Chapter 11
Loki flinched at the unmistakable sound of a foot slamming against the wood of the door. He clenched the crystal sphere tighter, using the warm feel of the spinning energy inside as an anchor.
He pointed a hand to the door, when the hitting sound came again, this time followed by a voice.
"Open the damned door, Loks… I don´t know about you, but I need to have my coffee before fending off alien bastards." Well, he had never thought that hearing Tony Stark´s grumpy and sleep-slurred voice would make him feel so relieved.
He opened the door, and looked down at the billionaire, who held a brown paper bag in one hand and a suitcase in the other. The man pointed behind him, to the hallway, and Loki noticed there were even more, bigger packages there.
"Go get it, since you are so awake. And please tell me you had a little time between buying ten thousand dollars worth of rugs and procured yourself some coffee…" Not waiting for an answer, the man skidded past him and into the apartment.
"Middle shelf" And he looked over his shoulder to stare at the mortal. "Top shelf for you, I suppose."
"Hilarious. This is why everyone loves you, Loki."
The god was smirking as he pulled one package after another through the door. "No, Stark, I´m afraid there are quite a lot more reasons other than that particular one."
"Or so I´ve read." Tony looked up from pouring coffee in the biggest mug he could find, to see Loki dragging one of the bigger packages, before giving him a strange look.
"Do tell, Stark, why do you even read about me?" And he went back to pick the last of the boxes.
"Hey, I live with your brother, I had to get informed. You just pop in there from time to time and I have to be a man and put up with your weird shenanigans…" The sound of the box hitting the floor pulled him back from the deep, delicious pool of steaming hot coffee between his hands. He found the taller man definitively glaring at him, and he fidgeted a bit, before the paler one returned his attention to straightening the box up.
"Well, I cannot say that is a novelty for me." He left the box alone and pushed the door closed with a little more strength than what was necessary, making it creak in complain. "You should talk to Thor´s friends; they certainly have experience with putting up with me."
Tony snorted, when the caffeine finally reached him and he understood what was going on. "Please, you brought my height into this, toughen up and don´t give me drama."
The god just kept glaring. "Do you intend on helping me or not, mortal?"
Containing a sigh, Tony took a seat in one of the cozy armchairs, and sat his coffee in the side table. "I guess I do…" And he cracked his fingers. "I need you to tell me all you know about this Chita-what the hell are you wearing?"
That did the trick; Loki´s frown softened and disappeared, a confused expression taking its place.
"Beg your pardon?"
"Not mine, no. Fashion´s." Seeing that Loki´s expression was still confused, he pointed at the deep blue bandana that he hadn´t noticed was tied around the Norse´s head. "Where did you get that from?"
Loki´s frown came back, although softer. "Forgive me? If I recall correctly it was you the one who conditioned me to "get myself some nice new clothes", Stark." He crossed his arms over his chest. "I just complied."
At that, Tony scanned him over once. The self-proclaimed Not-Asgardian wore an apparently brand-new dull green T"shirt, along with fitted black jeans. Looking down, he was surprised to see he had forsaken shoes -an understandable choice, since the flat was expertly carpeted- but his mind chose instead to focus back on the hideous bandana.
"But why?"
"It is nice, and it is new." Loki glared again." Can we focus now?"
Tony sighed, and nodded. "Sure, just don´t call the gang on me, bro… " He muttered under his breath. " I´ll be right back, unpack those." He added, retreating into the bedroom.
-
Thor picked up the tiny gadget Steve referred to as "Mobile phone", and flipped it open, after reading Tony´s name in the tiny outer screen.
"Yes?" he never knew how to hold the Odin-damned thing...
"WHY WOULD YOU LET YOUR BROTHER BUY THAT?" Tony´s voice came from the little speaker at the top of the gadget, and he huffed, amused.
"I´m afraid I know nothing of what you speak about, Anthony. And I´m even more afraid to admit I had literally no saying in the matter, after all, Loki..." but he was interrupted from a voice coming from the other side.
"BECAUSE I DO WHAT I WANT STARK, NOW LET GO OF THAT PHONE AND COME BACK HERE!"
As the call ended, Thor took a minute to wonder if he should be worried about what was going on in his brother´s apartment.
-
"Take it off, Loks, it´s really distracting."
Loki raised an eyebrow. "As are your sunglasses, not to mention unnecessary, but you don´t see me pushing the subject."
"What about that thing is necessary?"
"Why would I explain myself to a mortal?" But Loki´s pale cheekbones flushed, and, enjoying the little victory, Tony shook his head in mock disappointment.
"And here I was, thinking you had a taste… Who chose the suit you wore in Germany?"
"I´m allowed to be versatile." He looked at the half-unpacked boxes. "Can we start now?"
"Yep. Tell me."
Loki rubbed his forehead under the bandana." The Chitauri… First of all… I don´t think they are really here."
"…What?"
"Not completely, I mean." The Norse noticed Tony´s still confused expression. "Think, Stark! Think of what I had to do to bring them here in the first place!"
Tony nodded, thoughtful. "So… What´s your bet?"
"Semi-corporeal projections. I believe they are scouting for me, wanting to have me secured before wasting energy on the trip."
"So the scream in the video…" Tony waited, until Loki mumbled an affirmative."There is no record of a corpse, though."
And really, he shouldn´t have found the mischievous smirk that amusing or easy to read, like teasing him about a long-time shared joke.
He smiled. "Magic?"
Loki nodded now, snapping his fingers next to his face, making a little green ember flourish between them. "Magic."
"Well, now we´re officially at a dead end, then." He shrugged, when Loki gave him a questioning glance. "I´m sure I could find a way to work something that alerts you if one is near, but I need actual magic to try it on." He gestured lazily at the taller man. "And don´t be offended, but you´re kind of useless in that area right now."
"I would be, even if I had my full power."
"Elaborate, Loco."
Loki raised an eyebrow at the foreign word, and huffed when Tony shrugged again and pointed at the bandana.
"Magic is an old and stable art. There are certain procedures you ought to follow, and they give out certain results. Always the same, always exact." He explained. "The degree of success is actually based on the performer itself. It doesn´t matter if two sorcerers cast the same spell, the power imbued in them will always be different. This is why my magic will most certainly be the strongest in most cases, for my nature is unique. Think of it as something akin blood types."
Tony whistled. "You do really get a hard-on for magic, don´t you?"
Loki looked away. "Who are you to speak? What would happen if you were to explain your technology to me, mortal?"
Tony let out a dry bark of laughter. "We´d be here until sunrise tomorrow." And he rubbed his hands together. "So you meant to tell the Chitauri magic is different from your magic?"
"Indeed. And I´m afraid to admit I lost the only sample of Chitauri magic in my possession."
"… The scepter." Tony was grateful for his shades, somewhat hiding his expression, but he could still feel Loki´s stare right on his face, and he was not so fool as to think he´d missed the change in his features.
"You have it." It was not a question, but a statement. Like Loki had caught on something he should have known for long.
"They do."
Once again, there was no question asked. And this time there was no answer given.
Both knew what would happen.
And, to be honest, neither of them could bring themselves to explain why.
Loki cleared his throat. "Good luck."
Tony forced himself to smirk. One does not plan on stealing from a secret government facility for his enemy every day.
"You know you´ll have to thank me again, right?" And he left.
Loki smiled sideways. This mortal was proving to be one hell of an interesting puzzle.