Frostbitten

Meeting Mr. Stark

"Tell me, my friend, what has been of Earth since my departure?" Thor asked, a smile still prominent on his face.

Tony shrugged, "Oh much of the same. Psychopaths yearning for global domination, gas prices increasing." He took a sip out of the crystal glass beside him. Inside, was a dark brown liquid that Sif was unfamiliar with. She figured it was Earth's equivalent of mead, but she wasn't entirely certain.

The Warriors Three all listened intently, while Loki looked out the huge glass windows bitterly. Sif too, was distracted, her mind still racing from earlier. Although, she knew well enough that it wasn't productive thinking. Instead, she tried focusing on the room in which they were lounging.

In front of them, was a wall completely made of glass, giving a spectacular view of the city's skyline. The flooring was made of a metal-like material, however the ground below where they sat was a shaggy cream carpet. To the right, the floor curved upwards into what looked to be a bar. From there, two glass doors led out to a single ramp surrounded by a deck.

"And you are?" Sif snapped out of her trance when she came into realization that she had been spoken to by Tony. Everyone in the room seemed to have their eyes glued to Sif who was still silent in confusion and embarrassment. Tony cleared his throat and repeated with a chuckle, "I asked who you were."

Sif smiled back in return, while mentally cursing herself for dazing off. Thor spoke up, hoping to give his friend a chance to regather herself. "I apologize, we have had a very eventful past few days and if I do say so myself, we are all quite exhausted. "

"Which is completely understandable!" Tony replied, taking another sip from his cup.

Before speaking, the warrioress sent a thankful nod to Thor. "My name is Sif. I too am from Asgard. I actually visited Earth not long ago in order to help an agency called S.H.I.E.L.D. " She tried her best to say as little as possible around the strange man whom she had just met.

"Yes, I do think I recall hearing about an Asgardian coming down because of some crazy redhead. Lorelei or something strange like that was her name?" Loki raised an eyebrow, the memory of sending Sif on that particular mission while disguised as Odin crossed his mind.

Sif nodded, "She was taken care of and imprisoned."

"Good to hear." Tony replied. "Anyway, I have other matters to attend to, so enjoy your stay at the Stark Tower," he winked and left the Asgardians alone.

As night crept upon them once again, Sif couldn't help but long for home. Unlike in Asgard, the darkening sky around her showed little to no stars, the only source of natural light being the moon and that had hardly any affect. She missed her view of millions upon millions of tiny orbs of lights shining down into her chambers, but now she could only reminisce. One could only imagine what the Frost Giants and Tyr had done. Her beloved city was most likely left in ruins, yet the beautiful night sky she knew still lay untouched.

Sif stood from her bed and walked over to the balcony. She glanced left and right to see if any of her friends had desired to see the sky like her, but each terrace was abandoned leaving Sif alone with the night. To her left lay Loki's quarters and to the right was Hogun. She hadn't heard a peep from either, though it was expected as both were not known for their enthusiasm, unlike Thor, Fandral, and Volstagg who were not far. Although, Thor had a much larger suite that Stark himself designed.

In fact, the whole floor was technically Thor's. Favorably for them, the floor had three guest rooms and enough couches for Volstagg and Fandral to rest. Sif figured they would trade off between their days on Earth. Yet, Sif had a feeling no one desired Loki's quarters. Outside his door, Sif had noticed at least three strange looking contraptions in which Thor explained to be viewing devices for security purposes. Not to mention, his door would automatically lock at 10:30 every night. (A feature Stark installed himself upon their arrival.)