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.

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[st_arkravinghazelnut]

The ginger ale started out on his lips and ended up down his front as Thor showed his goodwill. Though Tony took it in stride.

"Promise." Tony stripped off his jacket and laid it to the side, leaving him in his ugly Christmas sweater and jeans pair he'd chosen from Value Village. "Pinky swear. Here." He extended his digit.

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor knows of this pinky promise. Jane's nephew and niece had once made him promise he would bring them something from Asgard and made it official with this. He thought human rituals were strange, but this one was just strangely endearing.

Thor hooks his finger around Tony's.

"A sacred agreement."

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Tony held a steady countenance, firmly grasping Thor's larger pinky in his own with as much earnestness as he would signing a major business deal and then--

"Ha...!" Yelping in laughter, Tony broke and fell back against the cushion.

Maybe the hypoglycemia was getting to him but the absurdity of the day capped off with a goddamn pinky promise was too much to handle.

"I got you wrong."

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor turns and looks at Tony, utterly perplexed by his reaction.

"Got what wrong?" he asks, brows furrowed. There were many things in the universe he knew and understood, but right now, he couldn't even begin to comprehend the reasoning behind Tony's laughter.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

“You’re a better sport than I gave you credit for.” Tony tossed himself back before he could roll off the seat. “That’s all.”

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor sits back with a huff. What's that supposed to mean? He's still not certain. He decides it's best for the both of him if he just accepts it as a compliment, backhanded or no.

"You were saying something earlier," he says finally. "But you got cut off." Thor hadn't forgotten.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Wiping a tear from his eye, Tony gave Thor a puzzled look and tilted his head.

[st_ormbreaker]

"I said something about you wearing a bigger jacket next time, then you started to say something, but you got cut off." Or stopped. It was nearly the same difference to Thor.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

A lightbulb went off in Tony’s head but he played it off with a shrug. He suddenly felt very foolish for even entertaining the idea of saying it. He blamed the highs of flying.

“Doessssn’t ring a bell.”

[st_ormbreaker]

"Only if," Thor repeats. He turns to look at Tony, his gaze intense. "Only if what?"

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

“Only if...?” Tony repeated, as if Thor was the one posing the question.

[st_ormbreaker]

"Only if," Thor repeats back at him. Tony's lack of an answer only serves to fuel his curiosity.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

“Yeah?” Tony lounged back with what remained of his ginger ale, sipping it as if he was sitting pretty and it hadn’t spilled at all. “Don’t keep me in suspense, Big Guy.”

[st_ormbreaker]

"Only if you stop feigning ignorance," Thor says. He pulls the glass out of Tony's hand, tilts it towards him, and drinks the very little of the ginger ale left at the bottom of the glass.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Tony blinked, his fingers pinching empty air.

Of everything Tony felt in that moment of watching Thor unceremoniously claim his cup and drink the last few drops just to put him in his place...

Clearing his throat and eliminating the chance of a cracking voice, Tony folded his arms with little else to do. “Okay. Uh. You know it wasn’t that important.”

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor reaches into the cooler and fills the glass with ginger ale. He overfills it, the beverage threatening to spill over the rim of the glass.

Thor leans over to suck down just enough of the beverage that it can be held without issue.

"I seriously doubt that. People generally don't find it difficult to talk about the unimportant."

Thor offers the freshly-poured drink to Tony.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Tony robotically accepted the cup back, his eyes following a drop making its way down Thor’s lips and into the bristles of his chin.

“You’ve got a little...” He trailed off, sipping from the rim. “Well. Why don’t we discuss this next time? There’ll be a next time, right?”

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor looks down with and wipes at his mouth with his fingers.

"If you want there to be, there will be a next time." No one had ever asked for a second ride on Mjölnir before and he hadn't expected Tony to express an interest. In hindsight, maybe he should have. Tony was the only other Avenger capable of flight. To him, flying was probably considerably less scary.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"Only 'f y'--d't l've." Tony spoke through the carbonated drink, his stomach now doing an annoying little mambo number.

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor reaches out and takes the drink even as Tony continues drinking from it.

"So you may speak properly," he says, and he drains the drink again. This time, he doesn't so much as return the emptied glass.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

More cold droplets on his collarbone, and Tony cringed, especially at the next dominant display. "Would you stop? That's distracting." He bared his neck, brushing the liquid off. When he was satisfactorily dry, he slapped his palms onto his knees and gripped once. Feeling Thor's expectant gaze, he simply shrugged.

"If you stay."

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor is warmed by this admission and he smiles.

"I can't stay," Thor says. Tony is the second Midgardian to ask that of him and if he had been a normal Asgardian, he probably would have -- but then again, if he were a normal Asgardian, he probably would not be here right now. "I have eight other realms to look after, to protect."

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"I know." Prickles of irritation stung at the back of his neck. Tony took a deep breath. He understood, after all, bound up in his own duty. "You've got a fuller plate than any of us."

[st_ormbreaker]

Though he often thought what it'd be like if he had not been born into the royal family, Thor never begrudged his duty.

"There is no easy way to send a message to reach me," Thor admits. That had been a pain point for him and Jane. The separation might have been easier if she had some way to speak with him during their long absences. "But."

He stops there for just a moment, as if to build anticipation.

"A very dear friend of mine looks after the entire universe so I might know when I am needed." Thor claps his free hand on Tony's shoulder. "So if you ever need me, make it known and I will come."

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Tony’s eyes followed Thor’s hand to his shoulder, though he didn’t move. “I’ve got it tied down on my end.”

Even if the odd void in him said otherwise. Tony relented, patting him back.

“If the world needs you I’ll call.”