Chapter 25 – Thanks

When he dared to open one eye, the first thing he saw was Loki breathing heavily with his eyes shut – obviously exhausted but not as much as he was when he normally used magic. Hell yeah, my magic-amplifier-thingy worked! The second thing he saw was that he was looking at the god from an average human height and it was only then that he looked down at himself. Thirdly, he noticed, "I'm nude! Don't open your eyes!"

He ran off into the bedroom in search of his clothes. Well, I'm human again...

By the time he returned Loki was still sitting down and looking at the door expectantly, obviously waiting for his return, but also seemed as though he was dreading whatever walked through the door at the same time – still playing with the bit of string absentmindedly.

"I'm human," Tony said with jazz hands in an attempt to lighten the god's mood.

"Well observed." Loki didn't seem right; he was supposed to be happy that his magic worked yet he was cold for no reason, "Are you leaving now then?"

"I don't think anyone's expecting me..."

"Well, you wouldn't want them to worry for any longer than they should."

"Why are you being like this?" The billionaire practically yelled at Loki. It made him flinch a tiny bit but, other than that, there was no change in his expression.

"Why are you still here?"

For a long moment Tony was silent. Was this really the god that he'd come to know so well over the past few days? Was this really the god who had been so – for lack of a better word – fluffy? Although he technically was the fluffy one... He was sad that he had to leave but why was- Oh. Then it clicked: Loki was sad that he was leaving too and was trying to detach himself from any emotions.

"Thank you," he muttered to the ground after he felt the silence had gone on for too long, the god still staring at him.

"It was pretty basic magic-"

"You don't understand! Thank you for taking up my time while I was searching for you, for doing a spell just as I walked in and ruined it, for turning me into a kitten, for providing me with food and somewhere to sleep, for not freaking out too much when you found out who I really am, for making me laugh more than I have for ages, for putting up with me, for saving me, for keeping your promise of turning me back into a human, and thank you for trusting me enough to show me who you really are." He looked up again, slightly embarrassed after pouring his heart out to a god who's just had to put up with him for the past few days, to see Loki still staring at him but with a softer, shocked expression now.

"I thought you'd be angry at me for what I did..." The god admitted sheepishly, no longer looking at the billionaire and favouring to glare at a random area of the floor.

Tony huffed a laugh and shook his head, "Nah, it was fun, honest."

Loki didn't respond for quite a while so he took that as an invitation to leave – glad the god didn't comment on his outburst of feelings. He would've liked to of seen more emotion from Loki but he was glad he stopped the god acting so cold. Well, time to go... After checking that he still had his phone on him, he turned and went to make his way back to the tower.

"Goodbye, Tony."

For once in his life, he didn't actually know what to say; did he tell Loki exactly how he felt or just say goodbye and walk away?

Loki didn't want the billionaire to leave. It was pure coincidence that Tony was here and they ended up in this situation, he should just apologise for wasting the billionaire's time and let him leave but he didn't want to. He wanted to say something as heartfelt as Tony but he didn't know how. What if Tony doesn't feel as strongly about me as I feel about him? Unsure what to do, the god stood up but didn't know what to do next. Part of him wanted to hug the billionaire but another part just told him to let him go – he always ended up alone in the end.

Tony turned back around but all the words he wanted to say stuck in his throat. He noticed Loki was standing too and part of him assumed that it was to drag him out of the apartment already. He didn't know how to say goodbye and thank you and all the other things racing around his mind to the god.

So he walked over and kissed the god of mischief.

A/N: Double update because that last chapter was really short and it's Halloween!

- Tony