The Balance Between

May I Have Her Hand?

"As you may know, I am madly in love with Loki, your sister. I love her more than life itself. If I had to choose between breathing and loving her, I'd use my last breath to say 'I love you'. I don't ever want to be without her. So I come to you today to ask for your blessing and her hand in marriage." With a small nod, Tony looked away to the mirror and over to where Bucky, Natasha, and Peter sat on his bed. He raised an eyebrow and fiddled around with his hands; he couldn't quite figure out where to put them. "Did that sound okay?" he asked, swallowing thickly afterwards. Natasha looked up from filing her nails and raised an eyebrow back. Peter slowly rocked back and forth on the bed which was starting to aggravate Bucky who was studying Tony's expression. "Hello?"

"I think you said 'I' too much," Natasha remarked before going back to filing her nails. "Try to make it more about Loki." Tony nodded, letting out a quick breath. Bucky shook his head. 

 "Don't script it," he told him. Tony blinked a few times before nodding. "It'll sound better if you go in without a plan." Peter looked over at Bucky. "But don't be too relaxed about it. You still want to be formal." Tony continued to nod. "But not too formal." Natasha elbowed Bucky. He glared at her. Peter bit back a laugh. 

"Just be yourself, Dad," Peter said. Tony glanced over at him and sighed. "It's not like you're asking Odin or Frigga for Mom's hand in marriage." Everyone shuttered. They did not want to imagine what it would be like asking the king and queen of Asgard for their adoptive daughter's hand in marriage. "Shake your nerves out. Like this--" Peter held his arms out in front of him and started shaking them. Tony laughed, which eased up some of the tension building in his shoulders, as he then went to do it. Peter smiled brightly. "There. This is Thor we're talking about. The man who you taught how to use the toaster so he could have warm pop tarts." Tony chuckled. "Also someone who's witnessed your relationship grow into what it is today. You don't have to use fancy words or sound all formal or anything. All you are doing is asking for Mom's hand in marriage because you love her dearly; something Thor already knows." Tony started smiling. "Just relax, smile, and act confident. He's bound to say yes anyway." Tony's smile grew before he turned his attention to both Natasha and Bucky and glared at them both. 

"Why is my teenage son better at giving advice than you two?" 

"Because I don't care?" Natasha suggested with a shrug of her shoulders. Tony pouted. "Look, Stark, you're making a big deal out of a simple question." He raised an eyebrow. "When I ask Pietro for Wanda's hand in marriage, I'm not going to go in with a script. I'll sit him down and ask, maybe say a few things about how much I love her. Not make weird scenarios where I'll die because I love her." Tony looked away. Maybe he had gone a bit overboard with that one. "Like the kid said, just relax." He nodded and shook his wrists out some more. 

"Good luck," Bucky offered before standing up from the bed and leaving the room. Natasha followed after him. Peter stood and hugged Tony before leaving, wishing him good luck as he did so. 

Tony sighed and stared at the door. Never in a million years did he think that the great Tony Stark would ever be this nervous about asking for someone's hand. He also never thought he'd actually settle down and get married yet here he was--planning to do so. Gods, Loki made him feel things he never thought he could. She brought a sense of domestic softness into his life he never knew he needed. A life so different from the one he'd been used to, filled with drinking until he blacked out and partying until his legs hurt. Now he's happy staying in on a Friday night to bake cookies and watch movies. He never really had the whole 'white picket fence' life growing up--and he knows Loki didn't either--but Tony would be lying to himself if he said he never imagined that kind of life with Loki. Maybe they'd eventually move out of the tower into their own house where they could raise a family of their own. Whether that be children--biological or adopted--or dogs, Tony didn't care; he'd be willing to raise a tankful of clams if that's what Loki wanted to do. 

And in that moment, Tony knew exactly what he needed to say.

He rushed out of his room and over to the elevator, waiting impatiently for it to come. The doors opened a few moments later. He rushed inside and rapidly pushed the button for the communal living room several times while he waited for the doors to close. As he waited for the elevator to go down, he anxiously tapped his foot against the floor. With a soft ding, the elevator doors opened back up and he was let out into the living room. 

Steve, Sam, and Clint were all chatting in the dining room. Tony couldn't hear about what but he didn't really care. Bruce was at work, Loki was out grocery shopping, Wanda and Pietro were out for lunch so they could catch up with each other's lives, Natasha, Bucky, and Peter were nowhere to be found (the also knew what was going to happen so they went up to Natasha's floor to play a few rounds of Go Fish), and Thor was sitting on the couch watched a wrestling match on the television. With a huge smile on his face, Tony briskly walked over to Thor and sat down beside him. Thor offered him a smile but never looked away from the match.

"Thor, can I ask you something?" Tony asked. Thor hummed and nodded.

"Of course, Stark." His concentration narrowed in on the match in front of him. Tony sighed and reached for the remote sitting on the coffee table. He turned the television off, which earned a loud groan from Thor, before straightening back up. 

"This is kind of a serious question, Thor. So I would like it if I had your undivided attention." Thor sighed before turning his body to face Tony. Tony smiled and nodded his appreciation. "So as you are well aware, I am dating your sister." Thor raised an eyebrow. "Before I met her, when we weren't trying to kill each other, I was what us 'Midgardian's call a playboy. I slept around a lot--" Thor scrunched his nose. He did not need to hear about his teammate's past sexual encounters. Especially when that very teammate is now sleeping with his sister. "--I drank until I puked or blacked out, sometimes I puked before I blacked out, I partied until I couldn't move. I wasn't exactly who you would call boyfriend material." Tony bit his lip. Thor nodded for him to continue. "But that all changed once I met Loki; again, when we were not trying to tear each other's faces off. She's brought out a side in me I didn't even know existed. A side that's perfectly content with baking cookies on sunny Saturday afternoons or spending Sunday mornings curled up in bed." Tony took in a deep breath and smiled softly. "With Loki, I don't feel pressured to act a certain way or do a certain thing. I can just be me and know she won't judge me for it." Thor started to smile. "I love Loki with all my heart and then some. It would mean the world to me if you gave me your blessing in asking her to marry me." Thor's smile grew as he yanked Tony in for a bone-crushing hug. Literally. Tony weakly patted Thor's shoulder. "Uh, Thor? Getting hard to breath." Thor let go but his smile still remained. 

"It would be an honor to grant you my blessings," he said. Tony's entire body relaxed as he let out a soft sigh. "Your parents should be proud of the man you've become, Stark. If what you say is true then you have entirely flipped your life around. I couldn't think of anyone better to have as a brother-in-law." Tony smiled. Thor brought him in for another hug; this time less painful. "I have seen the way my sister looks at you, Anthony." Tony scrunched his nose. His full name was definitely a Loki only thing. But he wasn't about to correct Thor now. "She loves you just as much as you love her. And I know loving someone doesn't always come naturally to her. She's experienced a lot of heartbreak over the years. Her heart may still be in pieces. But I know you're willing to help pick them up; if what has happened in the past few days is any inclination. You will make an excellent husband for her as she your wife." Tony pulled him in for a hug this time.

"Thanks, buddy." 

Thor hugged back, squeezing Tony's shoulder. Tony started to wince in pain. "But if you ever hurt her, you will have to answer to me," he whispered in Tony's ear. "And they wouldn't be able to find a body. Have I made that clear?" He released Tony's shoulder. Tony instantly pulled away and nodded quickly. 

"Loud and clear, Thor. Loud and clear." Thor smiled brightly before reaching for the remote and turning the television back on. Tony shook his head in disbelief as he headed to the kitchen for lunch.