Chapter summary: Awkward doesn't even begin to describe things between you and Loki. You begin to wonder whether there is any point in sticking with this job.

"No one can help you now, worm." Loki declared.

"Please, please, no, I'm sorry!" I pleaded.

Loki tutted at me. "I know you are… but you will be far sorrier by the time I'm done with you."

"Please, I'm sorry." I began sobbing.

"Do you know what you did wrong?"

"Yeah," I sniffed.

He bent down to my height and gazed into my eyes. His expression was as steady and controlled as his voice, but there was no denying the lurid satisfaction simmering beneath the surface. "You know you are to call me 'sir' at all times, do you not?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good." He stood up straight again and began circling me. I kept looking straight ahead, sensing that following him with my eyes would only make matters worse. "Now. What did you do wrong?"

"I forgot to bring you your frappuccino with whipped cream," I wept.

"That you did, little worm. I must punish you now."

My breathing became erratic and my eyes darted wildly about his apartment, done up exclusively in white. It was some Norse version of 50 shades of grey – 50 shades of white, perhaps. Sadly, I didn't see any gratification – delayed or imminent – for myself. The only person who was going to get off this was Loki. A murmur escaped my lips, but I quickly silenced it, lest it gave him any further cause for annoyance.

"Because you forgot to bring me whipped cream," He thought out loud, "I will whip you."

"AGENT ROBSON!" I cried, now unable to restrain my anguish.

Suddenly, Robson materialised. My knees almost gave way from relief. But, my joy was short-lived, for he said, "You are his Lackey, after all. You must do whatever he says."

And with those damning words, he promptly disappeared.

"Loki," I sobbed, as one final plea.

"Hush, little worm." Loki crooned. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a snake-like whip appear in his hand. Correction, it was an actual snake. I screamed in horror and he brought it down on me, but my body didn't ache. Only my head hurt – perhaps that was from the ringing of the whip.

Vaguely, I wondered, what whips – or snakes – rang when brought down upon their target.

RRRING RRRING

The headache was worsening.

RRRING RRRING

"I'm sorry!" I sobbed. "Please!"

RRRING –

I woke up.

By the time I had managed to turn off the alarm, the dream had already faded away. The only thing I remembered was that it was about Loki.

Of course, it had been about Loki. That man had begun consuming every thought I had throughout the day. I woke up dreading how he was going to torture me each day. I couldn't buy coffee anymore without envisioning his stupid smirk in my head. Whenever I worked out, I found it hard to forget that I was sweating my ass off because of him. Before I went to sleep each night, I prayed to Thor to break Loki's nose or split his lip or powder his teeth – anything to wipe the smugness off his face.

And boy, had there been a lot of that lately.

I had entered his apartment on Monday, anticipating all the humiliation he was going to heap on me, but prepared to deflect it no matter what. I had given him his caffeine fix for the day – caffe mocha with three espresso shots – but refused to look into his eyes or say even a word to him. The tables had turned now; it was I who was refusing to talk this time. Of course, my stoniness only deepened the smugness in his expression. He kept smiling at me throughout the week, looking equal parts insidious and mischievous. I knew what he was doing. He wanted to unsettle me into being the first to speak. And, if I did speak, I would start a game that I knew I was only going to lose. Sadly, avoiding humiliation wasn't strong enough an incentive, so I bribed myself with a dinner at Tavern on the Green if I managed to remain silent. It wasn't easy, but the prospect of good food convinced me to hold my tongue the entire week.

I should have known, however, that Loki wasn't going to back down.

I hadn't thought it possible, but Loki amped up the creepiness come next Monday. Whereas last week, he had contented himself with sending me smug smirks and slimy smiles a few times every hour, now he began staring at me without stop.

Tuesday began on a particularly bad note. He began staring at me since I handed him his coffee and had not stopped grinning at me since then. I tried concentrating on my book, flipping the pages more harshly than I should be, as if loudly turning them would snap the grin off his face. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him slowly, deliberately sipping his drink. The bastard even had the nerve to lick his lips, flicking the tongue way more flamboyantly than he needed to. I blinked, trying to regain my concentration. The words had long stopped making sense and I realised I had been reading and rereading the same page for the past five minutes. Then came another curl of the tongue and I lost it.

"What?" I snarled, not giving him the satisfaction of seeing my frustration.

"Lady Scandal," He said quietly, his voice dripping with mockery. Coming from Thor it had sounded cute; coming from Loki it sounded as sonorous as phlegm.

My head shot up and I glared at him. The amount of satisfaction and malicious joy on his face at my cave in almost made me weep. It thew me off. It was too similar to something I vaguely remembered seeing. It wasn't a leer, but for some reason it struck me as being almost sexual. With a start, I realised that I had seen that look in some weird context all too recently. Bizarrely, the Starbucks logo came to my mind and then I remembered.

Frappucinos. Whipped cream. Whipping.

My dream from last week.

I averted my eyes in panic to the clock behind him - thankfully, it showed our hour was almost up. I had managed to successfully suffer in silence for most of the time. I was not going to be able to treat myself to a fancy dinner, but it was still a small victory. But I didn't care about that now, for my priority was to hide my face away. The bastard had no idea what was wrong, but I feared that somehow, he'd be able to see my shame on my face and put two and two together.

He cocked his head, his gaze challenging me to kick up a fuss.

I sunk into the sofa, more out of a need to hide myself than out of a sense of ease, and asked tersely, "Yes?"

He had the gall to look affronted. "Where is the respect? Where is the courtesy, my lady?"

Of course, my dream chose to replay itself in all its dirty detail in my mind at that moment.

You know you are to call me 'sir' at all times, do you not?"

"Yes, sir."

"Stop it," I said out loud. "Sir." It was a mystery how I had managed to not gag on the word.

"Stop what, my lady?" He grinned.

"Calling me 'my lady,'"

"Come, now, my lady," He pouted. On anyone else, the pout would have looked childish. On him, it only looked callous. "You complain I am always horrible to you, but now that I am being nice to you, you want me to stop giving you the respect you deserve."

"How about you show your respect by calling me by my name?" I said, surly.

"Oh, but you were so enthralled when my brother called you that," Loki said, pleasantly. It set me more on edge than any unpleasantness of his could have. "Why can I not call you that? Would you not like that? Would that not make working for me more enjoyable for you?"

"Nothing can make working for you enjoyable." I said, sharply. As soon as the words left my mouth, I squeezed my eyes shut and cursed myself. I bore no love for him, but I hated how shrewish and perpetually harangued I was becoming.

He reclined into the back of the sofa, looking at me coldly, face pinched and paler than normal. "If you think that your time here has been less than pleasurable, then you do not know the meaning of misery, worm."

"I think it's time for me to leave. Have a good day." I said, hurriedly and got up, for I had no wish to enact my dream in real life. A part of me chided myself for taking the easy way out instead of smoothening over things, but I was past caring. Over the course of the past two weeks, I had slowly but surely realised that this was how it was always going to be between us. The mutual hostility, his lack of respect, my unease and our disregard for each other were not ever going away. I was in the fourth week of my job and what had I to show for my efforts? Nothing. A big fat nothing. All I had done these past weeks was bring Loki coffee and lose my peace of mind. There was nothing I could do while Loki was restricted to his rooms. Even if he was allowed to go outside, he wouldn't ever be allowed to exit the Tower and he and I would continue to simmer in our mutual hatred.

I wasn't ready to quit yet, but I had begun strongly considering it. I didn't want to continue earning a salary when I was not deserving of it. More than that, I feared that Tony and Stella too would become aware of just how useless I was and would ask me to consider resigning. And, this time, I wouldn't be able to bully my way out of it.

"No." Loki commanded.

I turned around in surprise. He had never stopped me from leaving. On the contrary, he was indifferent most of the times and relieved in others when I said my goodbyes.

"Yes?" I asked, carefully. A small part of me was relieved that he wasn't done with me yet. It gave me more wiggle room to get things (relatively) back on track.

"Dispose this cup." He extended it towards me. I walked back towards him and took the cup from his hand. There was no expression of amusement on his face anymore.

"Okay. See you."

"Did I say you could leave?" He asked, harshly.

I stared at him, baffled. What had got into him? "What do you want, sir?" I asked politely, hoping it would be enough for now. I resolved to try harder and get over my silly act tomorrow. I was acting like a stupid puppy who was easily seduced by a pat, but I couldn't help it.

"My books are in disarray," He waved his hand towards a row of immense rosewood bookshelves to one side of the living room. "Sort them alphabetically. Clean the bureau as well. It is dismaying how you Midgardians can read and write on such filthy surfaces. And wash the plates in the kitchen too. That idiot woman they send to take care of the domestic chores is even more incompetent than you."

I stared at him dully. Any feeling of relief that had swelled in me was now deflated beyond measure. I said nothing; there was no point. He had just cemented my tentative decision. He was not going to change, so there was no point in continuing in this vein. I was going to quit the job anyway - why not resign myself to this latest humiliation, save my energy and go out with quiet dignity? He looked at me expectantly, probably anticipating my huffing and puffing. I turned away and walked up to the bookshelves and the bureau, willing but unable to check if he looked surprised at my lack of indignation.

The books – numerous as they were – took long to sort, but it was an enjoyable task. My feeling of disenfranchisement did not stop me from going over their titles. They spanned a broad spectrum of topics – from as mundane as history and linguistics to as esoteric as astrobiology and alchemy. Surprisingly – but thankfully – they were in English, so at the least I was spared the added shame of having to ask Loki for help. The bureau and the dirty dishes should have taken me longer to clean but I did not care for perfection. I was still his PR, not his housekeeper, and if he wanted to throw a tantrum about me not properly cleaning what was already spotless anyway, he could go ahead for all I cared. I did not have any fucks to give him anymore.

I felt his eyes on me every second of the way. I made a beeline for the door as soon as I was done, not wanting to entertain him for a second longer. Fuck him and his villainy and sadism. Fuck him and his attitude. Fuck him and his fucking frappucinos and whipped cream and crazy coffee orders. I was done. I did not meet Agent Robson's eyes as he escorted me back to my office. I assumed they were questioning and pitying in equal parts, but I did not feel the need to address either of those emotions. Once in my office, I fibbed to Stella about the day's rendezvous, as I wasn't keen on letting her be privy to my latest chastisement.

Then, I started working on the resignation letter.

"Is he a vampire?" Tony asked.

"What?" I blinked. He had called me up to his office to catch up with me. He had kindly provided Cheez-Its, Pringles and Cheetos – breakfast of champions. I wouldn't have minded sampling some of his liquor selection, but we stuck to fruit juice.

"Loki," He amended. "Is he a vampire?"

"N-no?" I asked. "Wait, is he?" I asked, alarmed.

"No, kid, he's not. Chill. In case nobody told you, Vampires aren't real."

"If Norse gods are real, then why not vampires?"

"Well, he does play the part of Edward Cullen very well. Tall, dark, diva, pale, constipated-looking."

I snorted. "Well, I can assure you, I'm not 'unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.'"

Tony shuddered. "Don't even joke about it, Scandal. The notion is terrifying, and not just because Clint would hack off my head if that ever came to pass."

"Clint? Why?"

"Oh, he has still not warmed up to me subjecting you to Loki. He was more upset than I was after I heard about your first day, and that's saying something!"

"He's been waking me up at 6 on the weekend, you know," I said, not a little petulantly. "To train me in self-defense."

"Yeah, he told me. He's surprisingly protective." Tony mused. "How's it going?"

"It's alright. I am a klutz. He keeps making me start a circuit from the beginning in case my form drops. And he insists I should work out every day." I wondered if Clint had told him about me checking out the Asgardians and having my water bottle tipped. I hoped he hadn't. It was bad enough for him to call me out on it, I didn't want Tony to hear about it as well.

Tony grunted. "Be glad it's him and not Nat. She doesn't know the meaning of 'going easy.'"

I grinned. "Speaking from personal experience?" When I had first started the job, I wouldn't have dared to be so chatty with Tony. But, now as we became more comfortable around each other and it became clear his sense of humour revolved around making borderline personal jabs, jesting with him became second nature.

"The first time I saw her, she tossed Happy in the air and choked him with her legs. So, yeah, you can say I have personal experience.

"Whoa," I whispered.

"I do remember going more like 'oh my god!' than 'whoa!' when that happened, but I excuse you."

"I wish I could do that. Clint said he might ask her to teach me how to defend myself in a dress and heels."

"Clint doesn't know when to stop."

"He's not bad; he's not a taskmaster and he knows and respects my limits. And, I really appreciate it. He doesn't have to spend so much time on me, but he does."

"He's a good man. Anyway, that's not what I wanted to talk about. You've been looking dead, kid."

"Thanks!"

"I'm serious. Loki might not be a vampire, but it's clear he has been sucking the life out of you."

I shrugged. "Yeah, I guess." I didn't tell him what had happened yesterday. And, obviously, I didn't tell him about the resignation letter that I had started drafting – or rather, attempted to draft. Years of getting B+ or above in all my college papers and this is where my writing skills had come - barely being able to type two lines.

"I've been thinking about it," Tony leaned forward across his desk, "And I think you're right."

"Right. About…?"

"About Loki. About how I need to let him out."

I gawked at him. "Really?"

"Yeah. Don't get me wrong; it's a horrible decision. But, that's precisely why I've planned to go ahead with it. I have to keep up my reputation, after all."

"Tony… are you sure?" I asked. While I had mentally torn up the as yet computer-based resignation letter as soon as I had registered the words, I wasn't sure if unleashing Loki on the Avengers Tower was a good idea. I knew that he had had access to the penthouse before my arrival, but I didn't want to be blamed should something inevitably go wrong.

"Nope," He said, cheerfully. "But, you made sense. Sure, you were mistaken about Loki being this poor little angel bean, but you were still right. There's no point in doing PR if you're not going to show your face. He's still not going to set foot outside the penthouse, but I guess we will have to eventually set up the stage for his grand arrival. And, anyway, he hadn't been too bad when he had the free reign of the penthouse - but don't tell anyone I said that."

"What about the rest of the team? Do they know?"

"Well, considering they live there and have a chance of running into Loki, they will get to know eventually."

"Are you planning to tell them, though?" I asked, unsurely.

"I suppose I should," He sighed, "We're a bit… jumpy. But, no need to tell anyone other than Stella, okay?"

I nodded.

"Oh, and some ground rules. You will have to notify the SHIELD agents if you wish to take him for a stroll and Robson will still accompany you. This is more for your safety than anything else, so no arguments will be accepted. This isn't new to the agents, so they know how to stand far away to not make you feel uncomfortable, but close enough to rush in should anything happen. And, I'm not going to blame you for any shit he conjures, but you can't leave him alone when you're out with him. That doesn't mean you stand next to him at risk of mortal peril," He added, "But, if you want to pee, you either hold it in, or send him back and then dash to the toilet. Try not to pee on the spot, however; the carpeting is expensive."

I rolled my eyes. "Ha, ha!"

Tony grinned. "Off with you, kid. Have a good one and keep me posted!"

"You too!" I said and began making my way out.

"Oh, and, Scandal?" He called and I turned around. "Don't let him get you down, okay? There's still a long way to go and you've barely begun. Don't let him make you feel you're useless – it's exactly what he wants and thrives off. We can't let him win, you got that?"

"Aye, cap'n!" I saluted and walked out with a bitter smile. It wasn't Loki's opinion of me that made me so despondent. Still, Tony's words had given me the tiny bit of reassurance I needed to keep going. I'd rather disappoint him by not succeeding than by giving up before I'd even begun.

A/N:

1. Score: Reader - 1; Loki - 4.

2. This chapter was a little bittersweet with asshole!Loki, but the next chapter should be fluffier and much more fun. Thank you to all the readers for all the favourites and follows and the 2000 views! You guys make it all worth it =)