His home wasn't his home anymore. Everything looked the same, yes- but he knew differently. Tony pushed back the vomit starting to crawl back into his throat and took a deep breath, trying not to completely lose his shit on the way to the living room. There was a part of him that knew that Jarvis was watching his every move, noting the way that he walked and how he was anxiously rubbing his hands together, trying to retain some sort of comfort. There was another part of him that didn't care if Jarvis reported everything to Loki- the Stark Tower no longer belonged to him.

It belonged to Loki.

Tony's mind reeled. How could everything have fallen to shit so quickly? Just a couple nights ago he was in his workshop, drinking a shot of whiskey while working on his blueprints, getting lost in all the new designs he had going through his head. He had calls to make the next morning for his company, and he was trying to find a new CEO to replace Pepper's place. He was supposed to attend a party of some celebrity, and he was probably going to wake up the next morning with a massive hangover and a stranger in his bed. But that was his old life, and it seemed so far away. Now his life consisted of Loki, waking up in a puddle of sweat and getting the tar beat from him.

What could Loki possibly want from him? He had nothing to offer. He had money, but he doubted the God wanted anything to do with human currency. His home? Sure, it was lavish and awesome and had a lot of food and alcohol, but from what Thor had described of Asgard, his Tower looked like a cottage in the middle of meadow. Did Loki want his suits?

No! Tony's mind nearly shrieked that response, and he felt his stomach twist. It would be a cold day in hell before Tony allowed Loki to even touch one of his fucking precious Iron-man suits. Those were his only pride, his only sanity that he had left. With Pepper gone, there wasn't anything for him to grasp onto anymore except for those suits. Those were his, that's what made him Iron-man.

He would rather die than give them up. He had lost Jarvis already, he had lost Pepper, and he had lost his Tower to an insane God of Mischief lounging around his living room as though he was paying rent.

He stepped into the living room, staring at the pristine sparkle of the massive room around them. The windows were gleaming, and a beautiful horizon of Manhattan was visible, even through the dark clouds looming above them. It was a dark and dreary day, honestly, with only small little gleams of sunlight escaping through the clouds. It suited his mood.

Loki was sitting on the couch, his back rigid and stiff as he stared out the window, deep in thought. Surely he wasn't too comfortable with sitting in those tight leather coats and shit, right? But Loki seemed unnerved, his mind lost as he stared out, his eyes blank but clear. He didn't seem to notice as Tony stepped into the room, his feet shuffling noisily against the floor. In fact, Tony wasn't sure if Loki even heard him in the first place.

"Well, I'm here." Tony said gruffly, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans. He wished that the bracelets for the suit was still on his wrists, but they were gone. They were probably taken off when he was unconscious. "What did you want, Bambi?"

"You are foolish to keep this kind of tone with me. Seriously, Stark, I thought you would've wised up by now. I do not appreciate your disrespect." Loki didn't move a muscle from the couch. His eyes were glued to the horizon out the window.

Tony couldn't help but scoff at that. "Beat me up all you want. This is the way I talk, so you'd better get used to it. Besides, you'd get lonely from my lack of intelligent wit and surprisingly hilarious sarcasm."

This time, Loki turned to face him. Those piercing blue eyes stared at him coldly, no hint of a smile or emotion on his face. There was nothing to indicate what Loki was thinking, and that was more scary than the menacing smile and jeering insults. He would have preferred some sort of reaction, not... a blank stare. Tony stood uncomfortably, suddenly aware that Loki's stare was sending prickles up his spine, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up with fear. It was as though he was a cornered cat with a very large dog in front of him, about to rip out his tiny little throat.

"I would hardly call your inflection humorous or witty." Loki said darkly, his voice smooth. "But regardless, Stark, I have called you here to discuss matters with you."

Discuss? Why did Loki suddenly have the urge to talk as though they were mature adults? The guy had nearly killed him the night before, and now he just wanted to talk? As though he had any position to leverage a decent conversation. Tony hated that Loki had the ability to just walk into his Tower like it was nothing, pass through his security with no trouble at all, even managed to hack into Jarvis's system so he had no escape route. He had rendered Tony to near helplessness, even pushing his own Asgardian strength against Tony's human one. And the asshole wants to wager a deal?

"Oh yes." Tony mocked, a twinge of irritation flooding through him. "What do you want to discuss, Bambi? Stark's financial stock plummet? How about the paint that I used for the bathroom doesn't match the carpets in the living room? Or how about the variety of alcohol that I have in my kitchen? What could you possibly want from me, after beating me up and all? Don't you have a planet to take over or something, instead of bothering me or anyone else that has the misfortune of meeting you?" He knew he sounded whiny at this point, but he couldn't help it. This was simply unfair, the world ridiculously against him, more than usual.

A small vase suddenly shot through the air and narrowly missed his head by a few inches, making Tony flinch. The vase slammed into the wall and shattered, pieces of porcelain flying through the air and embedding itself into the floor. There were shards of it sticking out from the wall like little daggers, sharp and pointy and white. Tony stared at it, gawking at it with his mouth hanging open. Holy shit. If that had hit his skull...

"I have no desire to know about your different tastes in beverages, Stark. I have a grave problem, and I cannot do it alone. I request your assistance." Loki's eyes shone darkly. "This planet is not mine to take, and I don't have the energy to gather another army by my side. I am helpless and weak in my current state. However, I still have some traces of my magic left, and I am hoping that with time, it will heal back to it's full strength."

Tony tore his eyes away from the vase and choked back a mixture of a snarl and a laugh. "Are you serious? You just beat the shit out of me because I didn't kneel to you. You just threw a fucking vase at my head! Do you even understand how much that cost? And you call that weak. I say bullshit."

Loki's lips tightened. "I am still a God, and I will always have more strength than you will ever have as a mortal being. Besides, Stark, if I wished for that vase to hit you, it would've. I have no intent to kill you, unless I have to."

"Right." Tony felt like swinging his fist into that calm and collected face, but he knew that Loki was right. It was true, if Loki wanted to kill him, he would've done it while he was all tied up in his workshop. But that didn't stop the rage that was still bottled inside of him. "You're right. I'm so beneath you. But have you forgotten who beat the shit out of you the first time you came to Earth? And who's probably going to do it again, after they realize you've come back here. Dear God, you're delusional."

"They will not realize I am here. I will hide in your shadow, Stark. Now, will you listen to what I have to say?" A twinge of irritation flashed over the smooth features.

Tony shut his mouth before he let out another insult. As much as he wanted to just tell Loki how much he hated him, how much he wanted to see his face crushed into the concrete- he couldn't. Even if Loki was weaker than his usual state, that meant nothing to someone who was human. The strength that Loki demonstrated the night before was almost unbearable, and his body wouldn't take another beating. He needed to shut up for once and wait for another opportunity, preferably when his suit was in grabbing distance.

"Fine." he huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Throw another one of my vases, though, and you're paying for it."

Loki stood up, silently crossing the room despite wearing heavy armor and boots. It was like he was a ghost. He stood a few feet away from Tony, tall with his shoulders set back in a tense stance. Tony never realized just how fucking tall Loki was. The height alone was almost intimidating, let alone the shining Asgardian armor with heavy belt buckles and buttons. Asgardians sure carried a lot of shit with them when they traveled. No wonder Thor was so muscular, carrying all that bullshit around.

"I told you that I had escaped from Asgard." Loki spoke quietly, almost as though he didn't want anyone else to hear him besides Tony. "That wasn't a lie, contrary to what you probably believe. For my crimes against Midgard, I was placed in the Asgardian prisons to wait out the rest of my days, for my sentence was surprise execution. However, with Thor's help, I had-"

"Wait- Thor helped you?" Tony said incredulously, forgetting about his internal promise to shut up. "He knows that his lunatic little brother is wandering around Earth beating the shit out of people?!"

Loki scowled. "No, allow me to finish before I sew your mouth shut. Nonetheless, Thor had tried to reduce my sentence so I would not live my entire life in prison, so that I may have some freedom before I am executed. But he had made a mistake and the guards had come for me for my death, and I had to make a quick escape. Thanks to Thor, the idiot had left most of the tunnels unguarded so that I could work what was left of my magic to make a portal."

Tony groaned, running his fingers through his hair. "This fucking story doesn't even make sense."

"I am giving you a brief synopsis." Loki said coldly. "The entire lot of Asgard is looking for my head, and I am wanted across the entire Nine Realms. Midgard was the only safe place for me to reside while I gain back my strength and magic."

"For what?" Tony felt exasperated. Loki was insane. He was actually insane. He appeared rational and smooth, but he was fucking psycho. Bruce was right- he was a bag of cats.

Loki raised an elegant eyebrow, pressing his lips together tightly before speaking in a quiet voice. "I am hardly the worst thing to come to your realm, Stark. For once, I am not here to destroy humanity, I am here to save it."