Frostiron 1.1k, snippet from an abandoned long fic I still like
Tony was trotting to the kitchen, debating whether he should combat his drooping eyelids with another cup of coffee or just surrender to his bed for the night, when a cold breeze stopped him in his tracks. The balcony door stood wide open, allowing the winter air to rush into the room and raise goosebumps on his arms. Frowning, Tony walked over to close it, but when he reached for the handle, he froze.
A dark figure stood outside.
His heart jumped, and all sorts of alarm bells started ringing in his head—until he recognized the head of black hair.
On the very edge of the balcony, half sitting, half leaning against the railing, was Loki. A thick green cape with fur around the collar hung from his shoulders, and Tony had a feeling that if it weren’t for the white snow around him offering such a stark contrast, he might not have noticed him at all.
“You left the door open,” Tony called, stepping into the crunching snow.
Loki turned to look at him, but the darkness obscured his face. “You can close it. I apologize.” Then, he simply turned back around again.
Tony gnawed on his lip. Loki had been part of their team for a little more than two months now, even if it didn’t quite feel like it. They all knew the truth behind the attack on New York—about the mind control and things Loki had endured under Thanos—and still, none of them had forgotten what it had felt like to have fought against him and the army under his command either. The gap between them seemed harder to bridge than anything else, especially since Loki was rather closed off. He kept to himself most of the time, rarely initiating conversations or joining in on their movie nights. If it weren’t for Thor dragging him out of his room, they would probably not see him outside of any official missions at all.
For another moment Tony simply watched Loki’s motionless figure. Then he sighed and walked up next to him.
“Isn’t it a bit too cold to be outside?”
Loki didn’t look at him. “I don’t feel the cold.”
Tony stood in silence and looked down at the god. Snowflakes were catching in his hair, scattered across his dark curls like ornaments on a Christmas tree. His eyes were cast on something far away, glistening against the lights of the city. Tony couldn’t help but think that he looked a little sad.
“Why are you out here?” Loki asked, ripping him out of his thoughts.
Tony cleared his throat, trying not to make it too obvious that he had been staring. “Why are you?”
“Because I couldn’t sleep.”
Tony didn’t quite know what to say to that, so he stayed quiet. After a short moment he sat down next to Loki, even though the cold wind was making him want nothing more than to go back inside.
“None of us hate you, you know,” he said, looking at Loki from the side.
Loki shook his head. “You have every right to.”
Loki turned to him and raised an unimpressed eyebrow.
“It’s just not easy to forget what had happened even if we know that things…weren’t quite as they seemed.”
Loki hummed. “The heart remembers, no matter how much the mind tries to forget.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
Loki rolled his eyes. “Do you follow up every question directed at you with another one?”
“I don’t know.” Tony smirked. “Do I?”
Loki huffed out a laugh. It was the first time in a long while—perhaps even forever—that he had heard a genuine laugh from him. As it ebbed out, only the sound of the falling snow and the distant noises of the city below them filled the air.
“Aren’t you cold?” Loki asked.
“A little.” He was actually freezing. The thin sweater he was wearing wasn’t quite made to withstand the freezing winds, and the snowflakes melting into ice-cold water on his skin weren’t helping either.
Before Tony even knew what was happening, Loki removed the cape from his shoulders and draped it around him instead. It left Loki in a thin tunic that didn’t quite look weather appropriate either.
“I told you already,” Loki interrupted him. “I don’t get cold.”
Tony wrapped the cape a bit tighter around himself. It was a lot warmer than he had expected it to be, and he had a feeling that the cold wind no longer blowing into his face was probably thanks to some sort of enchantment and not just lucky timing either.
Silence settled between them, but just like earlier, it was a comfortable one. Even Tony, who usually filled any pause with a stream of words, remained quiet and let his eyes wander over the city below them. Everything was draped in a layer of white, though the fresh snow would probably turn into grey mud as soon as the city woke up in the morning. Tony blinked away the moisture in his eyes and yawned.
“You’re tired,” Loki stated.
Tony turned to find Loki already watching him. “A little.”
“You should go to sleep then.”
Tony squinted and leaned a little closer. “Will you really?”
Loki sighed. Tony wondered if the fondly exasperated nature with which he did it was how Thor usually got to see his brother. “I promise, I will.”
“You know, Bruce has this awful herbal tea, tastes like wet grass, but it helps me sometimes when I can’t sleep. Don’t tell him I said that, though; he would never shut up about it.”
A small smile twitched at the corner of Loki’s mouth. “I wouldn’t dare.”
Tony stood up. He stretched his tired limbs and revelled in the crack that came from his spine. “Oh, and Loki?”
“If you ever can’t sleep again, come by my workshop sometime,” Tony said with a wink. “I tend to stay up very late anyway, and insomnia is just more fun with friends.”
Loki stared at him. His eyes widened, and for a second Tony wondered if he had overstepped some sort of boundary. But then Loki’s expression softened, and another smile spread across his face. Tony thought he could get used to the sight.
“I will keep that in mind.”
Tony walked back into the tower, and only when he stood in his bedroom did he realize that Loki’s cape was still draped around his shoulders.