Collection of One-Shots

》can't or won't

"Close your eyes, my dearest." She complied and squeezed her eyes tightly shut, trying hard not peak as she knew he would be displeased if she did so. "Open your hand," Loki's voice cooed, and as her fingers flexed opening her hand and turning her palm to face upward she felt his cool lips press to her forehead, and something metallic pressed into her hand. Her eyes flew open, in her palm rested a ring. Silver, as she disliked gold on herself, and where she expected an emerald to lay embedded in the design was a sapphire, her birthstone, and only the finest diamonds surrounded the stone and band. "Loki." She held it for closer examination, not really knowing what to ask, or what to say.

Loki pursed his lips and lowered himself to one knee while she still sat perched on the edge of the bed. "I wish to ask you properly, will you become my wife?" She failed to see what difference it would make, the public had already taken to her as their queen and the media thought them to be married, the ceremony in private but that is what was assumed amongst the people of Midgard. It had been over a year since his attack, since the New York sky opened and an army of aliens rained down from the sky. A year since she had seen her father and the rest of the Avengers, an entire year since the man, or better yet god, that knelt for her had taken her, insisting that she become his queen.

She loathed him a first, she hated him for taking her away, for the isolation and demands he put upon her, but in rare moments when they were together and out of the public eye she had found herself growing more fond of him that she ever planned. They would laugh together when he was not attending to duties, and one night she found herself leaning over the office chair easing the tension and stress from his shoulder, he showered her in fineries, and after the initial rough patch regarding her stay he showed her that he was still capable of tenderness. They had refrained from intimacy, and the only kisses that were exchanged were those pressed to a forehead, a cheek, or the ones he placed on her hand.

Delilah Stark didn't know if she was fully prepared for what she was about to get into but she felt as though perhaps she could represent the people of Earth, but she could love at the same time, or would her family and friends label her a traitor. Loki looked up at her, his eyes clouded with emotions she had never bothered to take into account. "Why ask me when everyone assumes that we are?" Her voice was not angry, but she did not know why it would matter to him, in years she would be gone and he would have remained.

"Because I want to know if this is what you want, the people of this world may think we are wed but I need to know that this is what you wish for. That you wish for this as much as I do. But I understand if you will not accept, things will carry one as they are now if you refuse." Her hands were now held tightly within his, the ring securely within her palm. Delilah looked at where their hands touch and then back to Loki. At first she just nodded, but soon her voice chimed in with a weak but firm yes. The ring though large was surprisingly light on her hand as he slipped it in its place.

For this first time Loki cradled her face within his hands, she flinched at the rough callouses that had grown on his fingertips, but it was something she told herself she could grow accustomed to. His face moved closer to hers, and subconsciously she leaned in closer to him, lifting her own hands to rest upon his. His breath fanned across her delicate face, and her eye fluttered shut as their lips finally touched.

The kiss was short, sweet but short. Loki pulled back, wanted to memorize every piece of her being, the way her cheeks had turned pink, and her lips were slightly parted, eyes slowly opening to reveal the deep brown he had grown to adore. Before he could stop himself he lurched forward and kissed her once more, this time her hands found his shoulders, the material of his tunic clenched tightly in her fists before they slid up into his hair where she tugged at the roots, making Loki groan and once more he broke the kiss he had begun. "I'm afraid if continue to do that my dear I may have to take you now."