"Planning to appeal to my humanity?" Loki jested as the metal armor was taken from Tony's body. Green eyes followed every movement of the mortal as he walked over to the bar.
"Nope. Actually, I'm planning on threatening you." Calm and confident, as if sharing a joke with an old friend. Words were easy for Tony, easier for Loki, easy to share between the two of them. Words were safe.
"Should have left your armor on for that," he said arrogantly, raising an eyebrow. He put his staff up against the wall. A silent agreement passed between the two. No weapons, no bloodshed, just words. Besides, hasn't it been said that words could cause more damage than a bullet ever could?
No? Well, that was something Loki intended to fix immediately as this puny world was his.
"Care for a drink?" Tony's hands moved automatically in a dance they knew so well. Grabbing glasses from the cabinet and the amber liquid from the table, he poured two glasses, and while the god was distracted put on his bracelets. He knew this unspoken truce wouldn't last. Best to be prepared.
Loki nodded curtly. "Stalling won't change anything Stark," he said as Tony handed him the glass.
"Not stalling, threatening," Tony reminded him with a small smile. He took a seat on the black leather sofa and Loki took it as an invitation to sit as well.
They had both done their research. Tony had taken to questioning Thor at every given opportunity and brushing up on his Norse mythology. Hacking S.H.I.E.L.D's files had also helped. (Seriously though, hacking their files was ridiculously easy. Tony didn't need to know that Fury had an afro back in the day, really, he didn't.) Loki had questioned, well more like ordered Clint to reveal everything he knew about the little merry band of misfits.
A look of understanding had passed between them; they knew that the other knew their dirty little secrets. Tony was more than aware of the way the god's eyes drifted over the light coming from his chest, knowing that Loki knew all it would take was one pull and he'd be dead.
Loki saw the sympathy in Stark's eyes. Saw the understanding of wanting to be noticed and to be accepted and loved especially by one's father. He knew just how scarily similar the two of them were.
Plus, Fury had made the mistake of letting Stark try to interrogate Loki. Never did either of them imagine that it would end with a heart to heart. But that's what happened, and to the chagrin of both men it was cut short by Fury. Neither of them realized how much they needed someone who understood them, someone who would just listen.
"You know," Tony broke the silence, "you could still stop this." Loki let loose a broken chuckle.
"No, no. It's much too late for that I'm afraid."
"You'll lose." It wasn't even a threat. It was a fact. Pure and simple.
"I have an army." A confident statement that was ended with a sip of his drink. Tony couldn't help but watch the elegant way the god did everything. His brown eyes took in everything about the very attractive man sitting calmly next to him.
Tony was no stranger to bedding men. And Loki was definitely someone he would consider his type of guy. His fingers twitched, wanting to bury themselves in the shoulder length black hair, to leave his mark on the green eyed beauty.
And it wasn't only his appearance that Tony found himself attracted to. They were so similar. They had the same issues, the same walls. Loki could hold his own in a battle of wits. He shared the engineer's passion when it came to the things they were good at. For Tony it was science, for Loki it was magic. He found himself feeling fond for the broken god.
In another life maybe they could've had something.
"We have a Hulk." Both shared a chuckle at that.
"I thought the beast had wandered off." There was no insult meant and Tony knew it. They just kept laughing. They laughed even as chaos and destruction raged outside. They were in their own world, where no one else belonged, and a world where no one else could understand. It was the first good thing to happen to either of them in so long.
So long had something as simple as understanding been kept from them; so long they had gone without someone to relate to. They wanted, they hoped, they yearned for this moment to last forever.
But good things always did come to an end much too early for these two.
"Stark! We need you down on 42nd! Now!" Steve's voice rang over JARVIS's speakers, causing both men to sigh.
Tony stood first and offered his hand to Loki, who hesitantly grasped it. Tony swallowed the lump that formed in his throat, knowing that this was ending. He didn't want it to end. If he could have his way…but he couldn't/
Tony pulled the other man into a hug, burying his face in the god's neck as a lone tear made its way down his cheek. Loki tightened his grip on the human, unwilling to let go, but knowing he has no choice. They have roles to play, shoes to fill.
They take each other in, one last time. Trying to remember every smell, every curve, every imperfection.
They pull apart slowly, still unwilling to let go. Loki moves a hand to Stark's face, wiping away the tears that lay there.
"There are no need for tears, Man of Iron. We knew…we knew this would happen from the start," Loki chokes on the words and closes his eyes briefly against the tears that gather. He never would have thought himself capable of shedding tears over a human. But he sees himself, sees that in another life things might have been different between the two. He will miss this human. This arrogant man, with a tongue as sharp as his own, had won his respect and his affection.
He will do his best to not kill Stark on the battlefield.
In a move that surprises both of them, Tony quickly presses his lips against the god's. It lasts all of four seconds, but it is enough. Enough for the tears to escape Loki's own eyes, enough for them to grab at each other one last time, enough to encourage one last kiss before they broke apart from each other.
"Loki," Stark trailed off not knowing what to say. Words failed him when he needed them the most.
"I know Stark, I know." Loki reached for his staff. He made his way to the broken window.
"In another life, we…well, things could've been different."
Loki hides the broken, tearful smile that makes its way on his face. "Perhaps, Stark. Until then." And then he's gone. Tony smiles sadly at the space the god just occupied, wishing he'd come back.
"Tony! Where are you?"
Tony sighs. "I'm coming to you now."
He presses his fingers to his lips, trying to forever engrain the feeling of their kiss in his mind. He never wants to forget. In another life, maybe he'll remember.
In another life…