Showing His True Colors - Literally
"Loki, did you have a bad dream last night?" Tony asked. There were dark circles and deep bags under his eyes from not getting a good night's sleep. Then again, he never really slept too well anymore, even with the ongoing treatment for his PTSD.
Loki nodded and said, "I dreamed about the Other."
"The Other? Is that the creepy six-fingered alien dude?"
"Yes. He's Thanos' assistant. He warned me that if I failed my mission in taking over the world, Thanos would find me and make me long for something as sweet as pain. So I'm sure that when Thanos comes, he'll do just that."
Tony couldn't think of anything to say, so he just nodded. "Hey, I have a gift for you."
Loki's eyes widened quite a bit. Tony smiled and handed him the box he had specially wrapped just for him.
"You even decorated it with my colors," Loki observed with a grin. He unwrapped his gift and grinned even wider when he saw the fancy chocolates inside. Tony had gotten him dark chocolate bon-bons, along with two bars of chocolate with cherries. "Thank you, Tony!"
To Tony's surprise and slight discomfort, Loki hugged him. He laughed nervously and gently moved Loki away from him. "Sorry. I'm not a hugger. But I'm glad you like it. Just don't eat it all at once; I don't want to clean up any more vomit."
Still smiling, Loki nodded and tried one of the chocolates. As he was savoring the rich, slightly bitter taste of the dark chocolate, Tony asked him, "Would you be okay with it if I did some research on you?"
"As long as you don't plan to sit on my back while you read my file, I don't mind," Loki replied.
It took Tony a few seconds to get Loki's joke, but when he did, he shook his head with a smile and went off to do his research, not literally on Loki.
S.H.I.E.L.D's file on Loki was quite brief, to Tony's discontent. He decided to look into Norse mythology, but as soon as he reached the myth about Sleipnir, he decided to be done with Wikipedia for the day. Instead, he kept going through Google until he found an interesting fact - Loki was a member of the Jotnar, a race previously thought to be just from myths. They were also known as frost giants. There weren't many actual photos of them, just illustrations, and the drawings Tony found portrayed them as vicious savages with sharp teeth dripping blood onto their necks. Tony shuddered and hoped that the drawings were just exaggerations.
Eventually, Tony decided that he would get the best knowledge about Loki from the man himself. He went to Loki, who was lying down on the couch while he stared off into space. "Loki, is it true that you're one of the frost giants?"
Loki's expression darkened and he glared at Tony. "Why would you need to know?"
"I'm just curious," Tony said. "So are you?"
"Yes," Loki hissed, baring his teeth in an animalistic expression of rage. "Now leave me alone."
"I'm sorry, I just-"
"You're not sorry!" Loki snapped. "Why are you so interested in a race of monsters?"
"I-I just wanted to see what they look like," Tony stammered. It wasn't very often that he got truly scared, but he knew Loki was even more dangerous than usual when he was angry. "I don't think the illustrations of them are very accurate, because it's likely that they're portrayed as monsters just to scare Asgardian children."
"They are monsters," Loki said. "I'm a monster. Do you really want to see that?"
"Yes."
"You know, you're rather stupid for someone supposed to be a genius," Loki scoffed. He took a moment to calm down before he shifted to his Jotun form. His pale skin turned a deep blue and his green eyes turned to a blood red, even in the sclera.
Tony never really knew what it felt like for something to take his breath away, but he knew the feeling when he saw Loki's frost giant form. Loki's skin was the most beautiful shade of blue he had ever seen, and intriguing markings marked it. The red of his eyes reminded Tony not of fire, but of blood falling on snow. He couldn't speak for several moments but when he did, he said, "Oh my god. You're... you're beautiful."
Loki's eyes widened in surprise. "You think I'm beautiful? You must be saying that sarcastically."
"No, no I'm not," Tony said. "You're absolutely breathtaking. You're not a monster, Loki. You're gorgeous."
Loki's silver tongue turned to a heavy lead weight in his mouth. He didn't know how to respond to Tony's awe and compliments. His heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest with how fast it was beating. "T-thank you, but how can you find me beautiful? No one has ever found this form of mine beautiful before. Y-you're... you're the first one to think that way."
Ever so gently, Loki brushed his hand against Tony's brow and up to his hair. Tony shivered at the cold of his skin. Loki's skin was normally cold, but in this form, it felt absolutely freezing against Tony's warm, human skin. Happy tears formed a shiny film over Loki's red eyes as he said, "Thank you. Thank you so much. I-I don't even know what to say."
Neither one of them knew what to do or say. Loki shifted back to his regular form and went to his room. His heart was still beating fast, and he swore it was beating faster than it ever had. He just stared at the ceiling, trying to process everything that had just happened. Tony had not been scared of his Jotun form - in fact, he thought it was beautiful. Loki thought about that over and over, feeling a warm, fuzzy feeling take over his body. He felt like the next time he saw Tony would be terribly awkward. For all of his charisma and famous silver tongue, Loki had no idea what to do or say when he saw Tony again.
Loki lay down on his bed and tried to take a nap, but he found the idea of slipping into a dream foolish. It would likely be a bad one, and Tony would probably share it. After how good Tony had made him feel, Loki didn't want to hurt the mechanic, even inadvertently. The warmth of Tony's skin had felt electric, as if he was touching a hot wire. He replayed what had happened over and over in his head, smiling to himself. He still thought of himself as a monster, but somehow, Tony had taken almost all of those thoughts away.
Though he knew it would be awkward, Loki came out of his room and sat down with Tony for breakfast. The two ate in silence before Tony said casually, "Other than the bad dream, did you sleep okay? You look tired."
Despite how happy he felt, Loki didn't look very healthy. His gauntness made the sharpness of his cheekbones severe, and his skin was white as a sheet. Shadows framed his eyes from how sunken in they were, and his thin lips were almost as pale as the rest of his face. He had taken a shower, so his hair wasn't as disheveled as it had been when he arrived at Stark Tower, but he still looked like a drug addict going through severe withdrawal symptoms. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."
Tony doubted that Loki was fine, but he decided not to say anything. Though the Asgardian wasn't as unpredictable as he had been during New York, he was still prone to sudden changes in mood. Sometimes, he went from content to angry in an instant, usually when Tony was talking. Then again, Tony had a reputation for sounding like a jerk even when he wasn't trying to be one, so he figured it wasn't anything personal.
"We need a plan for if one of the other Avengers comes to visit," Tony stated. "If any one of them hurts you as revenge for what you did in the attack on New York, Thor will kill me. Natasha seems to be okay with you, but if Clint visits and he finds you, you're screwed. Have you found any good hiding spots?"
"In the oven," Loki said.
"What? Loki, you'd kill yourself doing that."
"I meant when it was turned off."
"No way, not with how long your legs are," Tony said, laughing a little when Loki glanced down at his legs a bit self-consciously. "A closet would be predictable. Maybe in a locked bathroom? No one would ever try to get into a locked bathroom because no one likes to be intruded on in the bathroom."
"That's actually a good idea," Loki replied. "Locked bathroom it is. Look, I feel kind of awkward around you now. I just can't stop thinking about how you called me beautiful and I just feel strange. Kind of nervous."
Tony didn't know how to respond, so he just said, "It's only awkward if you think it's awkward. What do you want for lunch? I know we just had breakfast, but I have to prepare for the time it takes for an order to arrive. You can have anything you like."
"I'd like pasta," Loki answered, his tongue again feeling like lead. Tony made the order and Loki rushed up to his room. He buried his face in his pillow and cursed his heart for beating so fast.