They stood side by side, immobile, staring out of the penthouse window. It was a black night and Tony's eyes watched the windows of the buildings around them, seeing dark shadows move against closed blinds. Residential buildings, offices, it didn't matter. New York doesn't sleep. His body was tense and upright, his hands clasped behind his back. The ache of his recently dislocated then relocated shoulder throbbed dully but he stubbornly ignored it, mimicking the posture of the God beside him.

Silence reigned, but what could be said? There was no way relations between a superhero and a supervillain could ever have continued without issues. They both knew that one day Loki would come up against the Avengers again, and that one day they would have to fight each other, convincingly and with hate. Tony had to fire his very best at Loki, to do all he could to take down the threat to innocent civilians. Loki had to react convincingly, both through self-preservation and a need to keep their relationship secret.

But that doesn't mean it didn't hurt to do it.

Loki had been stood in his current position when Tony had returned from being medically examined by SHIELD. Tony had wordlessly joined him and here they were, ten minutes later. Neither had looked at the other's face. Both had many things to say, neither wanted to say them. In the end it was JARVIS that broke the silence, his crisp voice slicing through the emotionally charged atmosphere.

"Sir, Miss Potts would like me to tell you that she will be returning from Dubai for Ten AM tomorrow. She asks that you are awake and present to sign company paperwork."

"Thanks Jarv." Tony said quietly, and his voice cracking with exhaustion. Loki very sightly turned his body towards Tony, his head moving round to gaze at his occasional lover. Tony sensed the movement and looked up into the God's unblemished and smooth face, knowing that his own face must look bruised and battered and incredibly tired. Nonetheless he noted the concern and care that Loki hadn't bothered to hide from his expression.

"I guess I should sleep this off." Tony said casually, hyper aware that they both knew the injuries are entirely Loki's fault.

"I used up my energy in healing myself," the god said quietly, "I am too drained to be able to further help you." The caring tone in his voice came awkwardly. Thus far their relationship had been based almost entirely upon sex, any positive emotions expressed through excitable physical action and any anger or disagreement sorted through snide comments or angry hate-sex.

"S'okay. I would have done the same if I had done to me what we did to you." Tony tried to crack a smile, but felt Loki's wince when he'd said we. It was another reminder that Tony's allegiances lay elsewhere. His smile faded and he turned to look out of the window again, silently acknowledging his failure.

Loki's hands fell from behind his back, and the one nearest to Tony raised to rest upon the Engineer's shoulder. Tony looked down at the hand, then back up to Loki's face, and showed a broken smile. He leaned into the touch ever so slightly, accepting the affection.

"You should sleep now." Loki said softly, before taking his hand away and moving towards Tony's bedroom, silently inviting Tony to follow. He did so, and found Loki stood looking at him from the centre of the room.

Tony stopped opposite him, and Loki approached his lover. Very slowly he lifted one hand and started unbuttoning Tony's shirt, never taking his eyes off Tony's. He undid all buttons, slowly slid his hands up Tony's torso to his shoulders and then pushed the shirt off, letting it fall to the floor. It wasn't a sexual movement, but it felt far more intimate than the two of them had ever been before. Loki stepped closer, moving his hand down to unbuckle Tony's belt, doing so with the gentlest movement and letting Tony's pants fall too the floor.

Tony stood still while Loki undressed him, letting the god show emotion and care in his own way. He understood that Loki wouldn't express his care aloud, he understood that this was Loki's apology. Once down to his boxers Tony stepped forwards out of his pooled clothes and right up to Loki. He maintained eye contact with the god for a couple of seconds before dropping his head and wrapping his arms around the torso in front of him, as Loki came to wrap his long, slender arms around Tony.

"I'm sorry." Tony admitted in a hollow voice, his head still buried in Loki's chest.

"I know." The god replied, and kissed the top of the engineer's head, squeezing his arms a little tighter.

They stood there for a minute or so before mutually pulling away. Tony moved to what had become his side of the bed before pulling up the covers and cautiously climbing in, aware of his injuries. Loki motioned to walk to the door but Tony replied in a soft voice.

"Stay."

Wordlessly Loki shrugged off his clothes, until he was in his underwear, before climbing into bed. He moved to curl up to Tony from behind and very slowly Tony leant back and relaxed into his hold. It was again an incredibly intimate moment and Tony couldn't help but break the atmosphere.

"I like that you've started wearing proper underwear." he said, the joking tone ruined somewhat by the cough he emitted at the end and the grimace of pain that followed. Loki's mouth was very close to Tony's ear and he replied very softly.

"I like pleasing you." he said, his care and concern balanced with enough innuendo to make Tony feel at ease. The engineer relaxed once more and closed his eyes. He fell asleep considering the feel of the fingers curled round his waist, the breath against the side of his neck and the barely audible sound of a God's breath as he himself fell asleep.