VII

Tony was still in a state of shock that Thor had actually agreed.

It had been six months since aliens had invaded Earth, led by another alien who thought himself a King. Thor had landed somewhere in Central Park and turned up at Tony's Tower one sunny afternoon. Apparently the Bifröst was working again and Thor was prepared to take his role as Midgard's defender to the extreme.

Tony didn't quite know what the Bifröst was or how it worked.

He didn't really care.

Not at the moment.

Because he was in Asgard now, a guest of Prince Thor himself. Apparently when one of "Earth's mightiest heroes" requested to speak to a former enemy, even the All-Father let him in.

Again; Tony didn't really care.

All that mattered was that he was being taken down to Loki's cell. There were others; Tony could see various human-looking-Æsir occupying some cells, a being with dull grey skin and bright yellow eyes in another. They all stared at Tony and the grey dude hissed something in tongues.

Alrighty then...

Thor stopped before his brother's cell and gestured between it and Tony. 'Here he is, Son of Stark,' Thor said. 'He may not speak. Loki does not speak much.'

'Really?' Tony asked. When he'd met Loki the dude hadn't shut up. Even gagged he'd found a way to annoy the shit out of Tony.

'Really,' Thor echoed. 'My father demands answers; Loki has none. At least, not any that he wishes to share.'

'We'll see about that,' Tony muttered. 'You can go.'

Thor looked surprised but after a few seconds he inclined his head and began to leave.

He paused at the foot of the stairs. 'Remember our bargain, Tony Stark. You must answer the All-Father's questions for holding court with Loki.'

'Yeah, yeah.' Tony flapped a hand at him. 'You'll get your answers from me. Believe me; I love talking about myself.'

Thor tilted his head but said nothing. His cape swished around his legs as he left. The guards didn't. Tony could see them moving down the hall, towards the cells in the very back that were darker than Loki's. There was another set of stairs leading up and Tony wondered where they went.

But he had more important things to do.

He turned to survey Loki's cell; harsh lighting, spartan, a dull gold glow at the edges of the "barrier" Thor had said contained the madman.

'Should I feel honoured, Man of Iron?' Loki drawled. His voice sounded hoarse from disuse. 'Or do you always visit your chained enemies?'

'You aren't chained,' Tony commented.

Loki chuckled. 'Not in any way that you could see or comprehend, mortal. I am cut off from everything I hold dear.'

Tony's eyebrows rose. 'You hold things dear? Like what? Your pretty little glow stick?'

A smirk tugged at Loki's lips. He still wasn't looking at Tony, seemingly content to lay back on his cot and gaze at the ceiling. 'Believe me, Stark,' he said, 'I am quite glad to be away from it.'

Tony frowned slowly. Now why would Loki be happy about being parted from his weapon?

'You have questions, I assume?' Loki said before Tony could say anything. 'Or did you simply wish to come and gloat? I thought you had done enough of that when I was in chains.'

'I don't gloat,' Tony lied. Because he did gloat. All the damn time. He lorded his superiority over his own robots when he got the chance.

'Lie,' Loki breathed.

'Shut up, Prancer.'

'Is that what you wish me to do?' Loki questioned. 'You came quite a long way to speak nothing and stare at me.' He finally turned to look at Tony. There was mischief in his eyes. Tony hated that he could read the bastard so well. 'The Bifröst has been fixed and you are the first mortal in over three thousand years to step foot in Asgard's halls. What a spectacular Midgardian you are.'

'Well.' Tony paused, licked his lips. 'We finally agree on something.'

'Oh, yes,' Loki purred, 'you are something else altogether.'

Tony frowned at that. 'Hey, wait, no!' He pointed a finger at the demi-god. 'None of that.'

'And why ever not?' Loki questioned. He slid smoothly from the cot and stood, tossing aside the book he must have been reading before Tony and Thor arrived.

Tony had forgotten how tall the guy was. And he was so slim out of his armour; still muscular, sure, but he was so much smaller without all that leather and metal and that stupid-ass cape.

'Did you not enjoy the time we spent together?'

'You brought an alien army to my planet,' Tony growled.

'Your planet?' Loki grinned. 'Did they make you King since I was last there? However did you do it? I knew that the army was a bit much.'

'You don't need to be a king to rule,' Tony told him.

Loki smirked.

'And I don't rule it!' Tony added hastily. Because he knew what Loki was thinking; you stopped me yet believe yourself above the rest of your race? How very hypocritical of you, Stark. 'But it's my planet. Just like Asgard is yours. How would you feel if I flew in and started blowing up all your golden towers?'

'I would not care one bit,' Loki commented. 'Then again, I am not of Asgard.'

'Really?' Tony said. ''Cause you were singing a different tune when you popped outta the Tesseract.'

Loki pursed his lips at that, eyes roaming over Tony's face. 'Yes,' he agreed, 'but I wasn't... quite myself, you could say.'

'What?' Tony frowned. 'You mean crazy wanna-be King isn't the real you? Does the real you like butterflies and confetti?'

'I do not know what either of those things are,' Loki commented. His gaze finally moved from Tony's face to... other areas of Tony's body.

Tony scowled. 'Hey, eyes up!'

Loki's mouth tilted upward and his gaze kept roaming. 'Does it make you uncomfortable, Stark?'

'Yes!' Tony snapped.

'And is that why you are here?' the Trickster continued. 'To demand answers from me?' He met Tony's eyes again. 'Greater men than you have tried. I have not said a word.'

'Maybe they just don't know you like I do.'

'Oh, you know me?' Loki demanded. His eyes had taken on a pinched look and his lips twisted into a grimace. 'You do not know me, Man of Iron. I do not even know myself!'

'There you go again saying shit that I don't understand or care about,' Tony said.

'Is this how you get what you want?' Loki questioned. 'I'm beginning to think that Barton was lying to me.'

'Excuse me?'

'You cannot be the great man Barton warned me about,' Loki said. 'I was told that you were a genius; that you were difficult to understand, to pin down. He told me that I did not want to make an enemy of you. Yet here you are, proving once again that your species is utter filth.'

'Fuck you!' Tony shouted and bashed his fist against the barrier keeping him and Loki apart. Only his hand went straight through and Tony tumbled, almost went ass-over into the goddamn cell.

Loki stepped closer and Tony scrambled back, almost tripped over his own feet in the process.

'Do you see how it works?' Loki asked. 'It keeps me in, Stark. It does not keep others out.'

Tony frowned and rubbed at his arm. He felt like he'd pulled something. 'What if someone tries to hurt you?'

Loki... stalled at that. His eyes widened before narrowing once more and his breathing stuttered.

But then he was grinning, that same crazy tilt to his lips that showed shiny white teeth.

'I can still use my magic within this cell,' Loki said. 'The All-Father was kind enough to offer me that, at least.'

'Okay...'

'Why don't you come in here and see if you can hurt me?' Loki suggested. And his voice had taken on that suggestive tone again, a purr that hid dark thoughts and feelings that made Tony shiver.

'Uh, I'll pass, thanks.'

'What a shame.' Loki sighed and stood tall. He linked his hands behind his back. 'And here I was hoping that you wished to pick up where we left off.'

'You mean when you threw me out a window and I shot you?' Tony said.

Loki smiled. 'I was talking about the scene just before that, actually. Do you not think about it?'

'Yes, I do!' Tony shouted. Loki looked mildly shocked by Tony's admittance, by his tone. He got over that very quickly.

'Is that so?' he hummed.

'What did you do to me?' Tony demanded.

'Do to you?' Loki drawled. He walked back to his cot, back to Tony as he said, 'Why, Stark. You act as though I forced you to kiss me.'

'Didn't you?'

Loki scowled at him as he sat down. 'I am many things, Stark. If I want sex I can get it; I do not force people, even pathetic mortals such as yourself.' He tossed himself back onto the sheets and picked up the book he'd abandoned.

'Really?' Tony glanced around the cell, grinned sharply when he looked back at Loki. 'With these digs people must be throwing themselves at you.'

'So witty, Stark,' Loki muttered. 'You must get hundreds of bed partners with that humour of yours.'

'Oh, all the time,' Tony said, just to dig it in. He saw Loki's body tense. 'What, all the sex I'm having bother you?' he asked.

'It might, if you were having any,' Loki said. He sniffed and turned a page in his book.

Tony... glared at him. He inhaled sharply, exhaled, but it did nothing to quell the anger bubbling in his gut.

'You don't know anything about me!' he spat.

'I know enough,' was Loki's comment.

'I... you... fuck!' Tony shouted.

Loki paused. 'Eloquent.' Flicked another page.

'As if I'd have let you fuck my, anyway!' Tony shouted. 'I have a girlfriend, you know!'

Loki was on his feet and before Tony in a heartbeat. Despite the faint gold glow between them Tony still jolted and stepped back.

'You let a mortal woman touch you when I haven't in months?' He slammed his fist against the barrier and it flashed in intricate gold patterns beneath his fist.

Tony blinked slowly.

And then... Loki grinned. 'Why, Stark,' he cooed, 'you should not be so deceitful with the God of Lies.'

Tony swallowed thickly and licked his lips. 'I'm... not lying,' he said.

'Oh?' Loki's grin only widened. 'Why don't you come here, Stark; tell me face to face.'

'We are face to face.'

'No.' Loki tapped the barrier. 'We are still separated. Do you remember when I touched you?'

Tony shivered involuntarily. Loki's words conjured images, memories, of the brief time they'd spent together.

'I...' He licked his lips. Loki's eyes dropped to follow the movement. 'Your eyes are green,' he murmured.

'They are,' Loki agreed.

'When we kissed...' Tony hesitated, wet his lips again, 'they were blue.'

Loki's smile was soft, now. 'They were,' he agreed again.

Tony frowned. 'Why?'

Loki leaned forward until his forehead was pressed against the barrier. Tony watched gold lines spider beneath the pressure, an ever present show of just what this was; a prison, not a room.

'Why don't you ask Thor?' Loki hummed. 'Oh, that's right. Thor didn't notice.'

'He didn't notice that his brother's eyes changed colour?!'

'He is not my brother, Stark!' Loki shouted.

'Tell him that!' Tony snapped back.

They fell into silence, each staring at the other. Tony's skin was itching, gut growing hotter the longer he looked. He was almost certain that Loki hadn't done anything to him. Tony was often blind-sided by pretty people and shiny things.

But this... this went beyond all reason, beyond all sane thought. Loki was a monster.

Tony wanted to fuck him. Have Loki fuck him, actually. Maybe they could switch later down the line.

Tony flinched at his own fervent thoughts. Loki noticed.

Because of course he did.

'Having interesting thoughts, Anthony?' Loki purred.

Tony gulped. 'Don't... don't call me Anthony.'

'And why ever not? You Midgardians have many names. I was told that friends use first names with each other.'

'We aren't friends!' Tony growled, only to see Loki grinning at him. 'And...' Tony didn't want to admit it. He did anyway; 'I like it when you call me Stark.'

Loki's eyes flashed a deeper, darker green. His pupils were expanding. 'Well,' he breathed and poked his tongue out. He almost licked the barrier. 'Stark.'

Tony stepped up and through the spell. Loki backed up in surprise but his eyebrows rose and he glanced up once Tony was through.

'Well.' That same breathy tone, the one that made Tony's knees weak. 'That answers that particular question.'

'Shut up,' Tony ordered. He jumped Loki before the Trickster could say anything more.

Loki was strong. Tony had forgotten just how strong, and just how big, Loki's hands were; they grabbed Tony's ass and didn't let go. Loki pulled him closer as Tony wrapped his legs around Loki's waist, arms around his neck.

Tony paused before their lips could press together. His breathing was already ragged, Loki's no better. He felt Loki's chest rise and fall rapidly against him.

'What have you done to me?' Tony whispered. This time he sounded... awed.

Loki huffed a laugh. 'I did nothing, Stark,' he said. 'It is you who has cast a spell on me.'

Tony smashed their lips together.