"As much as it pains me to say it, SHIELD may be Midgard's best chance as large-scale defenses in the event of an attack." Loki takes out the pieces one by one, each shimmering into existence in his hand before he lays them carefully on the large banquet table. "Whatever corruption that has found itself into their ranks must be rooted out quickly."

Unfortunately Loki also knows that hearing something like that from either himself or Tony would seem more like they were trying to destabilize the organization than an actual warning.

"Were you able to find anything in their systems?"

Loki wishes they could simply decrypt the data and give it to Fury and be done with it, but it won't be that simple. Luckily he is use to people not trusting him, even when he is working in their best interest. He didn't get the moniker 'God of Lies' in the past few weeks, after all.

But it has been a long day, and the problem won't be solved this evening no matter how hard they work. An evening out sounds like just the thing he needs.

"That sounds lovely. JARVIS? You will tell us when Dr. Banner turns in for the night?"

"Of course, Mr. Odinson."

Loki frowns a bit. "Just Loki is fine, no family name."

"I will update your preferences," the AI says. "Is there a prefix you would prefer?"

Loki thinks for a moment. "What are the options?"

JARVIS runs through the common English prefixes, with a brief explaination for each. Loki raises an eyebrow at Tony.

"There are three for women determined on their marital status, but no genderless options?"

Loki would continue to poke and prod about cultural things while the two of them worked during the next few weeks. Battle plans with the other Avengers during the day (or whoever could stand to be near Loki, at least), sifting through the data JARVIS decrypted by night. There is a lot, and Loki has that uncomfortable feeling that they're only scratching the surface.

A call for help takes them away from the tower that day. Only Tony and Loki went, as the only other Avenger even in the building was Bruce who did not want to risk the Hulk for a small threat. It is relatively easy for the two of them to deal with--just a low-level thug who somehow got his hands on modified Chitauri tech. They were back within a few hours, pizza in hand from the shop owner grateful to them for stopping the robbery of his store.

The feeling starts just as he's starting his second whole pizza. At first it feels like a pressure on his chest, then the pressure becomes a sort of tingling that spreads through to his extremities. He sets down the slice and looks at his hand, but nothing appears wrong.

"It's not that, it..." a sudden dizzy spell has him gripping his head with one hand and the arm of the couch with the other in an effort to not teeter over. The tingling becomes a numbness, but not of his sense of touch. He can still feel the fabric of the couch beneath his fingertips. No, this is deeper.

Then it clicks.

He flicks a hand out, trying to summon a tome from his collection. Nothing happens

Loki doesn't say anything, but his wide, panicked mean he doesn't really have to.

Loki tries a few more hand gestures, attempting to draw the runes in the air as Tony had watched him do for more complicated spells. Nothing. No sparks of green or magical letters appear in the air.

His chest tightens even as his breathing starts to quicken.

"My magic. I can't feel it, it's gone. How-" He holds his hand out, trying the most rudimentary light spell. Still nothing.

Tony's voice is muffled by the ringing in his ears as he frantically tries to cast something, anything, even the simplest of spells. Panic grips him more with each failed cast. He feels like he's falling and floating and sinking all at the same time.

Then his bonded puts a gentle hand on his and reality comes back into focus. His fingers curl around the man's hand, holding on to it like a lifeline.

"I-I don't know." He closes his eyes and tries to focus on the warmth from Tony's hand.
"Roof. If we call Heimdall we should go to the roof." No sense tearing up the living room.

Loki's thoughts race, thinking of every possible reason why Heimdall wouldn't answer their call. Sure, he and the Gatekeeper never saw eye-to-eye, and had tried to kill each other in recent memory, but he would never shirk his duties by flat-out ignoring a call for aid. Which means something must be preventing him from answering.

Perhaps the same thing preventing Loki's magic from reaching him.

He shivers despite the fact that the cold on the roof shouldn't bother him. With Tony's hand in his, he realizes the chill is his bonded's rather than his.

"Come, let's get you warmed up," Loki says, suddenly feeling guilty for all the unfettered panic he must have been pushing through the bond. Tony seemed to handle it well, but that doesn't mean it wasn't there. He takes a deep breath and focuses once more on the warm hand in his as a way of clearing his thoughts.

Once inside, Loki gives Tony's hand a squeeze. "I have a theory, but we will need to contact Thor to confirm it."

Loki snickered at Tony's reluctance to invite Thor and his human into their his space. It's unclear to him whether the human had always been this private, or if it is the subtle influence of the bond. Either way, it benefitted Loki.

"I simply need to ask him a few questions about his powers. If I am correct, he will be feeling something of an effect as well. You furnished him with one of these 'smartphones', yes?"

"So you have been in contact?" Loki breathed a sigh of relief. At least that means Asgard is safe.

"Something is interfering with my magic, and I fear it may have something to do with his silence. How fare your powers?" If he's right, Thor will notice some difficulty, but will retain most of his abilities as they are mostly innate rather than learned.

"I..." Loki looks around as if anyone other than himself or Tony even could be in the room. "I can't feel it. At all." He know he sounds a bit like a frightened child, but it's so hard to care right now.

"It's different than with the shackles. It isn't suppressed, my connection to Yggdrasil is gone."