At the door of Stark Tower

[justakidfrombrklyn]

He doesn't really have a phone anymore, at least not one that isn't a burner on the end of it's life, and that phone never had the number he needed in it, so he didn't call ahead. Instead, he's just there, heading for the front desk to see if perhaps, just maybe, he has a friend here. Or at least an ally.

"Steve Rogers for Tony Stark, please?"

Comments

[justakidfrombrklyn]

Steve shakes his head.

"I'm not giving him anything. I'm just saying that our information is a little on the low side for taking any serious actions."

[godofbadideas]

"I'm not here to cause trouble," Loki says. "Honest."

[actuallyhasaheart]

God of lies, honest. Yeah right.

"Fine then, but you're coming with me," Tony says, and grabs the back of Loki's coat, before rising a couple feet on his repulsors. He'd be lying if he said the startled yelp from Loki was anything but satisfying.

"Want a lift, Cap?"

[justakidfrombrklyn]

Steve shook his head and waved Tony off and up.

"I'll take the elevator. But don't attack him before we get to talk to him a little more."

[actuallyhasaheart]

"Yeah, yeah. Take the back elevator, it's express. You already have access."

And then Tony takes off, back up to his landing pad/balcony, grinning behind the mask despite the fact of Loki - fucking Loki - in his hand. There's nothing like flying.

[godofbadideas]

Loki yelps again, just a little - more of an eep, really - as Iron Man takes off. It's not entirely dissimilar to being dragged off without warning by his brother.

"You know, this isn't too different from being dragged off by my brother." Saying it out loud will give him a chance to gauge Stark's reaction to a mention of Thor.

[justakidfrombrklyn]

Steve sighs and heads around back to take the elevator up. He can't help but sigh a little as the doors close.

"JARVIS, you'll tell me if Tony does something stupid up there, right?"

[actuallyhasaheart]

"Certainly, sir," the AI replies. "Shall I take you to the penthouse level?"

The lift is already moving, of course, but it's a matter of courtesy to ask.

Tony snorts at Loki's comment as he lands, and sort-of frog-marches the (for now) unresisting little villain (he definitely seems smaller; slightly shorter, narrower shoulders, though the coat and armour make it hard to tell) into his penthouse.

"Have a seat," he says, pushing Loki towards the couch. It's not a suggestion.

[godofbadideas]

"If you insist," Loki replies, sprawling gracefully on the couch. It's quite nice, actually, plush and rather comfortable, upholstered with soft calfskin leather.

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"Yeah, the penthouse. Wherever Tony took Loki."

Because he'd very much like to make sure there isn't a cross-universal, cross-dimensional incident.

[actuallyhasaheart]

"Certainly, sir." It only takes another forty-five seconds after that for the elevator to reach the penthouse floor, and the door slides open with a nicely understated 'ding'.

"Oh hey Cap, what kept you?" Tony calls, grinning just a little under the mask, from where he's keeping a close eye on Loki.

[justakidfrombrklyn]

He breathed in and out, put walked in, and let the doors close behind him.

"Can you put the face shield up, Tony? It's weird talking with you like that."

[actuallyhasaheart]

"Oh yeah, sure," Tony replies, reaching up to flip it open. "Better?"

[godofbadideas]

He has brown eyes.

It's an idle observation, but an important one; the Tony Stark of Loki's own universe has bright, unmistakeable blue.

[justakidfrombrklyn]

Steve nods thankfully before turning to look at Loki.

"So. You're here. And you haven't left yet. So that means we need to talk."

[godofbadideas]

"I was going to leave, but it seemed as if I might end up attacked if I did." He shrugs a little. "Coming along seemed like the least messy option."

[actuallyhasaheart]

"Out of the goodness of your heart, I'm sure. So," Tony continues, holding up a hand to forestall any interruptions. "Assuming for a minute you're telling anything close to the truth, what are you doing here?"

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"He said something about a universe without shrimp," Steve offers 'helpfully'.

[actuallyhasaheart]

Okay, under any other circumstances - with any other space Viking - that'd be fucking hilarious.

"Buffy references, really Hornboy?"

'Reindeer Games' just doesn't seem to work with the little tiara instead of the big, horny helmet.

[godofbadideas]

Oops.

"I was always rather impressed with the accuracy of some of the references in that television programme," Loki replies. "Believe it or not, the universe without shrimp is written of, and I had some free time, so I figured, why not? It surely beats some of my other options."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

Steve, on the other hand, is pulling out his pad and writing down 'Buffy' as a thing to check out. If Loki of all people knew what Tony was talking about, it was probably at least somewhat important.

[godofbadideas]

That is. Adorable. Is he writing it down? It looks like he is; the motions of his pencil look right.

"If you check out Buffy, don't forget Angel, and the comic books too," Loki says. "Unless those didn't happen here?" he asks, glancing at Stark for an answer.

[actuallyhasaheart]

"No, they happened," Tony finds himself replying. And if anything, the Buffy reference is what makes him think that maybe, just maybe, this Loki is telling the truth about being from another universe. The Loki leading the invasion in New York had been more than a little unhinged, and completely disdainful of pretty much all things 'mortal' and 'Midgardian'.

[justakidfrombrklyn]

He looks from Loki to Tony and back again.

"I'll keep it in mind. But" and now he's giving Loki the firm look "I'd really like to know what you're doing here of all places."

[godofbadideas]

"Oh, that's simple." Not really, but it can be simplified. "This building, or something very much like it, is a constant across a number of universes. That gives it... Hmm, something like gravity, I suppose, is a good analogy. Travelling between universes isn't a terribly precise business, and so something like this makes for an excellent anchor point, if something goes wrong. Which it must have, if I got pulled out of my travelling spell, with this universe the closest to where I was at that moment."

He pauses for a moment, and licks his lips.

"Or someone did something recently to disrupt time and space around this particular iteration of this tower, in which case I probably should have used a different anchor."