Days went by after Loki's little disappearing act. With each new one that passed, bringing no word from Loki or from Thor, Tony couldn't keep his worry from growing.

Every day felt like torture as he waited to see if this were the day the Bifrost would open here. If this would be the day the Allfather would come riding through and finish the job he'd started hundreds of years ago. All it would take was one wrong word from Thor, something that would make the Allfather suspicious, and Tony's whole world could come crumbling down. He was prepared and warded against Heimdall watching here, and he knew how to carry his illusions and wards strong enough to keep from being noticed outside of his tower, but Tony knew he didn't stand a chance if Odin himself came down here.

There were so many things that could go wrong. So many bad things that could happen. What had Thor told Odin? What were they doing all this time in Asgard? Time between the realms flowed differently, but if he was just returning the Tesseract, why wasn't he back yet? What if Odin decided that he wanted to conduct peace negotiations on his own? Right now Tony was counting on him using Thor since Thor had a connection to them all. But what if the Allfather wanted to do it himself? What if he came to Earth?

And Loki... why hadn't Loki checked in? Was he all right? Was he still furious with Tony? Granted, their contract with one another meant that they still had to work together, that they couldn't betray one another, but it didn't mean that they had to interact all that much with each other. Tony shouldn't have pushed him so hard. He shouldn't have pushed those buttons.

He knew Loki. Even with the centuries that had gone by since they last saw one another, the changes that had no doubt happened during that time, Tony knew him. He knew that pushing Loki on sensitive topics was stupid. You had to work up to it, gradually try and get your point across. The way he'd done things - that might've worked if Loki still knew who he was. But to Loki, Tony was a stranger. Someone that he barely knew. Of course he didn't react well to it!

Tony spent most of the week cursing himself and his brothers in turn.

There were so many things that could go wrong. It left Tony edgy and almost constantly on alert. Sleep was hard to come by, and when he did manage to get some, it was plagued with nightmares. Old fears rising up to taunt him.

The only thing that granted Tony any sort of peace was work. He threw himself into making better suits for himself, better equipment for his team, and he built plan after plan.

If there was one thing that Tony knew how to do, and do well, it was making plans. What he and the other Avengers had built during their little meeting was just the start of the plans that needed to be made to protect their world from Thanos. Alliances had to be formed, treaties negotiated and signed, troops trained – the list of things that had to be done, sometimes felt endless. Yet, practically from birth, Tony had been trained to think about these kinds of things. To plan for them.

There was a reason he'd done so well in the war business as Tony Stark, and it wasn't just because he had Howard Stark for a father.

From almost the moment that he'd been taken from the cradle, Anto Odinson had been raised to be the perfect second son. He'd always known that Thor was going to be King one day. That he'd be the one to sit on the throne of Asgard and rule over them. And, honestly, that was fine. Anto hadn't wanted to be King. He'd been quite content to be at Thor's side. All three of them – once Loki came along – were trained on how to be King, just in case something happened to the brother ahead of them in line, but for the most part, their roles had been so clearly defined right from the start. Thor would be King, Loki would be his Advisor, and Anto would be the General.

They were roles that suited them. Thor was a warrior, through and through, with a lust for battle. But he also had a huge heart. One that cared far more than he let on. There was no doubt Thor cared about the people of Asgard. About his friends and his family. He just… had always loved war, too. The honor that went with it. The fun he found in fighting. They were a warrior society, and Thor had been the perfect embodiment of that. That didn't mean that was all he was, though. While Thor liked to fight, yes, and was often far too hot-headed for his own good, he was also known for being kind to just about everyone he met. No one spent time with Thor that he didn't treat as if they were long-lost friends. He won his people over with strength and charm both, without ever even trying.

Loki was entirely different from his eldest brother. He much preferred to work from the shadows, pulling strings here and there to get what he wanted. Granted, part of that might've come from the fact that he'd been the odd one out for quite a while, and his magic made other Asgardians uncomfortable. In Asgard, he wasn't the most highly revered. People had often looked down on him for practicing magic – women's work – and because he wasn't big and brawny and a fighter like Thor. In response, Loki's tricks had only gotten worse, and his tongue sharper. Yet, outside of Asgard, where magic was more often something acceptable, Loki had shown time and time again that the nickname 'Silvertongue' was well earned. He'd talked them out of plenty of trouble.

Then there was Anto. The middle child, the second son, and just as much of an odd duck as Loki. More so, in some ways. Because while Loki had grown up not knowing of the heritage hidden under the illusion on his skin, Anto had. He'd known from the start who he was. He'd known that Frigga wasn't actually his mother – that his mother had been a conquest during the war. He was part elf, part Æsir, and sometimes felt like he belonged in neither. But it didn't push him to the shadows the way that Loki went. No, Anto fought it in his own way. He lifted his chin and drove himself, over and over, to be better. To be more. They wanted to laugh at him? He'd show them. He practiced his magic with Frigga, and then later he even went to other realms to study with them – taking Loki with him, often. He also practiced the art of war and vowed to make himself the best general that Thor would ever need.

Anto had learned exactly what his father had wanted him to. It never quite managed to be enough, not for Odin and not for some of the people in Asgard, but he'd won over others. He'd been loved, at least by some. And he'd been good at what he did. With Loki and Anto at Thor's sides, his rule over Asgard would've been beautiful.

It was those parts of himself that Tony found creeping to the surface as he tried to plot out a way to protect them all from the threat of Thanos.

Losing himself in these plans allowed Tony to at least try and keep himself distracted. Surprisingly, having the team living with him helped as well. Tony found himself getting along with them for the most part.

He and Bruce clicked – literally no one was surprised by that one. The two were often found lost together in science binges that required Steve to come down and pull them free once in a while just so they'd do things like eat or shower. It was amazing for Tony to find a mind like Bruce's that was capable of actually keeping up with him most of the time. He loved every single second that they spent down in the lab or workshop together.

Steve was… well, Steve was Steve. Once you got past the 'Captain America' shell and down to the man inside, he was a lot more laid back than Tony had expected, and also a lot more open to things. Or, some things. Getting him to accept some parts of technology was proving to be one hell of an interesting effort. Tony had secretly put Natasha in charge of educating Steve on the current times, but tech was Tony's area, and he tried to get Steve as caught up as possible. They worked together pretty well, for the most part. Steve was pretty easy to subtly direct, though he dug his heels in about the strangest of things. He was a lot more 'white hat' than Tony was used to dealing with. Still, it was a pleasure to get to know him. To realize that he wasn't as naive as Tony had thought he was. He just needed guidance - guidance that wasn't Nick Fury.

Surprisingly, it was the two super spies that Tony got on with the best. Tony had thought for sure they'd be the ones that he'd butt heads with the most. Two spies living in his home, trained in seeing what others didn't; trained in ferreting out secrets... Tony should've been terrified to be near them, to have them poke and prod and find out the things he wanted to keep hidden from everyone. But instead of that, he found himself... liking them. There was just something about them that Tony found easy to be around, even when he could see they were trying to poke at him.

At least they were good at what they did, for humans. They were a good team. Natasha knew when to push, and Clint knew when to let things go and allow Tony his peace. Together, they managed him probably a little too well, if he allowed himself to think about it. Almost better than Pepper. With them, it became a sort of game, all three of them knowing exactly what the other was doing, the manipulation that was happening on all sides, and each one trying to out-do the other. It was fun.

What made it even better was, three days after they moved in, Natasha calmly looked at Tony over coffee and told him "You're quite the master of illusions. I only ever saw what you wanted me to see, didn't I?"

"Pretty much," Tony answered, just as bluntly as her.

She'd given him a small nod, a hint of a smile, and that was it. There was no formal apology or anything like that. Just an acknowledgment of past mistakes and a desire to move on. Tony could appreciate that. Apologies weren't really something that he was all that great at, either. Besides, Tony couldn't find it in him to be all that mad at her. He'd known about her deception from the start – what kind of mage would he be if he hadn't? – and he'd understood that she was there on orders, and to help. To be honest, he'd liked her, too. Not just as Natalie, but afterward, for that brief bit as Natasha.

Her partner wasn't so bad, either. Neither one of them treated Tony weird just because he was different. The snarked at him, threatened him, joked with him. Clint never cared about how physical Tony could be, either, which was a huge plus in Tony's books. He'd always been a bit more physical than most. His Mother, Frigga, had once told him it was because of his elf half. Elves were naturally more physical.

Whatever it was, Tony had always liked touch, and he loved it more when he got close to someone. Clint didn't seem to have an issue indulging that. Natasha did, but Tony wasn't egotistical enough to think that was because of him. She had her own past just like the rest of them. It made what little touches she did allow seem all the more meaningful.

"You're like a giant cat," Clint told Tony just a few days after they moved in. He said it after the engineer came and draped himself over the couch and Clint both so he could whine at him about being bored - not mentioning that he'd been too caught in his own head and needed someone to distract him. Clint hadn't tried to push Tony off or acted like he was disgusted by being touched. Nor had Clint felt the need to assert his masculinity somehow as if it'd been threatened by cuddling with another dude. In fact, he'd actually pet at Tony's hair, which was quite frankly awesome.

Tony had known almost from the get-go that he was going to get along with Clint. The guy was just as snarky as Tony, caught pretty much all his references, and had a tendency to be an asshole. It was like a match made in Heaven. The two snarked at one another and poked at each other and then would sit down and watch shitty TV together.

Clint was officially his favorite non-science-bro.

One of the best parts that Tony was discovering about this duo was their lack of expectations.

Neither one of them expected Tony to be anything but what he was. They didn't curb his language, or try to force him out of the labs, or insist on regular eating and sleeping schedules, though they weren't afraid to bring food to him and poke at him to eat. They didn't force him out when he was working like Steve sometimes tried to do.

Steve did all that because it was his way of caring about someone, Tony knew. He wasn't trying to annoy Tony. If anything, Steve was trying to make him take care of himself. This was just how he knew how to take care of people. The fact that it felt patronizing to Tony probably never occurred to the super soldier.

Bruce didn't seem to expect much out of Tony. Then again, he didn't look as if he expected much out of anyone. He was like the kid that everyone had ignored, who couldn't understand why all the cool kids were suddenly talking to him and was waiting for the day it was all going to be taken away again. Tony made it his personal mission to find a way to chase that look out of Bruce's eyes.

The Assassin Twins, however, had a different sort of lack of expectations. It was like they'd accepted that everything SHIELD knew about him was probably a lie and were building their own observations now. They didn't come at him with ideas about how he was supposed to behave or what he should or shouldn't be doing.

Through JARVIS, Tony watched a video of Clint talking to Steve about it one night, just a week after they'd moved in.

"It's a little weird," Steve was saying, stirring whatever it was he was cooking on the stove top. "I'm not saying it's bad or wrong, just weird, that's all."

Clint, who was perched on the nearby countertop, much to Steve's obvious annoyance – it amused Tony more than anything – snorted at him. "That's cause you're trying to judge him by human standards. American human standards. You'll have an easier time once you remember that he's not either one of those things."

"He was raised that way."

"So?" Clint fired back. "I could be raised by polar bears – doesn't make me a polar bear. Besides, Tony wasn't raised by humans. He's just lived a human life. Before that, he had a completely different life. One that probably lasted a hell of a lot longer than this human one. He's not gonna be exactly what you expect him to be. Soon as you realize that, you two are gonna get along a whole lot better."

"You make it seem so easy."

"You do remember what I do, right? Nat and I, it's our job to go into other countries and blend in. I learned how to adapt to different people and different cultures a long time ago. Tony's keeping it mostly human for us, the least we can do is try and take it easy on him when those differences show through, don't you think?"

Tony had told JARVIS to turn the video off after that. He wasn't sure if Clint had meant for him to see that or not. It had seemed real. Either way, it was just another thing in a line of moments that had him liking the archer more and more. It was almost enough to keep Tony from worrying about what was going on with Loki, or with Thor.

Almost.

A week and a half after Thor left, after Loki vanished on them, Tony was hiding out in his office making a very private phone call. He'd had JARVIS put up every single safety protocol that he could think of to make sure that no one on his end would be able to come in and see or hear him, and no one on the other end would be able to track him down or know just who exactly it was they were talking to. He wasn't ready to make that reveal. Not yet.

While Tony had told the others that he knew Charles Xavier, it wasn't exactly true. Not in the way they thought it was. Charles didn't know Tony Stark.

He did, however, know Einn.

Einn was a name that Tony had taken during his travels. It literally meant alone, something that he'd felt was appropriate at the time. He'd been a bit more... dramatic back then. But still, the name suited his purposes. Using it allowed him to hide in realms that might've recognized his given name. Though, now Tony couldn't help but wonder. Would anyone have recognized his name? Was whatever spell Odin had done that far-reaching? Or was it just confined to Asgard? Or only to the Royal Family? Tony wouldn't put it past Odin to order all of Asgard to never mention Tony's name again, and then remove any memory of them from his family. Or, more likely, hide those memories. Odin had strong magic; the Odinforce was capable of a lot. But completely removing memories - rewriting history - that would take a lot more than he was capable of. Not without giving up something immense in return. And Tony didn't see that happening.

It was all too much for Tony to think on right now. Not when he had other things to focus on.

Secure in his office, the glamour around Tony shifted into something that was different from even the look that he'd showed the Avengers and SHIELD. The look that Tony had chosen years ago to show to Charles was different enough from 'Tony Stark' so as not to raise suspicion about the two being connected, while still close enough to himself to feel comfortable. In a way, the look that he took on really was him. Just, not a him that anyone here on earth would know.

Most of the time when Tony changed his looks around it was a spell. A glamour. That was easier for trying to briefly trick someone. He held a glamour over himself, anchored in the arc reactor in his chest, to keep his normal disguise up. The spell he'd initially cast on himself had hidden his actual heritage, but it'd only lasted until Tony got his magic back. After that, he'd had to keep the glamour up himself so that no one would see what he really looked like.

But... elves were skill at changing their looks in entirely different ways. There were some who could change their body, their hair, their eyes, everything, as often as they wanted to. They could just think and become someone else. They could even shift into animals. For a pure elf, it was easy to do.

For Tony, who was only half-elf, the other part of him seemed to make that harder. Shifting like that always came with pain for him. The little things - hair, eyes - those were just momentary, just a brief twinge. But if he wanted to shift his whole body, making himself a different person or an animal or something of the like, it hurt. Like Tony could feel every muscle and bone breaking and shifting and changing. That was why Tony preferred to use a glamour most of the time. Shifting hurt too much... all except for one.

Lady Anto.

Frigga had told Tony once that she suspected he had no issue shifting to another gender like that because it was just as much a part of him as this one was. That he wasn't changing himself, so to speak. He was just giving shape to a different aspect of himself. It'd always made sense to him; sometimes Tony had felt male. Sometimes female. Sometimes, he'd felt like neither. Growing up, he'd been free to be whatever suited his mood.

When Tony had made the decision to meet Charles Xavier, it'd taken a bit to figure out how. But in the end, Tony had decided that he wanted to do it as true to himself as possible. Since Tony couldn't show his actual form, he went for the next best thing.

Making the shift now was as natural as breathing. When Tony opened his eyes, it was easy to feel the difference. The change in curves, the fullness of his chest. It was easy for Tony to shift his posture to adjust to it all. While he wasn't feeling feminine today, it was still easy enough to fix his mindset just enough to make it believable.

Because this was essentially a feminine version of himself, there were quite a few things that stayed the same. Tony's hair was still a dark brown, though it hung below his shoulders in curling waves, and his eyes were their natural brown with silver flecks. The points of his ears showed just slightly through his hair. Unlike with the Avengers, Tony didn't bother changing his skin to something different. He let it be his natural tanned, almost golden shade, and he didn't bother hiding the sharper cheekbones or the more delicate structure to his body that clearly labeled him an elf. He was still short, with a small form and big eyes that had drawn many a man in, only for them to suddenly discover the frighteningly sharp mind hidden underneath it all.

This was how Charles knew him. This was how the two had been introduced years and years ago when Tony had contacted the man to offer him some quiet help. There'd been a few mutants that Tony had met over the years, and Charles was the best place to send those that were looking for help. Tony came to him as Einn offering help, some private funding, and the occasional transport in sticky situations. From there, a surprising friendship had grown between them.

Tony hoped that friendship would be enough for Charles to believe what he was about to tell him.

Only when Tony had settled in comfortably did he finally have JARVIS place the call. He sat back in his chair and trusted to JARVIS to make sure the video wouldn't show anything too incriminating. Not that it matters anymore. Isn't that the thing here? Letting Charles in on some of the truth? It'd certainly make it easier for them to all work together. If he continued to be Einn to the man, the best he'd be able to do would be to warn Charles of what was coming and get him preparing his side for it. But if Tony revealed himself as Tony Stark, if he played this just right, not only would he have Charles and the X-Men preparing for what was coming, he'd also have a reliable ally on his side. One who would work well with him come time to fight.

There was a risk in letting Charles know, of course. Tony had kept this secret for a reason. But the benefits far outweighed the risks. No matter what, if they wanted to work together to fight in the future, Iron Man and Professor X were going to need to collaborate. That would go a lot smoother if Charles knew the truth of who Tony was, and knew it with enough time to get over any shock or hurt or mistrust that might crop up.

I've kept this secret for such a long time, and now it's like everyone's finding out. Tony tried not to analyze just how panicked that made him feel.

"I'm almost afraid to ask what's happened." The sound of Charles's voice startled Tony out of his thoughts. It drew his focus to the screen in front of him where Charles was at; the man was clearly sitting at his desk, a window and some bookshelves behind him. The same warm welcome was on his face that had always been there, only it was tempered right now by concern. "It must be serious to have you looking like that."

Tony's lips twitched into a wry smile. He allowed just a bit of his exhaustion to show at the edges of it. "You've got no idea, Chuck."

"Is this a personal call? Or do you need help?"

The fact that he made that offer without hesitation and with such open honesty on his face had Tony's smile becoming a bit more real. "A bit of both? With a little bit of business thrown in." He sighed heavily and reached up to brush some of his hair back from his face. "We should probably get the business part out of the way. The rest will come... after."

Charles nodded. Then he folded his hands on his desk and fixed his full attention on Tony's image. "I'm listening."

Best get this over with. With a deep breath, Tony bluntly laid it all out at Charles' feet. "Recently, there was almost an alien attack in New York. It was stopped in time, so we're safe for right now - but we don't know for how long. The guy behind it, he's the biggest bad you'll ever see, Chuck, and he's hell-bent on coming to earth to get some things and probably destroy most of the planet in the process. Then, he'll use earth as the gateway it is to get to the rest of the Nine Realms."

Because of their friendship, and what little Tony had told him, Charles knew about the existence of aliens. He knew that Tony was an elf, and that he had no home and no family, and that he'd gone through a lot before coming to earth. Because of that, he didn't flinch at the words 'alien attack' or the idea that aliens were coming. Instead, his sharp mind focused right on what was important. "What is this being coming after?"

"They're called Infinity Stones. And he'll stop at nothing to get them, Chuck. He wants the power that comes with them, and the destruction. It's all part of some sick courtship thing he's got with Lady Death." Tony waved a hand through the air. "None of that really matters. What matters is that he's coming, and if we don't prepare ourselves, he's going to destroy everyone and everything."

"How much time do we have?"

Tony drew his bottom lip in between his teeth. Then he sighed. "I don't know yet. I've got... I've got someone who's working on it. As soon as they know, I'll let you know. But right now we're thinking at least a few years. Hopefully, it'll be enough time to get everyone organized. This threat... it goes beyond just earth. If Thanos takes earth, there'll be no stopping him from going and causing destruction to the rest of the Nine Realms. We're the gateway between them and the rest of space. If we fall..." Everyone falls. Their only chance was to stand together, here, on earth. Or, to take it to the skies above the planet. But Tony knew they couldn't let Thanos win. If he did, everything and everyone was doomed. There'd be no hiding from him.

The video call went quiet for a moment as Tony's words sank in. He knew that Charles was smarter than the average man; he'd take Tony's words in and likely see far more to them than anyone else. He'd also be able to cope with them better than most.

Tony was once again broken from his thoughts when Charles finally spoke again. The man's eyes locked on Tony and held there, serious and strong. "This is a threat that all of us need to be prepared for. You know I'll do my best here on my end to make my people ready. If you have anything you can give us, anything that might help us better prepare, I would be very eager to hear it."

"Yeah, I can do that." Tony nodded quickly. "Your team is probably the best prepared already. You're used to fighting each other, or other mutants, which means you're pretty used to fighting people who're bigger and stronger than you. That's going to be one of the biggest things here. No matter who Thanos brings with him, everyone is going to have to remember that there's a pretty good chance they'll be bigger, stronger, faster, and agiler than all of you. Not always..." Unable to help himself, Tony smirked. "...I can't wait to see the Hulk take on a few of them. He's going to have fun smashing the ever-loving hell out of these bastards."

Charles contemplated Tony for a long moment before he spoke again. When he did, his words were slow and heavy with the kind of understanding Tony rarely found anywhere else. "I get the feeling you have more planned for us than a simple video instruction. What else is going on, Einn?"

No more holding back, it looked like. Charles always had been smart, he'd had plenty of time to figure out how to read Tony. He knew quite a few pieces to Tony's life, even if he didn't know the whole picture, or how it all fit together. This... this was going to answer some of that for him.

"If we're going to do this, if we're all going to work together to try and save the world... I'm not going to be able to keep hiding like this." Tony waved one hand in a gesture meant to encompass their video call. Then he ran his hand through his hair. "I'm just... I'm not looking forward to letting go. I've had to open up so much of myself to people lately, Chuck. Used to be that no one knew anything about who I really was. Now? Now, SHIELD knows."

"SHIELD knows who you are?" Charles looked alarmed by the idea.

Not that Tony could blame him. Most of the time it terrified him, too. "I didn't get much choice. They called together a group of super-powered people to try and stop the incoming alien invasion. There was... it involved some people I used to know, and I had to use my powers to help one of them."

"Are you safe?"

The fact that Charles asked that warmed something inside of Tony. He had no doubt his friend would be here as quickly as possible if Tony's answer were no. That made it easy for Tony to smile and nod. "Yeah, Chuck. I'm safe." He knew why Charles was asking, too. The man didn't know all the details, but he knew a little of Tony's history. He knew that Tony had been chased away from his family, and he knew some of the reason why. Hearing that Tony was around people he used to know had to have set off his worry.

Charles was too polite to come right out and ask any of the questions that Tony knew he had to be thinking. That meant that it was going to be up to Tony to just come right out and say it before they spent all day going back and forth. Quit whining about it and just do it! With that firm admonishment, Tony took a deep breath and hoped he wasn't making yet another mistake. Then, without saying a word, he reached inside of himself and let his body once more make that shift.

When he felt himself switching back to his male form, he didn't even have to think about it as the glamour settled in with it. His arc reactor was no longer hidden, and the spell with it made him appear just as human as he usually did.

Tony took one last deep breath and then brought his eyes up to once more look at his friend. He'd prepared himself for all sorts of reactions. For Charles to be upset, angry, hurt, betrayed.

What he hadn't prepared himself for was... nothing? There was no anger on Charles' face. No hurt, no betrayal. Not even a hint of surprise. The man was just watching him with a small smile on his face. One that made it abundantly clear... "You knew."

"I suspected," Charles admitted easily. "It wasn't until after Afghanistan that I knew. Having you go missing on me, it wasn't uncommon. We've gone months without talking. But having you missing during the time Tony Stark was in Afghanistan, and then calling me just weeks after his return with obvious signs of trauma and more nightmares? I put the pieces together."

He'd known. Charles had known. That was all Tony could seem to think of. Charles had known - had figured it out on his own - since Afghanistan. If he'd figured it out, were there others? Was there anyone else out there who might know? And just how much did Charles actually know? How many of Tony's secrets had he figured out?

Tony hadn't realized he was edging towards a panic attack until JARVIS spoke up, his voice warm and soothing as it always was. "Sir, might I suggest taking a deep breath? You're showing all the signs of an impending panic attack."

The dry way in which JARVIS said that, the simple statement of facts delivered in that calm and steady British tone, was exactly what Tony needed. Others might not have liked or approved of the way that Tony and JARVIS handled things. But it worked for them. JARVIS had learned through trial and error just how to help Tony in these situations. Unfortunately, panic attacks were rather common for him.

One deep breath in, then slowly back out. Another deep breath and Tony felt some of his tension fade away as he let that breath back out. "Thanks, buddy."

"Of course, sir," JARVIS said.

There was no time for Tony to turn his attention back to Charles. No time for him to sit and talk about what had just happened, or where they were going to go from here. As soon as Tony opened his mouth to do so, he felt the distinct feel of magic against his shields. It was familiar magic, so it wasn't stopped.

Loki had just teleported onto the common floor.

It was easy enough to convince Charles he had to go. The man must've been able to sense that something was going on. Within minutes, Tony had ended the video call. One last pause to check that his glamour was in place and nothing was leaking through, and then Tony was teleporting himself out of his office and onto the common floor.

Tony wasn't all that surprised to discover that Loki was the only one in the room when he got there. He'd deliberately chosen when others were busy to make his call to Charles. It made sense that none of them were here when Loki arrived. With the room empty, it left Tony free to just take a minute and lean against the wall he'd appeared by while he observed his younger brother.

Whatever had happened while he was gone, Loki didn't look injured. Not that that meant much. It wouldn't exactly be hard for Loki to hide it. But, there were no visible injuries, no obvious signs of trouble. Tony was going to hold on to that. If anything, Loki looked completely put together as he sat at the bar, pouring himself a glass of what seemed to be elven wine.

Loki didn't look away from the glass he was pouring as he called out "Would you care to drink with me, Stark?"

There was no animosity in Loki's tone. No threat in his magic. So, we're pretending our argument never happened. That's great. It won't backfire on us at all, Tony thought sourly. Still, he could admit he was a bit relieved not to have to hash everything out. Tony was free to smile and push himself off the wall, strolling over to join Loki at the bar. Still, Tony wouldn't be Tony if he didn't push just a little. "Depends, Laufeyson - what're we drinking to?"

Only a small twitch gave away Loki's discomfort. Green eyes flashed up towards Tony when the other man reached him and then dropped back down once more to focus as Loki grabbed another glass. "I'd prefer Liesmith, actually. It... amuses me."

Tony's smile grew just a little bit. He couldn't help it. While he'd argue over and over about Thor's love for Loki, no matter the countless mistakes made on either side, he wasn't going to deny Loki the ability to disown either father figure. Odin was, well, Odin, and that said enough in Tony's books - and Laufey really wasn't someone that Tony would've personally wanted to lay claim to. Tony had met him and, as he'd told Loki, they hadn't liked one another all that much. His name choice, though... "I've got a book you should check out later, Low-Key."

If Loki noticed the slight shift in pronunciation, he didn't comment on it, and Tony just laughed softly to himself. A moment later Loki was handing him a glass of wine and then using his own to gesture for Tony to take a seat.

The two ended up with one seat between them. Their bodies were turned towards one another, Loki's legs crossed and Tony's tucked in against the middle stool. They watched one another while sipping on their wine. Two showmen, each trying to read beyond the masks of the other, and neither one of them giving an inch.

Loki's lips gave a small twitch. He hid any sign of a smile behind his glass. Once it drew back down, his smile was gone, but his eyes were serious. "Based on the information I've gathered these past days, I would say we have around three years and two months, give or take a month or two, until the Mad Titan arrives at Earth."

Well, fuck. Any attempts at playfulness vanished. Tony sat up a little straighter and put his focus on Loki. The time for games was done; now it was time to get serious. He ran the numbers through his head in a few quick calculations. "If we time everything just right, we should be able to make it within our timeframe. We'll have to move quickly on getting our allies, though." The necessary peace-talks and negotiations that went with alliances always took the longest. Best they could get them out of the way as quickly as possible.

"We need to plan the order in which we approach them," Loki pointed out.

Yeah, that was a good plan. It wasn't going to look good if they went to, say, Jotunheim before Vanaheim, and Vanaheim found out. They wouldn't be happy about that; most likely they'd consider it a slight. Tony grimaced as he thought of all the politics that were waiting in his future. Just because he'd been trained for it - in both his first life and his human one - didn't mean he enjoyed it. Grimacing, Tony drained off the rest of his glass and then set it down with a small thump. "Norns, I hate politics," he grumbled to himself.

Loki chuckled at him. He reached out with the bottle and refilled Tony's glass, smirking at him as he did. "Such is the life of a leader. At least you recognize its need, unlike... some that I know."

That slight pause made it more than clear what Loki had actually been planning on saying. Hearing it, Tony realized that, no, they weren't going to be able to just pretend that last conversation didn't happen. One of them was going to have to say something about it, and it looked like that someone was going to be Tony. Great. Just great. There's no way this will go wrong! It had to be done, though. This couldn't just fester between them.

"Look, Loki." Once more Tony set his glass down. He kept one hand on it, though, while the rest of him straightened up to fully face Loki. Despite how hard it was, Tony made himself meet the other's eyes, not flinching away at the look he found there. With a deep breath, Tony made himself say what he knew he had to. "I get it - there's a lot of bad blood between you and big brother. I don't care if you've got snarky remarks about him, or if you wanna blast him in whatever way makes you feel better. I'm not blind to the guy's faults, all right? I just... in case you didn't notice, family is a bit of a touchy subject for me. I get why you don't claim Odin, and I don't blame you on that one. It's just, with Thor... so long as you don't sit here arguing about whether or not you two are brothers, I don't care what you have to say. I'm not gonna jump down your throat for it again, all right?"

Loki's eyebrows seemed to go higher and higher the more that Tony spoke. Then, at the end, they furrowed down once more over narrowed eyes.

For a long moment, the two of them sat in silence. Whatever Loki was trying to read off of Tony's face, Tony fought to let him. He didn't squirm away, didn't flinch. He simply sat there and let Loki look at him.

Finally, the other mage gave a small, barely there nod. "We have an agreement, Anthony Stark."