Loki: Gay boyfriend

[moonshadows]

“Mr. O’Kee!”

Loki turned from his contemplation of the sculpture on display, pale eyes examining every finely-dressed man and woman at this soiree, scanning each face for the one turned to his. The voice, it seemed, belonged to a young women in her early twenties with brown hair pinned neatly back to cascade in a fall of curls over one shoulder, cosmetics artfully applied to enhance her storm-blue eyes and the youthful blush of her cheeks. Not someone he recognized, and too young to be a primary guest at this event. An attaché of some kind, perhaps.

“Have we met, Miss…?”

“Lewis,” she supplied matter-of-factly. “Darcy Lewis. I tased your brother?”

The tidbit was offered in the same way that other people said We met at the party last week. But this persona had no brother. He smiled thinly. “Which one?”

“You only have one,” she said in that no-nonsense tone. “And I tased him. Just ask Erik.”

Erik. Selvig, no doubt. A reference, and a warning: she knew who he was, and that he had…associated…with Selvig. Subterfuge would be futile at this point, so…

“Yes, of course,” he murmured. “I do congratulate you on that; I’m sure it was quite satisfying. How may I be of service?”

“Well, for starters, I think we should go someplace quieter to talk, don’t you?”

Elegant eyebrows arched. “But what of your companion? Surely he will miss you.”

“The Senator? I’ve already let him know I saw an old friend and to not wait for me.”

“So now we are friends?” Loki half-purred.

Darcy shrugged. “Anyone who congratulates me on tasering his brother is okay in my book.”

Loki chuckled at that. “Well then, my friend,” he said, one arm extended politely. “Might I interest you in dinner at some swanky, overpriced restaurant?”

Loftily, she placed her hand on his arm and allowed him to lead her towards the door. “You’re paying.”

“But of course.” Loki contrived to sound hurt. “What kind of gentleman would suggest dinner and leave his companion with the check?”

“Hey, I didn’t want to make any assumptions. The last time I was in a restaurant with someone from your…family…he threw a coffee cup on the floor and yelled, ‘Another!’ instead of just asking for a refill.”

Caught mid-inhalation, Loki choked on his laugh. “Did he really?”

“He totally did. Jane was mortified.”

“Oh, I wish I could have seen that. My dear elder brother, heir to our father, blundering through a meal with all the social grace of a pregnant hippopotamus.”

Darcy grinned. “I guess we’ll have plenty to talk about at dinner, right?”

 ~*~*~*~*~

“So, am I meeting your expectations, or breaking them?” asked Loki once the waiter had vanished with their order.

“Well, I’ll definitely be adding a few notes to your profile,” she said calmly.

His eyebrows drew together. “Your work with the Senator is a cover, then.”

“Yeah, I work for SHIELD. They don’t want any super-powered nasties getting near the Senator. I’m basically a nobody, so my job is to be marginally helpful and get overlooked and spot anyone who might not exactly be a friend of Truth, Justice, and The American Way.”

Loki frowned at the way her heart cried out that everyone overlooked her anyway, she may as well get paid for it. “That would be how you recognized me, then,” he said slowly. “There were few witnesses to see my un-helmeted face.”

“You look a lot less menacing without it,” Darcy agreed. “Although I have to say, the armor looks as good on you as your brother’s does on him.”

“I would ask why you are so comfortable around me, but anyone who would dare tase my brother is not someone who is easily shaken.”

Storm-blue eyes met Loki’s pale ones fearlessly. “People think they can get away with everything as long as they pick on the quiet ones because they think quiet means weak. I’ve met your brother, and I’m sure he’s a nice guy, but he’s not the sharpest tool in the shed, you know? It’s painfully clear that you got all the smarts in the family, and after growing up with Mister Muscles, you’re going to be just a bit defensive and resigned to people not appreciating your brain compared to his brawn.” She paused. “Well, in my case it was my brain and my sister’s beauty, but same difference, right? Anyway, you’re smart, and you’re civilized, and okay maybe you aren’t the most upstanding guy in the world, but you’re not some mustachioed Evil Overlord who’s going to stand on top of a mountain of bodies and laugh like a psycho. You’re like Hannibal Lecter, and a lot of people were afraid of him just because of the things he did, but he wasn’t off-the-rails evil, you know? He just had a different way of looking at things. He saw himself as being above humanity, sure, and he ate people, but he didn’t eat just anyone.”

Loki nodded as though he understood the reference to this Hannibal Lecter, curious to see where she was going.

“He only ate the bad guys, the guys who liked to hurt other people. And yeah, eating people is still creepy, but the average guy on the street would be perfectly safe around him, and I’d trust a civilized predator over a drunk frat boy any day of the week.” Darcy drew a breath. “Anyway, what I’m saying is I know what it’s like to be ignored because I don’t carry my brains in my bra, and I know you’re, like, really super dangerous if you want to be, but if you really wanted to take over the world, you’d be in politics instead of just posing as some random rich dude.”

It took a moment for him to realize she’d reached the end of her improvised speech. “Very astute,” he said, eyebrows still raised. “I think you’ve figured out more about me than my brother has.”

Darcy gave him a dry smile. “I’d be more flattered if he weren’t so oblivious. But it’s okay; I amuse you, and you sound like you’d be pretty cool to hang out with. So whattaya say?”

Pale eyes stared into her heart. She had been wounded, and she used a combination of obfuscation and sharp tongue to protect herself, but she craved the attention her sister got even as she cringed away from the idea of physical intimacy.

“I say you do yourself an injustice,” he said calmly as their entrees arrived. “You are accustomed to thinking yourself plain, and resigned to being the intelligent one rather than the intelligent and attractive one. You are correct; you do amuse me, and I would enjoy seeing how far your razor wit extends. I will make you this bargain, Darcy Lewis: we will spend time together, and I will allow you to ask of me things that I normally would not answer under the provision that your reports contain only details of my psyche, and you omit any anecdotal details I share with you. In return, you allow me to lavish upon you the gestures of courting. I have no desire to actually form a romantic bond to you, I merely wish to open your eyes to how physical beauty pales before the beauty that shines from within.”

“You want to be my sugar-daddy gay boyfriend.” Darcy stared at him skeptically.

“I will shower you with gestures of affection without offering or requiring that either of us actually feel said affection, yes.”

“And in exchange, I get to pick your brain as long as I don’t blab any of the stories you tell, but I can report what I learn about what makes you tick.”

“That is correct.”

The young woman grinned. “And the fact that it will make your brother go crazy if he finds out – that’s just a bonus, right?”

Loki returned her smile. “The fact that he will be unable to act on it warms the cockles of my heart.”

Darcy whipped out her phone and tapped at it for a few seconds. “Just changed my relationship status to ‘taken’. Jane’s going to flip when she sees it. Do you have Facebook? Right, never mind, I’ll just post a pic and tag you ‘Mr. O’Kee’. Smile?”

A charming smile, a mechanical click, and more tapping.

“…and there we go, conniption fits should start piling up by morning.” Darcy rolled her eyes. “Erik’s going to have one, I can tell. The Director might have one, too. We’ll have to find some way to rub it in your brother’s face when he shows up next. Hey, can we go clothes shopping tomorrow? Because you totally have great taste in clothes, and if I’m going to be your pseudo-girlfriend I should have the threads to match, right?”

One long-fingered hand swept up Darcy’s free one. Loki bent over her hand and brushed his lips over her knuckles. “My dear, we will get you an entire new wardrobe.”

Eyes sparkling, Darcy said, “Oh, I’m going to like this.”

Comments

[amichan]

Love it!