A/N: So this took forever and I'm sorry I suck frksdjfkdjrfgl. It's 22 pages though, does that make it better…? Thanks for sticking with me despite my horrible schedule guys. 100+ reviews, just. I am not worthy.
So this chapter contains pop culture references, transfigured dates, angry Loki, and ends with (sort-of heterosexual) sex. The sex was a last minute attempt to appease you for how long this has taken. I am shameless but I hope it worked. And it's kind of unrealistic but whatever, Loki's a god and does what (s)he wants.
Also I apologize for the angsty headcanons I don't even know how that scene got in here but I liked it. So. Yeah.
VVV
Clint let out a low, seemingly impressed whistle as the camera cut out- the transmission, after all, had been hooked up to the earpiece, even the video feed, and when Loki crushed it both were long gone- and turned a raised eyebrow toward Tony. "You're boyfriend's like a fucking riot act, you know that?"
"Don't you have prisoners to be beating?" Tony snapped in response, directing a very pointed look at the two men tied together in the corner of the van. Why Clint had brought them inside to bleed all over the floor was beyond him, but their frightened looks almost made it worth seeing Schmidt get away. He wasn't anywhere near so mad as Loki was -more concerned because the guy was a nutjob who was probably going to destroy half the city if they didn't get on the ball quick- but he thought two of Schmidt's minions with arrows through their knees (Clint had said something about them not being adventurers anymore, whatever that meant) all tied up and loopy with pain might ease the sting a bit. So long as Loki didn't just light them up like Christmas trees, of course. He tended to do that.
Of course they'd only really known something was wrong when they spotted those two- Loki's feed showed Schmidt was as obnoxiously calm as ever, still confident he had the god on his side. He'd had no idea SHIELD was involved (suspected something, the cops probably), and anyway they hadn't left looking for trouble, just gotten the hell out. Three guys, one Tony guessed must have been lasagna man but it was hard to assume which, one who was now being carted off by SHIELD in a body bag. (Tony didn't think he liked arrows too much- they seemed a lot messier than a bullet, and anyway took longer between shots, but Clint's aim had been dead on.) The other two'd been luckier targets, seeing as neither of them had guns on hand, and one had even been smart enough to let slip that they were evacuating.
So a quick search and an empty bottom floor later meant something was really wrong inside- hence Coulson running in with a squad of guys on bomb patrol while the others went up to get Loki's attention where they thought it needed to be.
Clint shrugged and lazily threw a wadded up ball of paper at one of his makeshift captives, who started swearing loudly in German in response to the attention. "You know I'm supposed to keep those two conscious. Coulson ruins all my fun." He stuck his tongue out at the swearing man and made some pouty noise that was apparently childish enough to baffle the goon into a few second's silence, which was enough for Clint to grow bored and turn back to Tony. For somebody working who could concentrate every stem of his mind on one single shot the guy was even more hyperactive than Tony was- then again, near heart failure. Couldn't exactly be blamed for the lack of energy.
"Think he's found that bomb yet?" Clint wondered, giving a useless kick to the machine that was still struggling in vain to catch signals that weren't being transmitted any longer. "I'm not looking forward to the lecture we're all going to get for letting Schmidt get away. You're so lucky you're dead, he can't drag you in to angry shouting-match briefings in case anybody sees you. Maybe I should have a heart attack."
"Think your death would get news coverage?" Tony wondered idly, grinning at the annoyed look Clint retorted with before flicking the dashboard's transmission back to the guys at the front of the car. "What's going on out there? Any luck?"
"Other than cleaning up all the blood from those guys Barton shot without anybody actually seeing it, no. Not really." Clint whistled innocently and twirled in hand a still-bloody arrow he'd retrieved from the pseudo-nazi's leg. "There's no word from Laufeyson, but since you got him to destroy his receiver that's not exactly a surprise. The rest of the team hasn't reported in yet either."
Meaning either Loki hadn't found the bomb yet or… well, or Loki hadn't found the bomb yet. Tony couldn't think of many other reasons why SHIELD- painfully on top of things, it was really pretty stifling most of the time, guys needed to loosen up once in awhile- wouldn't call in the second they found something. Personally Tony was just surprised they hadn't evacuated everything within fifty miles of the place. But, then again, full scale panic and suspicion were probably something best avoided until absolutely sure there was no choice otherwise.
"Aww, worried about your boyfriend? Clint crooned, grinning like a cat who'd just walked in on an open cage of mice. "Honestly, I'm more worried about mine. If his temper kills everyone in there I swear to god I will get my revenge."
Tony raised an eyebrow but didn't comment- he knew a grand total of what, four, maybe five people in SHIELD, and couldn't really care less who pretty-boy blond was dating. "I make no promises. He's pissed off- this is the second time Schmidt's gotten off since the expo." Though he had, thankfully, gotten beaten in the face a few times, so that was a bit of a silver lining. Shame he was wearing that mask, Tony would have really loved to see whatever bruises swelled up between now and their next meeting. "I want to know how he got that weapon out of there without us noticing."
Another thing Tony had kept in mind when building his semi-functional, sabotage-ready doomsday device was making it so fucking huge Schmidt would never be able to sneak around with it outside of SHIELD's notice. He'd taken it off in some car big enough to fit two hummers inside it at Vegas. Probably dismantled it into multiple pieces -that might even be why he'd called Loki in today, somebody had to put it together safely- while everyone else was stuck on the lockdown Pepper had insisted on after his collapse. They hadn't seen any cars leave the building though, but then again they hadn't seen any jets or motorbikes or anything to suggest how Schmidt had gotten out either.
Probably had something underground. And if Tony had to make a guess he was pretty sure he knew just where the entrance would be- it would take some interesting tech to set up an escape route as quick as Schmidt's, and whatever he'd used was probably more than capable of disrupting SHIELD's signals. That or there'd been some really badly designed television stuck in that jammed corner, but Tony was willing to go with the first bet.
"Well, no big deal. He can't use it, right? The whole point was you guys banking on him calling Loki in to show his way around the thing." Clint assumed, shrugging off Tony's concerns and wiping some of the thick red off his arrow, glaring at the stained tip as if he could will the blood away.
"Yeah, because he totally didn't demand Loki give him designs or anything." Tony rolled his eyes, astounded that this guy thought any self-respecting scientist would just accept a plan like they'd offered Schmidt at face value. Of course Loki'd shown him blueprints, schematics, even a few miniature models. All of them had been flawed one way or another at SHIELD's demand, but Tony figured that was just wishful thinking on their part. A big part of his disagreement with the plan had taken root in how badly they underestimated Schmidt- and just look where that had gotten them.
Well. Gotten him.
Before Clint could respond the receiver cracked to life again, but instead of scolding them because they'd forgotten (again) to click it off, the driver actually sounded wary when he spoke. "No call yet, but Laufeyson's coming out. Coulson's team is right behind him. The god's looking pretty pissed."
The streets were clear, more or less, but at the driver's words Tony pulled up his hoodie anyway (wow, a hoodie,a master of disguise you are not, Tony) and debated whether to just call Loki in to the car. But Tony couldn't have cared less who saw him at the moment (everything else was failing so hey, why not throw that in there too?) and only gave Clint a mock salute before ducking past him and jumping out of the van before the archer could grab him. Tony was, after all, a lot quicker than he looked- and Clint's surprise that the guy in the suit was capable outside of it too probably played to his advantage. He was pretty sure he heard footsteps following him, but once he was on the street that didn't matter- Loki had turned and spotted him, looking so protective a tank could probably have come by and tried to force him back into the van and only been made into scrap for its troubles.
That was kind of weird, and Tony almost hesitated in his step as he tried to understand what exactly that meant. Nobody had ever looked at him the way Loki did- Tony Stark could take care of himself, thank you very much, and the only people who every really worried about him were Pepper, Happy, and Rhodey. Even they had never tried to protect him before, or treated him like he was something that wasn't quite fragile but definitely had the capability of being broken.
Coulson followed Loki's gaze and narrowed his eyes, but the only move he made was to mutter something ominous into his radio. Obviously they couldn't be making a commotion trying to force him anywhere if the whole goal was to keep attention off him, right? Hopefully. It'd suck if Clint held good on his threat to impale Tony for trying to 'run away'.
But a few moments later Loki was there, and he doubted anybody in SHIELD would be dumb enough to try and interrupt when the god was looking so livid. Good thing he'd left the van- Loki'd never had such a dangerous look in his eye, not that Tony could remember. "I heard they caught two of them. Where are they?" Loki demanded immediately, hand twitching like he was resisting the urge to either a) throttle somebody or b) reach out and pull Tony into one of those vice-like hugs.
Which might actually not have been such a bad thing. He hadn't run at any point but Tony had moved quickly enough that his heart was beginning to pound again, needle-like pain finding its way to his chest. He ignored it and shrugged, wondering if he could get away with kissing Loki as roughly as he so badly wanted to. Probably not- the media would throw a party if they found out Tony Stark's boyfriend was "cheating" on him less than two days after his acknowledged death. "No can do, babe. SHIELD wants to get a look at them before you kill them."
He'd meant it as a joke, but he should have known Loki would be wanting just the thing he suggested. He was a lot angrier than Tony'd expected-showing him to the hostages was suddenly becoming a very bad idea. As it was Loki's eyes flashed with fury for a brief moment like he wouldn't accept this compromise, and Tony quickly resulted to plan B. He winced, barely noticeable, from the pain he was hiding in his chest and Loki's immediate plan of attack seemed to fade from mind. Drastic times called for drastic measures- he'd use dirty play if he had to, even if it meant he'd be dealing with Loki's protective streak a little longer. Again, not necessarily a bad thing.
The god's arm found Tony's, not gripping quite hard enough to hurt but so firm he'd never have stood a chance of breaking free. Good. Tony didn't like being given a choice when it boiled down to things like this- he was always worried he'd run and hide, push Loki away because nope, he just didn't do committed relationships. "You're cheating." Loki accused, because of course he wasn't fooled- he knew just why Tony was allowing himself to show even as much pain as he was, but that didn't mean the plan hadn't gone golden.
"But not lying." Tony grinned, allowing the gesture to become an unexaggerated grimace.
Loki conceded a dry smirk for that and nodded, sufficiently distracted from his thoughts of vengeance long enough that SHIELD was on its way over to finish up damage control. Clint had been dragged into a sheepish apology to Coulson (which as far as Tony could tell consisted something along the lines of, "I kind of figured Loki would probably kill us all if I shot his boyfriend, plus he moves a lot faster than a dead guy should- unless he's in Left 4 Dead, in which case he needs to speed the hell up because those motherfuckers are fast") and now the two agents were coming towards them. Tony knew he was about ten feet and five seconds away from the biggest lecture of his life, but he was already resolutely determined not to feel abashed in the slightest. Clint had a point, anyway- Loki probably would have started blowing shit up if somebody hadn't calmed him down, and these guys were the worst choice to do it. Except maybe for Thor himself. Or Fury. Or Criss Angel. Actually, anybody but Tony seemed to be the worst choice, now that he thought about it.
Cool. He was a god deterrent. He should fit that in a resume somewhere, right next to "came back from the dead. Twice."
"Stark, get back in the car. I'm taking you to headquarters." Coulson demanded as soon as they were in whispering distance, somehow managing to hide his anger well enough that anybody walking past wouldn't immediately spot him as anything more than a businessman out on his lunch break.
Tony wasn't nearly so successful- he was pretty sure any passerby would assume he was trying to seduce all three of them and failing miserably at it, which was more or less his default. "I thought they couldn't see me at headquarters? Selective knowledge and all that; Hydra might hear about it, inevitable fear of the rising zombie apocalypse, people stocking up on Twinkies at such a rapid rate that Hostess gains an even more powerful monopoly over the goodness that is cream filled pastry."
Clint grinned, but Coulson didn't react and all and Loki frowned like he thought Tony was delusional from fever again. Oh man, he was so behind on pop culture that it was just plain cute, but Tony made a mental note to solve that problem as soon as they were confined in his Malibu retreat again. No long-term boyfriend of his was going to get away with spending two months on earth without watching Zombieland at least three times.
"We've prepared a secure location. We have to debrief Laufeyson and plan our next move. And you've made it clear that house arrest is ineffective twice now." Coulson retorted, no doubt recalling that too-easy perimeter breach back in May. Hey, if the guy was going to try and keep Tony in his own house you'd think he would at least stay there to uphold his tazer-Supernanny threats but nope. Speaking of which, Tony never had found out what he was up to in the Land of Enchantment… probably a bad time to ask about his New Mexico adventures. "You're going to be under our eye now."
"No. He's not." Loki normally spoke with some degree of mock respect to SHIELD agents, whether because they were soldiers like he technically was or because he didn't feel like dealing with the consequences of doing otherwise, but now there was nothing but hate in the snarl he directed toward Coulson. Clint tensed at the threat and started to reach for his belt (where he probably kept a knife, if Tony's experience with this group had taught him anything) but Coulson waved a hand to stop him, looking more passively annoyed than anything "It's your fault that Schmidt has escaped me with his life. I'll cater to your whims no longer. Tony is returning home, with me, and I'll decide how I wish to deal with Schmidt, personally, later."
"Stark's home is currently the subject of a long and exceedingly detailed news report mourning his loss, and you'll cause something of a ruckus if you teleport inside in the middle of filming." Coulson pointed out dryly. News report? What news report? Tony hadn't heard about anything like that. "And I'm pretty sure not even Miss Potts could cover for you then."
Pepper. He hadn't said it, but of course Pepper was watching over things- for one she was now the legal owner of everything in that building save the workshop and its contents (Loki's, along with a room in the house and a good deal of cash), according to the latest draft of his will. Which Tony had learned to update about every two weeks- just in case. Had they gotten around to reading that yet? JARVIS had it on file, so they'd have a hell of a time actually getting its contents, but Tony figured Pepper'd kept the lawyers at bay for the time being. No need for them to actually start handing out his stuff until he really kicked the bucket.
"You've forgotten I'm a god. I can handle such problems on my own." Loki deadpanned, folding his arms over his chest and glaring down at Coulson like it was taking every ounce of control he had not to blast the street apart with a fireball. "SHIELD's plans have led to little but disaster. What stock should I hold by them now?"
Tony could tell that Coulson was about to retaliate, which was all kinds of not-okay. They didn't understand why he was so upset and they wouldn't give a damn if they did –even Tony could tell there was something else that Loki wasn't letting him see- but that didn't change the inevitable fallout if they happened to say the wrong thing. "I think you'll have plenty to deal with without bothering either of us. I know stuff can sometimes go over your head and all, but a Nazi just escaped from that building to run off and accomplish mysterious nefarious deeds after trying to blow us all up."
"Not quite mysterious." Loki sounded like he was announcing the death of his best friend, but Coulson and Clint looked like Christmas had come three months early. "Our machine is capable of mass destruction, yet Schmidt demanded we add adjustments to the original design."
Tony remembered that. A bunch of seemingly useless bs Schmidt had apparently insisted on that he'd shrugged off and gone along with- they didn't do any damage and really, he'd just been winging it with the weapon anyway. But now that he thought about it they had all functioned one way or another to the same goal- you could send the transmission from hell with that thing, if you wanted to get rid of the decidedly more awesome capacity to fire pinwheel lasers anyway and spend about twenty mil on superficial changes, anyway.
Still, he couldn't see what Schmidt could be doing with a mega-powered radio, unless... there was something there, something he wasn't quite seeing, but Tony's mind hadn't been working the way he wanted it to lately. Pain in the chest and interrupted blood flow apparently made for sluggish thought and that was not okay, not at all. He could deal with the rest of it, even if he spent half his time curled up and shaking with pain (because hey, at least he had Loki to comfort him and that was always a bonus) or gasping for breath because his blood wasn't carrying it right anymore. His body could be inhibited, he'd fight his way through that- but he needed his mind to do it.
Loki seemed to notice his internal dilemma and smiled wearily, though he still looked like he was about to kill somebody. Schmidt, preferably. "He needs a god. The fool hasn't realized what he had in me yet, still believes me to be some sorcerer, that idiot, but he knows we exist. When I searched the building for that bomb I found books, paintings, he'd even made up some sort of charts. He actually thinks he's about on our level." Loki sneered as if this were the highest sin in the world, glaring so viciously at a curious agent (carrying with him an armful of guns that looked like something out of Star Trek, no doubt salvaged from the building) that the man actually stumbled a few steps. "He's trying to call one down, he thinks that machine will access the bifrost with all the changes he's made."
"Will it?" Coulson wondered, apparently completely oblivious to what had just become very clear to Tony. Whatever Loki'd found in that building had told him very clearly that Schmidt was going to start bringing more deities raining down from the sky- and Tony did need to ask to know that Thor, if anyone, would respond.
Well, that was a shitstorm waiting to happen. If Thor showed up… Loki could very well just decide to start attacking people through a mini-war with his brother, stir up the chaos befitting of his name. Tony had no idea how he would react to that, what he would be able to do if his boyfriend decided to go crazy, and he didn't want to have to choose, either. So first order of business: block the inter-realm travel agency Schmidt was setting up. Hide from the problem before it could arrive, wasn't that what he always did?
"Not without the tesseract powering it." Loki replied, snapping Tony out of his momentary sort-of-panic.
Coulson narrowed his eyes, Tony rolled his, and Clint looked like he'd just been hit across the face. Clearly they hadn't expected Loki to know about that mythical cube they had locked up for Erik to study. Tony was just surprised Loki hadn't tried to take it himself.
Coulson recovered first, nodding brusquely and dropping his intrigued bystander disguise (the rest of his squad was killing it for him anyway- apparently they had cleared the streets, or else their agents were just morons who carted heavy weaponry through public roads all the time) and pulling out a phone from pretty much nowhere because Tony was sure he had nothing in his pockets. Or else they were magical pockets that kept all clean and pressed even with bulky Stark-tech (naturally) phones shoved inside.
"Barton, get Schmidt's men back to HQ and lead the guard for the tesseract." Coulson demanded brusquely as the phone clicked the prelude to a response on the other end. Clint didn't pout like Tony had expected but turned and sprinted for the car, giving very clear instructions (move the fucking van or I'll stick an arrow in orifices you didn't even know you had) to the drivers before hopping back into their makeshift lookout point. Coulson's conversation with whoever was on the other end was clipped and efficient, and he hung up less than a minute later with formerly discreet squads already mimicking Clint's example in the background.
"Nevermind. Laufeyson, if I see you anywhere near headquarters today we'll announce that Stark is much less dead than Schmidt thinks he is." Coulson fixed Loki with a harsh look, the phrasing of his words almost like a joke except Tony was pretty sure Coulson didn't know what a joke was. And anyway, jokes typically didn't make his chest throb with hurt from more than poison ergo, not a joke. "We need to stop Schmidt's men from taking the tesseract, not kill them before they can give us any information."
"If he's coming there-" Loki didn't sound angry anymore, more excited- so excited he was breathy, like some little kid on Crhistmas. "I won't miss that chance."
"You won't get it. Schmidt won't move in himself, he knows we'll expect it. All you'd get out of it was some grunt who didn't even know what the thing he was stealing could actually do." By some miracle of god(s?) Loki's eyes flashed with bitter anger but mostly agreement, and he nodded, accepting what Coulson was saying. "I'm assigning one of our agents to hide you two until we know where Schmidt's headed-"
"I want to go on a date." Tony cut in quickly, watching Coulson's hand halfway to dialing in a new babysitter and deciding that no, hell no was he going to put up with that. He wanted to distract Loki, give him something good to make up for all the crap they were being put through, and no SHIELD agent could help with that. "Not with you, don't get your hopes up. With Loki."
"You're supposed to be dead, Stark."
"So's Elvis, but he seems to keep showing up. Sneaky bastard."
"Out of the question. If you're seen you'll become a liability, Schmidt will hunt you down and catch SHIELD in the crossfire. You might even be killed."
Well, that was surprising. Tony thought for a moment, because of the order Coulson had phrased his list of consequences in, that the agent actually didn't want Tony getting himself killed (out of concern, for more than a 'liability' byproduct, more than being a consultant and inventor they needed). He quickly filed that possibility under the 'ridiculous' cabinet in his brain and waved the comment off, rolling his eyes again in annoyance.
"I've snuck around from the press all my life, and that's when they were looking for me. People see me even halfway disguised and they'll just think it's a coincidence."
Considering his idea of a 'disguise' currently consisted of a hoodie and no shoes Tony couldn't really blame Coulson for his skepticism. But before any more could be voiced Loki put in his two cents, again taking Tony's arm in that possessive way he had. "I can change his appearance. I'll even alter my own, so nobody thinks I've 'moved on' too soon." The phrasing would have implied a suggestion or an offer if anybody but Loki had voiced it- he, however, sounded like he would fireball the first person who objected.
"Yup, that sounds like a plan. You take your men and do your…SHIELD things, Loki and I'll get on with our incognito date while the press scours my house. Which I would definitely press charges for, by the way, if I were publically alive to do it and they hadn't probably gotten a signed agreement for the documentary."
Coulson raised an eyebrow, seeming to run through a brief mental debate that, frankly, Tony couldn't have given half a crap about. Whatever they were told he and Loki would go off anyway, especially now that his boyfriend had just pointed out a very convenient means of keeping hidden. Magic, though stubbornly illogical, was really freaking useful. "Very well. I doubt either of you would consent to a refusal, anyway. Potts will have your house empty of the press by six, you two are to be back no later than eight."
"Are you seriously setting a curfew? Dammit mom, I told you, I'm a big boy now."
"Show me a straight A report card and we'll negotiate." Coulson retorted seamlessly. "Now, are we clear?"
"I make no promises, only attempts." Loki replied calmly, already starting to drag Tony away, presumably somewhere safely hidden for whatever illusion he was going to place around him. The concept of changing his appearance was weird, and a bit scary actually, but definitely too interesting to pass up. Loki would never let him study his magic in a lab, so personal effects would have to do. "See to it you've found Schmidt by then."
"I make no promises." Coulson threw back, and for a moment Tony thought Loki might attack him. But his glare quickly broke into a sly grin and he nodded, slowly, as if in appreciation, before dragging Tony further along.
Tony had never felt anything quite so strange as the sensation that shot through him at the prodding of Loki's spell. It wasn't pleasant, either, like his skin had turned to liquid and was rippling down his body, changing bone and muscle and whatever else it touched along the way. It was like a second appearance was being added on over his own, rather than his own body actually changing, and he half expected to still see himself when he pulled out his phone to serve as a mirror.
But no, he no longer looked anything like the famously deceased Tony Stark. His hair was blond, the kind of muddy color that would have looked awful on him but made a damn fine buzz-cut on whoever he was supposed to be right now. He also had tattoos -on arms that were as toned as his even if a lot less tan and a little less muscular- of dragons and snakes and spiders and seemingly whatever else poisonous Loki could think of. If dragons were poisonous anyway, he'd never actually met one. He was the same height though- either Loki couldn't change that or hadn't been bothered to.
And the reactor. Tony pulled down his shirt (a wifebeater revealing the tips of more tattoos on his collarbone and wow, his lip had just hit metal- had Loki given him a tongue piercing?) and almost stopped breathing for a moment. It wasn't there, though he could still feel the weight of the thing in his chest. But it wasn't there, he didn't have to look down and see Afghanistan in his body, didn't have to cover up a mocking glow that stung his eyes.
"Okay, babe, definitely get boyfriend points on this one." He decided firmly, looking up from his self- inspection to find Loki had changed himself as well. Or, well, maybe herself?
In essence he didn't look much different. A lot shorter to compensate for the gender switch, longer, tied back hair, softer features, curvier hips, longer legs- and lots of breast. It was like he'd taken himself and just turned female, though his eyes were exactly the same.
"Were you expecting a man?" Loki wondered, grinning broadly and swishing back his (her? No, he was still infinitely more predatory than any woman Tony had seen, Natasha included) hair so that it fell in a long ponytail down his back. "I didn't want to deal with the attention. You midgardians are so intolerant of each other, I thought we'd have a more normal day if I made myself like this. Do you like it?"
"Oh yeah." Tony's voice sounded different- younger. This body fit Loki's apparent age better, though Tony couldn't help cursing Schmidt for having to uphold the disguise at all. Still, bonus knowledge: Loki apparently had a thing for tattoos. "Trust me, not gonna file any complaints. Love to see what you look like under the dress. You got any tattoos?"
"One." Loki replied with a smile that gave absolutely nothing away, and Tony was suddenly very determined to get him naked by the end of the night- heart problems be damned. "Now, what did you have in mind for this date?"
Tony's mind clicked in to gear immediately and he responded without thinking, already setting up a battle plan. "Lunch on the boardwalk, an afternoon on the beach, and dinner at this fucking fantastic seafood place near the water." He decided firmly. Did they have seafood on Asgard? Funny, they'd never had fish together before.
Judging by Loki's look of intrigue no, they didn't- perfect. He could introduce him to the wonders of lobster, and shrimp, and calamari, and lobster, and fish, and crab. And lobster. World's best distraction for those bad days when the supervillain stubbornly refused to die. "The boardwalk is near the beach?"
"On it, actually, if you want to get technical." Venice would probably be the best choice, it was the nearest to them and hey, it was on the same stretch of beach as the Santa Monica Pier, all it'd take was a walk. "I'll hail a taxi or something."
"No need." Loki assured, taking hold of his wrist yet again, so that Tony could practically feel the magic stirring up at his call. "Coming right up."
And then there was something like a hole in his stomach, an utter emptiness that lingered and chilled for half a second before it pulled him forward, made his first step lurch even with Loki supporting him. It was about a minute and a half before he even realized he wasn't standing inside the lobby of some freaky old Nazi-hideout anymore.
Nobody seemed to have noticed their sudden arrival, even if they definitely hadn't been in that alley they seemed to have stepped out of a few seconds ago. Tony turned around, half expecting to see some shell-shocked homeless guy, but the only suspicious look they got was from a cat whose tail he'd almost stepped on, and it wasn't likely to raise the alarm on them. "Did we just teleport? You teleported me. To Venice. That's really creepy."
Loki grinned, looking more like a cat than ever in this form, and Tony noticed they'd had a sudden change of clothing- himself in swim trunks, Loki in a bikini top and shorts that probably just barely contained enough cloth to be more than underwear. "Yes, you just teleported. Try to get over it quickly, we have a date to get to."
VVV
Tony seemed more hyper than ever now that he was 'out' of his own body, running from stall to stall and inspecting the strange art for sale like an excitable child. Loki supposed it had something to do with the freedom- nobody stared at either of them beyond a few appreciative glances for their appearances (which was only slightly less infuriating for Tony's changed form) and nobody pulled out a camera for a candid photo. It was relaxing, even for Loki, and he'd only dealt with the press for just shy of a month. Tony had been doing it his whole life.
And he was free from their sympathetic stares. Every now and then he caught half a conversation about how there would be wars popping up all over, now that Iron Man was gone, or people wondering if Stark Industries would get back in to ammunitions without Tony Stark around to guide it. These people always seemed to develop a sudden flare of powerful laryngitis before Tony could get close enough to hear a word of what they said.
Loki had never been to the beach before, but he quickly discovered he enjoyed it. Tony kept looking for glimpses of his tattoo and seemed all the more intrigued when the swimsuit kept it hidden, which often resulted in a wave catching him off guard and knocking him off his feet. For that reason Loki never let him go more than knee-deep into the water, which seemed a great source of amusement to a nearby flock of teenagers until Tony decided to point out that he may have been "whipped" (which was concerning, though Loki saw no signs of flogging and set aside that thought for a better time to discuss it) but at least he was "getting on with a hot chick every night", which seemed to shut them up.
"Now now, Tony, don't tease the children. They can't help it that they've never seen a proper relationship before." Loki chided, making a point to kiss Tony as closely as he could before turning his attention back to the water. He'd gone swimming before, of course, even on Midgard's beaches- yet it had been some hundred years, and he'd longed for the rush of life and salt water through his body that followed every dive.
Tony was much more apprehensive of the waves, though he seemed to have fun standing firm and watching as they attempted to knock him over. "But teasing children's so fun! Their little minds are still so underdeveloped, they can barely fight back. It's like wrestling a kitten or something."
From what Loki had heard Tony himself was a prime example of how wrong he was, a renowned genius even in his youth, but he made no comment to point this out. The teenager's annoyed expressions were too amusing to ruin, though they proved friendly enough once the initial hostility had passed, and Tony ended up forcing Loki to let them tag along while they ate strangely shaped "nuggets" of fowl and strips of fried potato on the sand. (Though Loki did, of course, make a point of lounging across Tony's lap while he ate.)
Another benefit Loki discovered along the way: he very much enjoyed ice cream.
So much, in fact, that he kept dragging Tony back to buy two more towering cones of the stuff to share, and ended up with chocolate or strawberry or cream all over his face until Tony, grinning, licked off the mess for him. The vendor was beginning to stare in awe at Loki's flat-and very visible- stomach whenever he approached for more, but the god offered them no explanation.
Even Tony seemed baffled by how often he was dragged to try this or that, until Loki reminded him of Utgarda's castle and how he had only ever been defeated in an eating contest by wildfire itself (who had been disguised, might he add, and was a horrid cheater so Loki refused to count that as a failure). Which of course led to such a contest, which concluded in an upset stomach for Tony and a discovered love of hamburgers for Loki.
He had not, of course, forgotten the problem with Schmidt. Ever man he passed who bore even the slightest resemblance was met with a dangerous glare, and some sense of disappointment when they inevitably proved to be no more than a curious passerby, who were all rather frightened by his venomous looks. Whenever this happened Tony would kiss him, quickly, and drag him to look at some ridiculous arcade game, or to talk to a man holding a large snake which you could, apparently, pay to hold.
The people and attractions along Venice and the Pier were, in short, some of the oddest Loki had ever seen on Midgard, though but for a select few they were by far the most entertaining.
That select few, however, turned out to be enough to ruin Loki's day.
He was not fooled into thinking Midgard still worshipped the old gods, nor did he blame or doubt them for those they had fallen under now. Whether they believed in one, many, or none was far from his concern, and he'd read up on religion often enough after being called the fifth time by some old man or woman who claimed they could "save him" despite his "sins of the flesh" involving Tony. As it turned out those were the vocal minority, and from what Loki could tell were rather poor about their interpretations of their own religious texts, but he paid them no mind (except perhaps a few scathing words in turn) and never gave the matter a second thought.
Until Tony rolled his eyes and muttered something about "radicals" as they passed a man speaking more loudly than any others on the pier. Loki turned curiously towards him, figuring at first that this was another show or gimmick.
"-and punishes those who have turned against Him and refuse to accept their salvation! Acknowledge your sins, so that you are not the next to face God's wrath for your refusal!"
People were rolling their eyes, yet stopping to listen all the same- some even seemed genuinely curious, while a man handing out biblical pamphlets looked genuinely embarrassed by the speech underway across the boardwalk. Tony, who was covered in any number of pagan symbols, was getting some very odd looks- though the preacher himself seemed not to have noticed.
"God has again played his hand in the defeat of a sinner, and yet you do not repent your own blasphemy? Join me, and save yourselves before you too burn eternally for the actions of a mere physical form."
"What on earth is he talking about?" Loki muttered, glancing around in search of whatever example this man continued to cite in the hopes he would get fear rather than annoyance out of the larger part of his audience.
"I dunno, I tend to ignore nuts like this." Tony admitted, looking around distractedly for a better source of amusement. "Hey, want to go ride the carousel? I love acting five when Pepper isn't there to stop me."
"Not at the moment, I want to know what he's going on about." Loki insisted, waving off his comment and again fixing the preacher with a curious stare. Tony only shrugged and started counting how many nails were driven into the planks that served as their floor by tapping them in turn with his foot.
"For his pride Lucifer fell from Heaven, did he not? Wasn't Brutus slain for his treachery of Caesar?" A few people shrugged, seeming to believe as Loki did that these two events were hardly rooted in the same court, but others nodded their agreement. "And now Tony Stark too has been punished for his deformed lust. There can be no denying that-"
Whatever truth the preacher had concluded from his ramblings was never heard. Loki didn't even realize he was moving until he'd crossed the pier and felt the crack of bone as his fist drove hard into the vulnerable side of the man's nose, snapping bone and cartilage and sending him sprawling before another word could form. A few people shouted in surprise, many backed up, and one or two stepped forward like they might try to apprehend Loki for his assault- though the clear strength and his female form seemed to deter them and Loki, blind with fury, barely even noticed.
"You dare spout such nonsense in the name of your God?" Loki hissed, fingers clenched to the point of a furious ache. He was moving again, stepping towards the preacher, now cowering and covering his bloody nose in a sort of numb disbelief. "If anything should land you in hellfire it's abusing his name, not loving somebody."
If Loki would ever have killed one of these creatures it would have been then, if not for the sudden weight on his arm of Tony's callused hand. Familiar to him, yet so far from only to him- none of them could see him for who he was, nor would they really have been able to even without Loki's spell. "Come on, babe. We're gonna miss dinner."
He looked pale, worried, and Loki remembered immediately the danger this fight would do to his agitated heart. So he nodded, slowly, and paused just to wipe the blood on his hands off on that fool man's t-shirt before he walked with Tony, undisturbed, through the shell-shocked crowd. Many had taken out their phones, snapping pictures or video of a "criminal" whose face they could never hope to apprehend.
"Temper temper, babe. Cut those guys some slack, they actually believe what they're saying." Tony muttered as they walked, attracting confused looks and growing whispers all the way down the pier. No doubt security had been alerted by now, but as soon as they were at all hidden under the bridge Loki would make short work of that problem.
"I do not care. He doesn't know you're fine, he claims you deserved it." Loki snarled, well aware of how much he must have been concerning Tony and too infuriated to care. "You should not have distracted me."
"Yeah, well, a murder might make this date a bit less romantic." Tony pointed out, pulling him to the side as they stomped down a set of wooden stairs and finally found their way back to sand. He dragged the two of them into shadow, hidden from view under a disgustingly dirty dock, and looked Loki in the eye with a well-rehearsed puff of his lip. "Don't ruin my romantic night. Pleeeeaaaasseee?"
Loki was in no mood to be swayed away from violence, but he managed a brusque nod before pulling Tony into a tight hug, not caring for the change of their appearances and the misguided roles of man or woman. Tony, after some familiar hesitation, returned the gesture, and neither moved for over a minute before Loki decided it was about time they got on with their dinner.
VVV
The meal was… awkward, at first.
Not the food, of course, (though one lobster was staring at him with uncomfortable intensity even after it was already on his plate) but the conversation. Loki was still boiling mad over that dumbass preacher-and let's face it, Tony had heard much worse- and for awhile he stabbed at his meal so viciously that Tony was pretty sure he could hear the poor lobster screaming in the afterlife. He'd changed them into proper attire- a fancy black dress with a slit down the side and no back for Loki, and a cropped greenish tux for Tony- but they were still attracting no end of strange, nervous looks from the staff and patrons of the restaurant. It probably had as much to do with the tattoos as it did with Loki's violent behavior but the shellfish mutilation definitely wasn't helping.
Tony didn't know if he was supposed to be making conversation, or if any attempts to do so would just end up with Loki enchanting the cutlery to fly at his face. So he sat in uncomfortable silence for awhile, chewing on his frankly amazing food and every now and then tempting himself with a sip of root-beer (he was still barred from wine- dammit) with infrequent glances for his disgruntled boyfriend.
Breaking the ice was not exactly his strong point, and when he was talking to a fucking frost giant he may as well have been trying to drill through the arctic.
Loki eventually set down his fork and knife, not having eaten a bite, and stared at his plate with something more like consideration than anger. "So, what do you think? How do you prefer your boyfriend appears?" He wondered idly, as though the incident with the preacher had never even happened.
Tony was happy to get off the topic without any sort of nerve-wracking heart to heart, so he quickly swallowed his mouthful of lobster and hurried to respond. "Okay, that's completely unfair, why isn't both an option? I want both. At once. Hey, could you actually do that?"
"Certainly. Is that a request?" Loki wondered with a sly smile, finally raising a forkful of meat for a taste. Tony was forcefully reminded of some Snapple-fact type thing about lobster being an aphrodisiac.
"Not completely but hey, I'm up for new things. More interested in how this form works for the moment." A steady relationship saturated with sex was no problem at all, but Tony's body couldn't help reminding him that it'd be nice to have a woman's touch every now and again. "Especially that tattoo. Where do you even have room for that where the bikini could hide it?"
"Don't think too hard." Loki winked and went back to his food, leaving Tony to stare at him hopefully to no avail. "You didn't answer my question though. Some people are... unnerved that I can change form like this."
"I watched you butcher a cow, why should a little shape-shifting be a problem? Besides, you make a good woman." And he knew it, no doubt- the dress was tight, low cut, revealing in every way possible.
In other words, Loki dressed like a bit of a whore, but Tony wasn't about to complain. Anybody made an unwanted move on him and if Tony didn't beat the 'attacker' to the ground they'd have to deal with whatever Loki's magic cooked up for them. "You don't mind it?" Loki wondered, sounding surprised in an off-hand sort of way.
Tony shrugged, swallowing some more buttery shellfish. "Nope. It's cool- convenient too. If you couldn't pull off tricks like that I'd be stuck in SHIELD right now, listening to Fury blab about protocol and Nazis and the two for one eyepatch sale at Walmart. This is infinitely preferable." He raised his glass in a mock toast and grinned at Loki, though seeing somebody else's hand responding to his movements was a bit unnerving. At least nobody recognized him like this- it was the first time in his life Tony'd gone out into the public and been completely disregarded by the star-seeking press.
"Well don't get too excited. I've not fixed your body, merely cloaked it- if your heart seems in danger you must tell me immediately." Loki demanded, dropping the slightly sing-song tone of voice so that he sounded almost like his normal self, which was kind of creepy considering the soft form from which he was speaking.
Without thinking about it Tony rose one hand in mock oath and drew an 'X' across his chest with the other, saying as he did "All right, you can be my life alert. Promise- cross my heart and hope to die."
Loki tensed, and a flash of something so much like fear passed through his eyes before Tony realized what he'd said and quickly took his hand, leaning forward over the table to calm him. "It's just an expression- something kids say, it's just to show you're serious about a promise. Horrible choice of words, admittedly, but I tend to be shitty when it comes to forming acceptable sentences, so that can't be helped. I didn't mean it, you know."
He leaned forward for good measure and brushed his lips over the feminine curve of Loki's, wondering how odd this must be for his boyfriend- he at least, could still see something of the god in this form across from him. Loki, to his relief, didn't hesitate before returning the kiss, though he seemed reluctant to draw away entirely once it had finished and just leaned his forehead against Tony's.
"But you did mean it before, did you not?" Loki murmured, and this time it was Tony who froze up, wondering for a moment if there was any way he could have mistaken the meaning of the words, but Loki quickly confirmed otherwise. "Why did you do it? There were an awful lot of near-misses in that file."
No kidding. Tony was a bit freaked out that Schmidt had managed to find each and every hospital record following a suicide attempt, even those that nobody else had recognized for what they were. He'd probably been wondering if he could discredit Iron Man by making it look as if the man in the suit had just done himself in, but his relationship with Loki must have ruined that plan. "You're gonna have to be more specific."
"I'm curious about the car. But I'd rather know what started it all."
This was taboo, foreign- there were three people other than Loki who even knew that Tony's frequent accidents had been more than that. Howard (who had found him the first time and both hadn't asked then and wasn't around to talk to now) Obadiah (who'd clapped him on the shoulder and stayed silent until Tony broke into apologies) and Rhodey (who tried to talk about it and even called in a shrink once, but Tony never said a damn word). None of them had ever fallen back on this either because they didn't really care or because they knew he would refuse to say anything- but Loki was watching him with unreadable eyes, and Tony knew there'd be no point in keeping his silence.
Still. He couldn't quite meet his boyfriend's eyes when he spoke next, so he distracted himself by playing with his food instead. "First time? I was a teenage when I graduated college, I was younger than anybody else had been when they even sent in their applications. A lot of them probably hated me, but they thought I was a novelty or something, so they hung around me a lot- didn't hurt how rich dad was. Anyway, so dad seemed to like that I was graduating so early- it drew a lot of attention to the family, and made people more confident that the company'd be in good hands when I took over. So stocks went up, deals were made, we pretty much hit a boom, and for the first time he was bragging about me.
'Course it was all publicity, so I was pissed off that he'd finally decided to stop pretending I don't exist. I thought about what he'd do if I didn't graduate at all- there'd be a huge scandal over it if Howard Stark's kid bumped himself off." Tony shrugged and shoved aside an empty claw to the far reaches of his plate, keeping his eyes downcast. "So when my first girlfriend ended up robbing some company secrets and running off with another guy I figured hey, why the hell not? I snuck past my nanny of the time and holed up in the bathroom for hours wondering the best way to do it. If I cut my wrist and failed people'd see, and I didn't want to deal with them treating me like I was made of glass or something. So I slashed open my thigh- little me wasn't so good with alcohol, so my hands shook too much to actually hit the artery. They got me to the hospital pretty quick."
Only because Tony'd fucked up at school the day before one too many times, and the Dean had sent a scolding letter to Howard pointing out the dangers his misbehavior had on the learning environment. Dear old dad had come home to make sure his son didn't screw up what he'd come so close to earning, and since he'd never cared much for privacy it hadn't taken him long to decide Tony's silence was excuse enough for forcing entry into the room. Half Tony's blood had been draining into his sheets by then so his memory was understandably fuzzy, but he had some hazy remembrance of Howard forcing him to stay awake.
That was the first, and only, time Tony had ever seen his father looking scared.
Loki was silent, but Tony could practically feel his eyes boring into him. Tony gave the lobster a particularly rough jab with his fork before he set the silverware down and gripped the edge of the table, eyes still fixed on the meal. "I'm pretty sure the car wasn't all my fault. I screwed up some big deal or something because I didn't feel like going to some important meetings, and Pepper couldn't make me. She yelled at me for awhile and I just… I dunno, told her to go deal with the press then spent all day in the workshop until Obie came down talking like he was trying to make me feel like it wasn't all my fault, that she was just being unreasonable. 'Course that made me feel worse. Pretty sure now that he was trying to make things worse, actually. So I went to go apologize to Pepper and she ended up shouting at me for a million different things because I did such a bad job of it, and I kind of just stared at her then walked out. On the way back… Some hiker found the wreck and called an ambulance, so no harm done, I guess."
Okay Tony, shut up, would you want to be on Loki's end of the conversation? Listening to your boyfriend ramble about all the times he'd tried to kill himself and barely failed? Well, he had asked. "I almost shot myself once, but I was shaking too hard to pull the trigger. I couldn't stop imagining Pepper or Rhodey walking in and finding me with blood all over the room, and they'd think it was their faults, and I just… I couldn't do it. I had to make it seem like an accident. I'd rather they thought I'd just fucked up again, so I chugged half a bottle of Nyquil and threw in some Tylenol PM for good measure, but Pepper came by and got me off to the hospital in time. I told her I was feeling sick and just wanted to sleep- she was furious with me for weeks."
He probably would and could have continued, too, even though he was talking too quickly by the end and probably sounded half hysterical to anybody who was close enough to actually hear him. But Loki kissed him again to shut him up and raised a hand to brush against his cheek, which made Tony wonder if he'd been crying or close to it. God dammit, he didn't cry- not really- but at least now he didn't look like himself while he did it. Probably why he did it, no point hiding from the world when for once they didn't know who you were.
"Don't worry, darling. Sometimes I just want to sleep as well." Loki assured in a soft, if not small, voice. Obviously this conversation had taken a few turns for the worst, and Tony had to remind himself not to throw in any more by begging Loki not to do something he'd probably given up on doing. Neither of them wanted to die (anymore) so neither of them had any reason to be so scared, but that didn't stop a flutter of panic from jolting through his chest.
"Not anymore. Don't-you're not gonna leave me, okay?" Tony finally looked up and forced himself to meet the worry in Loki's eyes, fighting down the desire to get up and run. "I love you."
Loki didn't respond- probably a good thing, Tony had rarely managed to say those three words outside of sex or the realms some other sort of physical demand before- but he smiled softly, and nodded. Enough for now. Tony leaned back, conscious that they weren't playing up to their gender roles very well here, and shoved aside his plate so quickly chunks of lobster meat spilled off onto the surface of the table.
"Fuck this place. Let's get home- I want to be me again."
VVV
They appeared in the lobby of the Stark household precisely two hours and seventeen minutes after the curfew Coulson had prescribed.
SHIELD, of course, had no form of presence in the house, so even if Loki had cared about for the possibility of punishment he need not have feared it. Tony was immediately returned to his own body when they stepped on to his property, though Loki remained in his female form even then. It was an immense relief to both of them, to phrase an understatement, and Loki didn't waste a moment before pulling Tony tight and kissing him as deeply as he knew how. He responded as he ever did, taking advantage of the new difference in size to dominate the kiss and snake his hand up Loki's patrially exposed thigh as the other roped itself through his hair in search of the tie restraining it. When he found it black spilled down Loki's back like rain and Tony gripped a fistful of it, steering them backward towards the bedroom without preamble. Very much alive.
A quiet cough broke their concentration, and they pulled apart only just enough to turn and catch sight of Pepper in the doorway before Loki nuzzled against the crook of Tony's neck, and came to rest like that.
If she found it odd that Loki had suddenly become a woman or that he and Tony had been on the verge of ridding each other of their clothing in the living room then she gave no sign of it. In fact, her expression was virtually blank, not even a hint of the amusement or disapproval that usually carried when she walked in on such sights. That was surprising enough for Loki to draw his head back and focus his attention on watching her through half-narrowed eyes.
"Schmidt took the cube- Coulson called me from a hospital bed and they've got somebody named Hawkeye tracking him down." Pepper explained in a toneless voice, as if she couldn't decide how she should possibly feel about delivering this news. "Natali-Natasha's going after General Ross' experiment, and they want you two to help. I think they're expecting a war, Tony."
Tony would normally have crossed the room and feigned calm as he demanded any information Pepper could offer, at the same time doing his best to keep her from panicking, yet now he cast a brief glance toward Loki, who only nodded. What should he have expected but failure from SHIELD? Even though he'd warned them, even though they knew…. Hydra must have made its move immediately, perhaps already been in wait for their arrival- the attack, no doubt, had begun before Coulson's orders to prevent it could be carried out. They would not have told him where the device had been moved, as it no doubt frequently was, and Loki knew for their stubbornness he would have reached the location far too late anyway.
Yet that did nothing to quall his anger, in fact fueled it- the only thing preventing Loki from tracking down and destroying Fury, Coulson, and Schmidt if he could manage it was the inevitability of the plan's success. Had he taken the tesseract for his own purposes SHIELD would have virtually opened war against him, and until he was guaranteed a quick victory he would not catch Tony in the middle. If he'd prevented this attack another would follow, eventually another, and another- even if he killed Schmidt. His men were practically mindless, they would follow in his footsteps like an infestation of ants, and yet one of them might very well get lucky.
Loki was a tactician above all else. Though he had acted in rash anger often lately he was through being ruled by his emotions- the sobriety forced upon him by the date with Tony (both the good and the bad of it) had given him time to think. If he let Schmidt finish his repairs and reveal how he intended to do what he no doubt wished then he could ensure it never occurred in its completion. He could not forever prevent the outcome of an unknown plan.
Though the next time he saw Coulson, whether he'd been removed from the hospital or not, was not going to be a pretty affair.
"Jesus Christ, Pep…" Tony was staring at her with something like horror, and a touch of shame Loki couldn't understand. "I should've come right back here. Don't let me leave you alone with news like that. Are you-?"
Okay? Pepper, for her part, looked terrified, and there was little wonder why. Schmidt had very nearly succeeded in killing Tony only two days before- prevented by nothing more than the unlikely flexibility of Loki's teleportation- and if they entered an all-out battle what was to say he wouldn't manage it this time? She met Loki's gaze for the space of three heartbeats before the fear all but vanished, and the businesswoman began to appear in her stance, a slightly strained sort of amusement.
"Tony, I'm not the one to be worrying about, though I do expect overtime for this. I could have been home an hour ago." Annoyed, scolding, and almost completely fabricated. Loki wondered if Tony, for how well he knew Pepper, would notice this, but if he did he chose to accept the lie.
"It's not my fault you decided to wait in my house all day- don't blame me for being irresistible."
"I think you're mistaking resignation for desire again."
"No mistake made, I've decided the two are one and the same, it saves space in the dictionary."
"That makes no sense."
"Not to you, maybe, but what about all the saved paper? Think of the trees, Pepper."
"I'll keep that in mind." Pepper deadpanned, drawing herself up in preparation for what Loki had taken to calling her 'Potts-brand grand exit', which usually included dignified stalking from whichever room Tony happened to harass her in. "SHIELD left me with a file, it's in the workshop- you need to read it tomorrow, and in detail. No skimming."
"Aye aye, ma'am." Tony saluted, more cheerfully than he'd done anything in the past few days, and Loki wondered what else was waiting for them downstairs. She would not have waited so long to relay one simple piece of news. "Thanks, Pep."
Pepper's lip twitched tightly at the rare display of gratitude, but she only waved it off and moved like she was taking a step forward but turned the motion into a pivot instead and made her way toward the door. "The file, Tony. Don't forget."
And she was gone as quickly as they had come. Loki turned his attention back to Tony with a kiss that was far chaster than his last, designed for reassurance more than seduction. "She will not give up on you, Tony. Do not fear it."
"Fear? I don't know the meaning of the word." Tony's response was far from chaste, practically desperate- like he'd rather the last five minutes be erased from mind by passion and heat. "I have an eco-friendly mental dictionary."
You're afraid. Loki thought, because the word coward had flown to mind unhampered, and he found with some surprise that he rather liked it. Loki was a coward, too, and it felt safe to think Tony was no different. "Too true, darling." He teased, still keeping the movements of his mouth mockingly slow. "Didn't take you long to recover from that interruption, now did it?"
His teasing did not go unpunished. Loki was so used to towering over Tony that he'd forgotten he was no longer the larger of the two, and as such Tony had no trouble tugging him close and snaking his hands down Loki's exposed back until they caught his thighs and gave Tony perfect leverage to lift Loki off the ground. His grin was many kinds of narcissistic, and if Loki hadn't been positioned so that his legs were wrapped around Tony's hips he might have been able to make some sort of snap retort about this. The dress was not made for such movements and had slipped for up his legs, leaving little room to bar contact between his crotch and the swell of Tony's.
"Now, now, we have all night." He pointed out with a great degree of self control, taking advantage of their position to bite at Tony's neck and roll his hips into his boyfriend's.
"And I plan to make the most of it." Tony replied with a slight hitch to his breath, shifting his hold so that Loki could support himself with his own legs wrapped 'round Tony's waist and the man's grip on his ass. "I'm committing that tattoo to memory tonight."
Loki grinned but offered no hint about the mystery tattoo and returned Tony's affection in a far more passionate kiss than his last. They were both lucky this feminine form was so slight, despite Loki's refusal to lose anything in terms of strength, or he would have forced his feet to the ground. This- passion, need, excitement- were dangerous enough without any further strain on Tony's heart. It had pained him many times throughout the day, despite his determination to pretend otherwise, and yet now offered him no trouble- at the first sight of which Loki would cease and desist immediately, never mind at what point the pain hit.
Loki wasn't sure how long it took them to reach the bedroom, but he had been strategic with his teleportation, so he was certain it was no more than three minutes. And when they did JARVIS obligingly dim\med the lights near to nothing. Not that it mattered, really, they both had their eyes shut, melting into a new kiss that drowned out the day's conscious thought, and both knew the route so well that they hit the bed without so much as a passing glance for it.
Surprisingly Loki found himself sitting in Tony's lap-Tony who was still upright, and apparently not taking advantage of one rare opportunity to overbear his boyfriend. Loki shrugged off his curiosity and instead devoted his time to removing Tony of his shirt as quickly as possible while the dress complied to Tony's hands with almost no effort. Loki allowed the fabric to be pulled over her (it was impossible, in this moment, not to be unduly aware of the female body) head and dived into a messy kiss as Tony expertly moved after her bra with one clever hand.
One handed. Loki didn't realize what this meant until Tony's other hand bypassed her thigh and settled between her legs. She gasped, as much out of surprise as pleasure, and let the sound dissolve into a moan as Tony rolled his fingers in quick circles over her slit. She hadn't been in this form in a very long time- it was different, so different, than as a man, and she craved more. Tony was practically merciless, guiding his hand like her body was a familiar map, fast and sensual. Heat was already flaring all throughout her body, and as she curled around his hand and fell into panting it had already begun to simmer in her womb.
It had been far too long. Tony had successfully rid her of her bra now and used his unoccupied hand to guide her head back, offering a clear view of her chest. His fingers never stilled, never slowed, and the suddenness of the pleasure was practically unbearable. She whined, hardly able to sit up straight, but let out a sharp cry when Tony ducked his head and closed his mouth around her hard nipple. The heat was such that she hardly realized what this meant until Tony's teeth and tongue found a brief distraction from their task.
"A rose?" His breath was hot with a grin and slightly strained in amusement, but Loki had no mind to be offended.
"Roses have thorns." Loki pointed out, though her breath hitched as Tony sucked the bud of that flower, slipping one finger to test her entrance as he did. "Oh- ah, do that again."
And Tony did, mimicking the circles of his finger -just barely inside her- with his tongue. "Are you-?" He was as incoherent as she was, groaning at the moan he drew from her, but the question was clear enough.
"I control everything when I transform." Loki's explanation became slightly less effective as her hips arched into Tony's hand against her own accord, pleasure spiraling from her stomach and all to her body. Rough, fast- not long now. "I th-thought you'd enjoy- oh."
Tony had slipped his finger further into her clit, followed with a second that brushed over her maidenhead in a way that was almost painful. She moaned his name and drove her hips forward against him, unable to form the words begging for more. His mouth shifted, turning its attention to her other breast, and he began to drive both his mouth and fingers with such brutal speed that Loki felt as if a gate had been breached- she cried out his name, body seizing all over as she came with such intensity that her whole body shook with it.
Tony groaned, moving his mouth to her collarbone and covering it in rough kisses. "God Loki, you're- lie down, on the bed." He growled, far more commanding than Loki was used to, but the haze of warmth was such that she complied readily and lay back against the mattress, just within the range of an always amusing selection of wonderfully soft pillows.
Tony sat back for a moment and licked his lips with a very definite hunger as he traced his eyes down her body- from the flush of her cheeks to the wetness between her thighs. He looked like he wanted to dive down and take her like a whore (a horrible thought, really, but imagining it brought about another moan of longing) right then. His hand came to his chest though, as if reminding himself of Loki's unspoken rule, and he only guided her legs apart and ducked down to lick the gleam off her inner leg.
Loki groaned softly and grabbed hold of Tony's arm, silently urging him to get on with it, and he only grinned up at her from between her own legs. "Who was it who said we had all night?" He wondered mockingly, but lowered his head anyway and began to lap up the wet of her orgasm, dragging just the tip of his tongue along Loki's still-sensitive clit.
Her body arched off the bed as another cry stole from her throat, hips canting desperately toward Tony's mouth. His tongue was following the path of his hand, playing with her entrance then swiping heat and pressure along the outside of it, so that after that cry Loki wasn't silent for a moment. She gasped and moaned, called out and begged Tony's name, and filled the air with incoherent sounds of sex and need. The heat, the moisture, of his mouth were so foreign inside a body so used to its male form, so forgotten and long-missed that Loki wasn't at all surprised when she came again after just minutes of this, the sheen of her cum coating Tony's chin when he pulled back once more, surveying the mess he'd made of her with a look of animal lust.
"Yeah, wow, you made yourself a virgin for me." He groaned at the thought and moved back, fingers working at tearing off his slacks and underwear-both immediately tossed aside to some far corner of the room. He was still watching her, never once looked away, and the moment he was free from his clothing rushed forward to catch Loki's mouth in another kiss.
She could taste herself on his tongue and moaned eagerly, catching his lower lip in a playful bite that Tony fought for control over. Neither of them pulled back to breath nor speak for over a minute, and then Tony was only inches away, pinning her to the bed with his weight that for once overbore hers. As a man Loki couldn't have this- couldn't look up and feel like Tony was encompassing everything, swallowing him in to the demands of his body and mind. Her lips were still spread wide, waiting for his poised hips, yet he didn't move.
Loki could have broken his nose for that. He was just watching her, looking her up and down as well as he could from his angle, with his cock pressing just against the slickness of her crotch. She'd never felt such a loss of control before, but the sudden ache for Tony was more than she could bear and she moaned in desperation and bucked her hips, only prompting him to move his own away.
"Tony, please." Loki growled, angling her head so that she could suck at the sensitive flush of Tony's neck, earning a moan but no more. "I need you- I need you inside of me, filling me, please. I have to-to feel you all throughout, I need it." More dirty talk, employing that silver tongue in a way she knew would set nothing but desire in Tony's eyes, especially when the words were nothing more than half moans.
"Birth control?" Tony wondered, moving away from her mouth so that they could look eye to eye.
"If I want to bear you a child I will- for now you need not worry of it." Loki assured as quickly as she could, shifting her hips so that she could feel just the head of Tony's member pressing into her. She tilted her head back in a breathless moan and forced her hips still, knowing if she moved them too soon she would lose even that presence of him.
"I w-won't hurt you?" Tony's teeth were clenched with the difficulty of keeping himself back, but the desire in his eyes seemed all the more pronounced for it. He was enjoying this.
Loki's body writhed under the weight of Tony's, shuddering as that brought only the briefest example of what she needed. "I'm ready, I'm wet- I'm aching Tony, please."
That was enough. "God, Loki." Tony groaned and drove down, impaling her virginity and driving in to the hilt in one quick thrust.
She screamed, as much from pain as pleasure, and kept her eyes open to watch as Tony shuddered with arousal. It hurt, though she'd felt it before in different womanly bodies, but when the tear passed she could focus on nothing by the thickness and the length of Tony within her. She felt every movement when he pulled all the way out, felt her body tighten in protest, searching to be filled, and knew every twitch of his cock as he pounded back in. Tears were streaming down Loki's face, half formed by nothing but pleasure so deep it numbed her mind, and she could form no more than gasping cries as she raised her hips in time with Tony's violent, now-steady thrusts.
He moaned and began to pound into her harder, so that Loki could barely force her body to keep up, to bring him as far in as possible with each movement. There was never this much awareness as a man- she felt the arc of Tony's cock, the exact curve of it from the shaft to the tip, seeming to dig against her womb with every thrust. When she tightened around him she felt his arousal twitch and grow, and could pinpoint exactly where he was buried within her. Her hand flew to her stomach as if to confirm, settling above where Tony was shoving deep inside her, and felt the shift of skin in time with his movements along the outside of her stomach as well as within her.
Loki could feel how full she was with Tony, and the thought alone was enough that the shuddering moans became a shout of Tony's name, the rhythm a spasm of hips and legs. She couldn't keep her eyes open then and clenched them shut, along with her whole body, brought to her climax for a third time, almost too soon.
Tony's thrusts faltered, and the grip on her hips grew tighter a moment before he angled them upward, moaning in practically desperate pleasure as the angle changed, permitting him to drive in even deeper, hitting places that had missed his girth earlier. "Oh fuck, Loki, you feel so good. You're- oh god you're so tight." His thrusts took on a new violence of speed, and somehow his heart did not flare with pain. "I'm not done with you yet. Beg me- tell me you want me to make this hurt."
Loki choked back a moan that was half sob, loving the feeling, the sound, of domination for once- Tony had him pinned so that he couldn't move his hips, couldn't get more friction than Tony offered, and his thrusts were so deep they hurt. "Please, Tony, please. I need more, please." She whined complacently, tipping her head back as if baring her throat as another sharp cry took hold of her body. "Don't stop, don't- oh, oh yes, yes."
"God, you don't even know what you do to me." Tony moaned, punctuating his frustration with a particularly hard thrust that set the pace for his assault. It was almost too much, nowhere near enough, and Loki continued to gasp and beg, canting her hips wherever she had room to do so in almost frantic want. "You're just- so fucking good. I can't- oh god, slow down, I'm going to-"
Tony groaned and buried his face against the space between her shoulder and neck, hips canting wildly into her, struggling to hang on. His head ducked again and his tongue traced circles over the rose on her breast, coming to suck and lick at the nipple when his mouth clamped over it. Loki moaned again at the thought of what she was making of Tony but forced herself to whimper and bear his pace, no matter how she wanted to arch into it, bring him further.
But oh, how she wanted to. She could feel him swell with his release, felt him fighting it back, and was rocking in time with him before she knew it, increasing her pace and fucking wildly against him. She wanted to feel him pour into her, the gush of his seed filling her body, pouring through it-
Tony practically howled Loki's name again and again like a mantra when his orgasm finally took him. He fucked her all through it, spilling hot white ropes into her as the ragged thrusts of his hips started to level out. He'd gone deeper, harder than ever, and he was still moving against her however he could- she could feel him soft inside her, and a post-coital roll of his hips was enough to put her over the edge a final time.
When she finally came off the high of another orgasm Tony pulled free, her body sensing each inch slide out from within her as she tried to gain control of her breathing. Tony too was panting, though not in the pain Loki had come to fear, and he fell to her side with an almost lazy grin. Loki turned over to pull him closer, the false body shimmering away and leaving him a man once more, curled up and holding Tony against his sweat-soaked, tattooless chest. The other man's arms wrapped around his waist and he drew up half in a ball, burying his face against Loki's collarbone with a dazed yawn.
Loki was little better. His body thrummed with the bliss of sex- and sex as a woman at that. There was no denying the pleasure of keeping his normal form when with Tony, but the cuddling, the simple comfort was so much more pronounced now. Shift in gender or not he could remember the feeling of Tony's seed settled warm in his stomach like a drug, and he smiled lazily as he kissed his boyfriend's neck.
He was half gone already, exhaustion catching up with him in the form of a heavier lethargy than he had known in years, especially now that he was back to this body. Loki knew he could hardly stay awake another minute, but he pressed his lips to Tony's neck anyway, feeling for some reason he had to speak.
"I'll put everything right." He promised, the words half-slurred with sleep, but Tony seemed to catch them all the same.
"Nobody said you had to." He murmured in response- so quietly that Loki stared at him for as long as his body was able, wondering if he'd simply imagined the words.
A/N: Soooo I've never written guy/girl porn before. I hope that wasn't awful.(Though it's so awkward to re-read, omigod.)
But hey, I got to write Loki all hypersexual, so that was fun.
Sorry if this chapter was just outright awful- I wanted to do so much more with Pepper's minor appearance, but I couldn't even explain all the random reasons behind her actions because it failed when I tried from her point of view. So I'll just sit here and stare longingly at the screen knowing it would make no sense to babble her thought process.
Thank you all so much for reading! Reviews are always welcome, good or bad, and if you don't want to do it here feel free to send me an anon on tumblr (welcometotheoldworld). I don't bite, promise!