Tony was bored out of his mind in that meeting. Usually, it was Pepper who attended that kind of thing, but she was with some investors in DC and couldn't be in two places at once. So he was sent here, and had to be serious and pay attention to these so-called entrepreneurs. A bunch of arrogant assholes if you asked him. A bit like him – but without the charisma and charm. Boooring.

The good thing was that, due to a world summit of some sort, Brussels was completely booked, so they were doing the meetings and conferences in Bruges.

Delightful little city, full of ducks and old houses and horse carriages and hot chocolate and stands that sold fries. It was an ancient town, a city that had reached its peak around the eleventh century and many buildings from that time still stood, giving the city an out-of-time atmosphere. Old fashioned somehow, never quite catching up to today… by a couple or five centuries. Not just Steve-out-of-time but Thor-out-of-time. Almost out of this world, as well.

When the meeting was over (finally) he avoided the dinner with the other CEOs and went for a walk in the old part of the city which in this case was really really really old. The opposite of New York, almost, but not in a bad way. The city was just...older.

It was already dark and quite cold, so there weren't many tourists around. He proably shouldn't be around either. Tony just wandered at night in a city where no one knew him and he didn't know anyone. Wandered through the stone streets, saw the centuries old churches. Everything was so terribly different – Tony was used to the technology, modern buildings – he lived surrounded by tech. But this… it was almost scary, to think that these buildings, these cities had been there some much longer than his own city, had seen so much. Ah, if walls could talk. Tony hadn't always seen Europe's appeal (Brussels was so boring, Paris so haughty, and the few times he'd been in London he¡d barely had time to see anything) but he could see now that there was a really...different side to it. A kind of ancient history that Americans were simply not used to.

There were swans on the canals and it was getting colder. Fucking canals were everywhere, crossing the city. And there were stone bridges to cross them. Stone bridges. So cool. The shops were closed and without any lights it was like being transported to medieval times. Truly.

Tony was simply resting on a bridge above a canal letting the cold embrace him completely, savouring the cold, enjoying it – and in that moment he saw it. Saw it, barely discernible under the moonlight, but noticeable.

There was someone in the water – someone swimming. But how could they be swimming in this cold? And it was probably forbidden, illegal (and so oh so very cold, really, that was the main thing, how had they not frozen?). Further inspection of the shadow in the water made Tony realize that the person was was fucking skinny dipping in the Belgian winter. It was just the shadow of a body, but he could the pale skin that contrasted with the dark water. Head, arms, legs. That was a person. This was impossible, really, hard to believe. Fucking European people.

He found himself completely hypnotized with the movements of the figure, dancing underwater. He followed the swimmer with his eyes, mesmerized, wondering if there was a siren down there, or someone from some obscure European myths. I mean, if Thor was real, why not the rest of them?

For a moment he forgot everything, the industries, the armor, the Avengers, Pepper, Stark tower… Nothing existed anymore. Nothing was real. He wasn't even there. He was someplace far far away, out of time and space. And the only living things in the cold night were him and that naked figure. Skinny-dipping in the dark – in the cold. He vaguely wondered if this was some halluncination, if he'd drunk too much wine or if he had some weird pills.

And then, after nearly half an hour of surprised admiration (He should be going back to the hotel and this was completely pointless, useless and excessively close to stalking not to mention COLD) (Tony had done some shady stuff and now we was watching and following a naked person under the canal - there was probably some law against that, too) then, in that moment, the figure stopped and emerged from the water.

He (almost certain that it was a he) wasn't facing Tony, he could only see the back. The swimmer was incredibly tall and his skin was white like marble. Tony marveled at the sight of the pale back, the faint scars on it and the black hair that fell to the shoulders. (Ok, this was getting weird now)

And the butt.

What an example of human perfection. Better than Pepper's, better even than Steve's. It was wonderful. And skinny this guy was, really skinny and long.

And then the swimmer turned and started walking towards him, still naked and completely soaked and Tony saw two green eyes looking directly at him. Fuck, he knew that face. And that face and those eyes were walking towards him. No, no, no.

"Do you like what you see, Stark?"

No. It couldn't be. Why was his mind playing tricks on him? That couldn't be him - because who he thought it was had been confirmed dead. And not just he fell into a void and is presumed dead but he died in my arms dead. Dead dead dead. Thor had said so. His lady friend, who didn't seem so gullible, had watch him die also.

Loki. Of all the people in the universe why did it have to be Loki? Well, that explained why he wasn't freezing – alien. Ice alien, if he remembered correctly. Probably enjoyed the cold.

"Aren't you supposed to be dead?"

"You really thought you could get rid of me that easily?"

Loki was really close now and it he was soaked, droplets of water falling everywhere, and his hair was drenched and dripping and it was getting really hard to think.

"What are you doing here? Should I be stopping you?" Tony asked, trying to function.

"I do not know. You certainly did last time, but we were both wearing armour then, weren't we?"

"I'm not exactly sure that being naked makes you less threatening."

"Do I look dangerous to you, Iron Man?"

His voice was soft and whispering, not as imposing as it had once been. And Loki was still wet and naked. Don't peek, Tony. For the love of all that is holy…. But he did, of course. He saw endless white skin and scars and muscle and... Loki didn't seem to mind – on the contrary, he appeared to be enjoying the effect his lack of clothing had on the inventor.

"Again, what are you doing here." Tony said trying to focus. Focus, Tony, focus. And for the love of all the gods you know, stop staring.

"Building a giant robot armor to get away from my kidnappers." Loki said, sarcastically. "What does it look like I'm doing? Just swimming for a bit."

"I meant on earth."

"I am on holiday, Stark. Asgard has become a bit… hostile against me. At least in this planet you don't have an All-watcher. Europe has been very welcoming. And yourself, Stark?"

Tony was confused. This looked like a dream or a hallucination or something of the sort. It seemed quite impossible that he was looking at Loki, Loki the villain, Loki brother of Thor, when it was impossibly cold and the man was still dripping water. And naked. Still. Not that he was complaining.

"Something the matter, Stark?"

"Well, I am having a conversation with a naked alien terrorist in the middle of European nowhere. It's quite surreal, even for me. Should I be scared?"

"Maybe, maybe not. What do you think?"

"You're the god of lies and tricks. Trusting appearances does seem a smart move."

"Touché. Maybe this situation would be easier to handle with some alcohol?"

"Hell yes!"

They went to Tony's hotel, Loki having materialised some clothes by then. So, he still had magic, Tony noted. Better to stay on his good side, then. If he was going to try to stop him, better to do so while the guy was intoxicated. Off his game while the guy thought Tony was on his side. Yes, this was Loki we were talking about, a guy who had thrown him out of a window, a guy who had tried to take over earth and had let in an alien army.

"First round of shots is on you." Loki whispered in his ear and Tony felt a shiver course through him.

Boy, was he in trouble.

A/N: Hello again! Europe series is back ;) (Darkness and blood and Hospitality will be back soon too, I promise) This should be three parts, I'll try to post the other two soon ;) Feedback most welcome!

Hope you liked it! You know you want to review!