Chapter Text
Gimme gimme some good thing baby-gimme gimme, gimme gimme
Give me some sweet, sweet honey-oh, that sweet, sweet honey
~Steelheart
It was happening again. The nagging sensation at the back of his head, which would later morph into an overwhelming buzz, and the prickly feeling that left his skin overcharged and sensitive to even the most fleeting of touches were just the beginning of his misery. This was by far the most inconvenient and unwanted period of his life, and even during those few and far between times when he had someone to help alleviate him of his suffering the frustration that he felt at being at another’s mercy quickly eviscerated any pleasure that he could have obtained from the encounters. Yes, as soon as the first wave of uncontrollable lust hit him, leaving him scorched all the way down to his very marrow, Loki knew that there was no denying the inevitable. He was about to go into heat…again. Normally, this fact wouldn’t seem so daunting, given that he had been utilizing his shades instead of seeking out a partner ever since he’d reached maturity, but this time there was cause for panic, if he did say so himself.
His latest run-in with Midgard’s self-appointed ‘guardians’ had left him more drained than he cared to admit, and it had taken nearly everything in his reserves of power just to mend the damage that had been done to his person and to establish himself in a new locale. Once he had finished putting up the enchantments that would conceal his ‘lair’ from prying eyes, Loki barely had enough energy to make it to the grand bed that he had transfigured before his body gave out, not even leaving him with the ability to grumble about his newfound weakness. Truly, he must have been the picture of utter helplessness as he writhed about in the throes of warmth that continued to wash over him, riding the waves of intense yearning for nigh on three days before his mind screamed for a respite. Perhaps it was his predilection for taking care of this matter himself that was causing the heat to intensify to nearly unbearable levels, he thought absently, knowing that such an outcome would simply serve him right for the abhorrent way that he had treated his lovers in the past. His train of thought was quickly interrupted by a particularly intense gust of longing, and his body was forced to ride the crest of passion until it finally sizzled out, leaving him a panting mass of splayed limbs and sweat-soaked leathers.
As he lay there in a vain attempt to catch his breath, Loki forced the blunted cogs of his thought process to begin turning again out of sheer force of will (or perhaps spite), for he had no intensions of spending the next four days wallowing around in his own fluids while the heat scorched him from the inside out. It was a painful pill to swallow, but he finally came to terms with the fact that he would have to have assistance this time. The problem that Loki hadn’t yet found a solution for was in whom to choose. He supposed that he could always ask Thor for help, seeing as it had been his brother who had gotten him through his first heat when they were youths, but his pride balked at the idea of having Thor see him in such a state. After all of the posturing that he had done in order to get his brother to view him as an equal, he would be damned if he allowed himself to be indebted to Thor for something that could just as easily be remedied by another willing body.
Having crossed out that option, Loki briefly considered taking his chances with Victor, but in that way lay submission and he wasn’t willing to submit to one who deemed himself to be above his mortal rank. It was just as well, he shrugged inwardly, knowing that Doom preferred him in his female guise anyway. The next face to shimmer into view of his mind’s eye unbidden was more than unusual, and Loki could not help the slightly hysterical laugh that bubbled forth from lips that had been worried to bruising by frantic teeth as Tony Stark’s smirking visage materialized before him. Of all the possibilities, the Iron Man definitely seemed to be the path of least resistance, probably wouldn’t even bother to ask any questions at all if Loki were to appear in his private quarters announced, and it was well-known that Stark was less than concerned about the sex of his conquests so long as the face was fair and the body was responsive. ‘Yes…the Man of Iron would do nicely’, he nodded to himself before a little voice inside his head reminded him that while he may be good for an all-night marathon, Tony Stark was not the type of man who would willingly spend four whole days catering to someone who was nothing more than just another in a long line of bedmates. Then again, maybe the man would surprise him, Loki sighed. It didn’t matter much really, because he wouldn’t be ‘just another’ notch on the libertine’s bedpost, and he didn’t think that he could live with hearing Stark brag about how he had made the ever proud Trickster beg for his touch. No, what Loki needed was someone who could guarantee him control over the encounter, someone who wouldn’t necessarily take advantage of his weakened state even while ‘taking advantage’ of him.
As fat beads of perspiration trailed lazy tracks from his brow all the way down to the hollow of his throat, a sly grin slowly curled his sore mouth as a new face cropped up for his viewing pleasure. Not only was the man easy on the eyes, he was probably the only candidate that would be too embarrassed to share the information with anyone else, guaranteeing that their illicit rendezvous stayed just between them. ‘Yes, the boy scout Captain would do more than suffice’, Loki smiled to himself, absently nuzzling at the pillow plastered to his cheek as he prepared for another suffocating wave of heat to bathe his already taxed body. If a small part of his mind whispered promises that the Captain would be the only one save for Thor who wouldn’t look on him as a vile thing while he found himself at the mercy of his basest desires, he ignored it, for such thoughts were irrelevant. He was looking for release not comfort, or at least that was what Loki continued to tell himself as he rode out wave after wave of brutal intensity with no one but the walls to hear his cries and watch his tears slip soundlessly past clenched lids.
Δ
It wasn’t every day that one of the Avengers got the entire mansion to his or her self, and when such an occasion came around said Avenger tended to take full advantage of the situation by living it up. However, in Steve Rogers’s case, his idea of enjoying the solitude was to kick back with a bucket of popcorn and continue his journey through the history of film by watching some old black and white’s. It wasn’t a glamorous way to spend one’s free time by any means, but it was one of his rare pleasures in life that he wouldn’t trade for all the tea in China. The sounds of his final two colleagues departing for the evening drifted into the kitchen, and Steve couldn’t help but shake his head in silent amusement as he heard the exasperated voice of one Clint Barton reminding their resident scientist for the umpteenth time just why they were attending Tony Stark’s benefit that night.
“You’ll have all the free booze you could ever want, plus…there’ll be like tons of loose women there so you’re guaranteed to go home happy,” Clint explained, in that teenager manner of his that made it seem like the other person was the thick one for not realizing the obvious. In many ways, he and Tony were quite similar, but while Barton tended to be blunt and to the point Stark enjoyed talking people’s ears off until they were left not knowing which end was up. The put upon sigh that followed the statement let Steve know that Banner was beyond arguing their comrade’s logic and that he had come to the same conclusion that everyone did when going up against Hawkeye; sometimes it was just easier to go with the flow rather than make waves because no one really ‘won’ an argument with Clint Barton.
“Clint, I think we both know that it would be a very bad idea for me to become inebriated or to…”
“Get laid,” Barton supplied helpfully, cheeky grin widening at Bruce’s glare of disapproval. “Alright, alright, no overexcitement, I got it,” he quickly amended, and Steve could practically hear the man holding out his hands in placation.
By the time the blond ambled up to the entryway, both men had just shrugged on their overcoats and were preparing to exit, Bruce still looking mildly annoyed and Clint grinning like a devious madman. “You two have fun,” Steve called out, taking a sip of milk from the mug in his hand.
For a second, it looked as if Banner was going to plead for the Captain to join them, but Barton made sure to cut him off at the pass and began to hustle the reluctant doctor out the door. “Oh, we will,” Clint replied in a sing-song voice, before ducking back inside to fix Steve with a mock-stern look of warning. “Just remember, no parties without invitin’ me first, young man,” he declared, wagging an index finger in Steve’s direction for added emphasis.
“Yes sir,” the blond chuckled, giving the other man a quick salute with his mug as Hawkeye shut the door with a mischievous smirk. There were times when he seriously questioned why he chose to remain a part of this odd assortment of ‘heroes’, for displays like that made it seem like he was living in one of those dormitories for boys whenever they went off to college rather than with an elite group of crime fighters, but Steve soon shrugged the encounter off just like he did all of the others and went to go ensconce himself in the living area. Barton and Stark may be immature but at the core of their beings they were good men, and good men were hard to come by these days. ‘Still, they could at least try and act a little more professional’, Steve mused ruefully as he carefully set the entertainment system up according to the directions that Tony had written down for both him and Thor.
No sooner had he released a small exclamation of joy at having gotten the darned thing to work properly on the first attempt did he find his evening plans rapidly going down the crapper. It turned out that his momentary reveling at his accomplishment caused him to overlook the shifting shadow in the next room over, which made Steve completely unprepared for the wall of flesh that he walked into when he turned to head back to the couch.
“Good gravy!” he gasped, the unexpected sensation of colliding with said wall causing him to shut his eyes in surprise. “One of these days you’re gonna give someone a genuine heart attack if you keep sneaking up on people like that, Clint,” the blond exhaled shakily, backing up a step and sucking in a gust of air in an attempt to regain his composure. Since he still had his eyes closed, Steve missed the wobbly smile that graced his assailant’s face before a slightly breathless voice snapped him out of his startled stupor.
“My, my, you are quite the little rabbit, aren’t you?”
Steve didn’t think that his eyes had ever popped open so fast as the dulcet tones finally registered with his memory banks as being those of Thor’s estranged brother; however, the sharp cry of outrage that had danced upon the tip of his tongue abruptly vanished when his widened orbs took full stock of the form in front of him. “L-Loki, wh-what are you doing here?” His voice was not nearly as sure as he would’ve liked as he found himself the object of a positively sweltering stare, and Steve found that he had to gulp down a mouthful of saliva when the Trickster’s face took on an almost feral look. Lord have mercy, but it almost appeared as if Loki wanted nothing more than to eat him alive!
The dark-haired man tried to put on his most seductive façade as he sidled up to the frozen Captain, stubbornly willing his hands to remain steady when he brought them up to run over his prey’s cotton-covered chest. “There’s no need to be frightened, Captain Rogers; I can assure you that what I am here for will be mutually beneficial,” Loki murmured, gazing up at the blond’s uneasy expression through lowered lashes. He felt his confident smirk widen at the sight of the other man’s bobbing throat, but before he was able to capitalize on the show of weakness strong hands were gripping his shoulders and pushing him back to arm’s length.
“Look…I-I don’t know what you’re playing at here, but it won’t work,” Steve stated lowly, having to clear his throat twice before the words finally came out. Apparently, his show of reproach wasn’t off-putting enough for the other man, for Loki simply flashed that devilish grin of his and made to grab a hold of the blond once more.
“Mm, so you say, but I have it on good authority that you’re not nearly as sure as you would have me to believe you are,” Loki replied, heavy-lidded eyes zeroing in on a particularly inviting patch of skin just above the blond’s collar. It seemed that his body could sense his intentions and thereby granted him a burst of strength that he had not possessed since the heat had begun, allowing him to catch the Captain off-guard when he yanked the blond forward and latched his hungry mouth onto the other man’s neck.
The sound that left Steve’s mouth upon feeling the sensation of wet suction against his skin could only be described as a squeal, no matter how doggedly he wished to deny it, and for all of his training the only thing his limbs seemed to be capable of was useless flailing in the wake of Loki’s furious assault. It wasn’t until the sharp edge of Tony’s state of the art entertainment center dug into his back that Steve was able to rein in his panic long enough to pry the human-sized leech from his throat, his voice coming out even more strained as he sought for an answer to this new form of warfare that Loki was implementing.
“What-what in the world are you doing?” the blond choked, his grip on the leather-clad arms of his attacker a little firmer than his voice at the moment. Although the coy smirk had yet to leave Loki’s lips, from this vantage point Steve was able to get a better view of the other man, and as his gaze took in the sight of large pupils and sweat streaked skin he felt his surprise morph into concern. This was strange behavior even by the Trickster’s standards, and the Captain wasn’t sure if he should try and subdue Loki or help the man to the nearby couch.
“I’ve always known that you were reserved, Captain Rogers, but I thought that even you would be able to spot an overture of intimate relations when one was presented,” the Trickster grinned, lithe body shifting in an attempt to achieve renewed contact with the figure in front of him.
Steve, however, was having none of it, and instead backed Loki up until the backs of the man’s knees connected with the coffee table. Still keeping his hold on the slender man’s arms, he took the time to examine the other’s features more carefully, brow furrowing even deeper as the heat wafting off of the form in his arms finally registered. “Holy cow, you’re burning up,” he muttered under his breath, inadvertently triggering a mechanism inside of the Trickster’s brain that in turn set off a drastic change of mood in the dark-haired man.
“Of course I am, you dimwitted Boy Scout!” Loki snarled, bringing his afore limp hands up to shove against the bulk bearing down on him. The force of the move sent Steve staggering back into the media piece behind him, and before he was able to so much as gather his bearings a red-faced demon of a man was upon him like a starving beast, tapered hands clawing at his shirt as Loki’s tongue flicked out to lick dry lips. “One would think by your reaction that you’ve never seen one in heat before,” was growled to the blond’s chest, but the words carried up to the stunned Captain’s ears perfectly.
In heat…surely he didn’t mean what it sounded like he meant? Steve’s brain attempted to process the information, but as sharp teeth began to nibble at the skin over his collarbone he was forced to admit that as farfetched as the suggestion may have sounded the explanation of Loki being in heat was making more and more sense the longer the man continued to bestow his attentions onto Steve’s tightly-strung body. That being said, the knowledge of why Loki was acting so strangely didn’t exactly lend him any ideas on how to combat the man’s advances, so the blond was finally forced to resort to brute strength. Letting out another involuntary gurgle of a squeal, the Captain hastily wrapped his hands over his assailant’s shoulders and reversed their positions with a forceful pivot of his hips before Loki was able to draw blood with that ravenous mouth of his.
After taking a moment to catch his breath, Steve raised his eyes to the overly bright orbs of the Trickster and felt his body sag in defeat at the look of pure lust that painted Loki’s flushed countenance. ‘How the heck am I supposed to fend him off without hurtin’ him?’ was the main thought bouncing around in his muddled mind, for despite his villainous status there was no real way that Loki could be held accountable for his actions while he was under the thrall of such a primal drive. Nevertheless, he couldn’t exactly ‘do nothing’ either. He was beginning to rue his decision to remain behind while the others were out and about enjoying themselves when he felt the limber body in front of him press up against his front, long-fingered hands leaving almost ‘literal’ trails of fire in their wake as they danced across the exposed skin of his arms.
“You wouldn’t condemn me to continue suffering in this state when you hold the key to my salvation now, would you, Captain?” Loki whispered, sharp smile wobbling at the edges as he inched his hands up underneath the sleeves of Steve’s fitted t-shirt. The unexpected warmth on the sensitive area of skin sent a shiver through the blond’s form and drew forth a sharp bark of laughter from the Trickster’s throat as Loki prepared to swoop in for the kill. “No…you are far too noble a man to stand by and watch even an enemy suffer such a fate, which was why I chose you,” he murmured huskily, leaning forward in the hopes of plundering the lush mouth hovering inches away from his own.
Sensing the other man’s intentions before he even moved, Steve turned his head at the last second so that Loki’s lips landed on his cheek; it may have been a poor attempt at stalling for more time but it was all the blond could come up with as he tried to get his suddenly dry mouth to form words. “Ch-chose me for what?” he finally managed to stammer, as his traitorous body began to unconsciously respond to the heated touches of the form molding against him. To say that he was taken aback by Loki’s bold response would have been a dramatic understatement, for when a breathy chuckle against his ear was followed up by a firm grip on his crotch Steve found himself gaping in muted shock while his spine stiffened almost painfully straight.
“I find myself in need of your baser half…can you help me?” Loki breathed, tracing over the shell beneath his lips with light swipes of his tongue. The jerk he received for his ministrations set his already precarious balance off kilter and caused both men to stumble back on unsteady feet.
“Loki, I-I really don’t think this is appropriate,” Steve started to say, but the introduction of the table behind him caused his voice to trail off into a sharp cry of panic. Loki’s manic laughter comingled with his own breathless exclamations of surprise when they both tumbled down onto the piece of furniture, the auspicious sounds of splintering wood and breaking glass following both men into the blessed reprieve of unconsciousness.
Δ
The muted sound of a marching band playing way too close to his ear was what finally drew the dazed figure of Steve Rogers up from the depths of pleasant oblivion with a barely audible groan. ‘Who in the world let a band in here?’ he thought groggily, but as the muzzy feeling around his head slowly began to dissipate the sound was arranged into the ringtone of his mobile telephone. It wasn’t until he tried to make a grab for the offending device that the generous weight pressing down on his chest registered and instantly stilled any motion that he may have wanted to make save for breathing. Being sure to keep his body as steady as possible, Steve cracked open wary eyes and glanced down at whatever was resting atop of his chest but no matter how ingrained and well-honed his soldier’s training may have been none of it could have prevented the involuntary shudder that shot through his body at the sight of the curtain of raven hair that was splayed out just beneath his chin.
Steve didn’t think that he had ever been more grateful to have been left alone in his life, for at that moment any potential aid that his teammates could have rendered would have seemed inconsequential when compared to their being witnesses to his humiliation. He may have been humble, but he wasn’t quite willing to risk his pride in that way…at least not yet. As cautious as he had thought that he was being, however, it apparently wasn’t good enough, for the figure currently plastered to his front began to move. Upon hearing the tiny moan that drifted up from the direction of his upper abdomen, Steve held the breath that he had just inhaled and bit down on his lower lip as if by doing so could somehow make him disappear. It didn’t work, and a few moments later found him staring into familiar green eyes that while being a tad bit dazed were no less fever-bright. Loki was still viewing his human pillow as a five course meal when a warm finger came up to trace the blond’s jaw, and Steve was ashamed to say that the heated gaze was beginning to grow on him as he watched pearly beads of sweat meander down the other man’s pleasantly flushed faced. Never in all of his years had he had anyone look at him like that, and despite the roaring sense of uncertainty that was currently swirling about in his mind the Captain had to admit that it felt nice to be wanted by one who by all rights could have any partner of his choosing.
Then the evil, little minx went and grinned as if he could read Steve’s very thoughts, and the blond’s bubble of hazy numbness abruptly popped. “Do I make you nervous, Captain?” the Trickster asked slyly, flicking his tongue out to brush teasing strokes across his quarry’s throat.
Much to his dismay, Steve discovered that midway through his attempt to throw Loki off and escape to the relative safety of the kitchen his body had decided to stage a revolt and had begun to respond to the Trickster’s ministrations against his will. Watching as his hands came up to frame the leather-clad sides of his devilish tormentor was almost like viewing the actions of a stranger, and the quiet mewl of surprise that slipped past his tightly clenched lips as Loki ran an overheated palm down over his quivering stomach was definitely the work of an imposter. There was no way that he was making those noises of approval as the dark-haired man’s sinuous form began to grind against his pelvis, uh huh…no sir e bob, just like there was no possible way that his breathing began to go ragged the longer Loki’s wicked tongue lapped at his collar bone.
“Mm, I see that you are not completely unreceptive to the idea of being intimate with another male,” the Trickster remarked casually, humming against his prey’s skin in approval as the body beneath him grew ever more responsive to his touches. As luck would have it though, after a blatant fondling of the blond’s groin he found himself overcome by another wave of heat that left him breathless and unable to prevent being bucked off to land in a sea of splinters and shards, both of which abraded his exposed skin when his limbs began to flail about helplessly.
As soon as the blanket of oppressive warmth was gone from his chest, Steve took the opportunity to drag as much air into his lungs as he could, wondering if he had indeed held his breath the entire time Loki had been ‘molesting’ him, but as soon as his senses picked up on the writhing figure next to him he began to regret his actions. The Trickster was sweating profusely now as his lithe body contorted in apparent pain, and as the blond’s eyes followed the erratic motions he couldn’t help but wince every time creamy skin impacted the debris all around them. Not for the first time did Steve lament his compassionate nature as his body moved of its own accord to carefully gather up the wriggling form, but when his ears picked up on the mumbled pleas pouring out of Loki’s trembling lips he wondered if he would have the strength to do what he knew he should do or what he knew would put a stop to the other man’s suffering. He supposed that only time would tell, but right now his battlefield instincts were telling him that Loki’s temperature needed to be brought back under control, even if it was only temporarily.
“Please…I-I need…I need…”
“Shh, I know, Loki,” Steve murmured, having a pretty good idea of what the other man was going to say before a round of whimpers cut him off. Now that he was back in his element of caring for a fallen man, the blond felt his confidence return in small doses as he gingerly made his way to the staircase that would lead them to the bedrooms, flinching whenever a flailing limb would connect with an object and send it crashing to the floor. “Tony’s gonna have my head,” he muttered under his breath, screwing his eyes shut as the sound of a vase meeting its demise resounded loudly in the otherwise silent mansion. “Man…I really hope that wasn’t ridiculously expensive,” Steve hissed, before forcing his feet to continue their path to the stairs. By now, Loki’s movements had become more erratic, and despite his not being in peak condition the fact that he was for all intents and purposes a ‘god’ made it harder to keep him subdued. “Gees Louise, Loki, if you don’t cut it out you’re gonna make us both fall again!” the Captain exclaimed wearily, his arms struggling to retain their hold on their slippery burden.
The Trickster didn’t seem to hear Steve’s admonishment, for when he reopened his eyes the first words out of his mouth were for Rogers to ‘take him’. “Please, Captain, tis the only way to-to put an end to this wretched curse,” he whispered brokenly, reaching up to frame his potential savior’s face with trembling hands. He had never begged anyone for this sort of favor before, but he was not above doing so now if it meant Steve agreeing. Truly, this heat had left him beyond any notions of shame.
Steve was aware that he had no rebuttal on hand to dispel Loki’s reasoning, so he instead decided to play to his strengths in the hopes that he could keep the other man subdued long enough to get them up the stairs. “I’m not saying that I don’t believe you, Loki; all I’m suggesting is that you let me get you situated in one of the spare rooms upstairs,” he replied calmly. When it looked as if the raven-haired man would launch into another round of needy pleas, Steve sighed and mentally sent up a silent prayer for forgiveness for what he was about to say before he turned his attention back down to the now-panting mess in his arms. “Think of it this way, a bed would be a lot more comfortable for what you have in mind than metal stairs and hardwood floors, right?” he grinned, praying that Loki would be too far gone to remember just how bad of a liar he was.
Time seemed to grind to a painfully slow pace as the sweltering god scrutinized the smiling face that floated above him, muddled mind trying and failing to process just what exactly was being said. Finally, he decided that whatever it was must have been a good idea judging by the toothy grin the Captain wore, so he in turn flashed Steve a smirk of his own, not knowing that his normally wolfish smile was made sloppy in his current state.
“Ok, I’ll take that as a ‘yes’,” Steve nodded to himself, hefting up the dead weight in his arms. The movement drew a husky chuckle from his burden, and before he even made it three steps he knew that this was going to be the longest journey of his life. Loki had started taking up his previous act of suckling the blond’s neck while maintaining a gentle grip around Steve’s shoulders, which made for several close calls before they finally reached the top.
“Are we to retire to your chambers now?” the Trickster burred into the ear he was currently licking, pleased when the action caused the figure who was cradling him close to falter slightly.
To Steve’s dismay, his room did end up being the closest one, so after heaving one last sigh he decided to simply bite the bullet and went ahead and set his cargo down on the perfectly made bed. He should’ve known that he wouldn’t have been able to get off so easy before the sensation of obscenely long legs wrapping around his waist registered with his overtaxed brain.
“Mm, this is much better,” Loki purred, running his fingers through flaxen locks. Normally, the startled look currently painting the Captain’s face would have drawn a mocking taunt from his cruel tongue, but in the light of his heat it simply made the blond appear more charming, like a rabbit that realized it had been caught. “There’s no need to be frightened, Captain Rogers; I assure you that this is not part of a larger scheme to somehow bring down you and your friends from within,” he smirked, tracing over the other man’s resolutely closed lips with a warm fingertip.
‘Yeah, I kinda figured that out on my own, thanks,’ Steve mused wryly, watching as his captor shuddered and morphed back into a writhing mess before his very eyes. After disentangling himself from the Trickster’s death grip, he found that he could only observe the proceedings for a few minutes before the urge to put the other man out of his misery became too much to resist. Praying that he wasn’t about to make things worse, Steve cocked a shaky fist and brought it down across Loki’s cheek with a resounding crack while the dark-haired man was arching his back wantonly. It was only a temporary solution for keeping the Trickster immobile, but at least it would allow the blond time to separate Loki from his confining outfit and contemplate his next move.
“I’m sorry it had to come to this,” he whispered to the unconscious man, bending down to place a feather-light kiss to the spot on Loki’s cheekbone that he knew would begin to bruise. He figured that the heat wouldn’t allow the other man to remain out for long, so Steve wasted no time in setting about the task of undressing the limp form.
Δ
When the bedraggled form of the normally sophisticated trickster god began to stir back to life, he noticed that something was ‘off’, but he couldn’t be bothered to ponder on what exactly was different when there was a blessed coolness pressing against the feverish skin of his face and neck. In all honesty, he would’ve been quite content to lay there and soak up the precious droplets that were sinking into his overheated flesh for all eternity, but then the soft voice of a concerned Steve Rogers drifted into his ears and brought him back to reality, reminding him of what exactly was going on.
“Loki? Come on, Loki, I know you’re awake,” the Captain murmured, cajoling the prone figure into a fuller state of wakefulness. He was of course not counting on the Trickster’s strength and agility to have been returned to him so quickly, therefore making him unprepared for the sudden flurry of motion that left him sprawled out underneath a smirking Loki. ‘Dang it, one of these days I’m going to learn to stop underestimating that little minx,’ he sighed inwardly, only now realizing that by leaning across to wipe at the other side of the man’s neck he had left himself vulnerable. A slight shifting of Loki’s hips combined with the man’s arms wrapping around the blond’s neck had been all that was necessary to send Steve off-balance and consequently nullify the Captain’s repeated efforts to maintain some distance between their bodies.
“Hmm, it would appear that I am,” Loki hummed, settling himself atop of his momentarily stunned prey. It wasn’t until he disentangled his hold from Steve’s neck in order to frame the man’s slightly flushed face that he noticed what was different, the change that hadn’t been obvious with his eyes at half-mast. “I see that you were busy while I was…indisposed,” the dark-haired man grinned, sparing a glance at arms that were now covered by the thin sleeves of his under-tunic before sitting up to continue looking down the rest of his body. “Hmm, I take it that this was your attempt to bring this poor soul some much needed comfort, yes?” The words were spoken absently as Loki continued to study his half-naked form, and in the brief moment of respite that his examination afforded Steve took the opportunity to reverse their positions once again, using his sheer bulk to pin the slighter man in place.
“You were half out of your mind and sweating like a Russkie in the Sahara, so yeah, I did what I could to make things a little easier for you,” Steve bit out, momentarily letting his frustration at being caught unawares so frequently take control of his tongue. Afterwards, he felt the fight drain out of him, for he had never been able to stay angry for very long, and after heaving a shaky sigh he allowed his body to sag and head to hang in seeming defeat. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have snapped like that,” the blond muttered under his breath, but he was prevented from finishing his apology by a slight sniffle from the man below him.
“Odin’s beard…you truly are a Boy Scout,” Loki huffed, the weak smile on his face doing nothing to hide the suspicious shimmer in his eyes. “If anyone should be apologizing it should be me; you’ve been more than gracious in your handling of my condition and I…I’ve done nothing but throw myself at you like a wanton whore,” he continued mildly, thin smile twitching at the edges before he hastily swallowed the lump in his throat and lowered his gaze. “If you decide to leave me to my fate, I wouldn’t blame you; tis would be only a small portion of what I deserve for my innumerable crimes.”
Steve could only look on in worried fascination as the ever-proud Trickster crumbled in on himself, and although he wasn’t sure of the cause for this sudden bout of lucidity he intended to capitalize on it. For some reason that he’d rather not dwell on just then, hearing Loki describe himself in such a demeaning manner stuck him like a blade slipped in between the ribs, and the decision on whether or not to ‘help’ the raven-haired man was made up in the time it took to relinquish his hold on thin wrists and bring Loki’s gaze back to bear on his own (or perhaps it had been made earlier and he had simply chosen to deny it, Steve wasn’t quite sure nor did he much care). The blond was sad when he saw that a few renegade tears had managed to slip free to cling to the god’s lashes and cheeks since their eyes had last met, but despite the inadvertent show of weakness he noticed that Loki determinedly kept his jaw clenched and face blank, as if he were preparing to receive a blow.
Steve was proud of the fact that he could stun the normally unflappable Loki by gently thumbing away the light moisture from the man’s cheeks and bestowing a chaste kiss to his brow. “You shouldn’t talk about yourself like that,” he whispered against the moist skin, before leaning back to fix the other man with a soft smile. “I don’t think Thor would take kindly to hearing his little brother described that way, even by you.”
Loki’s mouth wobbled into the semblance of a return smile as he grasped onto the Captain’s forearms, needing the contact to keep him grounded before he could be swept up into the maelstrom of emotions that resulted from the man’s sweet words. “H-how would you describe me then?” he croaked, silver tongue failing him when it was needed most.
Steve sucked in a shaky breath as he continued to gaze down at the comely face below, emerald orbs for once leaving nothing shuttered, and he found the answer coming almost unbidden to his lips. “Lonely,” he whispered, running a thumb over a trembling bottom lip. “I’d say that you were lonely.” The wet gasp that escaped Loki’s slightly opened mouth proved to be the Captain’s breaking point, for it was sure to be the harbinger of a round of gut-wrenching sobs. Steve knew the feeling all too well since he had awoken in a time that he didn’t belong to, so in an effort to spare the Trickster any further pain he allowed himself to give in to Loki’s request and brought their mouths together for a gentle yet lingering kiss. “You aren’t the only one who feels like he doesn’t belong anywhere,” he panted, pulling back far enough to refill his lungs but keeping their foreheads pressed together.
Loki bit his lip in an effort to stifle a whimper, but it still managed to wriggle out, drawing forth a series of hushes and butterfly kisses from the man above. He’d come here looking for relief but instead received something even more valuable: understanding. In the wake of the Captain’s display, he almost felt guilty about bringing up the subject of the heat, but it looked as if he wasn’t going to have much of a choice as his body began to shudder in expectation. “I thank you for your kindness, Captain, but at this time I’m afraid that it is not your words that I find myself in need of…” Loki broke off on a ragged gasp, and his chest pressed against the weight that was confining him as a wave of lust began to crest over his skin once again, severing the tentative connection that they had been making.
Seeing that the other man was firmly back in the thralls of his heat, Steve eased up from his kneel on the bed and began to run his fingers through his hair. The notion to provide the unique form of aid that Loki required had seemed so much simpler when he had been thinking it, but now that the reality of such a choice was staring him in the face panic began to set in. He didn’t exactly have the most experience when it came to this sort of thing, and the idea of being with another man was simply something that hadn’t been talked about in his day. In theory, he supposed that it couldn’t be all that different from being with a woman, but before he made any further suppositions Steve felt that he should first make his apprehension clear to Loki, for it was only fair that the other man know just how far out of his league the blond was on this matter.
“Listen, Loki, uh about this whole deal...I uh I haven’t exactly uh…”
“Been with a god before,” Loki smirked, taking some of the tension out of the other man’s shoulders with an attempt at humor. It was a spur of the moment call made when he caught sight of the other man’s hesitation, but it ended up paying off when the blond blushed and quirked his lips into a wry grin.
“I guess that’s one way to put it,” Steve chuckled, before facing his companion with a questioning frown. “You know…Tony or Clint would’ve jumped at this chance and they know a heck of a lot more about this than I do,” he waved his hand about to indicate their predicament before lowering his voice to a husky whisper. “Why pick me?”
The sheer innocence that Steve seemed to radiate was simply too much for Loki to handle. “Because, Captain,” he began breathlessly, reaching out and snagging a hold of the blond’s shirt in order to tug the other man back into his embrace, “I knew that you would keep this between us.” He quickly silenced the other questions that danced in Rogers’s eyes by slamming their mouths together and using his talented hands to keep the other man’s head in place, absently enjoying the feel of soft hair sliding against his fingers. All too soon, the need for air forced them to separate, and it was with great reluctance that Loki allowed the other man to back away and collect his composure.
“H-holy cow,” Steve choked, coughing a few times when air became difficult to suck in. “That was…that was somethin’ else.” He’d never had someone thrust their tongue into his mouth before, and he was slightly perturbed at the thought of Loki being the first to try something like that on him. ‘But it wasn’t bad,’ his mind tittered, and it was at that point that he finally admitted defeat. Keeping his head resolutely bowed for fear of being drawn in again by Loki’s ‘tractor beam’ like gaze, he finally voiced the question that had been the elephant in the room for him ever since the Trickster’s announcement, and he prayed that he wouldn’t sound as awkward as he felt. “So uh…you obviously know how this sort of thing works, is there uh…anything that I should know?” He hastily chomped down on his bottom lip before his rambling got out of hand and looked up at the other man through lowered lashes, praying that Loki wouldn’t pick this particular time to make fun of him for his ‘virtuous ways’.
Loki, however, appeared to have reverted back into ‘predator’ mode and was eyeing Steve with a look that was sure to scorch bone as thin lips pulled back to reveal two rows of perfectly white teeth. “How about I make you a deal, Captain Rogers,” he replied lowly, using what strength he possessed at the moment to lift himself up onto an elbow. “If you can provide us with the necessary materials, then I shall take care of the rest.” By now, he had dragged himself closer to Steve and was practically purring the words into the man’s ear, causing the blond to shudder and swallow convulsively. At the unsure look that he received, Loki let out a breathy laugh and kissed away the small frown that marred the Captain’s otherwise delectable mouth, whispering, “Some oil to ease the way, my naïve Boy Scout,” against the man’s lips before stealing another quick peck.
Once he had regained possession of both his tongue and speaking ability, Steve recalled an item that Stark and Barton had given to him as a ‘gag’ gift for his birthday earlier that year, their sly grins challenging him to figure out how to use said item without being given any instructions. He and Thor (who had been quite intrigued when Steve had shown him the tube) had spent almost an entire week squeezing out small amounts of the gel-like substance that the tube had contained and smearing it on various surfaces in the hopes that it would ‘do something’ before Dr. Banner had taken pity on them and explained what the goo was for. Afterwards, Steve was glad that he hadn’t tried to taste the stuff, but Thor looked to be even more interested. Apparently, they were forced to use oil in Asgard, a fact that Steve had valiantly suppressed up until now.
“Um…I may have something that’ll work,” he stated tentatively, reaching over and pulling open the top drawer of his nearby nightstand. “Clint and Tony gave it to me as sort of a joke,” he offered up shyly, after he showed the tube of lubricant to a rather puzzled Loki.
“And…have you used it?” the Trickster asked quietly, after a significant pause had caused the blond to start squirming.
“I uh…I’ve used it on some squeaky hinges and motorcycle gears, but other than that…” Steve trailed off when he realized that he was being examined, and as Loki’s heated gaze searched him for any trace of falsehood he found himself overcome with a sudden wave of sympathy. “Hey, I’m the virtuous one, remember?” he finally grinned, leaning forward to plant a teasing kiss on the furrowed brow before him. “I’m not like everybody else.” He wasn’t sure why he murmured the words against Loki’s skin, but some deep part of his heart told him that it would go a long way in making this whole ‘situation’ seem a lot less sordid on all fronts.
Steve knew that he had done the right thing when he felt long arms wrap around his neck and a human furnace press up against his chest. “No…no, you most certainly are not,” a subdued voice burred against the cotton covering his right shoulder, a heaving sigh following up the admission. After that, neither one so much as moved a muscle for fear of ruining what Clint would term ‘the moment’, but it turned out that circumstances didn’t provide them with much time for reflection. Pretty soon Loki was nuzzling the soft skin of Steve’s throat, and the blond could feel the shudders that were racking the lithe body increasing in intensity.
“W-wait, sh-shouldn’t I at least take off my shoes first?” he asked weakly, a last minute effort to resist being hauled back on top of his now hopelessly messed bed. ‘The high pitched sound that left his mouth after Loki licked behind his ear was most definitely not a giggle,’ he tried to tell himself firmly, but this time his brain simply laughed back in his face, the last of his holdouts to surrender to the Trickster’s wiles.
“Relax, Steven, it’s my turn to run the show now,” Loki replied huskily, dragging the blond’s head around so that he could plant another distracting kiss on Steve’s mouth as he pulled the other man forward to kneel between his spread legs. When the Captain’s tentative tongue began to steadily grow bolder, he couldn’t help but mentally congratulate himself, even though they hadn’t gotten to the actual ‘deed’ just yet. This small act of trust was like a balm to Loki’s frostbitten soul, and as he expertly rolled them over to straddle Steve’s waist he wondered if this display would continue for the rest of what he had in mind. A questing touch along the edge of the man’s t-shirt accompanied by an arch of the brow was rewarded with a small smile before Rogers helpfully aided him in removing the garment, earning the Captain another sweltering kiss. It appeared that Steve’s offer of trust wasn’t a fluke, and as Loki continued to remove the rest of the man’s clothes he made sure to bestow each revealed area of skin with a series of kisses, his own needs temporarily forgotten in his desire to thank this man who had dared to gift him with something so precious.
Once they had both been stripped bare, however, the primal urges of the heat were back in full force, and Steve barely had time to briefly admire the canvas of skin that was on display before Loki began to systematically take him apart with nothing but his mouth and fingers. The last ‘coherent’ thought that flitted through his mind was the knowledge that the others would be getting home relatively soon, and he hadn’t the first clue about how he was going to explain Loki’s presence…or the mess downstairs…or the marks that he was sure to be sporting once this was all over.
“I could explain things to your little gang of do-gooders if you’d like?” Loki murmured, lazily kissing his way back up to Steve’s lips.
By now, the blond had given up on figuring out how the other man seemed to read his thoughts and simply nodded. “I’d be most grateful for your assistance,” he deadpanned, waiting until the dark-haired man pulled back to look at him in bewilderment before cracking a wide smile.
“It seems as if being in my presence is causing your speech to alter most becomingly,” Loki grinned, running a finger over Steve’s lips as he shifted his position ever so slowly. “Let us see if I can add further modifications to your upstanding character.” The devious turn of his grin let the blond know that he was in for a wild ride, but somehow he couldn’t be bothered to care, not when both his mind and body had decided that they had nowhere else to be.
Δ
He must have somehow died over the course of the evening, for there could be no other explanation for why he suddenly felt detached from his own body. Just as quickly as he had made this determination, however, he felt something shift from his chest and move to his shoulder at the same time that a weight was pressed snugly against his side. A sleepy smile crept its way onto Steve’s face as the pleasant haze began to lift from his mind, and he slowly cracked his eyes open to glance down at the figure that had molded itself to his body. It had perhaps taken longer than what the other man would’ve liked, but the blessed relief that Loki had come to him in search of had finally been achieved with much fanfare if Steve said so himself, leaving the Trickster a boneless heap of a man. Looking back on the night’s activities, he had to say that being intimate with another of the same gender hadn’t been nearly as uncomfortable as he had imagined, although the whole ‘preparation’ stage had left him a bit frozen in mortification (Loki keeping that darn smirk on his face throughout the entire time that he showed Steve the proper technique only made the situation even more embarrassing). Alas, once that was out of the way Steve was ashamed to say that the rest went by pretty quickly, but if what Loki had slurred into his neck before passing out was true then he had three more days of this to look forward to.
A drawn-out hum brought the blond out of his musings just in time to greet a pair of emerald eyes that were clear for the first time since Loki had arrived. He knew that this was the appropriate time for him to say something ‘smooth’, like the famous actors would in the movies, but when he opened his mouth all that came out was a quiet, “Hi.” Gees Louise…he really was bad at this sort of thing, but then again Loki didn’t appear to mind. In fact, the man’s smile seemed to stretch even wider as he flung a leg over Steve’s thighs and moved to drape himself over the blond’s chest, dampened skin sliding against dampened skin as the Trickster sought to arrange himself in a more comfortable position.
“Hello,” Loki finally murmured, leaning forward to tuck his face against the other man’s neck. “I trust that you enjoyed yourself, yes?”
The sheer smugness that seemed to ooze from the sleep-roughened lilt had Steve’s lips quirking into a wry grin when he normally would’ve frowned in irritation, because for some reason Loki sounded much less bothersome when he was half-asleep. Nevertheless, the blond knew that he couldn’t allow the Trickster’s head to expand too greatly by letting on just how much of an understatement the other man’s words truly were. “I probably enjoyed it more than I should have,” he finally lamented, heaving a put upon sigh and rolling his head to the side to rest atop of Loki’s. “Are you sure that you didn’t use any magic, because I can’t move?” the Captain stage-whispered into the ear right by his lips, his mischievous smirk widening at the burred laugh that drifted up through the curtain of hair that was fanned out over his throat.
“Tis only a natural reaction to your orgasm, my dear Captain,” Loki mumbled, fully expecting the other man to morph into a most fetching state of red as he tried to stammer out something incomprehensible. Therefore, the half-choked snigger and full-body shudder came as a complete surprise and motivated him to raise his head and fix his companion with a questioning frown. “This fact amuses you?” he asked quietly, a tiny smile hovering just off the edge of his mouth as he watched Steve attempt to gather his composure. Perhaps he had used the wrong word to describe the sensation, seeing as his knowledge of Midgardian terminology had yet to be perfected?
Hearing Loki speak so frankly about what they had just done seemed to unlock something deep within Steve’s mind, sending him into a brief bout of uncontrollable laughter; it wouldn’t occur to him until later on that this reaction was due to the pleasure chemicals that had been released into his system. “I-I’m sorry,” he chuckled breathlessly, rolling his head back and forth across his pillow, “it’s just that…that sort of statement sounded more than a little odd coming from you.” Through his half-squinted eyes he watched as Loki’s features melted from slightly amused to downright impish before the dark-haired man bent to seal their mouths together.
“Mm, it is my pleasure to keep one as attentive as yourself on his toes,” Loki purred against the other man’s lips, reveling in this brief period of tranquility. However, the tingling sensation that indicated the eminent end of this respite from his heat soon pushed him to seek delicious friction between their bodies, but before he could get very far he found his wrists clasped in a gentle but firm hold.
“Oh no,” Steve admonished his frisky companion lightly. “I did what you asked, but if you want any more of my help then you’re gonna have to let me use the bathroom and get a drink.” He made sure to use his most severe, no nonsense face when stating his demands so that Loki would know that he meant business, and although he could tell that the other man was reluctant to let him go the Trickster finally nodded and eased his body off to the side. “You know, it might not hurt for you to drink something too; I mean…mortal or not you have to be thirsty after sweating so much,” Steve remarked soothingly, reaching over to run a hand through damp tresses while Loki fought to contain the urge to writhe again.
“Hm, I suppose that that is your way of asking me to join you for a libation, yes?” the dark-haired man grinned, making a half-hearted attempt to tug the Captain forward for more contact. When Steve refused to budge, Loki took the hint and nodded his acquiescence, running his heated palms over the other man’s exposed pectorals idly. “I suspect that joining you downstairs for a drink would be the more favorable of my two options,” he sighed, the slight pout of his mouth drawing forth a goofy grin from his companion.
“Oh yeah, and what’s your other choice?” Steve asked laughingly, wondering what dramatic response the Trickster would come up with to describe his fate. ‘Whatever it is will probably involve more writhing,’ he snickered to himself, for it seemed to be all that Loki had been capable of doing for the majority of the night. Sure enough, not but thirty seconds later the god was lamenting that he would wind up writhing around on the blond’s bed as his body was overcome by the heat while Steve was downstairs quenching his mortal thirst and having a laugh at his expense. It was too much for the Captain to resist, and he finally released the hearty laugh that had been welling up inside of his chest. “You really do have a flair for the dramatic, don’t you?” he murmured, placing a series of lingering kisses all across Loki’s face and brow.
Being the intelligent person that he was, Loki remained silent all throughout the exchange, only gracing the blond’s nearby neck with the barest of touches, but when Steve made to pull away he felt a flutter of panic surge through his system and clutched his hands around the column reflexively. “Wait…” The word was no more than a husky whisper, but it was enough to get the blond to freeze in his tracks, an instinctual part of him crying out that the Trickster needed this closeness for reasons other than the heat. Both remained silent for several heartbeats until Loki finally voiced the question that had assaulted him during this short-live time of peace, making him wonder if his fantasies would hold any merit in the other man’s eyes. “This…this doesn’t change anything between us, does it? When the heat passes and I leave here, we’ll go back to the way things were, won’t we?”
Steve briefly wondered if mood swings were a key component of a heat before he enveloped the smaller form in a tight embrace, wincing slightly at the amount of warmth that the other man’s body was now giving off. “Is that what you want, Loki?” The question was barely audible, a mere breath of air against raven-colored locks, but the forceful shake of the head against his shoulder told him that Loki had heard perfectly. “Well ok then,” Steve whispered, planting a kiss on the god’s temple.
“Wait…that’s-that’s all you have to say?” Loki managed to somehow look indignant as he pulled himself from Steve’s hold, quite the feat for a man who was on the brink of melting into a puddle of lust and sweat. The Captain, however, simply shrugged and moved to collect the clothes that had been piled on the floor.
“Well, I guess that I could say that everything will work out just fine and that we don’t have to go back to the way things were, but then again I know that you’d be able to spot a lie from miles away so…” Steve trailed off when he noticed that the room had become silent, even the panting breaths of the man beside him going still while he tried to explain himself, and one look back at the figure in question revealed why. Loki had bowed his head and wrapped his arms across his chest in the semblance of a hug, and the tremors of the man’s muscles almost made it look like he was shivering. ‘Great, well done, Rogers,’ he mentally scolded himself, hastily pulling on the shirt in his hands. All the while he dressed himself, Loki never made so much as a peep, and when Steve finally sat back down next to the trembling form he found that he had to physically steer the man’s chin up in order to break the spell that had claimed the Trickster’s voice.
“You didn’t let me finish,” the blond stated lowly, brushing a thumb along the side of Loki’s tightly clenched jaw. “What I meant was that nothing I say or do is going to persuade you to change the way you are, only you can do that. If you say that you don’t want things to go back to being the same…then don’t let them.” He gave his companion a small smile and was pleased when Loki returned it, albeit a little slowly, but once he saw that another mood swing wasn’t in the immediate works an idea popped into Steve’s head and led him to haul the other man up to get dressed. “I’m pretty sure that there’s some ice cream in the freezer,” was his only explanation before he handed Loki his under-tunic back. “I think we can make an exception in the modesty department just this once,” he drawled, giving the Trickster’s arched brow a condescending look that had Loki stifling a laugh.
It was now just after one in the morning, and Steve had to say that if the mess that had been made in the living room didn’t give Tony a coronary then the ones in the kitchen, den, dining room, and several hallways definitely would. ‘Not that I can do much about it right now,’ he sighed inwardly, resigning himself to being discovered on the kitchen floor with ice cream residue all over his chest and a Norse God in his lap. He’d done his best to avoid being pounced on, but when Loki’s heat surged back up again the Trickster had responded with a vengeance. Their ‘merry chase’ that saw the Captain's shirt reduced to shreds of red cotton finally ended with Loki tackling him into the chrome-plated refrigerator and planting himself in Steve’s lap, spindly fingers searching out for the blond’s weak spots until they had both been reduced to panting messes. That was when Steve finally brought out the ice cream, and Loki hadn’t let them move since, alternating between feeding them both bites from a spoon and licking the spillage off of the broad chest he was leaning against.
“Mm, this iced cream was a wonderful idea,” Loki purred, looking even more like a giant feline as he licked a stray trail of Tiramisu from his companion’s chin.
“Yeah, says the guy who’s not wearin’ it,” Steve snorted, drawing forth a husky chuckle from the man who seemed intent on giving him a tongue bath.
“Ah, but you wear it so well, Captain,” the Trickster declared, dabbing a spot on the blond’s nose and purposefully licking it off as if to prove this point.
“Thanks…I guess,” Rogers replied, face contorting into a mask of barely contained laughter as Loki’s nimble tongue touched on several of his ticklish spots. “Can I uh…can I get up n-now?” he giggled, squirming away from his companion’s teasing ministrations when Loki began to run tapered fingers over his sensitive sides.
Loki pretended to consider the request as he continued to tickle the man in front of him, finally smiling his consent when an idea of his own crept into his mind. “Hm, I suppose,” he whispered lowly, dancing his fingertips back up to the other man’s neck and lacing them behind the sticky column. “Since you are still intent on cooling me off, how about we move this into your bathing room, hm?” His intention was to get the other man to submit to his wishes willingly, with perhaps a ‘minimum’ of protest; he was not expecting the blond to snigger and shake his head at him. “You find this amusing?”
Steve continued to shake his head at the now-perplexed figure in his lap, but he wisely remained silent until after he had carefully maneuvered himself to his feet, which was quite the chore since Loki had decided to wrap his legs around the blond’s waist and refused to relinquish his hold on the Captain’s neck. “You’re incorrigible, you know that right?” His voice was somewhat strained from the effort of having to walk their combined weights from the kitchen to the staircase, but despite the hardship Steve kept his smile in place throughout the entire journey back to his room. Loki, for his part, simply laughed and rewarded the blond with intermittent kisses to both the mouth and cheeks, knowing that such an action was answer enough to the rhetorical question. As for the Trickster, the Captain’s indulgent smile and receptiveness to the attention that he was providing were proof that Steve was willing to accept him as is and nothing more needed to be said.