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novosg · 1 year ago

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Who’s Your Friend?

In which Miles’ sister meets a certain punk. And keeps meeting him….Much to her little brother’s dismay.

Ft: The Arachnakids, femMorales!reader,

Fluff, use of Y/N, sfw, written with a black reader in mind(reader is 18, Hobie is 19), 1.8k words, most likely gonna make a part 2

Your brother was Spider-Man.

That was an indisputable fact that had been bared to you over a year ago, not long after you had gotten the call that your uncle had died. Miles had been gone for hours, but when he finally came home he had hugged you so tight you thought your ribs were going to crack. He had practically broken down in your arms, chest heaving as he told you everything.

You knew how much Aaron had meant to him—he was Miles’ biggest confidant. And after losing that confidant, he decided to place his trust in you, another person who took up most of his heart. So, you decided to honor that trust by not breathing a word to your parents about what he had told you.

In the year following everything that happened, you and your brother had grown quite closer, what with him not having to hide such a huge part of himself around you. Though you were away at college for the most part, that never stopped Miles from updating you about the latest things he got up to as Spider-Man. Almost everyday he was calling or texting you about whatever villain he had come across.

All in all, you were quite used to Brooklyn’s more…interesting sights. Whether it be a gang of thugs trying to rob a jewelry store, a reptilian beast crawling up the side of a building being posted all over the news, or a guy whose wingspan was mechanically stretched way too far, you had felt like you’d seen it all.

Even now, you were hardly fazed to see your little brother crawling in through the living room window. You watched him casually, the pencil in your hand coming to a stop as he dropped to the floor, unaware of your presence as he slipped off his mask. He let out a small sigh, glancing around as if to check if the coast was clear.

You were back home for the week, spring break seeing to it that you got some much needed time with your family. Miles was well aware of this, along with the chance of your parents being at the house in the middle of the day was slim to none. Still, he could at least try to be subtle.

“Miles,” you finally said, biting back a grin as your brother shrieked and nearly jumped out of his skin. He whipped around, mask gripped in one of the fists he raised instinctively in front of him before realizing it was just you. He heaved out a sigh of relief as he lowered his hands.

“Y/n,” he groaned. “What are you doing here?”

You raised an unamused brow at him and gestured at the papers sprawled around you on the kitchen island. Though you were technically on break, your professor had seen to it that a project was to be completed before you returned.

Miles took one look at the mess before nodding in understanding. “Right,” he mumbled. “You’re not too busy, though, right? ‘Cause I gotta—”

“Miles!” A voice called from outside the window. Miles winced while you perked up. Someone dropped down from the roof, clad in a suit like your brother’s except hers was black and white with its own twist to it. The colors upon it were so delicate it was if you were looking at a pastel painting. Her face was covered but you could still see the shock in the eyes of her mask (how that was possible you didn’t know) when she caught sight of you. “Oh, I um, is this-”

“Yeah, this is—" Miles started nervously, only to be cut off by another, more accented voice:

“Miles you okay?” Another person, presumably another spider-person appeared, ducking his head down enough so that he could see into the apartment. “We heard a very girlish scream.”

That pulled a laugh out of you, one that earned you a glare from your brother. You could’ve swore you even heard a snicker from the girl. The new face practically bounded into the room, his bright, intricate suit causing you to let out a small hum of appreciation at the amount of detail. You locked eyes and he tilted his head curiously, but still waved politely. You smiled and returned the gesture to which he seemed pleased at.

“I’m fine, guys. It’s just my—” No voice came this time, rather a thud as someone dropped unceremoniously against the windowsill. Your brows furrowed as he climbed in as well, practically towering over the two standing beside him. His appearance was certainly…something. It was flashy, as if he had stepped right off of a newspaper clipping. Or at least that’s how it was until he…shifted colors? He turned pinkish as his hands moved to rest within his pockets, letting you take notice of the guitar slung around him. Not to mention his clothes, with their various patches, rips, and tears screamed ‘punk.’

Like the shorter boy next to him he tipped his head to the side once he spotted you. “Who’s—”

“I could tell you guys if you’d stop interrupting me,” Miles huffed. The guy grew quiet, removing his hands from his pocket to raise them in a placating manner. Miles gestured towards you before saying, “This is Y/n. She’s my sister. And she knows all about the whole…secret identity thing so don’t worry about—"

“Y/n! I’ve heard so much about you!” The girl cried, suddenly invigorated by Miles’ admission, she slipped her hood off and yanked off her mask. “I had a feeling but I wanted to be sure.” You blinked in surprise, recognizing the girl underneath.

“Gwen. I’ve…heard a lot about you too.” You’d certainly seen enough drawings. You cast your brother a knowing glance, which he quickly averted his eyes from.

A loud gasp escaped the shorter male and he too was taking off his mask. He seemed young, around the same age as Miles as he beamed at you.

“You have a sister? How is this just coming up now? It’s so nice to meet you!” He spoke very rapidly, obviously eager to breach the subject. He placed a hand on his chest, dipping his head at you in proper greeting. “My name is Pavitr Prabhakar. But, call me Pav, all my friends do.”

You smiled appreciatively and nodded. “It’s nice to meet you too, Pav.” That only garnered an even brighter smile from him; one that you were afraid would blind you if he got any happier.

The tallest one of them all, and the one who had yet to say anything at the newfound information, scratched at the back of his neck. He looked between you and Miles before letting his hand drop down to his side.

“Well that’s a bloody shock,” he muttered, his British accent causing your head to tilt curiously before he was taking his mask off as well.

You felt yourself physically pause as his face came into view and you hoped you didn’t look as starstruck as you felt.

As his color shifted to something more natural, his dark locs that seemed to come from some inexplicable space were enough to throw you for a loop. He seemed slightly older than the others, closer to your age if anything. On top of that he was…strikingly handsome. With dark skin and lidded, dim grey eyes that were accentuated by the silver piercings present on his face, he had left you stunned.

His nose scrunched briefly as he gave a quick shake of his hair. Once his eyes landed back on you he raised a brow and you reminded yourself to blink. He didn’t point out your blatant staring, but the slight curve to his full lips as he introduced himself was enough for you to internally chastise yourself.

“Name’s Hobie,” he said simply. You nodded but couldn’t help but frown thoughtfully.

“Hobie?” You parroted.

Gwen cut in for him, looking quite amused. “Hobart actually. He just prefers—”

“Hobie,” he concluded. Then, more sarcastically he said, “Thanks though, Gwendy.” She smirked, seeming pleased with herself.

“Got it,” you said softly. You sat up a bit straighter and offered up a smile. “Still, it’s nice to meet you. All of you.”

His gaze rested on you in a way that made you feel almost shy. His lips curled back up into a causal smirk as he nodded.

“Feeling’s mutual,” he replied and you could practically feel your dignity slipping away.

Miles, who had grown quiet as he let the others properly meet you, looked between you and Hobie, his brows furrowed in a way similar to yours as he watched the two of you interact. Whatever he saw was enough to cause him to clear his throat loudly.

“Well, uh, hate to rush, sis, but I just needed to grab some more cartridges.” You turned to look at him but he was already gone, scrounging around quickly for some extra webs. Not even a minute later, he was back in the living room, smiling almost sheepishly. “Got ‘em. Guess we’d better get going.”

Pavitr and Gwen were quick to voice their objections, but Miles paid them no mind. His eyes focused on Hobie, who had yet to look away from you. His gaze showed genuine interest, and the way you were matching said gaze with one of your own told Miles he needed to wrap this up quickly. Gwen followed his line of sight and, after the two of them locked eyes, she gave an understanding nod before heading towards the window.

“Yeah, better get back to it,” she said dismissively, a small grin on her face. “Pav, come on,” she hissed to the shorter boy who let out a disappointed groan.

“Fine. Bye, Y/n! Let’s talk more next time!” With that, he pulled his mask down and leapt out the window before swinging out of sight.

“Agreed. I’ve got so much I want to ask you. Next time though.” Gwen smiled warmly at you as she leaned out the window.

Hobie backed up slowly, head tilted almost playfully. “I’ll see you next time, yeah?”

You felt your heart flutter unfairly and breathed out a soft, “Yeah.” He perked up at that, but was suddenly yanked back by a web Gwen had latched on to his shoulder.

“Okay, okay, I’m coming,” he grumbled and then they both were gone. Miles followed after them, but stopped once he got to the window. He paused and looked back at you, a disapproving frown on his face.

You rolled your eyes even though your lips quirked up into a grin. “What?” You asked.

He was quiet for a second before saying, “Wipe that look off your face.”

You laughed and called after him, “What look?” just as he jumped through the window. You smiled softly to yourself as you looked back down at your work, mind and heart whirling.

#hobie brown #hobie brown x reader #x reader #reader insert #atsv #across the spiderverse #x black fem reader

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just-another-blog-of-fluff · 3 years ago

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The Stealthiest Among Us - Part 2

Word count: 9,500

Pairing: Loki x reader, pre-romantic (no pronouns used); featuring a whole bunch of other characters

Warnings: Mentions of "murder" and "killing" (but not actual violence - check out Among Us if you've never played!); ruthless Loki

As requested by @cllame34 - here is part 2 to The Stealthiest Among Us! You'll definitely need to read part 1 first if you haven't yet.

I included a lot of the newest updates from the actual game - we play once a week with family and friends via Zoom, so I'm pretty invested in the details 😂 Apologies to those who aren't familiar with the game! There are youtube videos out there if you don't feel like trying it out yourself (but you should, it's fun!)

Since the evening Peter introduced the group to his live-version game of Among Us, you found yourself in Loki's company more frequently than usual.

You quite enjoyed being around him. And you thought - or, at least hoped - he felt the same. Both of you still used the guise of the still-unanswered question as an excuse to spend more time together - you simply had to determine who was the stealthiest of the pair of you at some point. And yet, you each continued to find excuses as to why the other could not yet be declared the winner of this little competition.

Obviously, you didn't want to lose to the Asgardian trickster. It had nothing to do with the concern that you'd stop having these little get-togethers with your mischievous friend. Not at all.

While the two of you continued to battle for the title of the stealthiest, Peter was hard at work making upgrades to the game for the following month. The virtual version of the game had been given a number of updates, and he was excited to incorporate them. Not to mention, there were aspects of the game he couldn't capture in the first go-around that he and Tony were working to find solutions for. Things like using the vents as imposters, being able to cut through walls as ghosts, using some of the sabotage features like closing doors... Peter was bound and determined to find solutions to all of these.

By the time team game night arrived the following month, the enthusiastic teenager was practically shaking with the excitement of showing the group the updates he'd been toiling over.

"OK! So! Mr. Stark and I have made some major changes, so pay attention!" Peter declared, standing in front of the team ready to demonstrate.

"You tellin' me what to do, kid?" Bucky growled. Peter's face paled.

"Uhh, n-no, Mr. Barnes, I didn't mean-"

"Dude, I'm just messing with you!" Bucky chuckled, stepping forward to give Peter a gentle punch on the arm in jest. Peter chuckled nervously, rubbing his arm where Bucky had tapped him with his fist.

"Aheh... right. I knew that. Uh, anyway..." Peter cleared his throat, regaining his composure. "The first update is - we have a vent system!"

"Wait... seriously?" Clint asked in surprise. Peter nodded excitedly.

"Yeah! Mr. Stark let me use the vents from the old HVAC system!"

"Don't worry - I made the kid crawl around inside and clean them all out," Tony interjected. "No spider webs in there. Well - except maybe any webs Arachnakid left behind."

"Hey! I was careful with my web fluid..." Peter mumbled sheepishly. "Only the imposters and the new 'engineer' role can use the vents. They won't unlock if you're not one of those roles."

"What next? Tell me you found a way to let us walk through walls!" Strange exclaimed sarcastically. Peter grinned excitedly, holding up a finger in triumph.

"Nope!" A few groans chorused around the room. "But! When you're a ghost, you can use your comms device to virtually traverse through the tower and complete your tasks remotely! It's the next best thing to walking through walls."

Not a bad workaround, you thought to yourself. But still, not as exciting as walking through walls.

"I already mentioned the engineer crewmate role. The scientist crewmate will be able to see the vitals screen on their comms device to know if anyone has been 'murdered.' And the guardian angel will be whoever becomes the first ghost - you'll also have the ability to protect people on your device! They will be immune to imposter attacks for fifteen seconds."

"Wait... what about the shapeshifter?" Wanda asked curiously. Peter's grin grew even wider at the suggestion.

"Glad you asked! That's my proudest achievement." He stepped around behind a wall and vanished for a moment. When he returned, he was wearing a red jumpsuit that appeared to be made of a silky style fabric. "The vests are so last month. Check out our new gear!"

"Uhh... hate to break it to you, kid, but that looks like a fancy red prison suit," Sam quipped. Peter scowled in response.

"Ok, maybe it looks like a prison suit, BUT - watch this!"

Holding up his matching red comms device, he pressed a button and gazed at the group in anticipation of their reaction. Suddenly, with a flash of blue light skimming up the entire length of his body, he transformed before everyone's eyes into Tony, including the darker maroon-colored suit Tony usually chose as his color. Excited murmurings erupted from the group.

"How... how did you do that?" Steve asked in awe.

"It's a hologram! See - I still sound like myself," the false Tony declared in Peter's usual bubbly voice. "The suits are designed with thousands of microscopic projector lenses to allow the wearer to transform into whoever they want!"

You nudged Loki beside you with your elbow. "Guess you're not the only person who can shapeshift now, hmm?"

Loki chuckled darkly. "As if you could fool me with such subpar projection techniques. Only I have the ability to create a perfect replica of myself."

"Ok, the last update will be a surprise!" Peter declared as he changed back into himself. "There are new sabotage options available to the imposters. Crewmates beware!"

"Wait - if we don't have the vests, how are we supposed to know where to attack to 'murder' someone?" Bruce asked frantically.

"Just tap your weapon stick somewhere on the upper half of the suit!" Peter explained, grabbing one of the other player's weapons off the workbench and tapping it against his chest. The suit responded immediately, creating a red glow outlining Peter's body that looked somewhat supernatural. "See? Now I'm ghost Peter!"

"Clever," Nat mumbled with a nod of approval.

"I suggest we begin playing a round now, Mr. Parker," Vision recommended. "Based on the average playing time of fifty-three minutes and forty-nine seconds from the last game night, we will be playing past Mr. Barton's preferred bedtime if we do not begin within the next seven minutes and fifteen seconds."

"Hey! No need to call me out like that, man," Clint grumbled sheepishly as Nat covered her mouth with her hand to hide her laughter.

Peter distributed the new and improved gear, and you suited up in your cyan-colored jumpsuit over your T-shirt and shorts. It was surprisingly light-weight and aerodynamic for something with so much microscopic tech embedded into the fabric. You attached your imposter weapon to the built-in holster on the belt of the suit, sliding your comms device into the pocket at your hip.

When you turned around and saw Loki wearing his own jumpsuit, you nearly burst into laughter on the spot. You'd never seen him wear anything besides his Asgardian leather, or otherwise business casual Midgardian attire. To see him wearing this green one-piece suit was very out of character for him.

And yet, as your eyes skimmed up and down his body, you realized that the look sort of suited him in a weird way.

"Are you ready to kneel before me when I am crowned the stealthiest?" you teased haughtily. Loki huffed out a laugh in response, a wolfish smirk spreading across his lips.

"I suggest you don't get too cocky before your inevitable defeat. You wouldn't want me to force you to do something humiliating when I earn the title."

"Please. I am the master of this game, and you know it."

"Well, I suppose we're about to prove you wrong, aren't we?"

You enjoyed this playful banter with Loki. As strong as your desire was to defeat him at his own game of lies and deceit, you also had grown to appreciate the way he challenged you. You liked to think he felt the same.

With the group suited up and ready, all fifteen players dispersed throughout the designated floors of the tower to find a starting location and await their roles for the first round. You and Loki exchanged resolute, determined glances before parting ways, and you headed to the common room for the start of the game.

As you entered the room, your comms device buzzed in your pocket. Your heart leapt with anticipation as the lights dimmed slightly around you, and you pulled out your comms device to see what role you'd been assigned first.

Imposter - Shapeshifter

Alright Loki, you thought, let's see how good you really are at teasing out illusions.

Your non-shapeshifter co-imposters were Peter and Sam this round. It was almost unfair, having three skilled imposters working together right off the bat. Not that you were complaining.

You wasted no time testing out this new shapeshifting feature, scrolling through the list of people available to impersonate before settling on Clint. With the press of a button, your outer appearance transformed to look like the archer, complete with his yellow jumpsuit color. You gazed down in wonder at your hands, which now appeared as the calloused hands of your teammate hiding your own familiar skin. A glance at your comms device told you this wouldn't last very long - the moment the illusion took effect, a countdown timer started from 60 seconds and was ticking down fast. You had to find someone to 'kill' to frame Clint.

What you didn't anticipate was running into the archer himself as you stepped into the hallway. Quite literally, actually.

You both stumbled backwards as you collided, almost mirror images of one another as you both straightened your posture and regained your balance. As Clint took in the sight of the person he'd bumped into, his eyes widened and his brows shot up his forehead.

"Woah-woah-woah - what the hell??" he muttered, taking a few steps backward. "This is... so freaking weird..."

You said nothing, unwilling to give away your identity through your voice. As Clint visibly finished processing what was happening, and began to turn to run, you ripped your imposter weapon off your belt and lunged forward to tap it against his back. He swore under his breath as a yellow glow surrounded him, making him appear ghostly. Smirking, you stepped backward and shot him a wink with the illusion still in effect, then turned and sprinted in the opposite direction to find cover before you changed back to yourself.

The timer on your comms device had dropped to ten seconds already, and you were still standing in plain sight. Unwilling to risk someone rounding a corner and seeing you change back to your own appearance, you glanced around wildly, seeing one of the vents inset into the floor at the end of the hallway. You bolted toward it, ripping the vent cover off as you felt it click unlocked beneath your fingers. The moment you swung your legs inside and let yourself drop into the dark crawl space, the holographic projection of Clint's features surrounding your own body vanished.

Phew. That was a close one. What were the odds of running into the one person you decided to impersonate, honestly??

Keeping your motions smooth and light so as not to make noise, you crawled through the vent tunnel in search of another opening. After taking a couple turns through the vent system, you found a few slits of light shining on the metallic surface of the tunnel up ahead. You made a beeline straight for it, pausing briefly to peer through the slats in the vent cover and listen for any sound indicating someone was flitting around nearby. Met with silence, you cautiously slid the cover off the vent above you and hoisted yourself out, replacing the cover swiftly before anyone caught you.

The echo of heavy footsteps sounded in the hallway outside of what you now realized was the library. Playing it cool, you pulled out your comms device and took a few deliberate steps away from the vent, acting as if you were searching for your crewmate tasks on the screen while remaining on high alert for whoever's footsteps were nearing your location. As they rounded the corner, you glanced up as though preparing yourself to run should the need arise, but relaxed when you realized it was Sam in his dark blue jumpsuit.

He tilted his chin at you with a questioning look, avoiding saying anything out loud in case there were others nearby. In response, you gave a subtle nod, a ghost of a smirk playing at your lips. Sam shot you a wink, returning your sly smirk before walking past you into the library. At that moment, your comms device buzzed to signal a body had been reported.

The remaining players convened in the conference room to discuss. Notably, Clint was not the only one missing - both Steve and Scott had also been offed already, and it was Steve who had been found in the fitness room. A concerned grumbling erupted among the group, which you joined in with to avoid suspicion.

"Obviously we're dealing with some skilled serial killers here," Tony declared, his eyes flitting over to you. Feigning surprise, you held your hands up innocently.

"Woah - look, I'm flattered and all, but my hands are clean," you insisted. Which wasn't technically a lie - you 'killed' Clint as himself. "Besides - if it were me, I'd have gone after Loki first."

"Careful, agent... you don't want to become predictable," Loki warned tauntingly. He didn't seem suspicious of you at the moment, so at least you were in the clear for now.

"I just want to mention, Thor was acting pretty sus in the kitchen a couple of minutes ago," Peter announced. Thor laughed heartily.

"Are you attempting to accuse me of murder?"

"Alright, Thor's in the clear," Bucky decided aloud.

"What- how do you know I'm innocent??" Thor demanded.

"You always own up to it when it's you and someone calls you out!" Bucky retorted.

As Thor went on a strange tirade about how no one should assume his innocence, despite not being an imposter, you began plotting your next move. You knew you needed to take advantage of the fact that you were the shapeshifter this round and prove to Loki that he could be fooled. There was no telling whether you'd get this opportunity again this evening, with fourteen other people being randomly assigned roles each round.

Ultimately, no one was voted off as a suspected imposter; most of the discussion period had been consumed by Thor's insistence that he could be the imposter ('perhaps I'm simply skilled in deceit!' he'd stated. That made Loki laugh pretty hard.) As the group dispersed and exited the room to continue working on tasks, you were cautious to keep enough distance from Loki so as not to make him suspicious that you might be planning to follow him. You stepped out into the hallway and held out your comms device in an attempt to feign searching for your next task, when really you wanted an excuse to glance up and determine where Loki had gone off to.

You caught sight of his green jumpsuit vanishing around the corner just in time. Keeping some space between yourself and the trickster, you followed him and watched as he stepped into the stairwell and shut the door behind him.

He had to be going down to the lab. There were few other locations that needed to be accessed through the stairwell, you knew.

Wanda was in the hallway behind you, so you stepped into the broom closet beside the stairwell door to pretend to do a task. Wouldn't want her seeing you follow Loki down the staircase - that would surely be suspicious, even if you 'killed' him in someone else's image. After a suitable amount of time to make it believable that you were actually completing a task, you exited the closet and slipped into the stairwell.

You didn't bother keeping your footsteps light to avoid detection. If you were truly one of the other crewmates, you'd be too busy focusing on your tasks to consider being sneaky. Just as you descended the final flight of stairs, you used your comms device to shapeshift into the one person you knew Loki would be least intimidated by in a game of stealth.

As the illusion of Bruce appeared around you, you shoved open the door to the lab and stumbled inside, pretending to be hyperfocused on your comms device just as Bruce would be. You didn't dare keep your gaze on Loki for more than a second as you glanced around the room as if trying to locate your task, furrowing your brow in much the same way as the two-faced scientist would do. A code task caught your eye, which stood between Loki's current position and his exit. You got to work, squinting at the numbers on the panel and channeling Bruce's energy to appear as unsuspicious as possible.

It worked.

Loki completed his own task, passing within feet of where you stood on his way out the door. Swiftly, you whipped around and tore your imposter weapon off your belt in one smooth motion, pressing it to Loki's back between his shoulder blades with a nearly-inaudible triumphant whoop.

His eyes practically were glowing along with his jumpsuit when he whirled around to face you, no doubt recognizing your voice was not the usual tone of the mild-mannered scientist. Only seconds later, the illusion of Bruce dissipated to reveal your true identity.

"I knew I could get you to fall for it," you whispered with an impish grin. "And you thought you were above the tricks of the shapeshifter."

"Agent..." Loki's voice was a low, ominous growl. "I don't suggest taunting the God of Mischief. You know from experience that gets you into trouble."

"Oh, but it's so worth it," you teased, shooting him a wink before scurrying out of the room. You knew he wouldn't follow and break the rules, lest you get on his case for cheating and not staying put for someone to stumble over his 'body' later and report it. Still, deep down, you knew he would be plotting his revenge.

Fine, then, you thought to yourself as you hopped into the vent near the stairwell. We'll see if he can muster the skill to beat me.

You had to climb up a ladder inside the vent tunnel to reach the next floor up. Once you'd reached the next horizontal section of tunnel, you caught sight of the slits of light shining through the vent cover up ahead.

Still riding the high of having beaten Loki at his own shapeshifting game, you were a bit too careless in your approach, not bothering to take the time to listen for sound above you. You were therefore startled when the vent cover lifted as you reached for it, revealing Nat's face hovering above your head gazing down into the vent.

"How did you..."

Right. Engineer, you remembered, answering your own question before you'd finished asking it.

Nat, of course, wasn't waiting around now that she'd seen you. As quickly as she appeared in your line of sight, she'd vanished, her boots clicking rapidly against the floor as she sprinted toward, no doubt, the emergency button in the conference room. You had to act fast if you were going to spare yourself a vote-off.

Planting your palms on either side of the vent opening, you swiftly hoisted yourself out, springing immediately to your feet. As you made to begin chasing her, you realized two problems - one being the cooldown counter that was still ticking down on your comms device, preventing you from 'killing' anyone else after your recent conquest. The second was the recognition that you'd surely appear suspicious if anyone witnessed you sprinting after the sure-footed assassin. Your best bet was to allow her to reach the button and prepare to lie your way out of this. Perhaps channel Loki's energy this time.

You followed slowly behind Nat, waiting for the moment your comms device buzzed to signal the convening of the group. After a few minutes, you began to wonder where she had really run off to. Did she forget about the emergency button? Was she searching for a 'body' to report?

Then, you saw her.

She looked rather sour, a ghostly glow around her rose-colored jumpsuit as she stood in the middle of the hallway waiting for someone to locate her 'body.' When her eyes met yours, she scowled, motioning to her eyes with her fingers and then to you to signal she was watching you as you passed by.

Figuring it'd be rather suspicious if anyone caught you wandering casually past a 'dead' crewmate without doing anything about it, you decided to report it yourself, pulling out your comms device with a smirk.

"She was there in the middle of the hallway," you explained to the group once they'd all arrived in the conference room. Loki and Nat were absent, of course, but you were pleased to note that Bruce was also missing.

"How can we be sure you didn't off her yourself and self-report?" Tony demanded.

"I was monitoring the vitals screens, Mr. Stark," Vision interjected. "There were approximately twenty-two seconds between Natasha's 'murder' and the reporting of the 'body.' It is unlikely that it would be a self-report."

"Huh. Fitting that the game made Vision the scientist," Bucky chuckled.

"Ok, but guys, we need to figure out who at least one of the imposters is - there's only nine of us left. One kill each and the imposters win," Peter urged. Damn, clever move, you thought.

"You guys think Thor was actually telling the truth when he said he wasn't innocent?" Sam queried suspiciously.

"Unlikely. We all know Thor is a terrible liar," Stephen argued.

"I am not!"

"Are you suggesting that you did do it then?" you asked.

"I... I'm merely suggesting that you shouldn't write me off so easily," he responded, his tone conflicted.

"Ok, let's wrap this up people, we've got twenty seconds until go-time," Tony pressured.

You met Peter's and Sam's eyes for a brief moment each, nodding just slightly toward Thor to indicate your plan as you selected his name for your vote. The tally popped up a few moments later, with four votes Thor, three votes Tony, and two votes you. Thor was voted off.

"Ugh, guys I told you he's a terrible liar," Stephen griped as the comms screens noted he was not an imposter.

"Ok - everybody finish your tasks!" Peter ordered as he sprinted out of the room. Everyone else followed suit.

With only two 'kills' left to victory, you waited impatiently for your cooldown counter to tick to zero so you could make your final 'murder' of the round. You set your sights on Bucky, feigning completing a wiring task in the hallway as he entered the fitness room nearby. You didn't bother shapeshifting this time, knowing if you could land your kill, one of your co-imposters would inevitably strike down the one additional person needed to win the round within a few minutes.

The moment your countdown finished, you dashed inside the fitness room and caught Bucky in the back of the shoulder with your imposter weapon. He groaned out loud as his black suit developed a ghostly grayish glow.

"I knew it!" he mumbled under his breath, shooting you a playful glare. You returned his glare with a smirk, which only broadened when the comms devices began to buzz in your pockets to signal the imposters had won with Vision's 'murder' by Peter.

"Better luck next time, Buck," you taunted.

"Watch it, or I'll start rooting for Loki to beat you," he retorted. You gasped, feigning indignance as you both began heading back to the conference room to reconvene before the next round.

"Ouch. I like to think you like me better than him, Bucky. I'm offended."

"Loki's not the one who murdered me just now."

"You know he would though."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right."

The group gathered in the conference room, bubbling with various conversations about the last round as Peter got the next one set up. You high-fived Peter and Sam for a job well done, boasting loudly about your imposter prowess knowing Loki was listening.

"Say what you want, agent. You'll eat your words soon enough," Loki warned.

"Whatever you say, Loki. So far, looks to me like I'm the one who's winning."

He shot you an unnervingly devilish smirk. "Just you wait."

You made sure to put some distance between yourself and the Asgardian after that look, heading to start the round in the lab as he turned toward the library. Pacing back and forth, you stared impatiently at your comms device until it finally showed you your role for the round:

Crewmate - Scientist

At least you'd get to try out another new role, you thought to yourself, although your heart beat a bit faster at the thought that you may have just landed the rodent role in this game of cat and mouse with Loki. There was no way to know if he was an imposter, but you weren't planning on getting close enough to him to find out.

A couple of your tasks were located in the lab, so you decided to get those out of the way given you were already here. The door to the lab opened behind you as you were completing a lengthier task with flashing buttons that had to be pressed in a specific order. Your ears pricked up the moment they stepped inside, and you whirled around to find Bruce wandering in with his nose buried in his comms device. He appeared to be acting like the real Bruce, but after your trick the last round, you weren't going to trust anyone. You remained on high alert, fumbling with the buttons in front of you on your task as you tried to keep one eye on the scientist until he finally finished his task and exited the room without a word.

With a sigh of relief, you returned your full attention to your task, having to restart at this point after pressing a few buttons in the wrong sequence while you were distracted. You completed it at last, making your way swiftly to the other side of the room to complete a wiring task before heading toward the door.

A sudden clicking noise a few feet from the door had you on edge, weight shifted to the balls of your feet in preparation to run should the need arise. The vent cover in the corner shifted, lifting up and off to the side before the dark-haired trickster you were trying to evade revealed himself.

For a brief moment, you locked eyes with Loki, who seemed startled to see you standing there. Without waiting for him to come after you, you took off running toward the emergency button, bounding swiftly up the stairs from the lab to the conference room. You had no idea if he was following you or not, so you ran as if he might be. Within thirty seconds, you'd made it to the conference room and slammed your palm down on the button, taking a moment to lean forward against the table and catch your breath while you awaited the arrival of the others.

The group gradually filtered in with confused but curious looks on their faces, gazing at you expectantly. Notably, Scott and Wanda were both missing from the group. Obviously Loki must have intended to off you as his first target, but you'd thwarted his plan expertly.

"I just watched Loki vent," you declared, pointing at him accusatorily. There was a murmuring among the group as you folded your arms haughtily, smirking at the God of Mischief as all eyes turned toward him.

"Loki's an imposter, then?" Clint asked finally.

He shrugged nonchalantly, his expression unreadable. "I am the engineer this round. I was merely utilizing the vent system to reach my task in the lab."

"What!? No, no way. I don't believe that for a second," you argued animatedly. "You were clearly coming after me, and you got caught. You wanted to get back at me for last round. Admit it!"

"I suppose I could see why you might believe that," he responded calmly, gazing around at the others without even the faintest hint of his characteristic mischievous grin on his face. "I assure you, I am not an imposter."

"Oh, come on! Are you guys seriously going to believe him?" You looked frantically around the room, searching for anyone who appeared as though they may back you up. "Isn't there someone else who is the engineer? Go on, speak up."

You were met with silence. Huffing frustratedly through your nose, you pulled out your comms device to cast your vote.

"Well, I'm voting for Loki. Believe what you want. I know what I saw."

"You two sort of have a grudge match going on there, Jack the Ripper - forgive me if I don't believe you when you immediately accuse him two minutes into the round," Tony quipped.

"But... he... I... ugh." You knew Tony had a point. No way were the others going to believe you now, not without more evidence.

Sure enough, most people skipped their vote, and Loki survived the emergency meeting you'd called. You muttered in frustration under your breath as the group dispersed to work on their tasks. As you made your way out of the conference room, you locked eyes with Loki for the briefest moment. There was a gleam in his eye that hadn't been there during the voting period as you passed by hm, which unnerved you despite the fact that his expression remained neutral.

No way were you hanging around for him to catch you.

You decided to put as much distance as you could between yourself and the mischievous god, heading off to complete the remaining task that was located farthest from the conference room.

The game lounge was a new inclusion in the Among Us map that Peter had laid out. In true Tony Stark fashion, the room had been furnished with oversized chairs around a sizeable table intended for card or board games, with plush sofas set out in a couple of seating areas for people to hang out, drink, and socialize while awaiting their turn to play. A sorting task had been set up on the table with a deck of cards, which was where your comms device was directing you.

Before starting the task, you glanced quickly at the vitals screen on your comms device. Already, an imposter had offed another crewmate - Sam this time, likely a revenge kill for the last round. It meant the imposters' kill cooldown had finished, which put you on high alert. Best to keep moving quickly, you thought.

As swiftly as possible, you sorted the cards into their respective piles and completed the task. Glancing at your map, you turned to head off to your next task.

About five feet from the door, it slammed shut in your face.

A wave of anxious panic washed over you as your brain registered you'd been trapped inside the room by an imposter. With fumbling fingers, you dug into your pocket for your comms device so you could use it to open the door. As your fingers closed around the device, the lights overhead went out, drenching you in darkness.

And then suddenly, someone's arm wrapped tightly around your waist from behind.

You couldn't prevent the shriek of surprise from bursting out of your mouth at the sudden contact. It was clear to you who it was even before you heard his devious laughter rumbling in your ear. A solid object prodded into your back, and your suit gained the ghostly glow that indicated you'd been 'killed.'

"What was that about winning the title of the stealthiest?" Loki goaded, tightening his hold around your waist as you shoved at his arm. Unwilling to admit that this had been a pretty clever sequence of sabotages he'd pulled on you, you huffed a laugh through your nose and turned your head toward him in the darkness.

"I see you decided to forgo the monologuing before killing me this time. You're catching on, hmm?"

His arm around you stiffened. "You are in no position to be taunting me. I not only succeeded in 'killing' you, but you were quite obviously startled by my attack." You could practically hear the smirk in his tone despite not being able to see his face. "Obviously you didn't even know I was in here. Which means I succeeded in deceiving you."

"Pshh... I knew you were here," you fibbed, "I was just... startled that you grabbed me. You know you don't need to physically trap me to 'kill' me, I should hope. Or perhaps you need a refresher on the rules of the game?"

"Oh-ho, agent. You've become far too brazen with me."

You gasped as you felt his other arm wrap around your waist, stiffening when his hands slid down to latch onto your hips with his thumbs poised against the soft spots inside your hipbones.

"N-noho, Loki, dohon't you daHAHARE NOHOHO!!"

You instantly succumbed to desperate, unbridled laughter as he toggled his thumbs into those wretched spots on your hips. His chest rumbled against your back with his own chuckling as your knees buckled and you sank to the floor. Unfinished with his attack, he followed you down, relentlessly kneading his thumbs into those same two spots knowing very well the effect it had on you.

"I tried to warn you, agent. On multiple occasions, in fact. You're far too bold for your own good."

"Yohou... yohou JAHAH...yohou juhust... OH MY GOHOD MOHOVE SOHOMEWHEHERE EHELSE!!"

He laughed devilishly. "No, I rather enjoy this spot, actually. It seems to render you speechless."

The lights flipped on overhead, which meant at least you could see your assailant now, though it didn't seem to make it any less overwhelmingly ticklish. Especially not once he added his other fingers to the fray, scratching at your sides just above your hips while continuing his ruthless attack with his thumbs at the same godforsaken spot.

Only when your laughter had started to become breathless did Loki offer you mercy, his hands stilling against your hips as you sucked air hungrily into your lungs.

"Learned your lesson yet, agent?" he asked teasingly. You knew you were about to make things worse on yourself, but it was just too tempting.

"Aha... ahas I was saying... you just don't want to admit you've met your match."

With a playful growl, he suddenly wrenched you sideways to tackle you the rest of the way to the floor, pinning you down on your belly with his weight planted on the backs of your legs. Giggly pleas began spilling from your lips as you felt his hands latch onto your hips on their matching sides this time, his fingers slotted underneath your belly to reach their target.

"Asking for more?" He didn't await your response before curling his eight fingers into that same soft spot, bracing his thumbs at the sides of your hips. You didn't realize he could make it any worse than he had before. Each contracture of his fingertips into the hypersensitive pliant skin sent shockwaves of ticklish sparks through your entire body, leaving you breathless as your feet pounded against the floor in desperation.

He paused when your comms devices suddenly buzzed, indicating a body had been reported. You sighed audibly with relief, shifting to try to stand.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"They called a meeting!"

"You don't have to be there. You're a ghost, as you may recall." His fingers began pinching at your sides, traveling up your ribcage. You squealed, bursting into giggles.

"Buhuhut YOHOU doho!"

"Ah, yes..." Without pausing in his attack, an illusion of Loki appeared in front of you, waving cheekily as it turned and exited the room. "Easily remedied."

"Wahahait! Yohou can't... hohow is THIHIS fair!?"

"I'm not breaking any rules - I'll release you when the voting is complete. Have to prepare to take my next victim, after all."

You turned onto your side to look back at the trickster. "Doho you treheat all yohour victims like this??"

"Only the brash ones," he growled, punctuating it with a dig at your belly with one hand. "Seems you're the only one of those around here."

You rolled back onto your stomach again to block his tickling fingers, glancing around in search of an escape route. Without getting Loki's weight off you, there was little hope of getting away. Then, you recalled how you escaped the last time. Reaching around behind yourself, you latched a hand onto Loki's knee where it rested on the floor by your leg, squeezing rapidly at the muscle.

He barked out a surprised laugh, jerking his leg away from your hand. You reached for the other knee, taking advantage of his shifted weight to roll over onto your back and scoot backwards with a digging of your heels against the floor, freeing your legs from under him. Leaping swiftly to your feet, you backed away toward the door as you reached for your comms device to open it, not once taking your eyes off the Asgardian.

"Ticklish knees too, hmm?" you hummed, smirking. A dusting of red blossomed in his cheeks at your taunt, only serving to widen your smirk. "You'd best watch yourself - one of these days I'm going to get you back."

Loki laughed at the mere suggestion. "Unless you somehow find a way to sneak up on me, I seriously doubt you'll succeed in that, darling."

"You doubt my prowess? Don't go underestimating me."

"Ah, yes, how silly of me." He smirked, glancing down at his own comms device as the vote result came through and Thor got voted off. "Seems my dear brother has wrongly implicated himself as an imposter once again."

"Damnit Thor!" you muttered under your breath. You flinched as Loki suddenly advanced toward you with a few powerful strides, holding your hands out protectively as you giggled nervously. With a sly grin, he reached over your shoulder, holding his comms device up to the door sensor.

"Glad to see you've learned to be nervous around me." He brushed past you without another word, no doubt off to find his next victim.

I was nervous around you long before this, you thought to yourself.

As you were now 'dead' and had to complete the remainder of your tasks virtually, the rest of the round was rather dull. It came as no surprise when the imposters were declared the winners for the second round this evening. Tony sheepishly admitted he was wrong to doubt you when you arrived at the conference room to rejoin the group. Turns out he, too, had been 'murdered' by the God of Mischief.

Vision suggested this next round should be the last, noting that 'Mr. Barton would be wanting to head to bed soon,' to which Clint shot back that if Vision had three kids, he, too, would desire an early bedtime. Peter got to work setting up the final round. While the others around you chattered about the previous round's events, you approached Loki with a determined look.

"What is it, agent? Have you come to admit defeat?" Loki inquired with a smirk. You folded your arms across your chest, shaking your head.

"As I see it, we're tied one to one tonight." Loki rolled his eyes at that, but didn't argue with you. "What do you say this next round decides the winner once and for all? Whoever wins is deemed the stealthiest."

"And what if we're on the same team?" he questioned. "It is a random role assignment, after all."

"If we're both imposters, we'll say whoever scores the most 'kills' without getting voted off. And as crewmates, whoever finishes their tasks first or whoever gets 'killed' last wins."

Loki pondered for a moment, considering your terms. Then, he nodded, holding his hand out to shake on it.

"Deal."

You clasped your hand around yours, gasping when he suddenly tugged you closer by your hand so he could lean forward in an effort to intimidate.

"I hope you're prepared to lose, agent," he growled, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Likewise, Your Highness," you quipped back, holding your ground along with his gaze. He shook your hand once before releasing it, stepping backward as Peter announced the beginning of the round.

"I rather like the sound of that. Perhaps you should start calling me that more often." He shot you a wink before turning to exit the conference room, leaving you standing there with a blush forming on your face.

You were torn as you wandered out into the hallway and toward the kitchen to start the final round. On one hand, you desperately wanted to defeat Loki at his own game and prove yourself the master of deceit. On the other, if the pair of you determined a winner this evening, that would mean there was no excuse for you to spend time together going forward. At least, not just the two of you.

You weren't sure you were ready for that to end.

As you approached the kitchen, your comms device buzzed to provide you your final role of the evening.

Crewmate

Damn, you thought. You'd hoped you'd be an imposter this last round. No matter - you'd still find a way to beat Loki and earn the title you were after.

You found Stephen was already in the kitchen when you entered. He was slipping his comms device into his pocket, glancing around the room for a moment until he locked eyes with you. Warily, you side-stepped around the opposite side of the counter, keeping a barrier between the pair of you in case he was one of them. There was a short task on your list to complete in here - simply flip on the trash disposal. You did just that, your gaze never leaving the sorcerer's as you made your way back out of the kitchen.

Ok, so maybe he wasn't an imposter then? He certainly hadn't gone after you.

You made your way swiftly through the tower, on your guard as you completed the tasks on your list. About halfway through your tasks, you were interrupted by a meeting called to the conference room for a reported body. Groaning, you dropped the wiring task you were working through and headed off to convene with the group.

There were startlingly few people in here for the first meeting of the round. The first person you noticed was present was, of course, Loki. Among the missing included Nat, Vision, Tony, Peter, and Bucky. Five down already - had it been that much time since the start of the round?

The group began deliberating the possible killers, and you glared at Loki suspiciously. No way had it been long enough for two of the imposters to have achieved two 'kills,' had it? Someone must have been cheating, and you had an idea of who it was. Only one person in this room could manipulate the game without touching the electronics.

Loki had the nerve to glare at you suspiciously in return. You knew he was trying to get the others to become suspicious of you without verbally calling you out just yet. More than likely, he would come up with some sort of lie to implicate you in one of the next 'murders' the next time a round of votes was called. You placed your vote for Loki, and you just knew the one vote you received was from him. But no one was voted off, and the three imposters remained at large.

You got right back to completing your tasks, hoping to finish before Loki managed to find you and 'kill' you off. Three tasks remained, though one was a multi-part wiring task. Hurriedly, you headed off to the closet by the staircase where the first wiring panel was located to get that one started.

Just as you reached the door, the lights went out.

You could hear your heart beating in your ears as you glanced around wildly, listening for any signs of movement in the darkness. It would do no good for you to stay put in the darkness - that was just asking to be 'murdered.' The circuit breaker to fix the lights was located down in the lab, which happened to be down the staircase you were standing beside. Forgoing your wiring task for the time being, you swung yourself through the door to the stairs and carefully made your way down to the lab.

The second you entered, you knew something wasn't right. You could just sense it - someone was awaiting you in the shadows, preparing to land their 'kill' and knock you out of the game. And though you couldn't see more than a foot in front of your face, you knew exactly who it was.

"Loki! I know you're in here!" you called out to the darkness. There was a sudden shuffling sound coming from the wall by the circuit breaker. It dawned on you then, what his plan had been. He was waiting for you to come close enough that he could 'kill' you in the process. "Did you seriously think you could trick me into standing still for you to 'murder' me while I fix the lights?"

"While I'm certain I absolutely could, I know you're trying to lull me into a false sense of security," Loki's voice rumbled through the darkness. "Don't bother to come any closer - you won't be succeeding in 'killing' me this round."

"What?! Oho, Loki, you are trying so hard to trick me! It's not going to work. If I have to finish my tasks in the dark, so be it."

"Perhaps I won't fix them, then, if you don't need them. I know your little game, darling. You won't get me to turn my back on you this time."

You opened your mouth to retort, but you were cut off when you felt a solid object prod into your back. The familiar ghostly glow surrounded your suit, and you cursed out loud.

"Damn you, Loki!!"

"You conniving little scoundrel!"

"Wait..." You paused, confused when you heard Loki cursing you simultaneously. "That wasn't you?"

"No. I'm fixing the lights, remember?" He paused a moment then as well. "Then... it wasn't you who 'killed' me just now either?"

Two new voices piped up from the shadows.

"Nope!"

"It was us!"

Suddenly, the lights flipped back on, revealing Thor standing at the circuit breaker beside Loki with his imposter weapon held in his free hand. You spun around to face the source of the other voice, groaning when your gaze landed on Bruce standing behind you.

"Ha-ha!! You should see your faces right now!" Bruce laughed.

"Yes, are you surprised, brother? Did you truly doubt me that much?" Thor queried, patting his brother hard on the shoulder.

"I... wow," you sighed, shaking your head. "Alright, I've got to hand it to you guys - you got us pretty good."

"Don't you have other crewmates to go 'murder,' dear brother?" Loki muttered, shooting daggers at Thor with his eyes.

"Unlikely. If Steve succeeded in his plan of attack, the game should end very... ah!" Bruce held up his comms device, pointing to the screen indicating the imposters had won once again. Thor strode over to Bruce proudly, offering him a seriously overpowered high-five that made Bruce grunt in pain and shake his wrist.

"Come now! We must rejoin the group and celebrate the imposter victory!" Thor declared, motioning for the rest of you to follow. He and Bruce disappeared into the stairwell, leaving you and Loki staring at each other in disbelief.

"So...?"

"Did we...?"

"Yes, I believe we both just lost to two of the least skilled players in the game," Loki groaned defeatedly.

"Yep, that's what I thought." You shook your head, laughing despite yourself. "After all that, we still don’t have a winner."

"I beg your pardon - I think we can both agree that I did a much better job deceiving you."

"Oh yeah? So you... didn't fall for my trick when I shapeshifted into Bruce?"

Loki glowered, and you laughed.

"I suppose we'll need to wait until next month to find out the answer, then, won't we?" he asked.

"Yes, I suppose you're right."

The whole group gathered in the lounge for a while afterward as you often did, rehashing the game and sipping drinks. Gradually, everyone parted ways as they headed off to bed one by one. Soon, only you, Thor, and Loki remained.

You knew Loki's routines well enough by now to know he wasn't going to go straight to bed like the others. He was a night owl, often wandering the tower into the late hours of the night and taking advantage of the rare hours of solitude. Most often, he'd take up residence in the common room on the armchair by the window, reading a book while intermittently gazing out at the stars, or listening to the rain pattering against the window pane.

Not that you were observing him that closely. He was just... predictable.

In any case, it worked out to your advantage this evening. You hadn't given up on winning the battle and being deemed the stealthiest tonight, and you had a healthy dose of revenge you wanted to dish out simultaneously. So, when Thor rose and bid you both goodnight, you did the same, pretending to go to bed but instead finding a hiding spot in the hallway to wait for Loki to head to the common room.

For this to work, you had to be sneakier than you'd ever been. No one sneaks up on Loki. He had this way of just sensing your presence, or perhaps it was his enhanced hearing abilities that allowed him to hear the lightest footsteps. You slipped your sneakers off and left them in the hallway, keeping your weight shifted to your toes to reduce the likelihood of detection as much as possible.

Sure enough, moments later, you observed with bated breath as Loki strolled by on his way to his usual reading spot. You waited long enough to put a few feet of distance between you, remaining outside of his field of peripheral vision, then crept as light-footed as possible along behind him. You didn't even dare to breathe, for fear he might hear the slightest noise of the air passing through your nose.

He entered the common room, suddenly pausing in the middle of the room. You just knew he was on to you, so you had to act fast. Without really thinking about it, you lunged forward, throwing your arms around his waist and squeezing hard, wasting no time in digging your fingers into his ribcage.

"Pffft- whahat in the Nihine..." His hands closed around yours and began prying your arms off of himself.

"NO! I'm getting my REVENGE!" you shouted, resisting as best you could while wriggling your fingertips into every inch of his torso you could reach.

Then suddenly, Loki burst into frantic laughter, his grip on your hands loosening.

"What's this??" you asked teasingly, taking mental note of the spot that you were currently targeting just below his ribcage on his sides.

"A-eheh-agehent! Dohon't even thihink-"

"Think about exploiting your weak spot? Oh, it's too late for that." You dug your fingers in harder and faster, holding tight to his waist as he began thrashing in your arms, much to your surprise. "Wohow! Loki, do you really think you should tease me about my ticklishness when you're clearly just as bad?"

"AHAM NOT!"

"Mm, receding to childish arguments? I think that proves my point."

He fumbled to try to pry your hands off those trigger spots you'd discovered, but you held fast, sneaking in a few more moments of well-deserved revenge as you took in the warm, rumbling sound of his laughter.

With one last mighty tug, Loki managed to free himself from your torment. He whipped around instantly to face you, your wrists still in his grasp as he shot you a devilish, playful glare.

"Did you really think that was a good idea, agent?"

He spun the two of you around so your back was facing into the room, taking powerful strides forward to back you up as you spluttered giggly protests and excuses. The backs of your legs struck the soft cushioning on the front of the sofa, and your eyes widened. With a wolfish smirk, he pushed you down onto the sofa and clambered up to sit on your legs, pinning you on your back.

"Did you think..." He wrestled your wrist down to your side, pinning it beneath his knee before beginning to fight with the other. "... you could sneak in here, tickle me, and get away with it?"

You chuckled as he managed to pin your other wrist beneath his other knee, earning a confused look from your captor.

"What's so funny?"

"You said I 'snuck in here.' Which means I succeeded in sneaking up on you."

Loki clicked his tongue, latching his hands onto your sides. "And look where it got you?"

"Worth i-HIHIT!!" You burst into giggles as his fingers kneaded into your sides, pinching randomly up and down in the most ticklish way possible.

"You may change your tune when I'm finished with you."

You felt your face start to burn at his playful threat, a flustered, giggly whine escaping your lips. His smirk broadened at the sound of it, and he reached behind himself with one hand to squeeze at your knee while clawing at your belly with the other hand. Kicking your leg out reflexively, you tugged helplessly at your wrists as his fingers frayed your resolve.

"Still think it was worth it, darling?" he asked, allowing his hands to go still while you caught your breath. You giggled, nodding your head. It was absolutely worth it, if this playfulness was your reward.

Then he slotted his hands into the space between your arm and your ribs and began scratching at that triggering rib he'd discovered the last time, and you exploded with desperate laughter once again.

"NAHAHAH LOHOKI YOU JEHERK!!"

"Oh-ho, you brought this on yourself, agent." He was relentlessly precise once he'd found his target, digging two fingers right into the spaces along the back of that rib, chuckling as you squirmed and writhed beneath his fingers. "Oh dear... I forgot how effective this spot was. Nearly as effective as..."

"No, no, NOHOHA NOHOT THERE!" You kicked your feet against the sofa cushions as he slid his hands down to your hips, bracing yourself and laughing before he'd even started tickling you. He grinned fondly, releasing your hips and instead turning his upper body, reaching back and skittering his fingers along the sole of your socked foot.

"Have you learned your lesson now? Never to sneak up on the God of Mischief?"

"Y-ye-hah-yehes!" you insisted breathlessly, nodding frantically. For good measure, he scratched gently at the spot just below the ball of your foot for a moment, snickering at your high pitched giggles before finally relenting and releasing your wrists. You wrapped your arms around your stomach, which was aching from laughter. "Gohod Loki! You're merciless!"

"I take pride in it." He lifted his weight off you and offered you his hand, helping you to sit up before taking a seat beside you on the sofa. "Now you know better than to mess with me, I hope."

"Oh, absolutely not. I'm not forgetting this spot." You poked his side for good measure, earning a teasing glare. "So... er... what are we going to do next to try to figure out which of us is the stealthiest?"

"Hmm... perhaps another game?"

"Mm... sure. Tomorrow, then?"

"Agreed."

You rose to your feet, turning to bid Loki goodnight before heading toward your room. Around the time you'd reached the doorway, Loki called your name, stopping you in your tracks.

"What's up?" you asked, turning to face him. His expression was soft, an inquisitive, almost hopeful glow in his eyes, yet still with a hint of a mischievous smile dancing on his lips.

"Perhaps... perhaps we should simply stop with these games."

Your heart sank a bit in your chest. "Oh."

Loki nodded, rising to his feet. "Perhaps we should simply go out to dinner instead?"

Heat rose in your cheeks, an involuntary smile tugging at your lips. "Oh?"

"We can always determine who is the stealthier of the two of us later, of course. But... I think we can both accept the fact that this stopped being about our competition a long time ago. Wouldn't you agree?"

You allowed the smile to overtake your features at the suggestion. Slowly, you nodded.

"Yes... I can agree with that."

#loki fluff #loki tickle #loki x reader #loki x gender neutral reader #ticklish!reader #tickle fluff #tickle fic #marvel tickle #loki plays among us #Avengers play among us

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