Afterwards

Imprisonment was something he was getting used to, indefinitely.

Though he could do without the philanthropic genius staring at him.

Tony didn't care enough to stop. The exhilaration of The Avenger's recent victory coupled with the recent brush of death for him had put him in an indescribably good mood and the fact that the bad guy was put away behind seven inches of tempered glass that was basically a fishbowl only made it that much better. Sure, maybe ogling him like a zoo attraction wasn't the most polite thing but no one ever said the infamous Tony Stark was such a thing.

Besides, it wasn't like the demi-god was exactly looking away.

No, in fact it was just the opposite. Loki stood in the center of the empty space that served as his temporary prison with the smallest of smiles gracing his features as his dark eyes stared back into Tony's own.

But the smile may have had more to do with the two glasses and muddy bottle in the latter's hands.

"Rain check," Tony told him matter-of-factly.

"You're too kind," Loki replied, his smile hardening as something flashed behind his eyes.

Tony shrugged. "It's more my way of gloating," he said factually. "Ha ha."

"Tell me, do you plan to 'gloat' behind the glass? Or has you glorious industry decisively invented a way to further isolate Earth's people from one another socially?" Loki questioned with a step forward, a cold gleam in his gaze, though there was no hostility behind it.

"Yeah, it's called texting. But my company had nothing to do with that I promise." Tony said without missing a beat. "Tell you more about it in a second," he continued, walking to the blinking lock panel by the door.

It goes for some, being a genius that is, when a principal facility can be bypassed with nothing more than a glance and an ignorant smirk in mere seconds Loki figured as he watched the hacker walk through the glass panel that rose to an entrance, closing behind him with a faint click and all at once the room changed. They were now face-to-face, victorious hero and thwarted villain, and eye-to-eye with nothing between but tension, hidden in confident smirks and, for a while, they just stood there in complete silence.

"This right here-" Tony gestured to the limited space between them, "-is why texting is so popular."

"Your kind does poorly with confrontation," the Asguardian mused.

"You can't really blame us, considering every other-worldly race that's 'confronted' us has deemed us a useless and fragile race that they think can be crushed and swept under the rug. But, of course, you know all about that." Tony flashed his famous smile, visibly relaxed and looked around briefly. "And that's why you're in a giant fishbowl and have no place to sit." He emphasized the last word almost astonishingly while making a mental note to bring a chair next time he visited a teammate's lunatic, adopted brother before he knelt and sat on the floor in one swift motion.

Loki stared at him. "You can't be serious…"

"I rarely kid," Tony retorted, setting the bottle and glasses on the ground in front of him. "Besides, there's no one important around so I don't have to worry about images. Sit, join me." He urged.

Loki continued to stare at him, remaining where he was, a part of him wondering just what the hell was wrong with the guy sitting on the floor of his cell, pouring himself a glass of whiskey like he was right at home while another part soon realized Tony was right. There was no one of consequence around and he had made it clear enough all he wanted was to fulfill Loki's last request, nothing more.

Reluctantly, the guardian sat.

"Perfect," Tony ratified, filling the second glass halfway with the same brownish-gold liquid before reaching it out to the other, eyes expectant.

Loki hesitated briefly before leaning forward to take it, expecting…Something, anything but the level of sincerity displayed before him in such a simple gesture. But nothing came, even as he reached over and accepted the glass, never taking his eyes off Tony, who stared back motion for motion with the same playboy smile.

"Something tells me you don't get offered things much in the land of the Demigods," Tony remarked.

"And what makes you say that, Mr. Stark?"

"Because I'm right," he shrugged, raising his glass. "But, considering the first time I offered you something and you threw me out of my own window I should say that you've made a great improvement. Bravo."

Again, he paused expectantly.

Still unenthusiastic, Loki lightly clicked his glass with Tony's and went to mimic Tony as he raised the glass to his lips and took a quick drink. The taste was average, not entirely unpleasant to the Asguardian, but still paled in comparison to his own native drinks.

"Tell me, Stark, are you here to satisfy your own selfish thrill? Or is there deeper meaning to your modest visit?" The demigod asked levelly yet a clear demand in his voice.

Tony rolled his eyes, though his smile didn't falter. "I told you, I'm gloating. Do you treat all your, uh, guests this way?"

"Besides my brother, your little band of heroes hardly takes the time."

"Luckily, I'm the guy with too much time on his hands."

"And the desire to gloat," Loki grated.

"That too, aren't you lucky?" Tony raised an eyebrow in question.

"Lucky is hardly the word for recent events."

The philanthropist shrugged. "Well, that's what you get for, literally, raining all hell down on our planet and wrecking my building. New building," he stressed. "And let's be honest here for half a second, there's no way you knew you could get away with that."

"I almost did." Loki reminded, bitterly.

"Almost being the word, until our jolly green giant put that to a stop," Tony retorted, taking a drink once more before continuing. "Funny, that the one of us that you used to escape is the one who ended up catching you in the end but, though everything is over and done with for the most part, I still have a question. If you don't mind."

Loki's lips formed a sneer. "You know what they say about curiosity."

"An Asguardian, or whatever really are, quoting earthly sayings isn't at all threatening, in fact it's just oddly adorable." Tony shot down swiftly. "My question, by the way, is why did you do it?"

"I thought that part was obvious."

"It was, until Thor told us about your last attempted take over," noticing the look that came over the other's face, the genius smirked. "What? Killing your real father wasn't enough?"

"Someone like you should understand, Mr. Stark," the demigod told him in darker tones, though something mischievous flashed behind his eyes.

Tony frowned slightly. "Someone like me?"

"Yes," Loki leaned forward slightly, eyes flaring. "Someone who strives to prove himself, to be the best at everything because he thought his father cared nothing for him, that you had to be loved by everyone else whether they saw you as a genius business man or a superhero."

Tony seemed to consider, before nodding. "And yet, which one of us has a billion dollar corporation, a girl, and a newly assembled group of badasses?" He flashed a grin. "Though I should probably thank you for that, huh?"

Loki smiled, not unpleasantly. "Pleasure."

Tony was about to reply when a series of small, high-pitched beeps cut him off. Shifting slightly, he pulled a file thin device out of his pocket and glanced back to the door before returning his gaze to the demigod. "That's my queue," he explained, calmly and made to stand, holding his glass at arm's length as he did. "One for the road?"

Loki obliged, downing his glass as Tony did the same before taking both glasses and the bottle before walking back to the entrance. He stopped just as the door reopened, shooting a glance back at the demigod, half expecting to find him directly behind him, ready to race forward and seize freedom. But Loki didn't move, simply sat there in the middle of the room with dark eyes fixed on the billionaire and a grin on his face.

He may be a genius, but even Tony knew the one thing he would never be able to do.

He would never understand this guy.

Damn Demigods.

Exiting the glass container, he heard the door click behind him a split second before Nick Fury entered the room, looking in no way pleased at the philanthropist's presence.

"Stark?" Fury glared at him, a task no way diminished by his infamous eye patch. "What the hell are you doing in here?"

"Come to see the attraction. " Tony said simply with a shrug, then turned to Loki and gave a curt nod. "See you around."

"Likewise, Mr. Stark."

Not as great as I wanted it to be -is too lazy to fix-

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And thank you~