st_arkravinghazelnut | December 18th, 2012

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December 18th, 2012

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.

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"I don't know how you survive if you're this cold all the time," Thor says, rubbing his hands over Tony's faster than before. The friction of their hands against one another warms Thor's palms. He can't tell if it has warmed the other man any.

"If you need to, I can wrap you up in my drape."

No, Thor hasn't forgotten Tony's quip during their first encounter.

"What are you gonna do? Swaddle me?" Tony imagined Thor fashioning him into a burrito of an Iron Man, and he snorted. "It looks better on you, Prospero." Tony gave Thor's arm a good-natured pat.

"I thought you would look cute with a hood like your Little Red Riding," Thor says. Swaddling Tony had never even occurred to him.

"I'd look what now?" Of all the many, many, MANY things people had called Tony Stark...'cute' was a first.

"Like your Little Red Riding," Thor repeats for him, assuming Tony was asking specifically about who he'd resemble. "She has the grandmother who was swallowed by the wolf." An attempt to jog Tony's memory.

"Yeah, I know who she is. Not seeing the resemblan--why am I even arguing with you?" Tony tossed up a hand.

"It's because you don't have the hood yet," Thor argues. "You would agree if you tied my cape into a hood for yourself."

"Yeah, beyond the fact I'm 5'9 and forty-two." Tony stalked off towards the water. "C'mon, Big Guy, let's ride."

"You're very small. That's a start."

Thor follows after him, Mjölnir in his hand. "Little Guy," he says, with a nod of the head. He extends his free arm in a signal to join him.

"You're enormous. You don't get an opinion." Tony adopted a few yoga poses by the water before moving to join Thor, wanting to keep the warmth flowing.

Thor grins at that, then pulls Tony in, then without warning, spins Mjølnir to send them skyward.

"Next time, you wear a bigger jacket," he says over the din of the rush of air around them. It occurs to him then that there isn't likely to be a next time. The magic Mjølnir ride generally was a one-time thing. Jane hadn't asked for a second ride after the first. He'd asked Darcy, too, and she backed out at the last minute. Selvig absolutely refused.

Tony, though -- Tony had been a surprise. Earlier, it sounded like he didn't have interest at all, but was using other things as an excuse. In the end, though, Tony had agreed and Thor was pleased to show him, in part because most didn't want to and in part because he wanted show someone else what it felt like to fly with only the power of Mjølnir propelling you forward.

You couldn't do that without actually showing them.

"Only if--" Tony began, though the wind caught his mouth and he snapped his jaw shut.

Ah, well. Didn't need to be said.

Tony stuck close and watched the clouds grow close and the moon peek through the curtain. Huddled as he was, he could have drifted off at the sight the night sky.

Thor lands smoothly and sets Tony back down just as he had before. The cool night air completely obliterated whatever residual feelings of sickness he still felt.

He smiles at Tony. "Are you ready to go home?" Thor isn't entirely sure that he considers the Tower to be his home. It does not resemble Jane's flat, or any of the other houses he's been to.

When Tony's feet hit the ground, he was somewhat dazed. He backed off a few steps, stretching and rubbing his limbs to life.

"Abouts. Coming with? Going to your missus?"

"Coming with," Thor says. "Jane is a little miffed with me right now." Darcy had been the one to teach him that word, along with a plethora of other Midgardian slang. In many ways, she had been a better introduction to Midgard than any of the books written on the realm back home.

She had even given him her old iPod shuffle and helped him to create a Facebook.

"How about that." Tony mused, giving Thor a knowing clap on the back as he tread the sandy grasses to approach the vehicle in the distance. "Mine's out of town. Keep me company."

Thor has no objections. Some company is always better than no company. When given the choice, Thor prefers to be around other people, and if anything has been proven today, when he's not headbutting his soon-to-be-allies for retrieving their brother, he can be good company.

"Do you stay in that tower?" he asks as they continue to the limousine. "Is that where you live?"

Tony nodded for Thor to slide in before him seeing as how the man had claimed the further side of the cabin. JARVIS welcomed them back cordially.

"Top suite." Tony crept in once his seat was free for claiming, the door shutting behind him. The headlights flickered on and and they were setting off on the quiet road back to the tower a good two hours out. "I've got a place in Malibu, but since Stark Tower got a makeover as a, uh, home base it's kept me here. You know. Daddy's gotta keep his eyes on the kids."

Thor looks over at Tony, grinning. Tony seemed like the sort to have sired many children, so it does not surprise him in the least that he has more than one.

He can only imagine what they're like. Would they be as charming and wisecracking as their father?

Thor wasn't sure the world was ready for two Tony Starks in the world.

"Where do you keep these children of yours?" he asks. "I would like very much to meet them."

Tony blinked, but he didn't miss a beat. "You have. All of them. Ginger ale, JARVIS. Please."

"Before your stomach ails as well, Sir."

"You know me so well." Tony reached into the cooler that popped open in the center of the cabin, pouring himself a glass. He hadn't been hungry, and his stomach had been uneasy as of the last few months. Watching Thor eat did more to dissuade his appetite than anything, but it was clenching from hunger. "Yeah, some of them should be old enough to have left the nest but what can you do? I'm a provider. There's Natasha with her endless wig collection and Banner with his wardrobe casualties, for example."

Thor blinks.

Then he gestures to himself.

"You think us your children?" Thor can't decide whether or not to feel amused or insulted. Instead, he settles on surprised.

Talking a slow sip of the carbonated drink, Tony waited for it to settle in his stomach before speaking. "Yeah. You're under my care. You're my babies. The Avengers. I gotta nuture you all, see you grow up strong."

"I'm already strong," Thor protests. Strongest Avenger. "And older than you by well over 1400 years. I say that you are my charge."

"Hey you come in my house, eat my food, go ice skating on my dime--" Tony took another sip, "That makes you my sugar baby."

"They don't accept Asgardian coin," Thor points out. It's true. "If you were to come to Asgard, you'd be dressed in the finest garb the realm has to offer and treated to delicacies so succulent you'll think you've died and gone to Valhalla."

He gives Tony a slap on the back.

"So promise you'll come to visit and I'll return the favor."

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