Yo you guys! It's winter break so like I said chapters will come as fast as I can write them. ;)

Okay so...I was in the shower planning out some of the next few chapters (I talk them out to myself don't judge) and I had an interesting thought: the way I'm portraying some of these characters and their interactions isn't really based on anything in the comics or movies quite frankly I'm just taking the characters as they're portrayed and throwing them into a high school setting. However I realized that the relationship between Loki and Clint Barton is more post-Avengers (movie) and that the interactions between Loki and Thor's family is very Thor 2 (which I realize just came out but it sort of blew my mind with some of the similarities).

Anyways...just thought I'd share. Btw: the Loki/Barton conflict will play out an important plot point way later on in the story...already thought that through. Pretty sure I know how I'm gonna end this bad boy too. Haha.

*sobs uncontrollably*

Disclaimer: Does not own Marvel Universe

Warning: Stoki feels! Ehehehe

Comments/critiques are welcomed!

It was Tuesday. Loki wasn't exactly thrilled to be back in school but it was better than being at home. Instinctively he was giving his so-called mother and Thor the cold shoulder for discussing him as if he were some sort of insecure teenage girl going through her first round of battles with puberty so the home life as of now wasn't exactly pleasant—not that it really was before—but Loki didn't like the idea of Frigga and Thor whispering about him like he was set to go on a rampage. He had complete control over his emotions and their constant attempts in hiding their true feelings about him weren't exactly going unnoticed. Loki knew everything, he could see every little expression they tried to hide, he heard their whispering despite his need to isolate himself…he knew they were afraid of him and he knew that Thor wasn't exactly thrilled that Loki was the center of Frigga's attention but he had no empathy towards the oaf. Petty jealous may be a trait they shared but Loki wanted nothing to do with consoling his brother that he was still the golden child. It wasn't like that wasn't obvious enough.

Loki was in a somewhat pleasant mood though. Sunday bore the first snow of what promised to be a white winter and Loki would be lying if he said he wasn't thrilled. He loved the snow and since it was unexpected school was cancelled that Monday which gave Loki more time to relax before being forced to return to the hellhole. The only unfortunate thing to come of it was that Darcy ended up being stuck in New Mexico since all of the airports in New York shut down due to the snow. The closest she could get would have been somewhere in Pennsylvania and her parents figured it would be safer to keep her there than to send her to an airport she may or may not get out of.

The lunch bell rings. Loki collects his things from his desk and stands, Clint Barton shoving past him and knocking his books from his arms. "Watch where you're walking, Laufeyson," Barton laughs to himself and continues to walk with Barnes out of the room. "Steve! Come on, it's lunchtime!"

"In a minute you guys…" Steve sighs, packing up his bag. Loki crouches down to pick up his things and Steve drops to his knees to do the same. He gives him a curious look, Steve just responding with a smile and helping Loki put everything in his bag. Loki supposed that was the good thing about Steve. Despite his friends showing an obvious distaste for him, Steve still kept his good-nature towards him. Even though he was a bit socially awkward and a little naïve Steve had an honest heart and it wasn't something Loki was accustomed to and was quite frankly rather uncomfortable with. That being said it didn't stop him from wanting to tongue wrestle him breathless. Steve's unnatural kissing abilities almost made Loki miss not being able to see him since Thursday. "I'm sorry about, Clint…he—he doesn't mean it…I mean he d-does but he doesn't-"

"Steve."

"Yeah?"

"It's fine, really." Steve blushes a bit when Loki stands and offers a hand to help him up. Loki leans forward, adjusting the strap of his bag on his shoulder, and breathes a low whisper into his ear. "I'll meet you at your truck in five minutes." Loki throws a smirk over his shoulder as Steve gawks after him at a loss for conceivable thought.

Of course it didn't take Steve very long to follow, Loki having already dropped his things off in his locker and sneaking out to the parking lot, watching Steve walk tentatively towards him and glancing around as if someone would see. The contradiction of his shy personality and bold advances were rather endearing as well. It made Loki rather curious how he would be respond to even more physical relations though Loki had no interest in such things. He was fairly certain that the furthest he'd even allow Steve to get was a grope fest—Loki wanted no kind of attachments whatsoever. Sex would only keep Steve following him around like a lost puppy.

Steve throws his bag into the back of his pickup and places a hand just above Loki's hip which he allows. If corrupting Steve was going to work the way he wanted it to Loki knew he'd need to make some careful choices in sacrifice. Physical contact was something he could tolerate. For now.

"You know if you want to go to lunch you just have to say so-"

Loki smirks, pulling him closer by the collar of his shirt. "Who says I want to go to lunch?" He nods towards the backseat of the truck.

"Oh? Oh!" Steve blushes and laughs. "You know…you could just say that too…" He opens the door for Loki, Loki climbing gracefully into the back without having to turn away from Steve, pulling him with him. The blush on Steve's face had reached his ears.

"Yes, yes, I suppose I could…" Loki hums, settling himself onto the seat and leaning back against the door, pulling Steve closer. "But where's the fun in that?" Steve hooks an arm around Loki's waist before he has time to object and places his other hand on the back of his neck, drawing him in for a kiss. Loki makes a small noise and wraps one arm around Steve's neck, his other draped nonchalantly over Steve's shoulder. He kisses him slowly at first their lips simply moving against one another as Steve tests the limits of how close Loki will allow him to push.

They shift together in unison, Steve pressing his lips harder against Loki's and Loki digging his fingers into Steve's hair. There's a clash of tongues and teeth as they both fight for dominance, panting short ragged breaths as they pull at one another's hair and clothes, Loki's nails nicking Steve's neck and face and Steve's teeth biting down on Loki's lips a little too hard. A coil of warmth starts to build in Loki's stomach and the air becomes thick and hard to suck down. Steve's kisses run astray up Loki's jawline and back to his mouth. Loki makes a soft noise that feels a little too good for comfort as Steve attempts to kiss down his neck but Loki tugs his hair to pull his mouth back up to his. His neck was off limits. The pace slows down and Loki lets out a playful whine, Steve grinning against his lips. Loki shifts their position on the seat and straddles Steve's hips, grabbing his face with both hands and digging his fingers into Steve's hair and scalp. He grinds his teeth down against Steve's bottom lip and sucks on the top one, running his tongue over both of them to soothe them. Loki pulls away for air and pants slightly. Steve flashes him a grin. They both fix their hair and Steve's hands return to their spot just above the curve of Loki's hips with a sigh. Steve's thumbs rub against him but Loki ignores it.

"Hey, listen," Steve pants, smiling. "I'm not working this Saturday-" Loki sits himself down on Steve's lap, pulling out his phone to flip through it, "-maybe we could do something?"

Loki gives Steve a charming smile. "No, thanks." He looks back down at his phone.

"Well…maybe we could go to lunch sometime this week?"

"No, that's okay."

Steve furrows his brow and touches Loki's arm to lower the phone out of his sight, Loki looking up at him. He felt a slight twist in his stomach. The one thing Loki wished he could change about Steve—he was smart. "I don't mean to be rude but—are you busy?"

"I'm at the shelter on Saturday."

He frowns. "And the rest of this week?" Loki tries to think of a quick excuse, Steve interrupting his train of thought with a sigh. "Look, Loki…I know you're not looking for anything out of this relationship but—can't we at least go out? To a movie or to eat…or we could just talk or hang out or something? I told you before that—all I need is one date-"

"And I told you that this was just a benefits relationship," Loki snaps, biting his lip. Steve furrows his brow. "Apologies. I didn't mean to raise my voice, I just—I'll think about it." He shifts to climb off of Steve's lap and opens the door. "This is kind of fun though…making out with you in secret." Loki brushes some of Steve's bangs out of his face. "Plus you're kind of addicting."

He throws a small wave over his shoulder as he climbs out of the truck. Loki had no interest in dates. They were a means for Steve to attempt to open him up and to learn things. There was too much on his mind right now for Loki to monitor all of his shields. Something he didn't intend to say could slip and that wasn't something he wanted to risk. Steve was a nice guy but…Loki still was skeptic about all of this. He couldn't understand the attraction Steve had for him because from the way Steve looked at him Loki could tell it wasn't purely physical. Loki could always amuse him of course but that would only get him so far. Steve was clever he caught on to things fast and while Loki was capable of turning a situation around for his benefit there was always the risk of someone seeing them. They'd start going on dates and Steve would start wanting to be around him more…it would only be a matter of time before Steve would want to start telling people and that wasn't something Loki wanted. At all.

Besides…it was a lot more fun to sneak around.

Loki sets up his laptop and connects to the chat, the image of Darcy in a camisole and a pair of boxers popping up onto the screen. She taps her screen and grins when Loki rolls his eyes.

"Oh good!" she laughs, leaning forward onto her arms. She was still stuck in New Mexico and it looked like she wouldn't be getting back until the weekend. "The connection's decent. I hate when we talk like this and the connection is slow, it always looks like you're trying really fucking hard to climb through my screen and then I get flashbacks from when I watched The Ring when I was six and things just turn to shit from there." She grabs something off screen and pulls her arm back into view to reveal a bottle of nail polish, shaking it vigorously. "So what's up?"

"You weren't answering your phone," Loki states bluntly.

Darcy sighs. "Right. Sorry about that…my crazy abuela sort of took my cell phone. She's fucking insane I can see where I get it from." She starts painting her toenails. "You're lucky I was online or else you would've had to go crazy without me." Darcy pauses and looks up at her screen as if looking around. "What time is it there?"

He rubs his eyes. "Two-thirty or something."

"Really?" she shrugs, going back to her nails. "You look tired. Maybe you're just aging more rapidly."

"I've been in school, dumbass…and it's not like you're looking very attractive right now. The way you're leaning down in front of the screen I can see your rosebuds. People are going to think I'm live-chatting with a whore," Loki scowls. "Why aren't you wearing a bra?"

She turns red and sits up, tugging her cami up to cover her breasts. "Because it's only noon! Okay—noonish—but it doesn't mean—wait. Are you talking to me in the library? You're in school right now!"

Loki rolls his eyes. "Darcy, I just told you that. I'm in study hall." His chat screen rings a tone when a message pops up from Steve.

captain_s_rogers : Hey
captain_s_rogers : Want to do something after practice?

He sighs. Steve just wasn't giving up. Loki didn't want this though, why couldn't Steve get that? He wasn't dating Steve so Steve could take him out and attempt to romance him he was dating him because he knew how to suck face and was easy to look at. It was frustrating though because a tightness in Loki's chest made him believe that a part of him didn't want to see Steve hurt but Loki couldn't let himself be pulled further in. Loki sends him a quick 'no' in response and realizes that Darcy is watching him rather intently. She gives him a cheeky grin.

"Was that a chat tone I heard?" her grin grows wider. "Who are you talking to? What's their name?" She pauses and narrows her eyes a little. "Are they prettier than me?" Another message pops up.

captain_s_rogers : Are you sure?

She squeals. "Is it a booooyyyy? If it's a boy you have to tell me! And don't say it's Thor because we both know he doesn't quite understand how to use chat on his computer."

Loki makes a face. "I don't have to tell you anything!" She makes another unpleasant sort of squealing noise and looks around to make sure no one was watching him. He furrows his brow and runs a hand through his hair.

"Darcy!" Another voice sounds through her connection, Darcy lifting her head with a scowl. "¿Qué estás haciendo? Bájese del ordenador todos vamos de compras! Usted puede hablar con sus amigos más tarde."

"Vete, abuela! Me refiero a Loki en este momento, no tengo tiempo para ir de compras! Dios!"

"Usted debe estar haciendo algo productivo!"

"Estoy perdiendo la escuela porque yo estoy atrapado aquí, en esta tierra del desierto! ¿Cuán productivo se supone que debo ser?" A door slams, Darcy rolling her eyes. "God, I'm in a fucking nuthouse…"

Darcy was Mexican on her mother's side and had a bit of Greek on her father's side so needless to say whenever both families got together the reunions were rather crazy. Her parents met in college where her mother was studying to become an astronomer and her father was a journalism major. When her father's writing required him to travel they started moving around a lot, even after Darcy was born. They eventually settled in New York for a few years with one of Darcy's cousins but then Darcy met Loki and settled herself so comfortably that when they moved back to New Mexico for her mother's astronomical research they decided it was best to leave Darcy where she wanted to be. Of course she had to call once a week and they flew her out for the holidays but otherwise Darcy didn't see them very often. Loki envied that a little bit. Even though his "parents" travelled for Odin's job rather frequently it wasn't like he had the amount of freedom she did. Darcy could probably kill someone and her parents wouldn't ever hear about it unless she got caught or told them herself.

"So…who's this guy?" she grins.

Loki was typing a response to Steve when Darcy spoke up again making him put his reply on hold. He gives her a small smile. "Darcy…there's no guy. It's just someone from Northend." There was no way in hell Loki was going to tell Darcy anything about Steve. Granted she'd catch on soon enough that Loki was "seeing" someone but he wasn't obligated to introduce her or tell her who. And for all she would know it would be some guy from another school. Of course Loki could feel that twinge of guilt about lying to Darcy—again—but telling her that Steve had been interested in him the whole time and was now practically begging for some attention wasn't exactly something he wanted to tell Darcy.

She snorts and tosses her hair over her shoulder. "Oh, please, princess, as if. It that were really the case you wouldn't be being so vague-"

More shouting comes through her end and Darcy turns her head. "Darcy, vestirse usted va de compras con su abuela y yo! Y deja de dar a todos la actitud, se echa en falta la escuela, la mayoría de las niñas de su edad estarían fuera de fiesta!"

"But, mamá, I'm talking to Loki. And abuela stole my cellphone."

"Le diré que se lo devuelva, niña, ahora vienen en usted va de compras con nosotros."

Darcy sighs and rolls her eyes, looking back at Loki. "I'll text you later." She signs off.

"Ugh, I'm so bored," Tanya whines, pouting. "Loookiiiii, can't we go home? No one's been in here all day it's like a ghost house or something."

Loki rolls his eyes. He wasn't exactly thrilled to be here either but there were always benefits to a limited flow of people in and out of the door. One being that he didn't have to do anything. "If you're so bored let some of the cats out to run around. I'm sure they could use the exercise." He turns the page of his book and shoots her a look when she grumbles about it. "Or you could always—you know—do your job? I'm sure some of the litter boxes need changing out"

"Okay, okay, huh," she sighs, hopping off the counter. "What is your job anyways, all you do is read!"

"I'm watching the counter," Loki replies without looking up. Tanya snorts and walks into the back, some of the cats starting to howl when she enters their area.

Steve had been trying to get Loki to go out somewhere all week. It was annoying. But also…Loki felt sort of…bad. Steve was really interested in him and Loki didn't understand that kind of attraction, especially not directed at him. Darcy's he understood—she ended up developing a crush on him for a few months after they'd met—but he blamed that on her hormones which were even now considered raging. There was no logical excuse for Steve's and Loki figured that was what bothered him the most. He couldn't just ask why though because he didn't want to put Steve on the spot. It would be unfair and even though Loki wasn't exactly one to consider life fair Steve had been more than courteous towards him and had taken all of Loki's boundaries and expectations into consideration for this…relationship they had but Loki hadn't done the same for Steve. He assumed that making out in his truck during school and allowing him the pleasure of conversing would be enough. Loki had underestimated Steve's shy nature.

It wasn't just that though…

Despite Loki being willing to accept that Steve wasn't attempting to hurt him in any way there was still that twinge of paranoia. While Steve didn't seem intelligent enough to pull of an elaborate game to ruin Loki in some way that Loki wasn't aware of he'd gotten in to trouble before for underestimating how wicked and nasty people really were. People naturally wore masks it was something Loki had learned the hard way. What was bothering him the most was that Steve was lying to all of his friends—including Thor and Bucky Barnes—about where he was living and his mother's current state of employment. He'd even lied to Loki. It was impressive, yes, but also rang bells in Loki's mind how dangerous that was for him personally. Loki already couldn't get a good read on Steve's personality—he could be hiding anything under that charming smile and dumb goofy look he got whenever they made out.

One of the kittens mews and climbs up Loki's leg, Loki looking down with a smile. He picks it up and places it on the counter. The rest run out into the lobby area and run around crying. Tanya and Ida both walk out with cats in their arms, arguing.

"You shouldn't have let so many out at once! What if someone comes in?"

"Oh, shut up, Ida, you don't know nothing," Tanya snaps, letting her cat down on the other side of the counter. "Loki told me to let some out, huh, so quit acting like you can tell me what to do."

Ida flips their hair back over their shoulder, placing their hands on their hips. "I'm smarter than you that's why I can tell you what to do."

"God, shut up, your voice is annoying!"

The kitten Loki had on the counter was rolling around and playing with Loki's bookmark. Loki pokes at its fat little belly and laughs to himself. It was a little surprising that no one had come in today. After Thanksgiving a lot of people came into the shelter to look for Christmas puppies and kittens for their families. While most people looked for younger animals there was always the occasional old woman who came in looking for an older companion. Loki always hated seeing some of the older animals mope around in their cages. Nobody ever wanted them because they assumed they wouldn't want to play or run around or that something was wrong with them and that's why they were in a shelter. Most were actually rather sweet and had just fallen under bad circumstances. Of course…Loki understood the attraction towards kittens.

He rubs the kitten's belly, the creature attempting to wriggle itself in such a way to get a good angle on how to bite at Loki's fingers. It succeeds in grabbing a hold of Loki's hand with its claws. Loki tries to shake the kitten off gently and makes a face when it doesn't let go.

"Ooohhh, Loki," Ida squeals. "It's your boyfriend."

Loki looks up. The bell above the door rings and Steve steps inside shocked when he has to avoid stepping on a hoard of kittens. He closes the door quickly behind him so none of them wander out. Ida and Tanya both make little noises amongst themselves and Loki shoots them a look. He wasn't unhappy to see Steve he just—wasn't thrilled. Loki must've been scowling though because Steve furrows his brow and gives him a shy smile, carefully walking up to the counter with a brown paper bag in hand.

"H-hey," Steve greets awkwardly, setting the bag on the counter quickly. It was some sort of peace offering. "I hope it's okay that I came to visit you here…I know that you've—sort of been avoiding talking to me…" Loki forces a small smile and glances at the bag. "Oh, it-it's uhh—it's uhh lunch. From that diner you like. B-bacon cheeseburger…extra cheese, extra bacon…with no tomato…right?"

Ida and Tanya both start giggling and 'awww'-ing them.

There was blood attempting to rise to Loki's face to create a blush but Loki forces it back down with a smile. Steve was fiddling with his hands rather nervously. "Yes…thank you—AH!" The kitten bites down—hard—on Loki's cuticle, Loki hissing out a small swear and pulling the kitten gently off his hand, placing it aside. It mews and jumps at Loki's arm.

Steve laughs lightly, shuffling his feet. "He likes you."

"It would appear so, yes."

Ida and Tanya giggle to themselves and Loki turns to glare at them. "What? It's adorable!"

"Yeah, Loki, boo," Tanya coos. "He brought you lunch! So much sweeter than any of those other assholes you went out with."

"Too true. I need a man like that."

"You are a man, stupid."

"Shut up, Tanya, I'll rip that fake ass weave off your head!"

"You're both stupid!" Loki snaps. He lowers his voice, giving them a look. "Isn't there something you two should be doing in the back?"

They both grin at him, Ida pushing Tanya towards the back rooms. "Sure, Loki, baby, take your time. We'll give you some privacy." Ida winks at Steve who turns red.

Loki sighs and shakes his head. "Sorry about that…" He pulls the burger out of the bag and starts to unwrap it, Steve smiling at him.

"It's fine, don't worry about it," he picks up the kitten on the counter that was pawing at the bag, placing it against his chest. "Listen, umm—I just wanted to make sure you're not mad at me. You know for—for pushing you about this going out and doing something…thing. I'm not trying to make you uncomfortable or anything-"

"Steve, it's-" Loki pauses and smiles lightly. "It's fine. Really…I understand why you're doing it…"

Steve's face lights up with a grin. "Good. Because I was hoping that-"

"But it doesn't mean I want to." His face falls. Loki closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. "Look, Steve…I don't want a boyfriend. I don't need one either. Honestly…just having someone to fool around with is more exciting than being romanced. It's nothing against you, okay? I just—don't like you that way and I can't see myself ever liking you that way." He takes a bite of his burger, attempting to return to his book as if the conversation were closed. But…of course Steve didn't consider the same. Loki could see it on his face.

He frowns at him and sets the kitten back down on the counter. "I thought you said you wanted to date me. I mean…I know you clarified that it was a benefits relationship but still…don't I get some benefits out of this too?"

"Your benefits mean picking my brain apart so I'd rather you not," Loki sighs, picking the kitten up when it attempts to jump up at his burger. "And I said I wanted to date you, yes, for the physical benefits. I thought it was obvious that I didn't want this to be you and me acting like some stereotypical couple that only does things for one another in a feeble attempt to get into each other's pants—also not going to happen, maybe I should've been a little clearer."

"Please, don't talk to me like this is my fault, okay? It's not."

Loki raises his eyebrows. "Oh, so it's mine?"

"I didn't say that-"

"You implied it."

"Stop! Okay?" Steve raises his hand at him with a frown. "Don't do that, getting mad and trying to twist my words isn't going to work. Why are you fighting this? All I'm asking for is one date-"

"Why are you pushing?" Loki counters defensively.

Steve sighs, rubbing his eyes. "I told you, Loki, when I tried asking you out before you showed up at my house at three in the morning—all I want is one date. I just need you to give me…three hours to try and prove to you that I'm worth a chance. We could go to lunch or dinner, or go see a movie or…watch a movie at your house-"

"Thor."

"Well we can't do it at mine, my mother's insane-" Steve runs a hand through his hair, "-the point is that…the only reason I want to go out is to see whether or not this is going to work…whether it's a benefits relationship or not. Can't we just give it a try? Just once? If you don't like it I'll—I'll leave you alone and we can pretend like none of this ever happened."

Loki shakes his head. He didn't want to just…give up with Steve. Corrupting him sounded like too much fun. But he also didn't want to date. Steve was charming and sweet and Loki knew if he wasn't careful he'd get sucked right into what was guaranteed to be another disaster. All he wanted was one date though…Loki could always suck it up and fake his way through it. He did that through half the shit Darcy made him do, she's known him through years, maybe Steve wouldn't notice. Loki didn't want to just break it off either Steve was the first decent kisser other than Stark that he'd come across. Then again Stark's were from practicing on other people, Steve's were—something else. Was it really worth the risk though? Faking his way through one date and then another and another…what if Steve ended up developing more than a crush? Loki could barely handle shooting him down now Steve was only going to get more stubborn the longer he drew this out. Getting to kiss him whenever he wanted and using him as some sort of revenge plot wasn't exactly worth it. Still…

"Alright." Steve cocks his head slightly, looking up from the kittens he was playing with on the floor. Loki leans over the counter. "I said alright, I'll—I'll give you one chance, okay? But…no promises that something's going to happen."

Steve grins ear to ear and grabs Loki's face, pulling him in for a fast kiss. Ida and Tanya make squealing noises in the back. "Awesome!" he laughs, pumping his fist. "Okay, great, you—I'll—I'll call you or—text you, I dunno, but—we'll talk about it later. Or you can call me! Awesome, alright—we'll talk later?"

"Yeah, Steve, I'll-" Loki gives him a small smile. "I'll call you later." He watches Steve make his way out the door to dance around on the street, rolling his eyes. Hopefully this wouldn't end up being the worst mistake Loki had ever made…though it would be hard to top.