A Stranger of Green and Gold (Loki x reader)

Chapter 12 - Sparring's not that great

Word Count : 1775

"That certainly changed my opinion of you." Loki snickered from behind you, it sounded like he wasn't trying to tease you, but it really did come off that way. 

"Didn't know you had one." You sighed and turned around to face him, your arms crossed and eyebrow raised, all in an effort to finish the perfect attitude look at him. He was out of the clothes he was wearing last night, and was, surprisingly, wearing something somewhat casual, for him at least. The best way to describe it would be half-baked fancy, like someone wanted to go all out, but realized they lacked the clothes, which Loki surely didn't. He was wearing an olive-y green shirt that ended at the bottom and collar strikingly quick, with no sign of stitching to be seen. The sleeves were  of indeterminable length, as they were covered by a dark green jacket that curved at the bottom of about where his ribs would be, ending at the top in a thin lair of white fuzz. The outfit was finished off with plain black jeans sporting gold embroidered accents and high black boots. In contrast to your outfit, he looked royal. Well, he was, you reminded yourself. 

"Oh please. Out of all the oafs on this team, I have the highest opinion of you." Loki smiled and tilted his head. Damn, those were some cheekbones. You turned back to the punching bag and landed another hit. 

"Suppose that doesn't mean much." You huffed and continued hitting the poor bag. You knew how he felt about everyone else on the team. Why would he feel any less about you? As soon as he could leave, he'd be gone. Actually, what was stopping him from leaving right now? And what about that night, maybe he did feel differently. You certainly did, there was no denying that anymore. 

"On the contrary, kitten, it means quite a lot." You jumped and turned to the side, where Loki was now standing, his arms crossed over his chest. The emerald in his eyes glinted in the light from outside, giving them a shimmering quality that made them even prettier, if that was even possible. Wow, he's quiet, especially in boots that would seem so loud.

"I'm going to assume that's meant to be an insult." Turning back to the bag, you hit it again and huffed. Why were you blushing?! That's not the right response to an insult, y/n. But everything about him made you blush, the way he talked, his style, his humor, his ability to appear anywhere when it was least convenient, his fight- wait, you had never actually seen his fighting style. You assumed it was somewhat like Thor's, since the two were brothers and probably grew up fighting each other. 

"On the contrary. You really dislike that bag, don't you?" You were about to respond with some snarky remark, but that stopped you. Was that the first time he had used a contraction? You were sure it was, he didn't really talk normally.

"I'm not exactly in a great mood, suppose it's better than hitting you." You laughed playfully and landed another kick on the bag, feeling the force in the back of your heel.

"I doubt you could. I am a prince, as you seem to forget. I went through my fair share of battle training." Loki chuckled and raised an eyebrow at you, smirking. When was he not smirking? You held up a hand to stop the bag as it headed towards you, its force bouncing your hand back.

"Alright." You shrugged and pointed back at the center of the physical training area, a large space of grey foam with nothing cluttering the floor. It was usually where sparring happened. "Bring it on, pretty boy." You smiled and smirked back at Loki, expecting to see him in front of a punching bag. He was, instead, in the center of the sparring area, at which point you realized that you were as well.

"Magic, darling." Loki held his left hand up to your mouth in a "shh" position as he opened up his right palm and glittery green smoke fizzed out, swirling around in a dazzling Tim Burton-y pattern. The green reflected in your widened eyes with little dancing sparkles that lit up your face. "Now then. I believe you challenged me?" Loki opened up his arms and took a step back from you, his chest tilted barely outward and bowing forward in a pose that was dripping confidence. You were used to playing defense, so this was a bit weird. Not like you hadn't practiced offence, because of course you had, it just so happened that a team of super heroes were usually more powerful than someone with barely above average physical strength. Not to mention that with Loki's whole demeanor, you expected him to attack first. Oh well.

"Yeah, I might have done that." You rushed forward, your feet lightly tapping on the padded gray floor, barely touching the ground. About a foot away from Loki you leapt up into the air and spun around your back leg like a fan, squaring your toes to get a solid heel hit to what you assumed would be a face. Instead, your foot swung through plain air and landed, along with the rest of you, a bit away from where Loki had been. You hadn't even realized that your hands had gone up to protect your face in a boxing kind of pose untill your left one was grabbed from behind you, and you were pulled up into Loki's chest, his hand still gracefully holding yours as he flung you back in a somewhat classic dancing spin, letting your hand go after a single turn. You felt your face heat up and were sure it was a tomato red, you hoped you could pass that off as being from sparring. You jumped forward, looking like you were going for a head-on attack, but jumped to the side at the last second, aiming a right punch at Loki's chest. You felt the impact through gloves on his hand as he caught the punch mid turn and gracefully pulled your hand to him, your arm bent at the side. His arm was so close to yours you thought they might touch, his other hand resting on your hip. If not for circumstance, it would look like you were about to ballroom dance. Loki turned elegantly, his footsteps like clockwork to you, someone who knew nothing about dancing, save for a few things on Just Dance 2012. "Aren't we supposed to be sparring?" You laughed, wondering how you had gotten so caught up in the moment, in him, that you had forgotten why you were here in the first place.

"I suppose we are, but this is better, is it not?" Loki smiled down at you, removing his arm from your hip and lacing his hand with yours, moving it up to his chest, where he lightly set it and moved his own arm back. A tiny shiver ran up your spine as his right hand made contact with you, you were unsure why it hadn't fazed you before. You felt his left hand open up, freeing your right from the fist and interweaving it with his fingers gently. You felt him sway to your left and followed with an indefinitely clumsier atmosphere about yourself. Loki was so regal in how he moved, each footstep light and flowing, knowing exactly where he should go and how to get here while still looking beautiful. To be fair, he was always beautiful. The way his dark hair caught the sun at the right angle everytime, the emerald glint of his eyes. You fumbled around another turn, feeling the pull in your arm as Loki guided you around the space, making do for what little of it you both had. You felt his hand lift from your waist and you instinctively moved yours away as he spun you around again, your hair lifting off your shoulders like a scene from a Disney movie. You arm was raised over your head, hand still wearing gloves and fingers still intertwined with Loki's. You turned back to him as he pulled you in, the hand that once sat on your hip now wrapped around your waist like a snake. Your right hand was still holding his, but you were so close together now that your arm was almost touching your chest, where your heart beat soared upwards. You looked up at Loki's face, the wisps of ebony black hair that had escaped the style framing his pale face and sharp jaw like a painting. His eyes were so close that you could see his eyelashes, each one curved perfectly and at the perfect length. His eyes shone like green diamonds, the lush forest color such a stark contrast from the pupils, which were focused directly at you. His lips matched his face beautifully, they were pale, but not to the point of being white, showing off a light shade of pink that looked like it belonged on a rose from a fairytale. Before you got the chance to think about them anymore, they were adroitly placed on yours. The kiss was sweet, you could feel every detail of his completely smooth and cool lips on your own as you closed your eyes to fully take in the sensation of the moment. Your heart exploded like a firework, shedding off a thousand different bright and exciting colors in a loud explosion. You were standing straight up on your tiptoes, acutely aware of the  feeling of his arm around your back, or his fingers in yours by your side. You felt a brush of his soft hair go past your cheek as the kiss continued, everything else disappearing but him and this moment.

Yay! Sorry this was a week late, to make-up for that lost upload, I made this extra long, added some good nosebleed material, and did a couple revisions to older chapters that weren't so great. Hope that makes up for it! Spoopy month is just around the corner, super excited that I'll be getting a Loki costume to use for this and also cosplay. Big shout-out to @Goddess_Of_Tea for the continuous support, love you! Also I just reached #18 in Loki x reader so that's pretty big thanks everyone :) Again, don't forget to vote and comment questions/comments/complaints, I'm always open! Follow me if you feel like it for updates and other fun stuff that can be found on my page, and never forget to have a gloriously glimmering day, my croissant children! :D