"Well I have to give it to you, you must have some massive balls." Tony said as he stepped out onto the balcony with two wine glasses full of highly carbonated juice. "It's been a week and the lightning storms still haven't stopped."

The storm had stopped for an hour now, the calm of the sky only temporary. Every day for the past week, the weather was nothing but harsh rain and lightning. It would only let up for a few hours every afternoon however. But after that, it would abruptly start again with a sharp flash of lightning and the howl of thunder.

Loki spent the hours of calm sky every day to glare up defiantly at the heavens. Steve, Tony, and Bruce were starting to worry. Loki would not say a word while he was on the balcony nor move. He'd just...glare. And snarl. The Avengers watching him from afar would dare say he looked comparable to a wild animal trying to start a fight with a fight with a larger beast, but would cower back every time his hissing was returned. It worried them.

Not only that, but it was freezing outside. After Halloween, the temperature always dropped to near freezing in New York. The men worried that the dark haired man would catch a cold, especially in the rain when it started up again, and would subtly try to convince Loki to bring a jacket to put over his short sleeves. Steve would casually chat to Bruce about long sleeved shirts while Tony would boast about his many coats.

Tony thought it was a lost cause until he looked at the frost giant standing with his head tilted towards the sky in a sweater that was a little familiar. He looked rather nice in it though, in fact, perhaps the nicest Tony had seen him in Midgardian clothing. The iron man handed Loki one of the glasses which the taller man accepted without a word. Tony still squinted at the article of clothing even as Loki lifted the glass to his lips and drained it.

Cashmere. Yes, the material was cashmere, Tony confirmed as he mindlessly stroked the shoulder of the garment. It was a peach, a very subtle tone at that as if it had been slightly washed out, but was still easy on the eyes. His fingers trailed across from the shoulder, to the chest, and ended nearby a collarbone. The neckline was a "v" and he played with it for a moment as he racked his brain to figure out the reason it was familiar, but it was running away like a fleeting ghost-

"Tony," a voice said sharply and the iron man felt Loki's breath ruffle his hair. Tony's eyes snapped up, meeting a pair of emerald's as he was shot back into reality. "What are you doing?"

"Uhmm..." Tony mumbled, for once lost for words, and looked down at the ground at their feet. They were very close. If he wanted to, he'd just have to lean forward to touch Loki.

"What ails you?" Loki asked, placing his palms on either side of Tony's face and bringing it up so that their gazes met again. The frost giant squinted. Their noses were barely touching. "You started staring and went all pale...is this some sort of Midgardian disease you were warning me of?"

"It's nothing Lokes." Tony said quietly, brow creasing as he tried to figure out why the hell the sweater was causing him so much trouble. Loki followed his gaze with a cold expression and a small frown.

"Oh," he said as he let go of Tony abruptly and spun on his heels to resume his position of watching the sky. Only this time, he peered up with a sorrowful expression instead of rage. Tony blinked, not fully understanding what happened.

"Why are you so blue, friend?" Tony said in a light tone, taking a step towards the other man only to stop when Loki whipped around in panicked astonishment.

"I'm blue?!" he nearly shrieked, trying to shield himself by lifting up the collar of his sweater.

"What?" Tony whipped back just as frantic.

"You said I was blue!" his breath came out rapidly. "Don't look at me!"

"Loki-"

"I said don't look at me!" Loki snarled and hugged himself tightly. "Go away, Stark! Surely you don't want me around now that you've seen that I'm just a monster."

"What?" Tony repeated, and hurried up to him. "What the hell are you talking about?!"

"Don't lie to me. If I was not blue, you would not be staring at me like that!" Loki hissed.

"Why would I lie to you? Why wouldn't I want you around, Loki? I was just looking at the sweater because it's familiar!" He managed to grab his hand which Loki snatched away with a shriek.

"Don't touch me-"

"You're not a monster Loki!" Tony yelled as he gained a grip of Loki's wrist. He shoved Loki's hand in front of his face quickly. "See? You're fine. Your skin is not blue. You're fine, Loki."

The frost giant's breathing slowed down after he stared dumbly after his skin for a few moments. His tense slowly loosened up and felt a tear run down his cheek. He didn't want to cry - he felt weak - but he did. And Tony simply gave him a big hug.

"It's a figure of speech," Tony explained quietly. "'You're a little blue today' is another way to say you look sad."

"Oh." Loki simply said quietly.

They stayed like that for a while. The two just hugged it out, breathing in each other's scents. It finally hit Tony, why the sweater was so familiar and such a marker in his memory. It used to be Pepper's sweater. That one v-neck he had bought for her, and the one she had washed incorrectly, and the one that had grew. It was from the day Pepper looked her absolute best, the day they had one of their best dates, and from the day she said she loved him.

Ouch.

Now Loki was wearing it, hints of her still woven in it, but now it was mostly Loki. Loki's more earthly scent.

"Where'd you get this from?" Tony asked as he gave a small tug to the sleeve of the sweater.

Loki gulped and considered just giving a short answer but...he felt Tony needed more of an explanation. An explanation behind his freakout too.

"From the box. The box full of clothes you use for your 'one-night-stands' as you call it," Loki said. "I got your not so subtle message that I needed to wear something more when coming out here or else I'd get some Midgardian disease that comes from the cold. I-I actually don't need to wear anything extra. The cold doesn't bother me. It never did."

"So why didn't you tell us that it's an Asgardian trait to be immune to the frosties?"

"Because it's not." Loki whispered. Tony stared at him quizzically.

"So you really are Rudolph? You're the one reindeer with the shiny nose-"

"No." he interrupted. "Yes. I suppose. But I'm not a fellow reindeer."

"Thor did say you were adopted."

"I grabbed this sweater in order to shake off suspicion. I didn't want you to find out that I'm...a frost giant."

Loki searched his face for a reaction of disgust or some sort of recognition or even an "ah ha!". Instead, he was greeted by a blank face which soon turned into one full of laughter.

"Is that..." Tony giggled. "A stripper name?"

"No!" Loki slapped him playfully and couldn't help but smile. For a genius Tony was such an idiot. Loki reassumed his grave posture. "I forgot you have never heard of them in this realm. They are horrible creatures that live in a frozen wasteland and are simply uncivilized. My fa- Odin, yes Odin, he has slaughtered many. He found me when I was just a baby, left alone to die, and he took me in. But as just a bargaining token.

"He disguised me as an Asgardian and for my whole life I've lived a lie not knowing I was adopted until I discovered it by mistake. He raised me...with such horrible stories of them. Of how monstrous they are..." he trailed off, not sure where to go without going on about how much he hated himself. How much he hated the blue skin, the lies, everything..."

Tony, who had been watching him close, shook his head slowly. "I don't think you're a monster."

"You'd be the first." Loki said.

"Well, I really don't. In all honestly, if we're going to call out names, I think Odin is one. What a douchebag of a father in my opinion."

"If I'm not a monster," Loki bit his lip slowly. "Then what am I?"

"Just Loki." Tony responded easily, and added not fully aware, "And beautiful."

The frost giant's brow lifted and looked away quickly with a grin. Oh no, he could feel his cheeks heating up. He was starting to blush like a maiden. Tony realized what he said when he noticed the frost giant's face. He failed to swallowed a grin so he laughed it out instead. The iron man was about to say something else when the rain abruptly started again with a clash of thunder that sent both of them jumping. They both ran inside, not wanting to risk getting hit with the lightning bolts dangerously close to the tower.

The two were wet when they managed to recover. Tony quickly closed the blinds as he noticed the storm outside was the darkest it had been yet. Loki watched the clouds swirl angrily and the sharp lightning bolts decorate the sky before they disappeared behind the blinds. He swallowed slowly, knowing this meant Thor was about to make his move.

A/N: I rewrote this chapter seven times. I tried to make it perfect. I'm not happy with it. Please enjoy this though. Thanks for the follows/reviews! You're all lovely people