50 Shades of Tony
By Rey

Chapter 24
Tony Stark and His Version of Family Bonding

Warnings for:
Piece 577: Heavy Teens: Violence, Implied/Referenced Sexual Content
Piece 579: Teens: Temporary Character Death
Piece 580: Teens: Temporary Character Death
Piece 590: Teens: Mild Swearing

Ýmirheim, End of December 2015

568. Fling
Tony flings himself into the nest, nearly on top of a dozing Fié+babies, once all legalities for the – previously semi-fake – "home for special children" are finally finalised. Lockwood's tweaked his will, too, bequeathing custody of his assets – and Maisie – until Maisie's of age to "the Avengers." And now, Tony's knackered.

569. Rank
Owen Grady, US navy animal behaviourist and trainer, now ranked captain, and former island-park expert, wants to visit Fié's homeworld to observe the wildlife there. Tony agrees but stipulates that he not report anything there to anybody in any way, except by Fié's fully willing permission, with death as penalty.

570. Maid
Nests are so private for the milaðen that nobody other than the nest-family can drop in without expressed permission of the nestlings – the ones nesting there. Ýmirheim's monarch's nest is no exception to that, hence no cleaning maids, and Fié's making Tony clean up his accumulated mess now. `Joy….`

571. Collection
3 "womb-children," 2 semi-womb-children (`And what a freaky situation it was from story alone!`), 5 "kin-children," 8 foster children including Wu's imprinted hybrid-children (`Their parents – or grandparent – are better grateful!`), 10 surviving hybrid-children from Isla Sorna, and Tony's got quite the collection of children he must look out for. `Uh….`

572. Doodle
Tony's so distracted by his lists that he isn't quite aware of his surroundings. It's the only reason why there are colourful doodles on various places on his skin now, adding to the natural striped, braidd, shaped and wavy silvery lines there. Still, he glares at the – literally red-handed – culprits.

573. Hunting
"Maybe you can take the children hunting?" Fié – the ring-leader – offers hopefully when Tony glares at them last. An unimpressed look answers them. "Herding? Or swimming in the lake?" they persist anyway, nervouser. And he pounces on them for a well-deserved tickle torture, in answer, far from the babies.

574. Guard
Tony forgot to guard himself from anybody other than a giggling-and-squirming Fié. As the result, the other to-be-punished culprits managed to creep up close. Now they pounce on him, freeing the other parent from torment. Then, predictably, Fié retaliates…. It's a free-for-all mess of flailing limbs and giggly noises, next.

Stark Tower, New York, United states, End of December 2015

575. Owe
Life seems to balance the very good with the very bad right next to each other in Tony's life. Right now, for example: Knowing – somehow – that he's back in the tower, people queue in front of his office, with more-or-less the same demand – for things they say he "owes" them.

576. Querulous
Being called querulous for not obeying somebody else's every wish is off-putting, to say the least. Being called unreasonable for losing temper for that is unreasonable on itself. And Tony has to point these out in detail on each of the occasions, which are numerous. Then, they call him bratty….

*577. Slap
Watching Pepper slap one of the offenders is immensely satisfying. Punching the guy's goons into unconsciousness with one hit is even better. Airing the guy's outrageous, alarming demands anonymously and getting lots of sympathy for the plight is the best of all. Then Fié drops in for mature-rated activities…. Bestest.

578. Cradle
"You never tell me when you need to relax. I always have to find about it from another source," Fié says carefully when Tony's totally putty in their cradling arms. He snorts, snuggles deeper and mumbles, "Ssssh. 'Plaint 'ceived 'n' set 'side. Y'never tell me too, n'way."

Ýmirheim, January 2016

*579. Thrice
Tony wakes up in a totally different place from where he was; nauseated, achy, exhausted, and surrounded by… grieving people? "Huh?" he tries to complain, but no sound vibrates in his – so, so, so sore – throat. Then, sobbingly, Fié begs, "Twice you died and thrice you live…. No more, please."

*580. Understand
From secondhand, somewhat jumbled account plus muddled personal recollection, Tony figures that he's been poisoned by some consumable-looking thing in his tower that – fatally – didn't agree with his new constitution. He doesn't understand why'd people be concerned for him, still, given his… first?… life being a "traitor to the throne."

581. Ocean
Fié carts Tony to the balcony of his sickroom the moment he feels well enough to sit up and move a hand. And below, as Tony hobbles slowly, painfully into view, an ocean of blue-skinned bodies breaks into raucous cheering. "Uh, why'd they do that? I did nothing worthy."

582. Isolated
"We have been isolated since the war, for various reasons, and you helped us to reach out… be more like what we used to be… something that I could not do, on my own," Fié admits when Tony asks, once they're away from the balcony, back in his hospital prison.

583. Help
"You've been their glue, all this time," Tony points out when he recovers his breath and energy back from the small trip. "Like Pepper with our companies, all this time. Much help. I… don't usually pay much attention to things. She's been harping 'bout that. So… umm, help? Please?"

584. Moment
Fié huffs out a brittle chuckle. "We were having a serious moment about Ýmirheim and you veered off to rambling about somebody else, elsewhere," they complain, semi-seriously. Tony gives them an exasperated look, more than half-seriously. "Was trying to ask for help, like you wanted, and you complained 'bout it."

585. Lunch
Fié shoves a spoonful of… something… into Tony's half-agape mouth before he can say anything else. "Your 'lunch'," they say when Tony glares at them, mouth full. Swallowing the – admitedly tasty – goo only results in another spoon in his mouth, though, not freedom, and Fié's even blocked their mind link.

586. Negotiation
Negotiation after the 'lunch' is intense, hard, and emotionally charged. Fié wants Tony to remove himself and his responsibilities completely to Ýmirheim. Tony wants to explore the universe while still basing himself on Earth. At the end, they settle with – sizable – permanent milaða guard detail for Tony wherever he goes.

587. Perfect
Tony's debating about the dilemma of whether he'd be willing to be poisoned again to get a free, attentive, cuddly massage from Fié that hits all the spots with all the sensual comfort that he craves, like he's presently experiencing. Then again, this is almost too perfect to be real….

588. Fat
"Why's there no fat kids here? Haven't you solved the food production and distribution thing?" Tony asks in the lull between petitions as he accompanies Fié in the audience chamber. Fié shakes their head. "We grow big, not grow fat, usually. And recovering from the losses has been… hard, slow."

589. Roof
If Tony didn't know better, he'd claim the milaðen way as living in poverty. Roofs, walls and even worldly possessions are optional, since people are so used to water-based things – both living in them and using them – and Ýmirheim is practically soaked in such things. Family, on the other hand….

*590. Singe
Presently, Tony's finding out how uncomfortable it is to smith metals while being blue-skinned. The heat, the fire sparks, the metal splash-droplets, the stabbing glances of bright light on metallic surfaces…. Even worse, being singed now feels like getting a third-degree burn. `Oh damn crap fuck hell – that hurts!`

591. Tool
Facing a furiously frightened Fié is just as unpleasant as the singeing incident. So, Tony, the escape artist that he is after so many kidnapping attempts throughout his life, deploys this finely honed skillset of his. This time, his escape tool's composed of, among others, a convenient jar of glitters.

592. Equivalent
A huge hunk of a milaða drops lightly beside Tony as he's hunkered by a cliff-sheltered water hole. "Whom is Ýto fleeing from?" There's a clear, wavering note of laughter in their voice; the milaðen's equivalent of grinning mischievously, since showing teeth is interpretable as either aggression or lust.

593. beggar
Tony lifts his eyes from the water hole to glare at the intruder, but then gapes instead. The giantly giant's dressed like a beggar, and they even smell like one, despite their size and general mannerism. But their eyes, their face…. "Do I know you?" he swallows. `Why so similar?`

594. Wander
The stranger tries to wander to a different topic, when Tony asks why they look alike, at least facially. They even tries to wander away in truth, when he persists. But, at last, Tony gets what he wants to know… and he doesn't know whether to try to un-know it.

595. Range
Farvangr. Youngest and only surviving womb-sibling of Farbauti. Target of general ire and persecution, post-war. The only "sane" sibling under the "tender" care of a ruthless, power-hungry mother. Raised mostly by Farbauti. Saved because of it. And Tony thought he got the full-range version of his insane "past life" already….

596. Quality
Tony looks at the huge… little sibling?… up and down and even sidewise. The hints that he sees from them clash terribly. Horrible-quality loincloth and hygiene, high-quality built seldom seen in his travels here, terrific-quality intelligence and humour despite the centuries of ill will directed at them…. So he asks.

597. Honour
"The Monarch is not honour-bound to protect Ava," the giantly giant says, slowly, with their eyes far, far away. "Was Ýto informed? – It was a marriage of spouses, not clans, so Ava was not included in the claiming of the Royal House. But Ýto Fié set aside… things, anyway, discreetly."

598. Shelter
"Ava could not find shelter in the palace. It would only endanger Ýto Fié and the Monarch's standing in such delicate time. The palace would only remind Ava of Ýto, too. But Ava was – is – always nearby, in various disguises. Ýto's last request was… for Ava… to guard Ýto Fié."

599. Gaudy
Tony thought to lift the giant's spirit up by turning into his gaudy self. But now, he must deal with a sobbing, blubbery mountain of unwashed muscles instead. Then he finds that, for Farbauti, being gaudy and larger-than-life was both a defence mechanism and their only way to joke. `Creepy….`

600. Engine
The sound of spaceskiff engines rumble-keening rapidly closer tells Tony who's finally catching up to him. The royal guards pouring out, followed by Týo's team, clinches it. So it's not a surprise at all when Fié trots out last. The high-tech empty stretcher that follows them, though…. "I'm okay, Fié."

601. Office
The nest-turned-private-office setting is totally not Tony's favourite. But he understands that matters related to him – including his last "antics" (`Damn you, Fié. I'm not a kid!`) – have set the Monarch back a lot regarding "essential realm-wide recovery." Just… sometimes… he wants to crunch that lofty, big-worded prat small, paper-ball-like.

602. Monarch
Fié for once forbids Tony from accompanying them to the audience chamber. "Ava," likewise. And Tony wishes he didn't think to eavesdrop…. Petitioners – of the same ilk, it seems – are requesting that the Monarch "terminate their traitorous former spouse." `How long has this been going? Why didn't they tell me?`

603. Pain
Confronting Fié dead-on when they're back in the nest only makes them fold deeper into themself. It goes worse when they're trying to breastfeed the babies and barely gets out any milk. `Stress-induced dryness, Ýto,` Ava informs him gently, mentally, while Fié's an imploding ball of pain in his arms.

604. Tell
"Tell each other. No big or possibly harmful secret. No omission." It's the new deal that Tony and Fié make, on a magically binding contract no less, with a mental poke that escalates to pinching harder and harder on escalating breaching. Anga – the suggester – is a good mediator, apparently….

605. Crunch
Number-crunching for the queendom in Ýmirheim setting always takes time to adjust, given the different measurements, the scope of the covered areas, and even the shapes of the numbers and letters themselves. Tony likes it best, though, compared to taking complaints. Seated beside Fié in the throneroom, he number-crunches away.

606. Doable
Grady wants to borrow Tony's stealth-suit, for protection against extreme temperatures and dangerous animals during the wildlife observation. It's doable, but takes another contract before Tony agrees and transports him to Ýmirheim. Then Fié got an idea to make an Earth-compatible book on Ýmirheim – culture, flora, fauna and all.

607. Change
"It'd mean a big change here, y'know," Tony cautions on the book idea. "I'm not the only explorer out there. You sure we're ready to receive tourists? What about safety and security? I don't want this place to turn into a kill-zone like the island-park. It'd quickly go intergalactic!"

608. Acrid
The acrid fumes from burning materials are even more unpleasant on milaða nose, Tony's finding out, as he's trying to return some power to Ýmirheim without "the Anchor," AKA "the Casket of Ancient Winters" that Thor once talked about, which Asgardians took during the last war and keep ever since.

609. Option
"Wish the arc reactor's an option," Tony grumbles when, even using the thing that formerly kept him alive, the ambient magic still feels rather unstable. Fié just shakes their head and spirits him away from his workshop, first, but then says, "Your arc reactor generates power, Afa, not stabilising it."

610. Hug
Fié goes bug-eyed as Tony hugs them long and fiercely for the brilliant, problem-solving info. He's confused about the reaction, at first, but then, "I never hugged you, didn't I? Sorry. My parents…. They never encouraged things like this. My peers liked my money and status more than me, too."

611. Never
On the topic of families, Fié apologises to Tony about never telling him of his "family" here until he met one himself. It's Tony who goes bug-eyed, now. People seldom apologise to him; unprompted, sincerely, with no additional motivation. He tells Fié that, then promptly tries to escape the mushiness.