Kids Stuff

Technology was something fascinating. It's true that it took Thor some time to get the hang of it –all the Stark gadgets were more complex than the ones he had used – but now that he had mastered it, he could enjoy all its perks. Undoubtedly, his favorite one would always be the possibility of talking and seeing Jane even if they were miles away. Thor still preferred a face-to-face conversation more than one through a screen, but when you were required to stay in New York to deal with something related to SHIELD, this was the best option.

"You should come here, my dear Jane, in the words of my fellow Tony, you are more than welcome in the Tower whenever you want," Thor assured, rising a bit too much his voice, afraid Jane might not hear him correctly. The fact that Jane winced every time he talked went unnoticed by him.

"I know that, but Darcy and I promised Dr. Selvig to help him with a research,” Jane informed him, “you can come over if you’d like, I’m sure I can make some time to hang out,” she offered. Thor was sure she could see his disappointed expression.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, I also have matters to attend in here,” Thor explained, now it was his turn to see disappointment on Jane’s face. He didn’t like to be the responsible of any negative feelings.

“Let’s make a deal, the first one who gets free first will pay a visit to the other one, deal?” Jane suggested, Thor didn’t hesitate to agree.

Jane told him all the details about her work his Dr. Selvig. Although Thor paid undivided attention to everything she was saying, there were so many things he didn’t come to understand. That didn’t stop him from smiling and nodding when he considered it was necessary, nor from enjoying the conversation. Thor loved seeing how enthusiastic Jane got whenever he talk about her work.

After almost two hours, in which Thor had the opportunity to delight her with the story of his last odyssey back in Asgard, they had to bid farewell. If it had been up to Thor, he would have gladly continued talking to her all day long, but it hadn’t. Darcy had interrupted them announcing lunch time was over, and Jane and her needed to resume their job. Speaking of lunch, as soon as Thor ended the videocall, he could hear his stomach demanding food noisily. It didn’t surprise him though, he tended to ignore everything when talking to Jane, even the fact that he hadn’t eaten since he had left Asgard.

Putting his Starkphone aside, Thor walked toward the elevator with the intention of going down to the communal kitchen. The refrigerator located in the floor Tony had provided for his personal use was surely stuck with food, but he wasn’t good at cooking – Tony couldn’t explain how he had burned to a cinder a pan the last time he felt confident enough to cook. It was a better idea to go and see if, by any chance, Steve or Bruce had cooked something. They were very nice and generous fellows. Whenever they cooked something, they ensured to make enough just in case somebody else showed up for lunch or dinner.

"Tony, just give it a try. It's going get cold again," Thor heard Steve saying as he left the elevator and got closer to the kitchen.

"I don't like it," Thor heard Tony complain. He could make his teammates out until he was inches away from the kitchen. Tony was slouched on the chair and his arms were crossed over his chest, clearly unhappy. Steve was sitting in front of him in a way that showed he was rather tensed and frustrated, even if it was evident he was trying to hide it.

"How can you say that if you haven't even tried it?" Steve asked, pushing the plate closer to Tony. “Besides, it’s chicken and spaghetti, who doesn’t like chicken and spaghetti? I’m sure you do, I’ve seen you eating it before,” he asserted.

"Well, then, I'm not hungry," Tony uttered. Thor could tell he was lying for the expression on his face.

"Not even you believe that," Steve accused, "JARVIS informed me you haven't eaten anything but a couple of energy bars and coffee during the two days you've been down there. It’s not possible you’re not hungry,” he stated, a glimpse of irritation crossing his face.

“My stomach has shrunk, I don’t need as much food as before,” Tony informed, smiling slyly when he heard Steve couldn’t help grunting.

“How are you my dear fellows?” Thor greeted as he walked towards the table. Both Steve and Tony startled slightly, they hadn’t noticed his presence due to their little argument.

“Hi, Thor. How are you?” Steve asked politely, turning his head to look at him, even if his attention was clearly on the plate his hand was holding to prevent Tony from pushing it away. Thor walked towards them.

“Magnificent, you?” Thor answered, pulling the chair next to Tony to sit down. There was no other word that could describe his mood in that moment. Jane had that effect on him.

“Can’t complain,” Steve said, glaring at Tony when the latter kept trying to move the plate as far as possible from him. Tony stuck out his tongue to Steve when he couldn’t make him lose the grip on the plate. Steve rolled his eyes. “Stop pushing the plate like that, you’re gonna drop it,” he scolded.

“You’re the one who’s pushing it,” Tony affirmed.

“No, you’re the one who’s pushing it, I’m just putting it back where it’s supposed to be,” Steve defended himself.

“If you didn’t put it back, I wouldn’t have to push it,” Tony objected.

Steve sighed deeply, “I put it back so you can reach it and eat.”

“There’s the nub of the issue, you already know I’m not eating, so, you don’t have to put it back. You’re the one who’s causing all this senseless argument,” Tony claimed staring at Steve, the smirk still on his face. Even Thor knew this dispute was going nowhere. Everybody knew arguing with Tony was a dead-end road.

“You have to eat,” Steve noted, rubbing his right temple with his free hand.

“No, I don’t.”

“Yes, you do. You promised to take better care of yourself,” Steve proclaimed, disapproval in his voice.

Tony raised one eyebrow and scratched his chin, “I don’t remember promising such a thing.”

“You did. When we agreed to leave you alone, you promised that, and up until now, all you have done is exactly the opposite,” Steve criticized, his frustration now completely clear in every inch of his body. Thor just looked at them without saying a word, he got the feeling he would make things worse if he did so.

Sticking his tongue out again, Tony slouched even more on his chair and let Steve move the plate as close as possible. He didn’t make any attempt to grab the fork, though.

“I figure you’re hungry,” Steve said. It took Thor some seconds to realized he had talked to him, as his eyes were fixed on Tony. There was something stinging familiar about this scene.

“I am, indeed,” Thor conceded.

“Very well then, let me fix you something to eat,” Steve volunteered as he stood up, walking to the island.

“He can have mine, I’m not eating it!” Tony offered, already pushing his plate in front of Thor.

“No, I have more than enough food for Thor here. You’re eating that, if you don’t, you’re not going back to your workshop,” Steve warned before opening the door of the fridge. His head got lost inside of it, apparently looking for what he was going to give to Thor.

Tony glared at the him, but Steve couldn’t see him, “you know what? I don’t have to take this crap,” he avowed, standing up sharply, “If I’m telling you I’m not hungry is because I’m not, and you can’t make me eat!” he exclaimed, pushing the chair he was sitting on back in its place brusquely.

Thor didn’t seem to understand what the problem was. It was clear Steve had been the one who cooked that meal. According to him, everything that Steve made was delicious, and he was pretty sure everyone else agreed with that. So, why Tony didn’t want to eat was beyond his comprehension. Perhaps the reason was the same one that Thor had come to learn, the one that explained every single action his fellow Tony did: Tony was just being Tony.

“You know, Loki used to do exactly this,” Thor commented as he reached and grabbed Tony’s wrist, pulling him closer until Tony ended up sitting on his lap. Thor could hear a squeak from his friend, his action taking him by surprised, “there was a period of time, when we both were kids, when he used to refuse eating every single day,” he remembered, and he was completely sure the nostalgia he felt suddenly showed on his face.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” Tony asked, with an expression of annoyance and horror. He tried to get away immediately, but Thor surrounded his waist with his left arm, keeping him in place with ease, “Let me go!”

“And you know what? Later I came to know he didn’t do that because he didn’t like the food in front of him, he was just doing it to get our father’s and mother’s attention. I guess he began to grow jealous since a very early age. Although nobody was aware of that back then, not even him,” Thor kept telling, tightening his grip a little since Tony started to struggled harder.

“I don’t care about your babbling! Let. Me. Go!” Tony ordered, emphasizing each word with a punch on Thor’s arm. They did nothing to Thor.

“First tell me something, why don’t you want to eat?” Thor questioned, looking down a bit so his eyes could meet Tony’s.

“Because I’m not hungry,” Tony answered, intending to push Thor’s arm away from him, without success.

“You know that’s a lie, I can feel how you stomach is growling,” Thor informed, noticing a slight shade of red on Tony’s cheeks. “So, I ask you again, why don’t you want to eat my dear fellow?”

“Because I don’t like it,” Tony mumbled.

“Another lie, everybody knows our friend Steve cooks marvelously,” Thor stated. He wasn’t an expert on recognizing facial expressions – especially after hearing Tony arguing thousands of times he did not do such a thing – but Thor could swear Tony pouted when hearing what he had just said. “So, why don’t you want to eat?” he insisted.

“I dun wanna,” Tony continued mumbling, folding his arms over his chest, forgetting his intention of getting away.

“That’s not a reason,” Thor assured, lifting Tony a little so he sat down more comfortably. He had slipped a little when trying to get free.

“It is for me,” Tony alleged. After a few seconds, Tony couldn’t keep his gaze and he had to look away.

Thor sighed deeply. Tony did remind him of Loki sometimes, especially in these situations when he was so insufferably stubborn. “Why don’t you try it?” he suggested, but Tony shook his head immediately, “Come one, I’m certain you will find it tastes excellently,” he prompted, still getting a negative answer.

Leaning carefully, enough to reach the plate Tony had paced in front of him when Steve had stood up, Thor grabbed the fork with his right hand and cut a piece of the chicken. Then, he stuck it into the fork and lifted it close to Tony’s mouth, who moved his head backwards right away.

“Try it,” Thor insisted as he brought the fork closer, Tony kept shaking his head.

“Dun wanna” Tony muttered, being careful of not opening his mouth wide enough so Thor couldn’t take advantage of it and shove the fork into his mouth. Thor would have never done that. Although he did keep trying to feed him the chicken, but Tony always managed to move his head so that didn’t happen. When Tony turned in a way Thor was certain would cause him harm in his neck if he continued like that, he stopped his attempts.

However, his determination was unbreakable, if he had been able to convince Loki to eat when they were children, Thor could certainly do the same with Tony. Perhaps using the same tactics, that he had used with his brother, was the best approach. After all, Thor couldn’t shake the feeling Tony and Loki seem to have a similar temperament. That, or Thor really missed Loki and he was seeing him in places Loki wasn’t.

Thor took some minutes to recall what he did when this situation occurred back home, and he couldn’t help smiling sadly at the memory of it.

“Here comes the mightiest Sleipnir, his galloping never stops, if you don’t open your mouth, it’s going to crash and hurt itself,” Thor said chantingly, moving the fork in a way it resembled a horse galloping, “and you don’t want that to happened, do you?” he asked, earning a glare from Tony, “You didn’t like it?”

“Of course not!” Tony said offended. Thor was sure now, Tony was pouting.

“I used to do this and Loki loved it,” Thor commented, sounding confused. His had seen his mother doing that with Loki once. It turned out the same way it did now. But later, Thor had tried it, and, even if Loki hadn’t exactly loved it, he hadn’t disliked it either. Of course, it worked just a few times. When Loki got older, Thor ended up with food on his face when he did that.

“I’m not a kid!” Tony snapped, pushing Thor’s arm away.

Sighing heavily for a second time, Thor let Tony move his arm. It was a good thing Thor wasn’t known for giving up easily, so he tried a couple more times to trick Tony into taking a bite of the chicken by pretending the fork was something else. Needless to say that the only thing he achieved was deepening Tony’s frown, who closed his mouth as hard as he could and dodged every time Thor managed to take the fork closer.

“Stop!” Tony ordered when Thor was trying to come up with another idea, “I don’t wanna eat!”

“But I can’t comprehend why,” Thor stated, looking truly confused, his eyes fixed on the piece of chicken poked into the fork.

“You don’t have to understand why, you just have to let me go once and for all!” Tony demanded, kicking his legs in the air as a sign of protest.

“Can it be possible it truly tastes bad?” Thor wondered, staring at the chicken. Ignoring Tony’s squirming, Thor brought the chicken into his mouth and chewed it slowly, savoring it. As he had thought, it was delicious. “For Odin, this tastes remarkable!” He exclaimed, maybe a bit too enthusiastically, while he cut another piece and placed it in his mouth.

Out of the corner on his eyes, Thor could see Tony’s apprehensive expression. He had stopped writhing and was frowning at him with disbelief, his mouth open as if he desired to say something, but no word was pronounced whatsoever. Thor tried to put on a deadpan face.

“It’s mine!” Tony finally dared to speak up, before Thor bit the fifth piece of chicken.

“I beg your pardon?” Thor asked, faking incomprehension.

“You’re eating my food!” Tony accused. Once more, there was the frown that looked more like a moue.

“Of course I am, you were very clear about not wanting to eat it,” Thor reminded him, “And this is rather delicious to let it go to waste,” he finished saying, taking another bite. Tony’s eyes opened in shock.

“No!” Tony demanded again, grabbing Thor’s wrist with both hands as an intent to prevent him from continuing eating.

“What?” Thor asked, pretending obliviousness while he stopped his intend to take to his mouth a portion of spaghetti, “would you like to try it too?” Tony hesitated a bit, but then he shook his head timidly without saying a word.

Poking another piece of chicken, Thor moved the fork closer to Tony. The latter looked at Thor skeptically, then at the fork, and once more at Thor, as if he was trying to figure out something. After a few seconds, Tony opened his mouth doubtfully and waited until Thor moved the fork forward into it. Thor was sure Tony’s intention had been to hide the fact that he had found the food tasty, but the small moan that escaped his throat when he was chewing and tasting the chicken gave him away. Thor refrained himself from commenting anything, knowing in advanced that doing so would make Tony reject any other portion of food offered later.

When Steve returned to the table with them and realized Thor had managed to persuade Tony to eat, Steve looked at him with an expression that could only be described as sheer contentment and gratitude. Everybody knew he was the one who argued the most with Tony about his terrible eating habits.

Placing a second plate on the table, Steve pushed one of the pieces of chicken from his plate to Tony’s, being careful not to be noticed by the latter. But Tony didn’t, he was more focused on the fork Thor was using to feed him, as if he believed the mere fact of not looking at it would make Thor take it into his mouth instead of his.

Thor smiled fondly as he continued feeding Tony. This trick never failed with Loki, and apparently, nor with Tony. The more he encouraged Loki to eat, the more Loki refused to do it. It was just a matter of contradicting him, really. Or perhaps envy, who knows. The point was that, whenever Thor threatened to take any meal away and eat it himself, Loki suddenly wanted to eat again.

When Tony’s plate was empty, Steve handed him a glass containing what seemed to be lemonade, which, in turn, he placed between Tony’s hands. Surprisingly, he took it without hesitation, and leaned on Thor’s chest while he drank the liquid through a straw, making bubbly sounds occasionally.

Thor proceeded to satisfy his hunger, chatting animatedly with Steve and caressing Tony’s abdomen absent-mindedly. His stomach had ceased growling and that made Thor feel peaceful somehow.