Making money
"Oh, my god..." Tony mumbled. They would have to fight. He clenched and unclenched his fist, where it was hidden behind Loki's back, feeling the gauntlet tightening around his hand as he did. It was a small comfort. "We'll have to make our move soon, Loki." The god nodded.
Tony was half lying on top of the kitchen table and fiddling with one of his gauntlets for probably the millionth time. It'd been about two and half weeks since he'd built the first one, and had since made it a pair as well as some chest and shoulder plates (which were unfortunately kind of small, since he couldn't really forge with the equipment he currently had). He'd altered some of the leather clothing to fit the plates and gauntlets and, even though he was no designer, it did look pretty good. Loki'd also voiced his approval, so it probably wasn't too human-styled either.
He and Loki had also talked about their trip back to their galaxies, and after fully figuring out where they were, noticed that it would take quite a while to reach Earth, for instance, again if they couldn't have access to a similar portal they'd earlier gone through. It could take years even, in the worst case scenario. Loki'd been very tight-lipped about where he'd be going, but Tony'd let it slide, not wanting to be too pushy since that tactic had proved not to work on the guy (quite the contrary, to be honest).
Also, apparently the branding marks couldn't be healed by Loki's magic without some herbs from Asgard, since an already healed wound wasn't as easy to fix as a not-healed one, or something like that. The scars were ugly as fuck, but it couldn't be helped (and it didn't really harm their progress as long as they kept them covered and hidden well).
As to Loki and Tony's relationship, it was about the same as before, Tony'd guess. He'd say they were sort-of-friends by now. Loki was more open and forthcoming with him, though he still didn't share that much and Tony was like Tony, just still not quite completely trusting the god. It was a big thing for Tony really. He didn't even completely trust all of his teammates, by now. But to his defense, Tony'd been betrayed by the man he'd held in a position similar to a father in his head, once. And, well, on the other hand, Loki had killed Coulson, thrown Tony through a window, invaded Earth and yadda, yadda, yadda.
So, it wasn't perfect, but so far, it was working.
Now, before they would both die of boredom (since Loki, too, seemed to be running out of planets to study and stuff to copy and expand from his books), they were headed to another planet to fill their storage and, maybe, attend a carnival the inhabitants apparently held at this time of the year. Loki was thinking they should stay for a few days (during the carnival, so it would be less suspicious as travelers were in any case staying there) so that they could earn some currency; they were running out of stolen stuff and things to trade from the ship, and Loki'd said it wasn't unheard of of sorcerers to travel between realms and planets, healing or doing whatever magic tricks, to earn their living. So, they were going to go with that.
By midday, they begun descending, flying in the airspace for almost an hour before finding a good place to land, as the place was bustling with aliens coming to attend the carnival. They parked their aircraft and found a motel sort of accommodation nearby. They booked a room and set camp there. Tony was grateful for the change, stretching happily on the king-sized bed in their room.
"This even feels like a bed! Not like the lumpy mattress we sleep on back in the ship," he said and eyed the dirty white ceiling, as Loki busied himself with unpacking some of his bag. The raven haired god hummed.
"Don't get too used to it, we won't be staying for too long," he said dryly, but there was humour in his voice.
"Yeah, yeah, tighty-pants. When'll you start taking customers?" Tony asked instead, rolling over to his stomach, so he could see the god. The black leather of his otherwise sea blue tunic (wearing a green tunic could've more likely led to someone recognizing him, as it was his signature color and he'd be doing what the god was perhaps most well-known for, which was sorcery) hung low by his knees and twirled in the air as he turned to assemble his things on the stands in their room.
"As quickly as possible," he answered without looking. "And, by the way, you shall be my servant."
"Your–your what? Servant? Why the hell?"
"It's suspicious if you're not. If you could do magic, it wouldn't be a problem, but if a mage is travelling with an useless mortal, it will be conspicuous." Tony pouted at him. "Oh, please, Anthony, don't be ridiculous. You know I don't think you useless. It's merely that they will, if you cannot perform magic." Loki was beginning to know him too well.
"Yeees, alright, I'll be a servant. What do you want me to do?"
"Just hold the spell ingredients out for me and obey if I tell you to do something. Don't worry, I won't abuse my temporary mastership," the god smirked at Tony, and the engineer puffs out air.
"Right. You ready to go then?"
"Yes, let's go."
Hours. Hours of standing still and running around obeying Loki's commands under the scorching sun (why was it always scorching when Tony had to stay out longer than a moment?).
It was exhausting, and Tony's nerves were already in shreds, as the customers kept commenting on him either with disdain or appraisal that sent creeps up Tony's spine. Luckily though, he more often than not didn't understand their alien gibberish, but their eyes roaming over his body or even occasionally their hands touching him, were indicators enough. Tony was glad for Loki in those moments, since the guy had taken on deflecting the conversation away from Tony and quipping nastily about manners when touching someone else's property. (Though Tony didn't like being referenced as 'property', but it was better than the bastards getting all handsy with him.)
Now, Loki was healing a small child from a case of a painful-looking burn. Tony eyed him, as he smeared an ointment on the burn and mumbled a few words. The wound began closing up immediately, new tissue covering the old as the wound flaked off, and Loki patted the child's shoulder affectionately.
What a big softie he was under the core, Tony thought, amused.
"Alright," the taller man said, as he'd collected the coins the child's parents had offered and walked back up to Tony. He placed the jar of ointment on the tray the engineer was holding and deposited the coins in a small bag hanging from his belt. "The sun will soon begin to set, but we still have time for a few customers." He took the tray from Tony, setting it on the desk in their stall (they'd rented one) and grabbed a water flask. He took a long swig and then handed it to Tony, who drank his own share.
"You still good to go?" the engineer asked as he screwed the flask closed again. Loki was looking as exhausted as Tony felt, even with his so-called 'superior' strength. The heat and the continual usage of his magic were taking their toll on him. Loki raised his eyes to look him in the eye.
"I'm fine. You are the one that looks like they're about to pass out from heat exhaustion," he said, and flicked Tony's forehead gently as he walked past. Tony scoffed and rubbed at the spot that had just been assaulted. He picked the tray up again, but stayed again a little behind as he watched Loki lure in customers. After a moment, the tray fell from his hands when a strong hand closed around his wrist, fast and hard.
"Wha–" he began but was cut off by a flood of gibberish sprouting from the alien man's (at least he supposed it was a male) mouth. His skin was the color of a white human and his physique was about the same, with the exception of near animalistic facial features. He was a lot taller than Tony, and the genius couldn't break away from his grip.
"Excuse me," Tony heard a cold voice from behind the alien. Two pale hands struck and snatched Tony away, pushing him behind Loki's back and the other one staying to keep him there. "What do you want from my servant? It is an insult to me for you to merely barge here and seize him like he was yours." The alien answered something, his rough voice sounding amused yet intrigued.
"No, he is not for sale," Tony felt himself pale, as he listened to Loki's harsh voice, "How are you so sure he's a Terran? I bought him from Galador, far more useful than petty Terrans."
More gibberish.
"He isn't Terran. Leave us at once, you dishonorable fool," Loki hissed. Some heads were already starting to turn into their direction and Tony felt the hairs at his neck rise.
It was very important that the word didn't spread about Tony being human (or Terran, whatever), since how many sorcerers actually traveled with human servants? Not many.
The alien mumbled something, but fortunately turned to leave. Tony saw Loki's shoulders sag, but right after he was turning Tony over and ushering him to pack up their stuff. He himself sat on the counter, playing idle as his servant cleaned his stall, but Tony knew the guy's body language so well already that he knew how rigid his back muscles were. Tony packed swiftly and followed after Loki as he showed the way through the mass of people. Right when the stalls ended and the talking from the street was a little more distant, Loki pushed Tony into an alley and then teleported them into their rented room.
"What was–" Tony asked a little breathless, dropping Loki's bag and walking to the bed. Loki cut him off,
"Terrans are very rare, especially this far away from your realm," he'd said, "Some individuals pay serious money for them, for they make good slaves since most other species are much stronger than them. Easy to outdo, you see." Tony had to turn his head away from Loki's face at the statement. "Also, some collectors are rather taken with rare species."
"Ugh," Tony said, simply. He turned to look at Loki again. He was leaning against a table, his hands gripping it tightly. "So, what now?"
"I don't know... I think we should leave."
"...how much have you earned?"
Loki didn't answer.
"Loki, how much have you–"
"Not enough," he said finally, meeting Tony's eyes. "But we cannot stay here. It's too dangerous–"
"Well, what about you hocus pocus us some disguises and we switch stalls? You yourself said that there are many sorcerers here anyway, they won't notice a little thing like that. And, I can make some metal trinkets by myself. You know, back on Earth they sometimes make them in front of a crowd and, hell, I take it it's kinda popular–"
"No," Loki said firmly. Tony stared at him.
"Why not?"
"It's not safe to separate. If someone else somehow finds out that you are a mortal–"
"Cut that bullshit. I am completely capable of taking care of myself." Loki gave him a pointed look and Tony sighed. "Okay, maybe not against every hunk-alien that gets in my way, but I can wear the gauntlets. You even put that spell on them, remember?" Tony studied Loki's face; the god seemed to be conflicted by now. "Come on, Lokes."
He closed his eyes and breathed through his mouth before answering,
"If we stay, we shall stay together at all times. I shall cast an illusion as disguise on us, as you suggested, and you will be wearing the gauntlets. Agreed?" Tony huffed, rolling his eyes. "Agreed?" the trickster pressed.
"Alright, alright. Agreed," he said. Loki nodded and turned away from him in favor of unpacking his bag to see what he might need to refill.
Well, at least they were staying. They really needed the money, since the ship was starting to run out of...well, basically everything. They could always just rob what they needed, but the risk of getting caught was bigger with bigger needs.
"We shouldn't go out there anymore," Loki said, breaking Tony's musings. "The shopkeepers will soon be closing up, and the sun sets quickly here. We shall continue tomorrow."
"Sure." Tony begun shredding his clothing; he kicked away his boots and shrugged off the brown, modest tunic (a suitable cloth for a servant). He pulled on a white top and after squirming out of the leather pants, put on a pair of the ship's grey sweats. When Tony was finished, Loki was still arranging his stuff, completely absorbed in his doings.
The engineer settled on the bed and pulled his bag into his lap, rummaging through it. He took out his notebook, full of notes, equations and calculations, ideas for projects and his hand-drawn blueprints as well as other sketches. He begun scribbling, working on upgrades for the gauntlets and the suit he'd someday (hopefully) have the resources to build. He missed his lab, and how he didn't have to write everything down, instead being able to just fiddle with holograms and order JARVIS to do the sketches. But it wasn't so bad. At least he had something to write on, unlike when he had been held captive.
Tony wasn't sure how much time had passed, when the bed finally dipped and Loki sat down next to him; he'd changed into slacks too and was now eyeing Tony's hand as it skimmed over the page, writing and drawing as ideas popped to his head and as he solved his own calculations in his head. Bruce would be proud.
"You really must love what you do," Loki commented, almost fondly. Tony's lips twitched into a small, crooked smile.
"Yeah, I do. Probably as much as you love your mojo and all your other mojo stuff." Loki rolled his eyes exasperatedly, but there was no malice behind.
"What is this?" he asked instead of lecturing Tony for proper usage of words. He pointed at a mess of writing and schematics.
"It's for the new suit. That's what's gonna be the HUD, I mean the face plate and its insides. And here," he flipped a page and pointed at another picture, "is the breast plate. I'm still working on the other parts, but I've got those somewhat figured out. The metal around here just works so differently than the ones I used back home." Loki hummed in understanding.
"Good work," he praised, and Tony felt irrationally good at the two simple words. He nodded gruffly and snapped the notebook shut.
"Wanna hit the sack for tonight?" Loki quirked an amused brow at the idiom, but begun pulling the sheets first down and then up and over them. Tony turned to his side, back facing the god, and Loki pulled him flush against his chest, like he did every time Tony turned that way. He then raised one arm and extinguished the magic light, hanging in a glass orb from their ceiling. He nuzzled Tony's neck when the darkness enveloped them, and Tony drifted off to sleep.
They woke up early the next morning, getting ready swiftly and preparing for a busy day on the street again. Loki booked them out of the motel and they deposited their unneeded property to the ship and grabbed Tony's gauntlets at the same. Otherwise Tony would've had them with all along, but the ship was more secure than a motel room when it came to robberies (which were more likely now when there were lots of travelers, mind you), and he couldn't have worn them on the street without an illusion. So, he'd decided to leave them. No, he was not paranoid.
But now that they needed to bother with a spell, he could take them again. Though, Tony was a little worried for Loki (just a little, not too much), since the guy would be exerting himself again. Especially now that he had to maintain another spell constantly, while doing more at the same. Well, Tony had faith in him (and that surprised even himself).
The sun begun ascending to the sky, and they set their stall to a different spot on the street. Loki was disguised as a dark-skinned woman, tall and beautiful, wearing long, dark blue robes. Tony, on the other hand, was a little shorter than usually, a young, yellow-skinned man with curly hair. He was wearing somewhat similar clothing than yesterday, though now they were black leather and had matching blue with Loki's robes.
Oh, so a higher standing servant and from a rich house. How clever; now it would be more unlikely anyone would come asking to buy him. Furthermore, it seemed that the yellow-skinned aliens weren't at all that rare around these corners.
They worked for a long patch straight, Loki doing protective and lucky charms, healing injuries or doing somethings even harder and more specific, like hexing enemies or mixing short-term love potions. After five hours, sweat was beading at his (or hers, in this case) brow, and his face was slightly pale. Loki'd told him that he was still a bit weak after the suppressor that Tony'd taken out of his neck, and seven hours of working were beginning to show. Tony stalked over to him.
"You should take a little break, okay?" he asked, keeping the distance appropriate for a servant, and kept his head slightly bowed, not wanting to attract any attention. Loki eyed him with his her, since Loki's were green, brown eyes briefly, and then nodded.
"Just for a moment. Hand me the water," he commanded, authority coloring his female voice. Tony did, and drank too after Loki when the flask was handed back to him. Loki took a seat on the chair before the counter of their stall and Tony hurried behind him, beginning to massage his shoulders (he caught Loki off guard, which he was secretly triumphant over, but the god played along without a beat).
"You sure you can keep going?" he asked, kneading on a stiff muscle at the base of his neck. Loki closed his eyes quickly in apparent pleasure (it shouldn't had, but it made Tony flush slightly), before answering,
"Yes, Anthony. Furthermore, we need not to continue much longer." Loki craned his neck so that Tony could reach a sore spot at the side of it more easily, and sighed softly when Tony begun rubbing it.
Tony was just about to reply, when the noise from the street suddenly grew louder. His hands left Loki's shoulders and the god surged up to his feet, stretching out his hand and pulling Tony fully behind his back (which irritated Tony to no end, yet somehow moved him, also). He backed up, pushing Tony against the table and bracing his hands on either side of him against the table, effectively trapping Tony behind him.
"Loki!" he hissed silently, afraid of someone hearing the name. Loki shushed him. People were now running past their stall, and Tony heard heavy steps being taken not far away.
He grasped the fabric of Loki's sleeve when a group of Chitauris stopped before their stall.