"Get naked."

Loki lifted one of those sexy little eyebrows.

"You said you liked me feisty," Tony replied as he tore off his Def Leppard tee and unzipped his pants, letting them and the black boxer briefs beneath them drop to the floor as he carried his laptop to his bed.

"Feisty, not demanding."

Tony grinned as Loki stood and stepped away from his desk and began stripping off his clothes in full view of the webcam. "Same difference," he mumbled, distracted by the way Loki's pale, lean body moved. He was already hard, but he had to hold himself back from helping himself out. Loki came back toward the camera, bending over the chair to look into the camera again.

"Shall I move to my bed?"

Tony was having trouble breathing evenly. "Yeah…" He waited, while Loki locked his bedroom door and clicked off his bedroom light, and finally carried his own laptop to his bed. "Your room is huge," Tony commented.

"Hmm. It is practically a mansion. I am fairly certain your own room is as large, if not larger."

"Sure…" Tony agreed numbly. His fingers had crept down, grazing along his inner thigh. How could watching someone settle themselves on their bed be sexy? Everything Loki does is sexy, he thought with a smirk.

"How many rooms does your home have?"

Tony's fingers paused. "…What? Loki…shut up. This is not sexy talk."

"Oh, I hadn't realized we had begun."

"Um, yeah," Tony said as his fingers resumed in their light stroking, crawling toward his arousal. "Are you lying down? Get comfortable. Put some pillows behind your head or back and make sure you lay the computer flat on the bed so you can see me and still, you know, touch yourself. 'Cause if you hit a sweet spot and kick your leg out, you might knock your laptop off the bed."

Loki sighed, rubbed his fingers across his forehead. "Is this your idea of what you so charmingly refer to as sexy talk?"

"I wish this was your hand instead of mine." Tony waited, grinned, when Loki's eyes snapped to his on the screen. Tony could see his eyes darken, his tongue peek out from the corner of his mouth.

"…Where…?" He asked finally.

Tony lowered the screen until his cock, with his hand wrapped around it, came into view. "Here." He stroked himself, slowly, for a few seconds before lifting the screen again. When he saw Loki again, the younger man was biting his bottom lip and Tony could tell by the way his arm muscles were moving that Loki had started to slowly stroke himself as well. "If you were here, would you suck on me like you did that night?"

Loki's eyes rolled closed. "Gods, yes," he said on a groan. "Harder. Longer. Deeper. Until you came in my mouth and I could swallow you entirely."

"Jesus, fuck, Loki…" Loki chuckled deviously, to Tony's ears, because it sent a chill through him and had his hand moving a little faster. "Let me see you, Loki."

"Can't you?" he sighed. Tony felt a little smug to know that even hundreds of miles away, over a computer screen, he could still make Loki whine like that, want like that.

"All of you." The lust he felt coursing through him thickened his voice, lowered it, and made the request sound like another demand. He thought nothing of it since Loki obeyed. His stomach fluttered and he barely hid a moaned nnnnff as Loki pushed his laptop away from him to rest between his spread legs and put his entire nude body, from head to knees, in view of the camera. For a moment, Tony just stared and took in the way the blue light from the laptop played over the sharp angles and lean muscles of Loki's long body, and cast shadows around him.

"What now, Anthony…?"

"…I, what…" Tony blinked. His mouth was rapidly going dry as Loki ran his hand down his own body, starting at his neck and sliding down. "Oh." He snapped back to attention. "Touch yourself for me, Loki."

Hooded eyes on the camera, Loki did as Tony asked, wrapping his hand, finger by finger, around his always impressive erection. "Like this…?"

Tony's tongue ran a circle around his lips. "Yeah…now stroke. Slowly." He watched silently for a moment, as Loki pleasured himself, his heart thumping hard in his chest. "Shit. I wish I could kiss you right now." His mouth turned up on one side when Loki puckered his lips and lazily blew him a kiss. "Fucking tease. Did I say you could go faster?"

"Anthony…"

"Ooh, say my name like that again. All painful moaning and shit—I like it."

Slowing down the movement of his hand, Loki still managed to groan, in a purposely un-sexy way. "I swear, Anthony, you could probably get off screaming your own name."

Tony laughed. "Maybe. But I like it better when you scream it."

"Not tonight," he muttered. "Thor's room is only down the hall."

"Wow, way to almost kill the mood. I don't want to hear about your brother when I'm trying to get you to squirm."

Loki's head rose from the bed at that so he could playfully glare at Tony. "Squirm?" His head fell back again on a chuckle. "I do not squirm."

"We'll see when I'm done with you. Now, shut the hell up, and play with your balls." Tony saw Loki's lips curve, his tongue poke out between his teeth.

"Mmm…" Again, he obeyed.

Tony continued giving him instructions and Loki followed, willing to play the submissive partner for the night. He stroked when Tony said stroke; rubbed when and where Tony told him to rub; cupped and massaged when Tony said cup and massage. He would never admit to it, that after a time of playing their sensual little game, he was squirming on his bed.

"Uhh…Anthony…please…" Loki's free hand clenched in the duvet beneath him.

Tony bit into the pillow next to him, swearing under his breath. "Oh, Jesus…don't beg, baby…"

"But I want you, Anthony…I want you touching me, stroking me… I want your mouth on me…" He cried out again, his hand pumping hard on his cock, his back arching, lifting him off the bed, and Tony struggled to watch him through hazy eyes, to match his rhythm as his hand worked his own cock. "Ohh… I'm…almost…there…Anthony…!"

Tony made an unintelligible noise that could've been a grunt. "Yes…"

"An-Anthony…!"

"Yes, yes…oh, fuck yes…!"

"…unh, Tony! …oh gods…!"

"Loki…fucking do it harder…come for me, baby, come hard for me."

Both were focused mentally, emotionally on each other, but they were physically lost in themselves, hands, wrists, hips pumping hard into tightened fists. Tony opened his eyes just in time to see Loki finally come in quick spurts over himself, moaning into a pillow pressed to his face, as his hips kept him moving, until the orgasm finished wracking his body, and he lay curled on his side. Choked groans passed through Tony's lips as his own orgasm exploded through him, sweat breaking out over his entire body.

For a few moments, while their bodies recovered and they came down from the high, the only sound on both ends was their heavy panting. Tony was finally able to sit up and brought his laptop closer.

"Loki?" A questioning groan came from the pale heap on the screen. Tony laughed breathlessly. "Are you okay?"

"Better than," he answered, his voice a raspy murmur. His body uncurled, stretching long limbs, and a silly grin was stuck across his lips. Blindly, because his eyes didn't seem to be more than extremely narrow slits, Loki searched for the laptop, finding it and bringing it near his face. "How was it for you?" he asked, once again curling onto his side, this time under the sheets.

Tony touched three fingers to the screen, wishing he could really brush the hair from Loki's face. "Bittersweet," he said. "You called me Tony."

Loki sighed, his lips curving. "Did I?"

"Yeah…"

"Will you stay on until I fall sleep?" Loki asked quietly, attempting to open his eyes. Tony shifted in the bed, mirroring Loki's position so it appeared they were lying face-to-face in bed together.

"Looks like you're nearly there." Again, Tony touched a finger to his laptop screen, tracing it over the image of Loki's face. "I miss you, Loki," he said quietly.

Loki's lids slowly lifted and green gems stared briefly, sleepily, into the camera, a ghost of a smile played across thin, red lips. "I miss you, too," he mumbled, his eyelids lowering slowly.

Tony stayed on for a little longer, watching Loki breathe in and out steadily, until he fell into a peaceful sleep himself. Peaceful sleep, he thought as he fell into unconsciousness. A rare thing for Tony Stark, indeed.

Frigga had just finished her afternoon tea and a phone call with a caterer when she decided to head toward her study. She was crossing through the kitchen toward it when the front door opened and closed. She came up from behind the staircase as Loki jogged up it. She called for him, but he had his earphones in. He had been home for more than a week, Christmas was just days away, and she was fed up with the tension and aggression congesting the air in her home.

With a determined frown on her face, Frigga headed up the staircase toward Loki's room. The door was ajar but she still rapped her knuckles against the door.

"Go away, Thor. I'm busy." Loki turned and yanked his earphones from his ears. "Oh. Hello, mother. I thought you were Thor."

"I heard," she said, making sure he caught the disapproval in her voice. Her frown deepened when he showed no response. "Loki, may I have a word?"

He smiled, half-heartedly she could see. "Forgive me, mother, but if it's about Odin or Thor, I'm busy."

"Busy doing what? Talking to the one that has been keeping your light burning until all hours of the night?" She grinned softly at Loki's stare. His eyes didn't grow wide, his mouth didn't fall open. But the flush that crept up his neck to his cheeks spoke volumes.

"A word about what?" he asked tightly.

"Don't worry. Your private business is just that: private. You are welcome to tell me whenever you're ready." Frigga stepped further into the room and quietly closed the door behind her. "Christmas is in three days."

"Yes."

"I don't want dinner to be as…strenuous as it has been."

Loki dropped his iPod then his body to his bed. "What do you want me to do about it?"

"Your part, dearest." Frigga moved forward and cupped Loki's chin so he lifted his eyes to hers. "Watch how you speak with Odin and don't pick a fight with Thor." Frigga's hand was left suspended in the air after Loki snatched his chin away from it.

"I told Odin, and now I'm telling you. I will not pretend we are the All-American happy family for his sake. Or yours, for that matter," he added as he rose and moved away, tightly coiling his earphones around his hand before placing them on his dresser. "If that's what you both wanted, he shouldn't have forced me to come here."

Frigga's head inclined. "Forced?"

Loki turned and gave her nod. "I would've been perfectly fine on my own at the dorms…" With Anthony, he wanted to add. Frigga frowned again, crossed her arms under her breasts. "Does my not being asked upset you?"

"No." She turned ice blue eyes on him. "The fact that you had to be forced to come home for Christmas dinner with your family upsets me. Stop." Her hand flew up when Loki would have started to argue. "If you tell me one more time that we are not your family, so help me, Loki…"

This time his mouth did fall open. Wisely, he kept quiet.

Frigga breathed out slowly through her nose. "He didn't…Odin didn't hurt you, did he?"

Loki stared at her silently for a beat before his eyes fell away. So she knew about their previous altercation. Yet she never reached out to him. No call, no letter, nothing to show concern that her husband had very nearly beaten him to death. "No. My jaw is still intact. And no bruises," he quipped with a dark mocking grin.

"Loki, stop, please." She hated that her voice faltered, that she was pleading. But, now, even she couldn't break through the icy barrier he had built around himself. A small part of her felt relieved when guilt swam briefly through those beautiful green eyes. She turned away, moved toward his bed to sit on the corner. "You don't know what this is doing to me, my son. It pains me to see you acting this way. I understand why you are angry—"

"Why aren't you?" Loki blurted.

Frigga's head jerked back then shook from side to side. "What do I have to be angry about?"

"That man betrayed you! He broke your trust, your sacred vows and, yet, here you still sit…defending him, standing with him, by his side like the good little wife, as if he has done no wrong. I am not the only victim here!"

"I am not a victim!" Frigga bolted to her feet, glad when Loki staggered back a few steps. "Perhaps Odin and Thor let your accusations and tone pass, son, but you will remember yourself when you speak to me, do you understand?"

Shamed, Loki hung his head, but his hands still fisted at his sides. "Yes," he muttered.

Frigga took a moment to compose herself, to let the indignation and offense that Loki's statement had surging through her, subside. She started toward him and flicked her wrist at the bed. "Sit down." Loki raised his eyes to her and blue ice flared. "Sit. Down," she said forcefully.

Loki's chin lifted but he moved to the bed and sat.

"You know not of what you speak, dearest." Loki glanced up at her softened tone and she looked away, moved to the window. "That was not the brightest time in my life or my marriage, it's true." Her slacks rustled quietly against the curtains as she turned, drawing Loki's attention again. "But I have never been a victim."

Loki's eyes stayed on her as she moved to sit next to him. "He was with another woman," he pointed out.

"Yes. An intern, if you can believe the cliché." She grinned wistfully at the memory. "I did leave him, Loki." She nodded at his surprised expression. "For three months, and I took Thor with me. He doesn't remember it; he thought we were on vacation while Odin was working on his campaign. It was an election year. The pressure was on all of us."

Loki got the feeling she was back in that place and not really speaking to him, but to herself, remembering. "Why did you go back?"

Bringing herself back from past regrets and broken promises, Frigga smiled softly at Loki, placed a hand over his on his leg. "Because I love him, Loki." Her fingers tightened even as Loki snatched his hand from her grasp, scoffing. "Tell me, Loki, have I ever spoken to you about why I wanted to adopt you?"

Frigga kept her gaze steady on Loki's, though he glared, his lips in a tight line. "No. But I know it was to help him and his stupid—"

"Loki." Frigga laid a hand on his shoulder. "I said, why I wanted to adopt you." Looking away, Loki answered no again. Because affection was her way, Frigga cupped his chin again, smiled when looked at her, and took his hands in hers. "The adoption was my idea. His campaign had nothing to do with it. Well—it wasn't their suggestion; but once Odin told them they took over arrangements."

She had to pause, emotion was clogging her throat. "I wanted another child." When she lifted her eyes to Loki's again they were damp, glistening. "But bringing Thor into this world was…difficult. Loki," she warned playfully when he snorted. "I couldn't bear anymore children. I loved your brother so much. But I didn't want him to be an only child. Your fath—"

Frigga sighed when Loki's fingers tensed under hers and clamped down on irritation.

"Odin and I are only children. I wanted Thor to have a family. I wanted him to have his father, as well. It wasn't easy for me to do, Loki, but I forgave Odin for his transgression because it wasn't his fault. Let me explain," she said, her voice rising to keep Loki from interrupting when he bristled at her comment. "I know not unleashing your words on me is killing you." She patted his cheek, noticed the way his lips twitched, wanting to curve into a smile.

"Go on."

"You know his job is not easy. It's twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, three hundred and sixty-five days a year—three sixty-six during leap year, vet alt." Loki smiled now; Frigga knew him too well, even calling him a know-it-all, before he could interject. "And, honestly, I've been quite thankful for that since you and Thor have been home." Loki sobered up at that. "As I said, it was an election year. Thor had just turned ten—and had been, for the past eight Christmases, asking for a baby brother."

Her eyes slid to Loki's profile. "Not baby sibling; he wanted a brother." Loki looked away, so she couldn't read his expression. Frigga let it go. "We weren't doing well, but work, stress, a child…and depression does that to you."

"You were depressed?" Loki asked softly, turning his head slightly, but still not looking at her.

Remembering those dark days had her eyes filling again. "You can't carry a child or give birth, Loki. So it's difficult to make you understand the powerful desire to do so and not have the ability to fulfill that desire. Odin and I fought about it off and on for ten years." She met questioning eyes and grinned. "I blamed myself; he blamed Thor."

Loki's parted on a silent gasp.

"He ignored Thor for the first few years of his life. He refused to pick him up, to comfort him, to play with him." Her hand lifted, the backs of her fingers pressing against her lips, under her nose, to hold in the emotion that threatened to spill out. "It is my belief that that is why he overcompensates with Thor. And I think subconsciously Thor remembers that time and it's why he strives to make him proud and win his affections."

"He doesn't have to try so hard," Loki muttered.

"Loki, I know you're angry with Odin and with me, but I am truly confused as to why that anger has trickled over to Thor." His eyes flicked down to her. "He's done nothing to you." Groaning, disgusted, Loki pulled his hands from Frigga's and got to his feet. "All he's ever done is love you and protect you."

"Yes, and coddle me and patronize me, and made me look weak and puny for needing him to repeatedly come to my rescue. And then I was ungrateful for not falling at his feet with thanks and appreciation. I am not a damsel in distress. He is not my knight in shining armor. I don't need him in my life."

"You did once," Frigga reminded him. "You were inseparable at one time."

"We were children." Loki wandered away, but Frigga could see the way his mouth was drawn into a pout. He hated these reminders, she realized. But she felt the need to refresh his memory, to make him remember how happy they all used to be.

"He doesn't care, my love. Blood or not, you are his brother, in every sense of the word. Perhaps if you took the time to speak to him, to have a conversation of what you want and expect from a relationship with him, you two could reform that bond that you once had." Loki didn't respond, made no attempt to, only grumbling and muttering to himself. "Thor misses you."

Loki stopped his angry, aimless wandering to look at Frigga. Something crossed his face—regret, maybe remorse? Questioning? Whatever it was was gone in a flash. "He'll survive."

"Will you?"

"What do you mean?"

Frigga's expression went from stern to worry instantly. "Loki, Odin and I won't be around forever. Thor is the only form of family you have. You need family," she insisted when he grimaced. "You can pretend all you want that you're different and you don't. But one day you may need him. If you keep pushing him away and behaving like a spoiled brat, he won't be there. He is already tiring of your antics."

She got his attention again.

"He's trying to hold on because he believes if he gives you the space you need you will come to him when you're ready." She stood and went to him, placing her hands on his shoulders. "Please don't make him wait much longer, love. I don't want to leave this world knowing that you two won't be there to take care of each other."

Loki's eyebrows came together, his fingers wrapped around Frigga's wrists. "Leave this…? Is there something wrong, mother?"

Her face softened with a smile. He still cared for her, at least. That was a start. "No, of course there's not. And, yes, I would tell you if there was. Now, can I count on you to at least attempt to make this a nice Christmas?" Her hands went to the lapels of his cardigan, fixing, adjusting nothing that needed to be fixed. She laid her hands on his chest and smiled up at him.

Loki smiled, his eyes lighting up, and it struck a memory in the back of Frigga's mind.

"Remember how much fun we used to have when you were children? In the kitchen, baking cookies together for Santa. Thor always made such a mess with the flour and you would get so frustrated with him when he messed up your frost designs. Your face turned purple once." She cupped his cheeks briefly, ignored the tear that escaped from the outer corner of her eye. It tore at her, in a good way, when he raised his hand and swiped it away with his thumb.

"I remember."

Frigga swallowed the tears that stuck in her throat, tapping her palms against Loki's chest as she tried to blink away the ones stinging her eyes. "Maybe a conversation with both Thor and Odin is in order. Separately, of course, because no one on this planet could control the three of you at once; not even me." She chuckled and sniffled then lifted her eyes to Loki's. "Because I really think you need to hear it from each of us…and since I'm your mother I want to be first."

Frigga saw the anxiety and worry swirl in deep pools of green as her hands cupped Loki's face again.

"No matter what has happened since you stepped foot through that door, since you became the final part of this flawed but loving family…you were wanted, Loki Odinson."

Her fingers tightened around his jaw. Loki's brows drew up and together again in a look that read Who, me? And her heart swelled.

"I have always wanted you and have always loved you. Unconditionally." She pressed a kiss to his cheek before wrapping her arms around him. It pleased her when his arms circled her waist and he hugged her back. It was the most affection he had shown her in years.

"Mother, are you home? I have brought someone to meet you!"

Frigga giggled and stepped back.

"Go." Loki cocked his head toward the door. "It's probably Jane." Frigga leveled him with a look and he chuckled. "I heard everything you said. Thank you." They both looked toward the door when Thor called again. "I'm not ready to speak to him," his voice was low and Frigga nodded.

"Your time, your choice," she said before moving to the door. "You will be at your best tomorrow night? For the Christmas party Odin is hosting?"

Loki smirked. "I'll do my best."

That was all she could hope for. "Did you want to invite your…friend? You can if you wish. I am here, Thor! Give me a moment, son!" Loki chuckled at the annoyance in her voice.

"No, my friend is not near Virginia. But I should tell you now; I won't be here for New Year's. I'll be heading back to campus early. Can you let Odin know that I'd like my cell phone and car keys returned to me?"

Frigga's smile vanished. "He took your phone and keys? Is that why you've been lounging around the house?" Loki shrugged. "I wondered why you hadn't gone out driving into town." She clucked her tongue and stomped her foot. "That man will be getting a piece of my mind tonight. You will have both by tomorrow morning. Are you sure about your friend? They are always welcome, you know?"

"Yes, mother, I know. Perhaps next time."

"Next time is New Year's. Another social event," she added with a roll of her eyes. "I love my husband and I support his career, but these parties wear me out. Will I ever get to meet your friend?" she asked with a sly smile.

Loki couldn't help but laugh—a welcome change from the emotional moment earlier. "You said no questions."

"I lied." She heard Thor's murmurs and a soft female laugh coming from downstairs. "Is she nice?" In a move similar to Loki's, she cocked her head toward the hall.

Loki considered Jane Foster a moment. He didn't really know her; he avoided her, really, because of her connection to Thor. But Tony had spoken about her from time to time, once telling him she was a screamer—Frigga probably didn't need to know about that—and that she was quite flexible. When Loki asked how he knew that, Tony's answer was that he had once walked in on her and Thor in a compromising position. After that, the new rule in their dorm was No Sex in the Communal Area. If things with Tony continued, Loki would have to remember that.

"I think she is exactly what you and... She is perfectly suited for Thor."

Frigga grinned. "See you at dinner?"

"Yes." Loki walked to the door, closed it behind Frigga. Alone with his thoughts now, he moved to stretch out on his bed, staring at the ceiling as he mulled over what Frigga and he had discussed. He idly wondered if his behavior toward Thor had been too harsh. So maybe he didn't know the real reason behind Loki's adoption. Maybe his sense of duty and brotherly bonding was a little warped. He supposed he could work with that.

Rubbing the heels of his hands over his eyes, he laughed. Was he actually considering repairing the broken relationship between him and Thor? Perhaps…but slowly, and it could wait until after the New Year. This time of year was stressful enough and, frankly, his mind was too full of Tony and their video chats to think about anything else. He had made secret plans to drive up to New York for New Year's Eve and surprise Tony. It only took six hours and he wanted, badly, to be able to kiss Tony at midnight.

Start off his year the right way.

Thinking of the genius had Loki needing to see him, even if for a moment. He reached for his laptop and booted it up, nibbling on his bottom lip impatiently, until he could open the video chat. He was a little disappointed that Tony wasn't available. Closing it, he set the laptop aside, and laid back down, his thoughts drifting back to Frigga…and Odin.

He still hated him. But that meant he still cared, didn't it? The opposite of love wasn't hate; it was indifference. Odin was the only father he had ever known, and while he wasn't perfect, Loki was man enough to acknowledge that he wasn't either. But the adoption, the reasons behind it—they were no longer the only issues between them. Odin didn't care for Loki's penchant for sleeping with other men. That was a problem. For Odin, at least. Loki didn't care what anyone thought.

So why don't you tell people about you and Tony? A little voice chirped up in the back of his mind.

Because it's no one's business, he rationalized with himself. Also, this was Tony's first dalliance with a man. He still wasn't sure if Tony was serious about the whole thing. Even if he was, Loki had decided from the start it would be up to Tony when and if they went public with it. Though, he would have to discuss with Tony the possibility of just telling Natasha already. Her questions were getting not only annoying, but dangerously close to figuring out whom Loki was spending his time with.

He wondered how she would take the news. And decided once he admitted who he was spending his time with he would demand she come clean about her and Clint. Like he didn't notice the love bite above Clint's collarbone before he left for vacation.

It was just as he was beginning to relax that it hit Loki like a ton of bricks. Frigga knew about Tony. At least, she knew he was involved with a man. He recalled her use of "friend" and "they"…never "she" or "her." Did that mean she knew and didn't care? Questions piled up in his mind and he cursed Thor and Jane for interrupting his time with Frigga.

Because it was his nature, with a scoff, Loki shrugged it off and decided he didn't care either way. Tony made him happy. And that was all that mattered. For now.