Even more trouble?
Tony woke up from a weird dream where he had to sit in a puddle all day while Pepper lectured him about something he didn’t even care to listen to when he was asleep.
The genius woke feeling all wet and was slowly realizing the reason for that. He had fallen asleep on the couch and at some point Peter had fallen asleep on top of him but not without draping his wet blanket over them both.
Tony blinked and looked at the peaceful expression of his merman and a smile broke out on his face. Gently he began to push the brown locks out of Peters face stopping as he gently stirred. Oh how he had missed the boy.
It did seem a little weird to Tony how comfortable he was on the dry land.
Tony gently caressed Peter’s cheek as he imagined the boy as a human. He imagined long slender legs, strong with muscles and pale as the rest of his body.
It would change though if he spent some time in the sun. Tony noticed suddenly that Peter already had a slight tan and he liked that. It suited him and made him even more adorable.
Peter stirred again and Tony sighed as he heard his stomach rumble loudly. He didn’t like it but he had to get up and so he slowly lifted the merman and put him down on the couch while getting up and into the bathroom.
Tony changed out of his damp clothes and put on some T-shirt and only a pair of boxers since no one was coming over anyway and Bruce had left hours ago. The genius had to admit he liked the man, he was nice, funny and disturbingly smart, which were all qualities he liked in a person.
That’s why he got along so well with himself.
The genius smiled and exited the bathroom noting that Peter was still asleep. He quickly picked up the blanked and wet it again so the now cool fabric would provide more of a comfort to the merman.
Tony walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge picking up a smoothie, Pepper insisted on getting him. For his health and stuff.
He took a sip and grimaced, it tasted way too healthy for his liking. Tony walked through the room and picked up a tablet to overlook the simulations he had ordered Jarvis to run the other day.
He was not the least bit satisfied with the results and took another sip from his smoothie. Tony glanced at Peter and walked out of the room and on the patio where he put the drink down.
“Jarvis?”
“Yes Sir?”
Tony licked his lips and sighed, “we have the Hydra data don’t we?” The AI sounded uncomfortable as he answered, “yes we have them Sir.”
The genius let out a breath looking over the vast sea, “then why aren’t you using it? I want you to run the simulations with that data. Else it could take years to accomplish anything.”
“Yes Sir.”
Tony didn’t like how Jarvis said that, it sounded kind of defeated. The genius ignored him and turned around just in time to see that Peter sat up on the couch looking around in confusion.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Loki didn’t know a thing about his sire but he hated him to the core already. The Jotun that captured him blindfolded him so he had no idea where they were going. It was no secret where the Jotun’s lived and seeing that even Thor found them it wasn’t probably that big of a problem to get into the cave system but Loki feared that he was taken to some part of their home where, without guidance, no one would find him.
The water in the caves was much colder than the ones in his home but the prince didn’t mind, the cold had never bothered him much. What bothered him was that this probably meant that they were getting deeper and deeper and he didn’t like that.
At some point, his blindfold was removed and he hissed at the guards that were all almost twice his size. They ignored him and Loki knew that even if he managed to free himself he wouldn’t be able to put up much of a fight anyway.
Once in a while he noticed the looks of other Jotuns who peeked out from their caves to sneak a look of the colourful merman. They all had blue or blue-grey tails and their eyes were weirdly red. Loki swallowed and was kind of glad that he took more after his mother.
The caves were dark but Loki had no problem seeing in the dim light but he was rushed along so fast that he had barely any time to look around. Finally the guards swam into a large cave and let go of the prince who rubbed his wrists.
They hadn’t hurt him but he did it out of spite. The cave was high and wide and against the wall there was a throne, carved out of a grey and rough looking stone. It was a rather simple seat and the only decoration it had were a few swirls that were carved into the stone.
Another throne just as big but slightly lower was set next to it. Normally that would probably the seat of the queen Loki guessed. The prince looked around and noticed that the guards were watching him while they flanked the entrance.
Loki sighed and looked at the thrones again, waiting for his sire to arrive. As soon as he detected the movement in the water the prince became stiff and wary.
“Welcome home, son.”
Loki scoffed and Laufey swam past him to take his seat. He looked regal and satisfied. The two mermen sized each other with their eyes, neither wanted to speak.
“Father, you have returned.”
That startled Loki who turned around to watch a huge merman swim past him. Laufey took his eyes off Loki to look at his firstborn.
“Byleist, please greet your little brother, Loki.”
The merman stopped and slowly turned to look at Loki. Suddenly the prince felt tiny and vulnerable. The Jotun bared his sharp teeth at him.
“Brother,” he sneered and Loki barely managed not to flinch away. The merman swam closer and Loki straightened his back not to show any weakness. The other prince chuckled, “he is tiny father, why do we need him?”
Laufey had put his elbow on the armrest and his chin rested on the palm of his hand as he watched his two sons. A small smile rested on his lips.
“He may not look like much but believe me Byleist he is worth the trouble. He is a smart one and fast, I am sure he can lead us back to glory.”
Loki hissed at the king but Laufey only grinned in response. Byleist frowned, “I can do that too, father. I am a true Jotun unlike this thing here; he is only a Halfling, both in body and blood.”
Loki glanced at his half-brother, “I agree, let him lead you and give me back my real brother.” Laufey laughed, “oh Loki you are enjoyable silly.”
The prince scowled, “silly?”
“I will keep Thor as long as you fight me, as soon as you accept I will let him swim free. He is of no use to me besides angering Odin and I do not want a war, even if it may look like it.”
Loki bit his lip and looked down on the floor, the stupid merman had him in the palm of his hand and he didn’t like that. Taking a deep breath he looked up to Laufey, “if you let my brother go, and I mean Thor with that,” Loki clarified, glancing at Byleist.
“Then I vow on my honour that I will stay unless you or anyone associated with you tries to harm me.”
The king looked a little surprised before he smiled, “those terms sound acceptable. I vow on my crown that you are under my protection and I will not let harm come to you.” Loki nodded but he didn’t feel reassured and judging by the look Byleist gave him he wasn’t more protected by the vow then he had been before.
The Jotun prince eyed him with an angry look and Loki was sure that he would do everything to sabotage him and his new station. Loki licked his lips, “I want to see Thor.”
The king didn’t look pleased at that but he waved his hand at his soldiers, “bring the princess.” Loki did actually chuckle at that but he hid it behind a cough.
Two guards brought Thor and Loki shot towards him wrapping his arms around his brother’s neck. Thor let out a shout as he realized who was hugging him. Byleist scoffed but Laufey actually smiled.
Thor put a hand on the back of Loki’s neck and put their foreheads together, “what are you doing here Loki?” The second prince closed his eyes briefly, “apparently saving you, you dumbass.” Thor let go and nodded, “I am sorry, I should have listened to you.”
The water between them was quite uncomfortable and Loki patted Thor’s shoulder awkwardly, “it is alright that is way they call me the smart one.” Byleist snorted, “yeah that is why you got captured isn’t it?”
Loki blushed and Thor turned around to growl at the Jotun but the prince remained unimpressed. Laufey got up from his throne and swam down to the princes smiling like a shark.
“Well your brother bargained for your freedom Odinson, which means you will now depart, say your farewells and be gone.”
Thor hissed at the king, “I will not leave my brother with you monsters.” To underline his words he grabbed Loki’s arm who winced at the touch. Loki sighed and gently pried Thor’s fingers from his arm, “Thor you need to go I can handle this. I can handle him.”
Loki glanced at Laufey as he spoke and Thor growled again, “I cannot leave you.” The second prince chuckled, “you can and you will, tell mother I love her.”
The look on Thor’s face was almost as bad as Loki felt and watching his brother get dragged away shouting and calling after him made his stomach clench. He didn’t want to stay, but he had to.
Laufey smiled and put a hand on Loki’s shoulder, “don’t worry son, you will love it here.” Byleist glared at Loki but he ignored it as he sighed, “I am not your son Laufey.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tony flipped the pancake and Peter cheered for him as he made it this time without throwing the food on the floor. They were quite content with each other and while Tony knew that Peter was still mourning his home he pretend everything was fine and Peter knew that Tony had some troubles with himself but to keep the peace he also pretend to not notice.
It was a nice but fragile state they were enjoying but both were too scared and selfish to change that. Tony placed the pancake in front of Peter who smiled at him, “here only for you with lots of love.”
Peter chuckled, “you are just too scared to try the first one yourself.” Tony put a hand over his chest, “oh such mistrust, that hurt young man.” The merman chuckled and put a generous amount of syrup on top of the pancake while Tony poured batter into the pan.
The boy put the first piece in his mouth and it tasted really good actually. Smiling he watched the human cook and chuckled as Tony tried to flip his pancake but it was stuck inside the pan so he had to scratch it off and try again.
“Don’t laugh this is not as easy as it looks.”
Peter hid his grin, “I didn’t say anything. I am just eating.” Tony scoffed and made another pancake without destroying it this time, “yeah just eating my ass.” The boy laughed and finished his breakfast but stayed until Tony was finished.
“Alright Pete I have to work today, are you good on your own?”
Peter looked around and nodded, ignoring the weird feeling inside of him; he didn’t want Tony to go away.
“Sure I will just watch some TV and try to understand you humans a bit more.”
Tony laughed and walked up to the stairs, “well good luck with that boy, well be good and if you need something ask Jarvis or have him call me.” Peter nodded and watched Tony leave.
He sighed before he slid from the stool he had been sitting on and into the wheelchair. The boy rolled in front of the TV but he didn’t turn it on, his mind was still with Tony.
“Jarvis?”
“Yes Master Peter?”
The boy licked his lips, “can…can you explain to me how humans romance each other?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tony paced around in his lab trying to reason with his AI. Why in hell did he make him that smart and human? Well the answer to that was easy, he didn’t, he made Jarvis learning and now the AI did just that. He learned and adapted and he apparently had developed a sense for right and wrong.
“Jarvis I want to be with the boy but it will never work if we remain different species. He has a tail for goodness sake.”
“Sir, Master Peter trusts you even after all that happened, if you would use him to alter him into a human…I am unable to properly predict his reaction.”
Tony took an angry sip from his coffee, “I cannot either but that won’t matter Jarv if we can be together in the end, I am sure of that.” The AI didn’t respond and Tony sat his mug down with a sigh.
“Jarvis run the simulation and call Doctor Banner; I need his opinion on that.”
“Yes Sir.”
Tony briefly closed his eyes as he heard the cold, almost hurt tone in Jarvis voice. The AI liked Peter and Tony could understand his hesitation. What Hydra did to the boy was wrong and disgusting but it was not like Tony planned to put the boy into a fish tank and study him.
It wasn’t his intention to confine him in any way.
When Tony talked to Bruce, the man was of course just as worried as Jarvis was but he was easier to convince to help him since he was just as curious as Tony was. Together they would be easily be able to find a solution and get fast results.
Tony had called Pepper so that Bruce would be transferred to his place and be able to work with Tony in his lab and unsurprisingly she was not amused. Pepper had argued that it was not fair that Tony called dips on one of the greatest scientists currently alive but Tony had assured her that this would only for a few weeks, or months at most.
In the end Pepper had allowed it and Bruce had agreed to come over tomorrow. Tony was rather satisfied with himself.
“Sir it is almost dinnertime and Master Peter is asking if you would join him for dinner.”
Tony glanced at the clock surprised how the time had passed so quickly. With a yawn he stretched his back and got up from his seat, “uh yeah I guess I will.” His legs were stiff from sitting all day and he groaned as he took the first steps towards the exit.
As soon as Tony entered the living room he spotted Peter sitting on the couch with a weirdly guilty expression. With a slight frown he walked up to the boy, “hey Pete what you’ve been up to?”
“Nothing.”
The answer shot out of the boy and he had to raise an eyebrow at that because there was no way that this didn’t sound suspicious. Maybe he would ask Jarvis later what he had been doing, but seeing that Peter was technically a teenager he wasn’t so sure he wanted to know.
“So you hungry?”
Peter nodded eagerly, “yes very but I didn’t want to eat without you.” Tony smiled fondly at him; the boy was just too cute. The genius walked into the kitchen, “that is so nice of you. What do you want to eat, pizza? Chinese or did we ever try Indian food? We should start off with something not too spicy though.”
Peter smiled but shook his head, “ah I would rather go for some fish and maybe some crab, my stomach always feels weird when I eat too much of your human food.”
Tony nodded, “alright then fish for you and some delicious pizza for me. Jarvis, order some please.” The AI responded in an amused voice, “I will Sir.” Peter slipped from the couch into the wheelchair and rolled up to the kitchen where he pulled himself up to sit in a stool.
Tony wondered if Peter ever got tired of that but the boy never complained. Suddenly Tony got a weird feeling in his chest, “hey Peter…are you alright? I mean if you weren’t feeling good or depressed you would tell me, am I right?”
The merman hesitated before he slowly nodded, “I-I would Mr Stark.” Tony chuckled, “Mr Stark again huh? Well you are a lousy liar boy.” He turned to the fridge and pulled out some fish slicing it into bite sized bits and placing them on a plate in front of Peter.
“I…didn’t lie.”
The genius chuckled, “and again here you go.” Peter looked down on his hands looking only a little guilty, “it is…not easy to talk about those things.” Tony opened the fridge again and pulled out some crab meat to also put it on the plate.
“I know, believe me I know, but you have to or it will slowly devour you. I have been there, so I would know.”
Peter slowly nodded but he didn’t look up so Tony just pushed the plate a little closer to the boy, “eat and how about we change the topic? Would you like to take a swim?”
The boy picked up a piece of crab chewing it slowly before swallowing, “ah how do you mean that?” Tony smiled at him, “well I haven’t used my yacht for some time so I would like to take it for a cruise.”
Peter suddenly seemed very happy and nodded picking up a piece of fish before almost swallowing it whole, “I would love to stretch my fins a little, I love your pool but it is just so tiny.” Tony gave him a dry look, “compared to the ocean every pool is tiny.”
The boy laughed and Tony relaxed as the doorbell rang and the pizza Jarvis had ordered arrived.
Once both of them were full they went down to the cove and while Tony readied his yacht Peter jumped into the water. This time the man didn’t have any fears that the boy wouldn’t return since Peter couldn’t go anywhere else.
With a slight wince at his thoughts Tony started the yacht and drove her out of the cove and onto the open sea.
The waters were calm that night and the starry sky clear and beautiful. Far away from the shore, far enough so he wouldn’t see the lights of his house anymore Tony killed the engine and threw the anchor into the water.
A warm breeze was blowing over the water and he smiled as he took a seat in his chair leaning back to look at the sky. It was calming and he enjoyed the silence until he heard a splash.
“Tony?”
“I am here darling, how is the water?”
His smile was growing as he heard the boy laugh in delight.
“It is wonderful I missed this so much!”
Tony put an arm behind his back and sighed in content, “good to hear, but you know you can go out and swim whenever you like.” To his surprise Peter jumped out of the water and grabbed railing of the yacht to look at the human.
“Do you mean that?”
Tony flinched, “ah yes I mean you are not my prisoner you are more like my…roommate I guess.” Peter looked a little sad suddenly but hid it quickly behind a smile, “ah of course silly of me to assume you would want to keep me up there.”
The human stood and walked over to Peter, “you are a free man, merman and I have no right to keep you from going where you want to.” The boy smiled but there was still sadness in his eyes and Tony failed to understand why.
Did he actually want Tony to lock him up? Why was he acting so strange? The boy licked his lips and Tony thought about tasting them once again.
“I have something for you.”
The human smiled, “well thank you, what have you got?” Peter blushed and flicked his tail throwing something up into the air. The boy caught it and offered it to Tony.
“It is not much but uh I, you let me stay at your place and I eat you food so…I wanted to get you something.”
Tony gaped at the small but very valuable stone in Peter’s hand. If he was correct and he of course was the stone was a rough emerald.
Tony was rich, no question but even for someone like him it was rare to receive a present like that. He swallowed and picked up the emerald, “Peter this…wow I didn’t think…thank you.”
Peter blushed and looked away, “I know red is more your colour but I couldn’t find a red one this time.” Tony blinked, this time? Did he find some before and gave them to someone else or kept them?
“Ah Peter I like it and I am very grateful, but do you know what that is?”
Peter shrugged, “it is a gem isn’t it? Not cut though so it is a little ugly but I thought maybe you could make something out of it. We sometimes make jewellery out of them or decorate our furniture with it you seen it in the throne cave.”
Tony nodded slowly, “you ah you are talking very casually about that. Are those gems to any value to your people?” The boy blushed and looked uneasy, “like I said I know it isn’t much and it is so small, I am sorry I knew it wouldn’t impress you.”
The human let out a laugh, “Peter that is…alright I am impressed, to humans emeralds are one of the most expensive gems we have and people would kill to get their hands on this one. I mean it is almost the size of a cherry.”
Peter’s features lit up, “so you truly like it?” Tony leaned forward and placed a quick kiss on the merman’s lips, “of course I do you could have given me the shell of an oyster and I would have loved it.”
The merman blushed heavily and let go of the railing to slip back into the water. Tony blinked but was sure he heard him giggle before the water swallowed him.
Tony grinned like a fool as he took his seat again, holding the emerald tightly in his hand and looking up to the stars.