Hey people! I'm back! I know, you missed me ;) Two weekends without updates – did you manage all right? XD Anyway, here is the next chapter! Go at it!

PREVIOUSLY ON ASAF: And those eyes! From blood red to the greenest green – greener than an emerald, with more depth and shine than any gem – and every time it was like he saw them for the first time, and they were so green! They had to become greener after every transformation, there was no other explanation possible. This had to be some kind of spell, some enchantment, because those eyes got more surreal every time. The irises were rimmed with a darker green, like a pine forest surrounding a lush clearing full of bright green saplings, jade and olive bushes, and lime-coloured grass flecked with golden flowers – was that were the inspiration of a green and gold armour came from? – surrounding a slowly expanding pool of bottomless black in which Tony's very being was helplessly drowning.

And then Bruce cleared his throat.

CHAPTER 17

At the sound – a reminder of the other Midgardians' presence – Loki wrenched his hand away from his soulmate's chest, but more importantly, wrenched his eyes away from the mortal's and turned towards his food, scooping the cooling fare up and gulping it down even though his earlier hunger had dissipated along with his shapeshifting. Or during the uncharacteristically long time he had spent looking at Tony's face. He preferred to blame the shapeshifting.

He had not intended to look at his soulmate's face at all; during the transformation he had been focused inward, shifting the nature of his every cell using as little of Tony's magic as he could, but when he emerged from his concentration he was bombarded with his soulmate's swirling mix of surprise, confusion and disbelief, and he had looked straight back at Tony to – somehow – try to discern where those groundless feelings were coming from, as he knew his shapeshifting had been a success.

His gaze first darted over the mortal's face, noting again the small wrinkles on his slightly tanned face, the freshly trimmed goatee and the controlled waves of his short brown hair, stopping at the dark brown of Tony's eyes that were peering in his own. There was nothing really remarkable in his soulmate's face, and in most of the Nine Realms he would be considered rather plain – especially given his smaller stature. And yet the symmetry of it was rather pleasing to the eye, and among the Æsir, where blond hair and blue eyes was the norm, he would appear to be somewhat exotic. Slowly flicking his gaze from one black pupil to another, he noticed that the brown was not as uniform and not as dark as he had first thought, and the eyelashes surrounding them, not especially long but markedly thick, made the look of those clever eyes quite striking.

Loki didn't know how long he had stared in his soulmate's eyes, but it certainly had been too long, as was evident by his hurried inhalation – he had, at some unknown point, stopped breathing – after Doctor Banner had reminded them of his presence. Loki did his best to ignore the others in the room – even though Tony's shining presence was impossible to disregard – and pretended to only pay attention to his food. This way, he could feign a lack of embarrassment he did not feel by pretending everything was normal and fine. In silence. Tony, on the other hand, seemed to be more prone to deflect his embarrassment – which burned along the bond like wildfire – by speaking.

"Sooo. Cap— Steve. Awesome breakfast. We both thank you for your kindness. Don't we, Lo'?"

Loki would have happily ignored the Midgardians around him and continued eating said breakfast, but the annoying twinging of the bond's thread forced him to acknowledge the conversation; he threw a glare towards Tony, and turned towards the commander of the Avengers team. "Indeed. Thank you, Captain." He added a small smile to make the sentiment look more genuine – it was best if the soft-hearted soldier remained on his side after all – and when the following silence was just long enough, he turned back towards his plate to dredge up the last remnants of food.

Mortals certainly ate small portions. It was sustaining him for now, but he might need to eat more if he wanted his magical core to heal at a normal rate. As if his thoughts were written on his face for all to see – and he was certain they were not – both Steve Rogers and Tony started talking at once.

"Oh! This isn't enough, is it? I forgot. I often forget it about myself too."

"I bet you just thought of the humongous amount of food you usually eat! How much do you usually eat?"

The mix of two voices was not easy to understand, but Loki caught Tony's question at least. "About three to four times this portion for breakfast. More at other meals."

Tony's laughter was tinged with disbelief. "I could, like, maybe eat two and a half and I'd be totally stuffed! You aliens sure eat a lot!"

"I'm considered a light eater."

"You're shitting me!"

Loki lifted an eyebrow. "Have you not seen Thor eat?"

"Yeah. Okay. Light eater, got it. How about peanut butter jelly sandwiches?"

Loki couldn't resist the instinctual desire to cock his head at that curious and indecipherable name of a meal – he thought it was supposed to be a meal, anyway. Before he could even ask what it was, Tony had pushed his own half-finished plate towards Loki. "Here, you eat this, and I'll make us the best food this planet has to offer! If I can find the ingredients, of course. J.A.R.V.'?"

And while J.A.R.V.I.S. rattled off a list of names and locations and cupboards banged, Loki finished his soulmate's plate. Rogers hovered between the table and the kitchen, unsure if he should help. Banner's gaze was insistent, prickling his skin, but Loki only looked up after the last morsel was gone.

"Please don't judge Earth's food based on what Tony tells you," the doctor said in a soft voice and a small smile was directed at his overly excited soulmate. "I'm pretty sure he has eaten in the most expensive restaurants out there. The fact that they're expensive doesn't mean they serve the best food there is, but… He has to have eaten something better than peanut butter. It isn't because it is his favourite that it is humanity's best. My favourite is Murgh Kari, but I won't be telling you it's the best thing in the world, because it all depends on what you like."

After that little unnecessary speech, the doctor stood up to bring his empty cup away, and Loki looked on while Tony vigorously scrapped the inside of a pot with a knife, while Rogers looked on with a frown, obviously disapproving of whatever his soulmate was doing. Not long after, all three mortals headed back towards the table, Tony sitting back down next to him while the others took a seat opposite them. Their curiosity was almost palpable in the air.

"There you go! A dozen peanut butter and blueberry jam sandwiches. It's like the only thing I know how to make besides coffee, but that only means I got to practise this until I perfected it, and perfect it I did! I could live a whole month only eating peanut butter jelly! With some supplements. Because it isn't the heathiest of food. But it tastes great so who cares?" Tony picked up a sandwich and bit into it.

Loki eyed the food distrustfully. Until now, it had seemed like his soulmate liked to eat a variety of things, among which overly sugary sustenance that Loki had absolutely detested. And the purplish-blue colour bleeding out of the side of one of these sandwiches was not very promising. With all eyes on him, he gingerly took one of the triangles and brought it to his mouth. The smell in itself was strange and unlike anything he had ever smelled before. He mentally prepared himself for disaster and took a small bite. He let it rest on his tongue for a moment before starting to chew, but there was no horribly sugary taste so far. He slowly munched on the piece, and all the flavours met his taste buds at high velocity, exploding in his mouth in a surprisingly good combination of sweet-but-not-too-sweet, fruitiness and some sort of nut. Loki took a heartier bite, deciding that this food would do for this morning.

Tony smiled. "Told you!" He then put the last piece of his sandwich in his mouth, and proceeded to lick his fingers afterwards, as some of its contents had escaped the slices of bread and smeared his skin. It took Loki a moment to realise he had stopped chewing, half of a sandwich held aloft, and his gaze following the movements of Tony's tongue. He quickly looked away and ate faster.

What in the Norns' name was wrong with him? He wasn't supposed to get so distracted by Tony! He wasn't supposed to let anything or anyone influence him anymore – not the bond, not magic, not the other half of his soul! Not anymore! He had already suffered too much because of Odin, and Thanos, and he wouldn't let Lady Fate win as well! He wouldn't let his life become just like any other Myth of Soul-Mates, he wouldn't be as stupid as his brother and fall for a mortal! Except now, his lifespan had become just as short as Tony's. Except now, seeing how much the bond robbed him of his freedom, he understood why there were no soulmates in separate relationships. And yet… And yet, he would not let that dictate his choices! This time, he was going to protect his battered heart from further harm for as long as he could manage.

Tony was looking at him oddly, and he realised his hold on his shielding of the bond was shaky at best, so he strengthened it and resumed eating with more vigour. If he was not mistaken, the time to return to the ground, among the people that had been hurt because of him and his mind's weakness, was soon upon them, and even though he dreaded walking among that many mortals without the full protection of his magic, it would be a good distraction from his own, traitorous thoughts.

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Tony had thought the sandwiches had been a success, considering Loki's tastes – and distaste for sweet stuff. The one he'd eaten had been perfect, if he may say so himself, and only a fool could hate the excellence of peanut butter and blueberry jam carefully brought together in flawless proportions. And it looked like Loki was no fool, obviously. But then there had been that odd mix of feelings coming to him in greater and greater waves, peeks of anger emerging from time to time. People usually didn't get angry at sandwiches, right? Their problem usually was with the sandwich maker. But then, Loki didn't look angry at him, though he did devour the sandwiches in a very Thor-like style – AKA like someone who hadn't eaten in weeks, even though they'd eaten five minutes ago. He'd just have to wait and see what that was all about, then.

The last two members of their weird team of not so heroic super-heroes – only Steve Rogers had the saint-like qualities described in most fictional stories – walked into the room. Natasha sat down on the edge of the table, but Clint kept his distance, gaze going wearily from Loki, still seated and polishing off his plate, to Tony, standing beside his soulmate. He stared. And stared. The wary looks on that frowning face were unnerving Tony, and he couldn't stand it anymore.

"What is it, Tweety?"

Clint scowled even more. "Oh, nothing, Stark. Just trying to reconcile your words and your deeds, is all."

Now it was Tony's turn to frown. "What the hell's that's supposed to mean?"

"Just that yesterday you were all like: sure, we're soulmates but not soulmates, you know, we slept together but didn't sleep together, you know. And then at three A.M. you both end up in the same room again, and come out almost naked, again, to do God knows what in the basement, only wearing boxers, and now you're making him sandwiches, so. You'll understand my confusion when you say you're not together, but you act like you are. So I'm wondering if you are a traitor, or if you're just unknowingly acting like one. Because he brainwashed you, for example."

Tony didn't know if he should burst out laughing or pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration. "You're still watching Lo's movements on your phone at all hours? I think it's time I cancelled your subscription."

Loki had finished his sandwiches now, and he was watching the archer as well, annoyance and mild amusement barely distinguishable behind the shielded bond – that reminded Tony that he needed to do something about that fast, it wasn't very fair that Loki could feel his state of mind so easily.

"If I could freely use my seiðr and if I was controlling Tony in any way, I would not have had him make me these sandwiches of strange origin, but something I'm more used to. Like roasted elgr."

Tony's eyebrows went up. "Roasted what now?"

"An animal that vaguely resembling an elk. Though I don't know if it tastes remotely similar."

"You eat roasted elk first thing in the morning?"

"Amongst other things, yes."

"You people are weird."

"I could say the same thing about Midgardians, and that whatever their regional origin. Although I would not have used such a poorly phrase statement."

"Of course you wouldn't, mister British-ish accent and half-Shakespearian-word-user."

"You do know you are making no sense, yes?"

"It isn't because you don't understand what I say that I'm not making sense. And how come you read Harry Potter and not Shakespeare?"

"Of course I read Shakespeare. I'm merely denying your mistaken analogy."

"Will you two stop it?" Clint yelled, obviously exasperated by what some might call friendly banter, or – as Tony just realised others (crazy others) might see it – domesticity. "Even if you're not brainwashed, you're at least totally compromised."

"Compromised? What do you think I am? A spy?"

"You're completely mad if you don't see that he's playing you."

Tony leered. "Right. Well, I won't deny I'm crazy, I'm a scientist after all."

"I resent that," muttered Bruce.

"But I'll be impressed," Tony continued, "if he can play me on this level – as in the whole soulmate gig level – knowing that I can feel his feelings, and more importantly, I know when he lies to me."

He could feel Loki smirk even without looking at him. "Is that a challenge?"

"No, dear, it was merely a fact." Irritation hit him in the back of his mind and he smirked – Loki knew as well as he did that they wouldn't truly be able to deceive each other on anything big, and maybe not even on anything small, not truly. Not knowing how clever they both were. "So Clint. Sorry to burst your bubble, but the guy that brainwashed you may have looked like Loki, sounded like Loki and acted kinda like Loki, but it wasn't Loki. The sooner you get that through that thick skull of yours, the better off we'll all be." Clint looked at him with disgust, arms crossed over his chest. "The others don't look like they have much of a problem with the whole thing. And that's the key right there, Merida. They can at least pretend like they're okay with it. We pretend like we're okay with it, don't we Lo'?" Loki remained sullenly silent. "Okay, so maybe he doesn't like to pretend either. But you don't want to be like Loki, do you Clint?"

That at least seemed to work slightly, because the S.H.I.E.L.D. assassin made an obvious effort to scowl less, even though his lips remained thinned. "Do it for the team," Tony added, because treating the guy like a child seemed to work just now, and amazingly it worked again. With difficulty Clint uncurled his fists, and with tension remaining in every muscle, he said sourly:

"I'll try."

Tony was tempted to say 'good boy!', but that would have undone all his work, so he forced an approving smile on his face and turned to Steve. In the process he caught Natasha's eye briefly, and her smirk was scary as hell, but he feigned not to have seen it.

"So, it's about ten. When are we going down to sweep floors and condemn buildings and the like – which I assume is half as much a publicity stunt as it is to truly help out the people."

Steve looked affronted. "It's not a publicity stunt! It's our duty to help!"

"You mean it's our duty because there are people in need, or because we caused a lot of the damage ourselves?" Tony asked. Steve had his mouth opened, ready to answer, but he wasn't fast enough.

"I didn't cause damage," Clint said helpfully. "If anyone is to blame, it's him!" And then he pointed, unsurprisingly, at Loki.

"I did not destroy this city. I did not even damage a single building."

Tony sighed, shaking his head theatrically. "Clint, Clint, Clint. What did we just talk about? Pretend, remember? That wasn't pretending. So try again. And you're wrong, like always. Loki didn't damage anything. I did, for one. And Bruce did, mostly. The rest was of course the Chitauri. But as a team, we take responsibility together. And as the brainwashed idiot who made the whole thing possible, Loki's helping too, even though technically nothing he did at the time was his fault. So let's all be friends, kiss and make up and all that shit, and see what we can do for New York City."

Tony stepped away from the table, ready to make his way towards the elevator – he'd need to see which suit was in a good enough state to help him lift blocks of concrete and all that – but a new voice came from behind him.

"Not so fast, Stark."

Where did those people come from? How could they go past J.A.R.V.I.S. unnoticed? And why did this voice sound so familiar? Tony turned towards the voice's owner, and froze in place, eyes wide. Next to him, Loki sprung up, startled as well.

"Good morning, members of the Avengers Initiative. And Loki." The man's eye's locked onto his soulmate for an instant, but his expression did not change. "Turns out Director Fury jumped to the wrong conclusion."

"You mean he lied," Tony said in an even tone. He didn't even know why he was surprised by shit anymore.

"Well, I'm alive and well," Agent – otherwise known as Phil Coulson, but Tony definitely preferred to use Agent right now – said with a jovial smile. "Sorry that you were misled, but I'm afraid that I couldn't have done much about it at the time."

Tony only felt disappointment and anger at the sight of the man, even though he should feel relieved that he was alive, instead of dead. But right now he only felt betrayed. And that contrasted rather starkly with the utter bewilderment and disbelief, as well as suspicion, coming from his soulmate.

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"This cannot be," Loki said, startled at the words coming out of his mouth unbidden. Even though he had not intended to utter the phrase in a tone so transparently stupefied, it still conveyed the sentiment quite nicely. How could this mortal be alive? "I know I damaged your frail body too much to be repaired by your feeble medical practices. And I later felt your essence disappear from your body. It is what you might call the moment the soul escapes to Helheimr. How are you still alive?"

All eyes were on Agent Phil Coulson, and those who had only showed joy and relief before started to show hints of suspicion. In a way, Loki felt a tiny hint of gladness that the Avengers, his former enemies, who had no reason to truly believe a word he said – they knew his 'title' of Trickster God after all – would believe him enough to turn against their former friend.

Coulson frowned. "Well, I suppose I might have died for a minute there. But S.H.I.E.L.D. patched me up quickly after that."

Loki snorted. That was not how the universe worked. One's soul, one's essence did not leave immediately after a body's death, remaining for a few minutes up to, sometimes, a few hours – which was why some might be brought back to life through varying means – but once the essence was gone, only very powerful – and often very dark – magic could pull a soul back from its resting place; and that wherever that resting place was. In the Nine Realms, Yggdrasil was the harbourer of souls, but in other places, other entities resided, some of which Loki had felt when visiting faraway planets. There had been an entity out there which horded the souls of its charges, which refused to lend its magical power to most, and when it let someone powerful enough – like Loki – take some of its power, it was unwilling, wild and foul tasting.

"They even gave me a day to recover in Tahiti." Coulson continued. "I'd have stayed longer if duty – AKA you people – didn't call. Anyway, I really recommend it if ever you feel like shit. Tahiti is a magical place."

Loki didn't know about that Tahiti, but the sceptical looks most of the Avengers were throwing at the Midgardian probably meant it was a known place on this planet and that they doubted it could heal the dead in any way. Loki had felt around the mortal's body with his magic since the moment he walked in, and even though, with his own core so low, he could not sense all the details, he could have sworn that the moment Coulson had talked about this Tahiti being magical, he felt a flash of foreign energy flash in the man's mind. It had come and gone so fast Loki was unsure if it had truly been there – he may have imagined it, as foreign magic crepitated around and in the Tower since the portal. But if the trace of magical energy had indeed come from the mortal's mind… It might mean it had been tempered with. And the trace was foreign, yes, but not entirely – Loki felt like he had met that kind of magic before, even though he could not remember where at the moment.

"I remain unconvinced," he declared, refusing to voice his hypothesis about foreign magic. No one would believe him anyway – that required much more trust than they had for him, as he was the only one who knew about magic. They could not fathom all the things – especially all the foul things – that could be done using it.

"As the one who tried to kill me, I can understand that you're sceptical, Mr Odinson—"

"Friggason."

"— but as you can see, I'm alive and well."

"I hate to have to agree with that guy," Barton said, arms crossed again, grimacing while he designated Loki with a jerk of his head, "but he's right. I've seen too much magical bullshit lately to just believe you came back from the dead without being replaced by your evil twin or something."

Coulson smiled. "I know how you feel. I can't say I like magic either. But I don't really know how to show I'm not my evil twin or whatever. Hmm, perhaps if I tell you something only I know? Supposing my evil twin wouldn't somehow have all my memories, of course." Coulson chuckled, but no one else in the room seemed to see the humour in that. "Do you want me to tell you something about Budapest, perhaps?"

The Black Widow intervened then. "You have clearance. Even if you weren't you, you would have been able to read the files."

"Indeed, Agent Romanoff. But I meant something about Budapest that isn't in any of the files – and that includes those you don't even know about."

"I've read all the files," Barton said, scowling. Coulson merely stared at him, and the archer's face filled with rage. "There are more? What the fuck is in there!"

"I'm sorry, Agent Barton, but you do not have clearance. However, I'm talking about something that wouldn't be in the files and that only I know about."

"What happened in Budapest?" Tony asked, curiosity expressed clearly in both his expression and his mind. "Should I ask J.A.R.V.I.S. to hack into S.H.I.E.L.D. and find out?"

The answer was unanimous and instantaneous, coming from three voices at once. "NO!"

"Don't you dare, Stark!" Barton seethed. "If you even think of trying, I'll murder you and your boyfriend in your sleep, I swear!"

"Okay, first off, I just thought of trying, otherwise I wouldn't have said it. So you really should say 'the next time you think of it'. Second, I don't have a boyfriend. He's just my soulmate. And third, I demand to be murdered in broad daylight, it's way classier."

"In that case, I demand not to be murdered at all," Loki said, glancing unhappily at his soulmate. He really did not need Tony of all people to make the others more hostile against them.

"Spoilsport," Tony mumbled.

"Shall we take this outside, then?" Coulson asked, speaking obviously to Barton and Romanoff alone. "Given what I know, you don't want me to say it in front of Stark."

"Now I want to know even more!"

Coulson's eyes sparkled with mirth. "Exactly."

Suddenly Loki had his soulmate hanging from his arm in an exaggerated manner. "Honeeeey! They're all mean to me!" From the corner of his eye, Loki saw Captain America roll his eyes and Doctor Banner's lip twitch. "Do something about it!"

Loki sighed very loudly. "Very well, dear, I will." He paused, everyone waiting for his next words. "Shut up, Tony."

While Tony gawked indignantly – and amusement was coming from the bond – Barton erupted in laughter while the others smiled and chuckled. "Hear, hear!" the archer added between two breaths, and Loki arched an eyebrow at him. It took the Midgardian only a second to realise that he was agreeing, again, with Loki, and he sobered immediately. "Yeah, let's take this outside," he directed at Coulson.

"Hey, wait a sec!" his soulmate said, serious once more. "What if he's some imposter with weird voodoo and he infects you with a magical virus without us seeing, and you become strange red-skinned drones?"

Even though the hypothesis itself was preposterous, the idea that this Coulson could do something to the two Avengers while out of sight was not, and it seemed like Romanoff agreed. "We'll stay here," she said in a tone that brokered no argument.

"A clever idea, fair Widow. I will observe the magical flux surrounding you just in case."

"How reassuring," Barton grumbled.

Coulson had had a small smile on his face during the whole conversation. "Shall we get this over with? I guess we'll do it the old-fashioned way." He walked closer to Barton and leaned in towards his ear, hands cupped to hide his lips and stop the sound from spreading. Barton jerked his head back.

"Wait, wait, wait!" He pointed at Loki again – really, what was it with that mortal and pointing at him? "How good is your hearing?"

Loki smirked. It seemed like Barton had remembered quite a lot from his time under the sceptre's mind-control enchantment. "It is good."

"Yeah, that's what I thought. You go to that corner, and we go to that one."

Loki rolled his eyes but complied, and went to lean against the wall on the other side of the room.

OMG Phil is back! XD I love Coulson, so I decided to speed up his 'recovery' and use him as the S.H.I.E.L.D. liaison ;) I hope you don't mind!

Spread the Luv!

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