Loki was having some last minute regrets; big time. Why did he agree to allowing Bruce over to the towers? What were they thinking? He slumped down on the couch, staring straight ahead at the blank screen in front of him. A "television" Tony had told him. Loki had no clue what it was, what it did, or why he didn't bother learning until now. Tony simply told him that when he came back with Bruce, he was in for a surprise.

Bruce.

A man who was unpredictable and uncontrollable in Loki's eyes. At the time during the invasion, he thought of him as the perfect device to use. The beast was chaos and Loki was an expert in the subject matter. But...he was too much for him to handle, if that was possible? Too strong for him to rule. He had gotten pummeled into the ground and it had hurt. Imagine what damage the man could do to his pretty much mortal body?

He shivered. Though Steve and Tony insisted Banner was a completely different person and the one who beat him was really the "hulk", he didn't completely believe them. If even an ounce of a man is a threat, he counts him as a whole enemy. That was one of Loki's mottos and it had saved his arse many times in the past. He needed to be wary and as soon as the man "helped" him, he'd make sure to cut him off. To put enough distance between them so he won't have to worry about a knife between his shoulder blades as he slept.

"Loki," Steve mumbled from beside him. The captain momentarily stopped his sketching to give him a pointed look. "Relax. Stop slouching, Bruce is a nice guy. He's very smart."

"I do what I want, Steve." Loki muttered sulkily and purposely made his posture worse. The movement wrinkled the plain button-down shirt and leather jeans he was wearing. Steve simply rolled his eyes and continued his drawing of a hummingbird.

When they finally arrived, it was two hours behind schedule. Tony had promised them he'd come back at least by seven in the afternoon. It was about nine o'clock when JARVIS finally announced the two were in the elevator, coming up.

About an hour earlier, Steve had decided to pop some popcorn as a snack. Tony had explicitly told him not to cook anything because he was going to order pizza. They were going to have a movie night, get Loki calm enough to be around Bruce, then get down to business. Or, if they had to, wait another day for him to calm it down. They hoped they didn't need an extra though.

Since Tony hadn't showed up on time and the two were pretty hungry, Steve just popped some corn. Him and Loki ate about two bags until they fell asleep on the couches. Steve was still sitting on the couch he claimed for himself when he just lulled off. The bag he was eating out of slipped out his hands and created a mess all over him. And the floor.

Loki had sprawled over his own couch, his empty bag right on the floor. He was in pretty deep sleep because he didn't immediately wake up. The captain did though. But before Steve could move or clean up some of the popcorn, the elevator dinged open and out stepped the two men they had been waiting for.

"Honey, I'm home!" came Tony's excited voice. "I broughteth thou substeneth."

And the iron man came into the room shaking the stacked pizzas he had in his hands before setting them down on the coffee table in front of the couches. Bruce sheepishly came into the area too, carrying a few dozens of flavored sparkling waters.

"Hello Bruce." Steve said with a smile.

"Captain." Bruce said with a slight wave of his hand. "You missed your mouth."

"Really, your whole face." Tony chimed in. "Did you guys start without us?"

"No, we just ate some popcorn," Steve shoved a pile of the stuff to a corner of the couch before getting up to grab a broom. "Because someone came home late."

"We just had a long chat, Steve," Bruce interrupted whatever smartass comment Tony was going to say. He shifted his attention to Loki's sleeping form. "He's skinnier than I remember."

"You've lost weight yourself." Tony quipped and shooed him away from the beverages. He grabbed one out and slowly sipped on it, feeling the carbonation. Steve and Loki had convinced him to buy carbonated drinks for his alcohol withdraws. Though it wasn't the healthiest, it was a step, and hopefully the slight burn would substitute for Tony's usual drinks. The two weren't compatible though, at least not for Tony. "Hey Lokes!"

The iron man poked Loki in the side a few times. Though he received a few twitches, that was not enough for Tony. Part of movie night was to introduce some "Midgardian technology". Loki needed to be awake for it!

So he decided to sit down on top of his outstretched legs. The newly added weight was enough to get Loki to open his eyes and rejoin the world. He grumbled and tried to shift aside. Tony just casually opened up a box of pizza and took a slice. "JARVIS, what movie do you suggest we watch?"

"Something classic!" Steve chimed in.

"Uh, I was asking-" Tony started but was interrupted by the sound of Bruce sinking down onto one of the sofas nearby.

"I'm up for something classic and it'd be good to show him some pop culture."

"Agreed, sir." came JARVIS' reply. Tony just rolled his eyes before asking what he'd suggest then.

"What is a movie?" Loki muttered sleepily, once again trying to shift. Tony wouldn't budge. "And you're late, Tony."

"I'm sorry," came Bruce's soft voice. Loki immediately came to attention, tensing up when he looked over and saw Banner. The latter had gotten up and outstretched a hand towards him. He was smiling, his curly dark hair a mess. "That's partly my fault. I'm Dr. Bruce Banner, nice to...officially meet you."