✍🏻 Bonds of Fear (Loki)

28 - Red suits her

TW: There will be mentions of sexual abuse in this chapter and some not-so-graphic (I think) descriptions of torture.

Loki

Once the spell was broken, a wonderful surge of seidr rushed through my veins. All of my powers were restored and I didn't hesitate to test them out by instantly teleporting behind Feer and squeezing her ass. Her reaction was unexpectedly fast, spinning around and smacking me across my face so suddenly I didn't manage to dodge. The outrage in her eyes made me laugh as I massaged my cheek while she glared at me, heaving and still in shock.

"Feisty," I whispered and winked at her. She only huffed in response and marched out of the room. Stark rushed after her and the witch muttered something under her breath and left as well. I was about to follow after them when Fury put his hand on my arm and stopped me.

"I see you two made up." He stated and I frowned, my cheek still stinging from the slap. "You're not the first one to startle her or do something inappropriate like this. The difference is, that everyone else always ended up curled up on the floor and having a mental breakdown. She only slapped you."

"I guess I'm lucky."

"Or she likes you."

Those words shouldn't have affected me the way they did. I shouldn't have cared. But I did. The alien feeling of giddiness rose within me, more pleasant than the rush of seidr I got earlier. I wanted to respond with something witty but before I got a chance, he carried on.

"It seems mutual." I hated how he stated it as if it was written all over my face. "You should know what you're getting yourself into. There's something I want to show you."

"Ahhh," I let out in realization, flashing him a smile. "You want to show me some dirt on her so I dislike her and make her life on Asgard miserable."

Now it was his turn to show me his wicked smile, not arguing with what I said and giving me a casual shrug. "Have I at least piqued your interest?" He gestured to the table and the laptop on it.

"Why do you hate her so much?"

"She puts my people in danger. Takes advantage of everything and everyone, having no care in the world for how it may affect others. I want to protect my team and I might, indeed, be a little vengeful. After all, it was me who named the squad - Avengers."

"Right," I laughed, shook my head, and walked out the door. "I already have plans for lunch. But I'll stop by in the afternoon."

It would be an opportunity missed to pass on his offer, though I was certain nothing would still surprise me about Feer. Or discourage me from being around her.

When I saw her in the hallway, she was parting from a tight hug with Tony. He seemed devastated though he was trying to keep it together and she patted his shoulder, giving him a weak smile as he turned and walked away.

"We can postpone the departure by a few days if you like," I told her as we headed out to the busy streets of New York. She zipped up her winter jacket and gave me a questioning glance. "You know, if you want to have more time. With your friends."

"They're not my friends, they're my colleagues," she muttered and raised her chin, her gait getting more determined as she steeled herself from the uncomfortable conversation. By now, I knew better than to open something like that on an empty stomach so I waited until we were sitting in another small bistro and there was a large burger in front of her. I barely started on my steak when she was halfway through that thing, happily chewing and ignoring the drop of sauce that was sliding down her wrist. I handed her a napkin, motioning to the drop and she rolled her eyes, put the burger down, and ostensively licked the sauce off, giving me a wide grin. I didn't want to ruin her cheerfulness but it would do her no good to avoid that topic.