"I don't think it's that difficult finding someone who hates you, Tony." He sighed.
Tony was sure he could bet that the person on the other side of the phone was pinching the bridge of his nose and win.
"It's really hard, actually," answered Tony, picking up a pen and making it spin in his hand.
"Tony…"
Ah, how could Tony try to persuade him? Even on the phone was impossible, huh?
"Maybe is not that hard…" Tony admitted feeling defeated, looking at the ceiling and letting the pen on the table.
"See?"
"But it's different." Tony said convinced.
"Ah…" He sighed again, "How so?"
"When someone hates me –believe me, I have a lot of experience- usually tells me, you know? Or at least has an apparent reason to do it so."
"Are you saying that this guy…?" He made the last syllable longer.
"Loki." Tony said firmly, straighten himself on the chair.
"Loki" He repeated, "That this Loki guy hates you?"
"Exactly," Tony said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Tell me, have you ever talked with him?"
"Uhm… No." Tony answered looking away, as if he was watching him.
Bruce sighed. Again.
Tony knew Bruce was with his glasses in a hand and the phone in the other, trying with all his strength to not end the call at that moment. But that wasn't stopping Tony, also, if Bruce ended the call, Tony would call again. And Bruce also knew it, so even try to end the call seemed worthless.
"You don't understand! This guy looks at me like I had some fucking disease! And he ignores me! He ignores me, Bruce!" Tony said standing up dramatically, walking away from the desk where he was before.
"Maybe he doesn't even know you?" Bruce suggested sitting on a more comfortable sofa, he supposed the conversation wouldn't end soon.
"How wouldn't he!?"
As if what Tony needed at that moment was a hit directed to his ego. No, thank you very much. Completely unnecessary.
"Perhaps he is a foreign? You can't deny he has a weird name." Bruce tried suggesting.
"I hadn't thought about it…" Tony started walking aimlessly around the house.
"Do you see?" Bruce looked up.
A little ray of hope grew inside Bruce, who wished for the conversation to be over there, and tried to hold tightly onto the opportunity of being able to finish his work.
"But it doesn't make sense." Tony said looking through the window.
Ah, hoping a short conversation was too much. It would be lying if Bruce said he didn't know it. He haven't met a single person who was more stubborn than Tony.
"What doesn't?"
Bruce closed his eyes.
"When he heard my name, hey, don't snort, I'm listening you." Tony complained before continuing, "When he heard my name he made that weird face and didn't look back at me again, you know? Can you believe that someone did that? Then I found him on the cafeteria, I approached him, talked to him and he left. He didn't even answer me! Can you believe it?"
"So, your biggest problem is a guy who ignores you?"
Tony could see Bruce raising an eyebrow.
"Well…" Tony keep silence, noticing he couldn't deny or affirm it. He didn't even know why he was giving it so much importance, it could be due to his hurt pride. Yeah, it was for his hurt pride.
"Tony…"
Tony was able to add another sigh to the collection he was creating while the conversation grew.
"What?" Tony asked with an innocent voice.
"You have an endless amount of people who, sadly, would be willing to kiss your feet and you focus on a guy who, according to you, hates you and ignores you shamelessly?" Bruce said with a higher voice tone. "You are such a case." Bruce covered his eyes with his right hand.
"Are you saying that I'm being ridiculous?" Tony stopped his walking.
"I'm saying that you're exaggerating and being ridiculous."
"And what do you want me to do, huh?"
Tony was demanding an answer and Bruce asked himself if he should've studied phycology or psychiatry, for that matter. Maybe his life would've been easier that way.
"I don't know," Bruce said, taking time before speak again. "Perhaps… Perhaps you should try to ask him."
"Have you even been listening to me?" Tony said raising his voice, looking towards the ceiling.
Bruce saw his mistake.
"I'm sorry, Tony. My interpersonal relationship skills are not the… finest, that's why I spend my days locked up on a lab, and you know it."
Tony snorted. But he couldn't blame Bruce, deep down he knew that he had to fix this issue by himself, wait, "fix"? "Fix" sounded as if he had done something really bad to Loki, when in fact, he couldn't remember if he had ever have met him, not even once in his life. Anyway, why being hated by a guy he had never met before was so important? It didn't seem that significant but, who the hell did Loki thought he was to ignore Tony as if he wasn't damned important and known?
"It's okay, at least I could talk to someone" Tony commented looking at the floor.
"At least you were able to complain with someone." Bruce offered with a smile.
"It's the same." Tony could heard when Bruce smiled, and he did it too.
"But, seriously, maybe you're just misunderstanding stuff. And I'm really sorry, I don't know how to help you and I have to go."
"Okay, thank you anyway, Brucie."
"Please, stop with the 'Brucie' already"
"Yeah… That ain't gonna happen."
The mental image of Bruce rolling his eyes in an exaggerated way stood in Tony's mind even after his friend had ended the call.
Tony softly tossed the phone to the sofa –he has arrived to the living room on his walk- and threw himself on it, making the leather resonate in response to his weight.
"Dum-E, give me a scotch glass," Tony said making himself comfortable before turning on the television.
The robot, which had been created years ago on his father's workshop, moved to the bar placed on Tony's living room and took a bottle of scotch, trying to accomplish the task that had been given to. Tony jumped on his seat when he heard the crashing sound the bottle made when it collided with the floor, crumbling. A stench of alcohol started to fill the place and Tony cursed loudly while he stood up.
"You're every time closer to be donated to a public university, do you know that? You are a mess!"
Dum-E retracted his claw and put in down, as if showing regret. Tony sighed.
"Go and get the mop, move."
After cleaning the hundred-or-so pieces of glass scattered over the floor, drying the wasted alcohol and putting a paper cone with the word 'Dunce' on Dum-E, Tony found himself resting comfortably on his leather sofa with a scotch glass poured from a just opened bottle in his hand, searching for something interesting to watch on tv, what was the point in having so many channels if there wasn't anything interesting on them?
Two weeks had happened since Tony had started his classes and he had learn two things:
One. Not being able to enter to the labs sucked.
Two. He didn't shared any class with Loki and that made everything more boring.
Talking about the devil, Tony had tried to approach him because of simple and mere curiosity, with the intention of asking him what the hell Tony had done to him and why the fuck he ran away every time he saw Tony, but Loki just did that: run away. Ah, and shoot him ugly and full of hatred glances, the ugly and full of hatred glances couldn't be forgotten.
Tony had even tried to corner him –God, corner sounded so wrong- on a place where Loki couldn't fled away, but the guy was like a goddamned cat and he was able to leave with an impressive cunning before Tony could be able to even try to talk to him. A magic cat, yes, like those the witches had, a black cat with green eyes, -Ha! Just like a witches' one!- that was able to drag you into the depths of hell itself with just a movement of his ears.
"Jarv, do you have any data of Loki on your hardware?" Tony asked while he supported his head on the back of the sofa, looking at the ceiling.
"It surprises me that you have waited so long before asking me. However, I am afraid I have to tell you no, I do not have any, sir."
Tony snorted, ignoring the fact that Jarvis had called him slow.
"When was the first time I programmed you?" Tony inquired after turning off the television.
"About three years ago, sir."
"You have a registry of all the people I have met, right?" Tony looked the ice floating on his scotch.
"I would say so, sir."
"So, why would a guy I met before fifteen hate me?" Tony drank a sip from his glass.
"I do not know, sir."
"Of course you don't, how could you know something that I don't?" Tony commented, giving a smile to one of the cameras.
"What is your security number like, sir?"
"Touché," Tony pointed with a finger at one of the cameras. "I may reprogram you, your sass levels are over the acceptable."
"Are you angry because the student surpassed the master, sir?"
"Shut up and order something to eat."
Tony turned on the television, again.
"As you wish, sir."
Wonderful stuff happened when your name was Tony Stark, like that in less than a half an hour your dining table could be full with delicious and ready for eat food, it didn't matter if it was Sunday after the closing hour of most of places. Tony took a slice of pizza from a box in front of him and marveled himself with the extra cheese while he opened a cold beer, -it had been carried by himself, he didn't want a scrambled one, thank you very much- and he laughed with a Japanese contest show.
"I hope to not interrupt you, Mister Stark."
"Oh! Hey, Pepp!" Tony replied while a melted cheese thread hung from his chin, Tony cleaned it quickly with a napkin and drank a sip from his can. "Are you hungry?"
"No, I'm not." Pepper answered sitting on the chair in front of Tony.
"And what brings you around here? Jarvis, why didn't you tell me that Pepper was coming over?" Tony looked straight to a camera.
"I did it so, sir. You just didn't want to hear."
"Uhm… I'm sorry?"
"Isn't it a little bit early to be drinking?" Pepper questioned, scowling at the can resting on the table.
"Early? It's the perfect time somewhere in the world!"
"Tony, can I ask you something?"
"Shoot." Tony took another sip.
"How long has passed since you started your classes?" She narrowed her eyes.
"A year?"
"Hardly," Pepper replied seriously. "Two weeks."
"It feels the same." Tony bit another slice of pizza.
"Tony."
He swallowed. Tony didn't like the direction where the conversation was heading. Why he hadn't listened to Jarvis? He would've had time to flee. Or to hide. Or to fake his death.
"Pepp." Tony replied with the same seriousness.
"Do you know how many days have you arrived late?" Pepper looked at him accusingly.
"Three?"
"Five. In fact, the first day you got late, too. That makes six, of eight."
Pepper supported her right elbow on the table and rested her head on her palm.
"Thanks for throwing me to the train tracks, Jarvis." Tony said looking at a camera on his left.
"I was just trying to help, sir."
"Tony, you moved to this place in order for you to not have to wake up that early, so that you wouldn't have to get late, remember? Well, that's exactly what you haven't been doing."
"I haven't got that late, uh." Tony tried.
"You know that's not true." She looked at him.
"C'mon, Pepper, things are not going to magically change if I start getting earlier to classes, besides, you know something? I get bored going there, the classes don't stimulate me, there're stuff I already know. Should I recall that I made a robot? Useless and bothersome, yes, but I made it. Oh! And what about Jarvis? You know I designed him, right? I want to sneak on the labs and workshops, to be able to do experiments and to invent more things. The only reason I'm going it's because Howard Stark wants a piece of cardboard to show off and delight himself in front of this colleagues about how smart is his son, -Tony pronounced that word with disdain- although he doesn't let me enter to his workshop, nor he had called to know how I'm doing and he just recognize me a his fucking son to get away with the press. How do you want me to get up every morning and go to a place that doesn't attract my attention with people that doesn't make me feel anything?"
"Maybe because it's your duty as the future owner of the company?"
"Pepp, I'm already an adult. Why can't you treat me like one?"
"Do you really want me to treat you as an adult?" Pepper stared at his eyes.
"Yes." Tony replied, staring at hers.
"Then act like one. How can you say that you're an adult, a responsible one, when you can't even arrive on time to your classes?"
"You sound like a teacher scolding a problematic student." Tony grumbled.
"You are acting like a problematic student."
After hearing that, Tony groaned grumpily and rolled his eyes. Was it too late to try running away? What about feigning that he was choking with a piece of pizza? Maybe he would've luck.
"Look, I know you don't want to go—"
"I want to go into a fucking lab!" Tony complained, like an adult.
Pepper sighed, wondering how long it would be until she was able to take a well-deserved vacation.
"I know, problem student. But you need to act as an adult, seeing that you are one and wait until is possible to you to accede one. Now, I was thinking that maybe you could move into a place nearer to MIT."
"And leave home, sweet home?"
"Then get earlier to class." Pepper warned him, "Tony, you do it once again and I'll start to look for another place. Do you understand?"
"Yes, ma'am," Tony winked. Pepper looked away. "I'll try."
"You better."
There was a short silence where Tony asked himself what had he done to deserve that kind of treatment, no, being late 80% of days didn't count; Pepper wondered why she couldn't be on a five stars spa at that moment.
"That would be all, Mr. Stark." Pepper said regaining her composure.
"Thank you, Mrs. Potts." Tony replied watching Pepper while she stood up and walked to the exit.
oOo
Tony knew Pepper's warning couldn't be taken lightly, so he proposed to himself waking up at a prudent and reasonable time on Monday.
Effectively, Tony got to the building five minutes earlier than the teacher and he even had time to make an insignificant conversation with the person seated at his side. 'Victor' was his name?, and Tony had made sure to have a notebook and a pencil on his desk. Who was a responsible adult now, huh? Ignoring the fact that Tony started to make meaningless scribbles in the paper, he was one.
Nevertheless, although all his great effort, the result was the same of the past classes: Tony put on his best concentration mask while his mind traveled for different places and scenarios. Well, at least he was able to answer when the teacher asked him something, but that only made him reconsider his hypothesis about not needing to be there; maybe he should've entered a few years ago, that way he would've joined with no major knowledge and could be truly interested on the classes, because if there was something Tony craved and wanted was that: knowledge. To know more every time, making a lot of questions and, while the answers came, more questions added up. Wasn't that what philosophers said? What if Tony signed up to Philosophy courses? Nah, he liked substantial answers.
When Tony realized he was completely disconnected from the class it was too late, and it was over. Tony cursed his incapability of being concentrated on stuff that were uninteresting for him, it was something that happened to everybody, right? But he wasn't 'everybody' and feeling like it was really bothering him.
"Jarv, what do we have now?" Tony asked, walking aimlessly through the campus, watching people enjoying the green grass.
"Your next class is Calculus with Professor Coulson, sir."
"Uhm…" Tony murmured while he watched the time, there was still a few minutes before the class started, he could have a delicious coffee before it, right?
Walking quickly -hell, he was almost running- to the classroom Tony reproached himself for thinking the time would be enough. He was fifteen minutes late and he knew Coulson would want to speak with him, Tony had never showed that much interest on his classes. Nothing personal, mind you.
When he opened the door and interrupted Coulson's explication about Integrals –How fun!-, Tony had every eye on him, -not that it bothered him, anyway- Coulson looked at him with surprise on his features, Tony was right to think that Coulson had assumed he wouldn't come to that class.
"Oh, Mr. Stark, it's an honor to know that you have come down to join us."
"I'm sorry, I had a coffee problem." Tony excused himself, looking for a seat.
"Would you mind coming to my desk?"
Well, maybe not everything went the way you wanted.
Shit.
"Sure."
Tony was pleasant surprised when he found out that Coulson had a few sheets with very long exercises on his desk, I supposed you already knew how to do them, Coulson had said after Tony had picked them up. Tony thanked him and went to an unoccupied seat, which was in the back row, thankfully. He kept himself busy the rest of the class, solving the exercises with a lot of concentration, without feeling the gazes directed to him; Tony was really satisfied with that system.
At the end of the class Tony was about finishing an exercise, so he stayed on his seat until he found out the answer. When he looked up, Tony noticed he was the only student who was still in the classroom. Tony stood up and gave Coulson the sheets with annotations and calculations filling them; he stared at them before saying:
"Impressive."
"I liked them," Tony said smiling, "From what book are them?" He asked curiously, he was more than willing to make more stuff like that.
"I wrote them." Coulson smiled at the compliment.
Tony decided to never underestimate Coulson again.
It was a wise decision.
Going out from the classroom, with the agreement of keeping that method of exercises, Tony felt how his stomach growled and he made the decision of going to the cafeteria to buy his lunch, he didn't feel like going out. Maybe he could relax resting on the grass, talking with the voice on his telephone, searching information about certain teacher, after that.
With a hamburger on his tray, Tony was looking for a table to sit on, like a normal student. He saw one relatively empty, there was just a student on it who had forgotten his lunch on the tray and was focused reading a book.
He remembered what Bruce had said to him, not the strikes to his ego but his maybe you should ask him, so he swiftly walked closer and, as he was tired of trying to achieve something in a subtle way, Tony hit his tray onto the table, making a loud enough clang that made Loki get out of his reader trance, who looked astonished at Tony and, before he could even make a sound, Tony spoke.
"Speak, what did I do to you?"
"I beg your pardon?"
Loki's confusion was really clear on his features, Tony thought that maybe Loki hadn't heard him or hadn't understand the question so he asked again, keeping the visual contact.
"What the fuck did I do? Why do you hate me?"
There was a moment when the only thing that could be heard was the background noises, Tony wanted to suppose that Loki was thinking on a coherent answer.
"I am sorry, can you tell me who are you?"
What?
Of all the answers Tony could've imagine, that was one he hadn't thought of. He was dumbfounded. How could anyone ask him who he was? How could be a person around there who didn't know about his existence?
"Uhmm… Tony Stark?" Tony said confused. Loki's eyebrows knitted together. "Have you been all your life living on an igloo?"
"What?"
"It's the only option I can think of, you don't look like a desert person." Tony said referring to Loki's pale skin.
"I am really sorry, I know not what you are talking about."
Tony was about to talk, but was interrupted by a vibration he correctly related to a phone, then he heard an 'excuse me' from Loki and the conversation was over.
"Hello? Oh, Sigyn!" His face lit up as if by magic. "How are you, darling?"
Loki stood up, placed his book on his backpack, lifted the tray and walked towards the exit with an agile pace, talking animated.
At least he had made an interaction, which could be considered as a triumph if it wasn't because Loki had told him he didn't know who he was and he has left him alone, again!
His poor hurt ego and he withdrawn feeling defeated without even finishing his hamburger and Tony walked outside; it was an excellent moment to lounge in the grass and talk with his phone. Yes, it was perfect. Even if it sounded weird. He leaned back in the grass, searching meaningless thing on internet until a voice drawn him out of his thoughts.
"Things have been a little bit difficult."
Tony turned where the voice came from and he recognized the person who was talking on the phone in the bench that had been empty moment ago, God, how much time have he been talking on the phone?
"Leave? No, it does not sound like a great idea."
And where was he supposed to go? Not that Tony cared.
Tony thought of going out of the place in order to give Loki privacy and let him talk peacefully, but for that Tony would've to stand up, which probably would attract Loki's attention and he would end up thinking that Tony was spying on him or something like that, also, he had come there first, why should he leave? And it wasn't as if he was really paying attention to the conversation Loki was having. He wasn't any type of stalker, mind you.
"It just… I miss you so bad."
No, of course Tony wasn't eavesdropping. With who was Loki talking, anyway? With the same girl? Well, Loki has said he missed her, so maybe she was his girlfriend, but how could he know if he wasn't listening?
"I wish you had been able to stay here."
Yup, it sounded like a girlfriend, or it would sound like a girlfriend if Tony was listening to the conversation.
"Yes, I think I would have to find someone."
Find someone?
"Although, I would have preferred not having to do it so."
So, why was he going to do it?
"I already told you, Sigyn, I do not want to leave, and you shall know the reason."
Loki turned for a moment and if Tony hadn't be quickly enough to return to his laying position on the grass, he was sure Loki would've see him. Who will believe him if Tony said he wasn't stalking Loki? Of course it wasn't the situation, Tony definitely wasn't stalking, and he wasn't even listening the conversation that Loki was having with Sigyn. He was calmly laying on the green grass, looking at the flowers.
"Jarvis, can you give me information about this beauty?" Tony whispered with a flower in his hand and took a photo.
"Of course, sir. What you have on your hand is the Campanula rotundifolia, which is commonly seen in different places around the United States due to its easy maintenance and—"
"You know what? Don't. You don't let me hear."
"As you wish, sir."
If Jarvis had the capacity of sigh, he would have done it and if he also had a body, he would probably have rolled his eyes.
Tony got himself into a sitting position, focusing on the silent Loki, who was once again looking to the contrary direction, having Tony staring at his back.
"I know, I know," Loki replied to the voice on the phone. "I will have to try," Loki sighed, "Please have a pleasing afternoon, darling."
At the sight of Loki lowering the arm that had been holding the phone onto his ear, Tony supposed that the call was finished. Loki looked to the floor, or it seemed like it, because Tony wasn't able to see his face and mumbled something that Tony didn't accomplish to hear. Loki stood up and started walking away from the place, leaving a confused and curious guy behind.
oOo
Tony was lying on this bed staring at his phone screen. There was a picture of a paper signboard that had caught his attention. At first he had thought of taking it, but then he realized it was better to take a photo from it.
"Seeking for a quiet roommate for the purpose of sharing a comfortable and spacious department. It has two bedrooms and a bathroom. The living room and the dining room are quite large. It has, also, a balcony. If there could be any doubt, please be sure to talk at the phone number…" Tony read out loud, "Jarvis, don't you think it's time for a move?"
"I do not consider it as a good idea, sir."
"C'mon," Tony replied with a wide smile, "It's gonna be fun."