Well, on the bright side, I made a Loki!Wednesday. On the down side, I missed a week. Oops, sorry about that, things have been a bit hectic!
Thanks for all the continued reviews & favorites!
The final inspiration for his nanobot suit came to Tony just as he was being anesthetized for his surgery, and he could only gurgle incoherently as darkness descended. Luckily, his brain was rarely inactive and the moment he started to come around it came back to him, more fully formed than before.
"Tony?" Pepper's voice drifted into his awareness as he blinked his eyes open. "Tony? Can you hear me?"
"Is he waking up?" Rhodey questioned.
"I think so," Pep replied. "Hey there, how are you feeling?"
"Tablet," Tony croaked out just as soon as he was able to focus on her.
Rhodey snorted. "Clearly, he's fine."
"Tony," Pepper admonished. "You've just come out of major surgery, you should be resting, not working."
"Idea," Tony tried to explain. "Inspiration... not lose."
"How about a deal?" Rhodey offered. "Five minutes for you to jot some notes down and then you rest?"
"Rhodey!" Pepper exclaimed, even as Tony shot his friend a betrayed look.
Rhodey-bear was supposed to be on his side!
"You know how he gets with ideas, Pepper," Rhodey defended. "Do you want him resorting to using his blood on the sheets in order to keep from forgetting it?"
Blood on the sheets? He might be eccentric, but even for him that was a little too far.
Kinda. Sorta.
Okay, so it wasn't. So sue him, Tony couldn't let inspiration like this go. It was far too important for everyone!
"Fine," Pepper caved, looking back to him. "But only five minutes!"
Tony scowled, but he knew he was in no position to argue as, no doubt, his doctor had already been summoned. Five minutes was better than nothing, and he could get back to it as soon as Pepper and Rhodey left. There was such a thing as visiting hours, after all.
"Fine," he muttered, grasping Pepper's tablet as soon as it was handed to him.
He had a new document open in seconds and began furiously scribbling away. This would work, Tony was certain of it, and the best part was that this surgery had not been able to reconstruct his whole chest, so he'd have the perfect place to store some housing for the nanobots, ensuring he always had them with him.
Oh, the things he could do now that he had solved his greatest obstacle to creating a nanobot suit! He almost didn't have enough attention to hold all of the individual options. Why, he'd be able to have parts that came away from his suit and could act almost independently and-
"Tony!"
The admonishment came just as the tablet was pulled from his hands and Tony glared up at Rhodey, outraged.
"Your five minutes are more than up," Rhodey replied, unmoved.
"But-" Tony protested.
"But nothing," Pepper interrupted. "Be happy I didn't make it twelve percent of five minutes."
Tony winced. He really would have to find a way of making that up to Pep or he'd be hearing of it until they were both old and gray.
Any further protests he might have made were cut off as the door to his room opened and Dr. Strange walked in.
"Hey, Doc," Tony smiled, knowing the nickname pissed Strange off. "Did those magic fingers of yours get all of the shrapnel?"
"Of course," Strange replied haughtily. "I don't make mistakes or do second rate work."
The implication that he did annoyed Tony. Strange was just jealous that he was richer than him.
A combination of whining and having in-house doctors on call twenty-four seven got Tony out of the hospital faster than he might otherwise have, and he insisted he be dropped off on the couch in the Avengers common area.
Some of the others quickly came out to greet him and see how he was doing.
"Anything on Karnilla?" Tony asked Steve.
"No, it's like she vanished into thin air," Cap replied.
"Well, she had said she was just here as part of a deal with Loki. Maybe what happened ended her obligations."
"We can only hope."
"And how's Loki been?"
Tony had, of course, had JARVIS keep a close eye on Little Prince, both to ensure his safety from SHIELD, but also on the off chance that this was all an elaborate trick. He still highly doubted it, but at least this way he could prove he was taking all of the necessary precautions if required to do so.
Still, it didn't hurt to get another opinion.
"Fine," Steve replied. "I'll be the first to admit I don't know much of kids, but he's been really well behaved and he seems quite curious about innocent things."
"Things the adult version would already know?" Tony asked.
"Yeah. Though he has also inquired about all of us too."
"Makes sense, as far as he's concerned we're his... what does Thor always call us? Shield brothers?"
"That's what I thought too, and he seemed happy with what he knew before. A lot of the rest has been info he's asked of Thor about the status of Ásgarðr and the rest of the Nine."
"I bet Natasha and SHIELD were thrilled about that."
Steve laughed. "Were they ever."
Yet, even then, none of it was terribly sensitive Tony knew from what JARVIS had told him. It was simply revelatory to them as Thor genuinely seemed to be allergic to politics, which was odd in a crown prince.
"Speaking of both, how have they been around Mini-Me?" Tony asked.
"Mini-Me?"
The lost look on Cap's face was rather adorable.
"Ask JARVIS to play you Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me later."
"Oh, okay. And fine. I mean I have redirected the conversation once or twice, but though he's young, Loki's still quite smart and seems to know better than to discuss certain things."
Which was more than Thor managed at times, though given all they had learned about Ásgarðr as of late, Tony was not particularly averse to using that to their advantage. Thor was an adult, Loki was not. At least not right now.
"Sir, the two princes Óðinnson are in the elevator now, approaching your location," JARVIS informed them.
"Thanks, J," Tony replied.
"If you don't mind, I'll leave you to them, there's an errand I need to run," Steve said.
"Sure, go, go, I'll be fine."
"Okay, I'll see you later."
"Ba-bye," Tony responded, listening to Cap exchange greetings with Thor and Loki as they passed each other.
"Man of Iron!" Thor boomed as the brothers Óðinnson moved to his side. "I am pleased to see you once more."
"It's good to see you too, Buddy," Tony replied, before glancing at Loki. "Hello to you too, Little Prince."
Mini-Rock of Ages frowned at him. "That seems far too literal a kenning given your other ones."
Oh, Loki was calling him out on giving him a bad nickname?
Cheeky bastard.
"It's actually a reference. JARVIS can read the book to you if you want, it's called Little Prince by some French dude," Tony explained.
"Antoine de Saint-Exupéry," JARVIS supplied, helpfully.
"Yeah, him."
Loki gave him a rather impressive unimpressed look and Tony nearly cackled.
"Please excuse Sir's behavior, he is still on heavy painkillers," JARVIS said.
Oops, had he actually cackled?
"Were you injured?" Loki asked. "Is that why you had to see the healers?"
"I was injured five years ago," Tony replied. "But it wasn't until now that I've had it fully taken care of."
"Friend Banner spoke of it," Thor said. "He mentioned metal shards were near your heart."
"Yep. It's why I had the arc reactor in my chest, to keep them out of my heart."
"The healers could not remove them before?" Little Prince frowned.
"They could have, but I hadn't wanted them to."
"Why not?"
"Because it was a major operation and those can always go wrong, which would have killed me."
A rather alarmed expression flashed across Loki's face and even Thor looked perturbed.
"This was dangerous?" Point Break demanded.
Tony merely nodded.
"Then why do it?" Little Prince asked.
"Because you pointed out it could also be a major weakness."
"Me?"
"Yeah, a few weeks ago, before Karnilla. You pointed out if anything went wrong with my arc reactor, I'd die."
Loki nodded slowly. "Aye, I see. Was I aware of the dangers of this... operation?"
"Nope, but your point remained a good one, so I decided it was worth the risk."
Tony wasn't entirely sure, but the little, pint-sized god seemed startled at this. It would make sense if he were right about the family dynamic up in Ásgarðrland.
"We should hold a feast to celebrate!" Thor declared. "Where are the others?"
"Uh, I think Clint's in the kitchen," Tony replied.
"Excellent."
With that, Thor moved off and Tony was actually rather glad to be left alone with Little Prince. Even if the little guy was currently frowning at him.
"What's wrong?" Tony asked.
"Why are you still receiving pain relief if you have been released by the healers? Are they not good at their trade?"
Huh? Oh, right, they probably had all kinds of fancy healing shit up in Ásgarðr.
"Look, kiddo, I don't know what medicine is like where you come from, but here on Earth when someone undergoes major surgery, we need time to heal and recuperate from it afterwards," Tony explained. "Even with the best doctors in the world."
"Why?"
"Because our bodies need to heal the incisions."
The look of utter horror and shock that crossed Loki's face made Tony fear the little guy was going to faint.
"They cut into you?" mini-Reindeer Games demanded.
"Uh, yeah, surgery, like I said," Tony replied, a little mystified. "How did you think they got the shrapnel out?"
"After so much time, with the original wounds already healed? Seiðr, of course."
Oh, right, magic. Of course. Why hadn't he thought of that? Silly him.
"Wait, so are all of your healers witches or wizards?" Tony asked.
He could only imagine Strange's face if he told him that!
"Mages," Loki corrected. "Witch has other connotations."
"Ah."
Tony filed the information away for later, right now he had other priorities.
"As for your question, aye, of course," Loki continued. "How else are they to heal?"
Tony nearly laughed. "When I'm better, we should have a chat with Bruce as he's practiced some medicine and he'd be fascinated with whatever you might know of how your... healers work."
Loki made a vague noise of assent, a distracted expression on his face as he gazed at Tony's chest. He had to resist the urge to raise a hand to cover the area the arc reactor had been. The operation had been a complete success and he'd done it precisely not to feel vulnerable in situations like this.
Seemed like it would take his mind a little longer to catch up to reality.
"May I make you a healing potion?" Loki finally asked.
"A healing potion?"
"Aye."
Now it was Tony's turn to frown. "What will it do?"
"Help you heal," Loki replied. "Speed up your own natural mechanisms thereof."
"Are you sure it's safe for humans?"
"Aye, 'tis one known to be safe for all species in the Nine," Loki nodded. "'Tis why Mother taught it to me, as she knew it would always be of use."
And because she knew the truth of her son's species, no doubt.
"What's in it?" Tony inquired.
On the one hand, he knew how inadvisable it was to play human guinea pig in a situation like this, yet, on the other hand, it might mean not needing to spend weeks taking it easy and having his time in the lab restricted just when he'd had his major nanotech breakthrough and he wanted to spend all of his time up there!
"Sir, may I advise you-" JARVIS began.
"Ah!" Tony interrupted with a raised finger. "I merely asked a question, J, I didn't say I'd do it."
"Of course not, Sir. You would never dream of doing something so foolhardy."
Sarcastic, mouthy, little AI.
"I like your construct's personality," Little Prince smiled. "He reminds me of you."
"Hey, I resemble that remark!" Tony protested.
"As for the potion, it contains readily available ingredients, well, unless you are on either Jötunheimr or Múspellsheimr," the little pest continued, rattling off a series of plants and herbs.
"Wait, that's it?" Tony demanded in disbelief.
They probably had all of that in the building given the botanical garden he'd had installed on the recreational floor for all Stark Industries employees. It had quite a few more exotic items, but nothing poisonous. Pep had insisted on it, though whether out of fear of a lawsuit or what he might do with them, he didn't know.
"The seiðr lies in the working of the... mage who concocts it," Loki explained.
Concocts? Working? What the hell had the little kid done, swallowed a dictionary?
"So Thor couldn't make it?" Tony inquired, curious.
"He might if he were to study the spell and he tried particularly hard, but at present? Nay, he could not."
What the hell?
"J-" Tony began.
"Sir, may I at least advise having Dr. Banner present?" JARVIS interrupted.
"He's not that kind of doctor, remember?"
Bruce had only told them about a hundred times. Generally when they requested medical aid.
"He may be interested for academic reasons."
Oh, that was a good one.
"Not this time, J," Tony replied. "Have Happy collect the stuff we need from the botanical gardens and give them to DUM-E."
"As you wish, Sir," JARVIS replied.
"Dummy?" Loki repeated with a frown.
Tony smiled. "He's my first bot, ah, construct."
"And you call him mentally deficient?"
There was absolutely no mistaking the note of censure and - was that defensiveness? - in the kid's voice. It struck a chord with Tony as no one insulted one of his bots, and to see that type of reaction from another...
"No, DUM-E as in D-U-M dash E," Tony explained. "It's an abbreviation, though I will admit the nickname stuck as he isn't the brightest of bots due to being my first construct. I made when I was still a child myself."
"You mean it affectionately."
The hesitance was still clear in Loki's tone and body language, and Tony felt anger at whatever had made Little Prince so defensive regarding criticism from what they both clearly viewed as a parental figure in this situation. He did not even need to guess where that had come from.
"Absolutely, no matter how good I might get at making AIs, DUM-E will always be my first," Tony stated, explicitly. "And for all of his faults, he's a got a good heart and he saved my life a few years ago."
The tension was mostly gone from Reindeer Games' small shoulders, but not entirely and Tony didn't like it. He wanted the tyke to like him, since he couldn't help but like little Loki.
"Think of it like how you and Thor get on," Tony continued. "I know I have heard you call him oaf more than once."
"And he, me a pest," Loki laughed, tension finally dissipating.
He did? It was one Tony had yet to hear, but he could definitely picture Thor calling his little brother that.
"And I bet you can definitely be one," Tony replied.
The smile he got was full of both mischief and innocence, though Tony was not at all certain how the kid even managed that.
"I assume this DUM-E has a physical manifestation?" Loki asked.
"Huh?"
"If... Happy is to give him some of the ingredients."
"Ah, yeah," Tony confirmed. "He's my first bot, as I said, and all of the early ones had physical bodies."
"You have several others?"
"Yep, Butterfingers and U."
Unlike most, the latter didn't even seem to faze Rock of Ages and Tony wondered if that was due to this All-Speak Thor had mentioned months ago.
"Are they all here, in the tower?"
"In my lab. If you want, I can make sure you meet the other two later."
"I would appreciate that."
Movement from the kitchen drew Tony's attention to Thor and Clint, who entered the common area carrying glass jars and a mixing bowl.
"The spirit said you required these ingredients, Brother," Thor said.
"Aye, I will make the Man of Iron a healing potion," Loki replied.
"Fantastic!"
"Potion?" Clint chuckled. "Fury's going to love this. He's already muttering about magic and the Harry Potter jokes."
"Harry Potter jokes?" Tony questioned, before inspiration struck. "Oh! Mad-Eye Moody!"
Clint struggled to keep a straight face for all of a minute, before bursting out laughing.
"Please ensure I'm present when you call him that to his face!" Legolas begged. "Or at least ensure JARVIS shows me the footage of it."
"You think he'll actually get it? I can't quite picture him either reading the books or watching the movies."
"Given all of his mutters lately, I'm sure someone has brought it to his attention."
Perhaps. They might all have been too afraid to. Tony couldn't understand it, but most people didn't dare do what he did.
A soft ding announced the arrival of the elevator and DUM-E. Little Prince looked up from where he sat at the coffee table, it's usual items shoved aside to make room for what looked like cooking ingredients.
His first bot rolled towards them, making a curious little beeping noise.
"Loki, this is DUM-E," Tony introduced.
DUM-E made a series of greeting noises as he rolled forwards and Little Prince seemed fascinated. It filled Tony with a sense of what he could only describe as paternal pride and, if he hadn't already liked the pint-sized version of the God of Mischief, this would definitely have done it.
"Hello, DUM-E," Loki greeted, moving forward towards the little bot.
DUM-E immediately held out the bag Happy must have put the ingredients into and Loki took it, absentmindedly putting it on the table as the kid looked at Tony.
"May I touch him?"
"Yeah, sure," Tony replied, even as DUM-E reached out with his own arm once more.
Tentatively, Loki reached out with a hand and touched his fingers to DUM-E's claw. The expression of intense concentration on Reindeer Games' face was adorable and Tony might have puddled if he hadn't also swelled with pride.
"Careful you don't burst there, Papa Bear," Clint needled.
"Spoilsport," Tony shot back, though with good humor just as DUM-E zapped Loki. "Hey! Behave!"
"'Tis okay," Little Prince immediately replied, petting DUM-E as if nothing had happened. "I have had far worse from Thor."
"Brother," Thor protested, flushing.
So, Ásgarðrians could blush, how interesting.
Clint laughed. "Too late, Thor, he already told us you were trigger happy in the nursery."
"I-"
"Those were hardly sparks compared to what he did during his adolescence," Loki informed them, gleefully. "He would... erupt randomly at the slightest trigger."
"Loki!"
Yes, Tony could definitely say that Ásgarðrians could blush. He'd have to add it to the file SHIELD had started to keep track of what they knew. This was important intel!
"Erupt, huh?" Clint teased.
"'Twas not so bad," Thor defended.
"Father had to intervene when Lorelei spurned his advance as he sulked for days and the lower city was about to flood," Little Prince supplied, joyfully.
Tony laughed. He could so picture a teenage Thor sulking up endless rain.
But wait...
"How much older are you than Loki, Thor?" Tony demanded.
"Fifty years, why?" Thor asked.
Tony's eyes swiveled back to Little Prince who had frozen with a startled expression on his face.
"I should not be recollecting you in your adolescence," Reindeer Games stated. "'Tis after the age I appear to be."
Yeah, that.
Oh, look, both of my active fics have a cliffhanger. I promise this wasn't planned, but I love it nonetheless! 😇😈
So, some more changes, followed by banter that (I hope) is fun in & of itself, but also furthers the plot. Plus a bonus Harry Potter reference.
Also, please remember what I mentioned before; I brought Dr. Strange into this more tongue-in-cheek rather than anything else. I know he's a neurosurgeon, but the fact that he was still practicing medicine at this time was too good to leave. And I have no regrets regarding the reference to magical fingers 😂
As this is still a WIP, I'm sure you'll be glad to know that I recently had quite the writing spurt on it. No doubt it was greatly aided along by having this little guy ([triple w. photo sharing site with an I.] com [forward slash] p [forward slash] B [underscore] r8y3SFN3F) on the desk with me! So inspiring and cute