Caffeine Rush (Avengers Fanfic)

Chapter 30: You Know the Second Half

What an awful evening. Did I complain that aloud? My head hurts, and I can't feel my tongue. Just what the hell happened last night? Okay, maybe it was the Stark after party I should have been wary of, that gets all the kudos, I can't remember getting this drunk in . . . ever. It certainly deserves all the rumors it has earned. Jesus, why are my eyeballs throbbing?

Can't wait for that nice speedster healing to kick in and completely wash out my metabolism. Sorry kidneys. What happened to my mouth though? I can understand hungover, but this was just not normal. My entire tongue is just numb. Needs investigation.

Opening my eyes very slowly, they were immediately pierced by blinding sunlight. Why were there so many windows in my room? Wait, there weren't any windows in my room. Where am I that has so many windows? Not important, too bright to think. I turned over to hide from the sunlight and my face squished into something that was definitely not a pillow. I reached up to feel around it, trying to figure out exactly what it was. Hard bit, softer bit, squishy bit. Wait, was that a bone? It definitely felt like a rib. Was I using someone's body as a pillow? Thoughts for a more sober brain. Whoever it was just happened to be the perfect temperature for a speedster to relax against.

"Stop poking my rib." That was Loki, for sure. Now it made more sense why his body was just right, the Jotunn blood dropped his body temperature to an abnormal low for a regular human to stand for extended periods, but it was just right for a speedster that ran abnormally warm anyway. I pulled myself into him and snuggled close. "Alright, get up my leopardess, you made enough trouble last night."

"What kinda trouble?" I murmured into his chest, halfway through the process of falling back asleep.

"Is your tongue still numb?" I suddenly sat up, eyes fully open and wide awake. How did he know that? I could've sworn he couldn't read minds in this universe.

I climbed over him to look suspiciously into his face and that was when I realized I was no longer wearing the black dress that displayed my lightning scars from the night prior. Instead, I was somehow wearing my comfiest set of clothes; a pair of my father's old sweatpants and my softest t-shirt, featuring the greatest multiversal speedster to have ever existed. I had more questions. "Explain for me."

Loki languished underneath me, casually threading his hands behind his head, somewhat of an exasperated look on his face, but most certainly more amused than anything else. Finally, he sighed and said, "you partook of an excessive amount of Asgardian liquor and got up to enough mischief to rival me, I'm fairly impressed. As for what you did, well, you dragged me back to your room, threw your dress off, said something about wanting to eat two kinds of spicy, unexpectedly ran off to the kitchen—I barely had the time to transfer your new clothes on before you went . . . I believe the term is streaking. When I came to find you again, you had chili peppers and mint hard candy in your mouth." Well, that would certainly explain the clothes and my numb tongue. God, that was beyond embarrassing. Why was my head throbbing at just the thought? Nope, better that I didn't remember it.

"I've never been drunk before." I avoided looking into his eyes. I knew he would tease relentlessly, which I could deal with and dish back in equal measures, but I didn't know how to handle this new situation. Both of our clothes disheveled, cuddling in the middle of the lounge, a vague air of tension stretching the space between us, broken up only by the humorous circumstances of last night.

"That was certainly apparent, my dearest tigress. What were your words last night, something like 'the spicy and the icy taste like hellfire'? Can't say I empathize; it was quite amusing though." I smacked his chest playfully. My tongue was numb, but he was making fun of me.

The opportunity gave me the chance to look around and see that the two of us were not the only ones cuddling. Thor had a mess of people around him, I guess he was naturally warmer, like a golden retriever. Pepper had left Tony to sleep in her own bed and he was using Steve's tattooed forearm as a pillow, Bucky had his real hand laying on his shin and his metal arm was thrown across Sam's face where there was a convenient bruise forming to corroborate exactly what I thought had happened. Barton was practically sprawled across Thor and Natasha was neatly laid just next to him, Wanda curling into her hip on the other side. Bruce was laying on the couch, book open on his chest like he had fallen asleep reading, Vision nowhere in sight, Rhodey having ducked out earlier in the night. It was only Loki and me in our cold little corner, creating the perfect conditions for a speedster to fall asleep in a regular circadian cycle manner.

Normally, I wouldn't like being cold either, speed and cold don't—I've already explained this. But having just enough of a temperature imbalance while sleeping could offset some of the static energy that made me blitz while sleeping. And contrary to popular belief, Loki was an amazing cuddler, he just didn't like people enough to ask for it.

Everyone else was starting to wake up as well. Tony should really invest in some mega-sized blinds if we were going to be doing any more group sleepovers. It was actually Thor who was the first to wake up, which incited a chain reaction of groans as people were forced awake and opened their eyes to be subsequently blinded. Tony was the first to sit up and blink blurrily around, his eyes finally focusing on me, sitting on top of Loki, but the thing that had caught his attention wasn't what you would have expected. "What's up with that shirt, Jes?"

"Look here, Tony, I don't judge you for the shirts that you parade around in, so you won't begrudge me the most comfortable thing I own and the only shirt I took with me from my universe, would you?" If he said anything to that effect, I would stop making him coffee for a while and see where he was when all the cards were dealt.

"Course not, but who's the Flash? I'm having trouble remembering whose name that is." Wait, did he think the Flash was an Avenger? Whhaaat?

"None of us are cool enough to have ever met the Flash, myself included but especially all of you. It's practically a requirement for speedsters to idolize him, I couldn't compare to the multiverse's only undisputed fastest man alive on my best day with him at his worst, and if that doesn't tell you something than your math is wrong. Anyone who disagree gets run through a mountain. End of story."

Not actually, pretty sure we still had one last arc to get through. I mean, I haven't even gotten to kiss my Lokitty yet. That seems like a pretty good end of story goal, well, that and making it to the end of the story.