I really enjoyed writing this chapter! YAY FOR CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT CHAPTERS ;D ehehe
Killing Loneliness
Chapter 1: Pierce Into the Flesh
The friendship had been fairly interesting in the beginning. They started by texting each other non-stop... Well... Tony texted Loki non-stop. Loki attempted to ignore the texts, which caused Tony to send even more. After filling his inbox to the point where it no longer was able to receive them, Loki sent the man a very angry text that consisted of a couple of curse words. Tony responded by saying 'I DO have the right number!' which caused the god to roll his eyes at the man.
Once Tony was certain he had the right number, he started to call it over and over. Loki thought about getting rid of the Midgardian phone to relieve himself of this burden. He decided against it, because Tony's messages and calls did make him happy. He would never admit that out loud though, especially in front of said man. Loki shivered at the thought of Tony knowing he enjoyed being pestered. Tony would never give up.
It was one of the many times Tony called the phone that Loki answered saying, "What do you want? I am busy." He snapped, trying to keep up the charade that he didn't like being called.
"That is no way to answer the phone. What if I was the bank? Or a police man?" Tony questioned through the speaker of the phone.
Loki felt his eye twitch. "As you should know, all phones now have a mechanism called 'caller ID', which informs me of who is calling me every second of every day since I have given said man my number."
Tony laughed at the response. "At least you know that much about phones."
Loki narrowed his eyes. "As I recall, you mentioned to never laugh about that incident."
"You are right. I wont laugh about it, but that doesn't mean I wont bring it up!" Tony sounded chipper.
Loki let out an annoyed groan. "If you speak of it again, I shall hang up this phone and never answer your calls again."
Tony was quite for a moment, probably debating on what to say. "Fine. I wont bring it up." He sounded defeated.
Loki gave a grin of triumph. "What do you want, Mr. Stark?" He asked.
"We need to talk more!" Tony answered.
Loki raised an eyebrow. "We are. Right now." His reply was short and stiff.
"I meant in person!" Tony replied, his voice sounded hopeful. "I am having a get together with a couple of people. You should come!"
"And who, may I ask, is invited to this event?" Loki was fairly curious.
Tony was again silent. "Only 150 people or so. Much smaller than most of my parties."
Loki could have face palmed. Most people didn't have parties with 50 people, let alone 150. "And what shall I get if I were to go?"
"You would get to talk with the most amazing person ever." Tony said, his voice rising with anticipation.
Loki felt a grin on his face, "Tom Cruise?"
"You really know how to knock my ego down, don't you?" Tony sounded hurt at such an accusation.
Loki let out a little laugh, "Someone has to keep you in check."
Tony replied quickly, "Between you and Pepper, I can never win."
"When can I meet this, 'Pepper' you speak of?" Loki asked on the phone.
"If you come to my party on Friday, I will introduce you." Tony replied. Loki could hear him pleading.
"I will try to attend your gathering, Mr. Stark. I shall see you then." Loki was actually feeling excited to go to a party for once.
A sound of joy came through Loki's phone as he took his away from his ear at the volume. "Can't wait to see you!" Then the phone went out.
Loki looked at the now ended call. "Not even a good-bye. Stark really should learn some manners." He mumbled as he placed the phone in his jacket.
Loki showed up to the party right on time. There were many people waiting already. He shuffled passed them and entered the massive doors. Quickly, he made his way through the crowd. He soon found himself standing in a secluded corner watching as the people around him spoke. He glanced through them trying to find Tony. He was unable to find the man due to the amount of bodies in the room.
He let out an annoyed huff. He would never be able to find the man through this. Making his way to the bar he asked for a glass of white wine. He stood next to the bar, knowing Tony would, at some point, make his way there. After a good 20 minutes of waiting he was starting to get annoyed. Perhaps he should not have come.
Loki decided to leave. He headed for the exit only to run into a women wearing a nice, green, silk dress. Loki steadied himself and the women before apologizing.
"I am so sorry. I did not see you there." Loki felt himself almost blush in embarrassment. How could he have not even seen the women?
She smiled at him, "It is no problem. This place is far too crowded anyways."
"Indeed it is." Loki returned her smile.
She looked at him a bit oddly before asking, "I don't believe we have met. The name is Pepper. Pepper Potts." She held out her hand.
Loki glanced at the women in surprise. "You can't possibly mean Tony's Pepper?" He asked as he shook her hand.
Pepper gave him an awkward laugh, "The one and only."
"It is a pleasure to meet you. Mr. Stark had told me about you. My name is Loki." He responded to Pepper.
Pepper gave him another odd look, "So you are the one Tony hasn't shut up about?"
Loki gave her an astonished look, "Has he now?"
Pepper giggled, "I am as surprised as you are. He doesn't make friends easily after all."
"In that way we are the same I suppose." Loki grinned at Pepper. "And what has Stark told you about myself? I have not given him much insight."
"Nothing much." She fiddled with her drink, "He said you are very mysterious and have a talented tongue, for which I don't know if he meant sexual or speaking."
Loki let out a snort in amusement, "We have yet to put our mouths together, if you were wondering."
Pepper gave a laugh, "Good to know. You would have been one of the few that haven't then."
"Anything else that he mentioned about myself?" Loki quirked an eyebrow at the lady.
"He says you ignore him a lot. And that you do a good job in keeping him under control. Tony also brought up the fact that you were quite attractive, which I would have to agree." She playfully grinned at the man.
"But not as attractive as you milady." Loki replied just as playfully.
"I thought I was the most attractive!" A voice bellowed out from behind them. They both turned to see Tony Stark himself.
"Loki! You made it!" Tony patted the god on the back, "And you seem to have already been introduced to Pepper." He motioned towards the women.
"It would appear so." Loki replied.
Pepper gave Tony an annoyed look, "Why didn't you let me meet him sooner?"
"That was not my fault." Tony pointed towards Loki, "He kept ignoring me."
Loki had a fake offended look, "Why would I do that, Mr. Stark?"
"Don't go playing innocent on me." Tony said. "And I have told you to call me Tony."
Pepper put her hands on her hips. "Tony, how much did you annoy Loki?"
"Not that much." Tony mumbled.
"You will stop with the pestering. Loki probably has a job to do." Pepper motioned to Loki who was watching the interaction.
"Fine. I wont call him every 10 minutes." Tony pouted as he said this.
Loki raised an eyebrow and turned towards Pepper, "You must teach me how you did that. It would come in handy when dealing with Mr-""Tony""-Stark." Loki gave Tony a humored grin when he interrupted him.
Pepper giggled, "It will take years of experience and practice."
"I must get started then. I am a fast learner." Loki smiled. He had never had this much fun with a conversation before. Even on Asgard, no one would keep up with his antics. To have not only Stark, but his assistant as well, joke around with him made him very happy. He never believed someone would interact with him in this way.
"I have to be off. Many people I need to speak with." Pepper took Loki's hand causing the god to jump at the sudden gesture. "It was lovely to finally meet you, Loki. I hope we talk again." She had a smile on her face as she turned and walked into the crowd, leaving Tony and Loki standing there.
"I must be going as well, Mr. Stark-" Tony groaned in annoyance, "-The party was great, but I have other things I must attend to." Loki nodded towards Tony and started to head in the direction of the doors. He was stopped when Tony grabbed his arm making him pause.
"You can't leave. I just found you." Tony whined a grin on his face.
Loki smiled at the man's antics, "Perhaps I can stay a bit longer." He mumbled out. Tony's grin widened.
"Tell me Stark, do you have any friends other then, Ms. Potts?" Loki questioned the man.
Tony bit his lip a bit, "I will answer that question if you answer one of mine."
Loki thought about the exchange before nodding his head, "Alright, I shall go through with this little deal."
"I have two other friends. Rhodey and my driver, Happy." Tony put his hands in his pockets. "There is also Obadiah who is like a father figure to me."
"You are friends with your driver?" Loki questioned.
"I have to find them somewhere." Tony remarked sarcastically.
Loki was watching Tony carefully, noticing his shift in footing when he said the last sentence. "I guess that is true."
"And your question, Mr. Stark?" Loki questioned.
Tony began to shift a bit awkwardly for once. Loki furrowed his eyebrows at the display. "What is up with you and your brother?"
Loki felt himself freeze. "How did you know I have issues with my brother?" Loki asked, no longer was his voice light. Now it was hard and cold.
"The last time we spoke, you mentioned only he had friends. I wouldn't have thought anything of it, but you sounded annoyed when he was mentioned." Tony eyed Loki, appearing to be interested.
Loki let out a sigh, "I do not have issues with my brother himself, it is mostly the people around us." Loki told Tony as he looked towards the floor.
"My brother is very dear to me, as he is to everyone around us." Loki felt his heart sink at the looks of approval only Thor would receive from Odin. "Our father always appeared to favor him, as did everyone else."
Loki paused once more. "I normally just stand in the background while Thor takes all the attention." Loki gave Tony a sad smile.
"I don't see how that is possible. You are quite amazing at gaining my attention." Tony remarked attempting to cheer Loki up.
Loki felt his smile change a bit to one of humorous. "Indeed I did." He thought about continuing with telling Tony a bit about his family. "My father... He believes strength in muscles far outweighs intellectual power." Loki took a sip of his wine he had long since forgotten about till now. "Thor, is much more into... sports than reading, whereas I would always have books at hand." Loki glanced at the man, "I do not know why I am telling you of this."
"Jocks are so boring though. Books are much more interesting." Tony nodded his head. Loki's heart started to swell with pride. No one on Asgard would agree with what Tony had said, but still Loki felt like he belonged here.
"Books are a wonderful creation." Loki agreed with him. A smile played on his lips.
They stood in silence for a moment.
"Seriously, who names their kids Loki and Thor?" Tony asked breaking the silence. Loki couldn't help himself and laughed. It started out with small little giggles until it turned into full blown laughter. Tony grinned at his ability to get Loki to laugh.
"Finally you actually laughed." Tony had a look of triumph. "I have been waiting for that."
Loki had slowly managed to get his laugh down to snickers. "I do not remember how long it has been since I laughed that much."
He glanced towards Tony, "Thank you, Anthony."
Tony motioned towards Loki, "You finally said my first name. Not exactly what I wanted but it is a start."
Loki smiled at the man he glanced at the time, "I really must be off now. I thank you for inviting me." He again, started to head for the exit.
"Wait." Tony started to say, Loki paused and turned, "Yes?"
"Let me ride back with you." Tony followed Loki to where he had stopped. "Happy can give you a lift."
"I really do not need a ride." Loki raised an eyebrow. "This is not a way for you to find out where I live, is it?"
Tony had a wide grin on his face, "You found out my plan."
Loki gave a short chuckle, "I will accept your ride then, Anthony."
"Well then, lets get going." Tony started to drag Loki towards the exit, talking non-stop along the way.
This one is longer then planed 0_o I was originally going to continue on to the drive home but that will have to wait till next chapter ;D ehehe!