Okay so I am updating again because I seem to have misslead people with the ending of the last chapter. The beginning of this one would have been some sexy times for LokixTony but I thought it was too soon so I changed it slightly to this instead. Hopefully it will make sense once you read this but please don't kill me (the sexy times are in the next chapter) This is now the last post before my trip so try to enjoy it and I'm sorry if I have misslead you!
Chapter 8
Being awoken from a deep sleep was never very pleasant but being abruptly woken with no sudden explanation was far worse. Loki sat up in confusion and frustration. It was dark in the room so his eyes took a moment to adjust to the dim light. When they did he could see no explanation as to him awakening. Sighing, he lay back down ready to fall straight back to sleep. He froze, however, when he heard a small whimper.
He sat back up, brushing the covers off in the process, and took another look around the room, this time focussing on every little detail he could make out in the poor light. A louder whimper was heard this time. Turning his head, Loki glanced down at Tony. Even in the bad light he could see there was something wrong.
Beads of sweat caused his skin to have an eerie glow as he tossed back and forth. Loki debated with himself whether to wake him or not. He knew it can be dangerous to rouse people from sleep so suddenly but he was clearly very troubled by the dream he was having. He was saved, however, from waking Tony because a second later he jolted awake in a fit of pants and uneven breaths.
For a minute he lay there, unmoving and disorientated. As his breathing eased off into a slower, more natural rhythm, his eyes wandered and came to rest on Loki's face peering at him in the darkness.
"Stark?" Loki said quietly.
Tony just stared up at him, still not moving, but breathing a lot calmer.
"Maybe you could do with a drink," he continued, climbing out of bed after Tony nodded at the suggestion.
Walking over to the small kitchen area of the room, which mainly consisted of a kettle and small fridge containing vastly overpriced snacks and beverages, Loki flipped on some lights before filling the kettle and popping a teabag into two mugs. While waiting for the water to boil he tapped his foot on the floor in an uneven beat. He refrained from turning around and questioning Tony because he knew that if he was in Tony's position he wouldn't have wanted to be questioned either. So instead he stood with his back to his companion and prepared the tea.
Before carrying both mugs over he put three sugars into Tony's. Then he grasped the handles and walked back to the bed where he took a seat on the edge and handed the steaming mug over. Tony accepted the offering, sitting up with the covers still around his waist.
"This isn't whiskey," Tony stated, sniffing the drink.
"No, were you expecting it to be?" Loki answered, watching Tony closely. He seemed far calmer now than from before.
"Well yeah, it helps you know," The genius shrugged, taking his first sip. After he swallowed he made a face. "How much sugar is in this?"
"Three. I heard you Midgardian's believe that sweet tea helps with shock."
Tony chuckled quietly then looked back at Loki who appeared to be confused by the reaction. "It's actually not good to drink when you're in shock but thanks for the concern," He said.
Loki just stared back at him for a moment before raising his own mug to his lips and sipping at the hot drink. He was not at all sure of how to proceed with the conversation. Should he ask Tony what just happened? Or should he ask why? Or should he just respect his privacy and hope one day he would be enlightened? He hated not knowing how Midgardian minds work. In Asgard if there was a problem it would be shared freely and without delay in hope that someone would have a solution or at least would be offered some advise.
The mugs were almost half empty. The silence had not been broken once and Loki was becoming increasingly agitated. This seemed to become clear to Tony who sighed then spoke. "S'pose you want an explanation?"
"That could be helpful," Loki answered.
"It's a long story."
"I have all night," The god countered, receiving a sigh in return.
"Uh fine but just don't interrupt okay? It's bad enough without stopping and starting."
Loki nodded. Shifting further onto the bed he made room so he could cross his legs and look straight at Tony. This, however, made it worse for Tony. He felt like he was being continually watched and judged and usually it was true that when he had told this story, on those rare occasions, he had been judged. Still he thought it necessary to explain and he had also already agreed.
For the third time he sighed loudly before breaking into the story of how Iron Man came about. He began, obviously, at the beginning explaining how his company used to make top quality and extremely advanced weaponry. Then he launched into the part about going to Afghanistan and getting kidnapped.
As the story went on his voice grew stronger. Whenever he had told this story before he had done it quickly and bluntly, not wanting to dwell on his past experiences. But now, sitting in front of Loki, he let his voice carry him and he explained everything he could remember and everything he had been feeling. Feelings had never been his strong point but now they were flowing as free as waterfall down a mountainside. He described his fear and his pain, he talked about Yinsen and how responsible he felt for his death, and he expressed his feelings of total betrayal as he relived Obadiah's disloyalty.
When Tony's voice finally faded to nothing he stared ahead for awhile, not knowing whether he felt better or worse for speaking out. Loki didn't speak either, letting his new knowledge set in. Whatever he had been expecting from the story, it had defiantly not been that.
"So the circle of light in your chest, that keeps you alive?" Loki asked.
"Yes," Tony said, drumming his fingers around the edge of the Arc Reactor.
It was difficult to know how to proceed. If Loki just changed the subject it would be assumed that he did not care about Tony's sufferings. But he also didn't want to dwell on them too much because they brought painful memories back for himself.
"Come on, now it's your turn. Tell me a story about yourself," Tony blurted out in a far happier tone than the situation demanded.
Loki snapped out of his reverie and blinked back at him. "You want me to tell you a story?"
"Yeah, though nothing too depressing please, it's been a bad enough night already. We don't need more angst filling it up."
"I could tell you the tale of when Thor and I dressed up as a bride and handmaid to win Mjolnir back."
"I'm loving it already," Tony commented, chuckling at the thought of the God of Thunder in a flowing white dress with a veil.
Smiling, Loki took Tony's empty mug and carried it over to the sort of kitchen area. He excused himself briefly to the bathroom, needing to relieve himself after the tea. When he returned he was surprised to find Tony sprawled in the centre of the bed, snoring gently.
Rolling his eyes at the sight, Loki moved away from the bed towards the huge built-in wardrobe. From the top shelf he pulled out two large thick blankets which he used after he curled up on the corner sofa that sat on the opposite side of the room to the bed.
He knew it was probably a silly thing to do. It was his room so he could easily wake Tony and ask him to move but that felt wrong. The man had just relived an obviously traumatic memory that prevented him from sleep, so if he was asleep now, Loki wasn't going to move him. Instead he lay down on the sofa, tugged the blankets up over himself and rested his head against the cushions before slipping into a deep sleep of his own.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Tony jerked awake, not in a terror-filled frenzy like earlier that night. No this time it was purely someone else's fault.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
What the hell was that? Feeling around next to him, Tony reached out expecting to find Loki's arm or something but instead he only felt soft cold empty sheets. He sat up, studying the room in the process. It wasn't difficult to find Loki. He was spread out on the sofa, limbs pointing in every direction. Tony had to admit it was an impressive sight, seeing Loki so free and relaxed. His face was so different, no longer painted with the usual tense expression. It had been replaced with something beautiful and totally at peace. It was natural. This was the natural Loki, without stress, without pain, without hate.
"Loki, are you awake?"
Thor. Of course it had to be him at this hour of the morning. It was like what 8:30, Tony discovered as he glanced up at the clock. Wow it was far too early to be up. However Tony banished that thought, knowing he was in more trouble than not getting enough sleep. If Thor found him inside Loki's room at this hour it would be extremely hard to come up with an excuse.
Jumping forward, he tapped Loki on the shoulder mumbling his name. The mischief maker just rolled over, groaning. Tony reached out and shook his arm instead, hoping the added pressure and more forceful gesture would rouse him. It had no such effect.
"Loki, I must speak with you!"
"God Thor, give the man a chance," Tony grunted far too quietly for Thor to actually hear.
Shaking Loki again, Tony continued to try and wake him. Nothing seemed to be working. In a second he came up with an idea. Not even bothering to question it, he bent forward and pressed his lips hard against Loki's. For a moment nothing happened then there was movement. Tony opened his eyes as he moved away and saw an excessively green pair staring back at him.
"Are you just that desperate, Stark, to steal kisses in peoples sleep?" Loki smirked, lifting himself into a sitting position.
Tony's mouth snapped open to answer but was cut short by another shout from Thor.
"Why did you not wake me?" Loki demanded. Tony tried to answer but was cut off again, this time by the god in front of him. "Oh never mind. Just get into the bathroom, shut the door and do not make a sound."
With an indignant expression on his face, the genius did what he was told. Only when Loki was sure that Tony would not reappear did he walk towards the door to answer it.
"What Thor?"
The door was wrenched open revealing Thor, who stood poised ready to knock again. Seeing the door opened, he lowered his fist looking sheepishly at Loki. Obviously he sensed Loki's anger because he quickly pressed on.
"I would like to continue our conversation from yesterday. Do you remember what we spoke of while in the room full of colourful flashing machines?"
"Vaguely," Loki replied in a bored voice, though finding it slightly amusing that Thor didn't even know what a casino was called.
"Perhaps it would be easier if we spoke inside your chambers."
Wanting to get this conversation over swiftly, Loki moved out of the way so Thor could enter. Hopefully Tony would have enough sense to remain hidden until Loki went to release him.
"Well as we discussed you mentioned that you are lonely," Thor began cautiously. "And after you left I began to converse with a man. I told him about you and he seemed very interested so I said maybe you should meet so I told him to come to your room this evening. Are you okay with these terms?"
In truth Loki had barely listened to a word of what he had just said. However he didn't remember saying once that he was lonely but it was probably Thor putting words into his mouth and he just agreed because it was easier than actually paying attention. He caught the last sentence of Thor's speech and realised it was a question. Not having any idea what he had said, he agreed without much thought, thinking it was probably something stupid and unimportant.
Thor seemed satisfied though with his answer and immediately dismissed himself, a wide smile etched into his face. As soon as the door was shut again, and Thor was safely on the other side, Loki darted to the bathroom and wrenched the door open.
"Is it safe?" Tony whispered, feigning fear.
Loki just rolled his eyes at the man on the floor before exiting. He could hear Tony laughing behind him.
"So I should probably get back to my room in case people start worrying where I am."
"Don't flatter yourself too much, Stark. You won't be missed that much," Loki said.
"I beg to differ."
Pausing in their movements, they both stared at each other for a moment. It was just a look. A simple, lasting glance. But for each person it meant something different. Neither of them could deny there was something between them. These 'sass battles' was just a fraction of their interactions. They had already had serious conversations, shared private memories and secret fears, they had argued and they had kissed. If someone had been watching the pair together they too would have noticed the change. They had come a long way from their first meeting, but little did they know that they had a lot further to go.
"Anyway I'm gunna leave now but thanks for the bed," Tony grinned.
Loki nodded, his lips twitching. It was so damn hard not to smile back at the genius when he flashed one of his charismatic flirty smiles. But then he was gone and he didn't need to fight it anymore. He let the smile spread across his face until it engulfed him. He was falling, he was falling fast.
It was still early when he left Loki's room. Normally he would not be seen awake before ten but today he could see no point in going back to bed. So instead he headed down to breakfast where he knew a buffet would be waiting with all kinds of foods that could tempt anyone away from sleep.
Just before the lift hummed into view, footsteps began behind him. Turning around he saw Steve hurrying to catch up with him.
"Morning Cap."
"Tony, there you are. You just disappeared yesterday and no one ever saw you again," Steve gushed.
See people did miss me Tony thought to himself, imagining Loki's eye roll at his comment. "Don't panic, I'm fine. An early night has never done anyone any harm."
"Except when it's you and you're in Vegas. Did you have company or something?"
"Er yeah you could put it that way," Tony replied.
They entered the lift and remained in silence as it descended to the ground floor. When the doors slid open Tony stepped out with Steve at his heel. Walking side by side, they crossed the lobby and headed through some elaborately gold decorated doors that led to the restaurant.
Tony grabbed a plate from the top of a huge stack that sat by the doors then practically danced towards the buffet. Man he loved these things. He began to load his plate with everything that took his fancy. At first he went for the cooked breakfast options like bacon and sausages, then moved on to fruits. Some he didn't even recognise but he added them to his overflowing plate anyway because why the hell not? They were edible and that was really all that mattered. Nothing good came from being overcautious.
Steve stayed close, though watched with disgust as Tony's plate filled rapidly. How the billionaire planned to eat all that he didn't know but decided not to ask. He knew the response would probably be something he didn't want to hear while he ate. Keeping one eye on his friend, he began to set food down on his own plate. When they were both finished collecting food, Steve had less than half of what Tony had on his plate. Still he didn't comment. Each to their own, as they say.
While they ate conversation ran low, or more Steve was scared that if Tony opened his mouth while he chewed the food would come surging out in a flood of crushed fruit and grinded meat. That was a sight he could defiantly live without witnessing.
Tony was glad of the silence. It meant it gave him time to think. Now that he was away from Loki he could see just how big the difference was in both of their behaviour. He had never, in his wildest dreams, thought that Loki could be like this. But now his perception had changed. He no longer saw Loki as the crazy megalomaniac that had tried to conquer the world. No now he was the intriguing, attractive, still severely damaged god that had caught Tony's attention entirely by accident. However Tony wasn't going to apologise.
His thoughts continued on down these roads, slowly wandering along, occasionally stopping to admire certain things or ponder others. Then something struck him, metaphorically. Though himself and Loki had admitted they liked each other they never considered exactly what they meant by that. Did that mean they were ready for a relationship? Tony was slightly freaked out by that but also oddly exhilarated. Before he even considered this thought, he needed to know Loki's opinions on the matter.
Not wanted to appear desperate or anything, although he was, when he finished his breakfast he left the hotel to find something to occupy himself with. Later he would go and see Loki. Later. Why was time moving so slowly?
It was creeping into late evening. The sun was setting meaning the city was lighting up but Loki had no plans to explore it. Not that he could anyway. He couldn't do things alone, he couldn't go out alone which meant he certainly wasn't allowed away to investigate the strange city without company. Instead of dwelling on what he could be doing, he focussed on what he was doing which was reading. For being a pretty mundane realm, Midgard had an impressive selection of books. One that Loki was determined to discover as much as he could about as possible.
A knock at the door disturbed him from the sentence he was reading. Folding down the corner of the page, he got up from his bed and went to open the door.
"So you're Loki," A man said, once he saw Loki.
"Um yes, who are you?"
"I am your company for the evening. Your brother told me all about you yesterday," The man said sultrily. "He said you were lonely and could do with some livening up." He walked forward and kicked the door shut.
Loki stood frozen. Was this man really what he thought he was? He certainly wasn't dressed like it. In his neatly ironed shirt and pressed trousers, he seemed just an ordinary guy. But Loki knew better than to go on first impressions.
"I brought this along, you know, to loosen you up."
From behind his back the man produced a bottle of wine. He made to pull out the cork but as it came free from the bottle, the scarlet liquid poured from the end soaking his shirt. If someone had walked in right then and heard the startled cry and seen the red stain they would have assumed the worst. Luckily Loki was left alone with the man though in many ways he wished he wasn't. He wanted the man out his room.
"Oh woops," The man cried. He really didn't seem all that upset though. Placing the bottle down on a small table he turned round and whipped off his shirt, revealing overly defined muscle. "Still it speeds things up a bit." He then winked, the action making Loki want to throw up.
If Loki had been paying attention then, he would have heard the soft knock on his door. His attention, unfortunately, was focused on the man that was now slowly removing the rest of his clothes. He didn't get far because next second Loki was upon him.
Grabbing him roughly by the back of the neck and shoulder, Loki growled, "I do not want your services," Before throwing the man from him.
The knock came a little louder this time. Both men turned to dive towards the door. To Loki's distain, he did not get there quick enough.
"May I help you?" The stripper slash prostitute man asked.
"Uhm err is Loki there?"
And that's when Loki's heart melted. Tony. Why did it have to be him? This must look bad, so terribly bad. How could he explain this? He lunged forward, trying to get the man to move but it had no effect. This man was strong. So Loki was held at arm's length, out of view from Tony and seething with fury.
"He's sorta preoccupied right now. If you come back later, like much later, I'm sure we'll be finished then but for now we are a bit busy so bye." And then the door was shut. If Tony had replied it was cut short by the door closing in his face.
"Why would you do that?" Loki demanded.
"Hey Sugar it's alright. You don't need him, I'm here and I'm gunna rock your world."
"If you touch me you will regret it. Now get out." Loki took his arm, wrenched the door back open and shoved him into the corridor then picked up his ruined shirt and threw it after him. "I'll be keeping the wine," He snapped before slamming the door.
Oh Thor was so dead. And Loki looked forward to killing him. But first he needed to mend things with Tony. He could just imagine the horror-struck look that must have been plain on his face when the whore had opened the door.
Hurrying out his room, he quickly turned back and locked the door before striding off down the corridor to the lifts. He was relieved to see the man was no longer standing in the hallway. That could have been an awkward encounter. Well for the man, not for Loki.
In no time at all he was outside Tony's door. There was no time for waiting so he just barged through the door without any introduction.
"Holy fuck, what don't you knock?" Tony shouted, jumping with the shock of seeing Loki marching into his room.
Totally ignoring Tony's question, Loki walked forward so he was stood in front of Tony, who was sitting on the corner of his bed.
"I need to explain to you the situation of what you just walked in on," Loki said very seriously.
"No it's cool, you don't need to explain-"
"I do. Thor sent the man! I had nothing to do with-"
"Honestly it doesn't matter. I mean we never really did anything and-"
"Stark."
"No don't interrupt. Because so what, we kissed, a lot of people kiss. That doesn't mean anything needs to happen. You can do what you want, it's not like we discussed-"
"Stark."
"Anything about us. I mean there isn't even really an us, unless you want there to be and I just-"
"BY VALHALLA, ANTHONY!" Loki shouted before silencing his response with a kiss.
It started off slow but soon became a serious battle of wills. At first Tony was shocked by the sudden contact but as soon as his brain registered what was happening he had already responded by pushing back forcefully against Loki. As the same as the first time, Loki's hands crept up into Tony's hair and burrowed deep into it, pulling him even closer. Tony's tongue darted out, coaxing Loki's into a furious battle. Their mouths remained locked together, only half separating when the need to breath became too much.
Tony's mind was reeling. He couldn't think straight. But he wasn't complaining. Having Loki so close felt so right that it took every other rational thought out of his mind. Loki smelt like mint or fir trees, Tony couldn't decide, and he tasted of something sweet, like honey but more Loki. This was Loki and Tony had to continue to remind himself that as he started to draw his hands up and around Loki's hips.
The god above him registered the movements and leant forward until Tony fell backwards against the duvet. Now Loki sat forward and straddled the genius' hips, smirking at the groan he received. Without breaking the kiss Loki bent closer until his torso was pressed against Tony's.
"Well this is moving faster than expected," Tony gasped between kisses.
"Shut up Anthony," Loki replied, nipping along his bottom lip.
Loki then let out a surprised grunt as he was suddenly flipped onto his back, with Tony smirking down at him.
"Now it's my turn," He whispered into his ear before diving down to reclaim his lips.
Now you can kill me!
