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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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.

Loki had no real issue with the sounds of lovemaking, though she did consider whether Steve's alternate might not be exaggerating his sounds of pleasure in order to appeal to Thor's ego and please him as a slave should. It seemed unlikely, even after discovering how pleasant bedsport could be, that sounds that enthused could be genuine.

She dozed as Tony did, though she was swift to awaken when she was spoken to, taking the little mechanical device from her friend and depressing the button. She swallowed hard, throat suddenly dry, and then spoke.

"Prince Thor of Asgard, I believe you have come to seek me. I would speak with you under truce colours, I do not wish a war to follow rash action."

On his feet immediately, and glad he had been taught long ago to always leave his boots on when on campaign, Thor called Mjolnir into his hand before Steven joined him, sword drawn. "Show yourself!" he demanded of the tiny voice, displeased to hear someone that did not sound at all of his brother.

When Loki told him who they were hunting, Thor had been both angry and curious. He had been surprised at the sloppiness of the disguise, for if even Thor could see through the deception, what sort of sorcerer could this false brother be?

"Do not be cowardly and face me without guise!" he roared, if quietly.

He did not want to wake his true brother for Loki would dominate the conversation and Thor wanted a chance to smite the imposter first.

"I am not hiding from you."

It was strange to hear his temper and see his impulsive wish to fight if the way he had called Mjolnir was aught to judge by, and to see the echoes of what her Thor could be. She would not allow it, she would be sure to temper him and teach him wisdom if she could, she wanted him to be an All-Father that would echo down the ages as one of the greats.

"I am not there, I speak to you through a mechanised device designed for such purpose, so that neither of us is under threat. I repeat myself, I would speak with you under colours of truce."

One did not sneak up on a man like Thor. He didn’t appreciate it and was already on edge being in Jotunheim without direct permission from the All-Father. Loki might bend and twist and reshape the rules it Thor Odinson did not.

“I do not believe myself to be in danger,” Thor boasted, though he did lower the hammer inaudibly and a small smirk could be heard in his voice. “But you, imposter, should simply come to fight in person. Whatever your tactic to infiltrate us and now to speak at distance rather than a common table gives me nothing but knowledge that I will smite you for your crimes against Asgard. Show yourself, coward!”

Thor was all bravado. After a coupling like he had with his Steven, a good fight would be most welcome.

"Are you deaf as well as foolish?"

Loki could not help snapping that out, surely her own Thor would not be such a bullheaded idiot? And this one was older! How could he be next in line for the throne of Asgard if he did not understand the tactical advantages to speaking under truce?

"I have offered to speak with you under the banner of peace, will you not take me up on this offer? Do you wish to seek out naught but bloodshed?"

To be truthful, Thor was a bit bullheadishly deaf. He heard only the call of battle and while sitting upon the throne during Odin’s last, horrible sleep had tempered him, he was no longer fettered by being All-Father and was allowed out to pursue his adventures. He wanted the fight, and this imposture wasn’t allowing it. Annoyed, especially since his better senses were being spoken to, Thor dropped Mjolnir on the ground so loudly that Tony, miles away, actually jumped.

“A banner of truce? If you are anything like my brother, you will use that banner to manipulate.” See, he’d learned! But he couldn’t help but be intrigued just the same. “But we will meet. In person. And in the duration of that counsel, neither shall raise fist nor weapon towards the other. Bring with an honourable second to ensure this. I will not speak through your magic where you have advantage.”

He moved to dress. While a snap of the fingers could call forth his armour, Thor would not be dressing for battle and his tunic and trousers lay on the fur covered floor.

“In one hour, come to the top of the tallest peak. I trust you will be able to find me there as you did to send your mechanised messanger?”

"You have my agreement. The second I will bring is mortal, so I will accept that you bring a mortal in return, but you must not bring or inform your brother lest an attack come from outside the banner of truce."

Beyond that, Loki merely stopped broadcasting. She was slightly flushed with the adrenaline of dealing with this potentially devastating event, eyes bright as she glanced over to Tony to gain comfort from his presence. Whether what they had to do would work or not-- well, they would find out in an hour.

Back in the tent, Steven stood staring at his master in consternation, his brow furrowed in concern. "My prince, this could be a trap, we already know that these imposters have no honour. Are you sure it's wise to listen to what they have to say without taking Prince Loki with you?"

With gusto, Thor actually laughed. “Can you imagine being with two Lokis? No. One is quite enough,” Thor said, doing up his wide buckled belt before he bid Steven to dress as well. It would be easy to get to the rendezvous point with Mjolnir, but he did not wish to be seen in the sky. He did not want another potential issue to spring up with another Jotunheim due to his visit. One potential war was enough.

And though he did long for that war, even Thor thought it best to mitigate it. His brother would never rest until his wrongs were righted and though Thor did not believe he could reason with a different brother any better than he could his own, diplomacy was always a worthy course of action.

Even if he would rather use his hammer instead of his tongue, a year of being All-Father taught him well. Especially as it had been undistracted, with Steven kept apart from him and on his duty during the raid. He cast an appreciative glance at the blond.

“You must wear more than boots, Steven. Quickly.”

Why did his master have to be so charming? Steven smiled a lop-sided sort of grin and hurried to get into his tunic. He would take a weapon with him, it would not break the truce as long as he didn't draw it, and he would rather be armed in case the untrustworthy other side broke the truce first and they needed to defend themselves.

It wouldn't be too long before they stood atop the peak that Thor had named, Steven looking down through the snowfall to a worrying sort of sight. He had seen pictures of Jotunheim in his time on Asgard, it was ruined and the cities were barely more than rubble now, but--

"My prince, look--" He pointed off into the distance where a perfect and beautiful city still stood. "Do you believe this Jotunheim won the war?"

Thor was less disturbed. Steven was young, all things considered, and while Thor was technically too, he’d spent less time learning history than Steven had in the village. “Remember what my brother instructed. Take little for what it is like at face value. For all we know, Asgard may occupy this Realm rather than destroyed it. Or perhaps in this Realm, Jotuns did not rise up against Asgard to rob them of Midgard. Untill we are certain of what has occurred here and meet with the imposter, it would do us little good to speculate.”

But the view was disturbing and Thor found himself falling into a gruff silence as the dark night wind blew his unkempt hair around on his shoulders.

They would have a chance to watch the approach of those they would treat with, given Tony’s rational desire for Loki not to use her magic whenever possible, and that disturbed him more than the lack of ruined Jotnar buildings.

“Does the prince send a girl and an old man in his stead,” he called, booming from the top of the peak.

"There is no prince lest I wish to take male form."

Loki was afraid, but she would not show it. She was the daughter of Laufey-King, the future wife of a prince who would be All-Father, and chaos fire to her core. She stood as tall as she could, straight backed, and looked him in the eye with ones that burned crimson of her own. For she would face this in her true skin.

"I am Princess Loki of Jotunheim, first born daughter and second born child to Laufey-King of Jotunheim, and you have come to seek me out. I do not wish war between our peoples and so I have come to speak with you. Do you wish greater shelter or do you wish to speak out here on this peak?"

Though Thor did not feel the cold, Steven might be. He would never admit his chill but Thor did not wish him to be at a disadvantage should it come to a fight. His mind was already a bit stuck on this presentation of Loki, though, to really say or do too much more than spread one hand and nod.

Loki, he knew, was Jotnar. He’d been born to Jotun and was one himself even if he didn’t present it. He knew Loki could shape shift as well. But that was about the only similarity he could find between his brother and the princess.

“We will find a suitable place. This will be a long conversation.”

There was a difference between them in a way that Loki did not know and Thor could not possibly hope to recognise yet. His brother's shapeshifting had been stymied by a removal from the seidr of Jotunheim and the insistence of an Aesir shape by his parents, his changes were mostly illusionary now, whereas the Princess was a true and natural shapeshifter in control of her powers.

She nodded in agreement and led both mortals and Thor to an abandoned hut a few miles away, so as not to endanger any of her people should this go wrong, and built a fire within to allow both mortals to feel comfort.

"This all remains under truce, no harm shall be given or taken, and hospitality will be offered. I hope that in talking we can come to some agreement that will give us both what we seek without the need for further bloodshed."

“This is no your conflict. You stole breeding stock from us and attempted to pass yourself off as one,” Thor said abruptly, certainly not one to mince words. Tony frowned st him and at the scarred and shorn version of Steve Barnes standing stoically at his side. He was so different from the one he knew and yet he held himself the same way. That was more annoying than it probably ought to be and he barely hid his disdain.

“You kidnapped, killed, raped and stole the children of an entire planet, and then you left them to die,” Tony pointed out and Thor, looking baffled, narrowed his eyes.

“You will speak when spoken to—“

“Yeah no. I’m not a slave. We are equals.”

“I am prince of Asgard! You are nameless and mortal and nearly dead!” Thor bellowed back. “We have no equality between us!”

"You will both be silent," Loki said in tones of furious order, sitting proud and regal even on the ramshackle chair within this hut, looking every inch the princess despite her stature and youth.

"If we are to debate our hierarchy, then you will defer to me. I am princess of this realm, on which you are trespassing without invitation, but that is not how I wish to do things. My friend, Tony, is no slave, and you are no All-Father's son in this reality."

She folded her arms, the chaos that Loki had garnered into jealousy tempered in her, for she had grown up knowing her place and embracing it. Cherished instead of teased.

"Wrongs have been done on both sides, and the magnitude of which is not what I want to discuss. I wish to ensure that no further wrongs are done on either side, and that will only be achieved if you return to your realm peacefully. I do not wish a fight and you should not either."

Wrongs had not been done to Asgard. If Loki meant to equate what was done to his people with what was done to a few slaves because of what amounted to an accident, they were going to have to exchange some unpleasant words. Tony was silent however, not because he was told to be but because he was so angry that if he didn’t hold his tongue, there would be some real trouble here. Thor could kill them. Easily.

And Thor knew that too, for rage was behind his eyes and flowing through his veins as he stared at the princess. She made him feel ill. This was not his cherished brother. This was nothing like him.

“We want what amounts to our property. There is no need to begin a war and you would do well to remove yourself from these negotiations. Midgard is a planet of slaves. It is their noble duty and right to be treated and cared for as such. Anything other is treasonous speech.”

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