A/N: Sorry for the wait everyone. I wasn't feeling too well these past few days but wanted to get something up for my lovely readers. I apologize for the shorter length of this chapter; I had more planned out but decided to stop here. I'll incorporate what was supposed to be the rest of this chapter into Chapter Six. :)

Chapter Five

Tony didn't mind the hand on his shoulder as much as he thought he should. "Yeah, I'd like to hear the truth behind the stories sometime." He gave the god a smile before continuing to pour over the data on the screen in front of him.

"You're quite good at what you do, Stark," Loki stated, taking the liberty to trail his hand down Tony's back as he removed it from his shoulder. "I think I may like working with you." He watched the genius do his thing as he took a seat atop Tony's desk, careful to not knock anything over or out of its proper place.

"I think I'll like working with you, too. It's not easy finding people that can keep up with me when I talk tech. I'm sure you have felt the same about when you talk about your magic," Tony said, his eyes never leaving the screen and his hands never leaving the keyboard.

Loki nodded slightly. "Explaining my magic to a bunch of warrior buffoons is like trying to talk to a brick wall, as you mortals put it."

"JARV, bring up file 25tvh5854 please," Tony asked as he continued to pour over the information in the files.

"Right away, Sir."

Tony paused for merely a second as he reviewed the new data on the screen before he spoke again. "By the way, I'm not oblivious to all the flirting that's been going on today. I just chose to ignore it for awhile," he said as he quickly flashed the god his trademark Stark-grin. "Why me, though? My stellar good looks? My genius mind? I'd ask if it was my money, but I don't think you would care much for wealth, seeing how you're a prince and all." Tony had returned to his work but kept glancing back at Loki every now and then to gauge his reaction.

Loki had continued to watch Stark crunch numbers until he caught his eye again, smirking at his comment. "Oh I was hoping it didn't go unnoticed," he drawled out, eyes gleaming. "I do admire your intellect and your looks, Stark. Simple as that."

Tony finally stopped what he had been doing to turn around and properly look at Loki. "You know, I think it's more than that. You and I, we can recognize things in each other; we just 'get it,'' you know? Our pasts are just so similar yet we continue to handle whatever shit life throws at us. But people like us see past whatever masks we wear- villain, playboy, whatever... To be honest Loki, when I first saw you in my living room I was like 'this is Thor's little brother?'" Tony paused, taking a quick breath. "Before you go ape-shit on me for bringing that up, he's still your brother, maybe not by blood but by bond. Anyways, when I saw you I thought to myself 'Damn, he's hot,' no lie. But enough rambling; my point is I that I guess I like you, too. Simple as that." The billionaire gave Loki a quick grin.

Loki raised an eyebrow, amused at Stark's words. "There may be a bit of truth to those words, Stark..." he said, flashing a grin of his own.

Tony turned back to his screens with a hint of a smile upon his face. "If my calculations are correct, and they always are, we should be able to create the mock energy for the cube in a few days, but we're gonna need the casing if we are going to make this thing convincing."

"I can arrange that." Loki clicked his fingers and a casing identical to the one the original Tesseract had been in materialized before him. Loki sat it down upon Tony's desk and waited.

"Magic, huh? You know Thor said magic and technology are one in the same. Any truth to that? If so, you and me are gonna have a long chat," Tony said as he picked up the case that Loki had conjured just seconds before.

"Thor wouldn't be far off in his statement about science and magic, though there are some key differences between the two. I wouldn't expect the oaf to understand though."

"Well look at that." Tony turned it over and examined it carefully. "JARVIS, scan this and tell me how close the composition is to the original."

"Right away, Sir. I shall have results within an hour."

"Thanks, J," Tony said as he placed the object back down. "Ok then, on to the energy part." Picking up his Starkphone, Tony made a few calls and ordered some things that his lab would need to complete the project. Since he was going to be making a new element again, he needed some new equipment.

Loki watched as Tony bustled about, calling numbers and ordering parts to things he could only imagine. He hopped down off of the desk and walked around Tony's lab, looking at the gadgets and gizmos that littered the place.

Tony hung up the phone and turned to look at his house guest. "So, now we wait. In the meantime, wanna see a movie? You can chose what we watch."

"First you wine me, then you dine me, and now you're inviting me to watch a movie with you? What's next, your bedroom, Stark?" he asked coyly, eyes glimmering all the while.

"I'm flattered; is that where you want to end up, in my bedroom?" Tony gave Loki a roguish grin as he continued his shut-down protocol with JARVIS.

Loki just grinned dangerously back at Stark, letting the question linger in the air. He changed the subject to that of the movie that the genius had invited him to stay and watch. "I am not familiar with your Midgardian movies, Stark, so you can choose the entertainment."

"Oh no, you're smart Rudolph; just look at the title and read the back. I'd rather have you choose for yourself." Tony got up and walked over to the elevator doors, stepping inside when they opened. "Coming?"

"Not at the current moment, no," Loki quipped, flashing a devilish smirk as he walked over to join the billionaire. He stepped in and leaned up against the back wall of the elevator, arms crossed. His smirk remained plastered on to his smooth face. "I don't want to hear any whining if I chose a bad movie, Stark."

A/N: As always, thanks for reading! Reviews are always welcome.