UPDATE: minor edits on 7/7/13

So short! So sorry. I have gone through some...lets call it emotional stuff (internally caused) so I am suddenly finding it hard to write light and fluffy stuff.

This is a really short chapter but I hope it helps move the plot along a little bit.

Right now: Loki "meets" Tony.

Soon: Black Widow gets involved, Loki messes with Tony, Loki shows his adorable side and Tony might even figure out who "Hal" is!

They don't recognize me. They won't recognize me. They CAN'T recognize me! Oh, by the Nine...what if they do?!

His mind moved, swiftly going through escape plans as Tony Stark waved to the crowds, the cameras, and to the Make-a-Wish children surrounding him.

He had the suit. The mask was up, allowing the crowd to enjoy his full—that is so fake—smile.

Loki paused. The shorter man's eyes were distant. They did not hold the same light that he had seen before. For a moment, the wayward prince allowed his mind to drift to their first meeting. Tony Stark had smiled, smirked, and glared over an offered drink. The emotions Loki enjoyed ringing out of his enemies would read clearly in the man's eyes. They would crinkle around the edges, smile too wide, eyes glittering and light as he laughed. Loki had seen it several times during his stalking days. Today, however, the light was gone—dulled at the least.

"Now that is a costume!"

Shocked, the young god blinked back to reality to find himself staring into the brown depths of the Avenger.

Double damn.

"Seriously, nice. Who are you supposed to be? Prince something, right? Not charming, but, you know, once upon a time kind of deal?"

The man rambled on as he began to walk closer to the prince. Loki fought to not flinch, taking everything he had to not simply run. Fully charged as he was, there was no way in the nine realms he would start a fight at Disney; the land was to sacred to him. Instead, despite the small alarms ringing in his head, he held his ground and smiled.

"I am no one," he said, voice smooth, young, and with only a slight accent.

Tony smiled as the hair on the back of Loki's neck began to rise. It was not a predators gaze. Loki was, after all, in the form of an incredibly young man. There was a spark, however, that Loki quite enjoyed from the inventor. It was a shine that said the inventor knew he had just been challenged in some way—and that he loved it.

Tony's smile sharpened, "You have to be someone. Well, mostly. You can be no one, but that isn't fun. Besides, you have to be someone to get in here, soo..."

Insert another 100 watts here, the trickster mentally chimed.

"Then if I am not no one then I can only assume I am simply me," he said, smirking at his cleverness. He could put the Mad Hatter to shame if he really wanted.

"Then who is 'me'?"

"Not you and not them."

"You're fun. Got a name, kid?"

Loki grinned, shaking his head in mirth before answering with a soft, "It's Hal."

Tony held out his hands palms up in front of him. "See, not so hard. Prince Hal. Like in Shakespeare."

Shocked eyes snapped to the Avengers face. In all their battles, in all their arguments, banter and witty barbs at each other, not once had Loki believed the man to find comfort in literature let alone the Bard himself.

If Tony was concerned with the suddenly startled gaze, he didn't let on. Instead, he gestured to the group behind him where Black Widow stood.

"You know, we're gathering a group of locals to hang out with the kids and their families. You don't seem to be with anyone so why don't you hang out with us? You know, get the community involved, have fun, get free candy. Basic party stuff."

The suited Avenger was grinning again. This time, though, the smile lit his whole face, eyes and all. Loki found himself smiling in return to see honest happiness on the man. Though the Man of Iron might be his enemy, it was no fun playing a game when they were only half themselves. With the way the man beamed at him as he gestured to the excited group of children, he was almost back to himself.

Grinning broadly, Loki inclined his head regally before walking past the Avenger.

This was going to be fun.