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Tony had called Loki the day after they'd kissed.Loki asked if the fire was taken care of and Tony's responding laugh didn't make a lot of sense but he never questioned it. Loki'd had the misfortune of working a shift when Tony called which lead to a lot of Clint and Darcy making immature sexual noises in the background. Darcy kept shooting him kissy faces and pretending to make out with Clint. Thankfully, Tony found the other two just as annoying as he did. Loki hung up after he'd promised to call Tony back after his shift and immediately launched into yelling at his coworkers who just faked innocence, using customers as an excuse to run from him. He swore he'd get them back.True to his word, Loki had called Tony the minute he'd gotten comfortable back in his own apartment. "Hey. I'm really sorry about the two of them earlier.""It's alright, Loki. Really," Tony said. Loki could hear the smile in the man's voice and wished he could see it. "Now, I believe I promised you a date.""That you did." Loki felt much more confident talking to Tony like this. Their playful way of speaking had been one of the main reasons Loki fell for the cafe's usual customer. "You said somewhere fancy if I remember correctly.""I did," Tony agreed. "I'm going to help Pepper plan it. Er, I mean Pepper is going to help me plan it. Yeah."Loki let out an amused laugh, knowing full well Tony was not going to be involved in the planning. No matter the circumstances, Tony had never been and will never be a planner. He hated it, much preferring to do things spontaneously than have it mapped out for him. That should have been Loki's first clue that their date wasn't going to go according to plan. "Shut up." The pout in Tony's voice was blatantly obvious and Loki itched with the desire to kiss it off his face. "I'm going to try. For you.""Anthony. You know I don't care where we go right? As long as you and I spend some time together, I'd call the date a success." Loki assured him honestly."Yeah, me too," Tony said and then made a sound in the back of his throat. "Does that spending time together thing include our lips spending time together? I have high hopes for them to be inseparable and I hope you agree.""Yes, Tony," Loki laughed, shaking his head fondly at the idiot of a man he'd picked up. "Our lips will be the best of friends.""Are you friendzoning my lips?" Tony sounded genuinely disgruntled, earning another laugh from Loki. "Don't do that to me, babe. They need to be much more than friends.""I promise I am not friendzoning your lips. They're more than welcome to be much more than friends to me. You, however, I'm not so sure.""Hey!"They went on like that for over an hour, just teasing each other and having the conversations they'd missed. Tony hadn't shown up at the cafe that day, too busy managing the effects of the fire. Loki fell asleep on the phone when Tony had put him on hold for a minute to use the bathroom. No one had been there to witness as Tony smiled softer than he imagines he ever had in his life. No one heard as Tony whispered a goodnight to Loki but stayed on the line just a few minutes longer, listening to Loki's peacefully soft breaths and imagining himself sleeping beside the man. No one saw as Tony climbed into his bed with the call still ongoing - he had meant to turn it off, but he allowed himself just a few more minutes - and gave into exhaustion, falling asleep to the sound of Loki's breathing. "So where are you two going?"Darcy had been trying to drag it out of Loki for around a hour now but he wasn't budging. No amount of annoying could get him to tell where he and Tony were going for their first date. Probably because he didn't know."I'm not telling you," he said stubbornly, crossing his arms in defiance."Why? It's not like I'll show up there!" At his raised eyebrow she continued, "I won't!""Table 3!" The chef called from the kitchen window. Loki saw his opportunity to escape and took it gladly. He picked up the tray of sandwiches and delivered it to table 3 where a petite woman sat with a suited man."Here you go," Loki said as he placed the sandwiches in front of them. "Can I get you two anything else?"The woman was smiling at him as though she knew him and the man seemed to be scrutinizing him. "No thank you," she said. Loki nodded and gave a polite smile to them both before confusedly hurrying back to the counter. Darcy was clearing a table towards the back of the small cafe and flirting with the man seated there. Loki pitied him.He pulled out his own sandwich and ate as he sat behind the counter. This probably wasn't allowed for other employees but hey, Darcy is the owner's daughter and his best friend. He'd be damned if he didn't abuse the perks of that. Darcy walked behind the counter, placing the tray of dirty dishes in the sink and then turning around to steal a bite of Loki's ham and cheese. "Hey!""Those two over there," she subtly nodded at the table he'd just served, "have been staring at you."He looked over, confused and saw the man swiftly turn his head away from him. Loki frowned in confusion as he watched the woman scold the man taking sheepish bites of his sandwich, obviously slightly scared of her. Loki understood his fear. Small as she may be, she looked powerful and terrifying. He would fear for his life if she ever got angry with him. Thank fuck he didn't know her."She's amazing," Darcy said, stealing another bite of his sandwich."Yes. You should stop stealing my sandwich.""You shouldn't be eating when it's not your lunch break but you don't see me complaining," she pointed out, taking yet another bite. He sighed and just gave her the half she'd been eating. Loki's phone rang and he made a lunge for it, rushing in the fear of Darcy taking it before him. She pouted at him having already been halfway to the phone and he stuck his tongue out in response. Maybe he's not that mature."Hi." It was Tony. He sounded happy but just a hint worried. "What are you doing?""Hey. I'm at work." At this, Tony let out a sigh. He sounded frustrated and worried."Just out of curiosity, have there been any weird customers? Like, oh I don't know, people that have been staring at you maybe?""Yes, actually." Loki shot them a glance and saw the woman shifting her eyes away from him. "Friends of yours?""I hate them and I'll kill them," Tony promised. "They haven't actually bothered you right?""No. Why are they here?""I may have been talking about you. A lot. And Pepper wanted to see you. She said she wanted to see if she can tell if you'd like her choice for our date.""Oh, so she's the infamous Pepper," Loki looked at her again and smiled when he caught her eye. "I'm going to say thank you and give her a free brownie.""Loki," Darcy said, "you cant just give out free brownies whenever you want to.""She's the one planning my date," he explained and instantly regretted it at the determined look that settled on her face."I'll heat it up." "I fucked up," Loki said to Tony on the phone. "Yes you did," Tony agreed. "Together I think they might plan our wedding.""If you want to marry me Mr. Stark," Loki teased, "I expect a proper proposal. Complete with flowers and a violinist and chocolates and mind blowing sex after.""Done." Tony said in a serious tone. "Can you please give Pepper my usual order. I need it but I'm swamped right now. Can't come over.""Of course. You better go then.""Yeah. Bye, Lokes.""Bye."Loki moved to make Tony's coffee after he'd hung up. Darcy was plating the brownie for Pepper beside him and ignoring his eyes that were pleading her not to do anything stupid. She winked at him once she was walking away with the brownie. Loki hated her. He watched as she stopped in front of Pepper, confusing the blonde. He assumed Darcy explained the reason behind the brownie since Pepper looked at him with a bright smile. He smiled back but it faded as he watched Darcy pull the woman's attention back to herself and they started talking animatedly, the man watching in disapproval to mask his interest.He picked up Tony's coffee and made his way over to the table trying not to show his anxiety. These were Tony's best friends. What if they didn't like him? He placed the coffee on the table when he got there, gaining their attention. Loki flashed them his best smile and stood next to Darcy who had been saying something about a suit. He decided he didn't want to know."This is for Tony," he said in explanation at Pepper's frown. "His usual. He called and asked for it."Pepper nodded and took the take away cup, placing it beside the brownie she was sharing with the man. "You probably already know this but I'm Pepper and that's Happy." The man nodded at him in greeting and Loki gave an awkward wave. "We're really sorry for bothering you at work, Loki. I just wanted to see you.""It's alright, really," Loki reassured her. "Tony bothers me at work every day anyway.""Bitch it's not like you do any work anyway," Darcy said, hitting him over the head. "All you do is pine over Tony and eat when you're not supposed to."He opened his mouth to defend himself but found that he couldn't, not truthfully. He settled on frowning and pursing his lips, making eye contact with the man - Happy - who was trying to hide a smile. The two women laughed and Loki felt relief that Pepper didn't seem to instantly hate him. Happy was debatable."Listen, Loki," Pepper said, demanding his focus on her. "As you know, I've been the one planning your date since Tony came crying at my feet for help. I just wanted to know if you like French food.""I do," he said with a nod."Great, then we're done here." She stood up, smoothing out her skirt and picking up Tony's coffee. "It was really nice to meet you, Loki. I hope someday we'll be able to talk for longer but I've got work right now. Darcy, I'll call you tonight.""It was great to meet you too," he said. "Please don't call Darcy tonight."She laughed and motioned for Happy to get up and he did but not before taking the last bite of brownie. The man was shorter than him but held an air of power that had Loki slightly tempted to shrink back."I'll see you, Loki," she said, walking away."Yay," Loki mumbled at her retreating figure, shrugging off Darcy's pat on the back. Loki stood outside the large, fancy French restaurant.He tried not to let his anxiety show at the slightly intimidating nature of the place Pepper had picked for his date with Tony. Loki was wearing an expensive suit he'd only ever worn once before. He'd started getting ready a full two hours before the set time, nerves eating at him. He took a deep breath and started walking to the front door when he saw Tony's car pull up. The engineer stepped out of the car with a wave to the driver and a grin upon seeing Loki. Loki returned it and took a few steps towards Tony as the car drove off. "Hi.""Hey," Tony said, never taking his eyes off Loki. Tony looked him up and down, smiling wider and stepping closer. "You look amazing.""Are you talking to yourself, Mr. Stark?" Loki said, matching Tony's step closer to him until there were mere inches between them. Tony brought his hands up to Loki's chest and ran his palms along the front of his blazer, stopping at his waist and balling his fists through the material. Loki brought his own hands up to rest on Tony's shoulders, allowing one to stray up to the nape of his neck and rest with his fingertips brushing Tony's hair."I really want to kiss you right now," Tony mumbled breathlessly, eyes fixed on Loki's lips."Nothing's stopping you," Loki replied in the same tone.Tony immediately closed the distance between them as the last word left Loki. He tasted just as he did last time, lips slightly chapped and running just a little roughly along Loki's softer ones. The taste of coffee flooded him and he kissed harder, conveying how much he missed Tony. The man kissed him back just as hard. They pulled apart slowly, leaning their foreheads together, both smiling giddily."God, I missed you," Tony mumbled, pulling Loki in for another kiss. It was more tender this time, lingering longer. "You taste like white chocolate."Loki laughed against Tony's lips and pressed them together chastely, fingers brushing his hair. "We should go inside."Tony hummed in acknowledgment, not making a move to pull away from him. He stroked Loki's waist through the blazer, keeping him close. Not that Loki was going anywhere. "Do you, honestly Loki, do you want to go to a fancy ass restaurant."Caught. "It's not really my scene, but it'll be fine with you there.""Yeah, but it's not my thing either." Tony said, pulling away enough to be able to look Loki properly in the eyes. "What say you and I piss Pepper off and blow this place.""I don't know, Tony. She's scary," he said genuinely. "Pissing her off doesn't really sound like the smartest idea.""You'll be fine," Tony laughed. "Me not so much, but you'll escape. She loves you.""I like her too," he said. "Fine, let's go. If she kills you, I promise to bring you back.""With a true love's kiss?" "How else?" Loki laughed, kissing him again. They called an uber and stood in comfortable silence at the front of the restaurant while they waited, fingers interlaced and barely any space between them. Once the car got there Tony pulled him along, not breaking their hands, and got into the car.That's how they ended up back in the shit hole cafe for their first date, seated in Tony's usual spot, laughing and sipping on the same drinks they had last time. Clint had brought them brownies on the house and had the decency to help keep Darcy contained in the kitchen. They could see her peering out through the window with a crazy grin but chose to ignore it. Maybe if they pretended she wasn't there, she'd go away."Maybe this cafe wasn't the best choice," Loki said. He took Tony's salted caramel mocha and brought it to his lips, taking a sip as Tony filled his mouth with brownie."Maybe not, but it felt fitting." Tony swallowed, picking up Loki's drink - white chocolate latte, Clint had gotten him slightly addicted to the stuff - and taking a sip. "I mean, it all started here didn't it."Loki nodded with a gentle smile, taking some brownie for himself. As he took a piece, Tony leaned forward and stared at him with pleading eyes. Loki sighed in resignation and redirected the fork to Tony's mouth. They silently elected to ignore Darcy's muffled shriek from the kitchen and took sips from their own drinks, exchanging afterwards. "I don't understand, Tony.""What?" Tony placed the drink back on the table, leaning forward on his seat."I just, I mean, you're this famous businessman. You own this huge company that's known all over the world, you're 25 with the reputation of a playboy attached to you and people falling at your feet for a night in your bed. I ju-" Tony cut him off by standing up and pulling him up as well. He connected their lips, kissing him fervently."Don't fucking say that, Loki," he said one they pulled apart. "You are way more important to me than them. It doesn't matter at all that you're a 20 year old college student working a part time job to help pay tuition. I choose you, I like you.""I like you too, Anthony. A lot.""Good. Then we don't have a problem, okay.""Okay," Loki mumbled and pulled Tony in, kissing him softly. He wrapped his arms around Tony, resuming their position from outside the French restaurant earlier. Tony broke their kiss to hug him, burying his face in Loki's neck and inhaling the scent of something slightly icy but also sweet. Loki nuzzled the top of Tony's head, his hair rubbing his cheek pleasantly. If they turned around, they'd see Darcy hyperventilating and Clint grinning widely, already on the phone with Pepper.They left the cafe together that night, reassuring each other of their affections with outrageously sweet coffee flavoured kisses and tender touches. They explored each other's bodies, committing everything to memory and reveling in the sounds they wreaked from each other. Waking up together the next morning was close to perfect, a repeat of the night before, giddy with happiness and morning breath kisses that they didn't mind at all.Maybe they weren't perfect, maybe Loki still had his insecurities, but they were together and they were happy. And really, that's all that matters.