After that it was business as usual, and if anyone noticed anything different they didn't mention it. Loki found himself spending even more time in the labs of Doctor Banner and Tony Stark, listening to them argue about concepts like nuclear fission and subatomic particles and unidentified elements. He picked up some of their banter, occasionally joining in when he was well-versed enough on a topic to have an equal part in the conversation. He realized that he was beginning to enjoy the time spent in such situations.
Sometime in summer, when Tony and Steve had gone out on one of their 'male bonding nights', which always seemed to require repaired headboards and copious amounts of money spent in shops that Pepper never found out about, and Natasha and Clint were holed up in the shooting range and everyone else was just gone, Loki and Bruce were left in the lab to themselves. To Loki, it seemed his perspective of time had changed entirely; now it was moving just slowly enough for him to enjoy every second of it. This being said, it had been less than two months since the end of the second Avengers fight. He and Bruce were up late studying the structure of the metal the Captain's shield was made of when a timer blared loudly, shocking Loki out of the stupor he had begun to fall into. Bruce quickly turned the alert off and turned apologetically to Loki.
"What was that?"
"Steve's way of making sure Tony doesn't stay up too late working on projects." Bruce admitted.
"I suppose that means we should go."
"Yeah, probably." They finished up what they could and Loki was about to head off to his, now private, rooms when the doctor called him back. "Do you want to go down to the kitchens? I know I haven't eaten in ages."
"That sounds acceptable." He trailed behind Bruce, admiring the man's surprisingly muscular back and shoulders. They scrounged through the fridge, finding a lot of junk food and throwing away a lot of expired stuff Tony had 'forgotten' to deal with. When they both had the equivalent of a full meal they stretched out in front of the television, turning it on and changing it from the news to late-night cartoons. Loki found himself dozing off on Bruce's shoulder two episodes of SpongeBob later.
"Here, let me…" Bruce rearranged them so Loki's head was in his lap.
"You are very kind, did you know that?" Bruce smiled softly, almost pityingly.
"So I've heard." Loki opened his eyes to study Bruce's face, finding himself amazed at how the half man, half monster could look so mature and weathered, and yet so innocent and handsome. He was halfway through a thought about a scar just below his hairline when he noticed Bruce begin to lean down. He met him halfway, pressing his lips to Bruce's softly and admiring how they tasted and how different they were from anything else he'd felt. Loki fell asleep mere minutes later, the TV still playing in the background and Doctor Banner looking down at him like maybe he'd never seen anything so beautiful before.
The next morning arrived with Tony nearly tripping over the two of them, still in his boxers with Steve following behind in sweatpants and no shirt. Bruce stretched and smiled knowingly.
"Good morning Steve, Tony. Forget your clothes again?" It was a long running joke in the house that Tony had more of Steve's clothes than his own.
"Oh, fuck you. What I do in my house in my business." Bruce just smirked at Tony's reply and helped Loki up. As soon as he was standing, the god leaned into the doctor, still not fully awake after being roused so quickly. "Looks like I'm not the only one who got some, anyways." Steve blushed while Loki glared at Tony in a way he was sure was menacing, though Bruce thought he held no more contempt in his glower then a kitten. A very, very, very cute kitten.
"I am not some object to be gotten-"
"Don't take him literally." Bruce wrapped one of his arms around Loki to hold him up. "We're going back to bed, because you so rudely awakened us. Check the charts in the lab on deck two, we added a few equations before the stupid alarm went off."
The pair walked off to Loki's rooms together, falling into bed and curling around each other like it was the most natural thing in the world. When he woke up several hours later, Loki thought about doing Bruce a little favor for taking care of him, but decided that watching him sleep was a more fun activity, at least for the time being. Because they'd been spending so much time together, Loki could tell that exhaustion was welling up and taking its toll on the doctor's body and mind. He thought that as it was their day off, Bruce deserved at least a little extra sleep.
When Bruce finally woke up a bit later they took their time making sure to use their day off to its full extent. Steve came by around two in the afternoon to check on them, shielding his eyes as he walked in. Loki, who had previously been displaying just how much talent his hands had gained from using his staff, threw a pillow at him while Bruce laughed and tried not to moan while doing so.
They ventured downstairs later, hoping that everyone else had gone out or was busy. As was their luck individually, it wasn't much better together and they were met with the entire crew, who decided to clap for them. Bruce's cheeks reddened the tiniest bit, which made Loki smile in a very lovesick way before he pulled his –boyfriend, partner, lover?- down onto one of the couches and proceeded to watch a movie like nothing had changed since the day before. Except now he could sneak kisses when it seemed like no one was looking, even though they definitely all were.
Over time Loki began to realize that their relationship was progressing as a normal human one would. After it became clear that he would not be needed, Loki considered moving back to Asgard but found that doing so would not be conducive to enjoying his life unless he brought Bruce, which he didn't want to do. Who knows what the gods would make of him?
Several months after their first night together, they moved out of Tony's residences and bought a penthouse with money from Bruce's Nobel Prize and the salary Loki was receiving from the government to help enhance the army's tactics. They continued living and fighting together, occasionally joined by Thor and often spending time with Steve and Tony, but mostly just making up for lost time. Loki found that whatever malign intent was on his mind, whether it be the cats that Bruce always brought into the apartment despite his allergy or a stupid taxi driver, Bruce could make it disappear. It shouldn't have surprised Loki, what with his partner's control over himself, but it never ceased to amaze him. He was finally content.
