Here is chapter 4! Wow I'm on a role. I'm surprised with myself. Really, I am. It's rare for me to get this far and not be bored with the story. Hopefully that means I can do this without taking a yearlong break in between the chapters. I just finished writing a chapter from a story I've been ignoring for close to 2 years. People were yelling at me (through the comments)! Anyway, here it is, the next chapter.
!
Three weeks later found Loki showering and thinking of Stark. Not in a perverted way, but the thought had crossed his mind. Loki was surprised how comfortable he had become around the man. For the last three weeks the man has been plastered to his side (once quite literally when an experiment had failed and glued to together for two days). They watched thousands of movies, or so it seemed. Tony was instructing him in all parts of human society. Politics, current events, gossip, world government and history.
When Stark wasn't teaching him that they both sat in the lab. Tony would work on whatever project he had decided to do while Loki would read. Stark mumbled as he worked, talking to himself and JARVIS as if Loki wasn't there. It was comforting. Even though it had been a while Loki was still trying to get over his fear of being alone. He hated the feeling that he might go back to that cell, but with Tony there was no fear of that.
Stark ended up in his bed fairly often. It didn't take much for Loki to realize that it was because of the nightmares. Neither commented on it though. Loki still relished in the comfort and for once in his life Tony was sleeping semi-regularly. In fact, since Loki came he apparently has been eating and behaving better than he had since he was a teenager. Either way, they had both been very comfortable around each other.
Loki put in his contacts while he hummed; he was wearing them constantly to practice. He was happy that he could act himself even though he didn't look himself. He strolled out of his room wearing only a towel. Stark told him to be comfortable in his house and Loki promptly told him that he preferred to be nude.
"Oh it must be my lucky day." Stark had quipped with a salacious smile. He would jokingly check him out every time he walked around with less than normal clothing. It was because he was so comfortable, he supposed, that he just walked into a kitchen full of Avengers in just a towel.
There was a stunned silence as the Avengers stared at the half-nude man strolling through the kitchen. In less than a second Natasha had out her gun, Clint was pointing arrows at him and Fury had a gun of his own.
"Oh… OH!" Loki gasped in surprise. He lifted up his hands in surrender. There were no calls of 'Loki!' so he assumed the disguise worked. "Just… just hold on. JARVIS!" He yelled at the ceiling, not moving and trying to ignore armed and staring people.
"Yes sir?"
"Can you tell Tony to get his ass up here?"
"Sure." JARVIS answered quickly.
"What do you want sweet heart?" Tony's voice rattled from the ceiling. Loki glared at the ceiling. Stark had a thing for pet-names and no amount of slaps to the head would stop him.
"Well dear. You have guests and you failed to mention it to me, so I am standing in front of them in a towel. I can't go and change because they are all pointing their weapons at me." Loki turned and glared at the stunned superheroes. It was less than thirty seconds before Tony stepped out of the elevator and took in the scene in the kitchen.
"You were telling the truth." He looked a little stunned. The Avengers looked over at him in surprise. "Guys can you not point your guns at my new assistant? He is the first person who hasn't run away screaming and I don't think I would find another like him." He made a calming motion. The Avengers, well the ones from SHEILD, put down their weapons.
"Who is this Stark?" Fury growled, glaring with one eye. Loki responded with a quirked eyebrow.
"This is Luke. My new assistant. Listen, before we get into this can you let him change?" Tony asked. Loki spun on his heels and quickly walked away. As he turned the corner he let out the breath he had been holding in.
"What the hell was that Stark?" Fury yelled. Tony looked around out his kitchen. Bruce was sitting in a chair with a coffee looking amused. Natasha was watching the hallway suspiciously. Clint was glaring at Tony. Steve looked too stunned to move.
"That would be my new assistant, as I just said. After The Woman left I decided that I need a new assistant. He is in charge of making sure that I eat, sleep and in-general stay healthy. It's a tough job, and a full time one. So he is living in the mansion with me." Tony shrugged before grabbing at a bottle of scotch. He got the feeling that he was going to need it, even if it was ten in the morning.
"Pepper left?!" Steve yelped. They all turned to him as he blushed. Tony smirked and laughed.
"Dude I know you were frozen but you need to read a newspaper. It's been in the news for two months. Yes, she left."
"Why?"
"Because she didn't want to deal with me." Tony answered shortly, before taking a long sip from his glass. Steve looked disapproving but Tony couldn't tell if it was because of the booze or the thing with The Woman. Tony realized that he didn't care.
"That doesn't explain why he was naked in your house." Natasha piped up, taking a seat near Bruce.
"He wasn't naked." Tony pointed out.
"Stark." Fury growled in a warning.
"Because I told him that as long as he lives in this house he can do as he wishes. If he wants to be semi nude, who am I to say no?" Tony gave a winning smile but Bruce was the only one to smile back. "Bruce-y nice to see you! How was India?"
Just then Loki walked in. There was a silence as they all took him in. He stood tall in his tailored suit (compliments of Tony's personal tailor). Despite the punk hair cut he looked very professional. As he strode into the room Natasha stared (Tony did so as well, much more blatantly). Loki went over to Tony and pulled the glass of alcohol out of his hands without much force. They all stared as he poured it down the sink. He strutted over to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of tomato juice, pours a glass and pushed it into Tony's hands.
"Thanks." Tony said with a scrunched nose.
"We had a deal. No booze until five o'clock and you get more than three hours in the lab." Loki pointed out. It's true that they made that deal. Loki decided that Stark did indeed need a paid babysitter. So he took it upon himself to change a few things.
"Can we include a 'director Fury' clause?"
"No."
"I like him." Bruce piped up, breaking into the beginning bicker fight. Both looked at him, Tony smiling and Loki in interest.
"Thank you, Mr. Banner." Loki said quietly.
"Oh, you know me?"
"Yes. Tony has spoken a lot about you . . . about all of you."
"So you are not sleeping with Stark?" Clint asked bluntly the question that had been on everybody's mind. Loki smirked.
"No. I told him he had to take me on three dates before that could happen." He turned and winked saucily at Tony. Then he laughed and the rest had realized it was a joke.
"Excuse me." Fury interrupted. They all turned to him. "We did not come here to discuss Starks sex life."
"Yeah, if you want to know that just watch Entertainment Tonight!" Tony interrupted.
"Stark. The reason we are here is because the other Avengers will be living with you."
"Oh really? And why not at the New York mansion?" Tony growled as an apple was pushed into his hand by Loki but he took a bite of it anyway.
"Because it is under construction. Not only that, but there is no point in team building exercises if you are not there. Since you would not come to New York, I brought them here." With that he swirled around dramatically and left.
"Hey-!" Tony shouted at him, ready to reject.
"And here I thought Tony was flashy. I've never seen a more dramatic exit in my life, and I have seen quite a few plays." Loki plucked a grape from the bowl on the counter and slipped it between his lips. The other stared at him, unable to articulate anything.
"Yes, well Fury is one for flare. You should see him when he is trying to storm out angrily." Tony nudged him with his elbow.
"Tony." Captain America said in warning. He was extremely uncomfortable with this situation. He did not have anything against homosexuals but he didn't know how to deal with Tony, a man he associate extreme heterosexuality, seemingly flirt with his assistant. He watched as Tony's hand slid jokingly along his assistants waist. Loki didn't move, loving the look on Captain Americas face. He wasn't the God of Mischief for nothing.
"I get it. Hands to myself." Tony smirked and held up his hands as if to say 'I wasn't doing what you were thinking'.
Loki rose and moved to walk out of the room. Tony perked up and watched him as he left. Before he went through the doorway he called out to him.
"Where are you going?"
"Why?"
"I can't bear to be away from you more than a second?" Loki chuckled at the pitiful way Tony had said it.
"Though that may be true, I'm sure you can live without me for a little while. I'm going to finish some of the paper work that you have been ignoring. Then I am going to be doing a bit of reading." After he left there was another silence. Clint was glaring after him in jealousy when he noticed Natasha staring at him far longer than he liked, which was more than half a second.
"He is an interesting one." Natasha said, sipping at the coffee that somehow appeared in front of her.
"That he is. Keep your hands off though, he's mine." Tony smirked. Natasha shrugged as if to say 'well, what can you do?'. "Anyway, you are all going to have to play nice with him. He is going to be living here for quite a while. Bruce, lets escape to the lab before he notices." Tony grabbed Bruce by the wrist and pulled him into the elevator with a manic smiled that worried the three left in the kitchen.
!
So it's a tiny bit shorter than the last one. I'm just happy that I finished it. At this rate I may have the whole story finished before I'm done posting all the chapters. That would be just wonderful *dreamy look*.
