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The first time Tony hugged him, Loki didn’t expect it and he went completely stiff.
If it had of been Thor he would have shoved his brother away violently, had it been anyone else he would not have let his guard down enough to let them near him. But Tony was... different.
Loki liked the inventor, he considered him a friend.
They had been working in Tony’s lab together when they’d had a breakthrough on their project, Tony had been jumping up and down with excitement and Loki had been trying not to smile.
Then Tony had hugged him.
And, well, Loki hadn’t known how to react. He’d tensed instinctively at having someone in his personal space, but the warmth he’d felt at watching Tony’s earlier enthusiasm hadn’t dimmed, instead, it had grown. It had spread throughout his chest, making him want to lift his arms and hug the man back, to sink into the feeling and to return the open display of affection with his own smaller attempt.
But Loki didn’t - he couldn’t.
He treated Tony like an irritating mosquito that was buzzing too loudly near his ear. Tony knew it was false and teased him for being the new ‘Oscar the Grouch’, but Loki hadn’t yet been able to bring himself to admit how much he liked the inventor.
Pretending dislike was so much easier than declaring fondness and affection.
So when Tony hugged him he had just... stiffened.
It had only taken a moment for Tony to realise what he’d done and to register Loki’s less than welcoming reaction. His loose, open body language had shifted into something that more readily mirrored Loki and he pulled back with a sheepish expression. “Um, sorry, got a bit carried away there.”
“Yes, I noticed that,” Loki remarked, keeping his voice carefully flat.
His response at least, let some of the tension fade from Tony’s shoulders as he seemed to realise that Loki wasn’t mad or offended by the hug. It also had the added bonus of making Tony start to grin again.
“You know, we need to work on your personal space issues. I tend to hug people when I have breakthroughs, and you and me Blitzen?” Tony gestured between them. “I know we’re going to have a lot of breakthroughs.”
Loki desperately tried to ignore the way he felt a rush of anticipation flood him at the prospect of them repeating the embrace. The warmth of Tony’s body pressed against his own as Tony’s arms curled around him, so open and genuine in his regard... yes, Loki wanted much more of that.
It didn’t mean he could let it show.
“Or perhaps you should learn to respect boundaries, Stark,” Loki informed him coldly.
Tony was unaffected. “What? Nah, I know you don’t mean it.” Tony dismissed only to then add and before Loki could argue. “And anyway, if I did that, we’d never have become friends.”
“We are not friends,” Loki instantly disagreed.
“Yeah, yeah, sure, sure. Now get your butt over here Loki the Grouch, I need your magic fingers.”
Loki knew he wasn’t helping his own case when he stepped forward to assist the other man without any further denial, but he didn’t truly mind.
They both knew he was lying anyway.
In the months that followed Tony continued to hug Loki.
They were sporadic though and they never lasted long enough which Loki quickly found intolerable.
But, he also learnt that successful experiments weren’t the only thing that could inspire the engineer to embrace people. It simply took overwhelming excitement and happiness for Tony to seek out his friends and tug them close - and this could be inspired by something as mundane as a specific team winning at their sporting match.
It had Loki sharpening his observations of Tony in order to actively seek out the moments he looked ready to embrace another. Loki would then merely... place himself in the position best suited to receive the hug. No one seemed any the wiser to his new habit and Loki made an effort to slowly decrease his tension after each hug until, while he still wasn’t embracing the mortal back, he was able to relax in Tony’s hold without suspicion.
He still needed to remain careful each time Tony’s warm arms were thrown around him that he didn’t sigh his relief and pleasure at the gesture. Loki couldn’t afford to give anything away other than mere tolerance. No one could know how much he’d grown to crave the touches nor how he was disappointed when Tony pulled back and it all ended.
No one could know how much Loki had truly come to adore it - adore Tony, if Loki was being honest with himself.
But to admit that was to admit how much Tony meant to him and Loki couldn’t do it. Tony was mortal, incredibly frustrating, a hero and... and painfully charming. But it would not work between them so Loki could not allow anything more than companionship and the occasional embrace.
Loki could not allow Tony to see how much he... cared.
It was why Loki was doing his best to ignore and deny the growing attraction and infatuation with the mortal. Yet, despite knowing better, Loki still couldn’t bring himself to avoid Tony’s hugs. They were comforting, addicting and Loki liked being the one to receive Tony’s open affection.
It was why he had taken to spending time around the engineer in his lab even when they had no experiments together. Tony had been curious and surprised when Loki had first appeared with his book to read in the corner, but the engineer hadn’t complained. He’d actually smiled, almost shyly and gone back to his work.
Tony did have a tendency of rambling to his AI, the bots and Loki (his prattle seldom requiring an answer), but Loki found the chattering soothing and he also found himself pausing his reading just to look at the man work, a small fond smile curling Loki’s mouth, but only when he knew that he wouldn’t be seen.
Over the last few weeks however, Tony had been working on a project that had been giving him difficulty. It meant he was short-tempered, irritable and avoiding social interactions. Loki still came and sat in the lab to read, but Tony barely spoke unless it was to curse and snap something at his AI.
Loki would have been unconcerned by the behaviour (well aware he had behaved similarly in the past when trying to master a complex spell) if not for the fact that Tony. Had. Not. Hugged. Him.
It had been almost a month and Loki was fighting off his own foul mood at the lack of an embrace. Loki could usually fashion one a week to occur, sometimes more if Tony was having a particularly successful week, but now there was nothing. Loki had even taken to shadowing the other man, searching for a glimmer of a chance to step in the path of one such an embrace.
He had almost reached out to push Banner to the side when he thought Tony might hug the other scientist. Banner! The one who he avoided at all costs! Yet, Tony had not hugged Banner. He had not hugged anyone.
Loki could hardly concentrate on his book he was so irritated. He felt tense, uncomfortable and ignored. He knew it was illogical and that he was being unreasonable, but he had never, ever done well when those that he wanted would not give Loki their attention.
He even felt the crackle of magic in his hand, desperate to be let out in a burst of frustration or trickery, something to take his mind off it and make him feel better about his situation.
Once, in his room late at night, Loki had even contemplated grabbing the mortal and instigating the embrace himself! Because, by the Norns, he wanted it, he missed it and Loki would find a way to get what he wanted!
It was as he was contemplating ways to trick the mortal into hugging him (verging from the downright ludicrous to the fairly possible) that there was a sound Loki had been silently waiting to hear for almost three weeks.
“Hah! Yes! Got you, you pain in the ass!”
Loki was standing before he could think, walking over as Tony asked for diagnostics to be run. It took less than a minute with Tony humming and vibrating in his seat for the confirmation to come through. “Simulation successful. Prototype up and running.”
Tony let out a large ‘whoop’ and pumped his fist in the air before pushing away from his chair and turning only to find himself very close to Loki. The engineer just grinned widely and threw himself on Loki in a hug.
It was perfect, it was bliss and it was what Loki had been wanting for weeks.
Tony smelled of coffee and metal and something faintly singed. Loki breathed him in for no more than a second before-
-Tony was pulling away.
Loki jerked his head to look down at the mortal, completely appalled. Tony was walking away, starting to babble, starting to go back to his stupid project and Loki refused to let it continue.
He moved without hesitation, snagging the mortal by both the shoulder and waist and hauling Tony right back where he belonged; pressed against Loki and wrapped around him in a hug.
Loki didn’t even realise what he’d done at first, not until his arms were wrapped around the engineer as he held him close and possessive - not until he felt Tony stiffen in his hold.
Loki instantly tensed, his breath catching in his throat as he tried to find an excuse to justify his actions and explain it away as anything other than what it was. But his fabled silvertongue felt stuck to the roof of his mouth as no situation-saving words presented themselves.
But then, Tony laughed. It was something small and incredibly amused before he relaxed and his arms came up to tightly wrap around Loki’s waist. He even nuzzled Loki’s chest, making Loki fight down a shiver.
“You could have told me you wanted more of them,” Tony murmured, his voice soft but still filled with humor.
“I do not,” Loki denied flatly even while refusing to let the mortal go.
Loki continued to stand by his words, even when his chin came down to rest on top of Tony’s head and he finally let himself release the soft, content sigh he’d been holding in for months.
Tony just sniggered at him, once again seeing through his lie. “Hah. Sure thing, Reindeer Games.”
But Tony still didn’t pull away to try to get back to his project; Tony just stayed exactly where he was and Loki let the silence linger. He let himself enjoy the feeling of Tony against him, the mortal's tantalizing scent and the warmth flooding him. Loki planned to hold the engineer to him for as long as Tony would allow.
Loki wanted it to last an eternity, wanted to absorb as much as he could before he was forced to step back - but it was only a few minutes before Tony moved, shifting his head from where his cheek had been pressed to Loki’s chest. It forced Loki to lift his head, but Tony stunned him by only moving enough to press a very soft kiss to Loki’s chest through the fabric of his shirt.
Loki sucked in a sharp breath, the spot feeling as if it had been set alight. He looked down at the mortal to find Tony was already looking up at him with an affectionate smile and twinkling eyes.
“If you don’t want the hugs, does that mean you don’t want that either?”
“Of course I don’t,” Loki whispered, his voice barely audible.
But Tony’s smile just pulled wider, not believing him for a second and before Tony could try and teasingly argue with him, Loki was bending down. He felt Tony start shifting up a moment later until their lips met in the middle with a gentle kiss that had Loki’s eyes fluttering shut. It was only chaste; full of slow exploration and the tender caress of lips against one another, but that made it no less wonderful.
When they pulled back, Loki looked down into Tony’s bright, grinning face and couldn’t stop his own small smile from forming.
Perhaps, he thought,I can admit that I-
“I’m glad you don’t mind me in your personal space anymore, Mr Grouch,” Tony spoke teasingly, his eyes full of laughter. “That could have put a real damper on things.”
-that he is an irritating, frustrating, ridiculous mortal.
He rolled his eyes openly at the other man, letting out a huff of annoyance, but Tony just laughed at him. Tony also looked as if he would continue to chatter at him or perhaps call him some additional nickname, so Loki made sure to disrupt him.
Loki moved a hand to cup Tony’s cheek before pulling the engineer into another kiss, all while keeping him tugged snugly up against Loki’s body and wrapped in his arms. Tony responded to the kiss instantly and never once loosened his own hold on Loki, he was actively leaning into Loki as if he didn’t want to let any space form between them either.
And for that, Loki decided, he could forgive the mortal for being occasionally annoying.
He would forgive Tony in the future too, if he continued to reach for Loki, pull the mage into his arms and offer him such unmasked, genuine affection.
And if he continued to smile up at Loki and kiss him sweetly, making Loki feel nothing but blissfully contented and incredibly, wonderfully warm, then maybe Loki might even be willing to admit, that yes, he did like Tony too.