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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"I need to do something! I can't just follow you around like a puppy. I know what I'm doing!" He hadn't meant to about, but he felt a lot better now that he was. She'd called him a coward. Him. A guy that had survived far more than she herself simply by thinking his way out of situations. "I want to do this. And I want you to be safe! The moment you use magic, he's going to know where you are!"

Tony slammed his fist down on the hard crystal table as he stood and marched himself over to take that wire. Foolish, really. One touch from her like this could seriously injure him.

He knew that, but passion overtook reason. And logic evidently.

"Let me do this!"

Perhaps this was one of the reasons that they were too much like each other, when their tempers took over and they acted rashly and even dangerously without much care for themselves. Loki looked for a moment as though she might simply let him take that wire and get burned for his troubles, but she changed her skin just at the moment before he could touch.

"I do not think you are nothing but a following and useless addition, I meant that you should have asked for your metal wire, some could have been found that did not need to be taken from your chest."

Idiot.

"I do not think you can do nothing, but nor do I wish for you to use your heart to save us."

"I promise you that I will fix it when I get back," Tony said, pulling the yellow wire from her fingertips before he lightly wrapped his arm around her to give her half a hug. "And I'll show you how to fix it too in case there's ever a problem. Deal?"

Loki wouldn't be at his side forever, but she was brilliant and curious and capable and Tony wouldn't be around forever himself. His people would need his knowledge passed down. Why not have that keeper of his knowledge be a veritable God who might well live forever?

Tony carefully brushed his fingers through the longer lengths of Raven hair before pulling back and sitting back at the little bug he had spent so much time making.

A little bit of the wiring from the yellow connector caused it to buzz to life and hover over the desk. His grin was wide.

"Okay. She's ready. Now we just need to know where to send her." He was not expecting that the other Loki would be so close by though.

This sort of intricate craftwork was just as stunning as anything she had ever seen at the Free Markets of Vanaheim provided by the dwarves. She had no idea that the mortals could produce someone so skilled, but she dearly wished to take him to Alfheim and have him perform his work for the craftsmen there. Perhaps they would even apprentice him, the first of another race to gain that honour in millennia?

But for now they had to focus on other things.

She blew gently on the little winged creature and felt the spark of seidr, the idea of what to track, leave her and imprint on the electrical buzzing drone on front of them. If it hovered uncertainly then they would know that the Loki they sought had not followed them to Jotunheim, but if it had a direction... then they had a quarry to pursue.

Watching the shiny metal bug zip out through the window made two hearts sink and Tony glanced up at Loki gravely before he tuned in the handheld radio that would get a signal in once the quarry had been found. And it wouldn't take too much time either for voice to come through the radio.

Loki and Anthony had retired to their own tent. It was small, which made it feel even smaller for Thor, likely, in the tent across the way. Each were warmed through intrinsic magic woven into their fibers.

They'd been at this for about a day now, moving slowly and letting Loki get a fix in on where his other self was. Each puff of seidr used by his double gave him a momentary glimpse but that glimpse was always fleeting. Anthony could tell Loki was frustrated and maybe Thor could too because he had suggested to set up camp long before anyone had grown weary.

He sat cross legged facing Loki on his furs, unaware of the tiny metallic addition to the wall of their tent, and ignored the sounds of pleasure from the other tent nearby.

"Steven is happy," he said, trying to broach the topic to his master.

It would probably be deeply uncomfortable for Tony to hear the voice of his counterpart through the bug as well, almost identical to his own but for the lilt of his accent that marked him as being from Asgard.

Loki was unaware of the bug, he was attuned to the change of seidr in the air and the possibility of attack from Frost Giants, not from a mechanical bug with only the tiniest trace of magic about it. Even if he had seen it, he would not have known what it was and might even have assumed that it was another of the little toys that Anthony sometimes made with his spare pieces of equipment and what Loki allowed him to buy.

"Naturally, he and Thor have not to worry about being overheard here, they may indulge in one another to their heart's content."

He raised an eyebrow at Anthony, knowing full well what he was getting at but almost demanding that he be brave enough to voice it aloud if he wanted Loki to acknowledge it.

Shifting on the furs, Anthony watched the somewhat disinterested face that his master put forth towards him. He knew that was on purpose. And he knew what that eyebrow meant too, but Anthony's bravery was less at stake here than his heart way. Better to be a coward and keep whatever happiness he had, right? He and Loki would return to their usual antics once this campaign was over. There was no need to voice this.

And yet, as Steven's voice called for his Prince to fill him, and Anthony could do nothing but roll his eyes as another cry offered answer to Thor's response, he couldn't help but step out onto the frozen lake. Maybe that was not the best metaphor considering where they were but it was apt just the same.

Anthony didn't believe himself invulnerable, but he believed that Loki would always come for him. No matter what Bruce had cautioned. Loki would grasp him and bring him towards the air if he fell through this ice. He was sure of it.

"Steven knows his place. He had difficulty defying his master even for that master's own good. He is loyal. He never thinks himself better than the other Midgardians, even if his station warrants it. He loves his master with his whole heart and his whole soul and yet he wants nothing more than to stay in his service and to be allowed to continue to serve." Anthony's eyes were heated. "He and I are very different in all ways except for that. Our desires match."

Loki knew what was being asked of him without words, whether there was true depth of feeling of the sort that was not allowed, or whether he was just a slave that Loki was more fond of like Odin had been of Bruce. The sort who would gain favours and might share his furs, who would be followed in the impulsiveness of youth, but who would eventually fade without true marks on the heart.

He should not voice anything. It was against his usual nature to be so open anyway, he preferred to keep his emotion to himself for he felt it was easier to manipulate that way. But did he need to manipulate Anthony? He owned his very life, he would die on a whim for him, he did not need lies or falsehood to change his opinion.

He took a step out onto the frozen lake to join Anthony, though his gaze was on the far shore while he spoke.

"You will always be allowed to serve me and remain by my side, and I will always come for you. These words will be said but once in your lifetime, so etch them in your mind and remember them well. I take you to my bed not because you are the most appealing of bedsport partners, and I allow you into my life not because you are the ideally obedient slave, but because you possess my heart. Were you Aesir, I would take you for my consort, but you are not. The grief I showed in destroying my chambers would have been naught in comparison to the destruction I would have razed had you died."

His gaze flicked to Anthony's face, eyes bright green and intense in the darkness.

"I hope that has satisfied your wants, for I will not be repeating myself."

That was far more than Anthony had wanted. He thought he might get an embrace or a verbal acceptance that his feelings were not unwanted, but to have Loki more than willing to say those things left his heart an aching mess. He was startled, fingers clutching furs, before his brain caught up with him and his mouth was once more able to be used as something other than a fly trap.

He moved forward, reaching for his Master, and kissed him for the first time in their relatively long time together, for a Midgardian at least. It was sweet and soft, a brush of lips and nothing more. Anthony did know his place. He was not Aesir. He was not Loki's consort. He was his slave, his servant, and never even close to his equal.

"Thankfully, I have a good memory." Even as he pulled back, even after learning that he had the most precious gift of all, he didn't feel like his equal either. "I would never be able to serve you as your consort as I do now. I am happy for everything I am to you," Anthony said, sitting back down with Loki upon his lips. "And the only thing I will ever want for the rest of my life is to be allowed to stay at your side. The rest is gravy."

Loki allowed the kiss because he knew that Anthony understood implicitly what Thor and Steven had to be taught, that discretion would be needed. His Anthony would never shame them by embracing him where others could see or acting in an unseemly way when it came to affection. They flaunted the rules in other ways, but never in this one, and it's why they understood each other so well.

He rested his hand on the small of Anthony's back when he pulled away, eyes bright and searching.

"You have been out of sorts since I came for you. Tell me what it is that troubles you, did they mistreat you dreadfully?"

Sitting with the Princess, Tony couldn’t help but roll his eyes. He already knew that these two had that sort of relationship, though perhaps not so intimately. He knew the younger version of himself was completely brainwashed and no matter how it sounded, he wasn’t going to buy any other explanation. Not now at least. He rubbed a hand down his face and glanced at the girl beside him. Loki was asking about mistreatment and Tony was pretty sure that there was going to be a whole lot of exaggeration in the answer. He wouldn’t be surprised at all by anything that was said.

Anthony had paused. He and Loki were still touching, but it was minor and familiar, nothing that would be seen as strange, that was for sure. He considered the question thoughtfully. “Not exactly. They were too disorganized. They seperated us into these two large homes with plenty of space to sleep and bathe, but forgot to bring us food until I spoke to their Steven. The deaths of the other Midgardians seemed to have been eiother accidental or the work of just a few of them. Steven is their leader and he was both shocked and upset by it. He planned to put us on trial and likely would have executed us, but he seemed sorry to do it. He’s as sinsere as our own Steven. I saw very few other Midgardians. While we made a case to assure our captives and explain their role in our camp, they left us without information for days. It was unpleasant but not intentionally cruel.”

Tony actually ended up being surprised by that after all. “They’re still gonna try to kill us, but that was nice of him,” he murmured.

Both Lokis listened to this intently, neither surprised at what they were hearing. The Princess did not believe that one as devoted as that slave would lie to their master, and Loki did not even consider that his Anthony would attempt to get falsehood past him when he was so skilled at recognising it.

"Then tell me what it is that troubles you."

He did not believe that it was their mission to follow the other Loki, whatever he had said before. He had been odd since before that was announced, as if something had shifted inside him.

"You must be open and tell me all, it is an order if it must be."

This put Anthony in such a bad position and he shifted uncomfortably, mostly to make sure he didn’t childishly cling to the hem of Loki’s sleeve again. He’d been weak in that regard twice already in the last day and a half and he really didn’t want to look like a child now. The trouble was that Loki had told him not long ago that he wanted to hear nothing of his worries. Generally, he operated under a last order, first assumption, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t have his insides pulled out of whack by all of this.

Dark eyes found bright, jewel-greens. “Everything they have done has been to retain their freedom. They haven’t tried to kill any of us unless we’ve attacked first. Their purpose in life, flawed as it is, is different from ours but that’s only because the order of their universe is different. Asgard had been their ally. Sort of. I think it was a new partnership. All Realms there seem to be disconnected. We’ve already destroyed their initial universe. The one they are in now is different still from theirs…and ours. I feel as if all universes must be different in grand, sweeping ways. And I don’t know if it’s wrong.”

He spoke quickly, both to get it all out and because he found that speaking quickly sometimes made listeners ignore him.

“My Prince, we need to bring to justice those that would seek to harm us. And we have. We killed many more than they did, both in their culling and when you and Prince Thor came to rescue us. Their numbers are halved again, are they not? I do not want to risk a war between yourself and another, young and inferior you. I don’t want what I know to be right and true to be destroyed. I just want to carry on being happy with who I am. There may not be a winner if this turns to war."

"My brother would hear this talk and label it treason, as would many in our realm. To talk of other ways being not so wrong, to tolerate the existence of diseased branches of Yggdrasil and risk the spread of that infection, it anathema to what Asgard stands for. We protect, we guide. It is our duty to make sure that Yggdrasil flourishes even if that means great harm to us."

But Loki was not like most of the Aesir, and he was not so quick to jump to those conclusions. Oh, he did not agree with Anthony, he knew that the tree was diseased and should be taken out. But he also saw the risk, and he knew that if war came then more than the infection would spread.

"Why do you think they fight so hard to retain a freedom that they cannot appreciate with lives as short as mayflys? Tell me, Anthony, has seeing their struggles to remain free awoken a desire to do the same in you? Would you see Asgard release Midgard from her bonds?"

His voice was mild, deceptively so, the tone he used when he wanted to hide whatever his true thoughts on a subject were in order to keep his conversational partner guessing.

"Never." He had just said as much, he had told Loki he was happy not to be his equal, nor his consort. He'd told him that all he wanted to do was serve him, loyally, until he breathed his last. And yet he knew that Loki was, at his core, not as sure of himself as Thor was. He was not an ideal Asgardian, he wasn't not born of Asgard at all. He needed the reassurances that Anthony offered and Anthony was pleased to provide them. "Steven offered us their freedom, a chance to live commuted lives of disease and unsurety, to never know if we were going to be able to eat or sleep enough, to be potentially denied basic needs. I pity them for their ways, Master."

He spoke as sincerely as possible despite the way that Loki was looking at him. He knew that look and he was smart enough to know what it meant. Loki was digging and Anthony had nothing but top soil for him to move so he showed the bedrock early on in the process to avoid being cracked open and damaged.

"I believe their motives are singular. It is all they know. It is embedded in their culture. They once enslaved themselves, Steven admitted that part of their history to me, but he now believes himself above it. Our conversation, for we had one at length, had initially swayed him, briefly, to my way of thinking. Ultimately, it was the lack of choice in lifestyle that angered him. He accused us of being weak minded, of suffering from some sort of disease-- I couldn't hold my temper either, I must say, and though I attempted to be open to his way of thinking, I just couldn't hold my tongue. I pity them. I will continue to pity all Midgardians who are Masterless. But as I know that not everyone in the training village is chosen, I know that everyone has that potential. They refuse to see it. And it is sad for them, but no reason to harm our way of life."

Anthony fell silent before he looked back up at Loki.

"I know I'm selfish. And I know you've tried to train that out of me even if it never sticks. My prince, I just want to go back home and serve you. It is cowardly, I know. But I do not worry for myself. I worry for you. You need to temper the crowned Prince or he will be a terrible All-Father."

More treason, sure, but what was a little more on top of his pile?

"You are important. You and no one else. And that's why I want us to leave them be and cut this world off from all the others as you did the last."

Loki had never once thought of the Masterless.

Just as with any in a culture that were not at risk for such a thing to happen, he did not consider how uncertain and unfulfilled a life it must be to never be chosen from the village and to go on to menial labour in a short-lived life. The labour was not the issue, it was the ignominy of an early death and life without potential.

He could not solve such a thing, though, not overnight. But perhaps the seed would germinate into something more as he tried to keep his brother from being the disaster for Asgard that he could be. A fact that had obviously not escaped him, though he frowned at Anthony for daring to voice anything against his brother.

"I will not be turned from my mission."

He expected this to be the last they spoke of it.

"Perhaps I will be moved not to slaughter this imposter, but I wish to meet him and see how twisted the disease has rendered even me."

Anthony, wisely, decided not to mention that he had been reluctant to say his mind and that he would never try to sway Loki from a mission he had his mind made up about after he was told not to less than a day before, but he didn't. Age, it seemed, had taught him how to hold his tongue a small amount at least.

Anthony did not, however, believe the other universes to be diseased, even if that was what everyone else was complaining about. How could they all be diseased to one another? And if they were so ruined, then surely that would pass to their offspring. It was petty for Loki to keep using this as an excuse, but he held his tongue, only nodding.

Tony, however, grimaced.

"Our choices are run and hide forever, get your dad and Thor's dad involved in a war, or go and meet with the prick...? Shit. I don't like any of those choices at all. Where's the ignore it and get drunk box? I'll check that one."

The princess looked no less enamoured of the decisions before them, even if there was a clear way forward that they had to choose. Running forever, or being involved in a war, were utterly unconscionable. But she did not want to come face to face with the other version of herself, she knew from watching Tony how uncomfortable it was to be faced with something you might have been.

"Can you recall your mechanical spy? Is it possible to give it a message to send, that we might negotiate from a position of safety?"

She would rather meet with Thor if she had to meet with either of the strange princes, he seemed the less dangerous of the two, which was a sad thing to contemplate when the other was her own counterpart.

That roll of his eyes translated to Tont saying that he could do anything. "Which is it? Bring it back or make it speak?" Technically he would have to do a little bit of remote software fixing but even without a computer, all he needed to do was reverse a signal and it should work.

The volume would be pretty low though.. But that could be just as interesting too, to see if the idiots they were spying on could hear them or not.

When Loki said she would rather find Thor for this, however, Tont was flabbergasted. "He can smash our heads in. I mean. That would suck." He probably wasn't as capable of being manipulated as Loki's Thor. He'd have had a lot more time getting used to it. In that universe, Loki and Thor were brothers.

Loki had thought that the little drone would need to be called back in order to be given a message, she hadn't realised that it could be communicated with from such a distance. Her already high estimation of Tony's mechanical abilities increased significantly, her resolve to introduce him to the dwarves even higher.

"He has a higher physical strength, but I believe he has less stake in our deaths and would listen merely out of curiosity as to what an alternate brother would be."

Whereas she trusted her alternate self much less.

"Take it to Thor, we will negotiate."

Thor was just the next tent over and from the sounds of it, a little too occupied to hear them. Tony sat with his cheek in his hand, frowning, the volume off on the radio as the bug waited silently. "Everyone on that Asgard is gay," he said, which was not s problem, just an observation. He'd tried to get Banner into bed, after all, even if it was mostly to have naked snuggling. He'd wanted that healing touch from someone that cares about him and had been rejected. Luckily, Loki had come to visit him just after, making a mess of his still messy JARVIS server.

He'd been too preoccupied with everything to get him back online, too busy with hardware to work on the software. Wasn't that a kicker?

"Maybe the real plan should be showing that kid-me a set of boobs," he mused, grinning. It was better to joke than dwell with everything happening at the moment.

Loki just tilted her head to one side and looked at Tony as if he were speaking gibberish and her ability to understand all tongues had somehow failed her. She ran through what he said again, but it still made little sense.

"What is gay? And what do breasts have to do with any plan?"

Jotnar were mostly genderless anyway, the differences between their sexes were negligible. Asgard had no concept of whether a relationship between a man or a woman was different, they were all just companions, and so the idea that they had to be categorised was completely alien to her.

Sometimes he forgot that Loki was that alien, even when her eyes blazed red and her skin turned so cold it looked blue and could hurt him just to touch it. Long lashes blinked in her direction and her settled back on a chair made of stone that was built for a child that was still larger than he was. "Guess it's a lifespan thing. My culture used to strive for monogamy and couples with children. Gay people want to be paired with only their own sex and that makes the kid thing difficult. It's just not all that common. I mean, it's getting more common but it's not as common as..."

Well what could he say? Their leader just married a man. His younger self was banging a male Loki. Steve's other self was banging Thor-- wouldn't that be funny to mention? Probably not. Steve was such a moral stick in the mud.

"It doesn't matter. Just making a statement on all the hot male on male action happening and that I feel bad for the other me since he doesn't get a nice pair of breasts in his face once in awhile. Forget I said anything."

That seemed a very odd cultural thing to her. Naturally all species wanted their line to continue with children, but even in Jotunheim where couples generally mated monogamously for life, it would not decease the population by harmful amounts if some chose to stay with partners of their own sex. Then again, most Jotnar could both carry and sire children, so it was of even less consequence.

"Perhaps his master becomes female when they engage in bed sport on occasion? He may not live his life without the feel of breasts, if such a thing is so important to Midgardian men."

What odd people.

She settled back against the wall and frowned, her attention already back onto how they might get out of this without either starting a war or being slaughtered.

"We must wait until the sounds of copulation have finished and send your mechanical creation in to Thor."

Cursing the stamina of some people, Tony put a hand over his eyes and tried to get a little bit of shut eye. He turned the volume down low so he didn’t have to listen to the show and dozed in the stone chair for just about fifteen minutes before his mind got the better of him. His anxiety was high and the inability to really sleep hit him in a serious of quick, flashing nightmares.

He started awake and turned the volume back up, hearing nothing but soft murmuring about armor of all things. He really, really hated Asgardians he decided as he snatched the radio off of the table and crossed the room to Loki.

“Push the button on the side and talk.”

Normally he liked to take over, but when it came to this sort of thing, Loki might have the better handle on Thor. He had made plenty of mistakes himself, but he always learned from them. And he knew that she had already done so as well.

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