Here I am! Back from the dead! I am so sorry that it had taken me over a month to do one little chapter but my parents plus quality time plus vacation with other family members meant that I had next to no time to read, much less write. The next chapter should not take as long and I thank everyone who has been nice and awesome enough to stick with this story even with my crazy posting that is never on schedule.

Not mine, never mine, usual disclaimers

The trio piled into the elevator and Tony ordered JARVIS to head down to Natasha and Clint's designated floors. Unknown to all but the all seeing JARVIS was the near hysterical laughter of the raven haired man laying in the bed he shared with Tony. Who could not laugh at the all too obvious expressions clearly written on the formerly top SHIELD agents faces?

o~*+*~o

Loki could not be more grateful that JARVIS was willing to relay him both the audio and the video of what was going on outside his (his and Stark's?) room this time. From the very beginning it was obvious Stark was a far better actor that the human ever let on around him and the SHIELD agents were incredibly daft.

They weren't daft because they fell for Stark's incredible facade, he was the god of lies and deception so he would be the one to know, but because, compared to the beauty of Stark's performance, the spies were little more than bumbling children they were so free with their emotions. If Loki could see through them without trying then he was sure that Stark had very little difficulty doing the same. After all, the human was one after his own heart, if it were to be believed that either of them had one.

Loki was abruptly reminded of the comment that had been one of the bitting jabs Ms. Potts had thrown at Tony when she had departed; that the act reactor wasn't proof that he had a heart but that he did not have one at all, that the machine in Stark's chest proved his cold-heartedness. Tony had laughed bitterly after mentioning it, his lips had twisted into a harsh smile as he had explained how ironic the statement was. After all, Ms. Potts had kept the first reactor as a plaque with "proof the Tony Stark has a heart" on it only to throw her own words back into Tony's face. The irony was not missed but Loki, however, found the entire thing completely ridiculous.

Tony Stark was far from heartless and in fact, with the addition of the arc reactor which functioned as a heart, had something closer to two hearts instead of none. Loki only had his cool logic and occasional irrationality to account for his lack of heart. That and his Jötun heritage.

Upon further speculation between the similarities that he knew of, the injured god found that this human was a more controlled version of the chaos that Loki himself embodied. After all of the trials the man had endured, Tony had used his anger and strength of will, not only to avenge himself, but to save and avenge others in the process. Out of all of the Avengers, Tony Stark was the one that, without a doubt, was the one that had truly avenged himself and would do the same for any of those that he felt were worthy.

The assassins that were still following behind Stark as the billionaire led them through the halls of their personalized floors. Yes, not just rooms but an entire floor for each agent designed specifically to suit their needs. Neither Barton or Romanoff tried to tell Stark that it was too much or try to be grateful. Barton was practically bouncing up and down in excitement, especially after seeing the raised platforms that he could perch on whenever he pleased. Romanoff, on the other hand, finally found her blank face and her eyes were all that showed her wonderment, suspicion and confusion. Obviously, the assassin was expecting something far different from actual help from Stark when they had come to the tower.

As he lead them on, Stark kept up a constant stream of chater, mostly boasting about his minor or false accomplishments and skimming over the larger, more important, ones. Despite the volume of words and information Stark produced at such a rapid rate, what he said had little to no importance. It was possible the Stark could talk forever about everything yet say nothing.

It was a particular trait that Loki valued, especially after living in Asgard for so long. Every Asgardian, especially Thor, could be needled into telling you what you wanted to hear if you had enough patience to wait it out and enough speed to get away once they realized what they had told you. Even the Allfather was susceptible to this type of deception, though it had to be done in a subtler manner.

Loki was having a good bit of fun by trying to riddle out all of the flaws in both Romanoff's and Barton's performance and perceptions, not that it was very difficult. It was, in fact, more amusing than anything else. While their attempts to draw Stark in and coax information out of the man was admirable and well done for a pair of mortals, the genius matched their every move.

Each of the spies queries was answered with just enough information to satisfy but not enough to work with. It was a delicate balance to find, a fine line that Tony Stark seemed able to find with astounding ease. The way the man moved and talked and wove his tales reminded him of his younger years, of lighter times when there was no actual malice behind his pranks and his heart had not grown as hard.

There had been a time where Loki had felt free to call Thor brother and the lie did not leave a bitter taste in his tounge. In fact, those had been the days where he had not known that it was a lie at all. The days where he and Thor were both Æsir, sons of Æsir, and Princes to the Æsir throne. How ironic it was that, dispite the fact that he was the heir to both the throne of Asgard and the throne of Jotunhiem, he was destined to be an outcast and never inherit his birthright or adopted right.

"Done with the pity fest, Rudolf?"

The voice came out of nowhere and Loki only recognized the source when he opened the eyes he hadn't realized he had closed and saw no one. Stark speaking through JARVIS's speakers was the most likely explanation but there was much about the humans technology that was lost on Loki, especially with Tony's special "improvements".

As a response to the query Loki merely glared at the ceiling and refused to respond.

Stark chuckled back. "I'm heading up now that Itsy-Bitsy and Birdbrain are settled in." There was a short pause, almost as if Tony was waiting for a reply, but the wait was for naught. Loki was content to glare at the ceiling as if it was Tony Stark himself because how the Norns did Stark know of his reminiscing?

Of course, because this was Tony Stark that he was talking to the man had to laugh again and answer the question that he had just been thinking about. "And judging by the frown your wearing right now, I think the best thing to say is that one; you are suprisingly easy to read for a trickster; and two; you really must love Thor for all the cursing you do because you called him brother. Multiple times."

There was another pause but Loki decided to take advantage of the silence because this human seemed incapable of limiting his speech and because his mutterings, one of the few things that had kept him sane while in the Void, had given him away to that damnably understanding human to see. It's not like Tony Stark needed any help in unraveling his life story and piecing events together like a puzzle that made him Loki the Trickster, Silvertounge, and Lie Master. The human genius seemed to have a deeper in standing of himself after just over a day than Thor did after a couple thousand years.

Once again, Loki's though process was rudely interrupted by none other than Tony Stark waltzing through the door that had opened without a sound that could be heard over the boisterous noise of Stark's own voice. It was almost as bad as Thor. Almost but not quite. At least Tony Stark was human, therefore having some excuse for his actions, and he was intelligent enough to hold a real conversation with.

"Honey, I'm home!" Stark sing-songed as he approach the raven haired man perched on the end of the bed. A teasing grin graced Stark's face as he continued. "Miss me?"

Perhaps he had been too quick in his evaluation of this human. Intelligence was not the trait Stark was currently portraying. Not even close.

The lack of response from Loki only seemed to bring the human further amusement as Stark's grin widened further and the stupid genius came to slouch next to him on the edge of the bed. They were close enough to touch, leaving just enough room between them that it could have been accidental but with Stark there left little doubt as to the intent.

The close proximity was meant, like the grin and words, to evoke irritation in Loki and the trickster quickly debated whether to lean closer and play Stark at his own game or to move away like he really wanted to and reveal his true opinion. In the end he remained stationary.

Thankfully, after a moment Stark realized the game was up and moved away so that he could stretch himself out across the sheets. The unusually large size of the bed meant that even with the small human stretching his limbs to their fullest extent he would be no closer than he was before. There was an oddly companionable silence as they remained in thier chosen positions and simply breathed quietly.

"You know you almost blew it today." Stark spoke quietly, in no way accusing, as if he did not wish to frighten Loki and the intent was appreciated. There had been so much that he had and had not done in the past that had been blown so out of proportion that the punishments had been extreme, even among gods. That same tone that the Allfather and Thor had used on him the Other and Thanos had mimicked in torture. Just the very though made Loki flinch.

Mistaking the flich for his own actions, Tony sat up quickly and moved slowly towards the raven haired man until he placed a warm, tentative hand on the tricksters shoulder. "There was never any real danger," Tony was quick to assure and Loki had to bite the inside of his mouth to stop from smiling. A human giving comfort to a god. A novel experience that Loki was sure would happen again. They were both, after all, broken men in their own ways.

"The cleaning bots got it before anyone could see it, I myself barely noticed it before it was gone but still. Natashalie and Legolas have been trained to notice weird stuff that shouldn't be there and the bandage," Tony's hand moved off Loki's shoulder and down to his side where it rested, a feather-light against his skin, "was definitly somethimg that was not supposed to be there because I have not been injured recently because there have been no real major battles since your little debut." Stark trailed off quietly after that but the inconspicuous hand still remained unmoved.

"By the way," the hand disappeared and Loki turned to observe the odd human as he rummaged around in his pockets before attracting a small, white bundle, "here are the bandages you ran away without." The tone of Stark's voice was teasing but the look in the chocolate eyes showed that there was true concern there. With a small incline of his head, Loki reached out to accept the bandages before Stark pulled his hand back.

"No. I'll do it."

If this blasted human continued to help him, even going so far as to comfort him, around every turn there would be no way to pay him back adequately and leave without teaching him the secrets of magic that he had learned over his years. Not that teaching the human would be completely horrid, Tony Stark was arguably the most intelligent of his species, but it had beendrilled into his mind that revealing his tricks only god him ridiculed. That fate was almost worse than the physical pain that soon followed.

"Come on," Stark said teasingly, "let me help."

I hope this chapter was not too confusing at the the end but I really wanted to bring back Loki teaching Stark magic because it will happen. Eventually. Soon. Probably.

It really will happen, I promise!

Please review!