Late Night Devil
By the time Loki got back to the hotel, they only had an hour before they had to leave again. Spending time with Tony was potentially one of the worst things they’d ever had to do, and that was coming from a child actor. He was arrogant, selfish, barely even looked at them and kept making snarky comments. He was just as awful as Loki remembered, albeit more sober.
They knocked on Fandral’s door, considering they didn’t have a key for it. It would be too suspicious for them to only have one room, after all, and Loki didn’t plan on using theirs until Fandral left. The door opened and Loki walked in without hesitation, but the atmosphere was thick even before they spoke.
“I’m sorry. I’m really, really sorry,” they said.
“You’re in a publicity relationship with Tony Stark?” Fandral frowned. “Why didn’t you say no?”
“In case you haven’t noticed, my career’s gone to shit since I came out,” they replied. “People like gay but they don’t like queer. What am I without my career?”
He raised a brow. “You could’ve asked me to come out.”
“I won’t pressure you to come out before you’re ready. I’ll never do that.” They shook their head. “No. Anyway- apparently it’ll be good because we have different audiences, and Tony’s got his own shit going on.”
Fandral was quiet for a moment. “How long?”
“The contract ends in a year,” they replied.
“A year?” He repeated. “So what? I’m second to Tony Stark for a full year? You’ll put our relationship on hold just so you can run away with him?”
“No, no- no!” They replied. “No- I love you, Fandral. Not him. I’m just- I’m doing this because I have to, but I love you. Not him. No one else.”
Fandral looked at Loki with a raised brow, but stayed quiet for a while. They didn’t know how long he was quiet for, but it felt like forever. “When will you be back?”
“Two days. I’m doing two days of shows, then I’ll be back,” they replied. “I promise.”
That seemed to work for the time being.
———
The arena was packed. Loki had never hated anything more in their life. The lights were low, almost uncomfortably low despite the fact that there was no one on stage. On the bright side, they were off to the side on a balcony. They were the only person there, and they’d already seen camera flashes in their direction. Clearly it meant something that they were there. They sighed as they sipped their drink - water, but they’d never wanted water to be vodka more in their life. It would make the entire night more bearable.
It wasn’t long before the Avengers took to the stage. Steve Rogers was the first one on, heading for the drums. Then Clint Barton on guitar. Then Natasha Romanoff on bass. Then Tony came out. They’d done more research on the band than they cared to, but apparently they still had to meet the rest of them. Did they want to? Absolutely not, but that never made a difference before.
Tony bounced around the stage but made sure to interact with the rest of the band around him. He was something else, Loki thought. He knew how to perform. He knew how to draw an audience in and he knew how to keep the attention. He hadn’t cleaned up much earlier from their meetings. Still in a black t-shirt and blue jeans, but he’d lost the sunglasses at least. They didn’t know how he could bounce around for that long. Both of them were in their late twenties but Loki didn’t have that amount of energy. It looked like hell.
“This one,” Tony said once he finally stood still, “is for a really special person. It’s a new one. One that we’ve never played before and quite frankly I’m scared shitless because I- I don’t know what they’ll say, but- to be young, dumb and in love, right?”
The rest of the band left the stage as Tony picked up a guitar from the side of the stage. He started plucking some strings before he started to sing along.
Today, I’m laughing the clouds away
I hear what the flowers say
And drink every drop of rain
And I see places that I have been
In ways that I’ve never seen
My side of the grass is green
Can’t believe that it’s so simple
Feels so natural to me
If this is love, then love is easy
It’s the easiest thing to do
If this is love, then love completes me
Because it feels like I’ve been missing you
A simple equation with no complications
To leave you confused
If this is love, then it’s the easiest thing to do
It was cute. It would’ve been cuter if they knew that it wouldn’t be interpreted as a song for them when their own lover was alone in a hotel room when they were meant to be having a date night, but they had to give it to Tony, he was a good songwriter. It was a shame that he wasn’t half as good of a human being. Once the set was done they were escorted backstage by two security guards. They followed wordlessly as they went through the winding hallways to the dressing rooms. Despite having seperate ones, they were all in one after the show. Their laughs and cheers were deafening through the hall.
“This tour is one of our best ones so far,” a female voice said. Natasha, they guessed.
“Shame it’s going to go to shit,” Tony replied. Ever the optimist.
Loki knocked on the door, drawing all attention to them. They didn’t mind being stared at. Not at all. They were used to it after twenty-ish years, but there was something unnerving about the band just staring at him.
“Hey, you must be Loki,” Steve said as he got up from his seat. “It’s nice to meet you.”
They forced a smile. “It’s good to meet you too, Steve.”
Natasha stared at them. “You were my friend's gay awakening.”
That was one way to introduce herself. “I’m honored?” They weren’t quite sure if they should have been.
“So- we’ll be leaving here in about half an hour,” Steve said, “we’ll just get on the bus and head off. We’ll be in Vegas by the morning. You’ll get your own bunk and everything, and help yourself to anything on the bus. Then we’ll get a hotel in Vegas for the night.”
They only had to put up with the bus for a night. That couldn’t be too bad. How bad could a bus be? Horrible. It sounded horrible and they couldn’t convince themself otherwise, but they just smiled and did their best to seem polite.
“Thank you,” they replied.
Clint squinted as he looked at them. “You’re the model, right? Thor’s sibling?”
They didn’t like Clint. “Yes.”
“Don’t you get bored just- standing for photos or walking up and down a straight line?” He asked.
They raised a brow. “Don’t you get bored doing the same thing every night?”
“Sorry about Clint,” Natasha said. “He’s an idiot sometimes.”
Clint pouted. “Hey! I was just curious.”
“In my experience models tend to be narcissists,” Tony hummed. “That’s why they do it.”
Loki raised a brow. “Funny. Isn’t that what the press says about you?”
“Yeah, but at least I don’t have temper tantrums when I get dropped by my manager,” he replied. “Wait- I’ve never been dropped by my manager.”
Natasha groaned. “Tony, that’s enough. You’re stuck with each other for a year, don’t make it hell for us too.”
“Hey, I’m stuck with them so you’re all suffering,” Tony replied. “We’re a team, remember? Or is that just for when Steve’s going through breakups?”
Steve huffed. “Thanks, Tony.”
“Look, you got arrested this morning. Again,” Clint said. “The coolness of that is going to go down eventually.”
Tony grinned as he looked at Loki. “But it gets your name in the papers every time you do it, right?”
They went to reply. They did, but they had everything riding on their relationship. Mobius had made it clear that they needed it to boost their career again, and if they pulled out then they’d have to look for another manager. They couldn’t do that. No, they'd have rathered died. So instead of adding fuel to the fire, like they desperately wanted to do, they walked away. They needed some air. They finally found the back door, they didn’t need to say anything for the security guards to open it for them. They stepped outside where the screams of adoring fans filled the air from behind the barrier, but they couldn’t see anyone through the gates. Blacked out, just their luck.
Loki leant against the brick wall of the arena as they took a deep breath. They closed their eyes, trying to focus on their surroundings. The screams were enough to make them want to run back inside, but they couldn’t face Tony. Not until they’d calmed down enough to not have to worry that they’d punch him.
“I’m sorry about Tony.” They didn’t have to open their eyes to recognise Natasha’s voice. “He’s not really that bad once you get to know him.”
They chuckled, but it came out as tired. “He clearly doesn’t want me to get to know him.”
“Yeah. He never does, but he’ll get there eventually,” she replied. “I’m sorry you’ve been put in this situation. It’s shit.”
They shrugged. “I brought it on myself.”
“You know,” she said, “you’re not as bad as I expected.”
They snorted. “Thanks.”
“I really hope this works out for you, Loki.”
That was all she could say before the other three walked outside. Tony avoided looking in their direction, but they didn’t complain about that. They didn’t know what had happened after they left the room, but considering Natasha followed they probably weren’t being dramatic when they thought that Tony crossed the line.
“Ready to head off?” Steve asked.
Natasha and Clint nodded, but Tony finally looked at Loki. They raised a brow as they stared right back, their gaze unwavering. They wouldn’t show any weakness in front of Tony. They couldn’t afford to.
Steve led the way and the gates to the road opened the moment they got close. The moment the gates opened, Tony grabbed Loki’s hand. They went to pull away, but he only held on tighter. They clenched their jaw as they relaxed into the hold. The last thing they wanted to do was hold Tony’s hand, but clearly they’d gone back to having no choice whatsoever in their life. The one thing Mobius had promised them would never happen again.
There were hundreds of people waiting behind the barriers, some trying to get over them only to get stopped by security. Phones were everywhere, so the photos and videos would go everywhere. They instinctively kept their head down, letting their hair cover their face. The screaming only got louder and they found themself holding onto Tony’s hand tighter as they followed him onto the bus. What should’ve been a couple of seconds felt like hours, but finally they were on the bus and the doors closed behind them. They took a deep breath as they yanked their hand free from Tony’s, making sure to put some space between them and everyone else.
“I’m sorry, I should’ve warned you about that,” Steve said, his gaze fixed on them.
They shook their head. “It’s okay. I should’ve expected it.”
Tony snorted. “Yeah, but I’m guessing you’re not used to that anymore, are you? Not without daddy’s influence.”
Natasha stepped between them without even a seconds hesitation. “Tony, enough.”
“Fucking nepo-baby,” Tony muttered as he stormed to the back of the bus.
Natasha went to say something but they shook their head. Tony was right. Of course he was. No one was ever wrong when it came to that. They got lucky. They sat down at an empty booth and pulled their laptop out from their bag - they had to find out who to thank for bringing it onto the bus. They didn’t look at any of the band members as they got to work, replying to the many, many emails they’d been sent through the day.
One from Mobius caught their eye before any other, though.
Loki,
I know you’re pissed off about this and I completely get it. I didn’t know about it until I spoke to you, and I wish we had more time to talk this through. Why don’t we go for coffee in Milan? If you’re up to it, Saint Laurent has asked for you to walk for them in fashion week and they need a fitting. I know it’s last minute, but I didn’t think you’d say no.
All the love,
Mobius
And even though Loki wouldn’t forgive Mobius for putting them in the situation they were in, they could at least enjoy the perks bay would come with their manager groveling. At least for a little while.