Their first dance was a little clumsy, due to Loki's inability to calculate her next move (though he could have sworn she was enjoying him being off-balance). They both agreed Loki would lead first, for him to get used to the motions of the tango. Natasha was not making it easy. She waited until the last moment to move in a different way, shifting her weight onto her front foot while leaning backward, nearly tripping him as he jerked back to allow her space.

He chose the tango specifically for her to be close to him. It required much contact between the partners, but he had not taken into consideration that he might find himself... compromised. He had been looking forward to being able to focus solely on her dancing when they went for the flamenco later. His agility was being tested and the next dance would give him a break from her unrelenting drive to physically outwit him.

After a few minutes, Loki felt Natasha's arm drop from his shoulder to his waist and she nudged his arm up to her shoulder. "I thought we had agreed that I would lead...?" he prompted and pulled her down to catch him, letting a hand ghost across the smooth skin of her back. She stepped back, dropping her arms to her hips as she looked up at him.

"Until you were used to it. If you have time to be distracted, you're used to it." They both stepped forward to resume the embrace: her hand on his waist; and his on her shoulder.

"I was fully focused on moving in time, I assure you." Loki hooked a leg under then behind hers and back more jerkily than was practical.

"It's my job to know when people aren't paying attention. You weren't, so I'm leading." Natasha threw him around more than necessary and struck a pose in time to sultry music. He posed as well, then crouched and pulled her back.

"Do you take as much pleasure from the other aspects of your job?" he asked before stepping backwards to the side, pulling her along. She gave a little resistance.

"I enjoy being good at what I do," she answered in guarded tone, crossing a leg in front of his so he trailed his foot in a semicircle above the floor and then along her leg.

Maybe it was her phrasing or the tone but something in what she said made him smile, and not in a pleasant way. Natasha dipped him so she could hear him more easily. "Do you enjoy..." he began, conscious of the other dancers who might catch a word or a phrase, "using the gift I gave you in a way that would be useful in your line of work?" He enjoyed her soft curves pressing his chest.

"I'm not following." She pulled him up, taking the opportunity to feel his chest. In the back of his mind, Loki took note of her strength. More visibly, he stroked the side of her dress.

"No, you are not, are you? How stubborn. You must understand what I ask since plainer language would not benefit us were I to be overheard," he swivelled his hips, holding her gaze.

"I understand. And no. But it is what I'm good at," she pushed him back slightly and he trailed a leg around and back, pulling their arms up all to strike another pose.

"I think you are lying. There is a part of you that admires my ability to go wherever I like and 'work' to my heart's content. I have certainly done far more of it." He high-kicked behind her and ran his leg along hers. His shows of agility were drawing a bit of attention from other women and a few men, envious of either partner.

"Quantity versus quality, Loki." She turned him away and pushed him up by his hips while he kicked backward and landed kneeling, while grasping one of her hands.

"What quality can there be 'working' with these people? My father was a warrior and a king. To slay was to rule." He pulled her hand close to kiss it.

"And you are neither, without any real need to 'work'." Natasha pushed him again, turning away.

"Are we sparring partners now? I was under the impression that we were dancing, Natasha." He pulled her back with the gentlest of tugs, they embraced and both lowered to the floor very slowly; the pair rose gracefully as the music ended.

"Can't we be both?" He raised an eyebrow, continually surprised by her line of thought. She feigned slapping him so he made of a show of being hurt and offended, even going so far as to wipe away an imaginary tear. "Drama queen!" She grabbed him and they continued dancing.

As the next tango started, an idea struck him. He had during his research come across a phenomenon (by no means exclusive to humans) that intrigued him. He was sure it would interest his partner, too. So he sung in her ear, "I ache for the touch of your lips, dear, but much more for the touch of your whips, dear." She smiled and started throwing him around more vigorously. Neither noticed the other couples giving them a bit more space, nor would they care.

By the time he got to "Your eyes cast a spell that bewitches. Last time I needed twenty stitches", the music from the band was dying down and he had to stop this tantalising suggestion. For now. "Regarding our earlier discussion, Asgardians do not think only of 'such relations'. Were you my queen, I am not sure I could satisfy your appetites considering how often you bring them up."

"Maybe, are you sure you want a queen smarter than yourself?" The band began playing the first slow notes of the next song. Loki and Natasha moved in time effortlessly as it sped up.

"You have already shown that you are quite able to lead," he said wryly, sidestepping her literally and figuratively.

"And any..." she mused and leaned in closer, "Are children even viable?"

"You are considering it, so yes." He smiled broadly.

"Hmm. Considering children and marriage on the first date: definitely a night of firsts." He stilled himself to listen to her heartbeat quicken. "Should we go somewhere more... intimate?"

Loki's vision blurred and he lost the warm feeling of Natasha's hand and shoulders. He heard strained voices in an unfamiliar language on all sides. As his eyes readjusted to a dull light, one voice addressed him in a Midgardian tongue, "You have something I need. Give it to me." It came from a dark shape distorting the impossibly thick fog.

"How dare you interrupt! You have no right to take me. I know not of what you ask and if I did have it, I would bludgeon you to death with the accursed thing!" Other shapes had been shivering but now stilled.

"I have not moved you, loud one. I will take what I need from you." The dark shape came closer and a face appeared covered in pale striped fur, with eyes that had purple sclera and green irises. The blurriness returned with high-pitched buzzing. All at once, he was back in the dance studio looking around in confusion. When he turned to Natasha, the alien's face flashed instead and he stiffened.

"First time? Don't worry, I'll be gentle," she promised. One or two other dancers were looking at him oddly, almost squinting to see him more clearly.

"You'll have to excuse me." He teleported away from the dance floor to consider his most recent abduction.

"...the hell?" Her phone rang before Loki had entirely disappeared.