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“Okay, Reindeer Games, I’ve made a decision.”
Loki had been absently creating green illusions in the air above his hand; a fox chasing a rabbit through the snow which, while it was magic and kind of fucking fascinating, Tony wasn’t about to be distracted.
“Oh?” Loki questioned, turning from his illusion to better observe Tony.
His eyes were quick to glide over Tony with an open interest and attraction that the mage had never bothered to hide since arriving on Earth with The Revengers. He was actually incredibly upfront once he realised Tony was single. He flirted heavily and consistently with a lot of implications of what he would rather the two of them being doing instead of talking.
Tony had found that discomforting at first, still trying to mentally switch from enemy to ally, but when Loki decided to hop down to the lab and start discussing magic with him, Tony rapidly concluded that Loki could flirt as much as he God damn wanted as long as he kept using magic in between. Tony could also accept him as a resident of the tower and part of the ‘good guy’ team as long as he kept explaining everything he did to Tony.
Three months later and they were kind of friends, but also kind of not, mostly because Loki still wanted them to retire to the nearest room and make use of its comfortable bed. And Tony, well, he was starting to acknowledge that Loki was incredibly attractive and that Tony might be up for that.
It was how he had reached his current conclusion. It was also why he came to stand directly in front of Loki, watching the other man’s eyebrows rise at his behaviour.
“Okay,” Tony continued, “my decision is that I’m taking you up on your offer.”
Perplexity caused Loki’s brow to furrow. “And what offer is that?”
“The one that says we spend a night in your bedroom.”
“Ah,” Loki remarked. He also smirked and Tony didn’t miss the spark of desire in Loki’s eyes or the way his body language had become more languid and open. The mage dismissed the last of his illusions, his attention becoming solely focused on Tony. “And what has prompted such a change? I was beginning to believe the rumours as to your promiscuity were exaggerated.”
“More like occasionally embellished,” Tony told him. He also leant in, putting a hand on one arm of the couch and the other on the back of it until he was caging Loki. The predatory smirk on Loki’s face and flash of amusement in his eyes said that he really didn’t mind. “Look, I’m attracted to you, you’re attracted to me. We have to work together for the sake of the greater good, so, I say; we have a hell of a good night and get this out of our system.”
Loki still looked entertained, like there was some joke being made at Tony’s expense, but Loki was the God of Mischief, so Tony didn’t take it personally. He also had more important things to concentrate on when Loki’s long fingers grabbed Tony’s shirt and pulled him the remaining inches down so that Loki could get his mouth on Tony’s.
After that, Tony didn’t think about much of anything other than Loki and exactly how much pleasure they could wring out of each other.
The answer? A lot.
Magic was, apparently, just as amazing in the bedroom as out and three orgasms and one very satisfying night later, he found he was waking up in Loki’s bed and enjoying the stretched muscles of a very satisfying night.
Loki was lying surprisingly close to him. He had an arm around Tony’s waist and he was also lightly nibbling and mouthing at Tony’s shoulder. When he realised Tony was awake he stopped his attentions to murmur, his voice low and rough, “Good morning, Anthony,”
It sent a delicious shiver through Tony’s body and made him arch a little more into Loki’s touch. The mage rewarded him with a scrape of teeth and the start of a new hickey on his neck. Tony may or may not have whimpered as his body started to wake up and pay attention to Loki’s lips and the fingers beginning to lightly stroke his lower stomach.
“Tell me, Anthony,” Loki began once he’d made another satisfying mark high on Tony’s throat. “Am I out of your system now?”
His hand slipped a little further down, rubbing teasing circles against Tony’s hipbone. Tony licked his lips and looked over his shoulder, finding himself faced with Loki’s very rougish smirk full of promise and arousal.
Tony swallowed, remembering his words from before and deciding he was not so stupid as to stick to them.
“Results inconclusive,” he answered, “might have to run more tests.”
Loki laughed and he was quick to push Tony onto his back and kiss him. His hand came down to stroke Tony into full hardness and Tony brought his hands to Loki’s hair, kissing him back and forgetting anything that wasn’t the demi-god who had moved to straddle him.
After that morning, sharing a bed with Loki became a bit of a habit.
Loki teasingly asked him for the first few weeks if Tony was done with him yet, the smirk on his face saying he already knew the answer. Tony would always provide his standard quip too; results inconclusive. It was better than saying Loki was such a damn good lover that Tony couldn’t help himself; the trickster didn’t need a bigger ego than he already had.
But as the months passed and their time together didn’t stop, Loki stopped asking and Tony stopped telling.
They worked together in the lab, they dealt with on-planet and off-planet threats and they spent almost every night in either Loki’s bed or Tony’s. It seemed to happen in the blink of an eye, but one moment they were sort of friends who fucked occasionally, and then they were, well, something else.
They weren’t dating, they weren’t in a relationship, but Tony was starting to care about Loki, and the mage was starting to care about him too.
It was all too obvious when Tony got injured and Loki’s eyes frantically ran over him, checking for anything more serious, and instead of a flippant remark, Tony had grabbed one of Loki’s hands and squeezed it, saying far too softly, “I’m okay.”
It was when they finished an inventing bender together and tiredly made their way to Tony’s room which was closer and climbed into bed together without comment, curling up around one another and falling asleep as if they both belonged there, together.
They didn’t talk about it though, not for months; feelings weren’t exactly either man’s forte.
But, Tony wasn’t as young as he used to be, he’d also had one serious relationship in his life and knew how to take a hint and realise Loki was rapidly becoming his second serious relationship. He didn’t want to screw it up.
He wasn’t ready to say the ‘L’ word and he didn’t think Loki was either, but they’d just had another brilliant round of sex and were laying in bed, Loki half asleep with his head resting on Tony’s chest and his arm wrapped snugly around Tony’s waist.
Tony was playing with the strands of Loki’s hair and trying not let his nerves show as he took a step towards confirming what he felt and what he wanted from this and from Loki. It was in a roundabout way, but it was the best he could do.
“Hey Loki?” He got a small hum in response and Tony licked his lips. “I got the results back.” He saw Loki crack open an eye and look up at him in sleepy confusion. He looked adorable, he looked beautiful and Tony stroked a hand over his hair and confessed, “I won't ever get you out of my system.”
It took Loki half a second to understand but then he let out a soft chuckle, a small but entirely pleased smile curling his lips. He closed his eyes but his arm curled around Tony a little tighter as he stated, smug and satisfied, “Good.”
It made Tony laugh with relief and happiness as he relaxed even further against the bed, his hand coming down to rest against Loki’s lower back. He allowed himself to smile up at the ceiling and drift off to sleep with Loki a warm comforting weight against him, knowing that Loki, his partner and his lover, wasn’t going anywhere.