Infatuated with a God

Chapter Ninety-Nine

I tried to ignore the way most people looked at me with confusion. However, I couldn't help but hurt at the way Loki looked up at me. He looked so fragile and scared, worried about the ramifications of what I had just started. I offered him a small smile as the screen appeared in front of us and footage showed us leaving the elevator. Suddenly I felt his seiðr wrap around me.

You don't have to do this ástin mín. Behind his words I heard his worry, that I would resent him for this decision.

They won't ever believe it wasn't you without proof, Loki. And they won't take my word without evidence. Plus it would be nice not to have to sneak around. My words did little to stop his worries, but he pulled out of my head regardless. Still I left my shields down just in case his worries got the best of him again. In silence the room watched the footage of him leading me towards Thor's door by the hand. The lack of sound saved me some embarrassment and for that I was extremely grateful of FRIDAY. We watched as both of us stood in the hallway and talked to each other. Little subtle touches, that I could see Nat beginning to add up in her head, quickly escalated. The way we held hands and how we spoke stood closer together. The way he would graze my elbow or arm when he was trying to comfort me, or the way we would lean into each other unconsciously, even as we talked about something uncomfortable. My cheeks heated as I saw him grab my arm to stop me going towards my room and backed me slightly against the door.

Nat sighed, rubbing her forehead with her fingers, and closing her eyes, not needing anymore to see how overly familiar we were in private. Still, the footage played on, everyone watching how he backed up and I went to walk past him. There was no escaping it now, even if I closed my eyes and hid away from the footage. I could still picture everything they would see clearly. The way I smiled at him so teasingly, the way he groaned and grabbed my waist whilst keeping my back firmly pressed against him. I opened my eyes, believing enough time had to have passed for it to finish, but managed to catch the beginning of our kiss. My cheeks felt scalding hot as I watched him pick me up and my legs wrap around him with ease. Then finally, after far too long, he carried me through my room. Footage of the empty corridor continued to play, everyone too embarrassed or stunned to stop it. The silence that followed as the footage ended was palpable. As much as I wanted to disappear, or at least run from the glares from around the room, I knew I couldn't. Instead, I cleared my throat awkwardly and forced myself to find my voice with as much confidence as I could muster.

"Loki wasn't at the lab at 2am. In fact, he had an alibi until... well... around 4:30am." With that said, I turned back to Loki, and fried the cuffs off of his wrists with as much strength as I could. Luckily, it did the job, and they fell off into pieces. If Tony wanted to hurt him again, he would at least have to take the time to make more of them. Well, if he hadn't made around twenty already. Mine and Loki's eyes met again, and I paused slightly to take in the sight of him. There was a kindness in his eyes I did not get to see in public often. He looked so young at that moment, all tension faded from his face and he looked up at me with both concern and what looked like worry. He was scared, I realised very quickly.

As I went to turn back around, he reached out and grabbed my hand hesitantly.

"Thank you." He whispered softly as he squeezed my hand tighter.

"Well as touching as this is–" The venom in Tony's voice was clear, but Nat cut him off with a raise of the finger. Luckily, everyone seemed to ignore what had just happened as they worked to figure out how and why the footage of the Mind Crown was doctored. Several theories were passed around the room about who could have possibly gotten into FRIDAY's systems to do this. But luckily no more concerns were raised at his alibi. Most signs pointed towards a distraction, yet nobody could understand the goal of setting Loki up. An unsettling thought did hang in the air, however. Somebody, likely Hydra, wanted Loki to stay on Earth. At some point more concerns were raised at disappearing footage in FRIDAY's systems and my cheeks began to burn once more.