fossilised | Jotunheimr

Tony lifted his chin to look at Loki, not only because he was so tall, but because he liked looking down his nose at people. It was one of the habits he did try to, but never managed to, break. “Uh... Huh. Okay, how about you sit down here and I’ll just call some people— J, I think we have another BCF incident—?”

“I’ll handle it, sir,” JARVIS said, leaving Tony to stand there with his hands in his pockets. He really needed to get working on those subdermal neural implants. He could probably use a suit call button too. The male BCF’s (basket case fans) were usually more prone to violence. The females were usually more willing to leave with a hug in lieu of their planned desire for love at first sight. Tony had a girlfriend. Pepper was in no danger. Not even by the biggest of racks.

“Why don’t you just sit down. I don’t need any gifts. Thanks but— Well if I want something I just buy it, you know? And I’m not interested in any art. Not even art of myself. So. Thanks but— You can always just go. I won’t say a word.” But he would have him tagged and followed for awhile. Fans could be dangerous. Very dangerous.

Especially British ones.

“I have no art of you; if that is a common reparation gift then I will have some procured. However, I ask that you give me an audience before this. I do not come alone, a delegation from the All-Father accompanied me and we are in need of a guide. We shall not impose on your realm long, only as long as our business requires, and we intend you no harm.”

Loki glanced around for the source of the voice and was irritated that he couldn’t even sense it. This seidr user must be powerful indeed to cloak even his presence as well as his physical form. Loki would need to be ready lest this did turn into a fight for he might be outclassed. He would do his best not to let it escalate to there.

“If it is prying eyes you fear, do not, I can take you to them by unseen ways.”

Tony’s jaw clenched. This was a threat, no one could mistake that. He pressed his lips together and made a step to the side. “I really think you should go.” He also really hoped JARVIS would deliver on the police sooner rather than later. Tony tried to stay above board on these things so he didn’t seem so much like a vigilante the papers sometimes reported him as being. The news was not always his friend, just like the government was not always his friend. “I don’t grant audiences.” He mocked the accent, which probably was a bad idea but he couldn’t help himself. “I don’t do meetings. And I don’t like it when people threaten me in my own house.”

He was on edge. Nervous. Afraid. And also pretty damned annoyed. All of these things Loki might get a sense of, coming off of this mortal’s skin. Or maybe he’d sense it in his chest.

“No one has to be stupid here. No one has to fill out paperwork with the authorities. Just walk yourself out.”

Loki did not understand the fear coming off the mortal ruler, nor his words. Loki had not been threatening him; if anything, he had been trying to offer him comfort and consideration. He understood that being seen going to a delegation might be a sensitive issue, and so he offered secrecy, and he had made sure to say that none of them meant any harm.

Irritation coloured his words now, was this ruler of simple mind that he couldn't understand the most basic of conversations?

"I have not threatened you. I understand that you may not be comfortable with a Jotnar delegation, but you are shaming your realm by treating me so. Our differences have other truths than you might have been taught, and you are showing not even a basic courtesy to me."

"Sir, you will be having more visitors in three minutes." That was JARVIS' way of letting Tony know how soon the police would be arriving.

Loki span around, face furrowed in a frown. "And you! Coward! I hear you, do not think to hide yourself like a knife in the dark. We have no quarrel and yet all I have been shown here is disrespect!"

Was this what it was like to listen to him? He couldn’t understand half of what this guy was saying but now that he was getting upset, that just made Tony even more worried. “Jot— What? Is that British slang for something? Listen, I have no idea who you are and as much as I would really like to put down your brand of trouble right now, not tonight. I have a date with pizza I’m technically not allowed to have for my health, which is ridiculous because I take very good care of myself, and I really don’t need you enacting a medieval suicide pact here for my attention.”

Three minutes was a really long time to wait here and Tony planted his heels to... do what? Try to dodge a bullet? He couldn’t tell if this guy was packing a gun or not but he really didn’t want to end up like John Lennon. Not yet at least. He still have a few good years left of making the world a better place.

He put his hands up to show he was no threat just as JARVIS, with all of the politeness that Tony programmed into him, explained: “I am an artificial intelligence. I lack a body and I am not hiding from you.”

He was also sending down the armor in the elevator, in full sentry mode. Hopefully it could react quickly before this man did and potentially hurt Stark.

“Listen. Listen, no one is insulting anyone here. But you have to admit that you’re talking a little unstable here.” And this was what Strange had been talking about.

The majority of the people here did not know him.

This was incredibly frustrating and Loki had no idea how to really proceed. He did not want to be here when more visitors arrived, he was no fool and he understood that was likely code for armed guards. Or possibly seidr users like Strange had been and this JARVIS surely was. He had no idea what an artificial intelligence was, but Stark was his main priority.

He exhaled forcefully, and made himself speak more calmly, entreating.

"Listen, I have come to you because you rule this realm. I do not wish you harm, I wish only to speak to you in private. I will answer any questions you may have and provide any proofs you may need of my word, but I will not be thrown from here as though I were a drunkard in an inn past closing."

He stood up and allowed his shape to shift back into his true form, pale skin becoming blue with Kyn lines, and green eyes becoming crimson.

"Perhaps it was my form that had you confused, but you can see that I truly am a Jotnar."

"Sir," JARVIS said, with a twinge of concern that he technically shouldn't be able to feel. "I advise taking a step back, your BCF has a current body temperature of minus five hundred degrees centigrade." Which was, technically, physically impossible at nearly twice absolute zero on the Kelvin scale. But it was still what JARVIS registered the temperature at.

Edited 2018-01-11 17:35 (UTC)

Now was not the time to be impressed, nor was it the time to stand his ground, eyes wide. At least Tony wasn’t prone to just randomly touching things. He couldn’t help but suddenly look impressed and curious. “J, call off the Calvary. I think I’m going to-- Wait. Do you think I rule the planet? Wow, J. Record that. I want that for my ring tone. And tell Pep-- No. Don’t. She’ll decide to come back too soon.”

Tony kind of wanted to hang out with an alien on his own before he let the World Council in on this pretty awesome development.

“Not to disappoint you, but I don’t rule everything. There’s no one person that rules everything. I still don’t know what you’re supposed to be, unless Roswell really happened and the government is covering it up, I don’t think humanity has met aliens before-- Oh shit. Do you guys walk among us in people suits? Is that what that last thing was? Wow. What sort of power source are you using for that?” The elevator pinged and Tony waved the armor to stand out. “Come upstairs with me? Wait. If we stand too close in there, will I freeze to death? Are you using a thermal dampener?”

At least Stark was no longer attempting to throw him from the building with disrespect, but it seemed that Strange had told him the truth and his kind was not instantly recognisable here. That took the breath from his lungs effectively, how could this be? Did the mortals not keep histories of what had happened on their realm? Did they think themselves wholly alone on the branches of Yggdrasil? Did they not even know the meaning of Midgard any longer?

“You do rule this realm,” was his first rejoinder, as inadequate as it was. “I researched your people and I see that you worship money as a species and many of your texts make mention of you as the King of Tech.”

He had no idea how much he must be stroking Tony’s ego to know that an alien species would think that he ruled the world. Loki changed form once again to his mortal skin and spread his hands.

“It would be unwise to touch me in my natural form, it would likely kill you. This is no suit, I am a shapeshifter and can take mortal form. My companions are not so gifted, but are from a race physically similar to yours. Have you truly no memory of Jotnar or Aesir? It has only been a single millennia since we last walked here!”

Edited 2018-01-11 18:46 (UTC)

“King of tech—” Oh, he liked that. He headed for the elevator and waited for him to enter first, next to the animated armor, before he stepped inside. He didn’t notice a chill coming directly off of Loki’s skin, still blue (and interesting!) but he thought that perhaps it was merely touch-activated. And that was cool too. He’d see the scans, which happened automatically, later and try to puzzle it out. “Technology. And I do rule that. But technology is things, machines, gadgets. Not people. I employ people. I help people. So you picked me because of a few magazines?”

Oh, that tickled him that he was better thought of than the president or any of the other ruling bodies.

Tony was nothing if not a creature of supreme ego after all. “What’s Aesir? J, Aesir?”

“The Aesir are a mythical people proclaimed as gods by the Norse pantheon,” JARVIS said helpfully. “Also a fictional race of beings in multiple science fiction media such as Stargate.”

Loki was not comfortable until he stood in his pale mortal skin again for he did not want to accidentally kill Stark with a mere touch. Perhaps he was not a ruler, but it seemed true that mortals worshipped money and people with money. The texts of this realm has called him hero, warrior, and King of technology, that had to count for something. He hoped that he had not made too grave a mistake in coming here.

“Gods, yes, but it is not just the Aesir who are Gods. Some Vanir and some Jotnar, even some dwarves, may become Gods. The Norns speak at the birth of a God and gift them their title. I am not Aesir, but I am a God. I am Loki-Fyri, Laufeybarn, God of mischief, lies, and stories.”

He stood at ease beside the odd sentry of metal and listened to the weird music being piped in.

“The companions I spoke of are four Aesir and a Vanir, but only one is a God. That is Thor Odinson, God of Thunder. But we are also accompanied by Volstagg, Hogun, Fandral, and the Lady Sif.”

“That is not strictly true,” JARVIS decided to pipe in. “Sif is listed as one of the Aesir gods. Goddess of soil. The other three I can find no reference of.” What JARVIS said gave Tony pause.

And then it made him smile as he strolled out of the elevator, leaving Loki and the suit behind to follow. The armor would follow Loki out and stand guard at the door.

Stark Tower was as opulent as the home of Strange but in a very different fashion. Everything was clean and metallic with bright lights instead of dark wood and age. “So you’re making half of this up. You’re taking stories and attributing them to suit you huh? Are you really Loki? Did you used to come around a few thousand years ago and make trouble for us? And now you’re upset that no one remembers you?”

Tony wasn’t very familiar with the whole Norse pantheon or the epic poetry. He didn’t even remember his social security number.

“Drink?”

Sif was listed as a God because the Aesir farmer who had stayed behind after the war, and who had considered soil an important aspect of his life, had thought fondly of the young girl for kindness her family had shown to his in the past. Not that Loki knew any of this and there was true confusion on his face.

"I have never visited Midgard, I was born when the war was in its final days, I passed my millennial only a few months past."

He was only just a man in his majority.

"I can assure you that I am making nothing up, though I am given to lies it would hardly suit my purpose now."

A millennia. Sure. That was normal. Loki hadn’t said either way if he wanted a drink so Tony poured two glasses, standing behind the bar in the main area. “So what would suit your purpose then? Attempting to blend in but really failing miserably is probably the only purpose you’ve suited so far. Guess it does take more than looks to get by in the world.”

At least Loki’s earlier words were starting to make sense now that he had context for them.

Tony capped the glass bottle and held out a tumbler to his now better suited to be around him guest. He didn’t hate the blue though that was a reminder that he was something Other. And Tony wished he still had that.

"So it seems."

Loki took the glass and sniffed the liquid in interest before taking a sip. Not bad, earthier than mead, with a sharpness that he quite enjoyed, not something that he had tasted before.

"Midgard has been closed to the Ways as long as Jotunheim, and yet we did not think to see so much-- different. Your realm has advanced and changed in ways that we could not have identified, and we require a guide to assist us in navigating your realm without causing incident as we continue on our task."

“You want me to do what?” He couldn’t help but wrinkle his nose slightly, as if there were bubbles in his drink causing his nostrils to tingle. “You’re speaking a lot of gibberish for a supposedly advanced species and now you want me to show you around? You do realize how crazytown that sounds, right?”

Tony downed the entire glass and poured himself another. Pepper was trying to get him to lay off the scotch but there were just times that it was impossible to do anything without the fortification of alcohol in his veins.

“Sure. Why not,” he said as the tumbler touched the bar again. “First Contact, Tony Stark. New York City. Sounds about right. But if you try to invade I’m going to get really mad.”

Loki's eyes widened in sudden surprise, mild anger, and then he nodded his head with a reluctantly impressed expression. He had underestimated this mortal, and he had just been bested in a game of wit and insult, something that had not happened to him in a very long time.

Of course, he assumed that Stark knew what he was saying when he insinuated that the Jotnar might invade.

"I can assure you, we had no thoughts of invasion when last we were here. We fled another war seeking to regroup, that is all. Midgard holds no allure to us, your realm cannot support our life."

And it already belonged to the Aesir.

"Now, you may ask questions if you desire to make you more comfortable, and then we must return to Thor Odinson and his companions."

Questions? “I’m a more hands on person. I think we can figure it out as we go along.” And he could barely understand half of what Loki was saying. Obviously it had a whole lot to do with the fact that he was dealing with a set of vocabulary that Tony wasn’t privy to. Not yet at least. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned on hip against the bar, regarding Loki as he might a very interesting program he was itching to crack.

And in a way, he was just that.

“The only thing I really want to know is what you were expecting when you came here? And how along ago you guys decided to stomp around on Earth and make the Vikings thing you were gods?”

He’s get the rest of the answers out later. Like what he meant about the war for instance. You’d think that would be recorded in history.

Loki was beginning to wonder if he had made a terrible mistake in coming here, Stark seemed touched in the mind and unaware of the gravity of this situation, as if this were all a game instead of lives at stake. He sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face, trying not to let this get under his skin too much.

"I do not know the last time Aesir walked here, though I believe no less than eight centuries ago. Jotnar have not been here for a millennia, the last time we walked on this realm was in the year of my birth."

Obviously he didn't remember it.

"We did not expect much to have changed, and yet we find your skylines and even air altered beyond recognition. We are here seeking the source of a great pulse of magic, something which should not exist on Midgard."

Just about everything that Loki said made exactly zero sense. “I’ve heard conspiracies about aliens landing in Area 51 in the 40s, but no Acers and Yojimbos walking around,” Tony said, setting down his glass before he gestured for Loki to follow him into another room. “I can explain the air quality change though. Industrialization will do that. We’re working to reverse it but green energy isn’t as cheap as you’d hope and I might have been trying to corner the market on getting it to the people that need it, but the red tape is ridiculous.”

See? Tony can speak in tongues too.

“Okay, J. I need you to do a mass scan on this whole aliens walking the Earth thing. And I need the results broken down into like... four paragraphs. I think I have the attention span for that. Dig deep into anything relevant. Same with this source of magic thingie.” He made a little rotating wrist gesture and then shrugged and moved on. JARVIS knew what he was looking for and Tony had a really limited capacity for attention. He was already onto the next thing.

Namely:

“What’s it like living so long? Don’t you get bored? I’m bored after ten minutes.” Tony was easily charming, manic, and interested. He couldn’t help it. Loki was the most interesting person he’d ever met.

There was so much that this mortal said which made no sense to Loki, even with his gift of All-Speak. The words made sense in that they were translated, but put together they were baffling and nonsensical. And yet he found himself invigorated, these humans moved at such a pace that it was almost dizzying, a necessity of their short lives, and it sang to him and the chaos in his soul.

"A matter of perspective, I expect," he responded with a smile. "Does a mayfly bemoan the few weeks of life it has, or a direwolf become bored for living a hundred times as long as that mayfly? It is all they know. I am Jotnar, I only became of age on my millennia and I shall live many millennia yet, but this is not unusual for my people, so why should I be bored?"

Yet wasn't he? Is this not part of the reason why he wanted to ensnare the Odinson as his own and travel other realms?

"If you are amenable to acting as guide for my companions and I, I should take you to meet with them."

Tony loved adding onto his prestige. Time Magazine would probably want to do another piece on him for being a diplomat for the people of earth when this all came out. He knew he should probably get in touch with Pepper. He should probably discuss what he was about to agree to with someone more level headed and less periodically ambitious than he was, but impulse won against reason as always.

“I have some time,” Tony said as if this wasn’t a massive deal to the whole of his species.

And in a way, it kind of wasn’t. Not if aliens had been coming for years. Damn. He really hated that the guy with the huge hair was probably right.

“Are we talking the usual touristy stuff or do you want to go native?”

"We merely need a liaison to ensure we are undetectable as not mortal, we do not wish to cause panic, and we will likely need assistance and guiding once I have properly located the source of the magic we have come to see to."

He rose from the seat that he had sunk down into when they had begun drinking and discussing things in earnest, only to offer a hand to Stark.

"Hold fast to me and do not let go, or I cannot guarantee where you may finish your journey."

It would simply be faster to slip through the fabric on the edges of this realm to get them where they needed to go, rather than walk or take a transport the thousands of miles it was back to London.

Common sense told Stark not to take that hand but curiosity outweighed the worry of some infectious space virus and without any further complaint or even a smart assed comment, Tony took the cooler than he expected hand with his own and immediately felt himself torn from his Tower and into the dark. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust and a moment more for JARVIS to reconnect him to his homebase servers and make sure he was all right. The AI was soothing, to say the least. “Sir, somehow we have managed to be transported to London.”

Maybe this wasn’t so soothing afterall.

Tony pressed the hand that was now no longer touching the alien’s against the wall to steady himself. He didn’t care for feeling dizzy unless he knew the reason why. G-forces? Fine. Random teleportation? Not quite.

“London-- England? Why are we in England?”

"I told you that we would be coming to meet my companions, they are in a hostelry in this city."

At least, he assumed they were. He had told them to find one and await him there, but he didn't know how obedient the Odinson would be when he was in the company of the friends who enabled him in his arrogant and foolish behaviours. At least he could feel Mjolnir, here under the guise of something less conspicuous than the star hammer, and so he could navigate towards their small group.

"Come, we do not have far to go. Be warned, the others are more-- effusive than I, and much much stupider."

He liked Thor, might even come to love him, but the man was a fool sometimes.

Much stupider? Tony didn’t find Loki to be remotely stupid. Unskilled, perhaps, but he did just say that his race hadn’t walked around down on Earth in a few thousand years and humanity had come really far in that time. Look at where they were, after all! Computers, robots, motor vehicles? What did they have back then? Dirt? A lot more unextinct species? Tony thought it was a toss up on which he liked better, though he did staunchly believe in being Green and environmentally sound going forward.

“Your friends, the stupid ones,” he said, falling into step with Loki as they exited a seedy looking (and smelling) alley, “I’m guessing they know even less how to behave? You pretty much gave yourself away immediately. I’m pretty sure that they’re going to stick out even more.”

And that was the truth. Thor and Voldstagg were currently downing their weight in alcoholic beverages in the hotel bar of a very upscale joint in Covent Gardens without any way to pay for it.

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Short phone tag sorry

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