fossilised | Jotunheimr

Loki was hardy enough that those trifling matters no longer troubled him, the blow to the head had healed within the hour and the temperature of Vanaheim was much more tolerable than Asgard had been for him.

"I would be a fool if I did not believe that a millennia of stories designed to breed hatred to us, would not lead to actions such as this. There will be a long road to travel, I fear, when Jotunheim is free to travel once more."

He took the hand offered to him, still irritated, but thankfully not raging.

"Tell me, are there any realms that have been spared such tales of vitriol?"

“Not likely.” Thor was at least honest there. “But there are Realms more despised than Jotunheim. I just would not suggest we travel there. Much too warm for you.”

He dusted Loki off and released his hand.

“Perhaps we should see to those texts you were eyeing and pick up our frocks before we two head back to Jotunheim. I could use a good sleep. I’d like to use the remains of the money to return with a great feast. Those sausages are delicious!”

"How cruel, but a jaunt to Muspelheim is just what I wanted."

Even the Jotnar knew to steer clear of the realm where the Fire Giants lived. The stories about that race were well deserved, they were truly cruel and warmongering, too chaotic to ever fit into a peaceful and stable realm system. But they had their place, and as long as they remained mostly within their borders then Asgard ignored them.

"I imagine that at least Vanaheim and Alfheim will not be so full of hate as Midgard, if they have believed for a thousand years that we attempted to rule over them, they must truly despise us."

He had no idea that most people on Midgard had forgotten that Frost Giants even existed, and those that knew thought them only as myth or old religion that few still followed. He walked beside Thor as he mused, however, pleased enough to go and fetch their purchases and buy food for a feast.

“I was to Midgard last as a child with my friends. I remember it as being much like Asgard at the time, though the people’s there are short lived. We stayed for several seasons and watched those we liked grow old before our eyes. It is a strange affliction.” He didn’t know how quickly they had modernized. He didn’t know that they didn’t believe Asgard existed. And that none had no idea that there were other races in the universe. “Perhaps we can make a small trip. But we will need to disguise ourselves as Midgardians.”

The thought amused him.

“I shall wear my fine frock and veil.” He was only joking of course. He had no idea if those would go with midgardian fashion.

"I have never seen a Midgardian; tell me, Thor, what do they look like? There are precious few texts on Jotunheim dealing with Midgard, and none with illustrations."

There were, of course, warriors that had been around in the war that could have described a Midgardian to him, even including his own dam and sire, but none wanted to talk about such a painful part of their history and he had known better to ask.

"Though if you attempt to make me believe that they are something foolish to jest with me, I shall see through it."

“A jest! Are we not friends, Loki? I would not jest about something so important,” Thor promised and put an arm around the Jotun’s shoulders. “Midgardians are small, much smaller than you or I. They come on all variety of neutral shades. Some have my skin tone, others are as dark as Heimdall. Their hair is golden or black and their eyes are blue. They live in hovels and tend to herds and hunt and fish. Their planet is one of ice and of green, rolling hills like those of Asgard. I know you dislike the idea of hiding your skin and your kynlines but Midgard is a backwards place. They are not intelligent and while their Realm is beautiful, they are much like insects upon it. You shall see. I shall show you soon.”

Thor did not mind that he walked as one did with friends. He would not remove his arm from Loki, nor did he much care who might have stated as he paid for the scrolls and tomes Loki wished. And retrieved their bundled dresses. And bought packages of meats and fish.

Thor introduces Loki to the old woman who had helped and she might have given Loki the best gift of all, a knowing smile and a hope to see his people one more in the market.

It was a great gift and he made her a delicate statue of a flower that grew only on Jotunheim with his seidr as a reminder of what she had done, and the friendship she had garnered in return.

Once they had their dresses, meat, and books, Heimdall transported them both back to Jotunheim and cut off much of the journey that had been their before, depositing them within sight of the palace.

"Tell me, Thor, do you think my home is beautiful?"

It was a question asked distantly. Loki thought his home was beautiful, with blue ice and crisp snow, but Thor had grown up in a world with all of those colours, where greens and reds and oranges were just as visible as blue and white. Perhaps he really did see Jotunheim as the wasteland that many said it was.

“Of course Jotunheim is beautiful. There are creatures here you cannot see anywhere else. Your people are incredibly large and interesting to speak with. I wish your cities were not as horribly war torn, but there is a beauty in the memory of battle too. Utgard... it bothers me how black it is when so much else is blue and silver. I prefer this Realm to many others. The home of the dwarves is dark and hot. The Realm of the fire giants is tedious to navigate.” Thor held most of the packages tightly in his arms as he lifted his knees up to ward off the snow.

He did glance his way however.

“Did you hope I would say no so you could tell me all of the faults of Asgard?” He was asking genuinely, amused.

"No."

This was one of Loki's opportunities to tether Thor to himself, to lay the groundwork for making the Aesir love him, want him, need him, and he wouldn't pass up on it. He glanced over his shoulder at Thor, carefully calculating the small wistful and fond smile at his lips, as though he were unaware of it.

"I hoped you would say yes, but I feared you would say no. You have lived so long in a world of colour, that so much white must be dull. Yet I am glad you think it beautiful, it means you may yet return when your banishment is over. I find that I would miss you if you did not."

“We will visit each other. And other Realms. Not many have a ruling family and I would very much think that we should support one another,” Thor said with a firm surety. His smile was much less subtle, entirely sincere. “Are we not friends?”

Thor wanted Loki to be his friend. Badly. He didn’t know why but he felt protective of him, fond of him and his cunning, often dourly sarcastic ways. It pleased him to see Loki smile and it angered him to know when he was mistreated. He felt the same towards all of his friends.

“It will be many years yet before we each may rule and before we are tethered to the throne, there are adventures to be had.”

"And perhaps I never will be tethered to my throne."

Of course he would be, and if he had his way then he would be tethered to Asgard's throne as well. Loki-King of Jotunheim and Loki-Consort, All Mother of Asgard. He was determined to have both of these things; not because he loved Thor, he didn't though he could likely grow to be fond of him, but because it would give him the power to finally change things as he saw fit.

"I apologise if such words seem sudden or maudlin, it is only that as your Guide I feel you are almost ready to take Mjolnir once more."

Almost.

He could be almost ready for as long as Loki needed him to be.

“I was in a great rush before but now... I think I can still do some good before I return,” Thor said without reading into Loki’s words. It was foolish of him to be so readily trusting but he had known Loki only a smattering of weeks. And that was not enough time at all to learn the depths of his character.

Thor shifted his burden as they came to the massive doors in the front of the building and turned to face his Guide.

“Tomorrow I would like to discuss potential relief efforts for your people. I would ideally like to return the Casket but it is not mine to give or return. There must be other ways to help.”

More and more, Frigga’s gift to Loki revealed itself.

A true gift indeed.

Loki would need to find the key to tying Thor to him properly, though, to work out the key to the young Odinson's heart and use it so that he could get what he wanted. As of yet, he still didn't know what that would be.

"We require food more than anything else; our crops fail and our herds die now, pickings become slimmer each year. We need to be allowed to move between realms again, if we do not start to trade then we will not last much longer."

Too many had died already, Thor truly had tried to invade a world almost gone.

“You have already made friends at the Free Market. I will insist that Jotunheim once more begin their trades with Vanaheim.” And he would cash in the remainder of his credits and make sure that there were grains at least for the people here to eat. Especially those at Utgard. Thor could not allow them to starve. Especially while they feasted tonight at the palace.

He thought of these things as they were ushered into the Tower, as Bylister ran towards them and stopped before he went tumbling over.

“The Bifrost came and went many times,” the young giant said. “I thought Thor would have been taken.”

“Not yet,” Thor said and handed off his packages. “There is much to do. Deliver that to the kitchens if you would and I must prepare for an audience with your parents.”

Loki grinned and stretched up so that he could touch a hand to Bylestir's cheek in fond greeting, jingling his own bag of treasures enticingly. "Go and do as the Odinson says, and perhaps I will show you what I have procured from Vanaheim."

"You've been to Vanaheim?! But eldsibb, the Ways...!"

"Do not look at me as though I've doomed us all, it was a journey sanctioned by the All-Father for his son and his son's Guide."

Bylestir still looked a mixture of terrified and awestruck, but he eventually took the food and ran off to the kitchens, leaving Loki laughing after him. "What preparations do you need to make? We can simply go direct to the throne room, Laufey-King will know we have arrived by now and will likely be expecting us."

“I am not going into an audience covered in blood,” Thor told Loki with a smirk. “It may well invite the sort of feast I wasn’t expecting to be part of.” Thor couldn’t stop joking and he doubted that Loki would care for him to. He did hold up his hand, rags wrapped around it covered in dark maroon. He’d not healed as quickly as he ought to. The fact that he had bled at all was still mostly novel to him. His skin has always been thicker than an aubach’s and so to suddenly be confronted with this scar was both wondrous and a little unnerving.

He could not fully describe this to feeling to Loki, and so he did not even bother to try.

“And I believe I’ll wear my own clothing. It seems proper.” At least he was finally thinking like a prince.

It was a far cry from how Thor had first come into their palace, surly and arrogant and assuming them all to be monsters. He had barely shown deference to Laufey-King then, now he had returned and was concerned with his appearance. It was a good change and it would reflect well on Loki, many would see it as his influence that had caused this reversal of heart.

He set a hand on Thor's cheek, just briefly enough to leave a patch of frost behind, and stepped back.

"Then I will see you in the audience chamber, I wish to see my sire and dam as soon as possible."

A little smile was left on Thor’s face once the dumbfounded look passed. Loki would likely see both before they parted ways and Thor left to return to his chambers to dress more appropriately for an audience. And to figure out how exactly a person was meant to tend to a wound.

Laufey and Farbauti, along with Helblindi, were in the antechamber of the throne room when Loki entered and despite his usual decorum, Farbauti rushed to take their little fyri into his arms. “You had us worried. Helblindi thought you had been killed.”

Helblindi might cause a whole world of problems over this. He’d seen the Bifrost, he’d seen Asgardians approach his brother but whatever scuffle had occurred had not been long enough to allow him to approach poor Loki and aide him. That was probably for the best, considering all that had later happened.

Loki laughed as he was caught up in his sire's arms, though only for a moment before he pushed himself free. He enjoyed their affection and loved that they loved him, but he hated to be picked up and carried as though he were still a child. It belittled him, something that happened too frequently for a runt in a world of giants.

"Some of the Odinson's friends thought to 'rescue' him, entirely without permission or support. They are being punished on Asgard now, and no harm has been done."

He thought it best not to go into what he had seen and heard on Asgard itself.

"You will be pleased with the future King of Asgard, he is readying himself now to pay all respect he can to the King and Consort of Jotunheim. He has even brought hearth-gifts."

“He is three weeks late on hearth-gifts,” Loki’s sibling muttered. He didn’t like Thor. He hated Asgard as a whole but Thor really rubbed him the wrong way. “Did you put him up to this?”

He didn’t want to lose the throne to Loki. The fyri was his kin and his life but he was too chaotic and too hard to pin down. He would never sit on the throne. He would likely just make a manic mess of it.

And that includes alliances with Asgard... and who knew what else?

“Or trick him to violate the Ways?” And there was the heart of the matter. Even Laufey’s eyes turned towards his son.

"Ah, my sibb, you ever think the worst of me. We travelled to Vanaheim by Bifrost, observed by the Watcher, and with the full consent and knowledge of the All-Father. Our exile has not been violated, war is not coming upon us, I have been granted dispensation as the Odinson's Guide."

But yes, of course he had tricked Thor into going out of Jotunheim, he wanted to see the other realms and he had made it so.

"Are we not attempting to bring peace between our realms? Why question if he came on the idea of these hearth-gifts alone, or if the custom was explained to him? I think you are too ready for war, Helblindi, and should be careful."

What an amazing thing, to see Helblindi look genuinely embarrassed by Loki’s turn of phrase? He had no answer for Loki and fell silent, even as Laufey gave Loki a nod of approval.

“Asgard has wronged us, though we can not allow that to perpetuate. It is not the fault of many of the people of the Realm. The fault lies solely with Odin. We must take what we can in hopes of rebuilding Jotunheim.” He unfurled a very large hand towards his child, so Loki might touch his hand to it. So small that his eldest was, Laufey was always careful with him.

Loki was a blessing but Laufey often wished he had three normal children. No longer. He was becoming shrewd and would be a wise and wonderful leader in his own right.

“You have done well to broker this, as much as I had feared your nature would take this in another direction. Let us head to the throne room to meet the Odinson properly. Helblindi, find your younger sibb.” Laufey rose slowly and Farbauti took his arm as they left the antechamber. Thor would not be long, and with Bylestir too. They chatted amicably, much to Helblindi’s chagrin.

Loki loved Helblindi dearly, and he could see a purpose for his brother as the leader of Jotunheim's armies under a different King, one that could temper him into a blade to strike where it was needed, rather than a blunt instrument that destroyed all it touched uselessly.

He still waited until he was alone with his dam and sire before he spoke again, voice soft and light.

"Asgard still stands at the pinnacle of Yggdrasil and will for millennia, it holds too much fealty from other realms to be challenged. It will be a long road for Jotunheim to stand in its proper place again, but think how much might be gained if a Jotnar had the ear of the next All-Father. Think what it might do if the next All-Mother were to be of our realm."

He was just saying.

He had always known that he would never marry for love, if he married at all. To sell himself for the betterment of his realm was a sacrifice he was willing to make.

Thor wouldn’t know what the plan was but now that Loki’s parents had heard, they approved. It made very good sense for Loki to use his powers in this way and they wanted whatever Loki did as far as happiness. Had Loki become King... well. Offspring would have been difficult to come by from a Jotun. Bylestir might well become Loki’s heir at that point. They did not wish for the dilution of their blood, however.

Farbauti could feel his King’s annoyance and he bent to a knee to speak with Loki more closely.

“Heirs to this throne with Aesir blood? It will be unpopular,” he said for surely his son would know that it could cause him to lose the Jotnar throne. “However, though your dam will not wish to hear this, All-Mother is the higher title. And you will do much good. Perhaps even more good for this Realm as the All-Father will have Jotnar kyn.”

His hand did not brush Loki’s cheek, but nearly cupped half of his body.

“You must become pleasing to him. Your magic will allow you to look more like his lot. It will not change who you are beneath. Use your wiles.” Farbauti did not hold punches. “It will be as I was with your dam. I forced him to notice me above all others. I even had some of my sides shaved.”

Laufey laughed, snowy and like ice falling. “I noticed you before you altered yourself. You were always pleasing to me.”

"Please do not begin this march down the lanes of history, I do not know if I can escape unscathed from what you will tell me."

Perhaps that was a constant in all realms, children being embarrassed by their parents and yet loving them all the same. He knew that the two of them had a rare relationship for a political one, one full of love, and he cherished that. He might not have it himself, but he could likely become fond of Thor and he would make certain that the Odinson would live and die for him.

"Any children I bore would be more fyri than Aesir, my blood runs strong. I will not give up my claim to the throne that may be my birthright, I intend to stand for it once my dam returns to the ice, and will do so as All-Mother as well if I must."

Honest and ambitious, but not grasping. He did not eagerly await his father's death, and he would not resent Bylestir gaining the throne; or Helblindi, but only if he managed to get a check on his temper.

"I will have him find me pleasing in my true form. It will do no good to the Jotnar cause if I must wear Aesir skin and pretend to be one of them. I tell you this because you may need to approach the All-Father, a marriage of this sort of union must be brokered in the proper ways."

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