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Tony stared at his apartment building in surprise. What? His brain stalled out at that point. He couldn't even comprehend what he was seeing.
He knew who had to be at fault, however, for the decorations now adorning, or appearing to adorn, the building. His lover undoubtedly had something to do with it. Whether Loki had cast an illusion or if he'd actually gone to the trouble to make the decorations permanent, Tony had no idea.
Recovering his wits, Tony walked into his apartment and shot the Norse God of Mischief a sardonic look. "What happened to laying low?"
His coworkers would never believe him if he told them that Loki lived with him on a semi-permanent basis. He knew they didn't believe him capable of commitment, which to be fair maybe he wasn't. Loki rarely did the same thing twice, after all.
"Are you ashamed of me, Anthony?" Loki purred.
"Of course not, but if SHIELD doesn't notice, Tony Stark likely will."
"Maybe I want them to notice?"
Tony raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"So they know you are mine, of course."
Tony shook his head at the smirk on his boyfriend's face. "Possessive, much?"
"You like me that way."
"I do."
"So what's the issue?" Loki wondered.
"Did you really have to write property of Loki Friggason across my apartment building?"
"What? I own it. Why shouldn't I?"
"Since when?" Tony demanded.
"Since I decided to make sure I could mark my property."
"Are you a dog peeing on me now?" Tony asked sarcastically.
"Would you like that?" Loki sounded intrigued.
Tony laughed and didn't bother to answer the question. His Norse God didn't need any help finding new kinks to try. "Why are you so insistent on making sure everyone knows that I'm yours? Did something happen?"
"I am tired of that persistent female trying to woo you."
"Wait." Tony coughed. "You're jealous of Ziva?"
"I know not her name. She is inferior and has no right to try and lay any claim to you."
"You're totally jealous of Ziva. You know the female Israeli Mossad chick? Trust me I want nothing to do with her. I prefer sleeping with people less likely to murder me."
"She doesn't know her place. If she does not stop, I will make her stop," Loki insisted.
Tony paused to consider that image. "Not that that wouldn't be totally hot if you did that, but let's leave the coworkers alone, how about? I don't want to explain to Gibbs why you went postal on any of them."
"Then make sure she learns her place. Your Gibbs too, could use a lesson on that," the God of Mischief warned.
"Ok. Whoa, whoa, whoa, What brought this on?" Tony knew Gibbs pissed a lot of people off, but as far as he knew Loki liked that kind of guy or at least liked pranking them.
"Do you think I'm an idiot?"
"No, of course not."
"Then how do you think I'd be ok with them belittling you and insulting you?" Loki glared.
"It's just teasing, Loki. Nothing to worry about."
"If it were just teasing, it would not hurt you the way it does." Loki pointed out.
"You're too damn intelligent for your own good," Tony protested half-heartedly.
"Odin would agree."
Tony cringed. "Let's not talk about your father. I always end up wanting to stab him when we do and I would definitely end up dead if I attempted that. Neither of us want that."
"You are the one avoiding the subject. Would you rather I unleash my anger on Senior?"
"Well Senior is definitely more deserving, but killing people or maiming them is generally frowned upon on Earth."
Loki huffed. "Of course, I know that."
"Then what do you plan to do to show them their place?"
"Merely show them a hint of my powers and warn them away from what's mine."
Tony snorted. He could read between the lines. "So you want to pick me up from work one night this week?"
"Yes. That would do nicely, Anthony."
"You could have just asked," Tony complained, not always liking having to guess what the other man was thinking.
"Now, where would the fun be in that?"
Tony shook his head. "I don't need a heart attack."
"You are too young for such things."
"How do you know? I'm mortal, remember."
"Oh. I remember very well, Anthony." Loki leered. "I even offered to fix that little problem for you, but you turned me down."
"Well no one ever wants me long term, and that's like a decade at max. There's no way you'd want me for centuries and I don't want to watch what friends I have grow old and die. It's better this way."
"Don't talk about yourself that way, Anthony. You know how I dislike it."
Tony shrugged. "It's the truth."
"Do not judge me by mortal standards. I am a God. Just because they do not appreciate your worth, does not mean I don't."
"It's ok. You don't have to lie." Tony tried to brush off the conversation. They'd had it many times before and he wasn't looking for a fight.
"I am the God of Lies, but I don't always lie. Else no one would believe me when I tricked them. Do not insult me, Anthony. You know that very well."
Tony looked away. "I don't see why you would be different from anyone else. Even my father doesn't love me."
"You know very well that both of my fathers have been less than loving to me. I do not believe that to be a valid argument as to why I can't love you."
"And you know my struggle isn't personal."
"Your insecurities rise up at the most awkward times, Anthony. Shouldn't my declaring you to be my property reassure you in some fashion."
"Perhaps. Though my name is nowhere in your declaration," Tony teased.
"I feared that would be too much even for your sensibilities, Anthony," Loki murmured, "but I will be happy to rectify it immediately if that is your only complaint."
"Wait. You were trying to spare my feelings?"
Loki narrowed his eyes. "More accurately, I wasn't sure how you would feel about being outed on TV because I included your name. This way there is more ambiguity."
"Well don't hold back on my account, especially if you want to out me at work to shut Ziva up."
"I would never do that against your will."
Tony smiled. He knew that for as crazy as the world claimed Loki was, he was actually very considerate of those he cared about, though he had an odd way of showing it sometimes. "It's fine, Loki. I'm not embarrassed. I've just never had a reason to come out before and plenty of reasons to stay hidden. If you want to make a more obvious claim, that's fine with me."
Loki concentrated for a bit and then announced, "It is done."
"Good." Tony nodded his head. "So what do you want for dinner?"
Tony meandered into the kitchen to check what ingredients they had available. He couldn't help the warm feeling growing in him from the knowledge that Loki had proudly proclaimed Tony as his, literally from the rooftops. He knew it would be all over the evening news soon, if it wasn't already, which reminded him... "I hope you're prepared to deal with Senior showing up and demanding to know what you're talking about."
"Oh, right. It needs the junior even though there's nothing small about you." Loki closed his eyes. "Fixed."
Tony smiled. "That will change the conversation, but won't prevent it from happening. Senior thinks that any press should be about him."
"Well he'll need to get used to sharing the limelight." Loki's grin was downright shark-like. "After this, I'm sure you will make the papers anytime I do something."
"Oh God. I'm going to be blamed for everything now, aren't I?"
"Well if SHIELD hasn't already talked to you about me, I'm sure they will soon."
Tony waved his hand dismissively. He wasn't worried about some shady government organization. Government organizations were all the same, a ton of paperwork, and unable to make a decision without a million meetings. He was sure he could talk rings around them if he needed to. It wasn't his preferred method, but he did it all the time in interrogation. He'd be fine. "SHIELD isn't worth worrying about. Now, if Tony Stark decides to hack NCIS because of you..." Tony trailed off.
"I'm pretty sure he already has."
"Don't tell me that. La la la." Tony yelled as he plugged his ears.
"That doesn't work with me, Anthony."
"Gah." Tony pouted.
"Don't worry, Anthony. Tonight, we celebrate. I will not torture you, much."
"Tomorrow is another story entirely, right?"
"Only if you want," Loki quietly spoke.
Tony couldn't think about the promise in Loki's voice right now or they'd never eat and he needed food. "When do you want to pick me up from work and reveal our relationship to my teammates?"
"When is the MCRT party you have to go to? Sometime before that preferably."
"You just want an invite to the Christmas party, so that you can more thoroughly stake your claim in front of Ziva."
"Is there something wrong with your significant other joining you for a team party?" Loki asked faux-innocently.
"Of course not. You're more than welcome to come if you want to. I just know you never do anything without at least one ulterior motive, frequently two or more."
"You are wise to be suspicious of me, Anthony."
"Of course, I am. You wouldn't find me near as interesting if I wasn't." Tony started pulling a hodge-podge of ingredients out of the fridge. He wasn't sure what he'd make, yet, but sometimes he just had to go with his gut when it came to ingredients. The most surprising and delicious dishes started this way, though of course the worst dishes also started out this way. It was a toss up which would happen, though there were very few complete misses anymore.
"True."
"The party is on the seventeenth, so anytime before that would work for your purposes."
"I believe I will be free on the fourteenth or maybe the twelfth. Starks is having one of his charity galas then I believe. Want to go with me?" Loki posed to Tony.
"To a black tie event thrown by Tony Stark?" Tony leveled an unimpressed look at Loki.
"Yes."
"Does he know you're coming?"
"In a manner of speaking."
Tony huffed. "You are so much trouble."
"God of Mischief," Loki retorted.
"Yeah, yeah." Tony dismissed the statement easily. He knew that to be a fact already, after all. "I'd love to join you for a black tie event. So pick me up from work on the twelfth and we can have dinner before the gala?"
"Now that that's decided, what shall we do with the rest of our evening," Loki's voice dropped to a deeper register.
Tony shivered, but tried to ignore what that voice did to him. Chopping and dicing vegetables, he seared the meat in a pan. He dumped everything into a bowl to make the filling. Prepping the dough, he worked it to the right consistency to make a good shell to go around the filling in an empanada or dumpling type fashion.
Wiping his hands on the apron, Tony took it off and hung it over the oven door handle. "We have an hour before this will be ready, my God. I'm at your service." Tony winked.
"Oh. I do like the sound of that." Loki's eyes darkened and Tony noticed a small shiver that ran across his body.
Tony laughed and followed Loki back to the bedroom as their clothes miraculously found their way to the floor.
Tony groaned an hour later when the oven timer went off. He was quite happy draped across the God of Mischief's body and didn't want to move. "You tired me out. You deal with the oven," Tony grumbled.
"Was I too much for you, Mortal?" Loki looked insufferably smug at that idea.
Tony waved his arm in Loki's direction in a poor attempt to hit him that was ultimately ineffective.
"I have removed the tray from the oven and turned the oven off."
Tony smiled sappily at Loki. "Have I mentioned how much I love magic?"
"You may have mentioned it, but I'd be happy to allow you to demonstrate it for me again."
"I'd love to." Tony pulled Loki down for a kiss, allowing himself to once again get lost in his lover's body.
Eventually, they did get up and venture into the kitchen to eat. Loki warmed the food up with his magic and Tony enjoyed watching him take the first bite. Loki had the best expressions when you truly managed to surprise him.
"This is good."
"I'm glad you like it." Tony took a bite of his own food.
When Tony woke up the next morning, Loki was gone. Tony wasn't surprised. His lover tended to vanish at the drop of a hat. He'd always reappear though, especially if they'd made specific plans.
He never knew when the other would be around, but that was half the fun. Not to mention, Loki never got upset if Tony got called out or wasn't home when he showed up again. Tony missed him sometimes, but the arrangement worked for both of them, not to mention it had kept him off the radar of SHIELD, though he doubted that would last much longer with Loki's public declaration in more than one way.
Tony couldn't help contemplating the ripple effects that might happen because of this, but he couldn't regret it either. It was a long time coming as they'd been committed to each other for years by this point in time. They both had their own insecurities, but they worked through them. It would take something pretty significant to rip them apart now. Ziva definitely wasn't capable of it, though the fact that Loki was jealous of her amused Tony greatly. He couldn't wait to see what the MCRT thought of Loki when they met him both when Loki picked him up and later at the Christmas party.
He suspected that Ziva would try to hit on Loki and lure him away from Tony. Probably give Loki a list of all the reasons why he shouldn't date Tony or something equally rude. His coworkers still thought he saw a different woman every week or something like that. He couldn't wait to see how Loki took them down a peg.
"Did something happen, Tony?" Ziva interrupted.
"No. Why?"
"You're smiling."
"There something wrong with that?"
"It's not normal unless you got laid and you haven't been bragging about your new conquest in a while."
Tony smirked. "Is that so? Are you sure that you just weren't listening to me? I do believe you have tuned out my voice before."
"She's right. Are you serious about someone, Tony?"
"Mayyy-beeee," Tony sing-songed.
"Who is she?"
"A God." Tony would let them draw whatever conclusions they wanted. Sometimes the truth was the best lie, after all.
Ziva leveled a look at him. "Be serious, Tony."
"I am."
"Though not for much longer," a voice interrupted smoothly.
Tony glanced up and smiled. "Loki."
"Anthony."
"You know this person?" Ziva asked Tony wide-eyed.
Tony couldn't blame her, Loki had chosen one of his more androgynous looks making it very difficult to tell whether he was male or female and was likely throwing all of Ziva's sexual radars into disarray. Instead of answering Ziva's question, he lifted a finger to Loki. "I still have fifteen more minutes before I can leave."
"No problem. I'll wait."
Tony returned to his computer to finish off his reports and get them in Gibbs' inbox. He couldn't help that McGee and Ziva immediately surrounded Loki and started peppering them with questions. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but he wasn't worried. Loki was fully capable of putting them in their place without Tony's help.
"What? How can you choose him over me?" Ziva shrieked.
Tony snickered and shook his head. Loki must have turned her down. That must have really been a blow to her ego that someone wanted Tony and not her. She seemed to think she was God's gift to men or something.
Putting the finishing touches on his paperwork, he pressed pint and stood up with a flourish. Blowing a kiss to Loki, he grabbed the reports and put them on Gibbs' desk. Tony breezed over to Loki and hooked elbows with him, turning the other man towards the elevator. "Alright," he called over his shoulder to his teammates. "I'm out of here. Don't miss me too much."
He could hear Ziva and McGee sputtering behind him and couldn't help letting out a soft chuckle. Neither he nor Loki spoke until they were out of the building and on their way to dinner.
"Your coworkers leave a lot to be desired."
"Did you threaten them?" Tony asked, amused.
"Yes, but they were too stupid to understand it."
Tony cackled. "They're not that bad."
"That McGee fellow tried to tell me he was better than you because of his computer skills and when I told him that he had nothing on Stark, the guy didn't utter another word for the entire conversation despite having his mouth and eyes wide open."
"You broke him."
"I wasn't even trying to. Then the other woman, Ziva? She had an entire list of character flaws that you supposedly have. I think she meant to scare me off or at the very least convince me that she was better in every way."
"Knowing Ziva, probably," Tony agreed. "She's not truly interested in me, which is why the idea that you were jealous of her amused me."
"She still takes too many liberties with you."
Tony shrugged. "We've worked together for a long time now."
"Still." Loki huffed. "You are mine."
"Yes, I am, but we still have a Gala to go to and I'm hungry." Tony's stomach chose that time to rumble.
Loki glanced at it before returning his eyes to Tony's. "Very well. Stark assures me that this restaurant will impress any date I have. I guess we'll find out."
Loki teleported them the rest of the way to the restaurant and they headed inside before Tony could even get a glance at the name. "Stark likes the finer things in life, so it shouldn't be too bad."
"We shall see," Loki murmured, his slight disdain of Stark's taste obvious in his voice.
Tony glanced around at the opulent surroundings. "Well points for expensive taste."
Loki snorted. "This is nothing compared to Asgard."
"Which you still haven't shown me."
"Mortals aren't allowed."
"So you've said."
"It's way worse than this place. Everything is gold."
Tony raised an eyebrow. "Gold? That sounds garish."
"It does take some getting used to."
They were led and seated in a private room. They weren't even given a menu. Tony knew then that they were in a restaurant far beyond his normal budget. He'd be worried about the cost, but he knew Stark could afford it and that Loki would have made the other Tony pay for it in some fashion.
Tony didn't understand how a billionaire could be as free with his money as Stark seemed to be, but then his inheritance from his mother's side was pitiful at best as far as rich families go, or so he understood. Normally, he wouldn't be willing to accept Stark's money more than willing to pay his own way to avoid being indebted to anyone, but this was Loki's debt not his so he didn't say anything. He knew the God had some sort of agreement worked out with the billionaire that included covering such mortal requirements such as these.
Tony hadn't pried as he appreciated that Loki stayed out of his affairs and wanted to offer the same courtesy. The two of them talked about Loki's impressions of Tony's coworkers and what Loki had been up to since the last time Tony saw him. Tony had never visited any of the other realms, but he knew a lot about them from Loki's description of them.
"Do we have to be a certain level of commitment for Asgard to acknowledge our relationship?"
"Pray that Asgard never notices you."
"Why?"
"They will try to take you from me."
"Really? I thought you were on better terms with Thor."
Loki rolled his eyes. "That oaf isn't the one to be concerned about. The most Thor would do is threaten you and maybe challenge you to a duel. Odin is the one to watch out for."
"The more I learn about your father, the more I wish to remove his other eye."
"Let's talk about something else more pleasing. Mayhaps the mischief we will cause tonight?"
"I still can't believe the light display you created."
"Is that not what one does at this time of year? I understood it was normal to put up lights and decorate."
"For the holidays, sure. It's not generally done to stake a claim."
"You said you didn't mind and I don't, but I'm still in awe that you went to that much trouble for me."
"It is far less than what you are worth, but I didn't want to be accused of Stark levels of overboard."
"I really could stab everyone in your family for making you think you're worthless." Tony wished he could hug Loki right now, but there was a table between them.
"Do not worry about it, Anthony. I'm fine."
Tony reached out and grabbed Loki's hand. "You're amazing, Loki. Anyone who doesn't see that doesn't deserve to be part of your life."
"Thanks to you, I am beginning to understand that. I can't wait to show everyone at the gala how amazing you are."
"I highly doubt most people there will know who I am."
"It matters not. All that matters is that they see that you are with me."
"I will always be with you, Loki."
"Thank you, Anthony."