Author's Rant: Thank you all for your participation.
Chapter 7
The headaches were like a time bomb it felt sometimes. On and off, like the stir of an avalanche, no warning what so ever for when they'll appear or how intense the damage would be. Tony wasn't given a set interval to prepare for the rushing pulses, or the agonizing throbs that stole away a decent day's worth of peace for every time they came. Those that operated late at night were among the worse and only expanded like a pounding anvil when Antonio started to cry. Tony was thankful the brat managed to stay asleep during the most trying nights because Tony was sure he wouldn't be able to deal with a baby with enough lung power to fuel a blimp or a migraine that'd make a heart attack proud.
Tony woke up with a gritted hiss, moonshine floodlighting the lower end of his bed. He tunneled his face into the pillows, scouring around the bed spread for that comfortable position so subtly lost from the slightest movement. In the middle of the tossing and disgruntled flips, Tony yawned himself half way through sleep and when he met the dark shadows of the room, scowled.
The first sleep he'd had in a while since these headaches and he wakes up in the middle of the night?
"Damn it," He groaned, folding his pillow on either side of his face. "Sleep, come on, back to sleep."
Tony drowned out his chants with a sharp tsk'ed sound to his lips and rolled on his back, staring onward into the ceiling. His body was nude save for the pair of cream cotton pajamas; the blankets were a tangled ruin around his waist, bunched and tightly knotted to leave a pinch in the middle of his back.
Those were annoying as hell.
But then, so strangely, he frowned, a wondrous calm overlapping his mind as he slowly, very slowly elbowed his way half way up and when in proper stance, brought his right hand up to massage his temple. Finger tips like barbed heat packs rotated against his temple in clockwise circles.
There wasn't anything there. Not so much as a mild flutter.
Well shit.
Guess miracles did happen at the weirdest times. Only bad side to this was now that he was awake, he automatically became restless and staying in bed wasn't an option. Sleep eluded him in a way that didn't affect many; once he was up, that was the end of that.
Remembering the usual routine, also made Tony notice another odd sensation. The room felt strange, off key somehow. Then he frowned at another detail he'd missed. He felt stuffed, constricted. Most of his upper arms, his chest and brow were filmed with an honest sweat, downright drenched. He was clammy and sticky. "What the hell?" He murmured, palming over his skin as if it turned a new color. "JARVIS, what's the temperature?"
"Current room temperature is stabled at 73 degrees, sir. Shall I alternate the thermostat?"
"No, leave it." Tony pressed the heel of his palm over his eyes, rubbing off the dry sting, "Was it always like that?"
"Yes sir, no changes were made to the air circulation since 12:37 yesterday afternoon."
Oh. It was probably just him then. Yeah, it had to be. "How's the kid?"
"Sleeping sound. He woke up a few minutes before you but fell back asleep. I had one of the DUM-E units bring a pacifier to ease his nerves."
"Good, good," One less problem to deal with. "I'm thinking of a midnight stroll. Watch him until I get back."
"You don't sound up to par for a mere stroll sir. Would lowering the room temperature suffice for better pleasure?"
"JARVIS, so naughty. Did I really program that kind of mindset in your system?"
The AI system would've sighed had he not the patience, "So late at night and still the comedian. You do your audience proud."
"That I do," Tony swung his legs over the bed, stiffing another yawn and hung his head in his palms. It was still kind of hot though. This room was too stifling, cramped and microscopic. He needed some fresh air and he needed it immediately.
He got up off the mattress and went for the closet, pushing open the doors and walking inside. He strolled beyond the rows of expensive name brands, the suits and wall of shoes, searching for something light. He was burning up, the sweat on his skin making him feel like the inside of a glove. Tony pulled a white wife beater from an unopened pack, and tugged on a pair of navy blue jersey shorts. He grabbed some plain black ankle socks and looked to debate on getting some house shoes.
He couldn't decide fast enough. He needed fresh air more, needed to get out of this heat.
The walk-on balcony through the sliding glass doors would have to do. It was closer than the Disarmer Walkway and if the brat woke up, Tony could be in range to reach him.
The flow of late evening breezes stole his breath away as soon as his feet touched down on the round structured glass balustrade balcony. He had it installed three months after the tower was finished, needing a special place to offer his thoughts to nothing and marinate it all in silence. Out here, where all that accompanied him was the overwhelming view of the city and the tangled roars of a sleepless rural, it was his own safe haven. A place he really needed now.
Tony kept the sliding door cracked, the barks of chill nailing his arms like thumb tacks, a sensation welcomed with open embrace. The fall was steadily creeping on the world by the tiniest slithers. He coughed and looked up to the sky, as clear and open as a day in the desert. The stars were monstrously many and bunched tighter then thread. It was beautiful.
Tony climbed his way higher up a small stairwell, circling and thinking, strolling and thinking, listening to nothing and thinking. He let the thoughts run rapid. Tony eased down on his arms on the railing, the winds whipping against his hair and flapping the sheets of his shorts. He needed a moment to figure some of the things that had have bother him and he started at the top of the pyramid, slowly destroying each brick until all that remained was the bottom.
Loki.
Tony absently clenched the palm that suffered from the spark of green the other night. At random times the muscles in his hand would spasm, and vibes like prickled ant toes shattered up and down each digit. He had JARVIS run several blood tests and discreetly convinced Banner to evaluate any possible side effects he might suffer from Antonio.
Each test came back negative. He was free of any sickness, any kind of abnormities and deduced them all inclusive; but Tony knew if he so much as blinked something would be off. Three times, the three times he'd come within two feet of Loki, Tony took note of a sexual change in his body. And no that wasn't a new rod he had ready to build in the Mark 1. In private of course, he could outright say that he was, perhaps, disturbingly turned on by the pale skinned, green eyed, want-to-murder-you type. And here Loki only had to breathe on him to get the desired results.
Which brought up another slew of questions.
How exactly did Loki know Tony was going through bodily changes?
Was he nearby, maybe spying on him from distance?
Could he be suffering from similar symptoms?
And Tony still wanted to know what the hell was up with the whole glowing thing when they touched. He remembered a handful of times of Loki touching him and never had that reaction occurred before.
Something was off and damn if it wasn't producing another headache. "Damn, I'm losing it." He grumbled half pissed at himself for letting minuscule doubts grab him so. If it were serious, he would've found something long ago.
He sucked in a deep brew of fresh air; clean enough to clear his mind and defrost any other kinds of thinking that involved Loki. Thinking of the son of a bitch should've made Tony's stomach churn but the opposite was happening. All the space in his shorts was on the verge of sporting a North Pole tent and God forbid if he has to work it down—
Tony lifted an eyebrow when a ginger buzz came from one of the intercoms stationed closest to him.
"Sir, do pardon the late intrusion on your privacy, but there's been a breech in security. Readings are picking up an unusual level of unrecognized energy coming from within the fortress."
Tony was grateful for his ability to adjust too all situations, no matter the spur of the moment times they'd come, "Someone's inside. Where are they?"
JARVIS seemed hesitate to respond and so lowered his audio to a reluctant whisper, "In the master bedroom, exactly nine inches away from young Antonio. If at all possible, I would generate a way of confining the intruder, but any interference could cause the child harm."
Loki. That bastard. It had to be him. "No, No don't do that." Tony didn't need to think, didn't have too. He'd been preparing for when the son of bitch would come back. "Set all protocols to level orange. Secure the open breech and generalize a systematic shield only within that vicinity," He ordered, walking hard and determined to the bedroom. "I don't want so much as a fly getting through the cracks, you clear JARVIS?"
"Crystal sir. Systems are engaged through orange code emergency. Shield's strength has been charged to one hundred percent."
"Be subtle," Tony warned. "I don't want him knowing we got him locked."
"He's already aware sir, strangely he hasn't made any attempts to escape the barrier."
Cocky bastard. Tony, first looked inside the bedroom, wearily cautious and alert for any potential green shots coming for his heart. The bedroom was bare. No sign of Loki anywhere in the room. He finished his eye patrol where Antonio's crib is cornered by the back wall. The canopy crib curtains were parted on both ends. Yes, Loki's been here.
Walking inside and not caring if the door clicked loud enough to chase Loki off, Tony marched in gaze sharp enough to slit razors, "Cowardice shouldn't suit you, Loki," He said low and ugly into nothingness. "Be man enough to come out, I know you're here." A chuckle came from behind. Tony spun on his heel and he could easily blame the sage florid illusions of lapping flames on just being sleepy. Loki appeared in the middle, right here, sitting on the edge of his bed like he belonged there and always has been.
"Comparing my masculinity to fear is a dare worth responding too. Though I must say, coming from you it sounds like a crude gesture."
Tony wondered where the sudden tiredness came from and wished it'd been there when he'd first woke up, "Don't get used to waltzing in here unannounced." Another thing he wondered was if Loki would mistake the drear in his voice for something other than fear.
Clearly he didn't since there wasn't any effort made to move from his bed. "Some song, same verse right? You come here, preaching about taking the kid and then I go on a rant that you'll die trying." Tony controlled the sizzling down pour of anger in his veins and excreted only mere boredom, face and voice containing the same, "Let's surprise everyone with a little difference, hm?" Of course Tony would have rather they had this confrontation during the day and not the dark night, but that couldn't be helped. He'd deal with this as best and patient as he can.
Loki raised an eyebrow showing every bit of his delicate charm in the gesture and a tilt of his lips the added brilliance, "There'll be no talk of retracting my vows. I did say that I held no animosity for the man who Zephyr cares for. Shall I grant you a cleaner promise then before for clarity? Very well, so be it." It was said all in a single breath, not giving Tony the chance to discard the offer of guarantee. "I do humbly swear that I have no claims of taking Zephyr from your care. If in any case, I feel his safety is jeopardized I will take heed of my own conscious and do what is best for the lad."
Tony stared. There was no right hand rose to God—which would be pointless for Loki— nothing sealing the promise with a blot of ink, no brand of sealed bonding or any written agreement to secure the deal. And possibly Tony would've almost believed the Liesmith capable of integrity until his eyes caught the shunning disguise behind green iris.
Right.
That would've been too easy after all. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, Champ," Tony made a show of stretching his arms over his head, and lips spread in a loose grin. "Now if you would? Some humans require sleep but some Gods have an ass that needs to move."
Loki said nothing at first but watched him with eyes that crystallized into glaciers, green a minty frost, "You doubt me." He stated face resembling the scrape of an ice sculpture. "What have you to fear? I gave my consent; I only need yours in return."
Tony shook his sniff neck, never breaking the lock connection, "Old habits die hard. I say blue you say black, if I say yes, you'll screw me over. I've had enough of letting promises go without signing, unchecked for bullshit," He added wryly. "And I don't intend to make the same mistake twice."
"You speak as though you've been through a phrase of mistrust," Loki spoke, voice as light as a breeze.
Of all the things Loki could've worded in response to his declaration, Tony wasn't expecting anything like that. He slowed the expressive way his face nearly revealed it and waved his hand dismissively, "If you don't have any secret ploys for weapons of mass destruction or the next hot spot, feel free to leave when you get the chance." Obviously, the windows, the door, any of the exits were wide open.
But then Loki rose from the bed and began to pace around the front as agile and prideful as a lion biding his time for escape from his cage. He stopped and nodded, having come to some conclusion that didn't involve Tony's input and clasped his hands behind his back, chin high, "I know our past can speak clearer then my present promissory, but they are all I am able to give. What more will you have me do so that you know I come unarmed?"
"By getting the hell out," Tony snarled, his temper a brittle crumble. "If you want me to believe you, leaving would be the best option."
"And what would that gain me in my benefit?"
Tony threw his hands up, "Naturally you ask what you need to do and forget to mention that's a but in there." Tony paused and gave himself a mental coaching. His stride with dealing with Loki was bouncing off the walls. Patience, intelligence, matching control, all of those should've been a braided rope noosed twice and how could he maintain that with the bloody fool constantly frustrating him? He shook his head lightly, palming all over his hair back in a smooth swoop and in that move, he'd gained back some of himself. "Clearly we need to reestablish some ground rules between you and me."
Loki's arms twitched to fold in front of his chest, but he kept the un-dignifying motion suppressed, letting his face become cold and turbid. "Set whatever you deem necessary and I'll do my best to follow, if" he injected when Tony opened his mouth and clamped it shut. "And only if they're within my range of obeying. I will not fully submit to a Midgardian's rules like some starved beast."
"Fine," Tony held his gaze for long moments, eyes liquid molasses. Shoulders brick hard in a tight hunch, Tony walked forward to Loki, stopping with a respectful space between them. The height difference didn't faze him a bit. "Stop warping in my bedroom, my house, in my tower, or anything else that smells of Tony Stark. Don't," Tony pressed onward much the same Loki had earlier, gratified to see the God force himself to be quiet. "Even think about visiting rights without my permission. I'll set the time and place appropriate for seeing the kid. No exceptions."
Loki barely restrained the eye roll, but being that only Tony Stark was his available audience, indulged himself with the childish display. "Those terms are within my doing," He snippily said like forcing the very agreement would shatter him. "Anymore demands you wish to share?"
Tony spent a few quick moments of victory, while to all others who would've been looking, tamely amused, "Yep, got a list from here to there ready for ya." He waited for the right time Loki narrowed his eyes before saying, "But that's another time, another place, and another hour."
"Of course," All of the previous frustration evaporated from Loki's face and dissolved in turn to remind Tony of a freshly polished blade, body straight and eyes glinting the winked spark of danger. "Now then, before we entered into this façade of peace, I did come for other purposes." He didn't explain them. Of course he wouldn't. Instead Loki gave him a steady pointed glance and walked around him to the back of the room.
To Antonio's crib.
Tony gave the loudest throat clearing in the universe. Loki didn't know or ignored it and kept going. Tony clenched his fingers tight like gripping along a tight rope, "Already breaking our agreement on the first night?"
"Oh do be quiet, Stark," Loki spat as gentle as claws on a block of ice. "Only a moment after hearing me say with my own mouth that I'll attend to your orders, and still you doubt me. Be grateful I don't go with my nature and bind your lips with poison."
The weight of authority over Tony's rage cracked like a nailed piercing in stone. To hell with control, to hell with wanting to keep his face free of emotion. Threats he could take with the best of them because they were always empty promises. With Loki, the twinge of familiarly to another situation slammed Tony hard grind his teeth to dust. Loki had a way of keeping the lies between his truths and falses like diamonds, completely transparent and real, no way of telling which was what. He didn't care to know what they were.
Tony was just going to get him, before he could get back, "JARVIS, upgrade the shields, pressurize energy gravity to Loki's signature. Memorize it, use it. I want his body flat as a disc."
There was a brief hesitation before JARVIS regretfully said, "By configuring the gravitation to Loki's signature, the energy field would also duplicate young master Antonio, sir. Their compound radiations are the same. He would be in the same level of danger as Loki."
Wait, what? The same? Tony's eyes reflected too much at once.
Tony didn't have the time to say anything before he was slammed like a jackhammer against the mattress, a vise clutching hold on his windpipe—something chilling rose from beneath the palm and cooled Tony's entire body with a blue iced sting. His gaze blurred, eyes fogging glossily as he gasped and immediately gripped the five digits around his neck, trying to wedge the tiniest space for air access. "The fuck!" Was all he could choke out. Tony matched Loki's eyes head on, the pupils so dilated not an ounce of green was visible.
Loki took a deep, slow breath. He'd acted on impulse, on the need to protect his brother. Once had he realized that Tony was above the people who ostracize Zephyr on Asgard, but when seeing the crossing ideals—the slightest hint of possible recognition, he responded in the only way he could to deter the theory.
Stark didn't need to know their connection.
It was best this way.
"I have no sort of quarrel with you Man of Iron, Tony Stark," Loki whispered, feathery calm, but his grip not so much. ". . . I thought this, a discussion, needn't being repeated, but your ears are as clogged as your judgment." He loosened a tad, displaying a will of sanity. "Protect him. It's all I ask of you. No matter what you may learn, what you may feel when you do, swear you will protect him."
Tony laid silent, gaze fastened on Loki. He shifted uneasily to get as far as mobility allowed. Like this, Tony could taste each breath Loki blew in his face, like the freshly coated dew of frost in the morning. And yet his body exerted the total opposite, a warmth curled into his side that his skin greedily absorbed and yearned to fold into it like a child missing his teddy bear. That is, it was only his body reacting that way. Tony was mentally sane enough to realize that he was being choked to death and not to enjoy it like some wayward sadist.
"Swear it," Loki fiercely hissed. "Swear your life to it."
Tony felt his face flare up and swatted hard against the hand on his neck, "I already planned on it. That includes protecting him from green eyed psychopaths."
Green swipe across his face, looking, searching for the smallest hint of trickery or mocked truth. Regardless of the insult, Loki took what he could and rose from the bed. Tony scowled at the ridiculously fluid poise it must've taken for Loki to stand like that, as if a reversed flow into a river. He rubbed the tender junction around his neck with both hands, eyes closed and then reopened to find Loki returning to the same place he tried to prevent him going.
Tony stood from the bed, and walked behind him—no beside Loki, looking through the gapping curtains of the canopy crib. "You got balls not to give a damn about retaliation. I'm this close to making JARVIS do the shield anyway."
"I doubt that."
"Oh do you?"
"Indeed. Unless unnecessarily provoked, why should I keep guard with the man who cares for my cohort with gentle touches and unspoken kindness? When in the presence of this boy, I can expect no violence," Loki lowered his voice. "As said before, you don't want harm to come to him." Loki smiled then, not a real warming one but one that dared Tony to try a move.
Nothing happened, except the flick of Loki's wrist and a jerk Tony thought was another attack. Only he felt a strange dislodging of pain disappear from his throat and frowned when he kept massaging to see if it would return. It was gone.
Tony sighed through his nose.
The guy attacks him, than heals him. What a twisted apology, if it could be called that. "You never try to pick him up when he's sleeping." Tony decided a safe subject to talk about—Antonio—would probably settle the negativity between them. "You scared of holding him?"
Loki snorted softly, "Don't be daft, it's nothing of the sort." Loki gave him a long side glance, lips thinned. "I've found an odd fascination with watching him in sated slumber. A far cry really from the rest he couldn't keep on Asgard." He remembered many a night of the retreating scowls, the undertone grunts of disgust and hundreds of disapproved eyes that all meant an equal disdain for Loki. Zephyr had never been able to sleep through the nightmares and terror of bitter hatred aimed on him during his short stay. But that's all changed now for the better. Loki looked at Tony with a different shine, "You've a natural magic about you that lures him in this state. I can't imagine why it would be so difficult for me to uphold, being that I am his closest ally and you being of no kin."
"Well," Tony shrugged; discreetly scratching the sheepish feeling behind his neck and incredulously wondered if he'd lost his mind. Hadn't this guy just tried to wring his neck off? Now they were have a civilized conversation like it happened on a daily. Bizarre indeed, but he'll play along. "What can I say? The kid knows how to pick 'em. I've got the charisma of a God and plenty of witnesses to prove it. Right JARVIS?"
"Indeed sir. I believe half the city would be able to support your claim."
"Easy JARVIS, I'd almost think you were calling me a playboy."
"Your words sir, not mine."
"Bastard," Tony chuckled. "Sometimes I wonder if you'd be better off a microwave."
Loki straightened his back, his expression narrowly thin and insisted on a languid whisper. "Really Stark, I think it goes much deeper than you think." When Tony did give him his serious attention, Loki went on. "I suspect it's the bond that links you to him. Zephyr, well, he's not as easily coaxed into trusting all that nears him. An infant he may be in your eyes, but the memory of years is stored in his mind. He remembers, he knows, he understands, and he feels your intentions are good for him. Perhaps it is why he chooses to dwell here with you instead of in the company of myself. "
Tony shook his head, "Bond, you keep talking about a bond like he's inflicting some kind of curse on me." He shook his head away, dragging every strand of hair through his fingers. "I'm close to him yeah, but it's got nothing to do with whatever the hell you're talking about. That's just the way things go when you're around them enough."
"In due time," Loki reached out to touch him, but let his hand hover for a while, than lowered it down on the ball of Tony's shoulder. A rage of ripples crawled up and down Tony's arm like spider legs beneath his skin. It was cool and mildly soothing—the same effects of being finally relieving one's body on a newly prepared bed. Strange, his body went surged a colder sensation. "You'll grow to understand it better, I think." Tony snapped his eyes back up from the hand to Loki's face; a slight smile, and eyes as aloof as a speck of floating dust.
Did Loki not feel that just now? Irritably, Tony snorted, ducking way from the caress, rolling his head from side to side, "Yeah sure, maybe. Look, it's getting late and all, so this time, you think you can disappear for a couple of hours?" Tony walked back to his bed, counting each step it took. He roughly snatched the comforter off and bundled underneath the sheets. He waited, he anticipated and then it came.
The undeniable, unnatural crackle of flames shattering the room's silence. But he knew he heard Loki's last words before he completely vanished, "I'll be returning for our agreement. Expect to see me soon."
Yeah.
He was looking forward to that.
Tony blinked slowly. He shifted and moved around on the bed for minutes that felt longer. It wasn't long after ten minutes he grew restless and got up for the garage. His mind was a web of confusion and he hated it. Loki was affecting him in more ways than one it seemed.
Tony noticed it when he touched his bare arm and none of the clammy sensation remained. A cold layer was all that stayed.
And yet it couldn't have felt warmer.
He knew it. The embodiement of his magic vibrated to tunes unheard, but only to a music that it could hear through Stark's body. Loki had thought it but went without contemplating his opinion with a finer study. His palm was on fire, like having just pulled it from the roar of an open roast. Tony Stark's skin, his temperature; It was unlike anything Loki could describe, the texture of worn velvet. His hand tingled with want, a clutching yearning to feel that flaring sensation once more and it greatly irritated him.
Interesting.
He'd have to look into this more.
Maybe see if what was contained in the Midgardian was what captivated his young brother so easily. It might stir the dust away on some of the mysteries Loki himself couldn't solve.
When he pushed open the door, the bell chimed brightly, and it made him smile. Already he felt a relief as cooling as the pour of iced spring water as the sway of the atmosphere overtook him. Something soothing, something jazzy with a twinge of rolling stir underground floated from the ceiling speakers and a drowning harmony swallowed him whole.
Tony can't remember the last time he'd been in this old café. It could've been years, probably decades and it still carried that old traditional sensuality that didn't change. That was something he'd needed lately, a hint of familiarity and calming uniqueness. The tranquil words coming from the music choice strolled slowly, softly countering off the customers and the joined company like beach balls. It made him smile again.
And the contagious gesture ricocheted off to the party waiting for him in the back corner who saw him and the tiny tike in his arm arrive. Steve waved them over, and Tony waved back or would've if there hadn't been a mindful disruption.
Damn these headaches. The timing couldn't have been more off.
Blue eyes reflective caught the winch and acted accordingly, "Tony, you really should get those checked out," Steve offered to take the baby as soon as they walked up. Tony brushed him off sliding in the other side of the booth, placing Antonio in the booster seat next to the next. "I'm serious," Steve continued when they all settled in. "When was the last time you had a decent rest?"
"Between riding here and sitting down. Come on Spangles, your promised you'd leave the mothering at home," Tony stacked his menu on the polished table top to get his point across. "Me and the brat came here for good company and good food. No nags."
"I'm only thinking about your wellbeing. Since you won't give Miss Potts the benefit at least humor me. Every time I see you, I can never tell the bruises from the sleep lines."
Tony had to actually think if he was insulted or not. He declared it an innocent clarity. "I'm fine Rodgers, seriously. If I start mixing up my stripes for stars, you have my permission to call the Infantry."
"Don't even joke like that."
In the colorful background, the soft strains of the audio tunes spun through the silence, a cultured woman's rich tenor singing, supported by the strings of one another, a deeply baritone man.
Steve looked him over a slight while, half tuned into the music and the rest of his attention dwelling on letting his concern sail through the windows. It was decided with a singular shrug of his shoulders and a lowering glance down at the squirming baby by the table, "How you've been little guy?"
Antonio blinked and shrieked loud, all pink gums and smiles. He bumped and hopped about in his booster chair like feathers were poured in his diaper and he couldn't sit still from the tickling. "Mm!" he squealed.
"Spunky one aren't you?" Steve curled his finger over both rosy blushed cheeks, gratified with a giggle and more pink joy.
"Keep it up Cap. You make the future look like a devil out for the innocent," Tony's grin was hidden just at the rim of his menu folder.
"Ha, Ha, Ha, you can't use that against me this time," There was a bucket of trimpuant in Steve's voice. "I heard a couple say it in the marketplace yesterday."
Tony flapped the folder to the side, "The elderly don't count." And he claimed another win when Steve's cheekbones shined a deep coral.
Antonio smacked his hands on the table top and gurgled, spittle's of drool glossing his lips.
Tony nodded, "See? Even the brat agrees." Reaching around his back, Tony came back with a yellow and green patterned pacifier and plucked it in the baby's mouth. "Here Squint, chew on that a while."
Steve exchanged a sturdy and careful look between the older man and the baby before sitting back, lips parted brilliantly. He hadn't realized it before but now, now it was sorely obvious and absolutely precious. "Well I'll be darn."
"What," Tony shifted the book to the side again. "You say something?"
No, he wouldn't offer his observation just yet, but Steve was amused pink at the small details he'd noticed of his fellow Avenger in the last three months he'd kept Antonio. No matter where Tony seemed to go, he'd unknowingly bring Antonio along dressed in similar if not the exact same attire. Tony came casually clothed in some acid washed blue jeans, a while long sleeved thermal and a thickly padded leather jacket to keep out the cold. Antonio, just like his—well his guardian—had on some baby blue jeans a stalk white turtle neck and a plush baby biker's jacket that could so easily have been cut out of Tony's. In the three months the baby's hair has flushed out a dark chocolate brown; and Tony made sure to keep the style curly and swipe off Nio's face.
"Have you ever wondered . . .?" The next moment made him bite off his secret. The two Tony's had their heads cocked to the side, eyes so intently focused on Steve he choked back his laugh. Like double mint twins. If only his friend knew. No, Steve would keep this to himself. "Nothing, forget it."
Tony's signature eyebrow rose over his sunglasses, but he didn't think much of it.
"Mmm."
He looked down. Antonio's cheeks swelled plump, "What's up?"
Antonio buckled in his seat, smacking his bubble hands flat on the support beam. "Mm."
"Hungry huh? Greedy bastard. You had a whole bottle and two jars of smashed peas this morning."
Steve winched, right eye squint like getting antsy for a needle to be injected in his arm, "Do you think cursing at a baby's healthy? They're impressible at this age."
"What?" Tony blinked. "He isn't registering any of it. I don't see the harm. Ain't that right you little jackass?" Tony ignored Steve's disapproval glare and explained. "You don't know what the jerk put me through last night. I couldn't get an ounce of work done because all he wanted to do was play and suck a bottle."
"Sure," Steve unfolded his menu options, barely reading over the listed lunch specials. His eyes were trained on Tony's conditions and when he noticed a difference, immediately pounced. "Your headache's gone?"
Tony frowned back at him for having seen the difference before he had. Yeah, it was gone. As a matter of fact as soon as he walked through the doors and sat down the headache vanished. "It is," He smiled. "I guess I have your ray of sunshine to blame." He wasn't all that hungry really. Tony just wanted an excuse to get out of there, to clear his head and think properly. "What're you having Spangles?"
"Umm, hard to say," Steve murmured, sliding his index over the delicious selections. "Everything sounds so tasty."
On second thought, after scanning the menu Tony did feel a little hungry. He didn't need to study the menu like his partner. He knew very well what he wanted, so instead he looked up and around the crowded café, sight-seeing every potential looker in the joint. When he turned around to the front of the café, Tony found the shy gaze of a tall, slightly built, dark haired teen standing with a tray of drinks in his hand. The kid couldn't have been more than eighteen with a pair of killer green eyes that gleamed like gemstones against his baby doll pale face. The uniform, a short sleeved, navy blue polo and khaki pants were worn loosely around his frame, doing little to give Tony an estimate on body type.
Tony grinned.
Lowering the sunglasses over his eyes, along with making sure the Cap was busy, Tony sensually licked his lips and shot a heated wink to the kid. The kid rocketed a fire engine red from his chest to his ears, expression stunned like a jolt from a fork in a plug. A slender and mightily proportioned young woman sassed by then, taking with her, a pair of breasts for years and hips and mile long legs to make a Preacher pause for a look. Still, in the end after she'd left he was drawn back to looking into those green eyes. As addictive as a new kind of shot, those eyes were meant to be stared at. Pretty little things too.
"I'm thinking the five stars special. You the manager will mind if I ask for extra bacon?" No answer. Steve blinked, leaning his menu to the side, finding Tony pleasantly distracted and looked over to see him in a heated stare with a child. "Dear God Tony, have some mercy. The poor fella can't be more than ten."
"And looking every bit of twenty five," Tony smoothly countered, never breaking eye contact.
Steve rolled his eyes as he leaned across the table and tickled Antonio under his chin, "Try your best not to grow up like your Dad kiddo. He's a hopeless case."
Say what? Did he hear that right? That grabbed Tony's attention faster than a pair of baby oil thighs. "And what's that's supposed to mean?"
"Just as I said," Steve smiled.
Tony frowned and had a good lesson refreshed in his mind to scar the good soldier's brain for life until a gentle brush on his shoulder sucked every word back. "Excuse me."
Tony paused and looked up, instantly conjuring his handsome charm. Not a single tooth was spared his smile. "Oh. Couldn't keep away could you?"
"No sir, not when egged on so perversely," The waiter admitted in a timid and bold declaration. Tony detected an accent and boy if those didn't set his loins a fire. "And I came to ask if you were ready to order."
"Hm," Tony eased his chin on the back of his knuckles, smile so dazzling it could reflect off the drink glasses. "I'll have whatever makes your eyes so sweet, Pretty Boy."
The waiter was baffled. Tony thought it was the most precious thing until a swift kick to the shin shattered his thoughts.
Steve sat back, satisfied. "We'll both have the all-star special, extra bacon for me and—"
Steve was cut off with a wickedly excited squeal from his right. Antonio caught sight of their waiter and went wild, chubby arms wavering in the air and button lips babbling nothing but thrill.
"Ha," Tony was proud. "See, and you were worried the brat wouldn't be influenced. He's got my good tastes. He knows good quality when he sees it." Tony laughed short, and battered back and forth with the captain for a moment, not at all aware of the intense study trained on him.
. . . . . .
There was a smile, a visible flash and a flicker of a finger.
. . . . . .
Tony stopped laughing instantly. He knew what he felt just then and turned around to search. It was so weird, but he knew what it was. Loki was near, somewhere close. It was the same feeling he had the night they met in that café down town. He'd know that signature anywhere, even without a detector.
"Mmm!"
"Yeah Sport, I hear you." Tony brushed it off for now until he was positive of another contact. He'd use that to lead him to the bastard to see what the hell he was up too.
. . . . . .
In the meantime, the waiter looked down at his palm and grimly closed his eyes, then opened out to the window.
So peculiar, his reaction. He felt that. That small twitter, and he could feel it.
Loki inwardly sighed and closed each finger into his palm. Something was going on against his better consciousness. He was going to need to find out soon and quickly. He didn't like being unable to control things.
Whatever was going on here, this would not be one of them.
Stay tuned.
