Hallo ;)

The next day, Loki decided to call upon his acquaintance. He thought to himself that if he were staying with the Avengers, he might as well make himself useful while he was at it. Tony found them a nice sitting room where they could talk and Loki pushed himself into the astral realm, seeking with his mind the presence of the Doctor. Fury had told him later that the man was called Doctor Strange, according to a note left by him. A rather odd name, he thought, and was in the process of thinking when the Doctor, feeling his call, appeared in front of him. "Ah, Loki!" he smiled, extending a hand in greeting. Loki shook it, smiling warmly back. "I believe you made me an offer, last time we met, Doctor," he began with no preamble. Strange nodded. "I believe I did. What are your reasons?" he replied, gazing at Loki not entirely trustingly. "I'm staying with the Avengers. I want to make myself useful while I'm here," he told him, voice calm and quiet. Strange looked him up and down then nodded. "I'll be with you in a minute," he said, then vanished. Loki returned to his body to find a rather impatient looking Stark. "Well?" he asked, looking at Loki expectantly. "He'll come," Loki told him – not a moment too soon, as a portal opened, and the man stepped out. "Doctor Strange," he announced himself, stretching out a hand to Stark. They shook hands and the Doctor turned to Loki. "Do you want to study my magic first, or…" he trailed off, looking the barest bit uncertain. Loki blinked.

"Show me," he told him, and extended a hand into the sparks that began flying from Strange's hands. No heat or coolness. As far as he could tell, it was mostly controlled by the mind. "Something physical?" he asked, curious. Ribbons began stretching between Strange's hands and he prodded them, until he was satisfied. "You control it with your mind, yes?" he asked, looking at Strange. From the corner of his mind he saw Tony listening in, curious. Strange nodded. "But for the portals, we used sling rings," and he slid a strange item from his hand, almost like two rings joined at the top by a bar. Loki cocked his head, curious, then took the sling ring and slipped it on. Immediately, his magic-attuned mind sensed the power in it and he raised his eyebrows in delight. "I had no idea Midgardians were so advanced," he told Strange, "Though I wish I had my magic to show you." He concentrated on the ring, prodding it with his mind. He felt oddly confused as he realised he could do that – push things with his mind. He hadn't been able to before… Tony. Perhaps the man had changed him deep inside, when he had kissed him, enough that the restraining spell had had it's grip on his mind loosened. Encouraged, he pushed further, and looked carefully at the power in the ring. It looked a little like… Ah. Svartalfheim. He'd spent a year with them, training, though in his long lifespan he had forgotten all about it. He dimly remembered one of his teachers showing him to – ah. A few sparks flew from the sling ring and he concentrated further, before picturing in his mind the common room. He pushed the details, the little things, into the picture in his mind and after a few minutes, his pushed his mind towards the sling ring ad circled it in the air, sparks trailing into the air and forming a perfect circle, and within it… Yes. The common room. Loki grinned and closed the portal, handing the ring to Strange.

Tony decided Strange looked decidedly flabbergasted. "You… You did it on… On your first try?" he eventually spluttered out. Loki smirked, and behind Strange, Tony echoed the smirk. "I've been a master of magic for years, my mind is well attuned to it," he told Strange. "And I came across a similar form of your magic once, in Svartalfheim. A long time ago," he smiled, probably amused at Strange's expression. "I already know the many meditative techniques," he continued, "whereas you or other mortals will have had to take up most of your lives learning them." Strange closed his mouth after a few moments then shrugged and said, "fair enough." Loki smirked again. "but please, show me how you do it without the power source. I do not know that yet." Strange brightened up and began to explain, Loki listening along politely, occasionally nodding. After a while, it developed into a full-blown conversation that Tony, for all his genius, couldn't keep up with. He waved at Loki as he left, who nodded to him as he left, before turning back to Strange and listening intently. Tony shook his head as the door closed, deciding to go to the gym instead. Nat or Steve might be there, and he wouldn't mind training for a while with them while he waited for Loki.

Only Nat was there, but when he asked, she seemed all too happy to spar with him, almost overly happy as she pulled on some boxing gloves and intently watched him pull on his own. Five minutes later and he was flat on his ass, a new bruise forming on his cheekbone. Nat was utterly insincere as she apologised, then told him sweetly, "Even Loki could do better!" Tony grunted in agreement and got back up. "Yep," he sighed, before the fight began again, barely lasting longer than the first time. Thankfully, Nat made no further comments about Loki for the next load of rounds, until, when Tony was getting tired (Nat, he was pretty certain, would have happily carried on beating him up all day), she said, "Fury almost had a heart attack yesterday," with a knowing expression on her face. Tony frowned and she smirked back. "He was looking out of the window when you fell past," she elaborated. "I thought he'd swallowed a cat or something before I looked out the window too," she continued, completely ignoring the beginnings of a blush that had crept onto Tony's cheeks as he realised what she was referring to. He did his best to shrug it off and pulled off his gloves. Nat gestured towards the firing range, but Tony shook his head, saying, "I've got JARVIS for that," before waving a quick good-bye and leaving.

Checking a watch, he realised he'd been fighting with Nat for around two hours. Surely Loki would have finished with Strange by now. Then again… He decided to go get a shower and a change of clothes before checking on them. Once he was presentable – he didn't want to embarrass himself in front of a wizard by appearing all sweaty from the gym – he made his way to the room where he'd left them, to find them in deep discussion… Both changing the colour of the sparks pooled in their hands. Tony rolled his eyes as he walked in. "Practising for the kiddie birthday parties?" he asked with a grin on his face. Loki grinned back, Strange simply raising an eyebrow before relenting and giving a small smile. Loki's sparks began popping like firecrackers and rapidly change colour, before he popped them in bursts of smaller, multicoloured sparks. Tony nodded, impressed. "Did Strange teach you that?" he asked, and he could have sworn Strange went red as he said it, before he mumbled, "Um, actually, I didn't know it was possible to make them change colour…" Loki and Tony shared a smirk before Loki stood up, groaning slightly as he arched his back, popping it. "Oof," he muttered. "I've been sat down for ages." Tony raised his eyebrows. "You've been sitting in the same place for nearly two hours?" he asked, slightly incredulous. Both Loki and Strange shrugged, the latter also standing up and bending a few times, bones popping. Tony rolled his eyes and shook his head at them, and was about to remark on their stupidity when Fury walked in, eyes instantly alighting on Strange.

"How long have you been here?" he asked suspiciously. "Uh… Two hours?" replied Strange innocently. Tony snorted as Fury, an incredulous look on his face, said, "and I didn't know?" Before, of course, he seemed to realise the answer and shook his head. "Tea or coffee, anyone?" he asked. "Bruce was making some so I thought we might join in." Strange looked at his watch and frowned. "I'm sorry, I can't stay much longer – another time, Loki?" he asked, turning to face the god. Loki nodded eagerly, and waved goodbye as Strange bowed slightly and stepped through a portal. "Loki, do you want to be introduced to my one and only god?" he asked, smirking. Loki managed to look affronted, asking, "am I not your one and only god?" Tony snorted, before they both realised Fury was still standing there and hurriedly began coughing and saying that yes, they would very much like tea and coffee, thank you awfully, so kind of Fury to invite them along, they would be only too delighted, and began practically bowing and scraping to him in rather weak attempts to divert his attention. It was probably not working, but Fury managed to stay expressionless and mention nothing as they followed him to the common room. The coffee was already on the table in a steaming pot, and Tony licked his lips. "Behold," he told Loki, grabbing the pot and raising it up slightly. "Coffee!" Loki raised his eyebrows and kept them up as Tony poured him a mug and added some milk. Fury, Bruce and Nat were talking quietly together, and Fury was smiling. He was smiling. Nat was wide-eyed, and then glanced up to meet Tony's eyes, who quickly flushed and looked down at the coffee, pretty certain he knew what Fury had just told them.

Steve and Clint walked in just as Loki tried his first few sips of coffee. He made a rather spectacular face at the bitterness, but appeared to like it as immediately after he began drinking the entire mug, Tony slurping at his own. Nat practically ran to Steve and Clint and began whispering to them in a rather suspicious manner. Carefully listening in, Tony cringed inside as he overheard the words 'one and only god', them immediately stopped listening. Looking at Loki, he noticed the god was blushing too, and smiled rather awkwardly at him. Loki smiled back, slightly apologetic. My mistake. Sorry. Tony shrugged. No matter, he told Loki silently. I don't mind. Loki smirked at him, then turned his full attention to the rapidly draining pot of coffee. Eventually, Bruce got up to make a new pot and Clint and Steve sat down. Steve, sitting next to Loki, leaned over and asked rather (extremely) awkwardly, "So… How are you guys?" Nat, over the other side of the table, slapped a hand to her face and shook her head into it, muttering unintelligibly. "Smooth, Steve," Tony told him. "Real smooth." He and Loki gave Steve matching smirks and took delight in his going red. Bright red. "But we're great, thanks," he added, to alleviate his embarrassment a little. Nat let out a little squeal. "Awww, you two are so cute!" she burst out, clapping her hands together. "They finally admitted it?" asked Bruce, turning to set the pot on the table, and Clint raised his eyebrows in silent question, before Tony put his arm around Loki and pulled the god close, both of them smiling slightly, albeit blushing a little. "I knew it," cackled Nat, and Fury cleared his throat loudly. "The coffee's here," he told them, pointing at the steaming coffee pot. Steve began pouring them all fresh mugs of coffee and Bruce and Nat leaned over conspiratorially. "Have you two made out yet?" Tony choked on his coffee, Loki echoing the noise, both of them going bright red and shaking their heads. "No," Tony muttered. "Not yet," Loki added for him, smirking slightly. Tony pretended to whack him, but had Nat and Bruce not been hungrily eyeing their every move, he would have kissed him, and something must have showed in his face because Nat smiled at them knowingly and pulled Bruce back.

They drank their way through the second pot of coffee, too, though it took them a good deal longer than the first, exchanging idle chat and telling jokes at each other's expanse every so often, resulting in light-hearted laughter. Even Fury, to pretty much everybody's surprise, joined in. His smiles were so rare it made the afternoon quite pleasant – it was rare they were all together like this. Though as the hours progressed, Tony noticed Loki becoming less and less involved in the conversation, almost seeming to drift off into a world of his own every so often, slumping against Tony for a few second before shaking himself to awareness. After a while, he asked a casual, "You all right?" to Loki, quietly. He nodded, but leaned his head back onto Tony's shoulder and murmured, "Just tired. I think I over-extended myself a little – even this magic requires an… Affinity for the magic arts, and… I can explain to you later." Tony blinked, curious, but nodded. "You wanna go to our rooms? The coffee's pretty much finished." Loki nodded, and sensing the relief, Tony realised the god was probably more tired than he let on. He stood and Loki stood with him as Tony excused them, and the others nodded and waved their goodbyes as they walked back to their rooms. Loki bypassed his own rooms and headed straight to Tony's, sitting down and relaxing onto the sofa, eyes already half-closed by the time Tony sat down next to him. "So?" he asked Loki, curious. Loki hummed sleepily then said, "I believe after we kissed, that also… Changed me, in a sense. In doing so, it loosened the boundaries of the restraining spell. Not enough to use magic, but enough that my mind is more… Versatile. I can reach out to and sense the power in magical objects – such as the sling ring. I did not know until today, and while training with Strange, I was also testing the limits of what I could do – not much, but enough that I have exhausted what little magic may have seeped through the gap… And exhausted myself, too," he added, not that Tony couldn't tell as the god leaned his head back and slowly relaxed, breathing deepening within seconds.

Tony smiled, gently brushing back Loki's hair and embracing the sleeping god. If that was true – which he had no doubt it was – then it meant that Loki gaining the knowledge he was loved had made him near-enough a different person. Tony, too, was almost a different person, he thought to himself. Perhaps if Loki trained his mind, that small sliver of magic – not proper magic, judging by what he'd said, but a heightened sense of awareness – might grow. It would be useful even if it didn't grow, allowing them to check if any objects were magical or not. Stupid Loki, going and exhausting himself like that, but Tony could understand that need to know his limits. After some time, not feeling particularly tired due to the effects of coffee, he decided he may as well be productive, and grabbed a stark pad from the coffee table nearby, beginning to sketch ideas for a suit of armour Loki might be able to wear. Green and silver, definitely – a true Slytherin, he smirked to himself. He debated making an iron-man styled suit for him, but then thought Loki might appreciate something with a little more finesse. Besides, he would always be able to loan Loki one of his own suits. Now, the armour, on the other hand… It needed to be unique. Flexible and lightweight, probably lots of leather under metal plates. Ideas began forming in his head and he started sketching, working on about three different ideas at once, that he might make all three and Loki would be able to choose.

The next morning, they were still on the sofa, the stark pad having fell to the floor sometime late in the night as Tony fell asleep, slumping over to rest his head on Loki's lap. His hand still clutched the stylus as he woke up, wrinkling his nose and pushing himself up, before glancing at it in confusion and setting it down on the table. He rubbed his eyes and yawned, blinking, before noticing the stark pad on the floor. He picked it up and ran an eye over it to check for cracks, but finding none he gave a small grunt and stood up, placing it on the table with the stylus. Loki stirred, before slipping suddenly to the side and awakening abruptly, flinging out a hand to stop himself falling face-first onto the sofa. Tony snorted and Loki raised his eyebrows. "I've been woken worse ways," he said mildly, then mischief sparkled in his eyes as he rose quickly and pulled Stark into a kiss, refusing to let him breathe – not that he particularly wanted to, when Loki was kissing him – until Tony thumped him three times in surrender. After breathing deeply for a minute, he looked up at Loki. "Oh, I'm going to get you back for that," he grinned, and Loki smirked right back. "Oh reall-" he began saying, but he didn't have time to finish before Tony pushed him against the wall and kissed him right back. After a while they pulled apart, and Loki hummed. "Breakfast?" he asked, waving his hand at the door. Tony nodded and began walk to the common room, Loki trailing a few steps behind him. It was rather crowded once they arrived – everyone with the exception of Fury was sitting down and eating toast or crumpets, so instead they stayed standing, Loki greeting Fury while Tony just barged past and headed straight for the coffee machine. He made two mugs and they leaned against the wall, sipping at the coffee, watching the others talk as Fury joined them at the table.

They had barely had time to eat a crumpet each before Strange appeared from a portal, face grave. "Something's breached the atmosphere," he told them grimly. Loki stood straighter, attentive. "Hostile?" he asked. Strange shrugged. "Powerful magical signature. I don't think it's benevolent." Loki frowned then closed his eyes and his face morphed into one of concentration. Moments later his face paled noticeably. "It's Thanos," he announced grimly, and Tony did a double take. Oriax's… Master, or sorts. "Definitely hostile," Loki said. "Which way is it headed? We need to go meet it. Evacuate the area, if it's not a remote location." Strange nodded and concentrated for a few seconds before looking around at them all. "He's heading right this way. He'll be here in about ten minutes."