An Act of... Love? [An Avengers Polyamorous Fanfic]

Chapter 16

Loki convinced me to shower with him afterward and it didn't consist of anything sexual. Loki gently washed my hair as I leaned back into him, in a sort of domestic bliss as he massaged the shampoo into my scalp. He did the same with my conditioner, and he also washed my body for me, so I didn't even have to do anything. I dried off quickly after the shower and threw on some comfortable clothes before settling down on the couch next to Loki. We sat in comfortable silence for a little while before I turned to him.

"Thank you."

"For what, kitten?" he questioned.

"Everything, Loki. You... have been nothing short of amazing since I got here. And you try to take care of me... I don't know. You've shown me a great deal of kindness, and I'm grateful." He smiled in response to me.

"It has been my pleasure, my dearest mortal. I am quite fond of you, and I take care of the things I'm fond of," he responded, his eyes sparkling. I let out an awkward giggle, looking down at my hands.

As I was trying to think of something to say in response, Friday spoke up, "Miss Ollie, the grocery shoots are out of service at the moment, but your stuff has arrived. Happy was wondering if you could come to the lobby and assist him with your things?" she questioned.

"Oh, of course! Tell Happy I'll be right along!" I responded, and then I realized I didn't even know who Happy was. "Who's Happy?" I asked Loki quietly as I headed for the door, with Loki in tow.

"Happy is Tony's head of security, I believe is his technical position," Loki responded as we came to a stop in front of the elevator. Bucky came out of his room as we were waiting, and looked both Loki and I up and down before sending me a knowing smirk.

"Shut it," I said playfully, my face burning red.

"I didn't say anything, Doll," Bucky responded as the elevator opened and we all stepped in. Loki told her where we needed to go, and Bucky questioned what we were doing. Once I informed him of what Friday had told me. He offered to help, claiming he wasn't doing much anyway.

So the three of us headed to the lobby where the poor man named Happy was overcome with grocery bags, since it was my first time shopping for the apartment and I didn't have to worry about money, either.

"I am soo sorry, if I knew the shoots were going to be out of service I never would have ordered so much," I exclaimed, racing forward to take several bags off of the ground. I felt Mark's presence for a brief second before I saw him. It was my hope that I would ignore him, and he would ignore me. I couldn't really sense his feelings like I could Loki and Bucky's, but I could still tell he was there.

"Actual food, good girl," Loki commented, using his magic to instantly teleport all of the bags, including the ones I now held, to my apartment.

"Why didn't you tell me that was the plan before I grabbed the bags? Or before we forced poor Bucky to come along!" I rounded on him.

"I came willingly, babe, no forcing necessary," Bucky commented as Loki chuckled.

"Truly, I just love to see your face when I don't do what's expected of me," he chuckled. "Come along now, I'll help you put everything away," he said.

"Ollie?" I heard as I started back towards the personal avenger's elevator, and I froze, looking back at Mark.

"Oh, hey! It's been a minute," I commented, forcing a smile as I grabbed Bucky's arm since he was walking next to me, to pull him to a stop along with me. It'd been Bucky's flesh arm that I'd latched onto, and I could feel his worry as he looked down at me.

"Who's this, doll?" Bucky questioned, looking him over.

"Mark's the reason I got stuck in the tower, I was visiting him when you all went into lockdown. He works for Tony, in some way. I never really asked. Tony loves his NDAs that he's always throwing out the window, so I never really took it upon myself to ask questions," I told Bucky and Loki, babbling because I just couldn't bring myself to stop talking. "Oh, and he's my ex," I added.

"The one your friend mentioned in the elevator?" Bucky whispered in my ear, and my eyes widened as I could feel his emotions become angrier, more protective.

"Mark, I'm really sorry but this is a bad time, the boys were just going to help me put away groceries," I said, slipping my hand into Bucky's and squeezing, hoping to calm him down.

"I didn't realize you were still in the tower," Mark said, eyeing where I now held Bucky's hand in my own.

"Yeah, turns out I got special accommodations. Who knew all you had to do to be special was pass out in the middle of Stark Tower?" I attempted a joke, not wanting to focus on the accommodations bit since I am not allowed to talk about it, according to the NDA.

"You, special?" Mark said, and I could hear the skepticism in his voice as the anger of the two next to me flared.

"BOYS," I yelled, causing both of their visions to snap to me, as well as Mark's. "Chill. Out." I commanded, making eye contact with both Loki and Bucky as Mark studied me.

"Yes ma'am," Loki responded almost suggestively, while Bucky just squeezed my hand in apology.

"While I would love -- no, that's a lie -- while we could continue to stand here and have this conversation, Mark, I have a feeling it has a high probability of pissing these two off, which we definitely don't need. Also, I have groceries that really need to be put away and I've had a really long week, so I don't have the patience for this. So while I could lie and say it was a pleasure seeing you, I'm just going to turn around and go home now," I said. After I finished talking, I began stalking toward the elevator tugging Bucky along with me and grabbing Loki's hand as well as I walked past him. Once the elevator closed behind us, I let the pair of them go and sagged against the back of the elevator.

"Ollie, are you alright?" Bucky questioned gently.

"This week is exhausting," was the extent of my answer.