Chapter 2
Tony hadn't seen Loki for over a week. He was probably avoiding him or giving him space. The former seemed likely. Tony was sad about it, but he couldn't say he wasn't glad for the space to think. He knew he liked Loki, but he also knew he'd be too much for even a god to handle. Even if the god was Loki, Tony knew Loki deserved so much better than him. Especially since he knew the attack on New York wasn't his doing. He was a puppet being controlled by Thanos, whose motives nobody knew yet. The Chitauri were also acting under his orders and not Loki's. They’d had their bad moments, but after Siberia, and the non-apology by Cap, the battle of New York seemed less hurtful. Tony’s anger against Loki back then was because he killed Coulson. Now that he knows Coulson wasn't dead, Tony couldn't stay mad at Loki. They had hashed it all out when they first started their friendship, and all was forgiven after a few hours and a sparring session. It was very therapeutic. It also helped both of them release the restless energy they had from being cooped up.
After a few hours of research on queer/quasi platonic relationships, abbreviated as QPR, Tony felt slightly more confident about trying to make a relationship with Loki work. They obviously had a lot to discuss about how they would work, and their boundaries with sex and romance were, but for the first time since Pepper broke up with him, Tony felt hopeful about someone showing interest in him. And maybe, for the first time ever, he was looking forward to starting a relationship with someone, even if he still felt Loki deserved to be with someone better than him. And because both of them had grown up in the public eye, him with Stark Industries and Loki being a prince, they knew how important their privacy was, and how they would protect it at all costs. Tony was really glad for that, he knew Pepper would be glad about that fact at least.
Tony had decided to accept Loki’s offer, but Loki was still avoiding him. As a last ditch effort, Tony took the suit and flew into Loki's apartment, but he was nowhere to be found. Thor and the other Asgardians were of no help either, but he didn't think they'd help him even if they knew something. The one thing they seemed certain of was that Loki didn't leave Earth, which was a small relief.
Tony was distracted by this, his work for SI and his personal R&D projects that he completely forgot about his superhero work. All of them had become complacent it seemed because one fine day the alarm blared that the city was under attack by Doom and his new and improved gadgets, that all the Avengers in Stark Tower jumped and ran to suit up. Valkyrie was the only one really confused but was swiftly getting ready to join the action when Sif explained it to her. The team consisted of Tony, Rhodey, Carol, Thor, Bruce, Sif, Valkyrie, and Vision, and so Tony was feeling confident that New York would be fine this time. Maybe Peter and Stephen might show up, and he hoped Loki would be careful and not turn up to fight with Doom even if it meant Tony wouldn't get to see him on this day either. He was confident that the Rogues would be stupid enough to show up because of some misplaced sense of justice and the massive savior complex of their leader, but he hoped for once they'd have some sense and not cause more destruction than necessary.
He knew better than to expect what he'd hoped for. The Rogues did show up and so did Loki, not that they needed the help from the Rogues. Tony was glad to see him and was trying to keep an eye on him, hoping he didn't disappear immediately after the fight. He was also trying to make sure nobody got hurt in the battle. Luckily, the police had cleared out the civilians from the area, so he had one less thing to worry about.
Making sure nobody, especially Loki and Peter, got hurt. He saw one of the Doombots approaching somebody from behind and Tony couldn't let them get hurt, especially since everyone else seemed too busy to actually help them and he seemed to be the only person who saw the attack by the Doombot in time so he jumped in and took the hit for his teammate, didn't matter whether they betrayed and hurt him before, the other man turned around just in time to catch him as he was falling. He realised it was Bucky Barnes, and Tony's only response to that was, “Oh.”
Loki seemed to have noticed them right as Tony fell but he was surrounded by the Doombots. And as Tony went down Loki's magic went crazy, it ripped apart the wall of Doombots which were on him. Loki flew to where they were and took Tony from Bucky Barnes. The Winter Soldier was urging Bucky to not let him go, the beautiful man in the flashy metal suit saved his life, but Bucky saw Tony was in capable hands and he was sure Tony wouldn't want to be under the care of the man who killed his parents, he reasoned.
The battle ended soon after and he left with Steve and the others even though Winter was screaming his head off to go help Loki carry Tony Stark to Stark Tower and be with him until he got better. But Bucky reasoned with Winter that Tony was in good hands, because he could seen the way Loki looked when Tony was hurt, it was obvious that Loki cared for the man.
Tony came to in the med bay of Stark tower and the first thing he noticed, apart from the blinding lights, was that he had a visitor. Turning his head to look at the person sitting at his bedside took way more effort than it should have, and once they came into focus he realised it was Loki. Tony felt an overwhelming surge of love and relief that he was here and hadn't gone away. Something told Tony that Loki seemed to have noticed that Tony was awake, even though the god's eyes were closed. Loki sat up. Tony automatically cringed thinking about how much trouble he would be in but that just caused him to cry out in pain. Loki jumped to attention at the sound but settled down immediately at the worried look Tony shot him. Tony relaxed a bit when Loki took his hand into his but tensed a bit when he started speaking.
“What were you thinking being so reckless?”
“I was saving that man's life. I didn't realise it was Barnes.”
“You would have saved him even if you knew it was Barnes.”
“Yeah, I would have.”
“I don't understand that about you, but I suppose it is a part of your charm. All the selflessness and heroic nature.”
“I'm no hero,” Tony's expression turned sour at the reminder of Roger's’ words, “Steve made that clear.”
“That foolish mortal does not know what he's talking about,” Loki sounded vehement while saying that, “You are worth a hundred times that foolish soldier.”
“You would say that wouldn't you,” Tony said, smirking suddenly, “Flattery will get you everywhere, sweetheart.”
Loki just huffed at the sudden change in tone, “Seems like you're all better now if you are flirting. I can leave now,” he said getting up.
Tony immediately sat up to stop Loki from leaving, the sudden motion causing him to let out a pained groan and the sound made Loki's face crease in concern as he stood rooted to the spot. Pushing through the pain Tony says, “Don't go, please. I've been looking for a chance to say something to you but you weren't there. You weren't anywhere.”
Loki's face was impassive but he nodded, sat down in the chair he had occupied, and said, “Fine, go on Anthony.”
“First, promise me you won't leave.”
“I give you my word.”
Tony reaches out to take Loki's hand, to ground them both and to draw some strength, “I've been thinking and I have come to the conclusion that I'd love try this,” he says pointing to Loki and himself with his free hand, “Us. But we would need to talk things through if we want this to happen.”
Loki's face lights up like a Christmas tree but it's only visible if one were acquainted with Loki's expressionless expressions. He nods slightly and Tony lets out a sigh of relief and continues, “And that means no more running off immediately after making love confessions.”
"Fine. You wanted to discuss,” Loki said with disdain, “terms.”
“Yes, Reindeer Games, we need to discuss 'terms’.” Tony barely restrained from doing actual air quotes because Pepper had forbidden him. “So, do you know what your limits with physical contact are? And with romantic stuff?” he asked getting to the point.
“I have thought about them but I do not think I have gotten anywhere with it.”
“On a good day, I can handle cuddling while watching a documentary. Or a rom-com.” Tony says holding Loki's hands. “But we can figure out our limits together.”
Loki makes a long suffering sigh at that but he is smiling. “Your terms may be acceptable,” he says haughtily, still smiling.