Tony took a deep breath and massaged his temples before starting. "Let's start with problem number one, huh? I'm not used to committed relationships. I'm not a good person to get in a committed relationship with. I'm gonna fuck it all up."
"How do you know that, Tony?" Loki asked with a small frown.
"I just do, Lolo. Christ, even Pepper couldn't take any more of my shit, and she was the most used to it. Look, I don't want to hurt you or your kid. You're the last person I ever want to piss off, especially since you tossed me out a window the last time I did." Tony said, trying to gauge Loki's expression, though the other's emerald eyes were unreadable. "I don't want to hurt you, Loki. I like having you around and I like talking to you. I don't want to lose you, but losing you because I pushed you away would be worse."
"So, what you're saying is, you're afraid. You fear you'll hurt me or Sleipnir and end whatever it is we have right now." Loki said, holding eye contact with the other man. "Tony Stark, if you live in fear of the end of relationships, then you'll never be able to enjoy them while they last. Everyone goes into relationships knowing that they'll either come to painful end or that they'll end up staying together for the rest of their lives."
Tony sighed as he listened to Loki, figuring the god had a point. "Okay, fine. Let's move on to the second point, then. I'm not going to be a good enough dad to this kid."
"Tony…" Loki sighed with exasperation.
"No, no, hear me out here. This place isn't that great for a little kid. Do you know how many god damn mini bars are in here? That's dangerous. Plus, I have no idea how to be a dad, I don't know the first thing about little kids. I'm gonna fuck up, Lolo, and your kid's gonna end up hating me."
"I don't expect you to be the perfect father figure to him. I don't expect you to be a father figure to him right away. I want you to at least try to be his friend." Loki explained after a moment of thought. "Perhaps we should start everything by figuring out what's going on between the two of us, though."
"Yeah, okay. Baby steps." Tony agreed with a nod, taking a deep breath to steady himself. "What do you want us to be, Lolo?"
"Honestly? I want to court you. I want to be more than a bedmate to you." Loki replied, keeping eye contact with Tony.
"Okay. In that case, we're dating now. We're together." Tony concluded, fishing his phone out from his pocket and wrapping an arm around Loki's shoulders to pull the god close. "Say cheese."
"Why would I say that?" Loki asked in confusion, staring at his image on the screen of the phone as Tony kissed his cheek and pressed the little circle on the screen.
"There, now it's locked forever in the void of time. Hey, FRIDAY, put an order in for a bunch of furniture for a little boy's room. Maybe steer away from anything with horse motifs, though." Tony said.
"Will IKEA suffice, sir?" The female voice responded from the ceiling.
"Hell no. Not unless someone else is putting it all together." Tony replied. "Actually, scratch that. Just order me a shit ton of oak. I can make everything myself and better. I'll need enough for a bed, dresser, desk, and a small bookshelf for the kid. Then a bigger bookshelf for our room. Loki's a nerd, he needs somewhere to store his books."
"I'm a what?" Loki asked in confusion as Tony grabbed a tablet and stylus from the table.
"You're a nerd, Princess. But, it's okay, I kind of am, too." Tony hummed. "When he wakes up, I'll have him help me design how he wants his furniture to look. For now, we can start on your bookshelf."
"Firstly, it's a bookshelf. Make it large with shelves, it's not that complicated. Secondly, Sleipnir can't talk. How will he give his input on anything?" Loki said with a small smile as he stroked his son's hair.
"He can nod or shake his head or something. I'm pretty sure he understands me." Tony replied, playing around on the tablet and starting to sketch out a design for the bookshelf.
Loki just hummed, figuring Tony was probably right and leaning over to watch him sketch on the tablet. "You should put a design on the sides and decorate it a bit more."
"What kind of design are we talking? The Fireball logo?" Tony asked with a small smile.
Loki cocked an eyebrow at Tony in confusion. "No. I think Yggdrasil would be nice."
"Don't know if I know how to draw that one."
Loki held up his hand, then closed and opened it, conjuring up an image of a ring with a tree inside of it in green mist so Tony could see. The design was intricate with lots of interlacing around it.
"Okay, maybe I can find something like that online," Tony said, drawing a circle on the side of the design for the shelf and a crude tree on the inside of the circle.
"I think animal heads on the top would be a nice touch," Loki said.
"Jesus, you're full of ideas. Like, what kind of animal head?"
Loki took the Stark Pad into his own hands and drew beside the design. He drew one front corner of the shelf, making the one side have a decorative beam that curved near the top and end with a zoomorphic head that Tony recognized from pictures he'd seen of longboats. He had no idea what kind of animal the head belonged to, but it was definitely some sort of animal that Vikings liked.
"Wow, you're really running with the whole Viking shtick, aren't you?" Tony hummed as he took the Stark Pad back from Loki. "I can program something to care it all out, though, that's easy."
Loki nodded in understanding. "What about his bed and the rest of the room? I only brought so much of my old clothing for him to wear, too, and I don't know how much of it will truly fit him."
"I know, I know. We gotta get this place ready for a little kid. After he wakes up, we'll all go to Macy's or something and get him some clothes." Tony replied, setting the Stark Pad aside and rubbing his forehead. "We should get kid friendly food, too."
Loki nodded in agreement. "It will be a while until he wakes, I would wager. He's been through a lot in last hour or so. A lot for a baby, at least."
"Yeah, probably. So, is he gonna be six forever?" Tony asked curiously.
"The spell of Idunn's apples wears off after a while of not routinely eating them. I don't know when the last time he was given one was, but eventually, he will begin to age again. He will not age entirely like a human, mind you. He will stop once he has completely become an adult." Loki explained. "At least, that's what I think will happen. It's a blind guess, really. There's not many children like him, so there's not much precedent that's already set."
Tony listened and hummed a bit as he wrapped an arm around Loki's shoulders. "Do you know much about being a parent?"
"I haven't been granted enough experience, honestly, to learn a lot. I hope to gain the knowledge eventually." Loki replied, letting Tony hold him close.
"I don't know much about being a dad, either. But, if you chose me specifically to come to when you needed help, I must be on your good list. I'm probably doing something right, hm?" Tony thought aloud.
"For now, yes," Loki said with a small smile.
"That's reassuring. We'll figure this out as we go."
"What of Asgard, Thor, and the All Father?"
"We'll burn that bridge when we get to it." Tony said with a shrug. "For now, let's just focus on getting you and your kid settled in here and assume you'll be sticking around for a while."
Loki nodded and kissed Tony's cheek. "Does this mean we're courting?"
"Courting? That sounds… formal." Tony replied, holding the god close. "Why don't we just say we're together? It's easier, gets the job done. You know?"
Loki nodded in understanding and leaned into Tony, resting his head on the other man's shoulder. "I understand."
Tony smiled softly and turned on the TV, happily watching whatever was on with the god for a couple hours and just relaxing with him. After a while, Sleipnir came ambling out of the guest room, his grey hair messy and face drowsy. He wandered over to his mother, hummed, and held his arms up to the man.
Loki picked Sleipnir up and held him close on his lap.
"Well, looks like the little man's awake. Let's go get him some clothes and kid food." Tony said, getting up from the couch and turning off the TV before he pulled out his phone.
Loki nodded and kissed Sleipnir's small cheek, snuggling the boy close to himself as he stood up from the sofa. "Will I need to shift forms at all?"
"It's probably a good idea, yeah," Tony replied with a nod while the phone rang.
Loki nodded and shifted into his female form once again.
Within a few minutes, they were walking out of the tower and going into one of Tony's cars.
"Kay, Happy. We gotta get to a Whole Foods, and then a Macy's." Tony said easily.
"Since when do you shop at Whole Foods or Macy's?" Happy asked with a small frown, eyeing the woman and child sitting next to Tony.
"Since now," Tony said dismissively as the car started moving. He looked over at Loki and Sleipnir, smiling softly at the sight of the little boy craning his neck to watch out the tinted windows in wonder at the other cars and the city around them.
He had to admit, the kid was cute. He seemed to be pretty sweet, too, though he didn't know how to speak, so he didn't know if the child would have an attitude when he figured it all out. As much as he loved and adored Loki, The man had a very distinct attitude about him that he would hate to see on a small child.
Sleipnir seemed to want to run and play when they arrived at the Whole Foods. Everything seemed to excite him and it wasn't long until Loki had to make him hold onto his hand as they walked around so he didn't run around to look at everything.
The boy got especially excited at all the different foods he'd never seen before, which was practically everything in the store. After a bit, he started to help out with the shopping.
"Hey, Sleip. Can you help me pick out the apples, please?" Tony asked, holding open a plastic bag.
Sleipnir hummed in reply before reaching up to grab apples one by one from the display and set them gently in the bag.
"That looks perfect. Thanks, buddy." Tony hummed, ruffling the little boy's hair.
They continued to shop around for food that was more child and family friendly. Tony was determined to make sure Loki's child ate better than he did.
"No, Sleipnir. Only one bag of marshmallows, honey. You don't need two." Loki said as Sleipnir grabbed a bag of marshmallows from the shelf and moved to drop it into the cart.
"No," Sleipnir repeated, dropping the bag in.
Tony laughed and took out his phone to record the interaction.
"Sleipnir, honey, put one bag back, please," Loki said patiently.
"No," Sleipnir repeated, going back to the shelf to grab a third, grinning over at Loki and Tony as he put his hand on the bag.
"He takes after you, baby." Tony chuckled.
"I hope he won't take after me too much," Loki replied, moving over to scoop the little boy up into his arms and put the second bag of marshmallows back on the shelf.
"No!" Sleipnir protested, hugging his mother's shoulders.
"Yes, I'm afraid you can only have one bag, baby." Loki hummed.
"Those things are pure sugar, Sleip. You'll get sick if you eat too many of them, you know." Tony said, pocketing his phone.
"No," Sleipnir replied, looking over at Tony.
"I'd never lie to you, kiddo." Tony laughed, continuing with the shopping trip with Loki and Sleipnir.
Once they were done getting groceries, they let Happy drive them to Macy's so they could find Sleipnir some clothing while Happy dropped the food off at home.
Tony insisted on getting Sleipnir a T-shirt and pair of pajamas with little Iron Man heads on them.
"He's gonna be the coolest kid in the city. Trust me. Now, let's see if we can find a tiny AC/DC shirt for him." Tony asserted. "Better yet, let's get you some cool clothes while we're here."
Loki smiled and laughed a bit. "Alright, I suppose we could do that."
Tony grinned and helped the pair of Asgardians choose clothes, making sure they both had plenty of casual, business casual, and dress options available. Loki was very drawn to anything with both green and gold on it. Sleipnir was much easier to please and just seemed happy with anything that either Tony or Loki liked on him. Conveniently enough, a majority of the clothes Loki chose for himself were by bigger name designers.
"Damn, you're lucky you're cute," Tony said as he inserted his credit card at the checkout register.
"You worship me, Tony Stark, don't pretend otherwise." Loki laughed.
Tony laughed and kissed Loki on the cheek before signing on the little screen. They walked back out to the car together once they had finished their shopping trip. Sleipnir watched out the window once again, marveling at everything that passed by.
"As soon as all the wood and stuff comes in, I'll get to work on the furniture." Tony hummed as he relaxed with an arm around Loki's shoulders.
Loki nodded and smiled at Tony, leaning into him contently.
"Something on your mind? You've been weirdly quiet this whole ride." Tony asked with a small frown.
"Thor said that the All Father would more than likely come down soon. The last time he, Sleipnir, and I were all in the same room together, Sleipnir was being taken from me. I'm not on the best terms with the All Father, and the last thing I want is for you to get involved in our family drama." Loki explained honestly.
"Hey, no family's perfect. Trust me, there's no such thing as the perfect nuclear family. Every family has rough spots, it's normal. I'll be right there next to you. You don't have to face the guy alone." Tony said seriously to the god by his side.
"I've committed multiple crimes, Tony. Any altercations with the All Father will not be pretty." Loki frowned.
"I've done a lot of shit I'm not proud of, too, trust me. You're not alone on this, baby."
Loki nodded and rested against Tony. "Thank you, Tony."
"Anything for you, Sweet 'n Lo."
