Disclaimer: I don't own Thor.

Thanks to everyone for the reviews for the last chapter! I am so glad that people are enjoying this fic. I just love the pairing of Loki and Darcy and they're just so much fun to write for. Well, here's the next chapter! Been a long time coming, that's for sure! Please enjoy!

Alphabet Soup
004. D for Devilish

Darcy hugged the long trenchcoat to her body, bouncing from toe to toe - which was freaking hard in stilettos, mind you - as she tried to regulate her breathing. The brisk wind was fierce, unforgiving, and she cursed her boyfriend for not answering the door when she knocked the first time.

Night had fallen in the time she had been waiting here, and she was about to pitch a remarkably immature fit when her phone buzzed in her pocket.

Blinking, she took her phone out and stared at the screen, which read: 1 new message.

Darcy pressed some combination of buttons and ended up finding said new text. From Jane, of course, but instead of messaging her about work like she thought she would, Darcy found an actual concerned message on the genius' behalf.

So...how are things going?

The dark-haired girl blinked several more times before a delirious little laugh escaped from her throat. Reluctantly pulling her other hand from inside the pocket of her trenchcoat, she sent a text back to her employer.

Freaking stupid! I'm not even sure he's here!

Less than a minute later, Jane replied with, Have you knocked on the door?

Growling, Darcy was sure her thumbs would break the phone as she furiously typed her response, No, Jane, that thought was the furthest from my mind! And that's sarcasm, btw! Sar-casm!

Before she was able to see whatever reply Jane had up her sleeve, Darcy felt someone tap her shoulder. Jumping, she spun around to face the offender and came face-to-face with the one and only, Loki Laufeyson.

He was staring at her as if she were something particularly amusing, crisp green eyes sparking with a wry sort of mirth. In his hands he carried several large grocery bags, and Darcy had to stop herself from laughing at the image of Loki in the produce aisle.

"Darcy," he said, his liquid voice lingering in a rather delicious way on the syllables of her name.

"Loki," she replied, trying her best to mimic him, but her tone was too annoyed, her stomach too nervous at what she was actually here for. Which was silly, she knew, but she chalked all that up to anticipation.

Loki stepped around her in such a graceful way that it made her jealous before pressing a palm to the doorknob and opening it in one swift motion. Darcy blinked.

"The door was open the entire time?"

Loki stood aside so she could enter the apartment first, but she didn't ignore the strange look he was giving her attire. "It was a rather short trip to the store."

"And in that time, a murderer could have broken in, and be hiding in wait in your closed with a damn butcher knife and - "

"Though your fantastical musings are rather entertaining, I do believe you know I am referred to as the god of mischief in certain circles," he said coolly, setting the bags down on the marble counter that divided the kitchen from the living room.

"People will steal your shit," Darcy pointed out.

Loki looked at her, an almost patronizing smile on his face. "I locked the door with magic, Darcy."

"You could have said that when you opened the door."

At this, Loki smirked wider. "And miss you overreact?"

"Jerk."

The smile did not leave his face.

Darcy's, however, had completely melted from hers. She stared at him with a sense of all-consuming aggravation and found that her hands had migrated from crossing over her chest to being placed on her hips. Without her volition. This change in body language was not lost on Loki, who cocked his head to the side, eyes sparking with interest.

"This does not look like your usual garb," he said, stepping forward.

Darcy blinked a bit, now remembering why she was her in the first place. Looking down at her unflattering trenchcoat - baggy and not colorful in the least like most of her clothes - she gave a sigh as the annoyance melted away, as the strange nervousness pitted in her stomach once more.

"It is not," she said, finding herself mocking Loki's speak once more. She shook her head. That was not going to make the night go the way she wanted. Her fingers fiddled with the belt keeping the coat shut. She wasn't used to feeling this nervous, especially around him.

But, then again, she supposed things were never as simple as they seem.

At the long pause, Loki gazed at her as if something was amiss. He stepped forward, looking her up and down as if to figure out the mysteries of the universe, and before Darcy knew it, he was dreadfully close, fingers trailing beneath the upturned collar of the coat.

"Are you...hiding someting?" The tone of his voice was soft, smooth. Not unlike him, of course, but there was something lying in the cadence of his voice got underneath her skin in the most delightful of ways.

"Me?" Darcy questioned, faux-insulted. "Of course not."

"Then why are you wearing this," he said as his fingers dropped from the collar to float around the belt, "monstrosity."

Darcy tilted her head toward him, her eyes issuing a playful challenge.

Wordlessly accepting said challenge, Loki pursed his lips, moving his hand upward to flick open one of the large, brown buttons that held the coat closed. As soon as he saw was was beneath the coat, his eyebrows went into his hairline and a rather befuddled expression befell his face.

"Well...I was not expecting this," he commented, and the way his eyes grazed over her form this time was downright animalistic. Darcy's heart thudded in her chest in response.

"Exactly," she said, a smirk curving her mouth.

Loki matched her smirk with one of his own, moving to slide the coat from her shoulders. It pooled on the floor, revealing what Darcy had attempted so hard to conceal.

Darcy stood in front of him, trying to exude the confidence of a woman with far more experience than she. She tilted her head up at him, allowing the dark night of her hair to fall over one of her shoulders. Loki allowed his eyes to roam her body, taking in the red lace of her most naughty lingerie that revealed her womanly curves. His gaze trailed down her bare legs; Darcy could not take her eyes from him, even when he wasn't looking into hers.

His long fingers reached out and skimmed the lace that made up the upper portion of her garb. She could feel the cool touch of his skin against hers, and it almost caused a shudder to ripple down her spine.

"So this is why you are here?" he said, his voice throaty and deep; goosebumps rose on her skin as soon as the simple question was voiced. "Why you were waiting?"

"No," Darcy said, unable to help herself. "I'm actually a lady of the night and this is my way of telling you."

Loki grinned at her wit, reaching up to run his fingers over the crown of her forehead. "You should be fitted with devil horns, my dear."

"So you like, then?" Darcy asked cheekily, stepping forward a bit and pressing herself to him.

For a brief moment, Loki said nothing, as if trying to find the right words. He then replied in a surprisingly earnest manner with, "You always look stunning, Darcy."

Darcy snorted at this. "You sap."

Though, as she tilted her head upward to meet his mouth with hers, Darcy did - in fact - notice the mischievous, hungry glint in Loki's eyes.

Mission accomplished, she thought, and led him to the bedroom.

End 004.