Chapter 4: Rosy Cheeks
While Tony and Loki were busy having their heart-to-heart downstairs in his workshop, Thor was still struggling upstairs as he conversed with Bruce and Steve. It was starting to become harder and harder for Thor to keep his word to Loki about not letting them know the true details of his time in Asgard. Loki was the silver tongue after all. Thor had the true tongue of lead.
"So, you're saying you went to Asgard… Spoke with Odin… And then he let you have Loki?" Bruce asked, somewhat skeptically.
Thor was nodding his head like a lost puppy throughout, "I… Yes." he agreed weakly, not even sure of his own story anymore.
Bruce sighed and sat back in his seat, bored with the lack of information he was getting. "Alright." he droned tiredly.
Steve had his face mushed against his hand, propped up on the arm of the couch. As much as he wanted to seem interested, all this space talk made his head hurt. He had been guiltily zoning in and out of the conversation once he got the main idea. Loki was taken, Thor got him back.
Just as Thor was able to relax, the elevator doors opened on them and in stepped Clint and Natasha. He managed to give them a small smile.
Clint raised his eyebrows. "Thor's back? Well, thanks for update. You know, we're apart of the team too."
"He's been here for not even half an hour, give us a break." Bruce defended, giving him a tired look.
Natasha crossed her arms and made her way over to the group. "Does that mean Loki's back too?" she asked, not bothering to take a seat.
"Yes." Thor said, giving them both a bit of a nod.
Clint almost sneered. "Where is the punk?"
Bruce gave a bit of a light chuckle. "Down with Tony in his workshop."
"You let those two be alone with each other?!" Clint said with a scandalized gasp.
Natasha rolled her eyes, knowing Clint was being childish and Steve shot him a glare. Thor on the other hand stared at him in confusion.
"What?" Clint said, "What are they doing down there anyways?" he asked, perching himself on one of the arm rests of the couches.
"Tony just said he needed to show him something." Steve shrugged.
"Yeah, show him something alright." Clint mumbled, although Natasha heard and gave him an elbow to the arm.
"Ow!"
"That's a warning."
xxx
Downstairs, Tony had plopped himself down on one of his rolley office chairs and Loki had made his way over to the couch.
"So, can you tell me what really happened when Thor finally was allowed back?"
Loki nodded, deciding that Tony deserved the truth after all. "I don't know too much about his entrance as I was still in captivity, but I do know my father had his words with him. He didn't need me any longer for his credit in Asgard, and knew that you Avengers had kept me under watch during your break; even though I wasn't in my cell."
Tony raised an eyebrow. "He knew we took you our vacationing?"
Loki nodded again. "Odin can see all. He keeps quite the close watch on Thor and I when he wants to."
Tony hummed in thought. "Well I guess he didn't have a problem with you getting a bit of a break yourself, before he took you into his own hands."
"Or perhaps he did, and it was to give me hope that my actual punishment wouldn't be as severe. Which we both know… it was." he said, lightly tracing his finger over his upper lip.
Tony gave him a bit of a sad smile. "They aren't very noticeable." he said, referencing to his scars.
"It's still a mark that I don't wish to have. Not having access to my magic is torturous enough, and now it is a reminder that I cannot remove."
Tony swivelled back and forth on his chair a bit. "Well, there's only one way you can hide them for now."
Loki raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "How?"
"Grow a badass stache like mine." he grinned proudly, smoothing over his goatee.
Loki gave him a smile in return, "… As appealing as that sounds." he started sarcastically. "I''d rather not."
Tony scoffed, "Why?"
"Nearly all the men of Asgard have their beards. I like to exclude myself from their animalistic ways." Loki explained, crossing his legs on the couch.
Tony inclined his head, "You know, a wise man once told me, 'Look like an animal, and soon you'll start behaving like one.'"
Loki gave a bit of a smirk. "Certainly true in Thor's case."
Tony laughed at that. "Exactly."
Loki chuckled to himself slightly for a moment until it died down a bit. "Tony, can I expect you to keep this a secret from the others?"
Tony took a moment to think it over. "Weeelll…. I guess so. Only because you called me Tony, though." he teased with a small smile.
Loki rolled his eyes at him but still gave a sincere. "Thank you."
Tony waved it off. "I wont tell, and I'm sure Bruce and Steve are just going to roll with Thor's story regardless. Clint only likes looking at you from a distance, and unless we play another round of truth or dare, I'm pretty sure Natasha's going to keep her eyes off your lips." he grinned.
Loki blushed slightly, and bit the inside of his lip trying to force it back. "We're covered then."
Tony laughed, "Loki are you blushing?"
Loki shot him a glare, "What? Of course not. Why would I be?" he defended.
Tony rolled back in his chair. "I don't know, you tell me, I mention you kissing Nat and you go all red."
Loki shook his head. "I did not kiss her, she kissed me. Against my will, I may add." he sneered. "The only reason my cheeks would betray me would be from sheer embarrassment from the fact that that woman kissed me."
Tony just laughed, "Your first kiss."
Loki crossed his arms. "I'm not going to continue conversing with you if you are going to be like this."
Tony span around in his chair once. "Oh come on." he droned, spinning back slowly to face him. "It was just a kiss."
Loki had his lips sealed and was shaking his head, eyebrows raised.
It was now Tony's turn to roll his eyes. "Fine, let's not talk about kissing."
Loki raised only one of his eyebrows now, still not giving him the privilege of his voice.
"Why don't we talk about your new getup." he said, tapping Loki's foot with his own.
Loki frowned, looking down at his clothes instinctively and back to him. "And what about it?"
"Well, you're not decked out in your armour, like you were last time you came from Asgard. You're looking pretty… casual."
Loki felt like smacking him. "Surprise, an Asgardian prisonercame back from Asgard not wearing his robes of royalty. Now, Tony I thought you were much more observant than that."
Tony nodded, ignoring his insults. "Well, I did observe that you aren't wearing your beloved horny helmet."
Loki gave him a blank stare. "Are you being serious right now Stark? You were with me when I lost it." he said, slightly hurt.
Tony just continued to smile. "Yes, and I know how fond you were of that damn thing. I'd suppose you were pretty upset, not having it."
Loki's eyes widened, wondering how Tony could be so daft. "I suppose. Yes?"
"And no one in Asgard would ever make another for you, correct?"
"Obviously."
Tony grinned. "Good. Wait here."
Loki was frowning now. He watched Tony get out of his chair with that annoying smirk on his face and disappear behind a corner. He came back carrying a rather large box with a green bow on the top. Tony was wearing that same smirk as he returned to Loki, although this time taking a seat beside him on the couch.
"Merry Christmas." he grinned, giving the box to Loki.
Loki tentatively took the box, staring at it for a moment before bringing his gaze back to Tony. "...What?"
"Christmas, it's a celebration on Earth that was a few weeks ago. We give out presents. I thought maybe you'd be back in time for it so I got you one." he said. "Better late than never?"
Loki was still rather confused. "Oh." he said quietly, somewhere inside of him thinking that was rather kind of him to do so.
"Well, open it." Tony pressed, "Come on."
Loki looked back down to the box. He pulled on one of the green ribbons and watched it unravel in his lap. He put it beside him and slowly brought his hands to the lid, taking another glance at Tony first.
"Oh my goodness, would you please just open it?" Tony said impatiently.
Loki did as he was told and removed the lid, placing that beside him as well. When he saw what was inside he nearly gasped.
"Where did you get this?" he asked immediately, his eyes wide with surprise.
"I made it." Tony smiled proudly, so far very please with Loki's reaction.
Loki stared at the inside of the box for a few more seconds before he reached in and gently removed a near perfect replica... of his horned helmet.
Tony took the box off his lap and placed it on the ground for him, watching his face as it changed from wonder to just pure excitement.
"Tony, I…." he started, "This is unbelievable." he said, his fingers sliding over the smooth surface of the shining gold.
He smirked, "Pretty amazing right?"
Loki was busy inspecting the inside of his new helmet, and then went to the horns, noticing each perfect weld of the metal. "It's nearly identical." he said quietly.
"That's what I was going for." Tony smiled.
"This must have taken quite the amount of time to recreate." he said, still inspecting it with wonder.
"Meh, a few weeks. I needed something to busy me with, since my new favourite friend to tease got taken away."
Loki's smile only brightened. Tony had never called him a friend before, and if he had it was in a teasing manner. He supposed they had become friends over the summer, and it felt nice to be trusted with that title. "Tony, I can't express my… gratitude enough for this."
Tony shook his head, he hated being thanked for things, it always got too sentimental. He didn't like talking about his feelings. "You're welcome." he said with a bit a shrug. "Now, put it on. It better fit."
Loki gave him a bit of a smile before doing what he was told. He brought his present up above his head and carefully slid it on, it fitting absolutely perfect.
Tony let out a low whistle. "Damn, I'm good."
Loki didn't even roll his eyes at him this time, he was still too in awe of his gift. "You are."
Tony raised his eyebrows, "Woah, was that a compliment from Loki?"
Loki smiled, "You deserve it, only this once. …Although any compliment right now still could not come near to how kind this is. Tony, really, thank you." he said sincerely, meeting his eyes.
Tony caught his eyes, "Again, no problem."
Loki smiled softly in return. He was about to say something, when suddenly the door behind the corner to them opened, and Loki nearly jumped out of his skin from the indicating beep. In doing so he had also successfully whacked Tony in the face with one of the horns on his new helmet when he turned his head.
Tony yelped in pain, and fell backward on the couch, his back hitting the cushions. Loki, in shock was quick to lean over to him to see if he was alright.
"Are you okay? I'm so sorry!" he apologized, silently cursing himself for being so jumpy. Once again Tony was being nothing but kind to him and he had hurt him, just like the skipping stones.
Tony looked up to him, slightly surprised to see Loki's face full of concern. "Mm yeah… fine." he mumbled.
Footsteps soon came to their location, and Clint was the first to round the corner to the couch, his eyes going wide at the scene. "What the HELL is going on down here!"
Tony stared over to Clint from under Loki, rather defenceless to any comments in this position. Loki turned his head to look at Clint, careful not to hit Tony this time and leaned back.
"I told you something was going on down here!" Clint said, pointing to Natasha.
Natasha looked from Tony and Loki then back to Clint. "I'm sure there's an explanation…?" she tried.
"There certainly is." Tony said, "Loki was just getting used to his new horns and well, whacked me in the face when he heard the door."
Loki nodded, "I was just looking to see if he was alright."
Clint raised an eyebrow. "But… I thought he lost his helmet."
"I made him a new one." Tony said, as if it were obvious.
Clint's eyebrows nearly hit the roof. "You what?!" he exclaimed. "You made him a helmet? Well isn't that just romantic."
It finally seemed to click in Loki's mind about all of Clint's accusations and he blushed, out of embarrassment. He raised his finger as to correct him, but Clint shook his head, cutting him off.
"Nope, I'm out, I'll be upstairs. You guys can debrief them yourselves." he said, briskly turning and making his way out of the room.
Natasha watched Clint walk back to the door, and turned back to Tony and Loki, feeling like she should apologize.
Tony rubbed his sore cheek and stared up at her. "What's up with him?"
Natasha shook her head. "He's always been quick to jump to conclusions."
Tony nodded, glancing over to Loki and noticing his red cheeks. He felt bad for him. Wanting to change the subject, Tony shrugged. "Um, so what's this debriefing Clint was talking about?"
Natasha nodded, a small smile breaking out on her face. "Fury said we deserve another vacation."
HELLO MY LOVELY READERS. I'VE JUST RECOVERED FROM THE NEW IRON MAN 3 "EXTENDED LOOK" TRAILER. Marvel got us good, with RDJ's literal 'look' although, I can't say I could complain. I'm really liking the chinstrap on him. Anyone else? Yes?
Well, I hope you guys like the chapter! and please review! Reviewers will get a whack to the head from Loki! Well, probably not. You'll probably just get a nice reply from me, to express my thanks. But that's just as good, right? Alright thanks guys, I hope you all have a wonderful day! :)
