A/N: This is really just a brain fart (and me being WAY outta my comfort zone). I wrote this completely for my own pleasure and it took me a week to complete. I needed a change in scenery and this fandom (fandoms, I guess) was where I ended up. Hopefully, I haven't offended anybody with my own OOC behavior, although it really was a stimulating experience for me to work with something completely new. Enjoy!

A Lesson Not Learned - Part One

Their first private conversation was somewhat of an accident; a thoroughly embarrassing one at that.

"We're out of coffee again," Aubrey complained to Jarvis after having searched every cupboard within the overly advanced kitchen of the Stark mansion. "Why are we out of coffee again, Jarvis?"

Mr. Stark asked me to apologize for taking the last pot.

"He doesn't even drink it," Aubrey began to argue, but stopped when she reminded herself that she was talking to a machine – a technological, eloquent wonder and Stark's scientific son, but nevertheless still a machine. Deciding to ignore the lack of coffee and instead focus on the morning news, Aubrey pulled out a cigarette and ignored Jarvis' comment that Miss Potts disliked her smoking inside the building. The initial inhale was a lungful of heaven. Thereafter it rapidly downgraded to brief buzzes of oral pleasure, and as she proceeded to listen to the current struggles taking place overseas, she could feel her body unwinding from a night of restless sleep.

Loki had barged in sometime around midnight. On a temporary truce with SHIELD – or perhaps just Iron Man and Thor – the homeless God of Mischief consistently squatted in the Avengers HQ. Recently, he had made a habit out of crashing at Tony's place however, since Tony was too invested in himself to care much about his living space. This was also the reason to why Aubrey had been the inventor's houseguest for a little over half a year. By now, she referred to herself as his roommate despite the fact that she didn't pay any rent.

Miss Rivers? Jarvis' voice cut through her reverie. Perhaps you would like to know that Mr. Laufeyson has awoken.

"Thank you, Jarvis," Aubrey noted and hastily checked if her appearance was presentable.

Last night when Loki had materialized inside the home of Stark, he had picked the vast space of the living room in which to execute his grand entrance. Tony had been down in the basement working, and so Aubrey had been the one to inhabit the living room at that point in time. When Loki had appeared, clad in that old-fashioned green leather outfit that Aubrey might have developed quite the fetish over, she had been on her way to the shower with her embarrassingly pink and fluffy nightgown in hand. It had been a gag gift from her friends, and it was out of necessity that she had resorted to using it, since Tony had spilled tomato sauce all over her last pair of pajama pants earlier that same evening.

Halfway across the room, Loki had materialized right in her line of vision. His face had been smeared with soot and it had looked as though he had attempted to wipe it off but had failed miserably in the task. The coal black hair which contrasted so harshly with his brother's had stuck up in sweaty curls around his ears and forehead and had softened the sharpness of his face. Obviously he had been in some sort of fight that had involved fire, and during the time that it took for Aubrey to arrive at this conclusion, she had dropped the flimsy piece of nightwear to the floor and Loki's eyes had been fastened upon it. In utter mortification, Aubrey had blurted a sarcastic 'would you be interested in a swap, Boy Scout Rogers?'. She wasn't sure that he had caught the reference (in fact, she was fairly sure he hadn't) but she had still retreated to the bathroom at rocket speed – without the nightgown. After a severe discussion with herself, she had bravely exited the bathroom in search for the piece of clothing. She had found it on top of the coffee table, as neatly and expertly folded as a shop assistant would have done it. Jarvis had been the only one to witness the encounter and he had been painfully silent about it, too.

Understandably, she wanted to look her best this morning in case Loki decided to stop by the kitchen.

The news had moved from international to national when Jarvis alerted her that Pepper was pulling up the driveway. Groaning inwardly, Aubrey put out her cigarette and went to manually open the windows. She didn't feel comfortable asking Jarvis to do chores, since she still officially categorized as a guest inside Tony's home. She wasn't all too sure that she would have felt comfortable asking even if she hadpaid rent.

Standing in the middle of the kitchen and attempting to make the smoke dissipate faster by using the newspaper as a fan, Loki found her as thus.

"Good morning, Miss Rivers," he greeted her with a vague smirk. You didn't need to know Loki all that well to realize fairly quickly that he covered up his nature as a trickster with civility. He was just damned good at making people forget it.

"'Morning," Aubrey responded in a politely reserved manner and put down the newspaper as discreetly as possible.

Where Thor was impressive by sight, Loki was impressive by wit. His intimidation didn't lie in his looks, but in his mind. Although his looks certainly didn't lack, either. The guy could manipulate you into dropping your pants for him, and that was why Aubrey avoided him like the plague whenever he did stay at Tony's; she would drop her pants of her own free will.

And that was bad. Loki was bad. He changed sides as often as Tony changed cars. He was thoroughly self-serving and perhaps that was why his friendship with Tony somehow seemed to work.

Today, the God of Mischief wasn't wearing his Asgardian armor, but was dressed in a fashion that looked disturbingly mortal. He was wearing a pair of black slacks together with a hunter green V-neck shirt. The V was grossly exaggerated, cutting way too low than what was appropriate, and laced back together with a zigzagging band. The mix of styles shouldn't have worked as well as they did. If paired with a different set of pants, the shirt could have gone for Asgardian. Perhaps it was.

Aubrey briefly entertained the notion that this was Loki's way of making a mockery of last night's encounter, but she quickly discarded the idea. Surely, he had better things to do than to mock a stranger, even if trickery was his favorite side hobby. Or main hobby. Maybe he actually wore this set of clothing underneath all of his leather. She wouldn't know.

"Were you in a fight?" she heard herself ask, knowing all too well that the God of Mischief was banned from engaging in anything of the sort. That had been a condition from Fury's side if he should ever agree to the truce.

"I imagine it must have appeared so from an outsider's perspective," Loki mused, and with apt interest he proceeded to watch the toothpaste commercial running on the television. Aubrey always found it endearing whenever Thor was around electronics and apparently the same thing went for Loki. Although, he wasn't as much endearing as he was smoking hot in his intense study of the commercial.

"Shouldn't you answer with a yes or no?" Aubrey wondered out loud, mostly because she was genuinely interested, but mainly because she wanted his attention off the screen.

"Would you like a yes or no?" Loki countered, his vividly green eyes still flickering across the screen. "You do realize that if I say yes, you will have to report it. And I will of course stop you from doing so."

This was their first one-on-one conversation and if you looked past the threat Loki had just made, it was sort of turning out to be on the pleasant side.

"Is that a yes, then?" she dared.

Loki was amused and it showed when his interest in the television waned.

"For an average human, you are an intriguing example," he announced with a bemused tilt to his head. For lack of anything to say, Aubrey didn't respond and the kitchen remained eerily silent until Jarvis' voice reverberated throughout the room.

Miss Potts is approaching.

Aubrey held in her breath of relief. Loki never failed to avoid Pepper and this time he didn't disappoint either. His brow furrowed and with a brief look in Aubrey's direction, he was gone.

Their second one-on-one encounter took place during SHIELD's Christmas dinner at Avengers HQ. Aubrey had been invited for the sole reason that Tony was in need of a date and Pepper hadn't been available. Aubrey hadn't complained. There had been no need to put up a fight. Loki hadn't crashed at Tony's place since that time two months ago, and word was that he had required himself a place of his own. His truce with the Avengers was still going strong, it would seem. He was behaving, Tony had told Aubrey one evening when Pepper had been out of town. Despite being Tony's girlfriend, Pepper didn't like to discuss Avengers business, and so Aubrey had willingly taken on that role herself. In fact, she was looking forward to meeting Steve. He was the only person who didn't regularly stop by Tony's place for a chat with Iron Man.

She was on her fourth drink and was wearing a ridiculously slinky dress when Jane Foster approached her. She made up light conversation with the woman, but she honestly had no interest in befriending the scientist. While they chatted, she noticed that Tony was off exercising his alcohol tolerance together with Thor. She would need to find a ride home, because she wasn't driving with Tony.

"There is a certain resemblance between this ballroom dress and your nightwear, I believe."

"Cocktail," Aubrey corrected the God of Mischief. "Cocktail dress."

"Hm," Loki chuckled next to her. "Cocktail. What a perverse name for a set of clothing."

Jane looked utterly horrified by Loki's appearance. If luck was on Aubrey's side, the scientist would be too shocked to catch up on the exchange of words she had just witnessed.

"Jane, I think Natasha wants you to come over. She's been waving at you for five minutes."

"Oh, yes, yes," Jane was quick to agree. She took off without giving her goodbyes.

"And they call me the liesmith," Loki remarked in what was supposed to sound like a reprimand but sounded more like praise.

"She didn't want to be here," Aubrey said, fingering the drink in her hand.

"You seem perfectly content being here," Loki pointed out.

"I suppose," Aubrey answered truthfully. "Rumor has it that you've bought a permanent home here in the city."

Liquid courage was a nice thing, indeed. She dared a look in the God's direction. He was studying the guests scattered across the vast space of the cleared conference room and she wondered if he had sought her out because no one else seemed interested to start up a conversation with him. And those who would be interested were occupied in a drinking contest with each other. For once, Thor made a horrible brother.

"I cannot very well continue to impose on those pious friends of yours."

"They are my friends as much as they are yours. But that doesn't explain why you stayed away from Tony's," she added. She was fairly sure that Tony didn't categorize as pious.

"No," the taller man agreed. "It doesn't."

Her tongue escaped her then. "You don't by any chance feel like elaborating on that?"

"Not in the face of insolence, I do not."

It didn't quite feel like a slap to the face, but it certainly put Aubrey back in her place. She didn't recoil, but she did experience a sudden interest in studying how her black heels dug into the carpet beneath her feet.

"So, is it true?" she tried after a long pause. "Did you buy your own place?"

"Is that a request for me to invite you there so you can see for yourself, Miss Rivers?"

Despite being a God, Loki was still very much a man, and there was no mistaking the undertone to his words. She always took sick pleasure in listening to the man's voice. It was nothing like the booming one of his brother's. It was the exact opposite, actually. Trust it for the God of Mischief to have a voice that drew you in like a bad love potion. Like magic.

"Is the God of Mischief propositioning me?" Aubrey asked skeptically, swaying a little where she stood as she tried to get a clearer look at Loki's face. Perhaps she had downed her last drink too fast than what was advisable in the presence of a wanted criminal.

"I already said you intrigue me. Mortal," Loki added tauntingly. He was wearing his Asgardian robes this time (as a sort of defense maybe) and as much as Aubrey appreciated him in a dressed down version, she still had quite the obsession with this particular outfit. Loki's physique wasn't all that impressive by Asgardian standards – and certainly not when compared to his bodybuilder of a brother and Captain Gorilla Rogers – but by human standards he was definitely fit. And in this outfit, it showed.

"I like these clothes on you," she blurted uninhibitedly, experiencing a strange need to come clean. He was so very strangely approachable and in retrospect she was naïve to believe that for even one second.

"Why, pray tell?" Loki humored the petite brunette. He sounded bored. Bordering on apathetic, really.

"They're… tight, I guess."

That caught his interest.

"And I imagine they would feel nice. Must be expensive, right? High quality?"

Loki was watching her with a guarded expression.

"To answer your earlier question, I think you are the one who is propositioning me, Miss Rivers," he remarked, arching one brow in a manner that was too delicate for a man. She frowned.

"Well, no…You can call me Aubrey, I think. Would that be too inappropriate?"

His lips broke into a small self-indulgent smile. "Are you propositioning me, Aubrey?"

She felt tiny, insignificant and human beneath his calculative gaze, but she also knew that she would never get her chance unless she went for it now. "Would you be interested if I did?"

He wasn't taken aback by her question, and she wondered if she really had been that obvious. Then again, he had been the one to seek her out and not the other way around. She had behaved.

"If you present your argument well, I might," Loki replied ambiguously.

"In other words, no," Aubrey mumbled into her drink. Part of her had already known that the God would want her to instigate any sort of development in their acquaintanceship. It would be beneath him to take the reins in a liaison with a lesser species.

"You lack belief in your argumentative skills?" the God jeered. Aubrey considered spitting her drink in his face. He was provoking her, but she shouldn't have expected anything else.

"My argumentative skills could take down Nick Fury himself," Aubrey objected.

"But Nick Fury doesn't compare to a God."

"His ego certainly does," Aubrey muttered, taking another sip of her drink to mask the insult.

"You are not afraid of me."

"Not right now, no," she confessed. "Catch me in dark alley though, and I'll scream bloody murder."

"I doubt anything that drastic will be necessary," Loki reflected silkily.

"Pardon?"

That was the end of their second encounter, as Tony and Thor came charging at them with the intention of including Loki in their drinking game. Needless to say, Loki did his teleportation trick and Aubrey didn't see him for the rest of the night. She ended up riding home with a nearly passed out Tony, while Jarvis drove the car. Once inside the Stark mansion, she requested of Jarvis to lock the doors before Tony got himself maneuvered out the car and up the stairs. Surprisingly, Jarvis did what she asked. Aubrey suspected he held his own grudge against his master. Tony slept off the booze in the bushes outside the front door and that was where Pepper found him the next morning.

On the fifth of January, Tony returned home with a canned suit and an angry Steve in tow. Aubrey had returned from her morning run and was downing a bottle of water when the two men came flying through the roof.

"It's not up for negotiation, Tony," a fully geared up Captain America argued.

"Oh come on, the guy might not be harmless, but even Bre here has befriended him without imploding or busting her head open."

"Aubrey," Aubrey corrected Tony automatically and proceeded to drink her water until she realized that Steve was staring at her with an adorably horrified expression.

"I apologize for us barging in on you, Miss…"

"Rivers," Tony filled in impatiently.

"Rivers," Steve continued. "My apologies, Miss Rivers."

"It's my home," Tony muttered sullenly and struggled to get out of his malfunctioned suit. Jarvis took pity on his creator.

Do you need assistance, Sir?

"No," Tony grumbled. "I need Fury's golden boy out of my house."

"You could be a little nicer, Tony," Aubrey cut in when Steve opened his mouth to begin another tirade. He sent Aubrey a grateful look and she could feel her face heat up. Living with Tony made you appreciate every gentlemanly gesture that was bestowed on you.

"You wouldn't say that if you knew who he just accused of manslaughter."

"Tony," Steve warned the other man.

"Loki?" Aubrey guessed. She couldn't imagine why Tony would feel offended by Steve calling Loki out on something that they all knew he very easily could have done. And already had done on numerous occasions. Then again, from what Aubrey had gathered, Tony was surprisingly sensitive when it came to the matter of scapegoating. Loki was incredibly easy to use as a scapegoat, even after his return to earth and his supposedly cleansed reputation.

Tony turned to Steve, eyes wide and round. "See, I told you that she-"

"Tony," Steve repeated, this time in full out soldier mode.

"I'm not the one telling her these things!" Tony objected. "She's smart. She figures out this stuff on her own. Don't blame me."

Never mind the fact that Tony could simply throw her out if he wanted and she would never get another chance to spy on the superheroes of today. She was starting to suspect that Tony liked her company. Or maybe just the company of a SHIELD outsider.

"Ease up. I'm leaving, so don't get your panties in a twist," Aubrey announced irritably. Steve looked at her with a forlorn expression that really fit him too well.

"I'm really sorry, Miss-"

"So, Cap, could you trynotto outshine me in my own home with that antiquated attitude of yours?"

Walking out the door and trying to block out the escalating voices of both Tony and Steve, Aubrey stopped dead in her tracks upon finding Loki leaning up against the wall in the hallway. He had been studying the floor, but was now staring at her frozen form in the doorway. He looked unfairly delectable and the last time she had seen him had been at the Christmas dinner.

She had no idea how long the two of them were at a standstill, but at some point Tony's voice reached her ears and shook her free from her stupor.

"You, frozen girl in the doorway, get back in here so we can discuss that new marketing package of yours."

She ignored the unflattering scowl on Loki's face and did as Tony requested. She needed the escape.

"Where's the Captain? And I already did discuss it with Pepper. My actual boss, you know."

Later that night, her paranoia caught up with her, and she decided to stay up late and watch cartoons on her ridiculously large flat screen. Living in the home of Tony Stark did have its perks. Some were material and some were clad in armor and wore helmets of time gone past.

The next day, Darcy stopped by and forced Aubrey to go clubbing with her. Tony had been happy to assist Darcy in her quest and Aubrey knew it was because he wanted to test out that new kitchen table of his together with Pepper. She didn't object when Darcy dragged her out the door. Tony would test his table with or without Aubrey inside the house.

She picked up a guy that night and woke up with fuzzy teeth and wobbly legs in an unfamiliar bedroom. She wasn't proud, but she wasn't completely sorry either.

However, when she returned to Tony's mansion and bumped straight into a bickering Thor and Loki, she couldn't help but wish that Tony's private home wasn't the second home of the Avengers family. They had their tower in the city. She should be able to have this.

"Excuse me," she mumbled and attempted to walk past Thor. It didn't work. The man was larger than your average mountain and he often forgot that fact himself. Seeing that the blond God wasn't going to move, Aubrey prayed that her hurried morning shower had been thorough enough; she had to move past Loki instead.

"Excuse me. Sorry," she repeated, staring hard at the collar of Loki's shirt and realizing that his uniform had actual buttons. The fact seemed so human that she almost let out a laugh. By chance or by luck, she got past Loki without him throwing a snarky comment her way. Thor wasn't as subtle as his brother.

"Ah, Miss Rivers, you seem to have shed your preferred garment on this day. What is the occasion?"

At least he had quit calling her Lady.

Compared to his brother, Loki had adapted frighteningly fast to the social customs of the 21st century. He spoke like a true modern citizen. Sometimes she suspected that Thor misused his heritage. She could imagine him purposely dumbing down by playing the Asgardian card.

"You need to keep your enemies on their toes, right? Can't be too predictable in these times," Aubrey laughed despite the fact that she felt horribly naked in a borrowed pair of sweatpants and a thick woolen sweater that reached way past her knees. She still wasn't sorry – she was an adult woman, after all – but it was difficult not to feel ashamed when Loki was giving you the look of ten thousand winters. Who had peed on his breakfast, anyway? She hadn't talked to the guy since the Christmas dinner, but he sure was behaving as though he was the one she had fucked over six hours ago.

A week later, the truce between Loki and SHIELD was balancing precariously on Tony and Thor's shared effort in the matter. Aubrey experienced the ordeal from afar (mainly through Tony's bitching) and she found herself worrying all too much about the outcome.

"Thor's reason is pretty obvious, but what's your reason?" she asked Tony one evening when they were watching a French reboot of Godzilla. Or something equally uninteresting.

"Why do you want to get in his pants?"

She had known for quite some time that Tony was aware of her predicament.

"It's his ass, isn't it?"

"I thought we were talking about his pants," Aubrey quipped cheekily.

"Lower body. Same area. Don't tell me it's because you trust him."

"Do you trust him?"

"As far as I can throw him."

"In your suit or out of it?"

Tony angled his head away from the screen to throw her a look. "You're too smart for your own good."

"I'm not smart. And he's not talking to me right now. We've only really talked once, actually. You remember the Christmas dinner?"

"You mean the time that I beat Thor in a round of crappy and overprized tequila shots?"

"No. The time that you slept outside in the bushes because you forgot you had a date to drive home. I still need to thanks Jarvis for that."

"Hah! I knew the two of you conspired on me that day! Pepper owes me five bucks."

They didn't discuss Loki the rest of the evening, minus the three times that Aubrey slipped and Tony pretended not to notice by complaining about the horrible graphics of the movie.

Sometime around February, Loki visited Tony to discuss a recent technological interference with his sorcery. Eventually, they ended up playing a round of chess since Tony was hesitant to offer his assistance. He needed clearance from Fury, and since the last round of scolding, Tony seemed to have learned his lesson. While the two men entertained each other, Aubrey was working on an advertisement for Stark Industries' latest project and was hosting a phone conference with her team when Tony decided to make Aubrey the judge of a chess game that he was certain he had won, even though Loki insisted that he had cheated. Tony had downright taped the match and now demanded that she watched it.

"Tony," she began, gesturing to the screen in front of her. "I'm working here. For your own company, I might add."

"Not mine. Pepper's. And you can spare a few moments. Come on. Get those pretty legs moving, sweet pea."

Surrendering to her fate, she grudgingly followed Tony into the living room where Loki occupied the armchair that she typically frequented during late night movie marathons together with Jarvis. The advanced piece of technology was surprisingly companionable once you had downed a bottle of wine by yourself. Loki remained silent while Tony literally manhandled Aubrey down on the couch.

"Now stay here and I'll be right back," Tony ordered and rushed out of the room, obviously extremely focused on documenting the he indeed had won his game of chess.

"So, did you let him win?" Aubrey asked the God of Mischief. She was testing the waters.

"Interesting choice of words," Loki smiled almost cunningly.

"Did you?" she repeated.

"Yes."

"You're playing him. That isn't nice," she noted.

"Nice is a relative term, Miss Rivers," the God answered, nearly sneering the word and she was taken aback by the sudden display of vehemence. His body language hadn't changed. His lean form was still put in elongation of the chair, his long legs stretched out before him and one ankle crossed leisurely over the other. His leather clad arms were both placed on the armrests of the chair, one hand dangling limply over the edge of one armrest while the other hand was partially fisted on top of the other chunk of wood. He looked horribly out of place amidst the modernity that was Tony's living room.

"Aubrey," she heard herself insist.

Tony chose this moment to reappear and Aubrey could feel Loki's ice blue eyes burning into the side of her face when Tony handed her one of his transportable screens. That was her definition of them, anyway. She was in marketing, not whatever unnatural profession that Tony had been bred from.

In the end, Aubrey agreed that Tony had won. After all, Loki had just confessed to her that he had let Tony win. Delighted with his victory, Tony popped open a bottle of whiskey and then proceeded to gesture wildly towards the windows when a flock of birds flew by. Standing right in the line of fire, Aubrey was showered with the alcoholic beverage and it took her several moments to realize exactly what had happened. Loki's subdued laughter helped her arrive at the final conclusion.

"Tony bloody Stark-"

"It was an accident!"

"Looks lovely, though," Loki chimed in.

"This shirt cost me more than my last paycheck! And it's white, Tony! It's white! What if it had been red wine instead of your damned stupid whiskey!" she fumed.

"Indeed it is."

She paused, losing focus. "What?"

"Your shirt," Tony elaborated. "It's white. Going on transparent, actually. That's some nice lingerie. I think Pepper has one in red. I asked her where she bought it, but she never told me. Where did you buy it? I might have to invest in part of the store. This is some fantastic handiwork. Sturdy, too."

"Lovely, yes," Loki repeated his earlier statement, this time without the playfulness from before. Thoroughly embarrassed and prepared to either break down crying or murder Tony Stark with the heel of her shoe, she swung around to face Loki in the armchair, ignoring the way that his eyes roamed her chest with little to no shame. This was the closest to humiliation that she had been in a very long time, and the feeling only increased when she realized that she was pleased to see appreciation in Loki's glacial eyes. She needed to murder Tony. Preferably within the next five minutes. She would figure out an excuse to feed a brokenhearted Pepper; Tony was a dead man. This time it was for real.

"You," she began. "Loki Odinson or Laufeyson or whatever you like to call yourself, you do not get to make such statements, and you do not get to ogle my chest like meat on a stick."

Loki's eyes flashed and he straightened up from his reclined position in the armchair.

"Uh, can I leave you two to handle this alone?" Tony broke in before Loki could rise to Aubrey's challenge of what he could and could not do. "Because this is starting to feel too much like Pepper's soaps on TV. Good. You two work this out."

Perhaps this is unwise, sir? Jarvis cut in. Miss Rivers is a civilian and-

"Jarvis, quit fussing and light up the basement. Increase the soundproofing level, too."

"Increase the- excuse me," Aubrey yelled indignantly at Tony's retreating back.

"You're excused, sweet pea," Tony called back and Aubrey was certain she could actually hear her doom descending on her when the door closed after his exit. Said doom came in the most unexpected form, however. When Loki's hand grabbed her shoulder, she was preparing herself to be thrown across the room and perhaps raped while she was out cold. She wouldn't put it past the man, honestly. On occasion and when it benefited him, he was a criminal and criminals should be treated with outmost caution.

And yet nothing of the sort happened.

Loki's surprisingly dainty hand curled around her shoulder and after what felt like a trip inside the centrifuge of Tony's customized washing machine, Aubrey found herself on the floor of an unfamiliar apartment, struggling to catch her breath and looking every bit as panicked as she felt.

"Where… where did you take me?" she managed to ask around the severe dizzy spell that was assaulting her senses with the prowess and intention of an angered grizzly bear. Oddly enough, she pictured Thor as the bear while the thought occurred.

"We're at my place," Loki answered smoothly and let her fend for herself on floor while he crossed the room and headed towards what looked like an ancient bookcase. She couldn't be too sure. At the moment she wouldn't know left from right, much less which way was up and which way was down.

"If I remember correctly, you wished to see it," Loki added when he returned from his trip to the bookcase.

"That was months ago."

"And this is now."

Neglecting to answer, Aubrey squeezed her eyes shut when the floor continued to spin below her kneeling form. He had brought her to his place. This was damned private. If he decided to kill her, she was done for. Her heart was slamming against her chest with enough force the break through both tissue and bone, and she was a sick person if this thrilled her.

"Do you need assistance getting up from my floor or would you prefer to soil yourself furtherer down there? It will last at least fifteen minutes before your unease wears off. Teleportation is unfit for mortals."

"You don't say. Sorry. Yes. Will you… please help me get up?"

He grabbed her by the elbow and in a move that she should have seen coming, he steered her upwards and directly into his chest. The earthy scent of rich leather and chilly frost clogged her nose, and Loki's almost melodic laughter close to her ear threw her navigation skills completely off course. For a brief moment she let herself indulge in the steady hold of the taller man, but she very quickly reined such desires back in.

"You're not helping," she managed to protest, referring to her dizziness which had now increased tenfold in the proximity of the God.

"On the contrary, I think I am," Loki noted and to prove his point, he released his hold on her. Her knees gave out and she would have flopped back down on the ground if he hadn't yanked her back up again, aligning his parted lips with her closed ones in what was quite possible the most unforeseen kiss of her life. She responded to the surprise with a confused whine, and Loki smirked into the kiss, his bottom lip catching on her top one.

"Puny mortals," the God spoke against her lips and she let him pass without protest when he sought to deepen the kiss. With every stroke and slide of his tongue, it felt as though her mouth was being cottoned with ambrosia, and the feeling expanded to her entire body with the speed of a forest fire. She vaguely sensed the touch of Loki's hand as it curled around her hip and upper thigh, but when the man was trying to steal her soul through her mouth, it was difficult to focus on much else than that.

He drew back with a satisfied hum and she was completely unprepared when he fisted a hand in her hair and pulled. It hurt and she stilled to the point of complete immobility when the God buried his face in her neck and inhaled a breath of warning.

"Humans and your praised intelligence," Loki purred into her ear. "You forget your self-perseverance, girl."

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she objected to his use of 'girl'.

"My self-perseverance is nothing against the ill will of a God," Aubrey gibed and almost didn't recognize her own voice.

"Puny mortals," Loki repeated, this time is a sneer, and he loosened his grip on her hair so that their eyes could meet. "You believe yourself to be indestructible while in fact you are as fragile as the cities that you build and the forests that you tear down. Hypocritical creatures."

At this point, Aubrey had accepted the fact that in her attempt to befriend the shunned Norse God, she had befriended something else entirely. This was the perverted version of Tarzan and Jane, and Aubrey had never before considered herself a masochist. Tony would laugh her right in the face if she ever got to return to the mansion.

"However, you have proved to be tolerable despite your unfortunate genes," Loki continued, still purring the words when he should have been hissing them. "You are worth my time, Miss Rivers, but only barely. I suggest that you thoroughly consider what it is that you want out of this liaison, before I myself arrive at a conclusion that you do not get a say in."

Sweeping his nose along the shell of her ear and inhaling the scent of her hair, he let her go as suddenly as he had grabbed her. She tumbled ungracefully to the floor, and this time he didn't offer his assistance. He exited the room and left her there on her own.

Ten minutes later when she had regained control of her limbs, he hadn't reappeared.

She decided to leave, and surprisingly Loki didn't pop up to stop her. Perhaps he was a man of his word like his brother.

Once down on the street, Aubrey paused to memorize the location of the building that Loki Laufeyson had made his permanent residence. Soon after, she got hold of a cab and promised herself that she would stop this aimless pursuit.

She already had stopped.