A/N: I realized I needed to practice kiss scenes, so of course I used the opportunity to write shameless Lokyrie love. (Also, idk why she has a pegasus in this one. She just does.)
Massive wings beat the wing over Loki's head, drawing his attention. Above the haze of rust-orange dust and chaos of fighting bodies, a dappled grey pegasus soared by, bearing straight towards the purple Titan. On its back, her blood-splattered armor gleaming and cape billowing out behind her, sat Val, sword drawn and mouth stretched in a battle cry.
Thanos noticed the movement, turning to squint at them. He grunted in irritation, lifting one hand to knock them aside. Loki grabbed it, shoved it down with a spurt of telekinesis. As he did so, Val shouted an order, and her pegasus angled sharply upwards. Val leapt from its back, driving her sword towards Thanos.
Loki spread out his telekinesis, spotting ripples of scarlet intertwining with his emerald green magic, fighting to hold him still enough for her to land a solid blow. But with a roar of mingled effort and frustration, Thanos tore his Gauntleted hand free of Loki and Wanda's magic. A wave of violet energy erupted from the Gauntlet, blasting Val backwards and destroying the tendrils of magic. Loki fell forward at the sudden disappearance of resistance, palms skidding in the bloodied dirt, chin smacking into the ground as a rock sliced his bottom lip.
Loki ignored the new pains, jerking his head up to look for the two women. Like him, Wanda was picking herself off the ground, looking a little dazed but otherwise all right, her weakness covered by Barton. He kept searching, flipping onto his back and leaning back on his elbows as he realized she'd flown beyond him.
"Val!" he cried, finally spotting her. She lay sprawled on the ground, unmoving, guarded by a rearing pegasus. The steed flailed out with its forelegs, screaming, wings flared out in an attempt to protect its rider.
Loki scrambled to his feet, staggering over to her, relieved when Thor crashed down in a surge of lightning to shield him from incoming fire. He skidded onto his knees beside her, cupping her face. "Val? Valki, come on, wake up," he begged.
She came to with a gasp, lurching onto her side as she coughed. Loki slumped over, tension fleeing his body as he recognized she was ok. She sat up gingerly, pressing one arm against her ribs. "Ow," she rasped.
"You almost gave me a heart attack," Loki rebuked her, glaring even as he ran a diagnostic spell over her. Nothing broken, thank the gods.
"Hey, we said we wouldn't do this," Val retorted, catching his hands. If she had meant to push them away, she didn't.
Loki helped her up. Her loose hair was a tousled mess, stray strands stuck to her sweaty face. She panted, obviously tired, but there was a fire in her eyes. It blazed in the darkest of battles, a fierce flame driven to protect and save. He had never seen it on Sakaar, and had only seen embers of it against Hela, but here and now, with everything gained and everything to lose, it burned.
It both inspired and terrified him.
He let go of one of her hands to place his on the small of her back, urging her closer to him. "I know what we said," he murmured, "but have you seen how this battle's going?"
She cupped the back of his head with her freed hand, closing the remaining space between them until they were pressed together, her head tilted back to look him in the eye. "We knew it would be difficult, which is exactly why we agreed to keep the sappiness to a minimum."
"One kiss for good luck is still minimal," Loki pointed out, releasing her other hand to brush the stray hairs off her face, his gaze never once leaving her fiery eyes. In the glow of the setting sun, they turned into a rainbow of hues, dark amber flecked with burnished gold and ringed by rich chocolate. He could drown in their passionate depths faster than in the deepest, darkest ocean.
"You silver-tongued trickster," she scolded, not sounding angry at all. She just stretched upwards, wrapping one arm around Loki's own back to hold him close.
In a heartbeat, their lips crashed together, the contact echoed by the explosions of battle. She grabbed him tight, taking a fistful of his tunic and tangling her fingers into his hair. He cupped her face with one hand, still pressing her against him with the other. He pressed into her in return, like his life depended on eliminating every millimeter of space between them, forcing her to bend a little to accommodate him.
She responded by kissing him harder. Loki's lip stung, fresh droplets of blood flavoring the kiss with hints of metallic tang. She smelled of booze and sweat and horse, a combination that was just so Valkyrie that Loki hardly cared that it didn't actually smell all that pleasant. He just closed his eyes and kissed her, committing her to memory, from the curve of her hips to the heat of her lips to the thudding beat of her heart.
She was perfect, and she was his, and he didn't want to lose her.
Val broke away first, leaving space to breathe and leaning her forehead against his, their eyes staying shut. "If that was our last kiss…"
"Shh," Loki breathed. "Don't go there, love."
For a moment, they stood like that. Foreheads together, hands around each other, eyes closed. Just… together.
Suddenly, lightning blasted around them. They sprang partially apart, spinning around and pressing back against each other, magic sparking in Loki's raised hands while Val grabbed her sword. But the enemies were already down, fried and dead on the ground. Thor was off to the side, eye fading to its normal blue as he lowered his hands.
"So not the time, you two," he muttered, rolling his eye.
Loki gestured at their allies. "Quill and Gamora did the exact same thing not five minutes ago!"
"Hey!" Quill protested over the comms. "We sensibly kept our kiss a very brief peck on the lips. You two were together for like five minutes."
"It was not five minutes," Val mumbled, sidling apart from Loki.
He pulled her back. "Well, I regret nothing."
"You would've if those two had stabbed you guys in the back," Thor pointed out, true fear sharpening his tone. "Which, by the way Val, he's right: Don't go there."
"I'm being practical."
But she pressed her lips to the back of Loki's hand, just long enough for his telepathy to sense the old agony racing through her. He squeezed her hand, letting that convey the promise he didn't dare say out loud. She returned the pressure, smiling faintly, as if she wanted desperately to believe him but couldn't bring herself to hope for it.
"Ok, seriously, you two are adorable, but stop gazing into each other's eyes!" Thor exclaimed.
They nodded once, then finally broke apart. She swung onto the back of her pegasus, taking off in a sweep of powerful wings, and Loki raced back into battle below her, fighting with renewed strength.