Reflection

Three broken cameras, five smashed cell phones, two bloody-nosed paparazzi and only one an angry mother with crying child later, Tony finally makes it back to the tower — alive — with Loki and Mischief in tow. However, his dignity, as well as his wallet, had taken a major hit. It's hard to keep up the superhero persona when you're throwing money at people in hope that it will prevent them from suing your boyfriend for damages and having him arrested for assault. Up until the camera's started flashing, and people began invading their business, asking lewd questions about their private life, the couple and their kitten were perfectly content, happily going about their day. They were enjoying themselves immensely, smiling and laughing, walking hand in hand as they made their way around the shop Tony — well, Jarvis on his command — had found.

It so happens that Tony found himself wondering why he had taken his Audi on their trip to the pet boutique. Loki had certainly outdone himself with how much he had made Tony buy. In the end, Tony had to call Happy to bring one of his larger cars, one with a lot more space to accommodate Loki's purchases. The next time — if there is a next time — he takes Loki shopping, he will not be taking a vehicle with anything less than four seats. Sports cars are out, period. He has definitely learnt his lesson this time.

Accompanied by Happy, Tony stumbles into the lobby of the tower, their arms full of the items for the cat. Loki continues to waltz in front of them, Mischief comfortably balanced on his shoulder, a more and more familiar position to find him in. Once in the elevator, Tony and Loki bid farewell to Happy, thanking him for his help.

"Could you not have used your magic to transport all this stuff home?" Tony presses the button on the wall that closes the door and begins the journey to the penthouse.

"I have been forbidden from doing any such a thing." Tony realises Loki has him there; that was indeed one of the original agreements when deciding if he should be allowed to go unsupervised by S.H.I.E.L.D. He is never allowed to use his powers in public, unless it is in the best interest of the masses. That is most likely to be in battle, when he occasionally assists the Avengers if things get too out of hand, and he genuinely begins to worry for his lover’s life. But despite the amount of times he has saves their lives, he still refuses to allow himself to be classified as a member of Fury's super-(not so)-secret boy band.

"Well, yeah, okay... You can at least teleport all this," He motions to the items at his feet, "To where you want it, save me carrying it further."

With a small wave of the God's hand everything is gone. Tony shakes his head, still finding it hard to believe that things can be that simple with only a hand gesture. Loki steps forward and places his hands on the shorter mans shoulders, "Thank you for today, Tony."

"Only because I love you." Tony places his arms around Loki's waist, hands resting on his lower back.

Loki smiles, his lips pressing against Tony's forehead, "I love you too."

Mischief reaches up and presses his tiny paws to Tony's face, licking his cheek, feeling left out. He smiles and tickles the side of the kittens face, "Yes, and I love you too, Mischief, no matter how much money you've cost me today."

Once they get up to the penthouse that occupied the top few floors of the tower, Loki darts straight off to their bedroom, intending to fully arrange the new items for Mischief. Tony however, decides to stay downstairs and work on some adjustments to the team's weaponry like he had promised. Clint had practically begged him to design some new arrows for him to use, and every time they see each other, the archer just won't let it go. The incessant chirping never stops, so the genius might as well get it done to prevent himself the headache.

Tony must have been sat for hours working on his tablet; he'd successfully designed five new arrows, with various capabilities, which were now fully ready for the production of the prototypes. Tony realises that he hadn't been interrupted once, and he is almost worried. Loki always manages to distract him within a few hours, even if he then realises Tony really is busy and should be left alone to work. Closing down the device, he places it on the coffee table and stands, cracking his back, stretching his arms above his head as he goes. "Jarvis, where is Loki?"

"He has been in your bedroom since you returned, Sir." The A.I's voice echoes from above, and Tony thanks him. That long, huh? Now he definitely has to investigate.

Standing in the doorway, the billionaire watches his boyfriend play with the newest addition to their family. There are various toys scattered on the floor besides a scratching post and a cat bed that they both know will go unused. Loki is sat cross-legged on the floor, his hands supporting Mischief’s small body as he jumps to the different levels of the intricate scratching post he had all but demanded. All of a sudden the cat starts meowing loudly, staring in Tony's direction.

Loki turns his head abruptly to see his partner, "How long have you been there?"

"Only a few moments, long enough to see how cute you can be." Loki pouts, but doesn't give Tony the satisfaction of replying. Knowing his ploy, Tony chuckles haughtily, taking a seat beside Loki on the floor. For the next hour or so, the couple remain sat on their bedroom carpet playing with Mischief.

~o~

It's almost dark by the time Pepper Potts leaves her office. After a day like that, most people would go straight home and relax in front of the television with their favourite takeout, but not Pepper. She doesn't get such luxuries. In fact her work is still not over, as she finds herself traipsing through the lobby of Stark Tower. She flashes her I.D badge quickly, before making her way over to the elevator that takes you to the penthouse. Simply because no one else has the patience, or even wants too, it is her job to bring Tony up to speed with the current advancements and developments to the company. He can be a temperamental bastard when he wants and he knows exactly how he can make her life more difficult than it need be. She hopes this is not one of those nights.

Pepper doesn't really know what the hell it is, but as soon as the elevator door slides open and she steps onto the carpet, ten tiny pin pricks stab into the skin of her left foot. She lets out a startled, high-pitch scream, her body flying backwards, hitting the now closed door. Her breathing accelerates, pre-empting an attack or some sort of effect, she is sure is about to come. But it doesn't. Nothing happens.

A few seconds later, Tony appears in front of her, grabbing onto her shoulders, "Pepper, what's wrong?"

"Something attacked my foot!" She squeals.

"Oh," He sounds more amused than he does worried, something that certainly confuses Pepper. He then starts laughing, and that attracts Loki. The God strolls over to the pair to see what the commotion is all about. He notices Mischief sat on the floor, hiding behind Tony's legs, and swoops down to pick him up. Being cradled in Loki's hands, the feline purrs loudly, drawing the attention from everyone else in the room.

Staring wide-eyed, Pepper's mouth opens and closes, puzzled by what she sees in front of her. Tony's God of Mischief boyfriend is holding a cat in his hands. Where did the cat come from?! It certainly wasn't there when she was here last… three days ago. Despite having to deal with surprises on a daily basis — thanks, Tony — she isn't a big fan of being left in the dark of anything, and on the topic of things she isn't a fan of, cats heads up that list, due to a childhood incident that she still remembers vividly.

"Tony! You know I don't like cats!" She whines, scowling at her friend.

In his usual dramatic nature, he flails his arms in the air, rushing to Loki and taking Mischief in his own hands, "How could you not like this little guy?" He holds the cat closer to her, "Look at his little face!"

"Tony, I'm not here to look at your cat. I am here to discuss your company, the one that I run." Pepper is quick to push Tony, kitten in hand, away from her, and she rushes past towards the stairs. "Get upstairs to the office, you need to sign some papers."

"Yes, Mother." He sulks, handing Mischief back to Loki, "Save me in 10."

"Tony!" Pepper snaps, "It's going to take longer than that, so the quicker you move, the quicker you can get back to playing with the cat."

"His name is Mischief, Miss Potts." Loki pipes up quietly after hearing the disdain in her voice. He does not understanding why anyone could not love such a creature.

"Don't worry about her, neither you or Mischief have caused any harm," Tony whispers quietly to the God, when Pepper doesn't respond. Tony doesn’t need to be the genius he is to know how much the kitten means to Loki, and he can see he hurt on his lover's face. "I'll be back as soon as I can, okay?"

Loki nods his head, despite still feeling a little bad for his kitten. He kisses his partner, who begrudgingly turns to follow the CEO of his company up the stairs to the office. Pepper had insisted on having the office put in herself for such situations when the renovations took place, because apparently the owner of a billion-dollar company doesn't need an office, and that is something she just can't understand. The trickster decides that it would be beneficial for everyone if, just this once, he didn't interrupt like he usually would. Instead he takes a place on the sofa and flicks on the television that he has become accustomed to watching. Sometimes he can find a show or film to hold his interest, but it's always more enjoyable when he has Tony sat at his side giving his own personal commentary to what they are watching.

~o~

Well, that was tedious. And prolonged. And painful. And quite frankly unnecessary. Tony knew Pepper could run his company. He trusted her, and he really didn't need, or want, to be brought up to speed on absolutely everything that has changed in the last six months. The company has since done a lot better with her, than it ever did with him. She provided stability to the job of being in control, and that made it easier for investors to trust the company that only bore the name Stark, but was no longer directly run by him. Said owner now spends most of his time in his personal lab creating for his fellow Avengers, or advancing the technology in his Iron Man suit. There were also the times where that suit was put into action, saving the world. He happily lets a certain God of Mischief occupy the rest of his time and he wouldn't have it any other way.

Overall it took more than two hours for Tony to have sufficiently read through enough contracts and provided an adequate amount of signatures to make Pepper happy, before he was allowed his escape. Sharing idle small talk, Tony mostly being nosy about her newest relationship, the ex-couple walk down the stairs back to the living room. The television flickers, the familiar black and blue credits rolling over the screen. He recognises the distinct orchestral soundtrack of Star Wars instantly, smiling proudly at his partner's choice of film. Since he can't see Loki, he assumes he must be lying down and walks over to look over the side of the sofa. He can't help himself as he outwardly "aww's" at the sight in front of him. His heart warms as he watches Loki curled up on the sofa, his breathing is soft, and his eyes are closed peacefully. Snugly tucked under his arm, Mischief has burrowed himself tightly against Loki's body. Curious, Pepper makes her way over to see what Tony is looking at. Despite her passionate dislike for cats, Pepper can almost bring herself to be moved by what she sees.

"My boyfriend is cuter than yours." Tony glows with pure pride and happiness.

"My boyfriend didn't destroy half of Manhattan." She arches her eyebrow in Tony's direction, to which he pauses to think carefully.

"Touché."

Pepper laughs lightly, not wanting to wake the God asleep on the sofa, and kisses her friend on the cheek, "Goodnight, Tony."

He hums in response, but really isn't paying attention. She can see that he only has eyes for the trickster, and again she smiles, finally over the jealously she had once felt. She can see the love in Iron Man's eyes, and that was something she never truly had, not like that, not like Loki did. She couldn't blame Tony for not being in love with her the way she was with him. Sometimes it just wasn't meant to be, and that felt especially right as she makes her way to the elevator, finally able to go home and be with her own partner.

Once they are finally alone again, Tony kneels in front of Loki and gently runs his fingers through the silky hair that has fallen across his peaceful face. "Loki, babe, wake up…" Tony's voice is melodious, whispering softly.

The trickster's face snuggles against the sofa, yawning widely; he subconsciously rolls his body away from the voice disturbing his sleep. Smiling, Tony decides to let him sleep, he is far to cute to wake from his peaceful slumber. He scoops one arm under Loki's legs, and the other under his back, smoothly picking him up. Despite the God's height and physical appearance, he is a lot lighter than you'd expect him to be. Just before he is out of reach, Mischief slyly jumps from the sofa onto Loki's stomach, intent on hitching a free ride to the bedroom. It's unlikely Tony would have remembered him, despite his growing fondness of their pet.

"Mhm — Tony, love you," The sleeping God, mumbles groggily against the t-shirt clad chest that supports him as he is carried carefully up the stairs to bed.

Notes