December 18th, 2012

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Following the Battle of New York, Tony Stark and his brand were becoming many things. The days of being a no-accountability war profiteer were already well behind him, but he hardly anticipated playing landlord to a ragtag team of honest-to-god superheros. In the aftermath, that was one the first things he set about doing with Pepper. With her blessing, Tony had thrown himself into it. Never one to half-ass things, he oversaw the extensive remodeling to accommodate the specific needs of each and every Avenger. Several were essentially homeless and there was no initiative for the superpowerly-abled, even in a place as progressive as New York.

Including Steve. Even if he called Stark Tower ugly and immediately found an apartment somewhere in Brooklyn. Even though Tony set aside one of the top 12 floors for him like everyone else. Fine.

Today was all about adding that personal touch. He was giving free room and board, might as well be a gracious sugar daddy about it. Besides, who wanted to thwart crime with a guy or gal whose liquor of choice you couldn't name? Just bad form.

Stopping outside the luxury suite dedicated to the arguably most unique new friendly friend, Tony bounced on his heels. He contemplated just walking in for a split second, but he liked having his cranium hammer-free. And it was still about being gracious--as much as he could be. "JARVIS? Ping Point Break for me." Tony didn't feel like knocking. This was a compromise.

"Mr. Odinson, you have a visitor." JARVIS dutifully announced from within Thor's quarters.

Comments

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"Last I heard he was bound to a rock while an eagle pecked out his liver on the daily. So no." Trying his luck, Tony offered his hand as he faced the ice. The throngs were still merrily oblivious to the two champions in their midst. "Let's impress him."

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor looks at Tony's hand and then takes it, clumsily walking on the blade of his skates. As soon as he steps on the ice, he's comes dangerously close to slipping; when he finally manages to steady himself, he clutches Tony's arm with both of his arms.

"How are you supposed to do this? How is it possible to balance on such a thin blade?"

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Tony was on a smooth roll for all of a second before he was having to right himself as Thor's considerable mass dragged on his. "Don't look down. Bend your knees and--keep your weight forward. Basically the opposite of everything you're doing." Tony's voice was a bit gruff with the effort of keeping them both on an even keel.

Tony spun on his heel, bracing both of Thor's hands in his own, stroking backward to keep their momentum. "Come on, don't lean back. Nice and easy."

[st_ormbreaker]

Instead of leaning back, he leans forward to compensate. Knees bent, he moves clumsily forward, but somehow manages to keep his balance.

He still clutches Tony's hands tightly.

"I've wanted to do this for a long time," he says. "I saw this place the last time I was in New York." Which had been the battle. Thor had stayed there a little longer than he normally would, though Jane had fretted the entire time. It didn't feel right to leave the city immediately -- not when everything was in disarray.

It didn't feel right to leave the other Avengers alone, either.

"I love this city. It's not pretty, but it's chaotic. Everyone is always in motion. And even though it isn't pretty, there are places like this that are truly beautiful in it."

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Tony managed to find a rhythm with Thor, moving his arms and legs in time to find a nice push and pull that kept them both upright and moving with the crowd.

"'I wanna wake up in the City That Never Sleeps.'" Tony sang--the talking, the steady breaths, it all helped. "Attaboy. Thirty more seconds on your feet and you get a pin."

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor looks down at his feet, focusing on that motion and on the sound of Tony's voice.

"You sing well," he says. "You should do it more often."

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"Hm?" Tony cocked his head, returning the look. He waxed lyrical compulsively, but he was rarely called out on it, let alone complimented.

"'These vagabond shoes, they're longin' to stray. Right through the very heart of it! New York, New York.'" His singing attracted a few looks, but what was life without a little attention?

[st_ormbreaker]

"Is that a song of your own creation?" Thor asks. He's still clinging tightly to Tony's hands, though he glides a little easier than before. The edge of his skate blades don't catch the ice when his legs clumsily propelled propelled himself forward.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"Not at all. I give it up to the greats." Tony, for all his egomania, was above taking credit for other peoples' work.

Every so often, he glanced behind himself to make sure he wasn't headed for a collision. Pivoting, he guided the pair of them into a curve where they nearly grazed the walls. "Ready to let go, Point Break, or are you content to stare into my eyes all night?"

[st_ormbreaker]

"I am ready to make it on my own," Thor says, feeling considerably more confident than he was the first time he stepped out onto the ice and nearly fell onto his face. Still, that doesn't stop him from reaching out for the railing with one of his hands the second they leave Tony's own.

"Are you going to show me how you skate when you don't have another person hanging off of you?" Thor skates a little forward, one hand still lightly pressed against the rail.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Tony was already carrying on ahead of him, stroking his feet across the ice with as much cool indifference as he did many other things. Pivoting gracefully on his heel, Tony watched Thor muddle along as he glided backwards--and caught himself on the railing, allowing the other man to catch up.

He was far from a professional skater, but he was just decent enough to feel like one in comparison.

"Like watching an eyas taking wing."

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor feels a prickle of irritation at Tony's quip. Thor's skating without his hand on the railing now, though it still hovers a few inches over it. He's moving with less clumsiness, but the uncertainty is still there in the way he moves his feet, awkwardly, and true to Tony's words, like an eyas taking wing.

"And I suppose it is your first time on the ice as well."

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Tony pressed himself back flush with the railing, letting Thor slowly pass him by. His gloves made a firm pat, pat, pat as he hit them together in a series of claps. "You're doing great, Hon. Graceful. Majestic. Poetry in motion."

[st_ormbreaker]

Tony's compliments feel more like condescension than a genuine assessment of his abilities. Thor knows well enough that he's neither graceful nor majestic right now.

"Give me another six months and we'll see who's the better skater." Thor's not entirely sure he'll have time to skate, given how often he ends up back on Asgard or on one of the other eleven realms. Things had quieted down since the Bifrost had been repaired with the help of the Tesseract and they'd traveled from realm to realm, restoring peace to the worlds that had been attacked by wandering marauders or left under assault by people from their own planet who were all too happy to take advantage of the situation.

The title Prince of Asgard came with responsibilties that kept him away from Earth. Away from the Avengers. And away from Jane.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"Yeah?" Tony picked up after him, catching up in seconds.

"Not if you leave, you won't."

[st_ormbreaker]

"There is plenty to be done back home," he says. "I'm sure I'll be back soon enough, though. Sooner than six months from now."

Maybe just once or twice, but he'd still come.

"Consider it a formal challenge. Next time, I'll bring Jane, and you bring your Pepper."

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Tony gave a single, scoffing laugh. "Well if Pepper's there then the rest of us may as well pack it up."

[st_ormbreaker]

"Is she that good of a skater?" Thor keeps slowly moving forward, though now he's moving still faster than he was before.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"A good skater." Tony matched his pace with Thor's, puffing up beneath his thick scarf. Even middle-class hand-me-downs had little bearing on his demeanor. "An excellent kick-boxer. Business instincts like a shark. Oh, don't let that fool you, she is a woman of culture. Served as my company's lead curator for years."

[st_ormbreaker]

"I don't know if my Jane's good at skating or kickboxing, but she's a brilliant scientist, the best astrophysicist out there. She's giving a talk at this conference about Foster theory. It's named after her because she was the one who came up with it."

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Tony nodded politely along to Thor's words, continuing his leisurely slide backwards. "You know, Pepper was well established in her field right out of--"

However Tony Stark intended to finish that one-up was cut short when he was bowling over and snorting ice courtesy of a passing child using his trailing scarf as a convenient leverage point on their race with their friends.

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor makes the mistake of pushing himself away from the rinkside, to try and help Tony to his feet; instead, he moves too quickly, stumbles, and winds up on the ground next to him.

[st_arkintern]

One of the kids from the group skate back to where Thor and Tony are left sprawled out on the ice.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asks, offering them a hand up.

And just then, Thor turns over. Peter's widen with recognition and he struggles to get anything out at all. Thor had been his second-favorite Avenger since basically forever.

Finally, he manages to spit the words out: "You're -- you're Thor!"

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"Yeah, he's thor, I'm thor. Thick and thired of kithing ithe." Tony piped up from nearby, pushing himself shakily up on his forearms. 'No one check on Tony, he's fine.'

[st_arkintern]

Peter stands there on the ice, shocked as the two Avengers (Avengers!) pull themselves to their feet; neither one reaches for his hand, but Peter knows it's because they're Avengers. They don't need the help of a ten-year old kid -- there's nothing they can't handle.

Still, a goofy, embarrassed grin forms on his face as he stuffs his gloved hand into his pocket, trying to will himself to breathe so that he can somehow manage to say something -- anything to his first-favorite Avenger, but all he can really do is stand there in stunned silence.

It takes a moment, but then Peter swallows and somehow, that clears his throat enough that he's finally able to get something out.

"Mr. Stark," he says, and he can't manage to say anything more than that.