Packless Monsters

Chapter 52

 "You guys are coming to graduation, right?" you asked over the comms one mission when you were supposed to be sniffing out a man you were on mission to be tracking. But that was boring and you were bored. You were in a coffee shop with Loki, doing legitimate studying for finals while you waited for the man to appear. Loki was sipping on a cup of tea with a book across the table from you.

He reached over and took your hand. "Yes, we're coming to graduation," he told you warmly. He knew you were bored and grumpy from finals.

"In costume?" you persisted. It had taken a long time to convince them to come in costume. You wanted graduation to be spectacular. Stark was throwing a huge party afterwards. It was going to be perfect.

"Yes, valchonak, we already promised, now pay attention. The target is coming into the coffee shop." This plan was boring, but you'd listen to Nat. It was one of your usual missions, tracking spy targets, since your nose could pick out the scents of individuals and you wouldn't lose him, usually even in human form, but you'd shift if you had to.

You glanced up when the door to the coffee shop opened. You recognized the man from the picture Cap had shown you. You closed your eyes and sniffed the air, sorting through the scents in the room to get the particular scent of that man. He smelled of cologne, and under that you caught his actual scent. "Got it," you told the team, looking at your textbook while you made the announcement.

Loki smiled at you warmly. "That's excellent news indeed, love," he told you and leaned across the table to steal a kiss. "Shall we head out then?" you nodded and he vanished your textbook and his reading book. He stood gracefully and offered you a hand.

"Don't lose him," Cap warned in your ear. You nodded to indicate you'd heart him.

"Race ya home!" you teased Loki when you stepped out of the coffee shop. Loki huffed and rolled his eyes.

"Bored puppy," he teased. He leaned down to your ear. "I caught his scent too, little wolf. You don't have to play this game alone." Loki had caught some werewolf qualities from being infected. You still hadn't figured out everything he had gained.

"I need to stretch my legs," you whined at him. You wanted to get away from here now that you had the man's scent and track him again a little later once he thought you were gone. You and Loki were too recognizable.

"Annoying puppy. Fine, put your fur on, I'll protect us from the annoying police... and keep you out of the pound," he teased. If you were out with him while you were in wolf form, you still got people trying to tell him that his dog had to be on a leash.

"High and mighty god," you grumbled at him for teasing. He turned you and kissed you. You smiled and shifted the second the kiss was broken. You circled around his legs, almost cat-like and licked his hand. He chuckled and ran his hand through your fur.

"Come on, little wolf," he told you warmly and started walking towards home. You trotted a couple of steps to catch up, then walked beside him.

"You two are going to lose him," Cap told you over the comms, his voice disapproving. "You're drawing too much attention to yourselves."

"We have a plan, Captain," Loki replied calmly and petted the top of your head so you'd stop growling. You huffed that Cap doubted your nose. Loki didn't doubt your nose. You wandered around the block and made it back to the coffee shop after the man was leaving. He was a couple blocks down the street. "Stay close for a moment, love," Loki told you softly. You nodded and moved closer to him, sneezing as the air shimmered with magic around you, making you less noticeable to the mortals around you. Loki chuckled and scratched behind your ears. "That does tickle," he admitted, rubbing his own more sensitive nose. "Do you still have the trail? I've lost him," the man was out of sight, but that didn't stop you. You nodded and licked his hand. He gestured for you to lead on. "Well, go fetch, silly puppy," he teased. You licked his hand again with a puppy-grin and charged forward. "That was dumb, Loki," you heard the silly god tell himself as you ran after the man.