Chapter 7: Ready

Loki quickly turned the corner away from the elevator, walking at a brisk pace. With his head down, arms crossed, and eyebrows furrowed, he was the perfect example of someone absolutely disturbed. He had good reasoning for it though, simply that he was. He was disturbed that Tony would bring him to get Pepper only to watch them be affectionate in front of him. He was disturbed that Pepper screamed at him and insisted that he was dangerous even after Tony told her he wasn't. And he was disturbed that Tony had just kicked him out of the elevator.

He was being sensitive.

And he hated it.

After a few good moments of him walking with his head down, he realized he didn't quite know where he was going. He didn't even know where to go. He never really had free roam of this floor, or any floor to be honest. He was always being ushered along, or following Tony.

Tony.

He sighed and kept on with his walking. It would be ridiculous to say he was jealous. Well, ridiculous in the sense that it was because he was upstairs with Pepper. He was just jealous that Tony wasn't with him. With another dramatic sigh he realized how childish he was being and stopped walking. His blind route had apparently taken him to the living room.

He looked around, noting that no one was in sight and sat down on one of the couches. He looked across to the couch opposite him realizing he was finally alone. He could remember back to the summer, when all he wanted was to be alone. He begged for the solitude of a quiet few moments. But now? It was different. As much as he tried to make himself believe that his 'punishment' hadn't done anything to him mentally, it was times like these where he realized he just couldn't trick himself anymore.

He'd changed.

He was jumpy, craved attention, and just didn't know what to do with himself without the direction of others.

He hated it.

His eyes started to glaze over as his mind wandered into the memories and moments of the past. He sat there, for a little over a while, thinking over the past, the summer, and the present. Wondering just where Tony was. He said he'd be down right after he got Pepper settled, he didn't… forget about him, did he?

Just as he began to grow a little worried over the fact that that had happened, off to his right, a door opened and sounds of someone panting flooded through the room.

"Is that the last trip?" came what sounded like a very out of breath Clint.

Loki'd be lying to say he wasn't a little disappointed.

Steve placed his hands on his hips as he rounded the corner, "Yeah, I think we got it all."

Loki turned behind him on the couch only to see Clint and Steve standing beside each other with their luggage at their feet. Clint was red in the face, veins popping out on his arms, and Steve looked absolutely fine.

Natasha came through the door not a second later, also looking like she'd just gone for a nice walk on the beach. She looked at Clint and raised a brow to his out of breath appearance. "You okay?" she said with a little smirk.

Clint frowned, "I'm fine." he dismissed, "What the hell do you have in here anyways? Weights?"

Natasha gave a little shrug. "Just because it's a vacation doesn't mean I can stop working out."

Clint's eyes widened, "Wait, these actually are weights!?"

She just chuckled lightly and gave his arm a pat as she walked past him and more into the living room.

Loki turned back around in his seat, sitting forward again as if he hadn't been eavesdropping.

"Oh, hey Loki." Steve said with a smile, only noticing him now. "Didn't see you there."

Loki gave a bit of a nod to at least show he'd heard him, still a little put off by the fact that it wasn't Tony and the possibility of being forgotten was still plausible.

Clint came around and leaned on one of the chairs, stretching out his back. "You down here alone? Where's your boyfriend?"

Loki gave him an amused smile and raised an eyebrow, knowing if Clint heard his disappointed tone, the teasing would only continue. "Upstairs with his girlfriend."

"Oh Pepper's here?" Steve asked, coming to sit on the edge of Loki's couch.

He nodded, "We just got back from retrieving her from the airport."

Natasha piped in at that point. "Oh, I didn't know she was coming back today."

Loki smirked, "Neither did Tony."

Natasha let out a little bit of a laugh, walking over to where Clint was. "Of course he didn't. It's Tony. He can barely tie his own shoes without Pepper, let alone remember anything."

Loki quirked a brow, finding that rather strange. Before now, he barely knew who the woman was, and learning that she was a key detail in Tony's life was… interesting. "Really?" he asked, feigning nonchalance.

Natasha nodded, "Yeah. I'm surprised she's been able to stick with him for this long. I worked for him for a few days and was barely able to keep my sanity. I don't know how she's done it for eleven years."

Eleven years? That was much longer than he expected. Eleven years and after spending two months with Tony he'd barely heard a thing about her, "Interesting…" he hummed, seeming skeptical of it all.

"Then again, they've only been together for a much shorter time."

Ah, that made more sense. Loki nodded, thankful for the information.

Steve turned his head to Loki and gave him a bit of a smile, "So, do you have anything to bring for the trip tomorrow?" he asked him, "We were just about to load up."

"Tony was preparing a suitcase for myself with a few of his shirts." he replied, "Although we didn't get very far before we had to go pick up Pepper."

"Only shirts?" he asked, "Wouldn't some other things be nice to have?"

Loki gave him a flat look. "It would be ideal."

Steve winced a bit from his tone. "Maybe we could get another bag from Shield for you to use." he suggested. "Or you could borrow some stuff from, Thor maybe?" he tried with a helpful shrug.

Loki grimaced from the thought. The bag that he'd used prior from Shield was filled with cheap clothes, and he couldn't imagine the type of pants they'd be giving him. Yet borrowing from Thor would mean talking to him. Then again, he'd at least have pants that would fit. "Hm, I'm not so sure."

Steve seemed to catch the vibe he was giving off and had an idea. "And well, if you don't want to borrow from Thor, I have a few things I could probably spare. …Why don't you go get your bag, and bring it down here. I'll see what I can give you."

Loki was surprised at the offer, but managed a grin over the suggestion. Avoiding Thor was always a thing to smile over. "Thank you." he replied, truthfully for once.

Steve smiled back, seeing as if he'd only done the right thing, and continued to do so as he watched Loki leave for the elevator.

Once he left, Clint frowned and faced Steve. "...Seriously, you're going to let him wear your clothes?"

Steve just looked to him unimpressed.


Loki made his way into the elevator and hit the number for Tony's floor. He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that Tony hadn't come down as promised. How long could taking Pepper to bed be? He honestly didn't care that he was spending time with her, he just didn't like how he told him he'd be down in a few moments and …. lied. Ironic, really.

Once the elevator opened, he made his short way down the hallway and to Tony's door. Seeing as though it was closed, he knocked twice.

On the other side of the door, Tony and Pepper were laying together in bed. The lights were off, and Pepper was snuggled into his side. She still had her headache, but once learning he'd be gone for the remaining of the winter, she wanted to spend as much time with him as possible.

And he certainly agreed.

When they heard the knock, Pepper groaned and snuggled deeper into Tony's chest. Apparently the shirt he was wearing was too dark and she missed having her nightlight around, so it was only plausible for her to remove his shirt. Not like he was complaining.

As much as Tony wanted to pretend he didn't hear the knock and stay comfortable in bed, his curiosity got the better of him. "Come in!" he called, making Pepper's eyes shoot open.

"Tony!" she hissed, leaning up to glare at him.

He frowned, realizing that probably wasn't the smartest thing. "Ah wait, don't come in! One second." he corrected and got out of the bed to open the door himself.

Once he saw who was behind it, the guilt hit him like a brick wall.

"Loki! Ah… Oh, man… I was supposed to meet you downstairs, wasn't I?" he said, bringing his hand up to rub at his forehead and then run through his already messy hair.

Loki looked unfazed, although the confirmation that he did in fact forget him made him more than disappointed. Putting two and two together, seeing Tony without his shirt on and knowing Pepper was in the room made him feel all the more uncomfortable. "I need my suitcase."

Tony frowned, confused as to why he received such a short answer. "…Uh, okay." he said, glancing behind him and seeing the two bags on the ground by the bed. "Come in for a sec."

"Tony!" Pepper called again, now sitting up against the headrest.

"What?" he called back, "It's not like we were doing anything." he mumbled, waving Loki into the bedroom as he turned on the lights.

Pepper huffed and pulled the blankets over her head,

Loki followed him and raised an eyebrow. Seeing a shirtless Tony with his hair all mused, and Pepper hiding herself under the covers? It was certainly hard to believe that they weren't doing anything.

Tony got his bag, zipped it up for him, and handed it over, giving him a bit of sad smile. "I put some more shirts in there for you."

Loki nodded, taking the bag. "The Captain has offered to share some things as well."

Tony smiled, "Good ol' Steve. At least his pants will fit." he said with a little chuckle.

Loki managed a bit of a smile and made his way over to the door. Tony ended up following him, and stopped once they were in the hallway.

"Loki," he began, catching his attention. "I am sorry about not coming down. I just, had to tell Pepper about the trip, and we wouldn't be seeing each other and then she…"

Loki shook his head. "You don't have to excuse yourself. She is your girlfriend." he stated.

Tony gave him a bit of an odd look. "…She is."

Loki nodded once again, pausing for a moment. "I shall see you tomorrow then, if you can… manage your way out of bed." he added with a roll of his eyes. With that, he turned on his heel and went to the elevator, taking his suitcase with him.

Tony smirked a bit to himself, shaking his head. "Later Loks."

He watched him descend down the hallway before going back into the room to Pepper, seeing her looking rather unimpressed.

He rolled his eyes and turned off the light, climbing back into bed with her. "What?"

Pepper closed her eyes, and reluctantly pulled an arm around him. "Nothing."

Tony frowned, "Come on, what?" he pressed, wrapping his own arm around her now.

Pepper shook her head, and let out a sigh, "You let him into our room."

"And?" Tony said, raising a brow. "Like I said, we weren't doing anything." he said, clearly not understanding her reasoning. "Unless, you count a little bit of kissing…" he teased, leaning down to gently bring his lips to hers.

Pepper rolled her eyes, but kissed him back, pulling back after a short moment. "It's not about that. It's just that… this is our room. It's personal."

Tony raised a brow. "So should I tell him he's not allowed in anymore? Like a child in their parents room?" he smirked.

Pepper paused, and then began nodding. "That's exactly it."

Tony frowned, "What, seriously? I was joking."

Pepper shook her head. "I'm not. He basically is a child. He follows you around looking like a lost one."

"That's because he is lost." Tony countered, "Just because you're lost doesn't mean you're a child."

Pepper chuckled softly to herself. "Okay Tony."

Tony nodded, "Yeah… that's right." he said, snuggling down a bit closer to her. He felt like he'd won the 'argument' yet, now that was all he could think about.

Loki was exactly like a child.

A completely damaged, weirdly tall, sassy little child.

And Tony didn't particularly care.

Hey! How's everyone been? I've been thinking about this for the longest time, and I've only had the time to write bits and pieces, but I managed to get this one out FINALLY for you guys! What do you think of Tony and Loki so far? What about Pepper? Leave a comment!

Please review and tell me what you think! :)