fossilised | I come from a land of ice and snow

I come from a land of ice and snow

Asgard sat atop the branches of Yggdrasil since time began, and little had changed in their society in the years since. Each Asgardian was long-lived into the millennia, their lands were fertile, their people brave and strong. They had their vassals, their allies, and their enemies. Yet even those who opposed them respected the might of the Golden Dias, and the royalty who sat upon it. Currently that was Odin Borson, though he grew weary more easily now and had begun to consider passing the throne to his eldest son.

He had been blessed with many children, but only two that he considered worthy of his lineage and status. His firstborn, Thor, strong and honourable and everything an Asgardian warrior should be. His second son, Loki, was not natural born, though none knew that but his wife. He was different, a creature of magic and mayhem, of sharp intelligence. Both were worthy, but together they would take Asgard to a new prosperity, he was certain of it.

Midgard, where the mortals dwelt, was a land raided every few centuries for stock. It was seen as a breeding ground, much like a corral for cattle. Mortals were lesser, short-lived and weak, they were fit only as slaves. The last raid had taken place when Loki had been but a baby, nearly a thousand years ago, but the mortals that had been taken had been bred and cared for so that a healthy slave population still thrived. Slaves were given a weakened mixture of Idunn's crop with their food, to extend their natural lives to at least a few centuries in order to make them worth the effort to train. They had no rights, but they were taught well that this was their natural position.

All slave children were raised in a central pen and taught the same when small, those that then displayed talent at cooking, riding, hunting, housework, artisan skills, or singing were then measured off to be specially trained for higher masters. Every five years those who could afford to buy a slave, or those of high enough status to simply demand them, came to the corral and chose. Those who were chosen were special, were envied, and those who were not ended up working the fields out in the far reaches of Asgard, the most menial of work.

Anthony and Steven had been friends since they were little and being raised in the large pens together. Both had excelled, Anthony at crafting and Steven at warrior's skills, but neither were chosen when they were five, nor ten, nor even fifteen. Now, at twenty, it was their final chance to be chosen before they would be assigned to one of the meanest farmers beyond the borders of the great capital. Steven woke Anthony as the dawn rose, mingled excitement and nerves on his face.

"Anthony! Wake up, I've got news! I heard the overseer talking to one of the passing guards, and Princes Thor and Loki are coming to the corral today."

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For once, there wasn’t any jealousy in Tony’s heart when he watched the pair. He couldn’t imagine having to deny himself anything when someone else wanted the exact same thing. And he also felt more than mildly responsible for the two getting together. Yes, Bucky would have eventually come to terms with that drawing in the book he’d taken from the museum, but Tony was pretty sure that he gave him that push in the right direction. Even with the whole punch his lights out promise shared on that ship.

One leg dangled as Bruce crossed the distance he had been warned against, Tony’s arms still loosely wrapped over his abdomen. There was a move to make and he was absolutely going to make it the moment that Bruce looked back his way.

The whole atmosphere was romantic. And Tony had always equated a need for companionship with a need for more than just companionship. He’d gotten over his testing the waters on his own desires back before he had taken over Stark Industries and while he might have dallied here or there, he tended to prefer women…

And he had, right up until his time as an Asgardian guinea pig.

Maybe that was a ship that sailed. Or maybe it was just Banner. A little kindness made a lonely, spoiled rich kid latch on. And that was for more than just holding hands in darkened rooms after PMSing sessions. And so yes, Bruce had been warned. And he still chose to lean against the wall Tony was seated on. And when he looked up at him, Tony set his hand on one of the stones of the building he had been leaning against for purchase before he kissed for, unsuspecting Bruce. And it was a nice kiss too. That romantic mood had Tony feeling in the mood for slow and sweet. It also helped that he was a fantastic kisser.

Bruce had honestly thought that Tony had just been making a joke, as he often did, and never expected to be actually kissed. He had never got any romantic vibes from the other man, never even considered that he might be anything other than straight, and so this was a surprise in literally every way. It was kind of sweet and kind of sad, because Bruce almost immediately equated this kiss with jealousy and longing. Tony wanted what Steve and Bucky had, and Bruce was the person he was closest to.

He froze in surprise for a few seconds and then pulled back.

"Well," he said, small smile on his lips to try and make this as non-awkward as possible, which was possibly a futile endeavour given what Tony just did. "I can't say that you didn't warn me, can I?"

Bruce wasn't a man who allowed himself to think of romantic entanglements, it just wasn't a good idea with what he was, and he had certainly never looked at Tony that way and so all his thoughts now were on moving past this without ruining what friendship they had.

Tony's look was wistful and understanding, and he leaned back to where he was before, fingers lacing over his stomach as if nothing at all had happened. He'd not expected much from Bruce, he hadn't thought any of this out. He'd just wanted a little bit of intimacy and ar least Banner didn't make a big deal about it.

"I did. You didn't listen. And what were you eating that tastes like cinnamon?" He could just excuse himself to get a pastry and then head back home with FRIDAY to do a little more work on personal projects now that the day was done. None of this needed to be awkward at all. Poor Bruce sort of looked like he wanted to forget any of that had ever happened and Tony would oblige him without pining away.

It had just been a thought with Banner. And maybe it would just be like with his nanny or that professor at MIT.... Neither had let him change his infatuation into something physical either. And that had been the right thing to do then. Probably now too.

A lot of people thought that Tony was an arrogant and immature sort of person, but just occasionally something shone through that showed him to have some maturity when it came to people he cared about. That look was a little sad, but appreciated, and perhaps Bruce would look back on it and remember, maybe it would make him think. Or maybe it would just be swept aside as something neither talked about.

He let Tony disappear to go and work on some personal projects, they could pick up the next day as if nothing had happened.

But Tony would find that his personal space was not so private today after all, as there was a youngish girl, perhaps twelve or thirteen, rooting through FRIDAY's server space when he arrived. She startled, looking up with brilliant green eyes, and then attempted to flee out of the window before she could be caught.

Lucky for Tony that Bruce was Bruce and not someone eager to fly off the handle. He couldn't just have one off romances here. There weren't enough people to let him blend away and for the first time in his entire life, he didn't have any staff or anyone that worked for him to keep his momentary desires for a little intimacy away the next day when he was back to being a selfish prick.

But wouldn't it be nice to have had someone to hold him when things were bad?

Probably. But he wasn't entitled to that. Not anymore.

Despite Tony having just thought about the small number of people on the planet now, he didn't recognize half of them. And this girl was part of that half. He darted forward, jumping over a table, to grab her collar. "Woah. Hey. Whatever you have, drop it. I'll help you with what you're trying to do but I'm not going to let you cry your fingers off."

Weirdly, he was in a more giving mood from his rejection than usual.

The girl hissed like an angry cat or snake when she was caught, her clothing soft leather stitched in a way that wasn't at all like either Asgardian or Earth would do. Long black hair, tied up in a series of intricate braids, snagged on Tony's fingers as he grabbed her collar.

"Let go of me!"

Her words were softly accented, lilting and foreign, but she spoke English without hesitation because that's what he had used to address her.

"I will kill you if you do not release me!"

"You're what? Ten? And you're going to kill me?" He didn't pull a 'do you know who I am, oh you just because you're in my house' sort of thing but he did make a move to tug the girl back and away from the window. "Pretty sure killing is frowned upon. I mean, take your chances if you want, but I don't think New Jail is going to be any different from Old Jail. Except probably no visitation. Or good food. Or the Internet. Actually, New Jail sounds pretty bad."

There was a reason why no one tapped Tony Stark to do PSAs.

He did, however, let the girl go and glanced to see what she was holding.

"There's not many of us left, kid. Can't we try to get along?"

Ten?! That would have been insulting even had Loki been mortal, for she at least looked in her early teens, but she didn't know enough about mortal ageing to know it was so insulting. She just planted her feet by the window and refused to let herself be pulled, for she was strong even if she was wiry. Perhaps she could not beat her brothers in combat, but she could still best a mortal.

And if she couldn't, then she could never return home for her eyes would be cast down with shame.

"No jail you have could ever hold me, lock me in one if you wish and I will be gone by sunrise the next day."

It was fairly easy to see that she held one of FRIDAY's main processors in her hand, which would be why the AI hadn't piped up and said anything yet. Without that, she would be greatly limited.

So Tony was bad with ages. Jeez. If that was his worst crime, he would be happy.

He would also be happier if he hadn't put so much alcohol in his punch because children should not be this strong. Unless maybe Cap and Bucky found a way to have kids. It would probably be a terminator though. And they didn't need that.

"Okay big talker. Maybe you would be there's no jail right now. And I don't care to listen to any more speeches from our fearless leader. So drop my sidekick right now and I won't tell your mom that she's raising a brat."

Brat was not a word that she knew, but she didn't have to know it in order to know that it was an insult. She curled her lip in clear disdain and pushed the processor into a pouch at her waist very deliberately; this was hers now, and she wasn't about to give it back for anyone.

"I have no mother, she died, so I doubt she would care for any words you had to say."

Loki pulled her shoulder free from Tony's grip and took a step towards the window, clearly ready to make another escape attempt.

"So did mine. Boo boo." He made a single gesture with one hand and his gauntlet flew from it's position on the wall towards him and encapsulated his arm. "If you leave here with my stuff, I'll shoot you. I don't mind New Jail."

He was being serious too. Tony didn't have a aww shucks, kids sort of mentality. If the girl continued to move, he'd send his secondary armor after her to wrap her up nice and tight. It was still a prototype but it would do the job. He would be taking care of this one himself. Everyone else was at the party. Including Banner. Who probably was macking on Suresh now.

Damn. He thought he'd get over that pretty quickly but evidently not.

Loki's eyes lit up with a hungry interest when that gauntlet flew over. Fascinating, it was obviously a weapon, but it was unlike any weapon she had seen before. It would make a fine gift to add to her treasure trove, and so she hesitated where she was perched on the windowsill like a graceful cat.

"I will trade you for the metal arm you have," she said firmly, as if the deal had already been done. "We need not fight, you need not die here today, if you act with wisdom."

She knew that she had the capability to kill one mortal, though it had been a while since she had last even come across one, let alone fought one, but she would rather not. Her people believed in fighting wise battles, not killing for bloodsport and entertainment.

"I am not trading you one of my things for another one of my things. Pass. You're nuts, kid. Okay, round her up." Tony made a swirl in the air with his finger and his prototype armor did what it was supposed to do. It didn't need FRIDAY to direct it, though she would have been useful to get the windows closed.

He was going to have to upgrade his security system but he really didn't think that he would need to. They had enough not to steal from one another. There weren't enough people left to really steal from anyway. Those people they'd left behind after the shoot up in Kansas.

The armor would circle around Loki and lock around her, or that was the idea of course, trapping her in place before he had to call in the Calvary.

The moment that Loki realised the armour intended to trap her, a green light enveloped her and she became a falcon, flying rapidly through the air and taking a perch on top of one of the cabinets where the armour could not easily get her and where she could still watch with curiosity.

So it was not just the arm? The mortal had a whole body made of metal that obeyed his spoken or thought commands, a magic unlike anything she had seen before. Perhaps he could be bargained with for work, for creations such as this would surely be of use to her in her future life.

She opened her beak and let out a shrill and mocking cry.

Technically, he had two complete metal bodies that listened to him, three if you counted what he was still reconstructing under the lab, but that was semantics. Tony opened and shut his mouth and even dropped his weaponized arm to look up at the girl.

"Okay. Okay so. Two super soldiers. A guy that turns into a rage beast. And you. A bird girl." He noted that her shape shifting also seemed to include the piece of FRIDAY's processor shed stolen and that was annoying enough to prompt him to step back and close the window. No little bird was flying off with the only friend who he understood completely.

With the way people were spouting super powers before this whole invasion thing started, maybe it was normal that one or two people here had hidden abilities.

"Think you can be human again? I don't speak squawks."

He was clearly clever, thinking to shut the window so that she couldn't simply fly away, and she found that she was enjoying this encounter. He might be fun to play games of skill with, he thought outside the box, especially now that Helblindi felt himself too old to play with her often any longer. Bylestir was not as quick of mind, though he was affectionate, and so less fun to play with.

Loki swooped down from the cabinet, changed form mid-air in time to land back on the floor in her mortal disguise. She had at least adopted their skin to come here to make it less likely she would be detected, but that hadn't worked out. Still, he had requested her to be human, so that's what she was.

"You have impressive craftsmanship, I would hire you. Whatever you are being paid now, I will double that retainer, you have my word."

Maybe it took Tony longer than he would have liked for it to click that this girl wasn't human, but now that it did, he found himself both more guarded and more curious than before. No one who had lived through the Asgardian Invasion would play these games and make up some storybook scenario where Tony Stark was paid or could be hired for retainer on a planet with a thousand odd people.

"We're refugees. So no one pays me," Tony said, looking this girl over. "But I'm guessing you probably don't know that since you didn't come with us from Earth. We thought this place was uninhabited. Sorry if we're crashing your party." There had been no life signs here. The planet had been culled by Asgard centuries ago and all but wiped from the skiff's databanks. There was very little information about it because it was considered dead.

But that didn't mean it was dead.

Ian Malcolm said it best. Life finds a way.

"I'd be willing to work on something for you, without pay, if you give me back my professor." And don't have your parents blow us out of the water. He did t say that last part out loud.

Refugees from what? She had not heard of war in the area, but that was not surprising as this was not her particular Yggdrasil, there was simply a weakening of the membrane between realms in the bowels of this moon which made it easy for her and other aspiring sorcerers to practise their craft. That it was abandoned by all inhabitants made it safe, and it had become almost a playground for the Jotnar youth these days. Once a year or so, a sorcerer would transport a group of them over to play for a few days and then take them back. Having magic herself, Loki did not need to wait for another to take her here, and she often came to be alone or to visit one of the other nearby planets for treasures. She had only realised there were mortals here after she arrived, and then began to scavenge.

"I am not a beggar, I will pay you for any work done fairly, as a craftsman and customer. Just because you are mortal does not make you less worthy of payment."

Such was the Jotnar belief, that all of Yggdrasil deserved the same respect, for they were all connected by the magic that ran through the world tree's branches.

"I want a metal body that does my bidding as you have got, you may name your price in return."

This could be a boon. This could be a massive help to his people if he got this just right.

Tony was a good negotiator, but he also had a massive ego and while he ought to have disrupted the festivities of the wedding the snag Cap for this, he needed a win of his own tonight. Cap had a whole lot of vkrginity to lose after all, or so he thought.

"Huh. Okay. I can make you power armor. But I want my stuff back. And I want to talk with anyone that has authority to make trade deals on your planet." He didn't know he was speaking to a princess. He didn't know if she was anything but a little twerp of a kid. She did say her mom was dead. "My people were eradicated by the Asgardians. We fled here." Maybe he was saying too much? As far as he knew, Asgardians didn't turn into birds. And this girl wasn't treating him as property. "It would be nice to meet the new neighbors. We could help each other out."

Loki nodded gravely, she had heard that the Aesir in this realm were savages who used others as their playthings, unlike the Aesir who existed in her realm. Of course they were also war-like, it was just their nature, but they were tempered with the wisdom of knowing they should use their strength to protect the weak.

"Asgardians in my realm would not do such a thing, the All-Father stands as a protector to all realms. And should the future All-Father change their ways, I shall stab him until he recants, for he is my betrothed."

Loki had never met Thor, they had simply been engaged since Loki's birth. It was tradition, each All-Father took a consort from one of the vassal realms so that each of those realms had a turn at prominence. The current Queen was of Vanaheim, and the next would be her of Jotunheim.

"And I have authority to make any trade deal you wish, I am daughter to the King."

There was a whole lot to unpack there, but thankfully Tony could fill in the blanks. He confirmed that they were from an alternate plane of reality too, mentioned Midgard because of what he had learned from the otherr Tony, and couldn't help but grin at his good luck of meeting a princess. He could guess that she meant Thor as the prince she was betrothed to and that was good. Tony wasn't sure how he could deal with a teenage version of the guy, but he was doing a lot better dealing with everything.

Thanks to Banner. Who had not been even remotely interested in him at all. AAAAND okay. He needed to get off the thought train before it headed back to the land of Bruce again.

Tony nodded and pulled the gaulnet from his hand to offer it to the girl. Maybe he should bow or kiss her knuckles but she wasn't human, could turn into a bird, and looked a little tomboyish. He didn't want to ruin his chances here. "I'm Tony Stark. Formerly of Earth. Nice to meet you. Sort of. Still noticed you haven't given me back the processor. And I need it if you want armor. It makes my assistant work."

A brokered trade deal with another dimension could be exactly the sort of wedding present Cap deserved!

Loki strode forward to clasp her hand to Tony Stark's arm, for the art of handshaking had not quite made it to the Jotnar. It was considered very rude to make a deal while wearing an illusion, if a sorcerer, but this was no illusion for she was a true shapeshifter and she could not wear her real skin to touch a mortal unless she wished to damage him deeply and probably permanently.

Not a good way to seal a friendly deal.

It took only a moment after that for her to take out the processor and hand it back over, hopping up to sit on one of the desks so that she could watch, as she assumed that he would begin work at once.

"I am Loki, of Jotunheim, and it is nice to meet you also. I would have the armour in red and gold, for those are the colours of Prince Thor, and this will be my engagement gift to him."

Was this any creepier than meeting a forever-young version of himself who was Loki's personal slave?

Tony had stiffened to hear it, already plugging the professor back in, but decided that they'd experienced enough weirdness lately for this to be normal. Loki was a teenager. Engaged to Thor. Who might also be a teenager. His own Thor, before he was killed, once said that his brother had been adopted from Jotunheim too. The similarities were enough to leave his skin prickling but lately, he was more apt to just go with the flow.

This girl was not the asshole he'd met on the training moon. She was inquisitive. And evidently a shapeshifter. Which might be useful to know about her counterpart too.

"I've met two Thors so far. I liked the first one better. Why do you want a flying suit of armor for him? He's almost impossible to hurt and can fly. Hm. We should add something cool to it. Maybe give you a way to talk to him while he wears it. It's own AI." Tony in planning mode was the most pleasant Tony to be around, surely. He finished hooking FRIDAY back up and sat back on his heels. "Done be lazy?"

"Sorry, Boss. Not my fault I was taken offline," she snarked back in her amusing Scottish accent.

"Meet Princess Loki. She's got a gift for a boy she likes in the works. Can you bring up the armor schematics?"

Loki's eyes lit up with interest again, she had truly had a fortuitous meeting with this mortal if he had met versions of her future husband. She had never travelled to Asgard, and she knew that Prince Thor had not travelled far beyond his realms either. She would likely be the first Jotnar that he met, and she had no idea if he even accepted his arranged marriage as a good thing for their realms or if he would be boorish and irritating.

"Truly? I have not met him, nor even seen a likeness, I did not know that he was near indestructible. Tell me, what is his manner like? Does he enjoy books? How does he feel about spells and magic?"

She knew that things would be different between realms, but she was interested all the same.

"I am to meet him in only another year when the marriage takes place."

Both Jotunheim and Asgard had a much lower age of consent than Earth had.

"Boss, I have images of Thor, Prince of Asgard in my memory banks. Would you like them displayed?"

FRIDAY, as always, was on top of everything and Tony didn't hesitate to agree. Many of the images moved, videos caught of Thor flying or fighting. There was nothing of his death in FRIDAY's systems, but a great deal of his valor and his resilience. Tony didn't watch. He was too busy looking over schematics. "He's probably a little older there than the one you're going to marry is," he offered. If their culture was like Europe's from a few hundred years ago, they tried to match young adult men to teenaged girls. He assumed Thor for this Loki would be in his upper teens or young twenties.

At least the Prince of Asgard was radiant. Strong. And perhaps some of the footage of him laughing at a Starbucks with several Midgardians would make him seem affable too.

"We fought together. Books and magic never really came up so your mileage might vary, but from what I knew of him, he was pretty OK." That other Thor, though? That other Thor made him want to vomit. "Loki. Hey. Over here. Stop mooning over your hubby to be and help me design this thing."

He had no idea how long he'd be able to keep this clever girl to himself but right now, he didn't want to share her. She was enthusiastic and arrogant and he liked her.

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