Hello, poor fanfic readers suffering from withdrawal! I'm here with a new fix! If you want it, that will be 20 pounds of dark chocola— No, no, that would just be terrible for my diet. I guess I'll just give this chapter away for free, then XD
For those who have been here a long time, you might notice that this chapter is twice as long as usual for me. That is because I have heard your pleas, and I will not be leaving you hanging off a cliff this time around. Rejoice! (Also, I just wanted the scene over and done with so we can start in a nice and juicy place next time :P ) Does that mean Loki and Tony's suffering is over? Of course not! That would be totally OOC for me, now wouldn't it ;)
On that cheery note, enjoy!
PREVIOUSLY ON ASAF: Tony's eyes were wide and he was breathing hard, and the bond… The bond. They were touching. His shielding had shattered, and now Tony would be able to feel everything! Loki jerked his head back, away from Tony's touch, but his soulmate lurched forward and grabbed his face with both hands this time.
"No, no, sweetheart, no. It's okay. It's okay. Shhh, it's okay." Tony's thumbs reached up to the corners of his eyes, flicking away the crystals that were forming. Helheimr, no. He could not be crying. Not now. Not now, damn the Norns! Please, not now.
CHAPTER 35
One second Loki was frozen in place, Tony's gaze impossible to bear, eyes burning and blurring. The next instant his ear was touching Tony's shirt just shy of the Arc reactor, and Tony's hands had shifted from his cheeks to the back of his head and neck, holding him in place. Holding him. Trying to soothe him. Loki, the soulmate he did not want. "Why?" Loki whispered to the cotton fabric.
Tony's ears were keener than he thought. "Why what?"
"Why are you doing this?"
"Doing what? Hugging you?" Tony's chest pushed against his cheek as he breathed in deeply and vanished as he exhaled loudly. "I'm not sure, to be honest. I mean, it just happened? You were, you know… And I just… It's a natural reaction, right? Wanting to comfort someone who's hurting?"
Despite the yearning of his heart, Loki inched his head back. "Consider me comforted."
Tony's fingers gripped his head harder and pulled him back towards his chest. "Yeah, no, you can't fool me, remember? You're definitely not comforted enough. And besides, I really don't want you to see my face right now, so you stay right where you are." Loki did not move for a beat. Then he slipped his hand between them and pulled his head back, and looked up. "Aw, man!" Tony's head was turned away this time, but there was no mistaking its scarlet hue. With one finger, Loki touched the far-side of Tony's chin. It took no force at all to make him face forward.
There was so much Loki itched to do right now, and it took him all his energy to stay exactly where he was. His treacherous eyes wanted to slide down to Tony's lips, but he stubbornly kept them focused on Tony's left pupil. He could see his own face reflected in the dark depths. His fingertip was being scorched by the heat of Tony's skin, and he itched to trace the shape of his facial hair.
Tony suddenly broke eye-contact and took his hands out of Loki's hair as if he had been burned, waving his arms around like he did not know what to do with them, and Loki brought his own hand back to the ice. The abrupt break of the soul bond's strong connection made them both grimace.
"Uhm, yeah. Right. So. Talking. Yes. We need to talk. About your misunderstandings. You've got to learn how to eavesdrop better. It's useless if you don't get the right information, now isn't it?" Tony crossed his arms and sat back. Onto Loki's knees. Tony looked down, as if he just realised where he was; knees on either side of Loki's thighs, digging into the flesh a few inches shy of his hips. "You got real pointy knees, anyone ever tell you that?" Tony shuffled forward ever so slightly. Loki grit his teeth and took a deep breath through his nose – a mistake, since now Tony's scent had invaded him to the core.
"Okay. So. Numero uno. No, let's start with the second one. As I said, you're not some old violent creepy dude. You're old, sure, but also, not really. You're strong, sure, but you're not violent. Not since you're you-you, instead of mind-controlled-you. You're not creepy. I mean, you know how to creep around, yeah, but you're no creep. And hell, you're not even one hundred percent a dude. So, I was totally not talking about you when I said that, okay?" Loki had known that Tony had not been talking about him using that description the moment he denied it, but it was still a relief to hear him repeat it. "I was thinking of a Hannibal Lecter kind of guy, you know? Or not. You definitely have to watch The Silence of the Lambs with me, Clarisse."
Tony untucked one hand from the crook of his elbow and held up three fingers. "Now, concern numero trio. Or however the Italians say three. I've got a very, very good imagination. And I can imagine millions of people that would be worse to have as a soulmate than you. I mean, shit, you're a super strong, intelligent, skin-changing, magical, princely alien. No one's gonna have a better Tinder profile than you. I'd be crazy if I didn't swipe right – never mind that reference. Also, let me repeat what I swore I'd never say again. You're gorgeous. Which is really awkward to say when our faces are like less than a foot apart." Loki could not agree more. Though 'awkward' was not the word he would use. Excruciating, maybe. A foot was so far away.
"Back to concern number one. Do I think I'm being manipulated by magic?" This time, Tony paused his flood of words. "Honestly… I don't know."
"You believe— You believe I would—" Loki could not even get the words out, the pressure on his chest was too strong to let him breathe, let alone speak.
A finger poked him hard in the sternum, repeatedly, punctuating Tony's words. "Not. You. You. Idiot! And he calls himself three millennia old! God help me, one of these days I'll find a way to make you understand that I wasn't talking about you!" Tony huffed and put his hands on his hips. "If I cuff you on the head with the suit, do you think I'll manage to dislodge at least one of those cobwebs you've got up there?"
Loki snorted. "Doubtful."
"Yeah, your skull is too thick for that. I wasn't talking about your magic. I was talking about the soul magic. Fate's influence, or whatever. Like, who's to say that the whole soul shebang isn't influencing our thoughts? It's forcing us to cooperate, isn't it? With the lie-detecting, and the now almost-constant GPS locating, and the empathy and stuff. Who's to say it isn't mind-controlling us too, in a way?"
Loki frowned. "In what way?"
"I mean. Like. Like. Yeah, like the weird impressions we get? Like, I felt you were going to frown real deep before you actually did it, because I felt the urge to do it? That's influencing us subconsciously!"
"It is not. We are aware of it. And we can easily not follow those urges if we so choose."
"Well, yeah, but—"
"I also feel you are not entirely telling the truth. You are deflecting. So let me repeat myself; in what way do you believe Lady Fate is mind-controlling us?"
Tony worked his jaw, but no sound came out. "I—" He looked down. "I don't—" He scratched at his trousers. "Hey, could you maybe get rid of the ice before you literally freeze my balls off? My knees have been stuck for a while, and I might be getting frostbite."
Loki let this second attempt at deflecting pass, and looked down at his soulmate's legs. Tony's clothes were stiff and frost-covered to mid-thigh. Loki's ice magic was not currently running wild. Therefore it must have at some point activated itself without his consent once again. He hated it. Hated it! The control that, despite all the times he had used the Jötunn magic and the time he had spent in Jötunn skin, was not getting any better. Learning magic had always come naturally to him, but now… He was so utterly sick of this!
"Lokes, I was asking if you could take away the ice, not make it worse?" Tony said through gritted teeth, ice reaching his bellybutton now.
"Norns be damned!" Loki spat, lifting his hands from the growing ice island, which did not help his soulmate's situation, who was still touching his legs.
"Hey, it's all right, it's an emotional day, is all. Happens to everyone." Loki felt the growl deep in his chest, and he was utterly fine with that for once. It perfectly translated his current state of mind, after all. "Oh, hey, no need to go feral," Tony said, hands held up in surrender. A surrender that did not last long – before he knew it, Tony had put his hands back on his cheeks once more, holding his face as firmly as a mortal could. Loki's hands went up to roughly pull them away, but he stopped when he got a hold on Tony's wrists – when Tony's wince of pain echoed through the strong soul bond like a physical blow.
Tony took a deep breath and slowly let it out. He did it again, and a wave of calm hurtled through their connexion, smothering Loki's spikes of anger and anguish over this ridiculous situation – and his gruellingly unfair fate. "It-t's ok-kay," Tony said through chattering teeth. "I'm-m f-fine."
That, more than anything else, was what stopped Loki's whirlwind of thoughts. The fact that Tony, clothes frozen solid, said he was fine. That Tony believed that so wholeheartedly that the bond did not register it as a lie, even though it could not be true. His own idiotic feelings did not matter at the moment – his soulmate was in pain, and it was his fault. He gently pulled Tony's hands away from his face, straightened his back and leaned forward. He touched Tony's forehead with his own and closed his eyes. With his mind he swept over his own skin and choked out the ice magic. A hand grabbed his own and placed it over the frozen cloth that covered the Arc reactor, and with that invitation he slowly, very slowly channelled the energy through his fragile core to thaw away the freezing hold he had on his soulmate.
"Thank God," Tony whispered, his breath hot on Loki's lips. Loki stayed as still as he could manage, swaying between the safety of leaning back and the danger of pushing in closer. "I thought my gonads were goners for a second." Loki barely registered the mirth that tickled the bond. He did not share his soulmate's relief in the slightest – this reprieve was just as painful as his earlier heartache. And speaking of heartache…
Loki held his breath and leaned back, far away enough to look his soulmate squarely in the eye. He was not foolish enough to pull his hand out of Tony's where it was still held against his soulmate's chest, however. The disadvantage of their forcefully bared emotional state went both ways.
"You still have not told me about Lady Fate's supposed control over us."
Tony's upper lip curled up. "You noticed that, did you?" Loki quirked an eyebrow, unimpressed. "Well, I don't really know how to explain." A half-lie at best. "This is way out of my comfort zone." That, at least, was true. But it was not like Loki was finding any part of this conversation 'comfortable'. To the Norns with comfort.
A new approach was in order. He would lead Tony towards answers another way. "What about this morning, then."
Tony's eyes shifted to the shoreline on his left. "What are you talking about?"
Loki barely held in a scoff. He had to remain calm. Keep his emotions at bay. "Is the mortal memory so short-lived that you already cannot remember?" His tone might have been slightly too biting.
Tony's hand started to release his own, so Loki grabbed his soulmate's wrist instead. Tony looked down at it, then at Loki's eyebrow twitch. "Without caffeine my memory is shit." A swell of anger rolled out of his core, and Tony grimaced the moment he received it through the bond. "Fine. You wanna talk about this morning?" he said gruffly, his free hand waving through the air. "Okay. Okay. Fine. Let's talk. We both… masturbated. Not together of course, that would have been… Anyway, it's only natural. We're guys. It was bound to happen."
The laugh was hard to keep in. That was not how Tony had felt at all after the fact. "And that embarrasses you?"
Tony was not meeting his gaze anymore. "I— I lost hold of the shielding. In the middle of it. That was fucking embarrassing, okay. So it would be great if we didn't talk ab—"
"That is not what embarrassed you." Loki might have been more focused on himself during the act, he had still noticed that the negative feelings only came after.
"Aaarg! Fuck you!" Tony said, stabbing him in the chest with a finger. "It's your fault!" Loki squashed the surprise and pulled an indignant face instead. "It is! You didn't have to do it at the same time! You didn't have to send all your… impressions my way while you were— You know!"
Loki narrowed his eyes. Whatever Tony was hiding, it was scratching at the bond, asking him to figure out the problem. "My impressions."
"Yes, damn it! Your, you know! Sensations! Of cold and blue and all that! Because of that—" Tony's jaw clamped shut with a click, and newfound embarrassment flooded the bond.
Loki frowned. "Because of that, what? Did it hamper your efforts?" It had not seemed like it during the act, but Loki had been quite out of it himself so Norns knew what Tony had been feeling. "Did it disgust you?"
"No—" And that was the full-on truth. Loki's next breath was full of light, and he almost let go of Tony's wrist to hide it. He stomped down on the hope, trampled it with the reminder that things never went well for him.
Focus on Tony's 'complaint', Loki told himself sternly. The 'impressions' were unwelcome, in Tony's opinion. "It did not stop you from reaching completion," he said with a cocky smirk, and berated himself for it a second later – antagonising his soulmate was counterproductive.
Luckily, Tony's immediate reaction probably meant he had not noticed. "No, damn you! That's the point!" Loki's mouth dropped open. He could not help it. This had to mean— "Fuck!"
This had to mean— "Are you saying—"
"I'm not fucking saying anything! It's the whole soulmate bullshit's fault! Fate's fault! She's fucking with my mind!"
That doused any fire that had just sprung up in Loki's heart as if an army of Jötunn had let loose their magic on it. Was that what he meant with 'Lady Fate's influence on his mind'? Did he believe that everything about his opinion of Loki was forced upon him? That it was out of his hands? Did that not mean that Tony believed whole-heartedly that he could never feel anything for Loki by himself? That any lust or affection could, in Tony's opinion, only be fabricated by someone else? What could Loki even do to counter that?
He could not say Fate was not manipulating them in any way – he had felt like that before, that his life was out of his hands and his opinions were not free to be his own. Even if he told Tony that Fate was not forcing any feelings on his mind, the bond would see it as a partial lie. He himself was not sure the soul bond had not partially induced his own feelings. He had just accepted it as a potential fact, one that did not change his situation whether it was true or not. It did not matter how the feelings came to be – they were there, and they were there to stay. But Tony – he was fighting the bond with every cell of his being. And a perceived lie would just make it worse. There was nothing Loki could say.
"Sir, War Machine wishes me to inform you of an incoming intrusion in the form of Captain Rogers."
Tony tugged his arm out of Loki's slack grasp and stood up. "You've got to be kidding me." Tony did not seem to notice that frost was growing on his shoes again. He just ripped them out of the thin feet-shaped sheet of ice and grabbed his suitcase. As if Tony could not feel the rattling inside Loki's head. As if he could not feel that something had come loose. And perhaps he could not feel it. Loki was not even sure he could feel it himself. Was it even a feeling? It had to be, in some form or other. It hurt too much to be something physical, after all.
When the splashing reached his ears, Loki's eyes refocused, and he looked disinterestedly at where the sound came from. A mortal – Captain America, if he was not mistaken. Wearing what J.A.R.V.I.S. had taught him to be 'jogging apparel' from head to toe, cap included. Or from head to knee at least – Steve Rogers was running down the water-covered wall towards them. He would be there soon. Sooner than any other mortal could hope to be when running in water.
Steve seemed to have a gentle soul. Whoever his soulmate was, they were lucky. Surely, Steve would not make his soulmate feel like this. Steve would know what to say. He would know how to protect instead of hurt. Even if he did not love his soulmate romantically, he would be gentle about it.
Tony was sharp, prickly, so smart and yet so dense and clumsy with words. Was it not funny? It reminded Loki of his younger self. Before he earned the title of Silver Tongue. Stabbing at people with words in great, flashy slashes instead of jabbing them with a thin blade, in plain sight but in a place where they would only notice the pain when he was long gone. Unless the pain itself was what was required to steer the situation in the right direction, of course. But this pain he was feeling now— This pain was senseless.
Or perhaps it was not. Perhaps it was better if the truth hit him in the face sooner rather than later.
The splashing stopped. Steve removed his cap and nodded at both of them in turn. "I don't mean to interrupt but… I've been asked to check if you're doing all right."
Tony walked over to Steve, looking at him from an unusual height advantage, and crossed his arms. "Asked, huh. Hope you don't mind me asking who did the asking?"
"Phi— Deputy Director Coulson. He called me." Steve tapped the pocket of his trousers. "And Clint is waiting on the shore over there too." Steve pointed over his shoulder with his thumb.
"Well how about you tell Phil that he's interrupting a perfectly nice picnic on ice here."
Steve's eyes swept over the small frozen island. "A picnic. I can see that."
"Oh, shut up! Loki's been cooped up in the tower, you can't blame him for wanting to go out on the town. Or commune with nature. Or whatever is in fashion in Asgard these days. He's not an engineering nerd like me. He needs sunlight."
Steve held his hands up. "I don't disagree. I believe Loki should have the right to go out. Though maybe a bit more… incognito? And with a, uhm. Mobile. So that he can call if he's in trouble."
"Why? Does he look in trouble to you? Though for the record, I'm totally giving him a Stark phone."
Steve pulled a face. "Oh, no, nobody's in trouble." Steve was not the kind of person who could lie convincingly. It was written all over his body.
"That's right, nobody's in trouble." Tony stepped back and tapped his suitcase with his foot. It popped open, and folded all around him when he placed his feet in the middle. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we've got places to be and all that." His faceplate went down with a quiet whir.
It took Loki a humiliatingly long second to realise what Tony meant. Metal hands slid under his armpits from behind and lifted him up, and up, until the lake was an uncomfortable way down if he fell, even with his natural healing abilities.
They hovered there for a good ten seconds before a mechanicalized "uhm…" and faceplate-whirring cut through the sound of the city and the thrusters under Tony's boots. "Er. Yeah, so that was weird and totally stupid of me. I mean, I know you totally don't want to be picked up like a stray cat and abducted by me of all people right now? I get that. But well, we're kinda already in this situation now? Which, as I said, totally my fault. It's just, well, S.H.I.E.L.D. are arseholes and I just wanna throw their arrogance in their face, it's instinct at this point. I mean, I know you can fend for yourself and all. I just thought the problem could be solved quicker this way… Uhm… Yeah. Could you just— I know it might be weird for me to ask you a favour in this situation but. Can you maybe, like, help me out here and grab onto me in a way that gives me at least one free hand to steer? If the repulsors still work after the icing and the squashing you just gave them, that is."
It was tempting to just pull himself away and fall. Feel the air rush past. Be free for just a few moments. Then either Tony would catch him – he would see it as his soulmate duty. Or his hero duty. Or Tony would let him reach the lake, and Loki would be free for longer, submerged in the warm water and deaf to the world. He did not do any of that, however. Because despite his rambled words, only one feeling was hitting Loki in the shield he had not even noticed he had pulled up over the bond, and that feeling was worry. Worry that, Loki was certain, was entirely focused on him. And that meant that, whether Tony believed his feelings were Fate-induced or not, he still cared. He cared enough to spare him a confrontation with S.H.I.E.L.D., he cared enough to want to bring him to the safety of his tower himself, and he cared enough about how Loki felt about this situation to ask him to hold on – because Loki did not doubt Tony could find a way to grab hold of him and fly them to the tower without another word if he wanted to.
Loki curled his knees up, found Tony's boots with his feet and stood. One of Tony's arms curled over his chest and slid down to his waist. "I'm gonna pull you to one side, okay? You're tall, I can't see a thing otherwise." Loki lost his footing, but Tony's hold was strong. With his free hand, Tony took Loki's right arm and pulled it back so that Loki's elbow wound around the back of his neck. "Just hold on to make sure, yeah? This ain't the sturdiest of suits." And with that, they were off.
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God, what a fucking mess. First spilling his guts out to Rhodey like an idiot, and then letting Loki needle it all out of him – hell, he even spoke about the shower! And look at what he'd done now. Why had he grabbed Loki, huh? He could have just flown back on his own; Loki sure as hell didn't want to come with him. He didn't need to feel Loki's feelings to know that. He'd seen Loki shut down right in front of him. There was the shield on the bond, and the ice. Enough clues for even the biggest of idiots to know Loki hated being here with him right now.
Still, Tony wouldn't have thought Loki would react quite like the way he did. If, for some unfathomable reason, Loki hadn't noticed what the soul bond was doing to them, then his reaction should have been surprise and outrage at being controlled, right? And if Loki had known but not told Tony, then maybe he should have felt guilt for not saying anything; or there would have been the equivalent of 'oh shit' coming from the bond because Tony had found out and Loki wanted to have the advantage of knowing – which would be so typical. And if Loki thought Tony was crazy because he knew the soul bond didn't influence you like that, he would have laughed in his face for sure.
But no. There had just been… It was hard to describe. Like, a darkness. Like shutting down. If Tony had to name the feeling, maybe it was somewhere in the realm of desolation and some such. The shield had come up softly like a veil, but it was ironclad and impenetrable. Tony had no way of being sure what the feeling was, and no way of guessing what prompted it exactly. He just had the certainty that Loki didn't want to be near him. Just like when he'd left earlier. When Loki thought Tony… What? Hated him? That's what his questions had pointed at, right? But Tony had already told him that wasn't true… God, he really didn't get other people's feelings. Why did others always have to be so confusing?
Despite the icing trouble Loki was causing that had J.A.R.V.I.S. screeching numbers in his ear, they reached the Tower in no time – and it couldn't be early enough. Tony wanted to get away from the awkwardness ASAP. If he did that though, it would bite him back in the arse tonight. Awkwardness now, or awkwardness later? That was a no-brainer. Later it was. And to maximise his capacity to flee, he'd deposit Loki on the penthouse balcony and—
J.A.R.V.I.S.'s sensors focused on a figure sitting on the sofa, and zoomed in. Phil waved at them with a smile that was almost believable. Well, fuck. Even if he changed course for the roof, the Deputy Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. would ambush them one way or another. They could divide and conquer – as in, Tony could let Loki off here, throw him to the wolf as it were, and fly down to his workshop. But even Tony Stark wasn't that much of an arsehole. Pepper would be proud.
Tony landed as softly as he could, but the jarring drop of the last few inches didn't seem to bother Loki anyway. Loki didn't even notice they were back at the Tower, given that he was still holding onto Tony in that marble statue-like way he'd had the whole flight. Tony let the helmet retract, and cleared his throat. Loki finally looked at him then, but his eyes were eerily empty. Like he wasn't entirely there. Like his mental shield had thrown a veil over his eyes as well. Tony felt chilled to the bone – and it had nothing to do with the ice encapsulating his suit.
Loki let go of him and started to walk towards the glass door without even a glance back. Tony followed him at a quick pace once he'd released the flaps of his suit to throw off the ice around his joints, and the clunk of his boots was too loud in his ears, but there was no time to take off the suit if he didn't want to throw Loki to the deputy director of the wolves.
Tony had only managed to get down half of the steps when Phil started his father-staying-up-late-to-catch-his-wayward-daughter-sneaking-back-in act. "Nice walk, I hope?" he said, lowering his tablet like one would a newspaper in cliché movies. Tony rushed off the last step and hurried to them.
Loki had visibly startled at the voice, but his eyes were now focused on Phil's face. If Loki hadn't noticed Phil at all until the man on the rock-hard sofa spoke… That was proof right there that his soulmate was totally out of it. This lack of awareness was Tony's fault, he knew that much – when shit happened it was always his fault. And even though Loki's eyes were more focused, that weird absence hadn't gone yet either. The bond definitely didn't feel in focus. Even with the shield in place, he could tell it was all wrong. It was his fault, and he knew he was supposed to fix it, but… He had no idea how to mend a broken Jötunn. Tony just didn't know shit about how to interact with anyone organic. That was probably what people meant when they said he was a fuck-up.
"You must be tired. Why don't you take a seat?" Phil said with a smile that made shivers run down Tony's spine – and he was still in his suit, god damn it! He shouldn't be intimidated by a (seemingly) unarmed guy sitting on his goddamn sofa!
Before Tony could say anything, Loki shuffled over to the seat opposite Phil and just… dropped down onto it. Tony hadn't seen him make such an undignified movement, like, ever. It was like all the energy had just bled out of Loki. Like his strings had been cut. Tony thought of their bond, the invisible string between them, and shuddered at the thought of it snapping in two. And really, how weird was that – shouldn't he have been glad if somehow they could undo the soul bond and go each their merry way without, you know, dying? Apparently not.
Phil gave him a searing look, all pretence of pleasantness gone. Fine. He'd pretend he didn't fucking own this tower just this once. At his command J.A.R.V.I.S. folded his armour down, shards of ice flying everywhere, and he went to sit down next to Loki. Right next to Loki. That was not the plan. But shuffling away wouldn't look too good – Phil's eyes were calculating enough already.
"So. Who volunteers to tell me what exactly happened today?" He pointedly eyed them both. "No one? I'll choose, then. Tony. Care to explain?"
Tony snorted. "Who the fuck do you think you are? My dad? Cause that sure as hell isn't going to make me wanna say anything."
"Would you prefer to talk to Director Fury instead?"
"Hell no. This is not his fucking prob—"
"He thinks otherwise. I'd like to tell him his paranoia is unfounded, but I'd need to know the truth for that." Phil leaned forward, and rested his elbows on his knees. "Look, I know that your relationship trouble is not my business, but if it affects—"
"Relationship trouble? Ha! Who said anything about relationship trouble?"
Phil's unimpressed expression didn't change. Tony was about to deny Phil's very true hypothesis some more, but Loki's barely audible words squashed them high in his throat with quite a bit of force. "For there to be trouble one would need a relationship first."
What on Earth was that supposed to mean? They were fucking soulmates! That was a relationship that had slapped Tony in the face, pushed him down and held him flat on the floor – it was a relationship he hadn't wanted and couldn't get out of, but it sure as hell was a relationship. Nothing could unrelate them. Tony had never been more related to anyone – not with his lovers, or his friends, or his family, for God's sake!
"Fine," Tony spat. "Yes, I confess, we had relationship trouble. It's all resolved now." Tony grabbed Loki's hand that had been curled in at his side a fist and held it up. Which wasn't proving his point much, since he was more holding onto Loki's wrist than anything else. Loki seemed frozen in place though – without ice this time, thank fuck – and Tony luckily managed to wiggle his fingers in between Loki's now unresponsive ones. Okay, so it didn't look as convincing as Tony had hoped, but it would have to do. At least the strong thrum of the bond was nice, though it was weirdly muddled and wobbly. Shouldn't the shield have dissipated? Tony frowned, unnerved, as he looked at their interlocked fingers – or rather, his interlocked fingers and Loki's lax ones. It almost felt like they weren't touching at all.
"Oh, yes, all resolved, I can see that," Phil said with dripping sarcasm.
Tony glared at him. "Apart from the fact that it's none of your fucking business… it's none of your fucking business. Yes, there was a misunderstanding. Yes, that led to Loki taking a walk despite J.A.R.V.I.S.'s attempts to stop him. Was that wise? Maybe not. Definitely not. Not while blue, and not with Fury discreetly breathing down our necks – despite Thor telling him to fuck off, might I add. But hey, it's fucking done now. And from what I hear, the public wasn't in any way frightened by a Na'vi walking down the avenue – I hear there are groupies. Sure, it's not ideal, but it is what it is. And we're both here now, so there's no need to complain."
"Well, you are certainly right about one thing. There are definitely groupies." Phil stood up and handed him the tablet he'd been reading on earlier. It was an article on Page Six with a collage of Tony's and Loki's faces side by side – Loki's was obviously taken earlier today when Loki was surrounded by curious New Yorkers – and a heavily pixelized photo of them from afar near the rubble, holding hands. Tony Stark's otherworldly lover revealed was the title, and the article started with 'Tony Stark's blue mystery woman turns out to be a man! Is Iron Man secretly gay?'. He threw the offending tablet back to Phil.
Well, fuck. Very much fuck. The media was having a field day, Pepper was going to kill him, and he had broken Loki, and Phil was now giving him a pitying look, and he just wanted this fucking day to be fucking over. And it would be even better if tomorrow didn't come at all, because tomorrow would definitely be the worst day of his life.
Phil clapped his hands together. "Well, I think that's enough of a debrief. I've heard the first-hand accounts of James and J.A.R.V.I.S., after all." He'd talked to Rhodey? Why the fuck hadn't Rhodey given him a heads up? "I'd advise you both not to venture out unless you have to." No shit, Sherlock. "I'll remind Fury how important Miss Potts' fundraising event is for our image, so you don't have to worry about that." Oh, Tony wouldn't have minded at all if Fury vetoed the whole thing. "What would a Stark fundraiser be without a Stark present, am I right?" Phil's eyes were twinkling with mirth, the arsehole. He so knew Tony hated parading around like that nowadays. "I'm off to see the Director, then. You two, behave. I don't want any more trouble today. I advise you go bask in your very mended and not at all troubled relationship," he said with a pointed look at their clasped hands.
With a wave of his tablet and the clacking of his polished secret-agent-shoes, Phil was gone. And that could only mean one thing; Tony was alone with Loki once more. The feeling of Loki's skin against his own felt searing now, and the bond had the quality of an angry, bubbling cauldron of poison, and yet no emotions were riding along it from Loki's end.
Tony didn't know what to do. He didn't even know what to feel. Should he want to get the hell out of here and push all unpleasantness to later? Should he want to stay and shake Loki until he woke up from this weird daze and get to the bottom of what the hell was going on with their soul bond? Should he just sit there and not move and wait to see what Loki did? That one was the easy way out, wasn't it? Inaction. Just do nothing. It wasn't something Tony had much experience with – doing nothing was so boring, it drove him crazy in point three seconds – but in this case it might have its worth. At least until he managed to make another decision, at least.
He reckoned he managed to sit still for at least a full minute before his whole body started itching with the energy to do something. Anything. To just… move. Turns out inaction is anything but easy. "God, I need a drink," he muttered to himself. Which actually, wasn't such a bad idea. That's why he was a certified genius. He wiggled his fingers from out of Loki's and stood up. He didn't walk away though. He had the niggling feeling that if he just turned away long enough, Loki would disappear on him again. And he doubted that telling Loki not to move would help any. Sure, Loki didn't look in a moving mood – he'd managed to sink into the unyielding sofa, which was a mystery in and of itself, and his eyes were glassily staring ahead, so he might just sit there unmoving for the rest of the day, but… Tony didn't doubt Loki was great at acting. And if he wanted to get away from Tony without confronting him in any way, then slipping away unnoticed was the most effective solution.
Tony bent down and grabbed Loki's wrist. "You're coming with me. I'm not letting you out of my sight." At least when he tugged, Loki didn't resist and stood up to follow him. Sure, the empty puppet spiel was extremely unnerving, but it was better than Loki not moving at all. Tony dragged him over to the liquor cabinet and surveyed the damage. It looked like people had taken his 'grab a drink if you want' on the first night for a 'forever free booze stall', and quite a number of bottles were gone. "At least they left us the guest Scotch." As in, the Scotch that spells expensive as shit but doesn't taste all that amazing. The one you give to guests you'd like to see leave as soon as possible. "You'll restock the booze, won't you J.A.R.V.?"
"Sir, I'm afraid that Miss Potts has put restrictions on the frequency at which alcohol should be—"
"That wasn't a suggestion, J.A.R.V.I.S.. When Pepper decided on those settings the circumstances were very different. I'm not drinking myself under the table. Hell, I haven't drunk much at all these last few days despite thwarting an alien invasion and finding my soulmate. I'm not the one abusing the booze here."
"Indeed, Sir. You might still 'abuse the booze' tonight if I restocked now, however, and that would lead to the circumstances Miss Potts wanted to avoid."
"Sure, whatever, you can restock tomorrow. When you've seen that I'm sharing the bottle with someone who can chug it like ale, you'll see that Pepper's parameters don't apply to me at the moment."
"Sir, might I suggest something to eat with your single malt?"
"Just order something with meat for the pointy-teethed among us." Tony wasn't hungry, but he was damned if he wasn't going to make sure Loki ate something. He was pretty sure that for an Asgardian-Jötunn, Loki wasn't eating nearly enough. Especially with the whole being low on magic thing. Sure, it was a bit early for dinner, but who the hell decided what an appropriate time for dinner was anyway? And Loki wouldn't want to go to an Avengers-family dinner tonight. Which was great, because that gave Tony the perfect excuse not to go either.
The trek to the elevator was silent, Tony keeping a tight hold on Loki's wrist, and the walk to their room – yes, Tony was conceding that it wasn't his room anymore – was just as awkward. He was lucky no one but J.A.R.V.I.S. saw him pulling Loki behind him like a couple of hormonal teens. Once inside and hidden from prying eyes, Tony let go of Loki's wrist. The muteness of the bond was anything but pleasant.
He set the bottle down on the coffee table and went on the hunt for glasses. The last pair they'd used had been taken away, probably by Dum-E, and there was no telling if— ah. No, they hadn't been replaced in his tiny liquor cabinet. Heck, even his half bottle of good Scotch was gone! How many times did he have to tell Dum-E to leave the booze well enough alone? Tony plopped down on the sofa with a sigh. Drinking whiskey from the bottle. He hadn't done that in a long, long while, but today happened to be just one of those days.
Tony looked over to Loki, who was still standing where he left him, eyes unfocused on the cityscape. Jaw clenched, he stood back up and walked up close purposefully. No reaction from Loki, not even a twitch. Fine. Whatever. Tony would do the thinking and the moving for him. He walked around Loki and pushed him forward – a startled breath was the only reaction, but it was a reaction. Tony manhandled his soulmate towards the sofa and pushed him down before sitting right next to him. There. All set to share a bottle of booze.
Tony took a swig and let the amber burn its way pleasantly down his throat. He took a second swig for good measure and held the bottle out for Loki to take. "Here." No reaction, of course, so Tony elbowed him and held the bottle out once more. "Take it, drink and shut up. Not that you've been saying much at all, but I don't want to hear any protests until at least half the bottle is gone."
Seconds trickled by without any movement whatsoever – Tony wasn't even sure Loki was still breathing at this point. But before he could hit Loki in the ribs again, the whiskey was deftly plucked out of his fingers. Without giving Tony as much as a glance, Loki took a swallow, and then another, and the bottle just didn't leave his lips until there was maybe a quarter left. Tony did his best not to gape openly. The bottle came his way again and he quickly took it from the Jötunn. "Thanks for leaving me some, I guess."
Something banged at slow intervals at the door – the first of those bangs made Loki's head whip around towards it, which was the most reaction he'd showed since they arrived at the tower. Whoever said alcohol couldn't solve your problems had obviously not met any aliens. Even the bond felt a little bit more there now when Tony concentrated on it.
He went to open the door, finding Dum-E on the other side with two paper bags awkwardly draped over his arm by their flimsy handles – one of them had ripped, and the gaping bag showed off its contents to the world. Not that Tony needed to see what J.A.R.V.I.S. had chosen to know what it was. The smell was enough of a giveaway. "Fried chicken, really? Pepper would be appalled. You're supposed to keep an eye on my nutrition and all that."
"As you pointed out earlier, Sir, Miss Potts is not here, and circumstances dictated the need for greasy comfort food."
That made Tony grin wide. "Damn right, J.A.R.V.. You're the best, you know that, right?"
"Of course I am, Sir. You are the one who made me." Well if that didn't make Tony feel all warm and fuzzy inside, nothing could.
Tony closed the door softly on a beeping Dum-E – whether it was a plea to come inside or a cheerful goodbye, he didn't know – and when he turned around with the bags of food, Loki's eyes were on him. He didn't mean to freeze in place, but he sure as hell didn't know how to move with such an intense gaze boring into him. At least Loki's eyes were focused on something again. Like, really, sharply focused. That was an improvement, right? Why it was happening now was a bit of a mystery – maybe the alcohol was really like a mana potion, or more like a healing potion in this case. Or maybe it was the smell of food. Anyone would perk up at the smell of fried chicken at the end of a bad day, right?
Tony hurried over to the coffee table and emptied the bags. Better bring a hungry alien the food before said hungry alien decided to jump you to get it, yeah? Because that gaze could as well have been predatory – maybe Loki wasn't waking up from his daze so much as going back to baser, animalistic instincts, and Tony would prefer not to test out that disturbing theory. "Here. A whole bucket of drumsticks all for you. Please eat that, not me."
Loki snorted, and Tony couldn't help the smile that pulled at his lips. An honest to God reaction to something Tony said! The miracle of fried chicken strikes again! That had to be why the Japanese thought KFC was the perfect replacement for a Christmas turkey. A bucket of drumsticks was a fucking gift from God.
Loki started eating without complaint, so Tony left him at it and grabbed a small box of tenders and some fries for himself. Since Loki didn't seem to care – or know – about dips, Tony could hoard his favourites and take bites with more sauce than chicken as often as he wanted. AKA almost a whole dip packet per tender. Tony reckoned he'd better take this golden opportunity to eat as much junk food as he could stomach before he was dragged to some wholesome food hellhole, either by Captain America's food-was-better-way-back-when – he'd seen the faces Steve had been pulling at some of their food choices – or by Loki when he realised that all this high-sugar high-fat was a danger to Tony's fragile mortal body. He doubted there was any magical junk food up there in Vikingland. Not the way Thor had gone on and on about his barrels-of-mead-and-whole-roasted-pig banquets, anyway.
Loki was reaching the bottom of his bucket, and Tony hurriedly stuffed the last half tender dripping with sweet-sour sauce in his mouth. Now that they were reaching the end of their companionable silence, Tony wanted to scram before it got awkward again. Maybe get to the bathroom first, and then, despite the hour, go to bed and attempt to sleep the discomfort of the soul bond away.
He swallowed down his last bite with the lemonade that had come with the food – J.A.R.V.I.S.'s attempt to get him to hydrate, no doubt. He was sure he had sauce all over his goatee, and his fingers were sticky with it, so he started licking them clean – he wasn't going to waste any of it by wiping his hands on a paper napkin. They didn't call it finger licking good for nothing. He was working his way around his last digit when he realised there was a tension gripping his chest. Like he wasn't breathing. Except Tony was definitely breathing, so what the fu—
He glanced at Loki and stopped dead. Ah. Transference of impressions from the bond. Good. Good. Also, now Tony wasn't breathing either. Because Loki, who had obviously been about to take another bite from the drumstick that he was holding close to his mouth, had stopped moving altogether. In a lips-shining-with-grease-parted, eyes-more-black-than-red kind of way. In a Tony-looks-yummier-than-this-chicken kind of way. That was scary, right? Did people usually feel this… electrified when they were scared? Tony didn't remember the tingling of hairs standing on end feeling quite like this. He was pretty sure it was supposed to be more like the sensation of ice-cold howling wind, not like that of a soft, warm summer breeze caressing his spine—
Tony inhaled sharply and stood up, empty box of tenders flying off the sofa from his jerky movement. Yep, nope, he was not going to sit there basking in the warm and tingly because god damn it this was not what he signed up for and if Loki looked at him like that for a second longer the warm and tingly was going to set something on fire that really really shouldn't be!
Before he knew it Tony had slammed the bathroom door shut behind him and was resting his hands on the wash basin to keep himself upright, staring into his own panting and too red face. God! What was with him? He was acting like some kind of eighteenth-century swooning virgin just because Loki looked at him with… well. That had been lust, plain and simple, hadn't it? The spike of it in the bond had been clear as crystal, and it had punched him in the gut in a distinctively fucking warm and fucking tingly way.
But the worst of it was that it had surprised him so damn much – which just proved he was a humongous idiot. Sure, he hadn't thought about what the image of thoroughly licking his fingers clean would do because for once in his life, his mind had been as far away from naughty thoughts as it could be, so yeah, that would account for the surprise. But that wasn't it, really; it was more wrapping his head around the fact that Loki would immediately jump from numb to lust just by seeing Tony—
Tony should have known that it could happen, and that's what made him such an idiot. Weren't they both being manipulated by the Lady Fate to, you know, like each other that way? It wasn't like Tony was the only one affected, right? Right. Tony wasn't the only one affected. Loki was feeling the same unnatural attraction as he was! But then… Why did it feel like Loki didn't see how grave the whole Fate-magicking-them-to-like-each-other-like-that situation was? Why did Loki have a melt-down that made the bond feel like a ghost of itself, instead of reacting to Fate's influence with some kind of strong emotion like a normal person?
Talking about the bond, though. It felt much more alive right now. Still shielded on Loki's end, sure, but definitely more there. Tony didn't like the way they'd gotten to this improvement, but he supposed he should count his blessings. And maybe, before said improvement disappeared again, he should… do something. Would leaving the refuge of his bathroom make things better, or worse? That was the hundred thousand billion question, wasn't it?
Out was probably better. No matter how much he disliked it, talking things out – if you could call it that – was what had made things improve the last time Loki had freaked. But seriously, Tony needed a minute. The excuse of getting ready for bed was too perfect not to take. He didn't feel tired in the slightest, and he probably hadn't headed for bed at this hour since he was five, but hey, these were the weirdest times of his life. The universe could cut him some slack.
It couldn't have been more than ten minutes before he set foot in their room again, but the bond had started to edge towards grey once more. God, just ten minutes of silence and Loki had managed to drama-queen himself into utter stillness again, probably by coming up with some ridiculous reason why Tony hated him and whatnot. "I'm heading to bed," Tony said as he walked past the couch. He paused before entering the walk-in – that probably sounded dismissive as fuck. Learn to be more tactful, seriously. "Correction, we're heading to bed. We should just sleep this terrible day away and start over tomorrow, yeah?" No answer, of course, but the bond twanged, so Tony took that as progress. "Bathroom's all yours," he added when Loki didn't move, and he hid inside the walk-in closet. It took a minute, but the sound of the bathroom door locking finally reached him and Tony let out a loud sigh. Thank fuck that worked.
Once clad in full-on cliché as hell flannel pyjamas – he had no idea where these plaid ones had come from, but they covered him from head to toe and he kind of needed that right now – he slipped under the covers and closed his eyes just as J.A.R.V.I.S. turned off the lights. The sun wasn't entirely down, so it wasn't dark, but exhaustion had hit him like a freight train while he was changing, and he actually believed that he might be able to fall asleep real quick despite the hour. That was until Loki left the bathroom – Tony glanced at him instinctively and promptly closed his eyes again when he realised Loki was coming out in just his underwear – and ten seconds later the mattress dipped and the covers rustled as Loki lied down next to him. Without any pyjamas or anything. This was so not helping, but then the bond had gained a bit more colour, and Tony really didn't want to comment on it if it would make things worse again.
He clenched his teeth, steeled himself and shifted his hand to the middle of the bed. "Hey. Hand." Nothing. No reaction whatsoever. How mature. "Come on." Tony turned his head and looked at Loki's profile. "I know you're still having a mood, and I've got no idea why that is, by the way, like, it's probably my fault, no, it's most likely my fault because let's be honest, I annoy the shit out of people even on a good day, but come on, this is like for the health of our soul and whatnot. It's just your hand. You won't get cooties, I promise. Well, you probably won't. Who knows, I'm no xenobiologist."
Loki's next breath sounded like a barely contained sigh, though Tony liked to imagine it had an amused quality to it. Better than it being a sigh of annoyance, anyway. A finger tentatively touched the back of his hand, so there was that. It didn't matter how Loki felt about his words; they'd properly connected their bond for the night – or as connected as it was willing to get at the moment – so now at least Tony wouldn't have to wake up in the early morning because his half of the soul was crying out for contact even though Loki was right there.
Tony flipped his hand over for good measure and grabbed Loki's properly, fingers curling around the cool leathery skin and gently pressing on the pattern of ridges. Then he changed his mind and shifted his hand so that he could interlace their fingers. There. Less of a chance of Loki slipping away in the middle of the night or something. With the bond as open as it could be, he got the distinct impression of… a general sense of avoidance. One that could transform into a wish to flee in the wee hours of the morning. And since Tony had no intention of starting tomorrow any earlier than necessary, this was definitely a transference from Loki's side of the bond. Not that Tony could keep Loki here with just his measly mortal fingers, but hey, at least he was showing his intention with his acts instead of his words, right? Except, when had that ever worked for him? People always seemed to read him wrong…
"You never actually answered me, you know," Tony said before realising it didn't mean anything without context. And also, why on Earth was he bringing this sore subject up again? He was such a masochist. "Just. Uhm. About Fate and uhm. The soul bond and implanting feelings and such. Like, feelings of friendship and stuff, for instance." Smooth. And the bond was totally going to send of warnings of white lies, wasn't it? Because this so wasn't about friendship. "You're the Fate and magic expert, so. That's possible, right? I mean, mind manipulation is definitely possible if you have a magic stick, so. Why not that Lady Fate, if she can act on souls and stuff."
Loki remained silent so long Tony thought he'd be ignored. He even started hoping that was the case, because he actually didn't want to talk about this now, in the not yet dark, in their bed. So of course, Loki ended up answering him. "I do not know enough about soul magic to rule out the possibility that it does not affect the mind."
"But?"
"However, I personally do not believe it to be likely." Tony sucked in a startled breath. Loki thought his theory was bull? Did that mean that Tony was the one feeling— "Then again, I had never thought the Infinity Stones were more than a myth, and I was in possession of one, perhaps even two of them. Therefore my beliefs do not have much value in this case." The constriction in Tony's chest eased. Yes, exactly, no one could know for sure, and Tony knew himself, right? So he totally knew when something wasn't like him. "Though Tony, I have to ask; even if Fate were manipulating our feelings for each other, why does that bother you?"
"Why does that bother—" Tony rolled onto his side so he could glare at Loki's profile. "You're kidding me, right? You've gone through mind manipulation that had you invading another planet, and you're telling me you're okay with your mind being—"
Loki turned his head and glared back. "This is completely different. The Mad Titan had put parts of me under lock and key, letting me only be vengeful, reckless and irrational, and letting me think that his world view was the only thing that would make my wretched life better. Urd— Fate, is completely different." Loki looked back at the ceiling once more. "She does not have a hold of our minds. Yes, the effects of the soul bond are a way to promote unity between soulmates, and she most likely engineered them for that purpose. Perhaps there is indeed an element that makes one feel fonder towards their soulmate than they would another stranger. One could argue such a thing would indeed be done through soul magic. It nevertheless does not directly act upon the mind, of that I am certain. It would work in a similar way as when we get emotions and physical impressions transferred over the bond, or when we can detect lies; it has to come through the soul bond first. Perhaps that means there is always an underlying current flowing through the bond that makes us feel like we need our soulmate more than someone else. So that in any given situation, we would consider our soulmate first, before thinking of anyone else's well-being."
Tony was pretty sure he must look like an idiot, mouth agape and all the other cliché stuff. Because man, that totally made sense. If the bond coaxed his mind to always think of Loki, then of course he would also be led in that directing in showery situations. Or objectively checking out Loki's arse situations? No, that didn't make sense, since it was already Loki's arse he was looking at— Let's just forget about that one. Just a blip in the system. The rest of it made sense with the thought-nudging scenario.
Loki looked back at him. "So yes, perhaps soul magic steers our thoughts towards each other in a way that you do not wish. However, we are to spend the rest of our lives together. I do not mind thinking fondly of you now, instead of resenting you as I did in the beginning. If any fondness on my part does not naturally come from me, so be it. The fondness is there to stay now, and I am better off for it." God, now Tony felt all fucking warm and tingly all over again. Why did Loki have to be such an embarrassing sap just after making so much sense. Now Tony couldn't really berate him for it because damn it, the thought-nudging was making him want to be an embarrassingly fond sap too.
"I like you too," is what came out of his mouth, and fucking hell this thought-nudging was getting bad. Tony quickly turned back on his back so that he wouldn't have to look into Loki's beautiful red eyes while he got himself out of that one. "I mean, I like you, I guess, I mean, it's not like I really hated you when I found out about us being soulmates but sure, I resented the whole thing. Still do, kind of, but I also like you, and I guess that isn't so bad? I don't like the idea of being forced to like you, but. You're right, we are spending the rest of our lives together. It's a way better plan to like each other."
Though there were a lot of different levels to 'liking', and Tony very much would like to keep his thoughts in the platonic realm where they belonged. Though… No, no, he shouldn't go down that rabbit hole. Except… Even with the shielding they could do to keep each other out as much as possible, they couldn't exactly… Well, there was no way Tony could sleep around with the next best super model like he might have a few years ago. It wasn't like he wanted to do that anymore, but after a long time with just his hand as company, who knew what he'd start wanting? Right now the only woman he wanted was Pepper, but that relationship was over and done with. It wasn't like he could have his soulmate in his bed by night, and Pepper on his arm by day – she didn't deserve that. And neither did Loki.
One-night stands with strangers in the future though, that could be a whole different story, if the though-nudging left him alone. It wouldn't really work if he was eyeing a beautiful lady and all he could think of was what Loki would look like, right? And Tony was pretty sure luck – or Fate – wouldn't be with him on these one-night stands. So really, when you thought about it rationally, there were only two real options. From now on remain forever chaste, or— Or— Go at it with Loki. Embrace the soulmate thing fully. Despite the fact that Loki was more or less a guy.
Why did that matter again? Oh, hey, no! Bad thought-nudging! Bad Fate! Down, girl. Don't you dare mess with Tony's straightness! Then again, he'd turned his life upside down when he became Iron Man, surely adventuring in the bi territory couldn't be all that life-shattering as he made it to be— Uh-uh, no, he was not going down that lane without a proper amount of alcohol in him, and two swigs of whiskey wasn't nearly enough.
"Go to sleep, elskan mín." Loki sounded properly put upon. Annoyance reached him through the bond too, like an after-thought.
"What does that mean? The elsk thing."
Tony didn't need to look at Loki, or feel any transference for that matter, to know he was smirking from ear to ear. "As if I would tell you."
"You know J.A.R.V.I.S. can probably cook up some kind of translation, right?" Silence on Loki's end, and that was Tony's cue to smirk too. "J.A.R.V.?"
"Yes, Sir?" As if the AI hadn't heard him perfectly well. J.A.R.V.I.S. really was too good at pretending not the be there.
"Well, can you translate that elsk thing?"
"Indeed I can, Sir."
And then silence. "Great." Tony's smirk turned down a notch. "And? What does it mean?"
"I'm afraid I can't tell you, Sir."
"Why the hell not?"
"Because I believe Mr. Friggason should be the one telling you when he feels inclined to do so, Sir."
"Traitor!" Fucking hell, his baby was choosing Loki over his daddy again! What had he done that made the universe hate him so much.
"Tony, kærr, please. We are both exhausted." There was amusement mixed to the annoyance this time.
"Fine. We'll have a talk with a capital T about this tomorrow, J.A.R.V.!"
"I look forward to it, Sir."
"Tch." That definitely sounded like J.A.R.V.I.S. was silently laughing at him.
Tony burrowed himself deeper under the covers. Loki was right about one thing though. He was fucking exhausted. And the soft feelings coming from Loki's side were all sleepy-feeling too, so that didn't help him feel any more invigorated. What gave him a spike of energy, though, was when he realised that the bond felt normal again. Not broken or numb or empty or dark! Just your regular old soul bond. Just the way it should be. Somehow, he'd repaired the broken Jötunn! It was the warmth of that thought that finally lulled him to sleep.
See, I didn't lie. I've been a good little author and I gave you a nice, no-cliff-hanger ending, and I even added some nice fuzzy feels as a bonus. Do praise me for that XD
Also, little heads up for the next chapter – whenever that gets itself written. Maybe Christmas :P – there will be some more M-rated-ish stuff. Nothing spectacular, mind you, but a little bit can go a long way, right ;)
Spread the Luv! (And stay safe!)
LL