Strangefrost Oneshots

part ten ~ oh, professor (5)

{Alternate Universe where Loki survives Infinity War and wants a simple life; Stephen Strange is a professor at a high-end university as well as the Sorcerer Supreme; the Avengers have retired. set after Avengers: Endgame. part five of five.}

We arrived at the university campus in good time and sipped coffee with the rest of the professors in the staff room before classes began. I could sense they were eyeing Stephen and me, and I wondered what they were thinking. We were sitting close together; our knees involuntarily inclined to the other's; and out gazes frequently locked. 

Oh God, we were so obvious.

I walked Stephen to his first class. We halted in front of the entrance and I pulled him close for a moment, ignoring the students filtering into his class staring at us with wide eyes.

"Enjoy your day," I whispered, granting a small smile and biting my bottom lip.

He squeezed my hand and laughed. "You are insufferable."

I pecked his lips. A group of soft giggles sounded from my right. I let my eyes flicker towards the group of young students as they slowly walked through the door. I sighed.

"Yes, we're dating," I informed the group in a nonchalant tone. "Get over it."

"You're destroying all their fantasies, love," Stephen said, chuckling.

I scoffed. "I am the only one allowed to have fantasies about you." I tapped his nose and kissed him again. 

"You have fantasies about me?" He cocked a brow.

"Remember when we first met?"

"When I dropped you into a portal loop?"

I rolled my eyes and scowled. "After that, genius."

"When you called me a second-rate - oh wait, you never finished!"

Stephen's eyes were glittering with laughter and though I knew I could be mad about his teasing, the way his eyes roamed over me made me feel like I was floating on cloud nine. His boisterous, mischievous, happy expression was completely contagious and I found myself howling with laughter along with him.

"Anyway," I continued, heart thumping, a wide smile on my face and laughs still tumbling from my lips. "After that day, I found myself thinking quite a lot about you."

"Love at first sight?" Stephen joked, only for me to reply, "Something like that," coyly.

His eyebrows shot up his forehead and he glanced between our intertwined hands and my eyes. 

"I..."

I felt my smile fade and my heart drop. He wasn't grinning anymore. I cleared my throat and took a slight step away.

"Of course, if that's not what you want -"

He grabbed me back and latched his hands to the sides of my neck. The love had returned to his eyes. My heart skipped a beat.

"It is," he breathed. "It's everything I want."

I grinned. The bell rang somewhere in the distance and I sighed, running my hands down the lapels of his suit to straighten them.

"You have a class," I whispered, catching his eyes, gently blinking.

He kissed my cheek and his soft facial hair brushed against my skin. He pulled away and let out a long, heavy breath.

"I'll see you later, darling," I said quietly, walking backwards, hoping to keep my eyes on him for a while longer. He reluctantly let go of my hand, and his face held a goofy smile.

"Later, Professor," he called just as I turned away. 

I glanced back and threw him a thumbs-up, followed by a large heart I drew in the air with green sparkling magic. He did the same, and I laughed before turning the corner.

*

A few months later...

The last few weeks had been hell and heaven rolled into one. Students had been writing exams for the past fortnight and my desk was cluttered with papers needing to be graded. I was juggling everything quite well, all things considered. There'd been a tsunami in New Asgard and Thor had called me in urgently to help with the healing efforts slap-bang in the middle of my seniors' exam. 

Nevertheless, the God of Thunder popping into their exam hall was the best thing that had happened to any of them in weeks, as I was told the next day. I'd built so many good relationships with the students in my classes and was often inspired by their passion for life - it grew my own. I hastily found my place in my own classroom and discovered that the more I engaged and had fun, the better my students did. 

However, the absolute best part of the last months was Stephen. I wanted to say we transformed each other, but maybe we just brought the best parts out of ourselves. Everyone on campus knew we were together now. There had only been one incident with a rather desperate girl who'd "tripped" into Stephen's arms and tried to kiss him. He'd handed her over to the head of discipline and she didn't show in his classes after that.

I was now lying on the floor behind my desk, enthralled in the papers I was marking. I'd magically cleansed the ground before settling onto it on my stomach, ensuring no dust tarnished my tailored black suit. I'd tied my hair up into a messy bun, and a lock fell into my eyes but I ignored it.

"The chair gets uncomfortable after a while, doesn't it?"

I hummed in agreement and didn't bother looking up at my boyfriend as he walked around me. I saw his shiny dress shoes in the corner of my eye as they clicked against the wooden floor panels. 

"I wonder who you actually love more: me or those wonderful students of yours?"

I looked up, startled. Stephen placed a mug of coffee onto my desk and took a sip of another. I scoffed and got to my feet, removing the pen I'd had clenched between my teeth, and setting my papers onto the table.

"You know the answer to that."

He shrugged. I rolled my eyes and slipped my arms around him, snatching a look at his delectable lips. 

"I love you, Stephen."

He put his coffee down and smiled, curling my stray lock of hair behind my ear and placing his hands on either side of my head.

"I love you too, Loki."

I smiled and hugged him, tucking my head into the crook of his neck. He held me tight; I felt safe and secure and irrevocably happy. 

"Maybe we should do something big," I said suddenly, pulling away from him and biting my lip in excitement.

He frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Thor and Jane are expecting a baby," I prompted, raising an eyebrow. "Carol and Valkyrie have moved in together... and it was little Morgan's sixth birthday the other day - gosh, she's growing up fast. Maybe we should do something."

Stephen smiled. "So you think we should do something big as in, with our relationship.

I smiled back. "Yeah."

He took a deep breath. "What did you have in mind?"

"Marry me?"

*