What's a God to a Barista? (Loki x Reader)

Twenty-Two - Tricks Are For Kids

"What?"
You probably looked and sounded like an absolute idiot, but your mind had casted all of that out. You had bigger worries.

"Hear me out," Loki insisted, turning to keep the both of you in view. "Listen."

Thor dragged his gaze between the two of you. After a moment of hesitation, he slowly lowered his weapon and let it rest on the ground. "Go on."

Loki turned his head to you, locking your eyes onto his. "I know," he started, "that you're not going to stop putting yourself in danger for me."

You nodded. "Finally somebody gets it," you muttered jokingly.

Loki took a long breath. "You don't know when to stop. And, clearly, you don't know who to trust, or who to sacrifice yourself for."

You stood your ground, silent as your breath formed clouds in the brisk air. "So, Asgard?" Thor broke the silence, urging Loki on.

"I am going back to Asgard," the mischief god continued, "so that you stop putting yourself in danger. You never have to see me again."

Your shoulders slumped. "Loki, that is so much worse. I can stop putting myself in danger for you if we're both on Earth."

Loki looked you dead in the eyes. "But will you?"

After a moment of consideration, you shook your head. "No, but my point is that I could."

Loki shuffled a bit. "See, if I was worlds away from you, you wouldn't have a choice."

"I would sacrifice myself to stop you from going back there!" You insisted, "I already have!"

"And what if I do find a way back?" Loki continued. "Are you going to follow me? Are you going to stand against the defenses of Asgard? Against the allfather of the universe?"

"I would," you shot him down, "If you would just make. Your. Point. Tell them the truth, Loki. Tricks are for kids."

"What is it that you so desperately need me to admit?" Loki condescended.

"That you don't deserve your punishment." You demanded. "That you weren't the one in control."

"And how do you know I wasn't?" Loki kept on with the questions.

"Well, first off, because you're you, and if you care about me so much, you wouldn't have lied," you defended, "and second of all, because of the cafe. Honestly, when I attacked you, when you got handed off to shield, you looked terrified. No one that scared of something like that could willingly attack New York City."

The brothers both stared at you, and you got a twinge of satisfaction from knowing that they were both the least bit impressed.

Loki turned back to Thor, before giving a theatric sigh and moving closer to him. "Alright fine. I was being mind controlled." He muttered. You crossed your arms.

"Say it again so the people in the back can hear." The sarcastic voice made you jump a little bit, but you recognized it immediately. The three of you whipped around to see Stark, standing in front of Romanoff and Rogers.

Loki threw his head back, giving a why-has-this-world-forsaken-me kind of look. "When I attacked New York," he admitted, "I wasn't the one in control. I could see what I was doing, but I couldn't control it. I only gained full control back after the battle was over. By then, my punishment was already decided."

Loki looked at you, but you just cocked an eyebrow at him. "And?"

"And I came here to admit all of that, but gave up because I was... too scared that you wouldn't believe me." Loki finally spit out the last of his confession.

Stark had his eyebrows raised, but nodded. "That was certainly a mouthful."

Loki looked back at you again, and this time you moved forward, placing your hands on his shoulders as if to dust him off. "See, that wasn't so hard, was it?" It was still dimly lit, but you could vividly see his eyes flashing up and down your face.

You placed one hand on the back of his neck and the other on his shoulder, running your fingers through his ravenette hair before pulling him into a kiss.

-

It was a bold move. So bold, in fact, that you could feel your heart drop to your knees. You were forced to fight the urge to crumble to the ground.

Hesitantly, as if he was scared to touch you, Loki slipped one arm delicately around your waist, pulling you closer and further into the kiss. With his other hand, he curled his fingers gently around the back of your neck. By the end of it, you had your foreheads pressed against each other, letting the bridges of your noses touch just enough to make your eyelids flutter as wildly as your heart.

After a few stolen moments, the realization set in that quite a few of the Avengers were still just standing there, awestruck. You unwinded your hand from Loki's hair and slid it down to the hand he had on your waist, pushing it away from you and drawing him back to reality.

He let his eyes wander across your face for a few long seconds before turning to face the rest of the team with you.

"I did not expect to see that today." Natasha blurted out, with her arms crossed over her chest.

'I didn't expect to see that ever." Stark added, shaking his head like it would erase what he had just seen etch-a-sketch style.

"I honestly forgot you guys were there for a second." You confessed.

"It was pretty romantic," Rogers admitted, "but we can't just forgive you that easily, Loki."

"I'm aware." Loki grumbled, obviously still resisting the urge to look back at you.

"Let yourself go, Steve," Thor called, a smile unwillingly gracing his face. "We'll get everything sorted out."