Author's note: Hmm, seems like Loki and Thor's family reunion isn't going too great… Oh well, at least there's pizza. ^^
Pepperoni and cheese. Lots of cheese. Tony grabs another one of the slices left in the greasy pizza box and bites into it, chewing loudly.
"Mmm, this stuff's awesome!" he says, mouth full. "Come on, help yourself, the pizza isn't going to eat it itself." He scoots one of the boxes across the table to the two Asgardians sitting at the other side, both of them looking more like sulking children than gods.
Thor listlessly helps himself to another slice, but doesn't stuff his face with his usual ravenous appetite, but puts the offered food into his mouth mechanically, as if he is feeding a machine. Loki merely nibbles on his slice, looking equal amounts confused and annoyed with the endlessly long strings of cheese his action produces.
"Hey, I thought you gods could eat an entire pig in one sitting. Never thought some pizza would be too much for you," he jabs, trying to put a crack into the uncomfortable silence hanging over the dinner table. Heck, someone needs to say something.
"We are most appreciative of this fine food, Man of Iron," Thor booms, ever mindful of the manners Asgardian customs no doubt demand of a guest, "but I fear the mood of me and my brother is not conducive to our appetites."
Tony takes another bite, and then wipes his finger on the already grease-stained paper towel lying all crumbled up next to his plate. "Yeah, family spats tend to have that effect, I know all about it." He nonchalantly waves the remainders of his pizza slice around in one hand. "So what's the big deal, did little brother here want to play with your hammer and big brother told him that he couldn't?"
Alright, so he did hear enough of their argument to get the gist of it, but whatever.
Thor shakes his head, slightly frowning and still as impenetrable to sarcasm as ever. "No, Mjölnir had nothing to do with it. What we were discussing was another matter entirely."
Well, 'discussing' is a nice way to put it. Tony would personally have referred to it as 'bickering' or, more aptly, 'bitching'. But he supposes that starting a debate about the proper terminology isn't going to help things along here.
"I have already told you, the will of the Allfather will not be swayed on a mere whim," Loki mutters, sounding like he's repeating something he's already said a hundred times before.
"Not on a mere whim, Loki." Thor throws back at his brother, the poster picture of a sibling believing himself to be not only older but also wiser than his counterpart. "But if you were to show repentance and -"
Loki's eyes narrow as he leans back in his seat, dropping the remainder of his pizza back onto his plate. "Why do you insist on feeding yourself these delusions, Thor? Even you should know better than to indulge such foolish notions." He crosses his arms, staring the bulkier god down, daring him to object.
The air between them is heating up again, as old grievances and discontent flare anew.
"Why do you always have to make things so difficult, brother?" Thor all but shouts in frustration as he stands up and leans over the table, patience worn thin. "Why do you turn your back to the possibility, no matter how small it might be, that your sentence might be reduced? Do you want to spend the rest of your life in slavery?" A fist slams down on the tabletop, making the plates rattle.
"Why should it even matter what I want," Loki throws back, on the surface more controlled than his brother, but obviously seething all the same, "when there is nothing that can be done that will change anything?"
"Alright," Tony interrupts, trying to calm the situation down before it turns into a Jerry Springer-esque chair throwing family contest. "So what you're basically saying here, Thor, is that you think there's a chance that Odin might decide to let this slavery thing be a temporary phase and not a for-life deal? Kind of like getting out of prison early for good behaviour?"
He can see Loki watching him out of the corner of his eye, but pretends not to notice.
There are fine lines around Thor's eyes, like he hasn't slept in days, but he nods slowly and gingerly. "Even though I might not truly dare to hope for it, there could be a chance. I can… speak to the Allfather, see if there might be a way to convince him."
"And it worked so well last time you tried to appeal to his good will, didn't it?" Loki mutters, eyes dark as he regards his brother, apparently not impressed in the slightest.
Thor ignores Loki's criticism as he speaks again, voice solemn. "Even if Odin will not listen, it is still worth a try." He nods, clearly having made up his mind, sounding like he's talking to himself rather than to any of the other two sitting around the table, but the note of confidence in his voice is unmistakeable. "Yes. I shall go back to Asgard, and entreat Odin to consider my proposal. I am his son and regardless of his decision, he will at least have to hear me out on this."
"Atta boy!" Tony cheers him on, one fist raised into an encouraging salute, and the other reaching over to slap the blond god on the shoulder. "You go tell your old man just where he can stick his sense of justice!"
Loki, on his part, only glares at his brother.
He's surprised when Thor seeks him out shortly after the pizza boxes have been discarded, telling him that he is leaving for Asgard.
"Uh, you mean, like now?" Tony blurts out, taken a bit aback. Then again, he supposes he shouldn't be too surprised – Thor only needs to do that apparating thing and he'll be back home in no time. It's not like he has to catch a plane or bock any tickets or do any stuff usually associated with travel here on Earth.
"Yes," Thor acknowledges. "Like I mentioned at dinner, I have to go see Odin and ask him to consider showing lenience in Loki's sentence."
"Yeah, I heard that. I just thought… you wouldn't literally be leaving, like, ten minutes later," Tony says, raking a hand through his hair. "I mean, not that you've got any stuff you need to pack before you go or anything, but I didn't expect you to just jump on the next bus like that."
Thor nods in understanding. "I am sorry to leave so hastily, but I must return to Asgard. As a prince, I have many duties to my realm that I have ignored during my long stay with Lady Jane here in Midgard. It was only the knowledge that those duties could wait no longer that eventually forced my step back to Asgard. Of course, I quickly came back again when I found out what had happened to Loki. But now, I can linger here no longer. Rest assured I will return, though," he says solemnly, the words accentuated by a dramatic flutter of his cape that Tony hopes was caused by a nearby air conditioning vent.
"Looking forward to it, buddy." Well, it's by no means entirely a lie.
Then Thor turns serious, and he takes a step closer to Tony as he puts a hand on his shoulder, effectively ignoring any notions of personal space.
"I know it is untoward to be asking even more of you, but I cannot leave in good conscience otherwise," the god says, his eyes boring into Tony's with the force of a thousand suns.
The concern written into that face is so clear that there is no doubt just who Thor's request will revolve around, so Tony only waits in silence for the specifics to be expanded on.
"Please make sure that Loki stays safe." The words are so soft that they're almost whispered. Then there is a short pause, during which Thor swallows audibly. "If he should escape and Heimdall finds out, he will not meet with a kind fate."
Yeah, Tony already got that part loud and clear.
"Don't worry, Hercules. I'll make sure he stays put," he reassures the god before him, patting the hand still on his shoulder in a way that he hopes is manly but feels more awkward than anything.
Relief washes over Thor's face as he squeezes Tony's shoulder a little harder. Well, quite a lot harder.
"Thank you, Man of Iron. For… everything."
And it's obvious that Thor isn't referring to the pizza.
Though, to be fair, it was some really good pizza.
Sometimes he wonders if the window sill will start taking on the imprint of his ass for all the times he's been sitting here gazing out through the window from he doesn't know how many levels up.
It is a small consolation, but a consolation nonetheless, that Thor has finally left for Asgard on his fool's errand. At least that means that Loki won't have to listen to the lout spouting off his vain notions of how the Allfather might be persuaded to change his mind and actually grant some amount of clemency to his not-son.
As if that is ever going to happen. The only thing that Thor is doing, which he refuses to understand, just like he's normally incapable of seeing reason and logic, is feeding Loki false hopes that will only be extinguished like a burning candle wick that someone effortlessly snuffs out between two fingertips. And truth be told, he did feel a flicker of empty, false hope inside of him when Thor brought that possibility up, even though his rational mind already knew that it was not to be, no matter how much he might yearn for it. Odin is not someone to second-guess his own decisions, nor is he one to show criminals leniency.
No, not in something like this, not when Odin has the entire Council to back him up on his ruling. And doesn't he just remember the pleased faces of those Council members as his sentence was read out in court, how they were looking at him with ill-concealed contentment and satisfaction, probably already imagining all the humiliation and horrors he would have to suffer as a slave of one of his worst enemies in Midgard.
So in the end, Thor can plead and beg and beseech all he likes before Odin's throne, even abase and prostrate himself, but that's not going to change anything, Loki knows it already.
No, not even Odin's favourite, the golden son who was always the apple of his father's eyes, will be enough to sway the Allfather. For once, Thor's entreaties will be met will indifference and coldness.
And Loki will remain a slave in Midgard until his dying day. There will be no second chances, no clemency for him.
But of course, Thor in all his self-righteous glory refused to see reason, and ventured off like a champion going out on a heroic quest, full of confidence and pomp, after speaking empty promises and dramatic words of parting.
In the end, nothing will change for him. He'll stay Tony's slave, only to eventually be passed on to whoever is in line to inherit the mortal's riches, and then, later still, on to the next one, and the next…
He looks at the sky again; it's a sharp blue with puffy clouds slowly moving across the vast expanse. Perhaps he will only ever get to stand beneath it, out in the open, when the time for a change of masters has come and he'll be taken somewhere else.
It's a sobering thought.
Of course, Stark Tower makes for infinitely better accommodations than the dungeons back in Asgard, but it's a prison nonetheless. Spending his days inside the confines of these walls, performing the tasks that Tony tells him to, prowling the tower back and forth, only to return to sit on this window sill, is like having a choking snare around his neck, slowly but surely tightening its hold.
And having Thor come back here, a walking reminder of Asgard and his old life there, back when he was still free and not a pitiful slave, hasn't served to make things any easier to deal with. It's like an open wound getting salt rubbed into it, making it burn and sting like a thousand needles.
The sky beckons him, but all he can do is sit here and stare back at it. And that makes him want to scream and bang his fists bloody against the glass.
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