Never Alone Again

Part Nine - Tension

You and Loki had sat quietly for a while, just taking in the moment. Eventually, you sat back up, realizing you had been leaning on him and that he was basically hugging you. This made you really flustered.

"I- uhh, sorry." You said. "I'm not used to this."

Loki grinned. "Join the club."

You stared at the floor. "So what now?"

"I think I'm going to go for a walk around the tower," he said. "If you'd like to join."

You nodded, standing up and following him towards the door.

Loki walked aimlessly, with you trailing slightly behind him on the side. You weren't sure what to say, you weren't even sure what to think or feel. You looked over at Loki, who wasn't really paying any attention to you. He had his hands in his pockets, and seemed to be lost in his own thoughts.

Then you thought about him comforting you and felt your face grow red again. You looked away.

Damn it! I shouldn't be thinking like this.

Thinking like what, y/n?

You had accidentally linked to his mind.

Shit. Uh, don't worry about it. I'm fine.

I'm not worrying. That's all you.

Right at that moment, you walked past the room Tony was working in. He watched the two of you walking by, his mouth hanging open in shock. You noticed him and freaked out.

"We need to walk faster." You said, grabbing Loki's arm and pulling him forward.

In response to this, Tony scrambled to get over to the door, which he opened and looked out at you. "Excuse me?"

You stopped, but didn't turn around. "Yes?"

"What do you think you're doing?" He asked you.

"Walking." You replied.

Tony took a moment to reel in his frustration before calmly saying, "You are going to get yourself hurt."

You finally turned around to face him. "I'm fine. I'll be fine. I can handle myself."

Tony took a deep breath, glared at Loki, who was giving him a sly grin, and returned to the room he was working in. You looked back over at Loki.

"You're going to give that man a heart attack." He said.

You just laughed. "He'll live."

Eventually, your walk had taken you to outside the sparring room. You stopped and looked through the window, thinking.

"Did the Tin Man teach you to fight?" Loki asked.

You laughed at the nickname. "A little. I'm not very good."

Then an idea appeared in your head. You looked over at Loki, a mischievous grin spreading across your face. "Wanna fight?"

"You're joking."

"I'm not!" You said. "Let's go, come on, it'll be fun!"

"Tony would literally kill me if he saw us fighting." Loki replied. "...and I would take you down instantly."

"Please?" You begged.

Loki sighed. "Fine. For a little bit."

"Yay!" You cheered, already heading into the room.

You removed the sweater you were wearing, leaving your undershirt, and wrapped your hands to protect them. Were you about to get your ass handed to you? Absolutely. You didn't really care.

You turned to face Loki, ready to go.

"You start." Said Loki. "I don't know where you're at skill wise."

You took a deep breath, and then threw a punch in his direction. He simply stepped to the side and you lost your balance, stumbling past him.

"Wow. That was bad." Loki laughed.

"Shut up." You said, running at him again. "I told you I don't know much."

Loki blocked your blow and pushed you to the side. "You're doing it all wrong."

"Well then how do I do it, huh?" You asked.

He walked over to you and fixed your stance. "You need to stand like this or you're going to lose your balance every time."

You threw a couple small punches into the air in front of you. "Huh."

He was right, that did help.

"And you shouldn't have your fist like that, do it like this instead." Loki said as he took your hand and adjusted it.

You spent a few moments having your technique be corrected by Loki. It didn't fix everything, but you could at least go back and forth with him now. He was clearly going easy on you, but you didn't mind.

Loki blocked you. "That's better."

You hadn't been able to actually hit him yet. You were studying him, trying to find an opening. Maybe you could catch him off guard since he isn't trying too hard.

You went at him again, this time trying something different.

Block.
Block.
Block.

There it was, an opening! You swung your arm around and nailed a solid blow on his shoulder. He stumbled back, surprised.

"Hah! I got you!" You said, relaxing.

With that, he charged at you.

"Oh shit."

You didn't have time to think before you were pinned to the ground underneath him.

"Got you." He said, his voice low and raspy.

You were both out of breath, sweat glistening on your faces. His hair hung down, some of it sticking to his face. You stared up at him, and he stared back, his eyes showing that glint of mischief you'd grown so familiar with. There was an air of tension between you, but you couldn't seem to look away.

Man, he's hot. You thought.

After the moment passed, Loki relaxed and released you. You sat up, still breathing hard.

"That," you said, "was awesome."

Loki looked at you, confused. "You're so weird."

You just laughed as he extended his arm to help you up. He pulled you to your feet.

"I think that's enough for one day." You said. "I'm going to go take a shower."

Loki nodded. "Need some help?" He teased.

You threw the towel you were holding at him. "No!"