Trust
They had left the planet very quickly after the scuffle. They weren't sure whether there would be more of the bastards' comrades coming or whether they'd been found out. Luckily so far no Chitauris had crossed their way, but you could never be too sure.
Tony flopped down into the co-pilot's seat with a groan. Loki was flying the ship, looking somewhat weary, but not outright exhausted. Tony'd moved the water containers into the storage room as the god had piloted them a little further away from the solar system. They'd decided to continue on their previously agreed route, but with a little detour to shake off any potential followers.
"How are you faring, Anthony?" Loki kept his eyes on the space before them, flipping a switch with his right hand.
"I'm fine," the engineer replied, glaring down at his right leg; he hadn't been lying, it wasn't injured, but it kept throbbing painfully. "You?"
Loki didn't answer at first, and when Tony looked up, he found him eyeing the same spot Tony'd been just glaring. He kept frowning. "I am alright. I want to take a look at your leg." Tony blinked at the admission, and had to fight off a blush that threatened to emerge on his face.
"I told you already, I'm fine. No need to worry about it, sourpuss." The god frowned at him once more, before turning his eyes back forward. Tony shrugged mentally and, averting his thoughts, grabbed a piece of machinery he'd been tinkering with in the cockpit before their trip to the forest-y planet. It was just some small machine from the kitchen, but Tony'd been very keen on finding out what it really was. So far, he didn't have a clue. They sat there for a while, until Loki interrupted the silence,
"I apologize for my earlier behavior." Tony snapped his eyes to the god. He looked like he was suffering from a bad case of constipation, which Tony interpreted as that this whole apologizing thing really didn't sit well with him. "I shouldn't have grabbed you nor belittled you. You are a worthy warrior, Anthony." Now Tony couldn't keep the blush from his face. He hadn't been expecting this.
"Don't sweat it. All is forgotten, and all that," he waved it off, willing the sudden awkwardness to fade. Loki just smiled at him softly when Tony finally met his eyes again (what a smug bastard) and concentrated on piloting again. Tony shook his head and went back to his tinkering.
It was probably hours later when Loki finally switched the ship on autopilot; Tony was nearly asleep, occasionally nodding off as he tried to focus on the circuit board looking thing inside the alien device. He snapped out of another spell of slumber at Loki's hushed voice.
"Come on, Anthony," the god urged, grasping Tony's arm gently and leaning slightly against the engineer's seat's backrest. When he deemed Tony awake enough, he hummed softly and walked to the hallway, presumably to have a shower. The billionaire yawned and slowly straightened himself out of the chair.
Pain flooded his senses as he rested weight on his right leg.
"Shit," he cussed silently, taking support from the seat's armrest and bringing his hand to his thigh. Okay, maybe he'd taken a slightly more serious hit than what he'd thought. He glanced towards the cockpit's entrance. He heard the shower running down the hallway, so Loki probably hadn't heard. Good. No need to make the guy fuss over him all the more. Also, he'd seemingly finally proved that he was capable of taking care of himself. He couldn't just demand help right after.
The engineer sighed and half-limped, half-forced his leg to work as he made his way to their bunk. He shredded his clothing, noticing the burn on his thigh as he did (nothing too massive for him to get worried about, still) and pulled on some soft sleeping clothes. Then he climbed in and pulled the covers over himself. After a moment, he heard Loki padding into the cabin. He slipped behind Tony's back in the bed.
"You should bathe. You're filthy," he said, but still pulled Tony against his chest, as he always did.
"T'morrow," the engineer mumbled around another yawn, and promptly fell asleep when he felt Loki huff against his neck.
The pain in his thigh hadn't left by the morning.
He woke up to Loki getting out of the bunk and changing into daywear. He then left the cabin, leaving Tony to suffer from the effects of waking up so damn early (although it probably wasn't even that early). After a while, when he'd rolled around in the bed enough, he sat up and threw his legs over the edge of the bunk. He tried to stand.
Not a good idea.
He fell back, just catching himself on the edge of the bed, as the pain surprised him. He hissed and glared at his leg, willing it to play nice. It was still sore as hell. Getting up again with a muffled groan, he limped over to grab some clothes and then exited the cabin. He skidded through the hallway to take a shower, not babying his right leg at all now. He washed himself swiftly, feeling somewhat better, and went to the kitchen where Loki was absently eating something awful-looking from a can and reading some book.
"Took you longer than usually," he commented offhandedly, not raising his eyes from the book. Tony hummed gruffly in response, shuffling over to the cabinets and grabbing a can of some fruit conserve. They ate, and the day went on as any other day at the ship, both minding their own businesses and occasionally changing a few words or grabbing a snack.
Until he had to blow it.
They'd been about to check the ships machinery, which was accessible through a hatch in the hallway's floor. It was just something they did every once in a while to maintain the engine's so far excellent condition, and all had gone just about right. Until the toolbox Tony had been handing off to Loki had slipped, and he'd had to make a sudden movement to catch it.
His quadriceps muscles had protested, badly, and he'd collapsed, sending the toolbox across the floor and scattering the damn tools all around. Luckily, Loki had been there to catch him.
"Anthony!" He'd exclaimed, "What is it? Is it your leg?" All Tony could do was bite his lip and nod and grunt in response. It was no use trying to hide it now. Also, there was the slightest possibility that the muscle was actually injured. The slightest possibility. He watched as Loki's eyes flashed and he grabbed the fabric of Tony's pants, ripping it away from around his thigh. Alrighty then.
After a quick inspection with his eyes and one glowing hand he snarled angrily, "You fool!" and turned his head back to glare at Tony. "You should have said you were in pain! Those weapons they were using are meant for a body far more durable than that of a–"
"Yeah, yeah, puny and fragile mortal, blah, blah–" He was cut off when Loki grasped his chin firmly, squishing his mouth and twisting his face to look straight into his green eyes.
"That is not what I meant. Now, be rational for once and stay still." The god pushed his arm beneath Tony's legs and lifted the human easily, earning a small yelp from Tony. He was about to protest, but was silenced by a sharp glare from Loki (which he returned with as much vigor, thank you very much).
"Your thigh is inflamed and there's some damage to the muscle tissue," the Jotun stated as he deposited Tony to the bunk's edge. Then he got up and began rummaging through one of the dresser's drawers. He pulled out a smallish jar, presumably containing the cream to help heal injuries.
"Hey, you're seriously overreacting," the engineer deadpanned, holding up his palms when the god begun advancing him again. "It'll heal by itself, I'll just have to not overexert myself–" Loki leveled him with a look at that.
"I'm treating your wound, end off discussion, Anthony." Tony glared at him, but settled for an eye roll.
Loki applied the cool ointment on his leg, making Tony groan involuntary, and mumbled a quick spell over it. Then, surprising Tony, pecked a quick kiss on the exposed skin. "A kiss to make it better," he said simply, smirking deviously and probably enjoying the way Tony's cheeks flushed slightly. Then he sighed, dropping his head.
"You should have said something," he repeated.
"Yeah, you said that," Tony replied without heat. Loki glanced at him.
"It remains a fact." The engineer snorted and pushed himself to lean against the wall.
"Yeah, yeah. I guess I just... I just didn't want to prove you wrong."
"Prove me wrong about what?" Loki asked, shuffling closer and sitting by Tony's feet on the bunk. He wasn't actually touching, but with all the hovering he could just as well be.
"About you finally believing that I could take care of myself, and that that I'm not some breakable–"
His sentence was cut off when Loki's fist connected with the wall next to Tony's head, leaving a dent in it. Tony shifted his eyes from the fist to the god's face. He was pretty angry. Aw, shit.
"You foolish...you utter imbecile–"
"Aw, come on now, no hate speech–"
"I do not think you breakable! You've already proven me your skill and your worth!" Loki grasped the sides of Tony's head, shaking slightly. "I merely worry for you, that is all. Do not think that I would demean you in such a way." Tony kept his eyes locked with the Jotun's, a little overwhelmed by the intensity in them.
"Okay, I was just saying. I mean, I wouldn't had been very convinced by what I–"
Loki snarled and pulled Tony's head forward into a fierce kiss, once again cutting him off mid-sentence. He pushed the engineer's back flush against the wall, pulling his hips into his lap at the same, and deepened their kiss. Tony moaned softly and grasped the fabric covering Loki's shoulders. Damn this bastard and his skilled lips.
"You. Are. A. Damn. Fool," Loki mumbled angrily between kisses, muffling Tony's growled response as he pressed their mouths together again. He retracted his lips, instantly surging down for the spot he'd deemed Tony's favorite (which it indeed was) during their last make out session. He sucked hard and Tony's moaned reaction was immediate.
Loki's hands traveled lower, one resting on the swell of his ass and the other on the small of his back, as he kept sucking hickeys into Tony's neck. Tony soon found himself trembling with arousal. He pulled at the black strands on the taller man's head.
"Oh, god."
Loki smirked, releasing his neck. "Indeed." He pressed another kiss to the corner of Tony's mouth, and then promptly pressed their crotches sharply together, eliciting a hiss from them both.
"Is this alright?" he asked, sobering for a moment. Tony tried to focus on something else than the hands on his body and the arousal coursing through him. He searched the green eyes boring into his own brown ones. Was it alright? Could he trust Loki?
"...Very alright," he answered finally, and melted when Loki chuckled and kissed him on the lips again.
"Good," was all the reply he got, before Loki had lowered him to the mattress. He bit the lobe of Tony's ear and Tony used the chance to grasp the god's collar and lick a stripe up his throat, enjoying the low groan it got him from the other. Loki kissed him again, and then, as quickly as it had begun, it ended, when Loki suddenly pulled the covers over the genius. Tony just stared at him, aghast.
Loki chuckled. "You must rest, Anthony." Tony could feel his face scrunching up.
"You–you can't leave me like this! Like hell I could sleep now! Plus, it's been barely six freaking hours since I last slept!" Loki smiled at him a little crookedly, and climbed into the bunk next to Tony, ignoring the engineer's protests. He pulled him against his chest.
"Rest now."
"You rest now..." Tony grumbled and Loki snickered. Damn bastard. He was planning on continuing their debate, but soon found his lids drooping. With a yawn, he gave into the temptation to nap a bit.
Someone was nuzzling the back of his ear.
He groaned and scrunched up his nose, rolling over to burrow his face into the crook of his disturber's neck. He smelled the mix of winter, mint and leather, and instantly relaxed into the arms around him. God, his brain works in some fucked up ways.
"Good morning, love."
"Morning," he mumbled back, not sure if Loki could even make out what he was saying. He didn't need to ponder for long though, since soon after a hand caressed up his back and another carded through his hair. The engineer felt himself go even more boneless in the other man's hold.
"How is your leg?"
"'s fine." He yawned. "How long was I out? Did you get any sleep?"
"I did actually. You, on the other hand, slept around 15 hours." At that, Tony pulled back and looked into the trickster's eyes incredulously. He hadn't slept that long in one go since high school. And that had been well over 20 years ago.
Loki grinned apologetically at him. "I might have cast a minor spell to aid you get some rest. Which you very much needed, mind you." Tony just groaned and rolled his eyes. He threw the blanket off of them and got up. He looked down at his leg, and sure enough, it didn't hurt anymore, and the burn was just a faint, red blotch against his thigh. He turned and found Loki eyeing his leg also.
"See?" he tried to assure him. "Good as new." He scratched the back of his head absently. "And thanks for that, by the way."
Loki smiled at him. "You're welcome."
He got up too, and Tony pulled him down for a kiss.
"Master, we have successfully located the fugitives."
He turns in his chair, listening to the screeching voice of one of his commanders.
"How far?"
"Two weeks, one if we take less troops. What do you suggest?"
"I do not suggest, I order," he corrects the pathetic creature. Chitauris, oh how he's always despised them. All they are good for is serving as sheer firepower.
"Ye-yes, master."
He keeps silent for a moment.
"Tail the fugitives and contact me when you reach them. It is high time I took this matter into my own hands."
"Yes, master, at once." The call is disconnected with that, and he huffs out a dark laugh.