st_ratagem | [Loki and Tony] yet more talking

Loki hadn't entirely noticed, but he'd barely left his room since getting it two days ago. He'd emerged once for books, once to subtly raid the kitchens, and once for a series of seemingly-random other things. Since then had been girding his room in spells.

First, the tiny lines of runes that would turn aside the casually unwelcome. Those same simple sentences also decorated Stark's room and Liz's, but Loki had no intention of removing them. The rooms would do that on their own, or not, but it was faintly amusing to leave something useful behind, even if it was effectively a secret.

Next, and the only other thing he'd actually finished, an almost invisible decoration on his door that would allow him to see who was there before deciding to open the door or not, without having to go anywhere near the door. (When your beloved older brother knocked down doors by being forgetful, you learned at an early age to keep your distance.)

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From:

st_arkravinghazelnut

It was tempting to brush Loki off.

Really tempting.

The thought that Loki was preying on his overarching motivation towards some sinister end crossed Tony's mind.

Following that was a sobering acknowledgement that he wasn't exactly rich on leads, neither of them had a goddamn thing to gain from sabotage and that Loki was still no fool. It ultimately won out.

"Done anything with all that? Those observations." Tony cast a scrutinizing look upon the trickster before turning towards the balcony proper. Some fresh air would help him think.

From:

st_ratagem

"I was limited as a kitten and opted not to risk being seen not as one any more than I had to." Loki shrugged and stepped outside as well. Now, he didn't just maintain distance, he kept his free hand behind his back.

The conversation seemed to finally be reaching a point, so risking misinterpretation was a bad move overall. And him making any move at all towards Stark with empty space before them invited misinterpretation. Or correct interpretation, depending on how the conversation actually continued. "And now I need to secure this," a nod back to the room, "before I actually do anything. So no, not yet."

From:

st_arkravinghazelnut

"Planning on anything?" Direct was best, no matter who Tony was dealing with. Keeping his back turned as if in invitation (or challenge), he leaned out over the railing to behold the sight. The Madonna Inn was far from tall, but it was a decent vantage point of the horizon.

Seeing it again in broad daylight, it sunk in how truly isolated the building was. Nothing but trees, dirt, and rock for miles. It made gooseflesh rise on the back of Tony's neck.

From:

st_ratagem

"Confirm the four hours, see if there's any gap. Go out to three hours fifty-six minutes and see if the border contracts as time passes, figure out how the clock stops and starts." Did it, for example, care if you went out to three hours and fifty-six minutes, waited for fifteen, and then moved forward again? Did it return you on the first step or after four minutes. "I'd test the 'ceiling' but I can't fly without being a bird, and birds are worse than cats for serious spellwork."

Admitting any limitation to Stark was a calculated risk. Most likely the man already know Loki couldn't fly independently, but if he didn't it was handing him some useful tactical knowledge. The slight illusion of openness, however, might pay dividends down the road. "In my experience, there are always holes and folds in borders. Some aren't exploitable," the Isle of Silence was hell for that - holes everywhere, leading nowhere but back where you started in silence so deep it suppressed the other senses too, "others are. It's a matter of finding them."

From:

st_arkravinghazelnut

Listening to the Asgardian speak, Tony was silent while his mind was busy at work taking notes. He had come up with a few methods of testing the barrier himself, but none had been enacted in a manner that was both quantifiable AND up to his own rigorous standards. Adding to that, having Loki be the one to present for show-and-tell wasn't a bad place to be. Fair was fair after the man role-played an animal and gotten some uncomfortably intimate insights at Tony and his physical and mental space.

"It's all conjecture at this point. Yours, mine, everything." He turned, leaning his hip against the wood. "I'm not ashamed of admitting it. I'm also not ashamed of admitting I'm ready to do some really weird shit to get where I want to be."

From:

st_ratagem

If nothing else, this visit had proved them both capable of being more or less civil to each other, and Stark capable of avoiding obvious traps. All in all, that was likely a better state of affairs than even Thor the endless optimist could expect. But Stark's statement sounded like an opening for some new negotiation. Perhaps. Or something else.

What was it, then? "I have no shame, full stop."

From:

st_arkravinghazelnut

"Then maybe you'll understand where I'm coming from." Tony pushed off the railing, taking slow, measured steps in an arc with Loki at its center.

"You do things one way all your life, right? Then, little by little, you keep hitting a wall...What's a guy to do in that situation?"

From:

st_ratagem

Historically speaking, set your entire life on fire, laugh hysterically while everything burns (well, freezes technically), try to kill yourself, get 'rescued' by a Mad Titan and agree to 1) live and 2) lead an alien army to set fire to Earth because the Titan wants a glowing rock and can't be assed to get it himself, but that's fine because you're still kind of in the mood to destroy everything. Then go to prison, not be told about the death of your (adoptive) mother until well after her funeral....

That's enough. Loki smiled, only a little tightly and bitterness well-hidden. It might well pass for something like fond reminiscence. "Something else, clearly."

From:

st_arkravinghazelnut

"Right." Tony gestured at the air with his glass, continuing his orbit around Loki's still form. "Something else. A 180-degree rotation, even." He stopped between the taller figure and the balcony doors, on the opposite end of where he started.

"Let's say you're...me." Coy hypotheticals seemed appropriate for someone who wasn't Tony Stark. "Let's say you get stripped of damn near everything you have. Walls close in, no way out. But then, hey, turns out there are a few familiar bones the universe threw you. And, because you're me, you get kind of attached. Hope I haven't lost you."

Tony turned to face Loki in full, keeping on with his rapid-fire, offhand monologue. "And because you're me, you make dumb decisions. Lots of them. Still with me?"

From:

st_ratagem

"It's not overly complicated so far. Do continue." Loki sincerely doubted that Stark actually wanted him to pursue the 'pretend you're me', so he declined to do that.

From:

st_arkravinghazelnut

"Decisions that, honestly, feel like the right things to do at the time. Towards some practical end, yeah, because if you're me you're a rationalist. Then you realize that you're lying to yourself, and the whole reason was because you really, honestly, just cannot help yourself because of how damn good they would make you feel."

Tony was unblinking as he held Loki's gaze, taking a moment to fill his lungs and his lips with a sip of wine. "Like hunting down and murdering the man who waged genocide on your people and stamped a giant, lingering, black mark on your psyche."

From:

st_ratagem

Loki tilted his head. While he was well aware that Stark was talking about wanting to kill him, it also seemed applicable to Loki's own feelings about Odin.

And, entertaining as it was to have stripped everything from Odin, cast him to Midgard, and systematically corrupted and rotted his precious Nine Realms while wearing his face... it honestly hadn't answered what he'd really wanted, whatever that was at this point. Likely nothing would. Loki sipped his wine, outwardly completely calm.

This was finally getting to the point. And really, if he'd been asked to guess, this would have been what he guessed. "Have fun trying, Stark."

From:

st_arkravinghazelnut

"Settle down there, Tommy Wiseau." Tony breached Loki's bubble to give him a casual pat on the shoulder before continuing on his steady rotation.

"Remember, you're me. You know you're a flailing, emotional diva no matter how cool you make yourself look. But even we know there are a few precious things we can't afford to lose. Such as...pride. Power." By the point Tony reached his original position against the railing, he reassumed his place. He took a deep breath of the fresh air. "People."

Even if he wasn't naming names, Tony had no doubt Loki knew exactly to whom he was referring. "That last one--comes before all other points on the trifecta. I cling to the other two, I lose the third. So I had to ask myself, what is the exact opposite thing I could do when the little devil on my shoulder's telling me to suit up? Show up with a basket of wine in the welcome wagon, of course."

From:

st_ratagem

Loki twitched away from the touch even before it was over. Ordinarily it was a reaction he would have controlled, but if he'd been interested in appearances, he wouldn't have stayed real (and barefoot) the entire time. It wasn't fear, though it might be read as such; he simply preferred not to be touched at times.

Everything came back to Thor, always, didn't it? It didn't sting quite the same way as it once had, but he didn't care to examine that at the moment. "And so?"

From:

st_arkravinghazelnut

"And so here I am." Tony raised his arms, opening himself up wide. "Bono malum superate. Or, in this case, fermented grapes."

From:

st_ratagem

Overcome evil with good. Ah. Yes, that sounded about right for people who ended up in his brother's orbit.

Whether or not Stark believed it, they were agreed on one thing at the moment: Thor was more important than any petty (or not-so-petty) feud they pursued or didn't. "Then have fun with that, Stark."

From:

st_arkravinghazelnut

"Heh." Tony tilted his head all the way back to drink down the last remnants of the dark red liquid.

"This is the part where I threaten you for real, I'm pretty sure. How I, I dunno, explain that I'm a far, far less forgiving individual than Thor or how if you touch a hair on any single resident's head, I'll reduce you to street pizza. I'll spare you."

Giving his arc reactor a firm pat, Tony was enveloped by his armor instantaneously. With his mechanical hand, he set the glass down to the railing at his side. "All I have say is that I would love for you to prove me wrong about you. Happy stay. Keep the wine. Ciao." Always one to make a flashy exit, Iron Man soared off into the skies, leaving behind a scene as unvaporized as he had found it.