fossilised | Jotunheimr

Loki was not afraid of this mortal, he knew that he was the superior in both magic and physical strength, but he was definitely intrigued. He had never heard of mortals with magic before, and this connection to seidr felt... odd. As though it were channelled between bits of his clothing rather than running through his veins. On his finger there was a ring, round his neck there was an amulet of considerable power, and his cloak-- definitely odd.

He followed and sat in one of the chairs that he was offered, sniffing the beverage offered to him with interest. He had never had tea before.

"You are awfully hospitable to a stranger visiting from a foreign land. I can assume there is reason to this beyond mere kindness."

“I’ve made it my business to personally meet anyone that comes from outside of our world personally,” the man said, prim and proper, drinking his tea as if he did this sort of thing every day. Truthfully, this was only his second interdimensional being, and he truly was not all that amused to have this one here if he would be anything like the last.

The last one still gave him a fair amount of nightmares.

At least Loki wasn’t on the verge of passing out this time. The tea was warm and the air-conditioning of the building was cool, but having changed himself into a human, at least outwardly, did made it easier for his body to regulate. Otherwise, Stephen would be having a different conversation right now.

“Where are you from? And what’s your intention here?”

Interesting that he could tell that Loki wasn't human, what gave him away? His clothing was Midgardian, his language was Midgardian and, as a shapeshifter, his body was far more accurately Midgardian than his companions who remained Aesir in different clothing. It surely could not be his seidr, could it?

"Why do you not believe that I am not as you, simply capable of magic innately and yet of this world?"

Unless this man was not of this world either, which might make more sense as to why he was a sorcerer, of course. Though why any alien would come to Midgard and not be noticed by Heimdall before now would be interesting to find out.

"I have committed no slight that I am aware of, I have only walked your streets."

“Mmmm, you’re definitely not from around here. People don’t talk like that. Not even with your accent…which is pretty good by the way. Probably because you’re using magic to make yourself understandable.” He’d not been at this for all too long, but when you are stuck in a loop for what amounts to a near eternity trying to kill something, you get to override that steep learning curve simply by time and energy expended.

He was so powerful, seemingly overnight, because he had been doing this for a very, very long time.

He tried not to think about that.

“And I didn’t say you were in trouble. We’d be having a different sort of conversation otherwise.” He smiled. It was one of those overly superior smiles.

The smile grated on his nerves. He could accept some amount of smugness from Aesir, because they could actually back up their arrogance to some extent, but this mortal? He might have power, and perhaps he even knew how to use it, but Loki was a Jotnar Fyri. He had breathed magic since the day he had been born a millennia ago, he was far and away this creature's superior.

"Is that so?"

He smiled, his own overly polite in a way that would no doubt have had Thor or Bylestir looking for an exit for whatever vitriol or taunt might be coming.

"Tell me, little one, what conversation would we be having should I have decided to cause trouble? I should hate to offend one with such great power, after all."

“I’m not interested in a pissing contest here,” the human said. Honestly, what was with the egos of everyone lately? This was like that one time he had to deal with Tony Stark. Never again, not with Stark and not with this guy here. “So you can keep it in your pants. Imagine some great battle where you beat me if you want to.”

He was by no means anything other than an egoist, but Strange didn’t mind canning it for awhile when he had to. He’d been taught pretty well.

“You still haven’t told me why you’re here. Strolling down the street sounds pretty boring and I don’t take you for a pretty boring sort of person.”

Loki would not have brought out his own threats of power if this odd mortal had not insinuated that he held the power here, and that if he had chosen to, he could have had Loki trapped and punished for breaking some kind of peace.

He leaned back in his chair and shrugged, innocent and open. He had no reason to tell the truth, and so a lie would ultimately serve him better here.

"Your world is one that I have never visited, though I have heard many tales of it growing up, I simply wished to look around. I intend no harm, nor to be here longer than a year at the most, we have no quarrel."

“A year?” Yikes. “Don’t you think that’s a pretty long time for a vacation?” He didn’t have time to babysit someone for a year, or even to keep an eye on him for that long. There were so many other things to put his mind too. Especially since so many sorcerers had been killed in the recent past. Stephen was just one man, after all, no matter how powerful he had become. “That’s probably not going to work. One accidental slight to the wrong person could start a war and this planet really can’t afford that right now. You understand.”

This guy might not be telling him the whole truth, but Stephen believed in being open.

“It might be interesting in swapping recipes, but the vast majority of the people here don’t even know that people like me exist. So to have them meet someone like you… It’s just not a good time.” He had a feeling that whatever he said wasn’t going to matter.

He just didn’t want to send this guy through a loop for awhile until he could out how to send him home.

“I’m not trying to be rude. But there are enough wars going on right now. How about you hang out and sightsee for a week or two and then go home?”

A year being a long time... this was perhaps the first moment that Loki became truly struck by how ephemeral and impermanent the mortals were. They lived only a century, at the most, of course they would see each one of those hundred years as a long and precious piece of time. To the Aesir and Jotnar, a year was nothing, barely worth mentioning as a time to be away and exploring other realms.

He regarded the mortal sorcerer with an expression akin to pity for a moment, before his face smoothed out and he rose to his feet gracefully, straightening the odd jacket that he wore.

"I am afraid that I cannot promise such a thing. But you have my word, I do not intend harm to this realm or her people. I advise you to allow my companions and I the space we require, this should not escalate into a fight for the sake of either of our people."

Should Loki be seen causing problems on Midgard, Asgard might decide that Jotunheim was still too dangerous to be allowed after all.

"Is this an accord we can reach?"

Others? Great.

“I’ve got this feeling that it doesn’t matter what I say.” He would just keep an eye on this one and on the others. He touched the medallion on his chest for a moment before he stood, almost too quickly. “But we can’t stay here. I think one of your friends has gotten himself admitted to the hospital.”

Thor actually felt just fine. He had his strength back, he was no longer apt to bleeding, but the people on the bus that hit him were absolutely not all right. Hitting him had been like hitting a wall and he had completely destroyed the bus. He’d also been a bit dazed, and as Fandral watched, Thor was loaded into a loud, metal, flashing vehicle and whisked off.

He was almost too shocked for words and, considering that Thor would likely make a mess of things, set off to follow at a run.

He could only keep up for so long, however.

And that meant that Thor would be alone at the A and E.

Hospital was a word that Loki did not know, and so he assumed it was some kind of holding cell for those who might have committed crime or offence. Somehow he didn't doubt that the friend that this mortal spoke of was Thor, not any of the others. He was very fond of Thor, but the man was an idiot sometimes, and especially when face to face with a culture he was unfamilair with.

"Of course he has."

Loki sighed and passed a hand over his face, odd not feeling his Kyn-lines under his fingertips, and stood to stride towards the door.

"He has the brain of a drunken ox and I apologise for his behaviour, it seems I was incorrect in thinking he might be capable of caring for himself. Tell me how to find this 'hospital' and what should be offered as reparation for his deeds."

Really? The guy’s last name was Strange. He’d gone from surgeon to acolyte of magic in the span of a few short years. He’d battled a reality devouring demon. Why, then, was it so weird to meet a shapeshifting alien with magic? He didn’t know, but it just was.

“Hospital-- It’s a place they take people who are sick or hurt,” he explained, already moving his hand to open up a portal. The bright flash of gold from his finger tutting might catch Loki’s eye, but if it didn’t, he would clear his throat. He had gotten very good at popping out into janitorial closets in hospitals and that was what Loki would see through the circle. “We should probably see to this together?”

Mops, cleaning supplies, and the smell of both filled their nostrils as they stepped through the ring. The air here was cooler than it had been before, the hospital kept colder on purpose so as to not foster germs.

“Let me do the talking,” he said to Loki and pulled off his protesting cloak to roll it up under his arm.

This gave a little more insight to Loki as to where the power came from. Though the mortal possessed some small innate connection to seidr, someone or something had imbued these items with a greater amount of seidr, making them be the focal point of whatever needed to be done. An elegant solution for a race that was not naturally gifted in these areas.

He stepped out into the small room and its odd smell, and observed as his new human companion started tucking the obviously sentient cloak under his arm. He had seen many enchanted items of clothing, obviously, and so he reached out to run a finger down one seam, his voice the low hiss of the Jotnar language, like freshly fallen snow.

"Be still, there is no danger here."

Stephen would probably be surprised to find that his cloak went limp and easily allowed itself be folded then.

Strange glanced down at the cape and then at Loki before he nodded. “Thanks,” he said, genuinely. “You’ll have to show me how you did that.” For now, everything will remain more or less as is while they try to track down a newly brought in man.

“What’s your friend’s name?” He hadn’t asked Loki yet and being American, he hadn’t given his either. It hadn’t been important at the time, but now it was how they were going to find out where the other interdimensional being Loki had been with was.

He was absolutely not prepared to hear the name.

“Thor. Really? You’ve been reading too many books. Did you take a mythological name too?”

Mythological?

The look that Loki gave Strange was absolutely baffled. He could understand tales of Odin and his son being told, but how were they anything other than history or fact? Even if mortals lived so long, surely true histories were passed down through the generations?

"I am Loki," he said simply, leaving off his Kyn name and title even though it felt wrong. "You must forgive me if I do not know your myths. I can assure you that the Thor who is my companion is a real man, overly much on occasion."

“Loki. God of mischief. Right. Clever names,” Strange said with an air of someone who wasn’t buying any of this crap. He just shrugged and left it at that, leading the way through the circuitous hallways towards the nurse’s station. “Excuse me, yes hello,” he said with importance, “we are looking for someone just brought in. Thor?”

The woman glanced at him, and then through the papers that had been dropped off not long before. “Yes… Thor Odinson?”

Strange wanted to groan. He did so inwardly. “That’s right.”

“Looks like he has been taken to the psychiatric ward so we can bring him down from whatever drugs he’s taken,” the nurse said, which was probably more information than she was supposed to give out but Strange had a commanding presence and maybe a little magical know-how to get his way.

He glanced at Loki and nodded. “I know the way. Come with me.”

He might have understood histories speaking of Thor Odinson, but not Loki Laufeybarn. He had been born as the war was almost over, how did his name come to be in the books here? He had no idea that one of the Aesir who used to be a farmer, turned warrior when forced by Hela, and had been sickened by the treatment of the Jotnar, had stayed behind on Midgard in hiding. He had written the Poetic Edda using the names of Odin's young son, and Laufey's son, the news of which had reached him just before he went into hiding.

He made them two of the most memorable characters, at war but also with a loving relationship often, in the hope that one day this might come true again. The rest had been pure fancy, a way to pass the time.

Loki looked sidelong at Strange as they walked through the hospital corridors, waving a hand at the Warriors Three and Lady Sif as they stood in the waiting room, looking confused.

"Come with us, we are going now to Thor's side."

"Loki!" That was Volstagg, relief clear on his face as he strode up. "Thor refused to fight his way out, he said this could be solved without strength of arm. I am worried, that is not like him."

Loki, however, smiled. Those were his lessons coming into play and he was well pleased. "Do not be afraid, we will liberate him. Hogun, Volstagg, Fandral, Sif; this is Doctor Strange, a new companion of mine."

Strange wasn’t as well read on the Edda and so these names meant little to him. Having Loki somehow divine his name, and his title, did bother him a little. He wasn’t quite sure why. There was no reason for it. He’d done much stranger things thus far.

Of course, the whole group of them could not go and break Thor out and so Stephen held up a hand. “Wait. No. You all will wait here. I have some pull and I will get your friend out of this situation. Trust me on this one.” He didn’t wait around for the rest to figure out what they wanted to do, he just disguised himself in a coat and headed through the swinging doors.

True to his word, in less than ten minutes, ‘Thor’ appeared, in a strange blue and white gown without a back, Stephen following quickly with his clothes.

“I do not care at all for Midgard’s hospitality!”

"Perhaps not, but their choice in clothing is to be commended."

Loki grinned, half teasing, as he shot a rather pointed look at Thor's naked buttocks. The quip pleased Fandral, for it was his sort of humour, and he laughed appreciatively, which gained him a warmer look from Loki. Perhaps he would find that he could tolerate other Aesir after all.

"Did your father not tell you to keep secret who we were, and now you have found yourself judged insane by mortal standards. What did you do, Odinson?"

"He entered mighty battle with a Midgardian skiff," Volstagg supplied, already laughing. "Though he came out the worse, the skiff became reduced to nothing, so I might call it a draw."

“I have seen no skiff like it. Tall and red, angry. Why do so many people feel need to move together? And why is it so overcrowded? If feels like a war camp here, with much less singing and festivities.” Thor had no shame, crossing his arms and ignoring the human that kept trying to get him to take the clothing. Instead, all of those gathered in the waiting area just seemed hellbent on getting them all dragged right back into the psych ward. Strange rolled his eyes and, quickly, cast a spell to keep them all from being seen. It was better to do this between planes than to have to deal with lookerson.

They all noticed the sudden oddity of the bent reality and Fandral was quick to lose his humour. Sif, as well, though she took up a weapon to the human’s throat for his arrogance and spellcraft. “Undo what you’ve done—”

Strange did not. He simply jumped away. He might not want to pick a fight here but he also didn’t want to be fought with.

Oh, Norns, this was just what they needed.

Why were all Aesir so quick to battle, as if any weapon would do anything other than make things worse? If they killed the sorcerer who brought them here, then they would be trapped. Or, they would be if it had just been them, Loki had no such issues.

He simply waved a hand and a tear in the fabric of reality appeared, a way through the hidden branches of Yggdrasil back from this warped world and into the odd room full of chemicals and cleaning supplies that Strange had first taken him into.

"Do not be so hasty, you are hardly trapped. Go back through if this otherness offends you so, I do not believe harm was meant, only to take us from prying Midgardian eyes."

At least one person here was sane. Strange had started to wonder just who he was dealing with. It felt a little like a science fiction story, aliens and inter dimensional beings raising up the moniker of god to impress people. Perhaps they just selected names at random. He didn’t know and it wasn’t relevant.

“Tell me something. If you are what your friends says you are, here to travel and observe, let me be the first to tell you that you’re doing it all wrong. I’m here to protect my planet. You’re causing it a lot of distress. People were hurt because you don’t understand the rules here and I don’t have time to teach them to you. But if you’re going to be hit by buses and injure two dozen people, there’s going to be a problem.”

And not just with him. Iron Man would want in on this. And maybe Captain America too if rumors were true that they’d found him.

Thor looked concerned and turned towards his friends. “It is not anyone’s attention to cause harm. I believe we will need a guide.”

“Maybe. But it won’t be me,” Strange said.

"Perhaps you would at least guide Thor and his companions to a local hostelry and see them with food and into rooms for the night."

Loki tilted his head towards Thor, trying not to seem too impatient. He was also out of place here; more so even than the Aesir, for he had travelled beyond his own realm far less than they and would be much less welcome if revealed as what he was, and yet he managed to observe and not make a fool of himself.

"If you await me within the rooms of a hostelry where you cannot create more trouble, I will find us a suitable guide and return to you with them."

If anyone was smart enough to do that, it would be him.

“No.” Strange groaned. “I can’t have you people running around like it’s all right to let a bus smash into you. And I can’t have you telling the whole world who you are. You’ll just make trouble. Most people aren’t ready for you.”

And he was pretty sure that was the truth from what he had seen. Most people were just happy to go about their lives as if nothing else mattered and any upset in that balance?

It wasn’t a good thing. Not at all.

Thor frowned. “This Realm is under my protection, granted to you by Odin All-Father himself. It has been for many millennia.”

“Has it? Because no one here will have ever heard of you.”

Loki was becoming very tired of Strange. This mortal sorcerer had driven him from his goal, made demands of them, transported Aesir who had no magic themselves to get back from another pocket realm, and had overall been an irritant. The chaos in him refused to play nice any longer.

"You have not the right to detain us or to command our actions. I have told you that we mean no harm to Midgard, and I have spoken truly. If you do not believe those words, then I no longer care to try and convince you. Thor-- companions, do as I say and return to a hostelry. I will find a suitable guide."

Loki gestured for them to step through the portal he had made and, when they had, he simply disappeared. He had magic beyond what Strange had, and he was done allowing him to dictate the day. Now-- to find a guide. The leader of this realm would be best, it would be disrespectful to ignore that when they were two princes visiting.

It took a short while for him to work out who ruled, but eventually he found that mortals, much like dwarves, worshipped money and ever increasing technology. And so, apparently their ruler was a man called Tony Stark, stupid name, and that was who he would go to.

It would be the very early hours of the morning when JARVIS paused the music blaring out as his master perfected yet another suit of armour and interrupted in his ever-polite voice. "Reception has sent an alert that you have a visitor, sir. Apparently he is expected, should I have them send him away?"

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