Author's note: So far we've had Loki/Thor and Tony/Thor, so now it's time for the first Tony/Loki/Thor scene of this story… ^^
When he wakes up, it is after a restless night full of strange and unpleasant dreams that he can't quite remember, but the vague sense of unease lingers nonetheless. It's still early in the morning, at least if you'd consult the Tony Stark circadian rhythm, but he doesn't feel like going back to sleep – and isn't sure he would even be able to – so instead he crawls out from under the covers and lumbers off to the bathroom for a nice hot shower.
Having made it into the shower cabin, he turns the temperature-regulating knob almost as far to the red side as it goes. Then he stands there, letting the heated water run over his body, futilely hoping it will wash off the unpleasant feeling clinging to him as well.
Truth be told, he really isn't looking forward to a common breakfast with the two gods currently lodged in his tower. The situation is just too freaking weird. Sure he's gotten used to eating with Loki by now, and he's never had a problem eating with Thor, barring that annoying habit of smashing empty cups on the floor that got old very quickly, but having both of them at the table at the same time, given the situation? Not something he'd willingly sign up for, that's for sure.
He grabs a bottle of shampoo off the shower rack, pouring a big glob of pinecone or pine needle or whatever-scented goo into his palm and proceeds to rub the stuff into his hair. Very thoroughly. For a very long time.
Okay, so he's stalling and he knows it, but his insides are positively churning at the idea of eating breakfast with Loki and Thor. At the same time.
Actually, he has yet to even be in the same room as both of them. After big brother had had his talk with little brother yesterday, Jarvis had informed him that little brother went straight to his room, and Tony figured it would be a good idea to let him stay there without adding any commentary to whatever it was that Thor had said. He could imagine that Loki needed some time to himself having had his first meeting with Thor after… everything.
It wasn't as if he had had any idea what to say to him anyway, and judging by his own conversation with Thor afterwards, Loki had been anything but happy to see him.
Well, not that he'd been all rainbows and sunshine before Thor's surprise visit, but it sure didn't seem like his mood had benefited from his brother's presence, quite the opposite.
The shampoo has been rinsed off by now, so he pours another glob out and massages it into his scalp. Yeah, his hair could probably need it after his having spent so much time in his workshop lately; it's not exactly the cleanest place in this tower to put it mildly. And it's not like he's stalling. Not at all.
He remains standing in the shower for a long time after every trace of the second shampooing has disappeared and his skin has turned bright red from the hot water. It is only then that he finally turns the stream of water off and reaches for a towel, very slowly and meticulously drying himself off.
He enters the kitchen with an ugly grimace, sighing to himself as he eyes the table in front of him, well aware of what it heralds.
"So where are our guest hiding, Jarvis?" he enquires, pretty sure that both of them are long since up and running.
"Mr Layfeyson is in the library, and Mr Odinson is in the living room, trying to work out how the TV remote works," comes the reply.
Great. He hopes 'trying to work out' isn't just another way of saying 'picking apart', but in Thor's case, the two probably amount to the same thing. Then again, a broken remote would be the least of his problems right now.
"Would you tell them that it's time for breakfast?"
"As you wish, sir."
And then Tony can only wait while speculating who out of Chip and Dale will make it to the kitchen first. The sound of brisk footsteps reaching his ears only a few moments later tells him that it's big brother.
"Good morning, Friend Stark," Thor booms as he enters, his appearance complete with both cape and armour and boots despite the objective of his quest being nothing more dramatic than the breakfast table.
"Morning, big guy," Tony says more casually than he feels. "Have a seat and breakfast will be served in a minute."
Thor obeys and Tony proceeds to rummage through his cupboards and refrigerator for something that will constitute proper morning fare for a thunder god. He doesn't usually keep a whole lot of breakfast-like food around, but he doubts Thor is going to be picky, given his usual food-is-food mentality.
Well, at least there's enough stuff in here to make a few decent sandwiches, and then there's always those Cheerios that Loki normally eats.
Speaking of which, there is suddenly another set of footsteps incoming, this time slower and more subdued as god number two shuffles into the kitchen, reluctantly taking his seat at the table, looking as sullen as Tony has ever seen him.
"Good morning, brother," Thor rumbles, receiving an indistinct mumble in return.
Tony makes sure to busy himself at the cupboards. But as there are no further exchanges between the two, eventually he turns, placing bowls and cups and bread and Cheerios and various other stuff on the table. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Thor watching him with a strange but unreadable look on his face. Tony isn't sure exactly what the problem is, so he ignores it for now as he sets a jar of butter – whose expiry date he hopes isn't too far back in history – and finally takes a seat himself.
It is only then he understands what the cause of that odd look from Thor is.
Tony is the one fixing the breakfast and setting the table. Not Loki.
And of course, that's not the ways things are done in Asgard, right? No, it's pretty safe to say that back there, Loki would have been doing all that, and, most likely, he wouldn't even have been allowed to sit at the table once he was finished.
The realization makes him freeze up – even if Thor wouldn't have liked it, he had most likely expected it, that Tony would have Loki serve them, treating him like it would have been appropriate for someone of his station in Asgard.
The disturbing picture rises before his inner eye – how would Thor have acted if Tony had indeed ordered Loki around like a master would no doubt have done to a slave back where he comes from? Exactly how uncomfortable would he have been with that? Would he at all have said something, reacted in any way? Or just done his best to be a good guest and pretend as if nothing was wrong or out of the ordinary?
He really doesn't know.
In an effort to stave off further thoughts of the kind, he gestures towards the food, clearing his throat that is starting to feel uncomfortably tight. "Okay, just dig in," he says, trying to sound flippant.
Thor throws him a grateful glance as the puzzled lines in his face smooth themselves out, and eagerly clutches a piece of bread and some cheese. Somehow, though, Tony gets the feeling that the gratitude and relief on Thor's face doesn't have anything to do with the offer of food.
He makes a grab for some bread himself, and Loki goes for his usual Cheerios. And so starts another awkward and silent breakfast, despite Tony thinking he's had enough of them to last him a lifetime. Well, he supposes it's at least a few notes less awkward then it would have been if he had actually had Loki serve them instead of eating with them. And the question of how Thor would have taken that, how he would have reacted, still eats at him and refuses to leave him alone.
Somehow, the rather non-existing appetite he started out with seems to have left him completely as the bite of sandwich only grows in his mouth for every chew.
And then there is suddenly a much more unsettling thought rearing its ugly head in his mind, making his stomach do an uncomfortable somersault.
How would Thor have reacted if Tony had backhanded Loki across the face, right in front of him? What would he have said? Would he have said anything at all? Would he have gotten angry, upset, horrified, anything else? Would he have done anything?
He glances over at Thor who's sitting there chewing on his food with what looks like more or less his usual appetite. Of course, Thor could easily stop him should he want to, but the question is – would he?
He swallows before the piece of sandwich in his mouth grows too big and he has too spit it out. Instead, he tries to think of something else – oh yeah, that beta-electro-transformer that Point Break was inadvertently responsible for destroying needs fixing – but his treacherous brain will have none of it. No, it decides to step things up a notch, taking the word 'disturbing' to entirely new levels.
What if he hadn't stopped at a mere backhand to the face? What if he'd proceeded to give Loki a lengthy beating, right there in front of Thor? Would he have stepped in then? Or would he just have sat there watching with clenched jaw and fists, or perhaps looked away or left the room? Or would he actually have intervened, despite Tony exercising nothing more than what would be his rights, according to Asgard's laws? Would Thor have spoken up, trying to persuade Tony to stop? Yeah, he probably would have, he can't imagine anything else. But what if Tony had refused to listen? Would he have done anything else than offering further useless pleas? What if Loki had begged his brother to step in? Would Thor have done it then? What if Loki had gotten to a state where he wasn't even able to beg Thor for anything anymore, would he have stepped in then, physically intervening?
And to be honest, he has no clear answers to any of those questions. He sure knows what he hopes the answers would be, but there's no way of knowing for sure.
Grimacing, he looks down at his half-eaten sandwich. There's no way he can eat any more of it. Again, he looks over to Thor, who doesn't see to suffer from the same food-related affliction.
He watches as the god finishes the last sandwich and then proceeds to pick up some of the larger bread crumbs from the tabletop, munching them down too. Tony sighs. So the bread is gone, devoured by a ravenous alien, but he doesn't want anyone, including ravenous aliens, to leave his table hungry, so he scoots the box of Cheerios over to the god.
"Try some of these," he says. "Don't want you to start chewing on my furniture because you're starving."
Thor eyes the box in confusion, then looks at Tony in further confusion, not speaking a word. And that makes Tony confused too, because while he does remember Loki being confused (and why is there suddenly so much confusion everywhere) about the box of Cheerios during his first breakfast here, Thor is used to modern-day food and its packaging by now, so it shouldn't puzzle him. Especially not since he's just seen Loki eating of them, so it should be perfectly clear to him how it's done.
And that's when he realizes that that's the source of Thor's confusion right there. Loki has been eating them, unlike Thor and Tony who have been favouring the sandwiches. And so, he's naturally assuming that since Tony is serving them to Loki, the Cheerios must be a substandard kind of food. And of course, whatever slop you'd give a slave to eat in Asgard would never be something you'd offer to a guest.
And despite feeling less and less hungry by the second, Tony reaches out for the box, dragging it over to his side of the table. "You know, I think I'll have some myself," he says as casually as he can manage, pouring a stream of the stuff into his own bowl. The Cheerios clatter dully but audibly against the porcelain in the silence hanging over the kitchen table.
Then he scoots the box back over to Thor. "How about trying some?" he says way more cheerfully than he feels.
The look on Thor's face is one of even more confusion, but this time mixed in with something else that makes his features light up a little, as he slowly grabs the garish box in front of him, pouring a generous helping into his own bowl.
This chapter was inspired by Mokulule over at AO3 who wanted to know how Thor would react to Tony and Loki's usual breakfast ritual, given Loki's own initial confusion. Granted, since we don't get Thor's actual POV, what he's thinking is mostly inferred and not very expanded on, but it's a hint, at least. ;)
Please review. :)