Incognito Business

Avengers Fanfiction

Summary: Tony Stark was a man who had a lot of time on his hands, a lot of which he spent on his current hobby: Stalking certain Norse Gods of Mischief.

Prompt given by .com: Loki/Tony: Tony Stark has hobbies, one of them is stalking the God of Mischief.

"He's heading for the coffee shop, sir."

"Oh? Which one?"

"Starbucks."

"Perfect, I've been craving for a frappucino since yesterday."

Tony sat down, swiveling his chair around to grab his tablet and phone from the table behind him, only to be stopped by a certain super soldier standing stock-still with wide eyes.

"... Steve? Uhh... what're you doing?"

"... I... could ask you the same question, Tony. Are you... is that Loki on the screen?"

Well, this was awkward.

"... yes?"

Steve closed his eyes, sighed, and then opened them again. He continued to stare at the screen that showed Loki's back entering Starbucks, successfully ignoring Tony, who was trying to push him aside to get to the table.

"Okay, Tony, I know you're really, um, eccentric, and all that, and everyone gives you allowances because you're-"

"Tony fucking Stark. Exactly. Why are you so surprised? I mean, it's not like this is the weirdest thing you've caught me doing. And move. Christ, Steve, he'll be leaving after a while, I need to go."

"Language. Look, I know you've done stranger, but really, Tony, our ex-enemy? He's the God of Mischief and Chaos, not to mention Thor's younger brother. Why did you choose to stalk Loki of all people?"

"Geez, you make me sound like such a creep. Okay, first, you've known me long enough to know that my swearing is impossible to cure, let it go. Second, he's reformed, Cap. Hell, even Natasha's fine with him around now. Third, he's the Norse God of Mischief, Chaos and Trickery. Fifth, Thor and I are chums! He won't take this too personally. And fourth, it's not 'stalking', it's called 'keeping tabs'."

The blonde rubbed his face and sighed again, finally stepping aside to lean against Dummy, who gave a confused chirp.

"Fine, fine. How long have you been... 'keeping tabs', then?"

Tony shrugged, sliding his phone into his pocket and tucking the tablet under one arm.

"JARVIS, save everything then shut down. I don't know. Awhile, I guess?"

Steve was quiet as he followed him out of his lab and up the stairs, pausing when they got to the top to give Tony a stare.

"What?"

He shook his head and laughed, broad shoulders shaking as he clapped Tony on the shoulder.

"God, Tony, you are so weird."

All right, here he was. Now where was Loki?

"Sofa chair by the window at the back, sir." The AI's voice said through his earpiece.

"Thanks, JARVIS." He muttered, trying to be discreet as he fell in line.

He looked around. Sofa chair by the window, sofa chair by the window, sofa chair by the-ah, there he was.

And crap, he looked mighty fine today. As usual.

For someone who didn't belong on earth, he seemed to have pretty good taste.

Damn, his legs were long.

Yes, okay, Tony, enough staring. Focus, focus.

He pulled his cap down lower as he gave his order, glancing back every now and then.

Alright, so maybe Steve had a point, he was being kind of... yeah.

But, hey, it wasn't like it was his fault Loki was just that good-looking. And mysterious. And incredibly intriguing.

Fuck, he was in some deep shit.

Stupid Loki. Stupid Loki and his looks that made Tony get all stumbly and lose all the cool he had. Stupid Loki and the way the corners of his eyes crinkled when he smiled. Stupid Loki and his laugh.

Good Lord, stupidTonyfor falling for everything.

Tony took a large, savage bite out of his donut, slumping in his chair as he tried to direct his thoughts to something that didn't frustrate him.

"Should I wait for you to give me an excuse, or shall I make one up for you?"

He choked.

Loki smoothly slid into the seat in front of him, cradling a steaming mug of hot chocolate while Tony coughed violently, pounding his chest and gulping down most of his drink to dislodge the chunk that had gotten stuck in his throat.

"Jesus, would you not fucking do that, you almost gave me a damn heart attack."

Loki smirked.

No. Uh-uh. He was going to completely deny that butterflies decided to appear in his stomach because of that.

"I apologize sincerely, Mr. Stark, I didn't intent to cause your early demise, although I must admit that your reaction was quite amusing to watch."

He placed his mug on the table.

"But, that aside, would you like me to repeat my question? You haven't answered yet."

Tony dropped eye contact, using his tablet to distract him. Oh, look, diagrams for the Helicarrier Fury was getting him to make.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He mumbled, fiddling around with the sketch.

Pale hands came into view and snatched his tablet away from him.

"I believe you're dodging the question, Mr. Stark."

"Hey! Give that back!"

Tony watched the tablet disappear into the shoulder bag Loki had hung at the back of his chair.

"I'm keeping that hostage until you answer my inquiries."

"Jerk."

And there was that damn smirk again. Why, God, why did it have to look so unbearably good on him?

"Now, now. It's only fair. I deserve to know why you've been tailing me the past few months, after all."

Tony startled as the last sentence registered.

"Woah, woah, woah, wait. You... knew I've been following you?"

"Of course I knew. Surely you must know that my senses are well above your Midgardian ones. It wasn't so hard to notice you, although the fact that you're not very good at the whole 'incognito business', as you humans call it, helps quite a lot. The only thing that baffles me, however, is the reason."

Shit. This was mortifying. First, Steve finds out he's obsessed with Loki, but that's easier to deal with because he's, well, Steve.

But Loki finding out Tony was obsessed with Loki?

Good God, he didn't want to think about that.

"I... Fury told me to do it?"

Loki raised an eyebrow, lips quirking.

"Try again, Mr. Stark. Or would you rather I call you 'Tony'?"

Ho-ly shit. Did he just say his name? Loki definitely just said his name.

Fuckingfuckfuckfuck. That was not supposed to sound as hot as it did.

Damn Norse Gods of fucking Mischief and their fucking accents that made Tony's stomach fucking feel things.

"Be... because."

Loki leaned forward, his very, very green eyes holding Tony's in some sort of hypnotic gaze.

Hypnotic gaze? Did he seriously just think Loki's gaze was hypnotic? What the fuck was he coming to?

Oh God, he was goingmental.

"Because... ?"

Tony didn't trust his mouth to continue.

"You know, Tony, your refusal to answer is just making me come to a conclusion that makes me even more interested to see it's true."

There it was again with that fucking accent saying his fucking name, and-Wow, Loki was pretty close, were Starbucks tables always this small?

Goddamnit. Tony felt his defenses going down. The smirk that was still plastered on Loki's face made it so hard to tell if he was being toyed with.

Time to test these damn waters once and for all. Come on, Stark. Where were your balls? You've got a chance to make a move, so do it.

He leaned forward as well, giving Loki his best 'I'm-Tony-fucking-Stark-and-you're-not-the-only-one-playing-this-game' smirk.

Christ, he was close enough to smell the chocolate.

"Would you like to test your theory, then?"

Loki's eyes took on the look cats got when they eyed their prey, a predatory smile curving his lips upward before he closed the distance between them.

Tony's thought-process just came to an abrupt halt, his mind going dead quiet as Loki kissed him, lips soft and cool against his.

And then, all too soon, it ended, Loki taking his breath with him as he leaned back a little bit.

"It seems like my hypothesis was right."

"... uhh, right... yeah."

Loki chuckled, resting his head on one hand and placing the other on top of Tony's.

"I still don't understand why you chose to hide your interest in me instead of being direct about it, like how you are with most things, though."

Tony took a few seconds to reply, still trying to recollect his thoughts and get them back on track.

"I... I thought. That you wouldn't. Wouldn't... I don't know, feel the same? You. You're different."

He tried not to let the sensation of Loki's fingers tracing random patterns on the back of his hand scatter his thoughts more than they already were.

"You never fail to surprise me, Tony."

Loki leaned in again and Tony's breath hitched, a cool cheek brushing his as the god dropped his voice to murmur something that sent a shiver down his spine.

"For a genius, you're quite slow on the uptake, aren't you?"

"Wha-I-what?"

Tony felt his tablet slide under his fingers as Loki stood to leave.

"I've been finding it quite cute seeing how you struggle to drop a hint to try and let your intentions be known, while you've been so completely oblivious to the ones I'd given you."

Loki tweaked Tony's nose as he said that, slinging the strap of his shoulder bag over himself.

"It's adorable, really."

Tony pouted at that.

"I'm not 'adorable'. Tony Stark is definitely not down there with the teddy bears and chubby babies."

Loki laughed.

"I beg to differ. But let's save that argument for next time, shall we? I have business to attend to. You're free to join me, but if you'd prefer to hang back and stalk me again, I don't mind either."

He winked, giving him a smile, before turning to walk out the door.

Tony gave himself a minute to absorb what just happened.

Fury would brain me. And Thor. Barton won't let me hear the end of it, either.

He shook his head, grabbed his still-unfinished donut, and rushed out to catch up with Loki.

Oh, to hell with it.