Okay, so Loki is a beautiful woman, right? Objectively yes.

But she wasn't theonlybeautiful woman in the world. Or the city. Or the campus, probably. Right? Debatable.

The thing is, Tony doesn't have much of a conscience, but he's never gone after a girlknowingshe had a boyfriend. Have there been… let's call them 'misunderstandings' in the past? Sure. He's Tony Stark, but he's also human, mostly.

He's just met Loki anyway. Yes. She made his brain fizzle out, but now he was back up and running. Loki might turn out to be a boring conversationalist…

Or maybe she was vapid, or had an annoying laugh. Maybe she didn't like ABBA, perish the thought.

They'd settled down, sitting on top of -or leaning, in Fandral's case- Tony's more sturdy and comfy boxes, just talking. Getting to know each other.

It was an odd sight, Asgardian people were imposing and statuesque doing the most mundane things. And posh as this dorm was, they still looked a little out of place -specially in its current state.

To begin with, Loki looked royal-adjacent at theveryleast. Even though he knew there was no royalty in Asgard if he was remembering his history classes correctly -debatable. But the closest thing to it then.

He could see it now, Loki: Asgard's beloved princess. Fandral: her knight -warrior? In shiny golden armor who'd sworn to protect her with his life. Or whatever fairytales were saying these days.

He seemed accustomed to doing whatever she wanted. Like the loyalest of golden retrievers.

At some point they let it slip that they had come to 'check things out' because Loki thought it'd be polite if "Gullhjarta" introduced himself to his roommate sooner, rather than later. -That nickname again, they hadn't said anything about its meaning, maybe it was none of his business, but it felt warm. And familiar. (And unfair).

Tony had just been the wrench in their plans. He wasn't even sorry about it.

It wasn't that hecouldn'torder a party-sized box of tacos for himself, he just didn't want to eat alone on his first night on campus. Like a loser. Or worse, a tragic protagonist.

Tony hummed "…sounds kinda familiar" he said, mouth still half full, his third taco in hand but the guacamole was all gone. Would the people at the restaurant deliver another serving of it if he gave a generous enough tip? Maybe they should find out, he grabbed his phone and sent the order.

Loki shrugged, "I suppose it's more popular around the area," she said as she put an inordinate amount of salsa in her taco. At what point would a taco become a salad?

And how come she looked so good doing normal stuff? What kind of magic was she working?

Fandral laughed "I'd say it's more than that" he said as he squeezed the soul out of a lime before eating the whole taco in a single bite and already reaching for another one.

"I gather it's the equivalent of what Stark Industries is for The United States, kinda?" Tony asked, eyeing Fandral. Sothat'swhere the guac went. Good god, the guy could eat. Asgardians had such good appetites. He made a mental note for future reference.

Fandral shrugged, "perhaps?" He said, but then shook his head "I suppose… if you need to visualize it, imagine Stark Industries and NASA had a super good-looking baby. It'd be YGT." he laughed heartily "Yggdrasil iswayolder than both those things though. And is recognized globally, so it shouldn't be downplayed like that" he said.

Oho, we have a nationalist on our hands. Tony thought. Loki looked both amused and like she was sick of hearing about YGT.

Instead of an answer, she ate her last bit of taco, the conversation lulled for a moment while she and Tony chewed -Fandral continued practically teleporting the food into his stomach.

Tony noticed Loki looking at him, and she noticed him noticing her, then paused just for long enough to pique his curiosity, "I met your father, once," she said after a moment.

Startled at the mention of Howard, Tony choked. Fandral thumped his back gently while Loki looked apologetic and- amused, like it was an inside joke. Except she was the only one in on it.

"Yeah?" He asked, still coughing "How come?"

Loki nodded minutely, but then shesmiled, "He was invited to give a lecture at my highschool, about the art of innovation. It wasreallyinteresting." Tony was honestly surprised to see she wasactuallyexcited about it.

Sure, Tony liked to learn stuff too, but being excitedaboutHoward? That was a little much.

…Not eventhismade her any less pretty though. He wasdoomed.

Asgard wasn't very tourist-y, it wasn't really a place one could justgoto, far as he knew only selected people were granted permission to visit. That Howard was one of them… eugh, he would've been insufferable before -and after- the trip. It tracks that Tony didn't notice any difference then.

But really? Asgard? The old man could have mentionedthat. It was a huge thing, even if giving a lecture to a bunch of high schoolers wasn't really Howard's raison d'etre.

"Yeehg-drass-eel" He mumbled.

"Ig-dra-sil" Loki corrected with a smile "Yggdrasil Global Technologies, often shortened to YGT, or 'The tree of life'," she said. Fandral nodded next to her. "They had a nerd-off with NASA a couple of years ago about that deep space probe that was sent. You might have heard of that. It was trending for a while, "she said amused.

"Oh. Oh my god, the uru probe!" Tony said "Heim…dahll? Something like that, right? I remember now, I was live-tweeting that shit. Bet the nerds at NASA were sorry to have ignored my emails then" he said with a satisfied smirk.

Fandral snorted.

"Heimdall, yes" Loki said. "The one that sees all."

Damn… fine. He might've been grasping at straws.

She was interesting.

He could tell Loki was more excited about being out of Asgard than Fandral, but as far as Tony could gather, the man would be content anywhere as long as he was with his girlfriend.

Not that Loki was exuding excitement or anything, it was just something about the way she spoke about Asgard -Tony had never been there, everyone thathadagreed there was somethingotherworldlyabout it though.

But he noticed how she spoke of her mom, her brothers, her best friend Sigyn. Not a lot. Not unprompted. But she complemented Fandral's stories with her own point of view here and there -they were childhood friends too,of coursethey were. And yet, no mention of her dad. Not even when Fandral had been talking about him like he hung the stars in the sky.

Which made the omission all the more telling. There was a story there. But If anyone understood being fatherly challenged, it was Tony.

Fandral seemed genuinely alright. And he was -for better or worse- Tony's roommate now. And Loki…

"How many hours did you say bringing all these in took you?" he heard Fandral ask. Like he could ? Not everyone was built like a trunk, alright? He probably moved boxes three at a timeandtook the stairs.

Tony didn't dignify that question with an answer. But maybe his face did, because Fandral laughed anyway -and Loki was trying to be sneaky but there were bits of pico de gallo raining down from her taco as her shoulders shook.

She coughed lightly "Well, at least you can rig those up for afastermove in, correct?" Loki asked, indicating at their improvised table, a box full of servo arms and motors.

Whatnow?

Tony didn't follow, "how so?" he asked, despite Fandral looking at him as if pleading with him not to fall down that particular rabbit hole. Curious.

"A Fully Automated System for Transporting and Efficient ." Loki deadpanned.

Tony stared.

Goddammit, she's smart too? ILLEGAL.

Fandral laughed awkwardly.

"Huh." Loki said "I suppose it doesn't matter. Miss Gertrude said you were majoring in EECS, and youdohave all this equipment, I thought-"

"Wait… Gertrude what now?She wouldn't even give me yourname!" he said indignantly, pointing at Fandral.

E tu, Gertrude.

Fandral and Loki shared another look and laughed. It was charming but felt like a gut-punch.

"She wouldn't givemeanything either" Fandral shook his head, hands raised defensively, his voice full of mirth. "But not many people say 'no' to Loki" he smiled -Tony felt seen- and gently touched Loki's chin in an affectionate gesture. Curioser and curioser.

Loki acted like she was annoyed but raised a hand to wipe a piece of tortilla stuck on Fandral's mustache, her eyes soft. Her smile softer. Her fondness for this guac-stealing golden retriever was clear even forTony.

"Well, that does make it sting less, I guess" He grumbled, at least it wasn't just liked pretty girls, they weren't so different after all.

Crap… this was definitely what a stable and healthy relationship looked like, right?

There was a knock at the door. Outside, a very disgruntled food delivery even orders just an extra serving of guacamole?

Loki was gone.

Of course she had toleaveat some point, but she had been so excited when Tony told her about HARRY. It was a shame.

Well… excited in the sense that her eyes shone a certain way when he started nerding out about his 'party guardian', he hadn't known her for long, but he decided that's what that look would mean. At least today. Excitement.

Fandral smiled benevolently at them, like he'd spent his fair share of time with Loki talking about things he didn't completely understand and/or had no real interest in, but to his credit he still looked mildly entertained, if only for her sake, he was trying.Tony would've liked someone to try for him too-I mean what?

Fandral had stayed.

Tony had insisted it wasn't necessary. He wasn't a kid.

No. He wasn't.

But Loki was going to stay with her brother and his wife anyway, and apparently the big brother didn't know his little sister slept with her boyfriend? Gullible much?

On second thought, how would Tony go about forgetting that bit of info himself?

Better yet, maybe he could flush this entirethinginside him that felt lowkey vulnerable, gross. Like he had flushed that letter Harvard sent full of praises for him if.

Fandral was cool, he wasgood. He could be a friend. Tony didn't want things to get messy.

The bad kind.

Tony sat up again, the place was dark but the huge window let enough light in. Fandral was snoring slightly. Not completely bothersome, just a reminder that he was there.

He opened one of HARRY's boxes as quietly as he could manage, assembling him shouldn't be so hard, or take him too long, he just needed mental time alone to process the day.

Loki had given them a couple blankets she had in her car, plus whatever Tony with Fandral's help managed to fish out of his boxes that weren't electrical parts. It was just one night anyway.

Her voice lingered in Tony's mind even after she was gone. He was doomed.