Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or even the idea that this came from.
Tony Stark's Flying Circus
Chapter 1: The Sky's the Limit
Blue sky stretched as far as he could see, curving down until it reached the deeper blue of the ocean that sprawled beneath them. Only the faintest wisps of cloud were visible and even then it was only when you looked back at the slowly disappearing coastline behind the ship.
Tony breathed in the crisp ocean air as he leaned his chair back, kicking his feet up carelessly onto the control panel in front of him and sipping on his small glass of scotch on the rocks.
"Hey, watch it, Tony!" A switch was hastily flicked to turn off the copilot's half of the steering. Rhodey was completely unamused with Tony's lackadaisical and unapologetic smile, presenting him with a flat look before shaking his head and continuing to monitor the ship's maiden voyage. But it seemed he couldn't help the small smile that crept onto his face as he looked out over the Atlantic, gripping the wheel a little more securely as if to ground himself in this wonderful moment.
Tony gave a small snort at his friend's behavior. "So, what? It's not like JARVIS will let any unintentional commands go through anyway. Hell, the only reason you've got control right now is because you asked for it! We don't need to be up here until we try out the speed system." The high-tech engineer seemed almost giddy at the prospects of testing out the new system for the first time, sharing a smile with Rhodey as they both imagined how it would go for one beautifully quiet moment.
That moment was broken by a posh, slightly mechanical voice. "Sir, the testing won't be able to begin until the ship is at least seventy-five miles off of the coast, due t-"
"Yeah, yeah. I know. I was the one who designed it, remember?" Tony cut JARVIS off with a roll of his eyes. "How long do we have until then?"
The question was obviously anticipated, not even a hitch for calculation before the quick reply, "About an hour with the current head wind, Sir."
The inventor sighed at the long wait. He debated whether or not to stay in the cockpit for a moment before his musings were interrupted by a buzzing noise.
"Sir, Doctor Banner is asking for you."
Tony's brow furrowed for a split second, wondering what the other man might have to talk about so soon after departure. "Alright, go ahead and patch him through." Hopefully it wouldn't be about his fugitive status again.
"He says he would like to speak to you in private if at all possible, Sir. He is currently tending to a frightened lion."
Tony winced. "Wouldn't it be safer for him to come to me?" Whining was not in Tony's vocabulary, but he employed it skillfully none the less, not thrilled at the prospect of having to deal with a scared cat. His complaints halted for a second to laugh at that thought, 'Bruce has a scaredy cat.'
"He would be required to bring the animal with him, Sir, if that is what you wish." JARVIS sounded amused at the prospect.
Childish thoughts were swept aside. There was no way an out of sorts wild cat was scratching up his baby. "Does he need to ask me something about the cat? He does know that he's the expert here, right?"
A few seconds passed as the AI relayed the question before answering, "No, Sir. The lion simply can't be left alone in its current state. Doctor Banner has requested that he be allowed to speak with you privately about the matter in question."
Shrugging and swinging his feet to the floor, Tony set his glass down next to Rhodey before making his way out of the brass doorway. It wasn't like he had anything better to do and he was always more than willing to speak to his partner in science.
"Usually, I wouldn't condone others drinking and driving in my vehicles but, since JARVIS could do your job even with you actively attempting to crash, I'll let you finish that off for me." A soft, double clang rang out as Tony rapped on the open cabin door affectionately and then stepped carefully over the raised edge of the doorway to find his scientific friend.
A quick glance back before he turned the next corner let him see Rhodey hesitantly lifting his feet up and placing them carefully on the panel in front of him to relax as Tony had, glass of scotch in his hand. The inventor gave a grin as he turned back around and kept moving forward. It wasn't every day that his best friend got the chance to pilot the most advanced airship ever made and Tony was glad that the other was finding time to enjoy it. A hand running across the wall next to him, Tony took a moment to simply appreciate the feel of another successful invention beneath his fingers.
It had taken over a year of testing and assembly, the process becoming even longer due to constant performances and traveling, but here it was. This beautiful red and gold master of the skies. It was an amalgamation of the best of both the typical airship and those aeroplanes that never really made it after the steam engine helped humanity take flight.
The rigid frame was supported both internally and externally by an alloy the inventor had created specifically for this purpose. Steel and aluminum mixed with a little bit of copper supported the inner workings and living spaces within the balloon while a sturdier version of the mixture secured the fabric for the high speeds they should be reaching once the aeroplane engines started up for the experiment. Those same bands that wrapped around the outside of the balloon also held those engines in their allotted places around the airship.
Awe and amazement had brought out quite the crowd as the troupe prepared for departure, traveling from New York to London before continuing on to the rest of the continent for their European tour. Reporters had flooded the site, snapping pictures and shouting questions to the busy crew as they loaded the radically designed airship with a seemingly impossible amount of props and animals.
This was mostly due to the fact that the visible part of the gondola was relatively small, not much bigger than their center ring really, but the living and storage areas were cleverly hidden within the balloon itself. It did make it harder to house enough helium to support it, but Tony was all about pushing the boundaries of physics. Though, the addition of multiple repulsors along the lower struts and beneath the gondola itself helped a lot in this case.
Either way, the airship was a marvel of engineering and, with the stylized Stark largely printed on either side, the world would know who built it. The decal was also added to help spread the word about their circus as they toured. The airship was much faster than their carts, especially when overcoming mountains, so it would be harder to send word ahead of where their next stop would be, but hopefully the eye catching balloon would bring in the crowds just as easily.
A light tremor ran through the metal beneath Tony's hand, one that wasn't quite in time with the usual rumble of the two large propellers that kept them moving forward against the wind. Pausing in his trek towards the next ladder, he waited to see if he felt it again.
When he only felt the usual rumblings, he tilted his head and pursed his lips slightly in thought. It was either an errant burst of wind or Clint had found the service vents and was now using them to creep around the balloon. Both the Hawk and Natasha had quickly loaded their items and promptly vanished into the airship while the others were still loading the rest of the animals. Neither had been seen since.
Ever the perfect organizer, Pepper had explained that the two had mentioned plans of training in a storage area to help their act reach new heights, but Rhodey was convinced that Clint was simply locked in his room taking a nap. Tony knew that Hawkeye could sleep anywhere, but he would bet money that they weren't sleeping if they were both locked in their cabin.
Unable to decide which of these was more likely, the ringmaster simply shrugged before straightening his new showman's jacket and continuing down to the corner of the metal gangplank. Pepper had recently stolen his cape and refused to give it back, so Tony had traded his usual waistcoat for a red and gold, double breasted jacket with some marvelous coattails that ended at his knees to make up for the loss. The fact that the shorter garment added benefit of not tripping him up in these unusually tight spaces was also a plus.
Not much further down the corridor, Tony started hearing an excited and slightly exasperated female voice coming from an open cabin.
"But, don't you see? This is a huge step forward in the engineering of airships /everywhere/! This could revolutionize the world! If this technology is successful shipping and travel will become that much faster, not to mention the other socioeconomic benefits!" Pausing at the door, the inventor leaned against the jam to listen to what the stargazer had to say.
Jane Foster was seated at her small desk talking animatedly to her significant other while her best friend lay on the upper bunk, listening to a softly playing record and wiggling a little as if trying to dance without sitting up. He couldn't see the lively brunet's face from where he was standing, but Tony was sure Darcy had heard this all at least once before and was most likely ignoring the current lecture. Both of the girls worked with one of his main consultants for this venture, an engineer and professor at the college, Dr. Erik Selvig, which meant that the reclining girl probably knew even more than Jane was even going to attempt to explain.
"I still do not understand how this airship is superior to any other, Lady Jane." Thor sounded confused by his girlfriend's passion for the subject, but the astronomer seemed more than willing to explain it to her captive audience.
"Most airships of this size have to run off of hydrogen, which is highly flammable and not recommended, or super-heated helium from the new steam engine technology. Both of those can't hold cargo of this magnitude without being twice this size."
"And the only airships that big are war ships," Darcy, Jane's best friend and tarot reader for the circus chimed in – apparently she was listening after all.
Used to these interruptions after she had taken the younger girl under her wing, the circus' mystic plowed on, "Not to mention the fact that a significant part of the balloon is filled with normal air and metal plated rooms." Jane shook her head in amazement as she looked around her quarters once again, missing Tony standing behind the seated couple when she stopped to smile at Thor. "If only Professor Selvig could be here with us. He would have loved this."
The mention of the Professor reminded Tony of his meeting with Bruce. Troubles with passports and warrants had prevented Dr. Selvig from joining them on this particular venture, but he was promised a first class trip once the troupe made it back to New York.
Tony smoothly pushed away from the wall to continue walking down the hall, leaving his eavesdropping for another time. The trio he left behind, now chatting about what to do first in London, were going to be together for the entire trip, unlike usual.
The girls were usually stationed at the New York station so that they could still attend (or teach, in Jane's case) classes at the college and perform at the weekend carnivals that Stark Industries put together each weekend. But they jumped at the opportunity to join them as their fortune tellers for this voyage across the sea, eager to broaden their horizons. Thor had been over the moon when he heard that, not only was he going back to Europe with the rest of the troupe and his brother, but his Lady Jane would be accompanying him as well! More than willing to let the strongman believe that it was for this was for his benefit, Tony hadn't corrected him.
Soon, the ringleader reached the large animal containment area that was built for both the large trained cats as well as the horses that comprised the finale of every show in the big top.
"Tony!" Just spotting his boss moving through the 'stables', Cap dropped the brush he was grooming one of the horses with to trot over to him with an excited grin on his face. Tony looked up expectantly and the horse trainer continued, "I just wanted to thank you again, for all of this. I know you said that you would help me find the Broncos after I woke up, and I never doubted that you would, but this goes above and beyond any expectations that I had! To fly us all over to search for my lost-"
Tony cut off the lines he'd heard more than once since he announced they'd be touring over in Europe. "Hey, I promised you that we'd find them if they didn't find you first, alright? I'm just glad you didn't try to head off after Bucky and the gang before I could get this beauty up and running. Besides," he gave the taller man a pat on the shoulder as he moved to step past him. "I've always wanted to bring the Stark Spectaculaire to the poor, uncultured masses across the Atlantic."
A hand on his arm had him turning back and looking up to meet the trick rider-turned-clown's blue eyes. "But you didn't have to, Tony. So, let me thank you. It really means a lot to me."
Cap looked like he was about to shed a tear or two and, for once, the ringleader let it go without comment. Instead, he just gave the taller man a small nod of acceptance before moving on to the louder half of the pens, glancing at the large room's nervously shifting horses and yowling cats as he walked. While winding through the metal cages Tony took note of which cats were napping and which were loudly pacing their areas as he did. He found it unsurprising that the ones that were participating in Bruce's continued experiments were those that were calmly accepting their new, airborne positions.
It really spoke to the doctor's expertise with both chemistry and biology as some of these felines had only been exposed to the compound for about three months and they were already seeing improvements. It was also impressive just how far Bruce has taken his research in the past four years, especially when he was still technically on the run from his previous employers.
Moving through the cages as if they were zoo exhibits, Tony thought back to Bruce's explanation of his current research. When he had been hired by the Tesser Corporation, they had told Bruce to formulate a drug to better train any animal. The doctor was lead to believe that the company was trying to find a drug that would improve thought process and memory when they were actually trying to develop one that enabled greater suggestibility, to the point of mind control.
Immediately after finding that out, Dr. Banner had shut down his lab, collected all of the related notes, and destroyed all evidence of his last three years of advances. He then started running after the company branding him a dangerous madman. Only his fiancé knew the truth, but Bruce had left Betty behind for her own safety. It was shortly after his escape that he realized that this wouldn't stop the corporation completely - there had been other scientists working with him who still knew the results of the experiments - so he began working to counter it.
Tony stopped and peered in at a sleeping wildcat whose fur was turning gray in places. According to Bruce, this was the first one to really test his compound.
The experiments had started with mice, but getting clean ones on the road was a long process and they escaped easily. Even hopeless and hunted, he kept trying, making progress from the few that he was able to keep through his travels. This cat, however, had found the scientist one night as a cub and hadn't left him since. Of course, Bruce hadn't realized exactly which species it was when he first adopted the kitten, but quickly came to that realization when it grew to the size of a dog.
Always cautious, he had only started feeding the chemicals to the cat after successfully testing it on a particularly hardy mouse. It just so happened that the training he was giving it was more easily explained when he introduced himself as a beast tamer. He was probably the only lion tamer who had accidentally taken the job.
Footsteps approached from behind him and Tony turned to face the man who summoned him up here with a grin. "Brucie!"
While the wildcat gave a toothy yawn, the ringmaster's smile fell into a frown. He knew the look on Bruce's face - tense and worried as he removed his glasses to rub at his eyes. That was the same look he had worn when Tony had cornered him that first time they'd met, still worried that he was going to be turned in to the police. The ringmaster had offered him a home instead.
Placing his free hand on his hip, Bruce stood and rubbed at his brow in a nervous gesture, glasses swinging as if trying to massage away a headache back. Tony's eyes were drawn to the crumpled papers that stuck out of the other man's pocket, currently trying to escape the confines of the black pants they were stuffed into.
Quickly realizing what had caught the inventor's attention, Bruce pulled the letter out and attempted to smooth the wrinkles out a little before handing it over. "Here, take a look."
A quick adjustment to his tinted spectacles later and Tony was speed reading his way through the missive, important information beginning to scroll across the top of the lenses as he did so. The cat wrangler gave an aggravated sigh and turned to start pacing, feeling as trapped as his more skittish animals currently did. Sensing the mood, the wildcat lifted its head and started watching its trainer. Tony distantly noticed that many of the other nearby cats were behaving similarly.
As if needing to have Tony understand faster, Bruce summarized the letter aloud, "They aren't operating in America anymore, Tony. They moved it almost three years ago, now. Even though they left quite a bit of their company here and are still looking for me, they've been in Europe."
He ran his fingers through his hair as Tony finished the letter, continuing, "You have to take me back, there is no way that they won't get word of a man who controls wild cats as easily as I do. They'll investigate just to try and steal from what the company will view as 'the competition'." Hazel eyes looking a bit more green than usual in this light, Bruce stared at his boss, trying to convey how serious this was.
Tony just snorted as he held Betty's letter back out to her beau. "After all that convincing I had to do to convince Dr. Selvig to let you use his passport? I don't think so. Ah, ah," he held up a hand to stop his protests. "No. It's been five years since you escaped. Why would they ever think you, renowned scientist and fugitive, would ever join a circus?" Tony raised his brow at the frowning doctor.
"You never expressed any interest in it before. Hell, you wouldn't even be here now if you didn't have to. That's why you wear a mask and use a stage name. Also, you do realize that not showing up might be just as much of a tip off as going through with it, right?"
The biologist stilled, locking eyes with the quietly watching wildcat, obviously thinking over the implications of actually getting what he wanted.
Acknowledging the fact that his friend needed a moment, Tony instructed JARVIS to start scanning the radio waves for news on the Tesser Corporation and its movements in Europe. Apparently there was quite a lot of information; their main base was located in the south western part of Germany but they had many locations across the continent and were making connections with many up and coming businesses.
Information kept scrolling, but Tony caught Bruce relaxing out of the corner of his eye. Ordering the AI to put that all in a file for him to go through later, Tony turned back to his science buddy. Both the wildcat and Bruce were still holding their staring contest, but the man seemed much calmer now. The cat looked away first, going back to its nap, and the fugitive looked back at Tony.
"You are going to take precautions. No seeking out trouble while they're lurking just around the corner and you're still taking those pills, no objections. They might go after big names like yours."
Brilliant grin flashing in the lamplight, Tony gestured to himself as he replied incredulously. "Please, I'm always careful." Bruce took a moment after replacing his glasses to give the other man an unconvinced look over the rims, but there was a smile lingering around his lips as he did so.
Relenting, Tony waved his hand. "Alright, so maybe just a majority of the time." That was as good as Bruce was going to get, he realized, even as he shook his head fondly at Tony's antics.
"I'm serious, Tony. Watch out for these guys. They have no qualms when it comes to taking lives." Another hard look accompanied this warning before Bruce turned, looking towards a particularly loud roar.
He looked back at Tony apologetically only to have the ringmaster wave him off, "Go tend to your scaredy cats, Brucie. I've got this handled."
The shorter man opened his mouth to deliver another warning, before giving another small sigh and turning to leave. Before he did, Bruce pointed behind the ringleader. "You might want to try leaving in that direction. Our goofballs have been a little too quiet lately. Go check and see if they're up to something." With that parting remark, he left Tony contemplating whether or not he would take the other man's advice.
Looking at the time, he decided to go ahead and take a look; he had a little bit more time to waste before he had to get back to monitor the experiment for the cockpit. Unfortunately, it probably wasn't enough time to successfully locate Loki and get back up front, so Tony would have to settle with the dynamic duet.
It didn't take him long to find upon the pair he was looking for; tucked away behind some spare crates in a cage in the back, a sleek black jaguar lay pawing at the polished legs of a spiderlike construct. Dummy was keeping his friend entertained while the jungle cat was trapped in its enclosure, much like he had been doing for the past ten months.
The Jag's tail twitched lazily when it looked over at the ringmaster, but went back to lackadaisically swiping at Dummy's legs as the robot tapped two of them on the ground between them in a randomized pattern.
Knuckles rapping out a short counterpoint to the tapping, Tony complained jokingly when the robot turned his optics towards his creator, "You spend more time with him then you do at the lab. Am I going to have to build a replacement for you just so I don't get lonely while I work?"
Tony jumped as a smooth, accented voice answered his question.
"Only you would feel lonely in the middle of a circus, Monsieur." Ever a picture of effortless elegance, Loki was leaning lightly on a cage cater-corner to The Jag's.
Taking a moment to enjoy the way black leather pants outlined the other man's legs, currently crossed at the ankle, and how he could see a bit more pale flesh then usual through the loose ties of the green shirt, Tony didn't even try to hold back his leering smile.
"I'm never lonely when you're around, Sunshine."
Loki gave a coy half smile at the compliment, letting his eyes trail over the engineer's body as the other walked over to him. "Is that so? Well, you are lucky that I find your so presence enjoyable then."
"Lucky? I'll have you know that this is raw talent and skill, no luck involved," came the snarky reply. Tony must have walked right by the magician when he arrived; he wasn't sure how that was possible with the way Loki always held his attention.
Trailing his fingers affectionately down the curve of Loki's face to his jaw, Tony felt its movement as the other spoke once more, "Is that what you call it, Monsieur?"
Tony's face was perfectly serious as he answered frankly, "Yes." This was followed by a relatively quick, but thoroughly enjoyable kiss. Not allowing himself to become distracted, especially when he had started it, Tony pulled back to look the now smirking man in the eyes. "Now, tell me what's wrong."
Confusion met Tony's concerned request, Loki's brow furrowing slightly as he tried to figure out where the question had come from. As short pause stretched, The Jag took the opportunity to finally pin down one of Dummy's legs to give it a tongue bath before the magician responded.
"What makes you think that something is wrong?" Though he hid it well, Tony could tell Loki was a bit impressed at his perceptiveness and maybe a bit curious about how he had figured out something was bothering Loki in the first place.
With a breath of air that might have been the beginning of a laugh if it had more energy behind it, Tony looked amused by this as he answered. "You thought I wouldn't notice? They don't call me a genius for nothing, Sunshine."
Loki turned his head sharply a few degrees to the left while narrowing his eyes at the brunet as he gave a sharp smirk. "Not all geniuses are terribly observant and I never liked making assumptions. So, what exactly do you think you have noticed Monsieur?"
Tony gave a grand gesture to the room at large, ending with his hand pointed at the now napping (possibly cuddling, if the purring and gentle whistles were anything to go by) pair behind him.
"That lately you've been coming to visit the odd couple when you want to think. And, here you are. So," bars creaked as Tony leaned casually against the cage across from the magician, but his sharp eyes never left the other man's face, betraying his concern. "What's going on in that magnificent head of yours?"
Loki held that gaze for a moment before looking away without answering the question, lips pressed together. As if unable to keep still as his mind worked, the elegant man twisted and pulled at the rings that adorned his hands.
It served a dual purpose, distracting Tony nicely while giving the magician something to do. Tony wasn't fooled, but lowered his eyes to the jewelry none the less, hoping to catch some new insights into what each of the multifunctional rings did.
He had discovered the properties of only four of the rings that Loki used to perform his magic tricks so far, not bad if the five that he had seen originally completed the collection. Unfortunately, Tony had seen at least four different rings, worn both along and interchangeably with the others. The ringmaster was beginning to believe that there were even a few red herrings slipped in there and that this guessing game might go on forever, especially if Loki was still making them as Tony suspected. He wasn't going to complain, he wasn't going to want to let Loki go anytime soon anyway, this just added another layer of excitement to their interactions.
So far he had figured out the case's ring, which the trickster had given away purposefully, a pair that acted as flint and steel (possibly having a different ability hidden on the opposite sides or within each, but Tony couldn't be sure), and one that unfolded into an incredibly useful set of lock picks when removed and bent apart.
That last set had actually inspired him to make a set of his own picks that fit around the lenses of his spectacles. It also challenged him to make some better locks. So far, Loki was winning, more often inside of places they were going to meet than waiting outside like he should have been. Tony suspected that JARVIS had something to do with these unauthorized entries sometimes as well.
Clicking was coming from the one he was currently twisting Tony noted, shifting a bit to get a better look. The noise abruptly cut off when Loki gave in and voiced his concerns.
"I am unused to second guessing my decisions, but now that we are finally in the air, I find I am unable to stop myself from doing so." He met Tony's understanding gaze, looking like he needed reassurance. "Returning home, is it really something I can still do? After running so foolishly before and refusing to go back?" He then turned away frowning slightly, as if angry at himself for saying so much, for letting his fears be known.
It tore Tony up inside to hear Loki's doubt – listening to his voice trail off to a whisper when he thought of how he wanted to go home, the cracks telling of how afraid he was to try for fear of rejection. Though, in the back of his mind, he celebrated the fact that the magician would even be this open with him. They had shared many a night together over the past months and Tony wasn't known for being quiet at the best of times.
But while he had eventually covered almost all topics of note in his past, Loki had only spoke when he had a similar experience to relate. Tony's had ranged from his ever working father - Howard who was always present but never there, to Stane - the father figure who had betrayed him in so many ways, to the fact that there was still someone who wanted his advanced inventions and the power source that was left to him by his late father or, barring that, wanted his death.
In return, Loki had traded his own experiences with authority figures - a man who was a businessman first, father second, betrayal - a town that believed the lies of a suspicions man who'd been proved wrong many times before, and ongoing threats - Laufey wasn't known for forgiveness. The rest of his past remained a mystery, but the fact that the other thought he could confide in Tony was heartening as well as heartbreaking.
"Loki," the rest of the sentence didn't want to come, so instead Tony uncrossed his arms, holding one partially up in the magician's direction and waving him closer. "Come here."
Loki, apparently too caught up in his own thoughts to process what the other man wanted, gave a small grunt in surprise when callused hands reached out and pulled him across the narrow gap and into Tony's embrace. A moment passed, Loki stiff in the engineer's arms, before raised his own to return the hug.
"If you don't want to see them, we don't have to. It's that easy," Tony murmured reassuringly, holding him tight. Pulling back a second later, but still keeping him in his grasp, the ringmaster met Loki's eyes once more. "We could easily skip traveling to the Scandinavian countries and just tour the rest of the continent to look for the Bucking Broncos. But, if you think even that is too close, just tell me. I will turn this ship south and we'll tour Central and South America instead."
"But, Mister Rog-" The inventor cut off Loki's surprised protest easily.
"Steve is, amazingly, an extremely nice guy. Shocking, I know. But, that means he'll understand if I tell him we'll have to put off the search for a little while longer." Winding a hand through the magician's neat black hair, Tony pressed their foreheads together gently. "It isn't a sin to change your mind, Sunshine. No one is forcing you to visit your parents; you are the only one who gets to make that choice."
That got him one of those slow, yet magnificently warm, brilliant smiles in return, the sunrise smiles that Tony had nicknamed him for, not that anyone else had to know that. (In fact, their whole relationship was pretty much an open secret within the troupe. They hadn't come right out and told anyone, but a majority of them suspected something was going on.)
Loki gave a chuckle and remarked, "We seem to be having these types of conversations quite often, you realize."
"Eight months since our last one after Stane, and you call it quite often," Tony observed, snorting. "You might want to revise your definition there, Sunshine. I hear that most couples have these touching moments at least once a month. Judging by the others in the troupe, we are either way behind or incredibly advanced." Tony received a wicked smirk in return.
"I know which option I prefer. But we could try to catch up, if you would rather. I can think of something rather touching, Monsieur."
Tony couldn't resist that daring smirk, especially when Loki chose that moment to slowly wet his lips with his tongue. "You just read my mind."
Tilting his head for a better position, Tony pulled the magician in easily for another kiss. This one threw 'quick' out the window, each participant taking their time and enjoying the other man's presence before Tony inevitably grew impatient. Loki smirked into the kiss, always enjoying the fact that he was usually the 'winner' of this game, and then allowed the inventor's tongue entrance.
It was around this time that Tony's hand found the spot it was looking for, brushing across a few ribs to start running short fingernails along the magician's spine underneath the hiked up green shirt. Pressing in to the kiss as he groaned lowly at the sensation, Loki moved even closer, crowding the businessman against the empty cage behind him.
He cursed quietly as he fought with the buckles running up the showman's jacket just off center, grumbling under his breath about how Tony should have taken time to dress more casually after departure.
Chuckling lowly, Tony abandoned his hold on the other man's head to still the hands working at his jacket.
"Leave it for now, Sunshine. I still have to start up that experiment-" he cut off with a groan as teeth grazed his neck, nipping below his ear, only just light enough to be called gentle. He released the other man's hands to wind his fingers back through Loki's previously mussed hair even as his nails scraped long raised marks along the other's back, forgetting what he was trying to say.
Hands free to start again, Loki finished undoing the last of the golden buckles and pushed open the red jacket to move his hands against the wonderfully familiar body hidden underneath the shirt and vest that were now exposed. They would come next, Tony vaguely noted while the rest of his mind focused on the sensations the wonderful man in front of him was bestowing upon his body, but for now Loki seemed satisfied with simply enjoying the varied noises and reactions he could pull from Tony with some light touches and a few well-placed strokes of his tongue.
It was a good thing the engineer was confident that the yowling cats would cover their activities or else he might have been embarrassed at the moans that were teased from his throat. Distantly, in a small, far off part of his mind that could still think rationally under Loki's assault, Tony wondered why the odd couple in the cage a few yards away weren't protesting as much as they usually did. He pushed that thought away even further and decided to simply enjoy the moment while it lasted.
Tugging lightly at the magician's hair, Tony pulled Loki back up from his neck to claim that wickedly talented mouth with his own once again, easily taking control of the kiss. Tony opened his eyes again a moment later only to jump slightly then wince as his head hit the brass bars he was still leaning against.
"That was completely uncalled for, JARVIS."
"I do apologize, Sir, but Mister Rhodes is threatening to start the next stage without you if you do not return to the cockpit in the next five minutes."
Obviously realizing that their fun was postponed now that Tony had been returned to his previous train of thought, Loki removed his hands and began buckling the jacket once more.
Dealing with the cacophony of flashing lights and symbols on his spectacles, Tony looked down and attempted to assist Loki, only to have his hands pushed away.
"I could do it on my own, you know. I do have a bit of experience dressing myself, having done it every morning for quite some time." Tony raised his brow, but didn't try to help again. Instead, he returned the favor by trying to finger-comb Loki's hair in to something like his usual style. He received an amused look for his trouble.
Finished with the clasps, Loki smirked as he ran a hand down the ringmaster's neck, "I had forgotten that this jacket does not possess the high collar your previous one had. I am afraid these marks will not be hidden so easily."
He didn't look sorry in the least but, right at that moment, Tony wasn't too worried about it. His womanizing reputation had taken quite the hit over the past year or so, these bruises would have the gossips going for at least a week, wondering who it might have been.
Tony grinned, hoping they'd try to pin it on Rhodey again because that last time was hilarious.
"Don't worry about it, Sunshine." He leaned forward to press one last kiss to those slightly swollen lips. "I have to go do science right now and you are more than welcome to join me."
The sultry grin he received in response made his heart rate jump. "I would rather experience how it feels from the comfort of your bed." Loki lured him into a steamy kiss before pulling away and walking towards the exit.
"If you are lucky, you may just find me there once you have finished with your experiment, Monsieur."
With that parting remark, the magician disappeared down the ladder leading to the residential quarters. Tony would have stood there for a moment if JARVIS hadn't spoken up, "Two minutes and counting, Sir."
"Damn it, tell him to wait! I'm on my way!" He started jogging to the other exit that was a fair bit closer to the cockpit, "How far out are we, anyway?"
"Over eighty-one miles at the moment, Sir. I tried to get your attention once we hit the seventy-five mile marker, but it seems as though you were indisposed." Tony rolled his eyes at the AI's tone.
"You know, I don't recall programing either you or Dummy for sass."
Dry as the Sahara, JARVIS returned, "You programmed us to learn, Sir, and we have learned from the best."
Rolling his eyes, Tony slid down another the last ladder and started jogging down the metal grates towards the front.
Stepping back over the threshold to the cockpit, Tony went straight to business. "You better not have started the party without me, Rhodey!"
There wasn't a shred of laughter in the flat look the human cannonball shot his way. "You didn't teach me what any of those buttons did. If you hadn't come back in time I would have started guessing." Rhodey wasn't joking. Tony could see that the human cannonball knew that it was a safe bet - any correct guesses would begin the process and any wrong ones would be stopped by JARVIS.
"See, and that is why I can't allow you to have nice things." Between flipping switches, turning dials, and moving slides to prepare the jump, Tony took a moment to press some of his buddy's buttons as well. Another moment, filled with clicking and an eye roll from Rhodey, and they were ready to go.
"Alright, let's do this properly, JARVIS. It is June first, Eighteen sixty-nine. We are starting the first test, at exactly four oh four in the afternoon, at my mark. Three, two, one, mark."
Pressing an innocuous button vaguely to the left of center on the panel, none of the symbols there made any sense to Rhodey when he had inspected it before so he was going to go by location, Tony gave a grin as he heard the engines start to rev.
"Come on, baby. Don't disappoint me now."
Rhodey braced himself against the seat, but looked a bit disappointed when they only felt a slight pull of the acceleration from the changing speed. A few seconds later the sound died down to a constant drone and the 'pilot' looked around incredulously.
"That's it?"
Tony looked personally insulted by the question. "'That's it?' Of course that's it! No one would want to use it if they had to constantly feel the speed pressing down on them during the acceleration process and once you've reached that speed, you can't feel the acceleration because the speed is constant! We aren't flying into space, Rhodey, just reaching higher speeds than most airships can. That doesn't change the essence of flying itself, just the way we go about it."
A disbelieving huff of air came from the inventor as he shook his head at the other's wild imagination and pointed to the speedometer on Rhodey's console. "Fine. See for yourself, oh nonbeliever."
Even after enduring all of that science babble which had just been thrown at him explaining the physics behind it quite clearly, Rhodey still gaped at the number the meter displayed. "Two hundred and twenty miles an hour?! That's a hundred more than Andrews got with his unmanned balloon got a few years ago! At this rate we'll be there by-"
Tony cut in as his friend scrambled to try and calculate their arrival time. "By eight tomorrow morning, after we slow back down for those last seventy-five miles." He was increasingly smug as he continued, "That will make our total flight time about seventeen hours, blowing the last record for air travel from New York to London of thirty five hours clear out of the water!" The excitement was catching soon the two of them were grinning like loons at one another.
"This is absolutely fantastic, Tony. I can see why you've been calling it an engineering marvel now!"
A white wisp flew past the window as the airship tore through the skies and Tony watched it drift past as he thought about commenting that it had always been a marvel, before letting the comment slide. He had more important things to attend to now that his experiment had started and was running successfully.
"You don't have to stay up here if you don't want to, though you are welcome to stay. JARVIS will keep an eye on it until morning."
Rhodey turned away from the amazing view out the front windows to give the inventor a confused look. "After all of that, you're leaving already?"
"Yep. It was really hot up with those animals, so I'm going to head up to my room and get out of these show clothes. After that I'm probably going to head to the lab to finish up that radio earpiece I've been working on." Gesturing to his clothes as he said this, Tony started to walk away with a smile. He'd always enjoyed blending the truth to himself.
"Have fun!"
Tony narrowed his eyes at Rhodey's smirk before catching the other's glance at his neck. He nearly rolled his eyes before returning with a leer, knowing that it would make the other wary of possibly becoming the target of those rumors once again. The ringmaster had endured many a lecture about how hard it was to get a date when all the girls thought the dark skinned man was dating Tony Stark.
Both he and Loki had been rather quiet about it so far, especially when out in public, but he was sure their close friends could see how much happier they were together; Tony himself had never been as productive and excited to be productive before those hickeys started showing up just under his collar.
Down the hall and taking a slightly different route then last time to avoid any possibility of running in to Thor or his excited girlfriend, Tony made his way easily back up the ladder to the residential area and over to open his door.
The bed was mussed but, sadly, empty. He let out a small sigh of disappointment as he kicked the door closed behind him only to smirk as he heard the lock click shut.
"Would you like assistance getting out of your clothes, Monsieur?" Skilled hands toyed with the buckles on the jacket.
Tony grinned as he unfastened the jacket easily, shrugging it off and tossing it aside before grabbing the hands that were wandering across his chest and undoing the buttons on his vest. Turning, the engineer easily switched his grip to pin Loki back against the metal door.
He took the chance to lavish a few open mouthed kisses on the magician's bare neck before releasing those pale wrists to run his hands down Loki's naked chest, murmuring, "How could I say no when you ask so nicely, Sunshine?"
Back again with the second installment of this crazy idea. Thanks once again to thinkofthegunstheysell for the wonderful prompt, I have loved every second of this story! I hope you all find it just as enjoyable! :)