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It was supposed to be your day off. As a lazy sunbeam struck your face in just the right headache-inducing way you groaned, flipping over to see Loki, crouched by your bed wearing a grin you knew meant trouble. You groaned again and rolled back to the other side, deciding the sunbeam was the lesser of the two evils. He let out a huff in annoyance and snagged you from your bed, the star wars novelty PJ set you’d bought from Walmart the night before hung from your frame in a rumpled fashion. The socks that matched the set warmed your feet against the cool wooden floors of your bedroom. The shorts did little to protect your legs from the ridiculously cool air conditioning as he led you into the kitchen. A steaming cup of coffee was his olive branch, fixed just the way you liked it. You accepted the token with a grumble of gratitude. You were not a morning person.
The morning was spent in relative silence, your foggy mind demanding another two cups of coffee before you could participate in whatever schemes your counterpart had planned for the supposed day off. The news was droll as usual, humming gently in the background in harmony with the expensive refrigerator in the kitchen. A few manilla folders were scattered on the coffee table in the living room, full of case reports and overdue mission statements that had simply not been exciting enough for you to finish. It was less important than beauty sleep, you’d rationed.
“Goodmorning,” His voice cracked with disuse and he cleared his throat after. Your mouth hung open in response, glitter in your eyes at the prepubescent slip-up.
“Goodmorning,” You replied, much too cheery in his opinion. He hid his smile behind his book, the evergrowing library was taking up the wall surrounding the flatscreen Tony had insisted was a necessity, regardless of the fact that neither you nor Loki had any clue how to work the damn thing. “Was there a reason you drug me out of bed this morning or were you only wanting some company?”
“Company, plus your snoring is only bearable for so long,” He snickered, knowing you wore a displeased straight face, his favorite of your mildly irritated looks. You rolled your eyes and moved to join him on the couch, snagging the current book you were reading on the way. It was a thriller and you had trouble putting it down. A hugely (and poorly) knit blanket was sprawled on the back of the couch, something that you, Nat, and Wanda had put together on a particularly fun girl’s night (which was only fun because none of you were even close to sober). Loki pulled it from its perch and laid it over his lap as you settled in beside him, covering the two of you in the soft clunky fabric. Your eyes shifted to the small balcony that housed a growing forest of plants that looked two minutes away from death. It was a favorite pastime of yours to rescue plants from any store (or teammate) that had them even if your green thumb was just as successful as theirs had been. You had a growing suspicion that Loki was working some sort of magick with them, you often heard him sing softly to them as he watered them. The thought brought a smile to your face.
“Are you ok? You look constipated,” Loki poked a chilled finger to your warm cheek. You smacked his hand away, fanciful smile turned scowl as you blustered at his word choice.
“Constipated? I was smiling at our plant children,” You argued.
“Plant? Children?” Loki asked, giving you a wry look that alluded to his purposeful obtusity.
“Don’t tell me Beatrice isn’t your child, she can’t take it, and neither can I,” You said, a sniffle and frown making Loki backpedal faster than he wanted to.
“Aw darling,” He started, his hands ghosting your arms as he started to comfort you. Your cackling laugh stopped him in his tracks, however, as you wiped a tear from your eye in glee. “You are getting much sneakier in your old age,” He grumbled.
“Old?” You shrieked incredulously. “You’re like over a thousand and you’re calling me old?”
“Oh, you didn’t know? I saw a grey hair this morning, I almost cried because I thought you were dying, being the fragile mortal you are and all.” Loki spoke casually as he inspected his chipping nail paint.
“You ass, I’m gonna name the hair Loki because I know you’re the reason it’s there, I’m not a day over three hundred and you know it,” You scrunched your face playfully and his smile made you melt. He leaned in gently, touching your foreheads together sweetly.
“I may be an ass, but you, my dear have the best ass I’ve ever seen,” His breath smelled like mint and chai tea (something he tried to hide in vain because according to Thor “Chai is for ladies” which lead to a whole argument about misogyny and tea flavors). You scrunched your nose at the comment and fought the laugh that was working its way up to your mouth. The polite bell tone rang through the apartment, announcing that FRIDAY was about to speak, breaking the peaceful trance that the homey living room was shrouded in.
“Ahem, Ms (y/l/n) and Mr. Laufeyson, Mr. Stark would like for you two to and I quote, suit up. Evil doesn’t take the day off.” You could swear you heard the A.I. sigh in disappointment at the end of her broadcast. A groan sounded from your mouths simultaneously. Loki knocked your foreheads together gently and gave you a quick peck on the lips before huffing as he unfolded his limbs from you and made his way into your shared bedroom.
“I wasn’t going to take my PJs off today!” You whined, ass still glued to the couch, trying to soak up the remaining body heat from the blanket. Your book hung from your fingers as you shuffled into your room, Loki’s shirt was already off, giving you a fantastic view of his toned upper body. A few bruises littered his pale skin from the last mission you’d been sent on, his fingers were buried in his dark hair, undoing the braid he’d had in the night before. The soft sounds of opera filtered in through the open balcony doors, signaling the start of Bruce’s pre-mission traditions. You pulled off your PJs with a scowl and shuffled into the lightweight catsuit that went under your armor, Loki had given up on attempting to rebraid his hair and allowed the damp locks to frame his face as he pulled on his undersuit. You were mildly disappointed to see his lovely frame hidden again but sighed happily as he sat down on the ground in front of the bed to strap on his shin guards and boots. You dug your hands into his hair and combed through it softly, only yanking it to get him to look up at you through his dark lashes.
“Yes darling?” he asked, his throat exposed, adam’s apple bobbing. You lent down and kissed him thoroughly, hearing him whimper into your mouth sweetly. You patted his cheek and angled his red face down so you could finish the needlessly intricate braid. At this point, you were just procrastinating. His legs were properly armored and his hair sufficiently pulled out of his face, the strand of your hair he’d braided into his own was on display proudly. Every time you saw it your chest tightened with affection for him. He stood with a groan, the two of you switched places and he gently folded your thick hair into a similar style out of your face as you strapped on the bottom parts of your armor. You stood with his help and placed your hands on his chest as his hands came to your hips, this was undoubtedly your favorite tradition before going into the field.
“I love you, you are the best thing that’s ever happened to me and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you. Thank you for being my encourager and the reason I don’t kill people that annoy me. Thank you for being my partner, for standing by me, and for protecting me, I’ll always keep my eye on you. May the Norns have us in their favor.” You whispered as your foreheads touched. There was never a guarantee that you’d come back from a mission, or that you’d come back whole, so you and Loki both took a moment to each other before entering the fray.
“I love you too, you are my heart. You are what keeps me sane when I’m falling. You are my purpose, I will keep us safe, I will protect you always. You are my love, I can’t wait to spend eternity with you. May the Norns watch over.” He responded. Your lips met gently, eyes closed, breathing in each other’s air and letting peace wash over. You helped him finish strapping on his armor and tugged the cape in place with a sniff. You grabbed the rest of your armor, your phone, your headphones, your book, the blanket, and your not-so-secret teddy. All of the pre and post-mission necessities.
“Tony promised chickfila after this one, I can’t wait to give you chicken nuggets,” You said with a sly grin.
“Ah yes the religious chicken, I’m excited. I’m much more excited to get back into bed whenever this ordeal is over.” He bumped your shoulder lightly in response. Your grin turned to a soft smile as your eyes searched his face, you still had no idea how you’d gotten so lucky. In all your years you’d never expected to fall so deeply for him. You wouldn’t change it for the world.
As you entered the jet, you found your corner, still stocked with snacks and your beloved Lightning McQueen crocs (Loki thought they looked ridiculous but anytime you whispered “kachow” to yourself he barked out a laugh so full it brought a smile to your lips). You pulled them on and plopped down, buckling yourself in and snuggling into your comfort items, one of which was the frost giant himself, who happily threw himself practically into your lap. He dozed after the initial meeting before takeoff. Tony mentioned a sort of recon mission with eyes on the next big bad. Some nut was attempting to use a fragment of the infinity stone to continue Hydra’s work on super soldiers. Your first question was why the whole team was headed out and Tony’s response gave a shiver to your spine. He’d somehow gotten a private army to guard his hideout, the special ops group specifically was made of those who survived extremis. The flight was a solid seven hours, giving the team more than enough time to get into the right headspace, or if you were Loki, nap.
As the jet landed, Loki sat up and stretched, you wiped a trail of drool from his face and kissed his cheek as he helped you stand. You were all handed coms and Tony personally checked all of the GPS devices hidden in each suit. When the team finished their pep talk (courtesy of Nat this time) and the checks all came through clear, you all exited the jet, ready for action.
“Love? You’re still wearing your crocodiles,” Loki pointed with a flick of his hand as he struck down a mutant right off the bat. You were already surrounded by members of the special ops when he spoke, you glanced down at your croc-clad feet and smiled, the band was snug against your heel and you chuckled. The mutants surrounding you cocked their heads as your laughter grew.
“They’re in sport mode it’s fine.” You replied as your magick flooded your limbs. A deep sigh sounded over the coms as Loki snapped his fingers roughly, you frowned as he replaced your beloved footwear with battle-appropriate shoes. “You’ve taken my joy.”
“I would rather steal your joy than have you lose a foot,” He replied. You ignored the breathy chuckles the team gave in response as you dug said foot into the neck of an assailant.
“McQueen would have protected me,” You pouted as you finished off the rest of the attackers.
“I’m sure he would have love,” You could hear the smile in his words as he spoke.
“See you back on the jet?” You asked as you kept watch for the group entering the warehouse.
“Always,” Loki responded.
Nearly forty-eight hours later you sat in your corner again, buckled in, and snuggled next to Loki. One hand tangled in his curls as he slept, the other holding the book you couldn’t seem to put down, and your eyes trained on your well-worn Lightning McQueen crocs.