Hello there, dear fans of mine ;) Here is the next chapter, through the eyes of my darling Tony :)

PREVIOUSLY ON ASAF: Strangely enough, it did not even feel like a spell, and more like a movement of the body – shapeshifting linked physical and magical so intricately that it was difficult to distinguish them from one another once it started. It was just a matter of getting it started, and the transformation would develop on its own – as long as the magical and physical energy were there to sustain it.

The lack of both was why he expected it to fail, and fail it did. He managed to start it, the familiar tingling spreading everywhere, growing in intensity, but then it faded, like the sun behind a cloud, and all was still again. He opened his eyes to blue skin and attentive gazes, and sighed. It looked like he would be stuck like this for a while yet.

CHAPTER 5

Tony had watched, fascinated, as Loki's skin rippled and blurred, cerulean ridges smoothing out and whitening, but it suddenly stopped and reverted back. Once it did, he caught himself thinking it was a very nice colour. In his opinion, blue skin was the coolest colour out there for characters of fictions; and outside of fiction, it was pretty sweet too. Now, had Loki been female, Tony might already have gone all out, like in the height of his playboy days – enemy or not, and ongoing relationship with Pepper or not. Not that he would have tried to actually get a female-blue-skinned-crazy-alien in his bed, per se, but he sure would have flirted as if his life depended on it.

Loki was male, however, and, well… It wasn't as if he had anything against gays or anything. It just wasn't his cup of tea. Not that he'd tried or something, but this wasn't the 'you don't know unless you try' kind of thing, right? Sure, he could tell Loki was a really handsome guy – he had an alien beauty that tended towards freaking perfection, the blessed bastard! But he was a guy, so Tony kept his flirting to a minimum, and left it in the 'joking' area alone.

"I'm guessing you're stuck like this, then, luv. That sucks." Loki sighed, looking rather glum. Tony would be too if everything he touched turned into an ice pop. Unless it was ice pops you craved, that is. It sure wasn't great for non-frozen stuff, though.

An awkward silence had taken over the table, and that just wouldn't do. They had saved Earth today, for God's sake! "Soooo, you're some kind of Ice Queen?" he said, and geez, could he sound any stupider? Well, in for a dime and all that! "You're like the White Witch, escaped from Narnia."

Barton – no, Clint, first names, his own rules – snorted and answered: "Ha, yeah, straight out of the closet, no doubt about it!"

"Now, now, Legolas! No need to be jealous! You'll summon the courage to do the same, I'm sure." The S.H.I.E.L.D. archer actually growled at that, and Tony smirked shark-like. "And it's called The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, by the way." Bar— Clint had so walked straight into that one.

"References, Stark," Natasha reprimanded; defending her boyfriend, no doubt.

"Who cares if nobody understands? Let me have some fun here! It's not as if you sorry lot were talking among yourselves or anything. I'm kinda feeling compelled to fill in the silence. It's one of my specialities after all."

"I like silence, Stark. Ever thought about that?" Tony had opened his mouth to protest, but the redhead continued. "How about you help your new pet alien over there?"

Tony looked to his right and saw Loki poke the pieces of his shattered shawarma, like a pouting little kid. A hungry pouting little kid, if Thor's appetite was anything to go by where these 'immortals' were concerned. "Uhm, okay. How about…" He picked up one of the bags of French fries and an unused fork, "… you try this. Perhaps if you don't touch it directly…"

Loki picked up the fork, but before he could even skewer one of the fries with it, the whole thing was covered in icicles. "Okay, maybe not." He could hit his head against the table: metal was a conductor. Not that it would have changed much had it been made of anything else, if the frost creeping along the wood was anything to go by. Still, he might have tried chopsticks next if there had been any.

Now, how could— Oh. That might work. Still, that was kind of embarrassing. But when had he shirked away from anything because it was embarrassing? He was Tony fucking Stark, and he could do this as if he did it every day, as if it was the most natural thing in the world!

"Hey, you've never eaten French fries, right?"

"…No," was Loki's delayed answer.

"Then I'm thinking, first sans anything, then mayo, then ketchup, and you tell me which one you prefer." He picked up one of the longest fries at the very edge, with only the tips of his finger, and held it in front of Loki's mouth. The bastard just blinked instead of parting his lips, and Tony felt his impassable face betraying him, heating without his consent. Come on, he pleaded with his eyes, and finally the mouth opened. He quickly jerked his fingers back. There, one successful food delivery.

Loki slowly munched the fried potato down; it looked like the inside of his mouth was not frozen solid. Before the alien could perhaps protest, Tony swiped up another one of the fries, dipped it liberally in mayonnaise and held it in front on those blue lips again, without a word. If Loki didn't like fries, well, too bad for him. He should be happy that someone was willing to feed him anything.

The next two fries went in smoothly enough, and Tony did his best to ignore the fake retching sounds Clint-the-Jerk was making. "So…," he hesitated a second, almost adding a sarcastic endearment, but deciding against it, given the 'feeding you with my fingers' situation going on. No need to add any more fuel to the fire. "Have you decided which one you prefer?"

"The last one was fine."

Wow, such enthusiasm! And such a thankful expression too! Geez, as if Tony liked doing this! The guy could at least show some gratefulness, right? Still, Tony continued feeding Loki ketchup covered fries one by one, taking one for himself from time to time – it was way better than the shawarma anyway.

The next piece was a bit short, and he got ketchup on his fingers when he dipped it. Preoccupied by that – stupid – he didn't pay enough attention and his skin grazed ice-cold lips. He jerked them back immediately, of course, but the damage was done. He could feel them tingling something fierce, and he stuck them in his mouth to rid them of the tomato sauce so he could assess the damage. The soft conversation that had started between Ro— Steve and Bruce stopped, and all eyes turned to him with concern.

Among them Loki seemed the most distraught of all, his blood-red eyes wide. His hand moved as if to take hold of Tony's, but yanked it back an instant later. "Are you all right?"

Tony looked at his fingers, but there was nothing to see. No redness or anything, and he didn't feel anything. No, he did feel something: he felt normal. He prodded the tips with his other hand, but everything was fine. "Er, I'm fine. Maybe it's just your hands that have the ice voodoo thing."

Loki frowned. "No, it covers my whole skin, there is no doubt about it."

"Well, maybe it stopped." Loki just quirked and eyebrow and touched the table, new crystals forming immediately. "Okay, well maybe I didn't touch it long enough."

"That is not possible, Son of Howa—", Thor started to say.

"Tony."

"… Tony. The effects are instantaneous."

"Well, maybe it's not the… spell you thought it was, then." He would have crossed his arms if his suit hadn't made that uncomfortable. Who cared why the ice thing didn't work on people – if the touch was very short, at least; it didn't work and that was good enough for him.

Thor pursed his lips, and suddenly bent over the table and touched a finger to Loki's face for a fraction of a second. He grimaced but didn't cry out, even though the tip of his finger, that he proceeded to show off, was purple and covered in ice crystals. Was that frostbitten? That was fucking scary!

Next to him, Loki's chair skidded across the iced floor when the alien stood up, outraged. "You stupid, idiotic oaf! You of all people should know not to touch me! What in Yggdrasil's name were you thinking! Moron!"

Now Thor stood up, his usually loud voice sounding strangely soft. "I was proving a point. The curse is still active, and if… Tony truly touched your skin, he should be injured as well. Yet he is not."

The unspoken 'explain' hung heavy in the air, and Tony's gaze ping-ponged from left to right, keeping an eye on the two dangerous beings standing on either side of him, tension rising. He sure felt small and insignificant, just sitting there. "Guys! Guys, sit down, come on. Let's keep this civil, okay? No family feuds during dinner, that's the rule."

Thor was the first to sit down, and after a bout of frowning, Loki grabbed his chair and sat back down too, clearly unhappy. "So, I definitely touched you. So was it a short mishap in the magic or…"

"The ice magic hasn't dwindled, even for an instant."

"Okay." Then Tony did the craziest thing he had ever done. Or maybe not, he had done a lot of crazy things lately. Like flying into space with a nuke on his back, or vouching for the guy who had been his enemy only minutes before. Still, this was pretty crazy too.

He grabbed Loki's hand, and held on. Loki gasped and tried to pull back his hand, but Tony just followed the movement. It was cold. Like super cold, hand in the freezer cold, but it was not burning him with it. He had a feeling that he could keep this up forever and not be hurt at all – contrary to really sticking your hand in a freezer. He let go and showed his hand, palm up, to the rest of the table. Thor especially looked at it in awe. "How?" the Asgardian said, bewildered.

Tony tapped his Arc reactor. "Maybe it's my magic repelling ability again."

And suddenly he had Thor's hand flat on his suit's chest plate. "I do not feel any protection spells coming from that artefact."

Loki snorted. "As if you would recognise one even if it was thrown at your face."

Thor had either ignored that quip or not even listened, as he was still frowning at the Arc reactor, deep in thought. "Is this truly magical?" he wondered.

"It is and it isn't. It has the same capabilities as raw wild magic, but it has not been drawn from Yggdrasil."

"I don't know what you two geezers are going on about, but I created this awesome little piece of tech. Please don't besmirch it with your talks of alien mojo." And the two – royal – bastards royally ignored him.

"How does raw magic stop a well-crafted spell?"

"Oh, it could, theoretically, if it had enough force. Only the artefact is truly imbued with it though, not Stark's skin."

"Hey, babe, we had agreed on you calling me by my first name." Loki's answering silence was oh so encouraging. "Okay, so if it ain't my Arc reactor, are you telling me I'm the magic repelling one?"

Loki smirked, obviously amused. Yeah, sure, mock his ignorance on a stupid subject like magic. "No, you are definitely not magic resistant."

"Well then what the fuck, dude? What is this shit?"

"I don't know."

Then the strangest thing happened. Both Tony and Thor said "Liar!" at the same time, and Tony was pretty sure that Loki blanched – even though in this case it was just becoming a little less blue. Tony didn't even know how he knew Loki had lied. He was somehow completely certain he was right, though; he'd even stake his life on it.

"Loki!" Thor said, and his voice sounded suddenly menacing.

"I can't explain right now!"

"LOKI!" Thor bellowed.

"Sál fróðleikr!" Loki yelled in response, almost sounding panicky in Tony's ears – even though he had no idea what had been said, and really, how unjust was that? He was the concerned party here!

Thor looked like he had just been hit in the face with his own hammer, and Tony felt his stomach sink all the way down to his toes. That couldn't be good. No, it looked bloody well awful. "What is it? What does it mean?" But he was ignored. Again. Fuck them!

"Are you certain?"

Loki sounded very gloomy when he answered: "Quite."

"How can you be certain?" Thor seemed extremely sceptical, so maybe it wasn't whatever Loki had said it was.

"I just know! And how else do you explain this?" A blue-skinned hand grabbed Tony's and held it up for emphasis.

"Even so, claiming it is So—"

"Don't!" Loki practically screamed, interrupting his brother. Quieter, he said: "Please! Not now!"

"But surely—"

"Later, I promise."

And while those two exchanged glances full of some sort of understanding Tony definitely wasn't part of, his eyes met those of the other Avengers – who, contrary to him, had all finished eating, and were watching this little alien soap opera unfold with either puzzlement or glee. Rog— Steve cleared his throat.

"Perhaps it's time to retire?"

Well, Tony wouldn't need to be told that twice! He immediately sprung up – or unfolded from his chair as quickly as his energy-deprived suit permitted – and spread his arms. It was only then that he realised one hand was still trapped in Loki's grasp. Who was still not letting him go. Okay… Whatever. "Yes, great idea, you're all invited to Stark Tower! Fury did say we should all keep an eye on dear Loki here, after all. So it's sleep-over time! We can even do a pyjama party!"

Apart from a few grumbles from Clint that were promptly silenced by Natasha's look, his tirade was only met by scraping chairs. He was about to ask J.A.R.V.I.S. to directly make over an outrageous amount of money to the joint owner, when he felt his hand, then his whole arm tingle, and a wave of dizziness swept over him. His Arc reactor flickered once, and he held his breath until its light remained steady again. He really needed to put a new one in there ASAP.

He looked over at Loki and froze when his eyes met emerald ones. Wow, he didn't remember them being so green! And geez, after the blue skin that white seemed purer than any everlasting snow he had ever seen!

"Okay, Snow White… Looks like you're feeling better!"

"Yes, it would seem so."

"So you can walk on your own, then?"

"I certainly hope so." And even if he moved slowly and with obvious difficulty, he managed to get to the destroyed glass doors. And that's how they continued on towards the tower, with Loki in front, setting this very slow pace, and Tony on his heels, in case he collapsed again or something. Or he might collapse himself, if this exhaustion was anything to go by. Thank God – no, wait, thank himself – for his Iron Man suit.

The streets were eerily gloomy; there was no electric light to be seen, except for all the people roaming around, waving flashlights and smartphones. It looked like either the police had lifted the blockade, or people had found ways around it so that they could go back to their property and inspect the damage. At least all the Chitauri corpses were gone – S.H.I.E.L.D. had certainly cleaned that up quickly.

They were only halfway there, and some Avengers – AKA Clint – where sighing at the sluggish pace. "Some of you can go ahead, if you want. I'm sure Thor and me can keep an eye on him on our own for ten minutes."

"Yeah, right!" Clint scoffed. "Leave the bastard with you two sympathisers! No way in hell, man!"

"Okay, suit yourself. Hey, J.A.R.V.I.S., order a bunch of pepperoni pizzas, will you? I'm still hungry."

"Of course, Sir."

When they finally arrived in his penthouse, the pizza boxes were stacked on the bar, and tarp covered the few missing windows that alien weapons had destroyed. There were even scorch marks on the wall, right next to the elevator. Something moved in a darkened corner; the electrical whirring identified it as Dum-E – he must have been sent by J.A.R.V.I.S. to clean up. Tony had made him mobile enough to move around the tower if necessary.

"So, people! I got a few guest rooms, but not that many so you're gonna have to share. J.A.R.V.I.S. can tell you were to go if you wanna get some shut-eye. There's pizza for the hungry, and if your thirsty I've got alcohol enough. Mi casa, su casa, and all that."

He walked over to the bar, took two pizza boxes and thrust them towards the two aliens who seemed to be exchanging a conversation with mere glances again. Thor took his without hesitation, but Loki looked rather forbidding; Tony just pushed the cardboard against his chest until he finally accepted it.

He then got himself one and walked over to a couch. "Okay, J.A.R.V.', get me out of this." The suit started to retract, whining and screeching, and the moment it released his legs he collapsed onto the couch, hopefully in a controlled-looking manner. The suit awkwardly hovered away and crumpled against the wall. Tony took off his bracelets and put them on the coffee table. He then leaned back, with his pizza box on his lap, and a slice in his hand.

The rest of the party had not moved, and was watching him eat with varying expressions. "Come on people, these pepperoni pizza's need to be gone. Capsicle— Steve, you sure you don't want one?"

"Er, no thank you. I'm good."

"All right. If no one else wants any, it's up to Thor to eat them all. I heard your appetite is legendary among us mortals."

Thor had sat down on the couch, his hammer next to him, and had already eaten half of his pizza by then. "I shall gladly eat all of your flattened bread, Tony."

"Great! Hey, honey, come sit down." Tony patted the seat next to him. After rolling his eyes in obvious protest, Loki moved towards the couch and sat on the very edge, still holding the cardboard box as if it was some sort of poisoned gift.

The others started to move away, Steve and Bruce together, following J.A.R.V.I.S.'s instructions. Natasha moved to the bar and rifled through the cabinets there, probably stealing his most precious liquors. And Clint… Clint just stood there, glaring at Loki.

"Come on, dude!" Tony said between two bites. "You don't need to follow him around all the time. He won't suddenly up and leave! Right?"

"I cannot leave even if I wanted to."

"See, nothing to worry about." Clint, however, didn't move an inch, and his eyebrows merely crept towards each other. "Okay, let's do this. J.A.R.V.', get a visual of Loki on Clint's phone. That way he can 'keep an eye' on him all he wants, even from his bed or something."

"It is done, Sir."

"There you go, then."

Clint took his phone out of one of his pockets and scrutinized the screen. He grunted in what must have been satisfaction, because he simply left without a word, eyes glued to the piece of supposedly advanced technology created by S.H.I.E.L.D. – what a joke! Natasha left soon after with glasses and a crystal pitcher filled with clear liquid, which Tony recognised as his best vodka; she could take that, he was more of a Scotch guy anyway.

Now Tony was alone with two alien not-really-brothers-but-still-obviously-brothers who didn't speak to each other, and God was this weird. He chewed his pizza a bit quicker. Maybe he could use exhaustion as an excuse to flee – it was not as if it was untrue – and then these two could resolve their problems in private. Tony didn't want to be caught in the middle of a family drama.

He was just wondering if he should take his pizza with him and retire to his bedroom, when Thor looked at him with the most serious expression he had ever seen on his face. "Friend Tony," the blond said, and that clearly meant trouble. Was it too late to flee now? "We," he continued, throwing a warning gaze at Loki, "need to speak with you about a most serious matter." Well, shit.

Eating pepperoni pizza; I just had to put it in there XD Next time Tony will get the 'big reveal' :p

Spread the Luv!

LL

PS: As for 'sál fróðleikr', do excuse my broken Old Norse, I'm only Google-learned XD But I'm not gonna tell you what it's supposed to mean; Tony doesn't know, but you can probably infer the meaning from the previous chapters ;)