"Mr. Stark, you're being ridiculous!" Peter threw his hands up while following after Iron Man himself.
"No, I'm being practical," he shot back over his shoulder, not missing a beat.
"Practical?" The smaller man sputtered the word out in disbelief, "secluding me away, locking up half of the tower, and making me follow a schedule down to the minute is practical?" If Peter hadn't been so frustrated he might have pulled his phone out and silently sent Tony a meme, the one from Princess Bride saying "You keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means." As it was however, he just kept trailing after him, expressing his incredulity through flying limbs. "It's a bit excessive."
"You know what's excessive, kid? Teaming together with an army of alien warriors to try and rule a whole planet because your daddy cut you off from the inheritance. You know what else? Faking your death in front of your brother and impersonating your father, while he sits in a nursing home under a spell on the aforementioned planet that you tried to take over, so you can rule your own planet afterward. Stop me if you're getting the hint?"
Peter forced the groan creeping up his throat back down, trying to be as reasonable as possible, "Anyone ever tell you you really hold a grudge?"
"Yeah I guess I'm funny that way, I remember when people attempt to take over my planet." Tony continued walking through the halls, barely sparing Peter a glance as he argued with him.
"But people change! All of that was years ago, and since Loki hasn't caused any trouble, and you know what Thor said, he sacraficed himself to try and stop-"
"Yeah I know what Thor says, and I also know Thor's always had a blind spot where his brothers concerned, and maybe you also caught the part of that story where the whole reason Thanos attacked them was because Loki took the tesseract from Asgard and was hiding it. Who knows what his real agenda had been."
Peter could feel himself losing the battle, but he wouldn't back down so easily. Peter had been staying here at the Tower with Stark during the summer between college classes. He was not only frustrated at the idea of missing the opportunity to finally meet Loki, well missing is generous, more like being robbed of it, but more than that, he was 19 years old now, he was well above the friendly neighborhood spiderman at this point, and still Tony was treating him like a child, telling him who he can and can't associate with.
He tried not to take it so hard, the protective nature Tony had over him, especially after Thanos, he knew it was only because he cared, and he appreciated that, but it could be suffocating. He often still felt like he had to prove himself, prove that he was capable and could stand on his own.
When Peter had found Tony rushing around, freshening up locks and doors and the IA systems, Peter was instantly curious, but he hadn't in a million years guessed what was really happening. "What's going on? Friday lock you out of the liquor cabinet again?" He joked.
Tony only glanced at him and scoffed, "That's never happening again, not if FRIDAY knows what's good for her!" He spoke up on that last part, but never lifted his gaze from the ipad he carried.
"Then…?" Peter gestured to his ipad and the door he was standing in front of questioningly, "What are you doing?"
Tony made eye contact briefly, seeming to be gathering his thoughts and calculating something, then seemed to come to a decision. "We've got a guest staying with us for a while."
"Cool. Who is it? Oh oh! Is it the guardians?" Peter took off on a ramble as his excitement took over the part of the brain that controlled his mouth, "Because I still have to beat Rocket's ass at Halo, oh and I have some more music for Quill!" Peter started bouncing with energy, but it simpered out quickly when he took in Tony's clenched jaw and tight stance, and the way he was ignoring Peters babbling, which usually earned some sort of flippant sarcastic quip. "So… Not the Guardians?" Peter asked awkwardly.
Tony glanced at him again before answering, watching for a reaction this time, "No. It's Thor's brother."
Peter took this in for a second, and he felt the bout of excitement rebound as he thought about what this meant, the possibility of meeting Loki. Asking him every single question about his magic abilities until the god turned him into some animal just to get him to shut up. Bugging him about knife throwing until he taught him how, or threw one at him to shut him up. Talking him into sparring with him just to see what it's like to fight Loki, to fight a God. And then probably dying because of getting on his nerves so damned much.
Peter started grinning, without even realizing it, and was answering in a rush of words, "Loki? Like The Loki?" Tony flinched at the name, as if he were talking about Voldemort, but Peter couldn't even focus on it through his enthusiasm, "That's great! When does he get here? How long is he staying? Why is he staying, isn't he supposed to be helping bring back the Asgardians? Is he going to help us on missions? Oh man I bet he's amazing in a fight, oh! Do you think he likes video games? I could totally whoop his ass in Halo! You think I could-"
"No, absolutely not." Tony finally cut Peter off, his eyes a bit wide at the boy and his outpour of words, completely shocked by this reaction, and his doubt and dread about the prospect of the trickster living under his roof doubled. "There will be no Halo with Loki, or any other video games. No Fraternizing of any kind with Loki."
Peter was a bit shocked at this, and then he put two and two together, taking a look at the ipad again and all the locks on the doors, and he felt an ice of unease slip up his spine.
Tony didn't wait for another reaction, he just handed him a laminated floor plan, "These are the new living arrangements," and walked off, leaving Peter to blanche at the thing, marking off several room as off limits and many more having specific allotted times of allowed entry.
"Oh no no no no…" Peter muttered before tearing after Stark down the halls. That was a few days ago, and so far their argument had gone exactly nowhere.
Peter sighed inwardly, pulling out of his thoughts and pushing on, "But, again, it's been years since any of that, even Bruce talked about how he ended up fighting with them on Asgard and did so honorably, and ya know with Thanos and the soul stone-" I caught myself before I let the thought weasel all the way out, how being in the soul stone like that, It wasn't something you could easily shake off. But that wasn't a memory I tried to remind Tony of. Besides a slight tension that formed in his shoulders, he didn't acknowledge the comment. "I just think it's been long enough, we should at least give him the benefit of the doubt here."
"Oh, I am, it's the only reason I'm allowing him to stay here at all, and you're not going anywhere near that lunatic." We reached Tony's office and he stepped through the door, turning to lean against it and look Peter over. "Listen, Pete, just trust me on this one? The guy is trouble."
"You do remember I'm a superhero right? Spiderman? Shoots web out of my hands and can climb walls? Ring any bells?" Peter tried, looking at him hopefully.
Tony smirked at the kid, familiar sarcasm written all over the older man's face, "Yeah, I'm pretty familiar with it, maybe you remember I'm the guy who pays for your classes and puts a roof over your head, oh and all those fancy video games you wanna play so badly with villians?"
"Hey!" Peter interjected, about to launch into a defense, since he'd tried to fight Stark on every one of those purchases, but Tony cut him off, a small smile of fondness taking over the smirk, "Go to sleep, Parker, I'll try to arrest you a video game partner tomorrow if it means that much to you." Tony shut the door on Peter, making the smaller man slump his shoulders in defeat.
"Well, tomorrow should be fun…" Peter muttered to himself as he turned back down the corridor, looking down at the floor plans in his hand. It was marked up like a boot camp, off limits rooms and time frames for when certain parts of the tower were safe to enter. Peter scoffed to himself, disbelieving Tony went to these lengths, but also kind of finding it amusing.
His thoughts turned back over to what was happening. Tomorrow morning, Loki Odinson himself would be here, not only on Earth, not even just in the same city, but in the very same building as Peter. The idea itself was surreal.
Peter knew all about Loki, not only all of the bad stories, and there were plenty, but also the good ones. The ones Thor would tell Peter late at night, reminiscing over missed family members together. Thor loved his brother, and it was obvious, even when he would tell stories about Loki's cruel moments, like turning himself into a snake to trick Thor into picking him up only to turn back and stab him, he would tell the story with a gleam in his eye. He respected and admired Loki, even at his lowest points.
Peter was amazed to see such unconditional love for someone like that, such a bond. It struck Peter in a way that he couldn't shake, couldn't even really grasp. Peter had plenty of friends and family, he wasn't unloved by any means, but something about the love between them just fascinate Peter. Maybe it was his desire for his own sibling. Maybe it was the fact that no matter what Loki did, Thor always loved and cared for him. Peter felt like he had to be the best he could be just to deserve the love he currently was getting, constantly having to prove himself. The love Thor had for his brother, that had to be one helluva burden on Loki's shoulders, and Peter could scarcely imagine.
So, after hearing about their brotherhood, just a taste of their shared life, and Peter needed more. Thor telling him stories became a regular thing from there. They would constantly get together and just chat, it was a rare moment that Peter wasn't the one talking a mile a minute. Instead he listened to Thor talk about home, about growing up with a cunning genius of a brother who had a cruel streak and mystical powers he could only imagine. About a father who loved them, more so on condition than unconditionally if you asked Peter, but Thor didn't, so he never shared his thoughts.
Peter heard stories of adventures and fights and all kinds of tests and trials, loss and pain sometimes. And the more he learned about their grand adventures, sometimes against each other; sometimes together, the more he wanted to meet the infamous Loki himself. Even after the stories of destruction and pain he caused, Peter couldn't help but be fascinated with the god. He was a legend, everything he did seemed astounding to Peter. Between the manipulation and the grand schemes of take over, he was a mystery and a badass in Peter's mind. He'd been wanting to meet him for years now.
Thor had said Loki was different now, and Peter believed it. Even if he didn't fully trust him, he believed in second chances. In redemption. And, he believed that being in that soul stone? Even if it had been a trick to stay alive by Loki, which was genius on its own, wasn't an experience Peter wished on anyone, he knew first hand how it could affect someone. He didn't for a second doubt how it could completely change a person, whether he originally had ulterior motives or not.
Peter understood why Tony was doing it, and he knew wholeheartedly that he only did it because he cared. And that knowledge warmed him, but it didn't also stop it from being annoying and an incredible inconvenience. Peter mostly indulged Tony's over protectiveness, especially after Thanos. He didn't want to worry Tony or cause him any more stress, which is why he mostly did all of the Super Dangerous Stuff Tony Would Disapprove Of, in secret. Because Peter also cared for Tony, and this was his own way of protecting him.
So, if Tony's mind couldn't be changed about Loki, Peter would just have to take matters into his own hands, because there was no way in hell Peter was about to miss his chance of meeting the God of Mischief.