One would usually start a tale such as this with 'Once upon a time', because in the beginning, that's how most fairy tales start. Although then again, this story isn't most fairy tales. There are a few twists to the tale, but the morals and the ideas remain present. As for the 'once upon a time' element; Tony and Loki had met before in many times and universes, and such a phrase would simply not fit. So let us start where this tale began. It began... In a tree.

"1% power, sir. Switching to emergency back up generators."

"Wha-? Whoa!"

The Iron Man suit began to descend slowly to the ground, hovering every few seconds to slow him down. The prince inside sighed as he quickly looked around for a suitable place to land. Although he was royalty, Tony Stark loved to build and tinker, and one of his best designs was the Iron Man suits, guarded of course by Jarvis; a magical spirit who had looked after Tony since his birth. He loved being able to fly around and fight bad guys in the kingdom. His father disapproved, of course, but he didn't care. He does what he wants.

Today had been a good day for a flight, and after being forced to stay in all day and perform his princely duties, Tony had stormed out in a hurry, only he hadn't had a chance to check how much power was in the suit as he left.

It was only when he was closer to the ground, that he realised he was heading towards a tree which he was about to crash into.

"Jarv-!" Tony tried to call out, hoping his guardian would notice and change his course, but it was a little too late as he then dropped straight into the tree. He yelled as he fell through the branches, wincing as he dislodged smaller branches and leaves. He eventually came to a stop right at the bottom of the tree, as he'd fallen straight through it.

"Ow, fuck..." He said to himself as he manoeuvred himself to lie against the tree. He was a little grateful to it though, as it had probably broken his fall a little. He reached up to manually pull off the helmet, and set it down next to him on the grass. He then glanced up and winced again as he saw the clear path where he'd fallen through the branches. 'Hope no-one lives there...' He thought as he removed the rest of his suit and stood up to look around the rest of the area where he'd fallen.

It was a crisp winter's evening, so the land around him was starting to darken. Under the suit he never wore much, so found the air quite chilly as he stood there in nothing but a thin pair of trousers and a shirt. He'd fallen by a river that led through the middle of the forest, which was helpful to determine his location as he knew the river flowed away from the castle, so all he'd have to do to get back was follow the reverse flow.

"Bit cold, Jarv, let me back inside the suit."

"Sorry sir, I'm feeling a little sleepy." The spirit replied, his voice slowing until it was nothing. Tony looked around at his now completely dead suit and sighed defectively.

"Don't leave me, buddy..." He groaned, only to realise it was futile. The suit was dead, so he'd have to find some way to carry it back to the castle.

He glanced round quickly, checking all the parts were accounted for.

"Shit!" He said as he noticed the gauntlet hanging on a broken branch, most likely having come dislodged when he was trying to grab on to anything to slow himself down. His eyes widened for a few seconds as he stayed silent, the situation replaying in his mind. He rolled his eyes and groaned loudly, collapsing on the ground and rolling onto his back.

'Crap! That was my only gauntlet! I didn't even make blueprints for it, shit, why was I so stupid? Ahh, father's gonna kill me for loosing it! Fuck!' He thought as he rubbed his eyes and groaned again. He lay there still for a while, thinking how long it would take him to redo the fiddly wiring and welding and how he wouldn't be able to fly until he got it fixed. The gauntlet was too high for him to reach, and the tree too damaged for him to climb. He opened his eyes again only when he felt a soft thud and a light weight on his stomach.

"YOU TIT!" The squirrel shouted, waving its arms around wildly. "You can't just crash into someone's house and then just lie there on the fucking ground. Who the hell do you think you are you... You... Arsebadger!"

Tony's eyes widened as he stared at the squirrel in front of him. He didn't respond immediately, only stared in shock. Could squirrels talk? Well, a whole matter of other creatures could, but Tony had never come across a talking squirrel before. Neither had he seen a black one before. "...What?"

"Did I stutter? That tree was my home. I know it wasn't much, but it was nice and warm, had a nice location. And you ruined it. Do you know what the housing market is like at the moment? I'm never going to be able to afford a whole tree to myself. I'll end up with just a couple of twigs on the bit of the park that floods in the winter. And I'll probably catch hypothermia and die!"

"What? I'm-" Tony looked up at the tree and winced as he saw the damage again. He then looked back to the squirrel and smiled apologetically. "Sorry... About that."

"Anyway." The squirrel looked at him quizzically. "What are you doing on the floor. I saw you standing up a minute ago."

"I... Um... Fell?" Tony said, suddenly feeling a little embarrassed that he'd taken to the floor in his anger, and wouldn't admit it was the start of a tantrum. He was too proud to admit it. "Could you get off me so I can stand?"

"No. You fell but then you got up, and now you're laying down again. Why?"

"I felt like it?" Tony tried again, raising an eyebrow.

The squirrel's eyes rolled adorably. "Fine. Don't tell me." He said, hopping off the man. "I prefer the hard way anyway."

"The hard way?" Tony asked as he began to sit up. Then the squirrel ran up Tony's trouser leg.

"SHIT!" Tony cried out, trying to bat the squirrel lump out of his trousers, but to no avail. "-the fuck?! GET OUT!"

Tony felt the fluffy tail tickle his balls and then saw the squirrels little head poke out of his waistband. "Tell me." The little guy commanded firmly, staring at Tony.

Tony had a blush now crossing his cheeks, suddenly cursing himself for wearing no underwear that day. "I-I told you." He gulped.

"And I-I-I-I don't believe you." He mocked, sticking his tiny squirrel tongue out at Tony.

Tony glared at him and reached forward as if to grab him. "You fucking-" But the squirrel ducked back down into Tony's trousers.

"Ah!" Tony gasped as the squirrel brushed past his cock, and he was ashamed to admit he felt a twinge of arousal. His blush increased. "You fucker! Get out!" Tony shouted as he stood up.

"Tell me." The squirrel said before he ran back up one leg and down the other.

Tony hummed in annoyance as his private area was ticked again, then groaned and sighed. "Fine, fine! I was having a fucking tantrum, you happy now? Get the fuck out of me!"

"Why?" The squirrel demanded, falling out of Tony's trousers and quickly righting himself.

"Because I can't get my gauntlet and it'll take ages to rebuild." Tony pointed up the tree, then crossed his arms and huffed.

"I can get it for you."

Tony paused a second, then slowly uncrossed his arms to place a hand on his hip. He raised an eyebrow. "You're offering even though I destroyed your tree?"

"Obviously I'd expect something in return."

"And what's that?" Tony asked sceptically.

"I want to live with you, eat off your plate, sleep in your bed. I want to do as you do. I want to live like a prince."

"What?" Tony snorted. "You think I'm going to let a rude little creepy creature like you into my father's palace to do all that?" He shook his head and took a step away from him with his hands raised. "No way!"

"Fine." The squirrel folded his arms. "No gauntlet."

'Did he just-' Tony raised his eyebrows, thinking it was weird how this squirrel could do that. Let alone talk, and demand such strange things. He cast a glance longingly up to his gauntlet in the tree high above them and sighed, rubbing his face tiredly before he looked down at the squirrel again. "Ugh, can't believe I'm doing this. Fine."

Impossibly, the squirrel grinned. He faced the tree, gave his fluffy tail a wiggle, then pounced. He sprang from branch to branch, scurrying up one, and then jumping to another. In no time he was on the branch where the gauntlet was hooked. "Promise?" He asked, twitching his nose.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Fine, whatever. I promise." He shrugged.

Squeaking triumphantly, the squirrel kicked the gauntlet off the branch then jumped onto Tony's head. "I'm Loki, by the way."

"Oi!" Tony said, reaching up to push him off his head. He noticed the gauntlet lying on the ground, then walked over, ignoring the squirrel still on his head. "This'll take a while..." He muttered, mostly to himself, as he picked it up and examined it. "Prince Tony."

"Oh I know who you are." Loki said, hopping down into the pocket of Tony's jeans. "You're the metal bird man in the sky."

Tony jumped slightly as the squirrel moved, then inwardly groaned as he rolled his eyes. 'What am I getting myself into...' He thought as he walked back to his discarded suit. "I'm not a bird. This is my Iron man suit." He said with a twinge of annoyance. He didn't know why he was bothering to explain it to the creature, he found him annoying and demanding.

"But you fly like a bird. They used to call trains metal horses, but it didn't mean they were actually horses. It's a metaphor, idiot."

"Hey, I can easily go back on the deal if you're rude. I'm close to it anyway, don't push your luck more than you're getting, fluffy."

"Hey!" Loki stuffed his tail in Tony's face, making him splutter. "Don't call me fluffy."

"Would you prefer Mr. Fluffykins?" Tony swatted at his tail.

"What if I bit your nuts? How would you like that?"

"Then you can just fuck off and forget the deal. I'm going." Tony said matter-of-factly, then pushed the squirrel off him and bent down to pick up his suit. He was stronger than he looked, so was able to balance it over his shoulder, with a little drag behind him

Quickly, Loki jumped into the suit where Tony couldn't see, and ride his way back to the palace.

Another RP by myself and the lovely Doctor Maz :D Hope you enjoy!