A week later
"Okay, class, pick a partner with the same fitness and sparring level with you and start your warm down."
It was 10am, and Loki was nearing the end of his two-hour long defence session. Natasha paired up with Clint, and Loki with Maria. Maria smirked, preparing to beat Loki, like usual. This was his first session in sparring this year, so she expected him to be an easy opponent, despite them being at similar levels. Little did she know that Loki had been exercising all holidays and training almost everyday. He was well prepared to take her down. She sent a kick towards him, but was surprised when he grabbed her foot. So surprised, that she couldn't think of what to do next, and Loki ended up twisting her leg and throwing her on the ground. She rolled over and glared at him.
She stood back up, as Loki whispered "Don't underestimate me." She rolled her eyes and waited for him to make a move. Now she was out for revenge. He threw a neat punch, but she grabbed his right wrist and twisted it behind his back, leaving him unable to fight back, unless he used his legs. Using this momentary distraction, she kicked him in the balls and pushed him on the ground, still twisting his arms. She waited like this until he finally submitted. But she held his arms, enjoying being in charge.
"For god's sake Maria let go of me!" She smiled innocently.
"I'll let you go on one condition."
He writhed on the ground, even after going through basic interrogation training he was still struggling to keep his mouth shut. "What do you want?"
"Go out with me tonight." Loki was shocked, he wasn't expecting that.
"Um, okay. Meet you by your dorm at 7pm."
She smiled and let go. "See you then." And she walked off, leaving Loki completely confused.
*** A week later…
Loki's week with Maria was good. She was really funny, and easy to get along with. And a good kisser. He liked her, but he didn't feel a spark. He just liked her as just a friend. Unfortunately, when it came to relationships, Loki was terrible at breaking them off, so he generally waited for the partner to do it. Maria seemed slightly underwhelmed on their date, and the night that followed. It had been good, but not amazing.
He was walking into his room when he was greeted by none other than Tony. They hadn't seen each other in a week, Tony was spending a lot of time with Pepper. Actually, he was just avoiding Loki, but he wouldn't tell him that. But now Tony had heard that Maria and Loki were dating. And he was pissed. Because, yeah, Maria was nice, but she wasn't Loki's type. And Tony was going to tell him that. Except he hadn't quite figured out how.
"Loki." He nodded at the extremely attractive man in front of him.
"Stark, why the hell are you in my room? And how did you get in?" Loki was cute when he was confused. Tony hadn't missed the fact that Loki was wearing a leather jacket and looked incredibly sexy in it.
"Oh, you know. Clint." Tony made up as an excuse. He was good at picking locks when he could be bothered.
"Why?" Loki asked again.
Tony shrugged. "I needed to talk to you."
Loki's head shot up from where he was playing with his keys. "Why? What's wrong?" Aw, how cute. Loki was caring about Tony.
"Nothing bad! Just, Maria." Tony said quickly.
"What about her?" Loki's eyes narrowed slightly.
Well here goes. "She's not right for you." Loki raised an eyebrow.
"And what gives you the right to say that?" Loki said defensively.
"She's just not your type." Tony offered as an explanation.
"Then what is my type, Stark?" Me, thought Tony.
"I don't know! It's just not her, alright!" Tony burst out, he knew the conversation would go nowhere.
"Stop making judgments on my love life before you even bother to know it." Loki spat.
"It's not that I don't like Maria, I just don't like her with you."
"You know nothing about me." Loki claimed coldly.
This just made Tony angry. Okay, maybe Tony was a little jealous, but he wouldn't tell Loki that. Yet. But now he was pissed, and nothing good was going to come out of what he said next.
"I know you drink soy milk because Thor always used to spit in the normal milk. I know you don't sleep at night because you're scared of the nightmares. I know you exercise to stop thinking about everything going wrong in your life. I know you love your mother, but you can't express it. I know you and Natasha became friends due to a mutual hatred of people. I know you have a weakness for blueberry muffins, because your mother used to bake them for you. I know you take Psychology so you can understand what the hell is going on in your mind. And I know you're insecure about yourself when you have no reason to be. So don't tell me I don't know you." Tony said quickly.
There was silence as Loki inwardly freaked out at this. He didn't like people being close to him, especially if they said what Tony had just said.. All he could do was balk.
"Fine then, I'll go. Have fun with you girlfriend." Tony spat vehemently. He turned to the door and walked out, almost crashing into Maria herself. She didn't look too happy. Tony glared at her and slammed the door.
"Loki?" He turned around.
"Oh, hey Maria. What are you doing here?"
She smiled softly. "I heard your conversation."
"Oh." He looked worried. "Don't listen to Tony, he's being weird."
"It's fine. Everything he said was true. I'm not your type. But I know someone who is. And I hope you both realize it before it's too late. I'm sorry Loki, but we can still be friends, right?" He nodded and she left.
That was surprisingly convenient, Loki thought.
To be honest, Loki didn't really mind. But what she'd said about someone else being Loki's type worried him. Who was it? Guy or girl? The only person that came into his head straight away was Tony. But it couldn't be. Not Tony, surely not Tony. But who else? It was weird, Loki didn't mind the thought of dating Tony now. Not that it would ever happen of course. Tony and Pepper were still together, although she had said it wasn't going well. And Loki couldn't help but dream. Tony would be an amazing kisser, for sure. And good in bed. And he understood Loki. Now that he thought about it, it really would make sense for them to be together, oddly. Dammit, Stark, Loki knew it would never happen. 1. Tony was straight. 2. He was with Pepper. 3. Loki was too insecure to have a relationship with anybody. But god, he wanted Tony.
*A week later*
"Brother! You are free of those manacles!" Thor declared happily, before almost killing Loki in one of his infamous hugs.
"Hello, Thor." Loki muttered.
"Would you fancy lunch together?" Thor asked.
Nat, Clint and Peggy were busy, so Loki accepted. They talked about classes and teachers when Thor brought up the subject of Tony.
"Did you know Tony has just broken up with Pepper?"
"What?" Loki almost spat out his salad.
"Yeah, it was mutual. It hadn't been going well for a while."
"Oh. That's too bad. I hope they're okay." Loki was secretly thrilled, not that he'd have a chance anyway.
They continued, until four when Thor had to meet up with Jane. Loki walked back to his room; He had the rest of the day free. However, his plans were interrupted when certain brown-eyed genius literally ran into him.
"Sorry-Oh it's you. How've you been?" Tony seemed slightly distracted.
"Fine, I guess. How're you?"
Tony yawned and ran his hand through his hair. Loki couldn't help but notice how incredibly sexy that simple movement was. "Been busy. How's your girlfriend?" Loki didn't miss the hint of hostility towards the end of the sentence.
Loki laughed. "Maria? You were right, she heard our, uh, argument and dumped me straight after you left." Loki admitted.
Tony's eyes lit up. Loki was single. Plus he didn't sound mad at Tony about their argument, he practically sounded relieved to talk to him
"So, uh how's Pepper?" Loki asked, trying to break the silence.
Tony stiffened. "Haven't spoken to her in a while. We kind of broke up."
"How do you 'kind of' break up with someone?"
"Well, it was mutual, but she's still a bit annoyed." Tony lied, Pepper wasn't annoyed.
"If it was mutual, then why is she annoyed?" Loki asked, frustrated at the lack of information.
"Well, she had her reasons. Mine weren't so innocent." Tony looked away.
"What do you mean? You're being extremely vague here." Loki said irritably.
"I like someone else." Tony turned back to face Loki. That was not what
Loki had been expecting. He'd been expecting something like Tony had cheated on her or something.
"Are you going to tell me who she is?" Loki's mouth dropped. "It's not Maria is it?"
Tony laughed at his expression; he looked like an innocent puppy who had just heard the most controversial thing in the world. "No! Definitely not." Loki let out a sigh of relief. Tony decided to be brave. "What makes you think it's a she?"
Loki raised an eyebrow. "I didn't realize you were…gay."
"I prefer the term bi-sexual." Tony declared with a smirk, hoping Loki wouldn't mind.
"Oh." Was all Loki could say.
"I take it you weren't expecting that then." Tony laughed nervously.
"I will admit I am surprised." Loki admitted.
"So are we all good? You won't, you know, judge me. Right?"
Loki smiled. "Now that would just be hypocritical."
Now Tony was confused. "What?"
"I guess we have something else in common." Loki continued to smile.
"Wait, are you saying you're bi as well?" Tony asked, surprised.
"Yeah, I guess." Loki sighed.
"We should start a club!" Tony yelled, jokingly.
"How about no?" Loki glared. Tony laughed. Loki was just about to reprimand Tony for being so pretentious, when Bruce walked up to the pair in the corridor, ready to begin a study session with Tony.
"Tony, Loki." He nodded at the latter.
"Hey, Bruce." Loki smiled.
"Sorry to break up your conversation, but Tony and I need to head off to the library."
Tony groaned. "Do we have to?"
"Yes, Tony, we do. We can't all be geniuses like you." Bruce remarked.
"And you know it." Tony smirked. Loki sighed and rolled his eyes.
"I'll meet you there, Bruce." Bruce nodded and walked off, leaving the pair alone.
"Wait here, I'm just grabbing my books." Tony told Loki, as he entered his room. Tony walked in and took a deep breath, remembering his and Pepper's talk.
FLASHBACK
"Listen Tony, we need to talk." Tony's head snapped up, he'd been expecting this. He loved Pepper, he had since he'd first met her, but the love was turning back into friendship.
"I know." Tony shut his laptop. Pepper sat down next to him.
"I'm not going to cry, so don't look so worried." Tony was shit at emotional break ups.
"Tony, you know I love you, right? And I know you love me, but our relationship isn't what is used to be, and you know that. I want this to be quick, and there's also not much that needs to be said. I guess we both know how this will end. We're going to remain good friends, because that's how we've always been. If there's anything you want to say, say it now." Pepper looked at Tony, who had a sad smile on his face. Everything Pepper said was true. He wasn't sad, or angry, just calm. But he had to tell Pepper one last thing.
"I-I think I might like someone else." Pepper smiled at him.
"I know." That was not the reaction Tony had been expecting.
"You do?" He said, curious.
"And I know who it is. I knew who probably before you did."
Tony frowned. "Who, then?"
"That's for you to decide, not me. I guess I should probably go now."
"Okay. I'll guess I'll be seeing you around then." Tony hugged his closest friend, who then left to head back to campus.
FLASHBACK ENDS
Tony thought about what Pepper said, and he agreed. Whilst Loki wasn't exactly the best person at showing how he felt, and Tony really did not want to pressure him. But his feelings for Loki had gone way past being just a crush. As Tony went back to Loki, he had a sudden adrenalin rush and just thought, what the hell, why not?
"Listen, Shakespeare, I have to go." Was it just Tony or did Loki's face fall slightly?
"Okay. See you later, then." Loki turned to leave.
"Actually, what are you doing later?" Tony asked, attempting to hide his nervousness.
Loki hid a smile. "Nothing, why?"
"We should do something. Like get dinner or whatever." Tony replied nonchalantly.
"Okay."
"Cool, I'll meet you back here at," Tony checked his watch, it was 4:30pm, "6:30pm. If that's alright?"
Loki nodded. "Guess I'll see you then." With that, Loki quickly flung himself into his room before Tony could notice the grin on his face.