i have no fucking clue how "threatening your lover with a knife" fits into intimate prompts for slow burn relationship, but it definitely does sound like frostiron lol
"Loki, don't." Tony raised his arm with the charged repulsor, aiming at Loki. His heart was beating fast, too fast almost for his arc reactor to get him through this experience.
There was something to be said about seeing your— what, exactly? Lover of a day, maybe, yes— stroll into the Science Building, people cowering and running away in fear, and threatening one with a knife.
"Don't stand in my way, Anthony." Loki’s voice was unwavering, his eyebrows pinched. "You know why I need to do this."
They had yelled at each other, ugly and horribly as Loki had learned of the horrible news and that just when Loki had... become an honourable member of the Team.
Tony smiled bitterly. The was truth to Loki's words, his wish for revenge relatable but not if it cost that much. And Tony wouldn't be able to go to bed soundly every night would he let Loki pass.
"I know that she was your mother, Loki—"
"Then you know why I must do this—"
Tony shook his head. "I can't let you kill an innocent woman, I can't. Even if she's the reason why your mother is dead—"
Loki snarled. Ugly, loud and pressed forward, the blade cold against Tony's throat. He could feel it nicking him just slightly, trembling briefly before Loki took control of it again.
"If you stand in my way—" The composure in Loki's face crumbled, a vulnerable sheen appeared in his eyes instead, desperate to do something which would help him to alleviate the pain he was feeling.
"I don't want to but I will hurt you to get to her," Loki threatened in a whisper. "Only because I shared your bed does that not mean you are excempt from—"
"From what? Your rage? Your hurt?" Tony bit on his lips, lying a hand against Loki's shoulder pad. He was shaking, despite what he wanted to tell Tony, Loki was not as calm and confident as he wanted everyone to see.
"I know," Tony added as he tried to lean back just so the blade wasn't going to dig deeper into his skin. There was a tomorrow he would love to see—
"And yet, you stand here and don't step aside." There was a note of finality in Loki's voice. "You would deny me my revenge?"
"Between you and my conscience? I'd prefer not to add to my pile of nightmares." He found Loki’s eyes, his hand slowly moving to the side to touch him at the neck like he often saw Thor doing it to him before.
"Your mum knew what she was doing when she protected Jane. Don't you think that by going after her, you undo her sacrifice?" Tony squeezed the cold porcelain skin, strands of hair trapped in between his fingers. It was his anchor as he feared that Loki was going to slit his throat any second.
He hoped that Jane was fleeing or had informed Thor of what was going on. Not that he'd strike down Loki, Tony didn't want to lose Loki like that not when there was still a sliver of hope but to take her away from this place.
"You know better better than that, Loki," Tony implored and let the repulsor die out.
With hold breath, he waited for his almost inevitable fate.
A broken sob told him otherwise. The blade dropped to the ground with a loud clang.
"She's dead—" Loki sobbed, an arm around his middle as if he couldn't stand upright anymore otherwise.
"I know," Tony gently told him, pulling the Trickster in close. "I know."
Falling in love has never been difficult for Tony. In fact, his heart falls for someone every single day, in different ways. Some of his loves leave him when the moment has passed, some stay for a few hours, some leave him letters, some make him want to cry when he watches Breakfast Club because memories are choking him up.
Some people who he gifts pieces of his heart to, end up staying with him for a long time, some are still with him, and some end up crushing his heart in their palms.
There is Rhodey, who has taken care of his heart since the day they bonded over jumping over fences, drunk while doing so. Tony loves him and when he's dying of palladium poisoning, he hopes nobody hears him crying on the inside as he stares at Rhodey and wishes him only the best in life.
Pepper, who barreled into his life like a storm, took a look at him and said she thought CEOs were prettier. Tony had a migraine that day and hadn't washed his hair in three days or a full week. Pepper has everything in hand, and his heart safely stored away in her tea cabinet that she hoards like a dragon.
Tony didn't bat an eyelid when Happy told him he needed to get his ass in shape if he didn't want to die when he was hiring a bodyguard. His heart batted loudly when Happy recognised his Hot Rod though, the car that would later become his Mark III. Happy is a walking vessel for sunshine and Tony loves him dearly, although he can't agree on his favourite choice of tv-shows.
Jarvis and JARVIS, who are the same and yet, aren't, but Tony loves them dearly and having at least one of them in his life helps making up for the loss of the other.
Tony didn't know how to tell the avengers that he loves them too when they dropped their bags at the door to his heart and he let them in, so he decides to make the Tower to their base for their new, extended family. He hopes they see it for what it is, especially since Tony keeps buying toasters since Thor had issues with them.
But here is the thing: since it is so easy for Tony to fall in love, and that always rather quickly, he isn't sure what to make of Loki. He doesn't love him the moment he lays his eyes on him but that also has to do with Loki going bananas on the city Tony loves.
Yet, he is decent, only an asshole every second hour of the day and Loki looks at him like he's the most fascinating specimen of a vegetable he's ever seen on his dinner plate and Tony decides that this is not enough. If anything, then he's at least a mushroom, either here to feed you or to poison you.
Perhaps Natasha's love for poison is rubbing off on him but Tony stares into Loki’s green eyes, and thinks, that perhaps it is him who's gotten poisoned. Then he takes a swing of his whiskey and detoxifies himself with it, swallows some salt and tells Clint to shock him.
Clint does so by telling him he can't stand the tenth doctor. Tony calls him Donna for at least a month, but he no longer believes Loki is poisoning him actively.
However Thor looks at him and tells him he's a buffoon and Tony retorts by saying Loki is a ferret, and he's off the hook as Loki decides to be a snake at the breakfast table.
Tony ignores how much he's fascinated by the sudden shape-shifting and feeds Loki bacon from his finger because how often do you have a pet snake in your house? For that comment alone, Loki bites him and Tony hopes it's poisonous because that means he can finally shift the blame onto Loki for feeling all warm when he sees him clamped around his finger as if he wants to swallow him whole.
There's a battle and Tony plays frisbee with Cap, they exchange meaningful glances then the shield sails through the air, Tony fires, and a dozen of doombots are taken care of. They work wonderfully in a tandem if they put their mind to it but sometimes Tony believes, that Steve and him need to get out of each other’s hair for a few hours before they can chill together for movie night because anything else would mean they're taking their co-captain duties far too serious and nobody likes party poopers.
Especially not Loki, the great jester himself. His hair smells warm and his tunic looks so inviting that Tony wants to touch it but that would be weird. Although he's sitting all sudden next to Loki, he doesn't know how, and they're sharing a bucket of popcorn together.
Finger brushes aren't romantic, neither is the sound of your neighbour's chewing, but Loki’s cheekbones look dashing in the blue light and the smile curling on his thin lips makes Tony want to kiss both.
It isn't fair, he thinks as he puts an arm over Loki’s shoulders and feels content at the contact. But perhaps it isn't, perhaps he isn't meant to know why he loves some people, some more than others and he smiles when Loki turns his head around to him and winks.
Then, Thor is retching, Steve is patting his back, Natasha steals their popcorn and Clint tells Thor to breathe although he's not pregnant, just sick, but Clint doesn't like the tenth doctor, so all hope is lost anyway.
Loki is grinning, delighted by his own mischief, and Tony pulls him up from the couch and they go out to the balcony, laughing softly. It isn't nice to laugh over Thor's pain but Loki did it because Thor has been waggling his eyebrows at them for the entire movie, and enough is enough at some point.
Tony finds himself agreeing. He is kissing Loki's poison from his lips and thinks, this is how falling in love feels like.
8. “we used to be happy.” with winterfrostiron if the inspiration strikes, mayhaps? again, full permission to make it as painful as you want it to :)
TW: MCD :D
Bucky thinks he’s numb, and only that. There is no room for anything else for him, there are two giant voids already occupying what moves him and they’re sucking him dry. He’s glad for that, he really is, because it means he can avoid thinking.
Feeling.
He doesn’t want to feel. Not right now, preferably not again if he can get a word with life and how it keeps puling one over him, starting from the fall from the train all those decades ago—
The sunshine is tickling on his face, he feels the warmth on his cheeks, soft and feathery. It’s much alike a teasing from Loki, his chaotic nature so refreshing in face of what Bucky has seen in his old days. It never failed to make him crave more, chase it until he got it – until he got to kiss the coldness, feel it on his lips and buried his hands in soft and dark locks, and turned into warmth.
There’s a breeze, playing with his hair that’s got so long that Bucky wants to cut it off – but he remembers all too fondly Tony’s delight at its length. More for him to play with, more for him to braid, to pull, to card his fingers through. Touches that Bucky misses.
He is– a lot has happened within a few days. Before Thanos snapped his fingers, Bucky used to believe – prayed – that his lovers were safe even with Tony busy and taking care of his spiderling, and Loki helping Thor out in space. They were chaotic, reckless, but so was Bucky but somehow—
He is the only one of them left here, something went wrong catastrophically, and Bucky doesn’t know how he could assume they were safe in this war. His heart is heavy from learning of Loki’s demise – the same day he got snapped too – and Tony had been in space, ensuring his charge was protected and the time stone would not fall into wrong hands. He could still hear Tony’s determination to get back, they had a reservation later that evening and Loki was due to be back that evening as well. They wanted to catch up.
And yet—
The only one who’d come home that day had been Tony, and that months later. Only to learn that neither Loki nor Bucky were waiting for him, both gone – one forever, one mayhap temporarily.
For five years.
Bucky doesn’t want to imagine the pain Tony must have gone through, can only hope that he felt the same numbness Bucky is experiencing. Loki won’t come back, there isn’t even a grave for him that Bucky can visit and mourn at, lay flowers down and let go. Tony won’t come back either, there is only a recording for him in the Iron Man helmet and the warm red and the gentle golden hues are mocking him. He’s listening to it once, stared at Tony and took him in.
Tony’s tired eyes but his determined gaze, the way he was clutching one of Loki’s stupid helmets like it’s the only lifeline left for him. Perhaps it’s one of the only things they have of Loki because despite being a prince, Loki never really owned something. Just his stupid armour that he wore that day, and the helmet that he exchanged too. Thor doesn’t have anything, can’t even recall where they were attacked, only somewhere in space. An explosion.
We used to be happy, Bucky, didn’t we? Tony’s voice so soft but he knew, knew that he was going to leave, would leave Bucky here behind for the rest of the time.
Never thought I’d end up losing my heart to two assholes at the same time who can’t play Mario Kart, I mean how low of a standard is that? But hey, if I’m wrong, I’m more than happy to give you another chance. You should be back tomorrow at 12 if we don’t fuck up collectively. Looking forward to it, there’s lots to be said, you know. But not that we get too sappy here. There’s no grave for Loki, just before you ask Thor – they burn their dead, but I’m sure he’ll get a kick out of it if you talk to some ash in the fireplace, Buckaroo. Stay safe, otherwise I’ll eat whatever looks remotely like you’d enjoy it and I feed DUM-E your screwdriver, capiche?
A last smile, so unlike the one Bucky saw on the battlefield when he met Tony. That one had been fleetingly. There’d been no time, no time to catch up, there were aliens around and tried to kill them.
Now he wishes he’d have stopped Tony forcefully. Hugged him, at least, no matter if there was metal separating them, as long as they would have had something—
More than just this farewell at a lake where Tony lived the last few years and grieved. Lived. More than an arc reactor being sent off. The sun catches the metallic circle, a last blink of white, and it’s gone again – as is everything that Bucky holds in high esteem and used to hold his heart in their hands.
What is a house at a lake, his once dreamhouse, against the bleakness he’s staring into now? What are dreams when there is no one left he wanted to share those with? And perhaps he shouldn’t be that bitter, there still is Sam and he needs him, not that he would ever admit to it but Bucky can’t help but feel cheated on by life.
Im late I know but I need to say as first thing, that I have absolutely no idea what happened here but anyway, enjoy ~
Tony only heard a very manly yell coming from the other end of the lab, then he was already racing towards Loki. The screwdriver still was in his hand and he was lucky he hadn’t still been beneath the car he was fixing at the moment, but already been out from it. Otherwise he would have bumped his head against it, he was sure of that.
“LOKI?!” he yelled.
His lover, the impossible Trickster god of Asgard, descended upon Earth to teach them all that they craved naught but subjugation in his best BDSM outfit he could have found in his wardrobe, stood in front of the coffee machine and was what Tony assumed was Asgardian, cursing loudly.
It also smelled burned.
“Loki?” he asked carefully.
He took another step closer.
“How does it happen that I can bend a man’s mind to my will,” Loki hissed, “but your machine refuses to make me tea?”
“I—” Tony needed half a second to make the words make sense in his head. “You yelled because of my coffee machine?”
“It doesn’t wish to obey its betters.” Loki turned his face half towards him; rage was written all over him in coal. “It refuses to make me boiling water. All it does it to demand things of me—”
“Loki—”
“Tea, Anthony. I put my tea bag inside of this ridiculously small mug and pressed the button here—” and Loki stabbed with a long finger at the button that was supposed to procure the water, he got that right, Tony was kind of proud of Loki for managing that, “and it simply refused to do as I asked of it!”
“Darling.” Tony cleared his throat. “And you thought—” he smacked his lips together because if he didn’t do that and appeared strong, then he would start crying on the spot, “that coffee machine deserved this?”
Loki’s glare told him everything he needed to know.
“Why is arson always your first answer?” Tony breathed. His heart was already mourning his coffee machine because half of it looked rather… molten. The unexpectedly pleasant side effect was that the coffee smell was rather intense, now that he was closer to Loki’s most recent victim. He didn’t want to look to closely at it. It… hurt.
“Because it deserved it.”
“Loki.” Tony closed his eyes. “Okay, we’ll get you some tea somewhere else and then I’ll look into a new coffee machine.” Good thing he loved Loki and could forgive him for the coffee machine. Somewhat.
Because otherwise he’d need to get rid of Loki like he had with Thor too when he’d tried to take Loki away.
It had been 13 days, 5 hours, 7 minutes and 49 seconds since the Avengers had freed Tony from the mind control Loki had had over him.
There'd been no injuries, nothing that spoke of torture anywhere, not even the smallest scratch on his arms. If anything, then Tony Stark was the healthiest he's ever been.
That didn't make any sense, did it. He had been Loki’s puppet, his dear flying monkey, he ought to be hurt, right?
He was supposed to be angry, too.
Tony remembered laughter, banter flying back and forth, smiles.
The Avengers were careful around him, their eyes always on him. Watching. Suspicious.
JARVIS was – Tony didn't dare say back, because he wasn't although he'd done his best but he might have forgotten a password here and there, not wanting to let him return when the Avengers didn't trust him.
He wasn't sure whether Pepper trusted him either. To be fair, Tony was locked into his penthouse, going crazy there as people talk to him, about him, with him, over him, as if his input didn't matter.
Perhaps it didn't to them. As long as he was back, Iron Man once more a symbol for justice, Loki again no more than a villain.
Clint talked to him as if Loki was a monster, no better than the dirt in his shoes; Tony remembered Loki sharing cheeseburgers with him.
He missed the blue glow in one of his eyes when he stared into the mirror. They'd joked often that Tony was the only sane one left between them – even if it was only half of him.
Tony was still waiting for the moment to wake up, to go: "Fuck Loki." But it never came, and after two weeks of tenuous waiting, he was coming to the conclusion that it would never happen.
Stark Industries was booming. Pepper had declared Iron Man as a hostage of Loki, working against the United States against his will but that he was no longer associated with them – the company needed to do what was right, after all.
Its name was now Strong Enterprises, a minor homage to him and his family. Pepper had told him he could do blueprints, was still getting paid since he was de facto shareholder and not yet dead but he would no longer be able to make any decisions. It was, almost the same thing Obadiah had done to him, only for different reasons.
He hated how much he understood what she'd done and why.
He hated that he still loathed her for it.
It was early in the morning and he was drinking, toasting to the world and the people he once had considered as his.
There was no family left for him, too much time had passed and perhaps four months were too long to pretend everything was fine. Tony knew what he'd done. He knew what Loki was planning on doing but he didn't say, claiming oblivion. Clint hadn't remembered much either, that was his advantage. But they still pressured him.
They still demanded of him to despise Loki, to work, to sit quietly in the corner as they played great warriors of justice. He wasn't allowed outside. Perhaps, in their eyes, he was no better than Caillou.
Tony wanted nothing more than to run from this place. Go somewhere. Have—
Someone rapped against his door.
Clint walked inside, his face spoke of merry making, the rest of him of serious business inquiries only. Pay $4.99 to unlock premium features now.
"Is that vodka? At 7 in the morning?"
"Yes," Tony muttered. "Want some? I mean, I drank straight from the bottle, but who cares."
"...No, thanks," Clint replied, enthusiasm waning like a dying star.
That reminded Tony he'd promised Loki to take him to a blockbuster, right? Something with the beauty of the ocean, because that's where the cool stuff was happening. Octopus, rumours of leviathan fish - not that the ones Loki had were any less cool, but they were alien and Tony wanted to brag with earth. Capiche?
"How are you, Tony?"
"Bored." He threw Clint a look. "You guys sure I still can't go play?"
"Sadly." Clint gave him a pat on the shoulder. "You were under for four months, Tony. We don't know how that affects you."
"House arrest is affecting me." Tony lifted the bottle. "Listen, unless you have any good news – shoo."
Clint sighed and left.
Tony thought the 5$ investment hadn't been worth it. Bad business only in this house.
Good business so far had only been Loki. Funny, how that went.
But Tony missed the easiness of their relationship, how they went with their usual frenzy to work, tried to get Earth under control, had fun here and there, went and got sushi in Bangladesh the next moment. The energy that was fuelling him, more so than his desire to kiss Loki—
And his heart was beating rapidly in his chest, the rips almost breaking with the force of the frequency. Longing was spreading through him, his eyes filling with tears, breath short and sharp.
Why was he even still here?
Nobody knew what to do with him.
Nobody knew Loki the way Tony did – there was so much more behind the mask he was wearing, endless voids and abyss that Tony missed staring into, their endless green and blue whirls of mystery and mischief.
Tony got up from where he was sitting, left for his bedroom, pulled on his cap, good running shoes. He had salt in his kitchen, and other stuff he needed to create a bomb.
They wouldn't see it coming, would they? And it wasn't as if Tony was trying to harm them, he was just—
Breaking out.
Yep.
He let a bath run as he went to work, so no du would suspect anything and the bath was the only room where no cameras were installed for privacy reasons, only sound. But Tony had jerked off often enough while showing that he hoped they were not, you know, actively listening.
Fuck, did he know what he was doing there? But Tony could only answer the question with yes, and he kept going. Whoever Tony Stark could have been four months ago, he was buried, evolved into something else. Life was funny, sometimes.
Half an hour later, and Tony was ready. The computers were all turned down.
He opened his door with no difficulties, sent a short prayer to Loki in the hope the idiot would hear it, then threw the bomb down the stairs.
Hopefully nobody had been thinking of using the staircases now. But it was 7 in the morning, nobody was up at these unholy hours except for to go training which was 6 to 8, Tony regularly invited every third day to be included again in team activities.
Perhaps this would make it easier for them to let go of him, not chase him again. Tony didn't want to return. He didn't want to be a happy family with them. Not when his heart was beating for the other side.
The bomb went off, as did the alarms. Tony took the elevator, pressed the button for the garage and went down. Here was to hoping the elevator had survived the explosion—
But he arrived downstairs without any disturbance. He took a car key from the pad, ignored the people running around like wild horses, trying to get away from here.
As long as he pretended he was supposed to be here, nobody was going to stop him.
And perhaps there was a lot of luck involved too, because Tony took the red Audi that belonged to the key, got behind the wheel and hit the gas pedal.
He was born to be a driver, mathematical calculations were running through his mind as he kept driving, circled around the others who certainly have never driven in Italy and learnt to survive on the road.
Half an hour later and Tony stepped out of the cab, gave the driver a $50 note and walked the last few miles per foot. The other cars he'd used were happily taking a break at various parking lots, possibly taking a bath in a river nearby.
You didn't use only ever one car when you were escaping, and stealing a car was almost as easy as hacking into Putin's humble abode.
The motel was dirty, absolutely disgusting to look at from the outside, but the staff let Tony in without question. Some were waving at him, remembering his easy jokes and generous art with tips.
The inside was something else entirely; fancy decorations, some subtle gold and silver here and there, paintings that were modern art and some historical ones as well.
Tony was nervously licking over his lips, about to ask where Loki was when his Reindeer Games walked down the stairs.
"Missed me?" Tony asked cheekily, hiding his nervousness.
"You came back," was Loki’s response, frowning at him.
"Yeah." Tony gave a shrug. "Didn't enjoy being an Avenger, you know."
"The explosion was from you then?"
"They grounded me." Tony rolled his eyes. "I had to get out somehow. That being said, after I'm of a completely sane mind now – can I kiss you now? Is that okay? Or did I misread the whole situation? Because let me tell you, I don't think I can go back to the Avengers. You might be settled with me now."
Loki’s mouth formed a wonderfully shaped "O", all pretty and gorgeous, and Tony rolled his eyes at the drama of the situation, before he grabbed his alien at the suit lapels, and kissed him.
rules: list the first line of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all!). see if there are any patterns, choose your favourite opening line, and then tag 10 of your favourite authors!
Thanks for the taggg @aeonthedimensionalgirl @ehtarwrites :D <3
1. Glorious [Loki/Tony Stark, T, 29K]
Loki felt surprisingly okay when he finally could breathe again.
2. Dressed to Impress [Loki/Tony Stark, M, 9K] collab with @quietlyapocalyptic all credit for the line goes to her :D <3
Asgardians were Assholes™.
3. Imitation is the sincerest Form of Flattery [Loki/Tony Stark, M, 14K] collab with @arabesqueangel - credit for the line goes to her :D <3
Loki woke and took a minute to gather himself, staring at the expanse above him.
4. Mischief and Mirrors [Loki/Tony Stark, T, 14K] collab with @nonexistenz :D <3
Odin looked as tired as Loki felt.
5. A sane Mind [Loki/Tony Stark, T, 1K]
It had been 13 days, 5 hours, 7 minutes and 49 seconds since the Avengers had freed Tony from the mind control Loki had had over him.
6. Libertine [Loki/Tony Stark/Thor, E, 3K]
Loki was sitting at the table, peaceful like a tree, as he watched his Anthony go up to his brother.
7. When one door closes [Loki/Tony Stark, T, 4K] collab with @quietlyapocalyptic - all credit for the line goes to her :D <3
Tony always hated going to the Biolab.
8. To Spite [Loki/Tony Stark, E, 1K]
Tony groaned into his pillow, sweat was running down his face.
9. Mutually beneficial Agreements [Loki/Tony Stark, E, 2K]
Tony was high-strung as he left the meeting with the Avengers.
10. How to Pick a Christmas Present: A Confusing and Uncomprehensive Guide by Anthony E. Stark (with help from the Avengers) [Loki/Tony Stark, T, 4K] - collab with @quietlyapocalyptic all credit for the line goes to her :D <3
Tony’s track record with Christmas gifts had never been particularly riddled with success.
11. Shadow of the Diamond [Loki/Tony Stark, T, 2K]
Tony loved art, on an entirely normal level a la “This is pretty, hey, you look like her, do you want a drink?”.
12. Wind in the Sails [Loki/Tony Stark, T, 6K]
Tony knew that getting aboard was a mistake the moment he left the port.
13. Worth a Drink [Loki/Tony Stark, T, 1K]
It had been a few days since Loki escaped the Avengers with the help of his dear and most beloved Tesseract.
14. Marriage Made (In Heaven) [Loki/Tony Stark, T, 2K] -collab with @amidnight--dreary :D <3
It had taken Loki only nine years to realise that he didn’t want to be a fisherman forever.
15. Summertime Madness [Loki/Tony Stark, T, 2K] collab with @quietlyapocalyptic - all credit for the line goes to her :D <3
Nothing can make a group of people irritable quite the same way as prolonged, oppressive heat
16. Get them Boys high [Loki/Tony Stark, T, 5K] - collab with @amidnight--dreary :D <3
Becoming a revenger was something Loki had never dared to dream of.
17. To Sleep, Perchance to dream [Loki/Tony Stark, T, 1K] collab with @quietlyapocalyptic all credit for the line goes to her :D <3
Tony’d never had a normal sleep schedule.
18. True Lie [Loki/Tony Stark, G, 1K]
It had been a mission.
19. Persona non Grata [Loki/Tony Stark, T, 16K]
Years ago, and already long since they’d started their relationship, Anthony had agreed to eat a golden apple and to spend an eternity with him, Loki had thought that this could only be a good omen for the times to come.
20. Stark Naked [Loki/Tony Stark, T, 921]
Monday mornings usually didn’t promise much and left equally much to be desired for. It was a law of the universe; Loki was sure of it.
........
Well, I’d say a pattern definitely is the amount of collabs there XD Also short first sentences (and then there is 19, and we laugh okay?). I think my favourite is Asgardian Assholes™️ and yes, this is Lou’s line but I love it. Duh. Then 19 because it’s long and very dramatic xD
Tagging. Oh god. @amidnight--dreary @arabesqueangel @chaoscrafter @justsomeoneunordinary @notachair @mcfiddlestan and whoever else wants. There’s lots of fun to be had, I promise xD
“Hey, that’s not what is supposed to happen,” Tony joked.
“I don’t care,” Loki replied tersely.
“Are you okay?” Tony asked when the other stood there in the middle of his room, not moving any further. “You’re a bit, uh, tense?”
“I’m–“ Loki took a deep breath. “Angered,” he then replied. “And in need for a distraction.”
“We’re going to marry in less than an hour, is that distraction enough?”
“Stark.”
“I told you it’s Tony.”
“No.” Loki sighed and Tony felt something walling up in him. “Forget about it, it was a mistake to come here–“
“No, no.” Tony stood up from his chair where he’d been lounging in. “What’s up, sweetcheeks?”
For a second he thought Loki would turn around on his heel and leave without offering any explanation. But instead, “My brother sent a letter to congratulate us on our union,” he explained.
“What, is he not coming?”
“No.” Tony caught Loki’s glance for a second before it escaped him and travelled to the window.
“He excuses himself but since Odin’s sudden death, the kingdom has been in an uproar and he does not wish to leave it for a second longer than strictly necessary; he fears the people will think he has abandoned them.”
“Oh,” Tony said, not sure what else to say in such a moment.
Loki glanced at the paper in his hand before he threw it in the cold fireplace. “An excuse that could only come from him. The people of Asgard do not think, they never have.”
“And your brother takes them as an excuse, so he doesn’t appear at your wedding?”
okay so. frositron. bUT i wanna challenge u to take the fluff prompt "is that my shirt?" "you mean our shirt?" and make it angst/dark instead huhuhuhuhuhuhuhu *rubs palms together*
Loki absently wiped the blood from his face, his mind no longer a madhouse ruled by dozens of mini-Thors and mini-Lokis, as he so often thought. Instead, there was only a mist of gold and green, soothing him. The blood was no longer warm, the heart of its owner stopped beating a long time ago.
But Loki couldn’t regret it. For him, it had been a conquering, a conquest to honour the bond he was creating with Anthony. Courting a Midgardian had never looked that difficult in his books, they were supposedly swooning and falling all over themselves in order to get a look at them – but not Anthony. Not his mortal who rather would lose a foot than to keep his mouth shut, who bantered and bickered as if it was his natural state of being; chatting away like a singing bird.
It was maddening and it created such chaos in Loki himself that he was chasing more and more of it; kept in solitude where Anthony chased clouds with his words so that they turned into warm sunshine that tickled on Loki’s face.
But Loki was followed by this thrice-damned curse of the Norns, who were having a laugh over his fate. He was sentenced to live in the vast shadows that were cast by the people he loved and laid his heart at their feet, all the tasks no ordinary man would want to execute, they were thrown in his lap, waiting to be accepted.
He ran his dirty hand over the thick material of the shirt, noted the bloodstains centred at the left. When he put his mind to it, then Loki could still see those bright brown eyes looking at him fearlessly. Only loyalty and unquestioned love was written in them, short curly hair decorated with bright red spots.
Oh, Loki could only hope to inspire one day that kind of loyalty in one of his own people before he’d flicker out. Loyalty without question, only blind and pure faith, the fervent wish for their friend to lead the life they were owned by fate. A trick played on the Norns that Loki wished would make him happy but it didn’t, because he knew that it cost a lot.
But it was done. Harold “Happy” Hogan was no more.
The door to the bedroom slid open, Anthony’s steps heavy and the odour of his sweat tangibly in the air.
“Back from your workshop binge?” Loki asked.
“Yes.” A light chuckle. “Missed me yet or were you busy with your own books?”
“A combination of both.” Loki gripped the shirt between his hands. The purple colour didn’t absorb the colour of the blood, it looked more like ugly black splotches on it, the grim yellow patter on it that didn’t make much sense to Loki, even darker. It was the shirt Anthony had worn when they’d met in the penthouse at the peak of the invasion, the banter fast, the rejoinders quicker and cut to the core.
“Awwwww,” Anthony cooed from behind him. “What are you holding in your hands there? A gift?”
“Something akin to that.” Loki turned his head around. “If I were to tell you, mínn svass, that I found a way to turn you into an immortal, what would you say?”
“That I’m fucking delighted, that’s what I’m going to say.” But there was a notch of something in Anthony’s voice, as if he was tasting the but in the air that Loki was dangling between them.
“If I tell you that it was a messy affair and cost something in return?”
“That it better had been worth it.”
Loki swallowed the fear down that was trying to crawl up his throat. He saw the sceptical look in Anthony’s eyes, the way his hands were fidgeting at his sides and perhaps, perhaps Loki had made a mistake and called for action too soon. But he wouldn’t let Harold’s sacrifice go to waste, that would be a disgrace to him and a shameful moment to the friendship of him and Anthony—
“Is that my shirt?”
“You mean our shirt?” Loki asked, the tone too light for it to be jokingly. But this was it, either he’d do it now or never —
He presented the shirt to Anthony, covered in blood as it was.
“Blood is for life, and there has been one given voluntarily so you may stay at my side for longer,” Loki quietly informed Anthony. Trepidation was building up in him. A stray hair fell into his face, almost as if it wished to get a good look at the show.
“Loki—” The tremble in Anthony’s voice didn’t promise anything good. “What– whose blood is that?”
“Hogan’s,” Loki replied, eyes cast down as he let a wave of grief wash over him. He had liked the man, had felt good in his company, the fact that he could be sure he wouldn’t try to gain information on him to use it against him at some point. No. Hogan didn’t care about him as long as he wasn’t trying to harm Anthony, which Loki had promised to him, he never would do willingly, not for as long as he had his wit about him.
He’d promised it to the fading life, one he wished he could have had more of. But it was done.
“Loki—”
“He agreed to it,” Loki cut Anthony off. “He only wants you to be happy.” He got up from the bed, the shirt in his hands, crumpled like the sheets.
“Please,” he offered the shirt again to Anthony, waiting with hold breath for it to be taken from his hands. “Please,” he said again, remembering Hogan’s eyes and his desire for his friends to be happy.
