Chapter 12, Bump, Set, Burn Part 2

As the sun continued to shine so did the team's volleyball game. Loki deciding to actually try was a huge improvement and he showed to have some skill. Tony kept him up front as he proved to be very good at blocking and spiking, no surprises there due to his height. Soon enough Tony and Loki had become as strong as a team as Clint and Natasha when it came to setting up nice plays. Bruce covered the back nicely, and Thor was obviously very good at bashing so he was valuable all around. Soon enough they had a great system going and brought the score up to a tie.

The cool breeze from the lake kept them from noticing the sun beating down on their backs as the day went on. Clint was starting to get frustrated from Loki's constant blocks over the net and Thor's merciless hits. In a near fit of rage he spiked the ball unnecessarily hard at Loki. He knew it was a little harsh but the god needed that smirk wiped off his face. Although to his dismay, Loki easily brought up his hand and deflected the shot.

"Okay, what is with your reflexes? This is just getting creepy!" Clint exclaimed as the ball bounced and rolled to a stop.

Loki just continued to smile, and Tony nearly started to laugh. "Calm down man, it's just a game. You got the point anyway."

"It's not just a game!" Clint argued. Natasha rolled her eyes and walked over to him giving him a pat on the back. He ran a hand through his hair and let out a puff of air. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." he mumbled.

"Control your anger!" Bruce yelled from the other side, getting a high five from Tony in return.

Clint shook his head, "Alright I think the heat's getting to me." he said squinting into the sky, not a single cloud in sight.

"Yeah, we should take a break soon. Next point wins?" Tony suggested.

"Yeah, our ball." Clint said wiping some sweat off his forehead.

Tony rolled Clint the ball who passed it over to Steve to serve. It was placed perfectly but Thor dove for it in the back keeping it up. Tony then set it to Loki who spiked it over, though Clint wasn't having any of it. As the ball came to him he knocked it back to Natasha who hit past Loki. Bruce then quickly bumped it back to the front and it nearly started all over again. It slowly got more and more competitive as they seemed to come to some sort of stalemate with neither of them able to get the point.

Finally someone made a mistake. Thor dove too early for a ball, and was just able to flick it back up. Tony had to nearly bend backwards to just get it over and blindly hit it. This was the perfect opportunity for Clint, and he had plenty of time to prepare. As the ball soared over to him he jumped, ready for the spike. Although, he may have smacked it just a little too hard as it hit Tony before he could get back up. The ball then bounced off his shoulder and zoomed to the left. Right to where Loki took off his helmet. The ball knocked it over, and was punctured by one of the large gold horns, deflating rather comically.

The Avengers all glanced around speechless to the scene before them. Thor picked himself up off the ground and Tony was rubbing his shoulder. "Well…" he drawled. "I guess you win."

Loki walked over to his helmet and peeled the ball off of it, handing it to Clint. The archer stared at it for a moment before dropping it to the ground. "Um, I'm sorry." he said glancing up to the rest of the team.

"Well, games over at least." Steve said flatly.

The rest of the team nodded being too tired to get in a fight over a ball and decided to head back to camp. Although Loki stayed silent and inspected his helmet on the ground, making sure there were no scratches. The metal was hot against his hands, but nothing he couldn't handle. He picked it up and followed after the rest of the guys.

Tony saw Loki was trailing behind and slowed down so he could walk with him. "You're helmet all good?" He asked as he came to his side.

"Seems to be fine." he said, flipping it over for good measure.

Tony placed his hand on the side of helmet to give it a look himself, but pulled back sharply as the metal burned his skin.

"Ouch, probably shouldn't have left it in the sun hmm?" Tony grimaced looking at his hand.

Loki nodded, "It is rather hot."

"Oh you don't say?"

The god laughed lightly, "My sincerest apologies."

Tony smirked, "Yeah thanks."

After a few moments of watching the helmet glimmer in the sun Tony asked, "So, is it made of pure gold?"

"Completely." Loki said rather proudly.

"You Asgardians seem to love you're flashy things."

"Says the man who wears a red and gold armoured suit?" he countered.

"Er, well nothings wrong with wanting to stand out. Gold is a nice colour." Tony said with a teasing grin.

Loki laughed, "You'd love the palace." he said thinking of the shimmering city he used to call a home.

Tony hummed in acknowledgement, "I bet, Thor's told some pretty impressive stories. Always mocking the architecture of Earth though…"

"Yes, well the standards in Asgard are much higher."

Tony scoffed, "Psh, what about my tower?"

"What did I just say?" Loki said grinning.

"Oh, whatever," Tony said rolling his eyes. "At least I have a tower with my name on it."

Loki paused for a moment. "…Whatever." he mumbled, copying him.

"Mhm." Tony hummed smirking, glad to have won the argument.

They soon joined the rest of the team up at the campsite. Thor already had his hand down one of the coolers, and had grabbed a bunch of sandwiches. The rest of them soon followed and had gotten food and drinks, relaxing out in the shade.

"The sun can really wear a guy out." Bruce said, taking a sip of his decaffeinated coke. He didn't want to risk drinking anything with caffein. Especially out here. Hulking out in the campsite would probably not end well.

"Yeah, I know. I miss my AC." Tony replied, grabbing a drink for Loki and himself.

Loki took the drink from him and examined the label. 'Ice Tea' it read. Why would anybody in their right mind want iced tea. He wondered. Tea was perfectly fine the way it was normally prepared. Despite his thoughts he watched how Tony popped the top off and did so himself, taking a sip. He licked his lips at the sweet taste. Of course, add enough sugar to anything and the humans will love it.

Tony walked over and sat with his group of super friends in the shade and motioned for Loki to join. Loki waved him off and went to his tent to grab a t-shirt first before slowly heading over.

As Loki came closer Thor spoke up. "Brother you are half decent at this game of volleyball." he said as Loki sat, giving him a smile.

"It's because he's so damn tall." Clint huffed.

"Don't have another hissy fit now dear." Tony teased, getting a laugh from the others.

Clint just glared at him and took a sip from his drink.

They chatted idly for a while, and before they knew it it was becoming time to start up the fire.

xxx

Tony announced that they were having hotdogs tonight and informed the rest to find a stick. He made his way over to Steve and motioned for him to come closer. "Hey, do you think you can you help Loki?" he asked him quietly. "I don't want a repeat of the marshmallow incident."

Steve always willing to help, nodded politely and walked over to Loki's spot. Teaching him the techniques of how to cook a hotdog over a fire.

Loki was much better at roasting this time, and had a perfectly cooked hotdog sitting on his stick, getting an encouraging smile from Steve. Thor on the other hand had completely burnt his. Not wanting to waste food he ate it anyways. Loki looked over to him in disgust, and continued to roast another.

Not too long after dinner Thor Clint and Bruce decided to head off to bed, Natasha following soon after with a yawn.

"Are you guys seriously tired?" Tony asked incredulously. "It's not even that late out."

"I'm pretty tired myself." Steve said standing up. "I'm gonna head off too."

"What? Come on! You guys are no fun." Tony said, giving them dirty looks.

Natasha turned back and gave him a pointed look.

Tony sighed, "Fine, go."

"Night." Steve mumbled, and headed into their tent.

Tony slumped back into his chair and looked over to Loki. "And then there were two."

"Indeed." Loki said, poking the dying out fire with his stick.

Tony sat gazing at the slowly burning embers before standing up, and stretching. "Well," he started, walking to Loki. "I guess we should get to bed as well." he said giving Loki a pat on the back.

Loki yelped at the contact and pulled away quickly. Tony's eyes went wide as he stared at him confused.

"Uh, you alright?"

Loki was too busy trying to look over his back, feeling over his shoulders. "Fine." he said curtly. "That just… stung."

Tony frowned. "I didn't hit you that hard." he said coming to stand beside him.

"I know…" he trailed off, just as confused.

As Tony got closer to him, he started to see the touch of red that was covering his neck.

"Uh oh."

"What is it?" Loki asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"One sec," Tony said, lifting a finger to look down the back of his shirt. He then saw the angry red that covered his whole back.

Loki squirmed, "Stark what are you doing!"

"You're sunburnt." Tony said ignoring his questions. "Really bad."

"Preposterous. I have never had such a thing before."

"Well our sun is different. Take your shirt off and look for yourself." Tony said, giving him a sympathetic look.

Loki frowned still unbelieving him but pulled off his shirt nonetheless. His frown disappearing as he saw the deep tone his shoulders had turned. "Oh."

Tony nodded, "It's going to kill tonight if you don't put something on that."

"What do you suggest?" Loki asked, acutely worried of his injuries.

"I think we have some aloe vera. It's a plant but we have a cooling gel. It's good for burns and such." Loki nodded, thinking they had something similar back in Asgard. Although magic was much more practical.

They walked over to the gear and Tony came back with a blue bottle giving it to Loki. "Here put this on your shoulders, it should take the stinging out a bit." Loki nodded and did what he was told. He was amazed at the cooling sensation, as it mingled with his hotter skin. Very soothing indeed.

Even though Loki's arms were rather long he still couldn't reach around fully to his back. Tony bit his lip for a moment before taking the bottle from him. "I guess you can't reach your back." he said slightly awkwardly. "Do you want me to…?"

"…I suppose." Loki answered, just as awkward.

Tony put some of the gel on his back and rubbed it in with his hand. "Could we not tell the others about this." Loki asked,

"Yeah, I don't want the others to know I was massaging gel onto your back either." Tony said with a smirk.

Loki laughed slightly, "Well that too. But I don't want Thor knowing I got burnt. He'll never stop fretting over me."

"Sounds good. Just wear a shirt tomorrow and they won't even think of it."

Loki nodded. "Thank you, Tony."

"Don't mention it." he said giving him a smile, unaware of the pair of eyes watching them in the dark.

Woohoo hey guys! So, I've been on vacation myself lately, that's why the updates been so spaced.. but that just means more ideas for newer chapters! Many of you guessed that Loki would be burnt so prizes for all of you! Haha :) You guys are all awesome!

Thanks! :)