Work Text:
“For Fuck’s sake” Steve blurts out
“LANGUAGE” comes from Tony and “You don’t say” from Clint. Next to him, Bucky sniggers.
What warrants this kind of language? Oh nothing. Only Loki. What was going on with Loki now? On top of everything else? Nothing much, really.
Except the guy, who is not Asgardian.
That guy. A FROST. GIANT. Is. The. Fucking. God. Of. Fire.
Of. Fire.
And he happens - oh, how they should have known that when he tried to invade earth - to barely be an adult by Asgard’s standards.
So of course, he befriended the teenagers around the Avengers.
Teenagers who apparently are a bad influence on Loki, of all people.
Because they had shown something about the floor, and lava, and people jumping on tables as soon as someone said that. And, according to Peter, Loki had found this very amusing - Steve couldn’t really see it. Loki even had yelled it a couple of times when they had all been in the shared space. Clint, having kids at home, had just gone along with the thing, Peter had jumped on the ceiling, Bucky - snatching Shuri the one time she was there - had jumped on the couch and Tony had just stood there with Steve, very confused.
That had been months ago.
So why, now? Why choose now to start again with this floor is lava thing?
Steve balances his weapon, almost slipping to the ground. Bucky is here to stabilise him though and he shoots him a wry smile.
First, there was Peter suggesting they play a game of Paintball. That in itself, was okay. Team bonding, strategy exercise, a bit of fun.
As they were counting hits and not ‘deaths’ - although a shot to the heart or forehead eliminates you directly, and is worth the three points otherwise needed - Steve’s team had been winning. They were divided in two, one magic user and one sniper in each, the rest of them split more or less equally. Until Loki shouted that famous sentence. Because then.
THEN, suddenly, where boring grey linoleum had once been… Suddenly the floor turned red and hot .
Steve swears again as his right foot slips over the crate. The movement catches someone’s eye - Clint’s probably - and a purple capsule explodes on his left. Thank Gosh for his reflexes. Clint’s shot must have attracted Bucky’s attention though, because two seconds later, there is a thwack then Clint shouts ‘Not the forehead!’
Steve giggles then walks along the crate. There is suddenly some noise on his right, which startles him, and he slips. This time, one of his feet meets the ground. Thankfully, it’s not burning, but the sensation is not a good one. It’s too warm to be natural.
Steve uses the opportunity to cross the distance between the two sets of crates and land on the other side, where Nat should be, when he hears a chuckle.
Slowly, Steve turns around and … here is Loki with a smirk on his face.
“Surprise,” the man says. And then he shoots Steve, in the head.
Dammit.
Steve slumps on the crate just as Loki mock-salutes him and turns around. There’s a commotion on the other side of the room, some swearing, then five seconds later Bucky appears in his line of sight. It’s just him and Loki left then. Bucky frowns, coming to the same conclusion. He suddenly looks up, processes the setting he’s in and swears.
It's too late.
Steve lifts his hand to point towards the figure he sees emerging, but Bucky just has the time to turn around before Loki shoots him to the heart.
Double dammit.
His partner slumps next to him on the crate and groans.
Above them, Loki cocks his hips.
“Shush, can you hear this? The sweet sound of victory?” Loki grins before adding, “I rather like this game.”
Later, when they all have cleaned up and gone back to the shared space, some of them decide to settle for a movie. Their little group gets comfy on the various sitting places: Wanda and Vision on the loveseat, him and Bucky on one couch, Natasha on Steve’s other side, Peter and Loki on the second couch.
Before the movie starts, just after they distribute snacks, the ground slowly starts to turn red and they all groan in unisson.
Loki cackles.