AN: I said it would be a week and it may be late but it hasn't been seven days yet. I count that as a win. Hope you all enjoy the chapter.
Four hours earlier:
Now that Tony had finally managed to get Fenrir out of the changing room they could get back to the original plan of relaxing. Naturally he'd called ahead and arranged for Fenrir to get to try just about every treatment they offered. One way or another Fenrir would be leaving this building relaxed.
Number one on the list, meditation and aromatherapy. To be fair, this was probably Tony's least favorite of the treatments that the spa offered. He couldn't quite see the point of sitting quietly in a room for thirty minutes. They'd tried to make him do the same thing during his brief stint in elementary school; and he hadn't liked it then either. But the smells were nice and he could always just mentally work on plans for his new suit while Fenrir zenned out.
Or so he thought. Three minutes into their lemon, lavender, and jasmine scented timeout and Fenrir started to sneeze. This continued about every thirty seconds. After that it was just continuous. Because it turns out that, even though Thor didn't have any, Asgardians can have allergies. And who the heck could have seen that coming? So much for aromatherapy. That was clearly out. Not that it mattered much. They still had the rest of the day. Even if Fenrir didn't like everything that they did, one of these would definitely do the trick.
Once Fenrir had stopped sneezing one of the spa girls came to take them to the next room. Tony really needed to figure out what her name was. Martha, Marta? It was something with an M. Either way, he'd learned a long time ago that it is important to be generous to the people who take care of you at a spa. Especially if you plan on coming back. A good tip could make all the difference on whether or not you get the master masseuse or the guy whose girlfriend just broke up with him and who is looking to take out some aggression.
"You're a little early, but Miranda says that she can still take both of you right away," Marta said, smiling at them and holding out her arm towards the next room.
"Thanks, Marta," Tony said. For a split second the serene smile on Marta's face slipped into a look of annoyance before snapping back like it had never been gone.
"I hope you both enjoy your manicures. And just so you know my name is Marla," She said, smiling at them again before leaving. Tony noticed that she was writing something down on the chart with their schedules. He had a sickening feeling that he'd just increased his chances of an angry massage.
"What's a manicure?" Fenrir asked.
"They clean your nails," Tony said.
"I usually do that myself," Fenrir said, clearly not understanding the point of wealthy excess. Which, Tony thought, was a little weird. This guy had spent the early years of his life as royalty. The idea of people doing everything for him shouldn't be so foreign.
"They do it better," Tony replied, heading into the room and grabbing a seat. Fenrir followed behind and took the seat next to his. Which was lucky, because if Fenrir had argued any more then he would have found out that Tony didn't really have any more of a defense for what they were doing. In all honesty he'd just gone down the list of treatments offered and checked yes to each one. He hadn't even noticed that he'd signed them up for a manicure until they'd gotten here.
It was fine though. Fenrir didn't need to know that and the whole thing would only take about fifteen minutes. It would be fun enough and then they could move on to the next thing.
Or they would have. If the tray full of tools the manicurist was going to use hadn't looked the way they did. Tony had never really thought about it before but, now that he looked, he had to say that the stainless steel tools on the table in front of him did bear a certain resemblance to torture implements. And he definitely wasn't the only one to notice.
"I think I'm happier cleaning them myself," Fenrir said, turning to Tony in a panic.
Now in all honesty, Tony could have tried to work around the issue. Offered to go first, shown him that it was all harmless. But that was a lot of effort, and the payoff would have been a manicure. Tony decided he'd put the energy elsewhere and they cut the appointment short.
Next on the list was the mud bath. No sharp instruments in sight. Just bathtubs full of mud. Nice and harmless mud. They have mud on Asgard, Tony thought, as he and Fenrir sat in their individual pools. There was no way that Fenrir could possibly have a problem with mud.
Tony waited a few minutes in silence to make sure that Fenrir didn't turn out to have any mud related phobias. After watching Fenrir sit quietly in the mud Tony let himself relax. Finally they had found something here that Fenrir could enjoy.
"What exactly is the purpose of this, again?" Fenrir asked.
"It's relaxing," Tony said.
"We're sitting in mud," Fenrir said, looking at Tony and waiting for an explination.
"It's not just mud, it's special mud," Tony insisted, noticing Fenrir's reaction turning to mild disbelief. "It has minerals and- okay I'm not sure exactly what's in it but it is relaxing, and you'll feel great when you get out."
"Alright," Fenrir said, shifting in his tub.
Fenrir sat through the rest of their time in the mud but Tony caught him trying to brush mud off of his arms more than once. Not to mention that he seemed relieved when they were told to go and shower off. So counting the mud baths Tony was scoring zero for three.
The next item on their schedule, well, Tony wasn't going to dwell on that one. Mainly because he couldn't believe he hadn't seen the obvious flaw in trying to put a torture victim into a tub of boiling water. But honestly, who hears hydrotherapy and thinks, 'this is a terrible idea. Fenrir is going to bolt at the sight of a Jacuzzi'.
By the time they were ready for massages Tony felt like he needed to relax even more than Fenrir did. God this day had been exhausting. So when smiley little Marla showed up again, he happily followed her to his masseuse. By some stroke of luck, or management remembering how much he had paid the last time he was here, Tony did not get an angry massage. He was actually getting an excellent massage. He probably would have continued getting an excellent massage if Marla hadn't come in at the ten minute mark looking panicked.
"Mister Stark, I think you need to come and check on your friend," She said, hurriedly.
"Shit, is he freaking out?" Tony said, sitting up and grabbing a towel.
"No, he's not upset. He's just- I really think you should hurry," She said, rushing him out of the room. Tony pulled on his pants and hurried to follow her down the hall.
"What happened?" Tony asked, when he got to Fenrir's room.
"He stopped talking," The masseuse said, looking at the table where Fenrir was still lying. "And moving."
That was clearly an understatement. One look over at the table and Tony could see that Fenrir had gone practically catatonic. Tony shooed the staff out of the room and went to go and sit by Fenrir.
"So, the massage was a bad idea," Tony said. "You don't like being touched, I probably should have thought about that before. So… sorry about that. But everyone else is gone now. You can get up whenever you want to and we can go do something else. Something with less touching."
Tony looked over and saw that Fenrir was sitting up. That was good. He looked like he was either going to cry or be sick, but at least he seemed to be conscious again. Oh, who was Tony kidding, this was going horribly.
The next item on the list was the sauna; and Tony was not taking any chances with this one. First he made sure that everyone was cleared out of the room that he and Fenrir would be using. Then he went and found Happy, who he was going to place in front of the door to make sure that no one could possibly come in and interrupt/ make Fenrir self-conscious. Then he had Marla get them about a dozen towels, so that Fenrir could cover as much or as little as he wanted. Tony even took the time to pick out the music that they would be listening to. It wasn't one of his favorites, but it was something Bruce liked so it had to be soothing.
As Tony led Fenrir into the sauna he comforted himself in knowing that he had left nothing to chance. It was ridiculous, but he was going to have at least one thing today go off without a problem. Fenrir smiled when he heard what music Tony had picked, and actually leaned back on the bench he was sitting on and stretched out. Finally, Fenrir was relaxing!
Tony realized that it was all an act at the four minute mark when Fenrir collapsed.
Luckily Happy was right outside the door and was able to help Tony carry Fenrir out.
"What happened?" Happy asked, as he tried to help Tony get Fenrir up.
"I don't know. One minute he seemed fine and the next thing he's on the floor," Tony said.
"Is he supposed to be this cold?" Happy asked, as he wrapped an arm around Fenrir's waist and hefted him up.
"I- I have no idea," Tony said, helping Happy to move Fenrir out of the room. For someone in a sauna, Fenrir felt more like he'd spent the afternoon playing in the snow. Tony had no idea what was going on with Fenrir but there was no way that it was good.
"I'll go call the flight crew," Happy said, after he'd helped Tony carry Fenrir over to a lounge chair. "See how soon they'll be ready to take off."
"Good, you go do that," Tony said, holding Fenrir's shoulder to make sure that he didn't fall on his face. "Did you hear that? We're taking you home." Tony said.
"You can't," Fenrir said, so quietly that Tony wasn't sure at first if he'd said anything.
"I don't get to go home. I can never leave this place," Fenrir continued. "I'm being punished."
"What?" Tony asked. "No, this isn't- this was supposed to be relaxing." Fenrir's head began to droop and Tony pushed him back against the chair.
"I'm sorry," Tony said, wondering if Fenrir was even still conscious. He was definitely breathing but that was all Tony could say for sure. "I thought this was going to be a good idea. Take a day and then go home relaxed and feeling good. This place always worked for me."
"I talked to the pilot," Happy said, hurrying back in. "He wasn't planning on leaving for another few hours but he says he can be ready in about forty-five minutes."
"And Marla is working on getting us some ice," Happy added.
"Ice?" Tony asked.
"Oh, I texted Pepper. She said if Fenrir's sick to give him ice," Happy said.
"I need to call her," Tony said, standing up and heading for the door. "Stay with him. When the ice gets here just dump it on him."
"You're not serious," Happy said.
"Just trust me," Tony said. He left the room and hurried down the hall to the locker where he'd left his clothes. He needed to talk to Pepper. She would know how to fix this. She might even know what was going on with Fenrir. They talked, maybe he'd given her a hint for what to do if he turned into a Popsicle.
"Pepper," Tony said, as his call went through.
"Where did you take him?!" Pepper demanded, as soon as she heard Tony's voice.
"I took him to the Royal Ezherik, but I d-" Tony tried to explain.
"You took him to Spain? I thought we agreed that you were going to take him to see a play?" Pepper said.
"I thought he would like this more," Tony said, trying to get dressed while he made his call. He wanted to get out of here as soon a possible.
"You thought he would like going to a spa?" Pepper asked. "You thought taking someone who had been tortured to a place where he would be mostly naked, with strangers touching him, and thought it would be a good idea?"
"I was tortured, and this is the exact place where you sent me to rest up," Tony said, digging through the shelves to find where Fenrir had left his things.
"Tony there are a few key differences in the way that you two were tortured," Pepper said.
"What do you mean there are…oh, that," Tony said, realizing how massively he had messed things up.
"Yeah, that," Pepper said, managing to send waves of frustration and disapproval through Tony's phone. "Now, is Fenrir just having flashbacks, or did he actually hurt himself? Happy's message just said sick."
"I'm not sure. He seemed fine until we were in the sauna. Then he collapsed and now he's cold and talking about never being allowed to go home," Tony explained.
"You took him into the sauna?! Damn it, Tony, Fenrir's half Frost Giant. They don't do well in heat," Pepper said.
"How could I have known that?" Tony asked.
"Just give him ice, get him calmed down, and get him back here," Pepper ordered. Then, before Tony could ask her how he was supposed to snap Fenrir out of whatever state he was in, Pepper hung up.
Tony forced himself to go back to the lounge and found Happy reading something from his phone out loud.
"At which point they were strongly encouraged to leave the zoo. It looks like Thor won't be getting a panda pelt this year either. Between their day on the town, and last week's appearance at The Sea Pearl, Thor has definitely taken an interest in New York's new favorite mystery man. As he makes his way through the lineup he has given more support than ever to the rumors that the Avengers may soon have a new member," Happy said, looking up from his phone to where Fenrir had reclined his chair. Tony noticed that Fenrir's head, shoulders and lap were covered in ice cubes.
"You told me to dump them on him," Happy said, when he saw where Tony was looking.
"How are you feeling?" Tony asked.
"They think I'm going to be an Avenger," Fenrir said, shifting his head over to look at Tony and smiling. "It would be almost poetic if it were true."
"You think you can handle the drive back to the plane?" Tony asked. Fenrir nodded slightly and Happy stepped over to help Fenrir stand up. "You can have Happy read you some more tabloids when we get on the plane."
It had taken some surveailinace work, and some help from Jarvis, but Clint was finally able to find a time where everyone was busy. Which meant that there was no one to stop him and Fenrir from watching the rest of the Fellowship of the Ring.
Clint was glad that he hadn't had to wait too long before he had been able to make movie day part two happen. He wasn't sure exactly what had happened when Tony had taken Fenrir out but, judging by the way the kid had been shaking when he'd come back, it clearly hadn't gone well. So Fenrir needed a day of lying on the couch, eating junk food, and watching movies.
Fenrir loved Fellowship. Which, of course he had. The movie kicks ass. So take that Tony. And everyone else who said that it shouldn't be on Fenrir's movie list.
As the end credits began to roll Fenrir looked like he was about to cry. Clint knew that, even with Jarvis's help, he probably didn't have enough time for another three hour movie. But it would have been cruel to just leave him wondering what was going to happen to everyone. So he put Two Towers in. There really wasn't any other option.
While he waited for the previews to finish, Clint pulled out his cell phone and quick made a call, waited and then hung up. He smiled as he put it back in his pocket.
"Why do you keep doing that if you don't talk?" Fenrir asked.
"I changed Steve's ringtone to play the Hamster Dance at full volume. I also changed his password so he can't change it back," Clint explained.
"How many times have you called him?" Fenrir said, actually smiling. And who knew Fenrir could even do that?
"I've been doing it about every ten minutes since I changed it this morning. However many that makes," Clint said, grabbing a slice of pizza from the box in front of him.
"He'll know that it's you," Fenrir said.
"Not for a while," Clint said, pulling out his cell phone and handing it to Fenrir. "New cell phone so he won't recognize the number. I bought it just for this."
Fenrir looked at the phone for a minute and then laughed. He handed the phone back to Clint and turned his focus back to the television. The movie had started. Clint tossed his phone on the table and grabbed a soda.
"You having another movie day?" Steve asked, when he came through the doorway a few minutes later.
"Had to, since none of you appreciate good movies," Clint said, hoping that Steve hadn't been around soon enough to hear about his phone plans. He'd hoped to get another day out of it before he got caught.
"Clint, do you think I could talk to you for a minute?" Steve asked.
"Sure," Clint said, making no move to get up from the couch.
"I meant alone, Clint," Steve said. Damn it, Clint thought, he knows about the phone.
"Should I leave?" Fenrir asked.
"No, watch the movie," Clint said, getting up. "I'll be back." Clint followed Steve down the hall and into an empty room. "So what's up?"
"We need to talk," Steve said.
"Yeah, I got that. What's the big issue?" Clint asked. Steve shifted awkwardly from foot to foot. Clint suddenly knew that whatever Steve wanted to talk to him about, it was much bigger than his phone.
"Listen, Clint, I'm glad that you've been able to work through all of the issues that you had with Fenrir. And it really is nice the way that you've been spending time with him. I know that Thor appreciates it. I just want to make sure…" Steve trailed off.
Clint stared at him, wondering what he was getting at. Did he think that him being nice to Fenrir was all an act? That he was going to do something nasty, or beat him up again? God! Clint thought, would anyone ever let him live down that stupid day in the library?
"I just wanted to make sure that you're… being realistic about… what you're starting," Steve finished, apparently avoiding looking Clint in the eye. Clint just waited for Steve to say something else. He honestly had no idea what the other man was getting at.
"I know that you miss Natasha," Steve began again. "And I know that a lot has changed anymore as far as how relationships work and what's okay now. But I really don't think that you pursuing something with Fenrir is a good idea."
"What?" Clint choked out. He had to be misunderstanding this. There was no way that Steve was saying what it sounded like he was saying.
"He wants to give people what they want. He tries to go along with what he thinks is expected so if he thinks that you're interested then he'll probably act like he is too. But he's not anywhere ready for-"
"What exactly do you think I'm trying to do here?" Clint asked, sure that he had to be misunderstanding. There was no way that Steve thought- there was just no way.
"I'm not the only one that's worried," Steve said. "It's just that if you and Fenrir start something physical then I don't see any way that it doesn't end badly. For everyone."
"How did,- why would I? What makes you think that I want 'physical' things from Fenrir?" Clint asked, feeling sick. This was not happening.
"You have kind of been going out of your way to spend time with him. And when we all came to watch movies with you two you looked like you wanted to chase us all out with a bat," Steve said.
"I did not," Clint insisted.
"Clint, when I sat between you two, you practically growled at me," Steve said.
"That was…" Clint struggled to think of an excuse that didn't sound bad.
"I thought it was a little weird then, but I figured you were just really determined to make things right from before," Steve explained, leaning stiffly against the wall behind him. "But then after what Fenrir was saying about the carnival, it seemed pretty obvious-"
"What did Fenrir say about the carnival?" Clint asked quickly. Shit. How much did Steve know? Did Fenrir told him about the kiss? Shit, shit, shit.
"He said that you spent the whole day taking him around and that you won him that huge horse." Steve said. Thank God, Clint thought, he doesn't know about the kiss. He might still live to see the end of the day.
"I'm not blaming you for being interested in him. Fenrir's a good looking guy and he's sweet, but there's just no way that he'd be able to handle anything like-"
"Stop!" Clint said. This was getting insanely uncomfortable and he needed to stop it. "It's nice that you want to protect Fenrir from my lust, or whatever, but I don't actually want to fuck him."
"Clint, come on," Steve said.
"No, really, I'm pretty focused on Natasha. I'm pretty sure I remember you being there when I professed my love to her and tried to propose. It was pretty loud, and repetitive. I think there might have been something in there about buying a farm," Clint said, cringing at the memory. " Besides do you honestly think that I could go from wanting to throw him off of the Tower to wanting to get him into bed?"
"It makes about as much sense as you going from wanting to throw him off of the Tower, to wanting to be buddies with him," Steve replied.
"We aren't-" Clint was going to keep going. Insist that there was no way that he was going to be friends with Loki's son. But all conversation was interrupted when Steve's pocket started blaring the Hamster Dance.
"For the love of," Steve said, pulling out his phone and smashing the button to hang up. "It's been doing that all day."
"We aren't friends," Clint repeated, trying to keep a straight face as Steve stared at his phone and tried to figure out how to turn down the volume. "Everyone's been hanging out with him. I'm just being nice."
They talked for a little while longer with Steve getting more and more embarrassed as he realized that Clint really had no interest in sleeping with Fenrir. With one last assurance that he wouldn't be banging their houseguest, Clint left a blushing Steve to go and rejoin Fenrir.
As he made his way back to the room Clint decided that he should probably tell Fenrir what Steve had thought was going on. The last thing that he needed was for Fenrir to think that he was into him again. The more Clint thought about it the more he began to think that maybe it would be better for everyone if he stopped hanging around Fenrir altogether.
The plan had been to be nice, cheer Fenrir up a little, and show everyone that he wasn't an ass. He'd done all that. He'd actually done it a couple of times now. So he didn't need to keep doing it. And if Steve had noticed that he was spending too much time with Fenrir then he was definitely spending too much time with Fenrir. It wasn't like he needed Clint with him to watch the rest of Lord of the Rings. Clint could just give him the discs and he could watch them by himself. This would be better. His good deed was done and so were him and Fenrir.
"Gandalf's alive," Fenrir said, smiling when he saw Clint reenter the room.
"Yeah, he is," Clint said, looking over at the screen. This really was a good movie. Reclaiming his seat on the couch, he stretched out to grab some popcorn. That was when he noticed that his phone wasn't where he left it.
"Did you make a call while I was gone?" Clint asked.
"It would have been suspicious if the calls had stopped completely while you were with him," Fenrir replied, keeping his focus on the screen as he handed Clint his phone.
Clint laughed to himself as he took his cell back. Reclining back on the couch he decided that it wouldn't hurt to finish the series with Fenrir before they stopped hanging out. It made more sense than ditching him in the middle of the movie. It wasn't like there was any rush to stop hanging around Fenrir. He'd get to it eventually. But for the moment he was more than happy to watch Legolas take down some orcs.
Loki looked down at the staff in his hand. It was heavier than the one he'd brought to Midgard with him, but that was to be expected. It had been made with a completely different purpose.
Looking around he thought that Svartalfheim truly hadn't changed at all in the years since he'd been here last. The field he was standing in looked exactly as it had on the day when everything had gone wrong. Loki hadn't set foot in the realm since, and he hadn't intended to. That was of course before he had known the truth. Things were all so different now.
Looking down at the staff again Loki smiled at what the dwarves had been able to create. It truly was a masterpiece. Especially since he'd waited and allowed them the time to finish this one. He'd had such plans for how he was going to use it on Midgard. The Avengers wouldn't have stood a chance. It was almost sad that they would never know how close they had come to utter destruction.
Not that any of that truly mattered. Not when he had something so much more important to focus on. Loki took one last look at Svartalfheim's capital city. This wasn't what he'd had the weapon made for. This hadn't been the plan but, Loki knew, that this would be worlds more satisfying.
AN: I just want to say how much I have loved all of the reviews I have gotten in the last few chapters. I love knowing what the people who are reading this are thinking, so thanks. Hope you like what's coming next.