Did you know that I'm super sorry for making you wait so long? Because I am!


So maybe he should have had that conversation in private, Tony realized, as he approached his friends who were looking at him with varying degrees of shock, amusement and annoyance. He didn't say anything as he took a seat beside Bruce, and pretended to be interested with his phone, instead. It was useless, because they all knew that the only people who really texted him were all at that table, and were probably expecting answers. He briefly considered telling them that it was none of their business, but that was a stupid idea and he knew it. They knew everything about him, he told them everything, and they knew how to weasel information out of him if it was necessary. Especially Natasha and Clint.

"Tony," Thor spoke first, and Tony had to force himself not to cringe at his dangerous tone. "What's going on between you and my brother?"

"I'm pretty sure he smiled at you," Steve said. "Loki doesn't smile. Ever. What were you talking about?"

Tony put on an air of nonchalance. "Oh you know, a whole number of things. Nothing that really stands out. The weather, the economy, uh, classes. And stuff."

"Your heads were pretty close," Darcy said. "Totally thought you two were gonna kiss. You can't say that the eyes you were giving each other were nothing. You'd make a hot couple, FYI."

"Tell me nothing's going on between you two, and or I swear to God I will bash your head in."

"Whoa!" Tony said, sitting up straight at Thor's threat. "It's fine! Nothing's happening! We're just, uh, I dunno. He'd kill me if I said friends, but he said he'd let me try to be his friend, or whatever. I mean, does it look like the guy would ever be with me? He still glares at me every chance he's got."

"Then why agree to be your, um, acquaintance?" Bruce pointed out. "He obviously doesn't hate you as much as he wants you to believe."

"Does it matter?" Tony asked, for once not enjoying the attention directed his way. It was all negative, disbelieving, questioning, and it quite frankly annoyed him. They still obviously didn't believe he could seriously want to be Loki's friend without hitting on him twenty-four-seven, and while he'd never given them any reason to suspect otherwise, it would be nice of them to have a little faith. Plus, he knew the answer to Bruce's question, but for some reason telling all these people, all these people Loki disliked (for the most part, he had a suspicion that Loki respected Natasha and Bruce to a degree), would be a horrible invasion on the guy's privacy or trust or something. He knew that Loki agreed because he was, secretly, lonely. That he obviously craved for human connection because from what he'd heard, he probably didn't get it from many people except his mother. Not even his father was overly nice to his adopted son, Tony knew, from the interactions he'd seen at the Odinson household.

Tony knew that he had been one step away from being very much like Loki. Rich, daddy problems, too many brains to really fit in and the big difference was that Tony had decided to use his money and brains to make friends, and Loki had chosen to seclude himself and avoid people altogether.

Eventually they stopped bothering him, and Tony was eternally grateful for Bruce's ability to know when to change the subject before Tony'd had enough. He knew it wasn't over, though.


Thor won't stop staring/glaring at me. It made dinner extremely uncomfortable. Then he asked me about you right in front of my parents and now they're suddenly under the impression that we're best friends. I hate you. This is all your fault. My mother keeps asking about you and won't take "we're not even friends" for an answer. I hope you die slowly and painfully, Stark. –L

Die slowly and painfully, isn't that a little harsh? I mean, die, sure. But the slow and painful bit is unnecessary. And why don't you just tell her we're friends and be done with it? I know your mother, she can be very insistent. Tell her "Hi" from me. –T

You do realize if I tell her "Anthony Stark says hello" it would just fan the flame? So no. And we're not friends, Stark. Not even close. Also, I mean every word I say- Slowly and painfully. –L

Here's my friendship checklist: Texting, Eating meals together, seeing each other outside of school, sitting together in class, and knowing at LEAST the basics about each other. We've got that all down, don't you think? And if I call you Loki, you can call me Tony. It's not that hard. –T

We've eaten one meal together (actually, you weren't even eating, or maybe you're counting Sunday morning?), we've seen each other outside of school once, and that wasn't planned, and that is not counting when I see you while you visit Thor. We sit together in class because the teacher forces us to, and you know it. And I know the basics about plenty of people who aren't my friends. And maybe one day, if you're incredibly, incredibly lucky, you'll live to hear me call you Tony. Until then, STARK, live with it. –L

Choose one: Either you admit we're friends, or you call me Tony. Oh hey, I just remembered, why didn't you show up to study group? It was your house, surely it wasn't too far out of your way? We knocked on your door- were you not there, or did you just ignore us? It was the second week- Hill would have a fit if she found out.–T

Okay, then. We're friends. Uh, that word sounds bad just writing it. And I was at the library, if you must know, catching up on the reading you interrupted yesterday. I know you just did your homework again, which I'd already finished, and do you really think I would want to face the look and possibly questions about our conversation at lunch? No, it was easier just to leave the house until it was emptied of... you. –L

YES! SUCCESS! WOOO! FRIENDS! Ha, you caved! I knew you would. Admit it, there's got to be a small part of you that likes me. –T

I only caved because you gave me an ultimatum. And don't go announcing our "friendship" to the world, Stark, or I will kill you. And I will admit no such thing. I'm sleeping now, if you don't mind. Goodnight. –L

Sleep?! It's only seven! You cannot be tired. –T

Well, I have nothing better to do, do I? Sleep is better than boredom. –L

Tony stared at his phone for a long time, considering his next words.

What if I took you some place? I know a really good all-night cafe near my place. It's full of hipsters, but they have really good coffee. And no-one from SHIELD ever go there. What do you say? First official act of friendship? I'll buy. I can be over at yours in ten minutes. –T

Loki didn't reply for a long time. He was having an internal war, one part of him wanting to go and the other part telling him he was in idiot.

I must be insane, but okay. –L

Tony grinned triumphantly as he grabbed his coat and keys and headed out.


Loki tried his best to leave the house quietly when he saw Stark's car pull up. Technically, he didn't have a curfew, and Thor was still out with Jane so his parents had no reason to stop him, but it felt extremely foreign, leaving at the house at night to spend time with his, ugh, friend. He didn't want Odin or Frigga asking about it, which they were bound to do if they saw him sneaking around like this and-

"Loki, sweetheart, where are you off to?" Frigga's surprised voice drifted down from the kitchen and Loki had to stop himself from cursing. His mother had too good hearing for him to think he'd get away with this without questioning.

"I'm going out," he said as she appeared around the doorway.

"With a friend?" his mother asked, a sly smile curling on her lips. He groaned internally, knowing where she was going with this. "With Tony?"

Loki sighed in defeat. "Fine, yes. I'm going out with Anthony Stark. Are you happy now?"

She grinned outright at him. "You know I am, honey. Don't be out too late." With a wink (a wink!) she disappeared and left Loki glaring half-heartedly after her. He quickly snapped himself out of it and exited the house, though, not wanting to run into any other family members.

When he hopped into the passenger seat of the billionaire's car, he suddenly realized he had no idea what to say.

"Hey," Stark said, grinning at him and pulling out of Loki's driveway. "I can't believe you agreed to this."

"Neither can I," Loki drawled. "There must be something very wrong with my head today."

"Or," Tony suggested, still grinning in that way that made Loki want to smack him. "You just can't resist my good looks and charm."

Loki had to stop himself from smiling. "No, I'm pretty sure it's my head."

Stark laughed, and for a fleeting moment, Loki thought that maybe he liked the sound. He shoved those thoughts out of his head, though.

Most of the drive was spent in silence, for which they were both grateful. Neither would ever admit it, but they were both quite nervous about this simple coffee date as "friends" and worries were flying through their heads at a million miles per hour.

Loki was worrying because he had no idea how to interact with Stark in such a social setting, or what on Earth they were going to talk about. He was worrying because Frigga would probably mention this to Odin or Thor, who he really did not want to explain this to, and he was worrying because he was allowing himself to encourage Stark's idea of this friendship, even though it was a bad idea.

Tony was worrying because he desperately, desperately didn't want to screw this up, when only twenty minutes ago Loki had agreed to be his friend. He was worrying that maybe a coffee date was too date-like at such a fragile point in their relationship, and he was worrying that the conversation might lull and it would become awkward. He was worrying about what his friends would say if they knew about it.

The cafe Tony had spoken about was small, cosy, and dimly lit by yellow lights scattered across the room. It wasn't bust, with only a few people hanging around, but the sign did advertise that it was opened until twelve, so Loki figured that maybe it got busier as the night progressed. Tony showed Loki to a booth in one of the back corners that meant they were partially hidden from sight by a large pot plant. He took Loki's order (large latte, one sugar) and came back five minutes later with their drinks.

"So," Tony said, sipping his own black coffee. "What type of books do you read?"

Loki looked mildly surprised at the question. "Everything, really," he said. "Crime, murder mysteries. Fantasy is good, and you can't go wrong with science fiction. Uh, what about you? What types of things do you do your spare time?"

Tony's face lit up, and it was clear he liked talking about himself. "I make things. Robots, that sort of stuff. Invent things. I'm working on an artificial intelligence at the moment, a real one, called Jarvis. To do things for me, so I can upload him onto my computer, phone, car, everything, and he can make calls, Google things for me. He should be finished in a month or two, really, if I have the time."

Loki smiled a bit. "You really are a genius, aren't you?"

Tony grinned. "My, my, Loki, did you just compliment me?"

Loki narrowed his eyes and cursed himself internally for slipping like that. "Temporary insanity, Stark, I assure you. It won't happen again."

"Why not? There's nothing wrong with complimenting a friend. I'll give you an example: Loki, you totally make that hair work. See?"

Loki looked down at his drink, willing the slight red tinge from his cheeks. "Whatever," he mumbled, and Tony laughed. The guy leaned forward across the table and waved his hand in front of Loki's face.

"Come on, it's okay! It won't kill you to be nice once, you know."

"It could, I've never tried. I could be allergic to niceness."

"That would be tragic."

And, somehow, the conversation progressed from there. They talked for an hour, and weren't even aware of the time passing, or the fact that Loki was supposed to hate Tony, or that Loki was laughing and smiling outright by the end of it. They spoke about anything and everything- school, what they wanted to do at the end of the year, and even, very briefly, their families. Tony explained that his parents were out of town for the most part on business for the company Tony was to one day inherit, so he had free reign of his house for the most part, which was why he had chance to build things like Jarvis. Loki told Tony about how, because of his strained relationship with his family, he mainly stayed indoors and read, which was why he was so ahead in so many of his classes.

"Well then," Tony said. "We should change that."

And Loki realized he just sat and almost poured his heart out to Anthony Stark. They were sitting here, at eight o'clock at night, on their third cup of coffee having not only a civilised conversation, but a friendly one, about personal things, and he was supposed to hate this boy but he'd been smiling and laughing and showing weakness and vulnerability and Stark didn't try to use it against him.

"You okay there, Loki?"

So maybe he was making a bad decision. Maybe this would all do down the drain and he could end up more lonely and miserable than ever. No, not maybe- he was making a bad decision. He knew that, but he was making it anyway because this last hour had been the happiest he'd been since he was a kid. Loki couldn't remember the last time he'd smiled so much, and as much as he tried to deny it, it was a nice feeling, to connect with someone, someone who wasn't judging him and wasn't planning on hurting him. In fact, Stark was the opposite- he was trying to be Loki's friend. He wanted to be Loki's friend. Hell, he wanted to be Loki's boyfriend, which was a puzzle in itself, and though he didn't have any plans on acting on Stark's attraction to him, it still felt nice.

Loki him right in the eye and smiled.

"I'm fine, Tony."


Tony insisted, on Tuesday, that he give Loki a ride to school. Friends, he had told the younger boy, did things like this, and he was not going to take no for an answer. Loki groaned, hung up the phone, and got ready, and had to face the horrible ordeal of informing his mother he was getting a ride to school from Tony Stark- in front of Odin and Thor.

His mother had, predictably, been overly happy and clapped her hands together excitedly, grinning at him like she knew something Loki didn't. Thor had choked on his cereal, demanded to know why, and Loki had ignored him because he didn't want to deal with him this early in the morning. Odin had narrowed his one eye suspiciously, but had said nothing, for which Loki was grateful.

His father was probably just worried that Howard Stark was his business rival.

When Loki got out of Tony's car at school, he did his best to avoid the gazes of, well, everyone. A group of cheerleaders nearby that Natasha was talking to were staring at Loki with a mixture of disgust and jealousy. He would be amused if he didn't absolutely despise the fact that he was getting all this attention. Tony came up to walk beside him as they walked into the school building.

"I should kill you," Loki hissed, trying his best to look unaffected by the stares. He had only just started feeling comfortable in the billionaire's presence, and it was a change to go from nobody to "Oh my god is that like Tony Stark's boyfriend or whatever or maybe they're secretly long-lost related does anyone know either way that guy's weird". Loki turned his worst glare at the girl who had whispered that a bit too loudly, and she went pale and turned away. Well, at least he still scared people.

"Oh, they'll get over it," Tony said, completely at ease. He shot Loki a grin.

"You do realize most of the school are under the impression that we're dating?" Loki's mouth curled into a grimace at the word. Tony nodded, amused.

"Yep, they would. High schoolers are notorious for gossiping, Loki. Haven't you even seen any high school movie ever?"

"Doesn't that bother you at all? Many people are still a bit, uh, narrow minded when it comes to... well..."

"Gays? Yeah I know." Tony shrugged. "But I doubt they'd be brave enough to mess with us- I mean, our dads are the most rich and powerful in town. If they have opinions, they'd be idiots to say them to our faces."

Loki sighed in exasperation as they reached Tony's locker. "We're not even together, though," he said. "Maybe I don't want people to think we're like that? Fuck, we're barely friends."

Tony opened his locker and grabbed a few books. "Yeah, well, they're all too scared to ask us outright and there's really nothing we can do to dissuade them."

"How about we stop this whole friendship thing and go back to the way things were last year?"

Tony frowned as he slammed the locker closed and they started walking again. "Geez, Loki, don't sound too hopeful."

Loki shrugged. "It was worth a try."

The billionaire's son pouted and gave Loki his best 'puppy dog eyes'. When all he got in response was a sceptically sceptical raised eyebrow, he said, "So you don't want to be my friend?"

Loki's mouth turned down at the corner. "Well, I supposed I do. You're not all that bad, really. I am just opposed to the idea of being friends with anyone, generally."

"Did you just compliment me? And don't say things like that. It's... Well, it's slightly depressing."

"Be sad about your own problems, Stark- Uh, Tony."

"Are you implying I have problems?"

The taller boy just offered him a smirk and started heading towards their first class- English. It occurred to him, as Tony caught up, that he was probably going to be questioned by their "study group" as to why they had arrived at school together. He said as much to his new friend, who laughed.

"Oh, yeah, probably. I'll, um, keep them restrained, don't worry."

Loki grimaced. "How about you make sure they don't talk to me at all? This could be avoided if Miss Hill had used her common sense and had put me in a different group."

"Yeah, but if she had, I never would have had an opportunity to talk to you."

Loki shot him a questioning look. "An opportunity? You were looking for one?"

Tony's smile froze, and dropped, before coming back again, a little forced. "Yep, I never said that."

"Oh, but you did."

"No, I didn't."

"So, you were waiting for an opportunity to talk to me? So you wanted to talk to me before the beginning of the year?"

Tony's mouth quirked down and he didn't meet Loki's eyes. "Fine. Yes. Whatever."

Loki smirked at him. "I wasn't... Aware... That you were wanting to talk to me. May I ask why?"

Tony tried to act casual, but he risked a glance at his friend and saw that, yeah, he wasn't doing succeeding. Loki just waiting patiently until they were outside the English classroom, with a few minutes to spare until class started.

"Okay, promise not to be weirded out?"

Loki raised an eyebrow. "Oh dear, what is it?"

Tony sighed. "Okay, remember last year at Thor's birthday party? I sorta stumbled across you while drunk and you helped me to the kitchen."

The taller boy frowned. "Yes?"

"I've been... Considering being your friend. Since I realized that you're not all snark and sarcasm and vicious, vicious words."

Loki leaned against the wall and watched Tony's face carefully. "Oh?"

"Yeah," Tony said. "Uh, I started paying attention to you."

The bell rang for class, and the boys stepped into the classroom to take their seats. Loki didn't say anything. His mind was trying to figure out what that even meant.

In the end, the interrogation (carried out by Natasha, Clint and Thor, with moral support from Steve and Bruce) was not nearly as bad as Loki imagined it would be. It actually wasn't as much of an interrogation than it was the three of them asking, "Are you friends now?" getting a (somewhat reluctant) affirmative from Loki, and then simply asking a series of questions such as "when did you decide this", "have you been hanging out" and "you're actually not dating?"

Loki managed to escape English class mostly unscathed, except for the discomfort he still felt from Thor's hard stares and the outright glares he got from Barton. After they'd finished questioning him, his unfortunate study group had for the most part ignored him, only attempting a few times to politely engage him in conversation, and even Tony had let him do his work in peace.

It was almost pleasant.

Almost.


Loki drifted through the rest of the day without incident, managing to ignore the stares and brush of the questions he gets from his peers, who had probably never even considered talking to him until they saw that he was in Tony Stark's good books. Even a few girls came up to him, smiled in what Loki assumed was an attempt to be sexy, but of course instead of responding to their advances, the Odinson simply informed them that they looked like they had gas. It was amusing to see their faces.

"You could be nice," came a voice behind Loki after he rejected a girl who had once spread a rumour about him in middle school. "Girls can take rejections pretty harshly."

Loki turned to face Tony, who was leaning against the Odinson's locker, and shrugged. "I'm not about to be nice to these girls, Tony. They're all, well, bitches."

The billionaire smirked. "The word bitches sounds funny in you accent."

Loki rolled his eyes and motioned for his friend to step away from his locker. Once he'd grabbed the books he needed for his homework, he set off in the direction of the car-park.

"So, are you going to give me a ride home, or abandon me?"

Tony faked an offended look. "I would never! Besides, I have plans for us this afternoon!"

"And pray tell, what are these plans?"

"You're coming over and we're having a movie marathon. My parents are out of town, so it'll just be us and my giant TV and popcorn."

"What if I say no?"

"You won't," said Tony confidently. "I know you won't."

Loki raised an eyebrow. "And how do you know that?"

"Because I'm fantastic, and besides, you haven't been to my house since we were like, ten! You have to see how awesome my room looks these days."

"I remember," Loki said thoughtfully, remembering back to the days he used to play with Tony. "That you had Superman bed sheets."

Tony went red as they reached his car. "Yeah, well, they're better these days."

"What are they now?"

"...Batman."

Loki let out a surprised laugh, one of his rare ones that Tony secretly savoured. Several of their peers stared at him in shock at the display of humour.

"Well, that's much better," he conceded as they got into the car.


I have no idea how well this was proofread. I dunno. I'm really tired right now and couldn't be bothered checking it again.

Let me know what you think?