Chapter Text
*story start*
Loki had been sitting quietly on the couch in the living with a book open in his lap and an arm thrown over the head of the couch when Tony walked in, head turned down to examine the slip of mail that had come in. "Looks like our RSVP finally came in." He said as he flopped down next to his boyfriend.
The Asgardian cast a look at Tony, peering at him with enchanting green eyes over thin black frames of glasses. It wasn't that his eyesight was so terrible that he required such a tool. As it were he actually had perfect vision. But ever since Tony expressed that he liked Loki in glasses he took to wearing them on occasion. "RSVP? I'm unfamiliar with the term."
Tony flipped the egg shell white paper in his hands, tracing the gold lining on the thick parchment then handed it over to Loki who used his free hand to hold it in front of his face and examine the dainty cursive announcing in rich gold, 'You're Invited'.
"Respondez, s'il vous plait. Why the hell we use a French term, I don't know but it just means to respond to an invitation to let them know you're going." Loki opened up the flap and inside was a picture of Natasha with an arm wrapped around Pepper's waist and her head resting on her shoulder while Pepper wrapped an arm around Natasha's shoulder, both of them smiling into the camera with a sunset gleam casting beautiful warm colors in the background, and looking for all the world like a happy couple. Tony put a hand over his heart (or the Arc Reactor really) and made a sound like he were looking at newborn puppies. "Aren't they just adorable together?" He leaned back into the soft tan couch, throwing an arm over the top as he grinned cheekily, "They grow up so fast."
Loki rolled his eyes but gave a light smile upon seeing those two strong women happy with one another. "If they were here now to hear your chastising I'm sure you'd have an earful or a maiming."
"Youch. Good thing they're not here then huh? And I'm not chastising, I'm fawning over how cute they are together. They did the same thing to us."
"You mean after the weary and disapproving stares or before?" Loki said flippantly with a smirk.
Tony gave him a light backhanded smack on the shoulder, "To be fair, you did try to conquer Earth. Insane in the membrane or not. Still, once they realized that you were actually a charming megalomaniac instead of an evil one they took to you pretty nicely. I still think I got hit with more of the teasing than you did though. What's up with that?"
"Must be due to your overwhelming sense of charm which draws them to you, Stark." He teased.
"You know me, tongue of gold. Though it doesn't sound nearly as smooth or kickass as Silvertongue. Maybe more like heart of gold?"
"Man of Iron, heart of gold, one would think that that much metal would be over encumbering." Tony barked a laugh and mindlessly ran his hand over Loki's who gave a brief smile in return. "So then, how do we alert the Spider and Ms. Potts that we shall be attending their matrimonial ceremony?"
The human hummed in consideration and took the invitation from the god. He eyed it a few more moments then tossed it on the coffee table in front of them. "We'll just ring them up later. Considering we're in the cool kids circle with them I'm sure they wouldn't mind us skipping over the pleasantries of sending a return. Plus I hate dealing with mail."
"You dislike dealing with a lot of things, dear." Loki shot back sharply.
Tony leaned over Loki, his free hand cupping the god's face while a knee neatly slotted itself between Loki's legs so that he was properly hanging on top of him, looking down into those endless green eyes and perfect skin standing out against the black plastic frames. "Not you, Babe. I can't get enough of you."
OoOoOoOoOo
The very next day, bright and early (okay fine, at like 1 o'clock in the afternoon), Tony got around to phoning Nat and Pepper about the invite. They (meaning Loki and Tony) were lounging about in the kitchen. Tony was fiddling with some circuitry while Loki munched on some pieces of dark chocolate orange.
A StarkPad sat on the island counter between them with Pepper's image in a corner. The sound of a phone ringing emitted from it for eleven rings or so.
"I already told you we don't want the embroidered table cloths!" A familiar female voice said loudly with exasperation in her tone.
A smirk tugged Tony's lips. "Uh, okay, Pep but you still have to put up with the pink doylies."
She gasped, "Oh, Tony, I'm sorry. The planner keeps calling me and asking…uh never mind. Sorry."
"No problem, I get it. Dealing with asshats; not fun but necessary." There was a light huff on the other end. It made him smile. "So, me and Loki are here. Say hi babe."
Loki gave Tony a pointed look and finished chewing another piece before leaning forward a little to the StarkPad, "Good morning, Potts. And how is our clever CEO doing today?"
You could practically hear her smile through the phone. "I'm doing fine, Loki. Thanks for asking. Who knew planning a wedding could be so stressful."
"Aren't you glad you never had to do that for me, Pep?" Tony teased.
"Oh no," She laughed dryly, "don't you remember that time you got drunk in Reno and married that stripper? Dealing with your divorces was bad enough."
The human tapped his chin thoughtfully, "Reno…huh. Was that the one with the bird feathers in her hair?"
"You were married?" Loki asked in surprise.
Tony gave him a sly smile, "Don't worry, sweetheart; it's all in the past. You're the only one for me." He winked.
The god rolled his eyes, "I am more shocked that a man such as you would ever be the wedded type, inebriation aside."
"Aw, really? You'd be surprised how many drunk Elvis weddings I've had." At this Loki looked confused. "It's-"
Tony was about to explain when Pepper cut in, "Not that I don't love becoming a third wheel in your conversations Tony but there was a reason you called, right?"
"Oh, right, sorry Pep." He said apologetically. His raven haired boyfriend took out another piece of orange chocolate from the box and started eating it in a very sexy distracting manner without even realizing he was doing so. "Uh, so, we just wanted to send you back our RSVP to the wedding."
Her voice sounded strained with exasperation and annoyance, "It would be easier on me if you'd just mail it instead of calling me. I'm busy enough as it is with the wedding planning and Stark Industries business."
"That is what I told him." Loki chimed in unhelpfully.
"Loki~" Tony whined. "Ah, come on Pepper. You know we wouldn't miss it for the world. I don't see why we have to RSVP period. Isn't that normally for those awkward distant cousins who only come for the free food?"
An actual laugh sounded from the other line. "It's the principle of the thing, Tony. But alright, thanks for calling and letting me know. I have to get back to work now."
"Ta ta, darling. Give Nat a kiss for me." The engineer teased.
"Ignore him, Potts. He's been rambling nonsense all morning."
Another feminine feathery light laugh. "I know, Loki. Have a good day boys."
"Bye Pep."
The CEO said one more quick and simple bye before hanging up. Silence fell quite easily in the room, a comfortable kind while Tony gathered up the machine pieces he had been fiddling with. He spent a minute taking out tiny screws from the back of a remote. Then his eyes flitted up to look at Loki who was crushing the aluminum from the chocolate into a ball.
"So," He started, resting his hand with the screwdriver on the counter, "do you taste like chocolate now?" His question came with a note of curiosity.
Loki smirked at him.
OoOoOoOoOo
"It has occurred to me," Loki began speaking, glancing up curiously with a tilted head as Tony walked out, hair still dripping a bit from his shower, "that I have not thought to ask what the custom is for being wed on Midgard."
Tony used the towel around his neck to wipe some missed droplets off of his upper arm. He came to sit next to Loki on the bed. His weight sunk in the mattress, causing Loki to let out a sound of disapproving annoyance as some of his scrolls and papers rolled down into his legs. "Depends on the culture." Tony shrugged, putting the towel on his head and trying to scratch out the water from his hair.
"The one that our dear ladies are partaking in." Specified the god.
"Huh," A gruff voice said from under some cottony red material, "I think it's going to be a Christian-Russian sort of wedding. Pretty basic tradionalist stuff from what Nat was telling me. Both the girls don't want anything big. Their loss because I could have so hooked them up with like a big fireworks show, maybe some of the Iron Maidens-"
"Tony." Loki admonished his ramblings.
The engineer took the towel off and looked over at his boyfriend. "Right. Sorry."
"What does a 'Christian Russian' wedding entail exactly?"
Tony grinned cheekily, "Booze, cake and proclamations of love." He looked considerate for a moment. "Probably lots of booze considering Nat's Russian heritage."
Loki smiled in amusement and rolled his eyes. "Sounds very…base."
"Oh yeah, Reindeer Games? What's an Asgard wedding like?"
The god hummed and pretended to give more attention to moving his readings around then his answer. "It depends upon one's social standing. For the nobility it is a grand affair full of social opportunities and political advancement. The high priest of our temples is present and casts blessings upon the couple. For the common folk it is a village affair treated much like a festival. It is common for multiple pairings to be wed at once, during times of harvest so that all may celebrate and partake in a time of fertility and good health."
"Ah that's…sort of what I was expecting I guess considering Asgard's monarchy nature. I think I'd prefer a village wedding over a noble one though. Something about all the pomp and fuss of entitled people is very unappealing."
A pleased smile wormed its way on Loki's face, a warm feeling of giddiness spreading up through his chest. "Are you not one of those entitled people yourself, Stark?" He said instead of saying what he really wanted to.
Tony gave him a light shove. "Hey, takes one to know one, princess. And if you haven't figured it out by now neither of us is exactly on par with the normal caviar eating pretentious bastards of high society. Of course, that's not to say that we're both not bastards. Because we are, really. Just at least we acknowledge our bastardry."
Loki snorted. Well, he couldn't disagree with any of that. He got up from the bed, receiving a questioning look from Tony as he came to stand in front of him. "It shall be if not fun, an interesting learning experience to attend one of your mortal weddings."
The engineer wrapped his hands around the god's waist, easily pulling him in a little bit. "Yeah and I got the hottest date. I just hope everyone doesn't die of jealousy. Those brides maids got nothing on you, babe."
He lightly rolled his eyes once more. Still, a pleased feeling bloomed in his chest. Happy mischief lit in his eyes for a second before he smiled softly and slowly leaned his face closer to Tony's. "Anthony." He purred. The human smiled back and closed his eyes in anticipation of a kiss. That was the moment when Loki took the towel from his mortal's shoulders and scrubbed with a vengeance at the wet brown locks.
"Ow. Haha, bastard."
OoOoOoOoOo
"You should have seen his face." Bruce said with a light amused smile on his face and a furrow on his brow.
"Seriously? I can picture it in my head right now. All 'kicked puppy-ish'." Tony snickered while fiddling with the mechanics on one of his Iron Man suit boots. "I'm sure Loki is going to be happy when he finds out. I know those two have a sort of truce going on right now but I still get cuffed every time I try to talk to him about his brother issues."
Bruce gave a shrug, his hands held between his legs as they dangled off of the table he was sitting on. "Yeah well, at least things are better than they were two years ago. It's something. They just need more time. I almost wish Thor wasn't busy in Asgard so that he and Loki could have some more bonding time. That's what they need more than anything. Time and talking."
"True. Hey, I'm with you on that one Brucie, completely agree. But that's between those two to figure out so nothing we could really do about it." The biologist gave a sort of shrug nod in assent. "Is Jane going? I'd love to pick her brain again." He made grabby hands then picked up his tools again.
"No, she's busy too. Something in England, I think?" Bruce rubbed the back of his neck.
Tony got absorbed in his work for a full fifteen minutes before realizing he hadn't replied back. "Oh! England, sounds fun. Shame though. A super spy wedding in Central Park only happens once every millennia you know?"
The other man snorted softly. "I would hate to see what kind of wedding you and Loki would concoct for yourselves."
The engineer grinned stupidly and Bruce knew he walked into that one as he got two hours of ridiculous gaudy ideas for a wedding fit for two egotistical gods.
OoOoOoOoOo
"Stop fiddling with it." Loki swatted Tony's hand away for the umpteenth time.
The other man's hand twitched in objection, wanting to reach up and mess with the tie but not wanting to endure more of Loki's wrath. "It's too tight; it's chafing my neck worse than a greaser's leather pants."
"The things that come out of your mouth, Stark." A tiny smile tugged at the corners of Loki's mouth.
"More like the things that go in it." Tony smiled wickedly and chuckled, receiving a knock upside the head. "Ow."
"Now if you would cease running that incessant mouth of yours we might be able to move things along quicker."
"Is that the polite way of telling me to shut up?" Loki gave a slightly harsh tug on the red tie causing Tony to give a small gag but at least he stopped talking while he finished fixing the accessory so that it didn't look like a five year old had dressed him.
Once he was finished he moved his hands to Tony's shoulders and observed his work. "There, finished." Tony moved his hands up to mess with it again but Loki's hands had wrapped around his before they could reach it. "Stop toying with it, dear. You're going to ruin it again."
Tony pouted which Loki found both amusingly adorable and endearingly annoying. "Do I seriously have to wear this? It's cutting off my airway and I'm pretty sure the suit would look just as well without it. In fact, I could be making a fashion statement right now."
Loki, who's hands still encased Tony's, moved his hands down between the both of them, not letting go quite yet in case the engineer's idle hands got the better of him. He gave him a chastising look. "And what statement would that be?"
"That I'm too cool for a tie. Besides, no one's really going to care if I wear one-"
"I beg your pardon, Sir." JARVIS' voice interrupted politely, "But I believe Ms. Potts has made it clear that you are required to wear a tie. Shall I replay the recording of your agreement to this?"
Tony glowered at the ceiling. "No."
"Play it, JARVIS." Loki suddenly chimed, smiling at the glare sent his way in return.
Pepper's voice came over the speakers sounding annoyed and determined with no room for argument, "It's a wedding, Tony! Of course you have to wear a tie. You better be sure to wear one or I swear to all that is holy I will make JARVIS lock you out of your workshop for a month."
Then his annoyed voice responded with something like, "Fine, fine, fine, I'll wear the stupid tie." And he mumbled something obscene under his breath that had gotten him in deeper trouble.
The recording stopped and Tony looked rather sullen. Loki squeezed his hands firmly before letting them go and meeting those soft brown eyes with his own emerald green. "Do not look at me that way, Stark."
"What way?" He grumbled, toying with his cuff links instead of his tie.
Loki gave a slight tilt of his head. He didn't answer the question and instead pointed out, "You look rather fetching in that ensemble. Perhaps you should wear such formal clothing more often."
Interest and mischief gleamed in Tony's gaze as he flicked it up to Loki, "Oh really?" He gave the Asgardian a once over, raking appreciating eyes up and down a lean body framed perfectly by a black suit with a white undershirt and a green silk tie which brought out the color in the god's eyes. When he brought up his eyes back to the starting point there was a coy smirk on his face. "You don't look half bad yourself."
A sly grin broke on Loki's face. He reached out and yanked on Tony's tie (pulling a surprised gasp from the other man) and slammed their lips together. He kissed Tony thoroughly and to the edge of breathlessness then released him and straightened his tie one more time before walking to the door and simply casting a look over his shoulder. "We should leave now. Ms. Romanov would not appreciate us being late on her special day."
Tony gave a dramatic groan. "Oh, that was totally unfair just then. You can't do that to me and then walk away. Bastard."
A pleased grin of torment spread on the god's face and he left the room. The human flailed a couple more moments before yanking at his tie and running after Loki. "I am so getting him back for that tonight."
OoOoOoOoOoOo
"How many?"
Natasha looked up at Tony who was leaning against the table a foot away from where she was toying with the tabletop decorations trying to arrange them the way she wanted. The assassin followed his gaze across the way to where Pepper and Loki were talking to one another. Her concentration returned back to arranging things. "How many what?"
He leaned conspirationally towards her, "How many weapons do you have in your dress?"
She considered his question then smiled wickedly, "That's for me to know and for you to never find out."
"I know you, Ms. Romanov." Tony wagged his finger at her knowingly, "and you have to have at least three weapons on you at all times."
"Just remember that that's the number you guessed." She aligned a candle perfectly in the middle of an amber place mat.
"Loki always has his knives on him. I can't tell you how many times I almost sliced my fingers off in the heat of the moment trying to get him out of his clothes." An amused smile secretly made its way onto Natasha's face. She used her exceptional need for precision to line up the plates and napkins perfectly.
Tony continued on in a light tone. "Anyway, I know you and Clint are super ninja spies ready for anything. Bruce is apparently always mad but that's hard to believe when he's with boy toy Legolas, so he's ready to give beat downs at a moment's notice. Me, I'm a paranoid bastard so I brought these babies." He jangled his wrists, showing the silver bracelets that could call his Iron Man suit forth, and then he crossed his arms over his chest. "Of course Loki is always prepared too. So there's that. Just don't ask me where Cap is hiding his shield." Tony winked.
Natasha laughed, some of the tension easing out of her body. She hadn't realized how high strung she was until Tony came to reassure her. "Thank you, Tony."
"'Course. Today's your big day. If any of the big bads come wedding crashing we'll be here to give them a pre-honey moon ass kicking. Not that I think any of the villains are stupid enough to cross Pepper on her day."
A smile spread across her face as she looked over to Pepper, speaking animatedly to the waiter by the buffet table. "I feel sorry for anyone who tries to crash this wedding."
"Me too." Tony said as his eyes met Loki's and the other man sent a grin his way.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
Loki glared a bit at the waiter boy who was making things difficult for Pepper. Not only was he being terribly unprofessional and putting a strain on a good friend of his but the boy had just an awful attitude. The servants of Asgard would never dare show such blatant disregard to those they worked for. A grin of mischief bloomed on his face as he whispered a light incantation and waved his hand towards the disobedient waiter. Now whenever that ungrateful curd was asked of something by anyone he would cluck like a chicken.
A pleased grin rested smugly on his face as he came to hold his hands behind his back and simply wait for Ms. Potts to return to him.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
Loki was off to the side of the elaborate white archway where the brides would stand, looking as regal as ever but anyone who knew him would be able to see the slight nervousness in his tense stance and green eyes. Beside him was Maria Hill dressed in a beautiful green dress lined with gold. Tony thought they both looked gorgeous if not a little out of place at such a normal event as a wedding. He found himself on the other side, standing next to a fresh looking Bruce in a similar tux to his own except the man wore a black blazer over a red undershirt instead of the standard black over white.
People were piling in to take their seats as the wedding was to begin soon. Meanwhile the Bride's maids (yes that technically included everyone standing up near the archway) chatted amongst each other just as those taking their seats in the standard white fold up chairs lined before them. Loki asked questions of Hill about more human customs and what was proper and improper at a mortal wedding. Hill gave answers a little uncertainly but explained all that she knew.
Tony was chatting away happily with Bruce, pleased to see the man after an extended period of absence. What with everyone so busy handling their own villainous groups or people there's been no need to 'Assemble' the Avengers. Something clicked for him though as he looked around (smirking to see Fury in a tux sitting in the front row corner looking sullen). "Hey, where's Clint? I could've sworn I saw him earlier." His eyes skimmed familiar and new faces alike in the rather small crowd of attendees.
Bruce smiled a little, looking rather knowing, "He's probably changing. Don't worry, he'll show up soon enough."
The engineer gave him a look. Two minutes later Clint was marching down the aisle in a priest's outfit with a bible under his arm. He came to stand right under the archway with the rather blank face he often wore.
"Whoa! Okay, Clint, buddy please don't tell me you murdered a priest to get that outfit. Now is seriously not the time to try new disguises."
Bruce just smiled up at Clint who returned it easily before said assassin turned his gaze to Tony with a cheeky little smirk. "Don't be ridiculous, Tony. It's not a disguise if I'm a real priest."
"Seriously?" Tony lifted a brow. "You? A priest? Since when?"
Clint shrugged. "A job in Rome about six years ago. Had to get into the Vatican but that's all I can tell you."
Tony cast a questioning look to Bruce that said 'Can you believe this guy?' to which the other man only shrugged a little sheepishly. "Learn something new every day, right?" He said, still a bit surprised. "Just don't expect me to start calling you Father."
The assassin huffed a short laugh. "Whatever man. I wouldn't be doing this if Natasha didn't ask me to." Clint moved like he was going to pull at the white collar around his neck but aborted the movement a third of the way there.
"You look nice." Bruce told him garnering a surprised smile from Clint.
Tony was just glad that the wedding was finally starting now this way he didn't have to hear their sexy talk exchange. He gave the biologist a light pat on the shoulder telling him, "Looks like I better go get Pepper now. See ya guys." He received a nod before he went off to the enclosed tent all the way on the right of the main event.
"Knock knock." He called.
"Tony? Come in!" Pepper's voice sounded a little stuffy which worried him. Tony lifted the flap and went inside to find Pepper in a beautiful white dress that had red showing under folds of the white material across her chest and lines of it showing on the cascading part of the dress flowing over her legs. Her hair was done up in a 'messy bun' sort of thing with strands purposefully left to frame her face. There was a beautiful ruby and silver pin pushed up in the back standing out from her strawberry blonde hair.
Tony felt a pang in his heart seeing her cheeks a little puffy from crying as she sat on a thick comfy cushion in front of a vanity. He rushed over to kneel next to her, "Hey! Pep, what's the matter? You okay? What's wrong?"
A small smile pulled at her lips with a light giggle escaping her. She wiped at her eyes, careful to not mess up her makeup. "I'm fine, Tony, I'm fine. I just…got a little overwhelmed is all."
He brushed a thumb across her cheek, just under her left eye. "Are you sure?" Was she having doubts? "You're not going to pull a runaway bride are you?"
She laughed louder than the previous one. "No, haha. It's just that…" Pepper pulled Tony's hand down from her face to hold it in her lap, looking into his rich brown eyes, "This is it. I'm getting married. I never thought…" Understanding lit up in Tony. Pepper shook her head, "I never saw myself getting married. Especially with me committing so much of myself to Stark Industries. It would have been you, you know? If you asked. I would have said yes."
Tony smiled softly at her. "I know. That's why I didn't ask. Which it's a good thing I didn't because by now you would have gone batshit crazy putting up with me." He laughed.
Pepper squeezed his hand. "Loki's good for you."
"Yeah."
"And you're good for him."
He stood up, pulling her to her feet as well, extending an arm for her to take. "Come on, today's your day. Let's get you out there before Nat decides to hunt us both down."
Pepper giggled again, "Oh! My makeup."
"It's fine, Pep. You look beautiful." She meaningfully looked up at him. They moved to exit the tent; heading towards the starting point of the aisle where a red carpet was spread out between the sets of chairs leading up to the archway. "God, I feel like some old guy. I can't believe you're making me give you away."
"Thank you, Tony. For everything."
"You deserve it Pepper. You deserve her." Tony said as Natasha approached arm in arm with Nick Fury to stand next to the both of them. The black widow was dressed to kill (in her gorgeous looks that is). She wore a spindly black dress -with emerald green shoulder strips and stitching weaved in- reaching her knees and green heels with little black bows at the edge near her toes. Her hair was nothing as extravagant as Pepper's; it simply hung loose with all her natural curls and he had to admit that she looked as beautiful as when he first met her.
Her and Pepper shared a look, mystified, worried, disbelieving and just loving. Then the music began playing and Tony and Nick escorted their dear ladies both down the aisle, everyone in their seats watching with rapt attention.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
"That song that was playing during the wedding." Loki was looking at Tony who cast him a glance from the corner of his eyes in return. Clint was up there giving his 'best man's speech' because the engineer had just finished giving his. He had quick changed back into his own more comfortable suit somehow in only two minutes. Freaking super spies
"Here Comes the Bride?" Tony guessed.
The god leaned both closer to Tony and back in his seat, "Yes. I recall where I've heard it from now."
"You've been to an Earth wedding before?"
"No but I have been to Earth plays. I've heard that song performed in a Danish musical sometime in the year 1680."
It always threw Tony off to be reminded how much older his boyfriend was than him. He locked a curious gaze on Loki. "Oh really? That's pretty interesting. Was it a good play?"
"The play was about mass murder." Loki said so easily and simply as though talking about the weather.
Tony's eyes bugged a bit in shock and he felt a new newfound perspective on the once innocent bride song that he's heard hundreds of times before. He laughed a bit awkwardly, "That's nice, Loki." The god smiled smartly at him in return making the human shake his head.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
"So Tony," Bruce began as his laughter died down from a group joke going on between all of the Avengers, "when are you and Loki going to get hitched?"
Tony finished swallowing his wine and said, "When are you and Clint?"
The biologist lifted his drink in a lone toast, "Touché."
"I was wondering the same thing." Steve said after leaning forward to put his half full glass on the table. "It's been two years right? Since you two got together. Any marriage plans in your future?"
Tony and Loki shared an amused look, snorting and chuckling. Steve looked a little put off by their amusement.
Loki tilted his head, "Do you really think that Tony and I are the marrying type, Captain?"
"Anyone is the marrying type if they find the right person."
"Sorry to break it to you, Cap." Tony interrupted, "but not everyone gets married when they love each other. Me and Loki got a good thing going on. Why label and twist it up in getting married?"
Pepper looked amused, "I think you and Loki should get married."
"Wha? You too, Pep?"
"Aw come on, Tony!" Clint grinned, "You're telling us that you've never thought of popping the question to sparkles over there?"
Loki glared with no heat in it at the archer. "Actually, he has proposed on numerous occasions."
This shocked everyone at the table. Tony looked a bit embarrassed. Bruce was the first to break the pause in conversation by shifting in his seat and asking in a neutral voice, "Why do you keep saying no?"
"Because he continues to ask me when he is drunk off his feet." Everyone cracked a laugh at that.
Tony rolled his eyes, leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. Pepper who was sitting right next to him gave a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Tony's always been a bit of an emotional drunk." She defended.
"Why don't you propose, Loki?" Natasha asked him.
The god looked over at her, a thoughtful gleam in his eyes as if he were considering how to phrase what he wanted to say. "Because I do not know what that would entail. Marriage changes people and I see no reason in disturbing a good thing. Tony and I are happy with what we have now; it is enough."
Tony nodded his head along with what Loki was saying. "More like the only reason we can't get married is because Loki doesn't want to take my last name." He teased.
"That is another reason." Agreed the god.
"What's wrong with Stark?" Steve asked.
Tony smiled mischievously at his boyfriend, "Yeah, what's wrong with Stark?"
"There is nothing wrong with the name Stark." Loki sighed like he's said it a million times. "I just do not wish to bind my individuality through another person's by taking up their surname. It is a possessive tradition that has already failed me numerous times and I already have enough names to my person without adding another. With that said, I am me and my name is what it is."
The engineer picked a piece of cheese off of his plate and popped it into his mouth, "Yeah, I can't take Loki's last name because he has too many. It'd be like taking up a Mexican last name." Different conversations burst out around the table.
Loki eventually turned to Tony and said slyly, "Anthony Stark Silvertongue Liesmith, my but that is a mouthful."
Tony gently patted his hand, "Just Tony is fine, dear."
OoOoOoOoOoOo
"Hey there, Beautiful."
Loki looked up from his glass of wine to meet the warm brown eyes of Tony Stark. His face was practically glowing with warmth and affection. It sent a wave of warmth through him even as he returned a light teasing smile the human's way. "The great Tony Stark, to what do I owe the pleasure?"
"You can owe me the pleasure, babe." Loki laughed softly in disbelief at the ridiculous gall that his partner somehow always managed to have. Tony's smile widened and he held out his hand invitingly. "Would you do me the honors, Loki of Midgard to have this dance with me?"
"So long as your two left feet do not make a joke of both of us I do not see why not." A pale thin hand slid easily into a thicker calloused one, allowing him to be pulled up and led to the scarce dance floor.
Soft instrumental music was playing, a violin and piano. There were four other couples on the floor with them. Pepper with her head on Nat's shoulder as they sleepily rocked back and forth. Steve whose face was tinged red; stuck dancing with a tiny old woman who kept copping a feel. Another middle aged man and woman who Tony couldn't remember for the life of him and last but not least Clint dancing closely with Bruce while he sang soft lyrics into his ear that made the other man giggle from time to time.
The pair had made their way to the middle of the floor (of course because they were both arrogant show boats and that's the only spot that they would accept). Tony laid a hand on Loki's lower back, pulling him a little more into his body, while he held his other hand up for Loki to hold. The god put one of his own hands on to his mortal's shoulder while gently laying the other in Tony's which seemed to lock around his without pretense. He took the lead in moving them, looking over at the band then back up into green eyes. "I'll have you know I'm an excellent dancer. Great, in fact. Just ask Pepper's cousin Sharol. I was her date at Pepper's cousin's wedding."
"Would she happen to be at this wedding?"
"Oh yeah," the human nodded his head in Steve's direction, "Miss Lucy Lu over there groping our dear captain."
Loki's eyes landed on the pair and he gave an undignified snort when he saw the old lady resting her head against Roger's chest, her eyes closed as a hand rubbed his butt. Steve's expression was priceless. He gave Tony an incredulous, amused look. "And did this Sharol have…as familiar a dance with you as she is having with the Captain?"
"Everybody wants a piece of me." Tony leaned up and lightly bit Loki's nose.
"Yes dear, whatever you say." He smiled winningly at Tony just to tease him. Having enough of that, Loki moved the hand on Tony's shoulder to his waist, moving his other one under the hand that had previously been beneath his and he began to take the lead in the dance. The mortal let him do so without complaint. When they were moving the way that he wanted, slow and with a rhythm he snaked his arm fully around the other man's waist and pulled him closer. Their positions changed; Loki brought both hands to Tony's waist while Tony placed his on Loki's shoulders.
They were still dancing right into the next song even after Steve had managed to quit the field and even after Natasha dragged a sleepy Pepper to their table and Clint and Bruce stumbled over each other to get away somewhere.
Neither of them were the type to remain quiet for long but somehow between the two they didn't feel the pressing need to break the quiet between them. The music and the movements of their bodies were enough for the most part.
"I retract my statement from earlier." Loki said while looking over at the sets of tables where guests still lingered.
"Hmm?" Tony mumbled sleepily, raising his head from Loki's shoulder which he had sort of been using as a pillow.
A soft smile graced Loki's lips looking back down at the glazed expression on his boyfriend's face. His head turned to examine the band. They must be getting tired as well. "You are not a bad dancer."
"Oh, thanks Lokes." He yawned. "You're pretty good too. Although I don't think our glorified rocking back and forth is considered dancing." He smiled at the statement and spun Tony around, waking him up with the unprecedented quick movement. "Whoa!"
Loki laughed and brought him back into his chest and maintained a livelier pace then the groggy one they had been going at. "Better?" He asked.
"Warning please." Tony complained but kept pace nonetheless, life alight in his brown eyes.
"And take away the fun? I wouldn't dare."
The engineer snickered, "Yeah yeah." Then he dipped Loki. "You're lucky I'm a gentleman. Otherwise I'd drop you."
"You wouldn't dare." Loki said in a concentrated tone as he brought a hand up to the other man's bearded cheek.
"No," He agreed easily, face brimming with that same warm affection from earlier, "I wouldn't." Their faces drew together in a sensual kiss.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
"Hey guys, it's getting pretty late; me and Loki are gonna head home now." Tony said while walking up to the table everyone was seated at. Everyone including Pepper, Natasha, Fury, and Steve because apparently Legolas and Green snuck off somewhere. Hill left some time ago and while there was still a good number of people lumbering about it was getting to that point where everyone was ready to call it a day.
Even poor Pepper was passed out, still in her wedding dress with drool coming out of her mouth and leaking on to the tablecloth. Natasha was gently brushing back her hair when he had approached. It was definitely a sight to smile at.
Fury narrowed his one eye, "Where is your crazy boy toy, Stark?"
Natasha gave him a reproachful look but Tony only shrugged, "Believe it or not Cyclops but Loki is a prince and is actually quite the gentleman. He's getting our coats." He dug his hands into his pockets and looked over to Natasha, "How is she doing?'
The assassin looked down at her wife with a light smile of amusement then back at Tony with something of a blank expression and eyes burning with emotion. "She's fine, just tired. It's been a long day. And Mr. God of Mischief didn't help any." Her gaze slid off to the side, everyone following where she was looking to find Loki sidling up next to the billionaire.
"You have no proof that the cake incident was because of me." He replied smoothly, handing Tony his overcoat with a thinly veiled look of satisfaction. "Nor the bouquet toss."
"But you did fix that clucking caterer right?" Tony asked him while putting his arm through a sleeve.
Loki rolled his eyes, "Yes, yes, that brainless twit is back to normal. Although I believe the clucking was an improvement considering it highlighted his glowing personality so well." Sarcasm rolled elegantly inside his tone and everyone was reminded of why they didn't want to mess with Loki.
Natasha just gave him a smile. "Thank you. You boys have a good night."
"Don't get into any more trouble." Fury grumbled in what could have been a joking tone but knowing him he was probably 70 percent serious….actually fully serious considering he was talking to Tony and Loki of all people.
"No promises." Tony said the same time Loki said, "I promise nothing." They both grinned at each other.
"Hey, I'll call Pepper tomorrow, alright? There's still the cleaning crew who will come at midnight to take care of the mess so you guys don't have to worry about any of that. Just head home when you're done here."
"Yeah, I'm going to be waking her up in a few more minutes here. I think it's time for everyone to call it a night." Natasha replied. "But thank you both so much for coming. I know it means a lot to Pepper that you gave her away."
Tony just gave a light jerk of his head, "Nah, no big deal. I'm more surprised you both let someone give you away."
Black Widow grinned over at Fury who just hmphed and crossed his arms with a contradicting proud look on his face.
"You don't have to wake Pepper up," Steve interjected, drawing the attention to himself, "I can help carry her to your guys' apartment if you want. Fury, you mind carpooling all of us?"
"What do I look like, a taxi service?"
"A pirate one, yes." Tony replied garnering a glare.
Loki slipped his hand into Tony's, "Come Tony, let us be off."
"Yeah okay. Night everyone. Best wishes, sweet dreams, yatta yatta." He allowed himself to be pulled away with muttered goodbyes dying in his ears as the distance increased.
When they were buckled up in Tony's car (with Tony in the driver's seat of course), he started up the engine and paused to look over at his boyfriend who looked damn sexy with some street lights pouring over him. "You know what? There is one wedding tradition that I forgot to mention."
"Hmm? What is that?" Loki asked with a vague curiosity.
Tony smirked at him, "You always get laid at a wedding." He put the car in drive and pulled away from the curb.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
Tony lay on top of Loki, the god of mischief’s arm wrapped over his back and long fingers nonsensically stroking a bare shoulder. The comforter was pulled up only slightly past their waists, which was fine as they were still relatively cooling off.
“I think I enjoy these midgard weddings.” Loki said after a long comfortable silence.
The engineer had been idly messing with a gold band on a black enchanted chain around his neck. It had a stripe of glowing green through the middle and an Asgardian inscription on the inside ring. He was pleased to see it resting on Loki’s chest next to the god’s matching band. He looked up from the rings, catching sight mostly of a pointed chin and strong nose.
“Yeah? You think it might be something you’d want to do?”
Loki tilted his head down so that Tony could see those sharp green eyes in the dim lighting of the room. He touched Tony’s ring with his free hand and an affectionate, possessive smile graced his face. “Perhaps someday. For now, I am content with our own ritual and consummation. And you?”
“Well, I personally love the magical Asgardian wedding ring you gave me. Which, it’s still cool that I’m studying this thing right? I don’t want to accidentally break it or anything.”
The god moved the hand on Tony’s shoulder up to his hair where he carded his fingers through the brown locks. “I take it as a challenge that you think it possible to break my creation. Although, it is…nice that you think to treat it preciously.”
“Science is the love of my life.” Tony leaned up and cupped Loki’s jaw, pressing a light kiss to his chin. “You, however, are my everything. The way I see it, you’re stuck with me forever, so you better get used to it.”
He kissed Loki with loving presses of his lips, no tongue. Loki returned it, pulling the mortal more fully on top of himself, enjoying the feel of warm weight and skin. Tony was like a furnace that dispelled the dark and cold from within him.