"I never had a dream come true,
Until the day that I found you."
Never Had A Dream Come True - S Club 7
Tony and Loki didn't leave the bedroom again until late afternoon, when Tony decided he really had better get back to his work.
Loki wandered absent-mindedly for a while, too sex-weary and content to be bothered with reading, and eventually stepped into a first floor longue. It was occupied by Banner and Natasha, him sitting in an armchair, reading a science magazine with an expression of amused interest. She was sitting at one end of the sofa, legs tucked under her small frame, studying a picture of some nail design on her phone and looking, frustrated, at her own fingers. The television was on – some old sitcom that Loki knew Tony liked – but neither appeared to be watching it. They both looked up when they heard the door open, and exchanged a look before both flashing Loki an uneasy smile.
"Hey," Banner tried, his voice calm as usual though his smile was forced.
"How you doing? Thor said you weren't all that well this morning," was Natasha's input.
"I'm fine," Loki replied, with an equally uneasy grin. "Damn vodka, you know?"
"Dude, I'm Russian. You don't have to tell me about vodka," she laughed, and it sounded almost genuine.
Loki knew what was happening – he guessed Anthony had had the same conversation with his friends that they'd had in bed just an hour earlier. Something along the lines of come on, Lo, you can at least try to be civil, can't you? For me? And of course Loki couldn't say no to that, plus the god damn bracelet meant he couldn't exactly not be civil with them anymore. Being courteous seemed like the only option.
Loki seated himself at the other end of the sofa from Natasha, feigning interest in the television programme. After a while, Banner got visibly excited about something in the magazine and got to his feet, muttering that he 'had to tell Tony about this' before hurrying from the room. The air between Loki and Natasha was tense, awkward, but both pretended to ignore it.
After a short while, Natasha threw her hands up and groaned.
"I give up! The one time I try to do something girly and paint up my nails all pretty, I just fuck it up," she was talking more to herself than Loki, but he turned to her, head cocked curiously.
"Let me see it," he extended a hand and Natasha reluctantly handed her phone over. He studied it for a while then shrugged. "I could probably do that, if you would like."
"You're serious?" she raised one eyebrow. "Um. Why?"
Another shrug.
"Anthony has requested that I try and 'build bridges' with his friends," he replies. "Since I can't leave the building or use magic, I need something to occupy my time."
"I uh… I guess that's fair," Natasha swallowed, then handed the bottles of nail polish over to Loki. "Okay, big guy. Let's see what you can do."
Ten minutes later, Loki was finished and he sat back, satisfied. Natasha couldn't help marvelling at his work. The swirls and intricate patterns on her fingertips matched perfectly the ones on the picture – in fact, she'd even say they were better. It'd felt weird, having Loki paint her nails – she'd had other people do it before, that was true, but those were her girlfriends at teenage slumber parties and women in salons on forced daytrips with female friends as an adult. He was gentler than she'd expected, his touch light as butterfly wings and his fingers gracefully steady. He was cool too – cold, even. Natasha was at first shocked by the iciness of his hands, but she quickly got used to it. In a weird way, it was comforting.
"Well screw me, I did not have you down as the artsy type," she commented – and realised too late it was a backhanded compliment. Loki grinned, one eyebrow quirking upwards.
"I do have my talents, you know," he remarked. "I've actually always been, as you say, 'the artsy type.' When we were children, mother would do sketches for Thor and I and we would colour them in for her. I always was better at it than Thor."
Natasha blinked – she'd heard Thor talk about his parents and his childhood a lot, but not once in their few conversations had Loki brought it up. It was easy to forget that the pair were brothers sometimes, that they'd had the same upbringing, that they'd played together as children. It was startling to be reminded of it.
"I've never been much good at it," she said, at last. "I haven't got the patience to sit and draw."
"I can believe that," Loki commented and she looked shocked. He laughed. "It's a compliment."
"Oh. Uh. Thanks, I guess," she forced a smile. It was strange, hearing the thin man be… not exactly nice. But pleasant. Definitely pleasant. She knew it should make her feel safer around him but in all honesty, it did the exact opposite. To know he could be this damn friendly and at the same time know how cruel and angry he could be made Natasha question Loki's mental stability more than she ever had. If she didn't think he was a psychopath before, she definitely did now.
It was a couple of hours before Loki left again – they got talking about books they'd both enjoyed and films that Tony had forced Loki to watched that he hadn't totally hated. She'd got excited when he reeled off the titles, insisting he watch this one she loved, retrieving the DVD from Tony's cabinet and slotting it into the television. She watched Loki more than the screen; he was enthralled, she could tell, but when it was finished he dismissed it as simply 'passable'. She supressed a smirk. He and Thor were as stubborn as each other.
Loki found Tony in his workshop, tinkering with some kind of circuit board – Loki guessed it was some new addition the physicist had come up with for Jarvis. He glanced up briefly at Loki and grinned.
"Hey there, Shakespeare," Tony grinned.
"Hi," Loki sat down beside the smaller man, watching with interest. "What's that you're working on?"
"Just a thing," Tony said, being annoyingly vague. "How's it going?"
"Okay," Loki spun round absent-mindedly on the swivel chair.
"Been reading?" Tony assumed.
"No, actually," Loki pushed off from the desk, whizzing to the other wall, where he pushed himself back. "I've been in the lounge with Natasha."
"What, and she didn't kill you? Okay, what have you done to her?" Tony chuckled, amused and surprised at the same time.
"I didn't do anything," Loki repeated his back-and-forward journey, looking highly amused with himself. "I just extended a little common courtesy, is all."
"To Natasha?" Tony sounded disbelieving. Loki shrugged.
"Well, being a bastard is much more fun, certainly," he grinned devilishly. "But being bored and incapable of magic, there wasn't a lot else I could do."
"I guess that's fair," Tony had given up trying to work, and instead was watching his boyfriend fling back and forth across the room. "What did you do with her, then?"
"Talked. Watched a movie," Loki shrugged. "The Breakfast Club. It is good, isn't it? I like that Bender chap, reminds me of me as a teenager."
"Uh… yeah, it's a great movie," Tony was getting dizzy from the motion. "You wanna stop doing that? What did she do that's got you so hyper, huh?"
"Nothing," Loki shrugged, but came to a stop very close to Tony's own chair.
"So you talked and The Breakfast Club," Tony said. "What did you also giggle over boys and paint each other's nails?"
"I painted hers," Loki said, not noticing the sarcasm.
"What?" Tony spluttered. Loki smiled too and shrugged again.
"I've a steadier hand than her," was all he offered in way of explanation. "I'm bored. Let's do something."
"I can't honey, I've got to finish this," Tony turned back to his work.
"Oh, come on. You can finish it later," Loki pressed even closer, so their knees were together, and he leaned forwards, his hands on Tony's thighs. "I only need you for half an hour. An hour, tops."
"Oh, and what did you have in mind?" Tony raised one eyebrow.
"I'll give you a hint. It involves you, me, our bedroom, pillows and a blanket, and no – it's not building a fort," Loki raised one eyebrow seductively. Tony laughed.
"Christ, Lo, and you think I've got a high sex drive," he said, but he got to his feet and took Loki's hand all the same. "Okay. Let's go."
A/N: S Club 7 are the best stop looking at me in that tone of voice.