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"I can't believe that we are doing something so romantic!" Loki giggled in his usual honeyed voice, which would've sounded weird but its Loki, the guy can pull off anything. Erik was glad to be the boyfriend of someone as god-like as him (although, Loki had protested many times and always claimed Erik was like a God to him as well, which never fails to bring a blush on Erik's face).
"Well, don't get used to it," Erik joked, holding Loki's palm in his own, pulling him up the stairs onto the rooftop of the skyscraper. Once they are were on the high ground, Loki pulled Erik up to his chest, breathing heavily all of sudden, looping his arms round Erik's neck.
"I'd get used to anything for you," he said deeply, which caused the other man to shiver and look at the tempting looks for a split nano-second. Nope, not this shit again, Erik inwardly groaned.
Erik gently pushed Loki off to maintain a safe distance, "Uh-uh. We are not going to fuck on a rooftop when I literally worked my ass off for this to be possible, and, endured an hour of being laughed at by my cousins on video call. If I can keep it in my pants, so can you."
Loki pouted, "Such a crude mouth."
Erik squared his shoulders, giving a 'are you kidding me' face. ''Says the one who partakes in dirty talk in bed," he said, exposing the smirking man fair and square. He crossed his arms to raise the challenge higher.
The man continued to smirk, towering him with mischief playing in his eyes. He seductively leans slightly to whisper in his ear, "I don't see you complaining when I do that."
Erik pushed him off again, with the same gentleness and hesitation as the first time. "Stop it!" he whined. Oh God... he whined. Loki did bring out the worst in him. "Please let me the loving piece of shit I am, to you," he pleaded. Oh God... he pleaded. What's next?
Loki decided to take mercy on him finally, straightening up after giving Erik a small peck on his cheek. "When will you stop being so cute? It's beginning to be quite unlawful," he cooed, walking ahead of Erik to see the entire setting his boyfriend had worked his ass for.
Before Erik could turn around to see Loki's reaction, an amazed gasp was whispered into the New York night. Pleased with the auditory reaction, Erik spun around on his heel, a smug smile emerging on his face.
He decorated the entire rooftop with yellow roses, that shone like little suns in the night, even out-shining the lights from the skyscrapers as well. Pillars with the tops adorned in the yellow gentle flowers, all led to a table in the centre, which was decorated with a pristine white tablecloth, the plates and spoons and forks, and a vase at the heart of the table, with two roses; one of green hue, and the other one of the coral peach.
The roses in the vase stood out a bit among the ambience of yellow, but Erik's intention was to achieve that quirk; to symbolize how much Loki and he felt out of place all their lives. Erik being raised in America with a different form of upbringing and environment while his cousins were raised up in a hidden, powerful, resourceful country. Loki being always stereotyped as untrustworthy due to his title as God of Mischief.
But together, the two formerly lonesome unique and different roses, stayed close to one another, as if drawing strength from one another to continue growing in their own unique ways, as long as the other rose is there.
"I'm-" Loki began shakily, gathering the still-new intense emotions within him. Erik understood, walking up close behind him to wrap his arms around the taller man, moving one long, straight lock away to give a gentle, comforting kiss on the white skin exposed there. He felt the man shiver from pleasure and overwhelming adoration.
"Where have you been all my life?" He whispered, his awe still radiating as much as the yellow roses were.
"In the Unites States of America," Erik answered, trying to make it sound casually but his voice broke mid way. "Spent my summers in Wakanda though."
Loki emitted a relieving chuckle, a genuine, happy smile on his lips. He turned round in Erik's arms to give him and wrapped his arms around his neck, mirroring their earlier position except there was no sexual undertone to it; just pure serenity and joy at meeting someone who truly gets you with all their heart.
" I should've come down from Asgard more often then," he tearily replied. He shook his head as if to rouse off a thought before capturing Erik's lips softly, gratefully. Erik whimpered slightly, cupping the God of Mischief's face with his hands to cherish the moment longer. Loki's nose caressed his cheek tenderly, grounding him to the moment of them finally living the loving life both of them missed out on.
Loki pressed himself a bit more closer, trying to get more of Erik than he could ever ask for. And Erik allowed him to take it. He allowed the blue eyed man take everything that resides within him.
Because that was how far Erik was willing to for to be Loki's side forever. He might be a God, and Erik might be a 'midgardian' (according to the high and mighty Asgardian terms, hint hint Loki himself), but no God or heavenly force could take him away from the one man who understood him and loved him.
Finally, Loki pulled away, making Erik pout slightly. Loki laughed, "Clearly you forgot that we came here for a different purpose altogether."
Erik stood there slightly dumbfounded at what other 'purpose' could they be here for before on tiny yellow rose in the corner of his eye reminded him. Damn, the Loki effect.
He cleared his throat, "Right." He touched the small of Loki's back with his left palm, giving it a gentle nudge so as the move the God forward towards his hopelessly romantic extravaganza, hosted by the one and only Kill-hopelessly-in-love-monger.
The aroma of the food reached the two gentlemen, Loki even making an exaggerated inhale and exhale, letting a very posh 'Ah' stay in the air. He commented to Erik, saying that dish already smells so heavenly and could wait to get his hands on it. Erik blushed, but refused to reply to the statement and the leer look, offering to pull out a chair and allow Loki to sit on it.
"Such a gentleman," Loki teased, squishing Erik's right cheek from his seat. Erik's blush aggravated, causing him to trip over the leg of Loki's chair. Luckily he caught himself before he could fall face flat onto the floor.
In usual circumstances, Erik would be embarrassed and probably shove the incident as far as he could to the back of his mind, and move on with improvisation or ignorance. But being rewarded with amused chuckle made him smile, with a touch of embarrassment. He felt Loki's eyes on him as he made it to his own seat to sit down.
Once he sat down, the God of Mischief put his elbows on the table and cupped his own face with his palms, staring dreamily at the courting man. Erik prayed to God to not let there be any cameras around the area, planted by Shuri and T'Challa. Because then, the two, along with Loki, would tease the fuck out of his bashful self.
"Wine?" He asked suddenly, reaching out for the bottle of wine in haste, causing it to almost be knocked over before he could catch it himself. He held it steady in horror, before looking up to his boyfriend grinning at him as if he were the only person in the world he liked.
"You don't have to be nervous in front of me, you know that right?" Loki said casually, reaching for the wine bottle instead to pour into the two glasses.
Erik tried his best not to slump his shoulders. "I know..." He began, struggling with his words. "...it's just the first time I'm doing something as...serious as this." He looked down on his lap, refusing to meet Loki's concerned eyes.
"Babe," a low voice spoke caringly after Erik's confession. When he looked up, the God of Mischief was smiling supportively, reaching forward to grab at his hand. Erik smirked, deciding to play with him by taking his hand far out of the long-haired man's reach, resulting in a offended pout. "Babe!" Loki whined, reaching out for his hand once more. The whine didn't sound as childish as Erik thought it would, but he nevertheless, offered his hand to which Loki gladly took within his own.
Warmth spread throughout Erik's body at the display of affection in the audience of the shielded stars of New York. Loki's hand encompassed his rough hand, playing with the fingers that let aloft a tingle of pleasure up the suited man's spine.
"You have every right to be nervous," Loki began with a cadence. "This is sort of a...first time for the both of us. Frankly, I'm quite nervous too." He let out a nervous chuckle to confirm the confession.
Erik snorted out of nowhere, "Well that's reassuring."
Loki rolled his eyes, "I'm not nervous by your presence. I'm nervous by the fact that I'm with someone who's finally showed me the joy of living on Earth. And a new meaning in my life. And as someone who's never had that before..." Loki trailed off, opting to stare at the open view to his left with a distant reminiscence playing in the deep waters of his eyes , "...it can be oddly frightening on what to make of that meaning."
Erik eyes were downturned, staring at their interlaced fingers, realizing all their differences and all their similarities. Loki smiled at the gesture, bowing his head slightly to catch his eyes. "I'm guessing you feel the same way too." The yellow roses seemed to be witnessing their hesitant confessions, as if coaxing it out of them themselves.
Erik pursed his lips in thought. When he looked up to see the other man's eyes, he didn't see any signs of scrutiny, but rather signs of understanding and assurance; the very same assurance he was using to gather the heartfelt words weighing on his tongue.
"Loki, I-" Erik began with a deep crack in his voice, "-I was always left out in everything that made up my very gene make-up. I was...completely aware of my ancestry and never got to experience it firsthand. I mean, hell, I visited Wakanda only few years ago and got to know my cousins only then. Don't get me wrong, they have become very close to me and did nothing but accept me into their home. But I still felt... different...in my views and in my upbringing. It was...surreal for me to see so much technology and culture up close." Loki squeezed his hand tightly, the soles of his palm shaping up Erik's. "I was basically always different. Partly because of the whole thing with my dad, my idealism...I have to admit, even my loneliness."
Loki eyebrows furrowed, his eyes showing the pure heartache he felt for his equally deprived partner. "But you-" Erik started again, leaving the God startled. It was his turn to wrap his fingers around his hand. "-you showed me that while I'm different, I always had a chance of finding happiness and comfort and..." he trailed off, leaving Loki with hope. "...Love."
Loki let out a sob, using his other hand to cover his mouth to shield it. He closed his eyes firmly for a few second, overwhelmed from his mind to heart. When he opened his eyes once again, he saw the man with words smirking at him.
"I mean, you were pretty hard to find. You're literally a Norse God. I mean, damn." His smirk transformed into a grin when Loki laughed. "I can't believe I attracted a whole ass God. And when I tell people this, they think I'm speaking metaphorically. Actually, why won't they? Would you just look at those shoulders...those eyes, those lips, that wonderful human being entombing a beautifuk heart-"
Loki got up abruptly from his chair and damn near pounced on Erik. All Erik could comprehend from his senses that Loki was on his lap, wrinkling his designer suit and kissing the life out of him.
And he won't have it any other way.
Erik used all his emotion and feeling for the man on the lap in order to kiss him back; giving his previous heartfelt words a solidified figure in their lives. Erik's hand remained steady at Loki's waist, while the fair skinned man held onto his face, essentially demanding to never leave him, molding his lips hotly over the other man. Erik panted after a while, which gave Loki plenty a chance to dive his tongue into his mouth, rolling his hips slightly on his lap, giving Erik a feel of every part of his body.
They continued to kiss for a long time, the wet slide of their lips and tongue was creating a slightly humid temperature around them, almost tempting them to shed their suit jackets and say 'Hell with it' to the still candle lit dinner in front of them.
"No-no wait," Erik chuckled amid the attacks of passionate kisses. "Loki," he tried to sound reprimanding but just sounds more endeared. Loki refused to let go of his bottom lip; chasing for his lips every time Erik pulled back to speak.
He finally got a firm grip on his waist, pulling him off gently and staunchly at the same time. Loki tried to move once again (My speech did quite a number on him, Erik thought to himself mindlessly), but the dark eyed man held him back with a teasing smile. "Did you forget why we came here in the first place?"
Loki was about to protest, but the puppy-dog eyes sent in his way made him inwardly grumble, and begrudgingly get up from Erik's lap. Just as when Erik turned in his seat to face the seat Loki was occupying earlier, he snuck in a kiss on the cheek of the unsuspecting man. Loki sauntered away to sit on his chair with an accomplished smile on his face. The cheek that received the kiss from the God was burning with coyness.
"Well," Loki cleared his throat, looking down at the dish in front of him. "I apologize for getting carried away when you have been nothing but a gentleman to me." The yellow roses complimented his happy glow with an embrace
"Nah," Erik replied, casually picking up his spoon to begin eating. "You don't have to apologize for something to me that I clearly don't mind."
Loki hummed impressively, casting his eyes up and down Erik's suit. "Well, I did wrinkle your outfit quite a bit." His eyes darkened when Erik shifted, showcasing the movement of his muscles under his suit.
Erik lifted up the spoonful of soup to put it into his mouth which was busy smirking at the touchy man in front of him. He rarely wore suits, but he did a good thing by picking today to wear his dark suit because it really did omit a number of pleasurable reactions from Loki. "Well yours is wrinkled too. And I bet that you're dramatic ass bought that from the most expensive shop in the city." He finally sipped in the soup from the spoon. And made a little show of it.
Loki noticed the show and bit the corner of his bottom lip. "I mean, you aren't wrong. But honestly, what do you expect me to do when my man says the most heart wrenching speech to me where he indirectly professes his love for me to the millionth time." Loki picked up his spoon, "Oh, by the way, I love you too."
Erik shivered at the reciprocation, almost as if a cold wind shrouded him with a gentle tease and meaning. He cleared his throat of the hot soup and wine. He looked at the view to his right, not to admire it, but to avoid Loki's lewd eyes. "Well, it doesn't matter if our suits get wrinkled," he huffed.
Loki's eyes perked up even more. "You're right, it doesn't." Erik playfully hit his leg under the table.
"I don't mean it that way," he scoffed, shaking his head at the man he had fallen head over heels for. "I meant... that I have planned something else for ourselves which would require us to run."
Loki's lustful look was replaced with one of confusion. Although the quirking of the corner of his lips showed that he was curious and excited to see what he had planned.
"Oh really?"
Erik gracefully blew at the steam coming from the soup on his spoon. "Really," he replied casually, his voice slightly airy and cryptic.
Loki brought the wineglass to his lips to take a sip. "Well, I'm open to anything as long as I run with you."
The yellow roses encased them in their holy moment. For an hour anyways.
~~ ~~ ~~
"I haven't even introduced you to my brother and you have already decided to prank him?" Loki asked disbelievingly, as they hid behind a wall opposite to the Stark Towers, from where Thor was expected to leave and enter into the SUV parked in front of it. Loki's disbelief morphed into a mischievous gleam, truly highlighting his title as the God of Mischief. "I definitely made the right choice on my lovely boyfriend."
Erik's cheeks burned for the umpteenth time that night, but he rolled his eyes in response and shushed at the lovey-dovey man next to him.
"All we've got to do is wait for Thor to open the door of the car?" Loki asked in the expectant air between them and the building. Erik nodded with a grin, leaning in to give a gentle peck on the God's excited face. "And pray tell, what's going to happen once he does that?"
"I ain't telling you that," Erik snorted, wrapping his arm around Loki's waist. "You better keep your eyes wide open babe, I don't want you to miss anything."
Loki smiled gratefully. This time, he leaned in to nip at Erik's bottom lip before pulling back. "In hindsight, I should've introduced you to Thor first. Pranking family members comes next by my book."
"Yeah, but where's the fun in that?" Erik sniggered.
They waited for what seemed like hours, but it was actually just fifteen minutes, before they began to hear the sounds of Thor's loud and boisterous voice, along with other two voices.
"Well, that was a fun meeting we had there, right boys?" The doors opened to show Thor's glorious cheerful self, followed by a exasperated Tony Stark and a bemused Peter Parker. "We should do it again!"
"Oh God, please no," Tony pleaded to particularly no one. Peter looked at Tony in agreement.
"But it did permit me to meet your adopted son!" Thor exclaimed, slapping Peter's back staunchly. "Otherwise you would be hiding him from me for I don't know how long."
"He's not my son!" Tony weakly protested, although the Parker boy stood there silently, as if to not change Thor's mistake perception.
Thor put his other hand on Tony's back. "Well, farewell for now, you red midgardians!" He leaned in the whisper in Peter's ear. "Be good to your father. He's very good at the parenting thing."
Tony rolled his eyes while Peter made a subtle, yet fervent nod. Thor clapped on their backs once more before walking down the stairs to open the door of the car which was going to escort him to wherever he wanted to go. Erik and Loki saved their breath, getting prepared to laugh out loud till they collapse.
Thor opened the door, unable to see what's inside due to the tinted windows.
And out came an innumerable amounts of Ping Pong balls flooded all around him.
Thor surprised at the perplexity of it, walked back only to trip over the sidewalk and fall down, the ping pong balls hitting his face now comically as he struggled to get words out. "What. In. The. Name. Of. Ping pong balls?" He spluttered. "Is. Going. On?"
His booming voice reached the ears of the treacherous duo who were holding each other and laughing. Erik had tears in his eyes which he furiously wiped at while Loki was bent over, holding onto Erik's hands as to not fall over completely. The shaking of the bodies in laughter did not stop them from once to even remove their eyes from the comical scene of Thor battling ping pong balls.
Tony Stark and Peter Parker stood at the stairs, perplexed and like statues. Tony roused to finally speak at the humans standing around them in confusion as well. "Who did this?" He demanded as Thor was now completely enshrouded with ping pong balls against which he was still fighting.
The humans stuttered along the lines of not knowing how this could've happened on their watch. Thor's hair which had begun to grow a bit and was taking great deal of care of, was ruffled beyond its volume, making him look like a ruffled golden retriever more like it. He finally managed to get up, only to step on the ping pong balls on the ground, sending him back on his ass, with his legs up in the air. The sound that came from him meeting the sidewalk was such a cartoonish sound that Loki couldn't help but fall onto the ground this time.
"Who could've done this to me?" Thor bellowed, although it was broken in between at his struggle to fight his enemy.
Tony and Peter still observed the scene with no movements. Although Peter was holding up his phone to take a video of it and laughing as well. Erik mentally noted to ask Shuri to ask Peter for that video so that he could show it Loki whenever.
"What kind of a prank is this?" Tony asked to himself, disbelievingly. He looked torn as to whether to help Thor or let Thor continue his war with the demeaning ping pong balls. He narrowed his eyes at him for still struggling. "Could Loki have done this by any chance?"
Loki puffed his cheeks and Erik stared at him in amusement, bouts of laughter still erupting from his chest. Loki let go of the air in his mouth to wheeze in laughter, holding his chest to try and stop himself but was unable to.
"Im-im-po-o-ossible!" Thor said, his voice shaking as he tried to get up once again. "He's-he's on a date!"
Loki hugged Erik to stifle his laughing on his shoulder, which made the other man croon at the sight, his body moving along with him in hilarity.
Tony smoothened his suit jacket in consideration. "Well that does give him an alibi." Loki got up from the hug to look into Erik's eyes. Their eyes showed the same mirthful message: If only he knew. "Thor, do you need help?"
"No-o-o-AHHHHHHH!" Thor exclaimed once more, this time falling on his front, no doubt a ball even going into his mouth, resulting in his muffled anger. His legs were moving wildly against the ping pong balls, though it made no improvement in him getting up for even a second.
"Hey, Mr Stark," Peter asked, frowning at the video he was taking. "I think there's some people watching us from there!" He pointed at the exact spot where Loki and Erik were hiding.
Erik took Loki's hand before running away from their hiding spot with his boyfriend in tow, who was still laughing to the point he was susceptible to having breathing problems. They ran as fast they could, reaching a park which was reasonably distanced from the Stark Towers and the struggling Thor.
The park was quiet, save for the persisting laughter from the two men who have now entered there. Erik regarded himself and his date. Both of them were wearing suits amid the quite physical work they had just done. Loki was leaning against a tree, smiling so widely that Erik found it to be very raw and vulnerable. He knew from a number of their dates to know that Loki rarely laughed out of pure entertainment. But the mirth suited him quite well. It warmed his face and made him look more younger and more free.
Erik realized that he had been regarding the God for so long that he didn't notice that he had stopped laughing and was now regarding him back. He cocked his head to side, his face sending a teasing smile at his way.
Erik put his hands in his pockets, before he casually walked over to Loki, looking left and right to see if anyone was there. Once he reached him, he put his palms on either side of Loki's head on the tree trunk, caging him in. Their faces remained close, Loki's cold breath hitting pleasurably under his chin.
Erik gave him a sincere, loving smile, to which Loki responded in kind with softer eyes that Erik recently found to be reserved for him only. He put his forehead against his boyfriend's, before taking back one hand to dig in the pocket of his suit jacket. He had picked up something from their rooftop dinner...
Loki looked at him curiously before Erik finally pulled out what he was looking for in those few untouched seconds.
A yellow rose.
He kept it between him and Loki, and spun it by its stalk. The scent of the rose hit two men with a binding spell that couldn't be seen by either of them. Finally, Erik decided to take the flower and tuckedit behind Loki's ear, making it contrast very well in the curtain of black hair that welcomed it with a shiver.
When Erik pulled back to see how Loki looked with the yellow rose, he gasped in amazement, because for once, Loki looked at peace, content with himself, serene and most importantly, pure.
"I love you," Loki whispered between their lips, his chest heaving up and down in emotion.
"I love you too," Erik whispered back, before sealing their lips.
Their souls seemed to be sealed together as well from the touch of their lips that night.
The two men who had been dismissed and wronged over time, have now found each other, where they find significance and a sense of righteousness deep inside.
~~ ~~ ~~