It was twenty minutes before SHIELD arrived and they did not arrive en masse, in fact, Fury walked in all by himself. Tony was mildly impressed by the entrance; very few men could make a leather coat flap quite like that.

"Nick, how nice to see you," he greeted, "want a drink."

"I'm on duty, Stark," was the not unexpected and sharp response.

"Suit yourself," Tony replied.

"Well isn't this cosy," Fury said as the man peered around the room with his one beady eye.

Tony was quite proud of the fact no one looked guilty, not even Steve.

"Thor am I correct in stating that you have once again recognised your brother as a Prince of Asgard with all rank and privilege that goes with that title?" Fury asked, looking directly at the blond demigod.

"Yes, Director," Thor replied; "that would be so."

Fury looked incredibly put upon and as if he would rather be anywhere else, but turned to Tony instead. This was going to be interesting; Tony could tell.

"And Stark, since you invited him here, I assume you're not interested in pursuing the assault charges against Loki?" Fury asked.

"You assumed right, Nick," Tony replied with a smile; he thought he knew where this might be going.

Fury sighed, actually sighed, before looking at Loki.

"Then, Prince Loki, SHIELD welcomes you to Earth as a diplomatic visitor from another sovereign power," Fury said, even though the man didn't sound as if he believed it. "We would request you do not wander from the safety of this tower alone in case anyone recognises you and makes an incorrect assumption until SHIELD has had time to apprise the public of your current position."

"He means spins a pretty story, so New York won't rebel," Tony added even though he knew it was completely unhelpful.

"That being said," Fury continued, completely ignoring the comment, "if you wish to travel anywhere, SHIELD would be happy to provide personnel to see to your safety. SHIELD will also provide anything you might need for your new circumstances until such time as you choose to return to your own realm."

Loki only appeared surprised for a fraction of a second and amused for even less, but Tony caught it.

"Thank you, Director Fury," Loki replied with a perfectly serious expression on his face; "your hospitality does your realm justice."

Fury kind of grimaced.

"Just don't make me drag your ass out of a riot," Fury said, apparently having reached the end of his charm. "Good day, team."

As Fury strode right back out again Loki finally let the amusement surface, but he seemed pleased and Thor looked like he had just won the lottery.

"Well that was easier than expected," Steve commented and Tony couldn't help himself; he laughed.

Clint was still looking mutinous, but Natasha had him in check, so Tony wasn't worried.

"More drinks," was what he decided, and nobody disagreed, not even Steve.

Pepper came to help him at the bar, and he gave her one of his best pleased to see her, pleased with himself smiles. It was all going so well.

"This could still end in disaster," Pepper pointed out as she arranged glasses on a tray.

"No it couldn't," Tony replied, "well unless we get an alien invasion in the next hour. That could end in disaster; big nasty fireballs or zappy guns. Otherwise I think we're cool."

"I hope you're right, Tony," Pepper said and gave him a quick peck on the check.

He watched her walk over to where, for some reason he had missed, Thor and Loki had stood up.

"It is more than an inch," Thor said and Tony decided it was probably height, because nobody had taken their clothes off yet.

"It is not," Loki replied and for a second looked like a petulant ten year old.

"Lady Pepper," Thor said as Pepper put the tray down and handed him a drink, "would you say I am more than an inch taller than my brother."

Pepper smiled and Tony watched with interest.

"I wouldn't be able to tell," Pepper replied and then stepped to the left to hand Loki a drink as well.

Loki went suddenly very still, eyes firmly fixed on Pepper. What Tony saw next almost had him calling for his suit as Loki's skin paled and the demi-god's eyes glittered. He probably would have if Loki hadn't taken a very sharp step backwards, away from Pepper, but it was the way Pepper all but swayed towards Loki that really got his attention. He was on the move before he thought about it and at Pepper's side as quickly as possible.

"Pep, you okay?" he asked.

"Fine," she replied, but her hand was quite tight on his arm as he slipped the other one around her waist; "that was ... I'm not sure ..."

Tony looked up at Loki to find his guest appeared as fazed as Pepper did.

"My apologies," Loki said, blinking as if to clear his head, "I am not sure what happened."

It sounded honest and Tony chose to accept Loki's word, because the demi-god was looking less pale again.

"Is there a problem?" Natasha asked with her usual business-like attitude.

"I don't think so," Pepper said and stood up straight again, so Tony released her. "Shall we?" she asked Loki.

Loki nodded and took a tentative step forward. Both of them stiffened at the same moment, but they stood their ground and neither seemed to have such obvious reactions as before.

"You have the scent of fire," Loki said, clearly relaxing into whatever the pair were experiencing; "I apologise for my reaction."

"Not at all," Pepper replied and gave one of her practiced smiles, "it was quite a rush and I'm not sure it was all you."

Loki and Pepper stared at each other for a few moments more and then Pepper handed him the drink that was still in her hand.

"Thank you," Loki said and the moment seemed to be over.

There were three things Tony noticed when Pepper turned back to him: her pupils were dilated; her skin was flushed; there was the tiniest hint of fire in her eyes. Tony knew those signs and they weren't a fight response; in fact, they were the opposite: Pepper was aroused.

~*~

Tony sat in bed waiting for Pepper to finish in the bathroom.

"You're attracted to Loki," he said as soon as she appeared.

Pepper took this completely in her stride, because it wasn't the first frank conversation they had had. When they had become serious, one of the things they had agreed on was to always be honest about these matters. Tony knew he had a libido like no other and hiding attraction wasn't something either of them did; they just didn't act on it.

"I'm attracted to a lot of people," Pepper replied, pulling back the cover and climbing in.

"But this is primal," he countered, "I know because I feel it too. I want to take apart his mind with mine and take apart his body with my tongue."

The look Pepper sent his way was one of her very patient ones.

"Tell me it's not the same for you," he said with a grin, "I saw how you reacted. I know that look in your eyes."

"He is very alluring," Pepper admitted, "but that doesn't change anything."

"So, you're not curious?"

Pepper turned to face him full on then, a very thoughtful expression on her face.

"You want a threesome?" she asked.

It wasn't the first time they had discussed something like this.

"I don't know," Tony replied, "what do you think?"

"Inviting an unstable Norse god with vampire tendencies into our bed could be mentally and physically dangerous," she pointed out.

"You could always fry him."

That gained him a very disappointed look, which was one of the worst in Pepper's arsenal.

"Okay, I concede the point," he said quickly, "so that's a nix on that idea then."

The fact that Pepper did not instantly agree told him he had guessed right in the first place. Something had happened when Loki and Pepper got close, something very primitive.

"It's a very bad idea," was the best Pepper could do, which was tantamount to declaring she was interested, because Pepper just told him no when it was appropriate.

"Of course it is," he replied, "but you're still interested."

Pepper gave him a look.

"A bad idea," she repeated and that was an end to the conversation.

Tony counted it as a maybe and put it to the back of his mind. He had more important things to think about right then, like how loud he could make Pepper call his name.