Choices

Chapter 92
To say it was awkward for the remainder of her first day would be an understatement. Tony only seemed to think that by continuing to stand by his earlier words might make them sound nicer, but he was wrong.
Pepper had eventually told Tony to go back to his toys, and ushered Cephera from the room to join her upstairs.
"He's trying to not sound like a fool." Pepper told her.
"He's digging himself into a hole, or putting his foot deeper in his mouth," Cephera said displaying her knowledge of Migardian metaphors.
"More like foot up his ass," Pepper growled. "Feel free to just tell him to shut up and move on." Pepper told her.
"I'm sure it won't come to that." Cephera had been clutching her hands together hard to stop from growing upset or angry.
"I'm sorry for your predicament. I really can't imagine being in your place." Cephera liked Pepper. She was kind and genuine in her words and demeanor.
"I'm surviving. Loki is willing to accept this child into our family if he should ever see freedom and that makes me happy." Cephera told the woman she barely knew.
"I hope it works out for you." Pepper's generic answer told Cephera that Pepper wasn't sure freedom and Loki should go together. Cephera couldn't expect any less from the humans.
***
Cephera learned a few things about her new home and its inhabitants during her first week. The first was that they were always very busy. Pepper was extremely dedicated to her job running Tony's company.
From the early morning to late at night she could either be found at her work office or her home office taking only small breaks in-between.
Tony was hardly every upstairs, but down in his garage tinkering with his machines. Pepper seemed annoyed by this, though she tried to hide it. He hadn't said much to Cephera. She supposed that if he mistrusted her, he'd just get Jarvis keep an eye on her, which was probably something he did anyway.
Second, Tony's home was peaceful. Not too many people came around this far outside of the city. The ocean was a calming sound to fall asleep with, and the sun easily tanned her skin.
"Pepper," Cephera knocked on the red heads open home office door before speaking. Pepper was looking very intensely at a book full of numbers.
The first few days Cephera had called Pepper, Mrs. Potts, to which Pepper had corrected her and insisted she call her Pepper. Cephera also found out that Peppers name was actually a nickname and her birth name was Virginia. Cephera hadn't not asked how the name Pepper came to be.
"Hey, come on in." Pepper offered waving her in.
"I have a request," Cephera said. Pepper nodded for her to go on. "I've heard of the World Wide Web, the Internet, but I've yet to sample it. I'm afraid reading about something and experiencing it can be very different things."
Pepper smiled and got up from her chair. "Sit," she said pointing to that same chair.
"Oh no, not now. When you're not busy." Cephera hadn't wanted to disrupt Peppers work completeLy.
"It's fine. It's healthy to have a distraction from work once in a while." Pepper insisted pointing again to the chair. Cephera wouldn't stand an argue, she sat down.
***
After a few simple lessons of the basic of working a computer and how the Internet worked, Cephera was downstairs by herself on the laptop Pepper had lent to her, skimming page upon page of just about anything she could.
She quickly came to find out that search engines were fickle things and if you were not clear in your meaning, it was quick to point you toward pornigraphic content. She'd have to share her knowledge of porn with her sister, she was sure Seraphina would have an interest in it.
She also realized that something as simple as browsing the Internet could make time pass without notice. Before Cephera knew it, night had fallen and Pepper had come down to find something to snack on.
Unlike Cephera's first day, meals were not cooked everyday and most days they had to fend for themselves. Snack food was a staple for snacking. The only junk Cephera found appealing were sweets, something that was in abundance in all world it would seem.
"Keeping busy." Pepper noted, nodding toward the laptop.
"Very much," Cephera replied. "There is so much more to learn from here." Cephera replied.
"Oh, be careful. Not everything on the Internet is accurate, not the way textbooks can be. On the Internet just about anyone can put their own thoughts in, and as I'm sure you know, not everyone is right." Cephera gave a short laugh and a smile.
"I'll keep that in mind." Cephera replied.
"If you want to see the crazy things people come up with, check out Thor or even your husband." Cephera had forgotten that long ago the humans had once worshipped the Norse gods, the Aesir.
Curiosity quickly took over. Cephera quickly did a search for Loki. Interestingly enough, using the image menu of her search engine, she found photo's taken of her husband and news feeds from spectators who had been in New York the day his army attacked.
She also found photo's shot in Stuttgart; did the humans have nothing better to do than zoom in from further away and take pictures? Did they not fear for their lives?
She scrolled down and between a bunch of news screenshots she titled her head to the side at a drawing. The likeness gave her chills as she absobed the sight of Thor straddling a half dressed, bent over Loki, and there was no questioning what was happening.
"Ah yes, the morbid side of the Internet," Pepper said from behind Cephera making her jump and blush. "You should see the ones of Tony." Pepper added with a laugh.
"People like this?" Cephera asked. "My husband tried to take over their world and they are drawing art of the brothers..." She trailed off.
"It's a sick world," Pepper shrugged. "You'll come across worse than that. The fact that there are real superheroes, well it's become a fantasy for some people. Some people see your husband as a man worth killing and others see him worth..., well bedding."
"And it's the same for Tony?" Cephera asked.
"And all the heros around the world. People have a way of taking a villian and a hero and putting them in the most bizarre situations with one another, mostly sexual." Pepper shrugged again. "The Internet gives people freedom to express their darkest thoughts without ridicule."
"I'm beginning to see that." Cephera added.
"I can't completely blame the Internet, I mean there are the old norse stories of how Loki gave birth to a horse and...,"
"What!" Cephera caught Pepper off guard with her outburst. "Sorry, hold on." Cephera told her and quickly went back to her search page. 'Edda Prose, Loki the God of lies', caught her attention.
She skimmed the many pages of tales regarding her husband and sat for a moment stunned. "How...,"
"I know crazy right," Pepper said.
"No." Cephera shook her head. "How would you humans know any of this?"
"Huh?" Pepper looked confused before a thought dawn on her. "Wait, it's true?"
"What's true?" Tony asked. He always managed to catch the tail end of conversations.
"Loki has a horse child," Pepper replied and then looked to regret it. In her shock she'd involved the one man that needed to know less about Loki, not more.
"Well shit, that's gotta be one strange fetish." Tony popped open a beer. "So did he ever, you know, make you put on a saddle?" Cephera turned red.
"I'll have you know Mr. Stark, that our pasts are not as cut and dry when magic is involved. The conception of Sleipnir was no more wanted for Loki than my conception was." She stood quickly, feeling very defensive. "If I hadn't half the self control I have, I'd turn you into a dog and let another have at you and see how cocky you'd be." She fumed as Stark stared at her.
"This seems like a touchy subject for you. I thought it was kinky. Maybe it's best we revisit it another time," his tone was calm.
"Listen well, I'll not live here and simply tolerate you're attitude like my husband and his prior life is a joke and means nothing. He is no less a person. He has seen his own hardships. I condone nothing he did to this world, but I won't stand idly by and allow you to insult him and me in the process. Were it Pepper in my place, you wouldn't allow someone to treat her this way."
"Alright, I went too far, I'm sorry." Tony let out a breath.
"You went too far the first day and I overlooked it, but mark my words, I won't tolerate any more quips regarding my husband. Your apology is accepted, I hope you'll hold your tongue on further commentary that's both inappropriate and rude."
"My lips are sealed." He swore, pretending to zipper his lips.
(Tony)
"You are absolutely ridiculous." Pepper chided Tony while she pulled on a t-shirt for bed.
"It's awkward having her here. I'm just breaking the ice with a few jokes." Tony insisted.
"Breaking the ice is making someone laugh, not setting them on the verge of killing you." Pepper growled.
"You're still with me and you've wanted to kill me plenty of times." He remarked.
"Not the same. You need to be a little more considerate. She is Loki's wife, not Loki himself. She has done nothing to suggest she's anything like him. You give Thor your trust, why not her?"
"Thor helped us capture his own brother, where was she?" Tony pointed out.
"Stuck in Asgard like the rest of them, worrying about her husband." She sighed. "I know how you are, you make a joke out of everything about everyone, but this time back off a little. Let her get to know you before you start pissing her off." Tony glanced at Pepper and nodded.
Tony didn't have anything against Cephera, it was just that making fun of Loki gave him relief. Joking about everything brought him a calm over his worries. Not to mention he was half irritated because of the little sleep he was getting.
If Loki hadn't come to Earth, Tony wouldn't be having these problems he was having. He cracked jokes in front of Thor while he'd been there and Thor just gave him a exasperated look, but nothing more.
Pepper was right of course, he was going too far.
***
Toast and coffee was Tony's breakfast the next day. He was spreading butter across his multigrain bread when Cephera walked in. She looked at him cautiously.
Tony's eyes travel from her face down to her arm. He'd noticed it several times now, it was hard to miss. A dark hand print scoured into her flesh. "Touched by an Angel?" He asked pointing with his butter covered knife.
She glanced down. "No," she replied, shaking her head.
"No? Castiel? Demons? Hell?" She stared at him with curiosity now. "It's a show, Supernatural, you should watch it. Good stuff." He informed. "So, how did you get it?"
"My daughter, Hela." Tony held his tongue.
"You don't look like a frost giantess." Tony remarked, hoping that was safe enough to say.
"I see you've read the Edda Prose as well," she said. "Well, how about we set the record straight."
***
"So let me make sure I got this right, there is a Sigyn but she never married Loki because you stopped him, he did have three children by a giantess by way of black magic, he had a horse child by a spell gone wrong, and you are pregnant for a man who disguised himself as your husband." Tony's head was spinning just a little.
"That's correct." She seemed amused. "I'm not sure how your people have these tales so accurate and yet so wrong." She shurgged, "but it has been interesting to read about them."
"I've never seen you in an of the lore," Tony noted.
"No, I've noticed that too." She frowned and her face deepened in thought.
Tony noted how young she looked in that moment. Her soft features looking disappointed and solemn. He felt a twang of shame for poking fun of her life, when she had seemed to have gone through so much. She told him of the myths listed in the prose, and some extra stuff involving herself not mentioned in the tales, but he could only imagine what the rest of her life was like.

Notes