Towards the end of the second week of Peter's life, Loki was much more comfortable with being a parent again. His body had completely healed and his magic was perfect under his control. He was happy. There was only one thing missing from his happy family unit, and that needed sorting. He was a god on a mission, stalking through the Tower, thinking of how good things were as of late.

The most important revelation to transpire is the unexpected peace with Asgard. Odin had made no notion to threaten his child; he knew it would be an act of war against the Avengers, and Odin wasn't willing to take the risk with his warriors. He had seen the way they handled the Chitauri fleet. Any act against the child would make permanent enemies of both his sons, and he most certainly did not want that. He had only just got Loki back into his life, but more importantly back in Frigga's life, and all he wanted was to keep his Queen happy.

Frigga absolutely adored her grandchild, like she did them all. She had no hand in them being cast away, and voiced her disapproval as Sleipnir being used as the Allfather's steed, and that is why she thinks Loki allowed her to visit him and his own family on Earth. She was most blissfully happy upon meeting Peter, and Peter loved her just as much — everyone loves Frigga. The same could not be said for Odin. Peter had not been happy in the slightest upon meeting the King of Asgard. He automatically cried whenever the Allfather spoke, pulled painfully on his beard when held, and vomited all over his regal Asgardian attire. Everyone had tried to ignore the ever-widening grin on the trickster's face. Loki could not be prouder.

The God of Mischief walks past Peter's room, but the almost gravitational pull of protectiveness draws him to the door, he pops his head inside to check on him. Thor is sat in the (reinforced for superhero size) rocking chair with a bundle of blankets containing his nephew in his strong arms, quietly mumbling stories of his own childhood on Asgard. Loki smiles sadly thinking of how badly he treated Thor in recent ages, but the fondness in the Thunder God's voice warms his heart. He gently shuts the door, as not to disturb his brother, and he leaves Peter and his uncle to it. Stepping further down the hallway, Loki politely asks Jarvis where Tony is and really should have anticipated the answer. Of course he is in the workshop. If he's not with Peter or the God himself, he's in the workshop, Loki could have guessed really.

/

Happily tinkering away, Tony sits at his desk with a small welding kit and a magnifying glass. Too warm from concentration and the heat of the machine in his hands, he sits in his white vest top that Loki is used to seeing. He still doesn't like that the engineer feels the need to wear two shirts to lessen the brightness of the reactor in his chest. Loki approaches quietly, curious as to what his partner is doing, the sparks igniting his imagination. Once he reaches the table, he watches in pure fascination as the tiny Iron Man replica Tony is methodically working on comes together. Not wanting to startle the engineer, in fear of damaging his project, the trickster uses his cat like stealth to sit on one of the benches a few feet away, watching intently.

After a while, the major bodywork of the model is completed — a few small intricacies here and there with a splash of infamous red and gold and it would be finished — Tony sets down his tools and removes the necessary protective shield from his eyes. He jolts in surprise when he notices Loki sat to the side of him, "When did you get here?"
"Not too long ago, I didn't want to disturb you," Loki shrugs his shoulders lightly, trying not to laugh at the deer in headlights look on Tony's face.

Tony takes the goggles from his head, placing them on the workbench, careful not to damage his prized project. He had made it for Peter so he could always see his father as a hero, and not what he used to be: Merchant of Death. Tony kicks himself across the room on his wheeled chair, stopping in front of Loki. Smiling impishly, Tony takes advantage of his angle, running his hands along Loki's thighs. He only grins wider when he earns a gasp from the God as his nails drag back towards his knees. He pushes them apart and stands up, leaning forward to kiss the expanse of pale skin beneath Loki's ear and neck.

Pushing Loki further onto the workbench, Tony climbs up to join him. With one leg knelt between the other's thighs, he straddles only one of those teasingly long legs, all the time his lips busy against Loki's. His fingers work down the God's stomach to his crotch, palming him through his leather trousers hard. The unexpected move causes Loki to accidentally bite down into his tongue, the pain tingling pleasure through Tony's spine. Like a desperate, horny teenager, he grinds himself against Loki's thigh, his hand continuing to massage the other. Clinging to Tony as he leans forward to grasp the edge of the bench, Loki's lower back, exposed from his shirt rising up, just touches the cool metal of the bench. Loki's free leg hooks high around Tony's waist pulling him impossibly close, the genius rutting even harder against the thigh below, the friction from his own jeans wonderful against his aching cock. From his new angle, Loki thrusts himself up into Tony's grasp in long, languid strokes, the large hand perfectly cupping his entire package, pressing into just the right places to take his breath away. Embarrassingly this is how they come, both throwing their heads back, groaning out the other's name, releasing in their underwear.

Coming down from their high, they can't help but laugh at what just transpired. Never before had they lasted so little time with only the minimal ministrations allowing them a long desired release. Once his legs had stopped trembling, he set his feet back on the floor and returned to standing between Loki's legs. He grimaces at the stickiness inside his boxer, shifting uncomfortably, tugging at the waistband. With a wave of his hand and a smile tugging at his lips, Loki's magic cleans both of them up, neither really wanting to have to walk upstairs in such a state. Long arms drape around Tony's neck, pulling them into a tight embrace, both content enough to simply hold the other. Neither feels the need to take things any further than that; both are quite happily sated with that one short release.

Once upon time this would have been the perfect opportunity for Tony to ravish his lover until he couldn't walk without the help of his magic — he loves nothing more than workshop sex — but they didn't need that right now. A time for that will come again, but not yet. Both are tired and less interested in sex until the need grows to be unbearable — and that was something neither of them thought they'd ever say. They used to be able to find any excuse to escape to a deserted room, a cleaners closet or even a darkened corner to have their wicked way with each other. But now, raising a child was taking its toll on their physical relationship, but that didn't matter. Just because they weren't having sex everyday like before, Tony didn't love Loki any less. He never thought it was possible to love someone as much as he loves Loki at this point in time.

"Tony," Loki murmurs against the tanned neck, after nearly half an hour of quietly holding onto the other man, "Can I ask you something?"

The engineer pulls back slightly to look at his lover, "Of course you can, you always can."

Loki nods his head, silently explaining that he does really know that, it was just a way to start the conversation that had been his intention behind finding Tony in the first place, "When can Mischief come home?"

"He can come home whenever you want him too, Lo'." Tony knew that Loki missed the cat; it had become obvious to him when he saw the God staring intently at the cat bed in their room a few days earlier. This however, doesn't mean Tony doesn't have reservations about the animal returning to the tower. "Do you think we should see how he reacts to Peter first? If Mischief doesn't like him, it wouldn't be fair to either of them to keep him here."

"You think Mischief will dislike Peter?" Loki gasps alarmed, the possibility of that being the case had never even crossed his mind before.

"You can't always tell with animals, sometimes they just don't like babies and young children. But then sometimes children don't like animals either. We just don't know with Peter and Mischief." Tony feels terrible for bringing this onto Loki, all the God wants is their little family of four to finally be together. "I love Mischief, you know I do, but Peter is my priority."

Loki nods his head mournfully, but his voice holds a twinge of defensiveness, "And he is mine, Anthony."

"I know, love, I know. Let's just keep things on a trial basis with Mischief for now, and if it doesn't work out, maybe Natasha and Bird Brain could keep him permanently if needs be. I want him to be safe too." Loki drops his head as he listen to Tony's proposal, "But most importantly, I don't want anything bad happening to Peter at the claws of Mischief."

Sighing sadly, Loki nods again despite not reaching the outcome he had most desperately wanted. Tony pulls him into a tight embrace, feeling terrible about his decision. Even though he knows it really is for the best, he hates himself. He hates seeing Loki upset, especially if it is by his doing.

The God knows there is no changing Tony's mind, and he isn't going to waste his energy trying. The mortal is stubborn at the best of times, and is worse when it comes to the safety of his son, which Loki really does admire. If it's a trial run Tony wants, then Loki wants to start as soon as possible, his faith strong in his feline companion. He presses a chaste kiss to Tony's lips before sliding off the workbench, "Would you call Natasha for me please, there are a few things I must do?"

"Of course I can, Lo', I'm sorry for, you know, being a dick about this whole thing—" Loki stops him with another quick kiss, resting his forehead against Tony's once he pulls away.

"You need not worry, my love, I understand. Even though I would like more than anything for Mischief to return to living here on a permanent basis, I have a child to think about. He is the main priority and I thank you for realising that when I didn't." Loki pulls Tony into a brief hug, trying his best to prove he really isn't upset with him, before leaving the workshop.

Tony sighs, thinking over Loki's words, "I thank you for realising that when I didn't". When was he going to realise that he was in fact the perfect father, and lover, and friend? Loki was a better man than he ever gave himself credit for, and it kills Tony all the time. He just wishes his partner could see himself the way the he did. The way everyone else sees him. No one — including Clint and the very undead Coulson — saw the maniacal, yet broken, creature he had become anymore. Loki is part of their family, and is accepted by all with warm, open arms. His trickster is perfect, and the Iron Man would never be told different by anyone. A sad smile twitches at his lips before he gets to the task Loki had set him.