Slipping out of the bed he has been sharing with the legendary Iron Man for some time now, Loki wipes the thin sheen of sweat from his brow. Despite coming to terms with his Jotun heritage — thanks to Tony — it still plays havoc with his body temperature, and the warmth of sharing a bed with another can sometimes be too much for him. The heat makes him uncomfortable and he can't sleep. Smiling softly as he looks down at his lover, Loki pulls the covers back over the sleeping genius, before turning and leaving their bedroom. Making his way down the corridor to the elevator, he travels directly to the living room, it being the quickest way to the outside balcony.

Once Loki reaches the living room, his bare feet comforted by the plush carpeted floor as he steps from the elevator, he notices the previously dimmed lighting of the room. Someone was already down here. He doesn't need to worry, Jarvis would have alerted the Avengers inhabiting the tower if there was an intruder. During the early stages of their relationship, Loki was constantly on edge around the tower, the mere whooshing of the elevator doors would have had him jittering. Now it's just background noise. Walking further into the room, he sees a figure sat at the bar with a bottle of vodka in hand. By the distinctly feminine clothing (not revealing, just the style) and the choice of drink, there was only one person it could be: the great Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff.

"Not many people can sneak up on me, Loki." Her voice is deep, hoarse from an obvious lack of sleep and the strong alcohol burning her throat.

Not wanting to aggravate the assassin, Loki is cautious in his behaviour as he moves closer to her, "Do you wish for me to leave?"

She hesitates, her hand griping her glass tightly, before speaking again, "I'm not a fan of drinking alone."

Loki decides that this was in fact an invitation to join her, and he can't really leave her drinking by herself. It leads to all kinds of problems — he'd seen Tony in a drunken stupor more than once, before things were serious between them and it really wasn't pretty, it was actually quite heartbreaking to witness. He easily slides onto one of the barstools, thanks to his height, and takes a seat beside her. She picks up the bottle from beside, and offers it to Loki. Since it is 3am in the morning, he decides against it, shaking his head. She understands completely. She doesn't know many people that would start drinking this late, but refills her glass and places the bottle back on the bar anyway. Instead of alcohol, but deciding he really needs some form of drink in his system, he uses his magic to materialise himself a tall glass of water with ice filling to the brim. Sipping at the freezing liquid slowly, he watches the spy down her own drink, confused as to why she is so out of character.

"How is the ledger?" He takes another gulp of his drink, relishing the cold feeling running down his throat, his body temperature regulating itself to a more comfortable level.

She chuckles lightly at his choice of words, obviously remembering the last time they had a proper one-on-one conversation, "It's a little less red."

"But not as much as you would like, it would seem." It's more of a statement than a question, the fact would be almost startling clear to anyone.

"Things have become decidedly more complicated than I would like since the last time we spoke." He almost goes to stop her as she pours herself another glass full, but decides against it, choosing to just keep an eye on her for now.

"And look at how much things have changed since then." He is thoughtful in his words; it does seem quite unbelievable how much things really have changed. Loki had been defeated, and eventually forgiven for his actions against Manhattan once his past circumstance with The Other and Thanos had come to light, and against all odds he had even fallen in love, with an Avenger no less. He was also happy.

"Who would have thought, the infamous Black Widow sharing a drink with the God of Mischief." Her voice is just as surprised as Loki finds himself. Time has definitely healed wounds, and the assassin has found herself to not hate the trickster quite as much anymore. She likes his wit enough to not get too lost in his charm, and she enjoys the way he uses his intelligence to tease the other Avengers, especially Clint and Tony. It's always highly amusing to see them in such a position. "It turns out, the God of Mischief isn't all that bad after all. Once you get past the villainous tendencies that is."

"How good of you, Miss Romanoff." He jokes back, since the teasing is evident in her voice, she did not mean to cause offence.

With a wave of her hand, she speaks again, slightly more serious, "Despite everything that has happened, it's all in the past now. Please call me Natasha, enough of this Romanoff crap. I get enough of that from the S.H.I.E.L.D agents that my name seems to intimidate."

"Very well then, Natasha," He nods his head. He understands what it's like to have a name that strikes fear into all of those around him, he has never been able to escape it. "Do you wish to talk about these complications you speak of? I know I may not be number one on your list of people to—"

She interrupts quickly by bringing her hand up to stop him. "You'd be a damn sight better than the rest of the oafs around this place. All they care about is who can drink the most, who can shoot the most arrows—" her composure slips, "—who is the most powerful. They are not exactly the best ones for dealing with problems that aren't of saving the world magnitude… with emotions."

Finally Loki understands exactly what this is about, he smiles gently, happy that he can provide some sort of comfort to the currently fallen Black Widow. "If you want me to, I can try to help the best I can, Natasha. You have my word, I shall not utter a breath to anyone, not even Tony."

Her head drops forward, pushing her glass aside, the alcohol suitably dulled her mind, anymore would cloud it. "This is foreign to me. I do not find myself ever talking about emotions, Loki."

When Loki had come across the Black Widow for the first time, his mind was still being ruled, not his own. He had been locked in the cage designed for Banner if things became out of control, and the 'Other Guy' came out to play. Natasha had certainly let her emotions get away with her then, Loki thought. "But whilst I was in the cage?"

"Simple. I was playing you, I needed information." Her answer is blunt, guarded as much as she can still achieve.

"That could not have been all, that wasn't just about the repaying of a debt. No one can fake that much emotion, you have to draw inspiration from somewhere." Of all the things he could remember about the attack on Midgard after his mind was free, it was certainly the conversation he had with her. He remembered the emotion, the passion, the anger she held over him for what he had done to Agent Barton. She wasn't just playing him; it was more than that. She shrugs, deciding to not voice an answer; she knows Loki has already figured it out. "So was I right, Natasha, is it love?"

"Well, you wouldn't be wrong." She decides against lying, what would be the point of trying to deceive the God of Lies, especially when she is not at her best. She sighs deeply, a weight almost lifting from her shoulders for speaking it out loud. But she is tired, so tired. Her emotions bearing down hard, something she is really not used to.

He feels for her, he really does. Unrequited love, it hurts. It's painful. He knows that only too well himself. He wants to comfort her, a touch, a hug, physical contact, but she doesn't seem to want that. What is even worse for him is he had been inside Barton's mind, he knows his thoughts, fears, the kinds of feelings he has for others.

"I would tell you what I know, but I gained that knowledge unfairly, I cannot betray Agent Barton anymore than I already have." She looks at him, a sad look on her face, but one of understanding.

"That is good of you, Loki." The God is constantly surprising her, he is good now, he's on their side, and even looking out for the interest of the team's members. She wasn't intentionally trying to gain that information from Loki, but it would have been nice to know. He reaches out to her, his hand gently resting on her wrist, her head turning to him properly.

"Natasha, if it is possible for Tony — the world's biggest playboy — to be tamed into a monogamous, loving relationship, I think you and Barton would be fools not to at least explore the possibility of romance, it's obviously, even to the oafs, that you care for each other deeply." He smiles at her encouragingly. He just wants her to be as happy as he is.

"I was surprised by the two of you — you and Tony, I mean — I thought you would killed each other after a few weeks, but you seem to be holding strong. How have you made it work?" This is purely for her own curiosity, as well as everyone else's. No one quite understands how they have lasted as long as they have.

He smiles at her question — ignoring that she finishes the bottle of vodka — often asking himself the same thing. But it comes down to the fact he loves Tony dearly, and surprisingly that love is returned. However there is also another approach they have taken to make sure they stay strong and that the love remains.

"When we argue — and you know we argue all the time — the trick is not to hold grudges. But there is also the great I'm-angry-with-you sex, followed by the sorry-I'm-an-idiot sex, and after we get rid of all the frustration, we forget what we were arguing about and remember why we love each other so much."

"You sound like an old married couple." With her body leaning back, she laughs loudly, the image of the couple sat on a front porch, grey hair and wrinkled in her mind.

He smiles with her, bumping his shoulder against hers, as the laugh together. "That is a scary thought."

A loud cough behind the trickster and the assassin interrupts their laughter, and they turn to see who is also awake. "Now why do I find a world class assassin, and the God of Mischief sat at my bar at 4am in the morning, whilst I'm alone with an empty bed?"

They see Tony stood in his pyjamas, hands on his hips, confused by what is happening, they giggle at the look on his face. His eyes dart to the empty bottle of vodka on the bar, and eye his boyfriend suspiciously. Loki sees the thoughts running through the other mans head, and quickly defends himself. "I'm not drunk! Honestly, I have taken to drinking cold water only. It was far too hot in bed —" they snicker, "— Miss Romanoff here is in a different circumstance."

"No, no! I am not drunk, okay maybe a little, but I am still absolutely coherent!"

"If you can use a word like coherent, I think everything's all good. Now come on, Lo', let's get back to bed, it's lonely up there!" Tony pulls on Loki's arm till he stands up. He is a little reluctant to leave Natasha by herself, and she sees that in his eyes. She smiles, letting him know she'll be fine now.

He unhooks himself from Tony's hold, and wraps his arms tightly around the Black Widow, whispering to only her, "Go for it, Natasha."

As he pulls away, she keeps a hold of his hands. He smiles at her softly, and she returns the sentiment, nodding her head, "Thank you, Loki."

"You're very welcome, Natasha. If you ever stumble across any complications again, I'm here to talk." The both share one last laugh, before the confused engineer decides he's had enough of not understanding, and pulls Loki into the elevator, intent on going back to bed.

Once in the elevator with the door shut, Tony tries to stop himself, he really does, but he just has to interrogate his lover about the ridiculously out of character exchange he saw between the pair, "What was all that about?"

Loki can't help but smile at the puzzled man beside him. He promised he wouldn't say anything, so he won't. Natasha was right, Tony and the rest of the Avengers just wouldn't understand as fully as she needs. "Do not worry, Anthony, everything is fine, or it will be soon."

Tony decides to leave it at that, Loki seems determined about keeping whatever he and Natasha were talking about a secret. Once they get back to their room, Tony makes the effort to tell Jarvis to lower the temperature of the room for Loki's comfort. Climbing into bed, Loki holds Tony in his arms, the shorter man feeling all out of sorts. It's ridiculously late and stumbling across his lover and the Black Widow confused the hell out of him!

"Babe?" Tony asks quietly.

"Yes, Love?" Loki pulls his ex-playboy closer.

Tony twists himself in Loki's arms to face the God, his hands coming up to rest on his chest, "If something was wrong, you'd talk to me, right?"

Loki is surprised by the sudden insecurity, it's unlike Tony. Maybe it's due to the late hour, or maybe a nerve really has been struck. Loki tries his best to reassure his partner. "Of course, I would. Do not be concerned by earlier, she just needed someone to talk to. I have you."

"Mhm, good. Love you, Lo'" Tony's voice is slurred by sleep, his head snuggling into the crook of Loki's neck.

Smiling, the trickster holds Tony tightly, sleep overtaking his own consciousness, "I love you too, Tony."

~oOo~

The next morning comes around much too soon for Tony, and especially Loki after his late night excursion with Natasha, his new BBF, as Tony had quite rightly pointed out. Yawning, the couple rise later than usual, and make their way down to the dining room where everyone gathers in the mornings.

By the time they get there themselves, the others — minus Natasha, and more notably (to Loki only) Clint — have already arrived and are sat around the dining table. Steve, the wonderful man he is, is cooking breakfast for the team like he usually does. The couple sit quickly, and await their food. Since they were late, Steve settles a plate of waffles in front of the two drooling men — well one man and one God — almost immediately.

Whilst Loki is graciously eating his breakfast, unlike Tony, who is eating like an animal, much to his boyfriend's disgust, Clint makes his way into the room smiling. Loki almost dismisses his arrival to continue eating, until Natasha follows shortly, the same smile evident on her face. She looks directly at him, and simply nods her head. Placing his cutlery against his plate, he returns the smile, knowing what has happened.

Natasha had most definitely taken the advice he had dropped into their conversation last night, urging her to pursue her feelings. She had dived off the deep end into uncertainty, finally expressing those romantic feelings for the archer. Loki knew that things would work out. He had discovered that the Hawk had reciprocated Natasha's feelings when he had infiltrated his mind. It would have been unfair for the likely couple, for Loki to have revealed the secret Barton had been harbouring, probably for as long as Natasha had. Loki always believed that taking that leap of faith in admitting ones feelings for another is one of the most vital moments in a developing relationship. It would have done more harm than good, if Loki had gotten himself involved.

Tony notices the exchange between Loki and Natasha, "So, has everything sorted itself out?"

The God leans over to his boyfriend, kissing him sweetly, feeling extremely grateful for finally finding someone to truly love, after spending centuries alone, "Yes, my love, I think it has."

Notes

My first fic on this site. These are all on AO3, FF and Mibba too.
Let me know what you think, my darlings, I'd love to hear from you!

p.s. I will have my other FrostIron stories posted soon. Look out for them, lovely helpings of Clintasha in them too!