Decided to expand (obviously). I don't know how long this story will be, but I guess I'll write until you guys get bored. My writing style kinda changed, and hopefully it doesn't make it that bad. I figured that, if this were gonna be more than a oneshot, I'd figure out something that vaguely resembles a plot. Might get a little angsty in the future, but only a little.
Hope you like this chapter- we get to visit Loki's brain.
Three months had passed since the impromptu visit. Tony had been unable to sleep for a week, paranoid that Loki would take him up on his offer. Pepper eventually spiked his coffee after noticing the bags beneath his eyes and the jittery restlessness that comes along with only drinking things filled to the brim with caffeine. After sleeping for almost twenty hours, Tony decided paranoia didn't particularly suit him. He bulked up his security, shrugged off the fear and the distant pain in his leg, and decided to ignore the evening.
After three months, it was almost as if the whole thing had never happened.
Almost.
It wasn't as if Tony could just ignore that Loki had saved his life. Despite that he'd decided to disregard the night, he knew that that meant something bad had to be coming. If being rich had taught him anything, it was that people don't do things for you unless they have an ulterior motive. He hadn't figured out Loki's reasons quite yet, but he figured they'd become clear soon enough.
The debriefing had been a pain. The moment he'd mentioned Loki, Thor looked as if his puppy had come running home. No, more than that. He looked as if he'd had a puppy, it had been run over, miraculously returned to life, and then came running home. He was positive that Loki had saved Tony's life because he was turning over a new leaf, regressing to the person that he'd been before. Tony didn't have the heart to tell him that Loki was still an insufferable jackass.
"We may have played doctor, but the guy is still a gigantic asshole." Gigantic asshole, he figured, had a better ring to it anyway.
That statement, predictably, led to an hour-long meeting where everyone stressed the importance of 'security' and 'communication', even though Tony knew that he wouldn't be able to 'communicate' very effectively once Loki set his mind to it, and 'security' was pretty much just an escape plan.
In other words, if Loki were to return (for whatever bizarre reason), Tony was pretty much screwed.
"Anthony Stark. I have need of you." Stark jolted, and turned. The engineer looked exceedingly tired, as if he hadn't had a decent night's sleep in his life. As he saw Loki, surprise and minor fear flooded into his eyes, before indifference glazed over them. Forced indifference, Loki figured, as the man's entire body was tensed into what seemed like a casual position.
"You do realize you could call ahead? I can give you my number." Loki let a smirk escape, but chose not to respond directly to the comment.
"I have need of you."
"So I've heard. Here, or upstairs? I should probably put new sheets on." Miðgarðr-humor. Loki had no patience for that today.
"I have recently set into motion something of dire importance. I require but one more piece to assure the success of my plans." Tony's brows were furrowed, curiosity now drowning out any fear for his life. He seemed to disregard danger the moment he found something interesting to latch that brain of his onto.
Loki had long heard of the infamous Stark's intelligence. He had investigated each of the so-called Avengers following his defeat at the battle nearly a year prior. It was Anthony Stark who drew his attention more than any other member. He seemed to posses a true intellect, one which surpassed the simple warrior traits Loki had seen during the fight. Most of the investigations led to lengthy 'exposés' on how much he loved sex. The reporters would go on and on about it. But all of the reports inevitably came to the same, unchanging conclusion: why, yes, he does love sex. It seemed pointless to Loki that they would continue 'exposing' the same story, but mortals seemed to have a small attention span.
Which was probably why the man was disregarding his work, and eying him with keen interest.
"You know, most villains monologue with more specifics."
"Indeed, and most find themselves bested because of it." A grin jumped onto Stark's face, and Loki was surprised by its sincerity. How the man found humor in the current situation was beyond him. But, then, it gave him slight pleasure that Stark was no longer cowering, or shooting at him. This visit seemed to be avoiding the unfortunate twists and turns which had characterized the previous one.
"Okay, you've learned your lesson. I guess it only took a Hulk to the head. So, what can I do for you?" He paused, cocking his head to the side. "And how illegal and immoral would it be for me to do it?" Loki smiled.
"I can assure you that I could have taken it without your permission. If your allies think badly of you for acting efficiently, that is of their concern, and not your own. You need not be injured." Tony snorted.
"Sorry, guys, I didn't wanna get a boo-boo, so I let him take the doomsday device."
"I believe you would not be able to retrieve your suit at this distance." Loki spoke carefully, watching his prey as he did so. Tony took a subtle glance at the row of suits against the wall. It was far too great a distance to cross, and he knew it just as well as Loki. He was too smart not to. "I doubt you would suffer only a minor injury were you to attempt to fight me without it."
"Well, luckily, you're honorable, and wouldn't fight me if I were helpless." Tony stated, and it was clear by his smirk that he was being sardonic. A little bitter, too, and Loki cataloged the information for another time.
"I am honorable enough to not come to your home for the express purpose of murdering you when you are unarmed. I am not above simply stealing from you. And should you attack me, your demise will come out of defense." Loki wouldn't actually kill Stark if he attempted to go on the offensive, but the man didn't need to know that. Loki didn't want to have to injure him at all. He hadn't come for battle.
"Great, they'll put that on my tombstone. So, what do you want?" He sounded a little more agitated now, and Loki nodded.
"The power source."
"The-?" The blood drained from the man's face, before he coughed slightly. "The power source. Which one? I've got a generator out back, a couple triple-As in the fridge, a-"
"The one which charges your suit," Loki interrupted, pointing at the man's chest. He'd attempted to research that, too, but there were few details available. Stark, apparently, kept most information about it well-hidden. Probably because it could be used for nefarious purposes. Such as, for instance, what Loki planned to do with it.
"I see." Stark coughed again, and Loki could practically hear the gears grinding in his head as he fought to think of a reply. "Well, if you're asking politely, I'll have to politely decline." Loki lifted his staff, letting it tilt slightly. It gleamed beneath the fluorescent lights of the laboratory, seeming almost eager for bloodshed.
"It is a very good thing, then, that I am not 'asking politely.'" Tony eyed the staff with a raised brow.
"You got a new staff. Were they having a sale?" Loki didn't let the comment distract him.
"The power source, Stark. I should not like to have to retrieve it forcefully."
"Well, I wouldn't want you to." Stark paused, then stood. When Loki immediately lashed the staff forward, prepared for a physical confrontation, Stark's hands flew up in innocent defense. "Just getting a drink! Jesus." He strode past Loki purposefully, and the demi-god let him pass. With his communications once more offline and his suits too far to utilize, Stark was no threat. Still, Loki watched with rapt attention as the engineer tipped the decanter over his glass. With a small smirk, the guest realized that the glasses were still chipped.
"I was under the impression you would have replaced those."
"No time. Had to save the world from domination-obsessed psychos. But you know all about that." The wink was enough to strip the insult of any real hostility. There was something charming about Stark, a disarming nature that was probably dangerous.
"I will not be leaving without the power source."
"Yeah?" Stark brought the glass to his lips, wincing slightly as the alcohol within seemed to burn him. "Well, I'll be dead before you leave with it." Loki arched a brow.
"Do you truly believe yourself a threat?" Stark shrugged.
"I've beaten you before."
"By launching yourself through a portal. It hardly requires great fighting skills." Stark nodded a little at that, before finishing his glass. Loki was reminded of certain articles he'd found that denounced the engineer for his open 'alcoholism'. Apparently, certain mortals were so enamored with inebriation that they were unable to stop. Mortals were far more affected by the drinks than those of Asgardian (or Jötunn) birth, and often lost all ability to think coherently.
Loki had the strong and strange desire to see Stark unable to think, unable to speak cleverly. He had the distant urge to find the staff that had been stolen from him at the battle, and turn the dark eyes before him an icy blue. He shook away the ruminations, focusing only on the present. Let those thoughts return when he had the time to mull over them.
"Yeah, but I've made some additions to my lab since you visited last time." Stark responded, and his eyes were sharp. "You know what they say: fool me once, shame on you. Fool me- you can't fool me again." He winked. "That's topical humor. Well, not really topical- it's been a while- but it doesn't stop me from laughing." He was rambling, Loki realized. He'd done it before, during the first visit- but there was less urgency here, less fear. He was stalling.
"What trickery is this?" Loki demanded, as his thin lips rushed into a scowl. Stark seemed surprised by the sudden ferocity, but quickly rebounded.
"Trickery? Me? No way. You're the trickster, here." And it was only now that Loki noticed the fact that the distance between them had grown. As Stark drank and spoke, he'd steadily been approaching the door. Loki's grip on the staff tightened, suspicion and anger growing within him.
"Return to your seat, Stark, or I shall use force to make you."
"I've been sitting all day," Stark responded. "-I'd rather stand."
"Your preferences matter very little to me."
"Well, at least they matter a little-!" Stark leapt to the door as he shouted, "Protocol Let There B Light!" The entire lab was suddenly flooded with brightness, as every light came to life. Loki let out a small grunt of surprise as he was momentarily blinded. His grunt disappeared in moments, however, to be replaced by a snarl of anger. His swept his staff forward and back, and the sound of shattering glass filled the laboratory. Cloaked in darkness, Loki's eyes took a moment to adjust. Predictably, Stark was nowhere to be found. He'd made his escape during the few precious seconds it had taken Loki to react.
"A very foolish course of action." He hissed, knowing that Stark could not hear him. He swept toward the door, which had, most likely, opened as part of the protocol. It made sense that Stark had prepared for another visit- especially as he'd invited him back- but tendrils of anger still wrapped around Loki's very being at the contingency plan's execution. He let a smile rush onto his face, however, as he realized that the escape had occurred purely out of Stark's worry for the power source. Its strength was assured by the measures to which Stark had gone to protect it.
Okay, shit.
Those two words were pretty much all Tony thought as he clambered up the staircase to his living room. An occasional 'fuck' was thrown in for good measure. He would have an angry, half-blind demi-god chasing after him any second now. He dashed toward the door, checking his cell phone as he ran. Nope. Still disconnected from the rest of the world. He wondered how far he'd have to go to get back-up.
"Stark." Had the guy really gotten out that quickly? It had been less than twenty seconds. Tony slid to a stop and turned, plastering on a huge smile.
"Oh, you're still here?" Loki did not look amused. A little triumphant, maybe, but not amused.
"I desire the power source."
"Kinda using it at the moment." How had Loki figured out how important the arc reactor was? It wasn't as if Tony went to interviews talking about how it was pretty much his personal set of batteries. He'd always stressed the technological advantages of the thing, and rarely (if ever) delved into what it did for his actual body. He'd let internet forums speculate about that, their conspiracy theories being cast aside as silly and unfounded by the general populace.
Or, maybe, Loki just needed a strong power source?
Yeah, okay, that was unlikely.
Shit.
"I require it." Tony nodded, even as he drew closer to the door.
"Yeah, for the taking-over-the-world-gig. I sympathize, really, I do, but-" Okay, now or never. "Protocol Let There A Light!" As light splashed around the room in a dazzling display of what money can do, Tony wrenched the door open and dashed. He'd kept his keys in his pocket for three months, and accidentally sleeping on them, sitting on them, and falling on them was about to pay off. He leapt into the front seat of the convertible, and stabbed the key into the ignition. He heard the door open just as the car pealed out of the driveway.
Every once in a while, Tony was thankful that he was rich. Not that he wasn't happy about it most of the time, but there were days when a sudden flash of appreciation came when something occurred that being poor would have prevented. The first time he'd slipped into a jacuzzi with three supermodels and a professional burlesque actress (who occasionally worked as a bra model (size advertised: DD)), he'd had the flash of gratitude. The time he left a three-hundred-dollar tip at a dirty pizza parlor because the waitress was cute (she came home with him), he'd had the flash of gratitude. The time he'd purchased a restaurant just to fire the bartender because he'd been asshole-ish, he'd had the flash of gratitude.
Tony had that flash of gratitude now, thankful that he didn't own some crappy car that would have stalled inconveniently in the driveway, as if he were in some B-horror movie.
"Okay." He breathed slowly, attempting to calm his racing pulse. As he pulled onto the highway that curled around the cliff, he tore his cell phone out of his pocket. "If you don't work, I will throw you into the ocean." He glanced to the right, as if to make sure the water was still there. The horizon was at some interminable point in the far distance, the night sky melding with its own reflection. When his cell phone refused to cooperate- calling his bluff-, he sighed, and tossed it into the passenger seat.
There was movement after he did so, and, almost as if in shock, he turned to look.
"Jesus fuck!" The car careened to the left, nearly crashing into the thin fence which was all that lay between the highway and a watery grave. He slammed his foot against the brake, and cried out in surprised pain as his head slammed against the steering wheel. A single, piercing honk was emitted, before he sagged back against his seat. He realized distantly that he hadn't been wearing a seatbelt, and, had the stop been just a bit more sudden, he would have flown over the hood and into the water. He would have done Loki's job for him. Way better, too, considering the guy was killing him in a very roundabout way.
"I feel it is safe to assume you were unaware of my teleporting capabilities." Loki- damn him-sounded amused. It wasn't even just his tone- he was practically grinning.
"Yeah," Tony agreed. "You forgot to mention that."
"Are you quite finished attempting to run?"
"Um." Tony glanced to his left: a barren ocean. To his right: a large rock wall (he'd always skipped the plastic-with-a-harness rock walls at carnivals, and therefore wasn't about to try and conquer that behemoth). Ahead of him and behind him: just the long and winding road. It was miles to any place that could be of help. The isolation of the house was one of the things about it which Tony loved. Well, not at the moment, obviously. At the moment, it totally sucked. Loki arched a brow, and Tony waved him away. "Just a sec. I'm looking for an escape plan. Be patient. It'll come to me."
Loki sighed heavily.
"I believe it would be easier if you would simply cede to me the power source."
"I'm not just gonna give up. If you're waiting for me to give you permission, I suggest taking a parka with you when you go to hell." That one was a little convoluted- not to mention that Loki had most likely never even heard the saying- but Tony figured to hell with simple. He was going to die, wasn't he? Why not make his last words a mouthful? Loki furrowed his brows.
"Very well. I would prefer that I not take it by force, but you have made your position clear." With that, he leaned forward and ripped Tony's shirt open. Tony gasped at the sudden cold that leapt at his uncovered chest and abdomen, and reflexively closed his arms about the hole. Loki dismissively shoved them away, and the engineer was surprised by the sheer strength of the action. It was a sudden and unwelcome reminder that Loki and Thor were technically-but-not-really brothers.
"Call me a prude, but you don't get access to the chest until the third date-" Tony choked out, as fear and chilliness stabbed at every piece of him. The ocean breezes that drifted this high had lost any semblance of warmth, reverting to the cold nature of those winds which sliced through mountain ranges.
"Be silent." Loki responded sharply. "How do I remove it?"
"Well, you're not supposed to-" Tony replied, because he wasn't about to tell his assassin how to shoot a gun. "-and wasn't I supposed to 'be silent'?" Loki growled, clearly annoyed that killing him was turning out to be such a hassle. Honestly, the billionaire didn't know why he didn't just use a gun. Probably not god-y enough. A second Loki was suddenly holding his arms, as the original peered at the arc reactor.
As his hand covered the light in preparation of pulling it out, the world grew much darker. The smashed headlights- though they tried their damnedest- just couldn't help.
The light was surprisingly warm, and Loki wondered distantly whether it was uncomfortable. A glance at Stark promised that the engineer wasn't about to divulge any information on how to remove the device safely. Even as his teeth chattered and his limbs struggled against Loki's grip, his face was twisted into a glare. His legs thrashed in one final attempt to pull free, but Loki swiftly quelled the rebellion.
No more delaying.
His slender fingers curled into the grooves of the metal, and he tugged until he felt the resistance dim. He eventually found that it required some twisting, followed by a single strong pull. Stark's upper body followed the cylinder as it was removed, and his mouth curled into a silent gasp of agony. When the attached wires fell, Stark's body sagged back against the seat.
Loki frowned down at the warm metal, tilting his hand so that it would roll slightly. It was much larger than he'd anticipated. The gaping hole in Stark's chest seemed unnatural and impossibly deep. He noticed that the struggles had ceased, and absorbed his copy. Stark stared up at him with glazed eyes- glazed eyes that seemed suddenly indifferent to their surroundings.
"Stark?" No witty reply. No reply at all. Loki's brows furrowed. Had he removed the power source incorrectly? If it were embedded that deep, a wrong move could prove potentially fatal. He pressed his fingers against the man's forehead, letting his healing magic flush through to ascertain how great the damage was. The result was instantaneous, and his finger was nearly burned by the fast response. A small piece of his brain diagnosed the difficulty. Hjertestans- cardiopulmonary arrest.
Stark was dying.
Anger sped through his veins. Had Stark simply cooperated, he would not have been injured. It was his stubbornness which caused the danger he was in. Loki tried to ignore the anger that was not directed at the engineer, the anger which demanded why he had failed so thoroughly at removing the power source. He slammed his fist into the dashboard, gaining some small satisfaction from the damage. Violence, though technically abhorrent, was quite helpful for relieving stress.
"Hey-" Stark choked out. "-hands off the car." His voice trembled, and it was clear that to speak meant to suffer. However, it was also clear that he was capable of speaking if he'd chosen to make a joke. Why had he refused to reply before?
"You are in cardiac arrest." He chose the colloquial term, refusing to waste precious seconds. No doubt Stark had planned for occurrences such as these.
"Yeah." A short pause, used to take short breaths. "I noticed."
"Well?" Loki snapped. "Would you prefer that I leave you, or do you wish to reveal how I might aid you?" Stark smirked, but his face was pale. Cold sweat clung to his furrowed brows, and his jaw was tense.
"Yeah. Funny." Loki nearly left at that, but he refused to let himself do so. Stark was terribly interesting, and to let him die meant to lose a chance to satiate his curiosity. And there was something inherently appealing about the man- he did not deserve to die, here, his own body rebelling against him. Loki was by no means a man who acted out of honor alone (cunning often took precedence over mercy), but letting Stark die in such a manner was low even by his standards.
"Are you to claim there is no way to revive you?" That such a possibility scared him was tremendously annoying.
"Can you quit it? You killed me, congrats, way to go." He was definitely fading, and Loki realized that his time to act was growing slim.
"Your death was never intended. Had you simply shown me how to remove the power source correctly-!" He was shouting, then, but he fell silent immediately when Tony's lips moved again.
"Wait, you seriously still think-?" He let out a hoarse chuckle. "Shit."
"What?" Loki despised being ignorant. Thor and his friends had many 'inside jokes' he had never been privy to, and it had always bothered him to hear them laughing when there wasn't a punchline readily available. So where was the punchline here?
"I might've fibbed, a little-" Tony's eyes were focused on some object not in this world, and Loki felt himself grow impatient. He grabbed the torn edges of the man's shirt, jolting him back from the shadow of unconsciousness that threatened to engulf him. "The reactor-" His voice was drifting off, as though Loki had rudely awakened him and he was returning to whatever fine dream had been interrupted.
The engineer was unconscious before Loki could do anything.
Cursing beneath his breath in some foreign and unintelligible tongue, the demi-god considered his circumstances. Stark was dying- so close, now- and he had inadvertently caused it. Some childish part of him threatened a tantrum. He hadn't meant to, it wasn't his fault. It was Stark's, for being so stupidly stubborn. At what point does bravery turn to simple foolishness?
"The reactor," he repeated, frowning down at the object. What had the man meant to say in those final few breaths?
He considered leaving. Let the world suffer through the mystery of Stark's death. Let the world know what foolishness will bring them during Loki's reign. Let the world mourn the death of one of its best, and know that none can stand against him.
But the thought was brief, and he dismissed it as quickly as it had come. Since the battle, Stark had remained an interesting object to mull over. If he were ever to retrieve the other staff, he would overtake the engineer, and enjoy conversations with him. He was too intelligent to dismiss, too interesting to kill.
Finally, in a strange and unreasonable action, he pressed the dark reactor back into its hole, connecting it to its wires and twisting it back in place. Like a child, pushing the broken pieces of a toy together in the hopes that it might click and be played with again. His brows raised in surprised interest as the blue light flickered back into life, and the body gasped its way back with it. Stark came alive with a wild grunt, eyes bright and wide.
"Holy shit." He frowned around at his surroundings, brushed his hand against his wet brow, and collapsed back into his seat. "You are really annoying."
"You are quite incapable of expressing gratitude." Loki retorted, but he couldn't hide the relieved smile.
Tony tried to ignore the predatory grin on the other man's face, focusing on adjusting to the land of the living. He'd read, once, that up to 20% of people who lived through a cardiac arrest reported near death experiences. He hadn't floated out of his body, or suffered through a clip show of his greatest hits. He hadn't even seen the light he wasn't supposed to go to. Granted, he didn't technically believe in life-after-death, but he'd always liked hallucinations. That he hadn't gotten any was a bit of a bummer.
Okay, yeah, he had to get his priorities straight.
"Well, I'm much better about saying 'thank you' when the people that save my life aren't the same ones that endanger it." Not really, but Loki didn't have to know that, did he? Either way, he looked skeptical. "Well, what do you know." Tony sighed heavily, and leaned his head back. He was exhausted. Like, run-a-marathon-on-an-hour's-worth-of-sleep exhausted. "I can't believe you didn't mean to kill me."
"Had I been informed of the power source's true purpose, I might not have made the mistake." He sounded a little indignant.
"Well, I wasn't about to tell you I had an on-and-off switch."
"A curious sacrifice for a mere power source. Are you unable to simply attach it to your suit?" Tony blinked, momentarily confused by the question. Once he grasped what Loki thought, he frowned a little.
"I, uh, actually had this before the suit." And why was he coming clean, exactly? He hadn't even told the rest of the Avengers the exact origins of the Arc Reactor (though Natasha most likely knew, and Clint had probably been made aware through her- pillow talk with agents like them tended to get pretty non-pillowy). One shouldn't play therapy with a crazy murderer. That was pretty much an unspoken rule. Actually, knowing Fury's paranoia, it was probably written in some rulebook. It would be after this, anyway.
But he'd nearly died. He needed a heart-to-heart, as his was severely busted. He frowned up at the demi-god. But how much better was Loki's?
"For what purpose?" Loki questioned, and the expression on his face professed a desire to learn and understand. He was insanely curious. And that was probably what stopped Tony from saying any more about the matter.
"I needed a flashlight. Help me up." The god quirked a brow, but lent his hand so that Tony could pull himself into a seated position. "Now, do you want something to eat, or can you just go?" Loki paused.
"I am hungry."
"Please don't make this a tradition." Tony twisted the key, heartened by the cheery humming of the motor. Smooth, quiet, and beautiful. God, he loved cars. "And if I drive us off a cliff, teleport us both out, not just your selfish ass." Loki was wearing a smirk.
"Of course."
"Good." The car sped down the highway, and the cool air rushing through Tony's hair helped him stay awake, even as weariness threatened to swallow his entire body. He doubted he should be driving (he sure as hell wasn't going to let a technology-deprived nutcase handle his car, though), but he also doubted that Loki would let them die after the stunt he'd just pulled. He had no idea why Loki had saved his life. Twice. What, exactly, did the guy want from him?
He decided to broach the subject subtly.
"So, what do you want from me?" Okay, he sucked at being subtle. But it was one of few faults.
Okay, one of many. Since when had his inner monologue pushed for such honesty?
"Pardon?" Loki seemed genuinely perplexed, and Tony had to push down the embarrassment that was welling up in his sore body. The man somehow made him feel as though his paranoia weren't completely justified, even though it obviously was.
"I'm asking what your game is." Tony stated, eyes firmly stuck on the road. If he glanced to the right, he'd lose focus. "You've saved my life twice, now, and I fail to see what it's gaining you. I'm not gonna trust you just because you decided to stick what you stole back where it belonged, so, if that's what you're aiming for, I have to think your proclivity for scheming is way overrated." Except he wasn't so terrified of Loki anymore, and he no longer considered himself in danger even though he was less than fives inches from his side. His jaw tensed. Regardless of how he perceived Loki now, he couldn't act as if he were anything but distrustful. The god was all about manipulation- that was his schtick.
And Tony didn't want to admit he was falling for whatever deception the frost giant was playing at.
"I don't know." Tony turned, surprised. But Loki's face was unreadable, and his tone neutral. Tony jolted back to attention when the car began to sway dangerously near the fence, but he remained silent, expecting more. When it was clear there would be no additions, he questioned,
"That it?"
"I am unsure what else to say," Loki admitted. "I came this evening for the power source. I was unaware that its removal would cause your death."
"So I've gathered," Tony answered dryly. "-what I don't get is why it matters." Loki's lips curled into a thin frown.
"And here I must repeat myself: I do not know." Tony nodded, absorbing the information dubiously. He didn't think he was quite so charming that he'd won over the god in the time span of, what?- one visit and one five minute conversation (that ended with him going through a window, and he wasn't going to forget that part, because, dammit, it was important). Hell, he'd caused allies to despise him in less time, and, unless relationships with enemies were very different...
Well, you know.
"Well, let me know when you figure it out." He paused, licking his chapped lips as his house came into view. "So, you mentioned an evil scheme."
"I do not believe I used the adjective 'evil'."
"It was implied."
"I do not intend to monologue."
"I have a frozen pizza that begs to differ." Tony waggled his eyebrows energetically, but parked the car with tired deliberation. "Three different types. Do you like pizza?"
"I have not had it." Loki responded, as he watched Tony struggle to pull himself free from the driver's seat. "Do you require assistance?" Tony ignored the question.
"If you haven't had it, I'm not starting you off with frozen. That's, like, marriage. I'll get you the one-night stand of pizzas. I'm ordering in. Damn, I wish you'd decided to terrorize me in New York." He strode purposefully toward the door, letting his mouth ramble while his brain focused on not falling.
"You would prefer my visits-" It sounded as though he were emphasizing the term 'visits', as if trying to distance himself from 'terrorizing'. "-in New York?"
"Only when I'm in a pizza mood." The door was unlocked, and Tony gratefully pushed it out of his way. "But I'm gonna need to use a phone. If I promise not to use the S.H.I.E.L.D delivery service, can you remove your creepy leash on my tech?" Loki gave a bemused nod, and waved his hand absentmindedly as he sat.
On the same stool, Tony noticed, as last time. It was exceedingly weird, but he was going to start thinking of the chair as Loki's. There was no way he couldn't. And it wasn't as if Loki acted uncomfortable perched up there- he wore it like a throne.
The guy was royalty from the soles of his feet to his mullet-esque hair.
He shook off the tangent, and grabbed the receiver from its cradle.
"Okay, what do you like? Mushrooms, pepperoni, anchovies?" He crinkled his nose. "Please don't like anchovies." Loki's face indicated confusion. Tony realized that pepperoni and anchovies were very much Earth foods, and did they even have mushrooms in a galaxy far, far away? "Okay, never mind. We'll do classic. Trust me." After ordering a large cheese pizza (extra cheese) with pepperoni ("A whole cow's worth!" (and damn if Loki's face hadn't looked even more confused at that)), Tony replaced the phone, and sat. In the same seat as before.
They were falling into a routine.
"How long will it be?"
"Thirty minutes or they lose the highest-tipping customer in pizza history. Why? Your rule-the-world schedule pretty tight these days?"
"I have business to attend to," was the vague and painfully-ominous reply.
"Ah. I guess you have to find another thing to power your doomsday device." Tony cringed inwardly. Yeah. Remind him that not killing you will make his life harder. That's smart.
"I never claimed the power source would be for a 'doomsday device'."
"You never denied it either." Loki didn't bother denying it now, which made Tony a little nervous. But only a little, because the man hadn't immediately leapt to the time-to-kill-Tony conclusion. Loki paused.
"May I have a drink?"
"Oh, thank Jesus." Tony hopped to his feet, and sped towards the liquor cabinet. Pepper often teased him (or complained, he could never quite tell) about having one in every other room. But why, when you know you're just as likely to drink in your bedroom as you are in your living room, would you have only one? It would be a lot of useless walking.
He hadn't been lying when he'd told Loki that he was a man of convenience.
He poured them both a glass, then brought the bottle back. You could never go wrong with plain old scotch. Well, technically, a Highland Park 18-year-old single malt scotch. It was worth over a hundred dollars, though he'd gotten a bit of a deal by purchasing twenty.
"Weren't you supposed to be catering this event?" He questioned, as he placed the glass in front of Loki. The demi-god nodded a little.
"Perhaps next time."
"Oh, please don't tell me that you'll be ripping my heart out again." He sat down, and nursed his glass. Whether or not he had another fourteen to go, he wouldn't guzzle this.
"It is your heart?" There was that curiosity again, demanding to be satiated. He laughed a little, uneasy. Then again, fourteen was a large number. He took an especially large sip, letting the alcohol settle on his tongue before he swallowed. Dry. He'd always preferred dry to sweet.
"No, sorry, an inside joke." Loki's lips seemed to thin at that, and his back straightened just a bit.
"I see."
"If Jarvis were awake, he would have laughed." He frowned down at his glass. He'd poured nearly an inch of scotch. Where had it gone?
"Naturally." Loki paused. "Is it meant to aid your heart in some manner?" Tony frowned up at him, annoyed that the subject hadn't disappeared.
"Why're you so interested? You already know the important part." At Loki's blank expression, he elaborated, "How to get it out of me." He poured more scotch for himself, not noticing how Loki's had nearly gone untouched.
"I suppose that is all that should matter to me." Tony nodded in agreement. Had he bothered looking up from his glass, he might have noticed the perturbed expression on his guest's face.
"So, now that the pizza is on its way- probably breaking many speed limits, by the way; you'll like that seeing as how you're evil- care to explain why you need the thing in the first place?" Loki released a slim smirk.
"You avoid my questions and yet expect me to answer your own?" Tony nodded, plastering on an expression of exaggerated sympathy.
"Life isn't fair, huh, big guy?" He grabbed his glass and walked toward the sofa, waving at Loki to join him. "Besides, even if I'd written a whole instruction manual about this thing and given it to you, I really doubt you would have jumped at the chance to reciprocate."
"Perhaps you would like to see for yourself?" Loki responded, his smirk having grown into a small smile.
"Well, normally, I'm all for new experiences. But confiding in a super-villain is, surprisingly, not on my bucket list."
"I could simply torture you, were I interested in how it worked for nefarious purposes." Tony shook his head.
"You wouldn't do that." Loki arched a brow, eyes gleaming.
"And why is that?" Tony considered responding that it wasn't as if he knew the answer, so why should Tony?
"It's boring. Manipulating a person into telling you everything is a hell of a lot more interesting than just dunking their head under water until they think they're drowning." Loki paused.
"Is that what you believe these meetings to be?" Tony shrugged.
"I'm just saying-" that, having been in both of these situations, I know it's a possibility. Ah, Obie and Afghanistan. Fond memories. A part of him was suddenly glad that the clip show had been skipped. "Just stating a fact."
"A cynical perspective."
"And probably a pretty accurate one. If you've been found out, you can still stay for the pizza. I wouldn't deny you that. I'm the good guy." Loki's smile was wan.
"Your theory, while plausible, is incorrect. I express only natural curiosity regarding the existence of something such as..." His eyes fell to Tony's chest. "...that."
"Well, you're in it for the long haul, I'll give you that." Tony tossed his glass up in a half-hearted toast, then swallowed the final sip.
Anything Loki might have said was cut short by a rapping at the door.
"Wow, their pubescent delivery boys must've started drag racing on the side. It's been, like, ten minutes." Tony pushed himself up from the couch, grabbing his long-discarded wallet from the table as he passed. He only had hundreds, but he figured the kid wouldn't mind. "Get ready to taste heaven, Reindeer Games. So much grease even your holy arteries will clog."
"And this is a good thing." Loki didn't sound convinced.
"Fine, be skeptical. But when you have a heart attack, you'll still thank me." Tony was removing the bill as the knocks came again. "If you were gonna be this impatient, you should've-" obeyed legal limits. That's what he was going to say as he opened the door to the pimply face of a delivery boy. But there was no pimply face to welcome him.
Just the clear (and exceedingly surprised) face of an Avenger.
And this is where you, the true believers, come in. Comment with who you wanna see behind door #1! I really appreciate all the reviews, favs, and story alerts. I still don't really know whether this'll be a friendship fic or a slash (there are, unsurprisingly, many people rooting for the latter), but I guess we'll all find out. Thanks again, and I hope you guys figure out who you wanna see, as I've got no clue who it is.