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Notes: For all of those wonderful reviews that give me ideas and motivation for writing, I love you! For answers to the questions, I'll answer the ones that aren't spoilers. No, Loki won't be making a magic reactor for Tony, he barely has enough magic to hide from Hemidal right now *EVIL grin*. Later on… no promises (but by then he'll have the new element and it won't be needed.)
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By the time the sun was setting, Loki was bored out of his mind. His wounds were still painful, but he couldn't think of any way to speed his healing further without access to more of his magic. As angry as Odin had to be, he would rather keep his meager reserves of magic keeping him hidden than speeding healing. If no one had come for him yet… well, it didn't mean they didn't know where he was, the bridge really was shattered, but they probably didn't know where he was.
Sighing, Loki got up, very careful about his wounds as he set to exploring this strange place. He had no idea that Midgardian architecture had gotten so advanced, and he was curious about what the rest of this building looked like.
"Sir, I would advise remaining in bed." The 'AI' spoke up, causing Loki to stumble and curse as he wasn't so careful with some of his bruises as he ought to have been because of it.
"Your name…. Jarvis, correct?" Loki waited for the voice to affirm his guess before continuing. "I… I'm quite bored, and I'm certain I won't heal as quickly if I'm restless with agitation."
"Would a movie perhaps be a better course of action?" Jarvis asked, and Loki still couldn't pinpoint where the voice was coming from.
"I… am unfamiliar with that term. What is a… movie?" Loki asked, frowning as he tried to look around.
"It is a form of entertainment. If you would turn left and follow the corridor into the living room, has suggested I put Trigun on." Jarvis stated, and Loki tilted his head curiously.
"You are in communication with him now?" He asked, curious since he had not heard the 'AI' speaking to someone else, nor heard Tony Stark's responses.
"Indeed sir." Was all the house said though, and the god shook his head, before gingerly sitting in the white, leather couch where the other indicated. When one of the pictures along the wall began to move, he was justifiably startled.
"What… what is this? Is this a tactical display? Or something else?" he asked, frowning at the simplized drawings taking life on the panel.
"It is a visual form of storytelling." Jarvis explained, and Loki nodded, listening to the music from the box as well.
"Its not in the language you speak." He stated, frowning at the words. "Is it not meant to be understood?"
"The opening credits are in the native language of the creator of the series, but the actual show is in English." Jarvis explained, and Loki grinned as he realized he could detect no hint of annoyance with all of his questions thus far. Relaxing on the couch, the trickster god continued to ask questions, even as he watched the 'movie' that his host had apparently chosen for him.
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When Tony came back upstairs from his lab that night, the last thing that he expected to see was Fenris having a deep conversation about the world of Gungrave with Jarvis. "How are you guys doing?" He asked, amusement in his voice as he looked up at his grinning guest.
"We fare well, sir. Pizza will be here in twelve minutes." Jarvis stated, drawing a look of confusion from Fenris.
"Pizza? You guys ordered pizza?" Tony asked, keeping track of his guests reactions.
"No sir, Pepper ordered Pizza for you under the assumption that you would not be emerging from your lab until I informed you it arrived." Jarvis stated, something vaguely smug in his voice, which made Tony snort.
"Well then, I think I'm ahead of the bell curve which is always a bonus. So, movies work out or are you still bored?" Tony asked, sliding down onto the couch not far from where the still confused looking Fenris sat against one end of it.
Underneath the confusion though, there was amusement, which was a rather good look for the dark haired man. "Well enough. The plot of the moving story is trivial at best, but I suppose that as a diversion it will do when nothing else is available."
"Dissing anime? Eh… not that I can actually blame you, its best as background while the hind-mind is working through shit and the formind is otherwise occupied." Tony said, shaking his own head with a grin. "There's also other genres as well as movies, documentaries, and plain tv shows. To be honest, I'm more likely to have to tune in to the news and I have enough money that the TV just doesn't do it for me.
"You mean there are other options than this… Trigun?" Fenris looks absolutely scandalized for a moment and Tony laughs despite himself.
"Yep… that seals it, definitely not from earth. Or at least, not from a modern part." Tony stated, grinning even as his guest simply shook his head in wonder.
"I shall have to inquire as to the options available next time." Fenris said, somewhat tightly though there seems to be no anger in him. "Concerning inquiry of unknown variables, what is.. pizza?" There was hesitation about the last word, and Tony chuckled again.
"Food… delicious food even that you'll get to try soon. I like it well enough at least, which is good since I end up eating it all too often." Tony explained, grinning. When the delivery boy knocked on the door a short time later, it turned out that Fenris liked Pizza too.
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Over the next several days, Loki became familiar with the strange sorcery of Midgard, their science that Tony seemed to be such a master of. There was a historical documentary running on the television, and the 'tablet' that his host had given him was most informative. Loki found himself absorbing Midgardian culture at an almost frenzied rate.
Since his magic still had not come back, he was quite certain that he would have to find some way to blend and hide in this realm while he made plans and plots to get his magic back.
"Hey, Fenris, get dressed, we're going out tonight." Tony said, bounding happily into the room, and Loki looked up startled. The day after he had woken up, Tony and Jarvis had acquired clothing for him, comfortable and better fitting than borrowing the humans clothing all the time.
"Going… out?" Loki asked, raising his eyebrow and glancing back down at the tablet as he wondered exactly what the human was up to.
"Yep. I haven't caused a scene lately and everything seems to be running well enough in Stark Enterprises, so I figured I might as well remedy that situation." Tony said, sounding positively gleeful as he plotted, which in turn lifted Loki's spirits. "Since you seem healed up, which I don't get but more power to you to walk away from a car accident after a week, I figure it's a perfect time to start getting used to other people."
Loki bit his lip as he considered his options and stared at the human. On one hand, if Tony was going to be causing mischief, it would be quite interesting to watch and perhaps even add his own twists to the humans plans. On the other hand though, he was quite deep into his research about this world and well enough entertained between movies and the tablet. "I… I'm more comfortable here." He stated, calculating and calm.
"All the more reason to go out, you won't have fun unless you leave the comfort zone every once in a while." Tony said infuriatingly, reaching out and gently tugging the tablet out of Loki's hand. "Come on Fenris, you only live once and I'm pretty sure that you'll learn more about people from interacting with them."
"Its not people I need to learn about… its modern culture." Loki said with a growl, before reluctantly relinquishing the tablet. "Very well… I shall return momentarily." He stated, getting up and moving to get dressed.
He chose a simple outfit similar to the one that Tony wore, and emerged true to his word only a few moments after he left the room. "Is this acceptable?" He asked, looking down on himself. It was surprisingly similar to what he wore when visiting his brother not so long ago, and as ever when he thought about it he wondered if it had been months or mere weeks or even years.
"Yea… Yea I'll say that's definitely acceptable." There was something odd in Tony's voice, and Loki looked sharply at him only to see that the other man was turning away already, and motioning for Loki to follow him. "So, Fenris, I'm not sure where you're from, but around here, let me tell you, we've got options."
Loki warily followed the man to one of his cars, llistening curiously as he listed off various food types or restraunts, the trickster wasn't sure which.
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Tony grinned as he pulled his car to a stop, glancing over at his probably extra terrestrial guest even as he glanced around himself. Anyone would have expected him to take Fenris to a bar, or a fancy restraint, or even a night club, and while that could be fun, that was not for today. Tomorrow perhaps, when Pepper heard that he was out of his lab finally and ambushed him with paperwork. He was coming to terms with Jarvis's findings though and still wasn't in the mood to deal with the fact that he was dying.
"What… what manner of place is this?" Fenris asked, and Tony grinned over at him before motioning for the taller man to follow him.
"Its called a fair, specifically it's the Madesto county fair. Rides, food, fun, and games." He stated, grinning brightly as he pulled Fenris closer to the entrance and paid for the cover fee.
"I… am not certain I see the point of being here." The alien said, and Tony grinned more brightly, taking his guest through the crowd and towards one of the more gentle rides.
"You wanted culture right? This is the culture that children are exposed to first, and as we get older we have even more fun with it. There's rides, fun, food, shows. I think there might be dancing around here somewhere too… Shopping, food… always fun, fair food." Tony rambled, grinning even wider at Fenris's looks around.
"Very well then… I suppose I have no objections to finding out more about this place." The black haired man said, following Tony.
"Oh good, it would be kinda disappointing to miss this.." Tony said with a bright grin, a little voice in the back of his head pointing out that it might be the last fair he has time for before the toxicity of his blood got too high and killed him. Especially since he was already trying to work on plans for putting his affairs in order and trying to narrow it down who he would leave Stark industries to. "Come on, my favorite ride is this way and then we'll see about getting food and maybe something a little more sedate as rides go."
All the while, in the back of his mind there was a track running about what he would be doing, and how he would leave his legacy since he didn't have any kids.
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Loki had to admit as he looked around at the 'fair' that it seemed quite nice, comfortable and not so crowded that he felt trapped. Without his magic though, he still felt ridiculously vulnerable, which actually should have made him more on edge than he was. It didn't help that all of the crowds and 'games' seemed to remind him of the sport and festivals of Asgard.
Festivals that Thor and the warriors three had always dominated, dragging Loki along only because he was Thor's brother. Still, this seemed different, and no one was telling him that he was just a coward who couldn't hope to compete. Most of the games seemed to require skill instead of strength, and Loki amused himself for a moment wondering how Thor would react to this place where skill and cunning were rewarded with toys and prizes.
"This seems… fun." He said, after they had sampled Tony's favorite rides and some of the festival foods available.
"Of course its fun, it only happens once a year so everyone who comes has to make the best of it." Tony explained, grinning as he worked on eating something called a snow cone. He had purchased two, but Loki had finished his quickly, quite liking the sweet shaved ice.
"Why does it occur only once a year?" He asked curiously, looking around at the available wonders.
"Cost, efficiency, and it's a kind of end of the school year celebration." Tony said with a shrug. "Not that that sort of thing concerns me, since really, school was so last decade. Literally.." There's something dour in the way that the human is speaking, and Loki looks at him for several moments, wondering what kind of burden the other is hiding under his flippancy. "Oooh, come on, the fun houses are always a gas."
"Fun… houses… that sounds positively horrid." Loki stated, still following the other despite his misgivings. He wanted to know more, though the driving need to take things apart was missing for some reason.
The fun house was horrid, and boring as well for one with balance as good as the god of mischief. "Illuminate for me why you find this sort of thing amusing?" he asked, peering through a rotating tunnel where Tony was trying not to trip on his own way through it.
"Because of the thrill? If I don't keep my balance I'll trip on my ass so this is supposed to be a safe way to test and challenge yourself?" Loki raised his eyebrow as that seemed more like a question than an answer. "To be honest… I'm not exactly sure." Tony admitted a moment later, and Loki grinned as he heard truth in the others words.
"I see… Perhaps we should try one of the rides next? The giant wheel has yet to be tried." Loki stated, and Tony laughed as the god breezed through the tunnel that had given the mortal so much trouble.
"Who calls it a giant wheel? It's the Ferris wheel…" Tony grumbled, reluctantly following the alien.
XXX
"How can you be impressed by hot dogs but not funnel cake?" Tony asked as Fenrir nibbled his way through the third hot dog, amazed at how much his guest liked it after it was explained that there was no actual dog meat in the creation.
"The sweet treats are a great deal like things I have had before. These… are new." Fenrir stated, grinning at the human for several moments before focusing on his last hot dog.
"Huh… so tell me about fairs where you're from then." Tony asked, and Fenrir grinned at him, an almost unassuming look on the taller mans lean features.
"Its as loud and as active, but there's dancing and tests of strength instead of… rides and games of skill." The man states, looking out fondly at the rest of the fairground. "I… I like this more. The festivals of my home are not things for children, unless they are the sons of warriors and in training."
"Huh… sounds boring as hell… Hey, wanna go play some games? We've done rides but we haven't won loot yet." The engineer grinned as he motioned towards the games of skill, and the look of interest in Fenrir's eyes was enough to make him laugh lightly. "I take it tests of strength aren't quite your thing then?"
"I will admit that I have never been one to do well in such feats." Fenrir said, something shadowed coming through his eyes, almost like shame, and Tony filed that away before the other man started talking again. "In fact, I was usually far behind my brother in such things."
"Wow… that sucks. I don't have any siblings so we never really did the sibling rivalry thing." Tony stated as they headed towards the games. "So… which one would you like to try first?" Fenrir looked around, before moving to the one where you throw darts to pop the balloons and get prizes for how many you popped.
It wasn't the most challenging game, but it was interesting to watch how Fenrir weighted the darts in his hands after asking the rules of the carnie manning the game. The engineer was then amazed as his guest managed to pop no less than four balloons with each thrown dart.
"Your hand eye coordination is definitely not lacking." Tony said as the other man walked away with a large stuffed snake as long as he was, not asking why the snake instead of the tweety or angry bird. The alien just snorted at his statement, and Tony shook his head even as he wondered what the other was thinking.
"Its not that great of a feat." The man stated, and Tony shook his head again with a grin this time. "The darts were ill balanced in any case and the 'baloons' quite frail to begin with."
"Huh… if you say so. I'm better with my repulsors…" Tony didn't grumble, but if he did his words would have fallen into that category, which bought a look of confusion to Fenrir's face. "They started out as flight stabilizers.. They aren't going commercial."
"I am afraid I don't understand." Fenrir said with a frown. "What is commercial, and what is a… repulsors?"
"Comercial means something generally mass produced for common use by anyone. My repulsors are part of a highly specialized and extremely personal prosthetic." Tony stated, grinning when Fenrir shook his head at him.
"I see…" Fenrir stated, before turning away. "Which of these games are you best with then?" he asked, obviously curious, and Tony laughed.
"I suck at all of them, mostly because they're rigged." He said brightly. "They're supposed to be extremely hard to win to keep people coming back and from winning anything too expensive."
"I see… not so very different than the feats of my home then." Fenrir said, shaking his head. "Is there anything you would enjoy playing then?"
"Sure… lets see if we can win anything from over here." Tony said with a grin, leading Fenrir over to another game involving water guns. In hindsight, that was probably a bad idea since Fenrir was more interested in soaking him than wining the game.
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Tony grumbled as he climbed out of his car, his shirt and pants still damp despite the rest of the time they had spent at the fair. They had both laughed at it though, and Tony was glad to see Fenrir is good humor, since he had been so quiet at the house.
"I should feel remorse…" Fenrir remarked, still grinning as he got out of the vehicle, sans the giant stuffed snake which had been sacrificed to appease a small herd of children much to Tony's confusion. Still, the other seemed to have a good enough time, so tony just let it be. "Instead, there is only mirth."
"Yea yea… I get it… So, like learning about human culture from up close?" Tony asked brightly, glad he had chosen the fair instead of a bar, since it had let him distract himself as well as his guest and he didn't bring home a floozy.
"It was quite enlightening, and enjoyable, thank you." Fenrir said, smiling and Tony laughed as he made his way further into the house.
"Glad you liked it then… Come on, we'll warm up some popcorn and watch another movie." Tony stated, laughing.
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There you go… next chapter… and I still didn't get everything I wanted in there… I just haven't has as much time to write between my fiancé arriving… I'm getting married next month.
Anyways, my brain is overflowing, and if you like Loki, go read Ember… also, feel free to give me ideas for this one. I know what I want to do, but I don't know how to get there… and believe it or not, this chapter isn't just filler.
