Chapter 15: Everything Ends well
"Well, that definitely went better than expected. Your mother is really a strong woman for sentencing her own husband like that." Phil commented when they all were finally back on Midgard/Earth and preparing something to eat for the others in the kitchen.
"That she is and I am sure that she will be better in ruling Asgard alone for now than Odin ever was. I'm glad that she decided to stay on the throne for some time so that Thor, Loki and I could still explore Earth some more and spend a few more years here." Tony said as he cut the vegetables for the soup he was making while Phil and Loki made a gigantic bowl of salad – they had to feed three gods, one super solider, one man that had a great appetite because of his alter ego, one assassin with a high metabolism because of the experiments she had to go through as a child, Clint also could eat for two without having a higher metabolism; Nick, Happy, Yinsen and Phil had (luckily) a normal appetite but still, it was a lot of food they had to make.
Bruce was preparing some homemade bread to go along with the soup and Steve was cutting some meat for the soup, everyone else was lounging in the kitchen without standing in the way of those preparing the food. They could really count themselves lucky that Tony had counted on something like this and made a floor with a gigantic kitchen in his tower.
"I agree with you Tony. I am sure mother can lead Asgard wonderfully but I will make sure to visit her often so that I may be able to shoulder some of the burden."
"Spoken like a future king! It is a wonder what your stay on Mid- I mean Earth- has done to your personality Thor." Loki praised his oldest brother who beamed at the Trickster God for said praise.
"Thank you brother, your words are too kind."
"I think it was pretty interesting to see how Asgardians party!" Clint quipped into the lulled conversation from his spot on the big fridge.
Natasha snorted slightly from her spot on the chair. "Of course you would comment on that and not on how Director Fury stepped forward and accused the king in his face."
"Natasha, I told you that you can call me Nick when we are not working. Besides, when I can't punch a god in the face without threatening to shatter the bones in my hands then I will at least show him what I think of him." Nick said confidently with his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall near the door.
"Couldn't have said it any better." Happy agreed and Yinsen nodded while they were preparing the table with plates, spoons and everything else they needed to eat.
"Okay guys enough of that! Move your asses to the table and sit down because we are ready." Tony interrupted as he picked up the pot with the soup to place it on the table to make it easier to take seconds and thirds (or fourth).
Everyone quickly moved to sit down and when everyone had something to eat quiet conversation started in small groups. Suddenly Clint spoke up after having talked about something with Nick, Yinsen and Happy (Natasha had listened in but hadn't added anything to the talk). "So Tony…"
Tony who had just put a spoonful of soup in his mouth just answered with an "Mmh?"
An innocent expression came over the archers face and Tony didn't like the look. Not one bit.
"When are you and Phil planning the wedding?"
Tony began to cough violently because he had choked on the soup at the question. Phil gently patted on Tony's back and shot Clint a look that said 'that's non of your damn business Barton!'.
When Tony finally could breath normally again without risking another coughing fit, he decided to glare at his friend and echoed what Phil's eyes had already said. "Non of your damn business Barton!"
Clint acted as if the answer had hurt him deeply and held his hands over his heart. "Oh you wound me with your cold attitude. I just wanted to know as a good friend so that I could prepare something in time and not do last minute wedding shopping for you two!"
Tony was seriously contemplating if he should just transform Clint into one of his beloved bows but then his other half spoke up – seemed like the question had drawn the attention of everyone present (great! Not!). "I do must say brother that the answer to this question would interest me too."
The god of inventions groaned and put his head in his hands. "Not you too Loki! Phil and I only started dating before the whole Tesseract incident and we haven't even spoken about it, yet! Not even once!"
As Phil cleared his throat after Tony's mini explosion, everyone's attention turned to him and he slowly stood up from his chair only to go down on his knee before Tony – who was now trying not to blush furiously and hyperventilate at what this position would mean (at the blushing part he was clearly failing but luckily not the hyperventilating one, but that probably was because gods couldn't really hyperventilate).
Meanwhile Phil pulled out a ring out of a hidden pocket, held it up and said those words that Tony had secretly longed to hear from him for a long time. "Tiǫrvi 'Tony' Stark, would you give me the honour to spent the rest of our lives together with me?"
Tears pricked at the corner of Tony's eyes and he smiled gently (but with such an amount of love behind it that it could rival the sun without a problem). "Yes. Yes of course!"
Phil slipped the ring on Tony's finger and they kissed. Their friends began clapping – and in Happy and Clint's case wolf-whistling.
When their lips parted Tony looked at the ring now adorning his finger:
The ring was a silver band, ingrained with similar symbols Tony had engraved decades ago on the bracelet Phil was constantly wearing. Tony shot his brother a quick glance who slightly shook his head. Who then? Of course! Mother! He smiled inwardly at the hindsight of his mother. He would have to make sure to make her a present that said thank you many times over, especially since Tony recognized the symbols on the ring as such that would let the partner of this ring live at least as long as wearer of the first (Tony's) ring. So even when Phil wouldn't eat a golden apple he would be able to life as long as Tony and after slipping his ring on for the first time it would not be a problem if he lost it or if it broke or if he just took it of because the magic Frigga had woven in it was truly a piece of art in this. They would have their happily ever after (as cheesy as it sounded) for a long time if Tony had anything to say about that and maybe he could convince his friends, his second family, if they would honour him with their presence for a few centuries more (but then with the help of the golden apples).
Phil kissed him again, breaking Tony out of his musings and he looked into his lover's, his future husband's beautiful eyes. Yes he was happy here on Midgard and his mother would be overwhelmed with thank you gifts for this if Tony had any say in it.
So, this was the last chapter. Hope you guys liked it despite its shortness but I just didn't know what to write anymore and wanted to finally finish it. Funny how something that was just a small idea can grow into my longest story yet... :)