Work Text:
Scattered Hearts
©MischiefsLady
“It was an accident, I swear!” Loki rolled his eyes at Darcy’s words. The infuriating assistant to Jane Foster was once again in his apartment at Stark Tower, making a mess. Scattered around them lay dozens of bright pink and red and white hearts. Some were larger than his hand and others were tiny pieces of glitter sprinkled all over the carpet and black microfiber couch.
“Of course it was, Miss Lewis, because clearly it is normal for a Midgardian to visit someone unannounced and toss ridiculous hearts all over their place of residence. How many times must I ask you to leave me alone?” He was standing toe to toe with her, a slight sneer on his face as he looked down at her.
He was completely perplexed and exasperated by her. It had been two years since he had tried to take over Midgard. The first year had been spent deep in the bowels of Asgard’s prison. The second year had been spent at the beck and call of the Avengers. Whether it was logistics for tactical maneuvers, working out equations with Dr. Foster, or even attempting to save Tony Stark from his own inventions, he supposed the freedoms afforded him during his Midgardian ‘rehabilitation’ were better than any prison cell.
Except for the troublesome, vexing little problem of Darcy Lewis. The woman was sheer hell on his nerves most days. Oh, she was quite a splendid package of beauty and curves, and he’d sometimes catch himself wondering how she would feel beneath his hands. But only until she opened her mouth. Or moved around. Or spent any time in his vicinity.
The woman was a menace.
“Oh come on, Loki! It’s Valentine’s Day and everyone should celebrate somehow. Even former lords of evil like you.” She had to tilt her head all the way back to take him in. The look she gave him was guileless and for a moment he wanted to laugh at the picture of innocence she presented before him. But he didn’t. Instead he kept his frown firmly in place.
“In case you’ve forgotten, today is Saturday. Saturday is my day of leisure. And my plans for my day of leisure did not include picking up hearts off my floor and furniture. Is there a reason you simply cannot seem to stop pestering me, Miss Lewis?” Sharp condescension and ire filled his words and Darcy’s smile dropped. A dull blush covered her cheeks and she stepped away from him to quietly clean up the mess she had made.
“I’m sorry, Loki.” Her words were so quiet he had to lean slightly towards her to catch them. Shit. He hadn’t meant to cause her smile to drop, he just wanted some peace and quiet. The silly girl seemed to think it was her job to include him in everything. She couldn’t grasp the concept that the others were content to do without him in their off hours.
“Miss Lewis,” he said trying to catch her attention but she ignored him, focusing on picking up the scattered hearts.
Loki reached out and grabbed her arm, turning her so she once again faced him.
“Darcy, leave them. I am irritable today for many reasons, none of which are you.” Darcy knew it wasn’t an apology, but something in his gaze made butterflies jump in her stomach. She nodded slowly gracing him with one of those small smiles of hers that lately seemed to cause a funny reaction in his gut.
“It’s okay, Loki. I’ll just clean up and get out of your way.” Loki sighed, accepting without argument that her company was decidedly more preferential than spending the day alone. Had anybody told him two years ago that he would willingly choose to spend time with a mortal he’d have laughed, and then ran them through with his daggers. Instead he slid his hand down her arm so that her hand was clasped in his.
“Stay. Tony has left a selection of movies with the instructions that I watch them in advance of a discussion on Monday. Perhaps you’d care to watch them with me?”
Darcy had stilled completely when he had taken her hand. Now the small smile on her face transformed into a full-fledged grin.
“Alright, a movie marathon it is. What about all these hearts though, they’re covering the couch.” Loki released his hold on her and with a few deft hand movements the hearts disappeared.
Darcy arched an eyebrow in his direction. “Seriously? You got mad because there were hearts everywhere but you can make them disappear whenever you want?”
Loki smiled at her and indicated that she should sit on the couch while he set up the movie in the DVD player. He wouldn’t tell her but there was still one heart left. A small, glittering red one at the corner of her laughing blue eyes.