It wasn't often that Tony let himself have a breakdown, but sometimes the world just weighed heavily like a chain around his throat slowly choking him.

So many things had gone wrong and many others were still a work in progress.

The Accords. The UN. The remaining Avengers. Thanos and his army.

There was just no end to it at all. Once one problem was patched another rose in it's place - like fucking HYDRA or something.

Sometimes Tony couldn't breathe - other times he didn't want to.

Loki could always sense when Tony was at his lowest. He would show up without saying a single word and just opened his arms. Tony would stumble into Loki's arms, rest his head against the God's chest and just let himself be.

With Loki he didn't have to be anyone but himself.

He didn't have to be a genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. He didn't have to be Iron Man, didn't even have to be Stark - UN Representative and Accords Liaison.

No, with Loki he only had to be Anthony. Loki's Anthony. And that's all Loki ever asked of him.

Within the confines of Loki's arms Tony could finally let himself just exist in the moment. No obligations, no betrayals to get over, no world to save.

"Feeling better?" asked Loki softly as he buried his face in Tony's hair.

"Yeah, a bit."

They moved over to their bedroom. Planning for Earth's defenses could wait until morning.

It was times like this that Tony wondered how he managed to get so lucky. He never would have been able to survive without the God of Mischief in his life.

The renegade Avengers were brought back state-side after Thor and Loki came back to Earth to warn them about the impending armada headed their way. Loki and Tony found themselves working endless nights together on plans and solutions. They would talk science and magic, about family, betrayals and happy moments, about their personal failings and rising successes. It was a few months into those late night discussions that made them realize they had more in common with one another and decided to take their friendship one step further and neither had ever regretted it.

"Did you want to talk about it?" asked Loki as he waved his hand and undressed them both magically.

Tony let out a watery chuckle. "Not really."

Loki hummed in reply, getting them settled on the bed with Tony laying in Loki's arms, his head cradled on Loki's shoulder. He tightened his arms around the engineer. "May I kiss you?" he asked softly. It was such a contrast to their usual interactions that Tony had to bite back a laugh.

"Okay, where did my cranky, sassy God go to? Did you eat too many marshmallows that you finally joined their ranks?" asked Tony, his mood already lightening. Loki seemed to bring out the best in him. Whether other people agreed with that or not was their problem.

Loki huffed out an exasperated sigh. "I try to be soft and romantic for you and you have to go and ruin it," said Loki as he lightly pinched Tony's arm.

"Ouch! Stop abusing me," teased Tony as he shifted around in order to look into Loki's eyes.

"I'm sorry, I suppose I should kiss it and make it better after all," said Loki as he dipped his head and kissed Tony softly, their kiss slowly becoming more sensual.

They made love slowly that night, neither wanting to ruin the moment by bringing up all the problems that haunted them in their lives. They traded soft kisses, gentle caresses, and both came calling the others' name.

The next morning came all too soon.

"So, last night was a thing," was the first thing that Tony said when he woke up and noticed that Loki was staring at him with affection.

"Yes it was."

"We doing that again? 'Cuz I gotta say, our rough, super sexy times are awesome and I love them, but last night? Last night was simply amazing," confessed Tony as he continued to look at Loki.

"We'll do it that way as often as you require," was Loki's answer as he drew Tony closer to him and placed a kiss on his lips.

"And you too," answered Tony. Because he might break down from time to time from all his burdens with Loki picking up the pieces, but Loki was easily as breakable and Tony was more than happy to help glue those pieces back together too.

END.