I'm surprised I'm updating by now, given how busy this week was and how little I wrote during the majority of it. In the first five days since chapter 8 was posted, I only managed to write 2,000 words, so most of this was written over the past three days. While I had a ton of work this week, the weekend was surprisingly light. I'm pretty sure I updated one of the other 5k chapters in 5 days. Basically, I really just miss having more free time to write. By the way, I stole a line from Age of Ultron.
As always, thanks to all you awesome readers, reviewers, followers and favoriters!
Tony's really glad that Bruce has those stretchy pants that don't rip when he hulks out, because he really wouldn't want a naked Bruce in his living room. He vaguely wonders how Loki would react to that, but it's probably best he didn't find out. Currently, Loki is staring at Bruce with an unreadable expression on his face. Tony lands but remains in the Iron Man suit, although he lifts the faceplate up.
Bruce looks around the living area, obviously assessing the damage the Hulk had done. Of course, his attention is first drawn to that nasty hole in the floor. He seems surprised that the wrecked floors and the smashed chair are the extent of the damage, but he's clearly still feeling guilty. He starts to apologize, but Tony cuts him off.
"It could have been a lot worse. Trust me, I can pay for it. Hey Jarvis, arrange to have the floors fixed sometime, will you?" Tony says, and Jarvis replies that he's already on it. Tony flashes Bruce a grin, which Bruce reluctantly returns. Admittedly, it is sort of annoying, Tony thinks, but considering he'd expected to find Loki smashed into the floor, it doesn't seem too bad in comparison. Besides, he's lucky enough that even major floor repairs like this won't put a dent in his finances. Being a billionaire has its perks that way.
"Did anyone get hurt?" Bruce asks.
"We're both still alive and kicking." Tony says, and then reassures Bruce with "I don't think either of us got as much as a scratch." Which was quite surprising, really.
Despite what he'd said, Bruce is still looking them both over for injuries. Though if the Hulk had attacked them, it's not like their injuries would have been hidden. They would have been painfully obvious- literally. Taking a beating from the Hulk would hurt even gods (Thor had learned that the hard way), and it would probably kill humans.
Loki most likely would have recovered from a Hulk attack, but the idea of him being hurt like that makes Tony's stomach twist, the same way it would when he thinks about something happening to Pepper or Rhodey, or even Jarvis and Dum-E. Why hadn't Loki tried to get away? What if something had really happened?
"You could have gotten hurt." Tony says to Loki. Sure, Loki had healed within hours of landing on his tower, and he'd started out covered in numerous injuries, but a Hulk attack would have been worse.
Loki shakes his head. "Nuh-uh! Jarvis said he'd stop anyone trying to hurt me. He said you would, too." He looks at Tony, as if expecting him to challenge that statement. Tony confirms it instead, and then addresses his AI.
"Jarvis, why didn't you do anything while all this was happening?" He says in a rather accusing voice. Jarvis is supposed to protect the tower and those in it, after all. Besides, he obviously likes Loki a lot, and Tony thought he'd be really quick to protect the god.
"I had several weapons aimed and ready, sir. Unless he was about to harm Mr. Loki directly, attacking the Hulk would have been counterproductive as it would have only increased his rage. Given his proximity to Mr. Loki, it could have easily done more harm than good." Jarvis responds calmly. That does have a certain logic to it, Tony realizes, and Jarvis goes on. "Besides, the situation did not merit using them yet since the Hulk made no move to harm Mr. Loki."
"Seriously?" Bruce asks, looking very surprised. "He was out of my control."
"Yeah. He wasn't gonna hurt me. Nope nope nope." Loki shakes his head with each nope and his hair flies out around his head. Loki's confidence that the Hulk wouldn't hurt him is very odd, since anyone would have thought the Hulk would have been the most likely candidate to hurt him. Besides, Loki still worries about being hurt a lot.
This is getting more confusing. While Bruce had enough control over the Hulk when transforming on purpose to not hurt allies or friends, this had been one of those accidental transformations where Bruce had very little control over the Hulk. So why hadn't the Hulk just attacked Loki, like he would have attacked anyone else, friend or foe? Maybe the Hulk hadn't viewed Loki as a threat? But he'd attacked other people who weren't threatening him. "Actually, he really didn't seem like he was going to hurt Loki." Tony speaks up. Startling as it was, that did seem to be the case.
"What makes you so sure of that?" Bruce asks quietly, obviously thinking along the same lines.
"Here, have a look." Tony has Jarvis bring up the footage. He pulls Loki over to the couch and plonks down next to him. Bruce sits on Tony's other side. Loki sits on the edge of the seat and bounces slightly.
Bruce watches the holographic video with an uneasy expression at the part where he transforms and jumps through the ceiling. When they watch some of the rubble hit Tony, Bruce and- somewhat surprisingly- Loki, turn to look at Tony until he once again tells them he's fine. Bruce then watches the Hulk interacting with Loki with great interest and a good deal of puzzlement.
Loki, meanwhile, seems to be very confused that he's actually watching himself, though he shrieks "That's me!" when he shows up at first.
Tony also watches with interest, as he'd missed the very beginning of the interaction in real life. Just seeing the whole thing a second time helps, but it again brings home the point of how docile the Hulk had been acting.
He turns to the god. "Seriously, Snoopy, are you some kind of Hulk-whisperer or something? Because if you can calm the Hulk, you'd be one killer animal-tamer. You could have your own act and everything. 'Loki's Lovable Lions' or something. What do you think?"
Bruce looks vaguely amused. Loki seems rather unimpressed and just asks "Aren't all lions lovable? Simba is!" As an afterthought, he adds "Scar isn't, though."
"Not in real life. They're dangerous." Tony replies. Loki looks rather disappointed.
Bruce has an odd expression on his face as he turns to Loki. "Weren't you at all worried about the Other Guy?"
Loki shrugs. "He wasn't scary!"
Going on his hunch, Tony asks "Is it because he doesn't look like an Asgardian?" Loki looks startled, as if he hadn't expected that to be mentioned. He doesn't actually confirm or deny it, but Tony has a feeling that's the case, judging from the look on his face.
Loki doesn't say anything for a bit, but then says "He doesn't talk much, though. But Dum-E doesn't say anything and I like him." He pauses, and chirps brightly, referring to the Hulk "I like him!"
"You do?" Bruce sounds very surprised, but rather pleased. He glances at Tony, who's one of the few people not scared of the Hulk. It looks like Loki's one of those people too. But still, not being scared of someone and liking them are two very different things. Tony can't exactly say he likes the Hulk- he's a good teammate, but not exactly a great houseguest or drinking companion or anything. The Hulk wouldn't be his first choice of who to hang out with, to say the least.
"Yeah. He's really big but he's kinda funny too, 'cause he was all like "ROAAWWR!" Loki practically screams the last part and laughs as he thrusts Simba outward, though Tony has no idea how that's funny. "He was nice and he might have liked me. I dunno. I think maybe he's even my friend?" Loki sounds a little unsure of this part.
Bruce nods, obviously really liking what Loki's, saying, which Tony can understand. Not many people accept the Hulk. Bruce then asks Loki "What would you say a friend is?" Tony's actually rather curious to hear what Loki's answer will be, though he hadn't thought of asking the question.
Loki bites his lip and cocks his head to the side, thinking. Eventually, he seems to decide on an answer and says "A friend doesn't hurt you."
That was a rather basic explanation. In Loki's mind, is the only requirement for friendship that you don't get hurt? It would explain why he thought of the Hulk as his friend.
"Is that all?" Bruce asks, before suggesting "Is a friend someone you like being around?"
Loki grins and nods, suddenly seeming struck with inspiration. "Yeah! Someone you like spending time with. And they like being with you." At first, Tony thinks that's all, but Loki goes on.
"Friends... friends don't make you feel bad about yourself. Like how everyone was to Thor." Loki nods to himself. His eyes aren't focused on anything so they have the same glazed but dreamy look Tony's seen in them countless times. Despite that look, Loki still gives the appearance of being deep in thought. "And they like you for who you are. They don't try to change you." That was actually a rather astute answer, Tony thinks.
Bruce asks Loki who he considers his friends. Loki claps his hands excitedly and replies "Tony! And Jarvis and Dum-E and Pepper... and Simba." Looking Bruce over, Loki adds "And maybe you and the Hulk... Yeah. I think you guys are, too." Bruce replies that he'd gladly be Loki's friend, and Loki flashes a million-dollar smile at him. At least he doesn't seem nervous around Bruce anymore.
"Did you have any friends in Asgard?" Tony asks cautiously. Even if most people there apparently treated him like garbage, there had to be some nice people there, like how he'd had Yinsen in Afghanistan. But Loki's looking at him as if he'd just asked if he's related to an alpaca.
"No! They hate me!" Loki's voice is upset, but he makes it sound like he's describing the most obvious thing in the world. "They'd never like someone like me. They just hurt me! Just hurt, hurt, hurt. They sewed my mouth shut!"
That last sentence was really unexpected. First of all, it came completely out of the blue, and second of all, what the hell was up with that?! Tony sincerely hopes he'd heard that wrong. But when he asks Loki to repeat himself, Loki once again says his mouth was sewn shut.
"What the hell?! Why would they do that to you?! Why would they do that to anyone?! Seriously, that is so messed up!" Loki watches Tony, looking surprised at his outburst.
"I lied to them. I said it wasn't my fault the statue of Buri broke but they found out..." Loki says, as if that's a perfectly reasonable explanation. The event had clearly traumatized him, which was perfectly understandable. Loki looks like he might end up going into a panic attack. Tony puts an arm around Loki's shoulder and pulls him close, somehow managing to talk in a calm voice even though his insides are churning at Asgard, and Loki's breathing slows down. At least they'd avoided that.
Now that Tony thinks about it, there had been some very messed up forms of punishment in the Norse myths he'd read, but he'd hoped they'd just been invented for the stories. Tony takes a deep breath and tries to force himself to calm down completely, but with limited success. If he has to do that, Bruce undoubtedly has to do it, too.
Sure enough, Bruce looks like he's struggling to contain his emotions. Maltreatment and abuse seem to be topics that lead to him hulking out, and the conversation had inconveniently gone in that direction.
Tony really can't blame him in the slightest. If he could hulk out, he probably would be doing so now, too. Though he's glad he hadn't taken his armor off since Bruce's eyes are already green and his skin is steadily becoming the same color.
Even so, the Hulk's really going to come out two times in under an hour? How much more damage will his poor tower have to endure?
He pushes Loki into a corner and stands in front of him protectively. Even though the Hulk hadn't made any move to hurt Loki last time, Tony sure isn't going to take any chances.
Hearing what Loki said about the Other Guy had been really nice, Bruce thinks. Nobody ever actually liked Bruce's other form. Tony is really one of the only people who accepts it and doesn't treat Bruce any differently because of it, but Bruce doesn't think that Tony actually likes the Other Guy. Considering all the damage the Other Guy has done to Tony's tower- this hadn't been the first incident- Bruce is still somewhat surprised he's welcome here.
Loki's apparently another person who completely accepts the Other Guy. But Loki claims he actually likes the Other Guy, too. Getting acceptance is hard enough, and before this whole conversation he was completely convinced that having someone like the Other Guy was impossible. Apparently it's not. Ironically, Loki had seemed more nervous around him before the Other Guy's appearance than after, which was the complete opposite of practically everyone else.
Being in a room with two people who don't treat him like a monster or a bomb that could go off at any second is a really amazing feeling.
But then Loki talks about his treatment in Asgard, which is horrifying and disgusting, and Bruce's mood starts to change. He seconds Tony in wondering why anyone would ever think such a thing as sewing someone's mouth shut was merited. At first, his emotions are shock and revulsion, but he can tell anger is lurking under the surface. Anger at whoever would do such a sick thing.
Bruce thinks that he really should have left a while ago. But he hadn't thought the Other Guy would be clamoring to make another appearance. It hasn't even been half an hour since his first appearance here ended. Today's been horrible in that regard.
His anger rises steadily and the Other Guy gets more persistent to come out. At this rate, he won't even make it to the elevator before he transforms.
Seeing the Hulk transform into Bruce, and then later seeing Bruce transform into the Hulk- both on that transparent moving picture, and in real life, right now- is a very odd sight, Loki thinks. Yes, Tony had said that Bruce was the Hulk that first day, under the bed, but seeing him transform reminds Loki of himself.
Like Bruce, he has another form hidden under his skin. At least Bruce's other form isn't a detestable monstrosity, though. Being the Hulk is probably a lot better than being a Jotun.
When Bruce started to become the Hulk, Tony, still as Man of Iron in his metal skin, had shoved Loki into a corner and is standing in front of him so that he can't go anywhere. He tries to edge around Tony but the man pushes him back, muttering "Stay put."
He's not sure why Tony's acting like the Hulk is dangerous. Maybe they hate Hulks here, like they hate Frost Giants back in Asgard. If that's the case, though, why wasn't Tony acting like he hates Bruce? He hasn't even acted like he hates the Hulk. So maybe that's not the case.
After all, hating the Hulk doesn't really make sense. He helped save the world, right? Tony and Bruce still seem to think he's dangerous, though. But unless you're a chair or the floor, he doesn't seem that dangerous, since those were the only things he wrecked the first time. Although right now he's smashing the thing that plays moving pictures (the non-transparent ones, anyways) and Tony swears in annoyance. Loki wonders why the Hulk likes breaking things so much.
He remembers Tony telling him that the Hulk comes out when Bruce is angry, but he's not sure why he'd come out now- or earlier, for that matter. This time, Tony and Bruce had just been asking him about friends, for some reason. Bruce asking him to say what a friend is had been sort of odd, but he'd thought about how the Warriors Three and Lady Sif acted around Thor. Then, Loki had switched to thinking about how Tony, Jarvis and Dum-E acted around him.
Then, he'd been talking about Asgard and had blurted out that he'd had his mouth sewn shut, which had easily been one of the worst things that had ever happened to him. It had been when he had accidentally broken the statue of Buri, who had been like the Allfather's uncle or something. Or maybe it was his grandfather? Anyways, he'd known that breaking the statue was bad.
He'd thought nobody had seen him, so when questioned about it, he lied and said he hadn't been near it. He'd actually thought he'd convinced them- his lie came out really well- but, to his horror, it turned out a servant had seen him break it with his magic. He hadn't seen the servant though.
The punishment for lying, as well as the beating that had followed after, had easily been the worst in his life. His tormentors had delighted in the fact that his cries were muffled by his lips being sewn together.
Loki shakes his head furiously and tries to get the memories out of his head. He gladly returns to the present moment, where he's standing in the penthouse behind Tony in his Man of Iron suit.
He wishes Tony wouldn't block him like this, since he wants to go see the Hulk again. He doesn't mind the Hulk being here a second time. The Hulk's his friend too, after all- Loki had decided that not long ago. He's nice, in a weird sort of way, even though he's angry all the time.
"Hulk! You're back!" Loki greets happily, grinning when the Hulk turns around to face them. Tony, however, doesn't seem too thrilled. As the Hulk turns towards them, Tony mutters something that Loki doesn't hear.
As the Hulk heads towards them, Tony holds a hand out in front of him for some reason. "All right, big guy. I think it's time for you to go now." Tony's voice is calm, the same tone he uses to calm Loki down. Loki likes that tone a lot. The Hulk just gives a sort of snort.
"I mean, you just shattered my new TV, that's gotta count for something. Don't worry, I'll be lenient and won't bill you for it. So what do you say? Can we go back to talking to Bruce?" The Hulk lets out a loud roar, which is very different to Tony's casual tone, and Loki hears Tony mutter "Right. Don't mention puny Banner."
The Hulk doesn't stop heading towards them and Tony says quickly "All right, forget I mentioned that. Seriously, though, I think it's time for you to go. You've had your little rage fest." The Hulk doesn't give any indication that he cares what Tony thinks, even though when Tony had said that before he'd changed back into Bruce.
Loki frowns. The Hulk is still heading towards them, and he's angry. "Why are you so mad?"
The Hulk stops briefly and smashes a fist into the floor, yelling "Hulk MAD!"
"Yeah, we get that. I don't think you could make that any clearer. Now how about you go now?" Tony mutters. He's still holding his hand out for some reason unknown to Loki, and he tells the Hulk to stand down, which the Hulk doesn't seem to like.
Loki manages to slip past Tony now, and he barely even hears Tony calling for him to come back. He runs up to the Hulk, pausing briefly to look up at him. He still doesn't find him scary, though he seems angrier than the first time he was here. Loki thinks for a bit. Maybe he needs a hug. Cautiously, Loki wraps his arms around the huge green creature's stomach, which is as high as he can reach. His arms don't even go all the way around the Hulk's body.
The Hulk gives a weird grunt. Loki looks up to see the Hulk looking down at him with a very confused look, but he doesn't seem as angry, which is good. Loki feels a hand envelop his back and he smiles slightly.
"I like you." Loki whispers to him. "You and me, we're the same, really. We're both monsters." He hadn't consciously decided to say that last part, it had just come out. But the Hulk would understand, right?
Suddenly, Loki finds himself lying on the ground. The Hulk had pushed him away and he'd fallen. Loki frowns in confusion. Why had the Hulk just pushed him? Friends aren't supposed to push each other. Maybe the Hulk doesn't actually like him, and isn't his friend? The idea hurts, even though he's not sure if it's right or not.
"Hulk not a monster!" The Hulk says angrily, but he doesn't roar it. Oh. So it had been what he said. Clearly, the Hulk hadn't liked being called a monster. Loki starts to try to explain he meant the Hulk's a good monster like Sulley and Mike, but he's interrupted.
"Hey! Hands off him!" Loki turns to see Tony hovering in midair with fire coming out of his gloves and boots. The Man of Iron mask is up so Loki can't see his face, but Tony sounds angry, even though he's not actually shouting. Loki's glad Tony's not using that tone with him.
Loki sees Simba lying on the floor a little bit away from him, and he crawls over to his beloved toy, picking him up. There's a twinge of pain when he first moves, but that's it. The Hulk hadn't pushed him too hard- it hadn't even seemed like a full out shove, more like a get away from me kind of thing, he thinks. It was certainly nothing like what he'd endured in Asgard, although a servant had shoved him similarly once. But still, he's not entirely sure what to think of the Hulk shoving him like that.
Growling, the Hulk takes another step towards Tony, and Loki starts to ask the Hulk for confirmation that he's not going to hurt them when some weird energy blast flies from the palm of the metal glove of Tony's suit, hitting the Hulk in the chest. Loki blinks in confusion. What was that? Whatever it was, it just seemed to make the Hulk angrier.
The Hulk roars and charges at Tony, who flies out of the way. The Hulk turns and heads towards where Tony is now,
Loki wonders if this is like those sparring sessions in Asgard. Right now, it kind of just looks like a chasing game where the Hulk is pursuing Tony. He hopes that's the case, anyways, and that they aren't actually trying to hurt each other.
Well, this really isn't how he wanted things to turn out, Tony thinks as he flies out of the way of the charging Hulk. It's a closer call than he would have liked.
Things actually hadn't looked too bad when Loki had gone to hug the Hulk. In fact, when the Hulk had- astonishingly- put a hand on Loki's back, everything seemed like it was going to be fine, since the Hulk seemed pretty calm. Tony doubts the Hulk has ever been hugged before. He needs to show Bruce the video footage of that later.
But then Loki had whispered something, something about monsters if the Hulk's response about not being a monster was any indication. It had apparently been the wrong thing to say. The Hulk's reaction made that obvious when he'd shoved Loki away. Okay, so Loki can't completely tame the Hulk, since he had gotten angry at the god. Still, Tony realizes, he hadn't pounded Loki into the floor or anything. Which is odd, given the Hulk is back to his usual enraged self.
"Loki! Get out of here!" Tony calls to the god, who's sitting in the middle of the floor as he hugs Simba with a confused and worried look on his face. Loki crawls off to the edge of the room. Tony hears the god shriek "No! Don't hurt him!" but he's not sure who the god's talking to. Technically, neither of them are getting hurt at the moment.
The Hulk turns and heads towards him again, but Tony once again evades him, and the Hulk roars in annoyance.
This continues, like a high-stakes game of cat and mouse. Evading the Hulk is made difficult by the fact he's so freaking fast, but his attacks aren't thought out at all and are just done in a blind range. So Tony flies in purposely confusing ways and manages to avoid getting hit.
Tony refrains from firing his repulsers again. He knows he can't actually overpower the Hulk (he really needs to make a suit to fight the Hulk with, he tells himself) so he remains strictly defensive so as to not enrage the Hulk further. He's talking almost nonstop, trying to calm the Hulk down and coax him to transform. The results aren't exactly stellar.
At least he's keeping the Hulk from getting angrier, Tony thinks, before being immediately proven wrong when the Hulk ups the ante. The Hulk seems annoyed that he can't catch him and compensates by throwing an armchair at Tony while simultaneously charging at him. Tony had been glancing over to make sure Loki was out of the way, and he reacts a moment too late. The force of the impact knocks him to the ground.
Tony lays there, briefly stunned. That certainly hadn't gone the way he'd hoped it would.
Thankfully, Jarvis informs him that the suit hadn't sustained any damage aside from a couple minor dents. Jarvis urges him to get up as the Hulk approaches, with a sofa raised above his head.
Tony can hear Jarvis' voice coming from the speakers in the walls, too. "Step away from Mr. Stark, or I will be forced to taser you." Jarvis informs the Hulk. The Hulk doesn't stand down, and a bolt of electricity hits him between the shoulder blades. The Hulk lets out an enraged roar.
It doesn't even come close to harming the Hulk, of course. He's way too strong for that. It just makes him angrier. Tony's betting Jarvis had thought that the Hulk's attention would be redirected long enough for Tony to get to his feet. Heck, he'd expected that too. But alas, there's no such luck. The Hulk hurls the sofa in his direction before he can get up.
Tony braces himself for the impact, but it doesn't come. Suddenly Loki is standing protectively in front of him, their roles reversed. With his free hand- the other is holding Simba- Loki knocks the sofa aside as if swatting an inflatable beach ball, and Tony finds himself momentarily shocked. Oh, that's right. Loki probably has superhuman abilities like everyone in Asgard. He certainly has the superhuman healing and durability, and apparently the speed, given how quickly he'd moved in front of Tony.
"You tried to hurt him..." Loki says to the Hulk in a betrayed voice. Tony climbs to his feet and is now able to see Loki's face. Despite the situation, he pauses momentarily. Loki's sporting quite the impressive glare, and Tony's seen a lot of glares in his lifetime. This is the first time he's seen Loki angry, and to be honest, it's nothing like what he expected. Loki actually looks rather formidable, yet somehow at the same time he doesn't seem too threatening. Though Tony's not sure how much of that is because he's holding a stuffed animal and dressed in bright, cheerful colors. Is this really the same Loki who curls up on the floor in the most vulnerable way imaginable?
The glare isn't the end of it. In the suit, Jarvis informs Tony that the room has suddenly dropped drastically in temperature, though he thankfully doesn't feel it in his suit, which remains an optimal temperature.
As he reflects on this, Tony sees there's a chest of drawers flying their way, and he gets ready. Loki beats him to it, knocking the incoming furniture away like he had with the sofa.
"No! No! NO!" Loki screams at the Hulk, jumping up and down at each word. Despite the situation, the sight is actually kind of funny. Nobody hears Tony chuckling in his suit, fortunately.
Loki's body is rigid and his hands, despite not being balled into fists, still somehow look angry. He continues howling words at the Hulk. "No! You don't hurt Tony! Don't ever hurt him!"
The Hulk actually pauses briefly, probably more out of shock than anything else. He's still nowhere near calm, but he seems slightly less angry. Or maybe that's just his imagination, Tony thinks. The Hulk takes a step towards them and Loki lets out an earsplitting shriek that still clearly gives the message Stay back.
Loki's outburst has done nothing in improving the Hulk's mood. The Hulk charges at them, and something weird happens. Some kind of force field shimmers into sight and the Hulk bounces away.
Tony blinks. What the...? Where did that come from? Then, he sees the green energy around Loki's hands. Of course... It's always that, isn't it? Loki's eyes are shut. He doesn't seem to have noticed it the green stuff around his hands, which is probably a good thing.
Tony's not sure if it's the force of the blow or if the force field's a one-time-use kind of thing, but it's clearly dying. It flickers a bit before it's extinguished, leaving no trace that it was ever there. The green energy is still around Loki's hands, but nothing weird is happening right now.
The Hulk stares uncomprehendingly at them, probably wondering what had knocked him back, and his lips curl in a snarl. Loki walks forward, seeming completely unconcerned that the Hulk is snarling. When he's a couple steps away from the Hulk, he starts to say something, reaching out a hand, but he freezes when he notices the green stuff. Predictably, he sinks to the floor.
Tony can't help but notice that this time, his reaction is a tiny bit different. Instead of laying curled in a ball on his side, Loki is sitting as he curls in on himself, rocking back and forth. Tony's not even sure if this is an improvement or not.
Well, this is really inconvenient timing, Tony thinks. He readies himself to fight the Hulk and defend Loki, but, oddly, the Hulk isn't doing anything violent. He's just looking at Loki rocking back and forth with what seems like puzzlement. Maybe Loki's weird calming effect on the Hulk is taking effect again?
So, the Hulk's suddenly pretty calm, like he'd been around Loki the first time, which doesn't make any sense. After all, seeing Loki curled on the floor was what made Bruce hulk out the first time. But then again, that was Bruce. Maybe the Hulk doesn't understand, and that's why he's not getting angrier?
Tony holds his breath, ready to fight, but for the moment he doesn't do anything, since the Hulk is just peering down at Loki. The Hulk's usual violent rage would probably flare up again if Tony so much as moved, and Tony doesn't want to invoke that rage when the Hulk's so close to the god. What's going on here, though? Why is the Hulk acting so calm again?
Right now, the Hulk seems to have forgotten entirely about Tony, and is solely focused on the god curled in a ball at his feet. Tony frowns thoughtfully. Wait a second. What if that's it? Loki and the Hulk had essentially been alone that first time, when Tony had been hovering in the background, and the Hulk had been, well, not very Hulk-like. He'd been pretty peaceful when Loki had been hugging him the second time he appeared.
But then he'd shoved Loki away, Tony tells himself.
But now that he thinks about it, shoving is pretty mild for the Hulk. Normally he'd hurl someone across the room or something. Loki hadn't actually seemed very hurt, though maybe that had been because of his superhuman abilities.
The Hulk reaches out a massive hand, and Tony is about to intervene and risk setting him off, but the hand's moving really slowly, almost cautiously. All the Hulk does is nudge the god.
Loki has especially bad memories regarding those magical shields. He hasn't used them in so long that he'd almost forgotten about them. They only ever showed up when he tried to defend himself, and he learned long ago what a bad idea that is. His tormentors are always stronger than him and they had made sure to teach him not to try to stop them.
Yes, the shields are nice when they protect him, but after about a dozen blows they fizzle out. After a shield shows up, he's always punished more than he's punished for anything else (aside from that one incident he'd mentioned), because it's two crimes- defending himself as well as using magic. So the brief respite the shields grant isn't really worth it in the long run.
Loki eventually feels a huge hand on his back, and he looks up to see the Hulk looking down at him. At first, he thinks the Hulk is going to beat him for the magic, but that doesn't happen, and Loki eventually realizes the Hulk isn't going to.
He's not entirely sure what to think of the Hulk anymore. He sort of wants to still be his friend, but the Hulk had thrown stuff at Tony. Loki hates the idea of someone trying to hurt Tony. Actually he just hates the idea of idea of Tony getting hurt. Tony's the nicest person ever; he shouldn't get hurt. So Loki had rushed in, even though Tony had told him to stay away. The Hulk had shoved Loki earlier, but Loki doesn't care about that as much.
He hears clanking metal footsteps behind him. He turns, and sees that it's Tony. The Hulk stares at Tony too, and his lip curls up.
"You tried to hurt Tony." He mumbles to the large green form. "Tony's my best friend, so don't hurt him, 'kay?" The Hulk grunts, and it sounds sort of affirmative. Tony sits down next to Loki puts his arm around his shoulder. The Hulk doesn't attack Tony, at least.
Loki sits there for a bit as he leans into Tony's metal suit, enjoying the comfort of it and the feeling the metal thing in his chest gives off. The Hulk keeps a hand on his back. The Hulk's not hurting Tony. Maybe he'll be able to forgive the Hulk for throwing stuff at his favorite person.
It's silent for a bit, and then Loki quietly says "I think you should go now," like Tony had earlier. It works, this time. It hadn't worked a little bit ago. He watches as the Hulk shrinks back down into Bruce. It's almost like going back in time to earlier today, Loki thinks.
Bruce once again looks around at the damage in the tower and apologizes. Despite Tony trying to convince him to stay, Bruce leaves soon after, leaving Tony and Loki alone in the no longer pristine penthouse.
Hopefully this wasn't too bad, though I'm a little worried about it for some reason. I'm not sure why. I enjoyed writing it, though.
Hopefully I can update soon.