Chapter 5
Tony woke up as he did most times after coming home late from an evening out - with a throbbing headache. And as always, his first move was pure instinct. Searching for some painkillers and swallowing them dry. After that, he fell back into bed and stayed there for another half hour, until he finally felt well enough to try to get up and maybe get some coffee.
Coffee was what kept him running, especially after a long night!
So he slowly made his way to the kitchen where he half expected Loki to sit and demonstratively eat his breakfast - just to taunt him with the smell - but when he arrived, he was all alone. At first he thought he was glad about that, because it meant no mean comments, loud arguments or disappointed looks, but then he realized that being totally ignored was even worse - especially since it wasn’t a simple I am mad at you so I won’t speak to you-ignoring, no it was more like Loki was so mad that he didn’t even care about showing Anthony how mad he was, he was so mad that he didn’t want to see or acknowledge Anthony and had just hidden himself away without a word.
And that total radio silence was what somehow unnerved Tony. Normally, when people were mad, they wanted the other to know so that they would change something. But right now, Loki did not display that expected behavior that was usually so Loki-like. He wasn’t even here to display it.
The rattling sound of the coffee machine pierced right into his head.
“JARVIS, remind me to build a better coffee machine later, this one is way too loud for this early hour!”
If the A.I. could sigh, he would have done so now. “Sir, it is almost 2 o’clock in the afternoon., I doubt that counts as an early hour, even for you!”, came the dry response from above.
“Fuck me! Afternoon already? Shit! Loki is probably so pissed right now!”
“Well… I wouldn’t attribute any irate feelings to Mr. Laufeyson’s current emotional state, if that was your question, Sir.”
Now it was Tony’s turn to sigh. JARVIS, always trying to be “helpful”. With major quotation marks.
“Dammit Jarv, I’m not up for your riddles yet. Where is Reindeer Games, anyway?”
Another hesitation. Tony would have to recheck the programmings, but it had to be a simple thing to fix out of the A.I.’s system, those pauses before speaking. When had it even started? He couldn’t remember noticing any such problems in the last weeks at all!
“Mr. Laufeyson has left the tower, Sir.”
Hm, it didn’t seem to be a problem with the speaker sensors! Well, he would make an overall check-up later, after talking to the Norse god.
“Good, tell him that- wait, what? He isn’t in the tower? But where would he go? When’ll he come back? Is he okay?”
The coffee seemed to finally show its effect, or maybe it was the slight panic that started to flood his body, but the genius was once again capable of talking loud and fast.
“Jarv, come on, skip the weird pauses you’ve started to make before every phrase you speak, and just tell when I should expect him back! Maybe I can arrange a nice dinner or whatever sappy thing he likes… Make a list for me, with a couple of things Loki would appreciate, will ya? I need to make it up to him, I guess-”
“Sir … you know how much I hate interrupting your ramblings, but there seems to have been a misunderstanding. When I said that Mr. Laufeyson left, I didn’t mean to imply that he is currently not in the tower. What I intended to say was that he had indeed left. I am sorry, Sir, but my programmings do not let me draw any conclusions, as to when Mr. Laufeyson might possibly return.”
If possible, JARVIS’ voice sounded compassionate. “I really am sorry, Sir. I wish I could have helped.”
Then there was silence. Tony was just standing there, not understanding what the A.I. had just told him. Not wanting to understand. He tried to grasp it, to hold the truth, turn it, touch it, look at it from every angle, like he always did with his work. But there was just that one word, that echoed in his head.
“Gone? Do you… do you mean he is gone now?” the genius whispered.
For a lack of a helpful response, his disembodied butler remained silent once more. He was programmed to help and assist his creator. To support him. Yes, to even care for him. But this was a new situation and JARVIS was at a loss. None of his codes could help him now, because Sir had never even thought of programming him for this eventuality. JARVIS learned of course, much much faster than any other being there was, but the internet was just full of lots of useless tips for this situation that wouldn’t help Sir at all, and he himself had never witnessed his creator in such a situation. So the A.I. kept quiet.
“Where would he go?” the genius asked. Himself more so than JARVIS.
“Why would he go?” he then concluded his question.
“Was it because of yesterday? JARVIS, he must know that doesn’t mean anything! And I am sorry for bailing on him like that and leaving him here! And I promise I’ll be home on time from now on!”
Silence again.
“Fuck this shit, he’ll be back in a couple of hours anyway!”
Tony turned to lean on the kitchen table. He still hadn’t really processed the whole situation and was just trying to convince himself. He just couldn’t believe that Loki would just do exactly what he had apparently done now. Leave.
“He will be back Jarv, right?” came then the next question, quieter this time. “I mean he has to! He can’t just up and leave, without a word! Can he?”
Again, there was no response.
He slowly began to remember his returning home last night, finding an empty bed with no Loki.
How could he have been so stupid? How could he have ignored his absence last night?!
“Jarv, could you just answer me please, your silence is freaking me out even more! I know you just want to protect me from whatever you think I need protection from but. Just… tell me your assessment of this mess, even if you think I don’t want to hear it!”
Then, much softer, “Please?”
The A.I. was at a loss. He wanted to protect the genius, but he didn’t know how. Finally, he decided on the plain, hard truth. Sooner or later, Master Stark would have to deal with it anyway. “Sir I don’t think he will be returning anytime in the foreseeable future, as you hoped. I am sorry to crush your hopes, but Mr. Laufeyson appeared quite sure of what he was doing. When you look around later on, you will also find all of his personal belongings gone. He packed them earlier this night and took them with him, when he left the tower. I know I am not made to feel … emotions … but Sir, believe me when I say that I am sorry!”
And for the first time in his existence, JARVIS felt utterly helpless.