Work Text:
Any normal and respectable individual would have felt ridiculous in a similar position; and yet Loki Laufeyson felt anything but. He had adorned very peculiar ensembles in the past; some of which he swore only a hallucinogenic compromised mind could have conjured up. And they might very well have been very bad trips, spun into creative ideas.
His current state however hadn't been a drug fueled realization. He had been perfectly sober for three years now, and had found the idea of body paint to be inexplicably amusing. So the only logical thing to do was to buy some and paint his torso and face, in order to get the bothersome press photos out of the way.
"The new album is doing stellar with record executives and journalists." Phil Coulson said excitedly beside him. "Even better than your three previous albums; this one, Loki, this is the one. This'll make you a household name; shoot you into super stardom!"
"And to think I was already beloved; you wound me so, Phillip." He rolled his eyes, keeping in step with him as they continued down the corridor.
"Of course, you're beloved. But you still have the ability to walk down the street without being completely bombarded. And that's going to change; you'll be so recognizable that you won't even be able to go the supermarket without a mob chasing after you. Think of Beatlemania,"
"That sounds positively terrifying. And whoever said I go to the supermarket at all? Do I look in any way domestic to you?"
"Domestic is as domestic does, boss," Phil smiled in a way that always annoyed him; but he bit his tongue for the time being because he'd only end up making a fool of himself.
They continued the trek from the makeup room to the photo studio; which only became a longer journey than it should have been. People shot out from various doorways, bursting with comments about the new record and how incredibly brilliant it was (which was true); and many other comments about how they loved the new look.
He ignored most of the unnecessary fuss; still unaware of when or how so many yes people had swarmed about him. But he was far from naïve and knew his continued success was the only reason why so many people bent to his will far easier than beforehand. And Phil was still the worst of the lot; he knew that better than anyone else, and had taken advantage of his pliable nature regularly.
Amid the flock of barely recognizable faces, which were bombarding Phil with questions of all sorts, was a very familiar one. Bucky dashed out of a non-descript room with a rolled up newspaper in one hand, before he threw his arm around Loki's shoulders in means of a greeting; even though he had to stretch onto his tiptoes to do so.
"You look kind of feral today, boss." Bucky smirked, eyeing him closely. "But I'm sure it'll look great on the record sleeve; which, by the way is mind blowing. Better than any of your other albums; I mean, they were excellent too, but this is it. This is the one like Phil puts it."
"I should take offense." Loki reached for the newspaper in Bucky's hand, only to have it pulled away from him. "All my work has been up to par."
"Happiness can only make your work better. And you're a happy little clam now, aren't you?"
"I'll be happier if you let me look at that newspaper." He tried again to snatch it away to no avail.
Bucky shot him a sardonic smile, which only served to conjure up his suspicion. For the past few days, he'd been withheld almost every news publication in print. He didn't know why, especially since he only liked to scan the front page, before tossing it aside for far more pressing matters. Although, he had suspicions that maybe things weren't so idyllic on the record front.
Of course, Loki had learned to take the bad reviews alongside the good ones. He just hadn't expected there would be any media attention towards the record yet; not when it wouldn't be released for several months still. But that was inevitably the problem with yes men; they had a knack from shielding their cash cow from any and all bad press.
With renewed determination, he reached out and practically ripped the newspaper from Bucky's grasp; who then had the gall to protest like a drowning man. It was stupid on Bucky's part though, to have a paper within arm's reach; especially if he wanted him to avoid looking at it in the first place.
"There's nothing very interesting going on in the world, you know. The same 'ol doom and gloom that there has always been." Bucky unraveled his arm from Loki's shoulders, before bumping into him with his hip to the thigh. "And quite frankly, I like you when you're all Zen-like."
"I'm hardly affected by the news, James." He unrolled the paper, scanning the front page slowly. "I don't know why you lot have been hiding it from…me…"
Splashed across the front page was a sorry sight to see, to say the least. A black and white photograph of a very drunken and glassy-eyed young man took up much of the page; with a bold exclamation above it that said: Stark Industries' CEO Arrested for Public Intoxication & Drug Possession.
Loki would have known that face anywhere; it had been a face that frequently haunted his dreams. Or it had for a solid year, but had dissipated once things had begun to even out for him. In all truthfulness, he hadn't really thought about Tony Stark for some time now; and he found himself offended by the notion that the people around him wanted to protect him from such a stupid incident.
"So this was what you were hiding from me?" He raised an eyebrow, peering down at Tony Stark's disheveled appearance as he was being led from a nightclub in New York City by an amused looking police officer.
"Guilty as charged." Bucky replied, looking towards Phil who was still in conversation with someone who could have been an art director or maybe even his personal assistant; Loki never kept track of people anymore. "Phil thought it was for the best. Didn't want to rock the boat,"
"Because I'm such a fragile flower," Loki shot back, rolling up the paper again, and whacking Bucky across the chest with it; allowing him to take possession of the newspaper once more. "I might very well throw myself off the building in heartache; this could easily have become a Shakespearean tragedy!"
"Sarcasm noted," Bucky chuckled. "Maybe Phil was just terrified about you potentially breaking him out of the slammer; then becoming the next Bonnie and Clyde. I personally would have loved for that to have happened."
Loki glared at Bucky, before turning his attention elsewhere. There wasn't any reason to delve into the topic any further, as far as he was concerned. The conversation was already exhausted, and he hadn't any desire to discuss anything involving Tony Stark and his arrest.
It had been three years since they last had contact with one another, and he hadn't any reason to want to get in touch either. Things had ended on a sour note between them; so sour in fact, that Loki had moped about for a solid three months. Which was particularly uncharacteristic for him; and for a least half a month, he'd been far too high on a variety of psychedelic drugs to know up from down; let alone know why he'd been so terribly depressed in the first place.
But things had gotten progressively better after that period of time. He'd gotten back to being the person he used to be; one that wasn't lovelorn and irrational. He had thrived in that period of time too; he'd recorded a very good album even despite his depression, which had been commercially successful. And now he had recorded another record that seemed to garner further praise.
His world ceased to revolve around Tony Stark. To be perfectly frank, he really couldn't muster the ability to care about this arrest scandal. Everyone in the Western world had heard about the young CEO's outrageous behavior; so this hardly came as any surprise to anyone, let alone Loki.
"Phil underestimates you, you know." Bucky whispered, before shooting Phil his best award-winning smile. "You aren't breakable goods; not now especially."
"I need to focus, so kindly shut up." Loki started to shrug off his unbuttoned oxford, to reveal the full extent of the paint job on his body.
His body had been painted a ghostly white, accented by black curlicues of varying sizes. His face also had several swirls, although they were much smaller and not as imposing. It was a simplistic but eye-catching look, and it seemed to catch the attention of his photographer whom had been slumped over, tinkering with her camera.
He walked into the oversized studio space, tossing his shirt onto an available chair; before approaching his photographer with leisurely steps. She quickly righted herself and gave him a quick once-over, only to get distracted by the flow of people who had followed him into the room.
"What do you think?" Phil asked her, motioning at Loki as if he was presenting the grand prize on a game show. "The new and improved Loki Laufeyson,"
"Who should really cut that long curly hair of his," Bucky added obnoxiously in the background, before swatting Loki in the ass with his rolled up newspaper. "It's 1979; do you really think the 80s will be ready for you like this?"
"Well, I personally like it." Sif countered, while directing Loki with a tilt of her head to the white backdrop at the back of the studio. "So your argument's invalid, Barnes."
"Of course your opinion doesn't matter." Loki smirked meanly at Bucky, as he sauntered over to the backdrop followed closely by Sif. "No cares about what you have to say anyway."
Bucky feigned a look of offense, before he collapsed unceremoniously into a chair, and unrolled the newspaper once more; clearly disinterested in the proceedings. Phil, on the other hand, was peering at Loki and Sif like a hawk; as if he could somehow help the situation by his stare alone.
Loki peered down at Sif, as they stood only an inch or two apart from one another. She smiled up at him conspiratorially, which caused him to arch an eyebrow in question. Of course, this wasn't an uncommon practice between them; they came up with lots of ideas for photographs moments before the shoots, small details mostly.
"We're trying to sell sex." She whispered. "So unbutton and unzip your trousers. I know you've been thoroughly painted; am I right?"
"Oh, you are right. But by some exceptionally unattractive middle-aged woman; I don't know if that would be called sexual harassment or not. What do you think?" He asked, reaching down to unbutton and unzip his leather trousers; while she absentmindedly tried to comb out his hair with her fingers, almost snagging her oversized emerald in his locks.
"Not everyone is vying for your attention, you know." She rolled her eyes then, before stepping back to survey him again. "If the music doesn't sell the record, this definitely will, Lo. Don't you guys think so?"
"The visual is spot-on; couldn't think of any better marketing." Phil offered two thumbs up.
"Our opinions don't matter, remember." Bucky stuck out his tongue childishly. "Whatever the missus says is what goes anyway."
"And you'll be wise to remember that, James." Loki retorted, winking down at Sif. "Mrs. Laufeyson always has the final word when it comes to my appearance. She is the only one who can make me look presentable, after all."
"Mr. Laufeyson needs to be quiet and pose then." Sif took several steps back, raising her camera to her face. "Now don't hold back on me."
"Like he ever does," Bucky chortled at his double entendre; which both of them chose to ignore.
Loki easily fell into the trance he always did while being photographed. He threw aside any disturbances from the likes of Bucky or Phil or even the approaching hoard of individuals on the outskirts of the studio; and instead focused only on Sif and the trusty flash of her camera.
But in the end his mind wandered for a split-second, recalling that disheveled image of Tony Stark and he couldn't help but feel very sorry for him. Since he appeared onto a downward spiral; essentially a fall from American aristocracy, while Loki was only moving up higher and higher in the world.
And it didn't hurt that he finally got what he wanted in the end – he had Sif, after all.