Hi there! Fancy seeing you here, dear reader ;) From now on most chapters are going to have both POVs, and the switch is marked by 'X's, so you can't miss it :) Time to get our boys in the same bed – though I warn you, don't get your hopes up, noting fancy is gonna happen :p

PREVIOUSLY ON ASAF: "Oh. That is regrettable, Brother, yet inevitable. You will have to share Tony's bed, then."

Loki turned to Thor, eyes widened. From the other room, a "what?" resounded, and footsteps approached. Loki had not thought about that! "I'll sleep on a… couch. Or the ground."

"No," Stark said. "You're not gonna make me a liar. I said everyone was gonna sleep on a bed. Mine is big enough." Loki just stared.

CHAPTER 7

Ooookay. What the fuck had he just said? What the hell was wrong with him? Geez! Had he just offered to share a bed with Loki – a guy he didn't know, but who thought they were soulmates – just because he had felt, for some reason, that Loki had just lied about his health to get away from Thor, and Tony didn't want to be pegged as a liar too, so he'd what? Offered up the other half of his bed? Maybe he'd had one glass too much.

Loki looked as shocked at the proposal as Tony felt. He wanted to take his words back, but he wouldn't be able to face himself in the mirror if he did – stupid Stark pride did rear its ugly head at the most inopportune of times. Now he just had to go with the flow.

"Well, if that's settled, let's go. I want to sleep." He turned around and entered the room he had barely finished a few days ago and that still smelled brand new. He had only slept here twice, but it had never been alone; when he'd planned the layout, Pepper's room had been more like a formality than a necessity. Now, he was going to let someone else in that bed with him, and it felt like cheating. It certainly was a strange feeling. He wasn't sure he'd ever felt it like that before. He'd never really had a girlfriend that lasted more than a week before either. The 'soulmate' title made it all the worst. Suddenly he couldn't face the alien who had entered behind him.

"I'm gonna take a quick shower, no way I'm sleeping with all this grime on my skin. There's nothing in your size, but if you want you can try to find some sweat pants or something in the walk-in. J.A.R.V.I.S. will help you find something." He quickly entered the bathroom and slammed the door behind him before Loki had a chance to add anything.

Tony sighed. All right. Better just take that shower and not think about what he would find in his room afterwards. He cautiously peeled his clothes off – his ruined shirt caught on something on the back of his shoulder, and when he examined it in the mirror, bending in an uncomfortable position to see, he found a small gash he hadn't even been aware of.

When the hot water hit his skin, pulsing and raining down from all sides in his special massage shower, his muscles finally unwound, and he yawned, unbelievably drained and tired. He couldn't wait to slip between the sheets – but an unwanted body would be lying beside him, and he kind of wanted to be able to stay under this warm water forever.

He turned off the water with determination. Come on Stark! You've slept next to dozens and dozens of different people before! Yeah, but he didn't have an Arc reactor they could steal, or have the opportunity to experiment upon him, or whatever else that crazy alien could have in mind! And he hadn't been in a steady – okay, steady-ish – relationship at the time either! And, he'd always 'slept' with those women before the 'sleeping' part began. Which, now, no fucking way in hell – because, you know, former-ish enemy, alien, and a guy! So this was unprecedented, uncomfortable, awkward, maybe even creepy, and definitely not a good idea.

Well, if he couldn't throw Loki out, he could always go sleep on the couch himself. Yeah, right, who was he kidding? As if he would let someone else sleep in his bed, and take the horrible couch – whichever one he chose. Still, it would probably have been less weird to sleep next to Thor. At least with him, there wasn't that stupid 'soulmate' thing hanging in the air.

He stepped out of the shower, water dripping down on the fluffy rug, and he grabbed a clean towel on the rack. It was when he'd dried himself down and was rubbing his hair with a second towel that he realised. Shit! Shit, shit, shit! He'd been in such a hurry to get away that he'd forgotten to bring some pyjamas. The thought that he usually slept in the nude, and that it was therefore only natural to forget, didn't help at all either.

Okay. Calm down. This was his house, he could walk around naked if he wanted. Not that he was going to; he had a towel around his hips after all. And he had nothing to be ashamed of. All right, so he didn't like his chest, the scars and Arc reactor so exposed, but apart from that he was Tony Stark, previously playboy extraordinaire. He was definitely good looking, if he could say so himself. And if he said so himself, it could only be true.

With that thought in mind, he stepped out of the bathroom and stopped short. His mouth might even have opened at tiny little bit because of the sight before him. Okay, so he had not expected that. He should have, really. Well, now he sure felt inadequate.

Loki had turned towards him when he'd heard the door whoosh open, giving a perfect view of first his profile, than his front. He was wearing an old pair of grey sweat pants that were way too short and should have looked ridiculous, but it hugged his curves in a way that made it look like it was made for him. The bulge at mid-height looked particularly big, and Tony certainly didn't look at it, even in passing. And if all that wasn't enough, Loki was naked from the waist up, exposing porcelain white skin, nipples like pink rose petals on snow, and not a hair in sight – Tony wondered briefly if the alien even ever had any, or if he'd magicked them away; Tony himself had had his chest lasered long ago.

Loki was muscular without being burly, lithe and strong at the same time, in what seemed like a perfect combination, and Tony, who had never felt embarrassed by his forms before, was definitely feeling self-conscious now. He had no reason to feel like a teenager looking longingly at bodies of porn-stars; so what if he was a bit small, and a bit square shouldered, and that even though he had enough muscles, he couldn't show off a perfect six pack! Charm was important too, and Tony certainly had that! Loki probably had it too though – and even if he didn't, with a face like that he didn't need it. Okay, so Tony now understood why those aliens had been mistaken for gods – they were strong, they had awesome powers, and they could look unworldly beautiful. Nope, I didn't just think that!

He realised he had been staring too long when Loki quirked an eyebrow. Tony cleared his throat and purposefully strode to the walk-in closet. "The right side of the bed is mine!" God, that was awkward! He closed the closet door behind him and let the towels fall. On his way to the pyjama shelf he never used, he passed a full-length mirror and stopped to stare. Fucking hell, his face was red! And not just red, but completely crimson! He only now became aware of the prickling heat of his skin as it slowly burned up. Jesus Christ, he was blushing like a fucking virgin! This was ridiculous! No, worse, this was pathetically ridiculous!

On a sudden whim he turned away from his previous destination, grabbed his favourite dark blue sweat pants, slipped them on and got out of the closet with a confident stride. Even though his new-found self-assurance withered the moment his eyes met Loki's – who was now sitting on the end of the bed with his elbows on his knees, hair messier than before, as if he'd threaded his hands through it in frustration – Tony still pretended this was all very normal, and headed straight to the bed.

"Stark—"

"Nope! Not listening! I'm gonna sleep now, so I don't wanna hear another word. Good night." He slid quickly between the covers and laid down on his side, facing away from the other side of the bed. Thank God for his expensive tastes and huge king-sized beds! The moment the rustling of the covers stopped, he called "lights!", and they were plunged into darkness.

Of course, now that he finally had the opportunity to sleep, he felt wide awake. He could hear Loki softly breathe, and it disturbed him more than it should. It sounded so different from Pepper's almost inaudible exhalations – that reminded him that she hadn't even called him to make sure he wasn't mortally injured or something! She must have followed the battle or whatever the media had displayed world-wide by now. An alien attack and superheroes fighting them off in the middle of New York City couldn't be hushed up, even by S.H.I.E.L.D.

She probably expected him to call. Which is something he definitely should have done. What kind of boyfriend was he, to not let her know he was unharmed? She must be worried sick, perhaps imagining that the reason he hadn't called yet was because he was lying unconscious in some hospital or other. With everything that was happening, he hadn't really had time to call. That was understandable, right? Still, he probably should have sent a message of some sort, or let J.A.R.V.I.S. do it. He was not gonna hear the end of this, he was sure of it.

And what with the whole Loki situation? How could you tell your girlfriend that you'd met your soulmate, and that, even worse, he was male? Not that he believed this alien bullshit. Weren't soulmates supposed to be super compatible or something? Like instant chemistry? Loki and him certainly didn't have that. In what universe where soulmates of the same sex anyway? Especially if (at least) one of them wasn't gay at all.

Yeah, it was probably better not to tell Pepper these crazy ideas – especially as nothing had been proven where he was concerned. Okay, so he was certain he could tell, for some reason, when Loki was lying. He got like an itchy feeling behind his Arc reactor, and he just knew that meant whatever Loki said was a lie. Even when he couldn't see him or read him in any way. And that was frightfully strange, to say the least. But that was not evidence enough yet. So, no need to worry Pepper needlessly.

His eyes flew open when a thought hit him. Science fiction and fantasy looked like child's play compared to this last day. But if SF and fantasy had taught him anything, it was that humans always forgot the bigger picture, and other creature always thought in outrageously strange ways. "Hey! You said we were irrevocably bound and all that, don't tell me they consider us… married over there, on Asgard!"

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Loki had closed his eyes and controlled his breathing to appear asleep, but the question made his breath hitch, and he could not pretend he had not heard. Married. He had forgotten about that. "No," he started with, and he knew he should have phrased his answer another way when Stark sighed in relief. "We are considered more than married. We are considered one."

The mortal groaned, and the covers rustled when he turned around to face Loki – even though it was useless, as the darkness should not permit the mortal to see anything. Loki could see the outlines of the man's body, and he saw the blanket move away before the bluish light from Stark's chest illuminated their faces.

"What's that supposed to mean, 'one'?"

"It means that, in the rest of the Nine Realms, they will see us as more than married, more than family; we are two halves of the same person, in the same manner as we have two halves of the same soul."

Stark blinked in the half-darkness, and a hand came up, palm towards Loki, as if to reject what was being said. "Bullshit! How can they see us as one person, when we are obviously two, very distinct people!"

"I'm aware Midgard would feel different about this. I'm merely telling you Asgard's point of view." Stark was shaking his head, his skin rasping against his pillow, and Loki felt compelled to add: "I'm not lying," even if having to say it left a bitter taste on his tongue.

"I know," Stark grumbled, and Loki wondered if he could truly read Loki's face in this light. "I just don't see how they can see us as one person."

"Our bodies and minds may not be one at this time, but our soul and magic are. That is enough to consider us one."

"What do you mean 'at this time'?" Stark's voice conveyed the same dismay as Loki felt. He certainly did not want to lose the only parts of him that were still free and unbound, to someone who was practically a stranger.

"In the stories Mothe—" Loki cut himself off, unable to continue. After all this, did Mother still consider him her son? After all he had done? She had said that even if she had not birthed him, he would always be her precious Loki, but perhaps she had changed her mind now. He closed his eyes, and forced himself to continue. "In the stories Queen Frigga told me long ago, it happened that soulmates knew each other's thoughts. I don't know if it was meant as a metaphor, or if it was literal. People who know each other by heart can predict the other's thoughts without truly knowing said thoughts. I was never really interested by these tales, so I don't know the details."

"Right. So you're saying maybe there are gonna be mind melds, and maybe not. That's real helpful."

Loki turned, lying on his back, and looked up at the ceiling. While it had been light in colour before, it had now taken a dark tint, and tiny dots reflected Stark's blue glow, twinkling like stars on a clear night. Midgardians really had strange tastes in decoration.

"So, er… What else made those soulmates one, in your stories?" Stark sounded strangely hesitant, and it took some time for Loki to connect the dots with what he had previously said, or rather, omitted.

"In most myths, soulmates end up as lovers as well, if that is what you were asking."

"I wasn't asking that!" Stark said, and Loki felt a soft pressure and prickling high in his chest, where his heart would be if he were in his true form. And he knew, without a doubt, that Stark had just lied. How he could be so certain he did not know; with just the mortal's tone, and simple logic, he would have come to the same conclusion, but he would not have been able to be completely sure. Now, he knew it had been a lie, without the inkling of a doubt. And suddenly he knew also how Stark could identify his lies. It was the Soul Bond.

"Uhm, and in your stories, are there any… What I'm asking is… Shit." Stark took a deep breath, and held it an instant. "Are there same sex couples?"

"Same sex? Not that I'm aware of. There was however, if I remember correctly, the myth of a Ljósálfr and a Svartálfr. I believe on Midgard they called them Light Elves and Black Elves, or perhaps it was Elves and Dwarves."

"Elves and Dwarves? You've got to be kidding me!"

"In this tale, an… Elf and a Dwarf were soulmates. They were both, in a way, female."

"Ha! So there are same sex soulmates!"

"Not exactly. Dwarves are not either male or female. They are both – or perhaps neither. This Dwarf preferred to pass as female in the other Realms, but she wasn't truly female." Loki knew where this conversation was going, and he did not like it at all. Still, it had to be told some day. Perhaps it would be easier to get it all done now.

"So, what? You're saying we're the first? 'Cause if you do, I gotta say this makes your soulmate story even less believable."

"I must point out that I only know a fraction of the myths about soulmates. There may indeed be 'same sex soulmates', as you say. It would need to be researched. And I would like to research our situation further, however as we cannot be Realms apart, it would mean you would need to come with me."

"No fucking way! Going through one portal was enough! I'm not travelling to crazy land!"

"I wouldn't want you to. It is safer here, for both of us." Loki closed his eyes, and slowly breathed out through his nose. "We are not 'same sex soulmates'".

"What?" Stark suddenly sat up and turned towards him; he could see the intensity of the blue light through his closed eyelids.

"I only learned it not long ago myself. I always thought I was male – I still feel like I'm male. However, as it turns out, I'm a Frost Giant. And Frost Giants are, I suppose, what you would call hermaphrodites." The mattress shivered when Stark sprung out of bed, and when Loki sat up to look at him, the white of the mortal's eyes seemed impossibly big in the blue glow. His mouth was open, and it closed only to open again, then close again. The mortal looked utterly shocked, but Loki supposed that was normal.

If one had only heard of two sexes before, finding out others existed must be rather surprising. And finding out you had a soulmate, and discovering they were not of the sex you thought they were… Perhaps he should have approached the matter differently. It was too late now, anyway. As Stark stayed silent, Loki continued. "King Laufey of Jötunheimr, who has also been called Queen Laufey, was my true father – or perhaps I should say, my true mother, for he, even though in Asgardian eyes he appeared male, was the one who bore me. My other… parent was Fárbauti, who fathered me, but who was the mother to my true brothers, Helblindi and Býleistr." Loki looked away, and most embarrassingly his next thought was voiced in a whisper. "Perhaps Laufey chose not to bear another child himself after having given birth to a runt like me."

Oh, Loki, darling! Let me give you a hug XD Poor dears, why am I torturing them so? Oh, I know! Because it's fun :p

Spread the Luv!

LL