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“Dad, I’m going out on a date,” said Tony.
Loki set aside his book on the side table and gave his son his full attention.
“Okay,” said Loki. “I’d like some details before you leave.”
Tony nodded and sat down on the couch. He wasn’t nervous, he knew that his dad wasn’t trying to make him uncomfortable and if Tony didn’t feel comfortable answering a question then he could just say to and they would talk about it.
“There are some things I need to know for safety reasons,” said Loki. As Tony was growing up Loki had always made an effort to explain his reasons to his son. He noticed that Tony was often more calm when he knew the why behind tasks or questions. “The first questions I ask are things I have to know in case anything happens. The rest of the questions are things I am curious about but you don’t need to share with me at this time.”
“Okay,” said Tony with a nod of understanding. He brought his knees up to his chest and hugged a pillow.
“Where are you going?” asked Loki.
“To dinner,” said Tony with a smile. “It’s at that diner Shortcakes.”
“What time frame do you think you will be home?”
“Between midnight and one,” said Tony promptly. He didn’t have a strict curfew, it was more of an agreement between his dad and him for each different instance.
“Do you think you will go anywhere after dinner?”
“Probably but I don’t know where yet. I’ll text you when I find out though.”
Loki nodded. Tony had gone out with friends before but this was his first date. Loki was confident that it was his first official date. Tony didn’t share everything with his dad but he was comfortable enough with his dad that Loki knew Tony would share something big like a first date with him.
“Thank you,” said Loki with a smile. “Now for the questions you don’t have to answer. Are you ready?”
“Yup.”
“Who are you going out with?”
“I want to tell you but he hasn’t come out to his adult yet,” said Tony, biting his lip. “So can you promise not to tell his adult yet?”
Loki nodded.
“It’s Steve,” said Tony with a blush.
“Thank you for tell me,” said Loki. “And again, I will not talk to his mother about this. Do you want me to call you at a set time in case the date is going poorly so you can blame me for having to leave early?”
“No, that’s okay. But thank you. I think I’ll be fine. Steve is more nervous than I am.”
Loki nodded. “Well thank you. Do you have any questions for me?”
“Nope. Thanks Dad. I’m going to go get ready.”
Loki went back to his book, though his mind was mulling over his concerns about this date. Over the years Steve had become a good friend to Tony and his mother, Sarah, was often at social gatherings but Sarah and Loki didn’t exactly get along the best. They tried and in front of the children they were okay but Sarah was blunt and Loki was guarded and they clashed. Phil often had to step in to try and smooth things over. So Loki was wondering how Sarah would react when she found out about her son going on a date with Tony.
At the diner, Tony was happily chatting with Steve, telling him about his most recent project. Steve was smiling and nodding until Tony froze for a moment. It was just a moment of hesitation where Tony’s eyes went wide over Steve’s shoulder near the door, before refocusing on Steve with a slightly strained smile.
“What?” asked Steve, concerned that suddenly the date – which had been going well – was heading south.
“Um, out of curiosity, did you tell your mom you were on a date tonight?” asked Tony as casually as he possibly could.
“Tony, I’m sorry, but I told you I haven’t come out to my mom yet,” said Steve, looking ashamed and guilty and like he hated himself. “I’m not ashamed of you or going out with you, I just don’t know how to tell her. She’s not homophobic, I don’t think, but I see how she treats your dad and I just don’t want her to treat me like that.”
“I understand,” said Tony with a soft smile. “I’m not asking because of that, it’s your choice when you come out. I just was wondering what your mom thought you were doing tonight.”
“I told her I was going out with friends.”
“Friends plural? As in, more than one?”
“Yes,” said Steve slowly.
“Then you might want to text a few people to join us because your mom just came in and is sitting across the way looking right at us,” said Tony.
“Fuck,” groaned Steve under his breath.
Steve turned around and waved at his mom. Sarah got up and walked over.
“Steve, I thought you were out with friends,” said Sarah with a frown. She didn’t dislike Tony but he was not the person she thought her son was out with. Honestly, she thought he had been out on a date and was too shy to tell her, which was why she followed him. She just wanted to see who he was dating.
“We are friends,” said Tony brightly.
“Mom, what are you doing here?” demanded Steve, knowing why his mother was there. “I thought you trusted me.”
“Well I thought you were on a date and just didn’t want to tell me,” snapped Sarah.
“That’s exactly what I am on and I didn’t want to tell you,” yelled Steve, loosing his temper.
Tony anxiously texted his dad, letting him know that Sarah had showed up and Steve looked like he was ready to fight her. He wanted his dad to be ready in case he needed a ride. Loki responded that he was ready to pick him up and would leave as soon as Tony let him know if he was needed.
“What do you mean you’re on a date?” said Sarah, shocked, looking at Tony as though he would turn into someone else if she looked hard enough. “You’re just here with Tony.”
“Tony is my date,” groaned Steve, now upset that his mom just wasn’t getting it. “We are on a date mom. Tony and me.”
“But he’s a boy,” said Sarah slowly, trying to work it out in her head.
“Yes, and I’m a boy. So surprise, I’m gay. This isn’t how I wanted to tell you but oh well, I also didn’t want you to show up on my first date with a guy either so I guess nothing is going the way I want today!”
“Hey, not that I don’t want to stay but I am really uncomfortable and don’t actually want to stay,” said Tony softly. “So I’m just going to go.”
“Tony – “ said Steve, looking heartbroken.
“Hey, just call me later,” said Tony with a soft smile. “We can try this again some other time. You have a lot to talk to your mom about.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you were gay?” said Sarah, tears in her eyes as Tony slid past her.
“Because of how you treat Loki!” said Steve, also starting to cry. “I see how you treat him and I just – I just don’t want you to treat me like that!”
Tony wished he could hug Steve but his dad was pulling up outside so with one last look, he headed out and got in the car.
“What do you need from me right now?” asked Loki when Tony was safely in the car.
“Can we just drive?” asked Tony softly.
Loki pulled away from the curb and they headed off into the evening with no destination in mind.
“Steve didn’t want to tell Sarah because of how she doesn’t like you,” admitted Tony quietly. “But I don’t think Sarah is homophobic. She’s not mean to Phil. I think she just doesn’t really like you.”
“You’re probably correct,” agreed Loki. “But that doesn’t make Steve’s fears any less real to him.”
“I know.”
They rode in silence for a while.
“Hey Dad?”
“Yes Tony?”
“Thanks for being a great dad and not stalking me on my first date. That would have been mortifying.”
Loki smiled. There were a lot of times when he felt like he wasn’t doing a great job parenting Tony. Tony had come to him with so many things to work through and Loki did his best but he was never sure if he was doing it well. So moments like this, when Tony was reassuring him that he was a good dad, Loki felt like he was doing something right.
“My first date was an utter disaster as well,” admitted Loki instead of saying anything else. “Is that something you would like to hear about now or would you like to hear it later?”
“Now please,” said Tony. “I need the distraction.”
Loki laughed softly before he dove into the story of his own first date, elaborating and expanding on details just to hear his son laugh. And that’s how they spent the rest of the night that should have been Tony’s first date.