Chapter IV
13
His watch was telling him that he was going to be stood up… he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and called to his supposed companion. The opera was going to begin in half an hour and he had both tickets so he couldn't get in and just wait for his friend to come whenever they would arrive.
"Where the hell are you? You told me you were going to be here an hour before I arrived!"
"Shit… I'm sorry Loki, but my period came a few hours ago and I suffer from dysmenorrhea…"
"Are you ok? You sound horrible…"
"I'm sorry I didn't call… to be honest… I fainted and I just woke up ten minutes or so ago…"
"No… that's ok…"
"Oh God… I need to vomit! I'm sorry, by-" Loki looked at his phone and killed the call, because he could hear his friend puking.
The Aesir bit his lips and tinkered with his phone for a few seconds. He didn't want to go to Don Giovanni again all by himself. Don Giovanni along with La Traviata were his father's favourites Operas and he had seen the play in several renditions. He noticed he had Tony's phone on recent calls, he pushed the call button.
"Stark speaking?"
"It's Loki…"
"Hum~ I will add your number to my contact list…" The God heard Tony talking to Jarvis asking him to put the number he was currently talking to into his contact book. "What can I do for you Odinson-Wright?"
"My friend, I don't know if you even noticed her, but she suffers of dysmenorrhea and couldn't come and now I'm here in the steps of the Lowell house alone…"
"That's… ergh… curable, right?" Tony didn't even want to imagine what kind of sickness was called dysmenorrhea…
"Yes Stark, she suffers greatly in her period, that's all."
"Oh…? Yikes. Um~ so?"
"I don't want to see it again all by myself, because I have already seen almost five different renditions of this particular play."
"I see?"
"Oh! For the nine realms! Stark! Are you being oblivious on purpose? Do I have to spell it for you? Do you want to come and see it with me?" He asked like a frazzled kitten.
"Shut up JARVIS… oh… sorry I didn't know you where inviting me… shit, sorry, dude! I hate the opera, seriously… especially Don Giovanni, my parents, I hope they're rotting in hell; abandoned me once in Don Giovanni and even when the police called them, they sent the chauffeur to pick me up from the station…" Loki didn't say anything. "Look, it's not that I don't want to go out with you because that's like totally not true, but… why don't you come to my apartment I have Don Juan DeMarco… I think this is way better than Don Giovanni… yes? I even offer to go and pick you out myself if you don't want to walk or take public transportation…"
"Stark… I have a car…" He made the engineer know.
"Oh… well, ergh~ see you here?"
"Might as well. I'll be there in twenty."
"I'll be here… I'll text you my address." Loki got the phone off of his ear when Tony cut the line and went to the first person he found.
"Hey! Do you want two tickets to Don Giovanni? If not, take them anyway. Thanks, farewell…"
The poor unsuspecting man that was taking as stroll with her very pregnant wife was left there in shock with two tickets for the very exclusive and privileged opera "Don Giovanni." Those tickets were impossibly expensive and somebody just gifted them to them? Speak about random luck.
14
Loki had a familiar pizza on his hands: margarita and pepperoni and was waiting for the lift to take him to the last floor where Stark was waiting for him. The lift, which could hold twenty people inside; plin'ed and the doors opened. An expensive flat that looked like something pulled out of a magazine greeted him. It was ridiculously big and at the end of the lounge, the balcony had a Jacuzzi which was full with swirling and steaming water.
"Hey! Oh! You did bring the pizza! Thanks dude! How much? I'm starving!" Tony greeted him with a big smile.
"It's nothing…" He dismissed giving the pizza to the young man.
"But…"
"Leave it Stark…" Loki sneered.
"Okay… there is no need to be snarky… geez…"
"Do you live here all alone?" The green-eyed young man asked. Tony looked at the Aesir swallowing the pizza he had previously bit.
"Yeah, why?"
"Don't you feel agoraphobic here by yourself?"
"Noup…" The shorter man answered dismissively. Loki couldn't help but noticing that Tony's voice echoed in the room. "So is your friend alright?"
"I believe so; I was cut middle call by vomit…"
"Gross…"
"I apologize…" He said immediately, remembering that Tony was eating.
"No, that's ok I'm not squeamish. C'mon, let's go to my room."
He didn't know what was imagining when he was thinking out Anthony Stark's room, but most certainly it was not this… the room had a box spring bed with plain white sheets that were stained by dark oil. Monitors, computers; tools, clothes; shoes and servos were left clumsily everywhere on the floor.
"Sorry, the maid comes one day a week. I'm just a walking disaster… just sit wherever you think you can sit. Hey JAR… how is everything?" Loki frowned, the famous Jarvis was there?
Everything is coming nicely Sir. We shall have some results tomorrow morning…
"Cool, let me know if anything changes!"
Of course, sir.
"Where is that voice coming from?" The Aesir asked somewhat unnerved.
"Uh? Oh! Sorry! That's just Jarvis… it's… well… JARVIS?" He could never explain JARVIS to anybody. People always misunderstood his words and nobody seemed to understand the depth of his good friend and confidant JARVIS.
In a few words Mr Odinson-Wright, I'm just a very smart artificial intelligence…
"Artificial Intelligence? Like cyborgs and robotics?" The taller brunet asked interested.
It is within the field Mr Odinson-Wright.
"I didn't know Earth have something so advanced!"
"It doesn't. I created JARVIS myself."
"Stark that's amazing…" Tony just shrugged off, like if giving life to a being; albeit an artificial one was something bucolic and without merit.
"Do you want pizza?" The inventor asked offering the box.
"Sure, why not?" He picked a slice sitting on the bed, carefully of not disturbing the work of the engineer. "How long it took you to create JARVIS?"
"Well, I was four years old when I created the first circuit for the motherboard it's just got kind of viral from there…"
"I'm really surprised… people are not kidding when they call you a genius, are they not?" Tony just shrugged again. Loki was beginning to feel flabbergasted.
"Hey JAR!"
Sir?
"Play on the movie. Or do you want to see something else?" The shorter brunet asked him, looking at him.
"I am amenable to watch Don Juan DeMarco."
"Cool. I love Jonny Depp. I met him a few years ago, he was so cool!" Stark began to babble excited. "I have a photo he signed and it was so cool, because he has some prototype I created and he asked me to sign it for him! I felt so stupid doing that but it was great!"
"You, Stark; are an odd ball…" Tony snorted. Loki smiled wickedly.
"Call me Tony." He asked for the first time.
"If I was to call you anything, it shall be Anthony…"
"Fine, whatever… keep calling me Stark."
"Of course, Anthony…"
JARVIS chuckled and Loki was smirking.
"Traitors! Both of you!"
If JARVIS could smile he would have done so. He turned the TV and the DVD off. They had seen two movies, at the third Tony was pretty much sleeping with his eyes open and Loki had passed out on the credits of the second movie. Tony was sleeping now with his eyes closed with the head on the crook of the bed and sitting on the floor with his arms crossed on his chest and the mouth slightly open. Loki had made himself a little ball, very much like a cat and was hugging a pillow with his head on a little of the same pillow. It was adorable, he couldn't help it… he took a photo for posterity, maybe even blackmailing…
15
Sir… you are going to be late for your classes… Mr Odinson-Wright, can you please wake up already? JARVIS sighed when Tony growled and Loki was just unresponsive. Sir…! He tried again without much result. JARVIS pressed his proverbial lips and played back something that would most certainly wake the young man. "Anthony Edward Stark!" The potent voice of Howard Stark was heard, yelling. Tony and Loki got up with their hearts on their throats.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" Tony screamed at JARVIS still with his heart pumping in his ears.
"Fuck Stark! I'm going to be late!" Loki said when he looked at his watch.
That is what I have been trying to tell you for the last half hour, sirs…
"Oh for fuck's sake Odinson, chillax; I don't need another nagging JARVIS up on my ass. Calm down… I can drive over two thousand without killing anybody. I will have you in class, five minutes before class begins."
"I brought my own car!"
"Who cares? It's in the garage… nothing is going to happen to your car… JARVIS…"
Sir?
"Make coffee."
Very well sir. May I advise hasten?
"Whatever JARVIS, don't nag…"
Mr Odinson-Wright would you like coffee? The AI asked purposely ignoring his creator.
"That would be wonderful JARVIS… thank you…"
Cappuccino? Mocha? JAVA? Mint? Mint-chocolate? We have the cold variety ones too.
"Regular dark coffee will suffice Jarvis…"
16
Loki got out of Tony's car as fast as he could with his hands and knees shaking so bad, he could barely walk. Tony wasn't kidding when he said he would have him with plenty of time. The young man had eaten most of the red lights on the way, almost killed a dog along with a blind man and delineated a line of street-cones like a pro in the F1 with only centimetres of distance in a particular dangerous curve.
"You ok there, Odinson?"
"I'm never, NEVER going in a car again with you!"
"What!? You were the one who told me to get you here as fast as I could!"
"NOT AT THE COST OF MY LIFE, YOU IDIOT!"
"Relax dude, I was taught to drive by Formula one's drivers!"
"It shows!"
"I don't like your tone…"
"How you got your license it's beyond me!"
"Hey! I will tell you I aced my fucking license drive test!"
"I'm not done with you! But I need to go to the bathroom and then to class!"
Tony just shrugged and decided to skive off his first class of that day, and probably the next one too. JARVIS had let him know that his experiments were ready to debug when he was trying to get Loki to class in time. He needed to commandeer one of the labs. He pulled his bag from the trunk and walked calmly.
17
"Can you see him, old friend?" The man asked worriedly.
"I have tried, old friend… I am afraid to utter the words aloud, but… there is a great possibility that he is lost to us…"
"Nay! He is not dead! We know as much…"
"Then you know a great more than I do, old friend… it is possible he is beyond his time…"
18
"Do you know anything about fucking Hume?"
"Hello Anthony, good afternoon; where did you leave your manners today?" Loki asked sarcastic, when Tony called him.
"Yes, hello. Do you?"
"I apologize, what was your query again?" He asked letting his books aside.
"Do you know anything about Hume?"
"The Soil, the Language or the Philosopher?" Loki enumerated, trying to get his thought on Tony's track and away from his legal homework.
"The philosopher! I'm an engineer! I know every programing language I can get my hands on! And there is a type of soil called Hume? Dude, what the fuck?"
"There, there Stark… there is no need to get your knickers in a twist. I do know of the Sceptic philosopher David Hume. What do you want to know about him?"
"Anything! Wait… scepticism is a philosophic trend? Are you fucking kidding me? Argh! Fuck this! Shut up JARVIS! I don't want to hear it!"
"You might want to read Essay Moral and Political… that may help you understand what you need from Hume."
"Whut?! Do you want me to read a whole fucking book about a dead man?! No way! JARVIS already told me that!"
"Then what do you need of me, Anthony?" Loki asked curiously, tapping his fountain pen on the table.
"Dummy, stop it! Can you help me?" He whined on the phone, kicking something.
"I thought you had photographic memory?"
"I do! I just…! Who the hell care about the morality of humanity for fuck's sake!? I said: Leave. Me. Alone. Dummy!"
"Life is not just equations and numbers, Anthony…" Loki was really curious to know who 'Dummy' was.
"Look dude, freedom of choice and stuff, but why can't, us; hard sciences be left alone with all these mankind troubles and stuff?"
"Do you want help or not?" Loki snapped, growling.
"I do…" He replied meekly. "Do you have Skype or do you want to come over? And if you can bring the books I will be eternally grateful…"
"I will be there… it's not like I have something better to do anyway…"
"Okey… bye…"
Loki packed his laptop and went away, picking on the way his car keys when his phone went off again. He rolled his eyes when he saw Tony's number on his phone.
"What now Stark?" Loki asked scanty.
"I am very sorry, Mr Odinson-Wright, it is not Mr Stark."
"JARVIS?"The god asked uncertain when he recognized the rather computerized voice.
"Indeed Sir…"
"What happened?"
"Nothing sir, but could you do me a favour?"
"What can I do for you?"
"I am afraid that Mr Stark is rather incapable of taking care of himself and he had not ingested any food beyond coffee in the last thirty eight hours, do you mind picking something akin of food, for Mr Stark to ingest?"
"Are you saying that Anthony has almost two day only going with coffee?"
"And Scotch…"
"I'll bring Chinese…"
"I will text you Mr Stark usual taste in Chinese food…"
"You do that, see you in an hour tops, JARVIS."
"Very much obliged, Mr Odinson-Wright."
"Call me Loki…"
"Very well Mr Loki…"
19
The guard on the entrance of the building where Stark lived let him in; opening the parking door. He parked his car besides Tony's grey Audi and called Stark to send the lift to take him up. When the lift's door opened, the engineer was already waiting for him with a wide smile. Something Anthony Stark, in Loki's eyes; was like little children, it was a really weird, endearing trait.
"Is that Chinese?" He blurted, after his nose picked up the smell and his stomach rumbled, reminding him: he had not eaten in a long time.
"Hello Anthony."
"Hello Loki Odinson-Wright… why did you bring food?" Not that he was complaining of course. The only thing available on his pantries was coffee… and booze.
"You look a little deranged… have you been sleeping?" Loki asked concerned when he looked at the usually sexy and handsome Tony Stark… right now the engineer looked like somebody punched his sockets… the purple was beginning to look black, might as well be oil… his hair was all dishevelled and you could see clumps of dark grease. He was dressed with a yellowish shirt full of stains and some sport pants that had seen better days and had some holes in them. Loki wanted to take the shorter man and put it to sleep for at least three days.
"Dunno? Maybe? Sometimes?" He honestly didn't know. JARVIS may have the answer, though; not that he was going to bring that issue. JARVIS could be worse than the best of mothers…
"Here, you childe… eat before you pass out from exhaustion…" He shoved the food to the shorter man.
"How much?"
"I don't need your money, go and eat…" He made Anthony know calmly.
"I don…" The hazel eyed man tried to rebuke.
"I say I don't need your money Stark!" He snarled again annoyed. Who did Stark thought he was? A pauper? He didn't need Stark's money! He was an Asgardian Prince! A very unloved one, but a prince nonetheless.
"I'm not a stray dog!" Tony shrieked, trying to rebuke Loki.
"Just eat! By the nine realms, Stark! Stop arguing with me!"
"Fine! So… about this Hume dude?" Tony asked opening one of the cardboard containers, trying to guess how the hell Odinson-Wright knew what he normally ate when it was Chinese food. He picked the chopsticks and put a handful on his mouth.
"Eat; shower and sleep and then I might be willing to speak about David Hume then…"
"I don't smell…" He swallowed fast to be able to speak again. He had manners… sort of…
"Of course you don't… you have so much grease on your body, you smell like an automobile repair shop… I'm surprised you are even human by now." Loki mocked cleaning with his thumb a smudge of grease on the cheek of the inventor. They both blushed when they realized what Loki had just done.
"I…" Tony stuttered. Loki was about to go into shock and JARVIS just found the situation adorable.
"Go to take a shower… I'm sure JARVIS can entertain me." The young god decided in the end. "I think your stomach may want to finish the food first."
20
Loki was babbling about Hume and the Scepticism, the same way Tony babbled about robotics and science. Tony was sitting in front of Loki with his legs and arms crossed and he was giving all he got to not falling asleep, but the taller brunet's voice was like a lullaby and his British accent was triggering two conflicted part of his mind. He didn't know whether to be asleep or aroused and that sucked, because Loki didn't allow him more coffee and JARVIS was backing the green-eyed young man with all he got; he was crashing and crashing hard.
Mr Loki?
"What is it JARVIS?"
You might want to take notice that Anthony is sleeping with his eyes open…
"Oh… I wasn't wrong with my calculations. I was drawling the most boring stuff I knew about that branch of philosophy." He confessed shameless. He waved his hands in front of Tony's face, but the engineer had just plain passed out. He closed the young man's eyes and pushing a little with his index finger on the shorter brunet's forehead, Tony fell onto the bed and god knew when he would be wakening again. JARVIS seemed to be a mind-reader too because he assured him that Tony didn't sleep much even sleep deprived as he was. Microsleeping, JARVIS had called it. He found it stupid. He understood Da Vinci's reasons for not sleeping, but they were only humans. Even him, an Aesir; needed rest…
21
Tony felt his brain mushy and useless. He didn't want to open his eyes; because everything was really heavy, it was annoying… he cleared his throat, feeling it dry and somewhat sore. He opened one eye and was going to call dummy for water, when his open eye caught some figure it didn't belong.
"Welcome to the world of the living, Sleeping Beauty…" Loki mocked at him. While Tony slept, Loki was with his laptop finishing some papers and homework for his classes, besides… Stark bed was really comfy, and the machines wiring and JARVIS were great company, believe it or not.
"Shit!" Tony said waking up faster than his body could. "I fell asleep, didn't I? Fuck, I'm sorry Odinson…"
"Anthony…" He tried, but Tony kept babbling. "Anthony…" The black haired young man rolled his eyes. "Anthony!" He put more emphasis in the word and put his fingers on the other man's lips. Tony tripped back, startled. "Don't worry too much about it. I was expecting for you to fall asleep… have you look yourself into the mirror recently? You look like death warmed you over…"
"Ergh… right… I'm sorry anyway, I mean…"
"Oh for god's sake Stark, enough! If I had minded you sleeping, I would have left. I was trying to make you sleep! I already told you, you look like you are about to die!"
"Ok! Ok! Sorry, sorry, sorry! Geez! JARVIS, what time is it?"
It's nine o'clock in the afternoon, sir.
"Shit… what did you do all this time I was sleeping?" He asked really guilty. Loki shrugged.
"JARVIS let me watch telly and I have my laptop with me, so I was basically doing what I was doing in the dorms… except I could check you have not died just quite yet…"
"I didn't have a concussion!" He complained, feeling something really warm inside. He squashed the feeling the best of his abilities. The green-eyed man just rolled his eyes. "Let me make it up to you! Let's go and have dinner!"
"What?"
"Dinner! We can go to any restaurant you want! Do you like sushi?"
"Not particularly…" He was not partial to sea food, even after all those years in Midgard he couldn't quite bring himself to like seafood. Asgard never had anything edible in its oceans. He was not overly fond of raw meat, especially heart or liver, which was also a tradition in Asgard when somebody killed an animal to eat the thing raw. Borrowing a Midgardian phrase: Yikes…
"C'mon!"
"Very well Stark. If it will make you eat. Let's go out and eat."
"Cool! JARVIS! We will be going. Have you seen my phone and my shoes? You know…? Those sport ones with white and yellow?" He asked making a recognizance without luck.
They are by the Jacuzzi, sir… JARVIS provided always helpful.
"How could you possible know that?" Loki asked half surprised half incredulous.
Mr Stark has all his belongings tagged with a sticker microchip that allows me to locate them without much hassle. It is most helpful, as you may know already; Mr Stark is not the tidiest person in this world.
"Shut up JARVIS!" Tony muttered blushing like a milk maiden. It was getting annoying.
"Well that most certainly has to come handy…" It was a great idea actually.
"It was JARVIS' idea…" He admitted rubbing his cheek.
"Of course it was JARVIS' idea, Anthony… I wouldn't have thought any different. It's really fortunate that JARVIS exists, I'm not sure you would be alive by now otherwise…"
Thanks Mr Loki those are really kind words… I'm happy to oblige…
"I created him!" Tony whined watching Loki and JARVIS ganging on up him.
"You only moment of lucid clarity not doubt about it…"
"STFU, Odinson-Wright." Tony sulk.
"Are you going to sulk? Aw~ aren't you adorable?"
"I'm not adorable! I'm manly and dashing!" He complained dressing something different from his sport pants and sleeveless vests (which after the shower when Loki's arrived, he picked some ones in good condition).
"Yeah whatever Don Juan, let's go and eat. Do you like Ethiopian?" He asked from the living room.
"I don't have an opinion on Ethiopian food. I usually eat what people put in front of me." He confessed getting out of the room to rendezvous with Loki.
"That is good. You will enjoy the place. Here are your shoes and your mobile phone." Loki gave him the gear. He had going to the balcony and effectively found the shoes and the cell phone lying closely, but not enough to be wet by the Jacuzzi.
"Oh~ you shouldn't have…" He accepted his things, really awkward.
"Oh please do not begin with this again Stark. Let's go."
"Bye JARVIS!"
Have a good time, sir. See you another time, Mr Loki. JARVIS saw them go as polite as always.
"Of course JARVIS, farewell…"
TBC