Tony watched as Peter raced away from the car to meet MJ and grinned to himself. The kid was an energetic ball of energy most of the time but when it came to MJ, he became even more energetic with the mix of nerves and love that balled up inside him. He was so glad May had agreed to let Tony be a bigger part of Peter's life, despite the fact that Tony probably brought more trouble to the kid (May insisted that Peter had been getting into trouble since he was little and if he was going to be Spiderman, she'd rest easier knowing he always had backup beyond Ned).
It had been a shock the first time Tony had dropped Peter off to his music practice to see Agent Phil Coulson walk into the building as though his death hadn't been the whole reason the Avengers had been able to put their issues aside and work together properly the first (and only, really) time. The shock of seeing a dead man walking had been followed by seeing a prince of Asgard who was supposed to be in jail follow after him a few moments later.
That was when Tony had decided that he would always drop off and pick up Peter from music lessons, and also investigate the little business. It'd been six months since that time and Tony had learned that SHIELD did some shady things to bring Coulson back without his knowledge, that Coulson had found out about said shady things, and that Coulson had quit working with SHIELD via some sort of secret agent magic because apparently SHIELD had no idea Coulson was teaching cello to a bunch of kids in Queens and were still searching for him.
"Hello Stark," said a voice next to him and Tony jolted.
He looked to the left and saw Loki leaning against his car next to him. "Loki," he greeted warily. "Here to take over the Earth again?"
Loki hummed in thought and then shook xyr head. "I have far too much to lose if I tried that again," xe said. "Besides, it wasn't even my idea in the first place."
"Clearly jail doesn't hold you," Tony remarked. "What do you have to lose if you can just waltz away from Asgard?"
"A warm bed," responded another voice and Tony looked to see Coulson approaching them. "Are you two coming in? The show's about to start and Peter's wondering where you are, Stark. Loki, Miles was looking for you."
Loki nodded and pushed xemself off the car. As xe walked past Coulson, xe brushed a hand over his shoulder and smiled—it was a happy smile, almost sappy, and Tony wouldn't have thought it possible when he first encountered Loki, cloaked in sarcasm and anger as xyr was back then. "I'd best go find Miles then," xe said, and vanished into the building.
"You coming, Stark?" Coulson asked and Tony blinked, still stunned at the difference in Loki.
"How come you two are so cosy?" he asked.
Phil shrugged, "I guess that's what happens when two people get screwed over by those they trust. Works even better than a troll."
Tony felt like Steve at that moment as his brain lit up and yelled 'I get that reference!' at him. He refrained from actually saying the words though and focused on another thought that had been forming in the back of his mind. "Hang on, you said Loki would lose a warm bed, are you two dating? Do you have the power to sentence Loki to the couch?"
Coulson smirked. "I was a SHIELD Agent," he said. "I have many skills. Come on, MJ's with Peter but I know the kid would appreciate you being in the audience."
And oh, Tony had spent six months researching this man and several years of mourning him and now he was being funny and he cared about Peter and Tony might have accidently fallen a little bit in love. As Tony memorised Phil's smirk, he knew he was in trouble.
"You know," he found himself saying, "I'm always around if you find the bed isn't as warm when Loki's on the couch."
Phil laughed. "Keep that up and you'll be on the second couch."
Yep, Tony was in trouble. Who knew that dying could give someone so much more life to them than when they were shoved into a SHIELD regulation suit? "Maybe I'll share Loki's," he said as they started walking away from Tony's car, and Phil grinned.
"Maybe you will."