In The Shadows | Loki

THAT'LL FIX YOUR EGO PROBLEM

 "No, trust me. I'm going to kick your butt, Rogers." I say as we walk towards the training rooms. It had been a couple of days since our first date, and I had challenged Steve to a spar when we had our lunch date. 
        "No powers. This is just hand to hand." Steve reminds me, and I shrug.
        "I'm still going to kick your butt." I reply, smirking a little. Steve chuckles, shaking his head as we turn into the training room. We both stop short, surprised by the view in front of us. Loki and Natasha were in the sparring ring, and it almost looked like they were bantering. 
        "God of Mischief my ass."
        "You think you can do better spider? You have yet to bring me down." Natasha raises an eyebrow. 
        "Oh, I'll bring you down. That'll fix your ego problem." 
        "Many have tried to deflate that, and you won't be the last to try." Nat snarls and launches herself at Loki. He's able to deflect her attack at his side, but then she gets an arm around his neck and slams him down onto the mat. I wince at the burst of mild pain on my back that disappears after a long moment. Steve clears his throat. 
        It's almost comical the way both of their heads snap over with wide eyes. "Nat can take anyone down, by the way." I inform Loki. Nat releases her hold on him, and they both climb to their feet. Nat gives us both a long look.
        "How was the lunch date?" She asks casually.
        "Fine." I reply, walking forward. "We were going to spar, and I'm going to make Steve regret it." Loki's eyes flicker towards Steve, while Nat snorts. 
        "If I can take you down Cap, Ophelia is going to have you pinned in about five seconds." Steve glances at me, and I shrug.
        "I told you." I nudge him with a shoulder. "Nat's one of the few people that trained me at SHIELD. And that's after I was involved with the X-Men for a few years." Steve sighs.
        "I'm not going to win here, am I?" He asks. Nat and I both shake our heads. I don't miss the quick look Nat shoots Loki while Steve hands me one of the water bottles he was holding. 
        "Why don't we make this interesting?" She asks, and I raise an eyebrow. "Steve and I are usually fifty/fifty on beating each other, but I kinda wanna see you and Loki go head to head."
        "Where's the interesting part?" I ask. 
        "If you beat Loki, I'll make Tony design you new swords." I narrow my eyes. "You know I can make Tony do it." I huff, crossing my arms. 
        "And if I lose?" I ask, and she smirks. 
        "I get the satisfaction of watching you lose for once?" She offers, and I cross my arms over my chest. "Also I will be displaying the footage of you losing all over the tower for like a week straight. And add it to your file." I give her a long look before shrugging and sticking my hand out.
        "Fine." I say, and she shakes my hand. "Bet on."
        "Do I have any say in this?" Loki asks, and Nat and I both shake our heads. 
        "No powers." Steve adds, and I shrug again, moving to put my towel and water on the bench. Steve comes up beside me, and when I glance behind me, I see Nat and Loki talking in the ring. She was probably telling him where to attack me and all off my weak spots. "You don't have to do this, you know." Steve informs me.
        "I know." I reply, looking up at him with a small smile. "It's fine. Honestly. We can't hurt each other too badly because of the bond, and we'll also know when to stop if we have too. Even if the other person is being too stubborn. We'll know our limits." Steve has a small frown on his face. "I'll be fine, I promise."
        "Okay." Steve quickly helps me wrap my knuckles, and I kiss him on the cheek before heading towards the ring. Loki is glaring at the floor, carefully flexing his fingers. 
        "Nat told you all my weak spots?" I tease, and he glances up.
        "I did not agree to this." He informs me, and I raise an eyebrow.
        "You can leave, I won't stop you. I won't make you do anything you don't want to do." I reply, my smile falling a  little. "Really, you don't have to spar with me." Loki lets out a long breath, rolling his shoulders. 
        "I'm fine. Might as well make things.... exciting?" He offers, and I smile again. 
        "This'll be interesting. Especially since I already know where Nat has been hitting you for the past few hours, and she told you where to hit me." his eyes narrow. "Fists up. C'mon, lets do this. I want my new swords." He rolls his eyes. 
        "And I'm the one who needs to have their ego deflated?" He teases, stepping into a fighting stance. I place my feet, raising my fists up while keeping my elbows in and ready to go. Nat and Steve are off to the side, both watching. 
        I swing first, aiming low. He dodges it easily, going for my open right side as I kick up and knee him in the side he has open. I lean back, letting his fist graze my cheek instead of hit me full on. He moves to elbow me, but I hook a foot around his ankle and make him stumble forward as I push my own elbow up. I feel pain along my cheek, but not the nose where I was aiming. He's able to get an arm around my neck, and I use both feet to push off of him and give me some space. 
        We land a few feet apart, and I take a few deep breaths, scanning him. His cheek was red from the hit, but other than that he looked fine. He barely looked winded. I wait, letting him make the next move. He feigns right, and I quickly twirl to avoid the actual shot at my open right side. I land a quick jab at his open left side. I'm unprepared for him to kick the back of my knee, and I'm thrown to the floor. I let out a grunt, quickly rolling away. I sweep one leg out knocking his legs out from under him to give me time to get back on my feet. Our fight is a deadly dance of timed punches and kicks. With each hit, we both feel the slight pain. Neither of us are ready to back down though, and the fight feels like it's going on for longer than it actually is. 
        "What is going on?"
        "Shut up Tony." I hear Nat hiss. Loki is on his feet in half a second, braced and ready. 
        "You do realize that I am a god, love?" Loki asks, raising an eyebrow. I smirk for a second before sending a jab at his left side. He blocks it, and I use the opening to grab his right shoulder and pull him down enough to slam my knee into his stomach. I'm braced for the pain, but I still let out a whimper of pain the same time hat he grunts at the impact. He grabs my thigh, hoisting one leg up and slamming me onto the mat. He attempts to pin me, but I hook a leg around his and push off to give me leverage. 
        "You may be a god," I grunt, tossing him off, "but I am the most powerful mutant on the planet." Before he can scramble up, I've flipped over and pinned him. "And I want my new swords." Loki scowls, struggling for a moment.
        "Damn it." I hear Nat hiss. I stand up, letting him go as I climb to my feet. I stick out my hand and help him up.
        "Nice try." I murmur, clapping him once on the shoulder before I move back to Steve. "You ready to try and take me down Captain?" 
        "I'll try my hardest." He chuckles, and I look at Nat.
        "Don't forget my swords Romanoff." 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

        "Hey." Loki doesn't look up as I walk through the living room, focusing on his book. I tilt my head, trying to get a better look at the title. I let out a snort of laughter when I read it. "Seriously? Hamlet?" Loki looks up. 
        "Why would your parents name you after such a weak woman?" Loki asks, looking almost disgusted. I shrug.
        "I have no clue. I didn't exactly get to choose my name." I let myself fall onto the couch next to his chair. "My dad was a professor who taught a couple of classes on Shakespeare. He always loved his plays." I notice how Loki is close to the end. "Is that one the first one you've read?"
        "Romanoff recommended it." He replies, and I raise an eyebrow. "She said I'd have some shared life experience with, how did she phrase it? Oh yes, a prince who murders for revenge." 
        "Of course she did." I reply, shaking my head. "Nat doesn't like you. Why were you two talking in the first place?" He hesitates.
        "She was sparring with me while you were on your date." He finally answers, looking back down at his book. I frown a little.
        "Sparring? Like this afternoon?" I ask, and he nods. "You two seem like you're becoming pretty good friends." He doesn't react, so I continue. "You're both pretty closed off people. Both of you tend to do your own thing." I brush a piece of hair off of my face. "It'd be scary to the rest of us, but I think you two would be good friends." Loki slowly turns a page.
        "Is that really what you came over here to talk to me about?" He asks, eyes scanning the page. "Oh. You die."
        "By suicide." I confirm. "Ophelia drowns." He hums absentmindedly. "No, I came over here to ask you why you let me win the fight this afternoon." Loki's eyes flick towards me.
        "I didn't-"
        "We're connected." I sigh, cutting him off. "I could tell. You were barely winded, and you could've easily pushed me off, so why?" Loki doesn't answer for a few moments. 
        "I was bored."
        "Unfortunately, you can't lie to me either." I push myself up into a sitting position. His eyes return to his book. "Loki-"
        "Don't you have a Captain to return too?" He asks, cutting me off. I raise an eyebrow before getting to my feet. 
        "If you wanted me to leave you alone, you should've just said something."