was back on you in a flash, both of his hands now in your hair, holding your head in place as he kissed you deeper than before. He tasted like a dream, one you could easily become obsessed with. You both were both entangled in the rush of being so close, that when the library doors opened again no one noticed.
"Loki? Did you come this way?" Thor's voice cut across the library, jolting you into reality. Loki instantly dropped his hands taking a step back from you. He ran a hand through his hair, straightening it out.
As Thor rounded the shelf in front of you he paused at the now tense scene before him. Loki's whole demeanor had shifted and something about the cold detachment he now expelled broke your heart.
Thor and Loki made small talk about tonight's dinner for a moment, the whole time Loki never once glancing in your direction. Then he left, stalked out of the room past Thor without looking back. You slumped back into your chair, unsure of what to think between the conflicting rush you still felt from the kisses and the sinking feeling that Loki now found them to be a mistake.
Thor looked at you puzzled, but a kind smile took over, "Everything alright, y/n?"
"Of course, just uh...dropped my blanket." You said quickly, quietly. As you pulled the blanket back around your body, Thor studied you for a moment looking like he wanted to say something else on the matter. He never did. After another minute he invited you to tonight's big dinner only to leave the library after you politely turned down the offer.