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Tony wondered if he should be concerned about the look on Loki's face right now. He seemed way too self satisfied given they were heading to a Christmas party for the MCRT. Tony would be more worried if Ziva was supposed to be there as Loki had some pretty homicidal feelings for her after her treatment of Tony.
"You ready?" Loki asked, grin widening.
Tony shook his head at Loki's mischief, but replied, "Yes. Don't forget our gifts."
"Oh, I won't." Loki smiled slyly.
Tony recognized that tone and it boded nothing good. He just hoped that he would still be able to look his coworkers in the eye come tomorrow. With Loki it could really go either way. This was the first time his coworkers were meeting his significant other and he expected drama in droves.
He may not know what Loki had planned, but given he was the God of Mischief, it was pretty much guaranteed to cause chaos in some fashion. If they left the party with his coworkers convinced that he'd lost his mind, he'd probably still come out ahead. He had a feeling that a lot of people would be asking him how they met and how he could trust him. Gibbs might actually kill him for bringing the Asgardian Prince to his house without warning him.
Loki teleported them to Gibbs' house and as much as Tony enjoyed cars and driving, there was something to be said for instantaneous transportation. Tony knocked on the door and then pushed it open. "Merry Christmas," he called out as he held the door open for Loki to enter.
"Tony!" Abby yelled, bouncing on her feet. "Who did you bring with you? We were all curious when Gibbs said you were bringing a plus one. Is it Derek? I know you play ball with him at the YMCA sometimes."
Tony snorted. "Breathe, Abs. No, it's not Derek. He has plans with Spence this evening. I brought my boyfriend, Loki."
"You have a boyfriend?" Abby screeched and jumped him.
Loki, the bastard, started laughing. Tony glared at him. "A little help here," he hissed.
"I think you're doing just fine," Loki smirked.
Tony glared at his lover. "Abby get off me. Go hug my boyfriend."
Loki shot him a truly devastating look, but Tony ignored him. As far as he was concerned turnabout was fair play given the man didn't help him in the slightest. Just because he had more practice dealing with Abby's exuberance didn't mean she wasn't heavy. Although, compared to Asgardians she was probably very light.
Tim stared at them with wide eyes from the living room. "Is that really the God of..." he trailed off, mouth still hanging open as he watched the Asgardian mage receive a hug from Abby, who as usual showed no fear of anything she should be afraid of.
"The God of Mischief? Yep, he is. You might want to close your mouth before you catch flies." Tony smirked.
Ducky and Jimmy looked on with interest. They were both aware of his relationship already, as they'd been the ones he confided in when he first considered dating the Asgardian Prince. They hadn't yet met his boyfriend, but they knew who he was and all of Tony's insecurities around his relationship basically.
Gibbs glanced up from the steaks he tended to shoot Tony a look. "Perhaps, you should do a proper introduction, DiNozzo."
Tony sighed. "Fine. Everyone, this is my boyfriend, Loki, otherwise known as the God of Mischief. No, he's not an evil overlord planning to take over our planet. That was actually a huge misunderstanding, which SHIELD didn't want to admit to and the Avenger still refused to believe, but as we aren't in New York, they probably won't show up here. Loki, gifts go under the tree and this is everyone."
Loki waved his hands and a bunch of gifts appeared under the tree.
Tony grinned. "That's still awesome."
"I have so many questions," Abby hopped up and down in her seat.
"Of course, you do." Tony appreciated that no one was threatening Loki or shooting at him. Maybe this would go ok, after all.
Taking a seat on one of the couches, Loki curled up next to him, making sure that anyone who wanted to sit next to Tony would have to make do with Loki instead. Tony just shook his head at his boyfriend's possessiveness. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but he loved how protected and important Loki made him feel every time he indicated he had no intention of letting Tony go.
As they were the last to arrive, dinner was soon served and they all chatted as they ate. Abby, of course, asked all sorts of questions about their sex lives which Tony refused to answer and Loki would start to answer only for someone to protest that they didn't want to know at which point Loki would wink at Abby and tell her that he'd tell her later. Needless to say, Abby spent a lot of time squealing over his boyfriend and Tony resigned himself to the fact that Abby would know more about his sex life than he ever intended.
As conversation carried on around them, Tony's mind drifted back to their gifts. He'd taken Loki shopping with him as he attempted to find gifts for his coworkers. Tony had mostly been the one buying things as he talked about what the recipients liked.
He'd expected to wrap the gifts once they returned home only to find that Loki wouldn't give the gifts back. They'd been put into the Asgardian's pocket dimension for easy storage and he refused to take them out. Upon further probing, Loki insisted on wrapping them himself because he also wanted to give Tony's coworkers a gift as well. Tony couldn't help thinking that was sweet, so he'd given in fairly easily.
Loki also hadn't allowed him to watch the gift wrapping even though the presents weren't for Tony. The Asgardian mage insisted that if Tony saw them, he'd know what he was getting as well. So Tony was more than curious about the gifts under the tree and what they would contain. He knew that they would have what he'd bought, but he didn't know what else they would have. Plus, he suspected one of the boxes under the tree from Loki was addressed to him, otherwise his gift would still be spoiled and he doubted that Loki would allow that to happen.
Tony had started out the night tense, but as Loki pulled him closer and conversed civilly with his coworkers, he relaxed more and more. Gibbs still shot him suspicious looks periodically, but after the initial shock everyone seemed to be accepting of his boyfriend and he couldn't help smiling and relaxing around his family. It was definitely a lot less awkward than the Yule gathering Loki had dragged him to in Asgard.
Even being a jock in college, he still had very little in common with Thor or the Warriors Three. After all, Asgard didn't really have sports in the same way that the US did. Odin had been even worse to converse with as he'd spent the majority of the time glaring at Tony for being human or something. He hadn't really understood anything other than disapproval. Loki had told him not to worry about it, so he hadn't. Still this celebration was considerably more relaxed no matter how you looked at it.
When Abby suggested that it was time to open gifts, Loki's expression turned openly gleeful and he magicked the presents he'd brought onto the appropriate person's lap. "You will all open them at the same time, for they are similar and I wouldn't want anyone's surprise to be spoiled."
Tony watched as a few concerned looks were exchanged before everyone worked to open their gifts. They all pulled out knives to cut open the wrapping paper and boxes thanks to Gibbs' rule #9 and Tony caught Loki admiring them. They weren't Loki's preferred dagger style, but they were still well made and Tony knew that he approved of always being armed.
Tony slowly peeled his gift open, appreciating how well his boyfriend had wrapped it. Tony considered himself a decent wrapper, but Loki's gifts looked pretty damn professional. They came in green and gold fabric bags that were cinched at the top, so that you couldn't see anything inside them. One open, they revealed a box wrapped in green and gold, Loki's colors of course, with a beautiful green bow.
Tony pulled the green gift out, but Loki quickly grabbed it from him. "Open the other one first," Loki murmured.
Tony looked inside the sack again. He hadn't seen another present, but sure enough there was one and he pulled it out and set it next to him as he peered into the bag again. Was this container like one of Loki's pocket dimensions and you could just keep pulling gifts out of it?
Loki laughed. "It's only the two presents, Anthony, but I suggest you set the other one on the floor before opening it."
Tony shot Loki a look, but knew better than to ignore an instruction like that, especially as he heard Abby squeal. He glanced over and found her arms full of a lamb?
"Loki?" Tony asked.
"She's vegetarian, Anthony. I couldn't very well give her a dead animal."
Tony snickered as he set his gift on the floor and unwrapped it. He heard a moo sound from the present as it grew in size and stared at the live cow that was now watching him. "And the reason I have a cow is?"
"Don't you like beef?" Loki asked innocently. "I'm quite certain I've heard you exclaiming over Gibbs' steaks before."
Tony couldn't help chuckling. He had a feeling this was punishment for him and rubbed a hand down his face. "Where am I even going to keep him? her? whatever?" Tony wondered.
Loki smirked. "I'm sure you'll figure out something."
Tony rolled his eyes. He knew he shouldn't have been so profuse in his praise of Gibbs' steaks around his boyfriend, but cooking them over the fire really did give them some extra seasoning that he could never replicate on the stove. It wasn't like he preferred Gibbs to Loki, but apparently his lover had decided to prank him in front of all of his coworkers.
"You better take that cow home with you, DiNozzo. Same with you, Abs. This isn't a farm."
"Yeah, yeah." Tony waved dismissively, not worried about transportation with Loki around.
He glanced around at the gifts the others received and couldn't help bursting into laughter. Everyone had gotten actual meat. Steak for Gibbs, duck for Ducky, ribs for Tim, and Tony hadn't caught what Jimmy had gotten. Now, even the actual meat wasn't exactly normal. It wasn't like Loki had gone to a store and bought it. No, he'd killed and skinned the animals himself before butchering them into the appropriate cuts that each recipient preferred.
Tony could tell that none of them were at all sure what to say in response to this gift as they were all just kind of staring at it with a confused look on their face, well aside from Abby who was happily petting her new lamb. Tony just guffawed even louder. Loki may have pranked him, but he clearly did the same with his coworkers as well. This would definitely be a Christmas party for the record books.
"Uh. Thanks?" Tim offered a touch sheepishly.
Loki flashed Tony a grin. "You all are no fun. Tony's gift and my real gift are still in your bags."
Tony held out his hand for the second package that Loki had confiscated and Loki dropped it onto his palm. The rest of them glanced between Loki and Tony as if trying to decide whether it was actually safe to open any more presents that Loki had a hand in wrapping. "You should see your faces." Tony chuckled.
Jimmy and Tim both threw wrapping paper at Tony who quickly grabbed one of the bows and put it on Loki's head. "This is all the gift that I need," he announced smugly.
Loki rolled his eyes, but his lips curved into a smile. "Open your present, Anthony."
Tony took his time preserving the gift wrap. Loki had done such a good job with it, that it would be a shame to ruin it, after all. He finally managed to get the box open, expecting it to be animal themed as well only to stop and stare. He gasped. "You didn't?"
"I did," Loki agreed, giving Tony's waist a squeeze.
"I don't know how I'm ever going to top this," Tony muttered, swiping at his eyes which were tearing up without his permission.
"You do not have to, Anthony. That will fall to me next year." Loki gently nudged Tony with his shoulder.
Tony tried to laugh, but it came out more as a wet cough.
"What is it?" Abby demanded, peering over her presents to see what Tony had gotten.
Tony held it up, but was met with faces of confusion. With a sigh, he waved at Loki to explain as he knew he'd never make it past one or two words.
"It is the last movie that Tony ever watched with his mother, along with the sheet music for the last song she composed."
"Oh." Abby covered her mouth with her hand. "You're officially good for him."
"I am not good," Loki corrected haughtily, "but I do love Anthony."
"Damn it, Loki," Tony cursed as the tears went from dripping down his face to pouring at that. He knew Loki loved him, but he hadn't expected the man to admit it to all of his coworkers. No one had ever cared about him that much before.
Loki lifted Tony's face up and wiped the tears away before dropping a soft kiss on his lip. "I will always love you, my Anthony."
"I love, hic, you too, hic, you bastard," Tony choked out, his words interrupted by coughs or hiccups as he struggled to get them out of his mouth.
The rest of the group had turned away from them to give them some privacy, but neither of them paid any attention as they were too focused on each other.
Eventually, Ducky coughed to draw their attention back to reality and they turned to face the rest of the team. Anthony had a sheepish smile on his face, but Loki just looked smug.
Trying his best to pretend that emotional moment hadn't just happened, Tony threw on a charming grin, "So what did Loki give the rest of you?"
Each of them took their time listing off the two gifts they'd gotten, the one Tony had given them and the one from Loki. Tony could tell that Loki had put some effort into their presents as he'd gotten something that each of them secretly wanted, though they never would have asked for it. Tony knew the prince had done that for him not because he cared for the other mortals, but because he knew Tony cared about them.
They handed out the rest of the gifts and Tony saw the surprise on Loki's face as he received a gift from each of them, plus one from Tony that he hadn't realized Anthony had snuck in. Narrowing his eyes at Tony, he opened the gift. Tony just smiled innocently back. It wasn't often he surprised his lover, but he enjoyed it when he managed to pull it off.
Tony knew his gift for Loki wasn't as perfect as what he'd received from the Asgardian, but he hoped the mage would like it anyway. Most of the gifts Loki acquired weren't really personal. Tony hadn't told anyone about him, after all. They'd just gotten a gift for Tony's plus one and bought items based on who they assumed his plus one would be. Tony and Loki exchanged amused looks over some of them. Similarly, most of Tony's presents fit his persona more than his actual personality, but he appreciated the attempt.
Tony had seen Loki smile softly as he opened Tony's gift. That was a good sign, right? He hoped so, at least. He knew he couldn't expect a true reaction in front of strangers, but it had seemed positive at least. He'd find out for sure when they returned home.
All in all, this Christmas party and gift wrapping experience turned out better than he expected. He did wonder what people were going to do with their meat, alive or dead, and for that matter why Loki had decided to present everyone with meat, but he suspected he was better off not asking.