Forever and Always

Tony fidgeted, pulling at the collar of his suit. Next to him, Steve smirked, reaching out to pull Tony's hand away from the collar, turning towards him to straighten up his tie...again. Tony took a few slow, deep breaths. He was not freaking out, no. Not at all.

At that moment, Thor strode into the room wearing his Asgardian armor, helmet included, all polished and ready for the occasion. He smiled softly at Tony and turned directly to Steve.

"Friend Steve, do you have a moment? Bartonson is throwing an impressive tantrum in his room."

Steve grimaced, running his hand through his hair. "Again? Jeez Clint, suck it up. Okay, fine, I'll be right there." He looked Tony up and down as if guaging his sanity.

"Will you be alright? No running out or anything?"

Tony's eyes widened as he shook his head vehemently. He had never thought about actually leaving. He might be freaking out a little but that was his beautiful Groom waiting for him out there, and he would claim him for his own. Noone else was allowed to so much as touch that man now. If he did, he'd have one very angry iron man after him, that's for sure.

Tony knew he was being overprotective but he couldn't bring himself to see anything wrong with that. Even standing there he found himself picturing the beautiful creature he was set to marry. He pictures his emerald eyes, his alabastor skin, his ebony hair...the feel of his cool skin, how soft it was, how long and nimble his fingers were...

Okay, relax, Stark. Stop that now. You cannot get a raging hard-on right before you get married. In front of his parents and brother.

He was about to get married in front of Gods.

Oh God.

Tony startled, hearing a loud sigh from the door. Bruce strolled across the room, stared Tony in the eyes for a half a second, and punched him in the face.

Tony was so startled, his mind cleared instantly of all panic. He smiled at Bruce, and they laughed together for a good three minutes.

Just as they were managing to regain composure, the door opened, Pepper peeping her head in.

"It's time." She said.

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Tony could remember the day he got engaged as though it were yesterday. He had taken Loki up to the roof of Avengers Tower and they had lain together, enraptured by the stars glittering above them. Loki had told him about Yggdrasil, and Tony had spoken of current Midgardian theories of Matter and anti-matter and the cosmos. It had been so wonderful. Then the alarm sounded and their year anniversary (their first date had been shortly after the Manhattan incident - what could he say? he loved a bad boy) had been rudely interrupted by Victor von Doom. Tony had gotten surprised by one of Dooms bots, and had closed his eyes to savor the last moments of his life before the bot tore out his arc reactor. However, the fatal blow had never fallen, and when he opened his eyes it was to find his beloved hissing spells in a foreign tongue at the doombots, all of them sparkling with emerald green magic.

Loki had saved them all.

But in the midst of his spellcasting, when his attention was diverted, Doom himself had plunged a silver dagger through Loki's ribs, the Trickster God crying out in pain as he painstakingly finished the spell and collapsed to the floor.

Tony had been distraught. He had fought his way past the other avengers to reach his love, gently cupping the cold face in his warm hands, tears falling involuntarily from his eyes. He had begged with Loki to stay awake, as he saw the Gods eyes drooping closed. Loki had whispered five words to him before slumping on the floor.

"Don't be an idiot, Stark."

They had taken Loki's body back to the tower, cleaned him up and laid him in his room, and he looked as though he were merely sleeping. Tony had left his side only when drugged with sleeping pills in his coffee. He was on the third day of his mourning when Loki's eyes fluttered open, irises literally glowing green. His fingers had begun to twitch, and his mouth formed silent words. Tony had been enthralled and terrified all at once, not having any idea what was going on. A flash of light temporarily blinded him, and when his eyes adjusted, it was to find Loki;s face an inch from his own, one of the Gods long fingers wiping a tear from Tony's cheek.

"I told you not to be a fool, Stark."

Loki's lips had crashed against his own, his mind erupting in fireworks. He pulled Loki tight against him, breaking from the kiss only to growl at Loki for worrying him, and to berate him for taking so long to awaken.

Their lustful embrace had continued for around twenty minutes, the end of which found them both lying on Loki's bed, foreheads together and hands intertwined, breathing deeply, eyes shut.

"Marry me"

Loki's eyes shot open, as did Tony's. He hadn't expected himself to blurt that out, but hearing it from his own lips, he knew he wanted it more than anything. He stared deeply into Loki's eyes.

"Loki...I love you. I love everything about you. I love how much you piss me off with your tricks, I love how much you love Thor even though a little part of you still hates him. I love how charismatic you are, I love how considerate you can be of others, and I love that most of the time you choose not to be. I can no longer imagine my life without you Loki, please will you do me the honor of making sure I don't have to?"

Loki's eyes softened and his face broke out into a warm smile. He kissed Tony chasteley on the lips.

"I will"

Since that day, Pepper and Natasha had formed some sort of wedding planner duo that quite frankly scared the crap out of Tony. They had freaking radio headsets and everything! Alltogether though, Tony was pleased. Loki's adoptive parents had agreed to travel to Midgard to see the ceremony, the planning had all been done with very little input on his part, Thor had agreed to wed them under Asgardian custom, Steve had agreed to be best man, and he and Loki had even gotten a joke out of their own wedding.

Clint was the maid of honor.  

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Tony took a deep breath (again) as he stood in front of the alter. It wasn't exactly an alter, so much as a stand for Mjolnir. Loki had explained to him that Asgardian marriage ceremonies, while very similar to those on Midgard, involved a bond of magic being formed by the Brother of one of the betrothed.

The music started up, a slow harp piece Loki told Tony he was fond of as a child. Tony's eyes were drawn to the door, and he felt himself freeze, not in fear, but in awe, as he saw Loki practically gliding up the aisle. He wore not his Asgardian armor, but a lighter take on the same basic concepts, in black and gold with green edging, the clothes clearly of Asgardian design. But it wasn't his clothes that had Tony's mouth watering, it was his smile.

Loki radiated beauty and happiness when he smiled, and right now his smile lit up the room. Tony could see Pepper and Darcy out of the corner of his eye, swooning over his fiance, and suppressed a feral growl, the small voice in the back of his head once more claiming Loki as his own.

He was pulled back to reality as he felt Loki's cool fingers grasp his own, pulling their hands up to rest on Mjolnir as Thor began to chant in old Norse. As part of the ceremony, Thor would gesture to those closest to Loki and Tony, who would stand and acknowledge their blessing of the marriage. Loki let out a sigh of relief at Odin;s blessing, but Tony had eyes only for the man in front of him. What had he ever done to deserve the perfection that was Loki?

As Tony felt the tingle of magic shoot through his arm, indicating the bond between them had been formed, he felt an overwhelming suge of life satisfaction. He pulled Loki into him for a deep case that left some in the crowd (ahem, Steve) blushing. He then pulled away to whisper in Loki's ear.

"Forever and always, Reindeer Games."

Loki smirked as they walked down the aisle together through a crowd of their loved ones, off to start their life together. Everything in their lives felt at peace.

Until the little one arrived of course...