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When Loki was 18, he became his university’s youngest ever recipient of a Masters degree in Biomedical Engineering.
Since it was only the third degree he would finish with flying colours that year, and the fifth degree Loki had earned overall in his scant 18 years of life so far, he had more than a handful of job proposals on the table before the pictures of him holding this latest diploma had even been snapped, which was just as well, because Loki did not enjoy having his picture taken.
This was one of many personal facts about Loki which Pepper Potts had taken care to memorise before her first meeting with this prodigy of the modern sciences, which went a long way towards explaining why she alone of the many suitors for Loki’s hand in mutually beneficial employment was granted an interview with the camera-shy youth three days after the last of the articles detailing his stunning academic successes ran in local news, and two days before Loki was scheduled to take his annual family holiday.
The process went more or less like this:
Pepper Potts, willing to travel halfway across the world to meet Loki, hoping to add him to the already star-studded research team at Stark Industries, was granted access to the young genius after a succession of phone conferences with Loki’s mother, Frigga, the overseer of all such aspects of Loki’s personal business.
During the course of these conferences, Pepper Potts strove to make clear to Frigga how valued Loki would be as a member of Stark Industries, and how Loki’s continued studies – a vital concern of both her and her son – would be heavily prioritised.
In turn, Frigga strove to make clear to Pepper Potts how sensitive Loki was as a person and how important it was to her as his mother that he should make the correct choices for his future and be allowed to develop naturally despite his many talents and impressive intellect.
Pepper Potts eventually secured the desired direct interview with Loki on the basis of the understanding that she would see him alone and without any other mediators or personnel from Stark Industries, that Frigga would be present, that Loki would not be asked to sign anything, and that Pepper would refrain from wearing anything blue.
Pepper, more than used to dealing with the eccentricities of the incredibly intelligent, readily agreed.
Unfortunately, Tony Stark, her employer and the most annoyingly eccentric of the incredibly intelligent people she was used to working with both professionally and personally, decided for once to accompany her on her business trip and, once he found out why she was going, would not be dissuaded from sitting in on the meeting with this new prospective asset to Stark Industries.
The meeting went something like this:
Tony Stark, flanking Pepper Potts like an exuberant toddler gleefully awaiting the promised treat a trusted parent had assured them that they were off to retrieve, opened negotiations with Frigga, mother of Loki, at the door to their lavish but tasteful family home courtesy of the extreme wealth accumulated over the centuries by the family of Frigga’s husband Odin, father of Loki, by exclaiming,
“Jesus, you’ve sure got a hell of a place here, huh? Renting it off the Queen for the weekend to impress us? Don’t worry, we’ll keep the kid in the lifestyle he’s gotten accustomed to,” in typical, irreverent fashion.
Frigga, mother of Loki and wife of Odin, completely ignored Tony Stark, owner and main intellectual driving force behind the immense and lucrative business of Stark Industries, turned to Pepper Potts, mortified CEO of same, and said,
“This was not the agreement.”
“I’m aware of that, and I can’t apologise enough,” Pepper countered smoothly,
“But when Mr. Stark heard about Loki’s recent achievements he insisted on coming with me to meet him.”
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible,” Frigga, mother of Loki and taker of precisely no one’s bullshit, ever, explained,
“But he is more than welcome to wait in the morning room while you speak to my son.”
Tony Stark, owner of Stark Industries and intellectual giant in his own right, was forced to make peace with these conditions and found himself shown to the mentioned morning room by one of Frigga’s other sons, an immensity of a boy who introduced himself as ‘Thor’ with far greater cheer than Tony had generally experienced from people of Thor’s size and level of socially accepted attractiveness.
Meanwhile, Pepper Potts, grateful to have been relieved of her duty as babysitter of Tony Stark and to enter this meeting solely in her capacity of CEO to Stark Industries, followed Frigga to an impressive library at the opposite end of the house, where, after having only just met Thor, Frigga’s other son, if Pepper had not, in her efficient way, previously made certain to find and acquaint herself with a somewhat recent picture of Loki, she would have been incredibly surprised to find herself being introduced to a tall, slight, sharp-featured young man with dark hair and eyes greener than the leather desktop whereupon rested the tablet he seemed to have just been working on when Pepper entered with Frigga.
Having been ready for just about any sort of greeting given her aforementioned experience with the highly intelligent and somewhat eccentric and Frigga having prepared her in a phone conference to not have her hand shaken by Loki, who did not enjoy touching people whom he did not know, Pepper was therefore also surprised when Loki stepped forward and took her hand with a murmured,
“Miss Potts, pleased to make your acquaintance, won’t you have a seat?”
After shaking his hand, expressing her pleasure at being there, and seating herself on a beautiful leather-upholstered settee, Pepper quickly ascertained that the initial ease with which Loki had presented himself was not something which came naturally to him, as his own sinking into the opposite and identical settee alongside his mother was stiff and accompanied by a longing glance in the direction of the tablet he had abandoned for this ordeal.
The reason for the meeting was quickly established and moved on from. Pepper ran through some of the things she envisioned Loki doing at and for Stark Industries. Loki appeared to agree that Pepper’s vision was rather the sort of thing he’d like to take part in. Pepper painted a pleasant picture of Loki as a pioneer of the sciences, helping to forge a bright new future. Frigga inquired as to how her son was expected to cope with that level of work alongside his personal, independent studies and pursuit of another degree without buckling under and burning out. Pepper promised plans set in place to prevent such a thing from happening. Frigga doubted Stark Industries’ ability to deliver on said promises. Loki listened intently to Pepper’s earnest play for his participation in her business’ new biomedical research initiative.
Meanwhile, Tony grilled Thor, Loki’s brother, on Loki’s habits, character, interests, looks, intelligence, and favourite sandwich fillings.
Thor initially attempted to answer all questions to the best of his ability but was soon forced to accept both that Tony Stark’s questions and desire to take Loki from the bosom of his protective family and whisk him away to some dreary existence as a lab-rat grated on Thor’s patience and love of preserving the status quo, and that it annoyed Thor to be questioned so extensively on the subject of Loki, whom Thor was not truly accustomed to receiving more attention than Thor did himself.
Luckily for Thor, he was saved from further uncomfortable questioning by Tony Stark by virtue of Tony Stark’s arc reactor sparking visibly through his now-smouldering shirt, and making him topple off the sofa he’d been sitting on, yelling for,
“Pepper!” while Thor jumped off the sofa he’d been sitting on, yelling for,
“Mother!”
Colliding with Pepper Potts, Frigga, and Loki, who were rushing towards the scene of the commotion, in the hall, Thor was unable to explain the situation properly, but upon them all reaching the morning room, his contribution became obsolete as Pepper took in the scene with an exclamation of,
“Tony!” and knelt down next to her apparently stricken employer, Frigga placed a calming hand on Thor’s arm, and Loki approached Pepper Potts and Tony Stark and watched as Pepper pushed aside Tony’s shirt to examine the arc reactor while demanding of Tony that he tell her what to do.
“Do nothing,” Loki instructed, drawing a shocked look from Pepper,
“Nothing is wrong. This is staged.”
To illustrate his theory, he also knelt by the billionaire owner of Stark Industries, and indicated portions of the arc reactor and remnants of a thin filament of sorts encircling it as he explained in overly technical terms how Tony Stark had rigged his arc reactor, or rather, the surrounding area, to emit a spark and set his shirt smouldering in order to alarm Thor and garner attention. Loki then outlined his further theory that this had been planned with the intention that Tony Stark would be allowed to participate in the meeting between Loki and his mother, Frigga, and Pepper Potts, and was meant as a test for Loki.
At this point in proceedings, Tony Stark abandoned his pretence at being incapacitated, sat up, clapped Loki on the shoulder, turned to Pepper and said,
“I want to keep this one. Did you offer him a job yet?”
Pepper had not, as per the agreement with Loki’s mother, Frigga, much to Tony Stark’s annoyance, but after Tony Stark had been forced by Pepper to apologise for causing any worry, Pepper dutifully offered Loki a job with Stark Industries whereupon Tony Stark ceased his pestering of her to offer the job, and commenced his pestering of Loki to accept the job offer.
Loki accepted. Tony Stark was enthused to the point of embracing the youth but was told to unhand Loki lest he revoke his acceptance of the job with Stark Industries. Pepper Potts was pleased to have done good business and began drafting the specifics of the contract in her head, without which and without Loki having signed it, the job offer could not be considered official and Loki’s acceptance could not be considered certain or binding. Frigga was both pleased for her child and fearful for his continued wellbeing. Thor was resentful of having been tricked, resentful of the attention being paid to Loki, and uncertain as to why his mother had agreed to let Loki travel halfway across the world at 18 years of age to begin a highly paid and highly taxing job in an unfamiliar place.
This was to be only the first of a series of life-changing events for Loki, however, as upon hearing of Loki’s new job and his intention to move halfway across the world to pursue this new career path, Odin, Loki’s father and Frigga’s husband, became incensed, forbade it, and in the ensuing confrontation inadvertently revealed that he was in fact only Frigga’s husband and Thor’s father, as well as father to Frigga’s other children, and that Loki was in fact adopted.
This bombshell irrevocably dropped, a traumatised and angry Loki, who had been looking forward to having two months in which to put his affairs in order before joining Pepper Potts and Tony Stark in New York to begin his work at Stark Industries, placed a call to Pepper Potts and asked to fly back with them immediately, citing irreconcilable differences with his family as the reason.
As a legal adult, Loki had every right to do so and Pepper found herself unable to refuse, and therefore Loki, formerly Frigga’s son and Thor’s brother but still a prodigy in the field of science and experimental medicine, flew back with Pepper Potts and Tony Stark, and bonded with Tony on the flight over emotionally unavailable fathers who keep secrets, and broken families.
Upon their arrival in New York, Pepper Potts, under Tony’s instruction, set Loki up with his own apartments in the same building Tony lived in during his stints in New York, arranged for Loki to start work whenever he liked, and set a support system in place for Loki to ensure that his feelings of displacement and any homesickness he might be experiencing after this difficult transition would be as minimal as possible.
That was two years, six months, three weeks, four days and ten hours ago.
Loki is now 20 years old, but he is still by far the youngest researcher in his lab, still as eccentric as ever, and every bit as lonely as his estranged adoptive mother, Frigga, had once feared he would be before the life choices and emotional upheavals that led him to this place.
Loki may be the most gifted person working in his lab, but while Pepper Potts has given him a comfortable home and arranged every possible practical detail since his arrival here, she hasn’t been able to give him the gift of easy social interaction or the ability to work well with others, and so Loki is also the most ostracised person working in his lab.
After two years, six months, and four days, for that is how long he has worked here, Loki has grown accustomed to being teased for everything from his accent to the way he keeps his hair to his youth to his shyness, which his colleagues take for general anti-social weirdness.
The most social thing about Loki is Jane Foster’s assistant, Darcy, who is only ever around when not needed by Jane Foster – who actually leads a research team in a completely different lab in another part of the building and therefore isn’t really anything to do with Loki – and who drops by occasionally bearing tea made to Loki’s exacting standards and conversation on topics which Loki has absolutely no interest in but Darcy’s take on, which Darcy feels he should be kept abreast of nonetheless, and the only reason Darcy associates herself with Loki is that he is the only person in the building, apart from the boy who sometimes couriers things which cannot be sent via email interdepartmentally, who is the same age as Darcy herself.
Loki does very little to keep this friendship afloat, due to the fact that he hasn’t time for active workplace friendships and also due to his social awkwardness and the incompatibility of his interests with Darcy’s, but luckily Darcy does not seem to require Loki’s active participation in their arrangement or any real interest on his part in the things which she finds interesting, and so they get along well enough.
Today, the conversational topic, as it has been for weeks now, is the Stark Expo ball, a revel of the employees following a successful Stark Expo, which is rapidly approaching.
In the first year of Loki’s residence here, he managed to avoid it due to timing.
In the second year, he attended very briefly and then left again after exactly five minutes to return home.
This year, Darcy is insistent that he attend, and his lab colleagues as well as the rest of the department are insistent that if he does attend, he will likely do so alone due to his chronic weirdness interfering with any ability to secure accompaniment for the event.
Darcy has not been so unkind, but she has been dropping hints that if Loki agrees to attend, the two of them should dance together, given that she has an invitation this year.
Loki does not find this an attractive prospect.
“It’ll be fun!” she proclaims.
“Maybe for some,” Loki says drily, re-adjusting an equation, and Darcy huffs.
“But I want you to come,” she wheedles, and Loki shrugs to indicate that her enthusiasm is not shared and that his desire to attend is not being heightened by her claims that she would like him to be there.
“Why won’t you go? You work really hard, it’ll be great to get out and dress up and just cut loose! You don’t even need a partner if that’s what you’re worried about, you can just show up alone and – ”
“Much as I hate to interrupt, this is dreary and pointless and I have work to do. I’m sure Dr. Foster is missing you,” Loki says quietly, and Darcy scowls at him.
“You can’t spend your life chained to this desk, Loki. Get out there, enjoy yourself! I expect you to be there, you know. You’re not getting out of this one. I’ll never forgive you if you don’t come.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Darcy,” Loki replies, and she hops off his desk and points at him threateningly.
“You’ll see me at the ball,” she says firmly, and then leaves to go and do some actual assisting of the woman whom she is paid to assist.
“You know, it’s a pretty swanky event,” one of Loki’s colleagues says breezily behind his back,
“If you’re going, you might want to look into getting a haircut and buying a suit.”
Loki’s not really listening, and even if he was, he makes it a rule not to allow himself to feel judged by people who use the word ‘swanky’ and think other people’s hair is their business.
“Or maybe a whole new personality – Lord knows he gets paid enough,” remarks another of Loki’s colleagues, a touch bitingly.
“Forget the personality, he should get an escort. Even Banner had a date last year, no one wants to be that guy who shows up alone.”
“Banner’s pretty cute,” weighs in a female scientist currently looking through a microscope,
“As long as he’s remembered his meds so he can actually talk to you, he’d be an okay date.”
“Doesn’t he have an anger problem?”
“Social anxiety, I heard.”
“Well at least those are emotions. Teenage mutant nonresponsive here’s gonna need a lot of meds to force out real expressions.”
“Aw, well Loki, I’ve got a contact down in the pharm-labs, maybe I could ask her to hook you up? Some of the experimental stuff’s doing really well in trials.”
“Failing that, you could just get that haircut, wait for someone to slip on the clippings, then insert that AI chip and take them for a test-drive at the ball. If it’s for science, I’m sure the jury will let you off lightly.”
Loki jots down another equation and compares it to the previous one.
“I’ll take it under advisement,” he intones, and then,
“I’ll need that spinal cord prototype on the screen for evaluation in five minutes. I’m going to make a call.”
As he leaves the lab, he hears someone say,
“Are we sure he’s not an evil robot sent to spy on us? Because if he is, maybe we shouldn’t antagonise him.”
Loki has grown so used to the drivel and the jibes thinly masked by workplace jocularity that he honestly doesn’t care anymore.
That’s not to say he’s not affected.
This, however, does not become apparent until the night of the Stark Expo employee ball.
No one is expecting Loki to be there, not really.
Not Darcy, for all her threats and cajoling and sincere wishes that he would attend.
Not Loki’s co-workers, for all their suggestions to Loki as to how he should comport himself and go about the business of preparing for the evening.
Even Loki himself has a moment, just before he leaves the car, where he honestly can’t say why he made this decision, and then he looks to his right and knows.
It’s not so much Loki that attracts attention when he enters the beautifully decorated ballroom of the fancy hotel that’s been booked for this event after being approved by Pepper Potts, it’s the person to his right, whose arm he is very clearly on, and the fact that Loki is on that arm, which causes murmurs and whisperings and exclamations of,
“Shit, did he actually get an escort?”
The murmurings sting Loki in a way they don’t tend to when they’re casually uttered in the workplace, and he draws himself up a little more, eyes searching the crowd for a familiar face.
He finds two, and directs the person whose arm he is on to follow him and cross the room by giving the arm he’s not quite clinging to a gentle squeeze.
It’s not until he’s actually stood in front of Tony Stark, owner of Stark Industries, and Pepper Potts, CEO of the latter and long-suffering baby-sitter of the former, that someone comments on the person he’s with directly and to Loki’s face.
“Holy crap! Loki! You little shit, you never told me you were shacked up with Captain Cutie here!” Tony exclaims, displaying his usual talent for unfiltered speech.
The tasteful stiletto heel of Pepper Potts descends on Tony Stark’s shiny loafer with swift and unerring disciplinary intent, and while he yelps and soothes the now-damaged appendage against his trouser leg, she clasps Loki’s unoccupied hand warmly and smiles at he and his date, who are wearing matching flushes, although one of them is flushed with embarrassment and the other with mild rage and homicidal urges.
“Loki! We didn’t even know you were coming! And of course, I know you, you’re Captain Rogers! How do you know Loki?” she asks, releasing Loki’s hand to shake that of his date, whose flush gives way for a brilliant smile as he says,
“Nice to meet you again, Miss Potts. Good of you to remember me.”
“One does not simply forget you,” Loki murmurs, looking particularly uncomfortable with such honest and heartfelt expressions in company. The thrilled and adoring look on his date’s face are testament to just how much it takes to wrench that kind of sincerity out of Loki on the best of days in private let alone in a high-stress social situation like this, and Pepper Potts is glad to see it, both because it’s nice to know that she still knows what sort of person Loki is, and because it would appear that Captain Rogers knows as well and deeply appreciates it to boot.
“Enough gooey-eyeing. How long’s this been going on and why didn’t I know about it? This feels like the kind of thing we should have known about. What do I pay you for?” Tony prompts, and Loki shoots him a dark look.
“You don’t pay me to divulge personal details about my private life,” he reminds Tony Stark, who, while he may indeed be a billionaire and the owner of Stark Industries, where Loki is indeed employed, is not in fact privy to need-to-know information pertinent to Loki’s personal life and does not in fact pay Loki to put him on the need-to-know list.
While Tony Stark may be a billionaire, Loki would have to crunch serious numbers to decide whether Tony Stark would even be capable of paying Loki to the tune of ending up on the need-to-know list regarding the intimate details of Loki’s intensely personal private life.
After a reminder from Pepper that Tony Stark and herself are Loki’s closest friends, however, Loki admits that there is no reason why they shouldn’t know the circumstances that have led him to be standing here in front of them on the arm of the incredibly handsome Captain Steve Rogers who appears to wholeheartedly worship the ground upon which Loki deigns to tread and whose devotion appears to be entirely reciprocated by Loki, however reticent about openly showing emotion he may be.
The facts, as they say, were these:
Six months into Loki’s new beginning as an employee and close friend of Tony Stark, owner of Stark Industries, and Pepper Potts, CEO of same, Tony Stark was in the Middle East on business when he was kidnapped and held for ransom by a terrorist organisation, much to the horror and distress of Pepper Potts, Loki, and several other people.
The government, aware that action needed to be taken to retrieve Tony Stark, who as well as being a prominent public figure was also financially propping up several initiatives of grave national importance and whose labs supplied vital research as well as various things of great use to both nation and government, put the armed forces on the job, who in turn put one of their more elite retrieval teams on the job.
They were in and out with Tony Stark unharmed and as talkative as always, though a little rattled, inside 48 hours of being assigned the mission, every second of which was nerve-wracking for Pepper Potts, Loki, and all the investors of Stark Industries.
After Tony Stark had been rescued and brought back home, Pepper Potts arranged for the people responsible for his safe return to the bosom of the company, his friends, and his faithful CEO, to attend a special, intimate gathering in order for all those close to Tony to have a chance to properly thank them.
The retrieval team in question, the Howling Commandos, had among them one Captain Steve Rogers, a veteran of 21 years of age, a perfect soldier, and a fine young man all round.
It was at this gathering that he happened to look out across the crowd of people, and, unfortunately, press, wanting to thank him for his participation in the retrieval of Tony Stark and ask him and the rest of the team invasive questions ranging from how the rescue mission was managed to what their phone numbers were and whether or not they were romantically linked with anyone at present, in the hopes of avoiding an early death by sheer social discomfort.
And it was as Steve Rogers engaged in this avoidance tactic that his eyes alighted upon Loki, who was engaging in the more reliable avoidance tactic of staying close to the shadows and edging towards the door.
Whether Loki felt Steve Rogers’ eyes upon him or simply wished to ensure that his bid for freedom was not being observed before he slipped from the room is unclear.
What is clear is that Loki looked around at the last possible moment, locked eyes with Steve Rogers, and fell in love with everything he saw there.
It wasn’t until Steve Rogers managed to evade everyone else in the room who had been downgraded from ‘annoyances’ to ‘inconsequential distractions’ by sheer virtue of not being the young man with the green eyes and in fact being obstacles standing in the way of Steve Rogers meeting the young man with the green eyes, and slipped from the room himself to find him only to be marvellously confronted with the very same furtive and awkward Loki whom he wished to make the immediate acquaintance of that Steve Rogers was able to confirm for himself that he was as dreadfully in love with Loki as he hoped Loki might be persuaded to be with him.
Ascertaining after a brief but meaningful conversation, where determination and adoration triumphed over shyness, that Loki in fact did feel the same way, they quickly agreed that all this could hardly be based on the strength of a single shared glance across a crowded room, and headed out for coffee at a diner across town which was glad to furnish Loki with a cup of steaming water for the teabag he made a point to carry about his person for just such an occasion, notwithstanding that such an occasion had never actually occurred before.
After an hour in one another’s company, they reached the mutual conclusion that love at first sight does happen, and that it had happened, to them, and then set to deciding what to do about it.
Loki, being a man of science and learning, put forward the suggestion that they should see more of each other.
Steve, being a man of logic and strategy, concurred that this was the best and indeed only right and possible plan of action.
It was only the first of many, many dates, although Steve counted twenty such before they actually got round to kissing, and Loki counted twenty-one.
They occasionally argue about whether that one day where they went to a baseball game together and then went out for dinner afterwards counts as one date or two, but neither of them really care about being right and the only thing that usually comes of it is an agreement that, in hindsight, they probably could have gotten round to the kissing a lot sooner, which in turn usually leads to a decision that lost time needs to be made up for, which naturally progresses into exactly what you’d expect it to.
These were the facts, as they stood.
Loki and Steve are and have been a couple for well over a year, and mean to go on in the same way they have been going on so far.
After inquiry from Pepper it is learned that the reason for Steve’s previous conspicuous absence from Loki’s everyday life is that he is often away seeing to his own job, on the subject of which he is naturally rather quiet, a fact which is understood by everyone except Tony, who requires an explanation from Pepper in order to curb his prodding.
It is noted by Pepper that Steve is noticeably saddened by even the slightest hinting that he should be around more, but what she also notices is how easily this sadness is dispelled by Loki’s assertion that Steve’s absences don’t upset him because he understands the need for them and for Steve to live his professional life.
The subject changes to the shared social awkwardness which they have also bonded over, and evidence of it is proven when Steve nervously shares,
“I kind of feel like everyone’s watching us.”
“Oh, they are,” Tony assures him,
“But you are standing with the main event, so that’s no surprise.” This is accompanied by a sweeping gesture towards himself and a total lack of humility which earns him a practiced rolling of Pepper’s eyes.
“We’re also being ogled by everyone from my department. They probably think I hired you for this, or built you in my basement,” Loki informs Steve tonelessly, and Steve is quick to reply that,
“I’m sure that’s not true,” with a heartening smile which Loki absorbs before saying,
“No, really. They were talking about it yesterday. And I heard some of them saying it as we came in. There were also suggestions that I should get my hair cut and that I would need to source appropriate attire for the evening.”
“I like your hair,” Steve asserts with a definitely infatuated glance at the neatly pulled-back stuff,
“Please don’t cut it. And why would you need a new suit, you’ve got plenty. Did you get a new one?”
There’s absolutely no judgment in Steve’s tone or face, only curiosity, but Loki still throws a shifty glance to their left before admitting,
“Yes.”
Tony is more interested in whether,
“Loki owns suits? Loki wears suits? I mean apart from right now, obviously. Why did I not know that? Why haven’t I seen that?”
“Wardrobe full of ‘em,” Steve confirms,
“Pretty sure most of them cost more than I make in a year, but Loki likes them and they look great.” It’s just a statement of fact – coupled with a sweet look at a still-embarrassed Loki, but just like that Tony’s right on to,
“So what do you make in a year?” which is inappropriate and probably why Loki resets the conversation to one full cycle ago with,
“I don’t wear them to work because it’s not appropriate attire for the labs, and even if I did, you wouldn’t see it because we don’t spend time together at work, which is probably another reason why we’re being stared at – none of the people in my department were aware that I know you personally.”
“They should totally know,” Tony decides,
“We’re bros. From now on you and I are work-buddies. We should have pizza tomorrow, I can come down and check out what you’re working on.”
“The new spinal cord prototype is almost ready, you could look at that. If you do bring pizza please don’t get cheese on my workspace,” Loki says, which to those who know him is an agreement to Tony’s terms and practically an ‘I’m looking forward to seeing you’. Luckily, all those present know him quite well and pick up on that.
“I think it’s amazing, what you do,” Steve tells Loki softly, and to save Loki who looks as though the emotional burdens of computing Steve’s remark and wanting to respond in kind but being in public are too much for him to handle, Pepper sweeps in with,
“Loki’s a genius. Honestly, that department would be nothing without him. I’m surprised he ever had time to fall in love, he works so hard on everything that goes through there. Last year’s AI implant for prosthetic control is almost done trialling and if it hadn’t been for Loki, that never would have gotten off the ground.”
Meanwhile, Tony is telling Loki,
“I am so fucking proud of you, look at you with this slamming hottie! I knew you had it in you! You and I will high-five later – unless you’re okay with a fist-bump right here, right now – no? Okay, fine. But we’re still on for that high-five.”
The rest of the evening passes pleasantly with discussions of the exhibits of Stark Expo, Pepper’s brokering of a new Asian deal, Loki’s current project as well as the one he plans to turn his attentions to once this one is finished, and how often Steve’s job calls him away.
Loki is aware of the continued staring and whispering, is anticipating comments when he returns to work tomorrow, but at one point Steve asks him to dance and, since Loki is capable and Steve is aware of this, Loki makes the effort and they dance, and Steve leans in and says,
“I like your friends. And I know what you said, but even if I didn’t come here with you, I’d still look at you.”
“Do I look so out of place?” Loki asks, a threadlike nerve fraying past the edges of his self-control, and Steve smiles.
“You’re stunning. I don’t ever want to take my eyes off you. I’m glad you listened and agreed to come here, and I’m glad you asked me along.”
“You presented a strong and well thought out argument,” Loki reminds him,
“Besides, I couldn’t come here without you. I wouldn’t want to.”
They would kiss right there on the dance floor, but neither one of them is that sort of person, so instead they exchange a look that communicates that they would if they were that sort of person, and that’s more than sufficient.
Meanwhile, Bruce Banner sidles up to Tony Stark and says,
“I didn’t know you were friends with Loki.”
“Been friends for years,” Tony says, dismissive of the issue, and Bruce nods, cognisant of the twenty dollars he now owes his wife, Betty.
“Who’s that there with him? He looks kind of familiar,” Bruce asks, hoping that he won’t have to part with another twenty dollars. This hope is dashed when Tony informs him that,
“That’s his boyfriend. He was on the rescue team that brought me back that time.”
Because it is company policy not to mention ‘that time’, Bruce Banner mouths an ‘Oh’, and then slinks back to his wife in defeat, promising to owe her the forty dollars which he so unwisely wagered against her feminine intuition.
Twenty minutes later, Loki and Steve take their leave of Pepper Potts and Tony Stark, and of the party, and leave the building, only to be accosted at the door while they wait for their car to be brought round, by an inebriated member of Loki’s departmental team whose specialty has to do with the application of chemicals.
She wants to know,
“So, how much is the kid paying you? I’m not his pay-grade but I bet I could show you a helluva better time,” which baffles Steve Rogers until the vulgarity of the remark sifts through the shield of his personal integrity and he informs the woman that,
“I’m sorry, ma’am, but you’re not the same grade at any level. If you’ll excuse me, I’m taking my fiancé home now.”
They’re actually in the car and halfway to Loki’s apartment when Loki finds the courage to say,
“I think I misheard you, earlier. Because the only alternative is that you misspoke, and you rarely misspeak, especially when you’re displeased, so the fault must be mine, and I apologise because I don’t want to make this awkward, but did you refer to me as your fiancé?”
“Can we talk about this when we’re all the way back?” Steve asks, and Loki nods.
“We can.”
Twenty minutes later, after Loki’s unlocked his door and they’re inside and shoeless and they’ve both changed into a t-shirt and underwear combo, although obviously not the same one, Steve looks right at Loki and says,
“I love you, and it’s okay if you’re not there yet, so I’m not making this official or anything because I don’t want to pressure you, but I want to be a part of your life – a major part – and I’d like to think some day, when we’re both ready, you’d agree to marry me.”
Loki appraises the man he loves above all other things critically, and finally asks,
“Do you really want to wait?”
“Heck no! If I thought you really wanted to make that commitment right now, we’d be married so fast you’d wake up on our honeymoon with the ring on your finger wondering what just happened to you and why you’re in another country,” Steve replies fervently, and Loki has to smile and look away at the image and at the idea that anyone would be so enthusiastic about binding themselves legally to him for the foreseeable rest of their immediate lives.
“But a lot of things have happened really quickly for you and you’ve got so much time left – we both have – and I know you need to be comfortable with things before you commit to them. I mean, that’s why we didn’t both come to this thing last year when I asked, because I know you need lots of time to consider things, and that’s okay. But, well, it went great tonight and everything else has gone great so far, so I’m just... putting my bid in, so you know where I want this to go. I’m giving you time to think about where you stand. I want you to be prepared and comfortable so you know I’m not going anywhere and what to expect. Is that okay?” Steve continues, and Loki leans in and kisses him and enjoys how easily Steve holds him, no questions asked.
Loki, however, has a question.
“How soon can you make me Loki Rogers?”
When Steve appears to be confused and about to articulate this confusion, Loki moves on quickly.
“I mean, you said that you’d marry me so fast it’d make my head spin, but that’s in the event I hadn’t really considered the issue and would need time to compute what was going on. I think if I made a well-considered decision based on long-standing wishes and ideas, I’d be able to keep up with proceedings reasonably well, so what I want to know is, how soon can you source a ring and make this happen?”
“Are you saying you’ve been giving this some thought already? Because that’s what it sounds like,” Steve accuses, and Loki smiles.
“I’ve been giving this serious thought right from the offing. I was banking heavily on you having done the same, and now that you’ve confirmed that, I think the only sensible thing to do is get married as soon as possible.”
Loki feels as though the light of Steve’s smile goes right through him in the same way people have been teasing him all his life that any sunlight Loki is exposed to will go right through him as though his paleness is equal to transparency. He has a vague idea that if such a thing were possible, it’d be unpleasant. Bathing in the glory of Steve’s visible joy is a completely different thing, and Loki finds it very pleasant indeed.
“Based on that, I agree, but are you really sure about this?” Steve needs to know, and Loki leans against him, drawing comfort from his solidity.
“I’ve been called a lot of things ever since I can remember, and I haven’t really been able to choose any of them. I was part of a family where I was someone’s brother, and son, and that turned out to be a lie, so you know why I don’t feel too connected to that part of myself or my life anymore. I’m Tony’s friend and employee, and the same goes for Pepper. I have a title at work. I have a first name. I have a job I enjoy, but apart from that, I haven’t really been able to make a lot of definite choices about the important things in my life,” Loki explains,
“I chose you, and you chose me, and you make me so happy, and I feel more connected to you than I’ve felt to anything else I’ve been or anyone else I’ve known. If you’re in agreement, then I honestly don’t think I can become ‘Loki Rogers’ soon enough.”
Overcome, Steve is forced to kiss Loki in lieu of other forms of response, which is fine because it not only communicates his feelings and intentions but also spares Loki any further words on his part and he is assured that his feelings and intentions have been understood by this remarkable person whom he loves and who loves Loki.
“Can I get down on one knee right now?” Steve asks, breathless and blissful, and Loki clings to him.
“Can you stay up here with me? Ask me like this, so I can say yes and kiss you in the same breath. Whisper it if you like. No kneeling,” Loki asks, and Steve kisses him again just for that.
“I kind of feel like it won’t be official unless I do it properly,” he says eventually, a little embarrassed, as though Loki would ever laugh or call him hopelessly old-fashioned, but Loki nods and when Steve kneels, Loki just kneels with him, and when Steve asks,
“Loki, will you marry me?” Loki can say,
“Yes, of course, yes,” and kiss him all within the same three seconds and without drawing a fresh breath.
This of course means that a shorter interval passes before they need to break for breath, but it’s not a problem.
There will be no shortage of time for kisses and indeed for just breathing together in their future.
Loki takes two personal days and then returns to work.
There is a silver band around the finger which traditionally indicates whether or not one is engaged to be married.
At noon, when Darcy comes in with his tea and her coffee to ask invasive questions about the handsome man Loki was seen with at the après-Stark Expo employee ball, she only has time for one question before the courier who is the only other person in their building the same age as them enters burdened with flowers addressed to ‘Loki Soon-To-Be-Rogers’.
Tony Stark enters just as Darcy is emitting a squeal of excited delight that sounds like the illegitimate lovechild of an air raid siren and a fire alarm, dumps the pizza he was carrying, which leads to a sea of cheese spilling from beneath the cardboard lid and onto Loki’s workspace, grabs the flowers, reads the card, and places a call to Pepper on the emergency line all without even asking Loki what’s going on.
Pepper, engaged in a board meeting, accepts the call on the emergency line, is instantly informed by Tony that Loki is now engaged to be married, declares a building-wide state of temporary rest, and hurries down to Loki’s department, where she jumps up and down impressively in her beautiful but towering heels and hugs Loki for a full two minutes, crying happily.
Loki’s smile is beatific and beautiful, and amidst weeping females wanting information and loud best friends slapping him on the back and offering him and his husband-to-be increasingly ludicrous wedding gifts, someone takes a picture of him.
The picture makes the rounds in an interdepartmental email alerting the staff that Loki of Stark Industries will be marrying Captain Steve Rogers of the nation's armed forces in a small, private ceremony three weeks from this date.
At the bottom, someone, though no names will be mentioned, has written,
‘Suck on that.’