The next morning after washing up and checking her inbox, Snow made her way to the gym on one of the tower's many floors.
Upon entering, she smirks. Of course Tony would spare no expense. There was literally everything, there was even a ring in the middle of the room. However, only one piece of equipment caught her attention. A strike-dummy.
Back when she lived with William, he'd bought one just for her, to help her reflex and self-control.
She spent up to an hour, punching, kicking, dodging, and she was barely out of breath. Satisfied with her warm-up, Snow sat on one of the dummy's extended legs, taking a big swig of water.
Tony went to work early, and Loki wandered the halls out of boredom. Eventually, he found her. He smirks at her form. "Well, that's one way to win a fight," he says, causing her to look up. She smiles, getting to her feet as he strolled towards her.
"It's not exactly a fair one," she retorts.
"There's no point engaging in one-sided conflict," he states.
"Well, unless your volunteering, the dummy's the only opponent I can torture," she smirks, cocking a suggestive eyebrow. Loki chuckles at her offer.
"I don't think so."
"Afraid I'll beat you?" She grins teasingly.
"Darling, I find it adorable that you would even assume so."
"Then prove me wrong," she says.
There was this heated tension between them, and not the bad kind. Loki's eyes linger longer than Snow is capable of holding back a nervous, excited blush.
"Well, after you," he tilts his head towards the ring. Snow grins in excitement.
They enter, rounding one another. Loki smirks, motioning for her to come at him. She doesn't disappoint.
Snow charged at him, aiming a fist at his face. He evades it, and the second blow with ease. She twirls, attempts to elbow him. He snatches her arm, and wraps around her waist with his other tightly, pulling her into him whilst still in hold of her arm.
Snow laughs out. "This isn't how a fight goes," she draws.
"If you assume I'm holding a dagger, it is," he retorts, causing her to think back to a different time, where each stood exactly in the same position. She remembered the dagger still lying in her drawer, closest to where she could keep it.
Slowly, Loki ran his hand over her abdomen, snapping her out of all thought as his touch evaded her senses, causing her eyes to shut and head to fall back onto his shoulder. He merely brushed his lips against her exposed neck before they were rudely interrupted.
"Don't you two look cozy?" Tony grins, entering the room. Loki rolls his eyes irritably. The two pull away, Snow struggling to control her heartbeats as she headed for her water bottle as a way of hiding.
"Aren't you supposed to have left?" Loki asks, leaning on one of the ring's higher ropes.
"Hoho, you wish," Tony draws in amusement, hands in his pockets.
"Tony," Snow smirks in warning, causing him to chuckle. He then gets to the point.
"Okay, so I'm taking the rest of the day off, and we're going out," he states.
"And you just assume we're all taking a day off?" she asks expectantly. Loki smirks at her. Tony grins.
"Certainly didn't seem like you had plans," he says. Snow smirks nervously, scratching the back of her neck.
"Where are we going?" Loki asks.
"Well, I'm starving, sooo, wherever there's food," he smiles. "One hour. No detours," he says the last one pointedly.
The three separate to get dressed. You'd think Loki would have put up more of a fight, but he hadn't been out in a while, and he was in a good mood.
They head to the garage. Tony insists Loki sits at the front this time. Snow encourages it, and Loki reluctantly indulges them. He quickly regrets it however.
"Are you trying to get us killed?!" he glares at a speeding Stark in shock.
"Relax, mom. I know what I'm doing," Tony grins. Loki rolls his eyes as Snow lets out a laugh.
"You'll get used to it," she says from behind.
"Before or after he kills me?" Loki asks in sarcasm, causing them both to laugh.
"Sooo, what are we eating?" Tony pushes.
"Well, I've been craving pizza," Snow smirks.
"Ooh. Good choice. Plus, Loki's never tried it," Tony grins his way. Loki sighs.
"What is it?" he asks.
"Well, it's too complicated to explain. You'll see when we get there," Tony replies.
"That's assuring," he notes in sarcasm.
"Not with that attitude, sour bread. Do ever get tired of being sarcastic?" Tony asks.
"Do you ever get tired of being you?" Loki retorts, smirking.
"Play nice, boys," Snow smiles.
"Yes, mom," Tony grins.
Tony then pulled over next to the nearest pizza place. They fan out and head inside. Loki eyes the building with little interest, and grimaces once inside. These people really lacked class.
Loki then cringes in disgust when a small, chubby boy, licking down an ice-cream cone, his shirt smudged in melted drops, stared at him as his mother led him out. Loki stares back. Once the boy is out of sight he shakes his head, cursing his new life on earth.
Tony leads them to a booth. The waiter hands them menus, then takes their orders, having Snow and Tony decide for Loki.
A few minutes later, Happy calls Tony, something about the office. They just talk, and the problem is semi-resolved. When he hung up, Loki turned to him. "His name is Happy?" he asks weirdly, causing Snow to chuckle and Tony to smirk.
"Well, yeah," he retorts.
"And, pray tell, what does Happy do?"
"He's my bodyguard."
"Bodyguard?"
"Yeah. Like a person who protects yo-"
"I know what a bodyguard is."
"Well, I'm sorry. I can't guess what you do and don't know."
"Why do you need a bodyguard? Aren't you the all-mighty metal-man?"
"Iron Man. And when I'm not, I'm just Tony Stark, who goes to a lot of conferences and parties, where people are just dying to take a picture, and he keeps them at bay."
"He's also there in case Tony's in danger," Snow offers.
"What kind of danger?" Loki asks.
"Well, not a lot of people are fans of the great Tony Stark," she replies. Tony cocks an eyebrow at her. "Sometimes someone might try to pull something, and Happy's there to insure that that doesn't happen."
"I'm sure you understand, what with being a former prince; you probably had dozens of guards on you most of the time. Right?" Tony asks. Loki pauses in annoyance at his past, and Snow internally winces.
"Prince, Stark. Not princess. So no. Besides, I wasn't much for the crowd anyways," Loki replies.
"How so?" Tony asked. Snow already knew why.
She knew Loki.
Loki debated opening up to the Stark. But honestly, nothing seemed too difficult to accomplish these days. What would he have to lose?
"Because they're stupid," he says nonchalantly.
"All of them?" Tony smirks.
"Used their arms more than their heads. It was undermining."
"Oh. So, I'm guessing their impression of you, he who locks himself in a tower full of books, wasn't very bright," Tony states. Loki glares at him irritably, so does Snow. "I mean; I can totally relate. It's hard to find someone with a good piece of mind in these brute days," he says, causing Loki's gaze to soften, and Snow to smile.
Up until then, Loki hadn't realized that there was anything actually in common between him and the irritating, sarcastic Stark. It was strangely comforting.
The waiter then comes back with their order. They spent the rest of their time laughing at how unbelievably disgusted Loki was with the way it looked. And after a full five minutes, they convinced him to shut up and eat. But he'd put up such a big fight, he refused to show that he actually liked it, even though they already knew.
XXXXX
Three days later, things were moving smoothly. But Snow had soon informed the boys that she would be flying back to Charleston for the day. An important meeting was taking place, and she had to be there. Which also meant she'd be leaving Tony and Loki alone, something she was very wary of doing. But with a little reassuring from the Stark, and a placid reaction from Loki, who was internally reluctant about her leaving, but didn't terribly mind the Stark, she was on her way, to arrive at the night of the same day.
She left early, at ten am. From then to at least four pm, Tony and Loki had spent the day separately. It was only when sounds like a giant saw being used against metal, then a hammer banging down, did Loki storm out of the library and to the lab in extreme annoyance.
"What in the world are you doing?!" he asks the Stark, who was wearing a pair of protective goggles, standing behind a huge, saw-like mechanism, cutting through something. Tony shuts it down.
"Sorry!" he yells, taking the goggles off. He takes the piece of equipment, hefting it up and onto another table.
"What are you doing?" Loki asks, approaching him semi-curiously-semi-irritably.
"Working on a new suit," he replies.
"Another one?" Loki inquiries, pointing a look at all the other suits placed behind glass all around them. "What is wrong with you?"
"Well, excuse me for being cautious!"
"What you're being is paranoid, Stark."
"Something I can help you with, Loki?" Tony pushes irritably.
Loki ignores him and turns away, waltzing around. He stops by one of the suits and studies it. "Where on earth did you get the idea to build these?" he asks. Tony stops his tweaking, sighing as he decided to take a break, wiping his hands down with a towel. He approaches Loki.
"Well, let's see. I was in the weapons industry. Got kidnapped by terrorists who wanted me to the build them a nuke," Tony says nonchalantly. Loki widens his eyes at him. "Locked me, and a man named Yinsen, up for a month, assuming we were actually working on it, when really, we were working on a prototype for one of these bad boys," Tony explains as Loki listens intently. "I made it out, he didn't," the Stark utters in a daze. He then snaps back "So where'd you get your powers?" he asks. Loki notes the Stark was not one to talk about feelings. Neither was he. So he played along and answered his question, only to realize what the question was.
Loki looks away. "My…mother, taught me," he reluctantly says. Tony nods thoughtfully, poking at the desk's surface.
"You know, you don't talk about her much…Seemed pretty dull the day she came," Tony notes carefully, having been dying to give the stubborn Odinson a piece of his mind about that.
"Yes, well, she shouldn't have come," Loki dismisses. Tony chuckles coldly, crossing his arms at him.
"Be real for a sec. It would have killed you had she not," Tony stresses.
"Stark," Loki draws.
"No. Seriously. I mean, I know it's none of my business, but, just take a minute, and think…about what you have," he says. Loki stares at him intently. He crosses his arms as well.
"And what do I have, pray tell? Hm? I live on a planet, not my own. I'm considered a disappointment in my supposed home, which, turns out, isn't. And I'm here, with no set future, nothing to come that I am aware of. I'm just here. So, tell me, Stark, what do I have?"
He opened the door, and it all came pouring out, and he fought little against it.
Tony takes in every word, feeling all the more sorry for the person across him. But, ironically, also thought him stupid.
Tony takes a firm step towards him. "A second chance," he replies. It takes Loki a minute to acknowledge what he'd said. "What you have, is a second chance."
"A chance to do what?"
"I guess we'll find out," Tony smirks, eyeing him intently before changing the topic too abruptly. "Wait. So, magic can be taught?!" Loki rolls his eyes at him, suppressing a smirk.
He felt a huge weigh left off his shoulders. He needed this. He needed to hear it said. Though Tony did little to reassure his concerns about his future, it felt good to be listened to. And it was as though, and just for a second, Loki glimpsed a real friendship to come.
"Mortals are not meant to bear magic, Stark," Loki states.
"Well, 'bear', and 'be taught' are two different things."
"No."
"No: 'they're not', or no: 'you're being a dick and just won't teach me'?" Tony smirks.
"Call me a dick again, and I'll insure yours doesn't see tomorrow," he threatens, half amused still.
"That's an empty threat," Tony grins, walking back to a tray full of drinks.
"Sir, Facial recognition recognized," Jarvis states.
"Oh! Finally!" Tony exclaims, rushing to the computers. He'd managed to get that camera working, saw her face alas, and had Jarvis look through who she was. It took a while considering the quality of the camera. "Let's see who you are." A picture comes up (NINA DOBREV). "Gotcha!"
"Who is she?" Loki asks.
"She, is my mystery woman," he smirks. Loki cocks an eyebrow at him. Tony explains. "Few days back, Fury send me some footage of, you know, the battle," Tony dismisses, but not before the flash of guilt in Loki's eyes. "Anyways," Tony turns the footage on, showing Loki the fight scene. Loki eyes it intently.
"One of yours?" Loki asks about the suit.
"That's the thing. It's not. But it's pretty sophisticated. And, also dangerous. The court gave me grief about my kind of technology falling into the wrong hands. So, Nick insisted I find out who she is, as if it's my fault or something. But, you know, Nick's an ass," Tony states. Loki gives a look that said he agreed. "Okay, let's see," he looks through the file Jarvis pulled out. "Britany Smith. Lives in Malibu, California. Originally from Denver, Colorado. Suspect of several robberies. Hmm," Tony reads through thoroughly.
"Sooo, do you know where she is?" Loki draws.
"I'll find out eventually. She can't hide forever," he smiles. Loki smirks at the glint in the Stark's eyes. Tony feels him staring and looks. "What?" he asks.
"Just thinking how thrilled you'd be to share notes," he gestures.
"Well, assuming she's the one who built it," Tony retorts.
"Assuming," Loki smirks again.
"Okay. Haha. Very funny. But last woman I'd shared in my endeavors, left me cause it was too much," Tony states blankly. Loki eyes him sympathetically for a moment as he walks back to the tray and pours himself a drink.
"Well, your luck might look up this time," Loki tells, slapping the Stark lightly on the back. Tony chuckles lightly, pouring Loki a drink as well.
The rest of the night flows by smoothly. After whining about magic and refusing to believe it couldn't be taught, the two shared ideas, as well as a few drinks as they talked about the suits and how they could be better.
Their conversations took random turns. They discussed Britany. Tony complained about Pepper. Somehow they ended up making fun of Thor.
Alas, Snow arrived, and joined in on the fun, enthralled that the boys had bonded so well.
XXXXXXXXXX