Chapter 7
Everyone stared uncomfortably until Loki spoke up.
"Thor, do tell me why I am on Midgard when I was trying to peacefully read in my chambers."
"Brother Tony was interested when he found out you can change your look to suit your gender so I brought you here!"
"Okay, but why? It is none of his business."
Thor went into great detail reciting what Tony had explained to him, Tony getting nervous and quite frankly upset that the adgardian had just outed him to a past enemy. Present enemy?
"Thor!" Steve shouted, "you can't just tell someone that someone else is transgender, right?" He looked to Tony for confirmation, receiving a nod.
The Norse God looked remorseful. "Sorry, Tony, I did not know."
Tony gave a small shrug about to say it was okay when Loki spoke first.
"My buffoon of a brother, when will you ever learn? Even I knew that. Midgard has serious acceptance problems. Apologies for Thor telling, Stark."
Although surprised, Tony quickly recovered himself and gave a carefree kind of smile. "Not a problem. Thanks."
Loki gave a small smile back before his usual demeanor snapped back into place.
"Brother, may I return home now?"
Thor looked scandalized. "At least visit! You simply cannot come all this way just to go back."
Loki pinched the bridge of his nose. "You forced me here but fine, I would like to get some midgardian literature for my collection."
"Hooray!"
Loki wound up in the library after he hit the bookstore, with some Midgardian money Tony gifted him. Now he resides with Tony in the lab, watching him work.
Why Loki chose to hang out with Tony was a mystery to everyone in the tower, but he wasn't just going to sit here doing nothing.
"Stark, are you busy?" A female voice startled Tony out of the trance he put himself in to work.
When he whipped around he was surprised to see a woman sitting on his desk. Long black hair washing over her green-clad shoulders, big green eyes focused on him as she dangled her pale legs, gently kicking them back and forth.
"How'd you get in here?" He glanced around noticing the other male was gone and in place what seemed like could be a twin. He put two and two together living up to his intelligence. "Loki?"
She smiled a graceful little look, not her usual mischievous grin although there was some other definition to it. She looked like she was teasing him.
"Why, yes it is. What do you think?" She hopped down to hold her arms out and turn around, giving Tony a 360° view of her body.
"You look amazing." Tony didn't hold back on the compliments, and Loki knew this so of course she milked it for all it was worth.
"Thank you. I am rather fond of this look and the size of things." She glanced at her chest which in turn had Tony blatantly staring before realizing what he was doing with a blush, redirecting his gaze to her eyes under her perfectly arched brows.
"I really think it's cool how you can change your appearance. Too bad everyone couldn't do that, hm, but then again that would probably cause problems with security."
"Yes, you're probably right. My changing my appearance has certainly gotten others into trouble." She tilted her head in thought. "I can also change my species to further evade detection."
Now, that's interesting.
The next hour was Loki changing his forms to Tony's amusement and telling various stories that accompanied each one, before finally exhausting Tony's imagination and Loki went back to her female form.
"Can I ask you a question?" Tony spoke after his laughter had died down.
Loki took in his brown eyes and unique style of facial hair. They are actually getting along, Loki actually likes Tony a lot and briefly considers visiting Midgard much more often.
"Sure. Why not?"
"Do people accept trans people in Asgard? Is it considered normal? How do people react to seeing you switch looks?"
Loki sighed as she adjusted a curl that wouldn't lay right.
"Trans people, as you call them, are well-known so no one has a problem with it. I tend to stay male around most as I am not taken as seriously as a female."
So misogyny is a thing Asgard suffers from, too, then.
"I only appear as a woman to Thor or our mother, but since she's gone just Thor. I don't use this look in any schemes. It's personal. It's me." She paused, "I guess you're the first one who I'm not personally close to in a very long time to see me like this."
Tony can't explain it but knowing this fact made him feel good. It made Loki feel good, too.