fossilised | I come from a land of ice and snow

Loki was no dwarven smith. She had many skills, some greater than any other she knew, but smithing was not one of them. She was loathe to show herself ignorant to most, but for some reason she did not care so much with Tony. Perhaps because there was so much he was obviously ignorant about as well, and she did not think that he would judge her for the lack of knowledge.

"You will have to show me what to do, I have never held hammer or tongs before."

She slipped off the desk and went to collect the tools requested, though, and stood back a little warily.

"Do not think me a coward, but does your smithing need the use of fire as the dwarves use to smelt their metal? There is a reason the Jotnar do not often work with metal, for we cannot stand the heat well."

Even shapeshifting into something else, the core of her would always remain Jotnar and heat would be the best way to hurt her.

"Sometimes. But not with this. It's all about cold tempering when it comes down to armor construction. I'm using materials that have been strengthened at their molecular level already so we don't have to heat and beat to rearrange the molecules to make them stronger. They'll get spray applied after we have our skeleton. Tin is pretty easy to work by hand."

Tony was a fantastic teacher when he wanted to be and when his pupil wasn't clueless. He and Loki worked on the chest plate together, first molding the shell and then sending it odd to FRIDAY to coat it in titanium gold alloy. After, he showed her how to hook up the hardware and wiring.

At least if Banner came by this time, they would be innocently enjoying themselves.

It would not be Banner that came and disturbed them, but Helblindi. He had found his heart especially troubled by a possible rift between his sister and Stark, this was the first diplomatic mission of true import that his father had entrusted to him and he was loathe to see it go wrong. Aside from that, he also did not wish to see his sister's heart bruised.

He could scarcely fit through the doorway, having to almost crawl and even then the bulk of him made the jamb warp a little. He smiled, though, to see them working so well together.

"A sight I had hoped to see, and one I hope we may yet see for many lifetimes, mortal and Jotnar working side by side. Well met, Tony Stark, I see that your smithing prowess has not been exaggerated."

"Holy shit!" Whoops. He was speaking to Prince and the savior of his race. He shouldn't curse. But seeing a Jotun on his knees in the doorway, half through, was enough to make him drop his hammer. Smirking at how easily he had startled, Tony bent to pick his tool up. "Are you going to be able to get out or will my smithing skills be put to another test, Andre?"

Evidently, now that things had been smoothed over with Loki, he felt more like himself again. Sex had been healing but her friendship was better still. Tony set the hammer aside and pulled the pliers from his belt to put them down too. He knew better than to touch Helblindi, though, and he kept his distance.

"But yeah. Hey. Nice to see you too in person." The Iron Man armor still in the corner, powered down and waiting. "Does Loki have to go home now? Getting late?"

"I would not be so foolish as to presume to order my sister in aught, such would be the path to suffering," Helblindi replied with a slow smile. It was a laid-back kind of humour, but it was actually swift wit for something as slow as a Jotnar, who took all of life with the ponderous inescapable speed of snow falling.

"Yet perhaps she would see kind enough to bring some refreshments for us, for it would gladden my heart to know you better. With all the others of your council I have broken bread, you alone sit unknown."

Loki, though she had been enjoying her evening with Tony, did immediately set down her hammer to set off and do as Helblindi asked, for she knew how important this whole mission was to him and fetching some food was no harsh task. When she had gone, Helblindi awkwardly managed to manoeuvre himself properly into the room, sitting so that his head grazed the ceiling above.

"I did not speak false and do wish to know you well, but I must speak before Loki returns and thank you for your friendship. I think she will sorely need it in the days to come, word from Asgard is troubling to the heart."

Word from Asgard...?

"Which? Yours or the one here? I guess the one where I came from doesn't exist anymore." Tony looked apprehensive, which was a look he'd never worn before the invasion. He'd been sure many times that he would die but he'd never been so unsure of the next breaths he'd take. He didn't like the unknown. He was too used to crafting the future for himself and living in perfection.

Which was why this worried him. He was not in control of anything. Not even himself.

Asgard from Loki's world couldn't have heard about this yet. And Helblindi had been here the whole time so he couldn't have gotten news... Right? Tony had no idea that Loki had set up a system of communication through magic between Laufey and the delegation here.

"I've had a lot of bad news lately. I don't want more."

"Let your heart find calm, I mean not harm for you or yours, though this could bring turmoil to the doors of all if Asgard does not find itself with wisdom. I have heard whispers on the wind that the prince already receives much mockery for the bride they have not met. They mock him for having a wife he will not be able to hold, and I fear all I have heard of the prince speaks of the folly of youth that is easily swayed by a wish to seem great in the eyes of his peers."

Helblindi perhaps worried over this too much but he knew what could happen. Loki had a quicksilver temper and might make many enemies who saw her only as different in a way Queen Frigga had never been, for those of Vanaheim were close cousins of Asgard and near identical in genetics.

"If Asgard sees insult in a deformed princess, or the prince does not find worth in a Jotnar bride then there could be war if the insults are perceived too great. A situation which would not benefit you as much as I. I hope your friendship may have a balance on her and him that may avert this course. And from a selfish view, I must admit not wishing to see my sister's heart wounded."

"They need to meet sooner rather than later," Tony said, knowing full well that it meant the loss of someone he'd hoped to have around for awhile. "The Thor I knew was... I don't know. I didn't really get a chance to know him before he was killed." He couldn't offer a whole lot of solace there but he could finally come to understand what Steve said about laying down on the line. He had to think of humanity first. His own shit came second. "So how do you talk your sister into going to Asgard just to go without telling her that people are afraid of her?"

Because that was what it happened to be. People only mocked what they didn't understand and were scared of.

None of this was an ideal situation.

"Actually. I have an idea. You worry about getting us somewhere safe and I'll make sure your little sis doesn't cause a war. Cool?"

Helblindi had been trying to consider that question for many a long month and come up with nothing, he wished happiness and prosperity to both kingdoms but he feared being too close to the situation as Loki's brother. To hear he now had another mind tackling the project, and one apparently quick and clever if Loki's assessment was anything to go by was a relief. He nodded and gave a ponderous how, somewhat spoiled by his needing to be hunched and sat to fit inside the room.

"Should you smooth this path, I will owe you a personal debt of gratitude."

He did not have time to say more for Loki reappeared with a tray containing fresh cooked fish and bread in Jotnar style. Tony would find the flavourings of delicate spice and hearty freshness should he taste it too.

"Do not think I will serve you often, my brother, the heat of this world must have made me ill for a moment and feel overly generous."

Considering the lack of fish in his diet lately, Tony was more than pleased with the offerings. He snacked as he sat cross-legged with Helblindi and Loki, letting the siblings do most of the talking so he could get a better read on the older Jotun. It came him to fairly quickly who he reminded him of and it made him roll his eyes. “You’re just like Cap,” he said, getting up to refill the ice water. The workshop was cooler, noticeably, with the both of them there, but Tony found it all very strange just the same.

When Helblindi left, Tony assessed the damage to his staircase leading back down and then turned towards Loki with mischief in his eyes.

“Okay. So. This probably isn’t a smart idea. Or maybe it’s a genius idea. It’s me, so leaning towards genius. Want to get out of here? Just for tonight. Maybe scope out your Asgard? I really need to get Thor’s body scanned for this armor to fit right and…don’t you want to see what he’s like? I do.”

Loki looked every bit the alien princess as she sat cross legged, blue skinned and eating fish from an earthenware pot that she had managed to find somewhere. She enjoyed the company of both her brother and her friend, and so this proved to be a pleasant evening which she was considering wrapping up with some more bed sport.

But then the suggestion came.

Because it was supposedly for the armour, a ruse that she did not see through, she was not at all suspicious of his wish. She had longed to see her future husband and home, of course, not through romantic notions but so that she knew what she would be facing. Yet it seemed very risky to do so.

"I did not think you would wish to be surrounded by Aesir again, my friend."

"Yeah. I don't. I really don't. But one Aesir should be okay. You're the magic gal. I'll leave the hows up to you. Maybe we can just have him meet us alone?" Tony was a good liar. He said it often enough because it was more true than not true.

He didn't say anything else to Loki, didn't make a stink about it or seem too interested in it, like it was all just an idea that floated into his head and could float out again.

He decided to rave about the fish instead. And admire long, blue limbs. He was a dirty old man. Might as well embrace it.

It was incredibly tempting, but she did not know how well the Aesir might welcome them, or even if they would think it a terrible breach of etiquette that she was coming at all. She did not bring it up for another hour, allowing the conversation to move to other areas, before she eventually cracked.

"Perhaps it is for the best that we find Thor and take his measure."

Not just for the suit, but to take the measure of him as a person as well.

"I can easily take us there through the branches of Yggdrasil via Jotunheim, and I am certain if it is known that we are there to gather information for a gift then we will not be poorly received."

Back in his own armor, Tony made a brief journey back to Jotunheim just as the sky was turning black. Loki would be able to open up the Void between the branches and though he’d initially put on the armor to combat the cold of the Realm, he was glad to have it when they zipped into nothingness and still managed to come out the other side.

It was pretty remarkable, really.

Tony breathed in warm Asgardian air for the first time in his life as his armor locked his legs in place so he didn’t crumple over. He swallowed down some bile as the faceplate and then the helmet fell away and glanced around at the palace walls that surrounded them.

Prince Thor was close by, Tony could spot him in the distance, younger than the man he’d known, slightly smaller, laying in the grass under a tree filled with golden apples. He was eating one, legs crossed at the ankles, the hammer left to his side. He wore a simple blue tunic, sleeveless, a wide belt and tall knee boots. Evidently this was just how young rulers hung around on Asgard.

Loki would not show it for all nine realms, for she was of Jotunheim and should be strong, but she was afraid. She did not know how the future ruler of Asgard might feel about her and, while she could deal without love, she hoped for at least an acceptance and mutual respect that could lead to friendship.

She appeared in her mortal seeming form, all pale flesh and green eyes, though she did not change anything else and her gaze dared Tony to mention it. Back straight and eyes fixed ahead, she led the charge towards him, walking with purpose and without care for this being a prince they were approaching.

"Prince Thor? We are delegates come from Jotunheim."

That was all she said at first, just to gauge his reaction.

A shift of sky blue eyes set within a tanned face shifted from the apples above his head to the two figures stood over him. One was just a girl with black hair and the greenest eyes he had ever seen. The other seemed to be her older guard, for he wore armour, but was much too short to be of any use. A little lift of his lips accompanied a short laugh. “Delegates from Jotunheim would not wander out into our orchards,” Thor pointed out. “They would be announced and received in the throne room. They would also be decidedly larger than the two of you together and, if I’m told correctly, have skin as blue as the sea and eyes as red as a forge fire. I see no Jotnar here.”

He sat up then, but did not stand. If Tony had to guess, and he was terrible at guessing, Thor was about nineteen, maybe twenty. His hair was fine and left free and he sported a close cropped beard that made him look older than he was. He kept behind Loki, silently comparing them both.

“Who are you really?” His smile grew larger. “Did Sif send you to see if I was paying attention to lessons again? Or have you climbed the walls and tried to have sport with me?” Now he stood. He towered over Tony. The human didn’t find that fair.

So... her first look at the man who was to be her husband. He had a pleasant face with a kindness to it, but also an arrogance that said he could be cruel and angry without realising he was being either. It did not tell her how he felt about Jotunheim exactly, for he spouted only facts, but his nose did not wrinkle when he spoke of the realm and so perhaps he did not think of them with disgust.

"Then perhaps you have not learned your lessons sufficiently, we have come not as official delegates to Asgard, but as delegates from Princess Loki to you. She is having a smith craft you armour as a gift, but has not your measurements."

None of this was technically a lie, she could be a delegate for herself. She was also not impressed by how he dwarfed them both, he was small compared to what she was used to surrounding herself with. She would never find his height or bulk intimidating.

Now that had Thor’s attention. He had little need of armour, his own was crafted by dwarves and no finer existed in the Realms aside from his father’s. He placed his hands on his hips, feet casually apart, and scrutinized the speaker. “Have you met my princess then, girl?” It made sense to him that Frigga may well had sent a handmaid to Jotunheim to begin to serve his future consort before she was to come to Asgard. Perhaps she was enchanted to endure the ice and snow. And perhaps more importantly, she was enchanted to withstand the deadly touch of his soon to be future-queen. “Come. Sit. Have your guard send for a meal. I wish to know all there is to know of Loki of Jotunheim.”

Thor, much like Loki herself, had been brought up knowing he would marry not for love but for alliance. His grandfather, Bor, had not loved his queen, but respected her. His father’s consort, mother to him through her adoption if not by blood, was loved above all others however, and Thor had grown up seeing that love as he played in Frigga’s skirts with her natural sons and his half brothers.

He wanted, therefore, the love of his wife. He wanted to slay monsters for her and drop them to her feet. He wanted her to give him her favours and for their chambers to be kept together rather than apart. He was young still and glory was still clouding his eyes, a world that did not exist outside of the palace was still a foreign concept.

“I have heard she is more beautiful than her mother was. The Queen tells me that Laufey’s consort was amongst the most beautiful of all the queen-consorts of her time. And the All-Mother is beautiful herself, so for her to say so, Princess Loki must be devastating to look upon and not instantly love.” Of course, those were the words of a mother to her son, nervous to meet his betrothed. Thor, however, did not see it as anything but truth. "I am told too of her skill in sorcery. My mother is excited to make her acquaintance as much as I."

Arrogance oozed out of every pore of him, every inch the soon to be ruler who knew he stood above most everyone else. It was not a stance she was used to seeing, Laufey had raised his children to understand that the ruler of the people was nothing more than a servant to their needs and wishes. That they were paid in service and loyalty was no more than a craftsman being paid in coin for his work. Perhaps that humble duty was what had led to her brothers growing up so wise.

Not so Loki, she had that streak of arrogance, though it manifested differently to Thor's own. She frowned, though more in confusion than anger, when he said that she was rumoured to be devastatingly beautiful. None had ever called her as such, though Tony had praised her skin and the delicate markings on them.

"I fear the Queen may have been trying to spare your feelings, the princess is nothing special to look upon and many do not even consider her appeal due to her-- difference in stature."

She wondered if he had already been told that his future Queen was a runt.

"But you speak truly when you mention her sorcery. 'Tis not just tricks of seidr, she is a shapeshifter in truth and can change her form to become anything that her heart desires."

Thor looked confused. He and Loki were seated in the grass, but since Loki had not pretended that Tony was there as guardian and sent him away, the older (younger?) man stood to the side and just watched. Thor was an idiot. He had deemed him that very early on. Loki deserved better. Maybe that was just his natural jealousy speaking, though, but he decided that she could do better. Better than the prince of Asgard…? Well, he wasn’t going to take status into consideration. Tony thought everyone was beneath him. Genius ruled all. Rule by birthright was a pale second class citizen.

“Do you mean to tell me then that she is only beautiful through illusion?” He seemed to ponder that. He’d started to hear talk that the princess and he would be an impossible pair, that she was many times his size and could potentially beat him in battle (ha!) and that he would never survive his wedding night. But obviously that fear was already dislodged. This perfectly normal girl had served his princess and she was here, waiflike and alive. Rumours of the dangers of the Jotnar were either exaggerated or they were false.

He didn’t bother to dwell on it.

“I suppose that might make sense. I have yet to meet a Jotun but I have seen their likenesses before in books and scrolls. I looked forward to tossleling with her and proving my metal. We would have a fantastic marriage combat. I was hoping she would fight me herself instead of having her kin join in battle. Do you know of her prowess on the field of combat, girl? Has any trained her to be a shield maiden or would she rather sit at home in the furs and care for our children?”

Loki similarly did not think too highly of Thor's mental capabilities so far, but he seemed to have a childish happiness that might be easily moulded and perhaps he would not be too irksome to have to spend time with. Such would only be revealed with time, and the marriage would happen whether or not it turned out that she liked him or not. Such was the way of things in their realms.

"Do not be a fool, no Jotnar sits on their furs and does nothing. If a Jotnar cannot fight, hunt, and eat; then they do not do any of those things, unless they are somehow infirm and must be cared for. Her deformity is of size, not of capability."

Loki's eyes flashed as if personally offended, mostly because she was, and she folded her arms imperiously as if she were not talking to a prince.

"I could allow you to meet her, but perhaps you are not worthy of it if you speak with such ignorance, when I know she has researched Asgard for years."

Who was this demon of a girl to speak to him this way? Had she grown up completely on another Realm? Thor’s face, and the way he was taken aback, were almost comical. Almost. He looked at Loki as if he had never been spoken to that way before and, honestly, he hadn’t. “Do you know not who I am?”

Of course she did. She called him by name to get his attention.

“I have many Realms to know and understand, Jotunheim is but one.” Oh, his royal dander was up. Tony almost wished he had popcorn. “If tales of her beauty have been misconstrued and her size that greater than any frost giantess alive to be considered a deformity, regardless of her magical abilities, what will research into her Realm do? I must instead focus all of my attention into research how to reconstruct the palace to fit her deformity!” He was on his feet in a moment, angered and now embarrassed.

It was not a wise thing to do to him. He was young and rash and he lashed out too quickly. He would send for Baldur again, perhaps, from Vanaheim, so that he could have counsel. He could not tell his Warriors Three. Sif never seemed to understand.

His face was red from dismay. How could he love someone who towered so hugely over him? He’d be a toy to her. A child. And how could she have children by him? He needed to see her.

“You will have her come to me or if that is not possible, you will bring me to her. Immediately. I must see what the Fates have already forced upon us and pray that we may at least complement each other in battle if in no other way.” Actually, Thor looked about ready to melt from disappointment. At least he did not mention breaking off the engagement. That was beyond even him. “And I must know if I need to have your tongue removed for tricking me in anything you have said.”

The first thing that struck Loki was how much of a child Thor seemed, even more so than her though he boasted several centuries more age than her. It seemed as if he had been truly coddled in a way that the harsh environment of Jotunheim did not allow. He had never had to do things he had not wanted, beyond perhaps attend a boring state dinner or attend lessons when he wished to hunt. His friends all likely followed in his wake and none dared oppose him.

Such would definitely change when Loki took her place by his side. If nothing else, she understood the benefit of challenge. She loved her brothers dearly, but they argued and fought sometimes, and pushed one another, and she would do the same for Thor. No man could grow to wisdom if all those around him only ever said 'yes'.

"You have a rash tongue, Prince Thor," she chastised him, arms folded and not at all intimidated by his size or manner. "And you are already face to face with her, with me. As you can see, no changes to your palace to accommodate my size will be necessary, my deformity makes me a runt and not even more giant than my brethren."

Her tone was cool and her expression schooled, but Tony could probably tell that she was bracing herself for rejection.

"My friend, who also happens to be a smith of great capability, came to take the measure of you in more ways than just your height."

Tony had to laugh at the face Thor made. It was astonishingly funny, how it fell and then brightened and then fell again. He looked like he had been socked in the gut for a few moments before the corners of his lips darted up again. The blue of his eyes evening out and he squared his shoulders before offering his much larger hand to her. Palm up.

He had every intention of lightly kissing her knuckles if she took him up on the touch because while he would not say that she was beautiful, the way she talked him was charming in ways he hadn't expected to suddenly adore.

And her eyes...

"I can not say I mind your stature. Our bed will not need to be so large as I had imagined, Princess. You're paler than I was told you'd be."

That went better than to be expected. She watched the play of emotions on his face, oddly charmed by how open he was. This was a man who had never learned how to lie, and his innocence was quite endearing in its own way. That he did not reject her, but instead complimented her, was definitely a point in his favour.

"You do not listen, I see," she said, though she did allow him to kiss her hand as she said it. "Did I not just tell you that I am a shapeshifter in truth? This is not my natural skin, merely my form when I wish to appear as a race that bears this skin."

She took her hand back from him before she changed, though Aesir skin was hardier than mortal skin and he might be able to hold on for a second or two before damage occurred, to let him see the truth of who he would have to take as a bride.

"You, however, look exactly as I have been led to believe."

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