Chapter 4: Time Is Of The Essence
A/N: So there's the dream sequence and then a visit from Dr. Strange. Next chapter is the time jump!
Triggers: Grief, crying, mentions of death, kissing, implied sexual content, heavy kissing, touching and swearing.
Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel
Tony felt himself fall asleep as he clutched the pendant like a lifeline, arriving in his sitting room to find his lover reading an ancient looking tome that he put down the moment he sensed the inventor, pulling him gently to his side, sitting on the couch. Tony chuckled slight at his boyfriend's seemingly eagerness to have him close as he wrapped his arms around his neck, entwining their legs, placing a kiss to the sorceror's cheek, "Hey, charmer. What are you reading?" he asked, resting bis head on the others left shoulder as he looked up at him. Loki pressed at least half a dozen soft kisses to his temple and forehead before replying in a soft lilt, "An old spell book that Frigga once bestowed upon me, my love. How was today? How is our son?" He presses another firmer kiss to his lips, but pulled away, meeting his partner's dark eyes. Tony replied with a slight smile, "Pretty okay. Just the usual, fixing suits to loud music, babe. He's good. His friend Ned stopped by today. Oh, and we might have a new Avenger on our hands, my frost prince." Loki's green eyes fluttered closed for a moment at being addressed in that oh so wonderful way by his lover. He replied softly, his thumb caressing his left cheek gently while the other arm was wrapped tightly around the other as he replied, lips pursing slightly, "I am glad to hear that you have some normality to ground you, dearest. Oh? And who might that be?" It turned into a smile after the trail of kisses Tony casually bestowed upon hie jaw before speaking, "Some guy called Wade Wilson. I'm interested to see where it goes. But now when I'm in your presence, I'd rather think of better things than work~" he smirked a bit. Loki chuckled, smirking at his iron warrior, "Better things? And pray tell, what would those be, my dear?" he arched am eyebrow as he asked coyly. Tony rolled his eyes fondly at the god of mischief, "Just kiss me, please." he asked in a pleading tone. Loki asked in a silky drawl next to his lover's ear, "Is that all your would have me do to you, my iron warrior?~" The superhero shivered at his tone but replied smoothly, "You know that's not all that I want, babe~" The god stopped stroking his cheek to tilt his chin upwards, sweeping his lips across the other's before kissing him deeply, spotting the bruise that Tony's neck was sporting, smug that he had been the one that put it there. The shorter man kissed back deeply, fingers sliding into the long black waves with ease. Loki parted the kiss, eliciting a whine from the other. He whisprred in the silken voice he'd previously used, "Come beloved, shall we retire to our chamber?~" The shorter man hummed happily at the sultry words, but kissed his lips deeply, pulling away before the Asgadrdian could kiss back to teasingly whisper, "Yes. Carry me again, my smooth seductive sorcerer?~" Loki shivered at being addressed so wondrously, "My, you certainly know how to use words to make me feel sensuous, don't you, darling?~" he purred as he hoisted Tony into his arms gently, carrying him up the stairs to their bedroom where Loki kept his word by lovingly worshipping the body of the man he adored, laying by his side and simply holding him closely afterwards Anthony kissed him gently before whispering, "I missed that... I love you and I'll see you tomorrow, right handsome?" He nodded, replying softly, "As have I, my love. Indeed you will. I look forward to it. Goodnight Anthony." The superhero kissed directly beside his lips before murmuring, "I love you too, charmer and see you tomorrow." He felt himself waking slowly. He stretched, showered and dressed into blue jeans, a Black Sabbath shirt and black leather slip on shoes, pairing with a supple elegant black leather jacket that thankfully looked enough like a suit jacket to pass, a simple watch and his usual sunglasses, hanging them off the neckline of his shirt, pendant safely tucked inside hus shirt too. He knocked on Peter's door which opened soon. "Morning dad." he sleepily greeted, already dressed too; grey jeans, a dark hooodie and converse style lace up shoes.
Tony nodded towards him in greeting as he silently wondered if he should trim his goatee yet or wait until tomorrow, "Hey kid. We're in need of some groceries and yeah, someone could do it for us, but I think it's time we gut out of the house, don't you?" Peter smiled warmly at him, "I'd like that, dad. Do we have a list?" The older tech genius shook his head, "Nope. I was about to make one if there's anything in particular you'd like to get?" Peter shyly asked him, shuffling his feet a little, "I was wondering if we could get some stuff to make a cherry pie? it used to be my favourite thing in the world for my aunt to make..." Tony got out his phone and asked, "Sure, what do we need for it?" Peter smiled, starting to list off the ingredients for the sweet red fruit-filled dessert. A pang of sadness waved itself over Tony - the sweetest of red foods were Loki's favorite, he'd have loved this. He felt his throat constrict with an incoming flow of tears and gently told Peter, "Of course. I'll be right back." his words were slightly shaky. Peter wasn't exactly stupid do he didn't let the other be alone, instead; he hugged him close, speaking softly, "It's okay dad, it's okay. I...I m-miss him a l-lot too..." his words were now also shaky with tears. Tony swiped at his eyes and sighed, patting Peter's shoulder gently, "Come on, son. Let's go clean up before we go." He got a warm clean cloth for their to wipe the redness and puffiness away. "There. Hey, do you like ice-cream?" he asked the twenty-one year old. Peter grinned, "Cherry, rocky road or mint chocolate are the best. Hazelnut is kinda nice too." Tony chuckled slightly, playfully pushing the young adult's shoulder, "You're just saying hazelnut is nice because you know it's what got me back on dairy." he fondly teased. Peter laughed softly but blushed a bit, "Um, actually no, sorry. It's MJ's favourite ice-cream. She usually has it with strawberry or vanilla." Tony smirked a bit and asked, "So, while I'm writing the list – tell me about this girl, Peter. She seems nice." he started tapping away on his phone, adding essentials like bread, coffee beans, milk, sugar, eggs and jam. Peter proceeded to blush more as he softly spoke, "Um well, she's in my class. We have math and science together, actually." Tony smirked a bit, asking his son playfully, "Science, huh? Any chemistry between you two?" Peter hid is face in his hands and mumbled, "Dad!" exasperatedly, laughing at the fact Tony Stark had just kind of made a dad joke. The twenty-one year old, who would most likely always been the awkard teenager that he'd first met to Tony, replied shyly, "But it's fine, she doesn't like me anyways, so we're just friends." Tony patted his shoulder gently, "If it's any consolation, kid – I thought I would always marry my best female friend, but that didn't exactly go as planned." he ran a hand through his hair absentmindedly. Peter smiled, "That's because you realised you weren't straight and fell in love with the last person you imagined yourself with." he chuckled softly. The billionare rolled his eyes fondly at him, putting a hand over the arc reactor in his chest and saying, "Peter Benjamin Parker-Stark, I swear if you end up falling for some villain…" Peter shot him a boyish grin before grabbing his coat, talking over his shoulder, "Then I'll be attracted to bad boys like my dad." Tony laughed softly, muttering to himself, "Plaful little shit." He got out his keys and drove the Audi R8 before getting in and making sure that the young adult had his seatbelt on. They got what the needed at the nearest grocery stores, Vintage Grocers and Target, before heading back home. Peter was helping Tony put the groceries where they needed to go when a portal opened in their living room, the inventor knowing know not to put himself through the torment of thinking it could be Loki, so he just greeted, "Hey, Strange." he replied without turning around. Stephen smiled softly, "Good, you're slowly letting go. It's better for you, Stark. Sorry about dropping in like this, but it's part of the favour, every so often I have to check in on you." he explained with a sigh. Tony arched an eyebrow at him with a cynical laugh, "Strange, I'm not exactly a bereft widower, I'm fine. Trust me." The doctor looked at him, trying to analyse his words and smirked a bit, "The necklace works flawlessly, doesn't it? That's why you're fine." Tony chuckled, running a hand through his hair, "Don't expose me or anything, Strange. To the world, I seem like I'm coping well." The sorcerer snorted and opened a portal again, "Goodbye, Stark. I'll keep checking in on you. It was a promise I made to a man both friend and tutor." he slipped through the portal soon afterwards, causing Tony to sigh and go to the kitchen where Peter was busy at work, making the cherry pie they had gotten the ingredients for, chewing on his lip in concentration at the recipe he'd found on his phone from a couple years ago that Aunt May had luckily had him take down for future reference.
After asking JARVIS for a simple pasta recipe in the hopes he wouldn't burn it or mess it up too badly, Tony started cooking what would hopefully be dinner for them. Peter smiled softly at this, humming something that sounded similar to the soundtrack of Star Wars if memory served Tony correctly from their marathon of his son's favourite movie series. He followed the recipe, adding spices, the sauce he'd bought in a jar and some chicken, it was actually looking pretty okay and he was excited at the prospect of telling Loki he'd actually cooked something that night. He had texted the mysterious Wade Wilson for a meeting at Avengers tower tomorrow and was curious about what that would entail. So when after dinner, Peter said he had to work on a science project that was one of the many parts that made up the interview for MIT.
Tony said goodnight to him and answered a few business emails before going to bed himself. He clutched the necklace tightly and faded off to sleep, grinning when he spotted Loki on the couch once again, greeting happily, "Guess who actually cooked something and didn't burn it?" he flopped down on the couch beside Loki, seating himself as near as possible to the Asgardian's lap, wrapping an arm around his shoulders in lieu of his neck. Loki smiled slowly at him, putting a finger under his chin to press a chaste kiss to his lips, "I am proud that you managed not to burn something, my love. What did you cook?" he let his fingers card the short dark hair of his lover as he spoke. Tony leaned into his touch happily as he replied, "Pasta in white sauce with ham." He reached up and kissed Loki's lips happily, holding the other close to him. He pulled away from the kiss to whisper, "How is our son, beloved?" The inventor snuggled close to his boyfriend as he replied, "He's in the middle of doing a scholarship for the same college I went to. He's so smart and so ambitious, Lo. You'd be so proud of him." Loki chuckled, kissing the other's cheek gently, "I am glad that he is concentrating so diligently on his academic career but, what of his heart? Has he found someone to love, yet?" He looked into thos green eyes he couldn't see enough when the other had been alive, "Not yet, but there's this red haired girl that he's sweet on. …But I don't know if that's what he's telling me or if he's trying to cover something. Unfortunately for me, he learned from you how to hide things." he poked his shoulder playfully. Loki chuckled, smirking a bit, "Only time shall tell, if that is the case, my dear. Come now, let me carry you upstairs, hm? Perhaps I could leave another mysterious bruise~" The shiver that went down Tony's spine make his smrk grow as he picked the other up to whisper, "I shall take that as a firm yes, Anthony." He wrapped his arms and legs around the taller man, "You're teasing me, you endearing origin of mischief." The Asgardian pecked his nose, "Do not tempt me with poetic words, my love. It shall only bode unwell for you, Stark~" The use of his last name spoken so lovingly by the other made him smile but he softly asked, "Hey Lokes, can I ask something?" The green eyed man met his eyes, using magic to open the bedroom door, "Ask me anything, you alone are permitted such, my dear." Tony blushed before asking, "If…if you had lived and…and if we had ever gotten married or whatever Asgardians do to get married, who would take who's name or would we hyphenate or…?" The frost giant thought about it for a moment before replying, "I rather like the sound of your last name, you realise that would make you the regent king, do you not? What do you think?" Tony grinned widely, "I love you so much and if you hadn't been murdered, I'd have seen you with my last name, hell - maybe even Peter." Loki lay down with him on the bed, placing an array of kisses to his lover's skin, including the promised bruising kiss to his neck, higher than the last one, due to a possessive streak in Loki at the possibility of his name being Loki Stark. After saying goodnight and I love you, Tony slowly realised himself waking, so with a parting kiss to the raven's lips, he awoke. He grinned to himself and sighed happily when he felt the sting of the bruise on his neck, grinning as he got in the shower and dressed for the day.
