Chapter Text
There once was a bitter sweet man and they called him Lemon Boy
He was growing in my garden and I pulled him out by his hair like a weed
But like weeds do he only came and grew back again
So I figured this time I might as well let him be
~~~
They’d barely been given a few days’ worth of notice before the ship carrying the remnants of Asgard had landed. While Tony hadn’t exactly had a clear schedule, he’d hardly given any debate as to whether or not to meet Thor and Bruce in middle-of-nowhere, Scandinavia, and using what financial help he could to get the remaining Asgardians settled. There were so few, by the way Thor made things sound, that they probably wouldn’t have to sanction off more than a small town’s worth of land to get things started.
Now that he was here, Tony was starting to wish he’d sent Happy along with a nice gift basket instead. Especially when, walking off the ship just a few paces behind Thor’s confident stride and Bruce’s relieved scramble, slunk the very guy he thought he’d never have to see on Earth again.
“What exactly is he doing here?” Tony asked, gesturing to where Loki had paused at the base of the ship, quirking an eyebrow at him. Still a smug bastard – well, it was good to know some things hadn’t changed.
“Ah!” Thor’s voice boomed, a pleased smile on his face and holy shit was he missing an eye? “I suppose I had not mentioned my brother would also be among us. It’s a bit of a long story.”
Tony snorted. "Yeah, I imagine it is.”
Loki had started to draw back a bit from their group, but Thor reeled him back in with an arm slung over his shoulders. Loki visibly bristled, but didn’t look like he was reaching for a knife, so clearly something had changed since he’d last been on Earth. “Loki is going to help us rebuild and settle. I assure you, he’s quite changed since the last time you met.”
The alien in question rolled his eyes, snapping, “I’m quite capable of speaking for myself.” He disentangled himself from Thor’s hold, though he refrained from tearing himself free. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I believe I’m needed to help with disembarking.” He turned with an over-dramatic flourish of his cape, stalking back up into the ship, likely to corral the Asgardians inside into something assembling order.
Tony met Bruce’s eyes uncertainly, as if to ask are you buying this? Bruce gave him only a small shrug, not entirely convinced but clearly not concerned enough to protest. But Tony wasn’t so ready to give Loki a get out of jail free card, not until he really knew what was going on. He made a mental note to keep an eye on him, so at least someone would be ready when the side of Loki that was more inclined to maniacal laughter reared its head.