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When Tony enters the kitchen and sees Loki there, he isn't even surprised anymore. The god of mischief and failed invasions has been living in the tower for weeks now, and he's turned out to be somewhat of a shadow. He doesn't say much, he doesn't do much, he just mopes around and helps them out when the Avengers face this or that magical problem, and even that he does quietly. Thor keeps going on and on about how much his brother loves to talk and snark, but Tony hasn't noticed much of that yet.
Loki looks very tired all the time.
Tony flops down in one of the stairs and yawns. He doesn't ask what Loki is doing in the penthouse; it's not the first time he's here after Tony passed out from an inventing binge. The first time, Loki managed to sneak past JARVIS somehow. He still sneaks in every time, but only because he doesn't know that Tony put him on the list of people who can enter the penthouse without an invitation.
Loki silently places a mug with steaming, deep black coffee in front of him. Tony grabs it and takes a few sips, even though it's too hot, and catches a glimpse of Loki rolling his eyes before he turns away, back toward the counter. He fiddles around with a teabag, pulling it out of the mug and dropping it again and again. The second time he was here, Tony told him to fix himself a drink too because all that standing around and glowering made him nervous.
"What time is it?" Tony asks into the silence, watching how Loki's shoulder tense a little. He doesn't like being spoken to; it's like he expects everyone to lash out of him all the time.
His voice sounds even, though. “Almost 3am.”
“Why aren't you asleep?”
“The city is too loud.”
“Oh.”
Loki doesn’t say anything else, so Tony drinks his coffee in silence. Loki doesn’t touch his tea.
*
Tony goes back to work after his third coffee, and Loki goes… well, wherever he goes when he’s not following Tony around. Tony could ask JARVIS where he is, or look at the feed of the AI’s cameras himself, but he doesn’t. He knows that he’ll see Loki again soon enough, and he’s proven right when he’s done with working and goes to the gym, where he finds Loki and Steve. Loki isn’t even training, he’s just looking at all the stuff that is lying around everywhere because nobody who works out here - except Steve and Bruce - tidies up after themselves.
Tony saunters over to Steve, who is with his best friend, the punching bag. Tony glances at Loki. “What is he doing?”
“I’ve no idea,” Steve says, barely even out of breath. “He showed up just a minute ago. I offered him to spar a bit, but he just looked at me as if I’d asked him to eat a snail or something.”
“Yeah, he’s really good at that sort of look.” Tony watches Loki, who is currently picking up a few arrows Clint left lying around. “I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to let him close to the pointy objects.”
Loki turns his head to glare at him. Right. He’s not deaf, and he can hear them.
“No offence,” Tony says.
“I am only putting the pointy objects back where they belong,” Loki says, pointedly.
“He didn’t mean to accuse you of anything, Loki,” Steve chimes in.
Loki gives him the snail look again and then, after indeed placing the arrows where they belong, goes to the weight training benches. Steve lets out a resigned sigh and turns back to his punching bag. Tony pats his shoulder and follows Loki, surprised when he sees that Loki is preparing the bench with exactly the weight Tony always starts with. Loki’s carrying it around as if it’s as light as a feather, of course.
“Uh,” Tony says. “You don’t want to train with this, do you?”
“Of course not. It doesn’t weigh anything.”
“Do you want something heavier? I’ve organized stuff for Thor and Steve, you can use it too.”
Loki looks at him and for a moment Tony thinks he’s going to be told off for being annoying, but in the end Loki just says, “No, thank you.”
And then he goes. While Tony trains, he watches Loki out of the corner of his eye. The god is tidying up the gym.
*
A week passes, then two. Coffee in the mornings, gym in the afternoon, and in the evening Loki is wherever Tony is and pushes a plate with food in his direction. A glass of scotch, a refill just when Tony thinks about standing up to get one, and all the while Loki sits quietly in some corner of the room and eats his own dinner.
*
Dum-E is very fast today, Tony thinks as he takes the tool from the robot and rolls back all the way under the car, already focusing on his work again. He stays there for ages - he’s lost track of the time about two albums ago -, and when he finally emerges from under the car, humming along to AC/DC, he’s so shocked that he actually hits his head because he tries to sit up too soon.
There’s a pair of very long legs sitting on the floor, and they come with a back leaning against the car, and probably also with arms and hands and a head and everything. Tony is momentarily floored, because he expected to see a bunch of metal he formed into a robot three lifetimes ago. He slowly sits up and looks at Loki, whose head is resting against the car; he almost looks as if he’s asleep. But his eyes open, and he gives Tony a rather bland look.
“Er,” Tony says. “Since when…?”
“A while ago,” Loki says. And then, curiously, “You do not notice anything when you’re working, do you?”
“No,” Tony replies, truthfully. “Where’s Dum-E?”
“He is making me one smoothie after the other.” Loki gestures at the empty glass he put on the floor next to him. “They all taste abominable.”
“Yeah, they always do.” He stares at Loki some more. “What are you doing here, exactly?”
“You needed a hand.”
“Well, yes, but -”
“Do you need anything else?”
Okay. Something about this is very, very weird. Tony blinks. “A towel, maybe?”
Loki stands up and walks over to one of Tony’s many worktables. He always has a few cloths lying around, but most of them are used and dirty - however, Loki brings him a clean one, and Tony isn’t sure if he found it that way or cleaned it up with magic.
“Thank you,” Tony says, still stunned, and wipes the oil off his hands.
Loki doesn’t sit down again. Instead, he picks up the glass and takes it over to where Dum-E is already making the next smoothie. Tony gets the probably very rare pleasure of listening to Loki quietly discussing with a robot what belongs in a smoothie and what doesn’t, and meanwhile Tony stays where he is and wonders what the fuck is going on.
*
He’s still thinking about it in the morning. He went to bed at an unreasonable hour and couldn’t sleep, so he’s up early and looking for coffee, and, sure enough, it’s already waiting for him in the kitchen. So far, Tony has been fine with Loki following him around - because yes, Loki is a shadow, and apparently he has chosen to be Tony’s shadow as long as he is here, because Tony can barely make a step in the tower without Loki showing up somehow. It’s been like that from the start, starting with Loki following Tony right out of his rooms after Tony showed them to him. Tony hasn't been able to figure out why - It's impossible to read him most of the time, because even though Tony knows that Loki must be feeling like shit the entire time - a suicide attempt, a mind-controlled and failed invasion and then a banishment wouldn't be good for anyone's mental health -, you don't actually notice that when he's around. He doesn't lash out and he doesn't break down, at least not where anyone can see.
Tony's come up with a few possible explanations: maybe Loki just doesn’t have anything else to do, or he’s planning something and needs Tony for it, or perhaps he’s just lonely and prefers Tony over the others, because the others are either forcedly kind to him, ignore him completely or try to get him to laugh with him about long forgotten childhood stories (yeah, that one’s Thor). Tony has never ignored Loki, but he also hasn’t forced him to talk, and maybe that’s what Loki likes.
So, yes, the following around? Fine. Tony doesn’t have a problem with that. He actually likes Loki, and not only because he's nice - very fucking nice - to look at. But the recent developments do confuse him a little. He could see the coffee as some sort of peace offering, but the rest? Unnecessary. Even the coffee is unnecessary by now; Loki must have figured out that Tony doesn’t really have anything against having him around. And well, Tony doesn’t know much about Loki all in all, but he does know that he’s clever, and that he wouldn’t be doing this if he wasn’t planning to get something out of it.
Tony has no idea what that something might be, though. Loki hasn’t asked him for anything - he never asks for anything. He’s just there, quiet and bad-tempered and looking so very tired of it all.
Following a whim, Tony says, “I’m hungry.”
And Loki glances at him and starts to make breakfast.
*
Tony sits down on the edge of the bed, unsure what to do with himself. He’s come up with a plan, and the first part of that plan is already in action - that is, he thinks it is. He told JARVIS to tell Loki to come to the penthouse, anyway, and according to JARVIS Loki left his bedroom a minute and a half ago, and Tony thinks that either Loki will show up here any second or he’s just walking around somewhere to fuck with Tony by making him wait for something that won’t happen.
Then there’s a knock on the door, and Tony almost laughs. He feels like he’s on the right track. “Come in,” he says, and Loki opens the door just enough to poke his head through the gap.
“Yes?” he asks, as if he’s waiting for Tony to say something.
“Come in,” Tony repeats. “Close the door.”
Loki’s eyes narrow a little, but he - hell, he comes in and closes the door, and then he stands there with his hands behind his back and waits and oh fucking hell, Tony is definitely on the right track here, isn’t he?
“Okay,” he says, hoping that he doesn’t sound as dumbfounded as he is. “We’re going to try something now. If it’s not what you want, feel free to throw me out of a window again. I’m prepared for everything.”
Loki doesn’t react except for a brief flicker of his eyes; he glances at Tony’s wrists, at the bracelets he’s wearing. Then he meets Tony’s gaze again and holds it.
“You can go if you want to,” Tony says. “Any time.”
Loki nods, but he still doesn’t say anything.
Okay. Okay. Tony can do this - it’s been a while, but he remembers very well how this kind of thing works.
“Alright,” he says and stands up, pointing at his walk-in closet with his thumb. “My clothes are over there, get me something comfortable for the night. I’ll be brushing my teeth.”
Loki’s right eyebrow arches up just slightly, but it doesn’t protest. Tony goes into the bathroom without even looking at Loki, and after a moment he hears Loki walking in the opposite direction. The door to the closet opens, and Tony starts brushing his teeth. It doesn’t take long until Loki crosses the bedroom again, coming to stand in the doorway to the bathroom with a pile of clothes in his hands.
“Will these do?”
Tony looks at him and completely forgets that he’s still brushing his teeth. Did Loki actually just bring him clothes? You-crave-subjugation, kneel-for-me Loki? Yes, Tony thinks. Yeah. That’s exactly what is happening.
He nods, even though he didn’t even look at the clothes and couldn’t care less if Loki brought him an unicorn onesie. Loki puts the neatly folded clothes on the edge of the bathtub, and he doesn’t turn to go. He hesitates, though; Tony can tell by the way Loki’s fingers twitch.
“Do you need anything else?” Loki asks after a moment, the words coming to him only haltingly.
Tony gestures for him to stay where he is and wait, and thankfully Loki understands and does just that, with his gaze - oh, you might as well diagnose Tony with a heart attack now, because Loki’s gaze is fixed on a spot somewhere on the ground, and even though he looks stubborn and vaguely uncomfortable, Tony sees that Loki isn’t half as comfortable as he pretends to be. The tips of his ears have turned pink. They don’t turn pink when he’s angry.
They turn pink when Tony thanks him for serving him breakfast.
Tony finishes brushing his teeth and rinses out his mouth, already holding up one hand in Loki’s direction. The thought of Loki handing him something right is surprisingly fine - pleasant, even, exactly like back in the workshop, and yeah, Tony’s going to freak out about that later, but right now he’s got six feet of turned-on-but-too-stubborn-to-show-it space mage to take care of.
Loki gives him a towel, and Tony wipes his mouth. He can see Loki in the mirror, standing a bit behind him. Loki only looks up at him when Tony averts his eyes and looks at his hands while he dries them.
“You started this to get into my good graces, didn’t you?” he asks, keeping his tone casual. “You figured I’d be easy enough to wrap around your finger, because I’ve got a big ego and poor impulse control. Am I right?”
Loki doesn’t reply. He’s looking down again, and after a look at his reflection Tony knows that Loki is gritting his teeth.
“I asked you a question, Loki. You’d better answer me.”
“Yes,” Loki says, his voice a little pinched. “You’re right.”
“Okay. So you started with the coffee - which was already enough to get in my good graces, by the way, I’m easy like that. You could have asked me for anything you wanted weeks ago, and I’m sure you knew that, but you didn’t ask for anything.”
No reply. Then again, that wasn’t a question, so Tony lets Loki pout.
“You didn’t think you’d enjoy it, did you?”
That earns him a glare. “Of course I didn’t. I was not exactly raised to -” He presses his lips together.
Tony tosses the towel aside and turns around, leaning against the sink. “Look, if this gets you off, I’m not judging you. I’m really not. You could have told me, though.”
Loki doesn’t look at him. “I do not usually volunteer to be mocked, Stark.”
Tony has to smile; there’s a bit of the snark he’s been waiting for for weeks. “I’m not mocking you. I could have played along much sooner, that’s all. Come here.”
Loki looks at him, suspicious. “What for?”
“To help me change.”
Loki’s wariness morphs into shock. Maybe he thought that Tony is actually setting him up to be mocked here, or maybe he’s just surprised that Tony is taking this further. Tony raises a brow at him, and Loki swallows and takes a step forward, then another, until he’s standing directly in front of Tony. He moves as if he’s expecting Tony to spit at him or something, and it breaks Tony’s heart a little.
“Come on,” he says. “I don’t have all night.”
The words aren’t very gentle, but his voice is, and it’s enough to encourage Loki, apparently, because he actually starts to undress Tony. He was stuck in a meeting earlier and he’s still in his dress shirt, and Loki opens the buttons one by one. He’s standing close enough that Tony can smell whatever he uses to wash his hair, and by the time Loki brushes the shirt off his shoulders, Tony has to reach behind himself and grab the sink to keep from burying a hand in Loki’s hair and pulling him close. Really, Loki doesn’t have any right to be this hot. But well, that clearly didn't stop him during the invasion, and it doesn’t stop him now.
He folds Tony’s shirt and puts it aside, then goes to fetch the t-shirt he chose earlier. It’s an old one that’s all faded and worn out, but with how carefully Loki treats it as he pulls it over Tony’s head, you’d think it’s silk. Loki’s fingers linger on Tony’s hips for a moment, and then they move lower to open his fly. Tony looks down to watch his hands, but instead his gaze catches on the growing bulge in Loki’s linen pants, which - yes. Oh god. Tony’s own cock is getting along with the program, too; he’s never had a thing for being dressed by someone else before, but well, here they are, and Tony definitely isn’t complaining.
Loki pushes Tony’s pants down a little, but then he stops. He stares at Tony’s stomach, obviously thinking, hesitating, and Tony decides to help him out.
“Get on your knees,” he says. “That’ll work the best, don’t you think?”
Loki closes his eyes for a second, and when he opens them again, he looks like he isn't sure if he wants to bolt or do everything Tony says. Tony gives him time to make up his mind, and he's at least a little - pleasantly - surprised when Loki does sink to his knees. His breaths are a little shallow.
He looks good on his knees. Actually, that's an understatement, he looks fucking perfect on his knees, and Tony will probably think about this during every shower he takes in the rest of his life.
"Good," he says, and cups Loki's chin to tilt it up a little. "Very good. You like this, hm?"
Loki's tips turn even pinker. "I -"
"Oh, don't even try." Tony raises a brow and nods downward. "You're hard just from this. I haven't even touched you."
Loki glares at him. It's the snail look again.
Tony smiles back. "You got on your knees for a reason, remember?"
Loki pretends to be offended, but his gaze wanders to Tony's crotch and stays there, and he swallows.
Oh god. Tony takes his hand away. "I mean my pants."
"I know."
"You don't have to -"
"I want to," Loki says, and well, come on, Tony isn't about to argue. Loki glances up at Tony's face, and whatever he sees there makes him smile.
Tony already feared Loki had forgotten how to do that. It's not a very warm smile, more a smirk similar to those Loki threw around nonstop during the invasion, but who cares, Tony's willing to take what he gets. And Loki seems to know that, because there's knowing spark in his eyes and it's pure mischief.
"I want to," he says again, his voice lower now, and finally pulls Tony's pants and boxers all the way down.
He doesn't hesitate, but he doesn't hurry, either. In fact, he takes his time, wrapping his hand around the base of Tony's cock and stroking him to full hardness, slowly. And it's almost enough for Tony to lose it, because god knows he's ogled Loki's long fingers so many times that his clever brain has lost count. Tony grabs the sink again and watches, at least until his eyes flutter shut because god, Loki's mouth is even more talented than his hand.
It's a strangely quiet affair. There's the occasional louder sound they both make - Loki lets out a very memorable one when Tony buries his hand in his hair and pulls - but apart from that it's just Tony's panting breaths and the wet noises that are going to steal his fucking sleep, because this is Loki on his kneed for him here, this is Loki's mouth on Tony's cock, and everything about it is a tiny bit surreal and possibly not the best decision Tony's ever made, but fuck if isn't the best thing he's ever felt. The best thing is that it Loki enjoys it so much - he seems to value sucking Tony off over breathing, and every once in a a while his dark, half-lidded eyes glance up to check if Tony is enjoying himself, and then there's smug look when he's satisfied with what he sees. Shit, it's making Tony's knees actually buckle.
He comes down Loki's throat because Loki refuses to pull back, and even then it's quiet. Loki leans his forehead against Tony's thigh, catching his breath, and Tony carefully disentangles his fingers from the mess he has made out of Loki's hair.
"Stand up," he orders, his voice rough.
Loki moves immediately, and Tony grabs his hips and pulls him close to kiss him. Loki gasps into it, lips partening at once, and while Tony kisses him senseless he steps out of his pants and kicks them away. He breaks the kiss, satisfied when Loki tries to chase his mouth as if he hasn't had enough yet, and turns them around so that he can press Loki against the sink. Loki lets him. He's flushed and breathing hard, his eyes dark and a bit glassy, he looks goddamn edible.
Tony presses his hand against Loki's crotch and mouths at his jaw, and Loki's hips buck into the touch. The noise he makes is desperate enough that Tony thinks he could get hard again from that alone.
"You been thinking about this, sweetheart?" he murmurs, lips brushing Loki's cheek. "Or did I catch you by surprise?"
"Both," Loki says, and the best fucking thing is that his usually so smooth voice sounds wrecked now.
Tony laughs and pushes Loki's pants down. His cock looks so good that Tony almost wants to get on his knees himself, but for now he just teases Loki a bit, watching him suck in a breath when Tony touches him just lightly.
"Tell me why you kept going," Tony murmurs close to Loki's ear. "Why you kept serving me without asking for anything."
Loki makes a noise that's half protest and half moan. "Maybe -" He cuts himself off when Tony starts stroking him in earnest, and it takes a moment until he gets out, "Maybe I've been doing penance."
"Penance? Is that why you sucked me off just now?" Tony chuckles. "It's not penance when you enjoy it, sweetheart."
Loki doesn't even reply. He's the one clinging to the sink now, trying to hold still and clearly failing. His eyes are pinched shut, the blush has spread from his face down to his throat, and Tony really, really wants to get him naked, but Loki already looks overwhelmed as it is, and Tony doesn't want to push him too far. And anyway, this is more than enough - he gets to see Loki come, after all, hard and fast enough that Tony wonders how long exactly it has been since somebody else touched him.
Loki is still letting breathy sounds when he's finished, and Tony waits until he's calmed down, pressing kisses to his neck and jaw. Loki doesn't say anything when his breaths even out, but he shifts a little on his feet.
"You okay?"
Loki actually rolls his eyes at him. "Yes, of course." He glances down at himself and then grabs the towel from earlier.
The first thing he does with it is clean Tony's hand.
"Stay the night," Tony says.
Loki looks at him briefly. "Haven't you had enough yet?"
Tony has to grin. "Oh, look at you talking back. I thought you've forgotten how to do that."
"Not forgotten," Loki says. He pulls his pants back up. "You can take your pants on yourself, yes?"
So Tony grabs the boxers Loki brought him earlier while Loki bends over the sink and rinses out his mouth. Tony watches him, sitting on the edge of the bathtub.
"You weren't this quiet when we met," he says. "Hell, you came up with a one liner right after you crawled out of a you-shaped hole in my penthouse floor."
Without turning back to him, Loki says, "This situation is not one I can talk myself out of. There is no sense in trying."
"So you've decided not to talk at all?"
"I do talk."
"When spoken to, yes. And you don't like being spoken to. Every time you're spoken to your shoulders do that thing."
Loki finally turns around and looks at him blankly. "That thing?"
"Yeah," Tony says. "What if I want you to talk to me?"
"I would try, I suppose."
Tony stares at him. "What, that easy?"
Loki looks annoyed. "You should have figured out by now that I would do quite a few things for you, Stark."
"Why?"
"I know it was you," Loki says, and when Tony just keeps staring at him, he rolls his eyes again and adds, "It was you who took a closer look at your security footage after - well. It was you who told Thor that I didn't seem to be in my right mind when we talked in your penthouse. It's very likely that you saved my life."
"Wait," Tony says, because he doesn't like the thought he's having one bit. "Wait, is that - Loki, if you're just here because of - I don't know, to pay me back or whatever, then -"
"No," Loki interrupts him. He sighs and lifts a hand to rub his eyes. "No, it was as you said before. I thought I might get you to make my situation more comfortable, and I did not expect to come to -" He lets his hand sink and makes a vague gesture at Tony. "Like you."
Tony raises his brows at him. "Don't hurt yourself. You just have to ask, you know."
"Excuse me?"
"If you need something. Anything. Just ask."
Something about Loki's expression softens. He looks at Tony for a moment, then he says, "You're a very generous man."
He sounds tired. Tony doesn't know what to say, so he stands up, takes Loki's hand and leads him to the bed. Loki doesn't protest, he simply crawls under the covers and curls up on his side, looking at least sort of comfortable. Tony lies down next to him and all but wraps himself around Loki from behind, his hand on Loki's chest.
"You can still make me coffee in the morning," Tony says, quietly.
He means it to be a joke, but Loki relaxes a little. "I will."
Tony probably shouldn't be surprised. Loki does seem to get off on the whole serving thing, and Tony will ask more about the how and the why later. Right now Loki is relaxed for the first time since he arrived here, and Tony doesn't want to ruin that with a talk about - ugh - feelings that can wait.
"Loki?"
"Hmm," Loki says. He sounds like he's half asleep and that's good, he probably hasn't slept properly in ages.
"What do you want?"
Loki sighs, but it doesn't take long until he answers. "My own floor. I'm tired of sharing Thor's."
Tony smiles. "Done."