“Yes, I understand.” Thor said gravely to his StarkPhone, sitting on the couch in the Penthouse living room that morning, looking for all the world like he was having a root canal from his pained expression. Steve had just finished working out and was on his way to the kitchen to grab some post-workout snack. It was a peculiar sight for Steve since Thor, the God of Thunder, was usually the most outgoing out of all of them. He was always ready with a smile or a joke, ready to have some fun and spread some joy in everybody’s life. If someone had a bad day, they usually sought Thor out. He was always down for everything be it some fun exploding things in the lab (Tony and Bruce), a sparring match on the superhuman level that left both of them unable to move (Steve), bowling and other sports tournaments (Clint, Bucky and Sam), baking Eastern European pastries (Natasha) or watching Peppa Pig and Disney movies for the thousandth time with his nephews. On the television, a game of Mario Kart seemed abandoned, the lone Princess Peach (Thor’s go to character when playing Mario Kart) stationary on the screen and left behind by the other computer controlled players. Thor must have been in the middle of his racing game when he hurriedly answered his phone.
Steve moved on to the kitchen, grabbing a banana from the fruit bowl and rummaging through the refrigerator to grab a gatorade, guzzling it down in one go. Steve decided to get started on some lunch. He’s not sure who was still in the tower after breakfast this morning, but at the very least he knew Tony, Ulysses, Joe, and Thor too it seemed were still at the tower. Their newborn son, Joe, was finally home after a two week stay at the NICU. Both him and Tony were still on edge, keeping an eye out for everything and anything that could be strange with their new son. But so far, everything seemed to be progressing very well. The only peculiar thing about Joe was his amazing ability to sleep through the night, something that not even Ulysses did as a baby.
He spied a package of corned beef in the fridge and decided to make some corned beef sandwich for lunch. The leftovers, he could make as a stew for dinner tonight. As Steve took out ingredients to start lunch, his enhanced hearing still picked up on the conversation from the living room, despite Steve trying hard not to eavesdrop.
“I know, darling,” Thor said again. Ah, he must be talking to Jane then, Steve thought. “I never said that you didn’t care, just that you have more important things in your mind to worry about.”
Yikes, that didn’t sound like a smooth conversation.
“ Hey, look who’s there? There’s Papa. Look, look, Jujube, Papa’s looking delicious in the shirt that Babbo knows he purposefully bought one size too small for the sole purpose of driving me crazy.” Tony, with baby Joe in his arms, sauntered into the kitchen like he owned the place (which he did). Steve shot him an exasperated look, more than used to his mate’s teasing.
“It’s not on purpose, Tony. That’s just the way the shirts are made.”
“Mm-hmm, tight and form fitting, just the way every warm blooded Betas and Omegas, and some Alphas like you in it.” Tony winked at Steve.
“The flirting might have gone over better if you weren’t holding a four month old baby in your arms.”
“Nonsense. The baby ups my flirting game and desirability. Don’t tell me you don’t wanna kiss me when I carry him around?” Tony jostled Joe up and down in his arms, eliciting a giggle and a toothless smile from the baby. And damn if Steve wasn’t a sucker for those
“I always wanna kiss you, Tony, regardless of the presence of a baby in your arms.” Steve responded, aware he must be making the dopey lovey dovey face, as Clint coined it, at Tony.
“Then what’s stopping you, soldier?” Tony huskily prompted.
And Steve, well he was only an Alpha, okay? How could anyone ever resist the gift and temptation that was Tony Stark. He wound his arm around Tony’s waist, soft and trim; his scent still bore some of that milky sweetness he would have when lactating, it was an intoxicating scent that awaken something primal within Steve. This omega was his, down to the very core of his being, and they have created a life together. Steve brought his head down to kiss Tony but before he could taste those sweet, sweet lips, a pudgy hand grabbed his and Tony’s cheek and squeezed, halting his movement.
Joe squealed sweetly at his parents, his blue eyes shining with glee and he giggled at his parents eliciting fond and loving smiles from the both. “ Prezioso ,” Tony murmured to Joe, and kissed the boy’s forehead, “You too, Papa.” Tony gave him a peck on the lips, “Later.” Tony winked.
“Later.” Steve repeated, eyes smoldering and promising Tony a good time to be had later.
“What’s for lunch, babe?” Tony started walking around the kitchen counter, poking at the cold cuts Steve pulled out of the fridge earlier.
“Corned beef sandwich. Was thinking we could have some corned beef and cabbage for dinner later.”
“Yum. Perfect. Cuisines from the Motherland. Gotta introduce it to ‘em young, am I right?” Tony sat on the counter with Joe in his lap.
“That’s the plan.” Steve smiled at Tony, relishing in how peaceful Tony looked with their newest son in his arms. He knew how scared Tony had been with this pregnancy, how much he blamed himself, irrationally so, for Joe being born premature and the spectre of health problems that followed the boy early on in his life. There were sleepless nights where he and Tony would stay awake in the nursery, gazing at their baby boy, relieved that he was here with them despite everything.
“Where’s Uly?” Steve asked him as he assembled the sandwiches for both him and Tony. A smaller portion of bite size corned beef in a plastic dinosaur shaped bowl prepared for Ulysses' lunch.
“With Clint,” Tony answered with a sigh, “He found out that Ulysses can count cards. They’re playing Blackjack right now.”
Steve’s eyes widened in surprise, “Black-- are you serious? Goddammit, Clint.”
“Language, babe.” Tony snickered.
Steve rolled his eyes, “How does Ulysses know how to count cards?”
“That was my bad, actually. I thought it was the easiest way to introduce him to math. Oops.” Tony grinned sheepishly. “They’re not actually betting on anything, okay. No reward system, just Uncle Hawky congratulating him for scoring twenty-one.”
Steve sighed. Unbelievable, both Tony and Clint making his son a mini gambler, “Just promise me you’re not taking him anywhere near Atlantic City or Las Vegas, please.”
“Aye, aye, Captain.”
“JARVIS, please tell Clint that it’s Ulysses’ lunch time. We’ll be in the living room.”
“Certainly, Captain.”
They took their sandwiches and moved to the living room where Thor was still sitting on the couch, this time staring despondently at the television, Princess Peach still in the same position she was in when Steve first entered the kitchen.
“What’s up, Big Guy? Want some lunch?” Tony greeted him, sitting down on the couch leaving room in the middle for Steve to sit between him and Thor.
“Thank you, Tony. But I’m not hungry,” the God of Thunder answered him. He shot Tony and Steve a small muted smile.
Alarm bells started ringing in Tony’s head. Thor not being hungry was a rarity on the scale of a Halley’s comet orbiting around the Earth.
“Uh, you sure, Thor?” Steve asked, “Bruce bought some more of that Eggos you like. I can heat some up for you if you want.”
“Thanks, Steve. But I really don’t feel up for it,” Thor slumped further in his seat, staring despondently at the tv screen. Steve and Tony exchanged an alarmed look at Thor’s general moodiness.
What’s the matter with him? Did Spongebob got cancelled? Tony mouthed at Steve. Steve surreptitiously shook his head.
“Uh, Thor,” Steve cleared his throat, “I couldn’t help but overhear you on the phone with Jane, uh earlier. Is everything alright?” Steve asked.
Thor sighed, big heaving sigh that signaled resignation, “Yes. No. Maybe?” he sighed again, “I’ve never encountered such a problem before. Guess they were wrong when they said ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’. It only makes the heart grow colder in this case.”
Oooh relationship issues. Yeah, Tony wasn’t gonna be touching that with a ten-foot pole. He surreptitiously tried to scoot away from the couch but Steve caught him. Big, warm hands clamped down on his thighs keeping him seated on the couch. Steve’s glare broadcasted ‘ you are not leaving me alone with him ’. Tony glared back.
“Why, uh, why do you say that, Point Break?” He and Steve were the last two people on Earth who should be giving out relationship advice because between the two of them they had a grand total of ONE relationship working out: the one they were currently in. Their first relationship was also their last relationship. Ain’t that something?
“Lately whenever I talk to Jane, all we do is argue. We fight more than we talk to the point that I dread making a phone call to her because I know all we will do is argue. She’s coming here in two days for a conference and I can’t for the life of me be excited about that.” Thor looked up to them, his blue eyes stromy, “what should I do, friends? Is it time to end things?”
For once in their lives, Tony has no solution to a problem and Steve failed to strategize his way out of a conundrum.
“Well, uh,” Steve, God bless him, tried to come up with something to say, eyes flickering back and forth from Thor’s pleading face and Tony’s incredulous one, “have you considered that maybe the distance is what’s making you and Jane have problems?”
“What do you mean?”
“Maybe you’re just having problems because you’ve been doing this long-distance thing. Since she’ll be here soon, isn’t it worth it to see if things are still the same if you’re close to each other? Say, how long will she be here?”
“A week at least. She expressed a desire to extend her stay so we can spend time together.”
“Well, there you go. Spend some time together, get to know each other again. Ending things seem a bit hasty, don’t you think?” Steve turned towards Tony who was eating his lunch, avoiding Steve trying to make eye contact with him and for once in his life, absent of witty quips, commentaries and things to say. Thanks a lot, Tony.
“I guess you’re right. Things have been tense between us, lately. Maybe a reunion will help put things to right. Thank you, Steve.” Thor acknowledged, though the tone of his voice and the small troubled smile still on his face signaled his reservations.
Steve was saved from spouting more useless (and possibly detrimental) suggestions when Ulysses ran into the living room, Clint hot on his heels. His blue eyes lit up as he spotted his parents and his uncle sitting on the couch “ Uncle Thor, you’re joining us for lunch? ” he clambered up to Thor’s lap, grinning sunnily at his uncle.
“ Indeed I am, little one ,” Thor rumbled in perfect Italian, his Allspeak enabled him to speak and comprehend any and all languages available, “ Hey, how about you, Uncle Clint and I go out for some puffle? Sound good to you? ” Thor scooped Ulysses up in his arms as he stood up and headed to the elevator.
“ Yay puffles! ” Ulysses exclaimed gleefully.
“Oh hells yeah. I love me some puffles.” Clint followed them out.
“Please make sure he at least ate something nutritious before the ice cream.” Tony called out to them, eliciting groans of “Okay, Babbo…”
“Children.” Tony scoffed at their retreating backs.
“Steve, honey, pudding plum, love of my life, what was that?” Tony asked, once Ulysses and Thor were out of earshot, referring to his ‘talk’ with Thor.
Steve sighed and took a bite out of his sandwich, “I don’t know. But at least I have something to talk about at Confession this week.”
Tony rolled his eyes and Joe just drooled into Tony’s shirt, unimpressed by everything that just occurred around him.
Jane Foster arrived at the Tower two days later. Thor looked happy to see her, and if Tony didn’t see him moping in the living room two days earlier he would be amazed at how amazing Thor’s acting skills were. The man deserved an Oscar. Thor was all smiles and gentlemanly conduct around Jane, acting for all the world like a smitten man.
But that’s just it: it’s all an act. Now that Tony knew what to look for, Thor’s interactions with Jane felt stilted. There was no chemistry there, no underlying of affections between them. They seemed uneasy with each other, like two strangers who came together too fast and now that the spark was gone were unsure why they were together in the first place.
Tony supposed he was just projecting what he himself had in his relationship with Steve. After all, not everyone could be lucky enough to find someone that fit all their broken edges in such a way that complete them. Being with Steve was second nature to Tony, as easy and as necessary as breathing. Some days, it seemed to him like he was born with a Steve-shaped hole that needed to be filled and his life was only complete when an angry, depressed and stubborn Supersoldier mouthed off at him on the Helicarrier all those years ago. There was never a question that they would ever fall in love. In fact, Tony would bet his entire fortune that there’s not an alternate timeline or reality out there where he didn’t love Steve and Steve him. It just wasn’t possible.
But wait, what was his point, again? Oh right, Jane and Thor.
The thing was Jane and Thor looked like they had an expiration date. Despite Steve’s pep talk the other day, and Thor’s efforts to fight to save their relationship, things seemed doomed to fail. Jane seemed her affable and approachable self. She chatted extensively with Bruce earlier when she arrived, talking about her latest endeavour in studying the Einstein-Rosen bridge, with Tony chiming in once in awhile in the conversation. When Thor came by to take her out for lunch, however things started to go down hill. The light and exuberance that were in her eyes shuttered down, leaving only slight annoyance and resignation at Thor’s interruption. Jane plastered on a fake smile, one that Thor mirrored.
“Bruce, you want to join us for lunch?” Thor asked, the smile was more genuine when directed at Tony’s science bro. Hmm, isn’t that interesting?
“Wow, what am I? Chopped liver?” Tony quipped, making his presence known.
“No, you’re a Midgardian?” Thor answered, looking unsure at the complete non-sequitur Tony threw at him.
Bruce chuckled, “It’s an expression, Thor. Tony’s upset that you didn’t extend the lunch invitation to him too.”
“Oh, uh,” Thor stammered, eyes widening imperceptibly, “I thought you’d be having lunch with Steve today. Like you always do,” he said charmingly.
“Steve’s giving a keynote speech at a DSA event. He’d be gone the whole day,” Tony answered placidly, graciously leaving out the part that Thor knew about Steve being away for the day because he saw Steve leaving this morning.
“Oh, right.”
“No worries, Big guy. I’ll just stay here with my babies and my Brucie boo, eating leftover casserole, Russian lactation soup and day drinking like the smarter and better looking versions of Kathie Lee and Hoda.”
Bruce chuckled good humoredly, “Tony, you’re still breastfeeding. You can’t drink.”
“He takes the fun out of everything.” Tony whispered conspiratorially at an amused Jane, eliciting a laughter out of the astrophysicist. Thor rolled his eyes, more than used to Tony’s antics and ushered Jane out of the room with a hand resting on the small of her back.
“You lovebirds have fun now!” Tony called out to them. Next to him, Bruce looked at the leaving couple wistfully. Tony was pretty sure there was a sigh going on over there too. Tony ducked back down to the tablet in front of him, opening up the latest schematic of the newest BARF prototype, hiding the small mischievous smile on his face. What a bizarre love triangle…
Tony always thought he was well past the age of taking naps. But having an active three year-old son and a newborn baby sapped all the energy out of him. So when the boys were down for their naps, Tony made the strategic decision to take a nap with them too. To be clear, he didn’t actually set out to take a nap, but the carpeted floor of the nursery was so comfortable. He was just lying there after putting Ulysses and Joe in their respective cribs, intending to get a fifteen minute shuteye before working on the pile of paperwork Pepper had just foisted on him. But the fifteen minute shuteye turned to a three hour nap. When he woke up, Joe wasn’t in his crib anymore and before he could panic, JARVIS was quick to inform him that “Captain Rogers has arrived home and Young Master Joseph is currently in the living room doing baby calisthenics”. Ulysses was still sleeping soundly in his crib, but Tony should probably wake him up if he wanted the boy to have a full eight hours sleep tonight.
Ulysses was a bit sullen at having been woken up, mumbling adorably about playing with mermaids in the mermaid lagoon. They had just watched Peter Pan the day previously and the mermaids have apparently left quite an impression on Ulysses.
“ Shall we go see if we have some snacks in the kitchen, baby boy? ” Tony asked his baby, lifting him out of the crib and into his arms. Ulysses’ milky baby scent filling his nostrils and brought peace to him. Ulysses sluggishly nodded, hiding his face in the crook of Tony’s neck, his eyes slipping shut as he listened to the dulcet tones of his father’s voice.
Tony walked to the kitchen to retrieve some dried fruit for Ulysses and himself. He heard voices from the living room, those of Steve’s and Thor’s. Looked like the Asgardian’s back from his lunch date with Jane.
“...don’t know what I did wrong, Steve,” Tony heard Thor said, “it was an honest mistake. I didn’t know she can’t even eat honey. I thought being vegan meant she can’t eat meat. Turns out it’s a whole thing about not eating animals and anything produced by animals. What kind of lifestyle is that? It sounds like the most depressing thing in the Universe.”
Oh geez, seemed like Thor and Jane got into another fight.
“Did she know that you didn’t mean to upset her, that it was a mistake?”
“I did! She didn’t want to hear about it. Said something about how she’s told me many times about her being a vegan and that I never remember anything she tells me. It’s not like she’s any better with remembering things. I had to tell her time and time again that strawberry flavored poptarts are my least favorite but she keeps buying it for me. What’s so hard about remembering a poptart flavor?”
“Sorry to hear that, buddy,” Steve said in his best caring leader voice, which wasn’t hard to do since the man really did care for his family. He patted Thor’s back, Joe sitting on his lap, his baby blue eyes flickering back and forth from his father to his uncle, as if trying to keep up with the conversation, “I don’t know what else to tell you. I’m sorry I’m really bad at this whole relationship thing. The only person I’ve ever been with is Tony and well, you know how we are. We might scream and holler at each other until kingdom come, but I’d rather fight with him for every damn day of my life than live a life without him.”
Thor shot Steve a grateful look, “I’m aware, Steve. Yours and Tony’s relationship is what the young people on the internet calls ‘relationship goals’. I don’t begrudge you both that. I just wish to have the same thing with Jane, but I’m afraid such a thing is out of the realm of possibility for us.” Thor continued despondently. And Steve, well there’s nothing he could do but silently support his brother-in-arms.
“We’re supposed to go out for dinner tonight. I’ve made reservations and everything, but just the thought of spending another two or more hours with her fill me with dread.” Thor said again, his voice deep and gravelly with exhaustion. Then he looked at Steve and his blue eyes lit up. Steve felt his hackles rose because the last time Thor looked like that he managed to successfully convinced Tony to let Thor electrocute him to “test” the arc reactor’s capabilities of incorporating Thor’s thunder as an energy source. Tony chose that moment to walk into the living room with Ulysses in his arms.
“I know! What if you and Tony join us? A double date of sorts. That way, Jane won’t pick a fight with me. Plus, when’s the last time you and Tony go out on a date? He’s been cooped up here since Young Joseph’s birth, I’m sure he would appreciate a night out on the town.”
Tony’s eyes widened in horror at the thought of spending the night with Thor and Jane. He could just imagine how awkward the meal would be. From Steve’s position on the couch, he sat facing Tony while Thor had his back to him and readily saw his mate shaking his head frantically, silently signaling to Steve to reject the offer with extreme prejudice. He added his frantic head shake with an arm gesticulating wildly and making a throat slitting motion telling Steve to nip everything in the bud. Unfortunately that was the moment Joe spotted his Babbo and the baby, unaware of the significance of Tony’s arm movements, thinking it was a wild and amusing dance move, squealed brightly in amusement and drawing Thor’s attention to Tony.
“Tony! I was just telling Steve that we should have a double date tonight. What say you? A night out on the town, make the others babysit for you. You and Steve in your best suits, showing the world what a good-looking couple you both are.”
And Thor looked so exuberant and hopeful, so different that how he looked previously that Steve folded like a cheap suit.
“We’d be happy to join you, Thor.” Tony’s eyes widened at his answer and he looked like he wanted to put on his gauntlet and blast a repulsor at Steve’s face. His free arm flopping uselessly at his side in exasperation.
Steve’s pretty sure he’s gonna pay for this one way or the other.
“I’m telling you, Steve, this is a bad idea,” Tony said for the thousandth time after they retreated to their rooms to get ready for their double date that night. Tony emerged from their walk-in closet that Steve still insisted was a sitting room (it had a couch and a window, the definition fit alright), wearing a blue jacket and maroon pants, his hair styled expertly and looking all kinds of delectable. If the night ended in disaster, at the very least Steve got to see Tony all spruced up for the first time in four months. That was enough to make up for the inevitable disaster of the night.
“I heard you the first two thousand times, Tony,” Tony stuck his tongue out at him like the mature Omega that he was. Steve was putting on his cologne in the bathroom. He wasn’t sure what kind of place they were going to, but just to be on the safe side he wore a grey henley that might be a tad tight around his pectorals and dark wash jeans. And if he knew that this was Tony’s favorite outfit on him, then that just showed how well Steve knew his mate.
“This double date is going to end in tears. And at this point it’s a toss up as to where the tears would be coming from,” Tony told him, deft hands fastening a blue tie decorated with white stars around his neck, “most likely from Thor. But it could be coming from me too. I’m still hormonal from the birth two months ago. And I’m still shedding uterine walls as we speak. Really, really unfit for polite society. I really should stay home, don’t you think so?”
Steve stared flatly at him, “Tony, you build your reputation on defying societal expectations of what an omega should and shouldn’t do. You’ve been waiting on a chance to scandalize those society magazines and giving them the middle finger with this double date.”
“You know me too well.” Tony pouted, as if that upset him, “also, don’t think I don’t know you chose that shirt and those jeans to entice me and get back in my good graces. You’re gonna need to work harder than that, Soldier boy.”
“And what does my beloved want me to do to regain the affections I have so tragically lost?” Steve grabbed Tony’s hands and drew him closer to him, kissing his knuckles reverently and shooting Tony a mischievous look.
“God, you’re such a troll,” Tony shook his head exasperatedly, “Nobody would believe me if I ever told them what a little shit Captain America is.”
“Captain America, perhaps not. But Steve Rogers is just an Alpha madly in love with his Omega and would do anything to get back in his good graces.”
“You could learn to say no for once. Too bad you weren’t around for the 80s. There was an amazingly horrible campaign aimed at the youth to “just say no”. Not that it ever worked or did anything for the War on Drugs. God, Reagan was a disaster.”
“I still can’t believe he ever became President. He was never that good of an actor.” Steve shook his head, “You would be sad if I ever say no to you, Tony. You’d be able to get away with more crazy stunts in the field than ever before.”
“Oh, you mean I haven’t?” Tony challenged snarkily.
Steve rolled his eyes, wounding his arms around Tony, hugging him tightly and reveling in the rightness of Tony in his arms, “Let’s try and enjoy this rare moment as Tony and Steve, not Babbo and Papa for once. Have I told you how amazing you look tonight?”
“No, but you can start now.” Tony grinned. And Steve was helpless not to kiss him senseless. Thor and Jane might be on the rocks right now, but he and Tony were as strong as ever in their relationship. And if Steve had his way, they would always be from now until the end of time.
They didn’t call Tony “The Futurist” for nothing. Just as he predicted, the dinner was a disaster of epic proportion. None of them looked like they wanted to be here. After the maitre’d sat them down at their table, there was an awkward moment when nobody dared to talk and just silently perused the menu. After ordering their meals, the conversation started to flow with Steve first talking about the event at DSA earlier today, everybody listening attentively and laughing when Steve told them he got asked for umpteenth time as to when he would be running for office. Then Tony and Jane started talking science and Thor and Steve discussing the latest season of Lucifer.
Their meal arrived shortly. When Tony noticed that his paella contained unpeeled head-on shrimps, “Shrimps.” Steve then obligingly transferred all the shrimps to his plate.
“Tomatoes.” Steve then said, prompting Tony to take all the tomatoes garnishing Steve’s dish because of Steve’s aversion to tomatoes on the grounds of them making his food soggy, never mind that what he was eating was a seafood stew, “You missed one.” Steve said again and Tony obligingly took a piece of tomato from Steve’s food, leaving the stew tomato free.
Thor and Jane observed them silently, a look of longing on their faces as they looked at the couple sitting across from them. Thor broke the silence, “Uh, Jane, would you like some of my stew?”
Jane fixed him with a look full of annoyance, “I don’t eat shellfish, Thor. I’m vegan.” she said contemptuously, shutting down his attempts at a conversation.
“Oh, right…” Thor looked down at his food, disappointed.
Tony and Steve surreptitiously glanced at each other, wincing at the utter disaster that was Thor trying to make a conversation with his girlfriend. Steve finished peeling one of the shrimps on his plate and gave it back with Tony, prompting Tony to shoot him a grateful smile, “Thanks, babe.”
Yup, disastrous. At least the paella tasted good, Tony thought ruefully.
Eventually, the inevitable happened.
It had been a week since Jane visited the Avengers. A week since Steve and Tony was dragged on a disastrous double date with them. After that double date, nobody has seen much of Thor nor the astrophysicist he was dating. They only knew Jane left from JARVIS when Tony asked him to inform Thor and Jane that breakfast was ready one morning and the AI informed them all that Dr. Foster has left last night.
The next day, Tony and Steve went down to the gym for a sparring session only to find Thor in lying down on the bench under the heaviest set of weight, looking as miserable as a kicked puppy.
“Jane and I broke up.” Thor announced gravely, surprising no one. Tony and Steve exchanged a glance, knowing this was coming. “I really thought spending some time near her would ease our troubles, but the opposite seem to happen. All we did when she was here was fight and snipe at each other.” Thor sighed, “We weren’t meant to be, friends. We collided too soon and too fast, there was no foundation, no underlying connection to build upon once the spark was extinguished. The distance between us was too great.”
“Aw, Thor, I’m sorry to hear that, buddy.” Tony knelt down to sit next to him, “breakups are always hard, even though you knew it was inevitable.”
“Indeed,” Thor sighed again, eyes trained religiously up at the gym’s ceiling. Tony shot Steve a beseeching look telling him to say something to Thor because Tony was emotionally stunted and all of his words of wisdom was exhausted from speaking to Thor. Steve cleared his throat awkwardly, “It’s probably for the best, right, Thor?”
Tony looked at him exasperatedly as if to say, “Really, Steve? That’s all you could say?”
“I mean,” Steve stammered, “this way you’ll be able to find someone new, someone who fit you better?”
“You’re right, Steve. Jane never was fond of my attachments here with the Avengers. I don’t think she ever accepted my decision to move to New York to live with you all. She never understood that you are all my family, not just a group of people I fought with.”
“That’s just unfortunate of her,” Tony said, “it’s her loss, then, because we’re a group of kickass people, not to mention fly as hell. We’re what people these days called ‘family goals’, amirite?” Tony continued, “‘sides, you don’t wanna be stuck dating a vegan anyway. It’s depressing as hell.”
Thor chuckled, and Tony congratulated himself on a job well done, “You’re right, Tony. Besides being a vegan doesn’t make sense. Why would you purposefully deprive yourself of the joy that is meat?”
“I’m sure there are a lot of vegans out there who would disagree with you and tell you all about it condescendingly and loudly. Enough of this moping, come on,” Tony urged him to his feet, “Let’s go to the upstate facility. The three of us can beat the hell out of each other in the forest, just like we did when we first met. Doesn’t that sound like fun to you?”
Thor hemmed and hawed for a bit, but his decision was made for him when Steve dragged him up to his feet, slinging Thor’s beefy arm around his shoulders and dragged him out of the gym, Tony chattering to them endlessly about the new modifications to the Iron Man armor. Thor might have lost his girlfriend, but his family was still here and they would have his back no matter what.
It’s almost worth the heartache to know that he had the unconditional love and support from his family.
True to form, the three of them did beat the hell out of each other decimating the better part of the forests surrounding the Avengers facility upstate.
“Where the hell have you guys been?” Bucky asked them when they got home later that night, Tony exhausted beyond belief that he had been allowing Steve to carry him from the car up to the Penthouse in a bridal carry much to Steve’s delight. Thor looked fresh as a daisy after their battle, not a trace of sadness on his face.
“Battle royale,” Tony answered drowsily from his position in Steve’s arms, “You’ve never seen anything glorious until you’ve seen the sight of Steve and Thor duking it out with each other. If I wasn’t a happily mated omega, I’d have turn over and presented myself to the winner.”
“Tony,” Steve admonished, but the smile on his face showed his amusement, “Well seeing as how I was the winner, how’s about you present yourself to me then?” Steve challenged him, Bucky groaning and muttering in the background about how Steve was a horny bastard. Tony smirked back at him, eyes smoldering promising a good time to be had between them later on in the night.
“Sure, keep telling yourself that, Steve. We all know I won that last round.” Thor declared jovially, helping himself to a large bottle of gatorade from the fridge.
“Whatever helps you sleep at night, Thor.” Steve responded glibly, settling down on the couch with Tony in his arms. Tony readily nuzzled his face into Steve’s neck, eyes closing blissfully as he rested in his mate’s arms.
“Oh, you guys are back.” Bruce’s voice filtered into the room, “I made butter chicken for dinner tonight. I know it’s your favorite, Thor. Hope it can help cheer you up,” the way Bruce said it piqued Tony’s interest, and he opened his eyes to see Bruce staring bashfully at Thor. and what’s even more interesting was Thor returning said smile wholly and gleefully.
“Thank you, Bruce,” Thor responded readily, “It is my favorite. Your butter chicken is better than even the finest meal I ever had in Asgard.”
“Oh, well,” Bruce blushed and stuttered endearingly, “that’s-- I’m glad. It’s done, if you wanna have some dinner,” he gestured to the kitchen.
“I’d be delighted to,” Thor stood up and followed the scientist to the kitchen, smiling at him the whole time. Tony and Steve watched the exchange silently from the couch, before they glanced at each other with a knowing smile. Tony settled back down in Steve’s embrace only to hear Steve said, in his terrible Bogart impression that never failed to amuse Tony, “Tony, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”