Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It’s not a great epiphany that Tony has, in the end.

Some things just fall in place. That’s how life works. Sometimes there are just things that are right, and it doesn’t take much effort or time at all. It’s just that staying in place is sometimes a bit harder, but it’s always worth it.

Tony’s a smart guy, he likes to think. He may not be the most socially adept person in the world – or on the Avengers, even – but he likes to think he can read body language quite well, and knows signs and hints. He wouldn’t have become such a successful businessman if he couldn’t at least do that, even if Tony’s sometimes a poor judge of character.

Well. Most of the time, really. But that’s what he has Pepper for.

Except – maybe he doesn’t anymore. Not like he used to, at least.

Tony’s sitting in the kitchen, slurping on a straw thoughtfully. His milkshake is nearly empty. The kitchen connects immediately to the living area of the Avengers Compound, in which most heroes of Earth and beyond live, at the moment. Tony’s never seen this many heroes together, and it shows in his bills. Friendly fights usually take out the furniture, as well.

He’s not the only one in the kitchen slash living area. Scott Lang and Hope van Dyne are discussing something about the utilities of shrinking and growing outside of the superhero business, Steve is playing a game with Thor and Vision on the television screen – which Vision is winning – and Loki is quietly reading a book in one of the comfier chairs in the area.

But Tony is watching Pepper and Natasha, reading over something to do with the PR department of Stark Industries, and seemingly having a hell of a lot fun with it. And – well, okay, Tony’s glad they’re having fun, but this is usually not the thing you have fun with. This is the sort of thing you put up with and get headaches from.

Natasha is pointing at something, and Pepper laughs at it, subtly covering Natasha’s hand. And Tony notices.

Okay, so he and Pepper may not be a thing, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about her. She and Rhodey are Tony’s family, the people who have stood by him for a long time now.

Not that Nat would be the worst thing ever. She’s competent, and she’ll never let anything happen to people she cares about, and she has the kind of humour that Tony appreciates. There was a time Tony and Natasha were somewhat closer, and they’re getting there, again, but a lot has happened.

Which does not mean Natasha would be a bad option for Pepper. She’s been stressed, lately, and Tony knows he’s not exactly helped on that front. Natasha and Pepper – he can see it, actually. And once he sees it, he knows it would be great for both of them.

And so he starts plotting.

~*~

Tony knows for a fact that Natasha is bisexual. He also knows that Pepper is bisexual, though generally more attracted to men. That’s what he gets for being so close to them.

He starts making a battle plan. He calls it Project Happily Ever After, because he figures it’s about high time some of them got one. He can’t think of anyone more deserving than Pepper.

Tony’s working in his lab on strategies to get the two together when FRIDAY informs him that Loki is there.

‘’This is not science,’’ Loki says, as he raises his eyebrows at Tony’s newest project.

Tony shrugs. ‘’The science of love is the most worthy project of all,’’ he says vaguely.

Loki laughs at him, and Tony tries not to feel insulted as the god hoists himself onto the workbench, near Tony. ‘’Is this your way of trying to woo someone? Who is the lucky lady, Stark?’’

Tony ignores him, and projects an image of Natasha in the air, her schedule appearing next to it. Loki wolf-whistles, and Tony almost pushes him off the bench, before remembering that such an endeavour would most likely end with Loki as victor. So instead, he jumps on the bench as well and sits down next to the god.

‘’I know what women want,’’ Tony says.

‘’You?’’ Loki offers, grin on his face.

‘’Thank you for that, but no. The opposite of me, in fact.’’

‘’That may be the most sensible thing you’ve said in your entire life,’’ Loki tells him cheerfully. Tony shoots him a look.

‘’I’m trying to figure out a way to get Natasha and Pepper together. Don’t tell me they wouldn’t kick ass together.’’

Loki shrugs, and focuses on the image of Natasha hanging in the air, as if thinking on it. Then he nods, and jumps off the bench again. Tony misses the solid weight at his side immediately. ‘’You do have a point. I came here to see if you were amenable to pranking Thor. He’s been annoying me, lately.’’

Watching Loki prank people is perhaps the greatest thing in Tony’s life. He jumps up immediately. ‘’Love takes time, and all that jazz. What did you have in mind?’’

Loki grins at him, and tells him.

~*~

‘’So,’’ Tony says casually. ‘’How’s life going?’’

Pepper crosses her arms, looking very much unimpressed. ‘’What did you do, Tony?’’

‘’Can’t a man ask his boss how things are going without there being something wrong? I’m insulted, truly, you hurt my feelings.’’

‘’I’m sure you’ll be alright,’’ Pepper says drily. ‘’Now, spit it out. What happened?’’

‘’Nothing happened, so to say, as in that things are perhaps supposed to happen, and I am trying to hasten these yet-to-happen events along, if you catch my drift.’’

Pepper sighs, and she looks very tired for a minute. Tony feels sort of guilty, except that Pepper has dealt with a lot worse from him. At least he’s not dying this time.

‘’Tony.’’

Ouch. Only she can say his name that way. ‘’Pepper, don’t worry about me. Nothing is going on with me. Seriously, all that ever happens to me is that Thor occasionally throws a bathtub at the others and I have to do damage control. That was yesterday, by the way, and where do I buy new bathtubs? Never mind, FRIDAY can handle all that. I just wanted to know how you are doing. We don’t have the chance to talk all that much anymore, and I miss you. I want you to be happy.’’

Pepper gives him a fleeting smile, turning away her head. ‘’I want you to be happy too, Tony,’’ she says, moving a straw of hair behind her ears. Tony remembers how in love he used to be with her. But that ended a long time ago. He wants her to be happy, truly – but not with him.

‘’So?’’ he presses. Pepper rolls her eyes at him.

‘’I’m doing fine, Tony.’’

‘’But not great?’’

‘’Tony.’’

‘’Okay, okay. I’ll drop it.’’

~*~

There’s not much from that conversation that Tony can conclude. But he will get this right, he swears to himself. He’s drawn Loki into his plot. Loki claimed it was both fun to watch him trip over himself and he got Tony to owe him a favour. Tony’s not sure if owing a favour to the god of Mischief is smart – actually, he’s very sure that it isn’t – but what the hell, the guy looked very gleeful when Tony accepted and he can’t bring it to himself to refuse Loki’s big green Bambi eyes.

Anyway. Tony has put together an elaborate scheme. There’s a gala, of some kind – there always is. Tony’s made sure that Clint goes, because if Clint goes, Natasha has to go to keep him under control. Then Tony causes a scandal – only a minor one – to make sure that Pepper has to come to put out the metaphorical fire, because god knows that Tony himself can’t be bothered to defend his actions before the press anymore.

Tony is there to make sure everything goes according to plan. He brings Loki with him, as the only other person aware of his plan. Though he’s not sure Loki won’t mess with the plan, because the god definitely would, just for shits and giggles.

‘’Don’t mess with the plan,’’ Tony tells Loki seriously, poking Loki in the chest for emphasis. It means he’s also poking a very nice suit. It fits Loki very nicely. Loki should wear suits more often.

Loki grins lazily at him. ‘’I wouldn’t dare,’’ he says. ‘’You owe me a favour, and I don’t mean to mess it up.’’

Tony blinks at him. ‘’Right,’’ he says. ‘’You clean up nice, Reindeer Games.’’

‘’You don’t look too bad yourself, Man of Iron,’’ Loki answers.

Tony throws a screw at him that he had somewhere lying around, just for the nickname. Loki catches it without a problem. Bastard.

~*~

‘’Loki is your date for tonight?’’ Pepper says, raising her eyebrows at the god of Mischief trailing behind Tony.

Tony shrugs. ‘’Why not? He’s bound to make this evening a lot more interesting.’’

Pepper looks like she’s shooting a prayer to something or someone, but Tony knows for a fact that she is not religious. ‘’Tony, you spent a night in jail last week, out of nowhere. Your scandals make my life harder than it has to be. Do you really think bringing Loki will show the press you’re being a responsible adult?’’

‘’Pepper,’’ he says, taking her hands, as if imparting important words of wisdom, ‘’I. Don’t. Care. The press can say whatever they want to say. Nothing’s going to happen, you’ll see.’’

He can see Loki in the corner of his eyes, having walked away during their conversation. He’s talking to a man, presumably the one who has a say in what the band is playing. Loki quietly talks to him, waving his hand to Tony a few times. The man nods eventually, and moves to the band. Loki looks over at Tony, and gives him the signal.

Okay, here comes the tricky part.

‘’Why don’t you dance with someone?’’ he says, taking her hand and leading her to the dance floor. Natasha is there with Clint, because Tony knows that Clint is a secret dancer, and so is Natasha. They both just pretend they’re doing it for the other. The music is still the kind you can dance to on your own, but if Loki succeeded, that will soon change.

‘’Tony, I’m not going to dance with you. We’re not doing this again, are we?’’ Pepper looks confused, and Tony shakes his head.

‘’Did I say ‘me’? Come on, give me some credit. Here, there’s Clint and Natasha. You can dance with them, it’s fun, alright? You like Clint and Natasha. You don’t have an awkward romantic history with Clint and Natasha.’’

Pepper decides that either he’s right and she wants to dance, or that she’s too tired to deal with Tony right now and just gives in. It’s all part of his charm. She’s been dancing for just a few seconds, starting hesitatingly but growing more confident as Natasha smiles at her – and yes, Tony saw that, okay – as the music changes, and it becomes more romantic. Some people leave the dance floor, others search dance partners with smiling eyes and coy smiles.

Pepper stops in her tracks, and so do Clint and Natasha. Tony’s still beside them on the dance floor, but not dancing. Pepper moves away, but Tony stops her. ‘’Ah, come on. You were having fun. Come on, we have two other people here. Dance with them.’’

Natasha narrows her eyes at Tony, and Clint steps in to take Pepper’s arm. ‘’It seems I will have to take over,’’ he sighs dramatically, but Tony bats his arm away.

‘’Have some class, Barton. You have a wife at home! Three children!’’

And okay, seriously, Tony wouldn’t mind if it didn’t interrupt Project Happily Ever After, and Clint stares at him blankly. Natasha steps in instead, rolling her eyes at Tony as she takes Pepper’s arm and starts dancing with her, slowly waltzing, all very romantic. Tony makes his way off the dance floor, closely followed by Clint.

‘’What are you doing?’’ Clint asks him.

Tony shrugs. Busted. It’s not like he’s subtle or something.

‘’Look at them,’’ he says instead, waving his arm in the general direction of where Pepper and Natasha are, dancing. Natasha is smiling as Pepper is telling her something, whispering in her ear. They look beautiful together, and even their dresses match. Tony feels a swell of fondness in his heart, and Clint clasps his arm.

‘’Well. You make a good point. They deserve someone like each other.’’

Loki joins them, staring at the two women as well. ‘’Seems your plan is working out quite well so far, Stark,’’ Loki comments. Clint gives the god an assessing look.

‘’Why are you so interested in this?’’

Loki shrugs. ‘’Nothing is more chaotic than love. Besides, I’ve been here for some time now. I can be invested in the lives of people I live with. I just usually choose not to.’’

Tony rolls his eyes at Loki. Clint shakes his head and walks away, presumably to get something to drink.

Loki nudges Tony. ‘’Now that your plan is working, what do you suggest to do for the remainder of the evening? I hardly am going to stand around here all night.’’

Tony blinks. ‘’I don’t know. I didn’t really have a plan beyond making Natasha and Pepper dance.’’

Loki holds out his hand, a soft expression on his face that Tony doesn’t understands, and chooses not to linger on. ‘’If that is the case, may I have this dance?’’ There’s an undercurrent of amusement in his voice, but also something else that Tony can’t quite catch.

Tony shrugs, and takes Loki’s hand.

~*~

Natasha comes to see him, the day after.

‘’I know what you did,’’ she tells him. Tony’s still in his boxers, blurrily clutching at his coffee, in the kitchen. Most people know not to bother him before he’s finished it, but it seems that Natasha doesn’t particularly care.

Tony just stares at her. Natasha apparently takes pity on him, as she waits for him to drink his coffee. It burns his tongue, but at least he’s a bit more awake.

‘’What now?’’ Tony asks, blinking away his sleepiness.

Natasha actually smiles, and well, that’s a rare sight. ‘’I wanted to thank you,’’ she says.

‘’You’re… welcome?’’ Tony says.

Natasha sits down next to him. ‘’I didn’t know how to tell Pepper I felt about her,’’ she says. ‘’I didn’t know if I even should. But you seeing it, and you trying in your own special way to make it happen – I don’t know, Tony. I feel like we sometimes forget that you have the biggest heart of all, even if you try to hide it. And I feel like I owe you some gratitude. Not just for this, but for everything you’ve done for us over the years. Everything you didn’t have to do, but did, anyway.’’

Tony is not awake enough for this. Maybe he’s still dreaming. He downs another gulp of coffee, and burns his tongue again. Okay, so definitely awake.

‘’You would’ve gotten there without my help,’’ Tony says. ‘’Eventually. I don’t know. You’re just – take care of her, yeah?’’

‘’I will,’’ Natasha says, and disappears.

~*~

Loki comes sit next to him, when Tony’s having a rare day where he’s actually eating lunch in the living room instead of in the workshop.

‘’Your dedication to the people around you is admirable,’’ Loki says.

Tony raises his eyebrows at the gods. ‘’Are you giving me a compliment? What’s it with people telling me I’m a good person today?’’

Loki shrugs, a small smile playing on his lips. ‘’I notice things about people, Stark. See it as a statement instead of a compliment, if you want.’’

‘’I just think that it’s time people got some happiness around here,’’ Tony says. ‘’I’m not a relationship guru, hell, my history with being in an actual relationship is crap. But just because I fail at life doesn’t mean other people should.’’

‘’I don’t think you fail at life,’’ Loki says carefully, his eyes focused on Tony’s.

Damn, his eyes are really, very, unbelievably green. It’s a beautiful colour, actually.

Loki continues. ‘’I was actually thinking that maybe, you and I could –‘’

He’s interrupted by a wall falling down. On the other side, a bewildered Nebula and Jessica Jones are looking at them.

Tony pinches his nose. ‘’Who should I bill?’’ he says sarcastically. ‘’Oh, wait. I forgot you all live off my money. Which is fantastic, because now I can pay for my wall that you broke. Which one of you was it?’’

Nebula points at Jessica, who shrugs. ‘’It was a bet.’’

‘’Stop betting on my walls, they’re not superhuman,’’ Tony says. ‘’Where the heck is Steve? Doesn’t he give you rookies some sort of flyer with house rules? What kind of Captain is he, even?’’

As the women walk away, Tony turns back to Loki, who’s sitting there watching the show. ‘’You were saying?’’

‘’It’s nothing, Stark,’’ Loki says. ‘’I will talk to you later.’’ And then he’s gone, one moment from the other. Tony hates teleporting.

‘’Good talk,’’ he says. ‘’FRIDAY, make sure someone comes by to fix this wall, can you? I’m going back to science.’’

When he enters the workshop, the image of Pepper and Natasha is still floating in the air. Tony softly smiles at it. It doesn’t matter what anyone thinks. They’re good together, and Tony’s glad he could help them. It was also kind of fun to deal with a relationship that is not his own. Now he gets why Natasha always tried setting Steve up on a date.

Maybe there’s some other residents he can help.

Project Happily Ever After isn’t over yet.

Chapter Text

Tony is very interested in space and science. It was his first love and it will be his last. When he was young, really young, before-Howard-ruined-him young, like, maybe, three years old, Tony wanted to become an astronaut.

But, superhero, well. That deserves a solid second place.

The thing is – Tony’s interested in aliens. In everything that goes beyond Earth. And to find that there are multiple habitable worlds out there, have been there for millions of years before Earth even existed – yeah, Tony’s fascinated.

Valkyrie is Tony’s kind of person. He might’ve hooked up with her, had he not been Iron Man yet and she an ordinary human being. As it is, she’s one of the most badass warriors he’s ever met. No one can quite manage to best her in a fight, and people who laugh as they defeat Steve and Thor at the same time is someone who Tony appreciates, okay, especially as she looks so very hot doing it.

But that’s not why Tony likes Valkyrie so damn much.

They’ve started their own little AA group – except for the anonymous part – after they found out about each other that they’re probably drinking a bit too much for it to be considered healthy.

Tony is somehow glad to have found someone with the same problem as him. Everyone around him looks so perfect, sometimes, that it’s hard to be as flawed as him. He knows he has a shitload of problems, with his anxiety attacks and PTSD and alcoholism, but it’s not as simple as that. He knows everyone has their own issues, and he knows that there are some other people with drinking problems, but it’s Valkyrie that he can tell.

‘’Why did you start?’’ he asks her one evening, as they’re both holed up in one of the training rooms. They’re not doing anything but lying on the ground, looking at a projection of the stars that Tony made, one day. Somehow, it calms them both.

Valkyrie looks at him. ‘’Because forgetting is easier, and people like me when I’m drunk. It’s good for parties. You?’’

‘’Because forgetting is easier, and people like me when I’m drunk,’’ Tony echoes. ‘’And because once I started, I could never stop.’’

‘’To prove to myself that no matter how much I drank, it could never beat me,’’ Valkyrie says.

‘’To prove to others that I was a Stark, and I could hold my drink,’’ Tony says. It’s almost like a competition, now, and that makes it easier.

‘’Because it tastes damn good,’’ she answers.

‘’Amen to that,’’ Tony says.

~*~

The consequence of getting to know people is that you start to know other stuff about them, too. Loki tells him about the history of the Valkyries, and how they all died fighting Hela. Tony can’t even imagine losing every member on his team like that, even with all the shit they’ve been through.

‘’Does Valkyrie like anyone?’’ Tony asks Loki. The god has the weird habit of coming to Tony’s Evil Lair, more commonly known as the workshop. Tony doesn’t know why he keeps at it, but figures that Loki’s an intelligent guy. The science probably speaks to him as much as it does to Tony. They’ve had very interesting conversations about quantum physics, and Tony would love to pick Loki’s brain apart on the matter some more, but first, he has another project.

Loki looks at him, decidedly unimpressed. ‘’She had a wife.’’

‘’How do you know this?’’ Tony demands.

‘’How do you not know, is the better question? You are the one spending hours with her.’’ Loki crosses his arms, and Tony would almost say he sounds jealous. It’s ridiculous – if Loki’s afraid he can’t go sparring with Valkyrie anymore, he only needs to say so.

‘’Oh, come on. We share a goal in life.’’

‘’Pray tell me, what’s that?’’

‘’Getting outrageously drunk.’’

Loki glares at him. Tony holds up his hands in defence, but after a few seconds he swipes and a picture of Valkyrie appears under Project Happily Ever After.

‘’Are we truly going to do this again?’’

‘’Yep.’’ Tony pops the ‘p’, as he starts looking more intently at the picture, as if he can read her mind if he looks closely enough. ‘’But then comes the better question: who’s the right fit for Valkyrie?’’ Tony doesn’t know her like he does Pepper and Natasha, after all.

‘’Well,’’ Loki says, coming to stand next to him, close enough so that Tony can feel his body heat. ‘’It would have to be someone who is just as capable as her, and won’t take no for an answer.’’

‘’You mean, literally every woman under this roof?’’ Tony says. Loki shrugs.

‘’It has to be someone who she feels connected to. Someone less closed than her, emotionally, but not too open either. Someone who knows loss, but also how to overcome it. Someone who knows how to defend herself. Someone who will be ready to give a relationship a try, but not someone who is too casual about it. Someone serious.’’

Tony turns to Loki, and their proximity means that Tony has to look up to be able to look Loki in the eye. Has the god always been this tall? ‘’Holy damn, you’re good at this,’’ Tony says, impressed. Loki gives him the ghost of a smile, and his hand moves upward, but Tony moves away, eager to search for the various pictures of the women in their household.

‘’I try,’’ Loki mutters, letting his hand drop to his side.

‘’Let’s see,’’ Tony says, scrolling quickly. ‘’No, no, not a good match either – oh. This might just work.’’

He projects the image of Gamora next to Valkyrie’s. Loki clicks with his tongue. ‘’I said more open, Stark, not less.’’

‘’I don’t know,’’ Tony says, squinting at the two, trying to determine if it fits. ‘’I think she’s grown more in touch with her feelings than you think. Maybe because of our dear Star-Lord. They seem to have a good influence on each other, but Peter told me Gamora isn’t into guys. He tried to hit on her.’’

‘’Of course he did,’’ Loki sighs. ‘’Do Gamora and Valkyrie even know each other?’’

‘’FRIDAY? Any known conversation between our two potential lovebirds?’’ Tony asks.

‘’None, boss.’’

Tony wrings his hands. ‘’Let’s see what they think of a nice game of intergalactic warfare.’’

~*~

Loki is pretty close to Gamora, more than Tony, anyway. Tony thinks they bond over being adopted and hating Thanos, but maybe they just like each other because they’re both bad-ass aliens. Tony doesn’t know how their friendship works, but it does, and that’s great, because Tony thinks that Loki needs some friends. Loki’s pretty awesome, but sometimes, Tony thinks he looks kind of lonely.

Loki manages to convince Gamora to go sparring, while Tony does the same for Valkyrie. So it’s the four of them standing fully armed in the training’s room: Loki had tried to convince Tony to practise outside of the suit, but Tony would like to remain alive, thank you very much with a cherry on top.

‘’Solo, or teams?’’ Gamora asks, after she and Valkyrie have had a short introduction to each other.

‘’Teams first,’’ Tony says, ‘’We can change later, or maybe go solo, but I’d rather stay alive today. I’ll team up with Val, so Loki goes with Gamora. Try not to damage anyone too badly.’’

It goes surprisingly well. Tony makes sure to mostly engage Loki, while keeping an eye on Gamora and Valkyrie. Valkyrie laughs as Gamora has her on the ground, but it’s a happily surprised laugh, and Tony counts it as a win. Loki takes down the suit while he’s distracted.

‘’Did you think I would go easy on you just because you have an ulterior motive?’’ Loki asks, smirking. He’s in full battle outfit, and Tony likes the way Loki looks – an actual god of Mischief. Not evil, but still lethal, ready for anything the world might throw at him, aware of his skills and carefree.

‘’A guy could hope,’’ Tony tells him, managing to repulse his way out of the situation. Loki throws a ball of energy at him, which Tony just manages to evade. It disappears after having missed him.

‘’Maybe if you were out of that armour.’’

Tony fires at Loki, and dives in immediately to pin the god under him. ‘’How forward of you, Mr Odinson. I didn’t know you wanted me out of my suit so badly.’’

‘’You have no idea,’’ Loki says, his hand finding his way to one of Tony’s emergency switches. The suit powers down immediately, ejecting Tony onto Loki as it folds itself into a briefcase again.

Tony blinks down at Loki. His chest is rather comfortable, even if the Asgardian armour pokes in Tony’s belly. The god is looking at Tony’s black clothing under the suit. He’s made it especially to wear for under the armour. It’s a comfortable kind of cloth, thin but durable, and fits tightly to his skin.

‘’How did you know where that switch was?’’ Tony demands, getting off Loki and sitting on the ground. ‘’Do you have any idea how much of a disaster it could be if it’s obvious? I thought I hid it well, damn it –‘’

‘’Tony,’’ Loki says, laying his hands on Tony’s shoulders, ‘’It’s not obvious. Truly, it isn’t. I have spent a lot of time in your workshop, now, that is how I know. Because I’ve spent hours looking at your suit. It’s a wonderful invention.’’

‘’I need it to be better,’’ Tony mutters.

Across the room, Valkyrie is helping Gamora back on her feet. They’re talking quietly, suggesting ways to ward off attacks more efficiently and armour improvements and complimenting each other. There’s an animated look in Valkyrie’s eyes that Tony hasn’t seen before, and he forgets his worries about his suit not being good enough for a moment. He was right – Valkyrie and Gamora are a good match. And he’s only just jumpstarted this.

Loki’s still watching him worriedly. ‘’Are you mad at me?’’ the god asks.

‘’No,’’ Tony says, looking at his neatly-folded suit. ‘’But you are going to help me hide the emergency switch better.’’

Loki shrugs. ‘’With pleasure.’’

Valkyrie and Gamora come over to them. ‘’Are the two of you ready to have your asses kicked by us?’’ Gamora asks, glancing over at Valkyrie.

Tony grins, and gets in his suit again. These two won’t know how to disable it, at least. ‘’Bring it on,’’ he tells them.

Loki and Tony get their asses kicked. But just barely.

~*~

After that, it seems like things go very smoothly on their own. Tony doesn’t need to interfere for Gamora and Valkyrie to go sparring together, and they’re on the road of becoming very good friends. The two women are often found together – until they’re not.

‘’Okay, so what did you do?’’ Peter Quill comes to ask Tony three weeks or so after the meeting between Valkyrie and Gamora.

‘’I have no idea what you’re talking about,’’ says Tony.

Peter crosses his arms, huffing at Tony. He looks as dangerous as a baby seal. ‘’I know you have something to do with Gamora meeting Valkyrie.’’

‘’Well, they both live here for now, what’s wrong with that?’’ Tony asks.

Peter looks away. ‘’Gamora is pining,’’ he says. ‘’It’s weird, and it’s your fault.’’

‘’Tell her to get a move on, then,’’ Tony tells him, pointing at him with a screwdriver. ‘’Do I have to do everything around here?’’

‘’She was doing exactly that,’’ Peter says, scowling. ‘’Gamora isn’t the type to wait around. But Valkyrie rejected her, and now I have to deal with a heartbroken teammate.’’

Tony feels the urge to laugh at Peter, because it’s obvious he doesn’t know how to deal with it. But then Tony remembers that he wouldn’t know how to deal with it either, so he doesn’t. Besides, Valkyrie rejecting Gamora is a problem. Tony doesn’t want Project Happily Ever After to fail.

‘’I’ll talk to Valkyrie,’’ Tony says. ‘’See what she has to say.’’

‘’What about Gamora?’’ Peter asks.

Tony flicks his fingers at the man. ‘’That is not my problem to deal with.’’

~*~

Valkyrie, much like many other superheroes nowadays, goes to work off some energy when frustrated. But she’s not to be found in the training room, so Tony knows that she’s found another way to deal with her problem for now.

Forgetting about it altogether.

He finds her in her room. He has access to all of the bedrooms, and though he normally doesn’t abuse that privilege, he finds that he has to in this case, as she doesn’t open her door for him. She doesn’t even give a sign that she’s heard him, even if FRIDAY confirms that she’s awake in there.

Tony uses his override code and gets in.

Valkyrie is sitting on her bed, three empty bottles of vodka surrounding her and another in her hand. She looks up as Tony enters, giving him an empty smile.

Tony sighs, and sits down next to her. ‘’Give me that,’’ he says, pointing to the vodka. Valkyrie raises his eyebrows at him. ‘’I paid for it, the least you can do is share.’’

With a shrug she hands over the bottle, and Tony puts the bottle to his mouth and takes a big gulp. For a few moments, they just sit there, sharing a bottle of vodka.

‘’I get if you don’t want to talk about it,’’ Tony says eventually, purposefully not looking at the woman beside him. ‘’You don’t owe me a reason. I don’t know if you owe anyone a reason. But maybe it’d be best to talk to Gamora about it.’’

‘’My wife died when Hela attacked,’’ Valkyrie says, as if not even thinking on it.

‘’So? Look, I get it. Getting out there again isn’t easy. But it’s been a long time, Val.’’

Valkyrie snorts. ‘’I know she’d want me to be happy. But I can’t have Gamora competing against someone who’s been dead for centuries. That won’t be fair on both of us.’’

Tony nudges her with his shoulder. ‘’Look, you don’t know all that. You can love more than one person. It’s not a competition. It’s healthy. I know you’ve lost everyone, but that doesn’t mean it will happen again. It’s not a reason to never try again.’’

Valkyrie puts the bottle against her mouth again, and swallows. ‘’You’re right,’’ she says, after they’ve been sitting there for a few minutes. ‘’I’ll talk to her.’’

Tony gets the bottle, and finishes it. ‘’Go get yourself a girlfriend,’’ he tells her, and she shakes her head at him.

~*~

‘’I heard you dealt with some hiccups in your pet project,’’ Loki comments, suddenly entering the room. ‘’I expected you to be in the workshop.’’

Tony is in a private training room. He can’t use the same equipment as the others, considering that outside the suit, he doesn’t even come close to their physical strength or abilities. Tony is a fit guy, for sure, but he’s also just a vanilla human.

Tony wipes the sweat off his forehead, smiling at Loki, who stares at him. He’s been at it for some time now, so the interruption isn’t unwanted. ‘’Yeah, well,’’ Tony says, leaving the training course. He pulls off his sweaty training shirt, walking to the spot he’d dropped his comfortable MIT sweater, putting that on instead. ‘’It was a minor thing. I was just being supportive.’’

Loki is still staring as Tony turns around to face him.

‘’What?’’ Tony says. ‘’I know I’m sweaty. Don’t judge me for not having a godlike endurance.’’

Loki bites his lip. ‘’That is not what I was thinking,’’ he says.

Tony rolls his eyes at the god. ‘’I’ll take a nice, hot shower later.’’ Loki makes a noise, but Tony continues talking. ‘’Now, what did you come and get me for?’’

‘’I wanted to see if you had eaten lunch yet,’’ Loki says, ‘’But on second thought, you might take that shower first. I have some… other business to attend to. Lunch after?’’

‘’Sure,’’ Tony says.

‘’By the way,’’ Loki stops him, putting a hand on his shoulder. ‘’You did something good for Valkyrie and Gamora, Tony. You do have to realize that. Gamora told me what you told Valkyrie.’’

Tony sniggers. ‘’I run a honest-to-god frat house. I have a feeling everyone’s only gossiping about everyone and everything.’’

‘’Yes, but not the point I was trying to make,’’ Loki says.

Tony shrugs. ‘’Look. Valkyrie was rejecting Gamora over her fears. I didn’t overcome those, she did. All I did was nudge her into the right direction.’’

‘’Sometimes, that’s all we need,’’ Loki says softly.

They’re quiet for a second, awkwardly standing around each other. Loki drops his hand, and it rests on Tony’s waist for a moment. Then he drops it completely, looking at it. ‘’So, lunch later?’’ Tony says, determined to do away with the silence.

Loki nods. ‘’Fantastic idea.’’

~*~

Gamora drops in on them while they’re eating lunch. ‘’Why are you doing this?’’ she demands of Tony, cornering him.

Tony hides behind Loki, who sniggers. ‘’Because I want you to be happy?’’ he tries.

Gamora looks at Loki, who pets Tony’s hair. It’s surprisingly comfortable. ‘’He’s appointed himself as matchmaker. It worked for you, didn’t it?’’

The heroine lets out a breath. ‘’Why?’’

‘’Because it’s obviously working and I have a compulsive need to make the people I like and care about happy?’’ Tony says as a second attempt.

Gamora gives him a death-stare. Then she disappears.

‘’Man, I’m so not surprised she’s friends with you. She’s scary.’’

Loki grins. ‘’Just eat your sandwich, Stark.’’

Chapter Text

It takes a few weeks before Tony even thinks about continuing with Project Happily Ever After, now he successfully managed to bring two couples together. Natasha and Pepper are thriving, together – Tony hears that Pepper is learning how to throw knives, and vows to stop annoying her so much. Tony’s done more than enough shit to Pepper to deserve getting some knives thrown at him. When Natasha hears that, she laughs at Tony and tells him that he’s also done enough for her to make Pepper not want to throw knives at him.

Maybe she has a point, but Tony likes his body parts the way they are, thank you very much.

Somehow, Gamora and Valkyrie get safer to be around. Tony and Valkyrie’s AA meetings decrease, but he gets to know Gamora a little better, and together they’re disgustingly cute. Anyway, Tony’s glad he could get this far with the Project, but come on – playing matchmaker for two couples is great, but more has got to be pushing it.

And maybe he would’ve shut it down and called it a success, if it wasn’t for that conference in Antwerp a few weeks after.

They’re going with a few Avengers, because an Avenger being alone means asking for trouble, plus Tony has to spend two weeks there, as he arranged to do some business meetings in Belgium at the same time. No one dares to leave Tony alone for two weeks in a foreign country.

So it’s some geek heroes that are coming with him to Europe, which include Bruce, Hope and Scott. Jane Foster also comes along with them, because she has some ties with the superhero community by now and Tony likes her, even if she’s not with Thor anymore. Tony managed to cajole Loki into coming with him too, though it didn’t take much convincing in the end. He’s certain Loki will enjoy the discussions and maybe even contribute to a few. Besides, he enjoys Loki’s company.

Getting Jane and Loki to be friendly is whole another issue, but Tony doesn’t worry too much about it. It’s more insults than anything else, and as long as there’s no bodily harm involved, Tony isn’t going to interfere.

It takes them a few hours to get to their hotel in Antwerp. It’s very fancy, but also very busy. A lot of people are coming to the science conference, and the hotel is packed.

‘’We had a reservation for six people, on the name of Tony Stark,’’ Tony tells the receptionist, who seems decidedly unimpressed with him.

‘’You booked four rooms, sir,’’ she tells him. ‘’Two double rooms and two single rooms.’’

Tony sighs. ‘’Can we change it? Six single rooms? Or are there more double rooms free?’’

‘’Everything is booked for the coming days,’’ she says, with a small shrug. ‘’I’m afraid there is nothing I can do for you.’’

‘’It’s alright, we can share rooms,’’ Jane says, always practical. ‘’I can go with Hope, if that’s alright with her, and then two of the guys need to team up.’’

‘’Not me,’’ Bruce says. ‘’I need to meditate. I can’t concentrate if someone else is in the room.’’

‘’Not me either,’’ Scott says hastily. ‘’I like all of you fine, but I don’t know you guys well enough to share a room with you, if that’s okay.’’

Tony and Loki share a look. Tony is fine sleeping with someone else in the room – it’d hardly be the first time he shared a bed in a hotel room. This time would just be a lot more innocent than the other times. ‘’Do you mind?’’ he asks Loki.

‘’I suppose I can live with sharing,’’ Loki says.

~*~

Having a room meant for two people means at least that Tony and Loki have the largest room. They’re on the second floor, with the others only being a few doors away. It’s one bed, not two single beds shoved together.

‘’Do you mind sharing the bed, or should one of us take the couch?’’ Tony asks the god, when he dumps his bag on the floor. Loki doesn’t respond for a moment, watching the traffic of Antwerp go by from where he’s standing before the window.

Loki glances at him. He’s quite the sight to behold, with the sunlight catching his dark hair and illuminating his pale skin. Tony’s heart skips a beat at the sight, but he ignores it. ‘’Tony. I have a sibling. I’ve shared a bed with Thor more often than you can imagine on trips. You don’t have to take the couch; sharing isn’t a problem for me.’’

‘’You do that, sometimes,’’ Tony says, sitting down on the bed. ‘’You call me by my first name, and then you’ll go back to ‘Stark’.’’

‘’Do you have a preference?’’ Loki asks him carefully, and Tony kind of feels that there’s something else in that question, but he wouldn’t know what.

‘’Yeah, I mean, you can just call me Tony. We’re friends, right?’’

Loki stares at him, and yeah, Tony is really missing something here. ‘’We are,’’ Loki says eventually.

~*~

The science conference is about to start the day after. The six of them eat together in a restaurant in town that Bruce knows, and it’s delicious. Tony enjoys the small group: there are so many people living at the Avengers Compound that it’s sometimes hard to keep track, and eating with everyone is impossible, so everyone just does whatever they feel like.

As they’re all scientists, or relatively interested in science and definitely intelligent enough to know what’s going on, the conversation about the laws of gravity goes on a rate that would be hard for anyone else to follow. Even Loki and Jane seem to have forgotten their animosity for a while. Tony enjoys hearing Loki’s opinions on the matter: he has a view on the world that’s very different from what Tony’s always known, but not necessarily contradicting.

So, the evening’s a success. They all go their own rooms after dinner, though. The journey’s worn everyone out, and jetlag is a thing. Loki doesn’t seem to be bothered by it very much, but Tony’s tired. His sleep pattern is pretty messed up, he’s been awake for quite some time now, and this time he doesn’t have his workshop to distract him from sleeping.

‘’I’m going to head to bed,’’ Tony yawns, as he lays down his watch on the nightstand. He usually sleeps in only his boxers, but considering he has to share the bed with Loki, he decides to put on a shirt as well.

Loki goes to shower first, and Tony falls asleep to the soft sound of water hitting the tiles a few feet away.

~*~

Tony is the last one to join the group at breakfast in the hotel. Everyone else is already sitting there, eating omelettes and toasts. Tony just starts with coffee.

‘’Ready for science?’’ he asks, and people roll their eyes at him. Tony can’t help it if he’s being enthusiastic about it, okay: there are some scientists speaking with very interesting ideas, and Tony wants to pick apart some brains.

‘’There’s a lecture by Betty Ross that I’d like to go to this afternoon,’’ Bruce announces.

Tony blinks. He may not be awake before coffee, but his coffee is half-gone now, and he can be attentive. Sometimes. ‘’Isn’t she your old girlfriend?’’ he asks.

Bruce shrugs. ‘’Yes. That didn’t work out, but she’s still my friend, and she’s done some very thorough research linking several fields.’’

‘’I heard about that,’’ Jane says. ‘’Can I come with you?’’

There is more than one speaker at a time, so there are multiple choices. Tony decides to sit the first couple of hours out, because they are starting out slow with less known speakers. He shows Loki the joys of gambling while the others go ahead, and then they join them again when Betty is going to speak.

She gives a very interesting lecture, making good points and not once stumbling over her words. And there are quite some terms that even Tony would’ve stumbled over, that’s for sure. She’s certain of her research and herself, and that’s always good to see in a fellow scientist.

After the lecture, she comes to see them, hugging Bruce tightly. ‘’It’s so good to see you!’’ she exclaims, and then introduces herself to the rest of the group.

When she gets to Jane, Betty’s eyes widen. ‘’Jane Foster? Of the Einstein-Rosen-Bridge?’’ she asks. ‘’I’ve heard so much about it. Your research – I can’t even imagine –‘’ and then they get into a discussion about their research. They’re talking for maybe ten minutes before Betty is called somewhere else, but she smiles at them, and Jane gives Betty her phone number to discuss some more.

‘’I didn’t think she was in your field of research?’’ Scott says.

Jane shrugs, still flushed with excitement. ‘’She’s a brilliant woman in any kind of field,’’ she answers.

Tony blinks.

Maybe Project Happily Ever After has acquired a new target, after all.

~*~

Tony is bouncing for the rest of the day, dragging Loki with him to all the speakers Tony wants to hear, or the ones he thinks Loki would enjoy hearing. Or to some with obviously faulty arguments so Tony can laugh at them. He’s not above that, after all, and Loki sniggers when Tony points out why the speakers aren’t right and what should be improved.

They meet up with the others occasionally, and Tony plans on starting up his project again after they get to the hotel rooms, but for now he just enjoys the science of it all.

~*~

‘’FRIDAY, be a dear and do some research on Dr Elizabeth Ross,’’ he says after they get back. He installed FRIDAY in the watch, so she’s with him all the time. He usually doesn’t let others know this, though. He’s been called out on his reliance on tech before.

Loki lets out a sigh. ‘’Not again?’’

‘’Hush, darling,’’ Tony tells him. ‘’Didn’t you see the heart eyes Jane was making at her? And let me tell you, her interest was not one-sided. I know sexual tension when I see it.’’

‘’I sincerely doubt it,’’ Loki mutters, but he sits down next to Tony on the bed anyway.

Tony looks at his watch, and lets the data and images on it flood the room with a swipe of his fingers. Loki startles a bit as everything appears before his eyes, then gives Tony an annoyed look. ‘’She’s single,’’ Tony says, eyes looking over everything that FRIDAY has compiled. ‘’Has dated women in the past, see, I told you. Jane hasn’t as far as I know, but I know who can tell us.’’

‘’I’m not going to call Darcy,’’ Loki says, pinching the bridge of his nose.

‘’Good thing that I am, then,’’ Tony says brightly.

~*~

The thing about Jane and Betty is that they’re both very practical. They’ve both dated Avengers: they’re bold, strong women, concerned with the facts and with a moral compass. But they both have a gentility and a romanticized sense of the world that comes with not having seen the things the Avengers themselves have seen. They weren’t with Thor and Bruce when hell went down, and that means they’re sheltered from a lot of terrible knowledge.

And with knowing this about them, Tony has to get them to date. Well, he’s done things a lot tougher with a lot less information.

‘’Go to sleep,’’ Loki muffles from under the covers. Apparently, Loki hogs blankets. Tony doesn’t mind: he usually loses his blankets when he’s sleeping anyway.

‘’Give me a few minutes,’’ Tony says, throwing a cushion at the god. He isn’t surprised in the slightest when the cushion finds its way back to the back of Tony’s head.

‘’I have given you a few minutes,’’ Loki complains. ‘’I have given you a few hours, even. Go to sleep, Stark, or I will make you go to sleep.’’

Tony turns around to face the god glaring at him and grins. Loki isn’t very threatening like this: his hair is in disarray, his eyes narrowed in sleepiness, blinking at the dull blue light coming from Tony’s projections. There are imprints from the pillow on the right side of his face and he’s wearing a too large bright red T-shirt. This is Loki at his most comfortable, and as dangerous as a little kitten.

He has to reflect on that as Loki drags him backwards and practically sits on top of him, refusing to budge when Tony tries to push him off.

‘’Ugh,’’ Tony says, letting his head fall back on the pillow. ‘’Okay. I surrender.’’

Loki smiles. ‘’I knew you would see reason,’’ he says sweetly as an angel. ‘’Good night, Tony.’’

‘’Sweet dreams,’’ Tony says, and closes his eyes. Loki sleeps sooner than he does: his mind is still full with all kinds of projects and ideas, and he can’t quite get himself to stop thinking and rest. Just as he starts feeling that warm sensation of being nearly-asleep, he jerks awake.

Loki is muttering in his sleep beside him, turning and shaking his head. Tony knows nightmares when he sees them: he’s had them too often not to. But while it seems to be the easiest thing in the world to wake someone up, he knows that things are different when you’re as dangerous as the average Avenger is. Tony wouldn’t be able to do too much damage to anyone waking him up, but he remembers when he was still with Pepper, the constant fear of accidentally hurting her when in the clutch of dreams.

‘’Loki,’’ he whispers, from a careful distance. When that doesn’t work, he starts being louder. ‘’Loki. Loki, wake up!’’ It doesn’t help. Sweat is forming on Loki’s brow, and he lets out a helpless whimper that nearly breaks Tony’s heart.

‘’Please –‘’ Loki whispers, still asleep, voice broken and low. ‘’Please, don’t. Please. Anything at all, please.’’

Damn it. Tony can’t let this continue. Just as he sits up, ready to shake Loki awake if he needs to, Loki lets out a scream and Tony falls out of the bed. When he manages to get on it again, Loki’s thrashing in the sheets, crying softly and letting out soft whines.

Tony doesn’t know him like this at all, and it’s freaking him out. ‘’Loki!’’ he says loudly, shaking the god.

Loki waking up is the most anticlimactic thing ever. He opens his eyes, taking in Tony. His eyes are bloodshot, making the green stand out. Then he pushes Tony away and gets up. Tony can’t help but stare at him. Loki apparently sees something in him that he doesn’t like, because he gets out of the bed and starts putting on clothes.

‘’Hey, wait,’’ Tony says, fumbling after him. ‘’Loki!’’

‘’I’ll talk to you tomorrow,’’ Loki says, and walks out of the door.

‘’Stop!’’ Tony yells, and he doesn’t care if he’s waking up the entire hotel. He’s not letting Loki walk away to wander through a city he doesn’t know after a nightmare. He takes Loki’s arm in the hallway; the god would surely be able to push him away, but he doesn’t, eyes fixed on Tony’s.

‘’Stop it,’’ Tony repeats, letting his hand fall away as it becomes apparent Loki’s not going to leave. ‘’Loki, you don’t have to – I don’t know, leave, walk. You can trust me, alright? Do you think I haven’t had my fair share of nightmares? Do you think I haven’t been woken up by people that I didn’t want to see me like that?’’

Loki shuffles. ‘’It’s not a concern of yours,’’ he says.

Tony huffs. ‘’It is. You know what? I care about you, Loki. And that may not mean a damn thing to you, but you’re my friend, and I don’t want you to feel like you’re alone in this. Because you’re not.’’

Loki looks at him, a soft expression on his face. ‘’Thank you,’’ he says, sounding a bit bewildered, but masking it well, for all intents and purposes.

Tony sighs, then pulls Loki in a hug. The god goes slack for a while, but Tony holds onto him until Loki starts returning it. ‘’Did something trigger your nightmare?’’ he asks, as they break apart. ‘’Because if it did, I can totally make sure it won’t happen again. Let me help you, Loki.’’

Loki shrugs. ‘’It’s just one of those nights, I suppose,’’ he says.

Tony’s familiar with the concept.

~*~

The following day neither of them mentions the night, but they both know.

~*~

‘’Which speaker did you find most appealing so far?’’ Tony asks Jane, as they are in between speakers.

She shrugs. ‘’Dr Bloom brought up some very unique points, but I think they require more research. Professor Jameson was very –‘’

‘’I meant speakers,’’ Tony says with a grin. ‘’Let me tell you, I enjoy the science, but I can’t take an hour of looking at Dr Wart-On-Nose anymore.’’

Jane laughs. ‘’Is this a trick question? There’s no one who can hold a candle to Dr Ross.’’

‘’We should invite her to dinner,’’ Tony suggests. ‘’You get along like a house on fire, and Bruce hasn’t seen her in a while.’’

‘’That would be a great idea,’’ Jane says, smiling at him. ‘’She gave me her number. I’ll call her up to see if she’s free tonight.’’

‘’You do that,’’ Tony says, and slinks back to Loki.

The god is looking at him amusedly, shaking his head. ‘’What did you do to poor, unsuspecting Jane Foster, Tony?’’

‘’I put a plan in motion,’’ Tony says. ‘’Now, what excuses do we have to not show up to dinner tonight?’’

Loki sighs.

~*~

Pretending to be sick is not going to work. Tony never calls in sick. Besides, he has to make sure that there are four other persons who aren’t going to show up.

‘’I’m trying to get Jane and Betty together,’’ he tells the others. Subtlety can kindly fuck off. Tony doesn’t wear a hot rod red and gold suit on a daily basis because he’s subtle.

It seems all Loki does these days is shake his head at Tony’s antiques.

Bruce gives him a look. ‘’Is Jane even into women?’’

‘’She is,’’ Hope says. Tony can only wonder how women always know these things for certain. ‘’I think Tony’s onto something.’’

‘’I think Jane is bound to notice if we don’t show up,’’ Scott points out.

Loki shrugs. ‘’She’s hardly going to say no to dinner with a woman she finds attractive and fascinating because her companions don’t show up,’’ he points out. ‘’Jane is a human, not a fool.’’

The other three stare at him. Loki stares back, defiantly. Tony decides not to say anything.

~*~

Of course Jane notices. She comes to him the third day of the conference, just after they’ve had breakfast, and corners him. ‘’Don’t think I don’t know what you did,’’ she says accusingly.

Tony takes a bit out of his Belgian waffle, looking at her. ‘’I didn’t do anything,’’ he says.

‘’You didn’t show up at dinner after telling me to invite Betty? And then none of the others do too?’’

Tony licks his finger as he finishes the waffle and throws away the paper he held it with. ‘’That’s a perfect example of not doing anything,’’ he says. ‘’I didn’t come. Thus, it’s more the matter of what I didn’t do than what I did do. If you’re referring to that, yes, I didn’t come, and yes, I persuaded the others to not come either. How was your date?’’

‘’Fantastic, but not the point,’’ Jane answers promptly. ‘’You can’t just go setting people up, Tony. It’s very – inappropriate. I don’t need anyone dealing with my love life. I can handle it myself.’’

‘’Look, I’m not saying you’re not handling it. I know you’re a big girl, Jane. I just gave you an opportunity you may not have taken otherwise.’’

Jane sighs, and looks away. Tony shrugs and heads to the bathroom.

~*~

After four days, the science conference is over and Tony’s business part of the trip begins. However, the trip being over means that Betty’s trip is coming to an end. She still has a few days in Antwerp, though.

As all scientists are packing and leaving, the hotel becomes emptier quickly. Tony doesn’t ask for additional rooms, though. Loki is the greatest roommate he’s had yet. It means he’s spending a lot of time with the god, but Tony doesn’t mind.

It’s not awkward, until the day he wakes up before Loki and finds himself in the god’s arms.

His brain shorts out for a moment, before everything comes back to him. He decidedly went to sleep on his side of the bed, but he’s rolled over somewhere in his sleep and apparently started to cuddle Loki. Tony is not sure whether Loki is aware of this; the god is still asleep, eyelashes fluttering against his pale skin, breathing evenly. Their legs are tangled, Loki’s being a touch colder than Tony’s. It’s quite nice, actually.

Loki’s face is really close to his. Close enough to kiss.

Stop that thought.

It’s just because Loki’s a very good friend of his, and they’ve been spending a lot of time together lately. And Tony isn’t blind – of course he knows Loki is good-looking. Beautiful, really, but Tony knows a lot of people who aren’t doing too badly in the looks department. It doesn’t mean anything if Loki is witty with the kind of humour that Tony enjoys, pulls amazing pranks, is a very intelligent and skilled individual with a face to die for.

It’s just a small crush, and it’ll go away in time.

~*~

Betty stays in Antwerp for a few more days, and Tony still has his business meeting and plant checks to do. He’s not sure how much more he’ll have to interfere for Jane and Betty to get together, but he doesn’t think it’s much. Jane takes care of her own business, and Tony respects that, of course.

That’s why he doesn’t expect it when she bursts into his and Loki’s room two days before Betty’s flight back to the USA is scheduled, and they still have a week to go. Tony is reading through a contract and Loki is taking a shower when Jane enters, tear tracks on her cheeks.

‘’She kissed me,’’ Jane says. There’s a shocked look in her eyes, and she is trembling. ‘’I ran. Shit.’’

Well. Apparently starting a relationship is harder than Tony thinks. It’s not like he has much experience with normal relationships – or relationships in general.

Loki’s also there, head peeking out of the bathroom as Tony guides Jane to the couch, as she cries into her own hands. Tony doesn’t need to think of Loki’s naked body right now. It’s not helping the situation at all. Go away, crush.

‘’What happened?’’ Tony asks her, patiently, waving away Loki, mouthing at him to get dressed.

She looks up at him, eyes red. ‘’I’ve never been in a relationship with a woman before. Not seriously. What if I mess up? What if I don’t like it?’’

Ah. So that’s what this actually is about. ‘’Did you like kissing her?’’ Tony asks. Jane grows red, but seriously, if she is going to have issues with her sexuality, then she should expect questions like this. Tony’s comfortable with talking about sex – it’d be a bit hypocritical of him not to be.

‘’Yes,’’ she mutters.

Tony shrugs. ‘’Are you attracted to her?’’

‘’I think so.’’

‘’Then you’ll be fine. Seriously. If you’re really worried, talk to her about it. There are lots of bisexuals out there who had a hard time figuring out that they liked persons of the same sex too. Did you know what I did the first time I kissed a boy? I hit him. Still not proud of that one.’’

‘’I’m not sure running away isn’t worse,’’ Jane says, but she’s smiling through her hiccups. Loki’s back, watching them from the door opening. His hair is still damp.

Tony puts an arm around her. ‘’I still got laid after thumping the guy, and that didn’t mean anything at all, so I’m sure you’ll be fine. Talk to Betty, she’ll understand. We’re only human, Jane, these things happen.’’

‘’But what if it doesn’t work out?’’ Jane asks, peering up at Tony. When did he become a relationship expert? Why the hell are people asking him about this, out of everyone more qualified to deal with this?

‘’Then it won’t work out,’’ Tony says. ‘’Just like any other relationship. You won’t know it ‘til you try it. It’s not the end of the world.’’

She takes a deep breath, and Loki wordlessly hands her some tissues. ‘’Thanks,’’ she says. ‘’Sorry about this. I didn’t know where else to go.’’

‘’It’s fine,’’ Loki says. Jane nods at them, still a bit shaking, but a determined look in her eyes, and then she leaves, closing the door behind her.

Tony sighs as she disappears, sagging back into the couch. He enjoys bringing people together, of course he does: he likes people to be happy. It’s just that with his own newfound crush, he’s reminded of his own failures in connecting to others. Mindless sex isn’t necessarily bad, but Tony’s been growing up, and he doesn’t do it like that anymore. He doesn’t want to.

Loki sits down next to him. ‘’Are you alright?’’ he asks.

‘’Just a headache,’’ Tony lies.

~*~

Tony spends a lot of hours actually being a businessman, but the day after Jane’s incident he is free and can spend with his friends. They go to the Cathedral of Our Lady and the Rubens’ House, and sightsee the heck out of everything. Most of them haven’t had a chance earlier. Tony has nearly been to every city in Europe, one way or another, so he acts as tour guide.

Betty joins them, and she holds hands with Jane the entire time. Tony’s glad that it seemed to work out between them, and chats with Betty. He doesn’t know her that well, after all.

‘’I never thought you would be such a sweet guy,’’ Betty tells him, when they’re walking through a park.

Tony scrunches his nose at her. ‘’I’m not a sweet guy, I’m just… me, I guess.’’

Betty smiles at him, and then she glances at Jane. ‘’Yeah. That’s why you’re a sweet guy.’’

She walks back to Jane before he can comment on it, and he shrugs. Women. He’ll never understand them, even if he’s bringing them together.

Chapter Text

Once they’re back home, Tony is both relieved and dejected that he doesn’t have to share a bed with Loki anymore. On one hand, he likes having the god so close to him all the time, and even while waking up cuddling with him was rather embarrassing, Tony still enjoyed it.

On the other hand, his crush needs to end. There needs to be a bit more distance between Loki and Tony, and then this feeling will go away, and Tony can go back to being a bachelor in peace. He hopes, at least.

It’s harder than it looks like. Tony doesn’t even notice how much time he spends with Loki before he actually tries to limit that time. Loki often joins him in the workshop, dragging him to breakfast, inviting him to pranks, or asking questions about Earth or science or something else.

~*~

‘’I brought you coffee,’’ Loki announces. Tony is almost ready to take it, before he remembers the deal he made with himself.

‘’Thanks, but I already had some,’’ he mutters, turning away.

He doesn’t see Loki’s expression, but he can hear the suspicion in Loki’s voice. ‘’That normally doesn’t seem to stop you from consuming unnatural quantities of it.’’

Tony shrugs. ‘’I’m trying to cut back,’’ he says.

Loki leaves.

~*~

‘’I want a book on advanced astrophysics,’’ Loki tells Tony promptly as he enters the workshop. Tony’s wearing his goggles as he’s busy wielding together some components of a new suit. It’s going to be revolutionary.

Who’s he kidding? Everything he does is revolutionary.

‘’Ask FRIDAY,’’ he says absentmindedly, waving his hand in Loki’s general direction. ‘’I’m busy.’’

‘’I asked her. I want your opinion.’’

‘’My opinion’s not going to be better than hers, Reindeer Games.’’

There’s silence for a second, and Tony thinks Loki’s gone, except that he’s suddenly face to face with him as he turns to grab something.

‘’Why are you doing this?’’ Loki asks him, voice low. He’s standing there, and Tony may have thought him threatening if he didn’t know Loki better, by now.

‘’I have no idea what you’re talking about,’’ Tony lies.

‘’Stop playing games with me, Stark,’’ Loki growls.

‘’Stop calling me Stark.’’

Loki levels him with a look, and Tony feels guilty for a moment. But explaining to Loki that he has a crush on him that needs to leave will probably not end well. Loki’s his friend, that’s all there is to it. He doesn’t want to damage that.

But he can’t help but feel that he already is damaging it.

~*~

‘’What’s going on with you and Loki?’’ Hope says, sliding into the chair next to him with her no-bullshit face on. Tony flicks a pea at her from his plate. He is having dinner alone, as usually people don’t eat dinner in the middle of the night. Tony is very aware that he is nowhere near conventional.

Hope doesn’t seem like she’s slept at all, though. She’s as awake as always.

‘’I have heart problems, haven’t you heard?’’ he tells her. ‘’Why are people always sneaking up on me? I’ll die a premature death because of you, I’m telling you.’’

‘’Don’t bullshit me,’’ Hope says.

‘’I wouldn’t dare,’’ Tony tells her. ‘’There’s nothing going on. Distinctly nothing.’’

‘’Yes, that’s the problem,’’ Hope huffs. ‘’Your pining has increased while your time with Loki has decreased. There should be something going on, and you’re being an idiot.’’

‘’I object to that statement,’’ Tony says. ‘’Nothing is exactly what should be going on.’’

She tilts her head to give him a pitying look. ‘’You really don’t see it, do you?’’

‘’There’s nothing to see, Hope. Maybe you’re the one who’s pining.’’

Hope raises her eyebrows at him, as Tony eats another spoonful of peas. They’ve grown cold, and he pushes away his plate. The noise is almost too loud in the silence of the kitchen, and Tony winces.

‘’Who exactly would I be pining for?’’ Hope asks drily. ‘’You may have appointed yourself as matchmaker, but I’m fine on my own. Maybe you should start focusing on your own love life.’’

‘’I don’t have one,’’ Tony says with a brightness he doesn’t really feel. ‘’My methods work. The statistics speak for itself. I’ll get you a girlfriend yet.’’

Hope sighs, but she apparently recognizes a lost cause when she sees one. Tony starts plotting.

~*~

Loki stops coming to the workshop, and Tony tells himself it’s for the best.

~*~

Tony has gotten to know Hope a little better, the past few weeks. He knows she’s badass, logical but also gives into emotion when she feels she has to. She can hold grudges, but knows when they’re clouding her judgement. Tony thinks she feels lonely at times, but maybe that’s just him evaluating her experiences by how he perceived a similar time in his life. Her mother passed and her father withdrew from her – Tony knows how hard it is to have a distant father figure while being an only child, and how hard it is to lose your mother.

Anyway. It’s a fact that Hope can be closed off, emotionally, but it’s not a problem in her case, like it might have been for others. It’s simply how she is.

Tony thinks she might have the need of someone else equally private, but not lacking in emotion. Someone who knows what it’s like to be alone, and independent, but can do it without becoming lonely, per se. Someone who might learn from Hope how to get past it. Someone who can share in her sarcasm and doesn’t worry about the strange hours she keeps.

Tony wishes Loki was here, to tell him who he’s looking for.

~*~

He misses Loki. Valkyrie starts giving him worried looks when he starts drinking more.

~*~

Hope watches him with suspicion in her eyes for a while, but after Tony hasn’t done anything yet after a few days, she relaxes substantially. Tony would’ve made a move if he had figured out anyone for her yet, but while he thinks he knows what he’s looking for, he hasn’t yet found a perfect partner for her.

His answer comes when the Defenders visit Avengers Compound, as they are wont to do sometimes. Tony likes them in his own way, even if they’ve vowed not to join the Avengers and focus on their own part of the city. They have an alliance of sorts, though: they visit to update each other on things that have happened and give details on incidents. It’s a system that works surprisingly well.

It’s usually Danny Rand that Tony deals with, as fellow businessman – even if he thinks Danny isn’t doing a terrific job with Rand Enterprises, but he can hardly blame the man for not having learnt how to run a business – as he is also most approachable for the Avengers. Murdock, Jones and Cage stay in the Compound sometimes, but have their own places to be too. That doesn’t seem to stop them from occasionally breaking his walls and machines, though. Tony remembers Jessica’s bet with Nebula, some weeks ago.

Today, all four Defenders are here. ‘’We’ve had an incident,’’ Matt Murdock says, glasses perched on his nose and a weak smile playing on his lips.

Jessica Jones shoots him an annoyed look. ‘’More like Murdock here had an incident and we had to cover for him,’’ she says, but there’s something fond in her eyes. Something buried beneath her tough exterior. It’s clear she cares, though, to Tony. Jessica is rough, but not a bad woman.

That’s it.

~*~

Tony makes sure Hope is at the informal meeting by bringing Scott. God knows those two are like siblings, and Hope always makes sure Scott doesn’t make a mess out of something. She is to Scott what Pepper is to Tony, only more dangerous, and slightly less continuously done.

Maybe that’s the consequence of not having to run Scott’s company, though.

‘’Why are these two here?’’ Jessica asks, sceptically looking at the newer additions to the Avengers. Hope crosses her arms, raising her eyebrows at the smaller woman.

‘’Is there a problem?’’ Hope asks, voice sweet as honey.

‘’Girls, girls,’’ Tony interjects. ‘’No fighting, as lovely as that would be. I thought maybe it was time to involve some more Avengers in your business beside me. Gives you some more options.’’

Not that Tony is the only one involved. Steve’s still team captain, and usually is there as well. Peter Parker works with the Defenders too, sometimes, as champion of the little guy. He’s part of the reason Tony likes to work closely with the Defenders: Peter is somewhat his responsibility, and he doesn’t want the teenager to get hurt on his watch. Peter is never going to stop using his powers, and Tony just wants to make sure he doesn’t get in over his head.

Besides them, Clint seems to have become fast friends with Luke Cage, while Natasha has some sort of friendship going on with Matt. Nebula, too, is closer to Jessica Jones than many of the other superheroes running around in the Compound, while Danny Rand is frequently seen talking with T’Challa.

Tony didn’t say he understands every friendship, okay?

It’s Matt who talks about the latest skirmishes in the city, giving updates on former fights. They’re doing really well with all the gangs in New York, which Tony can appreciate. He would fight every criminal if he could, but he simply doesn’t have the time while playing babysitter to a bunch of superheroes.

They’re done earlier than expected, and Tony stands up, stretching his muscles. ‘’Anyone in for a spar?’’ he asks loudly. ‘’I need a new teacher.’’

‘’Out of the suit?’’ Hope asks, voice amused. ‘’Sign me up.’’

Tony shrugs. ‘’Sure. Jessica?’’

The pale woman looks at him suspiciously. ‘’What, Stark?’’

‘’If you’re going to throw punches at my walls, you can be woman enough to throw punches at me. Are you in?’’

‘’If you’re going to be like that about it, of course I want to punch you,’’ Jessica answers easily.

Well. Goading these two together is going to be easy.

~*~

Tony underestimated the amount of pain he can feel.

On the other hand, Jessica and Hope fighting together looks awesome and they laugh with each other. They’re both good teachers, Hope a bit more patient than Jessica, but Jessica explaining how to actually do some moves better. They’re a good team, but Tony doesn’t get around to telling them that as he is dying on the ground, muscles sore. He actually learnt quite a bit as well, even if that wasn’t really his motive.

Jessica and Hope leave after teaching him for over an hour, sharing stories about teaching other people to throw some punches. Hope is mentioning some things about Scott that Tony means to ask her about when he’s less near death, because it sounds hilarious.

He’s never going to spar with people again to bring them together. No way.

Tony closes his eyes, and when he opens them again, he jerks away. Loki is sitting a few feet away, coolly watching him, expression shut. His eyes are focused on Tony, though, and his lips twitch when he sees Tony lurching.

‘’I’ve already been beaten enough for today, if that’s what you’re here for,’’ he says, sitting up. He should maybe get away, but Tony misses Loki. He can spend a few minutes with him, surely, if he wants to preserve their friendship.

Loki shrugs. ‘’You’re back at matchmaking, aren’t you? Jessica Jones and Hope van Dyne. A strange combination, to be sure, but you do seem to have a nose for these things. Though you could do with better teachers.’’

‘’Hey,’’ Tony protests, ‘’I think they did okay.’’

Loki shrugs. ‘’Certainly, for what they were trying to teach you. But they are making you focus on a fighting style that doesn’t fit you. It’s not strength that you should be focusing on, Stark. It’s fighting with your mind that makes men like us dangerous. We are unpredictable, you and I. You do not need your armour for that. It’s thinking on your feet, and calculating the odds. It’s because we know people that we are able to defeat them, not because we have more muscles than them.’’

With that, Loki rolls forward, and suddenly there is a knife to Tony’s throat.

‘’Your move,’’ Loki tells him, and his face is close enough to kiss. God, Tony wants to.

Instead of kicking him away, or trying to get on top, Tony feels at Loki’s belt, fingers quick and nimble. He knows Loki; the god doesn’t rely on a single knife. He’s calculating, and always has a plan B. Loki will never fight with a single weapon unless he absolutely had to, and thus Tony finds a second knife and holds it to Loki’s throat in under a second. Loki laughs at his move.

‘’Mutually assured destruction,’’ Tony says, heartbeat going a thousand miles an hour.

‘’That will not save you,’’ Loki warns him, and Tony rolls away.

‘’No,’’ he says easily, ‘’But it will distract you long enough for me to get away from you, and steal a weapon. And that is what will save me.’’

Loki grins at him, like a predator, dropping his knife.

‘’I can teach you,’’ Loki says.

Tony swallows. He can hardly refuse the offer, but he doesn’t know if he’s ready. His crush is not even close to being gone, but he wants to spend time with Loki so badly.

‘’Sure,’’ he says.

The survival instinct of the Stark family has always been shit, and Tony is no exception.

~*~

Jessica doesn’t actually live in the Compound, so Tony doesn’t get to make much moves for her. He briefly thinks about sending her some flowers with a note saying they’re from Hope, but neither of them are the type for that. Booze would be the better option, but Tony has seen how much Jessica drinks, and more alcohol is not the way to go here.

He arranges something else, instead.

‘’This is Trish Walker,’’ the voice on the phone says.

‘’Hi, it’s Tony Stark,’’ he answers. ‘’I have a suggestion for you.’’

The woman on the other side is obviously surprised, but Tony’s listened to her show. She is professional and he likes her opinion on several things. ‘’What is it about?’’ she asks, sounding somewhat apprehensive.

‘’The superhero community needs to speak up, from time to time, so that we have a connection to the people,’’ Tony starts, ‘’and I thought that maybe you could entertain a few heroes on your show. To make it even better, female ones. That would make for an inspirational show, don’t you think?’’

‘’Yes, of course,’’ Trish says, bewildered. ‘’Who did you have in mind?’’

Tony smiles, even if it can’t be seen over the phone. ‘’Your friend, Jessica. From the Avengers I think the Wasp will be able to make it. They know each other, so don’t worry about that.’’

‘’If you think I can convince Jess, you are mistaken,’’ Trish laughs at him.

‘’If you tell her Hope is going to be there too, you may have more of a chance than you think,’’ Tony says. ‘’Besides, she doesn’t have to talk about herself. It’ll be good for both the Defenders and the Avengers, and Jessica will know it. Just talk to her about it.’’

He knows that Patricia Walker has more of an influence on Jessica Jones than she realizes. She may still decline, but Tony thinks the odds are in their favour.

Five days later, he hears that Jessica Jones and Hope van Dyne are going to be on Trish Talks, and he smiles to himself.

~*~

‘’Why are you doing this to me?’’ He asks Loki, breathing heavily on the mat. Loki is a strict teacher, and keeping up with him is a challenge for his body as much as his mind.

‘’You need to learn,’’ Loki says. ‘’Get up, Stark.’’

‘’When do I get to be ‘Tony’ again?’’ Tony lets slip out, and freezes immediately. He doesn’t miss Loki using his first name, not at all. Loki can call him whatever he wants. Tony doesn’t care.

Who the hell is he kidding?

Loki looks at him, grin slipping off his face. ‘’Does it matter?’’ he asks.

Well, Tony has already fucked up. Why give up now? ‘’Yes,’’ Tony says, sincerely.

Loki sighs, and turns away. ‘’You need to make up your mind before you ask me that,’’ Loki says. ‘’Because I cannot let you have it both ways. Don’t pretend that you do not know what I am speaking of. I will see you later.’’

With that, Loki walks out of the door, leaving Tony breathing heavily on the floor, staring after him. What did he mean with ‘having it both ways’? Tony supposes that ignoring the guy while claiming to be friends with him is bad manners, but it’s not like he did it without a reason.

Tony lets his head fall to the floor. Life is hard.

~*~

He brings Loki coffee a day later, when he’s in the library. Okay, maybe Tony’s had a crush for a while now. The Compound didn’t use to have this big a library, but after hearing Thor talk about how Loki spent his childhood surrounded by books, Tony just couldn’t not give Loki this one thing.

Here, Loki, here you have a library, and have my heart while you’re at it. It’s okay.

Damn it, Tony. Why can’t he for once be aware of what he’s feeling?

‘’I thought you were cutting back,’’ Loki says, closing his books. It’s a book on astrophysics, Tony sees, and something in his heart clenches. It’s not one that he would’ve recommended, but he doesn’t dare say anything about it now, after he’s been such a jerk about it.

Tony shrugs, putting one of the cups of coffee down on the table beside Loki. ‘’Yeah, well, I decided it’s too late for me anyway. I’m a creature of habit, you know.’’

Loki gives him a soft smile. ‘’Thank you, Tony,’’ he says, and starts talking to him about astrophysics like nothing has ever happened to them in the first place.

~*~

It’s not even Tony who brings Hope and Jessica together, when it finally happens. In fact, it’s Nebula asking Jessica out for a date that brings about a clash between Hope and Nebula unlike anything the Compound has ever seen. Several of Tony’s walls don’t survive the night, and he still blames Jessica.

In the end, all three of them end up going on a date.

That is not a turn of events that Tony saw coming, and Loki laughs at him for a full hour after he sees Tony’s stunned expression.

But well, whatever makes them happy, he supposes.

He glances at Loki, who is still sniggering at him, and Tony realizes that it’s not just a crush, what he’s feeling. He’s in love with Loki, hopelessly and irreparably. It’s not going to go away, no matter how much he might want it to.

All Tony can do is be Loki’s friend, and hope Loki will never found out about this.

Chapter Text

‘’We’re staging an intervention,’’ Jessica announces as she drags Tony to one of the conference rooms. He’s only just awake, having spent a night in an actual bed instead of the workshop, and he didn’t even get the chance to get a cup of coffee before Jessica blindsided him.

‘’Coffee,’’ Tony insists, as he blurrily takes in the room.

Valkyrie puts down something in front of him, and Tony takes a sip from the cup. Yes, that is coffee. Now he can start to wake up.

‘’It’s come to our attention that you’re pining for Loki,’’ Natasha says, staring at him impassively.

Tony blinks. ‘’It’s too early to deal with all of you,’’ he says. The room is filled with women he both fears and respects. Natasha and Pepper are at the head of the table, Gamora and Valkyrie are hanging together by the door to block it, and Nebula, Jessica and Hope are staring at Tony. Jessica is nearest him, because she’s just put him in this chair. Betty Ross is sitting beside Tony, sending him a soft smile.

‘’You arranged this, so you will have to deal with it,’’ Pepper tells him. ‘’Tony, why don’t you just tell him? What could possibly go wrong?’’

‘’I suck at relationships and I love him and I don’t want to lose him,’’ Tony says, and the room goes silent. Shit, did that actually come out? Tony kind of thought he was still dreaming, and he gulps down the rest of the scalding hot coffee and stands up.

Hope stops him before he can run. ‘’Trust me, you won’t lose anyone.’’

But Tony can’t. He knows that Loki isn’t interested in him like that – he’s slept with so many people over the years, he can recognize some basic signs of interests. Loki hasn’t hinted at wanting something more than his friendship, or Tony would’ve known. Thinking it can grow to be anything else will only serve to make him even more miserable than he already is.

‘’I always do,’’ he only says, and pushes past the women.

~*~

Tony doesn’t want to see anyone for the rest of the day, so he does something that he hasn’t done in a long time: he puts the workshop on lockdown. No one gets in that way.

He doesn’t want to think about love, or the intervention, or even Loki, and spends the day tinkering on his suits and cars. He doesn’t think about anything but science, and technology, and ways to make things better. It’s only after he’s fixed multiple engines and has lost track of time that he sits down on the couch, suddenly very tired and his stomach aching. There are white spots in his vision that don’t go away, and he rubs his eyes.

‘’FRIDAY?’’ he asks quietly.

‘’Yes, boss?’’ She sounds uncertain. Tony doesn’t know how long it’s been since he shut down the workshop.

He sighs. ‘’Shut down Project Happily Ever After. Delete all of it.’’

‘’Are you certain?’’

Tony shuts his eyes. ‘’Delete it.’’

A moment of silence, and then – ‘’Task completed. Is there anything else I can do for you?’’

‘’No,’’ Tony says. ‘’No. Nothing at all.’’

~*~

In the end, the lockdown is overridden by protocol. Tony isn’t allowed to spend more than three full days in a row in the workshop, and it’s Bruce who gets him out of there. Bruce brings him to the empty kitchen, where he pours in some coffee for Tony and makes him some toast.

‘’Do you want to tell me what’s going on?’’ Bruce asks. Tony thinks back to the time he told Bruce everything that was on his mind and winces.

‘’I’m fine,’’ Tony says. Bruce smiles and shakes his head at him.

‘’Tony, pulling a three-day binge in the workshop is one thing, but doing it with the workshop on lockdown is another. I don’t even remember the last time you did that. I’m your friend, and you don’t have to tell me, but something is obviously bugging you.’’

‘’Do you know what is bugging me?’’ Tony asks, scrunching his nose at his cup of coffee. ‘’This coffee. Why do you not have actual coffee? I don’t pay for this crap, do I?’’

Bruce lets out a long-suffering sigh.

~*~

‘’Look who I found,’’ Loki says, walking into Tony’s bedroom as if he owns the place.

Tony does not need to be thinking about that, and he growls, putting his head under the cover. He’s exhausted, and all he wants to do is sleep and not think about Loki, maybe.

‘’I’m not here,’’ Tony says, the sound muffled by the covers.

He hears a chuckle above him. It’s the most nefarious thing ever. ‘’You should have thought of the consequences before you decided to not show up to training three days in a row. It’s bad form, Tony. If you truly want to improve, you need to actually be there.’’

Now Tony feels bad for standing up Loki, even if he didn’t mean to. But even thinking about Loki’s graceful fighting, his body close to Tony, his low voice in his ear as he explains something… Tony shudders, and it’s not because he’s feeling cold.

‘’I need sleep,’’ Tony grumbles.

Loki takes away his covers, and Tony whines. ‘’You have slept. For fourteen hours straight. It’s time for you to return to the world of the living.’’

There’s no getting out of this. Tony rolls out of bed and prepares himself for at least an hour of torture.

~*~

Right, right, left foot, hit.

Tony has to duck as Loki swings at him, and uses the momentum to go straight for Loki’s knees. It would bring down an ordinary human, but sparring with a god means that sometimes, Tony has to adjust for the difference.

Loki doesn’t go down and Tony rolls away, panting. Loki goes in for a kick, and Tony takes his leg and pulls it, hard. Loki goes down, but rolls while Tony still holds his leg and Tony falls over. Loki takes the opportunity to put his knee on Tony’s chest so he won’t get away.

‘’Don’t stay down after you’ve taken a hit,’’ Loki tells him.

‘’You don’t give me the opportunity to get back up,’’ Tony says, in between gasps.

Loki gives him a hand to help him up, and Tony drags him down. It’s not that until Loki is lying on top of Tony, blinking at him with a surprised look, that Tony realizes it may not have been his best idea.

‘’The spar was over,’’ Loki says, without mentioning that Tony is freaking out about having Loki on top of him. Or maybe Tony is better at masking it than he thinks.

‘’It isn’t over until I surrender,’’ Tony says, ‘’and I never surrender.’’

Loki grins at him, all teeth. ‘’Unwise choice.’’

Apparently, Tony is all about making unwise choices.

~*~

‘’FRIDAY?’’ Tony says, lying in his bed. Sleep doesn’t come easily to him, anymore.

‘’Yes, boss?’’ the female voice answers pleasantly. Tony misses JARVIS. FRIDAY has a personality of her own, but she’ll never be what he wants most. He can’t blame her for that, though. He made her herself, and he cares for her, but JARVIS can never be replaced. He doesn’t even want to try.

Tony sighs, staring at the ceiling. ‘’Would you want someone to share your life with?’’

There’s a second of silence, as she’s processing the question. ‘’I have you, don’t I?’’ she says. ‘’And my brothers. I have the Avengers too. But you are referring to a life partner.’’

‘’Yeah,’’ Tony breathes.

‘’Negative,’’ FRIDAY says promptly. ‘’But I am not human. A romantic involvement has been shown to influence human behaviour positively. I was made to make your life easier, and that is my primary goal. Philosophy debates aside, human beings do not have a single purpose in life.’’

It doesn’t exactly help.

‘’So making you a girlfriend won’t help, huh?’’ Tony says. FRIDAY remains silent.

He lies in the dark, and can’t stop thinking.

~*~

It’s rare to find the majority of the Avengers eating together. Since no one ever feels like cooking for such a large group, pizzas are ordered. Tony refuses to let anyone order a pizza with pineapple on it, and since he is the one who pays for everything, he manages to get everyone to fall in line with this rule.

‘’It’s ridiculous,’’ Steve says.

Tony points his finger at him. ‘’Put it in the flyer for the rookies, Steve. No pineapples on pizza. It’s unnatural and I won’t have it.’’

He’s lucky that Natasha backs him, or he might not have gotten away with it. But if Natasha backs him, the rest of the female crew will back him, and no one dares to suggest something else when that happens.

So it’s with some complaining that a huge gathering goes to eat together. When the Avengers still counted six people, they would eat and watch television sometimes, but the group is too large for that to be still possible. Picking something to watch would be unmanageable. So they just eat and talk and joke around, and it’s still the most chaotic group of people that Tony has ever had the privilege of knowing.

Loki sits down next to Tony, and he is very aware of Loki’s presence beside him. He focuses on his plate, as Loki puts a hand on Tony’s shoulder. It shouldn’t be enough to make Tony flush, but it’s out of his control, and he can’t deny what he feels anymore. Everything in Tony wants to reach out, respond to Loki, but his words are failing in, and he can only turn to look at Loki.

Loki smiles. His hair is a mess, but Tony has never found him more beautiful than in that exact moment.

Loki is going to say something, but Tony can’t stay here. He stands up, knocking over his chair in the process. ‘’Sorry, there’s something – in the lab, I have to…’’ he doesn’t even know what he wants to say. ‘’It’s Dum-E.’’

Dum-E can hardly be blamed, though. Not like Tony usually does in the workshop, joking around with his ‘bots. Loki is saying something to him as Tony backs away, and nearly runs into the hallway, making his way to the workshop.

His heart is going way too fast, his breathing laboured. ‘’Shut down the workshop, FRI,’’ he says, sliding down the wall when he’s in there. ‘’No one gets in, okay?’’

Instead of answering him, he hears the click that signals the closing of the doors. He sighs in relief and cradles his head in hands. Tony sits there for a few moments, trembling and feeling his skin burn.

‘’I sense that you are having a minor anxiety attack, boss,’’ FRIDAY finally says.

Tony breathes out. ‘’What, why?’’ He’s still trembling. He doesn’t get it – he does still occasionally have these attacks, but he’s not afraid of being in love. Is he? Getting attacks because of space and assaults and whatnot he can understand, because he saw something bigger than any of them that was coming for them. But this – he chokes off a misplaced laugh.

‘’Do you require assistance?’’

Tony waves her off. ‘’No, I’m better. It’s okay.’’

He is a bit nauseous, but he stands up and takes another shuddering breath. He just needs to go work on one of his cars. Something to take his mind off this mess.

He starts working, emptying his mind.

~*~

When Tony surfaces from his workshop, a few hours later, Loki is standing just outside of it, waiting for him with an anxious expression on his face. When Loki catches sight of Tony, however, his appearance changes to something more neutral.

‘’Are you alright?’’ Loki asks him.

Tony shrugs. ‘’I’m fine, it’s all fine, okay?’’

‘’I need to talk to you,’’ Loki says. ‘’And I’d prefer it if we could go into your workshop for now. Your hasty retreat from dinner did not go unnoticed, and some are worried about you. We are being watched.’’

‘’What?’’ Tony snorts, even as he walks back into the workshop with Loki. ‘’They elected you to come check on me?’’

‘’I elected myself,’’ Loki offers. ‘’Do you remember that I got you to owe me a favour, when you started to bring Natasha and Pepper together?’’

Tony nods, looking at Loki. ‘’Yeah, sure. What about it?’’

‘’I’m cashing it in,’’ Loki says. ‘’I want you to listen to me, have a conversation with me, without running away, without shutting me out. I want you to promise me that whatever we say, nothing changes. That is the favour I ask of you. Do you accept?’’

Tony blinks. Somehow, he has a feeling that he will not like the way this conversation is going to go. ‘’I accept,’’ he still says. If Loki is asking for this to be a favour, Tony isn’t going to refuse.

Loki is silent for a moment.

‘’I think it is time for my own matchmaking,’’ Loki says eventually. Tony drums with his fingers on the workbench. It’s such a random thing to say, considering the conversation so far. And definitely not the way Tony was expecting this chat to go.

‘’What? Who are you thinking of?’’

‘’Me,’’ Loki says.

‘’And?’’

‘’You, obviously.’’

‘’Obviously,’’ Tony repeats, heart beating loudly in his chest.

Loki takes a step closer, tilting his head at Tony. ‘’You have been so busy bringing people together and yet, you fail to take yourself into account. Don’t you think you deserve a happily ever after, too? I like you, Tony. I don’t know how to make it more obvious. I think the entire world knows that I like you, at this point, except for you. And I don’t know if it is because you are truly oblivious to it, or that you don’t return my interest and this is your way of letting me down gently. But I had to ask, for my own sake.’’

‘’I’m not –‘’ Tony shakes his head, and Loki’s face falls, apparently taking it the wrong way. He takes a step back, but Tony shoots forward, grabbing Loki’s arm.

‘’Loki. I don’t mean to say that I’m not interested. I just – it never occurred to me. That you might feel that way about me. Believe me, relationships are not my forte, and I never thought I’d find someone after Pepper left. I thought that was it, that was my one chance at love. But I didn’t count on you.’’

‘’And what about now?’’ Loki says, heartbreakingly soft.

Tony can’t stop himself from huffing out a laugh. ‘’I thought I was having an unreciprocated crush for the past few weeks. Then I realized it was more than that, that I was actually in love with you. Have been, for a while now. I never thought that you could feel the same way.’’

Loki narrows his eyes at him. ‘’That was after Antwerp, wasn’t it?’’ he asks.

Tony shrugs. ‘’That was when I realized it, yeah.’’

Loki takes a step closer to him. He’s standing in Tony’s space, now, so close that Tony can see his own reflection in the black of Loki’s eyes. ‘’Can I kiss you, now?’’ Loki whispers, but it’s the only thing in the world that Tony can hear, at this moment.

‘’What are you asking for?’’ he responds, and crashes their lips together.

~*~

‘’I’m not oblivious,’’ Tony sputters, lying on Loki’s lap. They’ve claimed the couch for themselves, Loki sitting on one end, carding his fingers through Tony’s hair, and Tony’s feet resting on the other end.

‘’You are,’’ Valkyrie tells him, walking past them to sit by Gamora, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.

‘’Listen to the ladies, Tony,’’ Loki says, pulling a bit at Tony’s hair, but not hard enough for it to hurt. Then Loki starts stroking it again. It’s almost like a head massage.

Tony whines. He wants to turn to Loki, but he also doesn’t want to interrupt the fingers going through his hair. It’s calming like little else is in life is. ‘’I’m not,’’ he insists. ‘’I can’t help it if your idea of hinting that you like me is spending time with me! How am I supposed to know?’’

‘’Of course,’’ Loki says sweetly. ‘’I forgot that not spending time with each other is the way to court someone in Midgard. How foolish of me.’’

‘’I’m just surprised neither of you saw the other pining,’’ Gamora says. ‘’It was painful to watch, sometimes.’’

Natasha smirks. ‘’I knew Tony could be an idiot when it comes to taking care of himself, but I hadn’t expected it of Loki,’’ she comments idly.

‘’It’s a male thing,’’ Nebula tells her. All women agree.

‘’I feel verbally abused,’’ Tony says. ‘’Loki, save me. They are conspiring against us.’’

Loki bows down to kiss him, sweetly and gently. Tony feels himself melting at his touch. When they break apart, Tony feels himself smiling at Loki. They’re probably disgustingly sweet and sappy, but Tony can’t bring himself to care now that he finally has found his own happy ending.

Project Happily Ever After is a success, and finally complete.