Chapter 1 – Everything Starts With a Cliche
Loki Laufeyson stepped out into the street and was immediately bombarded with the sounds and nuisances of regular people. Scowl already in place, he strode down the busy streets, the crowds subconsciously giving him a wide birth – as if they knew he'd bring trouble. He walked to the same coffee shop he went to everyday – picking the same table in the back corner of the room, ordering the same coffee, and opening that morning's newspaper. Like every morning, he ignored the eyes of almost all the other customers – except one. There was one set of eyes he payed closed attention too, watching even as they watched him. He was just better at the subtlety, if the other was even being subtle. He knew the man watching him wasn't known for subtlety.
Tony Stark noticed the man in the back corner the moment he stepped into the small cafe. It was an intimate spot – used mostly by rich, higher end folk who tried to avoid the popular chain stores. He'd been in for the first time a month before, ducking in to avoid another one night meeting with a woman, when he first noticed the man. He'd returned every morning since then, more and more curious every time he saw the other there. He was always there when Tony arrived and always there when he left, always half hidden behind a newspaper and always immaculately dressed. As an American icon, he was used to his attention being returned, but this man had never looked up to so much as flicker a glance, though he knew he had been openly staring since he'd discovered both man and cafe. When his coffee was served, he decided to wander over to the table, finally unable to go on without gaining some sort of recognition from the mystery man.
"Morning," Tony greeted, and the man looked up with cool blue eyes, a single brow lifted in question. "Anything interesting in there today? I only find it interesting if it's about me." he said with his trademark smirk, watching the mystery man's face.
"Tony Stark. What a lovely surprise. To what do I owe the honour?" there was a hint of sarcasm in his tone, and that only drew Tony's interest.
"What's your name?" he asked, and received the same cool look.
"Loki. Laufeyson." he replied simply, and Tony took the chair across from him without an invitation. The temperature of the look dropped even farther, but Tony didn't budge, watching as Loki politely folded his newspaper on the table before picking up his coffee cup. "Is there something you'd like?" he asked politely but with a hint of impatience, as if he couldn't wait for the conversation to be over.
"Yes, why do you drink the exact same coffee every morning in a spot that is constantly coming up with new flavours? Don't you get bored or curious? I get bored. Uniformity isn't my style." there was a hint of a smile at that, though it was the quickest flash, and Tony leaned forward.
"There is reliability in having the same day each day," Loki answered in an offhand tone, but beneath that was a rawness to the statement.
"Why here and not another cafe?"
Loki gave him a bored expression, though the first thought that came to mind was 'peasants'.
"Why do you come here?" he asked, fielding the question with one of his own. Tony just grinned at the evasion.
"You."
Loki froze for a sixth of a second but otherwise didn't react, taking another sip of his coffee. It was what he'd suspected, but what he hadn't expected was so blatant a reply.
"I'm no one of importance." Loki said with a shrug, reaching for his paper again, about to open it and dismiss the man across from him.
"I disagree." there was a pause where Loki just gave Tony and ice cold look, but there was a curiosity behind it. "Dinner. Tonight. Eight o'clock suit you?"
"I have previous arrangements for tonight." Loki said dismissively, and now Tony Stark flashed his trademark grin.
"Not anymore you don't." He slid a card across the table with fancy print and a phone number on it. "Here. Eight o'clock. Table name will be under Stark." He sauntered away and Loki stared after him, expressionless.
When Tony glanced through the window before walking by, Loki was reading the paper again, the card still sitting on the table. With another grin, he pulled out his cellphone.
"Pepper, I need you to make a reservation for me."