Work Text:
“Darling,” Loki approached her slowly, holding both palms up to show he was not hostile. “Put the knife down, please.”
“Stay back, or else.” She did not move her hand, yet her eyes shot in his direction. He could see anger there. “Not a single step forward, or your shirt is toast!” She said when he still attempted to get closer.
He knew he shouldn’t have pushed her. She had asked him nicely, begged him, even. When he still insisted, she warned him. He still continued pushing and now here they were. His favorite shirt was in her hand, with a knife threatening to cut it to shreds.
“Darling, I only did it for you. I did not mean for it to get this far!” He tried to reason with her, but she would not hear him.
“No. I told you what would happen and you still went on. You always do this, Loki. Always!” Her grip on the knife tightened. “How is it for my own good when I don’t even get the chance to wrap my head around it? Not prepare for it? You, of all people, know how my mind works! I need to be ready before I dive in!”
“I know, I know and I’m very sorry! Now, please, do not hurt my shirt, darling.”
“And it was my favorite vase! My grandmother gave it to me! Now it’s broken to pieces!” Her eyes were stinging with tears. The vase in question was the only gift that remained from her late grandmother. It was her most prized possession. Loki was trying to get her to practice her telekinesis for months. She was very careful in using her abilities, practicing only when she felt confident enough. Loki, being a master of said ability, insisted they practice every day. He would give her pointers on how to manifest her powers and how to control them, but she’d been too cautious to attempt anything major. She had tried it years ago, which resulted in items flying across the room and getting damaged and people getting angry at her. Since then she tried to be careful with when an where she would use her powers. The biggest item she had ever tried to move after she had gotten into the ranks of the Avengers was a stapler and instead of moving from the desk into her hand, it had landed on Thor’s head.
The God of Thunder found the incident amusing, but she thought otherwise. She felt guilty and embarrassed, and nothing that Thor had said made her feel any better. When Loki decided to help her with practicing, she jumped at the opportunity. Finally she could get some pointers on what to do and how to do them.
Alas, her excitement didn’t last long, since Loki was ruthless as a teacher. He gave her no break and no chance to think. She was kept on her toes the whole time. She informed him what happened when she would get overwhelmed, when she pushed herself. She’d lose control and start damaging things. Loki dismissed it, calling it laziness. To him, it sounded like her heart wasn’t into it. Whereas in reality, she needed to get her mind sorted out, to mentally and emotionally prepare herself before she could attempt to try and move something.
It was becoming too much. Loki’s voice kept rising during practices and she hated it. She hated it when people yelled and especially if the yelling was directed at her. During the last practice, Loki was trying to push her again. Telling her to put some effort into it and not be lazy.
She had been putting effort into it. Effort into not damaging the vase she treasured so much, which Loki had apparently sneaked out of her apartment and had decided to use it to coax her into concentrating better. The result was one precious vase flying straight into the wall and shattering into hundreds of pieces, instead of going from one table to the other.
She had been furious. Not only at her self for ruining the only palpable memory she had of her grandmother, but also at Loki, for not listening to her when she begged him to not push her into doing it before she was confident she was ready.
“Darling...”
“No!” She raised her voice at him. He stood frozen on the spot, as he had never seen her this angry before. Sure, she had gotten angry at him several times in the past during practice, but it was never this severe.
Loki finally realized he had stepped a line he shouldn’t have. He hung his head low, feeling guilty for pushing too far when she wasn’t ready. He knew she had the capacity to do the work, but he didn’t understand her need to be mentally prepared to try her powers on bigger objects. He didn’t know what was holding her back, so he only assumed it was laziness.
He was so wrong. So wrong that he didn’t notice the big pillow that hit the side of his face, making him stumble a step.
She was glaring at his shirt. His favorite shirt. He had told her it was a present from his late mother. She had made it for him and he cherished it. Just as she cherished the vase her grandma had given her. She pressed the tip of the knife at the fabric, ready to tear it, but instead, she lifted her gaze to a pillow on his bed and then snapped her eyes into his direction.
She had aimed for his face, but the side of his head was close enough. Especially since it caught him off guard. Frowning, she tried to hold back the tears. She bit the inside of her cheek, trying to not cry. Not in front of him. But she wasn’t able to control it.
She dropped both shirt and knife onto the bed and quickly walked out of the room and onto the balcony. At least he wouldn’t see the tears that rolled down her cheeks and wouldn’t hear the silent sobs that she tried so hard to suppress.
The shock of being hit by his own pillow had rendered Loki speechless. Only after she had left the room did he come to his senses. He shook his head and looked at the bed. His shirt was thrown unceremoniously over the blanket and the knife was on top of it. He quickly made the knife disappear and moved his shirt to a pocket dimension to keep it safe from her wrath. Then he followed her to the balcony.
She stared onto the busy street, her arms hugging her waist and silent tears running down her cheeks. She knew everyone in her life would be telling her it was just an item and she still had the memories of her grandmother in her mind. She knew that. She knew she had the memories and no one would ever be able to take those from her. But having a physical item to solidify those memories was something only she could understand and no one else.
Maybe her reaction was a bit harsh. Loki didn’t mean to hurt her in any way or form. He’d been very helpful during their practices. Sharing his knowledge and expertise on telekinesis with her, guiding her through her attempts to better her skills. So what if a vase was lost to her? She had lost even more in the past, yet there she was, moving forward with her life and keeping the good memories alive within her heart.
When a gentle hand touched her back, she turned around and buried her face onto his chest with no hesitation. His arms wrapped around her, holding her tight against him as she cried in silence. He sighed as he kissed the top of her head, running a hand gently over her back in soothing circles.
“I’m really sorry.” He whispered and her hold tightened on his shirt.
“I shouldn’t have reacted that way. What’s another lost item? It was just an object. It’s not important.” She sniffed against his shirt, her voice heavy with sadness. She was trying to rationalize, trying to see it how others would. It wasn’t helping, but it would be what anyone would want to hear.
Loki pulled her away from him so he could look into her eyes. “It is not unimportant if it had received this reaction from you.” He wiped the tears off her cheeks and looked at her with adoration mixed with guilt. “I will make up for it. I promise.”
She shook her head. “What’s done is done. Let’s just forget about it.” She sighed. She wasn’t going to forget about it.
“Darling...”
“I want to go home.” She cast her gaze to the floor. She didn’t feel like doing anything anymore. Loki nodded, knowing full well this meant she would self-isolate for a while until she felt better. He was familiar with her need to overthink things through. Usually she would return to work like nothing had ever happened. He didn’t think it to be a good or healthy way of dealing with things, but it was her way of doing it, and he supported her no matter what.
He nodded, not wanting to push her anymore. Not even to ask her to stay there instead. He knew she needed time and time he would give her, much to his displeasure. He wanted to make it right and he knew he could, but her mind was in turmoil right now and he did not want to overwhelm her any further. So, without saying anything, he kept a hand on her back and raised the other, palm up. The Tesseract materialized in it and he looked into her eyes as he willed the cube to transfer them to her apartment.
Once the smoke around them dissipated, they found themselves in her living room. Loki brought the hand holding the Tesseract down, while he kept looking into her eyes. He still hadn’t let go of her. He didn’t want to, even though he knew he soon will.
“Thank you.” She whispered, looking at him before averting her gaze. She sighed and leaned her cheek against his chest and he leaned his over her head.
“I will make it right.” He whispered, before he kissed the top of her head and finally released her.
She took a step back, but reached for his cheek. He leaned into her touch and put his hand over hers, closing his eyes. “It’s okay. I just need some time to process.” She said, the sad smile not leaving her face.
He turned his face to kiss her palm, then opened his eyes and looked at her. “It’s not okay. But I do hope you will allow me to visit soon.”
She nodded. “Give me a few days.”
He wanted to lean forward, to pull her back into his arms and kiss her lips. But he knew she wouldn’t welcome it in her state of mind. Not yet, at least. So instead, he kissed her palm again before he let go and she dropped her hand to her side. Loki took a step back and let the Tesseract take him back to his own apartment.
A week had passed and Loki felt he was on pins and needles. He wanted to see her again the moment he had returned to his place a week ago, but he knew he should keep his distance. In that week, she had remained in her apartment and he was burdened with meetings and sparring and a short mission, which almost went wrong because of his distracted state of mind. While in the end he did come out of it without a scratch, he still could have gotten severely injured because of how out of it he felt. It was like he was missing a limb, an integral part of himself.
Once back at his apartment, he cleaned up and sat down on the sofa, staring at the vase that he had magically reassembled the moment he had returned from bringing her to her apartment. He could have done it while she was there, but at that moment she was his priority and he couldn’t afford to think about anything else.
He could have taken the vase to her the next day. But doubt had clouded his mind and he wanted to give her the time she had requested. When a week had passed, he had decided that it was time to go to her. So seek her forgiveness once more and to offer her the restored vase. He knew it would make her happy, but it still made him feel nervous.
With a sigh, he got up and walked over to the vase. Just before picking it up, he cast a protective charm over the object. Now no one would be able to break it, or take it out of her apartment without her explicit consent.
With the vase held carefully against his chest, he summoned the Tesseract and appeared at her front door. He stored the Tesseract into his pocket dimension, as he always did after using it, and knocked her door.
She was laying on the sofa in her pyjamas, watching a random show on TV when she heard the knock on the door. She wasn’t expecting anyone, though she suspected she knew who it was. Getting up, she brushed her hair off her face with both hands as she made her way to the door. Both her hands went to cover her mouth as she audibly gasped at the sight before her. Loki was holding her vase with both hands before her, with a gentle smile on his face.
“I wanted to come sooner, but I figured you needed time... darling?” Loki frowned as he saw her trembling and her eyes started filling with tears. He set the vase on the floor and as soon as he straightened up, the air had been knocked out of his lungs as she lunged at him, hugging him tightly.
He couldn’t help but let out a relieved chuckle as his arms wrapped around her. He buried his face into her hair as she cried against his chest. He kissed her temple, and started stroking her hair with one hand, while the other rested against her back. “It’s alright.” He whispered. “Everything is alright.”
In her moment of anger, she had not even remembered that he could use magic to restore the vase. It had completely slipped her mind, even when he assured her he would make it right. And now there he was with her vase like it had never been shattered, and she felt like an ass. Guilt and embarrassment clouded her mind once more and she hid her face against him, refusing to move when he tried to pull her back to look at her.
Loki wrapped his arm tight around her and stepped forward. She allowed the movement by stepping backwards. Slowly they walked into the living room and Loki used magic to close the front door and moved the vase to where he had found it the first time he took it from here.
“You know,” he said once they were in the living room, “I could play some music and we can start dancing if we remained like this.” He nuzzled her head as he wrapped both arms around her and started swaying slowly, left and right, like they were about to start dancing.
She giggled between sniffs and sobs. Trust him to make her laugh when she had no desire to. She finally raised her head to look at him through wet eyes. He immediately wiped the tears away with his thumb, and kept his palm gently against her cheek. “Hello.” He smiled.
“Hello.” She replied, also smiling.
“Have I ever told you how beautiful you are when you smile?”
“You might have mentioned it once or twice. Refresh my memory?” She leaned into his touch.
“You shine brighter than the sun. It tears through my whole being, wrapping me in its warmth and reminding me there’s always light at the end of the tunnel. And that light is you.”
She shook her head as she smiled brighter. “You smooth talker.” She said, getting on her tip-toes and holding his face in both her palms as she kissed him deeply. Loki pulled her closer against his body, an audible groan escaping his throat as he finally had her where he needed her to be. In his arms, pressed against him and kissing him.
As the kiss ended, they looked into each other’s eyes while they both tried catching their breaths. Neither could wipe the smile off their own faces anymore. Things were feeling good. Great, even.
“I’m sorry I behaved like an ass.” She said, gently caressing his cheek.
“I’m sorry I did not repair it the moment it happened.” He returned the gesture.
“I didn’t even remember you could do that at the time.”
“You were angry, it’s understandable.”
“It’s not.”
“Darling, it really is. Anger is a strong emotion.” He leaned down and nuzzled her cheek. “But I suggest we put the subject to rest for now. Your vase is intact and now comes with a protective charm,” he kissed her neck, “and I missed you so much.”
Her hands grasped tightly at his shirt, while he kissed her neck. She closed her eyes and dropped her head to the side, giving him a better access. “I missed you too.”
“How about you show me just how much you missed me?” He purred into her ear, while his hands travelled down to her buttocks and stayed there.
She inhaled deeply as he spoke into her ear. His velvety tone made her shiver with anticipation. She looked into his eyes and placed both hands on his shoulders. He grinned as she jumped and wrapped her legs around his waist. He held her tight as their lips met again. Loki carried her to the bedroom, his heart feeling much lighter than it had that morning. He was back into her arms and she in his. Things were finally going back to normal, to how they should be. He vowed then and there to never push her to use her powers unless she told him she was ready. And for the time being, he would simply make sure he wouldn’t be the cause of her tears ever again.