Chapter 11
Their food was quickly brought out by a series of servers, so no one got served earlier than the other.
Such a blatant show of wealth was something Bruce could count on Tony to pull off, but living at Stark Tower didn’t mean he was used to it. Especially when it was directed at him. He was used to being a neglected child thanks to his alcoholic, abusive father and his life as a relatively poor and isolated college student did little to change his frugal habits. He was a genius on scholarship, sure, but he still had to find a way to pay for things like rent, food and clothes, and when the bullying got too much, the occasional bottle he used to drown himself, before purchasing another as punishment for turning into his father. He mirrored Frigga and focused on placing a napkin on his lap, but he couldn’t hold back whispering a bashful, “Thank you,” to his server and drink pourer as they filled the silver dinnerware in front of him.
One extra server who seemed to be observing the orchestra of coordinated movements of food and drink finally spoke up once the rest of the serving staff disappeared back into the royal kitchen. “We hope your Majesty's guest , Mr. Banner, will be pleased with our arrangement of Midgardian food.”
Bruce was amazed at the careful assortment of various foods from around the world-around Earth, all found in tiny, individual sample portions, on a single plate. It must have cost a fortune! How had they done something like this!? There had to be at least ten different meals here. Did they have someone-or a bunch of someone's-teleport to random locations on Earth and pick the most popular dish to buy and reportion just for him!?
“We apologize in advance if something is not to Sir’s liking, we had little time to prepare, but we hope, if Sir will be joining us in the future, that we can be more accommodating to Sir’s tastes and preferences, just as we hope we have accommodated for your Majesty’s. As you can see, for tonight, starting with the wise, King Odin, we have prepared a ‘Too Rich For Your Blood’, and for the lovely Queen Frigga, the ‘Expensive Dish Number Two’, as for the talented Loki, he has ‘Something Fishy Is Going On’, and the warrior Thor has ‘Golden Meat Platter Number Three,’ with a birthday cake soon on its way after everyone is finished.” The server flashed a bright hospitality smile and bowed. “Please, enjoy your meal.” He smoothly straightened his back and disappeared with the rest of the staff to the confines of the kitchen.
Bruce couldn’t help but bristle at the use of ‘Sir.’ It brought back some unpleasant memories from his childhood in which his father, doubting his mom’s fidelity, demanded to be called as such, as well as from his time working for the Defense Department on that ‘super’ new project that had the potential to make his childhood dream of one day being like Captain America come true. Unfortunately, he now bled green, not red, white and blue.
Frigga held up her glass of what appeared to be sparkling red wine. “Before all of us dig in, I would like to continue our own little tradition of making a small toast.” She slowly stood, raising her glass higher in the air. “Thor, I think I can speak for everyone here, when I say, we are very grateful to have you here with us today and we are so-so, proud of what a wonderful, brave young man you are turning out to be. Win or lose, you still fought with honor and justice; and that is still a win in my book. So, cheers! To Thor’s birthday and his gallant fighting in this year's tournament!”
Everyone lifted their glasses and echoed a chorus of, “Cheers!” Odin’s voice was more reserved, and Loki’s chant was more playful, while Thor’s was slightly embarrassed yet still mostly happy. Bruce was still slightly in awe that he was even there being able to share such a happy and tender family moment.
Thor slowly put down his drink after taking a large gulp of his beer. “Thank you! It is an honor to be here, celebrating with you all as well!”
Loki patted his brother’s back with a look of mischief flashing in his eyes. “Yeah, speaking of tournaments and celebrations, maybe, by the end of the night, we’ll have something else to celebrate too.” He gave a prideful smirk at Thor’s blush paired with a quick glance at Bruce from across the table. “Speaking of,” he gave Bruce a curious look, “we have yet to hear your response to the prospect of courting my brother.” A thick silence fell over the table. How could the thick, old wooden take such a brutal beating as a second bomb crashing over it? Loki continued as if everything was normal. “As the victor in your battle, you are entitled to his hand, but I guess you can also use it as a bargaining chip to bard for your freedom and a trip home instead.”
Bruce was glad he had put down his glass of water because he was sure he would’ve probably choked and made a fool of himself yet again if he hadn't. Could he really go home? Just like that? Why hadn’t he thought of such a deal? He’d thought it was a simple choice of prison or marriage and he didn’t want to be a prisoner. Was there really a third option?
“Loki!” Frigga scolded.
Loki turned to her with a slightly apologetic face. “Sorry, Mother. I know you wanted to wait, but I don’t see the point in dragging this out. So what if they get a few more moments together or exchange a few carefully monitored words? He can ‘claim his heart’ and still run away or hurt it all the same.” Loki felt his brother’s back tense, but forced himself to continue. If his father could use anger and his mother could use false niceties, he could protect Thor in his own way too, with his wit. “He may not appear to be in physical chains now, but social and societal chains can be just as binding. I am simply allowing him to make a proper decision, whatever that may be.”
Frigga and Thor may not want to admit it, but Loki had a point.
“I could be persuaded to take that deal.” Odin stated, eyeing Bruce decisively.
Bruce’s throat felt dry, he cautiously took another sip of water, trying to bide time to think. It sounded too good to be true. Did they really not want Thor to date or become engaged to him that badly? If it was that easy to send him home, surely, if he and Thor became an item, he would be able to go back anyways, right? Besides, there was no guarantee his trip home would be safe , but it would be if Thor cared about him. Bruce glazed at Thor. It had sounded like he was open to the idea of them together, he had yet to meet someone who was willing to give him a chance after finding out about his green side. Especially not someone like Thor. Would he ever get a chance like this again? They could always call things off if they found out they didn’t like each other or weren’t compatible later down the line, right? That’s what the three-year trial was for right? What did he have to lose? The only two people who would even care about his absence would probably be his mom and his coworker, Tony, and given the advanced technology here, contacting them to let them know he was okay probably wouldn’t be a problem. His mom would be happy he finally found someone. Bruce slowly put down his glass. “I, uh, I really appreciate the offer, for the deal, I mean, but um,” he took a calming breath, “if it’s really okay with Thor, I-I think I’d like to try courting.”
Thor’s face warmed a light pink as a smile spread across his face. “I-I think I’d like that too!”
Frigga clapped her hands together with a smile. “Oh! Wonderful! Ah, I’m happy that that’s decided! We will definitely have something else to celebrate tonight!”
“Yes.” Odin sighed and stabbed a piece of meat on his plate. “Just wonderful .”
The rest of the evening went smoothly and everyone eventually relaxed as the air was delicately filled with getting to know you questions that let Bruce expand on what he did as a scientist and how it ended up with him accidentally transported to Asgard and let childhood stories be brought up, depicting what life on Asgard was like along with describing how powerful an illusionist Loki was, disguising his blue form effortlessly and how great a warrior Thor really was, fighting in a Gladiator style tournament since he was five. Five! Bruce couldn’t really wrap his head around that. Perhaps cute, gold-tinted images of a certain blond-haired toddler happily trying to chase a small tiger-like creature around a sandy floor, leaving a silver sword lying forgotten behind them was one reason why he fell asleep so quickly on an alien planet so far from a lab speckled tower he considered home. The second reason was probably due to the plush bed he found himself sinking into in the vast guest room he currently occupied wearing only a specially made, fluffy pair of PJs as his cuffs had been deemed ridiculous and useless and removed before bed.