a/n: Enjoy, darlings!
Mad love to Katie_Grey for betaing 3
Chapter 3
Tony hung back a bit as Loki approached the stables where Thor and his friends were collecting gear for their horses.
Fandral spotted them first. "That was fast!"
Thor spun around with a smile, but his expression turned quizzical as he spotted Tony.
Before anyone could say anything, Loki said, "Anthony will be joining us." He jerked his head, urging Tony to step up beside him. "Unless any of you object?" There was a challenge in the Trickster's shimmering eyes, and nobody seemed willing to rise to it.
Although, Sif did groan and raise her eyebrows toward Volstagg and Hogun, causing them to snicker softly to each other. Tony filed that interaction away, to overthink and overanalyze later on (like he tended to do).
"The more the merrier," Thor told Tony with joviality. He then waved over one of the guards –what Heimdall had called Einherjar, Tony remembered. The guard nodded and hurried into the stable, presumably to collect the horses they were expected to ride. As horses were moved out of the stable and the rest of the group started piling the tack onto them, Tony felt a sinking feeling in his stomach.
He hated horses.
And the feeling seemed to be mutual.
Tony had spent too many summers at country clubs and at the estates of rich people his dad knew. And there were always horses. The one time he'd actually mustered up the guts to get on one (after name-calling and on a dare, of course), he'd been thrown and almost stomped into the dirt. Then, to add insult to injury, Howard had ordered him not to back down from a challenge, to get back on and try again. When Tony resolutely refused, insisting that he wanted to keep his body parts intact, Howard abruptly announced that they would be leaving the estate. The whole way home, Tony heard what an embarrassment he was and that Howard now could never show his face in front of those people again. From then on, Tony avoided horses like the plague. He had no interest or need for them.
Pulling himself from his thoughts, Tony saw Loki take a step forward. He reached out and grabbed the Prince's arm, sidling up next to him and looking in his eyes with intensity.
"Um, this is a bad idea."
"Nonsense," Loki told him, rolling his eyes.
"No, seriously," Tony insisted. As Sif pulled herself up onto one of the horses, settling into the saddle, Tony squeezed Loki's arm and gave him a pleading look. "I'm really not a horse kind of guy."
Loki opened his mouth, looking like he was going to protest again. But then one of the Einherjar directed a horse near them – Tony could barely see its muzzle out of the corner of his eye, but he felt its hot breath as it nickered too close to his ear. And Tony bodily flinched, unconsciously tugging on Loki's arm, positioning the mage between himself and the horse.
Tony felt his heart racing. He closed his eyes and tried to get ahold of himself. A panic attack was the last thing he needed right now. Over a fucking horse? He hadn't even thought about his fear of horses in decades. But now it was all rushing back. On top of still hearing Howard's stern lecture, he could feel the all-over ache from being thrown, remembering how Jarvis and Ana had stayed up with him to take turns putting ice and heat on his sore shoulders and back.
"Anthony. You need to breathe," Loki's voice cut through the static in Tony's head. It was firm and commanding, and exactly the solid thing Tony needed to grasp onto amidst his panic. He opened his eyes, finding that Loki was gripping both of his wrists with enough pressure to bruise and staring down at him with fire in his eyes. In a harsh whisper, Loki said, "Don't let them see you like this. It'll raise questions."
Tony watched Loki take a slow, deep breath, and copied him. Then, together, they exhaled. They did it again two more times before Tony gave a tight smile and Loki nodded before releasing him.
It was in only then that Tony realized Loki had handled his panic attack more successfully than anyone else ever had. It wasn't just managing it like Rhodey did when he agreed to cuddle with Tony for as long as necessary after a bad episode and not just dealing with it like Pepper did when she tried to talk and logic him through the overwhelming sense of just everything being too much. Instead, Loki had just taken charge and stopped it in its tracks, something Tony wasn't able to do for himself even if he saw it coming, when he felt the anxiety creeping up on him.
But more than helping with the panic attack, Loki had covered for him. As suspicious as Loki was of Tony and as irritated as he had been in the hallway before Thor ever found them, he still made sure the others didn't see Tony in a moment of what they would certainly consider to be weakness. Maybe it wasn't done particularly kindly, exactly, but it was a kindness, just the same. And Tony's head started to feel fuzzy again, because that voice that was telling him this was the same Loki suddenly seemed a lot quieter and harder to believe (because, that wasn't true, was it? Not the exact same, really, anyway).
"Is something wrong?" Volstagg called from his steed, next to Sif and Hogun. Fandral and Thor were both on the ground still, holding their horses by the reins and watching with curiosity.
Tony wasn't sure if Loki intended to make an excuse for him or not, but he figured it was probably best if he spoke for himself. So he held his hands up and smiled widely. "I'm gonna leave the horses to you guys. Not really my thing."
Hogun frowned, looking somewhat sympathetic. Then, he furrowed his brows and looked to Loki. "Perhaps he could ride a Cat?"
Shifting his glare from Hogun, Tony found Loki looking at him with a raised brow. "Well?"
"Well what?" Tony asked.
Loki sighed, rolling his eyes heavily. "Would you prefer a Cat?"
It took every ounce of willpower Tony had to bite back a smart-ass remark. The only reason he hesitated in arguing was because he wasn't totally convinced that they were poking fun at him. After all, Loki looked deadly serious and everyone else was waiting in silence as if they expected Tony to give a legitimate response.
But asking for proof of ride-able cats would probably out him as a non-Asgardian. And Loki was already suspicious as hell.
So, instead, Tony suggested: "How about I just don't ride anything?"
Sif tutted. "You mean," she said with a mock-gasp, "that perhaps Loki should have just taken you to the forge like he was supposed to?"
Loki growled deep in his throat, eyes like daggers at Sif. But Tony just fixed the group with a shit-eating grin. "Actually, I thought maybe I'd just fly." Then, he tapped the Reactor and was encapsulated in his suit.
Everyone's eyes widened. Except Sif. She narrowed her eyes at Loki and asked, "He's a seiðrman?" Her voice dripped with discontent.
"That is not seiðr," Loki told her with an edge to his voice.
Tony understood the reference enough to know that his correct response was, "It's not magic. It's technology; I invented it."
Thor leaned forward in a sort of inspection. "This is your armor?" he asked, straightening up again. When Tony merely nodded, Thor smiled widely.
"And it allows you to fly?" Volstagg asked, disbelief in his voice.
"Among other things." Tony shrugged nonchalantly.
Volstagg let out a loud laugh. "Now that is something I'd like to see!"
"Aye," Thor agreed. "We shall ride, Anthony. You fly." He then pulled himself up onto the giant white horse beside him.
As Fandral climbed onto his own horse, he looked down and chuckled. "Yes, let us see how your flight compares to the best of Asgardian horses!" The challenge was easy and good-natured.
"Are you suggesting a race, Fandral?" Loki asked. When Tony turned to him, his eyes were alight with mischief.
"And what if I am?" Fandral quipped, wearing a playful grin as he stroked his mustache.
"Finally," Loki breathed out. "Now we're getting somewhere!"
Sif groaned. "Fine, but no cheating, Loki!"
Loki scoffed at her as he patted the horse beside him. "I never cheat."
"No playing by your own rules, then," Thor amended. Obviously, over the centuries, he had learned how to speak Loki.
The Trickster didn't respond, though. He merely grabbed his horse by the mane and hoisted himself up, swinging his long legs over and sitting atop the beast – all in one fluid, too-graceful-to-be-fair motion. The others all urged their horses forward, heading away from the stable and toward the fields. Loki and Tony again hung back. As Loki clicked his tongue, the horse turned to start walking after the others.
"You ride horses bareback?" Tony asked, noticing the lack of any kind of gear on Loki's steed.
Loki leaned forward and stage-whispered, "Not just horses." He winked before tapping his heels into the horse's side, speeding up to a trot to follow the rest of the group.
Tony forced himself to swallow the lump in his throat, realizing that his mouth was suddenly very dry. He forced the innuendo out of his head as he jogged to catch up with the others.
Admittedly, all the horses were fine animals. Thor's was obviously one fit for royalty, large and pure white. Sif and Volstagg's looked like some kind of paints, with unique patterns and swirls of brown and white. Hogun's horse was silver, shimmering in the light and Fandral rode a quarter-horse with a lovely dappled coat.
Loki's horse was the smallest of them all. It was pitch black with a charcoal mane and tail, and slender with strong legs. Where the others seemed like something one would ride into battle, Loki's appeared to be built for speed like a racehorse. It was reminiscent of a mustang, with something wild and unpredictable about it. Anyone would be able to tell it belonged to Loki. And, as far as Tony was concerned, it was also the most beautiful.
() * () * () * () *
"We'll follow this path," Thor announced, nodding his head toward a worn trail in the dirt. "To the banks of the River Iving."
"Iving?" Loki asked with an odd tightness in his voice, which only Tony seemed to notice (or care about).
"Yes," Thor drawled. "Along the banks, to where we find the trail again, following it to the orchard on the hill." The would-be king glanced at the faces around him. "Is this agreeable?"
"Aye!" The Three and Sif all cheered.
Loki rolled his eyes but nodded just the same.
Tony shrugged. "Fine by me." He just hoped the trails were well-marked. "So, do we go on three, or what?"
"That works," Sif stated.
"Excellent." Loki fixed the woman with a devious glint and she opened her mouth to say something but stopped short when the mage called, "Three!" Then, with a laugh, Loki and his horse tore away from them, blazing down the trail.
"Damn him!" Sif growled. She snapped the reins and her horse took off after Loki's.
Laughing, the others followed suit. "Go, Anthony!" Fandral called over his shoulder as his horse galloped away.
Tony's faceplate barely had time to close before he shot up into the air, angling his body to shoot forward after the others. He started out low, moving up next to Fandral's steed and then passing him. He heard the blond cheer as he pressed onward. He shifted, coming up between Volstagg and Hogun. They both let out yelps of surprise and Tony shouted, "Excuse me!" just before he used a booster to propel himself forward.
Despite its size, and the size of its rider, Thor's horse was surprisingly fast. Tony managed to pull alongside them for just a moment, before the trail entered into some trees. Thor gasped and his horse slowed a bit in response, causing Tony to cackle as he righted himself and rocketed straight up into the air, over the canopy of trees.
From up high, Tony could see Sif's horse. The female rider was still far ahead of Thor and the Three, but nowhere near able to gain ground on Loki. The Trickster was bent forward, making himself more aerodynamic as his horse gracefully leapt over a log and landed without missing a beat, its hooves continuing to hammer the ground.
Without having the trees or other obstacles to clear, Tony managed to get ahead of the others fairly easily. He spotted a body of water, which must have been the river that Thor mentioned. He spiraled down, reaching his hand out to run his fingers through the water as he zoomed up alongside Loki's racehorse.
Loki glanced sideways at him, but didn't look all that surprised to see him. "You're kickin' their asses," Tony called.
The Prince laughed openly, a look of pure exhilaration on his face. Hoofbeats could be heard distantly behind them, but Tony didn't see how they could catch up. Inside the metal mask, he grinned. Then he looked ahead, seeing the trail pick up again.
With the help of his thrusters, Tony swirled up and over Loki so he could pull ahead of him. As he swerved to enter the clearing and continue along the trail, he heard Loki curse.
Tony dared a glance backward. "You look good behind me," he teased, unable to resist a double entendre of his own. With a snicker, he faced forward again, easily maneuvering through the trees.
As he turned a corner, Tony came to a stuttering halt when he saw that Loki was no longer behind him. "What the—"
The inventor cried out in surprise, tucking and rolling, as the dark horse came bursting through the trees, launching itself over Tony's body, and effortlessly continuing to gallop ahead of him. With a determined growl, Tony launched himself back into flight-mode, quickly pulling up near the horse's haunches.
"Nobody said anything about shortcuts!" Tony shouted.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," Loki cooed, his voice oozing with sarcasm.
They burst out of the trees and into another pasture. Ahead, Tony could see a hill with a row of trees – their finish line. "See ya!" he called, using a well-timed repulsor blast to spurn himself forward.
Tony shot straight up into the air and then nose-dived for the beginning of the orchard. He started to slow himself down, ready to stick a landing. But just as he neared the ground, there was a shimmer of gold to his left and Loki's horse burst out of thin air, slamming into him. The horse came skidding to a halt and Tony tumbled, rolling like a rag-doll until he finally stopped at the base of a tree.
Everything hurt.
"Fuck." Tony folded his face-plate back with a groan. "I am definitely getting too old for this."
Sitting up, Tony took a moment to get his bearings. His aches worsened when he jumped slightly as the slender horse stamped its foot only a few feet away from him. Then, Tony realized that Loki wasn't on the horse's back.
"Loki?" Tony called. He pulled himself to his knees and looked around, trying not to appear irritated but also fully prepared for the Trickster to jump out and, like, scare him or something equally childish (and, okay, in some instances, fucking hilarious). But then he saw the mage's form, laying on his side some distance away. He'd been thrown.
A frantic feeling started to settle in Tony's gut because, well, this was just great. Tony was a man on a mission – Thor had made it very clear that he was, essentially, to keep Loki safe. He had barely been in Asgard for not even half a day, and that mission was already at risk. Tony could see the meme now: 'You had one job, Stark. Way to fuck it up. As usual.'
"Hey, Tricks?" Tony called toward the target of his mission. He moved to stand up, intending to walk over and check on the SOB. But then Tony realized that Loki still hadn't moved or gotten up and now he was shaking. Panic set in. "Loki!" Tony cried, forgetting all about getting up and instead just crawling on his hands and knees to where the other lay.
Once he was close enough, Tony grabbed the god's shoulder, turning him to assess the damage. "Lo—" Tony's words died on his tongue when he saw that Loki was. . . apparently just fucking fine.
Because the jackass simply rolled onto his back to reveal that he was shaking with laughter.
Tony rocked back on his heels, staring at Loki with a stunned look on his face. Finally, after a moment, Tony reached forward and slapped Loki hard on the chest. Which, of course, only made the Asgardian laugh harder.
"You asshole!" Tony shouted. "I thought you got yourself killed."
Loki sat up, still laughing and with tears in his eyes. He took a second to pull himself together before leaning forward, resting his palms on the grass and clicking his tongue. "You loved it," he accused.
Tony sighed and bent forward, kneeling and starting to come down from his adrenaline rush. He chuckled. "You're still an asshole," he insisted.
Loki smirked. "I've been called worse," he replied. It was still teasing, but there was also a sharpness to the words, which might have made one wonder about how much truth there was to that statement. But there was no time, because Loki skimmed right over the self-deprecation and his voice softened as he said, "I haven't had that much fun in ages."
"Me, either," Tony admitted. He shook his head and looked up, pausing when he saw that Loki's face was inches from his own.
They were both breathing hard and Tony was keenly aware of Loki's oceanic stare, which looked deep into his own whiskey eyes and seemed to be searching for something. The moment was nothing more than that, though – just a moment, because they both heard hoofbeats and leaned away.
As the others approached, calling to them, Loki stood up. Tony was vaguely aware of them all speaking, but he couldn't keep track of it. Something tugged at Tony – an odd sensation, like when he'd been in the Avengers Compound with Thor before all of this started. It was almost like a feeling of déjà vu or nostalgia, but not really. His mind was racing, his heart hammered, and he felt like he'd swallowed a cotton ball.
A hand waving in front of his face brought Tony back from the fuzzy feeling. He looked up and was surprised to see that it was Loki's hand in front of his face. The Trickster was looking down at him expectantly. Tony took the offered hand and allowed Loki to pull him to his feet, like Danvers so often did. But there was a tingling feeling in Tony's stomach that he never got from Carol. He gulped, not quite sure what to do with that information. With a tap to his chest, Tony recalled the nanites and was once again in the Asgardian clothing.
"You cheated, didn't you?" Sif sounded resigned, sighing heavily with the complaint.
"Oh, come on, Sif!" Fandral chided. "Everyone knows Loki's got the fastest horse. We set ourselves up to fail."
"Truly? I just wanted to see Anthony's flying armor," Thor confessed. He marched forward and slammed both hands down on Tony's shoulders. "Now, that was something!"
"True enough!" Volstagg agreed, lumbering over and stretching his arms and legs out after the hard riding. The Warriors Three all joined Thor, patting Tony on the back and complimenting his armor, his flight capabilities, and his ability to navigate their trails.
Tony smiled politely at them, but kept glancing to where Loki stood, stock-still and silent, some distance away from them.
"Friends, we should continue our adventures with some fine Asgardian mead!" Thor declared, earning raucous agreement from the others. "Anthony, I would be pleased for you to join us."
"Really?" Tony asked. When Thor nodded, Tony considered it only a moment before shaking his head. "I appreciate the offer, but I think that, uh, Prince Loki and I still have some unfinished business."
Thor nodded in understanding. "Another time, then?"
"Sure, why not?" Tony shrugged.
Thor turned, leading his friends back to the horses. They all mounted and Thor waved to Tony. Looking to Loki, Thor said, "You know which pub we'll be at, should you care to join us!"
Loki nodded and gave a small wave to Thor. The others all called their goodbyes, mostly to Tony—except for Sif, who stayed silent—and then they turned and rode away, leaving Loki alone with Tony on the hill.
() * () * () * () *
Once they were alone, any confidence or ease Tony had felt completely left him. It was almost possible to forget who Loki was and even why Tony was there. But now, with no distractions and no third-parties, there was no denying the truth.
Tony rubbed the back of his neck nervously as he glanced at the empty space around them – basically, looking everywhere except at Loki. Finally, after the time that had passed without a word between them was enough to officially consider it awkward, the engineer broke the silence.
"So, I guess you're, uh, taking me to the forge, right?"
Loki raised an eyebrow, letting out an amused-sounding huff. "I could do that, yes." He wiped at his pants, to remove dirt from when he'd been on the ground. While Loki twirled around, making a show of lifting his coattails and patting dust off his own ass, Tony tugged at his shirt collar and averted his eyes, trying desperately not to check out the mage's body.
Once he was done, Loki faced Tony and straightened out his coat. He hummed and started inspecting his fingernails. With a sigh, he said, "But if I took you to the forge, the Smithy there would certainly tell me whether or not he was actually expecting a new apprentice."
Tony's eyes widened involuntarily. "Oh?" He hoped his voice came across as nonchalant (but somehow, he doubted that).
Loki barely raised his eyes from his hands, looking at Tony under a curtain of dark lashes. "Indeed." He took a few steps forward, smirking. "And if he does not know you, and does not welcome you, then where will you go?" With a shrug, he added, "Plus, that means that the King will have to be alerted of your treachery. And believe you me, the Allfather does not take kindly to treason or misconduct."
Languidly rolling his shoulders to stretch and pop the joints, Loki walked a circle around Tony. "Everyone would think you'd come to steal secrets from the royal family. You would surely be branded a traitor, probably even imprisoned."
With a gulp, Tony shook his head in discontent. "Well, you sure paint a dire picture," he grumbled. Then, once Loki had settled in front of him again, he gave a mirthless smile. "I suppose that means my safest bet is to stick with you, then?"
Loki offered a toothy, almost predatory grin. Then, he threw his head back and barked out a laugh. "I doubt even the Norns thought this day would come."
At Tony's puzzled look, Loki rolled his eyes. "For me to be the safer choice," he explained. The Prince's voice sounded amused, but he wore that neutral expression that could only have come from years of practice and his eyes lacked that certain sparkle.
Tony felt like the more time he spent with Loki, the more clues he gathered, adding to an ever-growing picture of who he actually was – as a person, and not just some megalomaniac.
While Tony was never the kind to forgive and forget (quite the opposite, in fact), he was absurdly logical. And he was all about that empirical evidence life. For years, Loki had been a mystery – a tacked-up picture on Tony's investigative board in which the strings never quite matched up and something always seemed just a tad bit off.
But seeing the way Loki interacted with others and how they treated him actually answered a lot of questions. Plus, watching Loki act like a real person, like someone who could actually hold a conversation without taking somebody out or commanding them to cow-tow to his dominion? It made Tony wonder just what happened between this point and when he arrived in New York. Obviously, it was major. Probably several major things, actually. And Tony knew, probably better than anyone, that the events in your life could change you, and not always for the better. Maybe if someone had ever taken the time to actually get to know Loki, to treat him like a person and not just the other prince or Thor's kid brother – well, who knows what might have become of the Trickster.
Then again, wasn't that the real reason Tony was here? To be that person who made the difference? Because, whatever had happened up to this point, it wasn't the final straw; Loki wasn't that Loki yet (and oh shit it's the "other-Thor" thing all over again – Tony figured he probably wouldn't be lucky enough for Asgard to have any Tylenol).
Tony sighed softly before looking up at the other man. He wondered, would it really be so terrible to spend some time getting to know this Loki?
With the fate of the world resting squarely on his shoulders, and getting heavier by the minute, Tony decided it was worth the risk. And, if nothing else, at least Loki was pretty to look at.
So, despite part of him thinking it was probably a terrible idea (albeit, that part was growing smaller with each new piece of evidence), Tony found himself smiling at the god.
"By all means, then, my Prince," Tony said, with an exaggerated bow. As he straightened up, he internally praised himself on the way Loki's eyebrows raised—and how his pupils dilated just the slightest bit—at the honorific. Before he opened his mouth, Tony briefly wondered if he would come to regret his next words. But then, being Tony I-do-what-I-want-Stark, he held out his hand and said them anyway: "Care to show me Asgard?"
() * () * () * () *
a/n 2: Hoping to continue updating regularly, but might be a bit slower with Christmas & New Year's - plus, I have an evil Statistics class that is kicking my ass so everything depends if I survive that.
Thanks, as always, for reading & commenting. You're all terrific and appreciated.