Tweak

InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "You tend to mumble a lot."

Tony Stark (campusking) wrote in snapthread,
@ 2019-08-30 20:56:00

Entry tags:

loki (616), tony stark (avac)

WHO: Tony Stark and Loki Laufeyson
WHAT: Touching base
WHERE: Loki's
WHEN: Today

More and more Tony was feeling like he should have an answer for all of this, he'd never found himself in a place like this, where he he was faced with something that he couldn't solve. But that was exactly where he was now, in this place with no real answers to be found. It was endlessly frustrating, between that and the ever complicated person that was Steve and well everything else really. All in all being in this place was a lesson in frustration for Tony and he was never entirely sure how to deal with it.

But he was doing his best, soldiering on through it all and trying to focus on the things he did know how to fix. Like coming up with something for the houses and adding to his own and well then there was Loki. Who wasn't actually someone who needed to fix as much as he was someone that Tony liked spending time with, if only because he felt like it was an interaction that didn't leave him feeling like he'd somehow missed something at the end.

Though he had no breakfast meats to bring today Tony thought maybe he could probably get away with a visit regardless.

He did have a couple of books though, because he'd seen that Loki was collecting the last time he'd been over so why not let him have first dibs before he dropped the rest at the library. "Brought you something." He grinned, because well he was determined to have a good day and this was all just a part of that.

(Read comments) - (Post a new comment)

campusking
2019-08-31 08:10 am UTC (link)

"I know," Tony agreed with a grin, pleased as Loki looked over what he'd brought by, it was a little thing, but well Tony liked a bit of a compliment from time to time. And with Loki it felt a little more hard won than it might with anyone else, so yeah he was pleased.

Following Loki in, Tony lifted his shoulders in a bit of a shrug. "No real reason, getting out of the house a bit, I suppose." He confessed, after getting back from Vegas and dealing with the heatwave, Tony had plenty to keep him busy and so just dropping it all for an afternoon felt like a good use of his time today of all days.

And with the weekend upon them maybe it was nice to get a dose of reality when it came to his supposed weekend plans with Steve. How Loki of all people had sort of become Tony's go to person for relationship advice he wasn't entirely certain and he wasn't entirely sure what that said about him, but he was entirely certain that it was nothing all that great.

In any case he liked Loki's company, even when his relationship woes weren't on the table for discussion at all. "Doing anything interesting lately?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

lie_smith
2019-08-31 09:01 pm UTC (link)

"It has been a bit warm for that hot tub I've heard so much about," Loki noted, settling his newly acquired books on his shelf -- far more full up than it had been when he'd first arrived here. He'd started at the true bottom -- having found some zine-style published stuff at that convention. It'd been creative, mostly pornographic, and very poorly written.

Getting out of the house made sense -- there wasn't much to do here, so it was sort of a difficult thing, finding reasons to leave. But most of them managed well enough. Usually.

Well, Loki wasn't always great at it and Thor was.... deliberately not very good although he had been trying just slightly more lately. Since Vegas, anyway. So that was something. Hopefully.

"My brother has seen fit to build himself a group of people willing to go help those who need it beyond the doors," he said thoughtfully.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

campusking
2019-09-01 12:39 am UTC (link)

"It has been," Tony agreed, which was unfortunate really, considering he hadn't had the time he'd have liked to really enjoy it. "But I think it'll be really great to have later this year," He wasn't sure exactly how time passed here, but he had a hope that with that heatwave they'd just dealt with they'd get something like seasons here. And when it cooled down the hot tub was going to be amazing.

After Jan had gone, Tony had trouble reaching out the way he might have normally, he kept to himself a bit more than he usually did, sure he was breaking out of that now, not just with Loki, but others too. He was trying to be better about it, to make the most of this place and not focus so much on what he'd lost and what he didn't have, but what was there in front of him.

Nodding when Loki mentioned the group that Thor was putting together, "I saw that, it's not a terrible idea." He wasn't sure it was something he wanted to do himself, he'd help when needed of course, but he saw that he could help more focusing his energies here in town than going through the doors.

"Are you going with them?" He asked, curious if it was something that Loki was going to do too or just something that Thor was doing in the vicinity of Loki.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

lie_smith
2019-09-01 12:58 am UTC (link)

"It'll be the envy of the town later in the year," Loki agreed, because it felt like there were seasons -- it'd been spring-ish when he'd arrived and it was hot as Hel now so that meant that there'd probably be more changes to come, and probably soon. "You'll have to invite me over." Not that Loki couldn't invite himself but there was something more charming about the whole situation when it seemed like Tony actually wanted to see him. Loki wasn't exactly well known for having a friend-group. Particularly not one that he hadn't made through layers of manipulations.

Loki got that some people felt more inclined to do things that made a difference in town and he couldn't blame anyone for that. The people of the town needed people like the Starks for infrastructure and sustainability. Thor wasn't so good at those sorts of things. And Loki -- well. Loki didn't care particularly much.

He flopped down on his couch and gestured for Tony to sit, as well. "I'll go with them," he admitted. "Someone needs to keep an eye on him."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

campusking
2019-09-01 01:30 am UTC (link)

Tony nodded, yep he had a feeling he'd have to host a couple parties when it got cooler let some of his friends enjoy the hot tub the way he had the first day it had shown up. He grinned when Loki suggested he'd invite him over and nodded, "Yeah of course, it's great - like it was picked up off Stark Tower back home and then set on the top of my house here, it's weird." He admitted the way it had shown up, the way it seemed like the very same hot tub he'd had back home, but it was still great - he'd made it after all, of course it was. "But it'll be great later."

He joined Loki on the couch, though he didn't flop in the same way Loki had, still he was comfortable there, not feeling like he needed to worry about anything, which was kinda nice really. When so many other conversations left him thinking too much lately.

"With Thor on board," Tony nodded with a low laugh, "Yeah I think that's probably a good idea." Thor back home had been great too of course, and this one in town seemed similar so having anyone with him to watch out for him seemed like a good idea. "Is it like that where you're from?" He asked, curious now, "You looking out for him?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

lie_smith
2019-09-01 01:59 am UTC (link)

"The gifts that keep on showing up are strange." Loki hadn't gotten a building or anything like that, but he had literal stones that would make him powerful enough to simply make them if he so chose now. He also had an evil other version of himself in bird form flying around though, so it didn't feel like a great trade. Even if Ikol only ever seemed to associate with Loki himself. "But it sounds like you got a good one." Particularly since Loki could take part in it as well. Anyone who knew Loki knew that he liked a good warm soak. Well. Not anyone. Probably just Thor. But still.

He smirked when Tony agreed with him because at least someone saw what he was working with here -- his brother was a brilliant leader but that didn't mean he wasn't without flaw. And now he was working through things as best he could, Loki had a thought that he might equate enthusiasm to effectiveness. Time would tell.

"Not so much," Loki said with a smile, although it wasn't quite as amused as it was blank. "Perhaps when we were younger, it was even thing, we looked out for each other. And then mostly it was him looking out for me until -- well. It was rather rocky for a time. We didn't get along, particularly." They'd been working on it a little, but Loki hadn't ever quite managed to iron out his most recent betrayal although he had been trying and Thor had been willing, too.

But this Thor? This one was different. In a lot of ways. "But this Thor --my Thor, now -- is not from my universe."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

campusking
2019-09-01 03:23 am UTC (link)

"Very strange, it makes me wonder whether we've been picked for any particular reason." Tony admitted, along with his hot tub the same broken and destroyed helmet had arrived too, on his kitchen counter like it was taunting him. "Whatever has brought us hear clearly knows all of us well enough to pick gifts that we know and recognize, things we might want in some cases." And not at all in others but the hot tub had been a good gift and Tony was glad he'd gotten it - even if he wasn't entirely sure about how to feel about it in a more general sense.

Loki was interesting, he wasn't quite the same as the one he knew, and yet was familiar enough that Tony hadn't felt like they needed to do a great deal of getting to know one another. He was Loki, and he was Tony and that was all that had mattered. So it was a little bit interesting to get a little bit more out of him about his relationship with his brother back where he was from.

He nodded as Loki explained and then added that this Thor was not from his world either. "I wonder if that was on purpose." He considered for a moment. "Putting the two of you together like this." It didn't take a genius to see that Thor and Loki stayed close to one another here, and Tony hardly thought anything strange about that, but he wondered if it would have been the same if it had been the Loki from Thor's world or the Thor from Loki's that had shown up instead.

Thinking about it too much was enough to make his head hurt and that hadn't really been why he'd come over, he was mostly just curious.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

lie_smith
2019-09-01 04:09 pm UTC (link)

"Maybe," Loki said thoughtfully. "Or maybe we weren't really picked at all. A lot of magic has to do with wants and wills -- perhaps we get things based on our own lives because they're things that we think of. While it's easier to think -- and be angry about -- that there might be someone out there pulling the strings to our fate..." Loki trailed off with a lazy shrug. "It might simply be chaos, nothing more." He'd thought on this a bit. More than a bit really. But he'd never found a distinct magical signature in order to blame one figure. This place just was. And Loki knew chaos better than most.

Just like it didn't think it was exactly purposeful that it was him and another version of Thor that was here. "I think this version of Thor would be happy to see any Loki. We might have built something different than what either of us had before--" Something good. Something better than what Loki deserved, probably, but he wasn't going to say so. "--but. He would hardly object to his own version even now."

It might have been something that Loki worried about, on occasion. The appearance of a different version of himself.

"How you resist not murdering a different version of yourself is a mystery I can't unravel," he said wryly. And Loki didn't even have anything against the other Stark, not really. He simply didn't care for the idea of more than one of himself around. Someone for Thor to pay his attentions to. It was a greedy and selfish thought, of course.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

campusking
2019-09-02 10:12 am UTC (link)

Well that was.... not something he'd considered before. Just chaos. Tony preferred to try and find order in things, to find the hidden patterns and understand how systems worked, there was always an answer in his experience, but then again he'd never been pulled out of his life and deposited into a pocket universe either so his experience wasn't really built for situations like this. "That's gonna make all of this a little harder to solve if it's just chaos at work." He said, feeling a little bit deflated by the idea that it was something like that at work and all of his efforts in gathering patterns and trying to understand the doors was for nothing.

He'd have to think on all of it more, maybe run some of the numbers and see what he came up with before he developed a new plan of attack. For now though there was Loki and he was interested in this more than he was in giving himself the kind of headache he knew that other track would lead him toward.

Nodding as Loki explained about Thor a bit, and he thought he understood that feeling, though Loki didn't actually say it - there was a fear there of being replaced by some other version of yourself. Taking what he and Thor had built since they'd both arrived. It wasn't the same for him though.

"Well he's old, right? I figure time will do the job for me soon enough." He said teasing and then he shrugged. "I guess it helps that he and I are so different?" Sure they were the same in a lot of ways, they had a similar story, they knew a lot of the same people, they were both Iron Man, but they weren't competing with one another, something Tony couldn't be sure Loki wouldn't do with another version of himself. "You know, he's got his stuff, I've got mine - it's not like we're at odds with one another."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

lie_smith
2019-09-04 02:22 am UTC (link)

"It's simply a theory," Loki pointed out, looking rather unapologetic about it. Because, well, why should he be? It wasn't like he was doing it. Hell, no one had even thought to accuse him of being the cause for months now. "And adding to the challenge of figuring this place out doesn't feel more or less daunting than it already was."

Because no one had figured anything out yet.

Loki had to admit he wasn't really trying as hard as he should have been. But he had things here that he didn't have anywhere else. Things he didn't want to give up.

He actually laughed over Tony's joke, because it was something of a surprise. "Harsh," he murmured but then nodded along. "But fair. And yes, I suppose you both have your own thing. I don't think I would though. Thor would likely say there was enough of him to go around, but there's also a reason I often threaten to stab him." His pause after that was just long enough to be dramatic. "Speaking of people I wouldn't mind stabbing, how's Steve?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

campusking
2019-09-04 04:06 am UTC (link)

Tony raised an eyebrow at Loki when he suggested that chaos was a simple theory, "I don't think chaos is all that simple." It made things a hell of a lot more complicated as far as Tony was concerned, but he saw that he and Loki looked at things differently. That Tony had his own brand of chaos but it was organized in his way, where Loki's seemed a little more.... chaotic than all of that.

But maybe Loki was right? Maybe it didn't make a difference. He didn't know, he didn't want to think about it really.

It was all complicated, everything about this place, whether it was all based on chaos or not. He'd have to look into Chaos theory a little more and see if that gave him any sort of answers. But for the moment he didn't know where to go - but that was no different than normal. He wasn't going to tell Loki he was right, he knew that much at least.

It felt like a victory when Loki laughed, and Tony grinned hugely. It was different for him he thought, and maybe if Steve hadn't been here he'd feel a little more like Loki did? But no even then, this Steve only had eyes for his Tony. It wasn't the same. "Thor is pretty big." Tony allowed, because it was true - but he understood what Loki meant, it wasn't the same, affection didn't work like that. He snorted a little when Loki asked about Steve and then shrugged, "Probably in need of being stabbed." He admitted with a little huff. "I don't know really."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

lie_smith
2019-09-08 01:58 am UTC (link)

Loki wasn't particularly looking to be right -- in this particular instance it didn't much matter, after all. The specifics of why and how they were here didn't really seem to change the fact that they were. So really, it was just a matter point of view which was different for everyone anyway. Loki just sort of liked running theories with anyone who was intelligent enough to both listen and have an opinion. Rare.

"Big or not, I don't much care for sharing," Loki said, moving so that he could tuck his feet up underneath himself, leaning on the back of the cushion to give Tony the bulk of his attention. "I've thought that about the younger version for some time now but that's new for you. Do tell."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

campusking
2019-09-08 05:40 am UTC (link)

"No, I know what you mean," Tony wasn't big on sharing either, not when it came to things like that. His pride could only take so much and that was one area that it couldn't take much more abuse than it had already in his life. So yeah he got it - he'd probably do something stupid if he'd ended up in that position. But considering the state of things at the moment? Well he didn't have to worry about it.

He lifted his shoulders with a low sigh, slouching just a little further down. "I don't know, I feel like I can't talk to him." He admitted with a sigh, "We have these moments and then ..." He trailed off not sure how to talk about feeling like Steve was stringing him along all while seeming like he was entirely innocent through it all. He was probably reading too much into it - but Steve wasn't stupid, even when he could be oblivious about some things.

"I think he's probably better off with someone like Bucky." He admitted - not this Bucky of course, because well, Tony was aware enough to what was going around town to know what was going on there. "I'm just tired."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

lie_smith
2019-09-10 02:05 am UTC (link)

"And then he's off being hard-headed and only half listening when you talk, if at all," Loki said, and it wasn't much of a guess -- because he'd spoken with Rogers and it seemed to be something of a trend. Loki rather doubted that it changed much for even Tony. Which was, of course, something of a shame. He'd been rooting for Tony.

"Hm," Loki went on, crossing his arms over his chest and tilting his head back thoughtfully. "Then let it be so. There's no point in being stressed when there's not even any pay off in return. I'm well aware the friend-zone doesn't exist, but you should probably put him there, anyway."

Stark could do better. Which was a compliment coming from Loki, since he didn't often care much about anyone.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

campusking
2019-09-10 04:59 am UTC (link)

Tony huffed, trying not to be sad about it, to realize that so much of what he'd liked about Steve had maybe just been something he'd imagined? Maybe it was different because they were here, he didn't know for sure but he knew that fawning over Steve and trying to get through to him just wasn't working. He was tired of feeling like an idiot. He was a genius after all, there wasn't anyone who should make him feel like something he wasn't. Not even Steve Rogers.

"Yeah, I think that's probably for the best, the friend zone." It wasn't a real thing they both knew, but well it would help to have a name for it to shift Steve into that category in his head rather than anything else.

"Guess that means I'm going to have a plenty of time for solving all our problems now then." He said with something like a laugh, he wasn't going to feel sorry for himself about this. He was better than that.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

lie_smith
2019-09-12 09:18 pm UTC (link)

"Or time for things you enjoy doing," Loki pointed out because he was pretty big on hedonism and he was pretty sure the man who owned a hot tub also was.

"Good for you. And surely there'll be another pretty person who shows up to distract you at some point." He adjusted his crown slightly and rose an eyebrow at Tony in amusement. Obviously life -- particularly life here -- was not all about hooking up.

But it didn't hurt, either.

"How do you feel about Mario Kart?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

campusking
2019-09-13 05:57 am UTC (link)

"I like solving problems," Tony reminded Loki - sure sitting around building the same thing over and over again might not necessarily be fun for long, but it kept him busy and sometimes that was enough. But there were other fun things to do around here. The hot tub was good and Dum-E was here so that was kind of it's own sort of pleasure that Tony hadn't quite had the chance to bask in as much as he might have liked to.

He huffed and nodded, "Some day maybe," For now though? He thought maybe he was better off not letting himself get caught up in all of that. Or at least taking a break from the pining he'd been doing since Steve showed up. He was better than that.

There was always older Steve. Sure nothing was ever gonna happen there. But he could look.

"Mario Kart? Like the game? Oh man I love it." Tony grinned, "Got all the high scores back home." He admitted with a laugh, because of course he did. But it was a great game why wouldn't he play it and absolutely smoke everyone else who tried to show him up?

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

lie_smith
2019-09-15 03:48 am UTC (link)

"Constantly?" Loki asked, mostly teasing. Because yes, he was aware. Both of the Tony's seemed keen on keeping themselves busy with whatever little thing came up next and it was -- it wasn't a bad thing. Because someone had to do it and it wasn't going to be Loki -- had had problems of his own. But building air conditioners wasn't the same as problem solving, really.

Not that he felt the need to say so. Yet.

Instead he shrugged and then stood up in one smooth movement, going to his tv (large and flat screened, it had been a very good steal) and opened up the entertainment center, tossing a controller over at Tony. "A pokemon might not have been the only thing that followed me home in that world," he said. "Let's see how good your high scores really are."

(Reply to this) (Parent)

(Read comments) -