Edit: Because I figured I could do better.
Loki wouldn't be able to tell you where it went wrong.
One minute they were in the middle of an argument –it wasn't even their worst one- and then suddenly…
"Stop, just stop talking! I- I can't do this anymore." And Tony hadn't been yelling, but he might as well have been by the way it echoed in Loki's head.
"Do what? Make a fool of yourself?" He teased. Because that was exactly what the other man was doing; making a fool of himself. "I doubt you could stop if you tried."
And Tony saw through his mask (he'd been getting pretty good at seeing through all of Loki's masks) and knew what he had actually been saying.
Tony shook his head, "I can't- it's too much Loki. All of it, the lying and-and the fighting, fuck, we're always fighting now, and I just can't take it…" he sighed, running a hand through his hair. Then looked deeply into Loki's eyes, as if trying to tell him something but the man just wasn't getting it, "I'm sorry, but… 'We', this," He made a motion between them, "it can't happen anymore, and shit, that hurt more to say than you know, and I can finally see where Pepper was coming from when she gave this speech to me." He took a breath, "But we're too different, or maybe too similar, to work in a relationship of any capacity, and if we don't stop now someone is going to get hurt, and maybe I'm being selfish, but I don't want it to be me."
Loki scowled, fist clinched "I haven't a clue what you're talking about," he informed the other man, "I think we get along rather well, all things considered."
Tony looked angry at those words, "Have you lost your mind?!" He nearly shouted, "We do not 'get along rather well', shit we don't get along at all. I bet you can't tell me the last time we saw each other without some form of fight,"
Loki opened his mouth-
"Or angry sex."
-He closed it.
Tony suddenly looked extremely tired, defeated, his shoulders slumped "That's what I thought. Look, I, well I care about you, okay? And maybe that's a mistake, because I've always just been a means to end for you, and that was fine before, when all you were was a one off that was headed for Asgardian prison the next day for trying to enslave the human race, but..." he stopped.
"But what?" Loki hissed, angry at the billionaire's words. Not that they weren't true, of course. This human meant nothing to him. Stark was simply a distraction, a way to relieve stress, nothing more. Really.
So why was Loki getting so angry?
Tony's eyes hardened, "But, it has to stop, Loki. The after battle sex regardless of which side we fought on, the you sneaking into my lab and driving Dummy crazy with a laser pointer, the dragging me out of bed at three in the morning to watch bad television because you had another fight with Thor and that bothers you more than you'll ever admit and it's keeping you up at night," he took a shaky breath "The me walking into my living room to see you sitting on the couch reading some book in a language I've never heard of and telling me you tried to make lunch but ended up making the microwave explode instead, the jumping into the shower with me because you like it when I wash your hair, and everything else that would take too long to name. It has to stop."
Loki just stands there. He didn't know what he was supposed to say, or do, in this situation. So he stays silent, and waits, because surely there's more, it can't just be over, not like this.
But apparently it is, because Tony turned and left the room, left Loki standing there waiting for some form of explanation beyond what he was given.
He felt sick.
-Line-
It had been two weeks since then.
Loki had spent an hour just standing in the middle of the living room staring at nothing, probably would have stayed longer had Jarvis not told him to leave.
For the first week he had tried to move past Tony ('Stark' his mind tried to convince), past Stark, but that was hard to do when the man was everywhere.
On TV, on newspapers, on billboards, written across the skyline on his building.
And whenever Loki saw any of it he got sick, his chest would tighten with a pain he so rarely felt before, but seemed near constant after his fall into the void, that had all but vanished when he had been with To-Stark.
Strange, he hadn't even notice that the pain had left at all, not before it came slamming back into him, making itself at home as if it had never left in the first place.
After about a day and half into the second week he'd gone to visit Darcy. She was one of the few people Loki could tolerate. Normally when he was confused or hurt he would have gone to Stark (Tony) but he doubted that would be such a good idea right now.
So Darcy happened.
She looked at him as if he'd grown a set of horns, "Wait, are you telling me that you and Ironman were doing it all this time and nobody knew?!"
"I hardly see how that's relevant."
"It certainly is relevant! Jane owes me, like, thirty bucks! I so saw this coming, by the way, well, not this, but you ending up doing the nasty with an Avenger. Personally I thought you and Thor would be cute in the brotherly 'he's-adopted-so-it's-totally-not-incest' kinda way, or Dr. Banner because you seem to like green-"
"Will you just answer the stupid question!?" Loki cut her off, slightly mortified at the prospect of him and Thor, why would anyone in their right mind think-
"If it's such a stupid question why'd you ask it?" Darcy countered, crossing her arms, then uncrossed them and leaned across the table towards Loki, "But seriously, what answer do you want; the one where you're a clueless asshole, or the one where you're a clueless asshole in love?" She asked.
"I am not clueless, nor am I 'in love'."
"So you admit that you're an asshole?"
"Do you want to be a cat, or would you prefer some other four legged beast?"
Darcy leaned back in her chair, spreading her arms out, "Threaten all you want, but you came here for my opinion ("A lapse of judgment on my part, I admit,") and my opinion is that you love him."
Loki growled, but then sighed, deflating "And what if I do? How does that knowledge help me?"
"Well," Darcy started, "You could tell him, for starters, maybe apologize for being an ass for the last how many months because of your subconscious insecurities and abandonment issues, I dunno, give him a hug! Those normally make everything better! Here, let me show you,"
Needless to say, if Jane hadn't walked in just then Darcy would have been a lot smaller. And furrier.
-Line-
Loki spent the rest of the week arguing with himself and coming to terms with his feelings.
He couldn't deny it any longer –he loved Tony (so, this is what love felt like; annoying and vaguely uncomfortable). He did, and it terrified him because Tony was both young and old and mortal and how exactly could he relax with that floating over his head?
But Loki would burn that bridge when he crossed it (he already had the beginnings of a plan involving a certain apple…) for now it was one step at a time. The first step was apologizing. Well, he would say hello first, then apologize, and maybe confess love. It was too soon to tell.
So for now, there he was, sitting on the couch in Tony's living room, ignoring Jarvis's requests that he leave (apparently Tony had yet remove him from the permanent guest list, so Jarvis couldn't just remove him, himself), waiting for the billionaire to return from his board meeting, reading a book in the Elfish language, only looking up when he heard the elevator.
A few minutes later Tony walked in, paused, and stared.
Loki stood, suddenly feeling apprehensive and nervous about confronting the man before him.
Tony tensed, then glared, still pissed about their last fight (and the fact that he was sorta happy to see Loki, not that he'd ever tell him that) "What are you doing here-"
Loki did the first thing that popped into his head. He hugged Tony.
"Hello. I'm sorry. I love you." Well that wasn't so bad. Though perhaps next time he should use more tact.
Loki felt Tony freeze in his arms, and had a brief worrying thought that maybe Darcy was wrong about hugs making everything better, and was halfway through plotting her demise, when Tony practically melting against him, his arms coming up around Loki, so maybe Darcy could live.
"You're an asshole." Tony mumbled into his chest.
"I never denied it. I love you." Loki restated.
"I heard."
"Good. That's good."
"You wanna go have not-so-angry-but-still-kinda-pissed-off-make-up-sex now?"
"Yes."
-Line-
Later, lying naked in bed, Loki spoke "I'm sorry." It was barely a whisper, but the dosing Tony heard anyway, "I know…" He sighed sleepily.
"I love you too by the way."
If asked, Loki wouldn't be able to tell you where, exactly, it went wrong (if you asked Tony he could tell you the date and time, down to the last detail of just where and how it all went downhill) but just ask him what happened when it went right.
A/N: So, this happened. Inspired by a prompt on livejournal, but I don't think it really counts anymore since it kinda got away from me and the original idea...
As always, knew ideas, prompts, anything really is welcome and appreciated.