The whiskey produces a familiar sting as it slides down his throat and he relaxes a bit against the back rest of the chair, watching the ice cubes in his glass slosh against each other as he swirls the contents around with a lazy circular movement of his wrist. He then sets the glass down on the table, grabbing for the bottle next to it. It's almost empty, though, the sad remains only filling the first half an inch of his glass as he turns the bottle upside down. And that's with the ice. Darn.
Suddenly annoyed, he shoves both the bottle and the glass away. He has more pressing matters to think about than the all too meagre amount of alcohol in his glass.
Loki.
A god turned into a slave and sent to Midgard, the very realm he had once sought to enslave. Poetic justice indeed. Tony just wishes it wasn't on his expense.
If this was to be Loki's punishment, Odin could certainly have picked a better person to bestow the enslaved god upon. Tony's never figured himself the outrageously vindictive type, not like some others he knew. Like Clint Barton. That guy would be cracking his knuckles by now, were he in Tony's position, trying to decide where to land the first punch. To say nothing of all the innocent victims who'd suffered personally because of Loki's quest for world domination.
Come to think of it, perhaps that is why Tony has been picked – if the Aesir wanted Loki tortured to death, they could have done it themselves. They sure knew how to, if you believed the myths. No need to hand him over to the humans for that.
Besides, how many other people are there whose living arrangements would be suitable to keep a dangerous war criminal confined and under constant supervision? Sure, the Einherjer guard assured him that Loki's powers have been locked away, but Tony doesn't believe that makes the god harmless.
He's done far too much damage for that.
"Jarvis," he calls out. "What's our guest doing?" Doesn't hurt to check. Of course, Tony's already given Jarvis clear instructions about keeping Loki under strict surveillance at all times and report back to him if the god does anything out of the ordinary. But it never hurts to make sure when it comes to Loki.
"He is currently lying on his bed, sir," the computer voice answers dutifully.
"Uh-huh. Let me now if he… you know, does anything."
"Yes, you have already instructed me to do so," comes the swift reply. "So far, Mr Laufeyson has done nothing out of the ordinary."
That sets Tony's mind at ease for the moment, at least. The door and window to Loki's room are both electronically locked, and Loki won't be able to open either of them unless he finds a way to disable Jarvis. Which, Tony supposes, wouldn't be all too improbable, given the amount of chaos the god has proven himself capable of.
Putting the empty bottle in front of him aside, Tony stands up and picks another random one out from the insides of his trusty liquor cabinet. He critically scrutinizes his catch and then nods approvingly. One of the better brands. He definitely deserves it.
Sitting back down, he pours himself a generous helping of scotch, not caring about the remains of the previous drink at the bottom of his glass. The alcohol is sweet against his lips and throat as he sips at it, like a lover's fingers, so he downs the majority of the contents in three big gulps.
As the scotch goes into his body, it pushes the tension out, letting it slowly drain away from him. Sighing heavily, Tony slumps in his seat, enjoying the feeling of relaxation that only a nice drink can bring. And then, a small, improbable burst of laughter escapes his lips. Not because the situation is funny, but because having been handed the god of chaos and mischief as his own personal frigging slave is just too bizarre and outrageous. So he just sits there letting the bubble of laughter expand until he's cackling half-hysterically like a madman, one arm against the table to support his own body and prevent it from collapsing on the floor in a fit of paroxysms.
No, it's not funny in the slightest, but he can't help himself. He just doesn't know what else to do. Right now, he has no other way to handle this ridiculous situation.
His laughter sounds strange, as if the walls are deflecting it and giving it an outer-worldly echo. Soon, it dies down and he's left sitting there leaning against the table with only one thought left in his head.
Loki.
And just what the hell is he supposed to do with him now?
Keep him locked up in his room where he can't do any damage and, as an added bonus, mercifully remains out of Tony's sight?
Kick him in the ribs a few times for good measure? Nah, that's not his style, even though the idea does hold a certain appeal.
What do you do with a slave, really? One that also happens to be Loki?
Turn him over to Fury? That would solve a lot of his problems. On the other hand, that wasn't part of the deal, if that's what you can actually call it. The one-sided deal where Loki was dumped into his lap without Tony's opinion being asked for at all. But Erik – or whatever the Einherjer leader's name was – had been pretty clear that Loki was to remain in Tony's, well, custody.
No handing him over to Fury, then. As tempting as the idea is, it's not worth causing a diplomatic incident over it with Asgard. To say nothing of getting his skull cleaved in two by Erik's sword as punishment for going against the decree of Odin almighty.
Slaves are supposed to be useful, but Tony can hardly see any use for Loki. Of course, that's not the point either. Loki hasn't been given to Tony for his convenience, it's a sentence meant to punish Loki for his numerous crimes.
He wonders what the Aesir are expecting him to actually do with Loki, seeing as how he didn't come with a slave-handling manual or any instructions. 101 ways to deal with a bat-shit crazy chaos god. Wouldn't that be something. Perhaps he can write that manual once he's been through this ordeal.
Nope, no instructions other than not to hand him over to someone else. He thinks about some of the Norse myths he's read about on the internet, feeling vaguely uneasy. If the Aesir think he's gonna put a sewing needle to Loki's face or pour acidic venom over his body they've got the wrong man for the job. He's not gonna do that.
His thoughts drift back to his previous encounter with Loki, the obvious fear in the god's face as Tony outlined the concept of sending a perverse amount of volts through his body. Somehow, he had expected to enjoy the sight of a fearful Loki a lot more.
Would Odin have approved of that, if he'd actually turned that stick on? Odin seems like quite the vindictive guy, so the answer is probably yes. Though, again, if the main intent of the Aesir was simply to torture their little wayward prince, they could have done it themselves. This slavery thing is probably more some sort of perverted poetic justice kind of thing, a way to humiliate the fallen god as much as possible.
Oh well. Though torture isn't his forte, he can roll with humiliation. For someone as arrogant, conceited, and big-headed as Loki – who even had the gall to defenestrate him – he can definitely do that.
It would only serve the god right. And Tony can't help it, he's not wholly above the concept of revenge and vengeance and all those loveable little things in life. He never claimed to be an angel, did he now?
His hand goes for the almost empty glass again but he doesn't bring it up to his mouth, instead merely sloshing the liquid around in its confines as his thoughts swirl around in his head. He has a couple of routine interviews with the media to attend to tomorrow, but he can give Loki a task to do in the meantime. Yes, he has an idea alright. He grins as his hand rotates until there is no longer the soft clang of ice against glass. Then, he sets the diluted, lukewarm drink down on the table and stands up.
Right now, what he needs more than anything is some sleep, and then he'll deal with Loki again tomorrow.
Sorry about all the, uh, non-action in this chapter. Next update will reveal Tony's nefarious plans for Loki, though. ;)
Please review; every comment from you guys inspires me further to work on this story. :)