Delightful Fics :)

Absentmindedly, you reached your hand into the candy bowl at the center of a table, pulling out a red lollipop just as you hit the climax of your story. You ripped off the plastic and stuck it in your mouth, your eyes widening when the main character walked in on her love interest half-naked in her apartment.

You may or may not have fantasized about that happening to you, though technically your love interest lived in the same building as you. It’d be unethical, of course. You were the newest on the team, quite possibly the youngest, and not to mention it would be a nightmare if you’d fallen in love with the man who’d recruited you to the team in the first place.

But a little fantasy never hurt anyone.

Minutes had gone by—maybe something close to an hour—when a muscular arm had reached over your shoulder to sift through the candy bowl, too, pulling out a blue lollipop.

“Whatcha reading?” The deep voice asked you. You immediately knew who it was once you saw his arm, but the voice had confirmed it. You loved that voice. Heat prickled in your cheeks as you moved your hands to cover the pages.

“Uh, just some romance novel,” You said, quickly grabbing the bookmark to save your page and snapping the book shut. You pulled the lollipop from your mouth, spinning around in the kitchen chair to look at him. “I thought you had matters to attend to in Vienna.”

Steve pulled his piece of candy from the wrapper, sticking it in his mouth and shrugging. “It got moved to Thursday.”

You hummed and bit down on the last little bit of your red lollipop, filling the silence with a loud crunch. “I’m sorry,” You mumbled, tossing the stick of the candy into the trash can next to Steve. He responded with a loud sucking noise as he pulled his from his mouth.

“S’fine. I’d rather be here with you anyway.”

If you had had a drink in your mouth, you might have spit it out. Your entire being paused. “What?”

Sure, there was the harmless flirtatious banter, but if you were being honest, you were generally flirty. You’d made a couple of remarks towards Bucky and Loki, but nothing too forward. Nothing to make them think that you had your eyes on them.

You only had eyes for Steve. Since that first day you met him, and he’d pulled you aside asking your name after you assisted the team in defeating a drug ring, you were absolutely smitten. You knew nothing would come of it. Why would it? He was Steve Rogers—Captain America and you were you.

“I said I’d rather be here anyway.”

“That’s not what you said…” You tilted your head, eyeing Steve warily as he gained a smug smirk on his face.

“It isn’t?” He licked the lollipop once before walking over to lean against the table, only inches away from you. Your head followed him, a look of confusion stuck on your face. “Must be losing my memory, then.”

You didn’t have a response. Honestly, you were still in shock. You knew you heard him correctly. Steve definitely had said that he’d rather be at the compound with you. Specifically.

But there was no way in hell that Steve had feelings for you.

“What did you think I said?” Steve continued. Your gaze fell from his eyes to his mouth as he twisted the piece of candy in his mouth and oh, God you wanted that to be—

“I, uh, I… nothing,” You mumbled, glancing down at the floor. “I was hearing things.”

A few seconds later, you flinched slightly as Steve’s thumb and forefinger gripped your chin, forcing you to look back up at him. You wet your lips subconsciously, your heart rate speeding up ten-fold.

“You weren’t,” Steve declared, gently caressing your jaw. Again, he licked that god-forsaken lollipop, keeping eye contact with you the whole time.

“Steve,” You whispered, grasping his hand with your own. “I… we… you…”

“You’re cute when you’re all tongue-tied,” The Captain chuckled, swiping his thumb across your lips. Letting out a shaky sigh, you pushed his hand away from your face, standing up from the chair and shuffling past him.

“This is crazy. You are crazy,” You voiced, swiveling around just as he did the same. “What about your friends? I—”

“You care about what they think?”

“I’d care if they thought I slept with you to get onto the team. I like you, Steve, I really do, but this is my career!” You yelled in a hushed tone. Steve shook his head.

“I can guarantee you that they’d never think that of you. They know how smart and cunningly swift you are. They see what I saw in you that day,” He consoled you, taking a step forward to close the distance between you. You inhaled slowly, willing yourself to calm down. “And besides, you have me to vouch for you. You work hard for what you’ve earned.”

“You think so?” You asked him, peering into his ocean blue eyes. Those gorgeous blue eyes that made you melt. Steve brought the lollipop to his mouth once more, licking it one final time before tossing it in the trash.

“Mhm, I do,” He responded, his voice suddenly deeper—sultry, even. “You’ve earned this.”

“This…” You repeated, sporting a small smirk. “What’s this?”

Steve brought his hand back up to your jaw for the second time that afternoon, rubbing your cheek as he grinned at you. Your skin tingled under his fingertips as the weight of the situation finally caught up to you. “You know how I said that you’re cute when you’re tongue-tied?” He asked, causing you to nod. “Well, I meant that you’re cute when your tongue is tied up with mine.”

The gasp that escaped your mouth was cut off by Steve’s lips crashing onto yours. Immediately, you sighed happily into his mouth, bringing your arms up to wrap around his shoulders. As Steve kissed you passionately, you were brought back to all of the novels you’d read where you fantasized about this moment.

It was better than you could have even imagined. The fantasy pales in comparison to Steve Rogers gripping the hair at the nape of your neck and tugging you closer to him by his hand on the small of your back.

After a minute of endless kissing had gone by, you pulled away, drunk on the taste of him and smiled. “Worth the wait.” You surged forward this time, enveloping yourself into Steve. He didn’t seem to mind, considering he lifted you by the waist and spun around to sit you on top of the kitchen table.

You’d read a scene like that once. Steamy, yet careful and respectful. Steve must be a fan of romance novels, too, because there’s no way in hell he knew you thought about moments like this every night.

“So,” Steve panted against your lips. “You wanna tell me what book you were reading so we can act those scenes out, too, sweetheart?”

Abruptly, you pulled away from him, pushing on his chest so that you could see his smug little grin. “What did you just say?”

“What do you think I said?”

“Uh-uh, I’m not playing that game again! Who told you?” You crossed your arms over your chest, narrowing your eyes. There’s only two people who knew you loved to put yourself in the main character’s shoes. Loki, who you’d confided in during a late-night reading session in the library, and Natasha, who you’d told because she became your first friend.

Either option could have betrayed you. Nat is Steve’s best friend and Loki is the God of Mischief.

“Well, I’m not one to kiss and tell, but…”

“That’s not how that works,” You glared at him.

Steve snickered and shrugged. “Why do you want to know?”

“Because I will be cutting any and all ties with whoever snitched.”

“Is it honestly that serious?”

“It’s embarrassing.”

“I don’t think so,” Steve was quick to assure you, inching closer towards you again and brushing his fingers through your soft hair. “I think it’s adorable. The way you are so enraptured in a story that you find the need to push the main characters agenda onto yourself. It’s hot, even.”

Blushing, you laid your head onto Steve’s chest and let out a whine. He rubbed your back, a smile permanently fixed to his face.

“Look at me,” Steve softly ordered. You shook your head against him. “Come on, dear.” Still, you remained silent. Steve sighed, his hands sliding down your back until they rested on the back of your lower ribs where they started to become your sides. “Please?” He asked, one final time. Nothing. “Fine.”

Steve scratched gently at the spot, his grin widening when you squeaked and attempted to arch away from the sensation, which only caused you to press against him even more.

“Steheve!”

“Oh, now you wanna talk to me?” He teased, switching to pinching at those ribs. Your elbows shot down to try and protect yourself, and you giggled into his chest.

“Ohokay! Ahaha! No mohore!” You laughed, reaching behind yourself to push his hands away. Steve stopped at your request, allowing you the time to catch your breath. You sat upright, a ticklish smile plastered on your face.

“There’s that face I love so much,” Steve taunted, leaning forward to kiss your forehead. You rolled your eyes in fake annoyance, chuckling despite yourself.

“You really don’t think it’s weird?”

“Not at all. I find it endearing,” Steve comforted, tucking a piece of hair behind your ear, “and if you tell me what book you were just reading, we can get started on that.”

You licked your lips at the thought, but there was a time and place for everything and this was not it. “Maybe some other time. Thank you, Steve.”

He replied with another powerful kiss, moaning into your mouth. He drew back a few seconds later, and you locked eyes with him, getting lost in the details.

“I think there’s a movie about to start,” You mumbled. “You coming?”

“You go on ahead. I did actually come in here for something other than you,” Steve laughed. You followed suit, your cheeks burning red for the third time that evening. Biting your bottom lip, you hopped of the table, snatching your book and scurrying out of the kitchen and into the common room.

With a few members of the team already there, you found a spot on a two-person loveseat, hoping that no one would sit there before Steve came in. You sat down with a huff, your head leaning back against the sofa.

“Good book?” Natasha asked from the chair diagonally from you. You turned your head to look at her, noticing the small smile on her face.

Her. It was definitely her.

“Fantastic,” You said sassily. Nat pursed her lips out, struggling to keep a straight face. Daringly, you mouthed, “I hate you.”

Nat responded with, “You’re welcome.”

Sighing, you licked your lips, thinking of how good of a kisser Steve was. How his lips were just as soft as you’d imagined.

“Y/N, why is your tongue purple?” Peter loudly questioned, pulling you from your thoughts. Instantly, your eyes went wide. Your tongue was purple. You had a red lollipop, Steve had a blue one. Oh, no.

“Oh, uh, I had some candy earlier,” You answered. That much was obvious, but the young spider didn’t seem pacified.

“We don’t have purple candy… I’d know, I picked it all out,” Peter responded. Shit.

Nervously, you chuckled. “Wehell, I, uh—”

“Thought you might want another one,” that same deep voice from the kitchen said, shoving a red lollipop into your face. You slowly turned your head to look up at him, just as he pulled a blue one from his mouth.

For a second, it felt like time had stopped. All eyes were on you. You begrudgingly took the candy from Steve’s hand, quietly groaning as Steve rounded the couch and sat next to you.

Slowly, you lifted your head to take a peek at everyone in the room who either had knowing looks or wide-eyed expressions. The only sound to be heard was Steve sucking on his lollipop, who didn’t seem to care that the entire teamed had just figured out about your recent rendezvous.

So, you just ripped off the plastic off the one Steve handed you, sticking it in your mouth quickly and covering your eyes with your hands.

“I mean, it’s about damn time, but that’s the craziest thing I’ve ever seen,” Bucky spoke up. “I’m going to try that sometime.”

You laughed in embarrassment, looking over at Steve and smiling. He winked at you as if to say, “I told you so,” and placed his arm around your shoulders.

You leaned your head onto his chest in response. Closing your eyes, you took it all in; the feeling of Steve’s hand rubbing your arm, the feeling of happiness as you settled into the touch, the feeling of finally being able to be open and free.

It might have been silly of you to even begin to believe that depression just goes away, but you hadn’t felt this low since you were a teenager.

You had been doing so well over the last decade or so; obtaining your dream job as an assistant to Bruce Banner himself, making a name for yourself by creating some of the world’s best antidotes for poison, and being welcomed into your new found family that just so happened to be Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

It was the life you’d always dreamed of, so why did you suddenly feel like everything was falling apart?

It hit you out of nowhere on a sunny Wednesday afternoon. You’d been making lunch for yourself and for Thor, who’d been begging you to cook those famous burgers you grew up with. It was a special recipe; one that only you and your father had access to.

You served him one of the biggest burgers you had ever made and even giggled with delight when he ogled at it in awe. You sat next to him, placing your own burger in front of you and in an instant, your mood had plunged.

There was nothing that had seemingly triggered it. For the first time in years, you felt hopeless, unloved, unwanted, worthless.

Being a scientist, you knew how brain chemicals worked and you were certain it wouldn’t last forever, but damn you hated feeling this way. Especially when the things you felt weren’t true.

You ate a few bites of your lunch, then quietly excused yourself to seek refuge in the solitude of your own room. Tossing the remaining remnants of your burger in the garbage, you snuck out of the kitchen and began trudging down the hall.

Eyes permanently fixed to the floor, your mind starting racing, asking itself questions.

Why? Why now? Hadn’t you gotten over this?

A single tear fell down your cheek as you rounded the corner, only a few feet away from the door to your room. You brought a hand up to wipe it away, accidentally bumping into someone once you closed your eyes.

“Ah, shit, I’m sorry,” You snapped your head up and you were face to face with the God of Mischief himself. You wanted to pull yourself together. Save yourself from the obvious tease that was to come over your disheveled state, but it never came. “Sorry, I’m sorry…”

Loki, true to his nature, was a millisecond away from giving you a jab over what had happened, but it died on his tongue as he heard your faint sniff and watched you regress into yourself. It was unlike you. You were full of fire and passion and anyone who knew you also knew that a small bump on the shoulder wouldn’t have done anything to your ego. In fact, had it been yesterday, you might have even made a joke about watching where he was going, though it was your fault.

Loki was someone you’d definitely call a friend. The two of you hung out on occasion. Coincidentally, it was because you’d befriended Thor first. You spent most of your time with the God of Thunder—cooking for him, watching movies, braiding his hair and laughing as he attempted the same on you. Then, one day, Thor invited his brother to come join a movie night.

Loki was clearly offput by the request, but Thor was adamant that he should begin joining team bonding events. Though, it wasn’t the entire team. It was only his brother and you, which is what you supposed made him agree to it.

He was uncharacteristically shy at his intrusion of your weekly get together with his brother, but you welcomed him with open arms. Even going as far to sit in the middle of the couch so that Loki wouldn’t have to sit next to his brother.

Loki appreciated that and as time went on, he learned to appreciate you. You were a fantastic listener and often bore the brunt of his familial complaints. You never minded and always gave just the right amount of advice to send Loki back to what he was doing with a smile on his face.

So, catching you like this, making yourself small and apologizing profusely over seemingly nothing, Loki was more than concerned.

“Are you alright, doctor?”

It was a loaded question, he knew, but what else could he say?

You, again, rubbed your eyes to rid yourself of any remaining tears and quickly collected yourself. It was too late to try and pretend you weren’t crying, so you just let out a fake breathy laugh and nodded.

“Yeah, I’m sorry, ha,” You half-smiled. “I just had a moment. Nothing to worry about.”

Loki didn’t seem convinced. He was the God of Lies, after all, but he hummed in response, regardless.

“You’re quite sure?” He raised an eyebrow at you, prompting you to truly speak your feelings if you desired to do so.

“Yeah, yeah!” You waved your hand dismissively. “Just a bit of a bad day. I’m just going to rest for a bit.” Passing by him quickly, you looked over your shoulder to give him that signature smile of yours, though it didn’t reach your eyes. “See you around?”

“Yes, I’m sure you will,” Loki replied, swiveling around to see you fully. You nodded, then began retreating back down the hall towards your bedroom. Letting out a semi-relieved sigh, you quickened your speed and got the hell out of dodge. Of course you came face to face with the one person who could possibly see right through you.

No matter, you thought. You’d stay cooped in your room until the mood passed and all would be better soon.

Only soon never came.

The next morning, you awoke with that same ache in your chest—that terrible feeling of hopelessness. You groaned as you caught a peek of yourself in the mirror; hair astray, bags under your eyes, shoulders slumped over.

It wasn’t like you. Looking in that mirror, you barely recognized yourself. You prided yourself on your appearance and the way you carried yourself, but the person who was staring back at you with such distance wasn’t the real you.

Still, you thought getting dressed and fixing your appearance might help with your mood. You knew from experience that lying in bed all day and refusing to do the things you loved only made your depression worse. So, even if you didn’t feel like yourself, you’d still try and continue on as normal.

No one would be none the wiser.

Leaving the comfort of your own room, you padded down the hall and into the kitchen to make a cup of coffee, mentally cursing once you caught sight of Loki enjoying his own cup at the island with a book in his hand. You should have known better. It was fairly early and you knew Loki liked doing his morning routine before any of the other habitants of the compound had woke.

You let out a shaky breath and added a little more pep in your step as you normally would, sauntering into the kitchen.

Maybe he’d ignore you if you—

“Good morning.”

Shit.

You temporarily grimaced, keeping your focus on the coffee pot. “Morning.” You shot the demigod a small smile, hoping and praying that it would pacify him enough.

He was silent for the duration of your pouring of the coffee, but just as you opened the refrigerator to grab the creamer, he swiveled in his chair to see you.

“Are you feeling better?”

You almost paused as you heard the tone of his voice. It was timid, which if you knew Loki, you knew the God of Mischief was never timid. He was mostly sure of himself in everything he said, even if he knew no one would agree. It was almost as if he didn’t want to ask because he knew what your answer would be.

You poured the half and half into your coffee, then shut the fridge and shuffled back to the doorway of the kitchen. “Uh, yeah, I think so.”

Loki took a sip of his bitter black coffee, eyeing you warily, as if you’d break at any moment. “You think so?”

“Work and life just kind of caught up to me,” You shrugged, spitting out a half-truth. “I’ll be okay.” You attempted to retreat back to your room, but Loki stopped you, yet again.

“Doctor,” He beckoned. You let out the tiniest of sighs, then pivoted on your heels to look at him again. “You don’t have to hide your emotions. Not from me.”

For a moment, your eyes glazed over, tears threatening to spill over your waterline. Nodding in acceptance, you pulled together a tight-lipped smile. “Thank you, Loki. I appreciate it. Really, I’ll be okay.”

That, you knew for a fact. You’d be okay in time. Loki seemed satisfied enough with your answer, so he turned back to his book.

“Stark is hosting one of his insufferable game nights later on this evening. I wasn’t planning on attending, but I figure I might show if you agree to come with me,” He said, flipping a page without the use of his fingers. You opened your mouth to protest, but the words you wanted to say failed to formulate.

Loki hardly ever willingly engaged with the rest of the team, so the fact that he’d go out of his way to do so just as long as you came with him was enough to get you to accept his offer. Maybe it was exactly what you needed to get you out of this funk you were in.

“Uh, yeah, sure. I’ll be there,” You sipped on your coffee. “I’ll see you tonight, then.”

You turned back around, quickly scurrying back to your room. How you were going to get through tonight without everyone noticing your severe mood change would be a challenge.

You participated in almost every single game night and at each and every one, you were a force to be reckoned with. You were competitive and animated and you hated to admit it, but you were a sore loser.

You often got into heated arguments with Sam over whether or not he cheated and everyone knew not to be near you when you lost scrabble.

But regardless, game night was fun. It was one of your favorite nights you got to spend with the team to make you feel like one of them rather than an assistant. So, even if you didn’t feel up to it, you’d still go. Especially because of Loki.

But it was all too soon when you heard the inevitable knock at your door—Loki standing on the other side to accompany you to the game room. You quietly groaned and got out of bed, making your way to the other side of the room.

You opened the door to a smiling demigod. “You didn’t change your mind…”

It was more of a statement than it was a question, but you answered him anyway.

“I figured I could humor you,” You mumbled, stepping out of the entry way. “You never go to game night.”

“Yes, well, the others can be quite insufferable at times,” Loki let a breathy laugh through his nose. “And I know you love game night and I was hoping it would brighten your mood up a bit.”

“Thanks,” You whispered. Absentmindedly, you looped your arm through Loki’s, letting him accompany you to the room filled to the brim with over-excited heroes. He seemed startled at first, his head twisting to look at you with wide eyes, but he settled into the gesture quickly and let a miniscule smile grace his features.

Loki remembered the day you first hugged him. It was so out of the blue that he suspects that even you didn’t know you were going to do it until you did. You had always been well-versed with physical touch, especially with Thor, but Loki knew you’d refrained from affection with him because you weren’t sure he’d enjoy it.

But there came a day when you had an argument with your mother and needed some advice. Loki was more than willing to listen and offer his services since you so kindly did the same for him on more than one occasion.

Loki was wise—being over 1,000 years old and all—and helped you through that difficult period. The two of you sat and talked for what seemed like forever, and when the conversation came to a close, you leaned forward to wrap Loki up in your arms, thanking him for being so kind.

He had stiffened for a moment, but melted into the hug and even reciprocated it, holding you tight to his chest. Your friendship with Loki became stronger that night. After that, talking to him when you needed guidance became second nature. He needed you and you needed him.

Loki had been around long enough to know when something was bothering you and he knew that you hadn’t been yourself since yesterday. He didn’t want to pry, but he desperately wanted to see that bright smile on your face again. So, for you, he’d endure. Endure the benevolent heroes screaming in excitement and becoming exceedingly competitive over a child’s game. He’d do it for you.

Loki would do anything for you.

The pair of you walked into the game room with most of the team already there, situated and ready to begin. Cards Against Humanity was the game of choice; one of your favorites if Loki remembered correctly. Something about a group of heroes being extremely lewd and vulgar was particularly amusing to you.

“Ah, there you are!” Thor bellowed once he caught sight of you in the door. He swiveled in his chair, patting the seat next to him. “I saved you a seat, young one.”

Your eyes darted to the blond god, then to the chair, then back up to Loki. There was only one seat. It made complete sense. Loki never joined game night, so expecting him to arrive would have been foolish. Still, you didn’t think you could do this without him by your side.

Loki nodded at you. “Go on, darling. I’ll pull up a chair.”

Exhaling deeply, you reluctantly let go of his arm, chugging over to the table to sit next to Thor. As promised, Loki was right behind you, squeezing an extra chair between you and Barnes.

“Loki,” Thor marveled. “I’m glad to see you finally joining one of the teams’ bonding activities.”

“Right, well, the young doctor has been begging me to come for ages, so I figured I’d come and see what all the fuss was about,” Loki replied, nudging you on the shoulder, causing you to let out a small breathy laugh through your nose.

“Well, I’m glad to see they’ve succeeded in pulling you from your room. Speaking of, I haven’t seen you since yesterday. Is everything alright?” Thor asked as he directed his attention back to you. You glanced over at him with a small smile.

“Oh, yeah, I’ve just been tired, so I was catching up on some sleep,” You fibbed. “Bruce works me to the bone.”

“Hey!” Banner shouted from the other side of the table. “Don’t act like I’m the one that keeps you in the lab until well after midnight. Usually, I’m the one dragging you out of it, you workaholic.”

You just hummed in response, the smallest of grins forming on your face. Loki watched this interaction with puzzlement. You were a tenacious little thing. A comment like that would have set off a playful fire in you and you would have bitten back with some retort about how Bruce was lying and was trying to seem innocent.

The fire you once had was dimmed so low that Loki was more than concerned. He so desperately wanted the old you back, but didn’t have a clue as to how to bring that bright smile back on your face. Loki needed a way to help you get through this dark period.

His answer didn’t come until 15 minutes into the game.

The table had been playing some of the most vile cards Loki had ever seen. Having been over a millennia in age, he’d seen and heard of a lot of things, but many of the cards laid out on the table were inexplicable and dare he say funny.

It took a lot to get Loki to laugh harder than a breathy chuckle every now and then, but this game had the normally brooding God belly laughing.

Every time Loki would laugh, he’d take a glance over at you to see if you, too, were laughing, but every time he’d feel a pang of disappointment when you barely even cracked a smile. Even the others had started to notice how little you seemed to be enjoying yourself.

“You good, Einstein?” Tony spoke up from the other side of the table as he snatched another white card from the deck. “This game usually has you rolling. What gives?”

“You know, I was thinking the same thing,” Bucky leaned forward to try and get a good look at your face. You peered over at him, then at Tony, then back down to the cards in your hands.

“Like I said, I’m just really tired. My brain is a little mushy today,” You fake chuckled to deflect your real emotions, which seemed to pacify the heroes for now. Not Loki, though. Loki could see straight through you.

The next round, you were the judge, so you read the black card and watched as everyone slid their white cards over to you. After reading them all aloud, you picked the one that made you laugh the most.

“Who had ‘masturbate-a-thon’? That was funny,” You grinned a bit, holding up the card.

“That would be me, thank you,” Natasha held up her hand with a smirk on her face. You reached across the table to hand her the black card, then instantly retracted it as you felt a weak pinch to your left side. You squeaked, turning to look at Thor with wide eyes.

“Thor!” You hissed quietly. “What was that for?”

“I believed my card to be substantially funnier than the Widow’s card!” Thor claimed, a child-like pout on his face. “You didn’t laugh nearly as hard at mine!”

“I-It was funny, just… not the funniest,” You replied with a shrug.

“I beg to differ!”

“Don’t be a sore loser, Thor!” Nat shouted from across the table. “They barely laughed at my card.”

“She’s right,” Bucky said. “You can’t really base the humor off of their laugh considering how little they’ve laughed all evening.”

“Plus, isn’t this game supposed to be about which card makes the most sense?” Bruce inquired. A chorus of “no’s” and “definitely not’s” were heard from around the table.

“Look, I’m really sorry I’m not a bag of sunshine today, but my laugh doesn’t solely determine how funny a card is. A lot of other people laughed at it,” You jested back.

“Ah, yes, but your laugh is my favorite! I care more about your laugh than anyone else’s and I think we should all hear more of it, hm?” Thor adopted a devilish smirk and reached behind you to pinch at your right side so that you’d lean into him.

“Wahait!” You arched away from his touch, but didn’t get far once Thor’s other hand came into play at your left side. “Thohohor!”

“Now, this is adorable,” Tony quipped, watching as Thor took you apart with just his fingertips.

“Shuhut it, Stahark!” You snapped. Thor pinched up into the crevices of your ribs and you immediately began fighting harder for release. “Okahay! Thor! OKAHAY! I’ll laugh mohore! Plehease stohohop!”

The blond demigod did as he was told, snickering as he removed his hands from your torso. You buried your face into your hands, groaning out with an interlaced giggle. “Cahan we get back to the game now?”

The rest of the table either gave you a nod or chuckled at your near demise, but continued on as if nothing had happened otherwise. Loki had been silent throughout the scene but was undoubtedly surprised by the turn of events.

You were ticklish. Adorably so, and he was delighted to see such a bright smile on your face even if it was forced by someone else’s hands. He watched you inconspicuously from the corner of his eyes as that ticklish smile didn’t waver from your face for a good few minutes.

You were sitting up straighter and a bit more engaged with everyone. Playfulness. Maybe a bit of playfulness was all you needed to help with your sour mood.

Loki would never subject you to another tickle attack in front of everyone, though. That’s where he and his brother differ. Tickling someone in front of a group of people was public humiliation at its finest and he was certain that’s why you asked Thor to stop.

Still, it wasn’t lost on him how the tension in your shoulders had alleviated and how you laughed a bit more afterwards. It was short-lived, unfortunately; that saddened look returned only 5 minutes later.

Feeling a bit of remorse for you, he leaned over to whisper in your ear. “Would you like to call it a night, darling?”

You discretely bit your bottom lip, looking down at your deck of cards. A tiny nod was all Loki needed to scoot his chair back and stand once the winner of the last round had been determined.

“The doctor and I are going to head out for the evening, but thank you for allowing me to join you all tonight,” Loki announced. “We’re both a little exhausted, but please don’t stop on our accord. Enjoy the rest of your night.”

Loki held his hand out to gesture for you to lead the way out of the game room and you did so without any hesitation. He followed directly behind you and once he knew the two of you were out of earshot, Loki let out the enormous breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding.

You gazed over at him, a wary look on your face. “You don’t have to pretend to be someone you’re not, Loki. They don’t dislike you as much as you think they do.”

“Oh, so, they still dislike me a little bit?”

“No, noho,” You giggled, bumping his shoulder with yours. “That’s not what I meant. I just mean that they should get to know the real you. You know, the way that I have.”

“Likewise,” He replied. You shook your head.

“I have shown them the real me. Everyone knows how crazy and energetic I am.”

“Yet, you still won’t let them see the darkest pieces of you. Not even Thor, who is supposedly your best friend. Why is that?” He peeked over at you to gauge your reaction, which by the way your shoulders had slumped forward and you began fidgeting with your fingers, wasn’t a great sign. “I don’t mean to pry. I only ask because if you think the Avengers would accept the real mischievous me, why would you think they won’t accept when you’re not at your best?”

You sighed as you approached your bedroom door, leaning against the frame. “That’s different. It’s… complicated. I don’t let anyone see this side of me.”

“You let me, did you not?” Loki asked, then raised a brow as you snickered in self-deprecation.

“No. I haven’t. Not really,” You responded sadly. “I don’t want anyone to see me this way. I only want people to perceive me as the way I usually am.”

“Will you talk to me about it? I can’t pretend to know what you’re feeling, but you and I are good friends, I’d like to think, and I know many things about your personal life, so why not this, too?

You tore your gaze away from the floor and into Loki’s blue eyes, swimming in the sincerity. You’ve always trusted Loki. Since the day you first met, trust had been established on your end whether it was reciprocated or not.

Taking a deep breath, you turned the doorknob to your room and opened the door, gesturing your hand to it as he did for you earlier. Loki sauntered inside and waited for you to follow and shut the door before he sat in your desk chair as he always did when he came to your room for advice. You shuffled over to your bed, plopping down on it unceremoniously and tucking a leg under yourself.

“Again, I hope I’m not pressuring you into revealing such intimate secrets about yourself. I only ask because I care and I’m worried,” Loki reassured you.

“It doesn’t happen very often,” you started. “My depression, it’s… tricky. I was diagnosed at 13 and went through a lot of therapy to manage it. Before yesterday, the last time I had an episode this bad was when I was 17, so I thought I had gotten past it, but I was a little naïve to think I didn’t suffer from it anymore.”

“Depression is deepened, intermittent sadness?” He spoke to clarify. You nodded. “And it just comes and goes when it pleases?”

“Most of the time, yes. Sometimes, it’s triggered by something like a bad memory. Other times, like yesterday, it hits me out of nowhere for no reason at all. I was just eating lunch and this feeling of overwhelming sadness just washed over me. When it happens, I just hide in my room because I can’t bear to do anything but lay in bed and pray for the feeling to go away.”

“How long does it last, usually?”

“It depends. Back when I was a teenager, it could last for months. I missed out on an entire semester of school because I couldn’t fathom talking to anyone. Now that I’m older, it doesn’t last as long. Maybe a day or two. Sometimes a week,” You shrugged, going back to picking at your fingers. Loki was perceptive and he noticed that you start doing that when you want to hide your real, true emotions.

“What are you feeling right now? Explain it to me,” Loki ordered softly. He was genuinely curious. He, of course, had experienced sadness before, but never of this variety. He wanted insight. He wanted to know the real you.

“I feel exposed. Vulnerable.”

“That’s not necessarily a bad thing.”

“Yeah, well, it’s a little humiliating. I just hoped that no one ever had to learn about this.”

“No one does if you don’t want them to,” Loki explained. “You do a great job of pretending that you’re alright. I only figured out you were lying because I am the God of Lies. I can see straight through that little façade you put up for everyone else.”

You let out a small laugh at that, rolling your eyes. “I should have known.”

Loki abruptly stood up, walking over to your bed and sitting himself next to you, wrapping you up into a tight hug. You melted into his arms, severely needing the comfort he provided. It was as if all the pent-up emotion you’d been hoarding away had broken through and you began to cry.

Loki squeezed you tighter as you sobbed into his shoulder, rubbing your back gently. He’d never felt such pride knowing you felt safe enough in his arms to finally let go and cry. Maybe it was selfish, but you were his closest friend and if you could finally open up, then maybe he could, too.

After a minute or two, you pulled back from him, wiping your eyes with the back of your hand. “Sorry, I just—”

“Don’t you dare apologize…” Loki cut you off, narrowing his eyes at you.

“No, but, really, I’m—”

He interrupted you, yet again, with a pinch to your side. “What did I just say?”

“EEE!” You squealed, looking in between him and his hand incredulously. “What the hell?”

“I was just simply delighted when Thor enlightened me on this certain sensitivity of yours,” He muttered, poking at your belly and smiling as you squeaked each and every time. “It’s dangerous knowledge for the God of Mischief to have, I hope you know.”

“Ugh, dahamn it!” You groaned, slapping Loki’s hand away from you. He ceased immediately, chuckling as your face flushed red. He had an inkling that you didn’t truly mind being tickled, but he needed to make sure before continuing. Loki needed you to trust him.

“I’d like to apologize on behalf of my brother, however. I hope he did not overstep his boundaries when he tickled you in front of everyone earlier. He has a poor grasp on Midgardian social constructs.”

Your head snapped up, brows furrowed slightly. “No, no, Thor didn’t overstep. I mean, being tickled in public is always a little embarrassing, but mostly everyone knew I was ticklish, anyway.”

“So, you liked it, then?” Loki asked, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. You let out a small, anxious giggle and began fiddling with your fingers once more.

“What? Uh, no, I mean, I don’t mind it, I guess, but like is a strong word,” You ripped your eyes away from his, scooting away from him ever so slightly.

“Mhm,” Loki hummed knowingly. “Well, I think you’d be glad to know that I notice things that others do not. Would you like to know what I’ve learned about you today?”

Before you could answer, Loki inched closer to you and pushed you back onto your bedspread, snickering as you yelped in surprise.

“No need to answer, love. I’ll tell you, anyway,” He said, climbing on top of your hips, straddling you and effectively pinning you to the mattress. “I noticed how your smile lingered on long after Thor had stopped tickling you. I also saw how you didn’t slump your shoulders as much and how engaged you seemed to be with the game. You laughed more at the vulgar cards.”

Gulping, you wrapped your arms across your torso, knowing exactly where this was going. Loki just shook his head and grabbed a wrist in each hand, fixing them to the bed, as well.

“You have this little thing that you do when you’re trying to hide your real emotions. You’ve done it a few times since we left the game and you did it again after I asked if you liked being tickled.”

“I dohon’t!” You finally spoke.

Loki tilted his head and chuckled evilly. “No?” You shook your head wildly. “You had all this time to tell me to stop or to get off of you. You know exactly where this is heading, so if you don’t like it, then why are you still underneath me?”

Your cheeks prickled with heat at Loki’s comment, your head turning away from him to hide it as much as you could. “St-stop teasing!”

“It’s quite alright if you like it, doctor. If it puts a smile on your face and relieves your tension and helps you crawl out of this dark hole that you’re in, there’s absolutely no shame in it. I happen to find it endearing,” Loki replied with comfort in his tone. You still couldn’t look at him, but smiled slightly regardless.

“Thanks,” You whispered, so softly that Loki almost didn’t hear it. A triumphant grin formed on his face as he let go of your wrists.

“Ah, so you do like it! Well, since you don’t really mind…”

Loki shot his hands to your belly, spidering all 10 fingers around the sensitive area. You jolted and immediately fell into giggles. Loki was delighted at the sound of your laughter, having been deprived of it for so long. The way your nose scrunched and your eyes shut tight as you finally let go of all your negative thoughts was something he’d cherish forever.

“This spot seemed to be particularly effective,” Loki announced, switching to knead gently at your sides. You tried to buck out from underneath him, but his weight made it impossible.

“Lohokihi!”

“I have a lot to catch up on since everyone but me knew you were ticklish, so would you be so kind as to tell me where your weak spot is, darling?” Loki pinched up towards your lower ribs, and just like before, you squirmed fervidly, trying to arch away from him. “Ooh, might I have found it?”

“EEAHA! NOHO!” You shouted as your hands grabbed at Loki’s wrists—no real motive to push him away, but only because you needed to hold onto something.

“No, this isn’t your weak spot or no, you won’t tell me?”

“NEHEHEITHER!”

“I guess I’ll have to resort to finding it myself then,” Loki faux sighed, tickling his way up your ribs to see if one of them was a bit more sensitive than the others. Once he’d made contact with an uppermost rib directly underneath the hollow of your underarm, you screeched and clamped your arms down onto Loki’s hands.

“AHAHA! OHOKAY! YOHOU FOUND IHIHIT!” Your feet pounded onto the bed behind him as you attempted to twist away from him. Loki forcefully pulled his hands out from beneath your arms, eyeing you curiously as you calmed down.

“You do remember that I can tell exactly when you’re lying, do you not?” He scratched his two index fingers onto your belly next to your navel to keep you giggling. “That was not your weak spot. It might be a close second, but it’s not the one that makes you want to crawl out of your skin. Now, you can either provide me with the information I’m looking for or we can be here all night. Your choice.”

A giggly whine forced its way out of your lips, your hands covering your face in habit. In theory, you didn’t mind the playfulness. It was a great distraction from the dark thoughts that have been plaguing your mind all day. At the same time, you weren’t sure how much more you could take. You’d always been more ticklish than the average human, and Loki was methodical, so every squeeze and wiggle of his fingers sent you into a state of euphoria.

Loki pulled you away from your thoughts as his fingers slipped underneath the hem of your shirt to flutter them at your bare skin. “Have you decided?”

“Ehehe! Yehes, ohokahay, just gihive me a minute toho prepahare myself!” You giggled, batting his hands away from your waistline. He complied, yanking them out and placing them on his legs.

“I’m listening…” Loki trailed off, looking at you expectantly. You groaned and flopped your head back onto the mattress dramatically.

“Okay, but you have to promise you’ll go easy on me because that last time Thor tickled me there, I kicked him in his manhood and he couldn’t walk for, like, an hour…”

Loki laughed, “I’ll hold you down, don’t worry. I’m not an imbecile like my brother.”

“Fine,” You mumbled. “It’s that spot right above my kneecaps.”

Without a second to lose, Loki vacated his spot on your hips and slid down so that he was settled on your shins.

“WAIT!” You shouted as his hands made their way towards your knees. “Don’t make fun of me for this. I’ll never forgive you.” You pointed a finger at him with a non-threatening look.

Loki nodded, slowly placing his hands on that wretched spot. “I make no such promises.” His thumb and middle fingers squeezed rapidly at the trigger spot and he was fairly surprised at the mind-numbing scream you let out. “Norns, doctor. I’ve never known anyone this ticklish.”

You didn’t have the wherewithal to respond as you fell into hiccuppy laughter. You desperately tried to pull your legs out from under your captor, but the weight of a God was too much. Loki kneaded at the muscle a bit more, relishing in the way tears of mirth collected in your eyes, then ceased his efforts to let you breathe.

“Oh… oho-oh myhyhy Gohod…” You gasped for air, intermittently giggling. “Yohou—you ahare way too good at thahat…”

“I would certainly hope so, otherwise I’d have to relinquish the God of Mischief title,” Loki removed himself from your legs, smiling as he watched you wipe away your remaining tears. Smiling because they were not of sadness, but of the sheer exhaustion of laughing. “How are you feeling now?”

You propped yourself up on your elbows, glancing over at Loki with a goofy smile still on your face. “Tired, but a good kind of tired. I feel better,” You grinned shyly. “Thank you.”

“Anytime, doctor. You only have to ask.”

You blushed in response. “Well, I don’t think you’ll ever get me to explicitly ask for you to tickle me to tears, but I’m just glad I have you here. You’re a great friend, Loki.”

Loki reached out for your hand to help you sit up, then refrained from letting go once you had, rubbing his thumb across the soft, pliant skin.

“I’m grateful to have a friend like you, as well, darling,” He squeezed your hand tight, willing you to know just how much you meant to him. “Don’t be ashamed of those emotions should they ever return. I’ll always be there to pull you back.”

You heard your two mentors chuckling from behind you and you made a mental note to make them pay once this little game of theirs was over. Bucky and Steve had taken you under their wing when they found out you were injected with super soldier serum and while they were amazing trainers, they were annoying friends.

Bucky was right. You could absolutely run from them, but once they caught you, it'd be game over.

You zigzagged around the compound, never letting them know your next move. After you were sure they hadn't followed you, you slowed down to a power walk, making your way to your own bedroom.

And just as you opened the door, there were Steve and Bucky, insufferable smirks on their faces.

"NO!" You shouted as they grabbed your arms and pulled you inside. "YOU TWO ARE THE WORST!"

"Mhm, tell that to someone who cares," Bucky snipped back. Steve deposited you onto your bed, instantly sitting on your legs to keep you in place so that Bucky could grab ahold of your arms. "Now, where were we?"

"You were about to let me go and forget about all of this," You scowled up at him. "I know you're ticklish tooHOO! Steheve, dohon't!"

You were interrupted by a pair of hands kneading at your sides. Your eyes averted to the Captain, wordlessly pleading with him.

"I didn't realize you were this ticklish," Steve commented, shifting up to pinch at your lower ribs. "Tell me, did the serum make it worse?"

"I-hi dohon't knoHOHOW! BUHUHUCKY, NOHO!" You screeched in response once one of Bucky's hands joined the fray, lightly scratching in the hollow of your underarm. The two different sensations were unbearable. You arched and writhed and screamed in laughter as the two super soldiers took you apart.

"This just made my day," Bucky smiled down at you. "We'll have to do this more often."

"OKAY! BUHUCK, STEHEHEVE, PLE-PLEASE!"

The men let up, but kept you firmly pinned to the mattress.

"That was adorable," Steve snickered. You gasped for air, letting out your residual giggles.

"Just wahait until I get you alohone."

"You won't get the chance," Bucky laughed, wiggling his finger under your arm again. "You can certainly try, though."

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