"Curiousity", called the blind.

by AuthorInDistress

Summary:

In which Tony has a brief moment of pity for Loki and it's taken advantage of. Or where Loki decides to indulge his curiousity.

Notes:

Please read:

 

In this, there was no battle of New York and no Avengers movie. The Avengers formed for different reasons and Loki has had a few mini battles with the Avengers and so on, but nothing to the extent of the Avengers movie. He's also thrown Tony out the window before too, albiet in different circumstances :)

This is just because I want to make my own universe with this, if you know what I mean?

 

This is set before 'Exploration' :)

Chapter 1

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Tony places a finger on the rim of his mug before he pours it full of coffee, lifting it out before he burns himself and then belatedly fingering his watch to feel the time. The glass casing lifts and he skims over the hands to read it; 3:04. Dammit. He sighs, "JARVIS?"

"Sir?"

"Let me know when the rendering is complete, would you?" He doesn't wait for an answer and just heads for the living space with his mug, "Hey Cap," He murmurs in passing, rolling his eyes - a little smug anyway, sue him - when he hears the man stop and turn behind him. Here it comes.

"How could you tell it was me?"

"You have a distinct way of walking, Rogers, I've said it before."

"Yeah, but I'm wearing slippers this time."

Tony smirks to himself, sipping at his coffee, "Sorry buddy, that doesn't make a difference with me." And it might be his imagination, but he's almost certain that he hears something muttered after that, that sounds a lot like 'damn' under someone's breath. So he's impressed Captain America. Huh. "Where are you off to?"

"What, you can't tell that by my walk too?"

Tony, surprising himself, laughs, "Alright, you asked." He shrugs, "You're off to the gym for a quick workout before bed, because you were up late and missed one earlier."

Steve's slippers make a shuffle of a noise when he starts, taken aback, "... that's scary, Stark."

Tony laughs again, turning to face him as best he can, and after a second he takes pity and explains, "Your gym shoes were knocking together while you walked, and I know you weren't in the building when you do your usual set. You're in slippers now because they make the least amount of noise and you didn't want to wake anyone else up."

There's a pause, and then Steve's voice sounds a lot closer, "You should use that skill out in the field more."

Tony grins, turning away to walk back to the living space, "How do you think I'm still alive?" Eventually, Steve heads off too, and Tony's left in peace. He relaxes over the sofa, sighing and lifting his head toward the ceiling to relieve the crick in his neck. JARVIS wordlessly turns the TV on when he's there for more than 10 minutes but he waves the sound off, hating that the channels automatically play audio-described. Clint had complained constantly about having to watch movies with it on, until Tony had eventually switched to headphones or just not bothered coming at all. Ever since then, during team-building exercises, Cap makes a point of having Tony's blindness accounted for.

That, though, had just made it worse. Tony's a lone wolf, always has been, and still can be. Just because he's part of a team now, doesn't mean his blindness is suddenly a life hinderance. He's been used to it for years now, he knows what he's doing, and he doesn't need this babying. As luck would have it, however, they'd finally gotten the hint and he'd proven his competence by getting them all out of a Hydra base without his suit and his HUD to flash up black-and-white images.

Natasha had even asked how it had all worked and how he'd developed it without seeing. The chip in his mind triggered the process, and the goggles help focus his sight. People see with their brains, not their eyes, his just didn't want to reflect so the chip makes them. The HUD cancels out anything too bright or too overwhelming so he can wear it for extended periods of time, but without it his eyes can't handle the pressure and it's much too painful.

But he's not had these goggles for years now, and he's been fine before them. He'd only made them after Stane really, when his blindness had been taken advantage of to allow to bastard to paralyse him. Never again. JARVIS' security responds only to him, only he can shut it down, and with the suit he's able to 'see' to an extent. Black and white flashes are better than nothing and he's still got his hearing and instincts to base it on too.

He's fine. Nothing he can't handle -

The alarms suddenly blare around him and the only reason he doesn't jump is because he heard the slight hiss of a sound before they started ringing, so he's on his feet in a second, calling for his suit. Cap meets him in the hallway, wearing his gym shoes now and running to get his shield.

"Where are we needed?"

"Central Park. Unclear of what the situation is, the scans picked someone up, but we're the only two here tonight, so we'll have to do!"

Only two? Where the hell are the others? God, he hates it when he doesn't know things, "I'll meet you there!" Before-training-exercises-Cap would have protested, but here he just receives the confirmation and lets the suit latch onto him as he runs to the edge of the runway.

 

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"JARVIS. Description."

"Five trees to your immediate left, sir, 50 degrees. Children 1000 yards North, not in danger as of yet and are being evacuated by local police."  Good. That's good. "No obstacles. Hostile 60 degrees right, between two trees at a 5ft level." Gotcha. "Sir, I should warn you. The hostile is Loki."

What?"Loki Loki?"

"We do only know the one, sir."

Shit. Aiming still, he turns 60 degrees right and braces the repulsors while the goggles warm up. Just before he fires, though, they flash an image of Loki turning toward him slowly and it's then that he sees the black-and-white image of the guy falling onto his face. He'd barely gotten a good look at him, but he's obviously hurt. Huh.

He lowers his arms, flashes of images dulled by the HUD taking in the trees and Loki's slumped body, but he still just stands there - unsure of what to do. A helicopter whirs in the distance, but other than that, there's likely no soon-to-be-witnesses. He could just leave him here. Could call SHIELD and have them grab and capture, or whatever it is they want to do with the guy.

But for some reason, something just ... doesn't seem right about it.

Slowly, he steps forward, walking toward the guy as carefully as he can with a pretty heavy metal suit. "... Uh. Loki?" Loki still doesn't move and the flashes become horror-like when he takes in blood and a twitching hand the closer he gets.

Steve still isn't on scene, but with the lack of action going on, he probably doesn't even know where to find him. Tony doesn't use comms a lot because he has to hear his surroundings clearly, and only divulges when it's the entire team. Other than that, they just need to see him to know his location. He should probably turn it on, frankly, if he wants to go to bed without lecture-126 from Cap but something stops him.

Pity. Maybe.

"... are you okay?" Loki shifts, glancing up at him, and Tony leans closer to try and see any details. The flashes only show darkened patches and he can't tell if it's blood, sweat or just a shadow. "Loki?"

"Ah. I had - hoped - it would be you." Tony blinks, about to stand, but then without warning Loki's hand suddenly shoots out and smashes through his visor. He cries out, trying to pry him off, but the power flickers into the reserve nd his faceplate is ripped away - taking the HUD with it and the flashes become painful and blurry. Loki hisses out a vicious sounding word, his crushing grip on Tony's cheeks becoming stronger the longer he holds on and it's then that Tony figures out what he's doing.

Draining him. Jesus, he's draining his energy, from both his suit and body to help himself. His goggles fall when they shatter, landing with a squelch in the mud, and Tony follows soon after - landing on his side; he's shaking all over with his teeth chattering, and he can barely move. This - this is bad.

"Muh - "

His eyes dart around, unseeing, and he's genuinely terrified. He's helpless, blind, and inches away from one of their top villains. Fuck. He should have turned his comms on.

"Sympathy. Hm. I did not expect that from you, of all Avengers, though I had hoped for the energy from your suit. How interesting." Tony flinches when he hears Loki shift closer, and then the faint clink of his goggles being picked up.

"N - "

"So this is how you 'see', then. Such a fragile thing." Tony moans under his breath, his skin too tight for the bone, his eyes stinging. "I had wondered."

"IronMan!" Steve's voice echoes in the cold, faint and too far to do anything right now, but Loki stands anyway.

"A pity. I would have liked to have learnt more." A hand reaches out to touch his cheek and he automatically tries to reach out his own hand to slap it away, because no one touches him without permission, but his arms remain locked and he only manages to shut his eyes and turn away in protest. And then Loki's gone.

"Ironman?" There's the sound of footfalls on grass, and then he hears Steve exhale sharply, sliding to his knees beside him, "Oh God. Stark! Hang on, I - just hang on - " He shifts again, "This is Captain America. Requesting emergency med-team. Stat. I repeat; med-team. IronMan's injured." Tony continues to shake over the ground, his breathing sounding shallow even to his own ears, but Steve stays until the team arrives and that seems to make it feel better, "It'll be okay. Don't worry. You'll be alright, Tony."

Tony focuses on that mantra, willing himself to stay awake, but he still fails and slumps unconscious eventually. The last thing he remembers is the phantom feel of fingers brushing over his skin.

 

---

 

 

He wakes to the sound of beeping, and that's both worrying and comforting, but he decides to focus more on the part where he can't move. "Hey." No one answers, and that's more than foreboding, but a second later he realises what the beeping is and relaxes. A hospital then. "... hello?" God, he sounds awful.

"I'm here, Tony," Rhodey? A chair squeaks to his left, "Easy. Plate of food 20 degrees to your knee."

"Left or right?"

"Right." Tony tries to twitch to the side but it takes a lot more of an effort than it usually does and in the end he just gives up, "Here. You want some water?" There's a tinkle of ice in a glass and he feels his head being lifted, sipping until his throat feels soothed, "How you doing?"

"I feel like shit." Rhodey snorts, "I guess I look it too, then, huh. What the hell happened?"

"You went blazing in, is what happened, as per usual." Steve. Wow, he's actually been quiet for once. "Why didn't you wait before attacking?"

"Huh?" Tony coughs, rolling his head to what he hopes is where Steve's sitting, "Loki. Right. Fucking asshole." He sighs, "He took my goggles. I couldn't see." Rhodey shifts beside him, being purposefully loud just to let him know where he is, "And I didn't blaze in. I landed in Central park and the guy just fainted, alright. I went closer and the next thing I know he has a hand over my mouth and I'm in the mud."

"He fainted?"

"Must've been feigning, maybe, but he did look in pretty bad shape. Needed to drain me of all my energy before he could even stand, and yeah, never want that to happen again. I don't look old, do I? Have I got wrinkles? Rhodey?"

"You look gorgeous, Tony." Another creak of the chair, "No wrinkles. You - just look a little grey in the face, but the Doctor's say that'll go in a few hours too."

"Oh good." He stretches as best he can, "Tell me you caught Loki, at least." There's no answer. "Dammit. I want my goggles back."

"Can't you just make some new ones?"

Tony snaps something under his breath, "I could, yeah, but it'll take a while. If I do it wrong, I could fry my brain, and I'll need it the next time we go out to fight."

Steve's shoes squeak against the floor when he stands, pushing the chair back, "Well, I'm not going to bench you, if that's what you think. It's your decision, but if you do get hurt out there without those goggles, then - "

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I got it." He snaps, angrily, "I'll make the call when the time comes."

There's a pause where neither of them say anything, and then Steve starts to walk again, wearing sneaker he assumes, "... I'll get you something to eat that's not cold." Oh. That's nice of him.

"Cool." Steve leaves, shutting the door after him and Tony sighs, well aware of how Rhodey must be looking at him now and ignoring it. For a while, at least.

"What?"

"Do you have to be such a bitch?" He huffs at that, but Rhodey rolls on before he can interrupt, "The guy was a ball of panic when he bought you in here, he thought you were dead. You almost were for a while." Ouch. Okay. He tries not to feel too bad, Steve can be a prick when he wants to too, but still. "He was worried about you, Tony."

"I've gathered that, yeah." Rhodey sighs. "... Okay. I'll apologize when he comes back in."

"Alright. I'm going to go wash up for a bit, okay? You going to be alright on your own?" Tony scoffs, "Take that as a yes." Something plastic is slapped into his hand, "Press this if you need something."

"Got it. Go pee." He hears Rhodey chuckle on the way out, and the sound of his footsteps fade down the corridor. Tony breathes in slowly, trying to relax to the sound of the monitor beside him. It's around ten minutes later that he hears the door open again and the sound of a plastic bag hitting what must be a table beside him, "Mm, smells good. What is it?" There's no answer. Typical. "What, you want a 'thank you' first? Thanks, Rogers." Still silence. Seriously? "I was going to apologise, but if you want to be like that ... " Nothing. He clenches a hand. "That's kinda immature, don't you think Cap, mocking the blind guy?"

"Well, what other purpose would you be there for?" Tony grows rigid all over, his hand tightening around the call-button that Rhodey had given him, but a nurse is likely to answer and he can't have one come in now. Shit.

"What do you want? Didn't get enough energy last time?"

The plastic bag is rustled, and something that smells a little like toasted cheese wafts into the air, "Curiosity, only, this time Stark." The chair creaks as Loki sits over it, his knee brushing against Tony's hair, but he lacks the strength to move away, "Can you guess where I am, I wonder. From only my voice."

"I don't do tricks to perform for you, dickface." Loki, weirdly enough, laughs at that and hums his agreement, "You might want to go soon, though. Captain America's in the building, and Hulk is only a phone call away - "

"There's no need for threats, Stark, we're only having a conversation." Tony grits his teeth at that tone. "But you are right. I'll take your words as warning - "

"Threat works better."

" - but I do hope for some privacy in the future. There is something I would like to discuss." Before Tony can answer, he hears the sound of a million bees and assumes that that's either Loki about to leave or about to take his head off with a blast. When nothing happens to him, he goes with the former, and slumps over the bed.

Well that had been - odd.

"Hey, it's me," Rhodey announces his entrance, but there must be something on his face because he pauses, "You okay? What happened?"

"... nothing." Tony smiles in his general direction, "I was just thinking." After a second, Rhodey seems to believe him, because he comes inside completely and sits down again.

"Who bought the food, I just saw Rogers by the cafe" Tony doesn't answer, still thinking, and eventually Rhodey sighs and opens the package of melted cheese for him. He doesn't eat it, and asks for it to be thrown away.

There is something I would like to discuss.

Alright Loki. Let's get you the benefit of the doubt.

This once.

Be still his self-destructive heart, he's curious now too.

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Chapter 2

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Tony's released from the hospital after a long, long week of having nutrients and fluids pumped into him until he can finally walk by himself without falling. At least.

He's brought to the tower by car and manages to walk to the elevator past the Press while they hound him over what had happened in the park, flashing pictures right in his face - knowing that it wouldn't hurt his eyes but he still feels the warmth of a blinding light that's far too close. Rhodey pushes them back alongside Happy, calmly informing them that Tony needs to get inside as quickly as possible as he's still weak, and ensures that no one else gets in the way of his memorised path to the tower.

Clint's in the elevator when they get there. Something that Tony notices immediately when he smells that odd sickly sweet oil that he uses to clean his arrows after a fight, "Hey Clint."

He hears a snort, "God, that never gets old. What was it this time?" Tony hops into the elevator, keeping the door open for Rhodey and Happy to get inside too, "My sweat?"

Tony laughs, scrunching his nose at that and the image that his mind conjures of Clint sweating beside him, "The oil. You're the only one I know who uses that brand, whatever it is, and it stinks."

"Oh." He hears Clint's clothes rustle and then the sound of sniffing, "... must be true what they say then."

"What? That Hawkeye never showers?" His back's thumped with a hand and he grins.

"That our other senses are amplified when we lose one." Tony cocks his head in his general direction, tuning out Happy who's now on the phone to someone else, "Some don't believe it but I do. Personally, anyway. Especially when it comes to you and me." Another rustle and the elevator starts to move again. Tony hadn't even noticed that it had stopped, he must be more tired than he thought. "With me, I lost my hearing but my vision has always been 20/20. I use that to help me aim. With you, I swear it's your smell that's better than anyone elses. Maybe even your hearing too."

"I have two?"

"You're Tony Stark, you'll have a hissy fit if you were normal." Tony laughs again, with Rhodey joining in too this time; obviously listening in on their conversation shamelessly, to make sure that nothing is said that might hurt him. He really does like talking to Clint, though, it always cheers him up and he's never made Tony feel like a liability.

"I'm surprised you didn't think it was my intelligence that was amplified."

"No, it's got to be one of the five senses." The elevator begins to slow to it's last stop. "And anyway, according to your file, you were a genius before the accident so it couldn't be."

They stop a second time and this time Tony notices, especially as all of them get out on this floor, which is when Tony realises that Happy had gotten off already. Must have been the stop before. Odd. He usually says goodbye. Tony frowns to himself, wondering what that phone call could have been about, but in case it's private he keeps that to himself.

"Hey Tony," Steve greets as they walk into the shared area. He's pouring something from the sound of it, "You want some lemonade?"

"Oh god, do I. I've had nothing but mineral water and medicine for a week." He walks around the island, skimming a hand down it's length to find his way to the sink before lifting the jug and finding a clean glass from the rack. He places a finger over the rim, pouring until he meets it, and drinking it all in a single gulp. "Is there anymore?" The jug is pressed into his hand again and he pours gratefully.

"Let yourself breathe too, Tony." Rhodey comments as he passes by to open the fridge. Tony opens his mouth to retort but a tinkle of something nearby, that must be a test tube, draws his attention and he morphs his expression into something a little sadder, "Bruce. I'm going to be blunt here. I'm really hurt that you didn't come visit me in the hospital."

Bruce laughs softly. "Hospitals don't do well with me, Tony, sorry." Another tinkle and Tony turns toward him to frown. And to make sure it's seen, he clears his throat too, "Hm? What? Oh, right. Sorry, I forgot. No chemicals in the kitchen." More tinkles as he picks them up to move elsewhere and Tony makes to follow him but he pats Steve's back as he passes by and is distracted when he has to jerk his hand away in surprise after finding skin instead of cloth. He blinks, not really sure why Steve feels the need to be half-naked in the kitchen.

"I just came back from a run," Steve explains with a half-chuckle merged into his words, sounding far too amused by whatever expression must be on Tony's face, "Don't worry, I have a shirt on. It's just sleeveless."

"Right." Tony shakes his head, "Shirtless Cap in front of me would have been a crime, if I couldn't see it." Steve makes a soft noise in the back of his throat, "I'm being self-deprecating, it's okay. I save the bitterness for when there's alcohol around."

"Doctors said none of that until your next tests come through."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." He sighs, no longer able to hear Bruce's footsteps now so following him isn't an option anymore. Dammit. "Guess you'll be safe from the bitterness then."

A hand finds his shoulder before he even realises that he's swaying, holding him in place gently, and his body leans into it on it's own accord, "Get some sleep Tony." Rhodey then. "You look two seconds from fainting."

He wants to say no, but his mouth decides to yawn before he can, "Yeah, alright. But just a nap."

"Sure. I'll take you." Usually Tony would have protested that he could go himself but he really is more tired than he has been in a long while and if he looks bad enough that someone has to comment on it, he's better off having a guide. The last time he'd been this tired, he'd ended up in Thor's bed with his face pressed into the guy's ankle. Not a nice way to wake. "Come on." Rhodey's hand leads him toward the hallway and he opens his door for him once JARVIS unlocks it, "In you go. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

Tony waves a hand above his head in acknowledgement, not even bothering to change out of his shirt and jeans before falling onto the bed face first and falling asleep in just a few minutes. He wakes not long after however, when his jeans begin to chafe and burn his legs with their heat and eventually forces himself to get up and to change into something a lot more comfortable. He groans, kicking his clothes off and away and climbing under the sheets now, after deciding that being naked is so much more comfortable than anything else.

But then he can't actually sleep at all. For God's sake. "JARVIS. How long was I asleep?"

"00:10 minutes, sir."

"Ugh," He rolls over, mashing his face into the pillows, "Tune out the buzzing, will you?"

"Power will be at 10% if I do so, sir." Tony grunts, "Might I suggest some music to soothe the sounds if they still bother you?"

"Sure. Go for it. Just - something soft. Go for classical if you have to." The buzzing quietens just as a slow, lyric-less piano begins to play. He sighs, stretching, so close to falling back asleep again when he senses someone standing not far from him, "Rhodey. ... I'm fine, okay? You can go."

There's a light chuckle and a shuffle of footsteps edging closer over carpet, but he's still too tired to focus on them, until - "A disadvantage. As I have always said." Tony shoves himself off of the pillows, sitting up so quickly his head spins.

"You - " His hand flies to one side, finding the bracelet that is always left there as a precaution but before he even can place it over his wrist, Loki's fingers latch on to stop him, "JARVIS, call the Aven - ow." The fingers tighten over his skin, too painful to be anything but a threat and a reminder of what Loki can do with them, "You - ow, hey! What do you want? Didn't you get enough energy last time?"

His wrist is released and he hears the bracelet being thrown to one side, too far for him to reach and too vaguely put for him to guess where it is. "Oh yes. I feel so much better now, thanks to you."

"Pleasure's mine." Tony rubs at his skin, feeling it warm and imagines that it's reddened, "Remind me to thank whoever it was that kicked your ass though, by the way, I need to pick out some flowers and chocolates for them."

"Why Stark, I'm flattered." The bed shifts when Loki sits over it, "But you wouldn't know them, I'm afraid."

"So someone did beat you, then."

Loki scoffs lightly, and there's a hiss as what must be his hair sweeps over leather. "Luck has it's merits." Tony makes a face, but before he can reply, Loki then adds, "Are you wearing any clothes under this?" He asks it so calmly, so abrupt, that Tony actually freezes; especially when he picks at the sheets to show just what it is he's talking about. He realises then that only his legs are currently covered and hitches said sheets up with a glare - modesty be damned, he's not letting Loki see anything that he hasn't seen himself. It isn't fair, for one, and he really doesn't want to hear any comments about it either.

He hasn't seen his own body since his parent's death and since he woke in a hospital bed with bandages around his eyes, and he'll be damned if one of his enemies sees more of it than he has. That's more than what he's given to the Avengers, and even to strangers who want in his bed after Afghanistan. He's felt his body, he has a vague idea of what it looks like, and he isn't unhappy with it, but -

All his life, he's heard that he's handsome and that he has a gorgeous body and so on, but too many of those that were saying it to him have always only been with him for the money and the fame, so he's never really been sure about what's true. Instead, he's lived with the notion that confidence is the new "sexy" and leaks that out wherever he goes, uncaring of how he looks until he eventually receives a negative comment that will only make him doubt.

Loki is very likely going to be that guy so even if he looks ridiculous holding sheets to his chin, at least he knows that only half of his body has been shown and even then, it's dark in here and that isn't much either.

"Back off." Loki laughs again, "What are you doing here anyway, Loki? You wanted privacy, so go ahead, we're alone. Do what you wanted to do. But if you want to kill me, I'm going to have to warn you and say that I won't make it easy for you."

"Oh, I don't doubt that." Another shift and Tony kicks out with one of his legs to try and push him away, but he misses when the sheets tangle, "I'm merely curious about you, Stark. About you and your - sight. To see if it truly is the weakness that I know it can be." Tony scoffs. "You disagree, then. Well, of course you do. But from where I am standing, you have no hope of knowing where an attack can come from, do you. Is that not a weakness?"

"First of," Tony holds a hand up, "You're sitting, not standing, so don't try to pull that one with me. Secondly, if you wanted to attack me, I know exactly where I can and can't go, and what direction is too dangerous to stay in. I can hear what you'll do, I can judge from what I sense, and I don't need some fucking eyesight to protect myself from you." Loki shifts to his left, just slightly, "And don't bother trying to pin my legs down, either, two of the Avengers have super hearing and if I scream, they'll hear it. Soundproof doors, or no."

There's a pause, but when no crackle of energy rises, he know that Loki's still here. "... interesting." And then he stands, suddenly, "You still manage to live as a hero, despite your disability. How very - interesting."

"I'm not your pet project, Loki. What do you really want?"

"To talk?" Tony raises an eyebrow that only makes him laugh, "To show you something, then. Not literally, of course, if we take your eyes into the matter but - it would do you good to know about this."

"And what's in that for you?" Loki doesn't answer and Tony sighs, leaning back with the sheets still held close, "Alright fine. I'll indulge you. When?"

"Why not now? I could take you and keep you until the moment arises." Tony just glares, "It would be easy for me, Stark, don't deny that."

It would and that's more than frightening, but there's not much else Tony can do than remind him about the - "Screaming. Remember."

Loki scoffs again, "You would have to be incredibly shrill for them to hear you." And God, Loki's too close now. Far too close. Panicking, Tony doesn't even wait to see if there's something else that he can do instead before just opening his mouth and shrieking. There's no other word for it, he pitches his voice until he knows that it would sound awful to hear. His throat grates at the effort of keeping it up but he keeps it going until he just doesn't have the air left to continue. Loki makes a startled sound in front of him when he does, a little further away now if Tony's judging it right. But then he laughs, predictably - because yeah - the Avengers can't have heard that. No matter how 'shrill' it was. "You should use that in battle sometime."

Tony just presses a hand to his neck, swallowing, "Yeah, maybe on speaker when I'm right beside you. We'll see how funny everything is then."

"There is humour to be found everywhere, Stark. Especially in you."

"Oh please. I'm not the one who feels the need to deepen my voice when I'm trying to be 'threatening'. Now that's fun - " The air around him charges then, and he stiffens, holding onto the sheets in case Loki still tries to take him away too, but after a few minutes he's still here when he knows that Loki has gone. "Huh."

A sudden burst of electricity makes him jump and JARVIS returns from the automatic sleep-mode that he must have been put in, "Sir. Are you alright?"

"Fine. Just - Loki was here." JARVIS immediately scans the room without being asked to while Tony just stretches and tries to relax after what was probably the weirdest conversation that he's ever had. This month, anyway, "Find anything?"

"Indeed, sir. There is a note left for you with residues of 'magic'. 20 degrees to your right." Tony blinks, lifting it between two fingers warily when he finds it. It's small, rough in texture, and he's just about to ask JARVIS to read it out to him when his thumb brushes over it's writing and he feels the tell-tale bumps of braille too.

"I - " Oh. Well, that's - surprising. He runs his fingers over it, finding that it actually is words and not just a mockery. It's a meeting place and time. There's no warning to come alone but that's probably implied anyway, knowing Loki, and the use of braille is likely also an implication of him saying 'trust me' - which is the mother of all bad ideas. And yet, for curiosities sake, Tony finds himself keeping the little slip of paper anyway.

No one will find it, so what's the harm? Really.

Only Natasha can read braille and since the last time that she'd walked in here without his permission he'd gotten more than angry with her and had mentioned how people tended to do that more toward him as he couldn't see them wandering around, he didn't think it likely that she'd see it. Even though she'd known then that he could tell perfectly where she had been, she'd understood that she had crossed a line, and had promised to not do it again.

Right. After a moment, Tony folds the slip and hides it somewhere anyway; just in case she ever has the reason to snoop around another time despite her promise. He also doesn't tell any of the others about Loki being here.

He really should, he knows, but some part of him is more than intrigued by what Loki might want to show him. And he really does like proving his capabilities to those who doubt him, Fury being at the top of the list, with the board next, and then Loki.

He can always work himself up to the top, easy. All he needs to do is follow the trail.

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Notes:

There will be a delay with my fics as I am working on a project that takes all my time. Apologies.

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 2 of Through your eyes, however metaphorically.