Chapter Text
Tony hated it when he had to go to his parents’ Christmas party. It was always full of obnoxious adults who thought Tony’s technological breakthroughs were “cute experiments.” A lot of their kids weren’t much better. They either had no clue what Tony was talking about half the time or they thought they’d fill the stereotype of bullying the smart kid (luckily there hadn’t been much of that since the year Tony designed a stun gun that had knocked out one obnoxious wannabe bully—even if he did end up being grounded for a month after that).
But no matter how Tony tried, he was never able to get out of attending the Stark Christmas Party. If he could, he would have already head to the open bar (though that was frowned upon—his father didn’t like people knowing his underage son had a habit of stealing his finest liquor).
So Tony decided to head to the next best thing at the party: the dessert table. There was always a good selection of desserts to be had (even if there was always that one guest who insisted on bringing fruitcake), and Tony intended to try them all.
He was halfway through a slice of pecan pie when he heard the sounds of quiet sniffling. After a moment’s investigation, Tony realized that the sound was coming from beneath the table. Curious, he lifted the long tablecloth and peeked under the table.
He knew the kid, Thor’s little brother. Why he wasn’t with the older boy watching football, Tony didn’t know. All he knew was that there was a boy crying under the dessert table, with an entire cheesecake in his lap.
Well, Tony was just going to have to fix that. The crying part, not the cheesecake part.
“What are you doing down here?” Tony raised an eyebrow, “And do you need a shovel for that cheesecake?”
The kid looked up, wiping his eyes quickly, “No…” In truth, the kid did already have a fork which he was using to devour the cheesecake from the center out.
“I tell you, I like your style when it comes to dessert.” Tony nodded, “But how about you and I take our dessert down to my lab? We can blow something up.”
Big green eyes blinked up at him before the kid nodded, “Ok…” He scrambled from under the table, holding the cheesecake carefully as he stood up.
“So what’s your name, kid?” Tony chuckled, grabbing the rest of the pecan pie (hey, the kid had the right idea).
“Loki.”
Tony raised an eyebrow, “Man, your dad has an odd taste in names. First Thor, now Loki?”
Loki frowned, “I’m adopted.”
“I’m sorry?” Tony asked, unsure, “Or is it ‘congratulations?’”
The comment made a small smile appear on Loki’s face as the two of them made their way through the party. No one noticed them (even though they were running off with dessert), which Tony was grateful for. He was done with the party before it began.
Suddenly, Loki stopped, looking directly upwards. Tony followed his gaze, realizing they were under a bunch of mistletoe.
“Hey, don’t worry about it.” Tony chuckled, “I’m not going to make you kiss—”
A sharp pain burst through his shin from the swift kick Loki delivered. It took all Tony’s balance and control to not drop his pie. “Ouch! What the hell—”
While Tony was bent over from the pain, Loki took the opportunity to plant a kiss firmly on Tony’s cheek.
Tony blinked, “You little shit…” He chuckled, “I like you.”
Loki smiled, “I like you too.” He nodded, “Now let’s go to your lab!”
In the back of his mind, Tony knew that this was going to be the start of either a great friendship or…well, time would tell.