Back again, guys! ^_^ So I've always liked the idea of Japan, I think it's simply a magical place...perfect for their first real experience together, don't you think? :)
- Chapter 3 -
Para-para-paradise
Turns out that the young boy had went to the wrong toilet. He had misheard that Tony wanted a rendezvous in the restroom in Economy class. Hence, he had shuffled further down the aisle than he should have. Frustrated after waiting for 20 minutes and there was still no sign of Tony, the boy wondered whether he had been played for a fool. Growling, he resolved to try the Business class toilet, just in case.
When he entered the toilet, Tony was busy zipping up his pants in front of a very smug man with dark hair. As the scene greeted him, the young boy could only feel betrayal and a rapidly surmounting anger. He registered the look of surprise on Tony's face, and before he could respond, the young boy had given him a flinching uppercut on his chin, sending Tony Stark crashing backwards into the toilet wall. He hissed a "Motherfucker." at Tony and whirled around to glare at the other man.
The other man was pretty tall in stature, although Tony was still taller. He had pale, milky skin the color of the moon, and his eyes were glinting emeralds from where the boy was standing. Must be the light, he thought. His nose was high-bridged, with a tiny upward flick at the end, giving it's owner the aura of a cat. The man was wearing a robe or coat of some sort of expensive material, richly embroidered with intricate runic patterns in gold and silver fashion. If stared at long enough, the patterns seemed to swirl and have a life of its own. A long, slender finger pointed at him, and the boy could barely register the ruby ring set in gold on it when the man murmured,
"Get out."
And the boy was out of the toilet, his legs carrying him back to where he seated, confused and dazed. Yes, maybe I'm just tired, he thought, as he sank into his seat and proceeded to fall into a deep sleep.
"Ouch ouch ouch ouch."
Blood was gushing out of Tony's nostrils as he hurriedly tried to staunch it with bundles of toilet paper. As he turned on the tap in the hopes of getting rid of this bloody mess, Loki interjected.
"Bye Stark. Good luck with that," he added, pointing at his nose.
In a flash, Tony's hand were at the door and he slammed it shut.
"Nuh-uh pretty boy. You owe me an explanation. As to what you were doing in here."
Loki grinned. "Simple. I was simply going about my own business in the restroom when you came in mistaking me for the boy. It was a case of mistaken identity."
"Yeah, if only it was so easy. You seduced me! Even though you knew I was mistaken." Tony's eyes narrowed as he stared into the bright, sparkling eyes of Loki. It was clear he was enjoying this.
"Correction. I didn't figure out what was going on, even as I deduced it was you in the dark. And when I did, I wasn't about to let go of an opportunity to make out, even if it had to be you and your unremarkable kissing skills. Thoguh I heard you telling the young boy otherwise."
Tony was smarting from the comments. Was I really that bad of a kisser? But no one had complained before Loki, and now Tony wasn't about to go telling him what a good kisser he thought Loki was. What a slut that Loki guy was. But one thing still didn't feel right.
"How did you know who I was?"
"Oh, you mean besides by your American voice? And the faintly glowing light from the middle of your chest? Two layers of cashmere sweaters are still not good enough to hide it. But I have to admit, what made me really sure had to be the smell of you, all grease and machines and alcohol. Quite unpleasant really. And of course, the taste of your mouth. Somehow, it was distinctively Tony Stark, even if some of your body parts aren't," he said, gesturing towards the arc reactor.
"I smell like that? So how do I taste?" Tony grinned as he looked at Loki.
"Like milk and sugar, honey." Loki smile was full of shiny white teeth as he made his smooth escape from the toilet.
Tony couldn't resist a last jab. "The proper thing to do when you kiss someone wrong is to stop kissing them. Remember next time, boy."
No matter which way he thought about it, it felt like a deliberate seduction attempt to Tony. Loki should have stopped the moment he realized it was Tony, but he had let himself carry on, and in the process, getting Tony caught up in it. But Tony had to admit he couldn't stop kissing Loki, and even now his own bruised lips still craved for the hot freezing ones of Loki. Kissing Loki was like kissing ice, cold and yet blindingly hot at the same time.
He grimaced.
He had just spent a few minutes fantasizing about the man who was now lying in the seat next to him, evidently asleep.
If he concentrated hard enough, he could just make out the faint lines of Loki's silhouette. It was slim, with traces of curves, like a cross between a man and a boy. Yet, there was something dangerous about this man. Years of instinct meant that Tony could sense it. He would do well not to underestimate this Loki.
Even if it was for a few minutes, that should not be what he was supposed to be doing.
Loki's smile was hidden from the Stark man as he turned himself onto his side, comfortably nested under 2 layers of blankets. He had stolen the one from Stark's seat when he came back, and the man was so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed.
In front of them, the young boy turned around and gave them a sour glare periodically. Clearly, he did not appreciate being taken for a fool. The atmosphere amongst the 3 of them was at best described as awkward. Luckily for them, the boy's sitting partner was an old Japanese lady who smelled like cats, and had no interest whatsoever except in her knitting.
Loki was smiling because he can hear Tony's thoughts. He had read Tony's mind without being aware of it and the man's thoughts and intents were as clear as water.
Distinctly, he caught a whiff of Tony's aftershave and cologne. It smelled like minty ocean waves with frothy sea spray. He could almost taste the salt on his tongue...
With a start, Loki realized that he had unconsciously stuck out his tongue to taste the air. Hurriedly, he withdrew it and snuggled deeper into the folds of the blankets.
Now he almost wished the plane did not have to land.
Almost.
It was an uneventful departure. Thankfully, Tony could finally escape from the boy's accusing glares and escape from the snatches of guilt grabbing at his heart. As he stepped out of the airport, Tony filled his lungs with his virgin breath of Kyoto air.
Ahhhh. The air smelled of standard airport pollution of course, but beneath the noxious fumes, he could detect a bittersweet tang of pinecones. Forests. A broad grin appeared on Tony's face.
He was going to enjoy himself after all.
The moment he was out of the departure hall, Loki apparated. No need to be among human civilization so soon, he had plenty of chances in the past few hours, and he wasn't missing their company so soon. He looked around him.
He was in the middle of some mountainous area. A rocky range of low cliffs framed the edge of a beautiful, glassy lake. The water was so still that it made the surrounding areas hold its breath. It was deathly quiet. Sometimes, a shining blue kingfisher would swoop from the sky and break the surface of the water, a fish in its beak. Out of the corner of his eye Loki spied a flock of cranes flying gracefully over the sky. Nature's ballerinas, the dancers of the heavens. He sighed in content. Earth always had the most beautiful animals.
But what was truly breathtaking was the temple situated in the middle of the lake.
Its location was so precise it appeared to be floating in the middle of the lake. Upon closer inspection though, the temple was constructed on a stone platform which extended towards the mainland. A breeze had started, causing the dozens of little bells on the roof of the temple to chime bright and clear in the morning air. The temple's architecture was typical of the Japanese. It was clean cut, the wooden paneling standing in contrast to the red tile roofs of the temple. Squarish frames served as door panelings, which slid open soundlessly to reveal the tastefully decorated interior filled with golden statues of deities and colorful murals depicting holy wars.
Loki's nostrils picked up the smell of sandalwood incense dampened by the wet smell of the forest. There had been a light morning shower. Overhead, thousands of small pink Sakura petals drifted with the breeze over the temple to the chime of the bells.
He was at peace here.
Japan was full of wonders indeed.
He had hailed a cab from the airport to the hotel and the last few days had been a whirlwind of activities. He drank 54 different varieties of sake, bought souvenirs for his friends, visiting temples (although those visits were brief and to be honest, not very fun, he only visited because it was mandatory for any visitor to Kyoto, according to his Lonely Planet guidebook) and also, his favorite yet, chasing the Geishas in Gion.
Gion was one of the oldest districts in Kyoto, and was famed for being a sort of closet red-light district in the Edo period. Geishas, as popularized by that movie 'Memoirs of a Geisha', were women in 8-inch heels, tottering about town from one teahouse to other, serving guests. They were fabulous hosts really, singing and dancing and playing instruments with their deft hands. Tony shuddered to think what else those deft hands are capable of.
With their kimonos (bright colors for the younger ones, rich, mellow ones for the older girls), and their hair piled intricately on their head to better expose their neck, these women were the object of every man's lust as they paraded down the streets like birds, and would usually provoke a flustered chasing by tourists for pictures.
Gion's teahouses were renowned for their expertise and beauty as well as their exclusivity. You couldn't get in even if you had the cash, you had to have the contacts. Only an existing customer could recommend you, and only then would you be granted a special audience with the creatures of legend, the geishas. Tony Stark had the contacts. He had spent a drunken night of fancy with his host, who had kindly referred him to the teahouse, and the geishas and even then, Tony Stark was proud of his resolve when he did not proceed to do what he would usually do under circumstances consisting of alcohol and inebriated women.
He had refused to admit that a pair of ice cold lips could turn him on better than any hot pliant female body. Or male for that matter, because his host was obviously interested in him. He had walked out of the Ochaya, mind filled with dirty images of Loki going down on him, or he taking Loki roughly from behind as he screamed and begged Tony to stop in a way that only made them want each other more...
Tony slapped himself on the head. Recently, he had been slipping into reveries such as this more and more. It was worrying.
Loki had taken to dressing in kimonos during his stay in Japan. The soft, supple fabric was so comfortable he could see why the locals prefer dressing in it too. Of course, he would never have dressed in those dull tones of commoner's greys and greens. He might not be Odin's son, but he was still royalty.
Wandering along the stone cobbled path of Tetsugaku no michi, he breathed in the scents of the Sakura blossoms. Reaching out a hand, he caught a stray petal. It felt enviably cool and soft to the touch. Twirling it in his hand, he threw it back up in the air, where it sparkled pink unnoticed among the hundreds of masses of Sakura blossoms next to it.
Tetsugaku no michi, or the Philosopher's path, was a famous walk beside a river canal for Sakura viewing. Locals milled around the path and Loki, who was standing in the middle of the path, was musing about the past few days.
He had not seen that obnoxious man Stark anywhere during his own travels, which he supposed was a good point. The past few days had been filled with pilgrimages to sacred temples, often spending hours just mediating in front of a waterfall or sneaking into ancient libraries to read. Often, he would find himself trekking up mountain paths just for the fun of it, to see where it would lead. Once, he saw a doe, slipping between the trees, and he called to it, sang it out of her hiding place until it was nuzzling against him, its fear of mankind gone.
It had been a good 5 days. Loki smiled. He would visit one of the districts that was to be lit up for the Hanatoro event tonight. The festival's name meant 'flower and light road', and Loki had heard of its beauty before. Perhaps the lights shine as brightly on Earth as they do on Asgard.
Tony Stark was throughly enjoying himself.
He had bought a syrupy flavored ice ball and was munching contentedly as he watched the lights of the streets around him light up, lantern by lantern.
Unlike in America, the Japanese preferred elegant wooden rectangular lanterns that were powered by candles, rather than electricity. These lanterns were placed on the stone roads lining the entire town, at regular intervals from each other both sides of the road, reminiscent of the airport runways back home.
Except these lights were a million times prettier.
Their soft whitish hues were like the moon's own soft glow, and it seemed to Tony that each lantern had inexplicably captured and distilled an essence of the moon.
The blue evening sky had long morphed into an everlasting blackness, dotted with nebulas of stars, which spread out like glitter drawn with a child's hand and imagination.
Tony walked towards the bridge, which lit with the glow of its hundreds and hundreds of lanterns hanging from its arms. The entire bridge appeared to be made of gold, and cast a pale ghostly reflection of itself in the dark glassy water. Tony stared into the water and thought that it was the gate bridge to the other world. His face was indistinct in the reflection, no features sharp, and Tony felt a kind of stifling fear gripping his heart.
Shaking his head to clear his mind of the thought, he made his way across the lighted bridge, intent on visiting the bamboo grove up ahead. Someone thrusted a lantern into his hand, and one thing he learned in Japan was that it was rude to reject anything someone offered to you, even if you didn't particularly have a need for it.
Holding his lantern, he lingered around in the grove, feeling small and insignificant among the tall trees who had probably been around longer than he had. Did they see what had gone wrong with his life? Tony laughed. He is in a strangely contemplative mood today.
As he stepped out of the grove, feeling strangely sober, a girl shouted "Hey look! Fireworks!" and just in time, Tony raised his head to an explosion of red stars. The spectacle had just started of course. A shower of blue rain, combined with the explosive dizziness of golden cartwheels were simply appetizers for the climax of the show. The audience drew in a breath collectively, and Tony moved nearer to the middle of the bridge to get a closer look.
On the dark mirroring water, people had placed wish lanterns of all shapes and sizes, and they floated around like cubes of sparkly tofu amidst the pale scarlet lotuses. Dragonflies were whizzing about, the light glinting off their glittery wings.
The sky exploded with yet another chorus of jet-green stars, and when it seemed that the sky could not absorb any more shocks and the smell of sulfur was heavy in the air and Tony could feel his eyes stinging and then suddenly.
Energy exploded across the sky in arcs of red, silver and gold. A blue shower of lights cascaded over the dome of the night sky, and mingled together with the other colors. It was extravagant and delightful and held the audience in its vice like grip. No one could tear their eyes away.
"Did you see that?" Tony, eyes bubbling, voice laughing, caught up in the adrenaline of the moment, had turned around to talk to his neighbor, not caring if he would understand English.
Tony Stark found himself face to face with Loki Laufeyson.