A/N: You guys you guys! I have had some LOVELY AND WONDERFUL reviews since posting that last chapter, and I am so so grateful and happy and I love you all! Sorry it's been so long since my last update, but I went to visit my boyfriend for a long weekend and so didn't get chance to write! So without further ado, I give you here and now, PART 2 OF 'The Talk'! Which is actually a separate talk, but it's THE The Talk. WE CAN HAVE SNARKY LOKI AND FROST IRON WORD SEX FROM NOW ON! Well, gradually…I think you'll all have realised by now I don't rush things. But they're definitely and absolutely available for future use.

I really really hope this chapter seems plausible and not too OOC, I struggled for aaages to get them to this point where they agree to work together and thus open up the doors for frostiron (a whole other kettle of writing fish, eeeep) and this ended up being the way that seemed most in line with plot/previous chapters…. I THINK it works…? At least I hope it does.

(If it IS massively weird or off the mark please do let me know. I'm still scared of it every time I read it back!).

Disclaimer: Not mine. Marvels. All Marvels. God I love Marvel. Title from song of same name by Arcade Fire.

(One more thing – it flows much better from the start if you reread the last line or so of the previous chapter. The first line of this is such a syntactical twin.)

Chapter 14. Ready to Start.

It seemed that everything else hadn't wanted to wait. In fact, to Tony's abject shock and rapidly increasing heart rate, it seemed that 'everything else' had decided to lean against the breakfast bar, long fingers wrapped delicately round a steaming mug of something, frown present and directed at the newspaper laying in the middle of the work surface. Tony didn't remember ever asking for a newspaper to be delivered; he assumed JARVIS must have taken it upon himself to order one, although he was yet to figure out how the hell it found its way to the kitchen every day. Had JARVIS suddenly become corporeal one day and just never bothered to let him know? He felt another spasm cross his head as he tried to fathom this whole ridiculous scenario out; he really shouldn't be confronted with stuff like this before coffee.

Talking of 'stuff like this', he also really didn't want to have to deal with Loki so soon, not until he'd slept off his disgusting hangover and at least given himself a chance at getting his own feelings in order. He knew he had to have a follow up to yesterdays conversation with the god, but doing it with the residual effects of over half a litre of Scotch in his system coupled with some very odd and very new and very scary feelings was a ludicrous notion, even for him. This wasn't going to be like giving a press conference whilst still technically 'under the influence', it was going to be like detonating a bomb. And he'd seen enough of that happening to last him a lifetime.

Loki raised his head at the appearance of Tony and looked for a second like he was about to say something, before ostensibly changing his mind and dropping his eyes, apparently not sure how to proceed. Tony didn't yet trust himself to make a noise that would be discernible as an actual word, so he simply shuffled further into the room, grabbing hold of the other side of the breakfast bar and attempting to settle his slightly woozy gaze on Loki. He hoped Loki wasn't going to demand much from him, because honestly, he wouldn't be surprised if he collapsed any minute now. However, Loki merely continued to stare at him and seemed content to do so, and in the end Tony couldn't wait any longer. In a voice that sounded as bad as he felt, he managed a pretty impressive frog-like croak, his throat scratching painfully at the sudden abuse.

''JARVIS, coffee. Black. Extra strong. Large. Now''. He slumped onto a stool, not caring if he was being watched or judged, he needed caffeine. That bitter, beautiful, remedial poison.

As you wish, sir.

The AI was used to Tony's morning routine. And his hangover routine. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the two weren't that different.

The beeps and whirs and hiss of the automatic coffee machine built into the units sounded like gunfire to Tony's sensitive head, but he soon smelt the rich aroma and restorative powers wafting over to where he sat, and within seconds he was nursing a bowl sized mug of his favoured medicine. Taking almost half the measure in one gulp, he felt his mind stabilize a little and his vision sharpen. After breathing in the fumes and taking another few sips, he finally felt marginally more able to confront the situation at hand, and finally drew his gaze up to meet Loki's, slightly unnerved to find the god was still staring at him.

''Morning''.

Well. You couldn't go wrong with that, could you? 'Morning' was fine. Morning was safe. Morning wasn't awkward.

Fuck, morning was awkward.

Loki blinked and glanced quickly down before reverting his eyes to Tony's face. He attempted a sort of nod, brief and stiff and unsure, or at least that's what Tony supposed it was, it could have simply been a twitch.

''M-morning. Stark''.

''Please. Tony. Too early for formalities''. Tony's head was still spinning, but much slower and with much less centripetal force. His words lacked most connectives, but they made sense and were all in the right order, so he supposed he wasn't doing too badly so far.

''Tony.''

Loki looked down once more, fingers worrying at his cup. This was strange. Seeing Loki nervous was….weird. It looked wrong. And hearing 'Tony' from his lips…that was weird too. It seemed oddly familiar and yet slightly ridiculous at the same time.

''I need to speak with you, I've been thinking over what you said – what you said last night''. The words fell from Loki in a rush; clearly he wanted to get them out before he lost his courage.

''Mmm?''

Tony was wary, this was setting itself up to be another Deep Conversation, and he had barely finished his first mug of coffee. Pushing the cup across the work surface to the machine, he hoped JARVIS would get the message; 20 seconds later a freshly brewed measure was dispensed and safely back in Tony's welcoming grasp. Loki was flushed and his eyes bright, his words seemed to be causing him great effort and embarrassment to get out.

''I must confess I am slightly…slightly confused. As to your intentions. You sounded…you sounded sorry for me. Like you wish to help me. And I…I guess…I'm surprised that's all. Surprised that you want to, after –after everything I did. I invaded your world with an alien army; I killed your people. I know you think I deserve help…but…why yours ?''

Ah, way to spring a loaded question.

Tony sighed inwardly. It was happening. Loki was going there. He really, really didn't want to do this now. This was too much. He'd only just realised himself how weird his own feelings were, and now Loki wanted him to explain them to him. Loki, the reason he felt so weird and bizarre in the first place. Loki, the one person Tony had never, ever expected to be having this kind of conversation with. He wanted to leave, he wanted to sleep, he wanted to save his answer for later, when he'd had time to come up with one. But even through his pained haze he could see it had taken a lot for Loki to come down here and say that and maybe this was finally the start of something and maybe this was what they both needed and maybe he could work it out as he went along and oh for fucks sake Fury'll be calling soon expecting everyone to be playing Happy Families or something. He really did owe Loki a response, even if it wasn't going to be a very satisfying one.

He shrugged.

''What can I say…I've never been one for doing what people expect of me. Or doing what everyone tells me I should. I tend to crash headfirst into things and if they work, I run with it. If something interests me…I give it a go. I guess you interest me''.

There. That wasn't so bad. That didn't sound too weird. Did that sound too weird? Tony felt like he was back in second grade, trying to avoid admitting he fancied someone by saying they 'were OK, I suppose'. Which was stupid, he didn't fancy Loki, for fucks sake. No matter how good the guy looked in mortal clothes.

''Besides, it pissed off the team. For a bit at least. And it's definitely pissed off SHEILD. And that's always entertaining''.

Arggh, oh god, he was back on the flippant remarks and they meant he was either hiding something or bored or scared. And he hadn't the energy to be bored or scared. What was this morning. How was this his life.

Loki, to his credit, ignored this last remark.

''I'm not so…accustomed…to people wanting to help. To people being 'interested' in me.''

The blush was definitely back. Great, it seemed Tony's only comfort was that Loki was finding this as awkward as him.

''People have always been so…so suspicious around me. Or scared. Or simply indifferent. I spent a lot of my time invisible, and when people did notice me, they turned away. I only ever wanted to be seen. Seen as an equal.''

Loki now looked as though he regretted ever starting this conversation. He stared down at the ground as though he couldn't decide whether he wanted to hit it or for it to swallow him up.

''Tell me about it''.

The invisibility thing has struck a chord again with Tony, that painful cord that had resurfaced last night and wasn't making this morning any better.

''My dad never noticed me unless he could use me for something; growing up, I was just another one of his creations. He even called me that once. His greatest creation. Like he could just wheel me out when he needed me, like I didn't need care or affection, like I was just another money spinner, just another machine''.

He downed the remainder of his coffee, the nasty taste had returned. Loki's face was twisted, and Tony heard him mutter 'just another stolen relic'. Go figure, another particular painful memory they shared. If it were anyone else Tony would have reached out and grabbed Loki's shoulder or something, anything that signified hey, I know, it's OK bud, it sucked, but it's OK in acceptable man speak.

But this was Loki and he wasn't even a man and it as a result it absolutely definitely wasn't acceptable. Instead they both kind of swallowed and nodded and glanced up at the same time; happening to catch each others eyes. Loki's were glistening again and so dark and so green, and Tony couldn't help but remember them when they were icy blue and hard and mean. That Loki seemed like a million miles away from this one, and Tony felt strangely emotional thinking about that, probably because he was the one who saw the transition and he was the one who truly understood what it meant and he is now the one who's left with the green eyed Loki trying to figure out how the make the rest of the world understand.

The silence was getting heavy again and beginning to be uncomfortable, and Tony's head was now buzzing with a caffeine injected hangover, which was slightly better than a caffeine lacking hangover, but only just. Through the buzzing came a fine thread of a thought, a thread that Tony grabbed onto and tried to unravel because he could tell it was something important and something he probably needed to say now because it seemed like kind of the right environment and anyway the quicker this conversation was done the quicker he could actually catch some sleep. He frowned, willing the thought to come closer, willing his mouth to make sense of it. Thinking about Loki's blue eyes had reminded him of it, it was something to do with the Chitauri, the sceptre, the mind control thing…the arc reactor…that was it. Loki had originally starting conversing with him instead of killing him because his trick hadn't worked, he'd wanted to know Tony's secret. And since he'd been all Hulk-cured he hadn't uttered a word about it. And subconsciously Tony had been thinking how odd that was.

And because no one else was saying anything and because he had nothing to lose, Tony plunged straight into the matter before it melted away again.

''Hey, uh, Loki? I just wanted…I guess I want to ask you something in return. Something that's been bugging me. Back in the penthouse, when you were all…before you were 'you', you tried to use the sceptre on me, and it didn't work. And you got a bit, uh, obsessive. You wanted to know why and what was different about me. And then you uh, changed into real you, and you haven't asked since''.

Apart from the confusing amount of 'you's and the dodgy glossing over of the Hulk attack, Tony thought it vaguely sounded as if he were attention seeking, but he did that so much anyway it no longer bothered him whether people thought he was or not. Most of the time they were right anyway.

Loki looked up and fixed his eyes on Tony, he seemed surprised at the question and Tony wondered if it was the first time Loki had remembered as well.

''Oh – yes- yes I do remember, sort of – my head's a little fuzzy when I concentrate on the Chitauri induced memories, but they're still my own, I can see them clearly enough. I detected a sort of…magic in you, a magic that repelled my attempts to control you. An obviously I was curious. You were mortal. Mortal magic, I think you call it 'science', is not generally powerful or developed enough to have an impact on Asgardian or other worldly magic. But more importantly, it was providing a barrier between you and me. And for the first time…I saw a glimmer of escape. Even when I was under the Chitauri's control, I could still feel bits of me. The old me. They were the bits that hurt when they tortured me. And I thought…I thought if you'd found a way of stopping people getting inside your soul, inside your head, then I had to discover what it was. That's why I was so desperate. It hardly matters now.''

Tony was flummoxed. He'd never expected Loki's original reaction to him to be because Loki was scared and saw Tony as a way out. He'd kinda just assumed it was just Loki having a paddy at not getting his own way again. But what Loki just said…that was interesting…especially the bit about mortal science being a version of Asgardian magic. Tony had bristled at 'under developed', but then rationalized to himself that he was the cleverest technological genius in the entire world, he really couldn't begrudge the higher achievements of a whole other realm. Well, at least not too much.

And maybe it was the coffee or the whiskey or the lack of sleep or the sheer bloody mindedness of Tony Stark's whacked out brain, but he felt himself suddenly wanting to tell Loki everything, about his inventions, about the arc reactor, what it was, what it meant. Whether he was driven by pure narcissism or the need for validation or what, he didn't care, he wanted Loki to see, to understand, even though the god didn't technically need to anymore.

Pulling his t-shirt up, Tony revealed the circular lump in his chest and watched Loki's eyes widen; he enjoyed seeing peoples first reactions to the glowing mass protruding from his sternum, surrounded by deep blueish vein-like patterns fanning out from the perimeter. Loki stood up straighter and raised his gaze to Tony's face, questioning, confused, intrigued. The way he kept flicking his eyes back down to examine the reactor was kind of…intimate, and Tony felt the faintest quiver of concern in his stomach; he was basically giving Loki a step by step method to kill him, but this feeling disappeared as quickly as it came - he had a pretty accurate radar for danger and he hadn't detected any aimed in his direction from Loki since they arrived here. And anyway, this was not intimate, this did not have to be weird, Tony was not doing this because of any 'feelings'. It was simply a return of favour, because Loki had been honest with him and that must have been a pretty big deal for a god of lies.

A very large pretty big deal.

When he'd finished his explanation, and Loki had asked all the questions he could think of, they both sat down on opposing stools, aware that if it hadn't already, something definitely had changed now. Loki had all but accepted Tony's offer of help and hospitality, and in turn Tony had exposed his weakest side to Loki. And they were starting to feel…familiar around each other, it wasn't stilted anymore. They'd had a conversation. Technically two. About actual stuff. Given the very few people who either of them had ever talked about stuff to, this practically made them friends. If that still wasn't slightly weird and slightly…unfitting. 'Colleagues' was wrong, because Loki wasn't an Avenger or helping him with Stark Industries. Although, if Tony could somehow persuade the god to teach him about magic, if he could learn how exactly it was related to science, if he could somehow harness it, even a bit of it….he was digressing. He had to get used to Loki being around first, before asking him to enter into some kind of partnership. He had to take things slowly. This brought him back to the issue at hand – what exactly Loki being 'around' was going to mean. Describing him as a 'guest' also seemed wrong. 'Housemates' sounded too shallow and reminded Tony too much of being at MIT. Definitions would have to come later. This wasn't exactly a situation you found in a ready marked box.

Speaking of housemates, Tony suddenly realised his hangover was definitely missing something loud, clumsy and vociferous.

''Where's Thor?''

He was surprised at the length of time he'd been talking with Loki without the god of thunder interrupting, either by intention or accident. Although he should have realised something was up, Loki would never normally have spent so much time out of his room for fear of being subjected to more violent declarations of love from his overbearing older brother.

Loki smirked, the first real hint of a playful smirk Tony had seen on the gods face since they'd been there, and it was so powerfully Loki that he was almost taken aback. Well, what he assumed Loki was like, he'd never met Loki before his fall, but he'd heard enough stories and he'd done enough research and he'd seen enough glimpses over the last week to hazard a guess at what had been underneath the frosty eye disease. The smirks Loki had given to Tony in the penthouse had been full of malice, this one was simply mischievous.

''I have enough of my magic recovered to be able to execute a simple, ahh, desire that Thor should sleep late today. It was the least I could do, he must be incredibly exhausted after a whole week on Midguard…''

Tony grinned and bit back a laugh. Loki with a sense of humour was a vast improvement on any of the Loki's he'd seen previously. Even vulnerable Loki. He was still working out his reaction to vulnerable Loki. But sarcastic Loki, that was easy. He pushed himself off his stool and stood up, a crazy idea slowly forming in his mind. Forcing himself to sound nonchalant, he tried to match Loki's tone, not wanting to tip this weird but actually quite pleasant balance they seemed to have arrived at.

''Excellent thinking…I could do with learning that trick. You fancy looking a little further into this magic/science thing? Like a project. Together. I'm a quick learner. Earth won't be 'underdeveloped' for much longer. I Tony Stark, will advance technology by a whole millennia, a feat only previously attempted by, er, Tony Stark…''

So much for taking things slowly. How long had that lasted, 30 seconds?

Loki smirked again. He was incredibly grateful for Tony's apparent inability to remain serious for longer than 10 minutes at a time, he wasn't used to opening up and being honest and letting people get close to him. He could sense that Tony wasn't either, he could tell the man had built up a collection of snarky comments and jokes and clever comebacks and intelligent insults just the same as he had, because they constituted a wonderful mask, a thick surface, and no one could see what was happening underneath. Except for each other. And because of some incredibly bizarre and insane chain of events, they had found themselves thrown together, left to sort out the mess that he had caused and Tony understood. No one had really understood his mistakes before. He didn't know how things was going to pan out from now on, didn't know where things stood, where he stood, what would happen to him. He wasn't sure how things were going to work with Tony, but for the first time in what seemed like centuries, he was being offered help, offered a hand of almost…friendship, a genuine offer, and he wasn't pushing it away or hiding from it. He was willing to accept it, willing to accept living with this strange and intriguing mortal man who was professing to be his saviour. In addition, this mortal man sounded genuinely interested in his magic. Admiring, even. It had been a long time since Loki felt admired.

Regardless of all other things, regardless of what it actually was, 'this' looked like it could actually be quite fun. Or interesting, at least. He'd go with interesting.