Still Holding On

Chapter 24

"So, um..." Tony hooks his thumbs in the pockets of his jeans, standing around awkwardly. "Welcome home!"

Loki forces a small smile.

"Do, uh..." Tony shrugs. "Do you want a tour of the building? Since you're going to be living here now?"

"Honestly?" Loki sighs. "All I want is a shower."

Tony huffs a laugh. "I think we can manage that," he says. "Come on; you can use my shower 'til I get yours set up." Obviously, he needs to put the door back on. He'll probably need to get him soap to use. He should get him clothes, too. He should have asked Thor to bring him some of this stuff from Asgard. Maybe he'll ask his mom tomorrow. Although the idea of asking the queen of the gods for a favor is a little daunting, even to him.

They head back to Tony's room in silence. He glances up at the god every now and then, and he just looks so... unhappy. He'd thought Loki liked living here. He thought he was doing him a favor, letting him stay here. Now, he's not so sure.

But there's no way he wanted to go to prison. He must have saved him some trouble. Unless he really wanted to go back to Asgard, but it didn't sound like it, right?

God, this is confusing.

Tony shows the god his bathroom. He's been in here before, obviously, because he usually sleeps in the room, but never the shower, so that might take some explaining.

"Alright," Tony says, "you got shampoo, soap, these are all Pepper's so lemme just take those..." He grabs her soaps and conditioner and shoves in the closet. "All sorts of towels in here. Help yourself."

Tony leaves Loki to do his thing, and, while he waits for the god to come out, he plops down on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He should probably take a shower soon, too. Maybe he'll take one when he wakes up in the morning. He should definitely do it before Loki's mom gets here. He'd like to make a good first impression.

What else does he have to do before she gets here? Anything? Obviously he can't fix the damage to the building in a day (and if Loki is staying here, it looks like he can't hand that job off to a contractor), so that's a problem for future him. He could organize the lobby tonight. It's still a little messed up from the fight; it could use a bit of a pick-me-up while Loki's asleep.

Or maybe he should try to get a full night's sleep tonight?

...

Nah.

He's not going to do that.

He'll be lucky to get four hours.

A while goes by, and Tony comes to the conclusion that Loki takes long showers. He's almost starting to get concerned – about what, he does not know – when the water turns off. Surely, that means Loki must be coming out soon, right?

Wrong.

Another 20 minutes go by, and finally, Loki emerges from the steam-filled shower room. His caped overcoat is draped over his arm, his leather shirt on top, and instead, all he wears is a dark sleeveless tunic. His hair is still wet, loosely brushed back but not nearly as well as was when he first arrived on this planet, and the ends drip water on the floor behind him.

Tony raises his brows. "How many layers were you wearing?"

"Three?" Loki says uncertainly. "Is that strange for your planet?"

"I mean..." He guesses it's not – you can wear an undershirt, a t-shirt, and a flannel without raising any eyebrows – but with this kind of clothing... He gestures to the clothes the god is holding. "Not wearing those today?"