✍🏻 Bonds of Fear (Loki)

6 - Exchange

Our first sword-fighting lesson was supposed to be that afternoon, but when I made it to the gym for close-combat, filled with various weapons, he was not there.

I plopped myself on the floor and kept staring at the door, hoping that any moment he would swing the door open and march in.
But he did not.
Also not the day after or the day after that.
I came there every afternoon nevertheless and waited, hoping that the loneliness he must have been feeling here would drive him to me.
Especially when I found out that after Peter saw my reaction to his night activities with Loki, he thought it is something to brag about and shared it with his mates.
Soon the whole occupants of the Stark Tower knew and Fury had him reassigned. I wondered if Loki managed to find himself another fuck buddy but given how little everyone thought of him here, I doubted it.

It was yet another evening spent in the gym alone, reading my book and trying to sense if somebody is coming and realizing over and over again that I am painfully alone.

I closed the book and went to my room, the soft hair on the back of my neck standing up the moment I entered. Because I sensed I am not alone. Not seeing anyone, I came only to one conclusion.
Loki.
Using his sorcery to mask himself.
I pretended as if I didn't notice anything and went to my bathroom, taking a long shower and guessing that he was somewhere in the area of my living room or bed, but as it was all just one large open space, I could not be certain where exactly he was.
I needed him to feel something strongly.
And so when I was done, I made it out of the bathroom completely naked, going to my closet and taking my sweet time to dig through my clothes.
When I turned back to the room, I was sure beyond any doubt, he was lying on my king-size bed.
There was even a dent in the pillow and blanket he was lying on, but given I never made my bed, it could be easily overlooked in the mess.
I went over and pulled a simple t-shirt over my head, followed by loose, black pants.

Disappointment.

I suppressed a smirk and lied down on the other side of my bed, turning on the TV.
There was a 2nd World War documentary I actually wanted to see, but I needed something that would make him reveal himself.
I went through the channels one by one until I finally ended up on the one I was looking for.
It was one of those European romantic movies with incredibly low budgets and terrible dubbing. This one seemed to be about a girl from the city who inherited a beautiful cottage in the middle of nowhere, finding out she is absolutely useless when it comes to taking care either of the house or herself.
Until a handsome, rich, and windowed neighbor who lost hope in finding love again shows up on her doorstep and helps her save a disaster of a leaking kitchen tap.
Twenty minutes in and I was ready to throw up.
And so was Loki.

"Thank you Mr. ...." the girl said, nervously looking at her feet.

"Mr. Wickham," the man answered, raising her chin and wiping a stain from her cheek.

She smiled and suddenly his eyes widened, getting lost in her deep blue eyes, and for some reason even though the whole image was almost still, the editors still added a slow motion.
Prolonging already painfully long scene even more. Those two just kept staring at each other and staring and staring until Loki finally growled, and with a flash of green light that went over his body from top to bottom revealed himself.

"Woman," he growled, "is this really how you spend your evenings?"

I chuckled and felt a sting of disappointment in him when I didn't jump up in surprise, followed by curiosity right after.

"How did you know I am here?"

I shrugged my shoulders and turned off the TV, staring back at him. A much better sight than Mr. Wickham.

"I am done with this game of yours," he said, but without any anger, sounding defeated, "if you are the only one who is actually willing to talk to me here, I will make do even when you can tell when I am lying."