Notes: I'm posted a bit earlier than I had intended but, thanks to all the feedback, I didn't want to keep you lovely people waiting. So there you go, chapter 2.

Loki really had no idea why he'd chosen to go into that particular coffee shop on that particular morning. He'd simply woke up earlier than he'd been expecting, lounging around on his couch for a bit while still dressed in a pair of forest green cotton pants, and watching an early morning talk show on cable. He didn't even know why he decided to get dressed in a clean pair of black jeans and green V-necked t-shirt and walk the several blocks down there at that time.

There were a lot of much closer shops he could have gone into that severed just as over-priced coffees as that one but for some reason it was the one he chose to enter, and that table he chose to glance at. It just so happened to have that particular man sitting at it, and that particular man trying, and failing, to hide his gawking.

Loki's lips twitched with amusement, more than a little used to that sort of reaction, and stole an apprising look.

He wasn't bad looking in the least and very traditionally masculine, boasting a t-shirt of a band that Loki was fairly familiar with and holding a cup of what was probably plain black coffee. There was a scone sitting on the table with a single bite taken out of it so far. Loki was more interested in the man that it belonged to, which was interesting because he'd barely had any sort of interest in anyone.

Whether it was a side effect of his occupation or just his mentality in general but Loki Laufeyson wasn't overly interested in relationship of any kind. He knew how to use his sex appeal to drive a hard bargain and get the job done with just a few gestures and words but he couldn't honestly say that he enjoyed it. In fact he'd come to hate the whole matter entirely.

So it was sufficed to say he'd been surprised with himself that he even felt the urge to stop and share words with the man in the AC/DC t-shirt. He blinked once, shook his head and moved into the receptionist line, tapping his fingers on his narrow hip as he waited. He was half-tempted to steal a glance over his shoulder at the man but bit down on the urge and reminded himself that, unless he was being paid for it, it wasn't worth the effort to engage with him.

"Haven't seen you in here before." Spoke the blond woman behind the counter and he was completely aware of her eyeing him.

"That would be because I haven't been here." Loki responded tersely, digging into his back pocket for his wallet.

The woman, Anna as her name tag displayed, managed to only just hide her flash of irritation, "Right. So what can I get for you then?"

"I'll just take a…" Loki glanced at the menu and then back at Anna, "Blueberry scone."

"Anything else?" She asked, already tapping away that register.

"No, just that, thank-you." Loki handed her three dollars for the food and took the change before walking over to pick-up line, feeling irritation of his own build as a young woman wearing glasses and sporting a mop of brown hair conversed with a patron. "Oh for the love of…"

"Yeah, sorry, she does that."

Loki did a spectacular job at pretending that he'd hadn't nearly jumped from the voice that suddenly sounded at his ear and turned to see the man standing next to him, grinning in a way that could have been considered sympathetic. After a moment Loki managed to reply, "How troublesome. How in the world does she manage to keep her job?"

The man laughed brightly, looking over at the woman in question, "You know, I was wondering that myself. I really should ask her boss about it."

"Perhaps she's in the know." Loki supplied helpfully.

"Darcy Lewis is a college student in need of 6 credits. I don't think 'in the know' is the right words for it." The man shook his head then stretched out a hand towards him, "Tony Stark, I figured I should probably introduce myself."

Loki took the offered hand, gave it a single, firm, shake and pulled it away with more aggression than he'd meant to give. "Loki."

Tony raised an eyebrow in disbelief and asked, "Loki? Whose parents name their kid 'Loki'?"

"Mine evidentially, and I think the line is moving finally." Loki replied and added with just a hint of derision, "Is there a reason you're talking to me, Mr. Stark? I didn't think rich CEO's had time to mingle with the little folk."

"I…" Tony was gaping at him again but this time from a different sort of stupefaction. "Well, that was direct."

Loki snorted. He was well aware of whom the man was now; now that he had a name to go with the face. He was surprised he hadn't recognized him in the sooner. Tony Stark was ridiculously well known in the world; originally a weapons dealer, then inventor in technology of other kinds and finally to a man investing in the clean energy business. You'd have to have been living under a rock not to know the name. It had significantly dropped his interest.

"I like being direct." Loki smirked slightly, enjoying the confusion written all over Stark's face and stepped up to the counter.

"Hey, Tony, who's your friend?" The bespectacled woman asked with a sly grin that sent a jolt of further irritation through him.

"We just met." Loki informed 'Darcy' promptly with a roll of his eyes. God, was everyone in this city so damn nosey? Oh, right, they were. "If you're finished with the pleasantries, could I have my order?"

Darcy made a face and stomped off to check on it.

"You're not very good with people." Tony stated, unable to keep the words from escaping.

"Actually, it's quite the contrary, Mr. Stark. If you got to know me you'd learn I'm very good with people." Loki smiled sweetly, making his face look impossibly young and innocent before it quickly dropped into a sour expression. "However, I am not on the clock and its 10 in the morning. So you'd excuse me for not being in the most pleasant of moods."

Tony cringed but it was obvious that even with Loki's snark he wasn't about to go running yet. "Look, I don't know what I did to piss you off. I just wanted to talk. That's all. No alternative motives here."

"Yes, I'm sure that's all it is." Loki picked up his scone when Darcy reappeared with it, ignoring her, and turning away. He took a bite of the pastry and sighed, rubbing at the bridge of his nose with strained patience, "I'm not interested, Mr. Stark. I might have been if you weren't who you are but as of at this moment I am not. So if you'd please let me be…"

Loki slid past him without another word, gripping his food in one hand and opening one of the glass exit doors with the other, letting in a burst of chilly fall air before going into it himself. Maybe he'd overreacted to what Stark's true intentions might have been and in hindsight his rudeness hadn't been needed but it had been his gut instinct to lash out and run before it got any farther.

'Well that…could have gone better', Tony thought after watching Loki disappear through the doors. He stood there, mind reeling over the events that had just occurred. He'd just been, more or less, verbally bitch-slapped and turned down before he'd even really attempt to make a move. That was a kick to the pride. What the hell was that guy's problem?

Tony turned and sent a glare at Darcy as the woman burst into laughter, obnoxious snorting and all. "What's so damn funny?"

"Oh god, you just got burned so bad!" Darcy managed to gasp out between gales of laughter, clutching her stomach. "The look on your face is priceless. You can't buy this sort of entertainment!"

"Yes, thank-you for your input, Darcy." Tony grumbled, running a hand through his hair. Not only had he been dramatically turned down but now a laughingstock for 20-something-year-old college students. A glance at Anna and everyone else told him that they'd been witnessing the whole thing too. "Could we please move on? Who was he anyways?"

"No idea." Darcy shrugged, wiping down the counter with a rag and casually adding, "I had no idea you were into guys what with the amount of tall blond bimbo chick's you've chased after."

"I'm not, well, not normally…" Tony didn't know why he was putting up with this when he could walk away easily enough. "How's this any of your business?"

He moved back to his table, grabbed his cup of coffee and scone, and left. This was not what he had gotten out of bed for; in fact this was more reasons for him having NOT gotten out of bed. If he'd known he'd have been humiliated in front a store full of people and two gossiping hens he wouldn't have bothered to do so. It was all going to come back to bite him in the ass in some way, shape or form. Even his food seemed less tasty now.

His mood only got worse when he walked back into Stark Tower only to spot her sitting on one of the couches in the entry room, book in hand, and looking to the entire unsuspecting world as a beautiful, serene woman dressed impeccably in a skirt and blazer. Little did they all know, however, was that Natasha Romanoff was a she-devil in the guise of a 5'4 red-haired pixie. Tony Stark happened to know better and flinched when she smiled.

"Have a good walk, Stark?" She asked, not even looking up from her reading, turning a page with a manicured nail.

"Yep, never better." Tony piped up cheerily, smiling through his nervousness. There was a reason she was head of his security. He'd once watched her take down a man twice her size with one hand. Tony had about pissed himself in shock and made it a personal mission in life to not upset her. "So what's going on in the security world, Miss Romanoff?"

"The usual. Barton should be here at any time now." Natasha turned another page and somehow made it sound intimidating. "He assured me he wouldn't be late."

"That's, err, good." Tony coughed, quickly drinking more of his coffee having finished the scone on the way back.

No one knew if Natasha was dating Clint Barton and no one was willing to ask. It was a complete secret. What wasn't, however, was the matter of Clint being just as frightened of her as everyone else, if not more so. They'd gone through the same sort of training together and there were some horror stories that, like whether or not they were an item, no one wanted to validate as the truth. So everyone went on their merry way, pretending that they knew nothing at all that could potentially get them killed in the middle of the night.

Tony shuffled over to her carefully as if she'd lash out then and there, "So why are you guys showing up here?"

"Just because it's your day off doesn't mean it's automatically ours as well." Natasha intoned, finally glancing up at him with her big, unassuming eyes. "Do you really want to get rid of me that badly?"

'Don't fall for the eyes, Tony, don't look directly in them. They might steal your soul.' Tony reminded himself and quickly looked anywhere else but at her face. "Just...wondering."

"Alright, Pepper wanted me to make sure the building was secure enough." Natasha admitted, reading again.

"Secure enough for what?" Tony scratched at his head, curious now. What other things did he come up with the last time he was drunk?

"Pepper's going about organizing a Halloween party for next month. She says it's good for PR."

Tony blanched. Oh good, a party. That was just fantastic. "Oh, I see."

"Maybe you should sit down, Tony; you're looking a bit pale." Natasha pointed out dryly. "She said you'd try to get out of it."

"I'm not doing anything. Nothing at all." Tony countered and turned around, muttering, "She never even mentioned a party..."

Who all would be invited to this? Police, high ranking socialites? Maybe he could sneak out and hire a stripper. No, that wouldn't work, Pepper would skin him alive. So would Natasha. Bad idea. Tony's mind went back to Loki. If he could invite him to this thing maybe it wouldn't suck so badly. Then again the guy had made his opinion on him very clear. Then again since when did Tony ever give up on a chase that easily?

Tony had gone back to his shop, turning on music loud enough that he couldn't even hear his own thoughts and went to work on a latest project. Still his mind

went back to Loki until he'd finally gotten frustrated enough with it that he gave up on work and went straight for the liquor cabinet. Turning to booze wasn't a great move on his part because apparently he made plans when he was drunk.

This thought came just in time for Pepper to show up at the door, knocking one before entering the code and coming into the room. "So Miss Romanoff broke the news to you, I presume?"

"Yep, she did. So when did I make this plan?" Tony poured a glass of scotch, drank it fast, wincing at the bite, and then poured another glass.

"Last month. Yes, you were drunk, but we all agreed it was a good idea so we're going with it." Pepper sighed, watching him down his second glass of Scotch, "Rough morning?"

"You could say that." Tony groused, sitting back down at his work bench and continuing what he'd been doing prior to Pepper's arrival. "I struck out when I wasn't even trying."

"Too bad." Was Pepper's unsympathetic reply, "Did you ever think that not every girl is going to fall for your charms?" Pepper lightly took the glass out of Tony's fingers even with his protesting. "Please don't tell me you tried after Anna again. You know what happened the last time you did."

"No, it wasn't Anna and before you ask it wasn't Darcy either." Tony countered swiftly when Pepper made a face and cutting off any remark. "It…wasn't a woman."

This time Pepper's eyebrows were the ones to raise, "Again?"

"…you don't sound as surprised as you should."

It didn't happen very often but every once in a while Tony did something unusual and that unusual thing was occasionally a guy. It hadn't happened in quite a while but there was always a chance of it happening again, though he being sober for it was a change. Pepper handed him back his drink, "So why this one?"

"I don't know. He was something. He'd never even been in there before. He was tall, pale, dark-haired, and had the most vibrant dark green eyes I've ever seen. All I did was talk to him and as soon as I said my name he turned into king of the ice people."

Pepper let out a chuckle and handed Tony a screwdriver, "He really must have been something. Did you get a name?"

"Loki; he didn't give me a last name." Tony tapped his fingers on the glass in thought.

"He sounds familiar actually." Pepper murmured, moving back towards the door, "I'll do some asking around, though why I'd want to encourage this I have no idea."

"Thank-you, Miss Potts." Tony smiled, feeling better. "I needed this."

"If you say so, Mr. Stark."

Loki had gone right back home after the coffee shop and plopped down on the couch with a sigh. The entire walk back to his apartment had been filled with thoughts about Tony Stark. Why was that? The man meant nothing to him, not really, and he was just another rich playboy who used and discarded women on a weekly basis. It was one of the reasons he'd left when he had. As he said before, if he wasn't getting paid for it why bother with the hassle.

"I should work tonight…." Loki murmured, absently flipping through TV channels without any real intention on watching anything. He normally didn't run two shifts in two days, using a day in between to rest himself up and relax, but now he needed something to keep his mind occupied. Letting groan he tossed the remote to the floor, watching it bounce off the carpet.

Loki frowned as his cell phone chose that moment to decide to ring and he dug it out of his jacket pocket, glancing at the number. Ah, there was work. He answered it, putting on the most pleasant tone he could muster and went through the basics as he had so many times before. It was all part of the game. Set up a location, go to it at the destined time, wait and then do the transactions. One rule he always went by beyond that, however, was to never bring work home with him. Home was his sanctuary, the one place he could be himself without worry.

After he'd hung up there was one thing he had to wonder; what was he going to do in the meantime? He had work tonight but he had several hours to kill before he needed to go there. Well, there was always shopping. He needed more food and it wouldn't kill him to splurge just a bit and buy himself a new set of clothing. It wasn't as if they were necessary but if it helped keep his thoughts at bay…

Loki stood up and stretched his arms above his head, letting out a low moan as several joints popped in his shoulders, releasing some of the built up tension. He normally would have would have gone through his routine in the morning, a routine that normally consisted of a light breakfast followed by stretches and various simple work-outs, but he'd slacked off.

With nothing much else to do he stripped off his clothing were he stood, stretching himself upwards so that he stood on the balls of his feet and then reached down to the floor, touching it with the tips of his fingers before repeating it ten times. When that was done he sat down to the floor, straightening his legs out in front of him and grabbing one of his feet while keeping his knees locked then did the same to the other.

He kept with the work out, moving into different positions until he felt as if he'd done enough. He was proud of the muscle he'd formed thanks to his strict diet and exercise routine, a routine he'd broken today much to his chagrin, and the only thing that marred it were the scars that ran down his back. They were faint, barely notable and he doubted his client even noticed them but he knew they were there.

The memory of their creation was one that would never leave his mind; it was there with him from the time he woke up to the time he went to bed each night. They were just another reason why he'd left home, another thing he couldn't take.

Loki ran a hand through his hair, loosening some strands from their positions. Okay, forget shopping. He needed a drink.