Still Holding On

Chapter 70

It's a rather boring day.

For once, Tony considers that a good thing.

By the time he's crawling back into bed, there hasn't been a single moment of interest, and he wouldn't have asked for anything different. After the mess that was recovering Loki's memories, they all needed a nice do-nothing day.

Loki rests his head on Tony's chest, and Tony puts an arm around him, holding him close. He really did miss this. It's nice to have him back.

As though reading his mind, Loki says, "I missed this."

Tony looks down at him with a slight smile. "Yeah?"

"Mm-hmm," he hums. "When I was staying with Captain Rogers, I slept in my own bed. Before he found me, I'd been sleeping on sidewalks." He lets out a long breath. "You make a much nicer pillow than concrete."

Tony huffs, amused. "I'm glad to hear it?"

"And you're warm," Loki adds. "In a nice way. A comfortable warmth."

"Well, I do tend to run a nice, toasty 98.6 degrees," Tony quips. It sure is the human way.

"That's a wonderful temperature to be," Loki decides.

"I agree," Tony says. It means he's not feverish or dead, so he'll take it.

Loki hums contentedly, readjusting himself to get more comfortable. Tony peers down at him with a smile that the god can't see. This is nice. He never wants this to end.

"Tony?" he murmurs.

"Yeah?"

"I know we said we'd talk about this tomorrow..."

"We can talk about it whenever you want," Tony assures him. He just hopes it goes the way he wants it to go.

Loki ponders that for a short while; then, "You're not lying to me about anything else." It's both a statement and a question.

"I'm not," Tony says. "No more lies; no more secrets. I'm going to tell you the truth, always."

Loki hums in response, and again, he's quiet for a few moments before he speaks again. "You really wouldn't mind if I stayed?"

"Of course I wouldn't," Tony says. "I want you to stay. I want you to do what you think is going to be the best thing for you, but I want you to stay."

"And you're not lying?"

Tony rolls his eyes lightheartedly. "If I was lying because I didn't want you to stay, telling you that I do want you to stay would be pretty freakin' stupid, don't you think?"

Loki chuckles. "I suppose," he admits. "So if I tell you that I think I'd like to stay...?"

"I would be ecstatic," Tony replies. "I would do a nice big celebratory dance – or a nice small celebratory dance so I don't bother you because you look pretty comfortable and I'd hate to ruin that."

Loki laughs quietly. "Well, I am thinking I might like to stay."

Tony does a little "dance," which mostly consists of pumping his fists just enough for Loki to notice and to get a laugh out of him but not enough to actually bother him.

"But you can't lie to me again," Loki says. "I won't give you another chance if you do."

"I won't," Tony promises. "I'm going to tell you the truth, always. Even if you make a new kind of muffin and you're so, so proud of it. I'm still going to tell you if I don't like it."

"Tony, I'm serious," Loki says.

Tony sighs. "I know," he says. "I know you are. And I am, too. I'm really not going to lie to you. I just have a bad habit of making jokes during serious situations. It's a character flaw."

"And I usually enjoy your jokes," Loki says, "but please wait until after our serious conversation is over."

"Alright," Tony says solemnly. That's what he should have done to begin with. He knows that.

There's a pause.

"Our serious conversation is over," Loki says. "You can make your jokes now."

Tony beams. "Great. Okay, why couldn't the sunflower ride its bike?"

Loki thinks for a moment. "Why?"

"Because it lost its petals."

Loki chuckles. "That was awful," he says. "Truly, truly awful."

"Oh, they can get worse," Tony tells him. "Did I tell you about the time I ate a clock?"

"I don't know if I want to hear the next line," Loki says teasingly.

"It was very time-consuming."

Loki groans dramatically and buries his face in Tony's chest. "Make it stop," he mumbles. "Make it stop!"

"Hey, did you hear about the guy whose left side was cut off?" Tony asks. "He's all right now."

Again, Loki groans, somehow even more dramatically than the previous time. "I'm afraid I've made a grave mistake."