"I think I screwed up," Tony blurts as soon as the picture stabilises, Rhodey's image immediately becoming crisp, bright and isolated from his surroundings.

Rhodey exaggerates bewilderment by jerking back his head, checking over each shoulder, then laying two fingers against his own chest.

"I'm sorry," he drawls with a questioning look, "did you start without me? Could've sworn you'd only just joined this call."

"I'm skipping the boring part. This is important."

Rhodey very pointedly crosses his arms and directs a deadpan look at the camera. "Great to see you, Rhodey. How are you, Rhodey? We love you and appreciate you and miss you, Rhodey."

"Yeah yeah, that all goes without saying. You're the light of my life, the moon to my stars, the frost on my flakes. But seriously, don't be an asshole. We really need to talk about me right now."

The sarcasm is heavy. "No, it's cool. I see how it is."

"Rhodey, buddy, help me out here. I need you."

The sigh Rhodey heaves sounds almost pained. "What happened this time?" The way he asks is like he doesn't want to know the answer.

Tony's still not entirely sure how to explain it. "So, big news. Huge news. On tonight's episode of This Is Your Life, big bro takes the stage, front and centre. Turns out Loki just forgot to mention it for a while - and who knows what else, but that's a problem for another day."

When Tony leaves it there, Rhodey prompts him for more with a slight head shake. "Okay? And?"

"And nothing."

"What do you mean 'nothing'?"

"Exactly what I said. Nothing. Zip. Nada. He's maybe been slightly more pissy than usual, but he may as well have remembered that his favourite shade of wall paint is off-white."

Tony doesn't know what he'd been expecting really, but it wasn't… whatever this was.

Things had just been starting to get back to normal after several days of walking on eggshells, the thing-of-which-they-do-not-speak becoming just another unpleasant blip on the road to recovery. Sure, Loki had been quiet. More so even than usual. And Tony had respected that. He may not be the poster child for emotional intelligence at times but he recognises trauma when he sees it. He hadn't pushed, and Loki hadn't volunteered anything other than a very clear desire not to broach the topic. Tony had simply added a note in FRIDAY's log along the lines of 'here be dragons' and left it there. When Loki was ready, if he was ever ready, maybe they'd discuss it. In the meantime Tony's been speculating like crazy but otherwise keeping his thoughts to himself.

Returning to the lab so soon after hadn't been Tony's idea, obviously, but it did seem to be helping. It had given Loki something else to focus on, and once Tony and Vision had squared away the broken equipment it was surprisingly easy to pretend that nothing had happened. The only difference now is that Vision insists on taking point after their sessions, just in case history repeats itself. So far it hasn't.

Which is what makes yesterday's encounter so strange. Vision is yet to miss a cue, but he apparently hadn't picked up on Loki's newest memory gain. Neither had Tony.

As soon as it had become obvious that Loki wasn't about to flip his shit, and that in fact he hadn't been flipping it for some scarily unknown length of time, Tony had felt relieved. More than that, he'd been glad. He'd been happy for Loki because this was a Big Deal and he'd wanted to share in that with him. He'd wanted to be the guy who takes an interest, who reminisces about the good times, who could draw out a reluctant smile and be a safe place to confide. And boy, had he judged that one wrong. It had backfired in his face.

There's a brief silence as Rhodey digests Tony's flippancy, a small frown forming on his face. Tony elaborates.

"He didn't want to talk about, like, anything. Not word one. Pretty sure he's ghosting me. He's been hiding in his room most of the time since it happened."

"So it's a touchy subject. Alert the media."

"It's more than that though. I dunno. This is gonna sound weird but... I think I… hurt his feelings."

Rhodey narrows his eyes at that like he knows there's more to this story but he's giving Tony the benefit of the doubt. "And you can't just go apologise because…?"

"Because I think that'll make it worse. In fact I know it will. I mean, I don't even get what happened. And I don't know what else to do. This is why I need you, man. You're good at this stuff."

The picture moves slightly as Rhodey repositions the tech at his end. He's obviously decided this is going to be a long one because he sinks down into a chair. "What exactly did you say?"

"Nothing! Nothing bad. I don't think. I asked him how much he remembered, obviously. What Thor was like as a kid and all that. I thought he'd want to share that with me. Thought maybe he'd open up a bit more now that we had something in common we could talk about. I mean, I know there are some landmines in there, but most of that stuff has got to be good, right? I thought he'd be stoked."

Tony sees Rhodey let his head drop into his palm.

Tony genuinely doesn't understand what happened.

He thinks back to the carefully camouflaged but still obvious anger Loki had radiated before he'd skulked off and the waspish remarks he'd left in his wake. Tony had felt too wrong-footed to rescue things at the time, or to even wonder why Loki had brought the subject up in the first place if he didn't want to be asked about it.

The more Tony thinks about it now, the more it feels like he's failed some kind of test.

"You know," Rhodey says, apropos of nothing, "I shake hands with a lot of people. Meet a whole lot of folks who don't know the first thing about me. Have to make a lot of small talk. It's painful, but it comes with the territory. Their job is to pretend to be interested in the service personnel behind whatever target we've met or mission we've just completed. My job is to accept their cardboard cut-out praise and answer their questions as blandly as possible. It's boring. And hard work. Because sometimes I want to wax lyrical about my guys, you know? I want to be able to tell these people exactly why I think we did a good job and for them to really want to know about it." He pauses for a moment to let that sink in, and Tony thinks he already knows where this is going. "But it's all bullshit and everyone involved knows it. They don't care. You know what they do care about though?"

God this is awkward. "Um…"

"Do you have any idea how many times the only thing those people really want to ask me about is you?"

Tony cringes. "Uh, every time?"

Rhodey fires an imaginary finger gun at him. "Bingo."

"Guess that starts to get kinda annoying after a while, huh."

"I'm used to it. The point is, sometimes you get tired of being the mouthpiece for your more famous, fascinating and vastly overrated counterpart."

"Ouch. Wait, you mean I'm not your favourite topic of conversation?"

The ha Rhodey releases actually does sound a bit bitter. "Not even close."

Tony sobers. "Guess we just need to dial that up by about a thousand years or so of inferiority complex and we're good to go then." He wedges the tips of his fingers into his eyes and groans. "Fuck."

"God help us," Rhodey agrees on a mutter.

Tony scrubs both hands through his hair so roughly it's almost painful and tries for a blithe tone of voice in an effort to head off the sinking feeling taking hold. "So yeah, there's that. Plus I think we're all going a little stir crazy in here which isn't helping. And also, I can't find my favourite mug - you know, the one with the little arc reactor on it that glows when the coffee heats it up - and it's driving me nuts-"

"Tony."

"Yes, okay, getting a little off topic here. What I'm trying to say is, can you hurry up and get your ass back here please because I really don't think I can do this."

Shit. He hadn't meant to say that. Sure, it's been a rough few days, and he's going to be honest, it hit a bit too close to home there for a while, but he shouldn't need to load Rhodey's shoulders with this. It's not like there's anything he can really do about it, anyway.

The look Rhodey gives him is apologetic and sincere and makes Tony need to avert his eyes. "I'm sorry, Tones. You know I'd get away if I could."

He does know that. And he's got this. He does. He's had his moment of weakness and now he just needs to get on with it. He plasters on a smile.

"So how do I fix this? Loki's so invested in acting like there's nothing wrong that if I go in there and make him look at this thing I think I might break his brain." He doesn't want to admit he thinks the damage may already have been done. If Loki's been waiting for proof that his only value is as a favour to Thor, Tony's just handed it to him on a plate. A plate Loki could probably beat him to death with, figuratively speaking.

"You'll figure it out. You were pretty good with him after what happened before."

Tony's not sure he'd call it that. It was a whole lot of making stuff up on the fly, fudging it and a boatload of trial and error, all fuelled by crippling worry and the absolute certainty that he'd been out of his depth. In the end he'd just done what came naturally, just been there when it counted and tried not to let Loki get too lost. He hadn't made things worse, at least. Loki had been so completely vacant that Tony's not sure much of the care and comfort he'd tried to provide had really landed, but he likes to think it counted for something.

This though… he wasn't going to have anywhere to hide with this.

"You know I'm not good with the words," Tony complains, much to Rhodey's apparent amusement. "The ones that count, anyway. And something tells me Loki isn't going to want to hear them anyway." Besides, this is definitely shaping up to be an actions-speak-louder-than-words kind of situation.

"Well, that's kind of up to him. All you can do is try. Just do you. But maybe not too you, you know? I don't think Loki's ready for that yet." Tony takes a breath to argue that, and Rhodey derails him with a soft smile. "Just be his friend."

Now if that isn't the last thing Tony thought he'd ever be seriously considering, he's not sure what is.

FRIDAY leaves him hanging outside Loki's bedroom door like a chump for a full twenty seconds before she informs him that the reason Loki isn't answering is because he's not at home. He's too relieved to know that he's not being deliberately ignored to worry too much about his AI's questionable loyalties.

Ever since the brief stint in the yard, Loki's taken to haunting the top floor of the house as though its proximity to the outdoors offers an illusion of freedom. They don't want to risk the possibility that someone might see something by leaving the safety of the house, and even peeking through the blinds makes Tony twitchy, but the real windows seem to draw Loki like a moth to a flame. Tony hasn't had the heart to tell him to stay downstairs.

When Tony finds him he's standing in the dark, looking out across the yard through a discreet parting in the blinds. Tony can just make out the lightest flurries of early snow swirling against the glass, and there's a clean chill to the room from its absence of furniture and lack of use.

Loki hums to himself absently with a muted subtlety, the melody forlorn and wistful. It wavers with inattention but is no less beautiful for it, the slow, evocative notes combining into something fittingly otherworldly.

The halting sounds taper to a quiet stop, although Loki gives no other sign of noticing the presence now at his back. He clears his throat delicately, finally turning from the window to direct a despondent gaze in the vicinity of Tony's feet.

Tony offers a smile he doesn't really feel. "Asgardian folk song?"

There is a pause before Loki replies that speaks of caution and the weight of something more. He is spare with his answer, as though measuring out the smallest ration of insight he can allow.

"It's Vanir."

Tony has no idea what that is, but he's reading the message loud and clear: it's personal, and Tony is not yet trusted enough for more.

The words Tony had prepared before he came up here desert him all at once.

The silence must give Loki the wrong impression, because he closes off his expression and tenses his shoulders. "If you're here to berate me for keeping secrets from you, you're wasting your breath."

"What? Loki, no, that's not-"

"Nor I do not wish to discuss my brother with you."

Tony makes a time out sign with his hands that is entirely wasted on his audience. "Woah, slow down there. Just... forget about Thor for a minute." He winces. "Okay, wrong choice of words, but you know what I mean."

Loki wraps his arms around himself and waits, and Tony founders a little.

"I get that this isn't easy for you," he eventually manages, "I really do. It'd be weird if you didn't want to keep some stuff to yourself. It's totally your choice what you want to share and what you don't. I just want you to know that you can talk to me if you need someone who'll listen. And that I... I trust you, okay? To not hide anything really important."

God, Tony really is bad at this stuff. None of it is coming out how he'd imagined, and now that he's put it into words it sounds wrong. He didn't even know himself that he felt this way until the words came out of his mouth. Telling Loki he trusts him - is he out of his mind?

And now Loki is giving him a funny look, which suggests that actually yes, he probably is.

Loki shifts as though he's uncomfortable with this conversation and Tony forces himself to continue. "I'm also sorry. I know I'm maybe not handling all this in the best way sometimes, and I'm gonna keep getting stuff wrong, so maybe you can just, you know, tell me when I'm being a jerk and I'll try to stop doing it, otherwise I'm just going to keep making the same mistakes. And I know that's not an excuse, because you shouldn't have to tell me and that's the whole point, but I'm trying my best here and I don't want you to think you can't say anything or that I'm going to get mad if you call me out, plus I just... I really do want to help even though I know you don't believe me, and if you could just say something right about now that'd be really great."

He's rambling, and that strange look on Loki's face is turning into something else, something a bit like the face he makes when he's finally managed to translate one of Tony's obscure pop culture references.

Loki looks away and studies the floor rather intently for a few moments, one hand worrying at the palm of the other. When he finally offers a response it's clipped and delivered with a reserved tone that suggests he's holding back more he doesn't think it would be a good idea to give voice to. "I do appreciate your… candor. Please do not mistake my reticence for ingratitude."

He then avoids Tony's eyes which makes it difficult for Tony to get a bead on exactly what it is Loki's not saying, and whether or not the apology has actually been accepted. Perhaps Loki's just embarrassed he's jumped to the wrong conclusion and doesn't know how to admit it. He doesn't offer an apology of his own, Tony notices.

"So listen," Tony says, eager to break the tension now that he's fairly sure he's said everything he thinks Loki needs to hear. "I wanted to ask for your help with something. If you're, you know, not busy or anything." He smiles. "I promise you'll be into it."

"Vis, you're spotting me. Or Loki, if he needs it. But let's face it, it's mainly going to be me."

Loki still looks dubious about this, although he cautiously takes a position at the opposite end of the mat as instructed. Tony's gym isn't huge exactly, not like the facilities at the compound, but there's enough room for some decent manoeuvres now that most of the equipment is stowed out of the way. This should be fun.

"I am still not quite sure this is wise," Loki says, eyeing Tony's clothing and casual stance with undisguised scepticism.

Tony throws out his arms. "What, don't think I can take you on?"

"More that I imagine our practice will come to a swift and potentially painful end." He doesn't need to say who he thinks will be on the receiving end of that.

Tony grins. He shucks his sweatshirt and tosses it to Vision, revealing a lightly glowing, triangular panel on the layer underneath.

With just the sort of flair for showmanship Rhodey's always ribbing him for, he gives the centre of his chest a brisk double tap and steps forward, his chin held high. The almost fluid way in which the nanotech unfolds across his body and sweeps to enclose each limb is satisfyingly elaborate. He knows; he's tested this many times and watched the playback, and he still marvels at the intricate beauty of the way the technology comes together. When the transformation merges and completes, the heads-up display powers on just as smoothly as it should. So far no glitches have been detected, but he expects they'll discover a few wrinkles to iron out if everything goes as planned. He's nothing if not thorough in his testing.

When he's faced with the sudden appearance of the suit Loki's eyes flash. He shifts his centre of gravity, immediately on the defensive.

"You didn't think I was going to go easy on you, did you?" Tony smiles again, even though Loki can't see it. "And while I'm flattered, it's not me I want you to help me test, it's the suit." He gestures to himself. "What do you think? You're the first person I've shown it to, by the way. This is the maiden voyage."

See, Tony thinks at him, silently urging him to bite. I'm sharing my toys. With you. Play with me.

Loki relaxes fractionally and catalogues every seam and panel on display. "Formidable," he allows, "though I am not certain I can offer much by way of formal instruction. Would you not be better served training with Vision?"

"Nah. He'd hold back too much. And besides, I've seen you fight. You've got some mad skills."

Loki thins his lips into a line. "So it is my aptitude for violence you wish to employ."

"See, this is just the kind of thing we need to work on here. That isn't what I said. Sure you're strong, but I'm talking about your moves, your technique. That stuff doesn't just come naturally. That's learned. You could teach me a thing or two, and I bet if you really thought about it you could connect a few more dots about how you got to be so good. Figured we could both get something out of this. And anyway, don't try to bullshit me - I know you can exercise control. You're not some mindless attack dog."

Loki hums at this but still looks unhappy.

"C'mon, we'll call this a rematch. And don't worry, I'll set phasers to stun. Fair's fair. No special effects from you this time though, please."

"Unlikely," Loki mutters sourly.

Tony decides to take that as assent. He drops into a ready stance before Loki can change his mind and approaches slowly, giving Loki every opportunity to back down if he wants to. He doesn't.

Loki watches him come, waiting for him to make his move. Tony is just going to start with the basics, make sure the suit can handle the impact before he tries anything fancy, and he wants to get a feel for what he's working with now that he's got a chance to do it in a controlled environment. He wants to know exactly what it feels like to fight Loki properly.

So he doesn't even bother to cover it. He simply hauls back and aims a slug at Loki's sternum, fully expecting him to lean to one side and dodge the blow. Instead Loki catches the thrown fist in his own, the sudden arrest of motion enough that it would have broken every bone in Tony's hand without the suit to counteract the damage.

Tony sends in his other fist for good measure and Loki captures that one too, and for a split second they remain locked in place. Then Loki tilts his head, quirks his mouth and heaves Tony backward at speed.

The suit compensates by opening the back plate thrusters, and with a combination of drag and upward lift brings him vertical, airborne and hovering in place. So far so good. All performing as expected. Now to see how everything holds up when he puts some real force behind his attacks.

Tony dives towards Loki's position and this time Loki dodges neatly to one side. He spins to keep his assailant in his sights and tracks Tony's movements, calculating the speed and angles he's using and watching for an opening. Tony doesn't give him too long to formulate a game plan and swerves towards him again, sweeping low at the last second.

This time Loki twists sideways and runs, covering the distance to the side of the room in four long strides and pushing himself off from the wall with a single powerful leap. It brings him down just as Tony's trying to bank and the blow he lands is enough to spin Tony off course. Loki's got an edge on Tony if he doesn't respond quickly - unencumbered by a suit, Loki's agility means he can turn on a dime - so Tony doesn't wait to fully correct his posture before he's barrelling back into the fray. This time he's able to capture Loki around the ribs and slam him down to the mat, though Loki's quick to roll with it, getting his feet beneath Tony's body to kick him up and over his head.

Loki rises swiftly and stalks towards the suit before Tony's quite got himself upright. He's not going to allow Tony the upper hand this time and moves in close, preventing Tony from getting airborne again by locking an arm around his neck. He twists to wrestle Tony back to the ground and Tony engages the thrusters to force both of them back. After colliding with the wall it's a struggle for Tony to turn in Loki's grip. So he cheats. A tiny bit.

A repulsor flash is enough to stun Loki into loosening his hold, enough that Tony can pull himself free. He capitalises on the momentary distraction by gripping Loki's front and throwing him across the room, sending him into a painful roll he doesn't quite have time to rescue.

FRIDAY notes some room for improvement in the leverage conversions which Tony files away for later, but he doesn't let himself get distracted.

"Is that all you got?" he says instead while he catches his breath.

When he comes to a stop Loki flips back his hair, his teeth bared in a snarl. When he picks himself up he makes a beeline for the gym equipment they've put to one side and plucks a sparring stave from the items they've discarded.

Tony grins behind his faceplate. "Now we're talking."

Tony can already feel sweat running from his hairline down his face, and while the atmospherics prevent his display from steaming up it stings his eyes. He makes another mental note to do something about that in future. He spares a brief glance for Vision who watches on with interest but has so far felt no need to intervene.

Loki circles slowly, testing the weight and balance of the stave as he moves, biding his time. He twirls the thing almost casually. Tony only realises he's too busy watching the movements of Loki's hands to notice his footwork when the stave swings in a downward arc and into the joint between Tony's shoulder and neck. The force is enough to stagger Tony back, the accompanying thwack ringing in his ears. Loki pushes the advantage, crowding Tony backward with another jarring uppercut to his flank.

Tony moves to capture the stave on the next swing but Loki feints, instead planting the butt of it into the floor and using it to vault both feet squarely into Tony's midsection. It knocks the breath from him and his instinct is to bring up his repulsors, a blast ready to force Loki into retreat.

Loki sees it coming and ducks out of range, coming back up at Tony's side with a solid punch to his flank. Then when Tony attempts once again to take flight, Loki yanks him back down by his ankle, the stave now whipping round and used to drag Tony into a choke hold against Loki's front. The suit holds up against the force Loki uses so that it isn't enough to throttle him, but it's pretty uncomfortable and Loki doesn't seem too worried about holding back. Tony brings his gauntlets to bear on breaking the stave in two and lurches away when it snaps.

Rather than discard the broken stave, Loki dual wields the two pieces like daggers and lands a flurry of blows against Tony's staggering body. He can't match Loki for speed although he holds his ground well enough, the sheer density of the suit enough to prevent him being completely knocked on his ass. It is bewildering though, and he's getting the distinct impression Loki is showing off a bit now. Time to switch things up a notch.

Tony plants his feet and deploys the anchors, sparing a brief thought for the holes that will just have been punched into his otherwise smooth floor, and brings up his palms. The nanotech shifts and reforms as he does so, the piston's impact knocking an 'oof' from Loki as it sends him skidding in the opposite direction.

For a second Tony's almost worried he's let himself get carried away, and when Loki doesn't immediately straighten takes a hurried step towards him. He realises the mistake in dropping his guard when Loki strikes, sweeping Tony's legs from under him with a low roundhouse kick that leaves him with no choice but to fly into retreat. Tony sees a glimpse of a smirk on Loki's face before Loki is launching himself towards him, this time wrenching his body around mid-air to wrap his legs around Tony's neck. The force of the movement and the sheer weight of him swings the suit around and slams Tony onto his back so hard he sees stars.

When his vision clears it is to see Loki standing over him, panting with exertion and skin flushed, but still looking every inch the warrior prince he is.

"Have I injured you?" Loki asks, reaching out a hand to pull Tony back to his feet.

It takes a moment or two before Tony can formulate an answer, but when he does he lets every ounce of his very genuine respect shine through. "Are you kidding? That was freaking awesome."

The relief that passes across Loki's face is fleeting but unmistakable. "Nevertheless, perhaps it would be best to call it a-"

Tony cuts off Loki's words with a violent wrench of his captured arm, flinging all his weight backwards to pull Loki down with him. The momentum and surprise sends Loki rolling to one side of the mat, and as they both move to bring their hands beneath their chests to push themselves up, their eyes lock.

The slow grin Loki produces is savage. Tony feels his own expression match. They tense, both preparing for another clash.

Ha, Tony crows inwardly, getting ready to go again. Thor whomst?