Tony woke unwillingly the next morning, shaking off the remnants of a pleasant albeit unusual dream. Dragging himself out of bed, he stumbled sleepily into the living room, and received a sharp jolt of shock as he spotted Loki, fast asleep on the couch.
Not a dream, then, I guess, he thought in surprise.
The slender figure looked at home curled up on the black leather sofa, his chest rising and falling slightly, eyelids fluttering in his sleep. Tony's eyes widened for a moment as he saw Loki's leather tunic and coat cast carelessly onto the floor, before he remembered the circumstances leading to his lack of clothing. Tony eyed the bandage around his chest, and saw that it was soaked through with blood. Loki's forehead was crumpled slightly, as though haunted by a bad dream.
Tony crept past him and picked up the bottle of brandy, still sitting on the counter from the previous night. He poured himself a glass, careful not to make the glass chink for fear of waking his guest.
Suddenly Loki made a strangled noise and sat bolt upright, eyes wide and fearful. He spotted Tony and masked any sign of vulnerability in a fraction of a second.
"Want a drink?" Tony asked casually, deciding not to test the god's patience with questions just yet.
"I suppose." he replied, smoothing his sleep-ruffled hair absentmindedly.
"Any preferences?"
"Surprise me."
Tony grabbed another glass and poured it professionally with one hand, snatching the ice tray out of the freezer with the other.
"Ah, no ice." Loki interjected quickly. Tony raised his eyebrows, and the god laughed. "I assure you, it is not worth such a shock so early in the morning. Ice and Jotuns do not mix so well - but that is a story for another time. Definitely no ice for me."
The other man shrugged and carried over the brandies, Loki accepting his with a grateful inclination of the head. Tony fell back onto the couch and kicked his feet up on the coffee table, earning an amused smirk from the dark-haired man.
"So, you got any plans? Gonna try and destroy Tokyo before lunch or something?" Tony asked conversationally.
Loki grinned, staring down at his drink sheepishly. "Er, no, not as such. I think I'll leave the conquering of Midgard to someone else for today."
"I agree wholeheartedly." Tony said sarcastically, nodding in agreement. "To be honest, I wasn't much a fan of your plan last time. Really, really bad idea. I can't even imagine what compelled you to mess with the Tessaract."
"I'm sure you can't." Loki replied brusquely.
Tony raised his eyebrows. "Oh? A sensitive topic, I see?"
Loki snarled angrily, surprised by the mortal's nerve.
"You are a child playing with fire and expecting not to get burnt." he snapped.
"No, I'm just willing to risk a burn for a little fun, that's all." Tony responded plainly. "So, Reindeer Games, what's the deal? Why try and steal a power you know you can't control, for an army that you know will hunt you down and torture you until they get what they want?"
"What did I have to lose?" Loki replied angrily, shooting to his feet and pacing back and forth slightly - his nervous habit.
"I have no idea. Your outstanding hairstyle?" Tony suggested sassily.
Loki ignored him, shaking his head and screwing up his face in a scornful scowl. "It was worth an attempt, at the least, to try and regain any scrap of power I could. I had lost my influence in Asgard, not to mention any value I might have had to my supposed father. Who, might I add, is not in fact my father, but just another detail in the elaborate web of lies that was spun around me throughout my whole childhood!"
"Daddy issues, we've all got them." Tony said dismissively.
"What?!" Loki spat. "You think I merely have daddy issues?"
"I know you do." Tony replied shortly.
"You are a fool. Do you not see?" Loki laughed derisively. "I am not Loki Odinson, I am not Loki Laufeyson. I am neither Asgardian nor of Jotun. I am Loki only, and I am alone."
Tony bowed his head, and noted quietly: "Perhaps you spent so much time focusing on how you weren't your father's favorite that you never noticed that you were Thor's."
"Thor's what?"
"Thor's favorite."
Loki frowned slightly, head tilted to the side as he surveyed Tony with interest.
"You have a curious method of perception." he said finally.
"Yeah, well, what else would you expect from a genius-billionaire-playboy-philanthropist?" Tony replied, shrugging.
Loki rolled his eyes, amusement playing at his pursed lips.
"So, seeing as world domination is out of the question, what's the plan? Feeding the ducks at Central Park?" Tony suggested playfully.
Loki narrowed his eyes.
"I think I will require some rest before I attempt anything of the sort." he mused, stretching out his arms and wincing slightly. "Usually I would heal myself, but it takes energy an amount of I do not yet possess."
"Heal yourself? What, with magic?" Tony asked, frowning slightly.
"Precisely." Loki answered briefly. "But it does require considerable focus and power, and as I said, I am not at my peak just at the moment. That said, it took me several hours to recover from that Hulk creature, and these injuries are considerably more... Skillfully inflicted, shall I say."
"A few hours to heal? You poor thing." Tony scoffed.
Loki smiled dazzlingly, eyes sparkling with a mischief that seemed both natural and at ease.
"I am a god, you know."
"I am a god, you know." Tony mouthed silently, with as much sass as he could muster. Loki laughed, then winced, bringing a hand to his bloody bandages with a pained look.
"You'll need to change those, unless you want the cut to become infected." Tony pointed out, picking up one of the leftover bandages from the previous night off the coffee table and tossing it across to Loki, who caught it agilely. He gave Tony a stony look, who took the cue to glance away and grant the god some modesty as he redressed his wound.
"As much as I'm sure you enjoy me wandering around your tower dressed like this," Loki began with a smirk, gesturing lightly to his bare chest. "It would seem apt to acquire some clothing that isn't so... Tattered."
He indicated the pile of bloody, ruined fabric that had been his armor.
"I don't think I have any." Tony admitted, scratching the back of his neck, frowning. "I mean, none of mine will fit you, obviously."
Loki's face flittered with confusion.
"Oh, come on, do I have to say it? You're pretty damn tall, and I'm... Well, not." Tony finished reluctantly. Loki gave him a broad smirk. "Yeah, yeah, quit that. I'll have J.A.R.V.I.S. deliver something."
"J.A.R.V.I.S.?" Loki repeated slowly, frowning.
Tony laughed shortly. "I'd almost forgotten - you're all Roman-era, aren't you, on Asgard?"
Loki stared blankly.
"Er, do you have wi-fi?" Tony inquired pointedly. The god shook his head. "No, I didn't think so. Well, I guess I'll have to show you J.A.R.V.I.S. at some stage. That and everything else that's been invented in the last two thousand years."
Loki's top lip curled contemptuously, and Tony held up his hands in a sign of peace.
"Sorry, sorry, didn't mean to anger you. Let's just stick to the no-kill rule we'd established for today, alright?"
"Yes, of course." Loki agreed smoothly, a smile on his lips and an entirely unconvincing gleam in his eyes. Tony frowned ever so slightly.
"Alright, well, I've got work to do, so-"
"Work?" Loki repeated questioningly.
Tony rolled his eyes. "Surprisingly enough, you don't earn billionaire status by playing Oprah with Asgardian gods all day. You're a big boy, you can take care of yourself, can't you?"
With that he strode from the room, leaving a partially bewildered Loki in his wake.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., keep a damn close watch on that bastard. I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him - like a bull in a china shop, that one." Tony muttered, once he was out of earshot.
The cool, British voice chuckled quietly. "Of course, sir. There are more cameras in that room than there are flaws in the Mark VIII prototype."
"Is that a dig?"
"I believe it is, sir."
"Tell me, J.A.R.V.I.S., why did I program you to be such a sassy bitch?"
"I haven't the slightest clue, sir."
"Me neither."