Chapter Text
Chapter 1 The New Consultant
When Fury had promised to bring in a magic user to help the Avengers deal with Dr. Doom, the Avengers had first assumed it would be Dr. Strange. The group at large then dismissed that idea as Natasha was quick to point out that Strange was in the Amazon doing some research. The next candidate had been the Scarlet Witch, but Clint reminded them what had happened the last time she was in the same room as Tony Stark and they all agreed that it was highly unlikely she would desire to help them if it brought her to the same city as him.
They pondered a few other options, but none immediately jumped out.
When Fury appeared with his new 'Consultant', Tony wished he'd brought the Scarlet Witch.
“You have got to be kidding.” Tony found it very hard to remain passive when this was what he was facing. And really, when did he ever do passive?
“When does he ever kid?” Bruce asked.
“True,” Tony was forced to concede.
“I have been assured that he will help us. I have also assured him that if he steps a toe out of line we'll fire his ass back to Asgard,” Fury said, studying the tall man beside him.
“And that is a rather depressing thought,” said the God of Mischief. “Asgard is frightfully dull these days.”
It wasn't a smooth meeting: Clint made threats, Loki rolled his eyes, Natasha remained quiet but stared at him, and then since it was Tony's tower he had veto power on where the God of Mischief stayed.
“Aw fuck it, he can stay. Just don't touch anything or anyone you shouldn't and we're fine.” Tony decided that it would be better to have Loki there where they could keep an eye on him. And so, Loki moved into Avengers HQ at Stark Tower.
He surprised them all with his work ethic.
Loki worked tirelessly to undo the magic Doom was using against them. He created potions to heal Natasha when she'd been poisoned, created rituals to protect the tower and fought as hard as any of them in the final battle, coming back injured but generally cheerful (as cheerful as he ever was).
When all was over with and done, they had expected him to head back to Asgard, but a week later he was still there and showed no signs of packing up to go.
It didn't bother anyone, though, because he was rarely seen. If not for JARVIS assuring Tony that Loki was indeed living there, he would have thought the Asgardian back off home or off causing trouble somewhere other than Earth. That was the other thing that surprised them all to learn: they learned that Loki was a generally quiet and courteous house guest.
Loki rarely ventured out of his room, rarely spoke to anyone. He magically sealed his door to stop anyone snooping during the day when he might not be there, or when he was presumably sleeping or meditating, or whatever else it was that mages did.
“He likes his privacy,” Clint told Tony. “Learned a bit about him when I was under his mojo. He says he keeps his room sealed to stop Thor barging in and bothering him first thing in the morning, but I think there's more to it than that. He could get twitchy when people touched him sometimes.”
Tony found himself wandering past Loki's door on more than one occasion. He'd sort of grown to like the Asgardian during their battles. On more than one occasion during the fights they'd worked together to take down some Doombots. Loki's magic was incredibly handy and when coupled with his suit they were near indestructible.
He'd also had the opportunity to watch (JARVIS said 'ogle' and Tony told him not to say that word ever again) Loki while he worked. He had an intense gaze while filling vials of potion and looking over ancient texts - it was a look he recognised in himself - and found that since it had been so quiet, he missed having Loki around even though he was technically still in residence.
It was twelve days, four hours and seventeen minutes after the battle with Doom before Tony even saw Loki.
Tony had been in his lab working on a new bot, when he realised it was going on midnight and he hadn't eaten dinner yet. He made his way out to the main room of the Avengers' Suite when he paused at his door, observing the kitchen where he could see Loki.
The God of Mischief never ate with the Avengers. Tony could only assume he was eating; food went missing from the fridge on occasion, sometimes leftovers magically disappeared, so he assumed Loki was just eating whatever was easiest. Never had he imagined the Prince of Asgard to be cooking. It was the sort of thing he thought Loki would turn his nose up at.
He watched as Loki moved around the kitchen with ease, looking quite relaxed in his own company. He had what looked like some sort of pasta thing cooking and Tony could definitely smell bacon. Carbonara maybe? Where had he learned to make carbonara?
He had meant to keep walking, but he found himself enraptured by how truly relaxed Loki looked. He'd never seen him truly at ease and as Loki dipped his finger into the sauce to test it, licking the morsel from his finger, Tony had the sudden very strong urge to walk over to him and lick the digit clean himself.
Sexual frustration was very inconvenient at times.
He watched as Loki seemed satisfied with the sauce and he began to set the table. Tony frowned as he realised Loki was setting the table for two and he startled just a little as Loki asked, “Are you going to join me Stark or just continue to ogle me?”
“I-Uh-” Tony cleared his throat, “I think I'll join you.” Tony walked towards the kitchen table. This caused the god to grin.
“I see you do not deny that you were ogling me.”
Loki served the meal as Tony sat down. “I was ogling you a bit, hard not to with an ass like that in leather trousers.” Tony allowed himself a small grin as this seemed to throw Loki off his stride. Loki gave him a strange look and gave a short snort of laughter.
“You really have no shame, do you Stark?”
“Hey, it's only shameful if I ogle someone ugly. You might be crazy and sure, you threw me out of a window that one time, but you're still hot.”
Loki finished serving the pasta and garlic bread, and sat across from Tony. “I was under the impression that you found your pleasure with women,” he said.
“No. Men, women, trans – I'm what you'd call 'Pansexual'. But I really don't like labels. I am what I am.”
Loki blinked at that and shook his head. “Such an odd species.”
“You do men then?” Tony asked as Loki was mid-sip of his glass of water. He grinned innocently as the Asgardian almost choked; this was fun.
“You are vulgar,” Loki said, coughing a bit.
“Hey, you set the tone of this conversation with your talk of ogling.”
Loki rolled his eyes, “I am inclined to lay with men and women.” Loki shook his head and began to eat. “I do not know why you are so interested.”
At that, Tony smiled and timed his next retort perfectly to make Loki choke again.
“Just so I know how much effort I need to put in to get you in my bed.”
After Loki's choking fit he threw a piece of garlic bread at the inventor. “Even were I so inclined to lay with you, Stark, it would be ill advised.”
“Oh?” Tony asked.
“I expect any other liaisons you have had would be mind numbingly dull by comparison. I fear the bone meltingly good release I could, and would, give you would shatter your fragile little mind.”
Tony grinned, a smile he knew was somewhat broken and he finished his meal. He got up, walked to Loki and set his hand under Loki's chin, tilting the god’s face up to meet his gaze.
“You can't break what's already broken, Loki.”
Loki stared at him and it seemed to suddenly dawn on him that maybe Tony wasn't kidding. Before Tony could react or comprehend what had happened, he was pushed hard against the back wall of the kitchen, his hands over his head as Loki's fingers wrapped around his wrists, keeping his hands firmly pinned to the wall.
He could smell Loki now, crisp, clean and cool. Adrenaline pumped through his veins as Loki leaned down, kissing along his jaw before speaking into his ear.
“You have made a very tempting offer Stark but I am afraid I am going to have to decline a full sample of your attentions... but a taste you may have.”
Loki's lips met his and Tony closed his eyes. The God of Mischief had a wicked tongue which danced over his own, exploring and tasting every morsel of his mouth as his teeth nipped Tony's bottom lip.
Tony tried to free his hands from Loki's grasp but the sorcerer just tightened his grip. Loki pulled back and grinned. “Such a pity that you are mortal,” he said and with no other word or warning he just disappeared from the room.
“Cocktease!” Tony shouted out at the room in general and he was sure he could hear laughter coming from the direction of Loki's room.
~*~*~*~*~
A few days passed and Tony's mind was left lingering on the God of Mischief and Teasing (for that's what he was) and just what it was he got up to while in his sealed and locked room. He tried several times to gain access to the room, and on the third day he was shot across the room by a magical barrier.
As he got up and dusted off what little dignity he had, the door opened; Loki stood against it and raised an eyebrow at Tony. “You could have knocked you know.”
“You never let anyone in!” Tony said, aware that his voice was more indignant that it might have been due to being thrown across the hall into the far wall.
“Not true. You may ask the good Captain. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm rather tired. I've been working hard and need to sleep.”
The door was closed in Tony's face and so, Tony went off to do as Loki suggested. He was going to go talk to 'the Good Captain.'
~*~*~*~*~
The one thing Steve was known for above all else was his honestly. This meant in covert undercover operations he was really totally not the guy you wanted to send. His boyish, all American charm was good for public speaking though which was why Fury sent him out to do interviews and do talks at schools and all that other PR stuff promoting the Avengers.
His honest streak also meant that he was a naturally terrible liar, which Tony often used to his advantage.
“Loki? Nope, don't ever see that guy... no idea what he's up to or where he goes. Never seen inside of his room in fact.”
The tone, the uncomfortable posture of a guy lying through his teeth who didn't normally even fib, was almost endearing.
“He already told me he talks to you a bit. When exactly is that?”
Steve sighed and, knowing Tony's stubbornness, he answered, “Well, I don't need as much sleep as I used to before the serum so I usually hit the gym in the morning. So does he.”
“Wait... you and Loki go to he same gym?” Tony asked.
“Yes... he asked if there was somewhere he could let off steam. I suggested the gym.”
“Let off steam?” Tony could think of a better way Loki could let off some steam.
“We spar,” Steve said by way of explanation.
“You both sound sexually frustrated to me,” Tony said with a slight smirk.
“Tony!” Steve said, completely indignant. He hated Tony's blasé attitude towards sex, especially when he just dropped it into conversation in the middle of lunch.
“Not everything comes down to sex, you know. I'm not sexually frustrated.”
“Says the guy who hasn't had sex for seventy years,” Tony said with a grin.
Steve would hear no more on the matter and when Tony tried to insinuate that he'd seen Loki's bedroom for anything other than the innocent reason of 'I went by to see if he wanted to go down for a late night sparring match', Steve walked away from him with an irritable sigh, leaving Tony with the bill.
Tony smiled. The conversation hadn't helped him too much, but it had been a hell of a lot of fun teasing Steve.
~*~*~*~*~
After everyone had gone to bed, Tony came back down from the penthouse and sat on the couch. About 11:40pm, Loki's door unlocked and he walked out into the room with a tablet in hand. Tony took a moment to appreciate the view of the sorcerer in a black T shirt and skinny jeans before he wondered just when and where he'd gotten them.
“Where the hell did you get skinny jeans?” he asked as Loki walked by, giving him a very nice view of his ass.
As Loki moved into the kitchen, he spoke without breaking his stride. “Firstly, please do not take the name of my firstborn in vain; second – Midgard has these wonderful things called 'shops'.”
Tony took a moment to let the words process and as he thought, Loki began to cook.
“Your firstborn... you have kids? Like, more than one?”
“Yes,” Loki said. “Hel who lives in Helheim, her own personal little domain. Fenris lives with his wolf pack on an island in Alfheim, Jormungand lives on Niffleheim keeping the Waters of Life safe from harm, and I do not speak of Vali and Nari.”
Tony was tempted to ask about the last two but instead he asked of the first three of the children mentioned. “Hel, Fenris and Jormungand I've heard about. Goddess of the Dead, a wolf and a snake, right?” Tony wasn't sure how he felt about Loki being the father of a wolf and a snake.
“Hel was cursed as a child by an age old enemy of mine. Mistress Death claimed her as a champion. Fenris is a... what you would call a werewolf, he was banished many moons ago and he shuns 'civilized' life. Jormungand is another shape shifter like myself, although he prefers the form of a sea serpent due to his line of work.”
Loki never moved his eyes from his cooking and smiled. “Not such a good prospect for your bed after-all, am I, with such 'baggage' as this?”
“Are any of your children under 18 or the Earth equivalent?”
Loki quirked an eyebrow, “No.”
“Then I'd still like to take you to my bed,” Tony said with a grin.
“I cannot,” Loki said with just a bit of a sigh. “It is forbidden.”
“What?” Tony asked, “Sleeping with men?”
“Sleeping with mortals.”
“Why?” Tony asked, aware that there was a bit of a whine in his tone.
“It is complex,” Loki shrugged. “Do you want something to eat while I am here?”
“No, I ate already,” Tony said and continued on with his train of thought, unwilling to let the topic drop. “Explain the whole 'no mortal/godly sexy times' thing when I know your brother and Jane totally have sex.”
Loki rolled his eyes. “Thor is not a mage.”
Tony frowned, “You can't sleep with me because you're a mage?”
“Yes,” Loki said and as Tony opened his mouth to ask why Loki held his hand up. “Look, Stark, I'm not inclined to discuss this. If you continue on this vein of conversation I will go out to find something to eat.”
Tony sighed, “Fine...” He walked over to the drinks cabinet in the kitchen and poured himself a drink. “Can we talk about other stuff, or do I need to be silent if I want the privilege of your company?”
Loki smiled a bit. “If I find the topic interesting, by all means talk.”
Tony grinned at that.
~*~*~*~
They stayed up together until almost 6am. Tony decided to talk about movies and then - after a discussion on Tony's favourites - they put on the original Star Wars trilogy, because Tony thought it was a genuine tragedy that Loki hadn't seen them yet.
“See? Could be worse: your daddy could have been Darth Vader.”
“Not far off it,” Loki said. “Both Vader and Laufey were the scourge of their galaxies. But I admit perhaps Vader would have proven more problematic to kill.”
Tony laughed at that, even though he knew the god was deadly serious.
After Loki retired for the morning, Tony decided he'd be better off giving up on his plan of sleeping with him, seeing as the god seemed determined to tell him that it was 'forbidden'.
And with that sensible idea firmly in mind, he went off to bed.
~*~*~*~
Unfortunately, Tony's subconscious seemed to have a vendetta against the sensible idea he'd had just before going to bed. In fact, fuck that, it had declared war against the idea of not sleeping with Loki.
All Tony could dream of was Loki. He dreamed first of the kiss they shared and that moved on into the bedroom. He dreamed of Loki's gorgeous long legs wrapped around his waist as he made the god come undone beneath him.
He woke up with a wet patch on himself. He hadn't had a wet dream in decades, not since he was a teenager.
He supposed it could be attributed to sexual frustration on his part too. Since he'd broken up with Pepper he had only slept with one person, and that had been dull to say the least. He didn't like that they didn't know his buttons like Pepper had. It had all been very disappointing, especially realising he maybe wanted another relationship and not an empty fuck.
Who knew Tony Stark would ever want to settle down?
He decided, however, that in lieu of that, a good long hard fuck with Loki would be good too.
So, instead of backing off like the sensible idea the night before had told him to, he decided to follow his subconscious and his cock and step up his game in seducing the God of Mischief.
~*~*~*~
A few days passed where no one saw Loki at all and Tony knocked on his door every day (several times a day in fact) to see if he would answer as he'd indicated he might.
“Sir,” came JARVIS' voice, “Loki is not ignoring you. He is not currently in the tower.”
Tony frowned. “Since when?”
“Since 08:45am Tuesday, sir. Director Fury called him into the office and he has not been back since.”
“Loki has a phone?”
“Yes sir, an iPhone 5.” JARVIS' tone was one of disdain as he told Tony what phone Loki was using and Tony's visible twitch was not missed by Bruce as he walked by.
“Something wrong?” Bruce asked looking at Tony standing outside Loki's door.
“Yes, that bastard brought Apple tech into my house.”
Bruce tried not to smile. “I'll warn him to keep it away from you. Clint still won't forgive you for what you did to his iPod.”
“He learned his lesson though, didn't he?”
Bruce laughed and continued on to his lab.
“JARVIS, do you have Loki's number?”
“Yes.”
“Dial it and patch it through to my lab.”
“Yes, sir.”
Tony walked back to his lab, where he was working on fixing Butterfingers. The phone rang a few times and then the God of Mischief himself answered it.
“Where did you get my phone number?”
“JARVIS,” Tony said. “Where are you?”
“Working,” Loki 'helpfully' supplied.
“On what?”
A smile was plainly heard in the god's voice as he replied, “That information is classified. Look, I do not have time to play, I-”
“I wanted to talk, you know, and make an appointment since you seem to busy.”
The god paused. “My duties here should be over by tomorrow morning. Shall I stop by your lab?”
“Sounds good, just don't touch anything when you come by.”
“I won't,” Loki assured him. “The last time I went into your lab, one of your bots assaulted me.”
“Dum-E attacked you? Good for him, didn't know he had it in him. Must be because you brought an iPhone into my tower. He hates those.”
Loki sighed. “I will see you tomorrow. I really must go.” And without another word, Loki hung up the phone.
“Rude... Dum-E, feel free to smack him tomorrow. Or smash that stupid phone.”
~*~*~*~*~
It was early afternoon by the time Loki turned up the next day, as he walked in he stood glaring at Dum-E who snapped his claw at him. “Tell it to keep its fingers off my person or I am leaving right now.”
Tony smiled from where he was working on Butterfingers, “He's just protective of me, he knows you threw daddy out of a window and he doesn't much like it. He also knows you have an iPhone. Why would you buy an Apple product?”
“I did not, Fury supplied it.”
“Fury?” Tony glared. Fury knew exactly how Tony felt about iPhones being around his person. “That bastard...”
“I was not going to complain, it saved me having to purchase a mobile-phone with my own money.”
“Your own money?” Tony asked as Loki skirted around the room, keeping well out of the way of Dum-E, seemingly very suspicious of the bot.
“Yes. I have a bank account, papers and a salary as a consultant for Fury.” Dum-E started towards Loki and Loki pulled one of his throwing daggers from thin air. “I swear on the Norn stones I will destroy that thing if it touches me.”
Tony grinned. “First of all, don't talk about my first born like that, he's sensitive, and second, are you seriously freaked out by my bot?”
“I will melt it down if it comes near me Stark.”
Tony whistled. “Hey, Dum-E, go sweep the floor over there, go on.”
For a bot, Dum-E did a good job of looking disappointed that he didn't get to keep snapping at Loki. Tony frowned; it wasn't like Dum-E to be so aggressive towards strangers. “He really doesn't like you. What did you do to him?”
“I did nothing,” Loki said, tone just a bit defensive.
“It was not what he did, but what he said, sir,” JARVIS supplied, “He called U and Butterfingers 'pieces of junk'. Dum-E did not appreciate the slur on their characters.”
“They are just machines,” Loki said, watching Dum-E with some unease. “Nuts and bolts... no more...”
“Complicated electrical signals are what make up the human consciousness,” JARVIS informed him. “Just because he is a more simple version of that does not mean he is 'just a machine.' He is aware of his surroundings, just as I am.”
Tony smiled. “Well said buddy.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“You have a very strange hobby, creating machines,” Loki said watching Dum-E now with his broom. “Though I will say the ones you create are more interesting than most. I just do not like seeing something with such a spark of consciousness that has been created by mortal hands. It is very strange.”
“I'm a genius, what can I say,” Tony said, closing the panel on Butterfingers that he was going over. “I've always had this intuition when it comes to machines.”
“I understand that feeling,” Loki said. “I was always good with magic, even before my powers truly took hold I was very good.” Loki looked thoughtful and sat on a stool. “So what did you wish to talk to me about?”
“Nothing in particular, I just wanted your company,” Tony said genuinely. “Nobody is around today, and I know you like to keep to yourself usually, but you seemed to like talking the other night, so just thought I'd offer the opportunity.”
Loki looked thoughtful at that. “What would you wish to talk about?”
“You for one thing,” Tony said, looking up at the God of Mischief. “You're a whole lot saner than I remember from the whole 'defenestration incident'.”
Loki nodded. “I am... Well, if it is a discussion about me you wish, I wish to discuss you.”
“Then I suggest we each ask a question in turn,” Tony told him, “and since it's my house, I'll go first.”
Loki smiled a bit, “And if we do not wish to answer a question?”
“We'll ask another?”
“For how long?” Loki asked, pulling his stool closer, watching now as Tony opened another panel on Butterfingers.
“Until we get bored?”
“Alright,” Loki agreed. “As you say, you begin.”
Tony nodded and began working on Butterfingers again as he considered which question to ask the god first. He decided that this was more a 'getting to know you' thing rather than a serious discussion, as Loki was unlikely to answer anything too serious, so he went for something non-threatening.
“Okay, start with something easy. Give me a list of three of your hobbies.”
Loki seemed momentarily surprised by the question before responding, “You mean things I do purely for enjoyment?”
“Yeah,” Tony said.
“You know, I do not think anyone has ever asked me that before. It is a curious question.”
“Not really, this is all about me getting to know you a bit more than the whole goth-rock thing you got going on. It's a pretty simple question.”
“I suppose... I see no harm in answering. Well, I enjoy reading, I read a lot of things. It is one of the things I find I enjoy about Midgard, there is a lot of varied reading material.”
“What do you read?” With the further question the rules for the discussion were already broken if Loki answered, and Tony was surprised when Loki did.
“I enjoy crime novels and some fantasy. I find the mortal take on magic to be interesting and I also like science fiction. I hate horror and find many of the 'romance' novels boring and predictable.”
Tony grinned. “I had you down as a sci-fi fan after your reaction to Star Wars. You seemed to enjoy that.”
“I did,” Loki smiled, it looked good on him.
“So that's one hobby. Next?”
Loki looked thoughtful. “Well, technically my magic is a part of my job, but I still use it as a hobby. I experiment on new compounds and techniques in my spare time.”
“That's two,” Tony smiled. “And the third?”
Loki gave him a wistful smile. “My favourite thing to do in my spare time that I simply cannot do here.”
“What's that?”
“Spend time with Amfasta.”
“Who is Amfasta?”
“My mare,” Loki said fondly. “I take her out riding with Thor, Sif and the Warriors Three. They go to hunt, while I go simply to be out riding. I have an affinity with horses.”
Tony grinned wickedly. “I've heard.”
The snowball that hit him in the face was justly deserved but it didn't stop him laughing.
“Sleipnir is not my son, you fool.” The tone was irritated but Tony could see the god resisting the urge to smile. “Sleipnir is the son of my mare, the result of an experiment. I gave him to father as a gift; he was quite pleased with his eight legged horse.”
Once Tony stopped laughing, Loki spoke. “I have answered two questions for you, therefore you owe me two answers.”
“I suppose. Hit me,” Tony said, wondering what the god would be curious about.
“Why did you and Pepper break-up?”
It was now Tony's turn to be caught off-guard by a question. No one had dared to ask him outright what had happened between him and Pepper. All anyone knew was that three months after Pepper had been kidnapped and given Extremis, they broke-up and Tony moved to the opposite end of the country. They were still friendly, but no one knew any details.
He knew if anyone else had asked he'd tell them it was none of their business, but somehow Loki asking didn't bother him. He was trying to get Loki into bed after all, and Loki had a right to know why his last relationship went sour. Maybe telling Loki would make him more trustworthy in the god’s eyes?
“It's complicated,” Tony tried to explain, “There were a few reasons. You know what happened with Extremis?” At Loki's nod, Tony continued, “Well she is this super strong, kick-ass girl now and I liked it at first... but it changed our relationship. She started worrying more about me, 'You're just a man without the suit' and then she started trying to convince me to take Extremis. Tried to guilt me into it, and I just...” he shrugged. “We split before it got bitter. While we still had feelings for each other, we both knew it wasn't gonna work. I love her still, but it can't work. I'm just glad we were able to stay friends.”
Loki looked thoughtful at that and went ahead with his second question, “Stark, if you loved her, why didn't you take Extremis?”
Tony smiled faintly. “I'm human, I'm not interested in being a super soldier like Cap or almost indestructible like Pep. I'm just a man in a can. I only worked on Extremis to help fix Pepper. I didn't want to take it, especially when I'm not sure it'd work with everyone. Also, it definitely has an effect on personality. Pepper is more aggressive than she used to be, a bit quicker to anger, and being with me wasn't good for that.”
“I can understand those reasons,” Loki conceded after a few moments contemplation. “It is... unfortunate when things sour due to circumstances beyond your control.”
“You had something similar happen?” Tony asked.
“Not similar, but my fiancée and I parted ways due to problems between two of our boys.”
“The two you don't talk about?”
“Yes,” Loki said, “Nari and Vali. I have not seen Nari for many years... over a century in fact. I will never see him or speak to him again, he is dead to me.”
Tony wasn't sure if he should ask, but since the god was talking he thought he'd chance it. “What did he do?”
“He murdered his brother Vali over some girl. Sigyn asked me to speak at his trial to ask Odin to keep him on Asgard, but instead I spoke at his trial to ask Odin to banish him. That his temper was too volatile and he had to leave. Sigyn hasn't spoken to me since. She lives with him on Vanaheim and her husband.”
“That sucks.”
Loki smiled a bit. “That it does. But at least you and Pepper were able to remain friends.”
“Yeah... So my turn for a question?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, well, do you like Japanese food?”
Loki quirked an eyebrow. “I – Yes, I do. But I still do not understand how chopsticks work.”
Tony grinned, “Well I have another related question; have you had lunch?”
“No.”
“Then I'm taking you out.”
“I'm not sure that is a wise course of action,” Loki hedged, “I do not get recognised on my own, but if I was out with you it's much more likely. Agent Coulson advised against my going outside in the city with any of the Avengers.”
“Well... hmm,” Tony said, “Okay, up to my penthouse then, as long as you can promise to resist the temptation of throwing me out the window again. I can order in and we can eat there.”
Loki laughed. “I think I can just about manage that.”
“Good, come on then.”
~*~*~*~*~
Lunch was more than satisfactory, both with the food and the company kept. Tony had called his favourite sushi place, and it wasn't the first time that they'd done a delivery to the tower on short notice for him. He taught Loki how to properly use chopsticks while he put on an episode of Star Trek DS9 (his second favourite Star Trek show) and Loki was very impressed with the special effects and make-up in the show.
While they were talking, Loki let slip that he was free that coming weekend.
“Well in that case, I'm taking you out on Saturday. I'm not taking 'no' for an answer, Loki. We'll go incognito and we'll leave the city, how about that?”
“Why are you so insistent on this foolish idea of taking me out?” Loki asked him. “You don't even like me.”
“That's not true,” Tony retorted. “If I didn't like you, I wouldn't be spending any time with you at all. You just don't get out enough, and I'm using you as 'Pepper Rebound Dating', okay?”
Loki looked at him suspiciously. “I have already-”
“Do I look like I'm interested in a long drawn out love affair? Loki, it's just a little bit of fun. Relax.”
Loki just rolled his eyes.
Tony knew he'd won.