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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Steve really didn't like this. This is why he never wanted to be the one in charge, he was made for action and not sitting about sending other people off into potentially dangerous situations. Nevertheless, he nodded, he knew when a decision was the right one even if he hated it. More than that, he knew the right three people to send. Tony did have to be one of them, he had brokered this deal and it was only fair, but the other two needed to offset him.

"Tony, Bruce, Bucky."

Tony was smart, Bruce was well liked by Reagan and Nayota and nobody could question his scientific credentials, and Bucky was the best they had at tactics. He'd be the one who could get the others out of there if things turned south. He swallowed hard and ran his thumb over the ring on his wedding finger, stomach in knots, but just turned and walked out after giving the order.

Princes Loki looked to the three named and smiled, hands spreading.

"Then shall we go?"

With Bucky staring after Steve, and everyone, even Tony felt for him because the man was entitled to his honeymoon with his brand new husband, and a lot of murmuring going on, Tony felt his stomach sink. He did not want to go anywhere with Bruce. And that was not a fair feeling, he knew, since Bruce had done nothing but be so very kind to him. It didn’t stop him from the irrational feeling, however.

“We’ll go in the armor. Barnes will be insulated from the cold, more or less, from the serum. Banner, I think you run naturally not too. But I don’t have anything in me but regular blood. The second armor will be used as a backup in case one of you ends up needing it.” Tony was already messing with his wrist watch, how he communicated with the second armor at the moment since he had yet to fully inject the sensors into his skin.

He’d finish that when he came back.

“It’s a good thing that we’re all about the same size,” he smirked, his back mostly kept towards Bruce. He’d spent every other thought the last two days thinking about the man but now that he was here, Tony was being regretful. And that was his own issue, no one else’s. The armor would be flying through the window any moment and Tony let it surround him, giving Loki a wink before his face disappeared behind the metal.

Bruce felt for Steve as well. The two men had suffered a lot and they deserved a few days of peace together, but apparently that wasn't meant to be. He went over and said a couple of quiet words to Bucky before he approached Tony in the armour, eyebrow raised to see him in it already.

"Good to see you still have it working, but we need to talk when this is done and I can see your face again," he said, just putting it out there because he was tired of Tony avoiding him since that ill-advised kiss.

Loki, intrigued by both the words and the armour, watched intently until they were all ready and she could gesture them to follow. She led them out into the surrounding jungle for about two miles and then suddenly stepped through an archway into nothingness. Should they follow her, they'd find themselves on Jotunheim, a cold of which even Tony's suit would have trouble with, and Bucky almost immediately began shivering violently. Bruce didn't, the Other Guy made him resistant to just about everything.

Cold, yes, but also beautiful. Pristine white snow, majestic peaks, ice of a bluish tinge, it was like something out of a fantasy illustration. Loki was now in her natural skin, and she definitely looked at home here in the snow.

Hey now! Tony had been where he always was…working. Just because he hadn’t spent his afternoons with Bruce whining like he usually did for a day or two didn’t mean he was avoiding him. Bruce could have come over at any time! Of course, the correct answer was that yes, Tony was avoiding him. But he’d never own up to it. He might even use Loki as an excuse if he was ever cornered for this talk that he Did Not Want.

He made some sort of ‘sure’ acknowledgement sound, but his body ran hot and cold at once. Luckily, there was no flush to his face. There was nothing but stillness from the suit. Thank you, suit.

After stepping through the archway, Tony directed the prototype to encase Bucky. That armor didn’t fly yet and wasn’t fully powered, so FRIDAY would have to do much of the work, but Bucky could still make the movements he needed and the AI would compensate with the various applied pressures and allow the joints to move. It was all very elegant for a clunky piece of unfinished work….but all of Tony’s work was. Someone once said that he could create a spaceship out of sand and cactus needles if he needed to, and have it look good to boot.

Though it was more natural to fly, Tony kept up a pace with the princess, a little snarky in his questions for her to point out landscape features, but the girl was proud of her home and Tony wanted to share in that enthusiasm with her.

Something Loki had neglected to mention during her talks about her nation, mostly because it was a sore spot for her, was that she was not exactly an accurate representation of her people. They would find that out when they rounded the next corner and a giant behemoth of a creature, at least twenty feet high and built to match, with the same blue skin as Loki emerged from seemingly nowhere.

This incoming giant rushed towards the newcomers and lifted Loki high in the air, speaking to her in a language that sounded like the dust of powdered snow falling from a roof. Loki smacked him ineffectually on the head and twisted in his grip, her words remaining English.

"Put me down, little brother, you are embarrassing us both in front of our guests. These are a delegation from a Midgard from another realm."

Bylestir, ashamed, put Loki down at once and bowed to the three, of which only Bruce's astonished face could be seen.

"I am sorry for my rudeness, guests. I am Bylsetir, second son of Laufey-King."

Tony wasn’t surprised by the gender dimorphism, and Loki had explained previously that given her ability as a shapeshifter, she was comfortable in any form she wished, any gender she wished. He’d not thought to ask then if sorcerers tended to just prefer to be considered female or if that was just a preference for the girl. He probably should have spent less time explaining how a circuit worked and how to brew coffee-- But maybe they could speak again later.

He did still have her commission to finish, and while she said she’d pay him, Tony wanted the company more. He took the opportunity, however, to engage repulsors to hover properly at this genuine Frost Giant’s eyeline and gave a little half bow so he wasn’t thrown too drastically off course and crash into the snow and ice.

“Your sister has been nice enough to invite us over. We haven’t meant too many friendly people in the last six months. Our leader’s sent us to say hello to your father and King and we want to pay our respects.”

They didn’t have gifts exactly, which again, Tony was a little annoyed with himself not to think of. But what did one get a king of an alien race of giants?

He certainly didn’t know.

With a sigh, which should have translated more to bow too in the Jotun’s language, Byleister led the way to the massive, jutting, almost impossibly huge mountain palace in the distance. “Love what you did with the place,” Tony said, once more walking beside Loki. “No really…do the flowers grow like that or are they sculpted?” He gestured to what looked like massive snow roses and crystalline orchids that glowed with soft blue light.

"They grow that way naturally, Jotunheim is a place of magic and it sculpts itself to our needs as its primary inhabitants."

As they came closer to the palace, it would become obvious that the size was not simply to do with gender. All of the other Jotnar seemed to be around Bylestir's height, and Loki stood out as a slender and small figure among towering giants. She did not seem to notice the disparity, for she had grown up with it all of her life, but it did prompt Bucky to ask. He didn't have the social tact that he needed for moments like this, so he just came out with it bluntly.

"Why are you so much shorter? Are all the others men?"

Loki's expression went blank for a moment before she smiled at him sweetly, and replied in honeyed tones. "Why are you so much uglier than the others?"

Bylestir snorted. He thought the question an odd one. Did the mortals not know anything about the people they had come to visit. "Be careful, mortal, my sister does not take kindly to her deformity being pointed out so nakedly."

Laughing at Loki’s snap back to Barnes, Tony placed a metal covered hand to Bucky’s shoulder. “You’ve seen her abilities to shapeshift. Imagine if she had to do it with as much mass as her brother? Plus, the smaller package is cute.” They were shown through the main thoroughfare, guards and vassals and servants standing aside to allow the two royals and their diminutive guests to pass. Tony made good use of FRIDAY to record everything going on so that the Council would be able to watch the video when they returned.

Despite all Loki did to prepare them to meet her father, the frost giant sat on a massive throne, overlooking them as if they could be ants scurrying across a kitchen floor. He was, however, kind voices as he rumbled at Loki to join him after he greeted the newcomers announced at the door to the grand chambers.

“You are forever bringing home strays, my precious girl,” Laufey said as he lowered himself to speak alone to Loki. “Midgardians do not fare well in our Realm so why have you brought three here? I am impressed by the naked one, unencased in armour. Is he a sorcerer? We have not known of any mortal to fully embrace the seidr.”

Loki touched her father on the cheek in a tender gesture, she was truly fond of all her family and she believed that he would do his utmost to care for the Midgardian strays, as he had so aptly named them. She murmured their tale to him in a few words, but it was enough for him to rise again with a stern expression to his face. Not for them, but for these Asgardians in the neighbouring realm.

"Your loss is beyond comprehension. But I cannot send you to the Midgard of our realm, there would be others that match your face and form there, the confusion and disruption would be too great. I do not want to insult you by offering you vassalage and place here, on Vanaheim, or Asgard, you need a place of your own to flourish and grow once more."

That would mean looking for an available place outside Yggdrasil, but hopefully not too far away so that they could maybe be allies one day.

"We will not abandon you to such a hostile realm, we will seek out a new planet for you to call home. There are many abandoned or uninhabited ones in the universe."

In a way, Tony and Bucky both were pleased to hear that they would not just be ferried to this version of Earth. Refugees, no matter the cause, tended not to go over well with native populations. Even if they had only a thousand people, that could be too much. They would need too many things to survive and no one country would be willing to admit them. A new, safe, uninhabited home, therefore, would be exactly what they should be looking for.

No one deemed Tony the mouth piece for their group, but he couldn’t help himself. “Your offer is incredibly generous,” he said immediately. “But I can’t speak for my people. We’ve moved around whole hell of a lot lately, trying to resettle planets that the Asgardians have already farmed to extinction. And we think there are at least fifteen or maybe twenty thousand people on their training moon. Our intelligence says that they will be left there once the Asgardians return home with the slaves they want to keep. We need to work on a way to get them to the planet your princess found us on before we can agree to your generous offer. And I think our leader will want to meet you personally.”

Bucky just made a sort of grunting sound, but Tony hadn’t quite learned on how to translate that.

“We would invite you back to our camp if that pleases you. Or we can make arrangements to confer here. You’re our host and we will leave it to you to decide on our next step.” Wow. That was almost a full speech without any sarcasm! Tony was beside himself.

Laufey, however, found the tiny mortals to be quite amusing. It was good that they did not simply agree off the bat. They were obviously desperate but still had pride and their wherewithal. They would become great vassals to Jotunheim and make them even more attractive to Asgard. Plus, it was simply the right thing to do to help them. “I believe it would be easier on your kind if a delegate from Jotunheim were to return with you. Our realm is difficult for mortals to endure. And my daughter finds your company agreeable. I will name my eldest son and my beloved daughter all powers to speak in my stead. Loki, come. We must discuss a way to breach the Void so we may communicate across Yggdrasil’s branches.”

Loki, proud and happy with how her father had dealt with the mortals, gave them (though mostly Tony) a nod before she followed on behind Laufey to talk with him about breaching the Void. He was not a sorcerer himself, though he was attuned to seidr as all Jotnar were, so she would be instrumental in this.

The little delegation of mortals were left behind in the great hall with Helblindi. The young frost giant was obviously not quite to his full height, though he still towered above all of them. His skin was a deeper blue than any of the rest of his family, though he bore the same markings all across his face and arms. He smiled at them, revealing sharp teeth, and gestured.

"I am Helblindi, the ambassador my father has appointed. I will accompany you now back to your temporary home and my sister will follow soon after. Tell me, do you have any questions for me while we walk?"

It probably was a sore topic to ask about Loki, so Tony didn’t. Instead, he recorded as much as he could about Helblindi’s role in the government and how they got along with their Asgard. It certainly made him feel better that Asgard was even more virtuous than the one he remembered and nothing at all like the one the last Loki he’d met was from. He assumed that Steve and the rest would be happy to hear it too.

“Biggest question… It’s pretty warm where we are. Are you going to be all right? The princess can change her shape but if you want a frozen room, I can prepare that for you.”

He didn’t want the frost giant to melt. That would be utterly terrible for relations with this Jotunheim and he really didn’t want to be responsible for getting them marooned on a dead world with crazy Vikings hunting for their blood.

Helblindi laughed good naturedly and assured Tony that they could endure warm climates, though they did not feel comfortable in them. A frozen room was not a necessity, but they would surely be thought of as very generous hosts if they provided such a thing out of kindness. Helblindi was obviously clever, but in the same way that Steve was clever. He was good, and thought of duty, he did not have the wildfire spark that his sister possessed.

Bruce was pretty quiet throughout the remainder of the trip, though secretly he envied the Jotnar the more he learned about them. It truly did seem as though they had a society where they cared about one another as a species, and none of the people they passed had the look of anyone who might resent the monarchy. On the contrary, Helblindi received more than one cheer, and a few vendors rushing out of their shops to present him and his guests with presents of candied rock, or salted fish.

Eventually they reached the rip again and stepped back through into the more habitable climate of the little moon; though Helblindi looked even larger here, away from the vast crags of the mountains of his home.

The Council and Steve were there to greet the people that returned since FRIDAY had alerted the blond as requested. They were right at the edge of their new city, the sun just about to set, when Helblindi became visible from over the street. Clint had requested to fetch his bow but Steve told him to stand down. They had to trust this time. He didn't like it but there was little choice.

Thankfully, Tony was seen flying beside the giant as they came closer and Bucky and Bruce were no worse for wear, though Bucky was being followed by the armor, walking directly behind him. Tony really had to fix that. He'd just add it to the growing list.

Doing anything he could to avoid Banner, Tony made a dramatic landing and flipped up his visor to grin at Steve. He made a grand announcement of Helblindi's arrival and introduced their leader as well before filling Steve in on the details.

"I hate to leave you all here but I need to get one of the outlier buildings refrigerated for our Frost Giant friends and their comfort," he announced, bowing to Helblindi before flying off.

He wanted to be back by the time Loki returned.

Unfortunately for Tony, Bruce was not an idiot and he knew an avoidance technique when he saw one. He stayed long enough to be sure that Bucky was assuring the other council members that Helblindi was not, at least immediately, dangerous. He then slipped off and followed on to the outlier building that Tony had decided to convert into a giant refrigeration unit.

He slipped inside and picked up a screwdriver to begin working before he could be told to go, leaving it a few seconds of silence before he actually began to speak.

"I'm fed up of you avoiding me, Tony. I thought you would have kissed enough people by now to not be awkward about it the next day, I know that I'm not. You're still my friend, nothing has changed, so stop this nonsense now."

Or he might have to get a bit annoyed, and nobody wanted that.

"You knew where I was," Tony pointed out, glancing over at the other man. He shouldn't find him so attractive. He was short and mousy, nerdy and literally impossible to be with. The trouble was that Bruce put up with him. Even cared for him. That was always a danger, even before their intimate moments of friendship.

Making a grand gesture with a handheld welder he'd made for himself, Tony rolled his eyes.

"I was hosting a teenage alien princess. That's not avoidance. She was in my lab as soon as I got back from the reception, rifling through all my stuff. You'll have to forgive me for not hanging out with you while babysitting."

Bruce would like to believe that Tony was telling the truth, but his bullshit meter was going off so hard that he was surprised it wasn't making an audible noise. He folded his arms and fixed Tony with soft brown eyes that held a lot of affection in them, as well as some wry amusement.

"Okay. So look me right in the eyes and tell me that was the truth and I'll believe you, tell me you weren't avoiding me."

Because he knew that if Loki hadn't come along, Tony would have found himself another perfectly plausible excuse for why he needed to sequester himself away and keep Bruce at arm's length.

"I want you to know that I am a very good liar," Tony said, turning so that his shoulder leaned against the refrigeration device he was hooking into the whole ductwork of the building. He looked Bruce right in the eye to say that, and since by now Bruce knew him and was likely knowing what to watch for, seeing Tony's obvious affection for him would be hard to avoid. "I'm not avoiding you," he partially lied because he really was busy with Loki. If that night hadn't happened, though, it was likely that Tony would have parades Loki over to Bruce or called Banner over. "Your turn. Why didn't you come over to make sure I ate? Usually when you don't see me for a full day, you come to check on me."

Especially after that Asgardian touchstone plague. Bruce had been over quite a lot to do nothing more than look in on him and remind him to eat.

"Maybe you were the one avoiding me." It was just an alternate theory. Maybe Bruce had gotten busy himself. That happened.

He did not mention rejection. He did not mention the kiss. The ship has sailed and he'd fallen off the boat in the harbor. He could deal with wanting someone and never being able to have them just fine.

Bruce still didn't believe him, but he had said that he would believe him if he looked in his eyes, so he couldn't pursue it any longer. It was a shame, he had been hoping that they could work past this, but maybe Tony was no longer able to be around him. If that was the case then Bruce would be oddly distressed; he hadn't got many friends, not real ones, and it had been nice to have one who even knew about the Other Guy and didn't treat him with kid gloves because of it.

"I was waiting." He said honestly, shrugging. "Perhaps it was stupid, but I thought that since the kiss had been initiated by you, then I should let you be the one to come back to me when you were comfortable with it."

He had been trying to be sensitive and not be a jackass. Apparently that hadn't worked out too well.

"It seems I got it wrong, sorry."

"Just because I have money and fame doesn't mean every single person I've been interested in has wanted to drop their panties, Banner." Was he insinuating that Banner wore panties? Maybe. "I told you that I was just in a mood for... Romance, I guess. People always get that way at weddings. But we're friends. You're my soul mate. It was a one off. I wanted a kiss and you were there. Don't make it more than it was meant."

That was a little harsh, even for Tony, so he tried his best to smooth it over with a half smile and a tap of a very dangerous tool against Bruce's chest.

"But apology accepted. So stop avoiding me. I need you to stick around. You keep me sane in a world of frost giants and blue space princesses." And honestly, he couldn't lose Bruce.

It was harsh, but Bruce wasn't offended, he knew that underneath the bravado and the bluster that Tony was a pretty insecure man with low self esteem. He probably needed to be harsh in order to make himself feel as though he might be in control of this situation, and so Bruce nodded affably and came over to clap a hand on Tony's shoulder gently.

"Don't try and lie about that, we both know that a blue space princess is a dream come true for us both. No scientist who ever lived hasn't dreamed of meeting a blue-skinned woman at least once, why do you think there were so many movies about it?"

He smiled, allowing Tony to pretend that this was all normal again. No problems, no issues.

"She really is small compared to them though, isn't she?"

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I come from a land of ice and snow

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