Chapter 7: Carry Out and Carry On!
Stark landed on the terrace. Extending his arms, he walked towards the patio door. With each step, a piece of his Iron Man suit flew off until he was completely divested of the armor. Entering the living room, he stared at the disaster that greeted his arrival.
"JARVIS! What the hell happened here?" His gaze swept through the room. Piles of plates were stacked everyone with remnants of all manner of take-out food imaginable. Several empty bottles of champagne had joined the bottles of Mirkwood wine his guests had arrived with. But there was absolutely no sign of his guests.
"I am sorry, sir. They were watching the movies as you suggested, and when they requested a meal, I offered take-out menus. They ordered one of everything, I believe."
"ONLY one?" Stark stared at the mess. "It looks like they ordered from every take-out place in New York."
"Actually, not quite every one, but they did try every style of cuisine available. They wished to sample the dishes of Earth. You said to keep them occupied."
"Right… so where are they?" He picked up a chicken leg from a bucket on the table and began to gnaw on it. "Sleeping this repast off?" Picking up a bottle of champagne, he peered into it. Seeing it wasn't completely empty, he searched until he found a clean glass and poured himself a glass.
"Not precisely. They…"
"Must be drunk as skunks! They drank everything!" Stark exclaimed as he finished his inspection of his bar area, discovering almost every bottle was empty. He tossed the partially eaten chicken leg onto a pile of plates.
"Unfortunately, alcohol does not appear to affect them as it does humans. They were rather coherent when they finished the last movie."
"What did they watch?" Stark picked up a box of Thai takeout. Finding a pair of chopsticks, he munched on the contents.
"All three of the extended editions of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and the three Hobbit movies."
Stark's eyebrows lifted. "ALL of them?"
"Yes, and Mr. Thranduil, excuse me, I mean Lord Thranduil was rather upset."
"And why was Lord Thranduil upset?" Stark asked.
"He said they made a mistake and he wanted to speak to Mr. Jackson."
"Mr. Jackson?" Stark looked confused.
"Peter Jackson," Pepper's voice came from the hallway.
"When did you get back?" Stark turned to face her.
"About a half hour ago. I've been cleaning the office. They made a bit more of a mess in there," Pepper replied.
"Office? Why are they in my office?" Stark asked.
"I explained to them that Mr. Jackson had adapted the movies from the books. They insisted they wanted to read them. I believe they were attempting to find them online," Jarvis' voice answered before Pepper could.
"So they are reading the books online then?"
"No, they discovered there were stores for books."
"Are you saying they went shopping?" Stark asked, suspicion that his guests had departed creeping into his mind.
"Yes."
"Jarvis! I give you one thing! ONE thing to do… keep them occupied while I find out what is going on, and you lose them?" Stark shouted.
"I have not exactly lost them. I have been tracking them since they departed. They are currently in the Barnes and Noble bookstore in Times Square."
"How long ago did they leave?"
"Approximately an hour ago."
Stark rolled his eyes. "They've been loose on New York for over an hour?"
"Indeed."
"I cannot believe how much that man looked like me. He was quite good looking, don't you think?" Thranduil tossed his long hair as he spoke.
"He did look like you," Loki agreed as they walked along the sidewalk.
Tauriel rolled her eyes.
People gave them little notice, but did yield the space to the two tall men followed by the two women. Whether it was the armor or their imposing attitudes that caused this effect, it was difficult to say. The appearance of four strangely dressed people did not impact the residents of New York.
"I still do not quite understand this movie thing. How can they tell what happened when they clearly were not there? The elves contributed far more to that battle than what this Mr. Jackson said. And that beast! I would never ride a beast such as that!" Thranduil exclaimed. "What type of creature was that?"
Loki shrugged. "Not familiar with the creatures from Middle Earth… or this place either."
"I thought you said you wanted to rule here?" Sif spoke with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
"The mortals, not the creatures," Loki replied. "Maybe they will know at this bookstore."
"How much farther? Do we know where we are going exactly?" Tauriel asked.
"Jarvis said it was in the Square of Time, sounds like a magical place. Perhaps we can go back to Middle Earth from there?" Thranduil mused.
Loki paused, seeing two police officers ahead. "Let us ask the guards of the park. They can direct us." He approached the two uniformed men. "Good day. I am hoping you can direct us. We are looking for the Barn of the Nobles in the Square of Times. I believe it is a place where they store books."
The two officers frowned for a moment, then one smiled. "Ah, Barnes and Nobles. Right. Just keep walking along this street for four blocks, turn right and you can't miss it."
"Thank you," Loki took of in the direction they had indicated followed by the others.
"Tourists!" the second officer smirked as they walked past him.
"The Barn of the Nobles… what a silly name for a place to sell books. One would expect horses or other creatures in a barn, not books," Thranduil commented as they continued down the street.
"Indeed," Loki turned right at the fourth block and paused. "Ah, there it is!" He pointed across the street to a building. "Although it appears that Jarvis was wrong about the name, it is Barnes and Noble. Curious name… barns and nobles… they have an odd way of spelling things here, and stranger names for places to store books."