Contains the dubious consent I warned about, but as this is T and I'm not writing all the dirty sex scenes, it's more of a '...oh, that's what she meant' kind of thing. Also, if you can't tell between myth-truth and myth-mucking-about, this is myth-mucking-about-totally-made-up, all of it :D

To Ever: your response was very touching in of itself, I'm just so glad people really seem to like this. And, again, this chap is a bit long but should update a lot quicker from here on out so less waiting for you ;P

This next chapter title inspired by a popular 'King and I' song, changed my mind about this one.

Chapter Four: Wondering What it All Means

Loki moaned from his plastered-on-top-of-Tony position, rolling on his side, as said man beneath him worked on catching his breath. "We squashed my last pie," he said mournfully. Tony gave a breathless laugh.

"Can't you magic yourself some more?"

He got a weak glare in return. "My energy stores have recently been depleted, in case you forgot-thus my suffering of no next source of energy to replenish them,"

"Is that all I am to you?" Tony fake-pouted, sitting up. "An energy-depletor/amusement-generator?"

Loki looked at him and then at the ground, taking the question seriously for some reason. "I do not think it is so," he might have said before rolling off the table entirely to collect his clothes.

"I think we've done this long enough that you know you don't have to immediately take off like my other conquests," he teased. Or tried to at least.

Loki stiffened. "Is that all I am to you? Another notch on your belt?"

"Maybe, maybe not," he shrugged. "What's it to you? You're the one who started the whole game thing, I'm just playing along as long as it still is fun," Which was a total lie because he was only playing along until either Loki gets tired of him/the game or something equally as bad or worse happens. He just couldn't find a way to make his mouth say that at this moment. Or anything he really meant, it appeared.

Green eyes flashed to that angry Kelly shade. "You think you can use me for your own advantage, too, Stark?" he hissed dangerously low.

He snorted and couldn't stop himself once more. He could literally feel horror at his words sink in as he spoke them. "I don't think, I know. Because I have,"

The God appeared to be on the verge of gnashing his teeth and spitting at him. But then he calmed himself down, somehow, blinking. "You are being an ass," he stated. "You do not mean such things,"

Holy shit, Loki actually listened to him and could read him already. He didn't know whether to be flattered and impressed or scared for his life and the success of his team because that could not be good for them. "Try telling that to Pepper," he muttered.

Whoops. Let's hope Loki doesn't-

Yeah, no. Didn't seem like luck was on his side since Loki got all riled up again. And Stark knew better, he really did. But even with knowing better, it still looked like Loki had been riled up into a jealous fury. "You have spoke before of a Pepper. Who is she?" he growled and Tony could safely say this was the most scared he had ever been in his life.

The answer just fell out of his mouth. He couldn't tell if it was because he felt so guilty about it or if he was magically compelled to, but the answer was the God-honest truth. "Pepper's my girlfriend."

It suddenly got hard to breath and Loki actually looked hurt and betrayed for a second. But that might have been his imagination. He had a very well-developed one, after all.

Yeah, it probably was. It had to be. Projection of his own disappointment about himself or something like that.

"You cheated-you cheated with me?" he gasped, shaking his head in disbelief. "You made me a-" he couldn't even finish, pressing his hand to his forehead as if in real pain.

"Listen, Loki," he jumped down to walk over to him. "It's really not a big deal. It's my problem, anyway, you don't have to-"

"Not a 'big deal'?" Loki repeated incredulously. "Stark. Do you not understand what you have done? I do not think I can forgive you for this!"

Now that made him mad. "Forgive me-?" but Loki was already gone by the time he said anything and he was back in front of his mirror and suit like their date had never happened in the first place.

Well, except for the fact that his tie went missing.

It was as if Loki had disappeared from the planet altogether. No pranks, no plots, no explosions, no walking statues, no dream walking, no house calls, nothing; no one had seen hide or hair of him, much less heard anything. And Tony was pissed.

At first.

But when days turned into weeks with no one to hate, his anger sort of fizzled out in place of worry. What if Loki had gotten captured or was badly hurt, maybe even hurting-because Tony was physically and emotionally unable to handle the thought of him being dead at this point-and he thought Tony wasn't going to try and rescue him? What if Loki thought their little argument meant that Tony was picking Pepper over him? What if it wasn't an argument and they broke up everything? But, then, why wasn't he out rampaging the town or something in revenge?

Tony sighed with all the breath in his lungs as he merely toyed with his mechanical parts; even his robots seemed mopey. He was almost desperate enough to go and ask Thor about how relationships work in Asgard. And wasn't that saying something? Tony Stark, renowned playboy, was one step away from asking for help in order to fix his relationship with someone equally if not more damaged than he was. And Pepper-

God, Pepper. It was time to face the facts. Loki wasn't his dirty secret-Pepper was.

"Jarvis," Tony sighed, kneading his forehead. "Alert the team that I'm going to be out shopping. They'll probably be glad that I'm actually out of the workshop," he added to himself. JARVIS seemed to understand that he didn't want a reply.

Steve walked into the living room full of desolate and bored looked heroes all lounging around the television, watching listlessly as Clint shuffled slowly through the channels. He inwardly sighed. They were all turning into Tony. Speaking of, he counted every one in the gang but their loud-mouth suit-wearer.

"Where's Stark?"

"He went out," Natasha answered him sounding extremely bored; like the rest of them, they were all used to high-stake missions-Bruce more than all of them. Still, Steve pointedly did not roll his eyes at her helpfulness.

"Out where, doing what?" Knowing Tony, he was probably starting trouble.

"He didn't say. Shopping," she listed. Oh, well, he didn't think too much harm could come out of shopping even in this decade. "Can you move now?"

Steve did pointedly roll his eyes, but he sat down on a free piece of couch leftover from their sprawling bodies.

"If we're not going to watch the tele-whatever," he said after an obligatory moment of soulless watching along with everyone else. "Can we at least not-watch the news or something educational? Even Thor and Dr. Banner groaned and he could have sworn that Clint muttered something like "old grandpa can't even call it right". His ears reddened but he didn't say anything more. Clint eventually complied, probably too bored to do anything else.

"Thanks, Joe, for that good news. I can certainly see the sunshine today. In other news, there has been a recent study linking adrenaline to affection. Scientists have discovered that small amounts of the hormone released in the presence of or because of someone regularly can increase the likelihood of a long-standing, committed relationship by up to 30%. And-" the anchorwoman put a finger to her ear. "Breaking news. It appears as if Tony Stark is being held captive by Loki...in a Bulgari jewellery store. All other citizens are leaving the premise-apparently Loki is only after Anthony S-he has left a message to the Avengers quoted as following: 'If you wish Stark to be returned alive and not in...pieces, do not interrupt us'.

"We now go to live video feed."

Loki slammed Tony in a choke hold against a wall outside of any camera's vision that appeared and no one would be allowed to come closer than 100 yards thanks to his force field around the area. This was going to be as private a discussion as he could make it. Tony coughed stale air with a modicum of visible fear, hands instinctually scrambling to break his hold. It made him grin.

"Listen, Stark," he said snidely. "I have come to the conclusion that you truly do not know the extent of your injury to my honour,"

"I could have told you that," he wheezed, gulping in air. "But it's a little hard when I'm in a chokehold,"

"Shut up," he snapped, but loosened his hold. Stark's eyes held a sheen of gratitude which made him feel a little ill. "On Asgard, only the unattached are permitted to be so free with their indiscretions. Even I respect when a potential lover has made a commitment due to the high esteem of this custom. Regardless of how serious the relationship, it is always announced before Odin and all company. Therefore, every party is guilty when involved in such business-meaning, the cheater and his accomplice.

"For a great many millennia, I took comfort in the knowledge that, no matter what I have done, I have never nor will ever sink so low as to break this great offence," he paused, turning away to collect himself for a moment before his bright eyes returned and stabbed Tony with guilt so hard, he was sure he was bleeding internally. "Do you see what you have done? Do you see how you've destroyed me?"

"But... you didn't know," he said weakly, trying for any reason to assuage some of the pain Loki must be feeling.

Loki scoffed tiredly. "It matters not that I did not know," he released Tony and Tony slumped to the ground. "It matters that I did the act. Because of my nature and reputation, they will believe it all the more true,"

For a moment, right than and there, Tony saw how clearly he broke the God before him in the slight droop of his shoulders and the deaden colour of his eyes. He took his only defence against the pain of his heritage, the lies and disapproval of his father, being ostracised from the community he grew up in, the abandonment of his real people, and everything else that haunted him, and...destroyed it, as he said. From what he could tell, he had just doomed Loki to a lonely and bitter life if ever he return to Asgard. And it really was all his fault. Because he was so self-destructive, he made sure nothing good for him lasted. He pretty much ruined his relationship with both Loki and Pepper in one go and at least caused a lot of hurt for their lives too. Way to go, Tony.

Well, there was only one thing he could do to fix things. He just hoped it would work.

"Loki," he called, voice rasping. Loki turned back to him ever so slowly. "I want you to-punish me for...what I've done. I need you to," he ended softly.

He didn't find any comfort in the grim smile that appeared. "This will hurt," he purred, looking his body up and down.

"It had better," he whispered to no one. He sorta deserved it. Plus, he wasn't sure what it would mean if Loki took it easy on him.

A few hours later, Tony limped back into headquarters and was immediately swamped by various members of the Avengers and their questions.

"My god, Stark, what did he do to you?" rang out the clearest from their good, old, Captain. He waved their concern off.

"He didn't do anything," he lied, directly avoiding Thor's eyes. "You should have seen the elbow on this one woman when she found out about the store-" he shut up when Natasha gently swiped her thumb over his jawline; words escaped out in a pained hiss instead of actual words. He jerked out of her touch with a miffed glare. He could have lied his way out of this, eventually, had it not been for her and she knew it.

"Uh-huh, nothing alright. It looks like he did a whole lot of something," her eyes guessed at Loki's punishing path from his jawline down to his hemline-and damn was she remarkably close-with a hard glint to them like she had experienced this before.

"What did he do?" she asked in a quieter tone. No room for playing around, Tony, that was her serious voice. It must have sent Clint a memo reading 'something bad just happened and we can't have a broken or damaged Iron Man, so he needs to fess up for the good of the team. Now.' since he stepped right beside her and crossed his arms pointedly after that.

"Nothing, he did nothing!" he half-screamed in frustration. Thor stepped forward in concern and he recoiled immediately, remembering Loki's warning about his brother being able to sense his magic on his skin. And since Loki had done an impressive job healing or covering up most of the injuries he had caused...well, shit would go down and they already thought the worst-which was only half-true and barely at that. So, he really couldn't be blamed for the fact that he let loose a panicked, "No! Don't touch me-don't even come near me." The only problem was that everyone took that as proof of whatever they came up with as what happened.

"My brother..." Thor began sadly. "Loki has never resorted to-he used to have such a high code of honour,"

"He still does," he snapped because, boy, did that experience still smart against his conscience and Loki would never let him live it down if he didn't defend him-to Thor of all people-after just being punished pretty much for that.

He sighed, wiping a hand down his face. "Look. If I just tell you guys something, will you leave the whole thing alone?" he didn't wait for an answer. "I was being a jerk-more than a jerk, an ass-and I," he swallowed thickly, trying to phrase it so it would be believable but without giving anything a way. "Said something that really set him off. He didn't violate me or steal my innocence or anything like that, he just wasn't completely...kind in what he did to me, so I'm a little sore. But, regardless of what he did or did not do, I deserved it. I deserved all of it and, frankly, he let me off easy in my opinion. So, before you try anything else, there's someone else I have to go apologize to for being an ass,"

He stomped through the crowd and slammed the door shut on them. They just let him. He wasn't sure what that meant and he kicked himself before his paranoia could get the best of him. He had to have a clear mind for what he was about to do.