Warning: CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE AVENGERS,THOR 2, AND IRON MAN 3.

Pairing: FrostIron, LokixTony Stark

Slash.

a/n: There are some minor alterations/omissions to the movie canon here, mostly for ease of reading and to support the plot. It shouldn't be anything too major, and it is safe to say that follows the respective movie timelines. Enjoy!

The first time they met, all Tony saw was another cliché villain, if a more attractive one than he usually got to fight. (All Loki saw was a suit of armor and a threat to his purpose.)

The second time they were metal face to glamour-mask, and Tony was too distracted by Thor to pay much attention to Loki, (Big surprise for the latter there.)

The third time Tony saw Loki in person, guards were taking him to a cell on the helicarrier. There had been a thick sheet of (presumably) bulletproof glass between them, but that had not stopped (only lessened) the curious pull Tony felt around his arc reactor. Loki was a known magic-user, and so he treated it with distrust; perhaps it was a spell meant to remove it or dissect his precious technology. He shook his head of the feeling when no one was looking. (Loki, for his part, felt a small tingle, but no such pull. Perhaps he was only tired.)

The next time he and Loki met was in Stark Tower. This time, there was no iron mask, no glass, no people between them. Tony felt their connection, and couldn't deny it. It left him breathless with the force of it, sudden and so very strong. He looked to Loki (fuck, that just made it stronger, but he couldn't look away.), but he didn't seem to be affected at all. Sure, he was trembling, but he was psycho, wasn't he? Why did he feel so irritated with himself for thinking that way? He's just a villain, says the rational mind. But he's more than his problems, he's a person, says the rest. (The rational parts of his brain always outnumber the irrational, but damn, the irrational is always so much stronger, and has a kick for the totally reckless.) So they talk, and he teases, and wow, up-close Loki looks way more ragged than safe-distance Loki does. And wow, he really has no sense of humour, considering he's supposed to be so prone to playing tricks. And wow, such a strong grip for a not-actual-Asgardian (whoops, he's not supposed to know that). And holy hell, if just looking at him from ten feet away was enough to leave Tony breathless, touching Loki was enough to make his knees weak. (though that may have been at least partially due to the hand curling around his throat.)

Tony wrapped his hands around the god's forearm, and shit, yeah, as much as he hated to admit it (rational-side Tony, at least), he felt a heat rise and pull to his cheeks and belly. And—no, this had to be a joke (it wasn't), a trick (it wasn't), a cruel twist of fate (oh, it really was). What he felt at their moment of mutual touching he refused to name, even if there was no way to deny that it was exactly what he knew it to be. It was so much stronger and stranger than anything he had felt for Pepper, or his family, or anyone he'd encountered in who knows how long. He knew it, and he couldn't bring himself to fear it. Imagine that, mister afraid-of-commitment himself, and here he was clinging to someone about to throw him out of a window and waxing poetic on love at what, fourth sight? Tony's eyes widened as he met Loki's wow, very green eyes from a foot away, and that was like getting hit in the chest with a missile all over again. The sheer force of their connection hitting him was enough to knock him backwards; no, no wait, that was his soul mate-apparent tossing him out of a ninety-three story window. Fantastic.

Loki, apparently, felt no such connection.

The fifth time they met, well, Tony was a little incensed, and understandably so. Here he was, being nice to someone he thought he had a real connection with, and said connection nearly murders him. It shouldn't burn him, how little Loki seems to care, he is the villain, after all. But when did common sense and emotion ever really mix, especially for a Stark? So they fight, and damn, is it ever hard for him to raise a fist to that fucking gorgeous face. Even through his the metal of his suit, the pull Loki has on him only seems to strengthen. Maybe once it has its hooks in, the bond can't ever be unraveled? That's a nice thought, unless of course you soul mate is still trying to bloody kill you! (It's clear to Tony now that this is nothing of Loki's doing—if his staff-magic hadn't worked on him, how could those spells have worked around his armor, through glass, and now into himself? It couldn't, plain and simple. Besides, this felt far too natural (and wasn't that ironic) to be forced or fake. His soul mate was a fucking murderer. Perfect.) Loki manages a shiver whenever they brush against one another, though it's just as likely a wince due to previous injuries, as far as Tony can tell. The man is not healthy, that much is apparent. Maybe that's why he's rejecting their connection? Because wow, if Tony Stark can drop everything to fall for a villain in the middle of battle, why can't a love-starved loony? Surely it's just a delayed reaction due to biology, or needing medical treatment..?

The sixth time they meet, Loki has been pounded into a crater (Tony would be lying if he said he hadn't want to pound Loki into the ground himself, if in a more metaphoric way.) in the middle of his living room floor, and Tony and Co. were surrounding him to keep him from fighting. Loki's eyes were blown wide (out of trauma or due to the rush of being released from the tesseract's spell—it was unclear. Though Tony rather hoped that it was maybe out of accepting that there was totally a thing between them.), and had they changed colour, or was that the light? But Tony couldn't very well pull him close in front of all the Avengers to stare into his eyes, and, okay, maybe kiss him a little, because damn, it's kind of hard not to want to at this point, without getting clobbered, flirty reputation or not. But he certainly can't help a smile. It just feels so freaking good to look at Loki, he really can't be anything but giddy when he gets to just see him like this—and wow, he has hit the besotted fool phase, awesome. But he doesn't imagine the way Loki's eyes linger on him, he's sure of it.

The next time they meet (no S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, angry Asgardian brothers, or thick brick walls between them), it's to part ways. Loki is to be taken to Asgard for his crimes; Tony really shouldn't feel so betrayed, but to just find his love match and have him stolen away to another planet, possibly dimension, is a little much for him to handle right now. (Though that's what he gets for falling for someone on the opposing side, he supposed.) He hadn't told anyone about his feelings, not even Banner, and especially not Pepper or Loki himself. Tony wasn't so far gone as to think the Liesmith wouldn't use such knowledge against him. (It had taken many arguments with himself to keep him from revealing it—in a way, he couldn't help but want Loki to use him like that, if it meant getting a brief bit of time happy and together. But no, he had enough unhealthy habits and ways of destroying himself already, he doesn't need any more.)

Tony can't help but to openly stare at Loki, even as he's driving away. How will it feel when he vanishes? How will it feel to have such an intense (for him) connection severed so very easily by a little inter-dimensional travel? Tony swallows hard as Loki's green (green?) eyes bore into his. He finds no anger in the heavy gaze, but there is something in his expression that is—forbidden. And Tony and 'forbidden' have a long, long history.

His eyes drop to Loki's muzzle. He had modified a strange Asgardian object Thor had given him to make it more God of Mischief-proof. Oddly enough, it seemed as if their soul-bond had made this relatively easy. It was almost as if their connection had allowed Tony to get to know Loki at least a little bit, even though Loki was, for all intents and purposes, currently rejecting their ties. He had actually (without Thor's knowledge) made it more comfortable for the defeated god to wear, almost subconsciously. He hated the idea of binding him like this; he remembered being bound, and being stifled. All 'kinky' jokes aside, he truly could never bring himself to be the one to actually restrict a person in such a way. Tony's eyes slid back up to Loki's for the briefest of moments; and then he was gone.

Oh, yeah. It fucking hurt.

a/n: Thank you for reading! Please review!