Edited: Sep/8/2013
WARNING: some language/ violence.
Disclaimer: I do not in anyway own these characters. All rights belong to Marvel etc. I also do not own Pop-tarts
NOTE: The words in Italics that are not contained in "" [and that stand alone, not in a sentence] are the characters thoughts and not intended for others to overhear. [ although it does sometimes happen.]
The words in "Italics" are a conversation intended to be heard between the 'mind link'.
Chapt 6
(Until Death Do Us Part)
After Tony's unsuccessful attempts to drag Loki, Thor lifted the god's frail body over one shoulder.
Tony sulkily directed Thor to his own bedroom, side-stepping the new pile of ceiling. The larger god carefully dropped his brother into the bed, gently touching his pale cheek with the back of a hand. He gingerly sat down beside Loki, his eyes not moving from his sleeping brother.
"Son of Stark, would you tell me where the two of you have been, and why my brother is in such a condition?" Thor's tone was calm, but Tony could sense the anger and concern underneath it.
Tony gestured for Thor to follow him back out into the ruined living room. He threw himself on a couch, coughing either from dust that had collected for over a year, or from Thor's recent ceiling remodeling. Closing his eyes for a moment, he enjoyed the glorious feeling of cushions underneath him.
He felt Thor sit nearby. The floor shook.
"Man of Iron, I know you are exhausted, but I desire to know more," Thor said.
Tony sighed and sat up, looking Thor over with a critical eye. The god looked nearly as beat as Loki, his eyes shadowed with the same dark crescents.
"You were out looking for your brother every day, huh?" Tony gave him a sad smile. "I'm sorry for acting so nonchalant about this but... that's how I handle things. Plus, it's only been a few days for us. It's a little hard to wrap my head around the fact that it's been a year for all of you."
Tony paused when he realized that the two of them didn't know a thing about one another. Thor didn't understand Tony's need for sarcasm or light-hearted remarks.
He ran a hand down his face and grumbling, "Look, Blondie, your brother saved my ass by bringing me to his Smurf planet. As you heard, his brain got Hulked enough for him to come back to what's left of his senses. Apparently when we arrived I was out of it for a few days. After I woke up I saw that your brother had taken the grunt of the damage in the fall. He was in bad shape, I mean really bad... I mean like limbs going in the wrong direction and shit." Tony faltered as he saw Thor's eyebrows furrow in pain.
He instinctively reached out and patted the god's shoulder. "I know. It was scary to me too, regardless that he was an enemy to me, like, a day before. "
Thor's face lit up as he bellowed happily, "It is nice that you have grown to care for my dear brother! I had hopes that someone other than I would be there for him!"
Tony waved his arms frantically and put a finger to his lips. "Shhh, geez, use your inside voice!"
Thor made a noise rather like a horse and Tony continued on, a little quieter.
"It took a while, you know, for him to heal. Then we were here and you came smashing through my roof before I could even enjoy the luxury of having one again." Tony glared at the god.
Thor looked down at his hands sheepishly. "You have my deepest apologies, Son of Stark, I did not know anyone other than Loki was here. I only sensed his magic and came as fast as Mjölnir could carry me." He rubbed the palms of his hands together before looking back at Stark seriously.
"You speak of a few days spent there and a short journey," he said. "I know of the time distortion between our realms, but a year is unexplainable."
"That is something your brother may be able to explain better than me. I already freaked out at him about it and he sort of... freaked out back." Tony closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Apparently the energy he used from the portal was corrupted or some shit like that. I honestly don't even think he knows. I wouldn't bring it up right away; he was almost crying about it." Tony smiled a little at the memory of the god pressed into him.
He felt the tension in his body release suddenly, and his eyes refused to reopen.
How is it, just thinking about being close to Loki was this relaxing?
Something is wrong about that.
That's like feeling relaxed with a porcupine.
Tony giggled at his own thoughts as he dozed off, muttering, "Loki is one quill short of a porcupine... his... hair."
Thor raised an eyebrow as the mortal beside him fell asleep. He felt conflicted about Stark's closeness to his brother. On the one hand, Stark may be one of the few who could understand Loki. From what he had read in his file, he had similar issues with his own father, which lead to similar self destructive behavior. Although he doubted that Stark had tried to throw himself off of something like the Biofrost.
On the other hand, there was something off about the two of them. It was as though they were in their own realm where no one else existed. Thor worried that this was a connection of necessity, that their closeness would dissipate once the need for one another was gone.
The god sighed deeply and left Tony on the couch to watch his brother sleep.
Loki was wondering the halls of Jötunheim.
He had seen so little of it in his previous visits, he was unsure of where he was exactly. He was sickened at the thought that this would have been his palace, his kingdom.
There was no one here for him, no Frost Giants left to rule, no family left to call his own.
He paused at the door of a room filled with scrolls, staring inside. He felt cold, something he had never felt before.
I am never cold, I am a monster of ice.
This must be what dying feels like.
All at once, he was sitting on the floor, a scroll already in his hand. As he squinted at the writing, the words wavered in front of his eyes. The language was meaningless nonsense to him.
Impossible. I know more languages of the nine realms than Odin did. I sure as helvíti knew how to read the language of the Frost Giants.
He tried another scroll before feeling a trickle of fear sneak up his spine.
Where is Stark?
Loki jumped up and ran from the room, the floor crackling under him. Running through halls and rooms, he jumped over fallen columns, slid over ice. The halls refused to end, the light of the world seemed to dim the longer he ran. A whimper escaped his lips as the darkness pulled in around him, pressing against his body. He feels his breath catch in his throat when he hears a rustle of wings in the darkness.
I know this feeling, I know this loneliness.
The void whispers in his ear,
"Welcome back."
Loki screams.
Both Thor and Tony jerked awake at the same time to the sound of harsh, unending screams. Tony flailed his body upright, immediately falling off the couch. Cursing, he scrambled to the bedroom, slamming open the door while groggily shouting, "Lokes?!"
Thor jumped and spun around from his position by the bed, his hammer ready in his hand. His eyes met Stark's briefly before returning to his screaming brother. Tony rushed over to join Thor. "He's screaming in his sleep again?" he asked nervously.
This is worse than last time.
He can't stop.
Brushing past Thor, Tony knelt on the bed to lean close to the god's ear. Thor reached to stop Tony from moving nearer to his brother. Stark shrugged the god's hand off his shoulder.
Tony placed a hand on the Loki's chest to calm him and whispered in his ear, "Lokes, you're fine. You're not alone. You're just dreaming."
Loki's scream tapered into a whimper before it started once again.
Tony grimaced at the sound, closing his eyes.
Time to try something different.
He concentrated, forcing his thoughts into the chaos of Loki's brain.
"Loki, you need to wake up. Lokes, it's Tony.
Lokes, your brother... uh. Thor is here."
Loki's voice was growing weak and raw from his screaming.
Tony tried again,
"Wake up before we strip you naked and draw penises on your body. GOD DAMMIT LOKI, WAKE THE FUCK UP!"
Tony felt a push on his chest and suddenly he was in the air. He had time to think,
Huh.
That worked.
before his body smashed against the wall. There was an inhuman snarl from somewhere in the bed and a soft grunt in response. Tony groaned, tilting his head to see Thor struggling to hold Loki down on the bed. He stood up shakily and snuck closer to the bed, trying to find Loki's eyes. He frowned. There was too much going on.
"Loki..."
The god froze in his struggling, nearly sending Thor flying from the lack of resistance. His eyes made their way to Stark's from under one of Thor's arms. The clouds of confusion and fear cleared from his eyes. Loki managed to whisper,
"Oh, it was you."
There was pause before Loki let out a huff of laughter and rolled his eyes.
"Of course it was you," he croaked. "No one else would threaten me as you do."
Tony glanced at Thor's confused face and smiled, reaching down to help him up. They both stood and looked down at Loki. His bruises had healed completely, only leaving the constant shadows under his eyes. He still looked sickly; a sheen of sweat on his skin. His body was shaking badly. He noticed them watching him and tucked his quivering hands into his lap.
Loki's body suddenly shook hard with dry, raw coughs. Hands reaching up, he clutched his throat as a pained expression flashed across his face. Thor leant forward immediately to comfort him but was pushed away. Loki's eyes narrowed in anger at the pity on their faces as a few sparks of green drifted from his hand into his neck. Quickly, his face changed to a mask of indifference, no longer showing the pain or anger.
There was a gentle sigh before Loki appeared standing in front of them, fully dressed in new clothes. He had forgone his usual armor and leather for some sort of dull green tunic. Tony noted that he kept some leather for his pants.
His rather tight-fitting pants.
Loki smirked, watching Tony's eyes linger on his lower body. He found the mortal's fascination with his body, well...
Fascinating.
Thor, oblivious to anything passing between the two, suddenly obscured Tony's view by hugging his brother.
Loki's face went from surprise to distaste quickly, catching Stark's sarcastic "cutie" expression over his brother's shoulder.
The god rolled his eyes dramatically and thought,
" As much hatred as I feel towards him, his puppy dog eyes are far worse a torture than this. "
Tony snorted out loud, covering his mouth too late. Thor turned and looked at him.
"What is amusing, Son of Stark?" he asked. He looked between Loki and Tony and frowned. "Was he making a fool of me from behind my back?"
Loki smiled, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "You know I would never do that to you, Thor. I enjoy our loving bonding moments most of all in this cold journey we call life. "
Tony narrowed his eyes; his lips held a shadow of a smile. He threw a thought at Loki,
" Cut him some slack. He's been looking for you for a year, and before that you were supposed to be dead and all. "
Loki arched an eyebrow at Tony, crossing his arms and tucking away his still shaking hands. They stared at each other for a moment before Thor cleared his throat. "Why do we not all join in breakfast! I am sure The Man of Iron still has some food items in his house," he said.
Tony stared at the god of thunder with a look of mild amusement. "What do you assume I have? I didn't even know what I had in my house when I actually spent time here."
Loki snickered, a low purring sound. "Undoubtably, copious amounts of alcohol and little else. "
Tony crossed his arms and looks thoughtful for a moment. "You know," he said. "You're right. That's exactly what I had. "
Thor was visibly crushed at this. His shoulders sagging, he managed to mutter, "Man of Iron has not even a Pop-tart? I was told that every human had Pop-tarts within their homes."
Something pure and innocent died in his eyes. His expression was that of a child, told that Santa was not real. Tony had to turn away, biting his lip to keep from laughing.
The god of thunder was in my bedroom. Near tears.
Over Pop-tarts.
Tony felt his stomach clench and grumble at the thought of food. Although he did not consider Pop-tarts suitable for human consumption, something else might be good. His mind lost in the thoughts of food, he strode out of the room without bothering to respond to Thor. The two gods glanced at one another before following him past the rubble in the living room and into the kitchen.
Tony stuck his head in the fridge and shouted, "JARVIS! Order something for us. Order pizza, order burgers, order a buffet. "
Loki slid delicately on to a bar stool and rested his chin on his hands. Thor followed suit, the stool making a slight crunching sound under his weight. Tony gave the larger god a threatening look as he shut the fridge.
Jarvis spoke, "I have placed an order for pizza, I'm afraid I had to use your personal account in Germany seeing as your usual funds are frozen due to your alleged death. My apologies, sir. "
Tony glanced at the ceiling and scowled. "So I haven't been making any money while I was off being not dead with Gonzo here? "
While Tony continued to grumble into his fridge, Thor leaned close to Loki and muttered, "Who is 'Gonzo', was someone else with you?"
Loki as about to respond when Jarvis interrupted him, "You have ,sir, but no withdrawals are allowed on your main accounts. The only accounts available for use are your secret personal savings and the ones coupled with your company. The accounts associated with The Stark Industries have been used for the usual donations and event funding. You will find that Mrs. Smith has taken good care of everything while you were away, sir. "
Tony's eyebrows furrowed, his mind filed though a long list of names. He gave up and asked Jarvis, "Who in the hell is Mrs. Smith and why does she have anything to do with my accounts?"
There was a long pause in which Tony began to tap his foot.
"Mrs. Smith would be Ms. Potts, sir." Jarvis responded. "She was married last month to a Jonas Smith."
Loki flinched back from the counter when Tony smashed his fist into it. He was still overly sensitive after all his recent trauma. It was a struggle to keep his hands from shaking again. Thor looked down at the counter, his face a veil of guilt and sadness. At last, Loki raised his eyes to find Stark staring directly at him. Tony's brown eyes were dark with anger. He swallowed the irrational desire to run away and kept his face calm, a small frown remaining on his lips.
The mortal blames me.
Of course he would, I am to blame for everything.
My weakness drew his planet into a war, and my foolish struggle to save him only caused him more grief.
I am always the one to destroying things for others.
His fingers clenched the edge of the countertop, his knuckles going white from the strain. Loki waited for Stark to explode at him, to scream and lash out, to beat him for what Loki had done to him. He waited, still gazing into those deep brown eyes, for the hatred to permanently settle in the mortal's heart.
Stark tore his eyes away from the god's across from him and looked at the top of Thor's bent head.
His voice was a low hiss."Thor."
The mighty warrior flinched at the tone of his friend's voice. Refusing to look at Tony, he continued to stare at the countertop like a terrified child.
Loki leant forward a little and touched his brother's shoulder in the first affectionate gesture he had offered his brother in years. He gently pushed a thought into the thunderer's head,
"Thor, you must look him in the eye. He will forgive you, but only if you speak honestly."
Thor's eyes widened and he quickly glanced at Loki. He hadn't heard his brother's voice in his mind since they were children, something the had happened less and less and they grew older. He had thought their mind link had broken after the numerous times he tried to connect to his brother. Thor struggled to push a thought back to his brother and found he couldn't. Loki flicked his eyes to Tony and frowned meaningfully at Thor.
Thor turned his head at last and looked solemnly at the mortal. His voice was low and apologetic. "Tony, I fear I was too caught up in my brother's return, I failed to tell such an important thing," he said. " You have my deepest apologies for not telling you.I honestly did not know of her engagement until a week before the marriage ceremony. Even then, none of the Avengers were invited. She had said to us that she felt it would be wrong to invite us...if you were not there."
Thor's head bent down again, his eyes brimmed with tears. He spoke again more softly, "We had truly thought you were dead, Son of Stark."
Tony exploded,
"STOP with the 'Son of Stark'! I have a name of my own! I do not need to be reminded that I was once the son of the miserable STARK!"
Thor flinched back but nodded silently in agreement. A painful silence filled the kitchen as everyone fell into their own thoughts.
It was a long time before Loki spoke up gently. "Tony?"
Tony whipped his head up, staring at the dark-haired god with his mouth open. He had never heard Loki use his first name, it had always been 'Stark' or 'Iron Man'.
Or 'Mortal'.
His anger quickly drained from him, replaced by a bizarre need to hear Loki's voice speak his name again. He closed his mouth and opened it again.
I can't just ask him to say it again.
How fucking weird would that be?
Tony closed his mouth once more with a snap and swallowed nervously. Loki continued to look at him, expecting a response.
The god tried again again."Tony, perhaps you should let everyone know you are not dead?"
Tony had a small smile on his lips, still staring at Loki, deaf to all words other than his name on the gods lips.
He HAD said it again.
Loki's eyebrows drew together in confusion at Stark's reaction and interrupted Tony's thoughts with his own.
" Anthony, then? I do not wish to bother you by reminding you of someone you hate. I do not enjoy using 'Tony' as it goes against what I was taught as courteous. As it is, I would rather there be one less excuse for you to hate me."
Tony's brain caught up fast and he burst out laughing, startling Thor off his stool and made Loki to jump. After a few moments of catching his breath, he managed to respond. "I don't hate you, Lokes," he said. "And I would prefer Tony, but you can choose."
Loki clenched the countertop again, looking down at his knuckles and thinking,
Lier.
He mumbled out loud,"Anthony will suffice, then."
"Sir." Jarvis spoke up, "The pizza has arrived and I would suggest Thor answer the door seeing as he is legally considered alive."
Thor nodded and eagerly rushed off to take the pizza from a very confused delivery man. He returned to see Loki and Tony looking at one another strangely. He watched as Tony's face went through several expressions in quick succession. Thor turned and looked thoughtfully at his brother, noticing an eyebrow rise here and a small smirk there.
Thor sat back on his stool before placing the pizza box down and distracting the two from their quiet moment. After a short search for plates, the kitchen filled with the sounds of chewing.
As Thor finished his third piece he turned to Loki and asked, "Brother, do you and St—Tony have a mind link?"
And that's chapter seven...:O
Thor REALLY loves his poptarts.
You'll find out who told him that everyone has them later.
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