Speeding up
Tony's having conflicted feelings about Loki.
On the other hand, Loki is polite and gentle with children, and this far has even taken care of Tony when he'd needed it. From time to time, he just looks so tired.
But nevertheless, the guy can just outright kill someone without a blink of an eye, seems to be no stranger to theft or deceit and is not bothered the slightest by anything when getting what he wants or, according to him, surviving. He might just throw a tantrum when he feels threatened or just sulk when Tony says something hurtful.
So, it was kind of inconvenient for their forced companionship, also.
Anyhow, they'd been driving for five days by now, stopping only when strictly necessary, and it was driving Tony insane (and most likely Loki too, but perhaps a little slower). He'd just spent too much time with the guy. His wounds had already healed and since the resident demigod took care of the driving, he was left with nothing but the maps and some thin books, which he ended up studying in lack of anything else. At first, he'd asked Loki what particular words (or what he'd deemed to be words) meant, but the air had soon shifted from neutral to irritated, so he let it drop and tried to decipher the language by himself. It wasn't easy, but it gave his mind work that it'd been craving for, so he stubbornly kept translating the alien texts.
When the sky started to darken on the fifth day, Loki however interrupted his rapid scribbling. He'd just managed to crack a new noun, which he now tried to apply to other parts of the text. The language was pretty tricky, the words seemingly having many grammatical cases and synonyms.
"That's our destination," the trickster said, nodding at a large city with lots of blinking lights, tall buildings and aircraft taking off or returning from wherever they'd been.
"Looks kinda over-fancy for a thug planet, I'd say," he commented dryly, but didn't avert his eyes back to the papers in his lap. Loki scoffed softly.
"Well, Taeer is also known for its corrupted leaders and nobility, although that is something not openly to be discussed."
"Of course not."
They drove for a little while longer until Loki joined a road leading towards the lower sections of the city. Tony'd studied the capital's structure, even memorised it, since he had one small booklet wholly about it, and it appeared to consist of different layers; labor workers, the poorest citizens and the machines that did work such as plumbing, heating or producing electricity as well as factories on the lowest level, almost completely under the ground, varying shops and families on the next levels and the richest and most powerful on the top levels, amazing views and exquisite businesses and companies to entertain them and provide jobs.
Darkness engulfs them as they descend to the shady stone streets below the brighter levels above, and Tony catches glimpses of scrawny and dirty aliens; most working, some begging and others just lying on the ground, looking half-dead or drugged.
Tony shifted his eyes to the front, not wanting to see as he couldn't help. He scratched at his chin; his beard was out of control. Now his signature goatee was starting to disappear in midst of his stubble. Loki, for his part, still wasn't sprouting a single hair from his jaw. Tony wasn't sure what to make of that.
They pulled up in one of the alleys, abandoning the vehicle there and stuffing all their little belongings under their cloaks. Tony fastened his makeshift belt that the Chitauri scepter hung on, rearranging it for the thousandth time since it kept poking his flank.
"Did you memorise the city?" Loki asks him as they leave the rover.
"Yup. You know your way around?"
"Not down here, no. On the main streets on the other hand, yes."
"Right. Well, they manufacture the ships there," he pointed in the direction of a big clearing between the buildings surrounding it, sounds of work echoing from there, "then they haul them up through that road." He moved his hand towards a liftable pier a little farther away. Loki nodded and pulled his hood on.
"Let's head there. Cover up," he beckoned Tony. The engineer too pulled his hood on and walked by the trickster's side on the aisle.
"Stay close, these people are desperate, starved and criminal," Loki said softly. Tony didn't answer but kept close anyway. They walked for a few minutes in piece, until a crazy-eyed, human-looking, skinny man charged hard against their shoulders. Tony grunted as he felt the man's hand probing at his belt, looking for pockets or a purse.
"Hey!" he exclaimed and grabbed the guy's wrist, who instantly tried to spun Tony into a wristlock so that he could get free. Fortunately and thanks to Happy, Tony has experienced similar moves way too many times to get caught in one, thus he bats the man's other hand (on its way to their joined ones) down and away. Loki snatched the wrist Tony'd just deflected, gripping it with bruising strength.
"Do you have a death wish, you scum?" he hissed at the guy, but his eyes were glued to the sorcerer's wrist. He begun trembling and stuttered,
"T-t-tha-th-anos..." he let out weakly, before bellowing, "YOU ARE THANOS' PROPERTY!" Tony glanced at Loki's wrist and saw that his sleeve had slipped from it, exposing his pale skin, the branding mark standing out like a sore thumb in contrast.
The few people that hadn't already turned to see the commotion, spun around at the last yell. Everyone seemed to be contemplating what to do for a split second.
"Shit," Tony heard Loki hiss, and then he struck the man's neck, who fell to the ground. He seized Tony's arm and began pulling him with, the engineer running right after, both kicking and pushing through the raging crowd.
"Is there a prize on our heads or why're they attacking us?" Tony rasped between breaths. They were both talented fighters, making the malnourished and untrained workers no match for them, but it was still tough to make it through so many people.
"I believe so," Loki breathed out, sharply, as his elbow connected with someone poor guy's nose. Tony grunted and slipped past Loki.
"Follow me!" he yelled at him, jumping on a barrel and using it as a ladder to climb up the wall it was resting against. Someone grasped his ankle but he kicked it off, jumping again, and grabbed the windowsill of a windowless window (okay, it was not his fault that that sounded outright stupid) and climbed in. Just as he'd gotten in, Loki squeezed through the small window and fell on top of Tony.
"Bwaahh," the engineer exhaled and scrawled from under Loki. Once the god straightened, he shot a glare at him.
"Did you kill him?" he asked, clenching his jaw and meeting Loki's eyes square. The noises from the streets seemed to magnify as he stared impassively yet somehow heatedly back.
"No, Stark, I did not, he's merely unconscious. I do not kill the innocent, you mortal."
"Ha! Well what about that salesman then? Was he a pawn of Thanos too?!" All the concealed feelings surrounding the issue were spilling out now, and Tony had the feeling he'd later on regret them.
"HE WAS A RAPIST AND AN ABUSER!" Loki bellowed, making Tony flinch. He took a steadying breath before continuing, an even fire burning in his eyes, "I know this, for I've been here before. He visits the annual marketing fair held here in the capital." Tony sees him swallow tightly, as if trying to contain himself before he rips someone (probably Tony, in this case) apart. "There's nothing, nothing, I hate more in this universe than rapists and abusers. Especially child abusers." Tony thinks back at the skinny, tightly wound assistant the merchant had had.
"...sorry," Tony manages.
"Save it. We have to move on, they'll soon come through the doors." He nods and they find stairs to the roof. The smoke from the factories prickles in Tony's eyes and he can hear some kind of sirens ringing down in the streets. That's probably on us.
"How are we gonna get away?" he asks as they eye the roofs near them. The nearest ones are still pretty far away, and Tony isn't sure (even though he isn't very willing to admit it) whether he'll make it to the other side. And since they still have the damn collars, if the other falls, the other comes with. Loki steps closer to him.
"We jump," he deadpanned and, suddenly, kicked Tony's feet from under him.
"Whoa–"
He grabbed Tony from the air, sweeping him off bridal style. The fucker even had the nerve to smirk at him as he twirled towards the the edge.
"You ass, let me down–"
"Do you trust me?" he cut Tony off, rendering him very much dumbfounded.
"...no." Loki's smile widened.
"Good," he replied just before he surged towards the edge of the roof. Tony let out a small yell (a manly one, of course. Totally a manly one) as he jumped, and gripped the fabric of Loki's robe a little tighter. They landed quite softly for such a long distance.
"What was that for?" Tony asked as as the god let him down, frowning at him grumpily. Loki smirked again.
"Superior strength to you puny mortals, even if I don't have my magic now, remember?" he answered silkily, walking cockily past Tony as he did.
"Prick..." Tony mumbled and heard the god snicker faintly. He followed after the guy and they slid down from the roof by some ladders and more windowsills, and once they hit the alley's stone they begun running along the zigzag streets between the buildings. Tony'd memorised this part of the city also, so it wasn't too hard to reach the aircraft factory before they were to be found.
They'd earlier agreed that they'd find a hide from the cargo and escape once on the top layers of the city. Their plans had been somewhat distorted by the angry crowd and the sirens, but the basics were the same. Now the security would probably be more strict. So, they rendered two workers unconscious and borrowed (yes, borrowed, only for a most likely extended period) their clothes. They were orange-yellow and big and smelly and awful, but they'd have to do. They stuffed their own clothes and their other belongings into a bag the other had had and hurried to the pier about to take off.
They slipped on without drawing too many attention, let it be the clothes or the bustling streets and the busy workers, and got into the nearest medium-sized spaceship.
"Alright, we shall leave at the precise moment we see the sky," Loki said as he buckled in and pressed some buttons. Tony nodded and hummed in response, also buckling in and trying to help the god with getting them ready to leave.
The ship jerked as the pier begun to ascend, and Loki continued pressing buttons furiously. He pursed his lips.
"We have a problem," he said.
"What is it?"
"We are missing a piece, one that they shall add on some other level," the god replied tightly, wiping his brow. "A precaution maybe, for people like us." He threw a look in Tony's way, who huffed a laugh softly.
"Well, we'll get it there. Better hide somewhere for the meantime though, eh?" he said easily, getting up and walking further into the ship; it seemed to have two sleeping cabins, a small kitchen and an even smaller bathroom. Still, a jackpot. Loki followed after him as they sat on the sleeping cabin's floor, trying to listen to the sounds coming from outside. The pier had just stopped and people are talking. In gibberish, of course.
"They'll install the piece," Loki says, a strangely hopeful look on his usually emotionless face. A few moments pass until the ship jerks again.
"Now!" Loki urges and pulls Tony up with him, both running to the cockpit and jumping to their seats.
"It's in flying condition," Loki breathes out, smiling toothily.
"Nice," Tony replies, also grinning, "We can get off on the next level, should be enough room."
"Good."
When the pier finally stops on the next level, Tony feels Loki start the engine and right after they are as good as gone. The ship is unbelievably fast, and they're leaving Taeer's airspace almost immediately after their takeoff. He lets a scream of delight as Loki speeds up even more, quickly shaking off the planet's airforce that had been patrolling in the air.
Loki flies throughout the rest of the night and meanwhile Tony dismantles some of the engine's casing, trying to find out if they have some sort of a tracker. He finds nothing of sort, but does discover a radio line back to the planet, which he quickly cuts out. They stop only when Loki finds a spot which they both agree to be definitely a safe place to crash. They walk to the sleeping cabin (they can't separate enough to be able to sleep in different cabins) they'd been hiding in previously and outright fall on the bunk. They sleep for about eight hours until they finally manage to get up.
They find a couple plain, military-like, grey shirts and sweats from the cabins and change into them, take turns waiting as they tend to their needs in the bathroom and then, shower fresh, shaven and in clean clothes (and it feels so good), tread to the kitchen to rummage it through. They find some cans containing conserved alien food and a barrel of water. They presume they'll most likely last about two days with those.
They sit down to eat on the round table-thing in the kitchen. It's kind of peaceful now.
"Hey, Rudolph," he says as he nibbles at the white, fish meat-like content of his can, "Sorry for judging you too early. If you were speaking the truth just now, then I shouldn't have gotten that mad at you. I mean, you know, killing is wrong and all but–" he sighs. "I would've probably done the same if I knew what you do." He meets Loki's eyes, which seem softer and kinder than ever.
"Do not apologize, Stark. I would have been suspicious myself, especially if I were at disadvantage like yourself–"
Tony clears his throat and glares at the god, but he just smirks playfully and laughs.
"Eat your food," he commands and gulps down some water. Tony pushes some of the stuff into his mouth.
"You're in a good mood, huh?" he comments as he inspects the contents of his can.
"Once in a while, even I'm ought to be." The god cocks his head as he extends his hand to grab his second can. "I like the action, and we just escaped Thanos' radar completely. If we proceed carefully, he shall not find us again."
Tony smirks, "That's true. And yeah, it was kinda fun. But still, cover up that wrist."
"As you wish, mortal."
The rest of their meal is spent in a companionable silence or small talk/bickering. It's kind of nice, and Tony feels more at ease and like home than he's felt in almost two months (48 days, to be exact). So, he lets himself relax a little and enjoy the witty company.