fossilised | Jotunheimr

Loki flopped into the snow when they found themselves back on Jotunheim and felt the freeze of his homeland sink into his bones again, but it was still at least an hour of almost nothing before he had the strength to change back to his natural form and sit up, and even then he still looked tired and weakened.

"...thank you."

It was pointless to pretend that he had not been suffering, that would be taking pride too far into arrogant stupidity.

"I had not thought Asgard would be so warm, I have never even seen a sun like that in my wildest dreams."

“I did not think to have you craft a charm for your protection immediately upon our arrival,” Thor said, sat upon a rock looking as morose and brooding as he had after Utgard each evening. He was worried, and being worried gave him great valleys between his eyebrows. “The All-Mother gave me an infusion before I was cast out. She would have been able to create one for you as well. Should you ever wish to visit Asgard again, I will be sure to not accidentally almost kill you.”

He did offer Loki the smallest of smiles.

“I apologise for my father,” he said, almost too abruptly, finally giving Loki the satisfaction he’d been hoping from Frigga. “He did not answer the questions as well as I might have wished, but I now know the truth. It is painful to know that my family harmed your people, covered it up and… And that I have been bereft of all siblings. I envy the closeness you have with yours.”

"The fault does not lie with you, I did not think either that I would require protection against your realm and, though I do not agree with how ignorant you have allowed yourself to become, I admire your will to discover the truth and ability to change your views when presented with the evidence."

Those were likely the kindest words that Loki had spoken to Thor since they had met, but they were no less sincere than his biting wit. He truly was impressed, it took a great hearted person to truly turn their back on everything they had learned and stand up for what they had been taught were the monsters.

"Perhaps in time you could make overtures of friendship to your Kyn. I admit that it is strange for me, for Kyn is all to Jotnar, it is writ on our very bodies who shares our blood and we hold strong to those lines our whole lives."

‘I would like to, when this task is completed and Jotunheim no longer suffers so much.” Thor was not under the impression that it would be completely possible to save this Realm and all of her people, for a person’s life and deeds were for themselves to bear witness to. However, he could ease the underlying cause of suffering and he had every intention to. “For now, I believe we must speak with Laufey-King if he will grant us audience.”

He assumed that Laufey would always see his child but Thor was another matter.

“I wish his advice on how to work towards saving your people. I have been stripped of my strength,” and so much else, “but there must be something more than learning history and touring affected cities to assist with.” Bringing the Jotnar back into favour with Asgard would mean that Thor would need to make each Jotun hate his own race a little less.

And that would take time.

"I think it would be a good idea to speak to my father, but I also think you should not limit yourself to Jotunheim. Your father has exiled you from Asgard until your lesson has learned, but that is just one realm of the Nine. If you have failed to learn sufficiently about Jotunheim, perhaps your knowledge of other realms that should be under your protection is also lacking."

That was the truth, and he did think that Thor likely could use some tutoring on all realms, but it was selfish. Jotnar were not permitted travel from their realm, to do so was an act of war generally. But if he were acting in an official capacity as the Odinson's guide, then he might be free to go to other realms too. And how he longed to see them all.

"Come, we are far from Laufey-King's palace and you have much to think on, I'm sure."

“I have hunted the hills of Vanaheim many times in my youth and returned victorious from campaign against marauders on Muslelheim not long before you and I met. But I have not learned of them as I have of Jotunheim.” Loki did well in manipulating Thor without much trying. He was a trusting sort and he trusted Loki more than he likely should. If the other wanted to travel, he need only mention it a time or two more in conjunction with better Thor’s lessons and the Asgardian would take him anywhere he wished.

Frigga had been right.

Thor was a gift, from one with seidr to another. To one with potential to be more than just a child of one Realm, but of many.

They began to walk not long after that, Thor in a confusing mix of high and low spirits as he went over the conversations and revelations of the day.

His hand aches as much as his head, too, and he could only imagine how Loki felt. “Your parents will be angry with me, no doubt. Though they dislike me already. What can I do to put myself in their good graces?”

He was beginning to see what Frigga had meant.

She must see potential in this partnership, in his ability to temper and guide Thor to become a better king, if she was willing to gift the only son she had been allowed to keep to his care. It would be something that Loki would think on more as time went on, and it would give him an appreciation for the wisdom and kindness of the All-Mother, and a slight shame for how he had spoken to her.

"It is traditional for a guest to provide hearth gifts, as thanks for the hospitality shown. The more the hearth gift represents the owner of the hearth, the greater the gesture of warmth and friendship. Is this not a custom among the Aesir? Perhaps you should get hearth gifts for my dam and sire, you are lucky to have one with you who knows what they would enjoy, after all."

Thor balked slightly, eyes shifting towards Loki. “I can not ask Heimdall to return me to collect hearth gifts,” he said, “and I have little way to find them here. I do not know your currency and I doubt any artisans will allow me to purchase their wares.”

His shoulders almost dropped before he remembered what Loki said about visiting other Realms. He did not need to learn the culture of Vanaheim for his mother was Vanir, but he did have clout and credit with the Free Market for many times defending them or bringing great beasts to them for processing.

Blue eyes sparkled. “Tell me you know a way to Vanaheim?”

Loki had actually intended to take Thor to places on Jotunheim where he could find things that his dam and sire were fond of - a good fishing ground for a rare type of fish - but this was much better. He had heard and read of the Free Market of Vanaheim many times over, but of course he had never visited it.

"All of the Ways out of Jotunheim are blocked, they were blocked when the war ended to stop us from ever 'invading' another realm. But I am sure Heimdall would send us there if asked."

After all, they were not disobeying Odin's orders by going to any realm other than Asgard, right?

“It would not hurt to try,” Thor said, arms crossed in thought. His lips were pursed as he gazed upward, knowing the Guardian was there looking down at him. “Heimdall, we need a trip to the Free Markets. I have things to purchase not available on Jotunheim.”

There was a moment of silence before the Bifrost opened and sent the two tumbling through the Void to just where they had requested.

Vanaheim was well into winter and the residents bundled up against the cold. Thor was comfortable and thankfully, Loki should not suffer too much from the heat.

This time, at least, Loki was prepared for the rush of the Bifrost and the ache that it left in his soul, like a strange resonance that wanted to pull him off into different directions. It was similar to the whisper of the Casket, like Yggdrasil could sense his potential and wanted to invite him to walk Ways that had been blocked to his people for millennia.

Vanaheim was amazing.

The temperature was still too warm, but no worse than the hottest summer day on Jotunheim, and so he could bear it. But the sheer volume of people, the bustle of colour and life, it was overwhelming. Not to mention that more than one person gasped aloud at the sight of a Jotnar, where none had been permitted to exit their realm for so long.

"The pictures do not do it justice, Thor."

Thor, for the first time, not just Odinson.

At least this Jotun was not so big as to actually be a true giant, and that was probably all that kept them from running off or taking their children away with them. That, and Thor’s presence.

“It is a sight I am always pleased to see. We have nothing like this, not even during festivals in Asgard. The Free Market runs daily,” he said as though he was explaining anything at all to Loki. “If there is anything worthwhile to find for your parents, it will be here. Let me first trade in my credit.”

There was a man under a purple awning counting away coins of various amounts and stacking tokens towards the centre of the market. He looked up at the approaching two and blinked. “My prince—“

“Darik, well met!” Thor proclaimed. “My companion and I have come to seek a small amount of recompense for what has been done at the market by my hand.” Thor had never called in his credit before and the man looked a little shocked.

“Are you... in danger...?” His eyes turned towards Loki and Thor broke into laughter.

“Indeed not. If anything, I am safer with him. We will take perhaps one hundred tokens of what is owed.”

The exchanger nodded slowly and made a mark in a book before he handed over the tokens. Thor pocketed half and gave the rest to Loki. “Shall we begin?”

Loki was, at least, used to people staring. He was one of the only Fyri left, a runt in a world of giants, and so those who had not grown up with him were apt to stare. But this was a different kind of stare; the ones he was used to were usually awed, excited, or plain disbelieving. But these stares were wary and fearful, some hostile, a reminder of the stories that had been told of his people for too long now.

"One day this will not be," he murmured to Thor as he took the coins offered to him and slipped them into a pocket of his kilt. "One day there will be stalls held by Jotnar craftsmen and traders, and none will shrink from the Giants."

Loki was determined to act as though he didn't care, strolling the market as if he had every right to be out of his frozen realm.

"My dam is fond of rare texts, histories of other realms. My sire likes baubles and ornamentation, perhaps something like that." He pointed at a stall selling dresses. Gendered clothing didn't exist for Loki, and so he did not see anything odd in suggesting that his sire might enjoy a delicate silk gown.

Thor had thought of Farbauti as feminine as well, and do a frock didn’t bother him at all. “Will that be a proper size? Do you know your sire’s measurements?” Thor asked, stopping at the booth. The women circled him, giggling. It wasn’t every day Thor cake to visit after all.

“A dress for the All-Mother?”

Thor shook his head. “A queen, just the same. I was thinking that forest green. Loki? Tell these women the proper size and we can return at the end to fetch it.”

"Farbauti-Consort is not a queen, Odinson, have you listened to none of my lessons?" The chiding was not done with real ire, however, Loki was far too excited at being on Vanaheim to truly take offence at these small mistakes. "He stands at just shy of nine spans tall, with a waist roughly the circumference of Odinson's shoulders."

"Uh-- he?"

The main stallholder, an older woman, looked baffled while the women circling the Prince continued their giggling, sure that a jest was being played.

"A forest green would be a wonderful colour choice. But see here, Thor, there is one in red and gold, this would look well on you. Why do you not have one made up?"

Thor had learned plenty but his goal was to try and keep Loki’s truth to a minimum. That he was a prince and a princess was hardly the problem, but more that he was a Jotun outside of Jotunheim. Thor wasn’t intending to make waves this day but Loki could not help himself it seemed.

“Their people have no gender,” Thor clarified, to which one of the younger women snorted, proud and wild.

“Then why doesn’t everyone use ‘she?’ It’s the far better gender.”

Thor made a gesture and then laughed truthfully, reaching for the dress Loki pointed out. “I enjoy the colours and the feel of the fabric. But what would I use to cover my beard?”

"Why would you have need to cover your beard? Surely you are not so insecure that you cannot wear a garment intended for a woman?"

He actually quite liked the younger woman who had made the jest about which word to use to describe themselves, it was better than disgust or jeering. Confusion he could deal with, it meant that people could be educated.

"In fact, you may buy me one."

He would rather enjoy the people here seeing Asgard's prince doing his bidding, it would be a small but important step forward.

"And perhaps I shall grow a magnificent beard to sport with it."

Thor could not help the way that Loki made him feel at times. He strummed at him emotionally, he pushed and he prodded parts of him into places that Thor did not know he even had. He felt his heart swell with mirth. He was not ashamed in the least of being mocked this way for Thor was uniquely comfortable in his skin.

“Would you also wear my chosen colours?” Thor asked, arching his eyebrow. “The red would look particularly striking against your skin.”

The youngest woman also agreed, though she had something more to say about the beard situation. “A very long and maintained or braided beard would suit our frocks well, but the Prince has a rough and unruly beard that really ought to be covered. Should I add a veil to your tally?”

What a shrewd business woman!

And Thor, dumb and jovial, agreed to it all! “Three frocks, my dimensions, Loki’s dimension, and the dimensions he mentioned previously. I’ll have the majority of mine be in crimson with gold edging but craft Loki’s in mostly cloth of gold with scarlet edging. I believe Farbauti-consort’s green gown should be left delicate. Silver cording?”

“And the veil for you?”

“Your choice. Whatever will best cover my scruff!”

Loki inclined his head at the woman who had shown such business sense and left her cutting cloth and counting the coin generously given for all the frocks ordered. She had never been given an order for a man's dimensions before, the chest and hips of the pattern would need vastly altering to fit, but she cared little about propriety as long as she earned her money.

Word travelled fast along the market that Prince Thor had come, with coin, and in an unusually generous spending mood. Also that he was accompanied by a Jotnar runt, who also seemed to have some sway over the spending of the coin, so both of them were hailed with great enthusiasm wherever they went.

It put Loki in a rare good humour and he found himself at his best, witty and charming as he flitted from one stall to another, utterly enamoured with the sheer life and extravagance of this place. All went well until the sun had passed its zenith in the sky and then, between one moment of looking away and back again, Loki would be nowhere to be seen.

All went very well indeed and Thor was having a fantastic time, even with his continued exile and the lack of understanding in his friends. And the loss of his strength. And Mjolnir— He has little to be happy about and yet here he was, eating sausages and buying Loki (and Loki’s parents and siblings) all sorts of things to return when one bite of his meal caused him to lose focus of where his guide was.

Thor was not pleased. Loki would not leave him and had been very sure to point at stalls he wished to go while keeping Thor in sight. And Thor knew that was more for safety and to keep the all knowing eye if the All-Father from deciding on treason for his presence than out of deference for the prince of the golden realm.

This anger was more for nefarious reasons his companion might have left his side.

Thor snarled and lifted his voice. “Who last saw the Jotun prince?!” He roared, immediately quieting the festivities.

Most of the stallholders and other customers remained silent, staring at Thor as if expecting thunder to suddenly form overhead. One or two murmured nervously that they thought they had seen him over by a stall that sold magic texts, one of the stalls within sight that Loki had mentioned to Thor an interest in.

But some were bolder.

Voices came from a variety of directions, though none were brave enough to actually come out and face Asgard's heir personally while they said these things.

"There are no princes in a land of monsters!"

"Treason to bring one to the Markets."

"Shame on Asgard."

This was the land of his people. This was his mother’s home. These were good people. Kind people. He’d never been ill treated here. He’d never heard of uprisings here. And Thor did try to steel himself against their calls but he could not.

“Do you reproach the All-Father for bringing Jotunheim back into the fold of Asgard’s care?” he bellowed. “Do you openly seek the ire of the All-Mother, whom herself has given blessings and care to the one you call a monster?”

Thor saw the two talking. He’d seen Frigga take Loki by the hand.

“Return my companion to me and all shall be forgiven. If I must seek him out myself, there will be a reckoning.” He was still strong. And he hopefully still had the backing of his father on this. Otherwise it was all just a bluff.

Luckily, it had started to storm. The lightning overhead lit Thor’s eyes with sparks.

The storm hushed most of the voices that had called out in dissent, for all knew of the All-Father's bloodline and the power it held, none wanted to call down Thor's famously hot temper on them or their stalls. But similarly, few wanted to stand up and be publicly seen to be helping the Jotnar, for they would have to live with the others here after Thor had gone.

Eventually one young man stepped forwards, a native of Alfheim with the characteristic body shape of the dwarves, though he had not yet grown old enough for a beard yet. He wore the unadorned tunic of an apprentice, not yet even a crafter himself.

"Forgive me, Prince, but we cannot help but be confused. We have been told that the Jotnar are not to be trusted, now we are to accept them into the fold with no question or reservation?"

Thor turned his eyes down at the child, though he had no soft feelings for children in particular. His annoyance and his anger did not soften in the slightest. “Jotunheim has paid a dear price. I have spent time there, I have seen the destruction they have endured. They are not monsters. They are people like us. There are children like you with little to eat and still a kindness to assist a travel to their land. They live in fear and in death. Whatever their parents might have done, or whatever they might have been blamed for, it is not a sin their children should suffer for.”

He could not speak out against the wrongs of his father. Not here. Odin would need to do this himself. He would need to explain it all. Anything Thor said would not help gain Loki back.

“Do you all trust me so little that you would think of old wives’ tales and of deeds conducted before many of you were born before you took my word? Have I not always protected your herds? Your markets? Has the All-Mother not given you special dispensations? Loki and his people are less monsters than those that took my companion from me. Loki is innocent. He was born as Jotunheim was torn asunder. If any harm him, justice will be conducted slowly in the dungeons of Asgard for the rest of your lives.”

Most of those assembled still looked unsure. Though Thor had, indeed, often protected the Markets, he had also caused trouble with drunken carousing on occasion. He had behaved as many noble sons did, and while he was not distrusted, some wondered if he might have been enchanted somehow.

All was silent again, the youth quaking and regretting having stepped forwards at all, before finally an old woman stepped forward. She looked to be a native of Vanaheim, and the wrinkles on her face suggested that she may have been young when even Frigga All-Mother had taken her first breath.

"These young ones may not believe you, but I recall when the Jotnar had stalls in these Markets. There were Giants I counted among my friends, and if you think to bring them back to our fold, I hope there will be ones I may count among my friends again. I will help you, my Lord. I saw the young Fyri being taken in the direction of the pens."

She pointed downwind, where the trade in animals was kept apart from the rest of the stalls in order to keep their smell contained.

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