Trust
When he turns Loki is before him. In the solitude again is relief, in his voice that quiets and calms as he quips: “Could’ve given me a heads-up at least.”
“And ruin the surprise?” the god teased and Tony smiled.
Loki gestured then, and there just by him, another Tony emerges that the latter startles. It is a perfect replica of him and even smiling. “That’s how,” Loki says. With eyes wide Tony reaches, hand phasing through the illusion that falters like glitching.
“That’s um-”
“A flaw in your defenses.” Loki faced it. “So long as Jarvis can see and hear you, he’ll do whatever you demand of him. However,” refaced Stark. “He did take notice of your lack of thermal energy, given it is only an image. If you were to emphasize this as a must in his recognition software, you should bypass easily the defect.” The projection disappears. Tony stares at Loki for a long moment.
Before a smile genuine stretched his tired features and he nods. “Noted…And, not that you didn’t look badass in Shotgun but, wasn’t really your style. If you gimme a few weeks you’ll have something that is.”
Trust. Loki knows he is of underserving, and even underlined so in humor veiled: “Now that hardly sounds wise.”
“Well ‘wisdom’ was never my strong suit,” browns shimmer playful, greens on them fond Loki’s voice softer:
“You’re shaking.”
“Um, it’s cold.” Loki’s hands cradle his face, Loki’s face closer inching.
“You’re hot,” indeed in contrast to Loki’s cool palms. Ignoring the rapid rate of his heart his flushed cheeks Stark sheepishly grins quips:
“Thanks.” Loki gave a look unamused.
A warmth unlike anything Tony’s felt before floods him inward, gentle-like that he sighs and his eyes close his body unwinding.
“Unlike Banner,” Loki says so browns reopen lidded to listen. “I’ll not be shrugged off Anthony. Medicate yourself. Now,” it is bizarre how softly Loki demands this. Demands he knows Tony doesn’t play well to so of course he must answer:
“Or what?” contented to stay there in the cradle of Loki’s lethal, tender grasp.
“Hmm, you know, when my brother sets his mind to something, he does it. Maybe I’ll leave you at his mercy.” Stark scoffed.
“You’ll tell on me?” Loki wears trouble on his features, despite the thumbs drawing soft circles along Tony’s freckled cheekbones. Tony smiles and says sweetly: “Liar.” Smirking still the mage pinched lightly his chin, then turned back to his seat and Tony mourned the loss of warm contact the closeness.
He snaps out of it leaves the room, half-absent to do what Loki told him to do.
When he returns Loki’s moved to the bed some other novel in hand. Tony thirsts still for some shut-eye a quick nap and maybe he ought tell Loki to stand, leave or move back to the chair but he won’t, and approached, crawling into the plentiful space Loki’d left on the right side where Tony likes to sleep, a fact the latter hasn’t the mind to acknowledge right now as he tugged at the sheets and turned to the god reading still.
“You didn’t come all the way out here to do exactly what you were doing at the tower.” No he didn’t.
“Shut up and go to sleep,” he says as softly that Tony smiles, grumbles:
“You shut up,” watching Loki’s lips quirk up, before his eyes close and he breathes in through his mouth because his nose’s still partially clogged still he relaxes. Loki’s presence puts him at considerable ease that no sooner he’s drifted.