I was going to sit on this awhile longer until I had fully finished the last chapter, but the reviews for Where We Lie made me so happy my self control crumbled.
Prompt Fill from frostironkink:
Fem!Loki. Loki has escaped Asgard and is on earth. He wants something from the Avengers (device/information ect. I'll leave that up to author =D)and quickly realizes that a freshly single Tony Stark - drowning his sorrows with booze and women - is his best bet for getting close so shapeshifts into a beautiful woman and sets about seducing him. Bonus points if his female form is similar to his male form; dark hair, green eyes ect.
/
Information. That is the problem. Barton had not given him enough information. For a plan to succeed one needed information on every variable. If Loki is to defeat the Avengers he needs more information on their weaknesses, which means he needs to slip his way into their little circle. He had worried that such a thing might be rather hard, what with them being on guard for such a thing after Thor had returned with news of his escape, but Tony Stark's break up with his CEO Pepper Potts has been all over their silly little news programs. Loki feels the smirk cross his face as the rather simple plan beings to gestate. Really, it could not have come at a better time. Poor Stark will need comfort after all.
/
Tony went out because he wanted booze and company, but now that he is out he wants nothing to do with anyone besides the bartender. He should have just stayed home and poured his own drinks. He has been approached twice by women who ignore his glare, and he has not even been here longer than half an hour. They do not stay around very long. His drink of choice tonight is a 7 and 7, and as he motions for the bartender to pour him another (his fourth? fifth?) a long legged, dark haired woman claims the seat next to him at the bar.
Tony finds his glare losing its intensity as he studies her. She is pale and elegant, regal even. Her black dress clings to her form, emphasizing her heavy breasts and shapely hips. She has chosen not to restrain her hair, letting it fall to her mid-back. The bartender slides her a green goblin at the same time he sets Tony's 7 and 7 down before him. Her eyes, dark and green and penetrating right down into his soul, follow the movement until her attention focuses on the inventor. There is no denying that she is beautiful, but Tony has seen beautiful women before. There is something else about this woman, something he can't quite put his finger on, but it makes him ache and desire all at once.
"I'm not looking for company tonight," he says smoothly, liar's façade hiding just how much her mere presence has thrown him. Pepper had broken up with him six days ago. It's too soon to jump into something, even a one night stand, isn't it? But that was one of the reasons he had originally dragged himself out here, and now his thoughts were just chasing themselves in circles. (Oh, but Tony has never been good at denying himself anything he wants, and he wants.)
One of those delicately carved eyebrows arches upward. "Do you not find it presumptuous to think I would require your company?"
"Not really," Tony answers, finding a bit of his usual haughtiness creeping back. "I'd like to point out that you're the one who sat next to me. Also, I'm Tony Stark."
The look she gives him is neutral, but Tony can tell just how carefully crafted it is. He has worn that look before himself. "Does that line really have women falling into your bed?"
"Usually."
"The ones that matter?"
Tony finds he cannot gather words into his mouth to answer her. Less than five minutes into the conversation and she's got him pegged. No woman that has ever mattered in his life has been impressed by just his name; not Rumiko, not Pepper, not even Natasha. (Not that he would try to sleep with Natasha. He liked his balls where they were, thank you very much.)
"I am sorry," she apologizes after taking a sip of her drink, the silence stretching on uncomfortably long. "That was rather rude of me." She sets her drink back down, offering Tony a softer smile. "I shall sit here and distract any would be opportunists from you as way of amends, shall I?"
Tony leans back in his seat, finding that he is returning her smile. "All right, Princess, let's see if you're up to the task."
Her eyes gleam at the challenge, and oh, Tony wants.
"I-I like you," Tony finds himself slurring hours, and as many women, later. "You're clever, and I don't say that about many people." Lady, as he had taken to calling her after her disapproval of Princess, had more than been up to the challenge of being Tony's anti wingman. If he hadn't been attracted to her before, and who is he kidding, of course he was, he is boarding on obsessed now.
"Then I shall always hold your compliment close to my heart," Lady says, her voice sweet with just a dash of danger. She helps Tony stand.
"Are we leaving?" he asks, standing closer to her than he probably should.
"I am sending you home. Think of the headlines tomorrow if you were stabbed in some dark ally. I would weep," Lady says, her voice slow and steady so that Tony can catch her words.
"No you wouldn't," Tony snorts. He grabs a hold of her hand, intertwining those beautiful lithe fingers with his own, and does not see her roll her eyes. "I don't wanna go back. Take me home with you." They're outside now, and Tony's not sure how or when that happened.
She stares at him coolly before answering. "I am not sleeping with you."
"Ab~so~lutely not, Lady. I am a gentlemen…man…person."
"Try to and you will find my door closed to you."
"Aye, aye, Captain Crunch…Lady…person."
She rolls her eyes, this time Tony sees it, but the grip on his hand tightens as she drags Tony, acting like a hyperactive six year old, somewhere not haunted with the memory of Pepper.
/
Tony groans when he wakes. He knows three things almost instantly. One, he got very, very drunk last night, and is now suffering for it. Two, this is not his couch; they are much comfier than this. Three, something smells absolutely delicious.
Moaning loudly the inventor pushes himself up slowly. He moans again when he opens his eyes, his head pounding in protest against the light. Well, it's not the worst hangover he's ever had at least. But what the hell happened last night?
There's a clink on the coffee table as someone sets a mug down in front of him. A beautiful woman with long legs and dark hair quirks an eyebrow, looking far too amused by his current condition. Ah right, he'd gone home with Lady last night. "You sounded like you could use this."
Tony's eyes follow her as she walks back over to the kitchen where those wonderful smells are coming from. Lady is dressed in a loose t-shirt and a pair of boxer shorts, revealing so much of that smooth pale skin, and Tony really needs to stop staring now.
He turns his head toward the mug instead and sees that it is filled with coffee, black and strong, just the way he likes it. He takes a huge gulp, smacking his lips loudly. "Lady, you are an angel." The smirk that graces her lips makes Tony feel as if he is missing out on some inside joke. Tony loves inside jokes, just not when he isn't part of them.
Tony amuses himself by looking around the apartment. It is small and clean, but despite the space being filled by furniture and books (there are a lot of books) the entire atmosphere has a strange sterile feeling. Eventually Tony's eyes go back to the coffee table and the pieces of mail sitting there. It's intrusive, but he is Tony and he's never really learned limits on social privacy. He leans over until he can read the name on the envelops: Raziel Vinter.
He knows that name. Where does he know that name from? She is not a consultant for SHIELD. He'd checked all of them out, and Tony would remember if Lady was one. Did he know her from MIT? No, that isn't it. Lady is definitely younger than him, so even if she had gone to MIT she wouldn't have been in his class. Business? Considering he hasn't been to a meeting in months that doesn't seem likely either. He hasn't already slept with her, has he? Shit, he doesn't know.
Tony leans back against the couch, still trying to think of where he knows that name from. And he is sure he only knows the name. If he'd had that face to put to it he'd definitely remember it. Those eyes were not something Tony would be forgetting anytime soon. All right, so not business, villains, or school, that left the scientific community.
And then he had it. Raziel Vinter had caused an uproar in the scientific community last month with an article that had pretty much revolutionized the understanding of dark matter. Raziel's article had been one of the best things Tony had read since Bruce's work. He had Bruce had even spent an entire night talking about it. Sure, the article hadn't been without its flaws, but Raziel is young with quite a bit of potential. That's why Tony had remembered her name.
"Who name their kid Raziel?" Oh yes, that is a wonderful way to start a conversation.
Raziel doesn't even look away from the stove. "It's a secret."
Okay, whatever that meant. "I read your article."
"Did you?" She reaches up into the cabinets and pulls down two plates. "And what did the great Tony Stark think of my work?" Lady comes around the counter with two plates and hands one to Tony before sitting down next to him.
Tony's mouth waters at the sight of crepes and fresh strawberries. (The good thing about drinking heavily for years? Hang over tend not to keep him down for long.) He takes a bite before answering, and okay, that's just not fair. Raziel is beautiful, elegant, smart, her cooking is divine, and she has already made herself off limits.
"I thought the hypothesis was sound, but if you want to create a new theory you're going to have to work on how you're experiment is carried out."
Raziel sighs and nods. "Yes, but in order to do that I need better equipment. I had to publish the paper if I wanted to be noticed."
"Is that why you approached me last night, because you know I can give you access to that equipment?"
"You flatter yourself, Mr. Stark," Raziel says as she cuts into her crepe. "Publishing that article already gained me what I needed. Running into you last night was no more than a chance meeting."
Tony blinks as he processes her words. "I feel as if I've just been insulted."
Raziel offers him that smirk again, and okay, Tony knows that smirk from somewhere, but he knows he has never seen Raziel before the bar last night. "Now why would I ever do that?"
"You seem to enjoy messing with people."
Raziel sighs melodramatically. "They just make it so easy."
Tony takes a few more bites before he asks, "Did you gain any of your ideas from what happened in New York?"
"Yes." Raziel's mischievous attitude dissipates somewhat at the mention of the invasion. Tony can't blame her, New York is not a happy memory for many people. "I doubt we have yet to fully experience all the changes the invasion brought with it. I had thought to maybe bring away something good from it."
Tony opens his mouth to respond, but the sound of AC/DC cuts through the apartment. It takes him a moment of staring at Raziel and she staring back for Tony to realize it is his cell phone. He pulls the device from his pocket and groans when he sees it's a call to assemble. "I have to go."
Raziel smiles at him, but this time there's a bit of sadness to it…it says something horrible about him that that makes him kind of happy. "You are a busy man."
"Unfortunately." Tony stands and stretches, taking more time than he should so that his eyes can linger on Raziel. "Can I have your number?"
The look he gets in return clearly tells Tony that Raziel is reassign her opinion on his level of genius.
"Ah, so I can talk to you about your research sometime!" he attempts to reassure her.
Raziel still hesitates. "Mr. Stark-"
"Please, Tony. I hate it when people call me Mr. Stark."
"…I am not interested in going to bed with you."
"I would be lying if I said I wouldn't enjoy it if you did, but really, this is just about research. I need intelligent stimulation."
She rolls those beautiful green eyes but holds her hand out for his phone. Tony hands it to her, watching over her shoulder as she types in her number. "This is for research purposes only."
Tony holds up his hand in the Boy Scout salute. "On my honor."
Raziel raises an eyebrow. "I have a hard time believing you were a Boy Scout."
Tony's phone rings again, this time it's Coulson to nag at him about why he is not on his way to wherever the hell the Avengers are fighting this time. He answers with, "I'm coming," and heads for Raziel's front door, mouthing 'I'll call you' before shutting the door behind him.
/
Loki cannot keep the smirk from his face once the door closes. With a wave of his hand the dishes are cleaned and back in the cabinet. His features shift from Raziel's back to his own, and through it all the smirk remains. "That went perfectly."
/
"Hey, JARVIS," Tony says while flying between skyscrapers, "look up Raziel for me, will ya?"
"Anything for you, sir." A moment later the A.I. says, "Raziel is an angel known as "The Keeper of Secrets" and "Angel of Mysteries."
Tony can't help it, he laughs. "Perfect."