One Saturday a month, if the Avengers weren't on a mission, a bunch of us got together to play paintball. It had started out with just Steve and Sam. Bucky, after the fine minds of Wakanda pronounced him cured of all the brainwashing HYDRA had done to him over decades, became interested in joining.
The three of them had played every-man-for-himself style for a while, but then they got bored and decided they wanted to make teams. The problem was that there were three of them. They needed a fourth person to make the teams even. Unfortunately, Nat wasn't always available and she also didn't want to spend a Saturday drowning in testosterone. You had two super soldiers and a former Air Force paratrooper armed with guns...one couldn't blame Nat for not wanting to be the only woman.
Tony wasn't interested. Thor...even Steve and Bucky found the idea of Thor armed with a paintball gun hyped up on adrenaline terrifying. They saved him as a last resort. They weren't friends with Loki at the time, and Loki had been hanging out with the Avengers sparingly, and only when there was a mission involved for which his particular skillset was absolutely vital.
No one could see Stephen Strange putting on paintball gear. Peter was too young to be entirely comfortable hanging with the much older men.
Carol was in a coma. Wanda had vanished. Rhodey hadn't been terribly enthusiastic about running around in the woods with spinal issues. Bruce preferred the lab and the comfort of air conditioner.
Then I came along. I later found out, to my shock, that Sam came up with the idea to ask if I wanted to join the game. At the time, Sam was not my biggest fan. He had actually been the leader of the "toss her in Kamar Taj and throw away the key" faction when the big debate on what to do about me was going on after I first arrived. I hadn't been exactly sane when I first came to this universe. Combine that with my new powers, and half of the team who were active then had been concerned that I was too dangerous to have around.
That faction had been outvoted. For some reason, Steve had felt strongly that I deserved a chance and that it was their duty to help me. Bucky and Bruce had joined him, probably because both of them felt that they could relate since both of them had, at one time or another, been thought of as being beyond hope. They eventually talked Thor into swaying his vote to their side, reminding him that he had allowed his brother a chance to redeem himself, so why not me?
The tie-breaker had been, of all people, Peter. It had been one of the few times he had disagreed with Tony, his surrogate father, over something. I later found out that he had at one point broken into the room where they were holding me. He was with me for a couple of hours before someone realized where he was. No one knew exactly what occurred, and my memories of that time were still vague. I dimly recalled the kid cautiously taking a seat on the floor, not too close so as to set me off but close enough to talk. I couldn't remember what we chatted about, but I do remember crying. A lot. Whatever we spoke about, whatever I said, it had convinced Peter to vote for me to go under Stephen's tutelage for my powers and for the Avengers to help me adjust to my new life. That hadn't been a small order. I had been so traumatized that I had needed to learn how to do a lot of basic things all over again. My memories from then were still mostly Swiss cheese. Steve described to me how he had discovered I was so good with computers. In my former life I had been a DBA (Database Administrator, the one who kept the computers at a company going and also made sure the servers were only filled with files related to the business instead of porn or worse), which was part of the IT field (Information Technology, fancy speak for someone who knew which end of a computer was up). He watched me and when he asked how I remembered all of what I was doing, I had shrugged and told him "One doesn't forget the basics".
Seconds later, when I was doing something in the kitchen and went to wash my hands, he saw that I had forgotten how to turn the water on.
Anyway. Sam and I hadn't been friends, so when Steve and Bucky invited me to join their paintball game, it had been awkward at first. Another reason it was awkward was because, though I was far from being a Thor or even a Peter, I was stronger than a super-soldier, faster, and had enhanced senses to boot. Bucky came up with the idea to blindfold me to even out the odds a little bit. There had been another factor...at the time, my relationship with Loki had been brand-spanking-new. Loki had a jealous streak as deep as the Mariana Trench. Here I was, someone he already thought of as his woman, hanging out with three other men, each of them extremely attractive and one of whom had developed a close rapport with me during the time we had lived in the same building, getting all sweaty and dirty in the woods. It hadn't mattered that I kept insisting that things were strictly platonic and that none of those men were at all attracted to me (which was the truth), Loki had been scared that I was going to run off with one of them during one of those Saturdays, or possibly two of them or even all three. Hey, jealousy is never rational.
I finally convinced him that he was being ridiculous by pointing out the number of times Bucky had been in my apartment, late at night or early morning, in various stages of dressed and undressed, and that if anything were going to happen there, we most likely would have done something weeks before I met him. Ditto with Steve. As far as Sam, banging me had been the very last thing on his mind when I was around and by the time we finally became friends, mine and Loki's relationship was firmly established. And the sun would rise in the West before I ever cheated on Loki.
For months it was just the four of us, switching out teams on different weeks, everyone rotating. I would tell Loki that he was more than welcome to join us, and at first, he politely refused because, I quote, "There is only so much mayhem even a god can deal with".
I found that a little insulting. It was me, Steve, Bucky, and Sam armed with guns that shot paint, running in the woods and... alright, it was mayhem. Loki had a point. He eventually joined us, and to keep the teams even Thor did as well. Then Nat replaced Steve after an incident which left him unable to walk without the aid of a cane with the added bonus of cardiac and nerve damage. Now the paintball games, which started out small, had taken on a life of their own. Carol and Yelena deciding to join turned the games from mayhem into something that would make most military grunts take one look and go "I'm not going in there, are you nuts?!"
There were no powers allowed, but these games proved that the Avengers didn't need powers to turn a Saturday outing into World War 3.
We were getting ready and Yelena took one look at me sliding my blindfold on and decided she wanted the challenge of being blindfolded as well. Not to be undone, Thor hollered for a blindfold as well. We loaded our guns and split into teams. My team consisted of myself, Bucky, Loki, and Carol. Carol was always on my team because she didn't like me. And not just the "you are a possible threat and need to be watched" way that Rhodey, Tony, and Scott didn't like me, but also as in "I find you annoying and every time you open your fucking mouth, I want to punch your lights out". It was just a personality difference. Even empaths had them with some people. If we all got along, the world would be a boring place. Carol and I not getting along didn't mean that either of us were bad people, or that we didn't acknowledge that the other person was a good Avenger and dedicated to the good of the world. We just weren't friends, and unlike Sam or Tony she was never going to warm up to me.
Because Carol hated my guts, Steve had decided giving her leeway to shoot me was a bad idea, even if it was with paint. So he, as the referee, always made sure we were on the same team. That was normal.
What wasn't usual was Loki and myself being on the same team. Steve normally put us on opposing sides because the others whined about the PDA we often put on, and putting us on different teams was meant to cut down on the temptation to make the others implore us to get a room. The only reason I could think of was Steve was trying to keep things even. My team had Carol. The other team had Thor. Both of them being on the same team would have made things just a bit unfair, even if Thor was wearing a blindfold and we weren't using powers. Our team had me and Bucky as well, but the opposition had the Widows, who were sneaky and would more than make up for the extra muscle Bucky and I brought. As for Sam, I knew from prior experience never to underestimate him.
We went to our base which was across the valley from the opposing team's base, and Carol took charge and discussed strategy. I could tell she wasn't thrilled about what she had to work with...Carol didn't like my husband either...but she was also competitive so she was going to get the most out of us. Carol also determinedly ignored the hand Loki was using to stroke the curve of my hip as well as the way he kept kissing my temple. Loki was fully aware that Carol didn't like either of us, so when she was around, he cranked the PDA to 11 just to make her uncomfortable.
Steve blew the airhorn, our signal to start. Loki pulled me into a passionate, throat swabbing kiss that had Carol making an annoyed sound, then we all fanned out.
Training with the Dora Milaje had paid off. Before I spent time with them, I had stomped through the woods like a drunken elephant and was almost always the first person out as a result. Months of practice meant that now I was a ghost in the forest, my footsteps not making a sound. I had learned how to take advantage of the shadows to slip around unnoticed. As a result, I came very close to tagging Thor.
The reason I didn't was because, as sneaky as I was, Yelena had years of experience of being quiet and sneaky on me, and thus was able to nail me with several of her red paintballs. The sound had Thor turning around and gunning me down, leaving me covered in yellow paint. I looked like a damn hotdog after they were through.
After I removed my blindfold, I aimed my gun at my brother-in-law, intent on a little payback for the unnecessary dowsing when Yelena had already gotten me. I had turned his hair purple a couple weeks ago. There wouldn't be any issue with turning it pink.
I didn't panic when the arm wrapped around me and the cool hand covered my mouth to muffle my gasp. I knew it was my husband by his scent, and the way his breath caressed me as he purred in my ear: "Bad girl."
My vision was once again obscured by the blindfold. I shivered as his fingers lightly touched my face and caressed my hair.
"For not following the rules..."
I blinked behind the blindfold. Loki, the God of Mischief, was jabbing at me for not following the rules?
"...you get to come find me, if you can." I felt the tingle of magic pour over me. The paintball equipment dissolved away, leaving me only in my ratty jeans and threadbare shirt that I wore to play paintball in.
"Loki, what is this?"
"We are both tagged out," he whispered. "While the others fight amongst themselves, you and I are going to play our own game." His finger trailed up and down my arm. "I have cast a spell on you to render you invisible to the others so they will not bother you." He leaned in to murmur in my ear again. "Do not remove the blindfold. If you do, the game will be over and you will not be rewarded."
The silky purr was giving me a good idea of just what the reward would entail.
"I had intended to just whisk you away," Loki said with a touch of regret. "But now, you get to put those tracking abilities to use. Come find me, Pet."
And he was gone. Leaving me to begin my hunt, wandering in the woods while blindfolded in his version of Hide and Go Seek.
He was lucky I loved him so much.
The asshole muted our bond. I suppose it made sense. Using it to find him would have been cheating. I could still feel him, enough to tell me he was there and was enjoying leading me on this merry chase, but I couldn't follow it to him.
That was just fine. Just fucking fine. I had other ways to track him.
I inhaled deeply. There were the usual forest smells. Dead leaves, sap from the trees, dirt. The smells of various animals. There were a couple of squirrels in the trees above me and I smelled another mammal nearby. Judging by the sound its feet made as it scurried away at my approach, it was a rabbit. There were animal droppings, urine scent markers, another animal scent with a distinctive iron smell that I associated with large predators. That most likely belonged to a bear.
I quietly made my way among the trees. It was slow going with the blindfold, but I found that paying attention to the way the various sounds bounced around helped me navigate around the trees and various other objects in my path. I paid careful attention to the odors. I wasn't sure how long I wandered before I finally hit paydirt. The crisp, clean smell of ice that carried just a hint of peppermint.
I followed it up a steep trail, moving even more carefully because, judging from the feel of the slope, I was up the side of a mountain. I really didn't think Loki was going to make things too difficult. If what I could feel through our link was accurate, Loki wanted to challenge me but he also wanted me to win.
I wasn't sure how far away I was from the paintball game. I stopped hearing the others a long while ago.
The trail began leading downward, and I smelled water along with Loki's scent. It was strong and I followed it, moving carefully now because I could hear the beating of thousands of tiny hearts, a sound that was being enhanced by the acoustics of the cave up ahead. It was daytime so the bats, and I could smell the guano so I knew the heartbeats belonged to bats, were still sleeping. At least we wouldn't have to deal with that.
Loki's scent was very strong. It was almost as if he were right here. I followed the sounds of running water. It wasn't noisy enough to be a river. Stream then. And among the grass and weeds, I could smell cotton. I carefully made my way over to the smell and knelt down, pinching the edge of the blanket between my thumb and forefinger.
As I straightened up, I felt a hand on my shoulder and then a pair of lips press on the back of my neck, right at the spot where my hair hit my nape. It was easy for him to do since I had put my hair up.
"Well done," Loki's voice purred. His arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me back against him. "Do not take off the blindfold until I say you may do so. Can you feel it, Pet? All of your other, delicious senses heightened...your hearing, your spacial awareness..." His lips grazed my ear. "...your sense of touch..."
I shivered and obeyed his silent directive to kneel on the blanket. I hoped that his invisibility spell was still working, because between one breath and the next I was naked.
I felt him lower himself to his knees behind me, his hands coming around so his fingers gently brushed my nipples. He chuckled darkly when I whimpered. "So sensitive. So responsive," Loki crooned. He peppered the side of my neck with kisses while his fingers circled, pinched, and plucked at my hard, sensitive buds. He was right. Not being able to see was ratcheting up the sensations he was giving me. I leaned back against him, rolling my hips to stimulate that rod of flesh between his legs. Loki had already taken my arms and brought them above and behind so they were around his neck. I played with his hair, loving the feel of the silky tresses sifting like water through my fingers.
I whined and bucked my hips when his hands traveled down my sides, stroking my hips and feeling my tummy. Then I had to hold onto the back of Loki's neck to stay upright when his fingers found my lower lips and entrance.
"Loki," I gasped.
He brought me to climax twice before he let me fall to my elbows and took me from behind. I screamed when he pounded into me mercilessly, his fingers never letting up on my clit.
It was an hour, maybe longer, before we made our slow journey back to the paintball field. I knew we were close when I heard the shouting and could not believe they were still at it.
"I think that it is possible they did not even notice we were gone," Loki observed. I nodded. Then Loki had to catch me when the valley quaked and I almost lost my balance. We glanced at one another, then we ran.
We came out of the trees just in time to see Bucky, Sam, Yelena, and Nat standing around with expressions ranging from exasperation to eagerness. Steve's expression said plainly that he had thrown in the towel a while ago and was So Done With This Shit.
On the ground, Carol and Thor were engaged in a no-holds-barred wrestling match and fistfight. Both of them were drenched in paint in all colors of the rainbow. Both of them were shouting things that made my mouth look chaste and squeaky clean by comparison. Thor finally managed to throw Carol off him, and she flew several yards through the air before she landed and made the valley quake again. Then she got up and rushed at Thor, who was ready for her.
Steve saw me and Loki, and started to open his mouth.
"No," I cut him off before he could start. "I don't want to know."
"You may as well save your breath," Loki informed Steve when he turned to my husband. "My brother will most likely treat me to a sterling blow-by-blow account over some mead later on."
All of us looked at the battling powerhouses, who showed no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
Bucky clasped his hands together. "So, pizza?"
"Sounds good," Steve answered, not bothering to hide his relief.
"Can we get anchovies? I would like to try that," Yelena said. We all answered her with a resounding "No" and went to our vehicles.
The news later that night consisted of interviews with some very confused seismologists. The next day, Steve announced that power dampening collars would be mandatory for both Carol and Thor during our paintball games. Even so, the state of Pennsylvania politely requested that the Avengers pick somewhere else for our recreational activities for the next year.
And Loki began to look forward to the monthly games a lot more than he had been.