Chapter Text
Loki stood on the roof staring out at the city lights while he tried to calm himself down. He knew he had made a fool of himself downstairs, and he was furious about it. He also knew he needed to figure out how to turn this back to his advantage and minimize the damage to his ego and reputation; it was just hard to come up with a plan when his emotions were still running high from the disaster that the night had become. The disaster that this week had been actually, if he was being completely honest with himself. Loki sighed and scrubbed his hands down his face.
It figures that the one time he didn’t have a backup plan he would need it more than ever. So far it seemed like Loki was just going to have to take the amusement and pity from the rest of the Avengers and the awkwardness from Anthony until the new drama came along and everyone forgot about what an embarrassing mess this had become.
Loki still wasn’t sure what had gone wrong. He thought he had read all of the signals correctly, thought he had planned everything out, but obviously, he missed something. He wracked his brain to try to make it make sense but came up empty. Truly, he felt like he should’ve known better; but apparently he did actually still have some hope left inside of him. Yeah, and look where that got me, Loki thought to himself. Standing here alone looking like a fool.
Loki had been working with the Avengers for months now, and this would be the first Christmas he had spent on Midgard with them. He was slightly overwhelmed by the number of traditions these people seemed to have, as well as the many ways that they differed from place to place. Most of them seemed silly to the mage, but he could also see the charm in some of them as well as the comfort that they brought to everyone. The desire to continue to build on the camaraderie that had developed between himself and the team had Loki attempting to learn what he could and participating whenever possible. Which is what led to his current predicament.
When Loki had first come to the tower everyone was understandably hesitant to take his words at face value and it created some tension in the group. Barton was the first to break the ice and approach Loki; even under mind control, he could tell Loki wasn’t invading because he wanted to. He, along with Thor, tried to explain it to everyone but for a while the only one who was willing to listen was Tony. It was strange to Loki how easy it was to be friends with Anthony. They understood each other in ways Loki had never experienced before, and also he was fun to be around. Even when the others started to accept and trust him, Loki still spent most of his time with Tony.
They were friends, and Loki loved it. But recently that friendship had changed. More flirting, standing closer together than normal, small touches, a tension in the way their eyes met and held. The signs were all there that the feelings were not one-sided, Loki just wasn’t sure how to make his move. So when Christmas came around and he heard about mistletoe it seemed like the perfect opportunity. He could kiss Anthony and either move their relationship forward or have a way to laugh it off if he was wrong. Either way, he would know the answer. Unfortunately, things didn’t go according to plan.
Granted, some of the failures were because of Loki’s lack of understanding of the plant or how the whole mistletoe thing was supposed to work (how was he supposed to know it was poisonous to mortals??). But even once he did get it right, things weren’t working out like they were supposed to. Every time Loki tried, Tony was either completely oblivious or he laughed it off; making Loki doubt everything. He thought that tonight he had everything set up perfectly, but once again he was left looking like a fool. Apparently, he had misread the signals after all.
It was the only explanation that Loki could come up with; what else could it be? He had clearly misread the situation, or else he didn’t and Anthony had simply changed his mind. Tony wasn’t an idiot, he must know what he was trying to do. By the end Loki wasn’t even being subtle anymore, so the only answer was that Tony obviously did not want this. He did not want Loki.
Loki was so wrapped up in his thoughts he didn’t realize he was no longer alone until someone grabbed his hand. Startled, he jumped and almost pulled his dagger when he realized that Anthony was by his side. Regaining his composure Loki stepped away and removed his hand. Before he could try to apologize for storming out, Tony walked right up to him and kissed him. It wasn’t a deep kiss, and it didn’t last long; it was over before Loki could even react to it.
Tony held Loki’s face in his hands and looked him in the eyes. “I was an idiot, I’m sorry.” Loki stared, slack-jawed and confused, at him. There were too many thoughts in his mind for him to really understand what was happening at the moment. What had changed? He had spent all week trying to get Anthony’s attention and the last hour trying to accept defeat. And now it seemed like he was finally getting what he wanted, but he still wanted to be sure.
“What is this Anthony? What do you want?” Loki hoped he knew the answer to the last question but he really needed to know the answer to the first. He needed to understand. Tony had the decency to look slightly embarrassed when he answered his questions. “I was blind and an idiot. I was so focused on finding the best way to tell you how I feel that I missed out on you doing the same. So that was me telling you I am sorry. As to what I want, the answer is you. I want you.”
As Tony spoke Loki couldn’t stop the hope and happiness that flooded him. He searched Tony’s face for any sign of a lie or doubts but found none. “You are blind and an idiot,” Loki told him. “But I guess this makes you my blind idiot.” Tony smiled and laughed as he said “Yes I guess it does. You poor thing!”
Loki laughed as Anthony grabbed his hands and pulled him close. “How could you be so clueless? I wasn’t exactly subtle my dear. I thought you were smarter than that.” Even as he asked the question, Loki no longer cared about the answer. The only thing he cared about was this-the knowledge of Tony’s feelings and having him there by his side. When Tony rolled his eyes Loki couldn’t help but laugh at him again. “Hey, even geniuses have dumb moments sometimes,” Tony responded. Now it was Loki’s turn to roll his eyes as he leaned down to kiss Anthony again.
This kiss was much different from the last one; this kiss was long and slow and deep and full of emotion. This kiss was better than any that Loki had imagined having with Anthony. They kept it slow and sweet at first, but it soon changed and turned hotter and full of months of wanting. It would have continued down that path, but a sound by the door broke them apart. As they turned to the door they were faced with almost every member of the team laughing and clapping. There were even a few whistles.
Loki started blushing and tried to pull away, but Tony kept him there with an arm around his waist and holding his hand with the other. Loki knew the others knew how he felt about Anthony (how could they not after this week?) but that didn’t mean he was comfortable being caught out like this. Before he could decide what to do, he heard someone yell “Its about time you two! We were getting tired of watching you dance around each other!” Loki couldn’t see who said it, but it almost sounded like Rogers of all people, which only made Loki blush worse.
Tony, however, only laughed and said “Yeah yeah yeah I hear ya Cap. But good things come to those who wait or something like that.” As everyone laughed and catcalled, Loki just looked at Anthony and watched him interact with everyone. Seeing him take all of this in stride and not being ashamed to be with Loki in front of his friends meant a lot to Loki. When it seemed like nobody was planning on leaving for a while, Loki leaned down and whispered in Anthony’s ear: “Shall we move this somewhere a little more private?”
Tony looked at Loki with eyes that answered the question for him, but he still wanted to hear him say it. So when he said yes with a voice that had gone deeper and raspy it sent a shiver down Loki’s spine. He pulled Tony in closer and prepared to teleport them to Tony’s room. Right before they did, however, they heard Clint yell. “It is officially Christmas day! I win, so pay up everyone!”
When they appeared in Tony’s room Loki was amused to see grumpiness on Tony’s face. He knew it was because of what Clint said, but Loki also wasn’t going to let him think about it for too long. He leaned in close and whispered “Merry Christmas Anthony” into Tony’s ear, delighting in the shiver that Loki could feel running through him. And when Tony turned and captured Loki’s mouth in a bruising kiss, he couldn’t help but think that yes, it was a very merry Christmas.