Chapter Text
The first thing Loki noticed as he opened his door were a pair of unfamiliar shoes.
A pair of scuffed multi-coloured converse sat neatly on the low shelf in his entryway.
Did someone break in?!
Without taking off his shoes or putting his bag down, he dashed down the narrow hallway that led to the open living space.
There was a woman sitting on his sofa, clearly looking like she had settled in with how she draped herself over the length of it, leg up and scrolling on her phone. An equally scuffed up looking suitcase sat next to the sofa, covered in stickers. She looked older than him, but by how much was hard to tell from a distance.
There was only one way to describe her — cool. The setting sun's rays pierced through the partially drawn curtains on his windows and struck her wavy bleach blonde hair that set it aglow. Her face was partially obscured by her choppy bangs and the large headphones she had on. He watched as her fingers flew across her phone screen as she rapidly typed something out, head bobbing along to whatever she was listening to.
Whoever she was, she was waiting for him, but clearly not expecting him to be home so soon.
Loki felt like he lost his ability to talk. Instead, he gaped, unable to force any sound out of his mouth.
As if on cue, his phone rang and made him jump, snapping out of his stupor. Thor, read the caller ID. The woman still didn't seem to notice him. He hid a few steps back down the hallway so she wouldn't see him.
"Hello?"
"Brother! Are you on your way home?" Loki turned his call volume down a few notches.
"I just got home," he hissed, "and there's someone—"
"Oh! Sylvie's already there then, I see!"
"Who—"
"I told her to let herself in," Thor continued. "She'll be staying with you for a while, teach you the ropes and all that. You can show her to the spare bedroom."
Loki's panic rose, along with the pitch of his voice. "What do you mean, teach? She's staying? Here?"
"Remember when you cried to me about not being able to get laid?"
"No. What? Did I say that?" His blood was starting to run cold.
"Anyway, so I pulled a few strings and voila! She will help you solve all of your problems and—"
His brother, always so well-intentioned but always so, so oblivious, continued rambling on as Loki felt his face burn.
"Thor," he began, voice shaking, "you told a complete stranger about my very personal problems?"
Thor had the decency to sound a bit regretful. "I mean, if it would help you… You were so sad, Loki. I hate seeing you so sad."
Loki fought the urge to raise his voice, still mindful of the woman — Sylvie, sitting in the other room. "I was drunk! Why would you…" He let out a quivery sigh and continued, "why would you do something like this without asking me?"
"Because you'd shoot it down in 3 seconds flat, Loki! Just give her a chance, I explained everything to her and she's willing to help." Loki opened his mouth to argue, but Thor barrelled on. "And don't forget, you're living in my condo."
This wasn't fair; Thor had the leverage here. Any convincing rebuttals Loki had would be effectively useless.
"Just give her a chance, Loki."
Loki relaxed his free hand, only now aware of how deep his fingernails were digging into his palm. He could never win arguments over his older brother.
"Fine," he conceded. "Fine, just— she's not going to help me with anything, I don't want to do anything with her. We can just be roommates."
Famous last words.
"Hey."
Loki whipped around. During the time he was on call with Thor, Sylvie had made her way towards where he was. She peered up at his face through her bangs, sizing him up. The chrome black glint of her multiple earrings was visible through her blonde hair, now uncovered as her headphones were resting around her neck.
Now that he could see her up close, she was pretty.
"H-hello, Sylvie, right? My brother, Thor, was just explaining everything about you and I'm so sorry he did this, really, you don't have to do anything, it's okay, I—" He had the awful habit of rambling when he was nervous, but the amused look on Sylvie's face shut him right up. "Sorry."
"No, that's quite alright." The earth might as well open up and swallow him right there, her voice was so…
"Hey, don't look so nervous. Thor told me the gist of it, but I would like to hear it from you."
Loki snapped his eyes up to meet hers, but he was unable to hold her gaze and looked away. He gripped his phone tighter in his hand.
"How much… how much did he tell you?"
Thor had hung up somewhere in between them talking.
"Something about his younger brother not being able to ‘please the ladies and lads, you can figure it out'," she said while miming air quotes. Her black hoodie's long sleeves, once obscuring most of her hands, slid down to reveal the rings she wore on her fingers. "He offered me quite a lot of money that I couldn't refuse, and was super convincing. So altruistic." Her tone was sarcastic but easygoing, and another flash of a smile made Loki feel even more overwhelmed.
"I-I don't even know where to begin." He was stuttering now and he hated it. Sylvie's expression softened and she gave him a pat on the arm.
"Let's sit down first, yeah? I'll make tea. Go put your stuff down, take a breather."
"Yeah. Yeah, that sounds good." Loki took a deep breath and went to remove his shoes and set down his bag. Sylvie looked like she already knew her way around the place - Loki watched as she made her way into the kitchen to get the kettle started for some tea.
"I'm just gonna go freshen up."
"Take your time! Hope you don't mind me borrowing your kitchen."
"Thor's kitchen," Loki mumbled as he slinked away to the bathroom.
◇◇◇
Once the water for their tea boiled, they sat face to face at the small dining table, each with a mug in front of them. Sylvie had found his last box of limited edition biscuits, now sitting in between them, but Loki decided to hold his tongue for once. The feeling in his gut was screaming at him to stay on her good side.
"Let's start again from the beginning. I'm Sylvie." She extended a hand across the table and he shook it. Her hand was soft, but her grip was firm.
"Loki, but my brother probably already told you."
"He did, but I want us to start on an equal footing. Or as equal as this …" She gestured between them, "is."
"When Thor told me his baby brother needed help, I didn't know what to expect," Sylvie continued, dumping heaping spoonfuls of sugar into her mug. "How old are you exactly?"
"I turned 21 last month." He could've sworn her eyes widened just by a touch, along with a slight grimace. He took a nervous gulp of tea. Unsweetened, steeped until it was a rich black, just as he preferred.
"And how much… ah… experience do you have?" She stirred her tea, the rings on her fingers glittering. Loki averted his gaze to the creamer and mumbled into his mug. "Next to none, but not for a lack of trying…"
"Oh? Tell me."
"I— I can get with people alright, both girls and boys, but we never go all the way." His ears were heating up. He didn't dare look back up at Sylvie, but he heard her take a sip of her tea, then the rhythmic taps of her fingers as she drummed them on the tabletop.
"Never go all the way," she repeated, pulling out a biscuit. The plastic crinkle of the package sounded louder than it was, over this suffocatingly awkward atmosphere. Maybe it was only him imagining it. "And you believe it's your fault?"
He looked back up at her to see her dip the biscuit into her tea, then pop the entire biscuit in her mouth while he processed her question. She scrunched her nose at the soggy biscuit, then took another and popped that into her mouth, this time leaving it dry. He couldn't look away, but he couldn't look her in the eyes either.
"It's… of course it is."
Sylvie raised an eyebrow at his statement. Loki took a big gulp of bitter tea and forced the next sentence out. "Ialwayscometooquickly."
He never talked to anyone about this other than the one time with Thor, while he was drunk and crying into his chest after yet another failed relationship. And as luck would have it, that one time started this snowball rolling, resulting in them sitting across from each other in his — Thor's — apartment. This was eerily similar to being interviewed for a job. Loki wanted to get up and run far, far away from this mess his brother created, but his body was firmly rooted in place, transfixed by Sylvie.
Both of Sylvie's eyebrows raised, temporarily disappearing into her blonde bangs.
"That's it?"
"Yes?"
Sylvie let out a laugh. "I was totally thinking of the opposite. Sorry," she quickly added, seeing the petrified expression on Loki's face. "It's normal. Or, well. It takes a bit of time with a patient and committed partner."
His reflection stared at him from inside his half-empty mug as he thought about his past encounters. Patient and committed did not describe any of them.
"And suppose I…" Loki hated how meek he sounded. Sylvie's presence was overwhelming and he was having a hard time keeping up his usual bluster when he was with his peers. "Suppose I do want your… help… How exactly will you help me?"
"I have my methods."
Well, that sounded ominous.
Sylvie tented her fingers, smile widening.
"Would you like a demonstration?"
Loki nearly sputtered his tea everywhere. "Sorry?"
"Just for me to assess what I'm working with."
The ridiculousness of the entire situation made Loki want to laugh, cry, and yell at Thor. He couldn't fault Sylvie, even though she did agree to Thor's crazy idea.
"Loki, let me make this clear." Sylvie elaborated, sensing his hesitation. She took another biscuit and took a clean bite. "I won't do anything if you don't want to, and the last thing I want is for you to feel uncomfortable. Either way, Thor will be paying me and I will be staying here for a while. Of course, I will not bother you if you don't want me to."
What could he lose? In the best case scenario, he had everything to gain. Worst case, he'd take her up on the offer and find that no, she couldn't help him, and then she'd leave him alone.
Swallowing the remnants of his pride along with the last of his tea, he nodded.
◇◇◇
They made their way back to the living room area, where Loki sat on the sofa, sinking in as usual with his legs entirely too long. Sylvie pulled the ottoman over and sat across from him again. This time, without the table separating them, their knees were almost touching. He buzzed with anxious anticipation.
"Relax your body." He did as he was told as best as he could, and inhaled shakily.
"Now, close your eyes and pretend that I'm someone else, someone you're attracted to." Loki's brows furrowed, a flurry of silhouettes flying by in his mind's eye, but no faces came to mind except for Sylvie's. He's putting that aside for later. "Imagine that someone is about to touch you."
"They're cupping your cheek, maybe giving you a kiss. Down your neck, your chest…" The timbre of her voice was stirring something within him frighteningly fast, sending his heart racing. He could feel himself starting to get hard — but that also wasn't too difficult, considering his situation. It normally took next to no time at all, especially with someone as enticing as Sylvie. "Down your arms, over to your stomach… and onto your hips..." She inhaled deeply through her nose.
Loki suppressed a whimper.
"Now, imagine that person palming you through your pants." Her voice dropped lower. "They're squeezing, massaging… You're hard."
"Y-yes," he breathed out.
"Very good."
"Now, imagine them reaching into your pants… stroking you…" Loki groaned. Sylvie could remain oblivious that the person he was fantasizing about was her. His mind wandered back to when they shook hands - the soft skin of her hands, the firmness of her grip - and imagined her touching him, stroking him just the way he liked it.
He keened and subtly thrust his hips upward. His eyes were firmly squeezed shut, not daring to see what expression Sylvie wore as his face burned hot with shame, legs trembling and erection straining against his pants.
"Would you like me to touch you?" Her voice sounded closer than it was, and he could just imagine her breath ghosting over his face. He didn't know how to answer, instead choosing to bite his bottom lip. He was close. So close.
"N-no, I'm—"
No.
Oh no.
This was a new low, even for him. Loki's eyes still squeezed shut, now for a different reason — trying to hold back the tears threatening to roll down his cheeks as he took big shuddering breaths. The front of his pants were now uncomfortably damp, and even though he had agreed to this it still didn't erase the embarrassment he felt. Sylvie was still essentially a stranger, no matter how well her intentions seemed to be.
"Loki. Hey, it's okay."
He blinked rapidly, failing to stop the tears.
Through the blur of his tears, he could make out Sylvie's expression — it was kind, sympathetic even. There was no judgment in her gaze, which only made him feel marginally better.
"Thank you."
"What for?"
"For making yourself vulnerable. That was brave of you."
He shut his mouth, not knowing how to respond.
"That must be so uncomfortable right now," she murmured, deliberately not looking at his crotch.
"Y-yeah, I think I'm going to go change…"
◇◇◇
Loki dragged out the time he spent in the bathroom, processing everything that had just happened. This was hands-down the weirdest way he's met someone. They've known each other for barely over an hour, and within that time span he managed to cum in his pants without her even laying a hand on him. He shuddered to think about what her honest first impression of him was.
He didn't want Sylvie there, but at the same time he did. If she was able to do that to him without even laying a single hand on him, maybe, just maybe she can help him through the rest of his problems.
His soiled pants and underwear tumbled on as he watched his reflection in the washing machine's glass door.
◇◇◇
Sylvie was scrolling through her phone at the table when he finally emerged. A single mug piled with a generous heap of slightly melted whipped creme and sprinkles sitting on the table in front of his seat. He couldn't look Sylvie in the eye as he sat back down. That awkward atmosphere morphed into something else Loki couldn't describe, and he was relieved to have the table as sort of physical barrier in between them.
"You okay?"
"Yeah."
Loki didn't know what else to say, so he took a sip of the drink. Hot chocolate, still warm, the rich and sweet taste smoothly rolling down his throat. "This is nice."
Sylvie put her phone down and gave him a small smile. "Figured you needed something sweet and comforting."
He licked his lip clean of whipped creme, then cleared his throat. "S-so I…" Sylvie's gaze felt like it was burning holes into him. "I would like your help. Please."
If I can endure what she does to me, then I can endure anything and everything else.
"Are you sure about this?"
Loki gave her a wry smile. "You're here now anyway, so I might as well take advantage of it."
Sylvie gave a one-shouldered shrug in return. "True."
"How long will you be staying?"
"A couple of months."
"And how much is Thor paying you?"
A quirked smile. "Enough."
The little thought previously stored threatened to claw its way out. He forced it back down with another gulp of the drink.
"Whelp," Sylvie announced as she got up and rolled up her sleeves. "I'm going to put my stuff in the spare room, then. Let me know when you need me, otherwise I will stay out of your way."
He watched her as she disappeared into the spare bedroom with her suitcase in tow.
"Have a good night," he mumbled, more or less to himself.
He made his way through his evening routine on autopilot, Sylvie on his mind the entire time.