Chapter 11: Coda
"Who would've thought we'd be invited to a coronation," Tony mused, standing with Bruce. Steve and Natasha were holding hands a bit further away and Bucky seemed a bit irritated, still affected in positions where he had to be social, but they all had VIP positions just to the right of the throne of Asgard on the steps. In the hall, reduced numbers of mourning Asgardians pledged their allegiance to their new king, a crowd of mainly older men, youngsters and women who would never forget the Avengers who saved them from almost certain Ragnarok and the mage who had orchestrated it all, Prince Loki.
The trickster, not strong enough yet to stand for lengthy periods of time, was seated on a cushioned bench on the throne's right, with his mother next to him to provide further support if needed. "Do you think he will still cooperate? With him being all highty and fully regaliad again?" Tony asked his scientist friend, making up new words again as Thor had finished his speech and concluded his promises to his homeland.
"Yes," Bruce ascertained firmly, "you don't know him as I do."
"You best pals now?" Tony rolled his eyes.
"No, but spending weeks with a patient tends to help you get the picture. Like all of us, he still counts Thanos as a threat and his confinement seems to depend on cooperation between our species. But most importantly, he wants to impress his mother. He would do anything for her appreciation. That would be my psych evaluation if you wanted one."
"Apart from him probably being the most powerful magical person in the known universe after Thanos? If he wants anything, it would be so that we can keep the mutant confined."
"My Lord Loki would like you to follow me," a servant approached them, nodding at Stark.
"Where? Before the banquetlike thing fête? Where is he?" Tony looked at the empty bench.
"He teleported ahead, sir," the servant explained.
"It's easier for him to teleport than to walk," Bruce clarified, nodding encouragingly at Tony.
"This way," the servant led him through a hole in the wall of the great hall, down a corridor and up a flight stairs.
"This really can't wait till after we get drunk?" Tony grumbled when shown through a door into a small room lined haphazardly with books by the walls.
"I don't categorically see you as the social type," Loki pointed to a collection of different bottles of alcohol by the table he sat, "please choose your poison."
"Well, which one would you recommend?" The magnate sighed, accepting the detour for the time being.
"Ljósálfar or Vanir wine is always different combinations of spicy and floral. I prefer Ynglinga from the hills of Edda where my mother is from for its sweetness and slow release of fine, zesty flavour that can last for hours. But you may like Dailus. Something alike to a tang between your absinthe and your bourbon."
"I could try all," Tony sat on the only other available chair by the small, velvet covered table.
"I wouldn't recommend it unless you master the trick of instantly breaking down the harmful components of alcohol by magic."
"Weren't you supposed to teach me magic?"
"Giving you the exact frequency, as you call it, of every trick would be very tiresome," Loki reasoned. "If you indeed are going to use your technology for it the way you use it for flying, you need to start with the basics and work out more complex tricks from there. I have never signed up to be your scribe."
"I wouldn't have it any other way than what you suggest. I'm a scientist, not a blind automaton."
"In that case, you don't mind talking about certain Infinity Gems and their possible composition of what you call antimatter," Loki poured some of the previously offered wine out for Tony.
"And we're talking about that on the account of basics? I'm game, but you know there are very few people on Earth you could talk to about antimatter as a basic concept, right?" The human crowed.
"Basics," Loki waved his hand around the room, "manuscripts, tones and volumes of rudimentary magic. I had them all brought here for you, but I trust you can read on your own. What I need is a partner, one who can deliver when it matters. It was you and me who saved Midgard and Asgard was it not? I was the brains, you were the power."
"Well, there were others, and I'd say I used my brain quite a lot, but it theory, I wouldn't disagree," Tony admitted.
"I get some Gems, you get your green energy sources, well-nigh unlimited. Does that sound in any way satisfactory to you?"
"Hm. In certain circumstances, it just might," Tony leaned back to savour his wine.
The End.