Author's note: Since a lot of reviewers seemed to have a lot of opinions about Thor's actions in the previous chapter, Word of God can inform you that due to how the law works in Asgard, there was jack shit he could have done to stop Loki from being punished according to Fjalar's wishes, and he knew it. The only thing Thor could really do was to make sure things didn't get any worse than they already were.
As cliché as the notion is, the tension in the room can most definitely be cut with a knife, as everyone's rapt attention is focused on Tony and what he is going to do. His palms are slick with sweat, one of them still holding the accursed whip, and his innards are in turmoil. There's just no way he can go through with this; it's fucking wrong. It's fucking torture.
"Well?" comes the smug, drawling voice from Fjalar from a mile away. "Are you going to punish your slave, or will the court have to appoint someone to do it for you?"
Oh, he wants to strangle the bastard, coil the leather of the whip around the throat of that obnoxious prick, but he knows it's not going to help things, as tempting as the idea is.
And really, what the hell is he going to do now? He's always figured himself the smart, the crafty, the creative thinking-on-his-feet kind of guy, but now his brain seems to have short-circuited itself. There are just no viable alternatives; Thor might very well be right that Loki might not even survive a whipping carried out by an Aesir, but how is Tony going to bring himself to do something like this?
Fuck, why did he ever consent to going to Asgard in the first place; he should have known better than to traipse along on this intergalactic space-trip like he's fucking Arthur Dent, and just have written down a statement for Thor to take back to his daddy instead.
And for all his shock and horror, Tony finds that he's terribly angry – angry at Fjalar for being a sadistic jerk, at Thor for not snapping his fingers and somehow stopping this, at himself for letting Loki out of sight, at Asgard for being medieval brutes, but most of all at Loki for not being able to keep his temper in check and bringing this shit storm onto them both.
And now it's come down to this. Either beat Loki into a bloody heap or have someone else do it even worse, quite possibly killing him in the process.
Loki, why couldn't you just let Fjalar's shit slide? Why did you have to bring us into this god-damned mess?
"So," Fjalar's voice cuts through the haze that is his mind once more. "Have you reached your decision yet? Shall your slave be punished by your hand or by someone else's?"
Tony looks up to face the other man, knowing that if looks could burn, the creep would be a heap of smoking, smouldering ashes on the floor right now.
And as he looks into those beady eyes, there is suddenly an idea taking shape in his head. Perhaps it's idiotic, and maybe Fjalar will only scoff at him with scorn and derision, but it's worth a try. Anything that might salvage the situation would be worth it.
Clenching his teeth, he reaches into his bag for the Rubik's cube lying in there, pulling it out and holding it up to the light as if he's showcasing a costly treasure.
"Alright, Fjalar," he says, trying to make his voice sound as authoritarian as possible, though to his own ears it sounds more like it wants to unleash a generous helping of death and destruction. "How about this – I will offer you my Magic Cube of Many Colours, and in return, you will seek no further restitution on behalf of my slave's actions today."
Wow, he sure must be acclimatizing quickly seeing as how he's already starting to talk Shakespearian like these guys.
And Tony can practically see something shift in Fjalar's face as he watches the toy, the all-encompassing lust for revenge suddenly being challenged by the newcomer that is hungry desire.
Come on, you greedy fuck…
And finally, after an endless moment of the two emotions battling for dominance, it is the challenger that emerges victorious.
Fjalar snatches the cube from Tony's fingers, clenching it in his fist. "Very well, Man of Iron, I will accept this offering as sufficient recompense." He narrows his eyes into slits, regarding Tony like a snake would gaze at a mouse. "However, you would still do well to teach your slave proper respect, or I'm sure someone else will be more than happy to."
And with that, the man turns on his heel and walks off, back still taut with anger, and cube clutched in a ham-like hand. Tony isn't the least sorry to see him go and hopes he will never have to be within a ten mile radius of the intolerable asshat ever again.
Before he's even finished the thought, he is nearly punched into the ground as Thor's hand slaps down on his shoulder, only to be crunched into a bone-splintering embrace a second later.
"My friend," Thor's voice rumbles mere millimetres from his ear, and it sounds like it's on the verge of tears for all the big and fancy warrior the Thunderer is supposed to be. "I cannot thank you enough for this. You saved my brother, and you have my eternal gratitude."
"Alright, alright," Tony says, trying to extract himself from the mighty embrace as he feels wetness pressing against his cheek. There's only so much male bonding he can take in a day, after all. "No big deal, big guy."
Thor slowly lets go, but still lets a hand linger on Tony's shoulder. "Let me at least repay you for the precious item you gave up on my brother's behalf," he offers, face misty-eyed, but still in a strangely manly way.
Tony shrugs at that. "I paid ten bucks for it at Walmart. No need for reimbursements, Hercules."
Thor only beams happily at him. "Then let me know if there's anything else you want, anything else I can do for you, my friend."
Yeah, actually, there is.
"I'd like a word with your brother," he says, throwing a glare towards the dark-haired god still sitting on his ass on the floor with legs half-drawn up, hands behind him for support. Loki's eyes meet with his and their gazes lock for a few moments, Tony feeling his face draw into a mask of anger as he regards the god. Loki is the first to avert his eyes.
"In private," he adds.
Thor nods at that. "Very well. I will show you a suitable area, then."
Slowly and on unsteady legs, Loki starts to get up from the floor but is hauled up by Thor who bestows a crushing embrace on his brother before he's even gotten up on his own two feet, murmuring words in his ear too soft for Tony to hear.
Then Thor reluctantly lets go and nods at Tony to follow.
Thor guides them through a corridor to a small, sparsely furnished room that looks like a servant's quarters, though it's currently not in use by anyone. "I hope this shall suit your needs for privacy," he says, gesturing at the cramped space.
"It will be fine," Tony replies without taking his eyes off Loki.
Thor gives the two of them another misty-eyed glance, but then leaves them alone without another word.
And Tony grabs the handle of the door and slams it shut as forcefully as he can muster, the bang sounding like a gun shot in the silence and the slab of wood almost falling from its hinges, but he couldn't care less. He's just so fucking pissed right now.
He can see Loki flinch a little at this uncharacteristic show of anger, but otherwise the god doesn't move an inch, though he bites his lower lip.
Walking over to stand in front of Loki, Tony positions himself several inches closer than what would count as normal conversation distance, drawing himself up to his full height.
"Alright, I want to hear a really good explanation for this," he says, voice soft but fury brimming underneath. "Don't fucking tell me you actually did what that fuckwit claimed you did?"
The god licks his lips, not meeting with Tony's eyes. "It is as Fjalar said. He insulted me and I threw beer into his face."
"He insulted you, huh? And getting back for a few nasty words was worth all the fucking crap that followed?" The fury is coiling inside of him like a poisonous snake, its tail twisting and lashing, sharp fangs scraping at his insides.
"Fjalar is a lowly vassal, and he accused me of argr," Loki says, but there is no real conviction in his voice. Instead, the god looks unusually pale and hesitant, as if the enormity of what he's done and the possible consequences are just now becoming clear to him.
"I don't even know what the hell that argr shit is and I don't care," Tony fumes at him, "but there is one thing I've realized very quickly after spending not even a day here, and that is that Fjalar being a lowly vassal still puts him several steps above you on the pecking order around here, doesn't it?" Perhaps it's a cheap-shot bringing that up, but he couldn't care less right now.
Loki offers no reply to that, his head bowed and eyes downcast like a scolded schoolboy.
The god's silence does nothing to dissipate Tony's anger. "And you knew what would happen when you threw that fucking beer into his face, didn't you?" The sound level of his voice has reached shouting by now, but the number of decibels still keeps increasing for every word. "Yeah, fine, so I'm the alien mortal monkey who barely knows jack shit about how things are done here and I've probably embarrassed myself a hundred times already, but you've grown up here, you knew what kind of punishment is given to slaves that do shit like that to free men, and you still did it?"
Damn, he's just so pissed at Loki for what the god almost forced him to do back there. Just because he couldn't keep his temper in check, not thinking about the consequences of his actions for even a second.
"You realize what you almost had me do? And all because you had to act like a brainless idiot!" he yells, unable to stop himself, hands grabbing hold of the god's shoulders, giving him a shake. "Do you understand what would have just happened back there if Fjalar hadn't accepted that cube as compensation for you acting like a moron? Huh? I'd been forced to have you turned into god-damned minced meat!" His fingers dig into Loki's shoulders, unable to let go as they only clutch harder, tense and shaking.
Loki only observes him for a little while in silence with a wide-eyed, deer-in-headlights look gleaming with remorse and regret.
There is silence for a few moments. A tongue darts out to wet dry lips, and then Loki finally speaks, voice soft. "I did not intend to cause you distress through my actions." He swallows. "I am sorry."
At that, the hands still clutching the god's shoulders finally drop to Tony's sides, as his anger runs off him like water from a slab of butter, leaving him dizzy and unsteady on his legs. It feels like he's just waking up from a bad dream, heart racing and limbs shaking, reality crashing down on him once more. Closing his eyes for a moment to give himself time to ground himself in some degree of normalcy again, he draws a deep breath, taking a step back as he's trying to clear his head.
"Alright, it's fine, I just… I didn't… fuck it," he manages, suddenly taken aback by the fierceness of his own reaction. He hadn't really meant to fly off the handle at Loki like that, but it had been so goddamn close, what had almost happened back there. If the scales had just tipped a little differently, he would have been forced to really hurt Loki. For real. And he couldn't have fucking lived with himself after doing something like that.
"Okay, I think I need to sit down," he mumbles to no one in particular as he drops down onto one of the chairs lined up against the wall, glad to no longer have to rely on his legs for support. Elbows resting on his thighs, he rubs his hands over his face, as if everything was indeed just a bad dream that he's trying to wipe away.
After a few heartbeats, Loki slides down onto the chair next to him, and they sit in silence for a little while.
"Are you… okay?" Tony finally asks, not sure what he's supposed to say, because it's not as if words will make a difference anyway, but it must have been a hell of a scarce that Loki has just gone through.
"I am fine." Loki says quietly.
Well, physically unharmed, at least. Though, if he's even in half as much shock as Tony, it's probably going to take him a long time to forget about this.
He lets his head slump back, coming to a rest on top of the backrest of the chair. "Alright, I didn't mean to get pissed at you like that, it was just that…" His words trail off slightly before he finds them again. "I mean, it was so fucking close what happened back there, and, well… "
He makes a pause, hating the words he's about to say next, but he can't leave them out after this. As much as he'd been hoping to avoid it, he just can't take any chances after having gotten such an appalling demonstration of how things are done here. He had thought he wouldn't have to play along when he came here, because he's fucking Tony Stark and since when did he play by the rules, but who knows what might happen to Loki if he steps too far out of line? Or if Tony unwittingly makes him step too far out of line?
"Look, I guess I didn't fully comprehend all the shit that goes on here regarding slaves, but I sort of do by now," he says staring at the arched ceiling above his head. "And I realize that this isn't the time or the place to play around. I don't like this any more than you do, but from now on just… act like it would be expected from you as long as we're here and there are other people around, okay? I might not know exactly what's expected here, but you do, so just play along with it enough so that no one important will make an issue out of it. Because I really don't want to risk any repeat performances of this kind of crap."
He turns his head slightly to glance at Loki, who nods, his own eyes directed at the floor. "I will do that."
And then there is silence again.
"Come on, let's head back," Tony finally says. "I can sure use another drink after this. Or ten." With that, he stands up and makes for the door, desperate for some air after the staleness of the small and cramped room.
Before he can push the handle, he hears Loki's voice behind him.
"Thank you for standing up for me."
The words are soft, barely discernible, but they're still there.
And so, finally, the Cube gets its crowning moment of glory. And yes, this scene was the reason I put the thing into the story in the first place. :D
Please review. :)