Loki teleported right into the other mage's apartment. There were wards, of course, but they bent around him, shifted, recognising Loki's magic and seeing him as friend rather than foe. They still pressed around him, the tingle of magic tangible on Loki's skin. But for now, he was safe.

A quip glimpse around the room showed that Loki was alone, but he knew that the wards would have alerted the owner to Loki's presence. 'Syro,' he called as he stood, and folded his arms behind his back when he heard movement from down the hall.

The man eventually appeared- well, not man, so much as Elf. He had a glamour up, even now, but it was easy to see through when you were as gifted in magic as Loki was. And when you knew the other person well.

'Loki,' the Dark Elf mused when he entered the room. He let the glamour drop, revealing long hair the colour of lavender, and eyes as red as freshly spilled blood. His skin was pale, almost transparent, revealing the veins beneath that carried purple blood throughout his body. 'To what do I owe the pleasure?'

Loki simply raised an eyebrow, and Syro chuckled.

'The bomb?' he questioned, and Loki inclined his head, 'I see. I didn't think you cared, in all honesty. You told me not to completely destroy the city, but when you didn't show up after it was planted, well...'

'I don't care,' Loki admitted, 'well, I didn't.'

Syro raised an eyebrow.

'You are aware of the Avengers,' Loki stated.

'Of course,' Syro said. 'You told me about them when I first came to this Realm. You said I could stay as long as I didn't hurt them too much. They're yours, right?'

Loki nodded again and tipped his head to look at the apartment. They were standing in the living room, the walls painted a dark, muddy brown. The furniture was all neat, expensive, and Loki wondered where Syro had stolen it from. Or if he'd just conjured it himself.

'You need to leave, Syro,' Loki finally spoke again.

'Oh?' Syro asked. He sounded more amused than annoyed, curious as to why Loki wanted him gone.

'You stepped over the line I drew,' Loki revealed. 'I told you not to hurt the Avengers.'

'I didn't,' Syro stated. 'They could have easily left before the bomb went off, but you destroyed it.'

'Any other mortal would have run, true,' Loki conceded, 'but the Avengers aren't normal. They planned to stay even if they couldn't stop the bomb. They came to me, asked me to stop it.'

'So you did,' Syro hummed. 'Interesting.'

'How so?' Loki asked, eyebrow raised.

'You just told me that you didn't care if the bomb went off,' Syro said. 'Yet you stopped it to save the Avengers. You've also warned everyone in our little circle off; the Avengers are yours to play with, and nobody else is allowed to.'

'We have history,' Loki stated.

'I am aware,' Syro conceded. 'But I'm curious as to why you haven't simply destroyed them yet. You could, if you wanted to.'

'Yes, I could,' Loki agreed. 'But I don't want to. Not yet.'

'Why?' Syro questioned.

'None of your business,' Loki replied. His eyes were narrowed, dark where they rested on the other mage. Syro was powerful, yes, but nowhere near Loki's level. Not many people were, and they'd discovered that soon after Loki's "fall from grace", as some in the magical community were calling it. A Jötunn mage raised on Asgard, taught Asgardian magic, was certainly fascinating. At least Syro thought so.

'How did they get you to agree to help?' Syro asked suddenly. Loki turned back to him, an eyebrow arching. 'I know that you don't want them dead, at least not yet,' Syro continued, 'but they don't know that, do they? So what did you get in return?'

Loki pondered answering or not. It wasn't as though he was afraid of the repercussions, or even ashamed of what he and Anthony had. But Syro would be leaving before the end of the night, and all it took was one slip of the tongue to the wrong person, and the enemies Loki had made would come after Stark. Then again, Stark could take care of himself.

'Amnesty,' Loki eventually answered.

Syro snorted. 'Amnesty? You stop one bomb, and you're suddenly pardoned for invading their planet?'

'No,' Loki shook his head. 'They can't capture me, it's futile. I demanded amnesty for something else.'

'Oh?' Syro raised an eyebrow. 'Do share.'

Loki stared at him.

'I promise to leave as soon as you teleport away,' Syro said. Loki felt the press of magic, of a vow being declared. Loki continued to stare. Syro rolled his eyes. 'And I promise not to reveal what you tell me tonight.'

'I claimed amnesty for one of the Avengers,' Loki explained. Syro frowned. 'The woman, Black Widow, knew something about me. She used me to get what she wanted.' He sighed. 'I've been sleeping with one of them.'

Syro snorted, and then laughed, making Loki scowl at the Elf. 'I'm sorry,' Syro gasped, 'but you're having sex with a mortal?'

'He's not just any mortal,' Loki growled.

'Oh, is he special?' Syro laughed.

Loki snarled and lashed out, his magic slashing Syro across the face. The Elf hissed before raising a hand and closing the wound.

'Sorry, sorry,' he muttered. 'Never thought you'd fall for a mortal,' he murmured in his native tongue.

Loki responded in kind. 'Neither did I, but I have.'

Syro raised his eyebrows. 'Really? You're in love with some mortal?' Loki simply inclined his head. 'Fascinating,' Syro mused. 'No wonder you stopped the bomb. Couldn't have your partner die in a magical explosion.'

'Quite,' Loki sniffed. 'Now, I believe we had a deal?'

Syro rolled his eyes and said, 'Can I at least stay on Midgard? Perhaps Tokyo, I've heard it's fascinating.'

Loki dithered on that for a moment before saying, 'If I hear anything-'

'You'll cut my toes off,' Syro muttered. 'Yeah, yeah. Go on then, lover boy, off you trot.'

Loki scowled at him, but between one blink and the next he was gone, the wards letting him leave with barely a whisper.

Syro laughed once he was alone. Loki falling for a mortal? Well, stranger things had happened, the Elf supposed. He shook his head and pushed it from his mind; he had to pack.

{oOo}

A second after Loki appeared, JARVIS said, 'Mr Stark is in the kitchen.' Loki raised an eyebrow, and the AI added, 'The communal floor, Mr Laufeyson.'

'Ah,' Loki said and left the bedroom. Stark barely knew how to cook; Loki would have been worried if the mortal was trying now. The elevator opened for him, and JARVIS directed it to the Avengers' floor. They each had their own, Loki knew, but they liked congregating together; all mortals did, Loki had found.

The doors opened to voices; the super heroes chattering about the day's events, each retelling it, despite the others having been there. When Loki entered the room, the Hawk spotted him first and went completely still. Loki knew that if he'd had a weapon, it'd be pointed at him. Instead, Loki simply raised an eyebrow.

'What are you doing here?' Barton demanded.

His words brought everyone else's attention to Loki, and the god said, 'I have a standing invitation.'

'Brother!' Thor shouted, making Loki scowl and glare at him. It didn't deter Thor, of course, who threw himself from his chair to wrap his arms around Loki in a bone-crushing hug.

'Thor,' Loki growled, 'I need to... breathe!'

Thor let him go, though didn't step back, still grinning with an arm wrapped around the younger god. 'It is good to see you!' Thor boomed, making Loki wince.

'Okay, Point Break, leave the guy alone,' Tony said. Loki looked at him immediately, and a happy, somewhat relieved smile overtook the inventor's face. Loki nearly rolled his eyes. Stark acted like he didn't have a care in the world, but most of the time he was as insecure as Loki himself. Loki wanted to change that. Stark was important. And not just to Loki. 'Hey,' Tony said when he realised that Loki was looking at him.

Loki simply inclined his head.

'So this has been happening a lot, then?' Barton demanded, eyes hard on Stark. 'He just wanders in and you let him stay?'

'Well, uh...' Tony offered the other man a shrug.

'They're sleeping together, Clint,' Romanov said. 'Where did you think they were doing it?'

'An evil lair somewhere?' Barton offered, making both Stark and Loki roll their eyes.

'Brother, we have much to discuss!' Thor interrupted.

'Like what?' Loki drawled.

'You joining my shield brothers and I in battle!' Thor said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Loki glared at him. 'I am not a hero, Thor, nor am I one of your precious Avengers!' he snapped.

Thor's grin turned into a pout. 'But Loki-'

'But nothing, Thor!' Loki said and finally pulled away from the blonde oaf. 'What I did today was for Stark, not for you, or for this city. I couldn't care less if it explodes into a billion tiny pieces!'

Thor's pout deepened. 'But-'

'Hey, Thor. Give it a rest, yeah?' Stark, thankfully, interrupted.

'I'm still the same person I was yesterday, Thor,' Loki said. 'Don't think that this has changed anything.'

The Avengers were all staring at him, but only Stark looked mildly happy. He walked across the kitchen and slipped between the two gods, one of his hands firm on Loki's elbow.

'Come on,' he said, and Loki allowed himself to be steered out of the room.

They were silent as they made their way up to Tony's penthouse, Stark fidgeting and Loki staring at the walls. Tony went straight to his bar when they entered, and Loki watched him, green eyes dark in the soft lighting that JARVIS had turned on.

'So, uh...' Tony hummed before taking a sip of his drink. 'Changes nothing, huh?' he eventually finished.

'What it changes has nothing to do with your team-mates,' Loki said.

Tony nodded slowly. 'So... what does it change?' he asked.

Loki shrugged one shoulder before linking his fingers behind his back. He turned to gaze out of the large, floor-to-ceiling windows.

'Loki?'

'What do you want to change?' Loki asked instead of answering.

Tony snorted, and Loki heard him take another drink. 'Well,' the inventor said slowly, 'I'd, uh... I'd like you to stop disappearing as soon as we finish having sex.'

Loki turned to glance at him, his lips tilting up slightly in amusement. 'You want to cuddle, Stark?'

'Shut up,' Tony grunted. 'You do, too,' he added under his breath, but Loki heard him. It made the god's smile broaden. It was true that he enjoyed... cuddling, with Anthony. The man was always warm, a stark contrast to Loki's low body temperature.

Whenever Tony fell asleep, Loki snuggled up behind him, arms wrapped around the mortal, and just enjoyed being there. He always left when Tony showed signs of waking, not wanting to overstep the tentative boundaries they'd set up. Loki had never had a proper relationship apart from his marriage with Sigyn, and that had turned sour very, very quickly.

'Um... you do wanna continue this, right?' Tony asked, drawing Loki from his thoughts.

'I tell you that I love you,' Loki said slowly, 'and you think that I want to walk away?'

Tony shrugged. 'I dunno, Loki. Good things usually don't happen to me.'

'Or me,' Loki replied. Tony just nodded. 'Do you love me, Stark?'

'What?' Tony choked on his drink. 'Of course I do!'

'Then that's all that matters,' Loki said.

'Oh?' Tony asked. 'What about my team-mates? The fact that I'm supposed to be a hero, and you a villain?'

'We're still those things, Stark,' Loki said. 'But if you'd like, I can promise not to hurt your team-mates.'

Tony snorted and shook his head. 'You haven't hurt any of them for a long time, Loki. At least, not permanently.'

'Broken toys are no fun to play with,' Loki replied.

'Is that what I am?' Tony asked. 'A toy?'

Loki sighed and turned to look at him, eyes immediately finding Tony's. 'No,' he said. 'You're different. You have been for a long time.'

'When did you realise that you...'

'Loved you?' Loki supplied when Stark trailed off. Tony nodded. 'When I realised that I couldn't hurt the Avengers because it would mean hurting you.'

Tony nodded again. Loki watched as he took another drink, licked his lips, before speaking. 'I figured it out a few months ago,' he said.

'Three?' Loki guessed, remembering what Romanov had said earlier that day.

'Yeah,' Tony said.

'What made you realise?' Loki asked.

Tony shrugged a shoulder, even as he answered. 'I'd rather wake up with you there, than have you teleport out in the middle of the night while I'm still sleeping. I'd rather sleep with you and only you than whatever hot body throws themselves at me. I wanna take you out, eat together, just... hang out, without it having to be just about sex. I just...' Tony sighed and leaned heavily against the bar. 'I just want you around, all the time. That's what made me realise this was more than sex.'

Loki's eyes had widened, and he tried to school his expression when Tony looked his way, but wasn't sure if he managed it. 'Oh.'

'Yeah,' Tony murmured. 'Is that, uh... something you'd be interested in?' he asked.

Loki couldn't find it in himself to speak. Instead he just nodded, and Tony grinned when he glanced down at his drink. He knew without looking that Loki was smiling, too.

'Anthony?' Loki asked, and the mortal looked up.

'Yeah?'

'I'm tired,' Loki said. Tony raised his eyebrows, and Loki glanced towards the hallway that led to Tony's bedroom.

'Oh,' Tony said, 'oh. Right, yeah.' He downed the rest of his drink and put the glass aside.

Loki allowed Tony to lead him to the bedroom, despite knowing where it was. When they entered Tony disappeared into the bathroom, and Loki undressed. He borrowed a pair of Tony's sweats; the majority of his own clothing was Asgardian, and the few Midgardian clothes he had weren't comfortable to sleep in. When Tony re-entered the bedroom it was to find Loki already in bed, curled up on the side he always took when they slept together.

Tony had a silly grin on his face when he crawled under the covers, and Loki knew that he was mirroring it.

'Are we really doing this?' Tony asked when he'd settled.

'Yes,' Loki said. 'I want to.'

'Me too,' Tony agreed. He leaned forward to kiss Loki before turning over, scooting back until he was pressed up against the god.

Loki couldn't help but chuckle; it seemed that his cuddling hadn't slipped past Tony after all. Loki wrapped an arm around Tony and drew him closer, breathing out a sigh that ruffled Tony's hair.

'I'm glad you're here,' Tony murmured, so quiet that Loki almost missed it.

Loki didn't reply; he just leaned forward to press a kiss to Tony's neck, and enjoyed the soft shiver Tony gave before he went still, sleep already pulling him under.

'Night, Loki,' Tony mumbled.

Loki smiled. 'Goodnight, Anthony.'

{End}

Author's Note: Yeah, so I hadn't planned on continuing the original story, but I did, and that's that. Hope you enjoyed.

Cheers,

{IBegToDreamAndDiffer}