"The lion sleeps with the lamb,
Only love lets me forget who I really am." They Are in Love, David Byrne.
Tony Stark awoke to fingers dancing along his bare torso. The touch was gossamer light and loving – but, for first thing in the morning, it was annoying all the same.
With a groan, he rolled over to face the other way.
"Stop it, Lo," he mumbled into the pillow.
"When you said you love sleeping, you really meant it, didn't you?" the skinny god said, and Tony could hear the smirk in his voice.
"Don't," Tony groaned, shrugging off the long-fingered hand. "I mean it, Lo. 'S too early."
"Anthony, it's half past one in the afternoon," Loki replied curtly. Tony's eyes snapped open and flashed to the clock on the bedside table. Seven a.m.
"God damn it, Loki!" Tony groaned, covering his face with a pillow. Loki was laughing raucously beside him.
"Oh, come on. You're awake now," Loki jabbed his slender fingers into Tony's ribcage, grinning down at him.
"I will never understand how I ended up with a morning person," Tony sighed heavily, shivering slightly when Loki's cool fingers found the arc reactor.
"It's not a matter of being a morning person, Anthony. It's a matter of you staying up to the small hours while I sleep at a decent time," Loki commented. "Now come on. Wake up. I will tickle you, don't test me."
"Okay, okay! I'm up," Tony moved the pillow and looked up at the raven-haired man - glared really. "God, you're annoying."
"I do try, my dear," Loki grinned, leaning down to press a gentle kiss to the mortal man's lips.
How this has started, neither one of them really knew. It was in neither man's nature to love, nor to show care and compassion so openly.
But Loki had come back down to Earth with Thor for rehabilitation – namely staying at Stark Towers with the Avengers. He'd spent the first couple of months locked in a cell in the basement, surprisingly compliant with being there. Tony, with his natural curiosity, had a tendency to wander and often ended up in the basement talking to demigod; at first, these 'conversations' were simply sarcastic exchanges of cynicisms and insults. But, slowly, they'd started to actually talk. About things they could both relate to; deep-seated daddy issues and growing up as an outcast and generally being misunderstood. And they found something strange – in each other's company, they weren't misunderstood. Despite the differences of context, the differences of realms, the two men understood each other completely.
And now, weeks later, here they were. Loki was no longer confined to the basement; he shared Tony's bed now. The other Avengers (with the obvious exception of Thor) were severely displeased about this; Fury and Barton displayed outright rage, often glowering at Loki, even threatening him when they thought Tony couldn't hear. Bruce was better at hiding his feelings – indeed, even he managed to smile at the God of Mischief when he saw how excited the slim man got about Science. Steve was downright terrified, though he did well to put up his usual courteous front, more for Tony's sake than anything. And Natasha? She was mostly indifferent, though she was often on edge and jumpy around Loki. But Tony didn't care what the others said. He was fond of Reindeer Games, it was true. They laughed together and they were almost on the same intellectual wavelength and by God, the sex was amazing.
Even Loki, whose heart had been impenetrable since childhood, had to admit that he was beginning to fall for the mortal. He liked the way Anthony understood his passion for magic and Science, how Anthony understood his mental state. Even the silly little things the man did made him happy; the way he smiled when their eyes met, the way they fit so perfectly into each other's arms, the way that Anthony's hair smelled. Damn, he even loved the stupid nickname Tony had given him. If anyone else had ever dared call him Lo then he'd probably snap their neck like a twig. But there was something about the way it sounded in Tony's mouth that was appealing.
"Come on," Loki broke the kiss, tickling Tony lightly under the chin. "Time to get up."
Tony scowled. Waking up before the sun was one thing. But leaving the warmth of his bed was on another level entirely. Even if it was for Loki. The latter, Tony saw now that he was awake, was fully dressed, sitting cross-legged on the edge of the bed. He smirked down at Tony.
"Now really, Anthony. Is it really such a bad thing for me to want to spend time with my boyfriend without my brother and your friends intruding on us?" he asked, stroking Tony's cheek. He couldn't help smiling at the casual way Loki used the word boyfriend. "I thought we could have breakfast together."
"Well fuck me sideways, Loki Laufeyson, God of Mischief and Lies, being romantic," Tony laughed, drawing a scowl from the raven-haired man. "Alright. Just give me a couple of minutes to get dressed and I'll come join you."
Loki said nothing, simply smiled briefly and padded on bare feet towards the kitchen.
A/N: This is my first attempt at FrostIron, or any kind of Avengers slash, so go easy on me. And don't worry, we're not having soppy Loki the whole time (sorry, I just really don't like soppy, self-sympathetic Loki. Sorry!) only when he's around Tony will we see this side of him lol. So anyway. Favourite, follow, rate, review! Just let me know what you think. All constructive criticism welcome!