Chapter Text
Loki all but glowered at his brother, who pointedly dismissed his displeasure, so he decided to direct his ire towards a certain snickering Anthony (he refused to call the man ‘Tony’ simply because he was peculiar like that) and an amused Hawk. The two happened to have the unfortunate luck of sitting across from him – not that he believed such occurrence was unfortunate. If anything, they should be glad to bask in his awesome presence.
“I thought you weren’t staying here.” Clint pointed out with amusement laced in that tone.
“I wasn’t.” He bit out with an angry hiss and glared at Thor. “I’m only here for the fashion week, and I am not going to help you with avenging and whatever nonsense you do as Avengers.”
“Speaking of fashion week, I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that you’re a model. How did that come about, anyway? Better yet, why don’t you explain to us why you chose the name Lukas Skywalker? You’re ruining Star Wars.” Tony quipped continuously without a pause for breath.
He blinked in puzzle at the questions, mildly amused by Anthony’s line of thoughts, and smirked at the man’s flitted gaze. He silently took a sip of tea to gather his thoughts, but shifted his gaze to other occupants around the table – it seemed they were just as interested in his explanation as Anthony.
“Mayhap you have heard of me being a Skywalker in your mythology.” Loki began with an amused expression, and continued when he received nods in response, “Lukas is just another variation of my name. So… no, Anthony, I did not ruin Star Wars – if anything, they copied my name.”
“And being a model?” Natasha raised a delicate brow at the inquiry.
“I’m just making them kneel before my awesome self.”
“Loki…” Thor bemoaned at his reply with exasperated fondness. “Stop getting into such mischief.”
He sniffed daintily and shot a scowl at his brother, “You’re just jealous, Thor, that I'm putting my skills to such beneficial use.”
“Brother, it doesn't take much skills to stand there and have someone take pictures of you.”
“Thor, buddy, you did not just dissed modeling.” Tony interjected with a dramatic gasp. “Besides, have you seen Rock of Ages’ pictures?”
“Stark, are you a fan?” Loki interrupted with a raised brow.
An amused smirk danced on his lips when Anthony sputtered denials with wild hand gestures, which he pointedly ignored in favor of sipping on his cup of tea. It was quite amusing to see the usually composed billionaire in such disarray especially when the topic concerned him. This behavior needs a thorough investigation – that is, if he wasn’t being lethargic about doing such thing.
“—Then what about those magazines of our former villain you’ve subscribed?” Clint questioned with a wide smirk. “Didn’t think we’d know about that, did you?”
“I once found a collage of Loki’s pictures from various magazines in the workshop. It was laminated.” Bruce added with amused glints.
“Friend Tony, what are your intentions with my baby brother?”
Loki chuckled inwardly at the frantic expression on Anthony’s face, and interjected with a, “As much fun as this conversation has been, I must get ready for the rehearsal before I am tardy. And Anthony, we must exchange words about your certain… hobby concerning me.”
He left the premise before anyone could utter some choice words, and snickered under his breath when he remembered the frantic and panicked eyes of a certain billionaire at the revelation of being his fan. It was disheartening that he wouldn’t be present for the rest of ‘grilling’, so to speak, due to his work.
“Well, I’ll just have to see what else he has in his collection in regard to me when I get back.”
________
It relieved Tony that he didn’t see the Trickster God anywhere in the tower for nearly a week. He asked JARVIS for the whereabouts of Loki, not because he wanted to attempt to sneak taking pictures (he does, but he had self-control, thank you very much), but the God had all but disappeared from the premise. He didn’t know how to face Loki after other members embarrassed him with their knowledge about his recent… hobby. He had no idea how they found out – then again, he supposed it was self-explanatory considering that two of those members were spies.
It shouldn't have startled him to see the Trickster God in a casual attire (a black sleeveless tee with gray sweatpants) walking into the common room, but it did. He nearly drooled when he noted that Loki’s long hair was in a half-bun – it was sinful for someone to look that tantalizing.
“Loki.” He coughed to cover up his startled squeak, but he knew the God had heard him judging from that amused smirk.
“Stark. Take a picture, it'll last longer.”
The amused glint in Loki's eyes made him suddenly remember that the being before him happened to be the God of Mischief, and he unfortunately was on the receiving end of it.
“So, how was the fashion show?” Tony decided to change the subject abruptly and cleared his throat to disguise his embarrassment. “Thor was moaning about how he couldn't attend because you didn’t give him the ticket. I'm surprised that it could be sold out.”
“He would've embarrassed me if he went, so I didn’t bother to invite him.” Loki responded in a flippant way with a shrug.
“I would not have, brother!”
He jumped in startled upon hearing Thor's protest, and blinked in confusion when he saw the Thunder God's imitation of Steve's infamous I'm-disappointed-in-you stare. He inwardly pondered when the older God had learned to pull off that kind of expression.
“Yes, you would have, you oaf.” Loki retaliated with a dramatic eye roll, and strolled purposefully into the common room. “Mind telling me why you called me here again? I do have better things to do than constantly traveling back and forth.”
“Loki, you would’ve just sat in your home to watch drama shows.” Thor responded just as nonchalantly with a hand wave to dismiss the gaping expression on the younger God. “We need your expertise on a matter.”
Tony pursed his lips from blurting out something incriminating (like ‘You’re a homebody who watch daytime soap operas?’), and decided to take a loud sip of his coffee instead. He wasn’t going to embarrass himself any further, if he could help it.
“And why should I help you?” Loki looked thoroughly displeased expression.
“Because you’d want to know that someone tried to awaken Jörmungandr to do their bidding.” Thor explained grimly, and continued when the younger God prompted with a raised brow, “Heimdall came to warn me that someone attempted to enter the Gate of Midgard three days prior.”
“I speculate that they weren’t successful in their endeavor.” The Trickster God concluded with a small smirk.
“Quick question – is Jör – however you pronounce that name – your son?” Tony had to interject, and pointed dismissed other Avengers’ (mostly Steve’s) exasperated expressions about his priorities.
Thor chuckled at the inquiry and decided to answer instead, “Friend Tony, my brother has yet to bed a maiden or anyone for that matter in all centuries I've known him.”
“You’re virgin?” Clint blurted out in disbelief with startled look.
“That’s utterly irrelevant, don’t you think?” Loki cut in sharply with a scowl, and continued only after seeing a thoroughly chastised look on Thor’s face. “Jörmungandr is a protector to Midgard that I created with my seiðr. Midgard, for all its backwater ways, is still in its infancy compared to other Realms. An invasion from one of the Nine Realms or from anything beyond the Nine could easily obliterate it. Considering that Asgard has the duty to protect the Nine Realms, especially more so when Father left the Tesseract here, I decided to create Jörmungandr to be Midgard’s protector.”
“You created him?” Tony only gaped at the explanation. “Just how strong are you, Reindeer Games?”
“Isn’t he a sea serpent?” Bruce inquired with furrowed brows. “Our mythology says that he is a sea serpent large enough to wrap Earth many times over.”
“Jörmungandr is a shapeshifter.” Loki supplied with a smirk, but didn’t bother to offer detailed explanation any further. “Besides, he has enough prowess to dissuade anyone who tried to awaken him to use him. He has been feeding on Midgard’s seiðr for centuries, and their powers and elements would be under his control now.”
“But what if this enemy managed to get him? How would we be able to defeat Jör?” Steve added with a frown.
“Please, Jörmungandr has been defending your Realm from outside invaders for centuries. He’s not easily taken down from whomever is your nemesis.” The Trickster God all but scoffed at the inquiries as if the concerns were outlandish. “Isn’t it your job to find out who is behind this nonsense, and put a stop to it? You are called Avengers for a reason, aren’t you?”
“Brother, you will be joining us in this fight, won’t you?” Thor’s question sounded more like a demand, and the irked frown on Loki’s face indicated the displeasure of such demand.
“Of course not, you oaf. I’m not an Avenger, and I certainly wouldn’t want to be one.” The Trickster God shot down the idea immediately. “I have better things to do than saving the world from whatever enemy this is.”
“And that is?” Natasha gave a pointed look that could make a grown-man cowed in fear.
“Sitting in my loungewear and watching drama shows, and occasionally being a model.” Loki replied as if this was the most important agenda in comparison to saving the world. “Besides, you have my oaf of a brother in your roster, you’ll be fine. Leave me out of this nonsense, will you?”
________
Suffice to say, they were not fine.
Tony let out a string of curses as he dodged mystical blasts and force fields from a certain villain who turned into gold fish a week prior. He ignored Steve’s chastise of, “Language, Tony!” from his communication device as he busily dodged the oncoming attacks.
The day started normal too – he was busy tinkering in his lab with Bruce, trying to locate this Gate of Midgard as per Thor’s request. The ‘Heart of Earth’ was such a vague answer that it was difficult to discern its location, and he certainly wasn’t going to ask a certain former neurosurgeon turned sorcerer either. He had his pride, dammit.
It all went downhill when Director Fury called about an attack in Queens from a madman, Doctor Doom, who unleashed myriads of magical robots that could brainwash people.
“Seriously, we just turned him into a gold fish two weeks ago. Didn’t he learn his lesson?” Tony complained to his comrades.
“Apparently not.” Clint scoffed with a tongue click. “How the hell did he gained abilities to brainwash people? Did he learn from Loki?”
“My brother doesn’t know mind control.” Thor supplied with a frown directed at Clint. “It was the Tesseract who gave him the powers.”
“Boys, we can discuss about Loki’s powers another time. How are we going to defeat him this time?” Natasha interjected into the conversation.
From blasting the robots with his repulsor rays to smashing it with Mjölnir and Captain America’s shield, the robots kept coming endlessly. It was as if they destroyed one, three more appeared in its place – it doesn’t help that Thor’s godly thunder prowess only helped increased their power supplies.
Seriously, they need to come up with a plan to overcome that weakness sometime soon.
“I’m all for ideas, guys.” Tony remarked as he narrowly dodged another blast from one of the robots.
“I shall have to call in Loki to see if he could defeat these foes. He is better at sorcery than I am.” Thor commented, pulling out something from a pocket and crashing the item singlehandedly.
Two sheets of mirrors materialized in the middle of the battlefield, halting the fight momentarily as it slowly separated vertically. A portal appeared the space of its separation until a figure emerged from it. Unlike the first time, there was no dramatic smokescreen or the theatric “Your savior is here!” declaration – no, this time, it was just a shadowed threatening figure of Loki that emerged from the portal.
It took Tony a few seconds to realize that the scowling expression on Loki’s face was harmless, especially when paired with a black pajama pants and a gray tee with a snoozing Hello Kitty with ‘Five More Minutes’ printed on it.
“For goodness sake, Thor, it’s 3AM where I was. Stop calling me to clean up your mess at such hours.”