"Let's have a real drink, kay' Lokes?" Tony asked after a moment of silence between the two. "Ready for round two?"
"Round two? Of what?" Loki asked and couldn't help but return the smile Tony was giving him. The iron man looked like a child who was just given candy. A playful glint was in his eyes and Loki couldn't help but feel it flowing into his own mood.
"Bonding, talking about our past, crying on each other over it, and so on." Tony rolled his eyes and waved his hand as if dismissing it. "Cap' was pretty deep, yeah. But I'm fun. If you hang out with me, we have the best times in the world. That's something you can't get from spangling spandex."
"And what is your definition of 'fun', Stark? Enlighten me."
"How bout' we start with some shots, see how much you can take?"
"Mm, tempting," Loki said, actually taking a moment to think it over. "But I think we should listen to Steven and not get carried away. Being too drunk to see him would be problematic."
"You're assuming I would get drunk from it," Tony countered, crossing his arms. "Which I assure you, with all the drinking I do, I won't."
"That does not make any sense! You were drunk before!" the frost giant's tone rose but playful still.
"No, I wasn't! I was just-"
"Intoxicated. You shouldn't do that."
"Oh please, I'm Tony Stark!"
"And you're point?"
"I can do anything. Holding some bubbly drinks in is the least of my abilities. I fight crime a lot!" He waved over the bartender. "Hey, give me the best you got, shot glasses, and a lime. I'm going to show Lokes here that I can handle myself."
Before long a tray of shot glasses were in front of them. A nice ripe lime was sitting sliced open at the edge of the tray. Tony looked at it, slightly impressed at the speed of the tender. He deserved a tip for that.
"Well, you going to join me or just watch me like a wallflower?" The iron man asked, taking a shot then sucking on a slice of lime. "Good beer. Lots of fun you're missing out on, y'know."
"You're stupid." Loki chuckled, watching him, quite amused for a moment. "But please. How about you take one more and call it a day?"
"Fine. Only cause you're being a wimp. We're still drinking though."
It was countless more, Loki couldn't recall the number at all.
All he knew was one hour Tony and him were jesting around and the next they were on the dance floor. Somehow the mortal found a way to talk and use a clever tongue to distract the frost giant from watching his intake. The poor ex-villain had let his guard down so much and was so carried away, he didn't notice Tony was drunk until he stumbled over to the door. Loki himself had sipped a little bit of alcohol in that amount of time, so he wasn't exactly intoxicated. There was faint buzz at the back of his mind, slightly slowing down his thought process. It wasn't enough to render him useless in making decisions though, so he should have known better.
He was trying to catch up with Tony who had weaved his way around so easily and was now dancing like a madman. After avoiding a few stranger's limbs, Loki finally managed to grab ahold of the iron man.
"Stark! We're going back to the bar now, okay? We are going to wait for Steven's return then we'll go on home." he yelled over the music.
"Dude, Steve totally got laid. Hey guys! Steve's probably not a virgin anymore! Ohhhh!" Tony screamed, getting a few claps in return from strangers. "My old baby is finally growing up."
He wiped a fake tear from his eye and Loki couldn't help but roll his own eyes. "Stark. We need to go."
"Sorry, babe, but I rather dance. Why don't we just dance, Lokes? Dance and have more stuff to drink?"
"Well, that's exactly why I want you to come back with me." Loki said, taking a different route of persuasion. He hoped his skills in talking did not get too rusty over the year he spent in isolation. It seemed to work just fine then as Tony's eyes widened.
"Really?" he asked, voice heavily slurred.
"Really. Just you and me, drinking heartily and making merry."
"Cause' we're bros now."
"...Right."
Loki held out his hand and Tony eagerly took it. The frost giant let out a sigh of relief, pleased with how that turned out. He started pulling Tony back towards the bar, weaving around people. But then the music changed, the beat stronger and faster. A few shrill screams could be heard and soon more people were getting on the dance floor, packing the place up tight.
The dancers swayed back and forth like an unbroken horse, and soon Loki was jostled away from Tony. The music picked up, tempo much faster and bass resonating. Strobe lights went off all around him, causing him to be disoriented. Before long he found himself in a huddle of females. The were clearly drunk as their movements were too off balance and one even danced by waving a bottle around in the air. Loki certainly preferred the company of the iron man over a bunch of drunken vixens so he started edging his way on out. He was not fast enough. Before he made it a foot out the way, one grabbed his arm and pulled him back in. The girl flicked her curly flame-colored hair out her eyes before giving him her best seductive smile and dancing towards him. It was probably just her red hair, as nothing else resembled her, but the girl reminded him of the black widow and his stomach churned.
He held out his hands in the universal signal for "stop" once she tried to get close to him. She did just that and the seductive look faltered. The music finally calmed down then, leaving a small five minute break for commercials and food. The other women walked away, giggling and pointing over his shoulder in a drunken manner. Loki let out a relieved breath, happy he could search for Stark now without any more trouble. The drunk shorter man was probably just wandering around looking for him. He hoped he could find him without too much conflict.
However, the red-head stopped him from going anywhere. When he tried to walk away again, she put a hand on his arm and he gritted his teeth. He didn't have time to flirt with some random Midgardian!
"I haven't seen you around here before. You're new?" she asked, resuming her former smile.
"Yes. I'm here with my friends, one of which I need to find." he said, wiggling his arm as a warning in her hand.
"Well, maybe we can hook up later-"
"I'm not interested." he snapped, his patience out. He jerked his arm away and glared. She let out a sigh, her expression cracking once again.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes," Loki said. "I'm not interested, I apologize. I must find my friend now."
She heaved a large breath again, her whole composure slipping. Her shoulders sagged in defeat, gaze slipping to the floor. She bit her lip nervously and her hands flitted around her as if she didn't know what to do. It was such a dramatic change from the woman keen on getting his attention before. Loki felt a pain of guilt, wondering if she had low confidence and he just shattered her only hope of taking risks. But he had to go, so he swallowed whatever other thoughts he had about it.
"Sir," she began as he turned heel for what seemed like the thousandth time. "Can you please do me a favor?"
He raised his eyebrow, willing her to continue and swiftly.
"Look, I'm the daughter of the owner of the club, okay? And see, I work here and sometimes my friends to party and stuff," she said hurriedly. Loki had no clue where she was going with it. "And they like all have boyfriends, yeah? And they really, really, really want me to ask out guys and get one too! And they've pushed me and made a bet I wouldn't get anyone's number this week. So yeah, I've spent all night doing just that, but I really don't want to anymore."
"Then...do not? Your honor is not at too much of a risk if you have a week left. Rest and continue tomorrow. I'm sure other men will be interested."
"But that's the thing! I don't want guys to be interested! I don't like men! At all!" she threw her hands up in the air, her mane of hair tossing every which way. "I'm a lesbian, damnit!"
Loki blinked, still not quite sure what she was getting it. Her situation seemed like a simple fix to him. Either she simply tell everyone she was homosexual and to drop it, or she could just find a male to cover it up. The former would be the most simple and straightforward. He had no clue what Midgardian culture was like towards the subject, but on Asgard, though not preferred, they wouldn't bat an eye at that.
"Tell them you're a lesbian then."
"You're right. I will."
"Then why did you need to ask me?" his eye twitched.
"I needed someone to tell first!" she huffed. "Coming out isn't easy, especially when I got no other friends who aren't pushing me towards men. But first, give me a fake number."
She held out her wrist and shoved a pen into his hands. He looked stupidly, not quite understanding what she meant by 'fake number'. He didn't know...any fake numbers?
"Just write seven zeroes."
He did so without question, not wanting to seem too alien. "I must go now."
"I can help you, y'know. For helping me."
"Sure." Loki said, not really caring and wanting to get a move on. He turned and started walking, not caring if she trailed behind him or not. Of course, she found some way to keep up with his long strides. "Hey!" she yelled, tugging on his sleeve to stop him for a second.
"What?" he snapped, thoroughly annoyed. He hoped she had a good reason-
"Aren't you going to tell me what he looks like so I can find him?"
A/N: Don't worry, I'm not adding any major OCs. Don't worry, the plot is moving on. Don't worry, I'm not going to focus on how society views homosexuality. Don't worry, Tony isn't grinding on anyone or anything.
Don't worry, Steve...might get laid? Ha I doubt it.
Thanks for the reviews! They're funny, helpful, and thoughtful! I enjoy them. Thanks. (: