Ah, it's never a party without Tony Stark...
Tony Stark. That stupid, unshaven face looking at him through the window. In his metal, robotic armor, no doubt. How did-?
Loki got out of the bed and strode to the window. He was well aware of the fact that he lacked armor, and tried not to let that bother him. The god's hands itched for something to throw, to stab him with, to kill this arrogant metal clad mortal.
"And why are you here?" Loki asked calmly. Tony raised an eyebrow.
"I could ask you the same thing, Loki. Last time I checked, you were being held prisoner. Again," True, but did that really have to be pointed out?
"Which just goes to show," Loki spread his arms out beside him with a smile. "How bad security is. But again, I ask you. Why. Are. You. Here?"
Tony puffed out a breath of air. "Someone's impatient. Anyway, don't flatter yourself. I'm not here for you. I came," He pointed a metal gloved finger. "To check on her. I got a notice an old girlfriend was flying home, so I thought I might as well look in on her. Seems you got there first, though."
Asha. Asha, Stark's old girlf-?
Oh. Loki's eyes lingered over the glowing reactor on the iron suit's chest plate. He remembered how his scepter couldn't make a dent on Tony's loyalties. "Heartless bastard," Loki quoted Asha musingly. "Couldn't live up to a better description."
"That's what she remembers me as? Shit," Tony said. "Okay, that's why I'm here. To fix that description," Loki couldn't help but smirk.
"Yes, good luck with that," He said. "Her loyalties are elsewhere,"
"Oh, so you're her new sex god then?" Tony raised an eyebrow. Loki shrugged. God yes, but no, they did not have sex. Naturally, Stark was the type of guy who made assumptions. "Already went down that little whore's road, Loki. Does she idolize you? Worship you?" Yes and yes.
Loki leaned in. "Did she draw you?" Stark looked a little confused. "She draws?" Loki smirked, almost in disbelief. Tony Stark was unaware of her unfathomable power. No wonder Asha resented him so much. He probably didn't even know her last name. On the other hand, neither did Loki. "Like a professional,"
Tony motioned the door. "May I come in?" Loki opened the door. Tony sauntered in, his dark eyes flitting around the room. "I still think Stark Tower's better," he muttered. "Just saying,"
Loki had nothing to say to this. It was a bit of an unfair comparison, considering Stark actually made Stark Tower himself, tailored to his tastes, while Asha had to get a pre-made apartment room.
Stark was looking around, his mouth opened to say something else, when Loki saw a pillow ricochet off the side of his head. "What the-?" He turned as another hit him in the face. Asha was awake, sitting in her bed, angry, armed to the teeth with pillowesque projectiles.
"What. The. Hell." She snarled at him, every word accentuated with a thrown pillow. "Are. You. Doing. Here?" she seemed so furious, Loki almost thought it was comical. Maybe too mad. Too mad to be realistic for the situation.
"Easy sweetheart," Stark held up an arm as the pillows bounced harmlessly off his metal suit.
"Aaargh!" Asha, clearly even more mad about being called sweetheart, jumped up and off the bed. "Loki! Where's my sketchbook?" Her tone was so commanding, so furious, Loki took a step back and pointed a little hesitantly at the bedside table. Whatever happened between Asha and Stark, it seemed to be much more than what she was letting on. Asha snatched her book and impatiently flipped through the pages.
"Oh, so you do draw," Stark noted.
"Oh, so I do!" She snapped. Loki watched her seething in amusement. One hand on her sketchbook, one poised in the air. "Glad you noticed!"
Sketchbook glowing...
"That's not natural..." Stark knit his brow. A knife, identical to the one she freed Loki with, the one that could hack through metal, appeared in her free hand.
"And that's a knife..." His helmet slid down over his face as the blade went flying. An arm flew up in self-defense, and it embedded itself in the metal. "The fuck-?" Tony pulled out the knife, staring at the neat little dent it made in his armor. "How-?" Another flew by, nearly missing his head. And another. And another.
Asha's face was contorted in anger, the hand on her sketchbook emitting bright white light as her ammunition kept reappearing in her other hand.
"Asha! Damnit, why're you still angry?" Stark was making his way slowly towards Asha, doing his best to avoid direct hits. Loki was watching the whole scene in amusement, enjoying the entertainment. Why did mortals start battles over such insignificant events?
"Let's put it this way," Asha said, as Stark got close enough to grab her wrists and put a stop in the onslaught of magic knives. "You nearly killed me! I'm just returning the favor!" She attempted to kick Stark, but swore under her breath about metal armor.
Alright, Loki thought. So now, it is apparent there was not just a bad relationship, but some near death experiences concerning Stark. Well, that can help explain the anger.
"You've got a lot of explaining to do," The metal clad man said calmly, holding Asha's wrists without difficulty. "Mainly concerning Loki over there," Loki scooped up one of the fallen knives and pocketed it for later use. "And the glowing. What the hell was with the glowing and magic knives?" His helmet receded back, revealing to Loki a most perfect target. The god threw one of the knives. It was well aimed, but instead of the blade embedding itself in Tony's head, the handle hit him. It didn't knock him out as intended, but hit him hard enough to loosen his grip on Asha. She pulled her arms free, and instead of jumping away, she drew an arm back and delivered a punch straight to the face.
"Shit," Stark muttered, almost incoherently, as he spat out a splash of blood. Asha was cradling her hand painfully in her arm. Stark turned to face Loki, advancing slowly on him. "You did this, didn't you? You did your weird mind control stunt and now she's your mindlessly loyal puppy!"
"Just a kiss," Loki smirked, then punched him. His hand collided painfully with Stark's cheekbone, knocking him out. The iron soldier crashed to the ground.
"Well," Loki sighed, turning back to Asha, who had recovered her sketchbook. "You two have quite a history,"
"Yeah..." Asha smiled. She flipped open her book and began drawing Stark, lying on the ground. She was drawing him, unconscious. "Really though, I'm just an expert at holding grudges,"
"Quite,"
"So, right before I dumped him," She trilled, not looking up from the drawing. "he thought it might be a funny, harmless," That word had a growled edge. "little, joke, if he were to, you know, accidentally push me off the top of Stark Tower. And just to let you know," She held up a hand. "I am deathly afraid of heights,"
"What about on the quinjet?" Loki asked, genuinely curious.
"Okay, to clarify:" Asha smiled. "Heights when I have nothing beneath me."
"Ah,"
"No, nevermind, not really heights." Asha suddenly countered herself. "Falling. I freak out when I get that pit feeling in my stomach. Alright falling, that's it. Anyway, Tony flew down in his Iron Man suit last-second and grabbed me, ten feet from the ground or something. I was scared out of my mind," Her voice was small. "I mean, I actually thought I was going to die. And Tony," Asha's eyes narrowed at the drawing. "Tony just laughed. He said I was being stupid. He said I was being over-dramatic. He said I was overreacting. He did NOT, however," Loki saw the grip on her pencil tighten. "say he was sorry. And honestly, I doubt he ever will,"
"You hate him because he didn't apologize for something?" Loki asked, amused. Maybe Asha was overreacting a bit.
"He nearly killed me," She defended. "And the fact that he didn't apologize for scaring me shitless was because he didn't care." Silence followed. Loki had nothing to say. Stark was, well, an interesting person. Loki didn't doubt for a second Tony would pull a stunt like that to laugh at another's expense.
His eyes lingered over Asha's new drawing. It wasn't finished, but he could tell it... wasn't all that good. The lines were all very slightly crooked and misshapen. Loki was no expert in Asha's ability, but it didn't seem like her mind's eye would recognize the drawing. Then, he saw why. Her fingers were slightly swollen, and every time she dragged the graphite across the page, her hand quivered and she winced.
"Your hand hurts," Loki noted. Asha paused in the drawing. She nodded, once, very slightly.
"I've never really punched someone before," She sighed, setting the pencil down. "At least, not that hard,"
"Well, no point in drawing if you're in pain," Loki said. He was a little frustrated by this, but these drawbacks came around every now and then. Better to just wait for them to pass.
"Yeah," Asha sighed, standing up. "So what do we do about Tony?"
"We leave him," Loki said. "And then, when he wakes, we let him return to Fury so he can spread the word,"
"The word?"
"Loki has escaped," Loki said. "And he has with him a powerful new ally," He added with a smirk. Asha returned the smile. Powerful new ally indeed.
