Five's a Crowd | Stucky / Marvel Polyamorous LGBT Romance

Chapter 19: Charlie

Charlie didn't even glance up when his door opened, just continued to obsessively recheck the spreadsheet he had been working on. It was really late for Steve to be coming to bed, but he had been keeping odd hours, whether from stress or artistic inspiration Charlie wasn't sure.

When there was no familiar footfall on carpet, or whoosh of the bathroom door closing he looked up. He felt his heart stumble when he saw Loki in the doorway. Usually, his thinness made him appear even taller than he really was, spindly like the gentle stick bug. Tonight though, his shoulders hunched in and his back seemed to curl in under the weight of the difficult past couple of weeks.

Charlie's eyes found Loki's and he had to blink several times to parse through the sight. His eyes were shuttered, detached, and almost wistful. Charlie had seen this look on Nicky on bad nights and too early mornings. It was the look of someone trying to rethink a bad decision, when they were already in the process of making it. It was a cry for help and a request for penance all at once.

Charlie had felt so guilty when this had all begun, the way he had kept Loki at arms length to try and save him from pain, but ultimately had hurt him anyways. Maybe seeking his own form of penance or something else, Charlie had given Loki space to explore and find his place amongst the household, focusing on his work the past few months instead.

Loki had slotted in so beautifully with Nicky and Steve. Charlie knew he was still finding his place next to Bucky, but he would, and Charlie had no doubt they would have a beautiful relationship. However, the delay in their relationship also had Charlie hesitating to step in and muddy the water any further. All this, plus the surge in his work and the virus, had meant he and Loki had barely had any time to explore their own relationship.

He placed his laptop on the bedside table and felt a battle erupt in his chest. Part of him wanted to extend a gentle hand and bring Loki into the warmth of his bed with quiet words and validated feelings. This was probably the smart choice. It would possibly patch some of the pain and anxiety tensing and pulling at Loki's small body. However, another part of him saw a desperate need that maybe he could actually meet. A rough distraction that could make them both forget, just for a time, how bad the Fall had been, and how hard this week was.

Loki spoke then, barely above a whisper "I...I just wanted to say...goodnight I guess..."

Loki looked like a deer in headlights and Charlie could almost feel his animal fear and growing need to run.

Charlie's mouth seemed to decide for him in that instant, speaking in a dichotomously silky but rough voice. "Loki...I need you to put aside all pretenses right now, and admit why you're really here, in my room, at two in the morning."

They stared at each other for a long beat as Charlie wondered if he had misread the situation, but then Loki moved. He tried to step forward, eyes locking onto Charlie's, but Charlie moved faster. He was on him like a fever, shoving him against the wall.

His back struck the wall with a thud and his eyes went dark as his hands snaked up Charlie's neck.

Nicky was wild in life, strung as tight as a bow and quivering with the slightest brush of the wind. In bed he liked to be tamed, brought to his knees by nothing more than a look or a touch from Charlie.

Bucky and Steve were actually quite similar to each other in life, gentle and controlled, but in bed, Bucky liked to let loose by giving in, while Steve flowed smoothly between giving and taking from Charlie in a way that made his head spin.

But Loki...Loki was an entirely different beast. He was controlled in life, always with a careful veneer, an egg shell keeping the real treat inside. Charlie craved him the way a connoisseur of fine wine craved the newest vintage. He wanted to know Loki the way words and conversations could never satisfy.