Mischief on Midgard

A day outside

Tony's gaze was locked on Loki's form. Loki returned the look from his seat, eyebrow raised. When Toni still said nothing, he sighed.

"What?" he asked, his voice stiff.

"Nothing much, Bobbie boy," Tony said with a careless shrug of a shoulder. "Just... more than a little surprised that you wanted to come along on the trip given... ya know."

He wiggled his fingers in Loki's direction and then jerked his head in Bruce's direction. Loki grimaced, blatantly annoyed with Tony's continued shortening of his chosen moniker, but he understood what the other man was getting at.

"So am I, Tony. So am I," Loki responded with a sigh.

The whole group was packed into Tony's small quinjet. Destination? A remote mountain covered by a massive forest. Tony had already made sure that the area was clear of any and all human life within a radius several miles wide. It was Hulk's big day out. Loki also knew that this was a chance he could not pass up. If there was anyone amongst the Avengers that he needed to make his ally, it was the Hulk. He had to... Well, there was no other way around it, was there?

He actually had to talk to the big guy.

Okay, that's fine, Loki thought to himself. I just need to use my silver tongue and... and convince the big brute that we are... 'friends.'

That shouldn't prove to be too tricky given their findings so far. Loki had to admit, even if it was just to himself, that the creature had proven to be even more self-aware than Loki had initially thought. The Hulk had not made another appearance since their little experiment a few weeks ago. Still, that small appearance had been enough for the group to make several conclusions.

The Hulk was, for all intents and purposes, a child. And yet, despite this, his ability to learn and observe, to grow as an individual, was astounding. They were uncertain if the cause was due to Bruce's subconsciousness still being present or if it was merely the Hulk's own observational skills. Hel, it could even be a mix of both if Loki's suspicions were correct.

Loki glanced over his shoulder at the man in question. Bruce looked like a wreck. He was huddled up in the far corner of the jet. The scientist had only had a few days to really prepare himself for the trip. Work had distracted all of them as they worked to squeeze in time for the journey. Loki considered it a miracle that the man hadn't 'Hulk'ed out' by accident. Or perhaps it was all thanks to Natasha. The woman had stayed by his side the entire time to keep him company and to help him stay calm despite the added stress and worry. They had started watching old movies together.

'Bonding time.' Blech.

Steve was also near the other man, sitting across from him and trying to keep his mood up just by being his usual kind and assuring self. Clint, too, had joined them for the day and was acting as their pilot. The archer had agreed that it was a good idea to grow more familiar with the Hulk and had jokingly said he didn't trust Tony to get them to their destination without crashing or getting distracted.

Tony's laugh caught Loki's attention, and he turned to look at the other man. His knowing smirk made Loki's brow twitch.

"You really are something, Rob. You know that?" he said with another laugh. "I seriously never know what's going to come out of your mouth."

"Well," Loki started with a prim sniff, "so very glad that I can amuse you."

"Yeah. Man," Tony said with a shake of his head. "Too bad there is still only one person I know who can keep up with me who isn't an asshole."