pov- imagines

DAGGERS- L. LAUFEYSON

pairings: loki x reader, mentions of wanda maximoff, thor odinson, natasha romanoff, sam wilson, and bruce banner
warnings: loki's daggers, i think that's all?
about: title request- daggers
a/n: finally finished! i actually really like how this came out- until the ending. i think i may just be incapable of writing a definitive happy ending for my darling god :(

loki and his belongings were off-limits. it was an unspoken rule announced in a booming voice every ten minutes. the god himself enforced it every time anyone came into the vicinity of his things, a scowl and his magic- activated by a single twirl of his hand- driving away any ideas someone could have dared to come up with.

not even thor was exempt to this rule, proven by the blade protruding from his side when he had come into loki's room unannounced, fingers already tangled in his items within the first few minutes he had been inside.

loki's things were not to be touched, barely even looked at; it was a rule.

but rules have exceptions, and it turned out you were this one's.

thor was the first one to figure it out, first inkling coming from the time he spotted you with loki's great treasure- the brilliantly blue tesseract- resting in your hands while you stared at it in awe. you were slumped down on the couch after a long mission that had left you sore and sad, even your favorite show unable to console you. it usually took you a few days to bounce back, although your heart was a little more chipped than before.

however, that day was different; loki was there. loki, who, to his surprise, despised seeing you so melancholy, and decided that the situation would just not do. and who better than a god to hold your hands and lift you to your feet? a god who held the same thing you had asked excitedly about the first time you heard about it.

so, he frowned at you and flicked his hand, a small whirlpool appearing above it and dropping his beloved tesseract into his waiting hand. you had gaped at him, startled eyes flicking from him to the cube you thought shield had safely stored away in one of its facilities. "shield thinks a lot of things, my pet," loki had muttered simply and offered you the glowing tesseract, urging you to hold it. "r- really?" you asked, reaching for it once you got his faux annoyed confirmation and marvelling at it. "wow," you had whispered, before smiling at loki, "thank you, loki."

-

natasha noticed when she'd see you sneak into his room in the night- when the only thing preventing the dark sky above you to swallow you whole were the bright littered stars, observing as you took his offered book from his outstretched hand. watching as you read a few chapters yourself before ultimately deciding you liked it much better when loki was the one that read to you, velvet voice bringing the words to life, and wonderful magic making pretty images for you to look at.

steve and tony realized when they spotted you inside his room, a wide grin taking up half your face while you eyed the gold horns resting carefully in your hand. the pair had frozen in the hallway, arguing voices falling silent as they struggled to see through the sliver between the door and the doorframe. steve was seconds away from pushing the door open to remind you of The Rule when another pair of fingertips touched yours, a different voice mixing gently with yours. pale fingers lifted the headpiece from your grasp, turning it and placing it on your head with the care no one believed loki was capable of.

your gasp snapped them out of it, fearful that it was pointed at them rather than at your reflection.

sam and wanda noticed when they recognized loki's ring on your finger. an accidental look into your mind confirmed that it had been dotingly slipped on barely two nights before, after having seen the ring on one of loki's own digits and twirled it in circles in anxiety enough times to realize how it was always there- which was why it was so surprising when he offered it to you a morning after you had spent the night curled up with him.

he had watched as you fingered the ring he had left on his nightstand, interested eyes following every ridge and indent as if trying to commit it to memory. you had refused at first, but he had had none of it, taking it from your attentive hold and delicately putting it on your finger. he had pressed his lips to your knuckles, although you were too oblivious to see how serious his eyes truly were, how honest the truth of his actions were.

-

you were the last to see it, of course, and it came when shocked eyes fell on you while you handled sharp blades with nimble fingers. "what are you doing?-" banner asked you, eyes wide, startling realization of what exactly the weapons were and who they belonged to suddenly coming to him. had he not been as scared of loki as he had, he would've taken them from you and dragged you off to escape the god's wrath.

you frowned at him, pausing your actions. "just playing with loki's daggers, they're really impressive, look." you grabbed the sharp side and lightly pushed bruce's chest with the handle, making him flinch back. "you can't touch those- do you know how much he likes them?"

you nodded, "i do, and i see why," you bring them back to you, holding them correctly as you observed them. "you're not supposed to touch any of his stuff," bruce informed you, looking to the hallway leading to the elevator. "why not?" you question, genuinely concerned you had been overstepping.

"because he likes them and he doesn't like us."

your eyes flicker down to the ring you're still wearing, the ghost of the weight of loki's elegant horns settling on the crown of your head like the night he had placed them there. the realization hits you, making your eyelids flutter, daggers nearly falling from your hold when loki himself walks in, indifferent to the fact you're in possession of his beloved daggers. bruce warningly gestures to them, oblivious, once more before walking off awkwardly, ignoring loki's narrowed eyes in his direction.

noticing the look in your eyes, loki tilts his head, walking towards you, "is something wrong, darling?" he queries. you blink, the image of your favorite god clearer as you smile. "no," you reply, "nothing's wrong," you reassure, glancing back at the daggers that make your soft smile grow, "everything's perfect."

and it was- especially when you kissed him two days letter, and everything his became yours, too (although it already did)