Falling Asleep at Your Desk
Pairing: Loki x Mortal / Avenger!Reader
Loki's getting used to you falling asleep at a conference table, lucky he's always there to carry you to bed.
Warnings: None! I don't think... sigh. Reader has hair. Don't come for my warnings :( I learnt it from the other creators...
It was lateâ3 A.M. on the dot, and Loki was still alone.Â
Although that was becoming increasingly normal for him as the weeks went on.Â
First it was the missionsâyou being put in charge of several S.H.I.E.L.D. task forces because the other Avengers were away on their own business. Stark trying to pick up the pieces of a crumbling relationship that Loki felt minimal sympathy for, the Captain on some business with an old lover whom he left in the past, even the witch and the robot decided to take a couple weeks off to visit Europe.Â
Which left you, his darling mortal, to eagerly take this opportunity to put your name down on a majority of the upcoming assignments. Even Fury was hesitant about signing off on it, but no, of course you waved him off and questioned his faith in you. Typical. Baiting the man who writes off on all your paychecks just for some rush of adrenaline.Â
Then again, Loki was in no position to talk since he was benched for the foreseeable future. Entirely unfair. He was framed. But it certainly added to your workload.Â
He tried to be supportive, he really did, but after about the sixth consecutive mission he helped pack a bag for, he was out of his mind. It seems his sanity correlates with your presence, or at least thatâs what the diagrams he made showed. He spent three whole days using the poster boards that Hill created to demonstrate the correlations between Avengers and crime rates, drawing over the graphs to show the effects that missing you had on him. It was oddly sweet until you learned that Maria still had three more meetings with high-up S.H.I.E.L.D. officials that she needed them for.Â
The night you came back from your final mission, he was overjoyed. Ecstatic. Pacing your bedroom with a book in hand that he couldnât calm himself down enough to read. Except the first thing you did when you got on land was crash. Slept sixteen hours in total. Thatâs fine, he should have predicted that. No matter, he had you all to himself.Â
Except he also overlooked the mission reports. Probably because heâs never filled one out despite Furyâs behest. Instead of having you in your bed every night, you were slumped over the desk, trying to recall which mission you shot out 46 agents and which one 46 agents shot out you.Â
This was the third time this week that you fell asleep in the conference room⌠It was Wednesday. And dare he admit, itâs not even out of selfishnessâthe desire to take up all your attention, but genuine concern at his favourite mortal overworking yourself.Â
He stops behind your chair, blue eyes taking stock of the way youâre slumped over the table, head resting in your folded arms. He takes a moment to just look, to gently push a strand of hair out of your faceâyou look younger. Almost innocent in a way heâs not. But itâs the clear signs of exhaustion that feels like a blow to his gutâthe emphasis it has on your humanity and the contrast it has to his long lifespan.Â
He tries to push that thought to the back of his head, like he usually does, slender fingers lingering against your skin and tracing the contours of your cheek. Heâs sure that the security camera in the far corner can pick up on his affection from here. His palm flattens against your back, drawing large circles as he bends to murmur in your ear. âCome on, my love, letâs get you to bed.â
When you only shift instead of waking, a muscle twitches at the corner of the Godâs mouth. He shouldâve expected you to be out like a light. With a huff of half-amusement and half-exasperation, he leans over, sliding his arms under you, and in one smooth motion he lifts you into his arms, supporting you easily against his chest.Â
âStubborn. Even in sleep.â He mutters against your forehead, pressing a kiss to your hairline.
âI can hear you,â you mumble into his neck, arms coming to wrap around it.
He pauses in his turn towards the door, gaze flicking down to your faceâeyes still closed. âAh, you're not completely unconscious then.â He readjusts his hold on you slightlyâmaking sure youâre secure in his arms as he makes his way out of the conference room. âSo you can hear me, but you cannot be bothered to wake up, can you?â
âPretending gets me carried. Waking up gets me a lecture.â
You donât even have to look to feel the large smirk gracing your boyfriendâs lips. âClever, love. Very clever.â His grip tightens once more, trapping you against him as he tries to fit you both through the doorway. Your knee bangs against it anyways and you tug on one of his curls in retaliation. âYouâre becoming more cunning and manipulative, Iâm impresâ ow!â
âManipulative?â You repeat, temporarily dropping the Iâm-asleep-carry-me-please act in favour of pressing a sloppy kiss against Lokiâs pale cheek.Â
He chuckles, the sound deep and velvet in a way thatâs been affecting you long before titles were given to each other. It might not be something you hear often from the God, but it certainly is your favourite. âYou feign sleep to avoid a lecture, preying against my affections for you. If that isn't a form of manipulation, I don't know what is. You're learning from the best it seems.âÂ
You hum once more into his neck, tucking in closer as he walks you down the long corridor towards the elevator. Loki canât help his breath catching, even for a split second, his heart skipping a beat from the feeling of having you in his arms once again. Heâs missed you. Dearly.
Heâs used to feeling alone. Being alone. After all, heâs spent millennia in the shadows of his brother, weighed down by what he now knows is his true heritageâthe reason why Odin never gave him the attention and praise he soughtâeven when he acted out. And when Loki did find out, he spent the following years, albeit a lot shorter than the first, pushing the people he loved away for the sake of pettiness over the lack of shared blood.Â
Somehow that led him here. To you. Where even on the longest of physical separationsâmissions and mortal workloadsâhe never feels truly alone. Because if there is one thing he can count on, itâs that you are always on his side, even when he pushes back. Even when he did push back, on his most intolerable days before he captured your heart.Â
He spent the three hours prior to his trip to the conference room looking at the text you sent to his little, black rectangle: Missing you with a picture of your screwed up face in faux-anger.Â
It was adorable and saved instantly to his⌠cloud?
âYou're overworking yourself. You've been on non-stop missions for days now. And now youâre doing all that⌠boring stuff,â he says, coming to a stop at the elevator. He mustâve used his powers, you think, because thereâs no awkward bending, no request for help to push the button. Just a sudden ding as it makes its way down to your floor.Â
âYou mean the required mission reports?â One of your hands tangles in the inky curls that is tragically Lokiâs hairââso unfair you have prettier hair than me. You donât even do haircare!â youâve told him more than once. Itâs softer in the nights, a little more tangled that has your hand catching in the ends.Â
âYes, the blasted required mission reports.â He rolls his eyes, all exaggeration. âThey're tedious, time-consuming, and utterly beneath you. You shouldn't be doing such things to begin with, much less at this hour while your eyes are drooping." He glances down at the body still in his arms, your weight starting to get to his arms (though heâd never admit it). Heâs somewhat glad you still have your eyes shut because heâs all too aware that heâs failing at hiding his concern.Â
âItâs that attitude that has Fury so pissed with you, by the way.â
âFury is always⌠pissed with me,â he replies, the word dripping with disdain. âAnd those reports are a colossal waste of your skills and intellect.â He pushes down the other thought, the one along the lines of: 'and they exhaust you, and you look tired, and I hate seeing you tired'. He has a reputation to uphold after allâeven if itâs shrinking with every day he spends with you.
âYou did kinda try⌠Yâknow⌠World domination.â
âThat was years ago⌠And it was strictly New York if you must know,â he huffs, a hint of defensiveness in his tone. âDo you still hold that over my head every time I speak against your precious Director?â
The elevator opens up once moreâthis time with your boyfriend stepping out on the floor with everyoneâs accommodations. He turns a corner, footsteps quiet against the vinyl floor.
âJust saying,â you half-shrug in his arms. âThat was one hell of a headache for him.â You press another kiss, this time at the junction of his jaw.Â
He scoffs, though it comes out a little softer in time with your affection. âA headache? That's an understatement. The man has had a permanent migraine since my arrival on Earth. Though I do take satisfaction in that.â
Another kiss to his cheekâmore forceful than you intended with the drowsiness that has you halfway between conscious and asleep. âJust a week or two then Iâm caught up,â you yawn.Â
He canât help the way his heart stutters in his chest, or the slight hitch of his breath that he knows you feltânot with the way youâre still trying to burrow in closer, the way you hand out affection like itâs advice. âA week or two?â He repeats, a hint of resignation. âAnd then what? You'll be sent out on some other mission, no doubt with more reports to fill out.â
âRest of the team will be back then. Wonât have as many.âÂ
âCorrection. You wonât have any,â he declares. This time heâs more careful going through the doorway of your bedroomâmagic to open the door and stepping in sideways. You even hear his back scrape against the frame, no longer surprised that heâd take the hit for you. He instantly crosses over to your bed, setting you down with actual surprised gentleness, adjusting the pillows for extra supportâusually he just tosses you in the general direction and hopes for the best. âYour turn for a vacation.â His tone is authoritative, leaving no room for argument. It almost makes you want to argue. Or at least you would if his hands didnât fall to the hem of your shirt.Â
âWhere?â You ask, raising your arms to help him.Â
âSomewhere⌠secluded. Far from Director Fury's jurisdiction.â He pulls your shirt off with ease, folding it neatly to place on your desk chairâa neatness that could only come from a prince, and not like most men youâve dated. He may have tried to take over the worâ sorry, New York. But at least he folds clothes!Â
âSomewhere without paperwork, boring meetings, and mind-numbing reports. Better yet somewhere there isnât cell service.â Long, slender fingers tug at your sweatpantsâthe ones you especially wore today for comfortâtugging them down your legs and leaving you in your underwear.Â
You unclasp your bra, leaving it on the edge of the bed for Loki to add to the pile of clothes heâs made, before lifting your arms again to signal for one of his sleep shirts. Clearly youâve both built a routine.Â
Like the dutiful boyfriend he is, he slips the oversized shirt over your head, watching with a hint of fondness as it swallows youâif you notice a trace of hunger in there too then thatâs not on him. He waits until youâve slid under the covers, until heâs finished up with your clothes pile and heâs taken a moment to prepare himselfâto ask for something.Â
âAsgard,â is all he says.Â
You pause in your attempts to burrow under the covers like a hedgehog during hibernation. âWhat about it?â
He stands over you for a moment, taking in the sight of his girlfriend cozy under the duvet, eyes blinking heavily from tirednessâwhere she belongs. The bed. Not the tiredness. His hand reaches out, almost of its own volition, to brush a knuckle against your cheek. He plops down on the edge of the bed. âWeâll go to Asgard. Maybe you can meetâŚâ
âIf I meet your mother, thatâs not a vacation. Thatâs a very stressful environment.âÂ
Loki snorts, poking your nose. âIâll have you know, Mother is a delight.âÂ
âStill your motherâstill the QUEEN of a wholeass realm. The person who loves you most in the world. Second most. No, most. I canât compete with her. Couldnât be more intimidating if she tried.âÂ
He laughs, a low rumble against the silence of the night. âYouâre right. She will interrogate you thoroughly.â But Frigga was good, in all the ways Loki wasnât. Kind in the ways heâs often dismissed as weakness. He doesnât say it, or even show it, but sheâs the strongest woman he knowsâor now, one of the strongest women he knows. The thought of her meeting the mortal heâs claimed for himself⌠well, itâs a good thought to close his eyes to. Â
âPlus you donât have plumbing.â You add, hand pulling his away from your face to intertwine them together. âPeeing in a pot is beneath me.âÂ
His jaw drops at your blunt declarationâa laugh of disbelief and surprise mixing together to make your favourite sound. âPissing in a pot is beneath you,â he repeats. âWhat about that time in Bolivia when you had toââ
You sit up. Fast. Pointing a finger at Loki. âWe agreed to never bring that up!â
His grin widens, clearly the memory of his girlfriend in a MORTIFYING situation like Boliviaâis funny as shit to him despite the shame it inflicts upon you. He HAD promised not to bring it up again. Swore under duress⌠But he was never one for keeping promises, and you should really know that by now. âOh, but it was so memorable. Youâre so adamant about not lowering yourself to 'such primitive means' yet there you wereââ
You hit his shoulder. âNow Iâm wide awake you asshole! Gonna give me nightmares.â
âHey!â Loki rubs at the target of your attackâalready planning different ways he can make it as dramatic as possible. But the sight of you looking up at him with wide eyes, trying to stifle a yawn despite your previous proclamation⌠Well⌠he wasnât a monster. Not anymore. He leans down to press a kiss to your cheek. âClose your eyes, my love, youâll need the energy to shout at me tomorrow when I tell you Iâve already made arrangements with Heimdall.â
You huff, eyes narrowed. Heâs alreadyâ Tomorrow. Youâll deal with him tomorrow. So instead you turn on your side, burying yourself deep in the covers. If you see the look of unabashed affection on Lokiâs face, you donât say anything.Â
The urge to climb in himself, to hold you, now that heâs finally got a fraction of your time is overwhelming. He inhales, steeling himself and capturing the mental image of you tucked in and eyes fluttering shut, before he then lifts himself off the bed. Â
âSleep well,â he murmurs, the words coming out tender with such ease.Â
âWhere are you going?âÂ
He halts in his tracks, pausing to look at you over his shoulder. With a sigh, he turns back, making his way to the door with his hands plastered on his hips. âI'm going to do something incredibly dull and entirely beneath me.âÂ
And because he doesnât have the heart, or perhaps because he has too much pride, he doesnât tell you that heâs about to spend that next few hours in that conference room, filling out those mission reports using your memories. Perhaps itâs because he isnât doing it for the recognitionâbut because it would make your life easier. It seems⌠he has learnt to love.
Newest Loki fic in the series
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