shieldborne | For magpiemythos

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For magpiemythos

((continued from here))

After a confusing, worrisome evening spent together, Steve seems to feel he and Loki have hit some kind of new level in their friendship. He's less wry and cagey, a little more overly solicitous and warm; still, in the cold light of day he's a lot more awkward about both physical and emotional intimacy, and if Loki reverts to his usual teasing banter, Steve will fall into the same comfort zone.

He thinks about him often when he's not there, though. Hoping he's found a safer, kinder way to fight his demons. Fearing he hasn't, and feeling helpless to do anything more about that than he already has. At least now, Loki won't have to initiate all their contacts. He'll get occasional texts and calls from Steve, asking if he wants something at a store, if he's seen x or y movie, whether he's all right.

The others are a little bemused about Steve's increasingly less subtle interest in their otherworldly acquaintance. Some of them are openly skeptical, afraid he could be being played, but since no one has anything against Loki, it remains a topic of quiet, civil debate.

It's early in the evening this time when Steve texts Loki. Just a brief note, and he doesn't entirely expect a response: They're trying to convince me to get a tattoo of a bald eagle with a tear running down its face. It's a conspiracy, they're all in on it.

I doubt it would last long with my healing factor even if I did.

How's your evening going?

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He didn't understand. It didn't make sense. People didn't want him around, not really. People were only interested in what he could do, or in making sure that he didn't cause trouble. And yet here was Steve, saying that he did want him around. That he actually liked spending time with Loki on account of him being Loki.

And for all the concept utterly terrified him, he liked it at the same time.

Loki didn't voice this though, just tucking in a bit more securely against Steve with a slight upturn of his face for that bit of affection. A small bit of a smile starting to ghost over his lips, even if he was still not back to his usual self.

Just that subtle little shift of expression tells him he's getting through. Maybe not enough yet, to make a difference, but it's a start. He nuzzles his chin against his hair lightly, then kisses his forehead again. "I have to admit, it doesn't hurt that you're easy on the eyes," he murmurs. Surely that's no surprise to Loki at this point, but maybe it bears pointing out.

"Look at you, wet and mussed as a cat that fell into a fish tank, and I still kinda want to kiss you." He's blushing, and he can barely keep from rolling his eyes at himself, and there's definite amusement in his voice, but he means it. "That's not fair."

This? The affection and praise? It was definitely helping. Sure he could tell that Steve was a bit embarrassed admitting what he was, but that was sweet in it's own way, and even through the blushing and eye rolling, Loki knew that he was being honest.

"Like anyone expects me to play fair." Said in a quiet tone, still gathering himself up, but there was still a fond sort of teasing tone to the words, cautious as they still were.

"Mhmm. But you like to do what's unexpected," he says. "Don't you?"

Physical tenderness is a little easier than verbal expressions of affection in some ways, and now the barrier is breaking down between them. Steve is worried any contact that's too sexual will cause more harm than good, but he's already flirting, and it's not the first time.

To hell with it, he concludes, he'll test his luck, and just take it very, very slow and easy. If nothing else, his own blushing ought to keep them both warm even with the wet clothing. He gathers Loki a little closer, nuzzles his jaw lightly, and then gives him a soft, nearly-chaste kiss on the lips.

He let out a soft chuckle at that, brows lifting slightly as he considered.

"Suppose you have a point." He figured that Steve would continue to be affectionate. It made sense, both in that Loki was responding well to it, and the fact that Steve himself seemed to like the cuddling. The kiss, chaste as it was? Was a bit surprising, at least with the implications that came with it. Boundaries crossed, more cracks in the wall between friends and... something more.

But surprised or not, it got a low hum from him, grasp on the other tightening slightly. No intent on deepening it or pushing farther, but still craving the sentiment and warmth that came with it.

And if there was a bit of return in the kiss, well that was his prerogative.

"Damn right I do," he smirks against him and sinks a little bit lower against the wall.

Steve can do soft and slow and easy, and he can feel the change in Loki's hold on him. His eyes drift closed, the better to focus on the subtle shifts in pressure and tension in the man in his arms. It's nice to get a response. Reassuring on more than one level: Loki is recovering slowly, and Steve's attentions are evidently not unwanted.

He makes a soft sound in response to the hum, sighing, but when the kiss breaks he doesn't pursue more, unwilling to push too hard. "I know I don't know everything about you, but I think I probably know you as well as anyone."

He was relaxing. Slowly but surely Loki was starting to slip out of the dark moody emotional place he'd been left in, drifting towards something closer to his typical self. But even still it was a bit fragile; it wouldn't take much to tip him back into the dark again.

But so far Steve seems to be taking the right steps, and Loki is responding well to him and his attentions.

"Do you?" Meant slightly teasing more than anything, but there was something a bit more... honest underlying the small smirk he drummed up. No one ever said that positively. They always seemed to mean it when something had gone wrong, or they'd discovered some unpleasant bit of his past. That someone might think they knew him and not mean it that way was... novel.

And it was definitely a nice change of pace.

"Don't see why not," he says gently. "You're not all that forthcoming, but I've seen you stripped down emotionally, more than once. I'm guessing most people don't get to see you when you're hurting."

Except for the ones that he allows to hurt him, and they're not looking.

"We're more than the sum of our actions and the things people do to us," he adds softly. "The things we feel say a lot about who we are, too."

"You're one of the few who... don't assume I'm just faking that too." Loki commented with a small shrug. It was nothing new. He was a trickster after all, a known liar. Who wouldn't assume that any emotion expressed might be some part of a scheme or con?

Asgardians believed it readily enough back home, as had those on Earth. Here... he wasn't sure how the rest of Steve's team felt about him entirely, not really wanting to stick his nose into that hornet's nest just yet. But he had a good guess that they were suspicious. Wary at least, not that he could blame them.

Steve shakes his head, visibly troubled by this comment. Sure, he knows Loki has a reputation. It's well-deserved, as far as he can tell, by the Loki belonging to this dimension, but the depression and self-loathing he's seen from this Loki seems too deep to be faked. He also can't see where he'd have anything to gain from it. Not from convincing just Steve, anyway. Maybe if he won all the Avengers over.

And that's clearly not something he's working on. He's friendly enough, but he's not reaching out to them the way he does to Steve.

"I don't..." Steve begins, licks his lips, considering, and then starts over, "I think it's wrong to be so dead-set on not being fooled that you refuse to respond when people ask you for something. Especially if it's something as simple as kindness. I was taking my chances at first, for that reason. Giving you the benefit of the doubt."

"I guess now I'm convinced. You're my friend." Maybe more than that, if he wants to be.

Loki could argue the point that if he were playing a long con, then who better to start with than Steve? Everyone liked him after all, and if Loki were to go long enough without taking advantage of his kindness, then it would start to wear down distrust in others.

And if anyone looked too harshly his way, Steve would likely defend him, so long as he'd not done anything wrong.

But then that was his nature to think of those things. At least he wasn't feeling self-destructive enough to actually bring the idea up, especially when Steve makes the admission he does.

"...D'you kiss all your friends then Steve?" Teasing sure, but there was a gentler sort of tone to it, as if the idea of having a friend pleased him. And it did, for all he was at the same time terrified of what it would mean for Steve in the long run.

Steve doesn't think he's being conned, is the bottom line, even if he doesn't have any solid logic or evidence as to why he's so certain. He may have had this conversation with one or more of the other Avengers, in fact, although clearly they're not worried enough to really hassle him or Loki about what's going on.

It's probably for the best Loki doesn't argue, though, especially if he's now going to tease Steve about kissing him.

And now it's Steve turn to look vulnerable, at least for a fleeting moment, opening his mouth to protest or explain, shutting it again, and then closing his eyes and tucking his forehead against Loki's. His face is flushed.

"Nope," he answers quietly. It's a deceptively simple reply.

He wasn't expecting that. He was expecting some sass back more than likely, maybe some blushing. But the vulnerability he glimpsed there, the honesty of such a simple reply actually brought Loki up short, the teasing comments he'd rather hide behind dying abruptly in the face of what was said, and what didn't need to be said as a result.

"Oh." Loki wasn't sure how to respond. Flippant responses just seemed a poor choice, and in his current state he wasn't sure how much emotional honesty he could put forth to get past that coping mechanism. But even the single word answer didn't sound upset.

He knew he wasn't, even as the implications of what the conversation might mean were starting to really rattle around his brain, a bit of pink creeping across his cheeks.

Steve immediately wants to apologize, play it off, backpedal to some place that would be emotionally safer for the both of them. He's a little overwhelmed now, though, himself. Afraid of this downward spiral Loki's caught in, afraid his own best intentions aren't enough to save him from it, and not so much because he's afraid of Loki's purported destiny as because it hurts to see him in pain.

Steve attaches to people quietly, subtly, but intensely.

'Oh' isn't much of an answer, but under the assumption no news is good news, Steve just gives a little nod. "You feeling well enough to change clothes yet, doll?"

Haha, oops. There's a telling little slip of the tongue. You know Steve's distracted when he lapses into 1940's slang.

Luckily he didn't backpedal. In Loki's current state of mind he certainly wouldn't react to that well, would jump to worst-case scenarios in his own head. For all there was a part of him that pointed out that Steve would be safer, happier away from him, he couldn't bring himself to push him away, especially now.

Still there was a bit of color to his cheeks as he smiled faintly at the little nickname, something in him easing a bit in response to that.

"Yeah. I think I can do it."

Okay, that blush is probably a good sign. Steve smiles down at him, relieved (although there's still a just a little lingering puppy-dog look in his own eyes; he has no idea what he's doing and can only hope it's not a bad thing). "Okay. Good. You got pajamas or sweatpants or anything? I'll get them out for you and help you change."

Which is kind of an intimate offer if you think about it, but since he's already had him naked on how own couch, he doesn't see any reason not to push ahead like it's perfectly okay.

Not like Loki really minded anyways. It would be up to Steve to decide how much nudity was too much on average because Loki wasn't bothered by it at all.

"There's pajama pants in the top drawer." Being nice in not pointing out that he normally didn't get much use out of them, at least for now. And he'd finally let himself be shifted to release Steve so the man could investigate the options while he started peeling out of the damp clothing, starting with his fingerless gloves and shirt. Steve would find... options at least. Most of them of some manner of silly print, like the ones covered in multicolored foxes, or the cat and cupcake pair, or the unicorns.

Variety~!

"Good," he disentangles himself slowly and gets up. His own clothes are damp from being pressed against Loki's, so he takes off his sweatshirt and hangs it over the doorknob, which leaves him in one of his too-snug white t-shirts. He'll worry about his jeans later.

"Do you have a dryer or anything? Or should I hang those up for you?" He's being solicitous, but he's not going to leave the room unless Loki really seems like he's comfortable with it. And in the meantime, he opens the indicated drawer and sifts through, finding the contents highly entertaining. The cats and cupcakes are about to be his first choice, except when he picks them up he finds a familiar shield pattern beneath them.

He can't not laugh. "Wha--Loki! Where did these come from? I didn't know anyone made anything like this..!"

He holds up the pants, deeply flushed and grinning. Steve has actually kept studiously away from any merchandise bearing his logo. He doesn't want royalties, for sure. Every now and again Tony brings something particularly awful to his or the team's attention (he didn't even know what a banana hammock was until a couple months ago), but none of them are trying to make money off their own images. So of course that leaves a door open for other people to do so.

"Hanging'll be just fine. Better than subjecting you to the basement." The one curse of his love of skinny jeans- when they're wet, there's no getting out of them on his own. So for the moment he'll sit and wait patiently, just shaking his head.

When Steve discovered the shield patterned pants? Loki couldn't help but grin in amusement at his reaction.

"Why Steve, where there's a will there's a way! Plenty of fans have popped up with some rather ingenious little cottage industries around you and your friends exploits." It took every fiber of self-control not to tell him about the non-merchandise side of things. He was enjoying the way Steve was blushing, but he didn't want to take things too far and spoil the fun.

"I'm not afraid of your basement," Steve says, smirking a little, but he doesn't object to not having to make the trip, either. He can just hang Loki's clothes over the shower curtain rod once he's out of them.

He holds the pajama pants up to his chest and strokes the material. Kind of nice. A little bit fuzzy, like flannel. "I'm not sure if I should be flattered or alarmed you apparently sought them out," he laughs again, and then makes up his mind and carries them over.

"Since you do have them, though. You may as well be wearing my logo on your ass as anyone else's."

"You should be, I'm fairly certain some of my neighbors are actual trolls. They certainly leave the laundry room as messy as trolls would anyways." Loki liked this better than the worry of before. Steve laughing and teasing in that easy sort of way that had drawn him to start bothering the man in earnest in the first place.

"Well if you want your shield on my ass, you're going to have to give me a hand getting these off of it first." The downside of his perchance for skinny jeans, given how even when they weren't soaked through they weren't the easiest to squirm in and out of. The things he does for fashion.

"I doubt it. Humans are plenty filthy on their own," Steve tells him cheerfully.

Okay. So they're both feeling better. Maybe there are a couple elephants still lurking in the corners of the room, but they seems to be okay with just lurking for the moment. They can drag them back out later. Steve finds himself craving just a little quiet time. Something soft and kind, for the both of them.

His ears are pink as he comes over to help Loki undress, though. "Are you sure you should wear them that tight? Not that they don't suit you--" Steve is kind of a leg man, regardless of the gender of the legs he's looking at, and he's noticed.

"But they're bound to pinch important parts sooner or later, aren't they?" He starts to help work Loki's shoes and socks off first. They'll definitely need to be out of the way.

Loki of course would be happy to leave those elephants to starve in the corner if he could get away with it.

"They're not too bad..." Said with a faint shrug before he was starting to work them over his hips, pretending that the pink cast to Steve's ears wasn't adorable and amusing. And the concept of the man appreciating the sight of him definitely did wonders for his ego, aside from the fact that the idea just was pleasing in general. "But when they get wet they might as well be cemented on."

His smile turned sly as he tilted his head, tone turning playfully innocent. "It's sweet of you to worry about all of my... important parts though."

Steve helpfully tugs on one leg, then the other, under the assumption that pulling them down without letting them roll or bunch will make it a little easier to get them off. He would be businesslike and try not to stare at his naked legs, except Loki is teasing now. Steve has been known to be chivalrous to the point of annoying, but he feels like he's being invited.

So he looks. He also leans down, once the pants are lowered past knee level, and plants a slow, close-mouthed kiss to the inside of Loki's left knee. "You're still cold," he observes without backing off more than an inch or two, and then straightens finish pulling the jeans off. "Should I get you a towel?"

Steve is absolutely being invited to look; especially as his efforts definitely do make sliding the pants off much easier. The kiss offered earns a slow smile from Loki, unable to help but let fingers graze through his hair in response. And of course he has no problem whatsoever with sitting naked, sorry Steve, you get to blush for the both of them on that count.

"A towel might not be a bad idea..." Better to dry off a bit more before he started pulling on dry clothing after all, and he could only guess that Steve might be a bit more comfortable if he wasn't cold and wet to cuddle up to as well.

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