Notes: On an unrelated note, you are all sweethearts!

Loki spent the following day drifting in and out of sleep and fever-fueled dreams, dreams filled with his family and clients and, strangely enough, Tony. Somewhere, in the back of his mind he was aware of where he was and who he was with and that a part of him wished he was back home curled up in his blankets, in his own bed, and not on a couch, drenched in his own sweat. What probably bothered him the most about this situation was that he couldn't say more than a few words at any given time before he was drifting back into darkness.

He imagined that if Amora was here she'd be rubbing this into his face, telling him how she'd been right, that he'd been stupid to go traipsing around in a cold fall rain in the middle of the night after having consumed that much alcohol. He could picture his reaction just as well, which probably would have been a few none too nice words and a certain finger. How strange that his mental self was currently inebriated.

Loki lost all sense of time during that day, all the hours, minutes and seconds blurring together to the point he couldn't make heads or tails of it or even have the sense to ask what the time was. It was all the same to him as he blinked up at the owner of the house and saw a blurred face in his vision. He recalled the coolness of water sliding down his throat that was matched by the wetness on his forehead and, at one point, even the taste of soup.

When he did eventually come back into the land of the living and could function to a degree he found Tony sitting on a reclining chair at the other end of the couch, flipping through a magazine in what was probably complete and utter boredom. Loki stared at him for a moment as he removed the now lukewarm cloth, setting it down on the end table at his head, and carefully pulling himself into a sitting position. When Tony still hadn't looked in his direction or gave any indication he was aware that he was now conscious, Loki cleared his throat. It prompted him to wince at the scratchiness and reached for the glass of water that was sat near him.

Tony's head whipped around to look at him as his lips formed an 'o' shape. He greeted him with a very blunt, "You look like hell."

Loki's eyes narrowed in offense and he ran a hand through his tangled and damp hair, "Yes, thank-you for that. It's exactly what every bed-ridden person wishes to hear when they first wake up."

Tony at least had the decency to look apologetic then added, "So do you feel any better?"

"Only slightly." Loki sighed and his shoulders drooped. He looked at the glass in his hand for a moment before taking a sip out of it, the water soothing his sore throat enough that he could speak again, "How long was I out for?"

"About a day, off and on. I don't think you even registered anything." Tony told him, setting his magazine down over the arm of the chair and standing up. "You had one hell of a fever. I'm surprised I didn't have to take you to the ER."

In a way, Loki wasn't surprised. He'd never had a strong constitution growing up and had constantly been home from school, sometimes for days on end, as his weak body fought the illness. It had grown stronger in adulthood but whenever he did manage to get sick, it hit him like a ton of bricks. He'd taken to choosing his clients carefully and if any of them showed even the slightest sign of having anything transferable, he called the whole thing off. Money wasn't worth the days spent on his back recuperating and not from what one might think.

"…thank-you..." Loki murmured suddenly, looking down and fingering at the blanket draped over his legs. The words had come with some difficulty. He'd never been good at showing his appreciation but he felt the need to do so in this case. Here he was hogging a stranger's couch and taking up their time and barely showing any gratitude. He was being selfish again. Hadn't he been trying not to be?

"Not a big deal. I couldn't let you just stay out there and you…needed someone to help so I did." Stark sounded just as much of a stranger to caring as Loki was. He moved over to his side and pressed a hand to his forehead. The temperature was much lower than it had been which was a good sign. The fever had broken sometime during the night.

"I might have pegged you wrongly, Mr. Stark." Loki admitted, eyes flitting to his face. "I had assumed you were like all the others but the very fact that you allowed me to stay here proves it otherwise."

"I'm sure my reputation doesn't help. If it makes you feel better all I want is just to get to know you." Tony said with a shrugged and Loki noted that it sounded honest enough. "And please, call me Tony. 'Mr. Stark' makes it sound like you're addressing my dad."

"There's not much to tell, I'm afraid." Loki announced, setting his glass down and not saying anything regarding the addressing. "And, what little there is, is only for me, and a very select few, to know."

Tony's face told Loki that he clearly didn't believe him, "Can I at least get a last name, age, favorite color, anything?"

Loki replied with a smirk, "Green. My favorite color is green."

Tony rolled his eyes and picked up the abandoned glass, "Yes, well, I guess that's a start. I like red personally."

"I detest the color."

"And why is that?"

"That, Tony Stark, is my own knowledge." Loki's smirk had dropped and he sunk back down into the cushions as tiredness returned and his stomach rolled. "I have my specific reasons."

Tony sighed and shook his head, "You are incredibly difficult, I do hope you know."

Loki laughed and then coughed abruptly, lifting a fist to cover his mouth, "Of this I am intimately aware."

"How intimately is that exactly?" Tony made sure to throw on a naughty grin as he handed what was left of the water over to Loki who drank it down quickly. "I mean you make it all sound so illicit with that accent of yours. English right? Can you at least answer that?"

It was Loki's turn to roll his eyes as he tapped his fingers on the now empty glass, "Yes, Stark, I'm English originally. As is my whole family. Are you content now?"

"Just a bit. Trust me, there's a whole lot more questions eating at me and just begging to be asked." Tony took the glass back and walked towards the kitchen, "But for now I'll let it go."

"Thank the Gods for that little miracle." Loki muttered under his breath, fighting sleep after he was finally alone. As he lay there his mind ran over possible scenarios regarding what he was going to do now. Going home seemed the best option, lie in his own bed and just read and sleep until he was well enough to go back to work. However the question was, was he strong enough to get home? He couldn't even stay sitting up for very long.

It didn't take long for Tony to return and pull Loki out of his half-dozing state. The inventor sat the glass down on the coffee table and looked over the dark-haired man. Loki was looking better than he had been, the circles under his eyes lighter and some color back in his face, but the fact that he was already falling asleep again spoke volumes on the state of his current health. Better but not ready to go do…whatever it was that the guy did.

So far all Tony had learned about his puzzling house guest was that his favorite color was green and that he was English. Oh, and that he was stubborn as hell. That last one was the most obvious of the three. He really didn't know what he was supposed to do about him now. He could always drive him home easily enough and let him fend for himself once he was there but…all that curiosity. He had Loki here at his house and now could ask him those questions that had been plaguing him.

There was the small problem of the fact that Loki seemed to have no intention of giving him anymore information regarding himself. It was a pain in the ass and Tony hated not knowing things. He spent his life learning everything about anything, making the better mousetrap as it were. He'd amassed his fortune on questionable deeds and now spent his time trying to make things better. When Tony Stark wanted to know something, he learned it.

This, however, would probably take a while.

As if to answer his thoughts, Loki spoke up, "I should return home soon. I think I can do well enough on my own."

Tony made a dismissive sound, waving a hand at him, "Nope, not yet. You can barely sit up right now let alone do anything else. Though, I will say that you won't have to feel bad about hogging the couch. I have a guest room you can use."

Loki raised an eyebrow and pushed himself up onto his elbows, "Then why in the world have I been sleeping on this infernal thing?"

Alright, that was actually a really good question. Tony had to give him that one. While the couch was expensive and worked well enough as a couch, he couldn't imagine that it was overly comfortable to sleep on for long periods of time. It kind of made him feel bad that he hadn't offered it to Loki earlier. Kind of. On the other hand it was amusing, a sort of personal revenge on him for being so difficult.

"I forgot." Tony lied simply but Loki didn't look like he was buying what he was selling, "Look, it wouldn't inconvenience me, if that's what you're worried about, and as soon as you're well enough you can leave. No strings attached. We have a deal?"

Loki let out a long suffering sigh and dropped back down, rubbing at a temple as if he had a headache rising, which he probably did, "Alright, fine, but you can't expect me to use borrowed clothing for however long this lasts, do you?"

"No, probably not. So what now then?"

"I guess this means I'm going to have to give up my address." He said it like it he was giving someone particularly horrible news, and in this case, to himself. "And…my house key."

"Don't sound so enthusiastic; you might burst something." Tony replied sarcastically, watching the reluctance on Loki's face grow by the second, "I'm not going to go snooping around. I'll just go in, grab what you tell me to, and leave. No harm, no foul."

"Considering your overzealous need to know about me, I wouldn't put that past you to do so." Loki looked at him pointedly and he groaned, a sound that was startling to say the least, "It appears, however, that I have little choice in the matter. If you'd look in my coat you'll find my keys; it's the first one on the chain. Come back here and I'll give you a list of things to retrieve."

Tony nodded and went to do so. It took him a moment of digging and a second of surprise (why did Loki have a condom?) to find them before he returned. He jingled them loudly, watching as Loki flinched at the sound and sent him a nasty glare, "Found them."

"Was that entirely necessary, Stark?" Loki glowered and looked like he wanted to chuck something hard at Tony's head.

"Nope, but it was fun." Tony grinned and Loki's glare darkened, eyes becoming a very deep green sea of irritation, "What do you need me to get?"

Loki wrote down a list of belongings on a notepad Tony got for him and handed it to him. "This should be everything. I've even written down the locations so that you have little temptation to go sticking your nose in places it shouldn't be."

Tony could have made a comment at that but he chose to keep his mouth shut. It would have been too easy for Loki to throw the glass of water at him and with his luck he probably had good aim. Loki seemed the perfectionist sort and probably would have made sure everything was done correctly. "Just the basics and some clothes then?"

"Yes, that would be it." Loki's voice became lower and much more threatening as he met Tony's gaze steadily, " I will warn you now that if you touch one thing that you don't need to in my home and I find out; you can bet your fortune that I will personally saw off your hands in the most painful way that is humanly possible. Do we have an understanding, Mr. Stark?"

Was it just Tony or did the temperature in the room suddenly drop?

"Uh, yep, I understand loud and clear here." Jesus Christ, remind him not to piss him off. Tony didn't want to find a horse head in his bed. Maybe Loki worked for the Mob; it would certainly explain things.

"Good, I'm glad." Loki's voice returned to its normal tone and he snuggled down into the blanket, "Wake me when you return."

Loki was a diva.

Tony was surprised at the neighborhood that Loki lived in. He would have expected someone like him to have some really nice apartment in the swanky part of town. This wasn't and, to put it frankly, the place was a dump. At least going by the outside it was and Tony was actually kind of afraid to leave his car sitting there for some shady punk to come and jack it.

Thankfully, the inside of the abode was a lot better.

Loki's apartment was small and cozy with simple but elegant furnishings. A black couch pressed against the wall, accented with emerald green pillows with gold trim, a small flat screen TV at the other side of the room with a green candle on either side that looked like they were rarely burned and more for décor. A glass top coffee table was between the TV stand and the couch where a coaster sat and the walls held photos and paintings of various wintry scenes.

There were shelves holding fragile knickknacks but the most notable thing was all the books. Volumes and volumes of books, everything from the classics to newer novels sat on shelves completely free of dust as if he made sure every day that they were in perfect condition. It was probably driving Loki nuts that he wasn't here to take care of them. Tony had to admit that it was pretty damn impressive.

Tony walked the very short distance to Loki's room, bypassing the bathroom for the moment, and wasn't surprised to find more tomes. It was a much smaller amount than in the other room. Beyond the books there wasn't a whole lot more. The greens, gold, and black were all in the bedroom as well. The bed was still made and held various throw pillows that Tony had always found useless and beside it was a simple wooden nightstand holding a lamp. There were no family photos or photos of a lover. Nothing but a mostly bare table.

Come to think of it, Tony hadn't seen any photos at all besides the winter scenery.

Shaking off the odd feeling that something wasn't quite right about this discovery, Tony moved to the closet, opening it to find a collection of clothing all organized by style and color. Like everything else there seemed to be a large array of green. So the favorite color thing hadn't been a lie; Tony didn't think he'd seen this much green in his life. Loki hadn't specified what clothing to grab so he found a suitcase at the bottom of the closet and went about tossing in a few shirts of different styles, doing the same with pants.

Tony gathered up the rest of the items on the list, going into the spotless bathroom and grabbing the body wash, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, razor, and hair gel before deciding that he'd packed up everything that was called for. Loki couldn't get mad at him; he really hadn't touched anything beyond what he had to and everything would be as it had been. Tony mentally patted himself on the back for it. It had been really tempting to do some research while he was here. He had filed away the newly acquired knowledge that he'd learned just by looking at the design of the place and the lack of personal photos but beyond that he'd been good.

Tony zipped up the suitcase and hauled it down the stairs, mentally griping about the lack of an available elevator. When he reached the bottom he was surprised to see a gorgeous blond woman dressed in a pair of black skinny jeans and a jade green tank top which had an leather jacket had been thrown over it. She stared at him and then looked at the suitcase in his hands questioningly.

"Uh…hi?" Tony greeted lamely, trying very hard to not come off as suspicious looking and failing miserably. "It's not what it looks like?"

"You must be Tony Stark." The woman's voice was light and musical and she extended a hand with a smirk. "I'm Amora."

'This is just bizarre…' Tony thought as he took her hand and shook it, feeling a strange jolt of electricity shoot through his fingers. A weird but hot blond chick that knew his name and, from the way she said it, made him think she'd been expecting him to be here. "Nice to meet you?"

"Oh, relax would you; I don't bite. Well, I might but not without permission." Amora teased with a wicked grin that made Tony feel even more uncomfortable. "I'm a friend of Loki's, if you can call it that. I was going to check on him since I haven't heard from him since the bar. You wouldn't happen to know if he's up there, would you?"

"He's staying at my house due to being sick from that walk back." Tony sat the case down and folded his arms over his chest, "You aren't a very good friend."

"As I said, I'm as much as one he'll let me be." Amora reminded him, pushing her hair off her shoulders and emitting the flowery scent of her shampoo, "In any case, tell him to call me when he's well enough to do so."

When Amora disappeared, Tony shook his head. What a strange woman. It wasn't as if this was the first time he'd had a run-in with one. Trying to ignore the encounter, he picked up the suitcase and walked to his care, glad to see it still in one piece.

All in all, the trip to Loki's house had left him with yet more questions in need of answering.

When Tony returned to Stark Tower, he found Pepper sitting on a chair, waiting for him in the main entryway.

"I know why he looked so familiar now." Pepper proclaimed, standing up and brushing off her clothing. "I went down to the police department earlier to talk to Steve and our guest came into conversation."

Tony swallowed, "Okay…"

"He's a prostitute, Tony." The words were spoken quietly but they still echoed around Tony's head. There wasn't any anger or disgust in Pepper's voice but more a confirmation of her suspicions. "He's a pretty well-known one too. I'm actually kind of surprised neither one of us figured this out earlier."

"Oh." Tony spoke the single word as two and two came together and things made a bit more sense. It explained Loki's reluctance to tell him anything or even let him know where he lived. It made complete sense that the man didn't want to risk letting his occupation be known and risk getting in serious trouble. This also meant that Tony would have to let him know that he knew now and that was bound to cause drama.

And he was expecting this to be simple.