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Passerby 1 : 행인 1

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After sliding his car into his parking spot and pulling the side break, Loki leaned his head back on the headrest and sighed.

Something was getting him down these days. He felt tired for no reason and lost interest in everything. After he defeated Stark his clients had suddenly increased, but it wasn’t like he was driving himself to exhaustion with work - so why was he feeling so blue?

Pressing down the urge to ditch work, get the car back out, and just drive off somewhere, Loki turned the engine off and got out of his car. He needed some kind of plan. Something fun..... yes, a vacation. Maybe it was time for him to take a vacation. Huffle would disapprove saying it’s their busiest time, but he hasn’t even been on a summer vacation. If Huffle didn’t want to see half the lawyers in the firm taking a vacation at the same time next summer, he should let him do this.

Get a vacation, and... where should he go? The beach? The mountains? No; there was no need to stay in Midgard. He had been restraining himself from travelling inter-worlds in case he gets spotted by Odin or Heimdall. Now there was no need. It would be nice to go to Vanaheim, where he hadn’t been for a while; he remembered it as being a fertile and peaceful world, possibly the best place to relax and rest. The only drawback was that it was too close to Asgard... If he didn’t like that, there was also Alfheim. It was always fun there. Always.....

Loki quickened his pace, trying hard to stop recalling the past adventures with Thor. In reconsideration, it seemed better to submerge himself in work and forget about getting a holiday. It wasn’t like his work used to be so fun and full of interesting things anyway.

“Hey, Mr Ingensson?”

Someone called out to him the moment he stepped into the lobby. Loki turned in reflex, then his expression hardened.

“Mr Stark.”

Tony approached Loki with a pleasant smile on his face and held out his hand. Feeling the furtive glances from everyone passing by them, Loki stared at that hand.

“What are you doing here?”

“Well, I was doing some business, you know?” Tony held up his StarkPad. “I may not look it, but I’m kind of a busy man; so even if I’m just waiting for a little while, I can’t just waste my time and-”

“No, I am not asking you what you are doing; I am asking you why you are here.” Loki asked, still ignoring Tony’s hand. Tony shrugged his shoulders and pulled his hand back.

“That’s simple. Your scary secretary was giving me evil looks and letting me know I’m unwelcome; waiting in front of your office was hard even for the man with the iron faceplate.”

“You aren’t in your armour now.”

“I was speaking figuratively.”

Loki bit down his sigh and glared at Tony Stark.

“For what purpose were you waiting for me?”

“Huh? Can I say it? Here?” Tony spread his arms as if he was pulling a dance move. “Here, where the number of people eavesdropping while pretending not to is, let’s see... one, two, three... There’s around seven, give or take, and where there’s people trying to take photos and semi-paparazzis preparing to film us?”

Loki estimated the weight of his briefcase. It’d make him feel totally refreshed and afford him great satisfaction if he could bash that face in, which was still brazen even when sans armour.

‘But I will get sued.’

He will definitely get sued. The witnesses will be numerous and there will be photos and those photos will be sold to trash newspapers and turned into articles, even. Since he had crushed the Avengers into smithereens legally, Tony Stark will happily - even shouting with joy, perhaps - sue him and attempt to do the same to him.

He couldn’t do something that’d benefit others like that. Loki tried to calm himself.

“I have nothing more to say regarding Thor Odinson.”

With that, Loki passed him by and tried to head for the elevator. But Tony grasped his arm.

“It’s nothing to do with Thor. Shouldn’t we pick up where we left off?”

“Where we left off?”

Loki wondered what exactly this madman was going on about. Tony grinned.

“Our date.”

Loki glared at Tony. Tony just kept on grinning.

“....It’s time for my work soon.”

In fact it was already time for his work. He was late for his work when he had made it safely to the building, thanks to bickering with Tony Stark.

“Oh, don’t worry about the time; I already told Huff or whoever I’ll be borrowing you.”

“It’s Huffle. And my job is a lawyer, not a call girl... shit.”

Loki smoothed his hair back with one hand. Then he firmly grabbed Tony by his crisply-ironed fine suit and began making his way towards the elevator hall taking wide steps.

“Hey, how about letting that hand go?” said Tony. “I don’t want to say this, but my suit’s getting wrinkled, you know?”

“I am aware; don’t you realise that’s exactly my intention?”

Dragging Tony along, he went up the stairs instead of taking an elevator. Normal stairways are not suitable for clandestine conversations as the sound echoes up and down, but:

“Now, Tony Stark,” said Loki, turning to look back as he stood on the landing after walking up a flight of stairs. “Confess what tricks you are trying to pull.”

His attitude was rather different from before, but Tony was unperturbed.

“Oh, I don’t have to worry about people listening in now? Is it magic?”

“That’s right.”

Tony’s StarkPad and StarkPhone flew away from him into Loki’s hand.

“Um, you didn’t have to go that far; I wasn’t secretly recording this or anything.”

“It wouldn’t matter even if you did, as it can be solved by crushing you and these devices right here,” was what Loki said, but he still checked to see if any of the apps were running, and only then did he throw the tablet and the phone back to Tony.

“You’ll kill me? But the number of people who’ve seen us two walk away was...”

“I can kill you here, have a duplicate of yourself return home, then make it disappear - Tony Stark, don’t test my patience. I may not be as bad as Thor, but I am also quite capricious.”

“So if you use that in a good way, that’d be great. Like continuing our date, for example.”

“Are you serious?” Loki scoffed. “You want to date me, even after witnessing all that?”

“Well, I did learn a bit about the situation,” Tony shrugged. “But I don’t get why you’re at fault; besides, Thor’s explanation was imperfect which didn’t help.”

Loki blinked.

“I... am not at fault?”

“Yeah. Your older brother and his so-called friends are just annoying and don’t even regard you properly, your mother just repeats hazy stuff like you have to get used to it and you have to be friendly first and all that, and your father keeps telling you off going don’t do this and don’t do that and when you make something cool and show him he just looks at you with eyes that says ‘So what?’ and is only interested in the shortcomings and not even once says that he loves you.....” Tony gritted his teeth and swallowed. A lump was forming in his throat. He wasn’t going to get himself all worked up with his own words like this. “Not even once did he say that, not when he was still alive.....”

He clenched his fists and kept his eyes on the floor of the stairway.

“Of course you’d want to run away; if it was me, I’d have done a runner even if I didn’t look into the future or whatever. The present was already miserable enough. And if you were compared to a ‘perfect older brother’ on top of that.....”

“So Howard Stark said he loved you after he died.”

“At least Odin didn’t drink... well, wasn’t an alcoholic, right?”

The two of them glowered at each other.

“Even if you get told that after he died, it doesn’t wipe away all the wretched memories of your childhood, you know.”

“I would think it is better than getting ignored when you are both still alive.”

They fell into the silence, once again.

“So, the date?” asked Loki.

“Yeah,” Tony then added: “Restraining order only applies to Thor and I’m not involved with that, so the date’s all legit.”

“But you are teammates. Wouldn’t Thor hate you dating me?”

“I never ask their permission for all the stuff I do.”

“Still... it may affect your teamwork.”

“What is this, didn’t you want to make Thor suffer?”

It was so; but Loki hesitated for a bit.

“And what do you gain from this?”

“Well, I’d get a sexy beautiful lover with a great figure who is an evil and intelligent lawyer and can even use magic. Also the new team leader of my legal advice team.”

Loki raised his eyebrow.

“Don’t you worry, Stark Industry doesn’t ban employee relationships.”

“How very like you.”

“The whole deal’s not bad, right? And you know Thor will get kicked out every time you come around to my place.”

“About Thor, if I say I don’t want to sleep with the teammate of that stalker?”

Tony grinned.

“If you really didn’t want to, you wouldn’t have said ‘if I say I don’t want to’, but ‘I don’t want to’.”

Loki smiled, baring his teeth.

“Tony Stark, you seem to consider yourself to be rather clever.”

“Hell no,” Tony opened his eyes wide, as if asking him how can he say something so utterly preposterous, and shook his head vigorously. “I don’t think that at all, not one bit.”

Loki knitted his brows.

“Then?”

Tony spread his arms wide.

“I’m a genius of a fucking best-in-the-world calibre, not rather clever or something lame like that!”

“.......Hah.”

Once he began laughing, he couldn’t stop. Loki began to double up in laughter.

“What is that, that  is so dumb.”

“Dumb? Didn’t I just tell you I’m a genius?”

“Dumb.”

Tony gave him an injured look. Loki added in jest.

“Dumb dumb dumb.”

“Hey, Mr Ingensson?”

“You can call me Loki,” then he thought for a moment and added: “Call me His Highness Great Loki, the Mighty Sorcerer and a Great Sage who is the Saviour of the World and also the Skywalker who is the Prince of Two Realms.”

“...Right. Sorry, StarkPhone doesn’t let you input more than fourteen letters. Can I just put you under HHGLMSGSSWSPTR?”

Loki smiled. Smiling, he said, “Die.”

“Hey, let’s talk about this! Just tell me if you don’t like it, I’m against violence!”

While Loki was opening the window, Tony ran away from his reach, putting his hand on the banister and jumping over. He was sure that Loki would’ve defenestrated him if he was just one moment too late.

“Then I will crush that StarkPhone instead!”

“I’d rather you throw me down!!”




It took less than three days for a photo of Tony and Loki in the cafe, sitting face to face with tender expressions on their faces, to appear in a tabloid newspaper. Steve pushed the newspaper in question towards the centre of the table and struck the tabletop.

“Um, Steve, you doing that’d dent it.”

“Do you think you are in any position to worry about denting the table?” Steve managed to lower his voice, just about. It was hard enough getting everyone together without Thor. He didn’t want to be the one summoning him. “Explain what this is.”

Steve was glaring at him with angry eyes but Tony just shrugged.

“As you can see I’m on a date with Loki. It’s not indecent or anything, we’re just sat facing each other and not even our knees are tou.....”

“You know Captain’s not talking about the decency of the photo,” said Natasha, giving Tony a look. “What are you playing at? You know very well how heartbroken Thor is; how can you do this to him even if you’re you?”

“Why are you so quick to presume what I do is wrong?” protested Tony, feeling it’s unfair. “I could be doing this with good intentions, you know?”

“Thing is, we aren’t genius billionaire philanthropists so we can’t even imagine how you can act this way, with what kind of good intentions,” said Clint.

“Of course it is with the good intention to reconcile Thor and Loki.”

Tony pulled a very genius-like expression, as if to say he couldn’t understand why others didn’t get this.

“Try explaining that in human language, not in genius language, then,” said Clint. “I’m reporting everything you say to Coulson so consider that too.”

“I’ll explain even if you don’t threaten me like that, you know,” Tony replied, sulking. “Wait, that makes it sound like I’m afraid of Coulson, doesn’t it? No way, even if he had threatened me with a taser, I am not afraid of Coulson at....”

“Natasha, your Widow's bite gives out electric shock, right? Can I borrow it?” asked Clint.

“Okay, I’ll talk! I will!” Tony corrected his stance and even cleared his throat, as if to show them he is telling the truth. “So, let’s begin with clarifying the major premise. We all want Thor to make up with his brother, right?”

Everyone nodded.

“Now we move into the area of assumptions and suppositions and imagination; I reckon Loki hates Thor, but doesn’t just hate him. He loves him in his own way, though not in a positive way. Anyone who disagrees with me?”

Natasha and Clint shook their heads straightaway, while Steve did so after considering it for a moment.

“So what we have to do is to turn his affection into a positive way, at the same time satisfying his thirst for revenge to a certain degree.”

“What do you mean by satisfying his thirst for revenge? Are you saying we should take Loki’s side and be cruel to Thor?” asked Steve. “Is that really a good idea?”

“The good Cap might not get it,” Tony gave his attention to the other two. “But if it was me, and - now this is a big if - if my father suddenly becomes alive again and comes back and give me a hug, I’d be happy but I’d like to sock him in the mouth at least once; you know what I mean?”

“I get you,” said Clint. “Yeah, I agree with being cruel Thor just a little.”

“But how will you do that?” asked Natasha.

“The way things are standing now, when Loki comes around, Thor has to be kicked out of the house automatically.”

“That’s going too far!” shouted Steve. “Are you completely heartless?”

“Cap, Cap, Cap,” Tony shook his forefinger. “Now, see this from Thor’s point of view. Someone who’s dear to him, whom he thought dead, appears in front of him. However, he can’t go and see him. In that case, is it better for him to see him at least for a moment though he gets kicked out of his own house, or is it better for him to carry on, never getting to see him at all?”

Steve opened his mouth, then shut it again.

“That’s.” Bucky. Peggy. The Howling Commandos. If he could see any of them, one more time, even just for one moment. If he could even catch a glimpse, just passing them by. “That’s.....”

“Let’s return to our precondition,” Tony continued, gleeful now that he had successfully pulverized Captain’s opposition. “Loki also doesn’t want to just hate Thor. He loves him and wants to see him also. But the... his pride? Maybe because the law of inertia applies to his hatred? Something along those lines stops him from being honest and ends with him just tormenting Thor. But now he’s got the restraining order, he doesn’t get a chance to do that; which is a checkmate for Loki, too. At this point, if we give him a chance to pass Thor by like this, even for a short moment, he’d be pleased to see him getting kicked out but will feel a bit sorry for him. He’d feel he didn’t mean to go that far.”

“I understand your logic,” said Steve. “Still..... still, isn’t going out with him bit too much? Considering how Thor reacted when you first said you’ll be on a date with Loki...”

“Which means Loki would be able to see that Thor still loves him as his brother and tries his best to protect him.”

“I don’t think that’s all there is to it,” said Clint. “It’s because it’s the simplest excuse, isn’t it? Tony Stark doesn’t need a reason to flirt with a beauty, but to approach him in any other way.....”

“That’s right. Also, we shouldn’t forget one important fact,” said Tony. “Everyone, everyone who keeps an eye on the Avengers knows that Thor has a restraining order against Loki Ingennson. In other words, our enemies have their intel on him too.”

“Loki denied their relationship, but those with eyes and ears won’t believe that,” said Natasha. “Among us, Thor is the sturdiest one and the one without any weak points. But now he has this guy around him who is relatively.....” she knitted her brows. “Don’t know how he is for real, but this brother of his seems smaller and less sturdy than him. Yes. Even I’d go after Loki.”

“But we are teammates of the stalker who got a fucking restraining order. We haven’t the means to guard him legally,” said Tony. “But it’s a different story if he becomes my lover. Thor can’t be helped but the other three changes from the teammates of the stalker to the teammates of the lover.”

“Even if you get caught on the CCTV around his flat at night, it won’t get you court summons,” Clint put in for him.

“That’s right.”

“...Right, I get it,” Steve held up his hands. “I get that you planned this thinking of Thor, and that there’s real possibility of it really working.”

Tony grinned victoriously.

“That’s more like it.”

“Then let’s go and tell Thor,” and Steve stood up.

“What?”

“...What do you mean ‘what’? We should tell Thor that you’re pretending to go out with his brother for these reasons, so he shouldn’t get upset or angry and can just wait for the outcome...”

“That won’t make the bullying work properly.”

Steve glared at Tony again.

“I’ll ask you once again; why are you doing all this?” asked Steve.

“To get Thor and Loki to make up.”

“Then why should you bully Thor ‘properly’ in the process? Isn’t it better to reduce unnecessary pain?”

“It is necessary pain. If Thor is aware of this plan, he wouldn’t look like a kicked puppy that’d make Loki’s heart twinge with sympathy and guilt when they meet; he’d just go ‘See you later, brother!’ and Loki would think it’s strange and he’ll torture me and while I’m confident I can withstand that, I’d like to reduce unnecessary pain, too.”

“..............”

“You don’t think Thor can fool Loki with his acting skills, do you, Cap?”

“..............”

“Right, so it’s all agreed?” Tony grabbed Steve’s limp hand and shook it. “Any other questions?”

“Nope,” said Clint. “Nat and I’ll take turns to keep an eye on Loki.”

“Good. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get ready for my date.”

Tony walked out of the dining area with light steps. Natasha turned her attention to Steve.

“Erm, Cap?”

Steve put his arms on the table and buried his head on them.

“Well, I understand you can’t accept it all but what Tony said is ri.....”

“When I die and meet Stark... Howard Stark, I will definitely have a talk about why he brought his son up like that.”

Natasha looked at Clint. Clint looked sympathetic.

“Erm...... maybe we can join you?”

 


Chapter Text

 


It was impossible to keep it a secret from Thor.

Though Thor was not familiar with modern media, he couldn’t remain ignorant of the whole scandal which Tony’s persistent paparazzis kept snowballing and reproducing. It didn’t suit their purpose, either; he can’t suffer if he doesn’t know. Even if Tony wanted to keep it a secret, Loki won’t let it be so. Also he had already promised Loki he’d ask him over to Stark Tower and get Thor kicked out.

So what Steve said was true, too. If Tony wanted to reduce unnecessary pain, he had to avoid getting flattened by one fell swing of Mjolnir, and to do that he had to let Thor know about them somehow.

But how?

Tony’s worry ended in an absurd manner on the second morning.




Having been out and about due to this and that recently, Tony had stayed all night in the basement workshop trying out the backlogged inspirations and only came up when he ran out of coffee. It was too late for breakfast and too early for lunch, so he walked into the dining area yawning and thinking no one would be around.

“Oh, Thor. Hi.”

Thor was sat on his own at the table. Tony was filling his coffeepot half-aware when he belatedly realised that Thor was not eating but was staring at something and hadn’t responded to his greeting.

Staring at what?

Tony turned his head slowly. From the thickness and the colour scheme, he could tell it was some kind of weekly entertainment magazine. Who, among those who live here or hang out here, would read something like that and leave it on the table? It wasn’t him, and he was sure it wasn’t Pepper, definitely not Steve, and Thor didn’t even know something like that exists so it was either Natasha or Clint.

Tony sipped his coffee. His head cleared a bit.

So...... Thor is reading a gossip mag.

He can’t hear him flicking the pages so he must be looking at one page.

What was grabbing his attention like that?

Tony quickly turned back. He looked at the magazine. He could read ‘Stark’ on the headline.

‘Oh, shit.’

He didn’t need to see the photo.

It was Loki.

“Err........ Thor?”

“Is this true?” asked Thor, still staring at the photo. “You... are dating Lucas Ingennson?”

Tony managed to nod his stiff neck.

“Um, yeah.”

“Do you meet him often?”

“Well.... about three times now?”

It didn’t seem like Thor will be making a Tony Stark pancake with Mjolnir straightaway, so Tony took a careful step towards Thor. It was a photo of the two of them walking out of a restaurant. Loki was leaning towards him and laughing.

Thor stroked the Loki in the picture with his finger.

“He seems happy.”

Not knowing what to say, Tony kept silent.

“I haven’t seen him this happy for a long time, excepting the times when he was making fun of someone or playing tricks.”

Tony couldn’t say you haven’t seen Loki for a long time anyway, and besides he is kind of making fun of you right now.

“If you would.....” said Thor. “If you would continue to make him laugh like this, I’d appreciate it.” He smiled sadly. “I couldn’t do it, but it seems it is possible with you.”

“.....Right,” Tony just nodded. He didn’t imagine Thor reacting this way.

“Can I keep this photo?”

“Sure, of course. As you wish.”

He didn’t know whose it was, but gossip mags like that got thrown away after one read. If someone complains, he could just buy them a new copy.

“I thank you, friend.”

Looking at Thor’s retreating back as he left the dining area with that, Tony felt all the more determined to reconcile those two.

If Loki finds out how much Thor has changed, he might feel slightly sorry for him. He might think this is the chance to reach out. The possibility was low, but if that happened, wouldn’t that solve everything?




Loki frowned slightly.

“Hmm, Thor said something like that?”

The two of them were sitting side by side in a trendy bar, drinking.

“Is he reading love stories these days?”

Tony nearly spat out the dry martini he was sipping.

“How, how does it go from this to that?”

“Doesn’t it? For your happiness I’d leave you with another man with tears in my eyes isn’t at all Asgardian.”

“Well, I did think it was unlike Thor...... So what’s the Asgardian way?”

“What you saw at first.” Loki sipped his Bloody Mary and licked his lips. Tony kept glancing at his lips pretending not to look. “That’d been the end if the police didn’t come and Thor carried me home over his shoulders.”

“.....Is that like a marriage or what.”

“If it is an actual marriage, my... I haven’t got a family, so in my case Emily or Mr Huffle would have to chase Thor swinging a mace and attempt to smash his kneecap.”

“Not his head?”

“No, as I’d get hit if they miss.”

Tony wasn’t sure if he should be appalled by this caveman-like wedding custom or surprised at Loki for using himself and Thor as the example of marriage as if it was the natural thing to do, when they were brothers.

“But the fact that you were reminded of love stories when you heard what he said means you’ve read some of them, too, right?” Tony tried counterattacking.

“Yes, of course.” The counterattack failed. Loki nodded and fully admitted it. “Books were vital as I wanted to understand the Midgardian lifestyle and culture. Also... there were some really enjoyable ones. I wouldn’t mind getting a whole load of them and distributing them in Asgard. If they read not just sagas of war but also stories of love and comedy, it would become a much more enjoyable place to live.”

“For you,” said Tony.

“For me,” admitted Loki. He ordered a glass of peach brandy. “And also to others with the exception of Thor and Odin, perhaps... and Sif, too. Oh, and Tyr also.”

Loki held up his new glass as if in salute, then downed it at once.

“I like it here,” said Loki as if sighing, with closed eyes. “There are many interesting things, many things to study, and also people who know my true worth.” He glared at the empty glass. “And none of those fools.”

“Thor’s here.”

“Shut up, you self-styled genius.”

“Others call me a genius, too.”

“Then don’t say something idiotic like that out loud. Oh, that’s right,” Loki slowly leaned his upper body towards him. “Thor is not ‘around me’, at least. When I go near him, he has to be pushed out.”

Loki grinned. Tony shivered in fear and anticipation.

“Tony, don’t you think we’ve been dating long enough just holding hands?”

“Err..... shall we kiss then?”

“Tony, oh my, Tony!” Loki raised his voice so that people who were pricking theirs ears around them could hear him. “This is the fifth, Tony. This is our fifth date! And you are thinking maybe we can kiss now? Shyly asking me for permission, too? Tony Stark, by any chance, are you sixteen going on seventeen?”

Tony blushed.

“You know why I’m hesitating, don’t you?”

“I sure do.”

Loki moved closer to Tony with a sensual smile on his face. Tony thought those who want to draw succubus or other archetypal face of femme fatale could use this face as a model.

“And now that doesn’t matter anymore.”

Loki put a hand on his shoulder, gently. The hand slowly moved down to his chest.

“How about it, Tony. Shall I improvise a ballad about Tony Stark’s sweet sixteen and sing it here, or...?”

He would’ve held out if Loki had threatened to put him back in the cave in Afghanistan. Tony succumbed.




Witnessing Tony and Loki coming in together, Steve glared at Tony. Tony held up his hands.

“I was threatened. It was a frightening threat I couldn’t hold out against.”

“I’d think Tony had been threatened into sleeping with someone before,” saying so in a pleasant voice, Loki looked at Steve. “So have you any more to say, Captain America?”

“.....No,” Steve looked towards the stairway without hiding his displeasure. “But Thor isn’t ready to go yet, so wait a bit.”

As soon as he said so, Thor came down with thudding footsteps. He had on a plaid flannel shirt and a pair of jeans, and held a small bag in his hand. Tony walked up to him.

“I booked a hotel for you to stay for the day. Happy will drop you off, and if you aren’t sure about something, just ask him. Or you can call Pepper.”

Thor nodded. He turned his head, and his eyes met Loki’s.

“Mr Odinson.”

Thor’s expression darkened.

“Lo... Mr Lucas Ingensson.”

The corner of Loki’s mouth went up, just a bit.

“Glad to see you’re well.”

Thor managed to pull something resembling a smile.

“That is how I feel also.”

The two of them looked at each other without saying anything.

“Well, I will not get in the way and leave you,” said Thor, looking away from him. Loki reached out.

“Hm?”

“No, it’s nothing...”

Loki lowered his arm down again. Thor took a step towards him.

“Why don’t you guys shake hands before going?” suggested Steve, unable to stand the awkward atmosphere anymore.

“Shall we, uh, shall we do that?” Thor held out his hand hesitantly. Loki only stared at it for a moment.

Thor dropped his arm, thinking it won’t work. Then Loki took hold of his hand. His intention wasn’t to shake it.

Loki bent down courteously, as if  to a lady. He proceeded to pull Thor’s hand up to his lips, pressed his lips on them, flicked his tongue out and lightly licked Thor’s fingertips.

Still holding that pose, Loki looked up and held Thor’s gaze. Thor blushed.

He let of Thor’s hand, stepped back, then grabbed Tony’s arm and pulled him towards himself.

“I wish a good night to all of you.”

He quickly went up the stairs pulling Tony behind him.

As soon as they reached the second floor, Tony began to lead Loki. Nearly running, Tony managed to make it to his room; the moment the door closed, his back hit the door.

A tongue invaded his mouth before he could complain. Not backing down, Tony grabbed Loki’s collar and pulled.

“In Asgard,” said Tony, after the long kiss was over and he could finally breathe again, “do brothers shake hands like that?”

“Jealousy is unbecoming, Tony Stark,” and this time Loki went for Tony’s neck.

“Mmph... shit, jealousy isn’t....” He held Loki’s waist and rubbed his thigh between Loki’s legs. “The issue here!” Tony pushed Loki towards the bed. “I should’ve placed the bed right next to the door.”

“If you wish,” and Loki snapped his fingers, grinning. Tony’s huge bed moved up right behind him.

“Magic, huh.”

“Does that turn you off?” Loki rubbed his body against Tony, flush against him once more. The next moment, Tony, who was eagerly looking for buttons, realised that they were both completely naked.

“I’d like to learn this magic,” saying so, he pushed Loki back on the bed and straddled him.

“Didn’t you hate magic?”

“I’ll make an exception of magic that gets clothes off in no time and give it a huge welcome.”

This time Tony kissed Loki’s neck. He nipped at the pale skin with his teeth.

In his head he recalled what he had just seen. He thought maybe he was just a replacement.

Tony cradled Loki’s head and kissed him deeply.

‘So what if I am?’




When Tony finally opened his eyes, there was only himself on the bed.

- Mr Ingensson said he had a hearing this morning, got up at 6, had breakfast, got ready, and left at 7.

JARVIS informed him. Tony groaned.

“I kinda remember seeing number 4 up on the clock last night..... At 6? Is he human?”

- Currently it is assumed he is not.

“Oh, yeah. He isn’t,” Tony sat up and shook his head. “What time is it now?”

- It is 12 minutes past noon.

Tony crawled out of the bed. He wouldn’t be able to move the bed back on his own. Different parts of his body was stiff and sore.

He quickly showered and went down to the dining area. He didn’t have a hangover but he was famished.

‘Guess that’s to do with doing some strenuous exercise for a few hours.’

He didn’t want to know for how many hours. Of course JARVIS would tell him exactly how many hours, minutes and seconds they spent, but...

There was no one in the dining area; which wasn’t surprising as even the laziest sleepyheads would be up by now.

“Oh, Tony?” called someone, when he had just finished a cup of coffee and regained minimum amount of necessary reason.

“Hi, Cap,” Tony greeted him awkwardly. “You got up late, huh?”

Steve looked at him as if he thought he was crazy.

“I came to eat lunch.”

“Oh, I see.”

They didn’t speak for a while.

“So,” Steve spoke. “So Loki.....”

“He was awesome. Thought my back was going to break. No regrets even if it did though. His body is like...”

“No, I wasn’t asking about that,” Steve blushed. “I was asking if Thor would be okay like this.”

“I wouldn’t know that,” replied Tony. “To be honest, I’m losing my confidence a bit. Is this okay like this? No, before that, are those two really brothers?”

Steve frowned.

“As to Thor.....”

“I’m talking about Loki, not Thor. You saw how Loki acted towards Thor.”

Steve blushed a bit more.

“I reckon Loki sees Thor as more than a brother. Could be from before or something might have  developed while they didn’t see each other... and maybe that’s why he is so harsh to Thor. Maybe he doesn’t know what to do since Thor just rushes at him as a brother?”

“If that’s the case, he doesn’t seem to be afraid to show his feelings,” replied Steve, who was still blushing.

“Maybe he thinks Thor doesn’t know even if he acts like that.”

“...That sounds like he treats Thor as a gigantic fool, a bit too much.”

“Not really. He thinks every being apart from himself is a fool. He treats me like a fool, too, you know?”

Steve thought there must be a proper reason for that.

“A perfect genius like me. Just because I froze up while flying high altitude when he doesn’t. Huh, magic!”

‘.....Acting like that, for example.’

“He doesn’t hide that he is that Loki anymore, then?”

“Well, nothing’s going to get better by hiding it; and do you know how convenient magic is? He wears at least five layers, if it weren’t for magic how long and how would I ever take...”

“Tony!”

“Anyway, we must admit Thor has stepped back as far as he can. He even called him Mr Ingensson,” said Tony, once again serious. “Now the important thing is what Loki’s going to do..... How can we make Loki take a step towards reconciliation?”

Steve pondered.

“Maybe he would if he realises you aren’t enough for him?” said he, in a jesting tone.

Tony replied straightaway.

“Right, this deal’s off. I’m getting out.”

“Tony!!”


Chapter Text


Though he had said that, it didn’t mean Tony had really given up. It only meant he was racking his brain over the ways to influence Loki, other than the ones to do with his charming self. Tony Stark was not a man who gave up easily.

It is simply that everything happened and got rolling out of control before he could plan things properly, as it happens sometimes.


That day, they were on a date, taking a walk in the park. Tony didn’t understand how just walking about while not doing anything in particular could constitute a date, but since Loki said taking a walk in the park was a perfectly wonderful date and insisted that he was following the traditional Midgardian way of dating, there was nothing for it.

“Tony, don’t you want to try going on a date where you don’t get naked for a change?”

“Do you see me as a beast who takes your clothes off the moment we meet? Wait, let’s get this straight; we’ve only done it once... well, for one night, and wasn’t it you who got us naked anyway?”

“If that irks you so much, you can take your clothes yourself right here.”

“I admit I have a slight tendency to exhibit myself, but I don’t run around naked in a park!”

Loki burst out laughing.

“So,” said he, after his laughter died out. “You want to comment on how I treat Thor?”

Tony stopped in his tracks and fell silent.

“....Guess magic does let you read people’s minds, huh?”

“No; yes; well, there is a way to read it. But not like this, and I didn’t read yours just then. It is but a simple deduction, Wason. When I consider why you approached me and what had happened the last time, isn’t it obvious that you’d want to ask?”

“I’d prefer Holmes than Watson. Anyway, I approached you because I wanted a guaranteed fantastic sex with an intelligent and beautiful.....”

“Continue in that idiotic vein and I’ll turn you into a donkey and tie you to the carousel in the children’s area.”

Tony shut his mouth.

“Right, I admit it. I began going out with you because I wanted to spy on you and find out if there’s any way to get you and Thor to make up.”

Loki waved his hand.

“Grimly confessing something the whole world knows isn’t going to cut it. If that’s your excuse, isn’t it strange that you offered to help me torment Thor?”

“That seemed necessary for the making up to happen,” Tony quickly turned around to face Loki. “Yeah, there is something I’d like to know. What do you want to do with Thor? Do you want him to kneel and beg? He has practically done that already. Do you want him to love you? You know he already does. Or do you want him to love you not as a brother but in a different.........”

“Thor and I are not brothers,” said Loki. “Only he, the fool he is, thinks we are; but we aren’t. We are of different species, even. Can you love and treat a dog like your brother?”

“...I can’t, personally, but some people do do that,” said Tony, and frowned. “Don’t tell me what we did a few days ago was bestiality.”

“I am not saying that,” Loki looked up at the sky. “Let’s just say it only means that Thor and I doing it would be as legal as you and I doing it..... but he will never acknowledge that.”

“And that’s why you ran away from home?”

“No,” Loki shook his head. “I do not know how Thor has ‘explained’ it to you, but I was rather miserable in Asgard. Enough to risk looking into the future to reassure myself that all will be well in the end. Well, after I came down here, I learnt that children tend to feel that way before they turn into adults and that’s normal and natural. So there’s at least no need to feel wretched because you find yourself feeling that way.”

Tony shivered. He didn’t want to think about his teenage years. Even himself, who was a genius and was good-looking and perfect in every way, felt like throwing himself off the top of the Stark head office building crying I apologise to everyone that something like myself was born into this world more than once or twice.

Loki continued.

“But that is not so in Asgard. You don’t need to worry about what you will be; it’s not a problem if you fail at your studies or can’t make the athletic club; going to college is not something you should worry about..... Of course those who didn’t have any gifts befitting a warrior or didn’t want to become one were miserable, but it was worse for me; since I was a prince; since there was no other way for me. Moreover.... Thor was perfect. Someone next to me was getting all the praise and love on offer, whereas they’d look at me with disappointed eyes if I was less than perfect, let alone praise me for anything...”

“Um, shall we talk about something else? That’s all in the past, right? It’s not going to change anything even if you look back, you know? Both you and I are outstanding and competent and attractive et cetera and can do anything we want and be anything we want. That’s the important thing; the present. Adolescence is like that for everyone. Don’t bother with that.”

Loki grinned. He then grasped Tony’s chin and pulled him up.

“You’re quite an interesting mortal, Tony Stark. Or maybe I should say earthlings are interesting species.”

“There’s a gigantic difference in terms of intellect, looks, and wealth between myself and other humans, you know?”

“That is your way,” Loki pulled at Tony. “You are an only child and wasn’t compared to anyone. So you could get on by yourself; showing yourself off, being the issue maker, and finally becoming a superhero, even. For you, not just adoration but the attention full of hatred and envy would becomes nourishment that fills your heart.”

“....I don’t think I’m rotten enough to nourish myself with hatred as yet.”

“You ask me what I desire? I desire to surpass Thor. There is no meaning in getting on by myself. I want to be recognised as being equal to Thor in every way and at times superior to him. By Thor, by all of Asgard, by Odin.... and by me.”

“You can only recognise yourself after everyone else does? How about getting some confidence?”

“It cannot be as long as Odin exists.”

“To hell with Odin,” Tony spat out. “You threw away everything and ran away, but what, you still take him as your standard? Wake up, that bastard doesn’t even look at you anymore. Forget him!”

“And can you forget? Can you stop yourself from thinking? Every time you create something  and achieve something, do you never think what would father think if he saw this, or now this, he might look at it for a minute at least?”

Tony gaped, then shut his mouth.  

“Fucking fathers.”

“My sentiments exactly.”

They fell silent.

“It won’t be so hard surpassing Thor, you know,” said Tony, after a minute. “At least in Mid... here.”

“Thor is a superhero here too, you know.”

“Humph, he might be a superhero, but do you know how many cellphones he’s crushed? No, we don’t have to go high-tech like that. Toaster. Yeah, toaster. Something you just have to put a slice of bread into one of the holes and wait for ten seconds, something so simple that even five year olds have no problem operating; and that guy takes a month to learn to use it properly and you don’t know how many toasters he’d managed to break during that process. As if that simple machine has anywhere breakable!”

To be fair, most of the toasters Thor had broken were tinkered by Tony in various ways and were therefore much more complicated and less intuitive than the usual ones; but it was all the more unforgivable because of that very reason, so Tony didn’t mention that.

“And the problem of him putting stuff in the microwave still covered in aluminium foil how-many-times-heaven-knows and using not-heat-stable plastic containers... All you have to do is read the label! But he just doesn’t get a ‘tableware’ can catch fire or dissolve into a toxic goo! How can I make him understand that?!”

Tony was nearly spitting fire now, and Loki couldn’t help cracking up.

“Thor getting affected by endocrine disruptor and... now that’d be very amusing.”

“I don’t want to imagine it,” Tony grumbled. “At least....” He pulled out his phone and looked into it. Noticing what he is looking at, Loki looked over Tony’s shoulder also. Tony wheeled around quickly and thrust his phone like a weapon towards the man who was sneaking up behind him.

“Hey, recording someone’s conversation is illegal, you...”

It was not a shotgun microphone. Unthinking, Tony acted in instinct and pushed Loki away. The antenna-like end gave off sparks. Tony fell to the ground; his arm felt like it was on fire.

“Tony?!” Loki turned around and got up; but before he could take a step, something sharp touched his nape.

“Keep still, Mr Lucas Ingensson,” threatened the man who held a weapon against him. “You do what we tell you to do and you won’t get hurt.”

The man grabbed Loki by his neck and roughly pulled him up, then held him from behind and put the blade against his throat.

Loki looked around, not moving a muscle, and assessed the situation. A long blade, perhaps a sabre, was pressing his neck, horizontally. Tony was not bleeding, but from the way he was moving, it seemed he was badly hurt. He could hear the noise of people running away as if it was coming from far away.

“You better not move an inch if you don’t want your pretty neck chopped off.”

The man pulled the blade closer, as if to intimidate him. A drop of blood seeped out from his cut skin.

Loki carefully held his hands up to his shoulder-level. The one with the weapon which made a hole in Tony’s arm approached them.

“You used HEL? Are you serious?” shouted Tony, holding his arm and trying to steady himself. “There’s no battery with big enough capacity to make it portable; does that thing even have a second shot?”

The one with the High-Energy Laser projectile changed his aim. A beam of light flashed and Loki screamed. A blackened hole appeared on his thigh.

“What the hell? That’s fucking dangerous!” shouted the one holding Loki. He pulled Loki up, gripped him more tightly to stop him from falling down, and held the blade against his neck again. Fortunately he didn’t slash any of the arteries but Loki’s movement had caused the gash in his neck to deepen and now the blood was staining his shirt. “This guy’s a valuable hostage; we can’t kill him yet!”

“Does that mean you guys will kill him later?” shouted Tony.

“Shut up and contact Thor, Tony Stark.” Another man joined the other two. He also had a HEL projectile modelled like a machine gun. It was different from the other man’s in that it was linked to a square box the size of a car battery. “If everything goes smoothly, we might let you live today.”

“Right, but how do I contact Thor with my mouth shut? I’m afraid he doesn’t know any sign languages or morse co.......”

The one who had shot the laser at Tony went up to him, stepped on his ankle and crushed it down using all his weight.

“Keep talking crap and I put a hole in your stomach, get it?”

“Why do you want Thor?” shouted Loki. “Who are you, why are you doing this?”

The last one to make an appearance walked up to Loki.

“Behave yourself. We don’t want to hurt you,” he grabbed Loki’s chin and pulled it up. “It’d be a shame to scar a pretty thing like you.”

“If you’re just talking looks, isn’t Thor quite ‘pretty’ too?” Tony had to add something.

“It’s a waste, but he is our enemy,” he answered simply. “So Tony Stark, do what we tell you to before we crush you, which won’t be a waste.”

“You have some fucked up taste, buddy.”

“Really, Tony,” Loki gnashed his teeth. “You want bastards like these to think you pretty? It offends me that they do, you know?”

“Don’t worry. We won’t harm you further after getting rid of your brother.”

“Thor is not my brother!”

“I see, but doesn’t Thor have a different opinion?” he held up a hand to his ear. He was wearing a wireless earphone.

He turned and aimed the HEL projectile towards the sky. Soon a dot appeared in that direction, grew larger and larger, and landed in front of them.

Thor was not wearing his armour. It seemed like he didn’t have time to get prepared; wearing a tshirt and jeans and holding Mjolnir, he looked more like a labourer from a demolition site than a superhero.

Only his eyes and his attitude showed that it wasn’t so.

“You idiot! Why did you come?” shouted Loki. “You aren’t even 20m away from me now, do you know that? Are you not taking the law seriously? Get away! Leave and let the other Avengers deal with it!”

“That won’t do,” the captor covered Loki’s mouth with his hand. “Don’t butt in if you don’t want your throat cut.”

“Get that dirty hand off my broth... that man!” shouted Thor. “I am here as you’d wanted! Now I can deal with whatever it is that you wish! Let him go!”

The captor let go of Loki and took a step towards Thor.

“You aren’t calling him your brother?”

Thor’s face fell. His gaze dropped to the ground.

“Since he... does not wish it.”

Loki made a sound like groaning.

“Even so, I am still responsible for him; so name the price of his safety. I will give it, whatever it may be, if I can.”

“Hey, that’s not how you negotiate!” Tony shouted and got kicked in the stomach for it.

“It’s simple; your life,” said the leader. “It’s very easy. You just have to stand there and keep still.” He aimed the laser at Thor. “Remember, the moment it seems like you’re going to twitch that hammer, your brother gets his head chopped off.” He pulled the trigger.

Thor gritted his teeth and didn’t scream; but regardless of his willpower, his broken knee couldn’t support him anymore.

He crumpled on the ground; the second shot went for his right shoulder.

Thor’s strong body held out much longer than Tony’s or Loki’s. However, taking longer to break down only meant more pain when in an unavoidable situation.

“Why aren’t you going for his heart?” shouted Loki. “Didn’t you want to kill him? Hitting his limbs won’t kill him; surely you know that?”

“You can’t be asking because you don’t know,” smiling, the man changed his aim to Thor’s still intact leg. “It’s a rare opportunity, getting to kill a god. Would be a waste to get the fun over with a single shot!”

Loki’s eyes filled up with anger.

“You cannot kill him.”

“Yeah? Let’s see if he manages to hang on when I cut his body into small bits and burn every inch of it.”

“A base creature like you would not understand,” Loki’s face was completely expressionless. “Calling him a god, can you not guess what I, his brother, may be?” He straightened his back and held up his arms in front of his chest.

Tony thought he’d use magic. Some fireball or something would appear in those hands and burn that evil bastard.

The one holding the blade to Loki’s neck thought the same thing. He pulled the blade closer, threateningly.

Loki pushed his upper body forward.

‘.......Huh?’ Tony couldn’t think anymore.

The blade digged into Loki’s neck. Loki didn’t stop. He leaned over slightly and the blade went clean through his neck.

His cut-off head rolled into his hands.

“................Huh?” Tony couldn’t tell if that exclamation was uttered by him or the man holding Loki.

Loki rolled his head lightly so that he was only using his right hand to hold it. In his left hand, he was holding a double-edged dagger which had a hole in the middle as a finger-hold so it could be spun.

He held up his arm and moved it as if to stab himself on the neck. The dagger cut through the empty space where his head was and embedded itself on the neck of the man who was still holding him.

Loki turned his arm slightly and slashed the man’s throat. Then he spun the dagger and threw it forward.

The man who was right next to Tony, hoping for a chance to trample on him again, fell, not even getting a chance to scream.

Tony could see the blade buried deeply in the fallen man’s carotid artery.

The one who was amusing himself with burning Thor’s limbs noticed what was going on a moment too late. He looked back. Loki smiled at him, holding his head in his right hand.

The HEL projectile in the captor’s hand exploded. Enormous flash, and flames fell on him. The flame burned greedily, as if he was covered in inflammable substance. He screamed and writhed and rolled on the ground. The fire didn’t go out.

“How noisy,” Loki held up his hand and snapped his fingers.

The man was still writhing and screaming; only visually. The sound was no more.

Loki turned back slightly. Another dagger appeared in his hand. He threw it towards the back. Someone fell down from a big tree near the far away lake.

“And that takes care of the ones in the park, for now,” declared Loki. He walked towards Thor. Tony saw Thor’s leg and his clothes were already restored.

Loki stopped beside Thor and looked down at him. Thor was looking up to him, eyes full of amazement and wonder.

“.....Loki.”

Loki held out his hand. Thor grabbed the outstretched hand automatically, and realised his arm was whole, as if it never was injured.

“.....How?”

“I had already read all the magical tomes in the great library of Asgard, back then,” said Loki. “Afterwards, I wandered Vanaheim and Alfheim gathering every kind of spell I can get my hands on. I may declare that currently I am the sorcerer who is unrivalled in all of the nine realms,” holding his head up and putting it back on his neck, he added. “And any sorcerer with common sense makes sure that he doesn’t get killed just because his neck got chopped off; that’s basic.” Loki looked back. “Tony, how long are you going to continue lying around like that? Do you like the ground that much?”

“Leaving the body stuff aside, this is....” Tony jumped up, rubbing his arm which definitely had a burnt out hole in it. “No; wait a minute, you shouldn’t have killed them all! I don’t want to go about being the good guys and all that, but we need one to be alive for interrogation!”

“Interrogation is bothersome,” Loki moved his neck as if to stretch it. “Damn, that feels stiff. It’d take two or three days. Something you shouldn’t do often, really.”


Chapter Text

 


“No go, people. He died instantly,” Clint walked up to them. “The dagger hit the back of his neck, he fell, and broke his neck. The only one left alive is...” He stared down at the half-burnt captor who was still writhing, on mute. “That... doesn’t it go out?”

“If he went for Thor’s heart or head with his first shot, well, even with the second shot, I would have shown him more mercy,” Loki looked down at the man, as if he were looking at a wriggling worm. “I will not let him live; I won’t kill him simply, either.”

“Still, aren’t you going overboard, you know, killing them all?” said Tony.

“It falls under self-defense. These men held a blade to my neck, burnt my leg, and I even had my head chopped off. They threatened me with lethal weapon , causing bodily harm; so even if I didn’t die ‘by chance’, it doesn’t annul their ‘intent to kill’ and...”

“I’m aware of that and it can be sorted out quietly without any fuss,” Somewhere along the line Steve and Coulson had arrived at the scene. The SHIELD agents in black suits had the area surrounded. “Still, I wanted to find out who had sent them, at least, to prevent such incidents from happening again.”

“You shouldn’t have flown away by yourself like that,” Steve lectured at Thor. “It’s lucky that Loki had the, err, situation under control; if he didn’t, you and Tony and Loki could all have been in real danger. Did you really think these guys would just kill you and leave the other two in peace?”

“The man said that he would....”

Loki swung his arm and struck the back of Thor’s head.

“A warrior honourable enough to keep his word would never take hostages.”

Thor shut his mouth. Loki looked at Steve.

“Tell him off thoroughly so he won’t be foolish again.”

“......I think you not getting into dangerous situations has better odds.”

“A valid point. So,” Loki approached Coulson and stood beside him. The two of them looked down at the half-burnt corpse, standing side by side.

The flame finally went out.

“You need to find out who sent them? Will you tell me also if you find out?”

“I don’t think Mr Ingensson the lawyer can take further actions, even if he finds out.”

Loki grinned, baring his teeth.

“But if you really want, I can give you a simple briefing as you were directly involved.”

“Good.”

Loki waved his hand in the air. Something like a flat pill box appeared in his grip. He crouched down next to the corpse, opened the box and blew the power from the box on the corpse’s face.

The corpse’s mouth opened.

“Arggherurrrrrghhhh....”

Loki chanted a spell.

“What’s he doing?” Tony asked Thor. Thor was listening to the spell with a frown on his face.

“My knowledge is lacking, but he is restraining the dead to have it answer the questions... I believe.”

“...What?”

“Now, it is done,” Loki gestured at the half-burnt corpse. “You’ll have about ten minutes to get your answers.”

Coulson didn’t waste any time.

“Agent Barton, let’s put this in the car.”

“Yuck, I don’t want to touch some...”

Coulson glared at him, and he went meekly to do as he was told. As the two of them quickly carried away the corpse to hide the absurd spectacle of corpse interrogation from public eyes, Thor, Steve and Tony surrounded Loki.

“You have something to say to me, oh superheroes?” and he eyed Steve. “If you’re going to say I went too far by killing them all, I have to say they brought it upon themselves. Surely you don’t expect me to hit the bullseye with my head chopped off?”

“...Are you saying you missed and cut the carotid by mistake?” asked Tony.

“That’s how I’ll testify if I have to appear in court; those who don’t believe me can try throwing daggers with their head held against their side.”

“......Even Clint wouldn’t try something like that.”

“I wasn’t going to say that,” said Steve. “I want to thank you for saving Thor.”

Loki was lost for words for a moment.

“I didn’t save Thor,” he replied. “Like what you said, I didn’t think those guys would let us go after killing him, is all.” He turned towards Tony. “Considering this guy had a bodyguard tailing him, I can’t even say I saved Tony. I only saved myself.”

“Clint was tailing you, to protect you,” said Steve. It wasn’t surprising that Loki was aware of Clint anymore. “We were concerned that something like this might happen. That’s why...”

“Then now you must know it’s not necessary,” Loki snapped coldly.

“Yes,” Steve simply admitted it. “I don’t think a personal guard is necessary anymore. We saw how strong you are and now we also know you will protect Tony and Thor.”

“......Didn’t I tell you I didn’t protect either Tony or Thor? Do you have hearing problems, Captain?” Loki lost his temper. “I’ll make it clear to prevent any misunderstanding; I don’t love them or cherish them or have any kind of other positive feelings for those two! Ugh... fine, Tony is quite fun to hang out with, but that’s about it. There’s nothing more than that. Do you get it?”

Tony smiled wryly and Thor’s shoulders slumped; but Steve nodded, as if he expected such an answer.

“I know. So you’re saying Thor is just a stranger, some extra passerby in the street who walks past you, right?”

“That is exactly it.”

After saying so, Loki felt that he was being led on, somehow. He didn’t know why. He just made it clear that Thor is a stranger, and Thor was so downcast that he was currently turning into a pool of human jelly; so why did it feel like it was he who had received a blow?

“That’s a good thing, too. It’s natural as well,” said Steve.

“...Natural? What’s natural about it?”

“You know, trying to save a total stranger if he’s getting attacked unfairly or is in danger. That’s the hero inside everybody coming out. You’re denying it with your words, but you also have the makings of a hero inside you.”

Loki had to employ all his strength to stop himself from gaping. The hero inside? What was this utter nonsense?

“It, it wasn’t something like that!” he frantically tried to counterattack. “Like I said, I only saved myself; I didn’t care if the other two died or not!”

“Yeah? I think you could’ve made it out by yourself if you really wanted to just save yourself, like when all the captors were paying attention to Thor. Then you wouldn’t have had your head chopped off, and wouldn’t need to heal Thor or Tony.”

“That’s, urgh, that’s because it was infuriating - that those mortals dared to think they could take me and use me as a hostage, which is beyond impudent. It’s a matter of course to crush them and their plan.”

“You didn’t do anything until they actually hurt Thor.”

“That’s because I wanted to see how that fool would act!”

“Yes. And you intervened because you couldn’t leave him to die.”

Loki seriously considered getting rid of this irritating mortal.

“Or,” Tony interrupted. “You can just admit you saved him because it’s Thor, if you really hate becoming a hero. That’s fine, even ordinary people protect their brothers at least.”

Loki shot Tony a death glare.

“For the next two months, every alcoholic drink that passes your lips will turn into warm milk.”

“...WTF?!!!”

Steve was tempted for a moment (for a really short moment) to encourage Tony to say something that would annoy Loki further. If Tony didn’t drink a single drop of alcohol, how quiet and comfortable the life in the Avengers Tower would be!

“Um, I believe that may be too harsh a punishment for Tony......” Thor said in a small voice.

“Did you say something, passerby 1?” Loki retorted and Thor deflated again. Loki brushed his hair back, irritated. “So, so what? What are you trying to prove by using me as an evidence of universal goodness? Are you inviting me to join the Avengers because I have a hero inside me?”

“I’d like to, actually,” Coulson cut in, brushing away Tony who got floored with one strike. It seemed the interrogation of the dead was over. “The current members can’t effectively deal with magical enemies or disasters.”

“I have no desire to live there.”

“We can deal with your accommodation and identity in a way that suits you, Mr Ingensson.”

Loki shook his head.

“I like my current life,” he replied. “I don’t feel the need to play at being heroes.”

“Father would be proud,” said Thor. “Didn’t you wish to be a son he can be proud of? Isn’t this a good chance?  In my opini.....”

“Loki Odinson is no more,” said Loki. “I don’t even want to think about Asgard. I am a Midgardian named Lucas Ingensson and that is who I will continue to be. I like it here. There’s no one here who criticises me for not being a warrior; no one calls me a liar and a coward; no whisperings behind my back about my preference for books and magic, considering me not a proper man. No one makes fun of me or uses me for their jest calling me weak and strange. Here, they highly value intelligence and gift with words and they even... they even find me attractive and handsome!”

The three Midgardians were shocked into silence. Thinking Loki unattractive? Wasn’t Asgardian’s aesthetics too prejudiced?

“It..... it was not that bad!” Thor protested.

“Yes, if you weren’t my comparison, there may have been some people who would have thought I am pleasing in some ways.”

Thor opened his mouth and shut it again. Loki continued.

“No one shuns me here, at least not to my face. They don’t mock me as they do in Asgard, as if that is how it should be. It moves me to tears as I know how pathetic I am to console myself by showing off among Midgardians, and I am aware it is not honourable too; but I’d rather satisfy myself with what I can get this way rather than starve myself to death for the love and respect that will never be bestowed upon me.”

“........That is not like you.”

“I also learnt humility since coming down to Midgard.”

“Then..... you no longer miss Asgard? Not even, even a bit?”

Loki couldn’t answer for a while.

“Even if I did, there is none who misses me.”

“I.......”

“You are here, are you not?”

Tony thought it was a great progress that he didn’t write Thor off as a passerby 1.

“But... both father and mother love you!”

“Frigga... maybe. Odin, no.”

“No, father also loves you.”

“Even so, they are strangers. They are not family.”

“Midgardians are strangers too, are they not?” Thor painfully continued. “If you can accept their goodwill and praise, then...”

“So did father ever bestow goodwill and praise upon me?”

Thor couldn’t answer. There were such times. Truly. It’s just that there were no memorable occasions. There never was a time when Loki alone, without Thor, was the centre of glory and attention which could brand itself upon their memory.

“Well, I know that father is not without any goodwill towards me. If that was the case, he wouldn’t have let me live in the first place. It is just.....” Loki swallowed the bitterness he felt. “All that is false, anyway. Everything was false in my Asgardian life. So you should give up. A lie, even if it went on for a lifetime, is a lie and cannot be made true.”

Thor flinched and took a step backwards.

“Even so...... even so I still....”

“Ahem,” Steve cleared his throat. “Can I cut in, as a Midgardian?”

“What will you say?” Loki scoffed. “If you’re going to come up with some fairytale saying like, even lies become true if you truly believe, I advise you to save your breath.”

“It’s not that. It’s just, didn’t you say before that people here have come up with lots of ideas and accepted them?”

“I did. What about it?” Loki put his guard up, slightly.

“You said mortals accept that even family members can hate each other and separate; but on the other hand, there are people who love each other and are close and dear to each other even when they aren’t related by blood.”

“I do not wish to inherit Odin’s lie,” he held out to the end.

“I understand that. Then forget Asgard, throw it away into the past, and just think it never happened.”

Thor tried to say something to Steve, but Tony firmly held him back.

‘But.....’

‘Trust Cap with this one, okay?’

Loki had a slightly amused expression on his face.

“Are you telling me to do away with my relationship with Thor and brothers and all that also?”

“That’s right,” Steve nodded. “And begin it now, like you did with other Midgardians, with ‘passerby 1’ who you ‘somehow’ saved ‘by chance’ today.”

Loki didn’t know what to say.

“.........I had heard Captain America embodies the ideal man envisioned by people here, with all the goodness and honesty and integrity and altruism.”

“He has to be clever and eloquent depending on the situation, too. You yourself said that people appreciate that a lot.”

“......................”

“Why don’t we take this conversation further in a setting comfortable and quiet enough for it?” suggested Coulson. “The situation is over and we can’t overtake the park indefinitely anymore.”

“...........I’ll continue to work as a lawyer,” said Loki. “And I won’t advertise myself as a superhero like that metal head over there.”

“You don’t have to do something like that. Many more people don’t,” Steve pat his shoulder.

Loki sighed. It seemed irrational, though, that he had to become a superhero just because he dealt with arrogant fools who dared to put a blade against his throat and saved ‘passerby 1’ along the way 'by chance'.

He quickly glanced at Thor. He was looking at him with a strange expression which showed relief and anxiety and hope and concern and joy all mixed together.

‘Well, I guess it might be okay.’

“Oh, I need to go to the court,” said Loki. “Since I need to retract the restraining order.”

Thor’s face bloomed.

“Loki!” Thor hugged him tightly. “I knew full well that you’d understand at the en......”

“Let go of me; if you break my ribs I’m suing you for injury!”