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Loki was stirring his coffee aimlessly. He knew he should be over it by now, it had been four months and nothing had even happened - but somehow he still found his mind drifting to Tony. He shouldn't, it wasn't right - but it still happened. Loki had been hired to re-design the Stark home. The house was to be refurbished and he’d been given access to almost the entire mansion. There was only one spot that was excluded and it had taken a week before he found out it was Tony Stark’s lab.
They’d run into each other by accident. Tony had been awake for thirty-eight hours and had almost knocked Loki to the ground after turning a corner. Tony had been making his way to his bedroom to catch up on some sleep while Loki had been making his way to the same room to measure it. Loki had ended up in the middle of an argument as Tony had been oblivious to his wife hiring an interior decorator.
Tony had apologised to Loki later and had admitted he wasn't currently seeing eye-to-eye with his wife. He'd requested to see Loki’s designs and after reviewing them, they'd ended up having a discussion that lasted an hour about different styles of decorating and what Tony would accept and what he wouldn’t. By the end of the second week, he barely saw Mrs Stark as she'd grown bored and left the situation in Tony's hands. Loki got the feeling Tony would have resented that if he didn't seem to enjoy their conversations. Tony was every bit the intelligent man the magazines said he was, and Loki found himself looking forward to time in the other man's company.
Loki wasn’t in the habit of making friends, especially not with his clients. He also wasn’t in the habit of becoming attracted to married men. But it happened.
The feeling was also very obviously mutual. Somehow business meetings became less platonic as each day passed. They found themselves leaning too close and staring intently, breathing each other’s air as their eyes said everything that they wouldn't do.
Neither of them were willing to take the step between attraction and adultery.
Loki cancelled his contract by the second month and with only half the house designed. Mrs Stark hardly seemed to notice he'd left but Tony had received the email directly. The silence had said volumes as Tony was well within in his rights to request his money back for the incomplete job, but he never did.
Loki knew it was ridiculous, he barely knew the man - but the lack of reaction hurt.
Loki had never forged a connection with another person the same way he had with Tony. Men had come and gone from his life, but it had never been like that. Tony had been irresistible and easy; drawing Loki into his orbit with gravity and charm. The tension between them had crackled with the electricity of intelligence and the fire of desire. Loki had wanted more, had wanted to pursue him - but he refused to be the one that snapped apart a marriage, a high profile marriage. Tony was having difficulties with his wife, it was obvious, but he’d also had a reputation before he’d been married and that was of a playboy. Loki wasn’t about to entwine himself in something that would only get discovered and would backlash on them, if it didn't also rip into his heart.
He’d made the right decision, Loki knew he had.
But it had been months and Tony was still sitting heavily on his mind.
Six weeks in someone’s company wasn’t enough to fall in love, but it was enough to form deep, infatuated roots. They’d been talking almost every day towards the end and there had been too many moments when they’d looked at each other with mutual longing. The final straw had found Tony’s forehead leaning against his shoulder, and a soft, resigned whisper, “We’re going to regret something soon.”
Loki had licked his lips, nodded and quit the next day.
A part of him still wished he’d at least kissed Tony, the rest of him knew he’d never have lived with himself if one taste had turned into one night. He kept telling himself he'd done the right thing, but it didn't make him feel any better.
Loki closed his eyes and sighed, counting to ten mentally before pouring out his now useless coffee. He tried to focus on the meeting with his business partner. Clint was supposed to be arriving soon and they would go out for lunch and discuss the expansion of their business. He fervently hoped it would be enough to keep him occupied - but he doubted it.
He was still glad to hear the buzzer on his door sound; anything was better than his morose thoughts. Loki made his way to it and pulled the door open, only to startle back and have his heart pound at who was revealed.
“I tricked your offices,” Tony started quickly. “Or rather, I hacked them for your address. I’m sorry, but I wanted to do this privately. Can I come in?”
“What?” Loki tried, but Tony was already squeezing past him and then shutting the door. The movement left Tony far too close to him; their chests were almost brushing and they both had a hand on the wood - but neither of them were moving away. They just stared at each other. “Why are you-”
“Here?” Tony interjected; he took in a breath, his eyes wavering from Loki’s for a moment before he brought them back. “I filed for divorce three months ago.” Loki’s breath caught and his eyes widened but Tony wasn’t finished. “We weren’t working. We hadn’t been working for a long time and she knew it. She was happy to sign and to keep it private.” He raised his left hand revealing the skin that was free from gold. “I’ve been single for a week. The press find out tomorrow.”
Loki took a moment to just drink the other in; jeans and a band shirt and nothing to depict him as the billionaire he was. He was also nervous, for the first time in their acquaintance, but Loki still kept his murmur cautious - and quiet, "That doesn't answer why you're here."
Tony shot him a smile that was almost timid. “Because I’m hoping you still might like to kiss me?”
“You’ve been divorced a week.”
Tony’s expression and eyes turned firm, the trademark confidence around him in a moment as he assured, “I didn’t do it for you, Loki. It needed to be done long before I met you.” He swallowed. “I was attracted and developed feelings for you, but that’s a separate issues no matter how close the timing might be. I’m here because I'm single and because I want to know if you’re still interested in me too.”
Loki bit his lip, his heart beginning to race. “You’re not married?”
“No.”
Loki started to grin, he couldn’t stop it. “You’re single?”
“Yes," he could see Tony's face filling with excitement and the beginning of hope.
Loki didn't even close his eyes as he leant forward and brushed Tony’s mouth. He felt the other sigh against his lips, but Loki didn’t let them remain connected for long.
“What-” Tony tried but Loki pushed him back and away gently.
“You’ve been divorced a week.”
“I told you-”
“The press will eat us alive,” Loki explained, “if you start dating me so soon after everything.”
Tony tilted up his chin. “We know it didn’t happen. I don’t give a fuck what they’ll say.”
“Tony-”
“No,” Tony reached out and cupped his cheek, smiling softly. “If you want to keep quiet, I will, but I personally don’t care. We can keep it private for as long as you want. I just want a chance to date you, to be with you without this being something sordid. I was never going to let you be an affair to me.”
Loki smiled a little helplessly and let himself be pulled into another kiss.
“Give it a month,” he decided when they pulled apart. “Assuming we’re still interested in one another.”
“The last four months sucked,” Tony told him adamantly. “Not only because I was getting divorced but because I didn’t have you - I didn’t know if you were dating someone or falling in love. It was fucking horrible. So, no, I’m not about to get over you any time soon.”
Loki shook his head, his smile unable to be wiped away even if he kept playing devil’s advocate. “This could all be built up in our minds; the unattainable can be a strong aphrodisiac.”
“Don’t think so,” Tony disagreed, “You’re here in front of me and I still want you more than I ever wanted her.” He winced. “Not the best thing to say considering we got married but-”
Loki just covered Tony’s mouth. It wasn’t a deep kiss, just a slow, gentle exploration before he pulled back. “My associate will be arriving soon. You need to leave but call me and we’ll make a time to talk.”
“Over dinner?” Tony proposed; his eyes and tone making it clear that it would be more than a friendly get together; it would be a date.
“Over dinner,” Loki confirmed and Tony instantly brightened, stealing one more kiss before Loki opened the door and Tony hovered in the hall. His smile was wider than Loki had ever seen it even when they’d been alone and Tony had been laughing. There was a lightness to his shoulders, a youthful exuberance that hadn’t been found in his countenance before.
Loki found himself leaning on his doorframe and staring at his hallway long after Tony had left. It was where Clint found him almost ten minutes later, daydreaming with a besotted smile on his face.
His partner froze and sent him a look that was somewhere between trepidation and confusion. “What the hell happened to you?”
Loki slowly blinked back to his surroundings, noticing Clint but not even trying to wipe the happiness from his expression. “I made the right decision.”
And for the first time in weeks, he was confident of it.