Chapter 2

Anthony Stark

Waking up with a hair sprayed feather in your nose was not the most pleasant sensation to accommodate a hangover from the previous night. I shook my head and sneezed as the chemicals irritated my nasal cavity and realized that I had fallen asleep with the feather boa still wrapped around my neck. I pulled it off my shoulders and left it on the bed, too tired to do anything else.

"J.A.R.V.I.S!" I groaned as the whirring of machinery signaled that the program recognized my voice. "Please retrieve some pain pills for me. I'd like my day off to not come with a headache."

"Sir, Ms. Potts has made a wonderful breakfast for the two of you this morning," came the monotonous reply as a small circle of metal from my nightstand opened to reveal two bright blue, liquid-filled pills. I swallowed them dry and stood. The core in my chest hummed in the silence of the bedroom. "She has also asked me to inform you that she wishes to speak with you about something that happened during the previous night. Would you prefer I lock the door and tell her you are still sleeping or would you like to speak with her?"

"J.A.R.V.I.S., you know exactly what's going to happen, whether or not you lock that door." I rubbed at my eyes and waited for the throbbing in my temples to subside. "I will speak with her, and if it's about what I think it is, I have the truth and there is no need for her to get her pretty little panties in a twist." I sighed and moved towards the door. "Do not let her know I said that."

"Your wish is my command."

"No, my command is your command. There is no wishing." I yanked open the door and winced from the bright light. "J.A.R.V.I.S.! Remind me to put in some curtains or shades or something for those damn windows. I don't want to go blind simply from walking out of my bedroom."

"I can handle that," a curt voice answered. Pepper set down a plate of fruit-topped buckwheat pancakes and maple syrup in a small cream pitcher. Another plate had plain pancakes with butter melting on the top one, and I knew which plate belonged to me. I moved over to the table and eagerly poured myself a generous amount of syrup onto the pancakes.

"Good morning, Pepper," I greeted, the drowsiness in my voice suddenly gone.

Her eyes were narrowed at me as I shoveled food into my mouth. I did my best to ignore the fire burning the side of my head, and though I am a master of tuning out annoyances, she finds a crack and slips herself through. She has always managed to find a crack to slip herself into. It's one of the reasons why I hired her. Sometimes I regret it. Sometimes I don't. She still made one hell of a secretary.

"Tony, I want to know why it is you walked in last night, drunk as a mule and murmuring about strippers while wearing a feather boa around your neck. I thought you were doing business with one of the biggest clients in New York – after you, of course. I want to know who she is and what you two did last night. You didn't return until five this morning!" She hadn't touched even a raspberry on her breakfast.

"Ah, there were no women involved last night," I replied through a mouthful of buttered pancakes. "Nope, definitely not any women. There were just men there."

"Tony, I do not appreciate you lying to me! I know there were people taking off their clothes involved in this; you said so yourself!" She stood up and stomped a bare foot. Entirely clad in a skirt suit and pantyhose with bare feet, she looked ridiculous to me. Cute, but ridiculous. "You will tell me whom you were cavorting with, or I will order J.A.R.V.I.S. to remove you."

"I cannot do that, Ms. Potts. I am programmed to follow only Mr. Stark's orders of removal. I owe nothing to you." There was an awkward pause for Pepper and J.A.R.V.I.S. "No offense intended, Ms. Potts."

"I thought so," she growled, and then focused her attention on me.

"Oh, and by the way, the word 'cavorting' is used very lightly with that sentence, I hope," I said, mopping up what syrup was left on my plate and shoving the last bit of my breakfast into my mouth. "You are right when you say that people were taking their clothes off, but I assure you that women were not the one's taking off their tops."

Pepper gave me a skeptical look before sudden realization dawned on her. Her eyes went from narrow slits to round ovals. Her face lost a small tint of color, and her mouth opened into an O. She stammered, trying to find a word to start her sentence with. While she scoured her vocabulary, I took it upon myself to reach across the table and nab one of the uneaten raspberries. I popped it into my mouth and chewed on the tart fruit, waiting for the question that I already had the answer to.

"There were . . . There were men taking off their clothing?" she asked, her voice squeaking. I smiled up at her and nodded quickly.

"Yes. Our client, unfortunately, was one of the stripping men. By the way, women with large breasts are sexy as hell. Men with large breasts make me want to rip my eyes out and douse them in hydrochloric acid." I perked. "Oh, I think we might have some down in the lab. J.A.R.V.I.S. . . . !"

"Sir, before you even ask me, no, I will not set up the hydrochloric acid we have in stock for you – which is none, by the way – nor will I send anyone to fetch you some. Your eyes are to remain undamaged if you wish to continue your exploits as Iron Man." There was a humming pause. "And if you want to continue running Stark Industries."

"Damn, that is true." I gave up on permanently blinding myself and turned back to address the situation with Pepper at hand. It would take nearly a week for me to get over this, and she would definitely hold this over my head.

"And the boa . . . ?"

"It was a male's too. His name was . . . Shit, what was it? He told me just before I got drunk."

"Right, that's exactly what I want to hear." She sat down and began to eat her breakfast.

I decided to go down to my lab and work on my suit more thoroughly. The only farewell I received was a warning to not inflict any self-harm and a command to J.A.R..V.I.S. to not allow me to get my hands on anything in the chemical closet.

Loki Laufeyson

I opened the door and yawned, ready to sleep the sun away and greet the moon around nine. The apartment was quiet, sans the sounds of the coffeemaker, and I dropped my messenger bag onto a nearby chair. I slipped the small envelope from my pocket and weighed it in my hand. Eight hundred dollars. I wasn't sure if I was glad that humanity was willing to throw money at someone who was willing to take their clothes off for pocket change or disappointed that I was willing to stoop so low as to take my clothes off for pocket change. It didn't matter either way, because it was the easiest way to earn money.

The way I saw it, as long as I was willing to shed a few articles of clothing and earn a triple-digit wage, I was perfect fine.

I exited the entryway of the apartment and walked drowsily into the kitchen. My brother was sitting at the table, blonde hair pulled back into a small ponytail on the nape of his neck, and a mug of steaming coffee in his hand. In the other, he was holding a newspaper. It was a cliché look for him, what with his bulging muscles and hard, sharp features, but it was how he looked every morning, so I kept my laugh mental.

I slapped the envelope down onto the table without any word and opened the refrigerator to find something to eat before I sleep. Leftovers from a Chinese restaurant sounded pretty good, and I took the Styrofoam box out. I didn't have to look behind me to know my brother was giving me the Evil Eye.

"Brother, what is this?" he demanded. Here we go again.

"You know damn well what it is, Thor," I replied simply, pulling a fork out of the drawer. I didn't bother to heat up the soy sauce-covered noodles and vegetables and ate them cold. It would taste the same, no matter what temperature.

"We've been over this many times, Loki." I could hear the sound of his chair scraping the kitchen floor as he stood. The newspaper wrinkled as he put it down or folded it back up. His mug remained in his hand. No, wait; there was the clink of him setting it down. I knew I was in serious trouble this time.

"Then you should realize by now what it is and where it came from." I grabbed a napkin to wipe of the soy sauce off of my mouth. "You lost your job, and I lost mine. I got a new one that pays better than our last ones combined, which is why I was able to get our water back on."

"I don't like the idea of you taking your clothes off for others, especially old men whom could drug you and carry you off somewhere where I wouldn't be able to find you. Or you could get into some serious trouble." He came up and stood in front of me. He towered well over me by at least five inches, eyes warm and filled with affection and worry. "Let me see your arms."

I scoffed and put my food down, craning my neck to meet him eye-to-eye. It didn't matter how much I tried to be intimidating to him. He was still a lion leading a pride where I was nothing but a tabby cat owned by a coddling little grandmother. However, the fact that he thought I would ever stick a needle into my arm for a cheap high was insulting.

"You would honestly believe that I would shoot some man-made narcotic into my vein? Seriously?" I laughed. His accusation stung. This was definitely a first for me, despite the fact I already knew his thoughts on my current profession. "I'm extremely hurt that you would think that I would need to…"

"Show. Me. Your arms." His teeth were set tight against each other and his voice was a guttural growl. The lion in him was beginning to become restless. If I didn't expose my forearms he would do it himself. "Now."

I gave a frustrated sigh and rolled up my sleeves to my elbows the best I could. Once I had them pulled up, Thor lashed out and grabbed my arm. He examined it closely, poking at my veins and watching me for any signs of a wince or pain. He released it and examined the other arm in the same fashion. I gave him a knowing look when his second investigation turned up blank, and he released me.

"I will be checking you every day when you get home," he informed me. It wasn't a question or a request. I let him have his way.

"As long as you continue to use the money to pay the bills, I do not care what you do," I said and picked my dinner back up. "Although, it should go without saying, that I am extremely careful around my coworkers and their . . . friends." I used the term "friends" very lightly. "Brother, you know I am only doing this to keep a roof over our heads and food on our table. The second you find a job that pays well enough, I will quit."

"I know." He put a strong hand on my shoulder. "I am simply worried for you. I do not like the crowds that I have seen go in there. Especially these lying, corrupt, disgusting business men and government heads that claim to look down on these places and yet spend their time and money there."

"Not all of those who go into the club are corrupt." I smirked, peeling a sautéed onion off of my lip. "I actually met one of those business men you think are corrupt last night." I turned away from him to fetch a glass of water.

"You met one of them? As in talked to them?"

"Yes. Although, it was more one-sided, as he was very reluctant to have anything to do with any of the performers." I chuckled and continued to eat. "It was quite amusing, actually. He had this look of utter disgust when I approached him."

"The word you are looking for would actually be 'insulting.'" Thor drained his coffee cup and placed it in the empty sink. He sighed and turned back towards me. "I have a job interview this morning. I need to leave now. Get some rest, and take a day off tonight. Jane got an invitation to a charity event. There will be plenty of people there whom you have probably seen. You should go with her. I've already had to cancel."

"You want me to go on a date with your girlfriend?" I asked with a chuckle. "You know that I have no interest in women whatsoever, and I thought I made this clear."

"You have. I just don't like wearing a tuxedo." He waved me off with one of his cheesy, toothless smiles and disappeared out the door with a loud bang. Maybe "disappeared" was not the right word for me to use. But, according to Thor, I never knew which word I was to be correctly using.

Anthony Stark

If there was certainly one thing I hated just a smidge less than being forced to watch men strip themselves, it was these damn charity events that Pepper forced me to attend to keep up the good reputation of myself and the were annoying as hell and, in my own opinion, a waste of time that I could be using in my lab to create something new to blow up or give J.A.R.V.I.S. a long-overdue update. Ah, that is exactly what I will do when I get back to my tower. I will give J.A.R.V.I.S. a nice update. Maybe give him a power boost or something. Or make him a girlfriend. An. A.I. surely got just as lonely by himself as a regular human does, right?

Right, I was going to get J.A.R.V.I.S. a girlfriend. And I would name her . . . What would I name her? Probably something with six letters, the same as J.A.R.V.I.S.'s name. Something simple that I could remember. For some reason, remembering women's names was quite the task when it wasn't Pepper. Maybe B.R.E.N.D.A. It matched, and it was something easy to remember. Did I ever date anyone named Brenda? I'd have to ask Pepper when she wasn't pissed at me.

Pepper came up to my side at the bar as I took a deep swallow of the whiskey and sighed as it burned a path down my throat. I smiled over at her and she gave me a cold, blank look back. I guessed she was still angry from our argument over the strippers this morning (she probably did not believe me), but I wasn't going to let it get to me. Tonight, I'd enjoy the music, let people's bullshit enter one ear and go right out the other, and get myself drunk yet again. J.A.R.V.I.S. had obviously given me the day off, but I was not out of the doghouse yet, and Pepper kept my night busy.

"Mr. Stark, you have currently raised 50,816 dollars for your generous cause," she said, refusing to look back up at me from the clipboard gripped tightly in her hands. "By the way, which cause are your guests helping you fund again? The Jack Daniel's Relief Fund or the College Aid Fund?"

"Pepper, are you still hung up over this morning?" I asked her, raising a brow. "I already told you what happened, and because I did that, we earned yet another client for the company. Now, would you please get off my back about the damn feather boa?"

"I will not let go of my grudge until I am sure that thing is burned or thrown away." She scratched something down onto the paper in front of her and slammed her pen head against the paper to dot whatever the hell she was dotting with force. It was to make a point, and I definitely got it. "I will be too busy making important relations with others to keep you on my leash. You will have free reign for tonight, and then you're Anthony Stark again in the morning."

Free reign? Uh oh.

"Pepper, are you honestly that mad at me that you have to disown me as your boy"—

"If you say the word 'boyfriend,' I will ban you from the bar." She smiled sweetly at me, but the emotions in her eyes were definitely that of jealousy and anger. "Have a good evening, Mr. Stark."

She turned on her heel and stormed away through the crowd, sliding past men and women without a turn from their heads. They didn't seem to notice her, and I watched her until she managed to disappear between the fine suits of the men and the lovely dresses of the ladies. I smiled to myself and stirred the ice and whiskey in my glass. She was letting me sleep with whomever I wanted for tonight, and I was going to take advantage of the opportunity.

Of course, I mentally cursed myself for allowing myself to use the tabooed word "boyfriend." I made a note to myself to have J.A.R.V.I.S. shock me every time I said it when referring to myself. That should get me out of the habit.

I began to scan the crowd in search of tonight's bed mate. Pepper made it very clear that I would not be sleeping with her tonight. And if that was not actually what she meant, then it was her fault for sending mixed messages. I took it as I saw it, and she should have realize that by now.

As I was looking through the women, I noticed many of them were already latched onto one of the men they were around, some wearing wedding rings and some of them weren't. One woman was latched onto two men and was eyeing me as numero tres, and I quickly turned around and headed the other direction. Any more than two people in a bedroom was too uncomfortable for me and made for some awkward mornings-after.

As I was backtracking, I noticed a familiar face from the night before. I wasn't sure why it was familiar. I had never met the man before. I'd never seen eyes as clear as any crystal, and skin as smooth and creamy as alabaster. His hair was, however, slicked back and tufted around his ears and neck . . . Dear god. No wonder I didn't recognize the son of a bitch. He was actually wearing clothing. As a plus, his shoulders were boa-free.

He looked like an absolute gentleman with his nice-looking suit buttoned tight around his abdomen and a green and yellow scarf hanging around his neck. I liked it better than the boa. So much better than that damned goose trap. However elegant he might have looked, he still seemed out of place. He was definitely taller than most of the men there, slimmer, and rather than mingling with the crowd like many of the other guests were, he hung to the walls like a spider and did his best to shrink down and keep out of sight.

I felt my lips sag down into a vicious frown. What in the hell was he doing here? I didn't remember inviting any adult entertainment to this little soiree. It's not like I put it together in the first place anyways, but I doubt Pepper would want his kind here, especially after what had happened last night.

I ordered a refill of my Jack Daniel's and rushed back to the spot in which I had noticed the man from last night. He was still there, stirring the ice and clear liquid of his drink around with a straw. A lemon was perched on the side of his glass, which made me think it was water. He continued to look through the crowd. He looked entirely and utterly uncomfortable in the midst of those important to society.

My conscience told me to go talk to him or it would force me to think about him as I tried to sleep later tonight. And for once, I listened to the little voice inside my head that usually wore a muzzle for this specific reason. My curiosity was my drive to approach him.

"Well, well, well," I said, managing to grab his attention from the ice in his drink. He almost jumped out of his skin at my voice and the glass almost slipped from his fingers. He managed to catch it, but water spilled over onto his fingers and sleeve. A few dignified people sent him sharp glares. "I never would have expected someone like you to be the wallflower of a party."

"I'm sorry, sir?" he asked, giving me a shy, worried look. "Have we met before? I think you're mistaken."

"Mistaken? Please. Tony Stark is never mistaken." I leaned against the wall beside him and took a sip. The ice was cold against my lip. I lowered my voice to continue speaking to him. "You were outside of the strip bar just last night; you gave me your black feather boa. I remember because the damn thing caused a huge argument between me and my girlfriend."

"If I had known you had a girlfriend, Mr. Stark, I wouldn't have given it to you . . ."

"Ha! So you are the guy from the bar."

His pale skin turned cherry red and he turned away from me, staring back into his glass. I grinned. He stirred nervously at the ice and made an uncomfortable face. Was he nervous around me in my own crowd, the way I was nervous with his, or was he embarrassed by his acts from the night before? I couldn't tell what he was thinking

"Where the hell did your confidence go?" I asked, grinning. I jabbed his arm with my elbow. "Last night you were offering the head of the world's largest manufacturing company a free lap dance because he was completely out of his element, and now what? You're forced to wear three layers of clothing so you're suddenly uncomfortable with everything?"

He sent me the same confused look he used against Watts the night before. Those lips pursed and that eyebrow rose higher than the other across his wide forehead. I laughed.

"I didn't think the CEO of Stark Industries had such a large ego," he said, taking a long swallow from his glass. "If I had known, I would have given you a wide berth of at least fifty feet." He smirked at his ice but I was pretty sure it was aimed towards me. He certainly wasn't making fun of the frozen water, now was he?

"Great; that makes me feel wonderful." I rolled my eyes and took another deep swallow. "So, would you mind answering my question from earlier? Why is it you're nervous in my environment? I thought you'd be more open around people here. You should know more than half of the people here."

"That is my misfortune." He downed the rest of his glass and began to pick at the ice. "I can tell you all of the people in here I have danced for, be it public or private, and I also have the misfortune of remembering exactly how much each person in here has paid me for what I do. For example, your friend Terrence Aderholt, the fat one there, has given me over six thousand dollars in single bills alone. He's the reason I can take showers now."

I coughed and looked towards my partner from the night before. He was standing on the side of the room with a young woman on one arm and a young man on the other. He was paying more attention to the male and the woman looked as though she wanted to ditch him and find someone else to prey on for the night. His pudgy fingers had a good hold on her hip; she wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon.

"Really? So, would you like to thank him personally for allowing you the privilege to clean yourself on a daily basis?"

"I am perfectly fine taking the wall, thank you."

He and I shared a few laughs at Aderholt's expense and I downed the last of my whiskey. I was feeling good and buzzed and felt like getting some action. From whom, I didn't know and I couldn't have given a fuck. I just wanted to hold someone against me. I crunched onto the ice from my glass.

"Would you think it rude of me if I were to say that you can't remember my name, considering I have already addressed you, and I have not yet heard my name?" he guessed. I frowned and scoffed.

"Oh, please. I did not forget your name. I simply stored it in the back of my mind for later use. I just don't feel like using your name at the moment, nor will I in the future. There's no need to remember useless information like that." I turned back to find his joking smile vanish and be replaced with a hard stare. Did I hurt his feelings? Fuck.