So... I was in a car accident last week so writing got moved down a few notches on my scale of importance. Sadly, my car was totaled but I was lucky and received no major injuries from the wreck.
On a happier note, this chapter was originally over 4000 words long so I split it into two chapters. I will definitely have the next chapter posted by June 19th, a week from today.

Not mine, never mine, usual disclaimers

"Now that I think about it, you have way more leverage on me than I have on you," Tony laughed out, as if this false realization was the funniest thing in the entirety of the realm.

Peering slower at the still laughing man, Loki squinted his eyes and asked cautiously, "Are you drunk?"

o~*+*~o

"Yes, I do believe I am," Tony replied, his abrupt amusement finally wearing off as the endorphins exited his system. It was, however, very difficult to keep a straight face at the confused expression on Loki's face that made Loki press his lips into a flat line and his eyebrows pinch together.

"The famous billionaire playboy drunk off of a mere two bottles of mortal beer?" Loki asked incredulously.

"And you believed the rumors?" Tony drawled right back. "I actually rarely drink, ever, and when I do it's all watered down stuff. This," Tony gestured to the empty bottles that were randomly placed on the strange low table nearby, "is not watered down at all. As I am not acclimated I am actually closer to drunk than I have gotten in years," Tony explained as he let himself to sit up straighter and his eyes to brighten and become clearer.

"I am also a fantastic actor," Tony proclaimed as solemnly as possibly while letting the very ends of his lips twitch up in the suppression of a full blown smile.

"So I noticed," Loki shot back, shaking his head in continued disbelief. "I find it quite possible, even probable, that you would despise losing even the smallest edge of your intelligence." Tony nodded in affirmation to the statement.

"You would be right if you said I wasn't actually drunk, I still have the full capacity of my intelligence at hand, but the part about me keeping watered down drink is true. I am a little surprised you believed the rumors about my being a playboy though," Tony said thoughtfully, tapping a finger against his chin as he spoke.

"It is a skillfully created ploy," Loki grumbled back and Tony was internally patting himself on the back for tricking the infamous trickster.

"I thought you were the god of mischief?" Tony teased, testing how far he could go because limits were made to be pushed and, luckily for Tony's health, all he got in response to his verbal prod was a very angry glare which told Tony that all was well.

Ridding himself of his self-satisfied smirk for the moment, Tony turned leaned back and lifted his arms so the lay along the back of the couch, one hand just barely brushing the raven hair that lay there.

"Why did you think I was drunk in the first place? I mean, I know the laughter freaked you out but if it was about the laughter you would have said something then, not after..." Tony trailed off as he mentally reviewed all he had said before. Loki remained in stony silence.

Tony caught Loki's evasive eyes, observed the slight tenseness in the pale man's body, and paused for a moment before speaking. "You think I'm wrong. You think I have more leverage on you than you do on me." A silent staring contest began as Loki nodded once. "I'm assuming you're not going to tell me what it is I have on you."

"You assume correctly," Loki replied stiffly, his back perfectly straight and tense enough that one move might snap it. Tony was just happy that Loki wasn't particularly vengeful and teasing was part of the raven haired man's title, otherwise he would be dead or dying. Just to take it a step further, Tony retook his previous position and innocently brushed the tips of his fingers through the long black hair that lay against the couch.

"Okay." The quick appeasement seemed to do the trick, breaking through most of the tenseness in the room in favor of anticipation for something that was part of both of their job descriptions. "Don't tell me about the leverage but, if you would be open to sharing, I am amenable to a trade," Tony prompted with a smirk that Loki sent right back, a familiar twinkle in those poison green eyes.

"What type of trade?" Loki questioned lightly, relaxing back into the cushions once again and giving Tony more hair to play with, but that was probably an unconscious decision.

"Leverage. That's what we're both so worried about so what if we get rid of it and learn to trust each other instead," Tony asked as he slowly grew more courageous, his hand tugging tentatively on the raven strands his fingers tangled in.

"And how do you plan on doing this?" Loki asked, the other man's head tilting back ever so slightly as Tony began to switch between combing through the deceptively soft hair and spontaneously mussing it up before smoothing it out once again. Luckily, Loki didn't seem to mind.

"You explain to me what really happened the last time you were here so I can finally get my answers and I promise to fulfill one of the things I, apparently, have on you." Tony gently unwound his fingers from Loki's locks to place his hands in his lap, turning to face the raven haired man. What Tony missed as he dropped his hands and head before giving the other man his full attention was how disappointed Loki looked when the hand was removed.

"You would prefer answers over the guarantee of your own health?" Loki questioned, cocking his head and quirking one eyebrow in an incredulous manner.

"Well, yeah." Tony shrugged and began drumming his fingers against his thigh as he searched for words. "I mean, the answers are the only thing that would be immediately applicable for me and I can't just sneak into your bed every time I have a bad dream."

Tony could admit to himself, and probably only himself, that he felt guilty for basically blackmailing Loki into the situation in the first place and that sharing a bed with someone he hadn't had any sexual contact with was petrifying for two reasons.

One, because his dad had been such a hard ass and his mom uncaring of his disruption as a child, the comfort of sharing a bed for the sake of comfort alone was new. Even when he got sick or was injured he back away and wouldn't let people close.

Two, because this wasn't some one night stand he had taken back home, Loki was there when he woke up and Tony did know what the other man expect because not morning could be as nice as the last one.

The whole thing has started because Tony had wanted to stand his ground and integrate himself into Loki's interesting life and, generally, be as irritating as possible. What he hadn't expected was it to be so nice and comfortable and cool and nice. He wasn't going to force Loki, though, and Tony really wanted those answers so-

"Stark," Loki said, an amused grin quirking his lips and his voice breaking Tony's train of thought. Tony blinked once, slowly, and assumed a face of pure innocence, making Loki's grin widen further.

"Yes?" Tony asked with wide eyes, his hands held still in his lap for only a moment before twitching away with a mind of their own.

"I believe you are forgetting something," Loki mentioned with that same infuriatingly amused smirk in place while Tony merely furrowed his brow in response. He was Tony Stark and Tony Stark did not forget things. Unless they were birthdays. Or meetings. Okay, maybe he did forget things but that's what JARVIS was for.

"We already agreed that, to better both of ourselves, we would share the bed." Oh why would Loki remember and bring up this of all things, especially now. Of course it would be the god of mischief that always kept his work and honored his agreements. "Unless you have found something amiss in my actions this past night I see no reason not to continue," Loki continued, oblivious to Tony's conscience.

"Oh," Tony said softly as he tried to find loopholes for Loki so the guy could get out of it. No matter how nice it had been for Tony, he would never make an assumption and he would not force someone. Tony knew he had backed Loki into a corner just to get the other man to agree in the first place. "I thought you were just being nice when you agreed." There was a weighty silence before Tony dipped his head to his chest in acknowledgement that the god was okay with sharing the bed and that the arrangement would continue before moving on.

"So what's your answer?" Tony asked, referring to their barter for each other's leverage. Loki appeared to genuinely consider the idea, weighing whatever pros and cons he found relevant into his decision with a furrowed brow and calculating stare.

"You have a deal."

With a firm shaking of hands to make things official, Tony leaned back in his seat and made himself comfortable. This of course meant that the engineers wandering hand made its way back to Loki's hair and remained in place, despite the man turned to face him head on and therefore removing the silken locks from his grasp.

"Spin your tale, Silvertongue," Tony requested teasingly and was rewarded with the sky smirk and subtle tip of Loki's head as he complied.

I'm sorry this chapter is so short for how long the wait has been to update. I'm hoping that summer will lend me more time for writing and more ideas to write about. Again, I will definitely have the next chapter up by June 19th.

Please review!