"Is this the case? Do you hide your true nature for fear of persecution because of your royal lineage?"
Tony and Pepper share a long look at that and Sif begins to smile, thinking she's finally gotten it. However, then Tony shakes his head. "Almost… but not quite. It's not our lineage that makes us special, Lady Sif. Rather, it's modifications that we made to our bodies through science. However, you're still essentially right. If the rest of Midgard was to know exactly how strong, fast, and durable we truly were, they would most definitely persecute us. The same people who have been trying to take you to experiment on you would redouble their efforts to do the same to us… and if enough people found out about us, public opinion itself might turn against us."
Hm. Now Sif thinks she begins to understand. Modifying one' s body was… hard for her to wrap her head around, but to be fair she had always been Asgardian and thus the pinnacle of the Nine Realms. It made sense that Midgardians, often times regarded as the weakest creatures in the Nine Realms in both mind and body, would try to better themselves.
Even still… Sif grunts. "I will be blunt, Tony Stark. I would join you and your lady wife in bed, as I have seen others do."
Tony raises an eyebrow at that, but Sif simply plows on ahead.
"However, I am loath to submit myself to a man weaker than me… and even for all your modifications, you are still weaker than me. However, you clearly are not the sort of man who would bend in bed either. Your lady wife, yes. But you… no, you are a domineering force both in and out of the bedroom."
To his credit, the Midgardian man recovers quite quickly from her blunt honesty. Then, he smiles crookedly.
"And how are you so sure that you're that much stronger than me?"
Sif scoffs and puts on a burst of speed. She appears before Tony Stark in a flash and even though he registers her movement, an impressive thing by Midgardian standards, he still can't stop her from burying her fist in his gut. She pulls the punch for Pepper's sake of course, not wanting to blast a hole right through his back. But the blow still sends Tony to his knees.
Taking a step back, Sif watches as Tony Stark recovers rapidly from the debilitating strike, rising back to his feet in mere moments.
"You heal injuries far quicker than I do, Tony Stark. But as an Asgardian, I am still faster and stronger than you."
Tony hums as he considers her words for a moment.
"… Yeah, I can see that."
Crossing her arms over her chest, Sif huffs. "So then you see the impasse we are at. How should we settle this?"
Grinning, Tony glances to Sif's armor, sword, and shield.
"Arm yourself and let's go at one another full tilt. Winner bends for the other in bed. Simple as that."
Sif's eyes widen. He wants to fight her in her full Asgardian Equipment? With what armaments?! Sif looks around, trying to see where he might be hiding his own armor and weapons. But… she sees nothing.
"You are unarmed, Stark. It would not be fair."
And yet, Pepper looks unbothered by this development. She knows something Sif does not. Tony, meanwhile, just scoffs and waves her off. "Worry about yourself, gorgeous. Go and get ready your way and I'll get ready my way."
… He definitely did that on purpose, but it doesn't stop Sif' s blood from boiling at the use of gorgeous. Pointing a finger at Stark, Sif growls.
"After I beat you within an inch of your life, I will endeavor not to enjoy your head between my legs as I kiss your lady wife TOO much."
Then, she whips around and makes her way over to her set aside equipment, strapping it on in record time and gathering up her sword in shield. It's as she's strapping her shield to her arm that Sif catches a glimpse of Stark out of the corner of her eye… and has to do a double take. Whipping fully back to the man, Sif stares with her mouth wide open in shock.
"Careful, you'll catch flies like that, darling." It's Tony's voice that comes out of the suit of armor that the man is suddenly wearing. It's just… where did the armor come from?! As if thinking she believed him to be a cheat, the helmet suddenly pulls back much like the Destroyer's face would open up, revealing Tony within the suit.
"Still me in here, promise. You ready to get your ass kicked, Lady Sif? Or do you just want to give up now, get down on your hands and knees, and crawl over here to lick my boots?"
Oh… oh, she knows he's just engaging in pre-battle banter. But damn if he isn't good at getting her blood roaring in her ears. Stomping back into the center of the room and standing across from Stark, Sif takes a moment to catalogue his armor. It's… honestly like nothing she's ever seen before in all of the Nine Realms.
"Where did you get such exquisite armor, Stark?"
Tony preens. "I made it of course. Like it that much, do you?"
Sif flushes but has never been one for dishonesty.
"Your craftsmanship gives even the Dwarven Blacksmiths and Forgemasters of Nidavellir a run for their money. I have rarely seen something so well put together. That said … armor is only as strong as the material it is made out of. Do you really think that my sword will not part you pretty tin can like butter?"
Chuckling, Tony raises his armored hands and makes a come hither motion.
"Let's find out, shall we?"
Sif doesn't need anything more than that. She launches herself forward with her sword raised to come down on Tony' s left shoulder. A disabling strike, but nothing too life threatening. She could stop from cleaving the entire man in two if his armor can't stand up to her.
Tony raises an arm to meet her strike… and a shield suddenly forms along the forearm, taking Sif by surprise. But what takes her even more by surprise is the way her sword strikes the metal… and then rebounds without leaving a single mark, her entire body thrown back by the reverberations, as though the energy behind her blow… had been turned against her.
Sif lands on her feet of course, she's too good of a warrior to fall on her ass even when surprised. However, she does pause for a moment, her eyes glittering as one of her questions is answered.
"Vibranium. Your armor is made of Vibranium."
Tony tilts his armored head to the side at that. "Well now. I suppose it IS a space metal, isn't it? So it makes sense that Asgard would know about it. Tell me, Lady Sif… how does Vibranium measure up against your sword?"
It measured up quite well, actually. It measured up so well in fact that Sif feels her blood pumping even harder as a wide grin spreads across her face.
"Finally, a worthy opponent on this mud ball."
"Hey now. I feel like I should be a little offended on behalf of Earth for-!"
"Our battle shall be legendary!"
As Sif charges at Tony again, she thinks she hears Tony mutter something about 'when she got the time to watch Kung Fu Panda'. She pays the man's ramblings no mind, instead battling him and his Vibranium Suit of Armor with all her strength and skill as a warrior.
One way or another, they and Pepper Stark would wind up in bed after all of this. All that remained to be determined would be who was on top and who was on bottom.
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