Dance

The three of them were met at the tall double doors by one of the king’s lackeys-Tony didn’t pay attention enough to get a name-and then on through hallways lined with an old tapestries depicting soldiers fighting large giants, another full of weird displays (what was up with the glove?), and until they finally they arrived at a door which stood across a giant family portrait of the king with his wife and two sons.

They all looked suitably regal, though the younger prince looked a bit sinister, with his hands folded together and a secretive smile which made him look positively sharklike. The all-black ensemble didn’t help. The little group was ushered through the doors into a long room in which a piece of red carpeting led directly to a throne straight out of medieval times. Their attendant announced them all by name and left the room. Only the guards, various men Tony assumed were his administrators, and the king himself were left.

King Odin of Asgard looked exactly like his pictures. They even captured the look of distant disdain upon his face as he gazed down at the group as if he were looking at insects underfoot. It immediately put Tony’s hackles up.

“I thought we were meeting in a boardroom or something.”

Pepper gripped him by the elbow and squeezed. Obie’s expression tightened briefly before he stepped forward with a smile and bowed.

“Sorry about that, your highness. You know how young people are these days.”

“Mmm.” Odin glanced at Obie then stared down at Tony with his one intimidating eye. Tony managed to hold his gaze, though his heart started to thump harder the longer this staredown went on. Finally, the old man seemed satisfied. He gave a grunt and turned abruptly to walk away.

“Please, right this way.” One of the aides gave an apologetic bow-they did a lot of bowing here-and herded them towards the door.

“What was that?” Tony muttered to Pepper.

“Let’s just hope you didn’t insult him.”

Obie chuckled. “The guy’s got two kids of his own. I hear the youngest is a bit-”

They reached the doors and Obie cut off right at the interesting part. The interesting part which was standing at the huge table waiting for them. Tony let his eyes wander, curious. There would definitely be internet searches tonight. Wait, that sounded wrong. Did that sound wrong?

Tony shook his head to clear it, aware of the sharp green eyes staring at him. Everyone, including the multitude of lawyers scattered around the room, waited until King Odin rounded the table and settled in the chair next to his second-born before sitting themselves.

The rest of the morning passed so slowly, Tony could practically see the boredom in front of him. He tried not to let his head fall back or his eyes fall shut, but everything was in legalese and he just wanted to find a bar he could get drunk in. Even tall, dark, and handsome across the table had joined in the negotiations. Tony felt disappointed at first, but soon found himself fascinated at the man’s sharp mind. Even if he was marking every page of the agreement with a red pen in hand and a scowl on his face.

Honestly, Tony didn’t even mind. Selling weapons was getting old. There were advancements being made in the energy sector that he was itching to dig into. Obie, however, looked like he wanted to snap at someone at the end of the negotiations but his mouth snapped shut when Prince Loki suddenly looked up and gave him a steely look.

“Problem?”

Obie tried to put his best business smile back on but it wound up looking more like a grimace. “Of course not, your highness. I just didn’t realize you had quite the head for business.”

Loki looked to his side. “Is there anything else you’d like to add, Father?”

Odin shook his head and heaved himself to his feet. He looked a bit pale, as if the effort had drained him. Everyone stood along with him. Loki took his arm, a concerned look carefully hidden on his face.

“I believe we’re done here,” Odin said. “You can send the rest of the paperwork to my office.”

With that, the king swept from the room, followed by his youngest son and their retinue of ever-present guards.

“What was that?” Obie yelled when everyone but the three of them had filed from the room.

Pepper smiled wryly. “I did try to warn you.”

“What? What what?” Tony’s head swiveled between them. “I missed something, didn’t I? I swear I didn’t take a nap.”

“That little-”

“Prince Loki has a business degree from Asgard’s best university, Mr. Stane. He was going easy on you.”

Obie huffed for a bit, then stomped away. No doubt he was going to yell at some underlings on the phone until he felt better. As for Tony, he could have used a drink. Pepper grabbed him by the arm before he got two steps away and began to tug him towards his own suite of rooms when they got back to the hotel.

“Aw, c’mon, Pep,” he whined. “The other boys get to play.”

She rolled her eyes and shoved him into the sitting room-clearly, this was a woman who didn’t believe in skipping arm days.

“I’m not your mom, Mr. Stark. Now.” She took a deep breath. “You have a big day tomorrow, so get some sleep, and I’ll come get you in the morning.”

As soon as she was gone, Tony went to the mini-bar and pulled out all the alcohol. He’d drunk his own stash yesterday, stuff much better than what was in these little bottles, but now wasn’t the time to be picky. After all, he did have a big day ahead of him tomorrow.