A Complicated Web

Chapter Sixteen: Alarm

Tony lounged in the swivel chair in his private office. He was already nursing another drink, poured from the wet bar across the room. That had been a necessity, he'd decided. Pepper was off to bed, citing the need for sleep since she'd have an early morning. There were a few meetings she needed to attend to in the satellite office of Stark Industries and wanted to be fresh as a daisy for them, which was just fine with him. Later, she'd head to the expo to poke around.

What hadn't gone as planned was the company he found himself keeping. It wasn't that he disliked Thor; he just still had a hard time figuring out how to deal with him. The man talked like he was stuck in the middle ages, and acted like... well, a Viking. But at least his so far short stint in the normal realm seemed to have done him some good, though he still seemed to have penchant for ale over a good brandy.

"So," Stark steepled his fingers together, eyeing his glass in the hopes of soon taking another swig, "what brings you back to Stark Tower? It's been a while since you last paid a social call." Seeing the god of thunder entering the penthouse via the terrace had not been on his agenda for the evening and he was more than a little ready to kick the man to the curb. He'd had enough craziness for one night.

Thor sipped at his stein, more than grateful that Tony kept his favorite drink on tap. "I had hoped to ask a favor of you," he admitted. "It would seem that Jane is busy with her endeavors up at the observatory and does not wish to be disturbed. I was wondering if—"

Tony rolled his eyes, his head moving with the motion. "You wanted to crash here, right?" He wasn't one to beat around the bush. Did this guy understand that he already had guests over? Well, no matter. There was more than enough room, if he was being completely honest. The place could house probably up to a hundred people on the various floors. He just didn't usually have a lot of house guests hanging around. And he'd technically designed specific floors for the different Avengers, but still. It was a full house, by normal standards, especially with the extra security, which brought up a good reason to let Thor stay.

The thunder god looked a bit chagrined at being so transparent. "Yes," he admitted. "I do not feel it would be wise of me to test her limits this night. She has already admonished me thrice. Perhaps we might share a few drinks. It has been some time since we last had the opportunity to talk."

That was an understatement, Tony thought. After the Battle for New York, the Norse god had disappeared with Loki, only to appear again after some craziness had happened with the same individual. He supposed he didn't blame Jane for being a bit put out by the on-again-off-again Thor, not that he was entirely to blame. It wasn't his fault things worked in a crazy manner where he was from. Okay, maybe there were things he could have done, but he understood what it felt like to be in the dog house, in a manner of speaking.

"You know what, that's okay," Tony admitted. "I'm not exactly planning on going to bed any time soon so I guess I won't mind the company too much." Part of him winced at that. He did like to spend time alone and hadn't gotten as much of that alone time lately, not with Agent Coulson's men running all over the place. He just hoped JARVIS would find out who had done all that hacking first so he could give the SHIELD agents the boot. Learning Kally was responsible for the guest list leak gave him a sense of relief he desperately needed. Unfortunately, it still didn't explain who had broken into the company's data.

Stark glanced at the clock across from his desk, realizing it was now after midnight. Well, at least part of the night had gone by quickly. "So, how are things going for you?" he asked, taking a sip from his drink. He noticed Thor had already finished his first pint. He just hoped the guy wouldn't throw the mug to the ground like he had when he'd first met him. It wasn't that he couldn't afford to replace the glassware, but it sure was a pain to clean up.