A/N: this was borne from a prompt on tumblr which said jealous!reader x loki but oh how the tables quickly turned... i hope you enjoy<3

...

"She's doing it again."

"Y/N, relax."

"I'm not going to relax, are you seeing this? Look at her."

Nat sighs, reluctantly following your order and casting her gaze across the packed bar at the very blonde, very pretty girl who is talking to Loki. You can almost see red as she starts twirling a piece of her hair around her finger.

"Look. Hair twirling. Who even does that in real life?" you scowl, decidedly not looking at Loki and definitely not trying to gauge his reaction to this... girl.

"She's definitely coming on to him." Nat confirms, and you're gripping your glass so tightly that you think it might be about to shatter. You hate her, the girl, and her lovely hair and face and perfect figure and...

Loki laughs at something she says and it feels as though an iron hand is squeezing your heart, tighter and tighter until it's almost unbearable. It is unbearable. But not quite unbearable enough for you to go over there and tell him how you feel about him.

"Y/N, god, just go over there and tell him." Nat laughs in disbelief, poking your upper arm. It's as though she read your mind. Instead of taking her advice, you decide to do a shot. And another one. And...

"Easy tiger, I'm not having a repeat of last time." another voice says, and then Tony is there removing the third shot glass from your hand.

"I can handle my drinks." you protest, trying to take it back off of him and almost knocking the other two glasses off of the table in front of you in the process.

"That's what you told me last time." Tony tells you, doing the shot himself before squinting at you.

"What's wrong?"

"She's jealous of old lover boy over there." Nat says, nodding at Loki, who is still talking to that girl.

"I'm not jealous." you scoff, trying to look anywhere but in Loki's direction.

"She's pretty." Tony observes.

"We know, Tony. God." you snap, looking around for another potential means of acquiring alcohol. There's a quite handsome man looking in your direction about twenty feet to your left, and a lightbulb turns on in your head.

"Oh no." you hear Tony say as you slide down from your barstool and make your way towards the man, pushing your hair back over your shoulder as you do.

You deliberately sit with your back to Loki and the girl when the handsome man asks you to sit with him, and happily accept as he buys you one drink, and then another one.

After about half an hour it suddenly occurs to you that you have no recollection of what this man's name is, and you're about to make a joke out of it when an odd look falls across the man's face.

"Are... are you okay?" you ask warily, leaning forward as he puts his drink down abruptly. His face is turning slightly green.

He nods rapidly before standing up and grabbing at his throat, making a strange sound between a whimper and a gag before rushing past you and disappearing into the crowd.

"Some people really are unable to handle their drinks."

Loki's voice is low and dripping with disdain, and when you spin around to look at him he's glaring irritably after the man you'd been talking to. It's really quite attractive.

"Yeah, I guess." you reply, trying to keep your mind from straying to the impossible thought that Loki had somehow used magic to make the man leave. Your treacherous imagination never did listen to you.

"Were you... enjoying his company?" Loki asks you, leaning back against the bar beside you and simultaneously causing you to forget how to breathe for a second. He's impossibly tall, looking down at you even though you're sat on a bar stool.

"I- yes. I was." you manage, your heart beating double time. If you're turning red you're catching the next flight out of New York and never returning.

"Good. That's good." Loki muses, looking over your head across the bar. You furiously think of something to say, anything, but your mind betrays you again. It's exceedingly hard to concentrate when the gaps in between his shirt buttons are open wide like they are.

"What was his name?"

It takes you a second to realise what he's asking you.

"I- what?"

"I'm asking you what his name was." Loki says coolly, letting his eyes wander back to yours. There is not one thought in your head as he looks at you with those eyes. And then suddenly there is, shit. What had his name been?

"Mike." you say confidently, and you both know that you're bluffing.

A smirk tugs at the edge of his lips and you're dying, but your face remains unchanged. Unbothered. You press one hand against your thigh and one hand around your glass to stop them from shaking.

"Mike." Loki repeats, not breaking eye contact with you. It's almost a question, but not quite.

"Tell me her name, then."

The words are out of your mouth before you can stop them, and a crease appears between Loki's eyebrows.

"Whose name?"

You turn, and it's easy to find her, her bright blonde head bobbing on the dancefloor. He sees who you're looking at and you turn back to him with one eyebrow raised. If your heart doesn't stop beating as fast as it is you're going to collapse, you're sure of it.

"Her name." Loki murmurs, his eyes finding yours again. You're trying so hard to stay composed, but you're almost certain that he can see right through you to the circus of emotions which are running riot behind your eyes.

"I don't care what her name is."

Before you've had time to process his words, he's straightened up and taken you by the arm, his skin icy cold against your arm which is flush with warmth from the bar.

You're outside in a heartbeat; you stumble from the unexpected movement and your back hits a wall, and then Loki catches you, holding you up. You look up at him (how is he still so tall even when you're in heels?), and your faces are too close together, far too close.

"What I care about," he says. "Is learning whether my feelings towards you are reciprocated."

Warmth floods your chest, and where before you were worried about your heart beating too fast, you're now concerned that it seems to have stopped all together. You blink up at Loki, trying to think of something to say, but he's not finished yet.

"Because from your behaviour inside, I've reached the conclusion that they might be." he says, looking at you so intently that you feel as though his gaze is burning a hole through your head.

They are. They are. Why can't you speak? It suddenly occurs to you that you're not breathing, and you inhale sharply. That makes Loki smirk slightly, which knocks the breath straight back out of you.

"Just tell me what you want." he says, his voice barely more than a whisper. Your knees are going to give out; you're pretty sure they would have already if not for his support. You open your mouth, and nothing happens.

"Tell me... what you want." he whispers, his gaze moving from your eyes down to your parted lips.

Your voice is hoarse as you finally manage to speak.

"Kiss me."