The Captain's Serenade
This is the second entry in my Steve/Loki series, and it revolves around the prompt of Loki singing Jessica Rabbit's song to an Avenger. Needless to say, me being a *huge* Jessica Rabbit fan I jumped on this like white on rice, and even though I'm my own worst critic I liked how it turned out.
If someone had told Steve Rogers that he would one day develop ‘feelings’ for one of his team’s most formidable foes, he would’ve laughed awkwardly and then proceeded to question the person’s current mental state, for such a thought was completely and utterly ludicrous. With the possible exception of the Red Skull, Steve had never developed any sort of emotional attachment towards an enemy; however, he’d never dealt with an opponent who was capable of evoking positive reactions from him until he joined the Avengers. It was through his association with this motley sort of heroes that he came into contact with the man who currently held the monopoly on his thoughts as of late, a sharp-tongued fallen ‘god’ who went by the name of Loki, and despite the fact that every noble bone in his body was screaming that he was better off for not having seen the enigmatic imp since their encounter in the park Steve could not help but wonder what the other man was up to.
As silly as it may have sounded, that day had been a revelation for him in more ways than one, for not only had he been able to witness a dramatic change in Loki’s physical appearance he had also been privileged to see a side of the god’s personality that no one else was aware of according to Loki. Whether it was the vulnerability that he had seen in the Trickster’s eyes or the work of unseen forces, Steve had ceased to view Loki strictly as an opponent that day, and the end result of their chance encounter had been nothing short of a scene ripped directly from one of those trite ‘chick flicks’ that his comrades were so fond of ridiculing. Although he hadn’t admitted such a thing out loud, Steve knew that he would treasure that afternoon until the end of his days, if for nothing else but the look of unrestrained joy that had lit up Loki’s countenance as they’d danced. In fact, he’d even venture to say that it was that vision of pure elation that drove him to journey back to the same park in an almost unconscious search for a glimpse of blue flitting about amongst the falling snow. Such a task of course proved fruitless, but somewhere in the back of his head Steve had the feeling that perhaps Loki was simply biding his time before showing himself again, recalling that the other man had been more than a bit unsettled when they had parted ways.
As time continued to pass by with no sign of Loki, doubt as to whether or not he had imagined the whole event began to take root in the Captain’s mind, and the longer he allowed himself to dwell on the thought the heavier his heart began to feel. It wasn’t until the week prior to Christmas that Steve finally received a sign that his afternoon spent in the company of a certain azure-skinned pixie had not in fact been a product of his imagination when he discovered a steaming cup of hot chocolate waiting for him upon his arrival at what he had come to deem ‘their spot’. Even though it pained him deeply, Steve had to admit that before he stumbled upon the small pillar of white Styrofoam, he had begun to slip into a sort of ‘funk’ in which he would’ve given anything just to see the Trickster in battle. Alas, even if he could’ve passed his discovery of the cup off as being mere happenstance, the burgundy envelope that had been tucked underneath would’ve been enough of an indication that Loki was responsible, for there was no one else who addressed him as ‘Captain Rogers’ and had such a flare for the dramatic.
Steve shook his head as he recalled the missive that had been inside of the conspicuous envelope, and he soon found himself unconsciously tugging at the knot of his tie for perhaps the tenth time in the last half an hour when his wayward mind was abruptly brought back to the present situation. The note’s simplicity had set off the customary alarm bells; however, Steve couldn’t help but wonder about Loki’s motive as he pondered the unusual instructions. In his estimation, if the other man had fancied a visit, then the Trickster could’ve popped in on him at any given time with no one being the wiser. The notion that Loki had designs to perhaps ‘kidnap’ him and use him for leverage was quickly dismissed as well when Steve took into account the fact that he had given the other man more than sufficient opportunities to do so with his numerous trips to the park, and the befuddled Captain was finally left with his third suspicion. When he had first read the name of the appointed meeting place, he had felt a spike of indignation surge through him, thinking that perhaps Loki was playing a twisted game with his emotions, but now that he was here Steve had to admit that the setup looked a little too genuine to be used for such a demented purpose.
Considering that the original was long gone and had never been replaced, it was obvious that the brightly lit establishment bearing the name of ‘The Stork Club’ was a creation of Loki’s magic, but despite the fact that he knew this to be true Steve still couldn’t help but pause and gaze at the place in wonder. ‘Loki sure outdid himself with his attention to detail,’ the blond remarked inwardly, for even the Christmas stenciling that littered the covered windows was done in the same elaborate style of the clubs back then. A quick look down at his watch revealed that it was nearly eight o’clock, and with a last tug of his tie Steve decided that he may as well have a look inside since he’d already come this far. If the tiny voice in his head that was currently berating him for leaving himself so open to an attack should end up being right, then the tracker that Tony had placed in his timepiece would prove to be quite handy, but judging by the ambiance that Loki had created Steve had the feeling that such a measure would be unnecessary for the evening.
Ϫ
“Well, at least the food’s real,” Steve mumbled, shaking his head in mute appreciation of the perfectly cooked piece of steak that he’d been served after having entered the place ten minutes ago. Despite being accurate all the way down to the tiniest detail, the interior and all of its vast furnishings had the occasional glimmer that spoke of their true origin, and while the small gathering of occupants and staff appeared a little too perfect it was the glitches that they performed every once in a while that ultimately gave them away as being shades as well. ‘But the food is anything but an illusion,’ Steve sighed mentally, his mouth too busy chewing to voice his approval out loud.
The blond had decided that despite Loki’s status as a super-villain, the man was definitely getting a ‘thank you’ from him whenever the Trickster finally decided to show up, because the steak and potatoes that the Captain was currently tucking into was far better fare than the burned ham and potato chips he was sure to have been served back at the mansion. Where the others got the idea that he knew how to cook gourmet meals was a mystery to him, but it seemed like every time they were in need of a holiday meal or something ‘edible’ his comrades always looked to him for results, almost as if he were some bizarre version of their team’s ‘mother’. Steve had tried to take such treatment in stride, using the minor culinary skills that he possessed to fix the Avengers dinner a few nights a week, but when it came to holiday meals the Captain was forced to concede defeat.
“It must be nice to have magic do all the work for you,” he muttered absently, shoving the last remnants of his food into his mouth before carefully laying his fork down on the empty plate. “I may have to ask Loki to cook more often,” he exhaled heavily, leaning back in his chair with a contented sigh. He’d just been about to perform another scan of his surroundings in the hopes that he could spot the man in question when the waitress who had brought him his food earlier suddenly appeared at his elbow and began to clear away his plate and used utensils.
“Can I get ya another drink before the show, honey?” the woman asked huskily, lips twitching into a hint of a smile as Steve started at her unexpected presence. The fact that she was a dead-ringer for Rita Hayworth may have had something to do with the blush that quickly spread across his cheeks, but Steve chose to attribute his embarrassing condition to the fact that he’d simply been caught by surprise and that being so close to a woman (any woman) made him a tad twitchy.
“Uh, n-no thank you, ma’am,” he stammered out with a strained chuckle, swallowing thickly when she gave him a slow wink in return. “Um…uh wh-what show…”
“Just keep your eyes on the stage, handsome,” the waitress smirked, cutting Steve off before he could ramble any further and inclining her head to a spot just off to Steve’s left.
Steve craned his neck to the side to get a good look at the spot that the woman had indicated and felt his brows scrunch together when he beheld an old-fashioned ‘cabaret’ stage complete with velvet curtains, a sight that he could’ve sworn had not been there when he’d first sat down at the table. However, the comments that had begun to form on his tongue about the little oddity were promptly hushed when he noticed the already dimly lit room grow a shade darker moments before a bright circle of light appeared on the fluttering drapes. Not knowing what further forms of trickery to expect, Steve tried to arrange himself in his chair so that he could have a better view of the stage without putting too much stress on his neck, but as the first few notes of a sultry tune floated out from behind the curtain of blue and into his ears he felt as if the world had suddenly been thrown into slow motion.
You had plenty of money in 1922
While the words were being sung, the spotlight revealed a shapely leg slowly poke its way through the fold in the fabric until finally a raven-haired beauty stepped out from the cover of the drapes and stood with her gloved hands on her waist, hips canted just right so that the slit in her dress showed proudly. “Oh boy,” Steve inhaled harshly, before he awkwardly attempted to adjust his position once again. The cut along the side of the dress went all the way up to there, and he idly wondered just how in the world he was expected to pay attention to what the poor girl was trying to sing when his eyes kept flitting to the expanse of creamy skin that was on display.
You let other women make a fool of you
Why don't you do right,
like some other men do?
With her next couple of lines, the singer began a slow sashay towards the front of the stage in shoes that looked more like torture devices than footwear in Steve’s humble opinion, but instead of coming all the way forward she made a slow turn to the left about midway down the stage. Steve wasn’t exactly sure if the action had been a blessing or a curse when after the curtain lifted up to reveal the band playing in the background she took the opportunity to drape her statuesque form against the wall.
Get out of here,
get me some money too
By the time the woman made her way across the front of the stage, Steve was finding it difficult to avert his eyes no matter how harshly his ingrained sense of propriety demanded that he do so. Up close, he noticed that the shade of her dress was somewhere between pink and red and littered with tiny crystals that seemed to wink as the light touched them, but unlike the other forms in the club this one didn’t appear to fade out of focus, not even for a split second.
“Oh boy…” The breathy exclamation was followed up by an involuntary straightening of his body as Steve realized that his search for Loki had just come to an impromptu end.
You're sittin down and wonderin what it's all about.
If you ain't got no money, they will put you out.
why don't you do right,
like some other men do?
As the singer…Loki…used her ridiculously high dress shoe to lightly kick one of the projections who had begun to crowd the stage, Steve could not help but snicker, for despite the effort that he had put into trying to conceal his identity there were still small traits of ‘Loki’ that the sorcerer simply couldn’t prevent from bleeding through his disguise. Now that he was onto the other man’s game, these little mannerisms that were inherently ‘Loki’ were beginning to become more obvious; however, the Captain’s false sense of calm abruptly vanished when he noticed that Loki had turned and had begun to saunter towards the stretch of stage that stuck out into the lounge area and ended right at his table.
Now if you had prepared 20 years ago.
You wouldn't be a wanderin now from door to door.
Why don't you do right,
like some other men do?
Jesus, Mary and Joseph…his body may have been a well-kept illusion, but that didn’t make the moves that Loki was applying any less criminal as Steve watched another male projection get slowly pushed back into his seat by a gloved hand. And then, Loki was right in front of him, one eye covered up by a curtain of raven hair and ruby-colored lips slightly curved at the corners as she…he…slowly held out an impossibly long arm in a silent gesture for help in stepping down from the stage. ‘Who was he to withhold aid to a lady’, Steve mentally shrugged, deciding that he may as well play along after his body had begun to act without his telling it to. Normally, Loki stood nearly as tall as he did, but in this form combined with the added height of the heels, Steve found himself instead staring up at the Trickster for once, not that he was complaining or anything. By the time Loki had stepped down from Steve’s table and stood next to him, the blond could barely swallow his own spit let alone form a coherent sentence.
Get out of here,
get me some money too
Now that he was able to view Loki without the harsh interference of the spotlight, Steve could see the inspiration that Loki had used for his disguise, the close resemblance to one Peggy Carter becoming more prominent under the dull candlelight of the lounge area. ‘He didn’t have to do that,’ Steve thought sadly, wondering if perhaps the other man had thought that this form would be the one Steve would find the most pleasing. Since Loki had decided to keep the length of his legs the same and have his chest appear slightly more voluptuous than what Peggy’s had been, it wasn’t an exact match, but the effort to appear as close as possible was as clear as day. That was when Steve realized that Loki (in his own unique way) was trying to be open with him again by using a ghost from the blond’s past to somehow connect with him on a deeper level. If the dark-haired man had wished to damage his psyche as per his earlier suspicion, then Loki would’ve chosen a carbon-copy of Peggy rather than using the woman as a template to improve upon, that much Steve was sure of.
A trace of his inner turmoil must have shown on his face, because once he finally pulled himself out of his musings Steve noticed that Loki’s saucy expression had begun to falter, crimson lips quivering with the inability to continue singing. Giving himself a mental slap, the blond swallowed down his unease and allowed his suddenly heavy body to sink back down into his seat, making sure a bashful smile was pasted onto his face as he glanced back up at Loki through lowered lashes. ‘It’s best to let him regain the upper hand here,’ Steve mused, knowing that the other man would more than likely bolt if he had an inkling of what was going through the mind of Captain America at that moment in time. Loki needed to be in control in order for them to continue with these proceedings, and Steve couldn’t find any objection to letting the Trickster complete his musical number.
Get out of here,
get me some money too
When Loki finally reacquired his voice, Steve found himself with a lap full of curves and long-fingered hands toying with his jacket lapels, but just as quickly as he’d come Loki was up and moving again. The blond twisted his head from side to side as he felt deft fingers skim across his shoulders and down his right arm before Loki reappeared and sat down on the edge of the stage, the leg that was bared by the slit in the dress on full display no more than two feet in front of him. By now, Steve felt as if he had cotton in his mouth, but it seemed that Loki had not quite finished serenading him, the minx of a man twisting his body so that one leg curved while the other remained straight behind him as he leaned forward. The next thing Steve knew, a lavender-gloved hand had skirted forward and wrapped around the tie that he’d been told to wear before Loki proceeded to use said garment to drag him closer until their breaths were practically mingling.
Why don't you do right, like some other men do?
Steve could feel the last line of the tune puff against his face, and he unconsciously began to hold his breath as he waited for Loki to make the next move. Usually, this was the point where the singer would make her grand exit, but if that were to happen in this case then Steve wouldn’t be afforded the chance to tell the other man just how much he had appreciated everything that Loki had done. Although a sly part of him wished to view the other man sashay back up the stage, the larger portion of Steve hoped that Loki would remain right where he was. As was his typical luck, the blond’s mannerisms were misinterpreted by the other man, and Loki’s confident façade began to dim as the last strings of music faded into the background.
Ϫ
Steve didn’t even bother to cover up the heavy sigh that bubbled from his lips as he replayed the scene from twenty minutes ago in his mind’s eye for perhaps the hundredth time, watching as the flame from his table’s oil lamp flickered erratically before it finally settled down into a soothing motion. After Loki had wrapped up his number, he’d released his light hold on Steve’s tie with a limp hand and had disappeared from sight with a snap of his gloved fingers, the rest of the club’s occupants evaporating with him. Steve didn’t think that he would ever be able to forget the dull look that had clouded Loki’s eye before the man had vanished into a puff of glittering dust, and it was for that reason that he remained firmly planted in his chair, body a little more loose after having sat in the same seat all night long but no less determined. He’d sit there and wait the little minx out until New Year’s if he had to, but Steve made a vow to himself that he wasn’t leaving this place until he was given the opportunity to clear up Loki’s little ‘misunderstanding’.
“You didn’t like it, did you?”
The quietly spoken question came from the recesses of the darkened lounge, and Steve found that he had to squint just to make out the shadow of the speaker. “What makes you say that?” he tossed back, hoping that his nervousness wouldn’t be detected.
There was a slight shifting of fabric before Loki, male form firmly back in place, finally appeared in the waning lamplight, clad in black trousers and a well-worn jumper. “It was just a guess,” the god smiled thinly, shrugging the comment off like he wasn’t particularly bothered by the revelation as he continued to saunter towards Steve’s table. “I suppose that I simply outdid myself on this one.”
Steve’s spine unconsciously started to straighten as the space between their forms continued to diminish with each lazy step the other man took, and by the time that Loki reached his side he was beginning to have second thoughts about having stayed behind. Unsure eyes watched as tapered fingers trailed across the top of the table and up one jacket-clad arm before they ultimately came to rest against a smooth cheek, and when Loki’s hooded gaze finally locked onto his own wary one Steve felt his mouth fill with cotton once again.
“I must admit that I did enjoy watching you squirm,” the dark-haired man smirked, lithe body bending down to settle atop of Steve’s thighs.
Although the figure that slid onto his lap this time was unquestionably ‘male’, that didn’t seem to affect his body’s automatic response system as Steve felt his arms go up to steady Loki when the other man faltered for a moment. “Yeah, I’ll bet you did,” he muttered good-naturedly, a wry grin twisting at his lips when Loki smiled at him unabashedly. For a second, Steve almost forgot the reason why he had elected to stay and confront the other man, but when he noticed the conspicuous lack of brazen confidence that had been present on Loki’s features earlier that evening he knew that the moment of truth had finally arrived. “You know…if that’s all you wanted, you didn’t have to go to so much trouble; I uh I actually squirm pretty easily,” Steve chuckled, his huffed breath wafting across the face just a few inches away from his own and causing a shiver to resonate in the body that was tucked up against his chest.
The smile that crept onto Loki’s countenance this time was slightly more genuine than the last, but it was still tinged with sadness when he whispered, “Yes, but I had thought that this would perhaps go over better,” he made an elegant gesture to the stage on their left before heaving a small sigh. “Clearly, I was mistaken.”
The downcast eyes that refused to meet his gaze after Loki had finished speaking seemed to be the straw that broke the camel’s back for Steve, and the next minute in time found him with a hand firmly planted in inky locks, dragging Loki’s head across the small gap between their faces so that their mouths could meld together. He noted absently that the other man tasted differently this time, but the thought slipped from his mind almost as quickly as it had cropped up the second his ears picked up on what could only have been described as a moan drifting out of the mouth atop of his own. It was with no small amount of reluctance that Steve finally pulled away to allow his lungs to drag in necessary air, but he made sure that the other man couldn’t go anywhere by keeping their foreheads pressed together, hand still cradled around the back of Loki’s skull.
“I-I meant…you didn’t have to try and make yourself look like what you thought I’d want to see,” Steve panted hoarsely, throat working double time to provide his vocal cords with some much needed lubricant.
For a long moment, Loki said nothing, but then Steve felt him adjust his position so that his head rested atop of the blond’s left shoulder, long-fingered hands burying themselves in the lapels of Steve’s suit jacket as the man sought to bring their bodies closer together. “Oh,” the response was nothing more than a puff of breath against Steve’s neck, but it was enough to indicate that the man had understood.
Neither man said anything after that until Steve felt the form in his lap shift again and cool fingers began to trace a pattern across his chest, which was a sure sign that Loki had something on his mind. Not but a minute or so later, there was a quiet clearing of a throat before Loki murmured, “So…am I to understand that my little performance would have been better received if I had retained my usual form?” an underlying note of mischief coloring his words.
Upon hearing the odd question, Steve pulled his head back to get a better look of the other man and couldn’t help but let out a hearty laugh at the sly expression Loki had on his face, glittering eyes gazing up at the blond through lowered lashes. “I don’t know about better received, but uh…that sure would’ve been somethin’,” Steve chuckled, head shaking in incredulity as he tried to picture the other man in a dress.
The smile that Loki gave him in return was a tempered version of the man’s ‘wolf’ grin, an indication that he was plotting something for Steve’s future. “Perhaps I will keep that idea in mind for next Christmas,” the dark-haired man purred, as he began to trace over Steve’s lips with a careful fingertip. “You look nice by the way,” he tossed out almost absentmindedly a few moments later, bringing a shy smile to the blond’s face.
“You don’t look so bad yourself,” Steve replied cheekily, using the hand that was not holding Loki in place to pluck at the emerald jumper that the other man was wearing. This earned him one of Loki’s rare, dimpled grins as the man rewarded him with a sound kiss to the cheek.
“Merry Christmas, Captain Rogers,” Loki murmured against Steve’s skin, holding the intimate pose for several seconds before tucking his face against the side of the blond’s neck.
“Merry Christmas, Loki,” Captain America replied quietly, answering Loki’s kiss with one to the other man’s brow.