you’re good for them
Of course Ikol is in the lab, she was either in her room or in the lab, (unless Natasha or Sam were in the lounge and then she would hang out with them)
Tony sighs, cursing himself for not grabbing another cup of coffee for her but he didn’t expect her to be up already. “hi” he says as he sits at his desk, turning around to look at her curled up on the couch with a blanket.
she replies “hi” automatically like a robot, her dull tone indicates that she says it without knowing.
“did you sleep?” he asks, seeing the empty cup and plate in front of her.
She nods “woke up around four, got bored” she seems to always get bored.
Tony looks at the book cover and tries to read it to find out what she’s reading but it’s in runes. “what are you reading?”
“mythology”
“doesn’t answer my question”
She licks her finger and turns the page “I am reading about the Jotuns” she states.
“and you have to read here?”
She nods “I don’t want to be bothered and I seem to be one of the few allowed in here without you”
“only because you figured out the code”
“yet you never changed it” she looks up from her book and asks “am I the only one that knows it?”
Tony shakes his head and says “Rhodey does” like one person will make the fact that he trusts Ikol enough to have the code to his lab better.
“why doesn’t he come around?”
“he doesn’t want anything to do with Avengers drama at the moment” Tony states as he takes another bite of his food, he asks “what’d you find out about yourself?”
“I may not be a runt after all” Tony raises a brow so she explains “well it says that Jotuns in warm temperatures shrink to preserve the cold but once they’re back in their element they will return to their original size”
“so you’re like one of those dinosaurs that grow in water” Ikol hums in agreement, too absorbed in her book to properly reply. Tony sits down beside her, resting his head on her shoulder.
She asks “what are you doing?” as he examines the runes that he can not understand.
“read it to me” She raises a brow as he turns his head to look at her, their noses almost touching so Tony moves back a bit to her disappointment, “maybe there is something in here that will help us figure out what is wrong with you” he explains “and this is easier than teaching me Asgardian or reciting the whole book to FRIDAY”
“I don’t want to start over”
“don’t have to, you can just fill me in on it if it comes up again”
Ikol doesn’t do anything but focus on the book again so Tony takes that as a yes and gets comfy, his arm pressed against hers, his head on her shoulder as he tries to guess what words belong to what runes.
They fell asleep, they don’t know for how long but they were woken up by Thor of all people; and Ikol, accidentally ended up kicking her brother in the balls.
Her mouth falls open “oh shit” she breathes out “I’m sorry”
Thor nods, kneeling on the floor “it’s fine” he wheezes and flops back onto his ass with a sigh. Controlling his breathing to try and dull the pain.
Tony wipes his eyes as Ikol moves away from him “what’re you doing here?” he asks sleepily.
“I’m staying for a bit” Thor declares “makes the blood transfusions easier” adding to Ikol’s stress.
She wants to get along, to repair their relationship, obviously she does it’s her brother. But every time she’s around Thor she remembers all the horrible things that were said to her.
Thor isn’t really trying either so Ikol doesn’t feel bad, obviously Thor doesn’t want to repair their relationship so Ikol won’t try.
They don’t say much to each other and it’s awkward, Tony is tired of it and it’s only been a day.
“hey” Tony sits down across the table from Thor “why are you being so weird around them?”
Thor looks at him for a moment before closing his eyes and sighing “because they’re different”
“well yeah they died, they are dying”
“it’s just…. I tried for years to get that Loki back and you did it in months” Thor looks up at him and asks “how did you do it?”
Tony shakes his head “I didn’t do anything, I let them be who they are”
Thor looks down at the floor “I told you that they’re a good person” he nearly whispers as a small smile shows up. After the snap Thor stayed at the compound for about a month, he didn’t want to go home yet and the entire time was spent talking about Loki.
He told them stories about growing up with Loki, talked about how Loki used to be so loyal and funny, how they would help anyone no matter what that person had done to them. Thor’s favourite stories were their adventures, all the times Thor fucked up and Loki somehow got them out of it, even taking the blame, all the times Odin sent them to other realms.
The saddest part is; Thor doesn’t know that Ikol is still that person.
“Thor, listen-“
“please help them” Thor suddenly blurts, shocking Tony into silence “I see how well they get along with you, I’ve never seen them get along with another in over two centuries and you, you’re good for them, better brother than I could ever be”
Tony chuckles at the irony of being an only child “the last thing I know shit about is family”
“you made your own family” Thor says, sounding impressed “you know what a family is and shouldn’t be”
“I had everything, ya know? girlfriend, bestfriends, a brother and I lost them all, just like you”
“how is this supposed to make me feel better?”
“because you’re not alone, I lost everything-“ Thor makes it a point to look around them at all the sleek furniture and interior. “material isn’t everything Thor, I could rebuild the compound easily but I’ll never get another Pepper or Happy” he swallows the lump in his throat “don’t ruin your chance to get another Loki”
“Kol” he points to the boxing ring, “front and centre” he demands and she groans “I wanna see how strong you are without your Asgardian physiology”
Her face is impassive as she deadpans “I’m still Jötun, just a dying Jötun” but she does step up to the plate.
She beat Clint easily last time, you can tell she was holding back so he scans them all standing against the wall, going down the line.
Natasha is better than Clint but Tony can tell Ikol is better so she won’t work, Sam doesn’t like fighting unless necessary and Tony respects that, Rocket would probably shoot Ikol, Peter is a bit too much right now, Nebula would kill Kol so the last option is “Bucky” Tony waves to the boxing ring.
Bucky sighs loudly and walks up to the ring, reluctantly. He doesn’t try to hide it because he takes off his jacket and gets in the ring slower than Sam’s aunt TT apparently.
“no weapons, only rule” Tony says “the fight is over when one of you tap out” he says because last time they didn’t tap out, sure Ikol had a gun in their face but still, you gotta respect the rules of fighting.