Chapter Text
After the previous day's revelations, Tony half expected Thor or some other Asgardian to barge in and demand Loki's release or worse try to attack him and capture him to take him back. But nothing of the sort happened. They'd started to bond, but neither of them were in a rush.
Tony had taken the time to contact NCIS and put in for bonding leave. He was sure that would ruffle a lot of feathers, but hopefully nobody would notice until the team returned from vacation. By which point, he hoped that Loki would have relocated him to the sentinel's territory to finish their bonding. Though Tony wasn't even sure if Loki had anywhere that he considered his or hers or whatever.
Somehow the two of them together had become the one shot they both had to make it work and Tony didn't want interruptions that might cause them trouble. He wanted to gorge himself on this perfect winter with his perfect sentinel who came with unexpected icicles.
For now, Tony was making chili while Loki rested after their very emotional discussion. He hoped that it would warm his sentinel up. Wait... He hoped Loki ate chili. It would be bad if his first attempt at taking care of his sentinel ended up poisoning the man or worse. He had a feeling that even if Asgard didn't love Loki the way they should that they'd probably still kick the ass of anyone who hurt or killed him. Though maybe not, some of the myths were really horrible if you looked at them objectively.
Once he got the chili seasoned correctly, he left it to simmer and grabbed a book. Settling on the bed to read, he waited for Loki to wake. For now, he was content just to be in the other's presence. Eventually, they would have to let each other all the way in, but they'd done enough soul searching for one day.
Tony just hoped that his issues would seem minor compared to the ones they just covered with Loki. He didn't think either one of them could handle another round of deep soul searching like that. At the core he felt like he knew Loki and at the same time, they'd only met twice. It was an odd dichotomy and was interacting with his trust issues in a very odd way.
Guide instincts suggested Loki was the most trustworthy person ever since they were soulmates as far as the both of them could tell. At the same time, he's literally known as the God of lies and Tony has interacted with him or her for less than twenty four hours. Feeling like he should trust the Asgardian mage made him uneasy, but he still felt comfortable alone with the guy.
"You're thinking too hard. It's disturbing my dreams."
"Sorry," Tony responded automatically before he really thought about what was said. "Wait. You are dreaming about what I'm thinking?"
"Not exactly, but the worry transmits down the bond. Now, what is the problem."
Instead of answering, Tony stood up and dished them both a bowl of chili and brought it back. "Are you hungry? I am."
Loki shot him a look that said the deflection was noted, but accepted the bowl. "Do you have any of those long bread things?"
"You mean baguettes?"
"No, but I'm sure we could make some."
"That will not be necessary."
Tony raised an eyebrow and stared at his sentinel. "Why not?"
With a wave of a blue hand, every free surface was covered in baguettes.
"Whoa! That's a lot of baguettes."
"You will find I eat a lot. I hope there is more chili."
"Sure. As much as your heart desires. I can always make more. It's pretty easy to whip up a new batch."
"Good. Now, what is troubling you and do not think you can distract me with food this time."
Tony huffed. "I'm never going to get away with anything ever again, am I?"
"No."
"I thought guides were the only ones supposed to be able to feel emotions."
"Our gifts are shared through the bond if you know what you're doing. As old as I am, I've learned a lot of tricks. This may be the first time I've truly bonded, but magic is not that different. The bond simply is more limited in how it can be manipulated."
Tony side eyed Loki as he tried to process what that even meant. "Whoa."
"I do not mean to worry you. Please tell me what is wrong."
"My instincts tell me to trust you. My mind and experience with others tells me I shouldn't. Not to mention you're clearly powerful as fuck and I'm not sure I can keep a secret from you if I tried."
"Good. You should not try. I do not like secrets between a partner I am trying to build my life around and me."
"Fair, but that doesn't mean I have to like it, especially since I'm pretty sure you'll have more success keeping secrets from me."
"Perhaps., but I will always be honest with you about my emotions, which is more than anyone else gets."
Tony wrinkled his nose. "I'm not sure that's as much of a perk as you're trying to make it out to be."
Loki chuckled. "You are far more observant than many people back home."
"Thanks, I think."
"Oh, it was intended to be a compliment."
"Great," Tony commented dryly.
"So what do you need to stop feeling bothered by the dissonance between your instincts and your mind?"
"I don't know. I mean I think it will happen naturally as we bond. Isn't part of the process for us to open up our minds to each other, so there are literally no secrets between us?"
"Normally, that would be true. However, you are mortal. Your brain would not be able to handle the entire breadth of knowledge I have. The bond will show you enough for you to get a true sense of who I am, however."
"Are we always going to be unequal?"
Loki hummed. "No, I do not believe so. There are ways to extend your life and improve your durability. You will gain some measure of them simply by us bonding. I am not sure how much. If you want or need more than what you naturally gain, I will procure another method to help."
"Did you just declare your undying love without saying the words?"
Loki blushed. "Maybe. I find it harder to keep things from you than I'm used to."
Tony couldn't help being aroused by that. As much as he was struggling, it was helpful to know Loki was too. Feeling like more talking would only get in the way, he practically growled. "You better finish eating quickly and then take me somewhere you will feel safe bonding."
"Is there something wrong with this cabin?"
"Given it's my boss' cabin, I figured it would count as not my territory and that would bother your sentinel instincts."
"That is fair. What I know about your boss is not favorable. I guess we can bond in my rooms on Asgard. It is not ideal, but it will be safe enough."
Tony raised an eyebrow, but after their previous conversation knew better than to ask if that was really a good idea. He just hoped he wasn't setting himself up to meet the Queen of Asgard in the altogether.
Fortunately, Loki was quick to finish eating and then he whisked them away. They would later find out it was just in time as Gibbs had apparently gotten the notice of his bonding leave despite being on vacation and was coming to give Tony a piece of his mind.
"Whoa~" Tony felt dizzy as the world swirled around him. He had the impression that the floor dissolved out from underneath him and everything went topsy-turvy. Once the world righted itself, he found himself in a room where the walls were solid gold, but the decorations were mostly green. Turning back to Loki, he saw that he had returned to his Asgardian skin.
"I trust this will be sufficient. If you need anything that I can not obtain, I will make the servants fetch it."
Tony nodded slowly. He kept glancing at Loki. "This is great. There's uh, just one problem."
"Which is?"
"This room doesn't feel like yours."
"What do you mean? It has been my room ever since I moved out of the nursery."
"Don't get me wrong. It's great. It's just the gold doesn't seem like it's your color. Could you, like, ice up the walls like you did the cabin? Blue is much more your color."
"You want to bond with me in my frost giant form?"
Tony shrugged. "I mean that is your natural form and bonding is all about getting to know the other at the deepest level, but I totally understand if you're not comfortable doing it in your natural form. I was just hoping we could replace the gold walls with something else as they keep screaming wrong to my instincts. Like they're a reminder of the lies you were told all your life or something."
Loki tapped his chin thoughtfully. "You may be right. Let me see what I can do."
Tony watched as Loki closed his eyes. This time the temperature didn't drop, but a soft blue cloth appeared that covered the walls so the gold couldn't be seen.
"Is that better?"
Tony frowned. "It doesn't exactly scream icicle to me."
"Do you just see me as frozen water?" Loki asked amused.
Tony blushed. "Maybe? Besides you were in your blue form when you first got my motor going. I mean think you're hot, sexy, and beautiful in all your forms, but the blue one has special meaning now."
Loki rolled his eyes. "Very well."
Tony grinned. This was going to be great. Though he still wasn't looking forward to finding out the team's reaction to his being a guide, let alone that he'd bonded with the alien who tried to invade their planet. Unlike Tony, the team didn't know that Loki had been coerced into that action.
As if the team wasn't bad enough, there was also the whole meeting the family thing that he wasn't looking forward to. On both sides that was going to be a disaster. Senior was, well, Senior, and Loki's family was royalty that had treated his sentinel very badly. Tony just couldn't imagine either of these meetings going well.
But that was a problem for later. Now, it was time to bond. Afterwards, they would have the rest of Tony's life, at least, to face together.