fossilised | Jotunheimr

Coulson wasn’t sure he had the authority to even agree to another possible meeting but he had to make a judgement call here. “I might be able to arrange that, but I need to discuss this first. Stark—“

“I’ve done okay for the last few hours, Agent Coulson, I think I can be trusted babysitting,” Tony snapped back, eye roll and all, and though Coulson hadn’t been planning on questioning that, he let whatever else he’d meant to say go. It was just easier.

He stood from the table, smoothing a hand down his shirt and tie, but let it go at that, without bothering to offer his hand to shake. “Answer your phone when I call,” he told Tony as he left, the elevator swallowing him up as Tony repeatedly hit the lower floor.

Back in the meeting room, Thor sat gingerly on a chair that could barely support him and leaned in towards Loki.

“I am hoping that we will have an excuse to come here many times. Even if we do not need to take whatever is causing the pulse of seidr, we ought to monitor it.”

"It feels like the Casket."

Loki hoped that those simple words, which should be unintelligible to the mortals, but which the others would all understand, would convey the gravity of the situation. This was no mere trinket that they had come to observe, this was something ancient and powerful that sang from across oceans to the seidr inside Loki.

It wanted to be found, it wanted to be used and understood.

"I spoke out of turn and I will not do so again, you were wise to seek a softer touch here to mitigate Asgard's reputation, but do not be so soft a touch that you cannot do what might be necessary."

The Casket? Thor was even more uncertain now about allowing Loki near the artefact. It wasn’t Loki’s to have and while Thor was working on the return of the Casket to Jotunheim, this could not be a replacement.

They were alone for the moment, his friends making banter a room behind them, the mortals struggling with their box-stair and bantering and so this was more private. Thor leaned in to shield his words from any and all that might hurry back to them, face close to Loki’s.

“If it is like the Casket, it may be the only thing keeping this Realm from ruin. But if the mortals do not understand how to use it— Loki, this could be the push that the All-Father needs to return your power source. You must show restraint, perhaps teach the mortals to use their own Casket. But if it proves too dangerous... if it would be better in the vault of the All-Father... I will not hesitate. Midgard, as is Jotunheim, is under my protection. I will not allow it to fall to ruin when I want nothing more than to see all Realms grow to glory.”

Loki very nearly bared his teeth and snarled at Thor that Jotunheim did not need to be under Asgard's protection, that it was a mighty realm of its own with a people proud and strong. It was instinct, he had been raised on the same tales of Asgardian conquerors as everyone else and it was a struggle sometimes to push that down and see Thor for an individual.

Part of him was too in line with Helblindi and his desire for violence, even if he hid it much better.

"I will not betray you." Loki was more astute than to not have seen the flash of worry in Thor's eyes. "I do not lust after power, any power, I am no monster. I wish the return of the Casket, not the heart of another realm, I only wished to illustrate how powerful this thing is."

As far as Thor was concerned, every Realm was under his protection. If he was to be All-Father, a job he did not relish, then all would need to feel important and safe. He wanted to be the strong arm to keep all strife at bay. It was naive of him to think that way and even more naive not to see what his words did to Loki. He assumed that the moment of anger, or annoyance, he saw on his friend’s face had more to do with his words assuming there might be a betrayal than anything else.

“I do not believe you will betray me,” Thor said, fist on the table for emphasis before it flattened back out. “Nor do I believe you will betray these people. I think m there should just be a dialogue between us... openly. I have great confidence in your advice, Loki.”

Thor was a fool with his heart on his sleeve.

Reading between the lines, Loki might understand that Thor was finding a means to drag their conversations and their meetings out. He might not be aware of it himself, it was subtle, but his actions did not favour a quick and speedy end to their journey, but a more leisurely stroll.

Loki was torn between his duties. He wanted to get this done as quickly as possible because he felt the tug of this artefact and he hated feeling as though he were an Aesir lapdog. But he also wanted to string this out and tie Thor closer to him for his longer term goals. Was he strong enough to set aside his own impetuous fire for the sake of the future?

He wasn't sure.

But for now, he set his hand onto Thor's arm, carefully bleeding his skin back to paleness rather than the blue that would cause injury. "Thank you, it is good to hear such things, for I fear your friends do not think so highly of me."

That was not fair, Volstagg had been nothing but friendly, while Fandral and Hogun had been distantly polite, but Sif was obvious in her dislike.

“They’ve yet a chance to get to know you,” Thor said, in all seriousness. “And I think Fandral would not deny you into his furs, for what that may be worth,” he continued, grin to his face. He probably shouldn’t give anyone ideas. He didn’t want Fandral to bed Loki. And he certainly didn’t want Loki to be interested in Fandral of all people!

The man was his friend, and they had shared a partner or two in the past but that partner was not Jotun royalty with whom Thor was somewhat smitten with.

“Give them time, Loki. You seem fast friends with the Midgardian at least. He seems to like me not at all.”

Thor didn’t care about that, though. Stark was not exactly someone he cared much for either.

Loki had to consider, briefly, whether it might be worth inviting Fandral into his furs. Not because he had any real interest in the man, but it might be the push that Thor needed to spark his realisation, especially knowing that the idea had come from his own tongue and that Aesir culture smiled on such pairings.

Something to be considered.

"I find him interesting, but he is only a mortal, a mayfly lives a longer life. So many generations has it been for me to only reach my majority, that the war with Jotunheim and Asgard is now myth believed by almost none."

That still broke his brain a little.

"But perhaps you are right, I will attempt to get to know your companions better, and you should attempt to know our mortal guide so as well."

This was either very good or very bad advice for Thor because it took less than two hours for Stark to be utterly done with the giant blond man who followed him around ‘getting to know him.’ When Coulson called to extend an invitation to meet with Director Fury, he was more than ready to pile Thor and Loki into a car with him and just go.

He hoped his Tower was left standing when he returned. The other Asgardians were very hard on his furniture. And walls. Oh his poor walls.

Tony was not at all prepared for the what he would see when he was led into a conference room with his alien guests behind him, however.

Coulson was there, but so was a blond man ripped right from the pages of the history books Tony eschewed in favor of Modern Mechanic magazine and just about anything else that would not have anything about Steve Rogers written in it. “What is this? Celebrity dress up day?” he asked, hanging back even as Thor and Loki took seats.

Steve wasn't really sure what he was doing here at all. His speciality was Nazis, not aliens ripped right out of Norse mythology, a religion he had never really studied from his youth. But he was here because he'd been asked to stand in and give his insight, and support Coulson if necessary.

He nodded to all of the newcomers when they came in, not forgetting his manners even if this was a bizarre situation, though he did look confused when Tony Stark - wow, Howard actually had a son - spoke up about dress up.

"Not as far as I know, but a lot of things have changed so maybe I missed the memo along the way."

"You didn't," Coulson was quick to reassure his idol. "Tony is just being an idiot as usual, it's best to ignore him. Steve, this is Tony Stark, Thor Odinson, and Loki Laufeyson."

"Laufeybarn." Loki corrected, son and dottir were for other realms, all children were the barn of their dam in Jotunheim.

"Laufeybarn, sorry." Repeated Coulson. "Tony, Thor, and Loki, this is Steve Rogers, he's here to help out with the meeting."

Suddenly, a meeting with intergalactic visitors about a source of technological or magical power didn’t make a lick of difference anymore. He couldn’t stop staring at Steve for what felt like an eternity, but was really just a few seconds.

“Is this some sort of attempt to one up me, Coulson? Because aliens trump formerly frozen super soldiers.” Hr took a seat on the far side of the table instead of the head (where he liked to be) because it was the furthest away from Rogers he could get.

They should have told him.

Someone should have told him. JARVIS had fallen down on the job. He should have been more focused on spying... there were so many things he wanted to say right now to Coulson, but none would be polite.

Fury, of course, made a dramatic entry. He sat where Tony normally would have and took read of the room. Throwing Stark off with Rogers had worked pretty well. “So what’s this I hear about having some sort of magic bullshit in the basement?”

Wow. Well, that was as close to a snub outright as was possible, and Steve couldn't help but wonder what it was he had done that had offended someone that he had never even met. He kept it to himself, though, he wasn't here to get involved in interpersonal relationships, just to observe what was going on in the world now.

Loki wrinkled his nose at the terms the one-eyed leader used, but he took the spotlight here because he was the fyri. None of the others could sense what he could sense, and being in the building was like having it vibrating beneath his feet.

"You possess an artefact of great seidr, something more powerful than any one person could wield safely. I can feel it below us, dormant but fighting to break free. We have come as a delegation of the All-Father of Asgard to make sure such a powerful source of seidr does not provide a threat."

“What sort of threat are you thinking?” Fury asked, mostly trying to gauge the situation. The entire base was on high alert because no one knew anything about these people save for some quickly tapped scholars of mythology who had been working feverishly with the group trying to decipher the tesseract and the ones who handled all of the evidence of alien existence on this planet in the distant past. It had been bad enough when there were only a few dozen covered up leftovers of some massive war fought here during the time period they all now called the Dark Ages. It was another to be presented with living proof that the people that stomped all over Scandinavia still existed.

Tony did his best to pay attention here but his eyes and his attention were still focused on Rogers. It wasn’t fair, he knew that. He knew that the guy wasn’t at fault for anything and some part of him was amused that his father’s little pet project had finally been uncovered well after he was gone, but Tony was a child of a man and he didn’t care how fair it was.

Steve Rogers was a personal enemy and the guy he could never match up to. It pissed him off.

“Do you think we’re the threat for having it or are you worried that we’ll hurt ourselves? No offense, but we aren’t idiots. We’ve managed without you for awhile now.”

"It is not that we think either of these things, only that such artefacts are dangerous in and of themselves. Midgard is not a realm of power in seidr, and that is no fault of your own, without those trained in such things it would be easy to accidentally cause danger."

There, that was more peaceful and diplomatic than agreeing that they were like children playing with an open flame.

"We wish only to see the artefact so that we may provide information for the All-Father, we do not wish to steal what may belong to Midgard by right."

A lot of this was going over Steve's head. Seidr - what in the heck was that? - and all this talk of other realms and archaic speech. Instead, his eyes were drawn by Stark and the way that the other man seemed to be staring at him in open hostility. In the end, he couldn't help but speak up.

"Is something wrong, Mr. Stark?"

“Big lunch,” Tony smoldered. He cleared his throat and readjusted his seat and leaned back with his fingers laced over his abdomen. Not his proudest moment, but he had not intention of engaging Steve Rogers in conversation. Hr was just so annoyed by his presence.

He had no reason being here.

Fury glanced over at Stark and then at Rogers. Maybe he’d underestimated the way Tony would react after all. It had been amusing but now it would just be distracting.

“All right. I know what you’re talking about,” Fury said, returning to Loki. “The device turned on briefly but is back in its dormant state. If you’d like to take a look, we’d welcome it. But we’re the kind of people that like to make our own decisions. And mistakes.”

No one was leaving here with the tesseract.

"Then we have an agreement, because all we have come to do is observe."

Although that might change very abruptly when they reported back to Odin what it was they had found. Loki almost felt sorry for Midgard; Thor might be cut from a different cloth, but he did not trust Odin Spearshaker not to pillage anything of worth for his own gain just as he had done in the past.

"Lead us to where it is."

Steve stood up at the same time that Loki did, though he hung back a bit to try and speak to Tony because he wasn't buying indigestion as an excuse for anything. Nobody glared like that unless they had a personal problem.

"We're on the same team here, Mr. Stark, whatever your problem with me is, I suggest you either tell me so that we can work it out, or learn to keep a better lid on it."

This was exactly what Tony did not want to happen. If there was any way to shoot people down dead with your eyes—. He needed to come up with a way to shoot people down dead with your eyes. This was just awful otherwise. He exhaled slowly and pursed his lips together before he glanced up at Rogers.

“First, we aren’t on a team. I’m here because of them. When they go home, I go home. Army of One.” That was the slogan now right? Tony didn’t keep up on the military now that he was pretty much out of helping fuel the arms race. “Second, I don’t know you enough to have a problem with you. Except for those shirts. Don’t they come any bigger?”

Seriously, SHIELD. Those were ridiculously tight.

Steve frowned and folded his arms over his chest, which just served to bulge his biceps further and make the material stretch over his arms. He was still sometimes a little self conscious about his body, that scrawny guy still inside him wondering when all of this might go away.

"Fine. Then let me introduce myself properly and maybe we can get off on the right foot, okay? I'm Steve, Steve Rogers."

He unfurled his arms to hold one hand out towards Tony with an open and honest expression on his face.

"I knew your Dad once upon a time, so you'll have to forgive me if it takes a while to get used to Howard having had a son."

“I’m sure he has a bunch of children running around out there,” Tony said, which was totally inappropriate and maybe just a little more harsh than what he was going for. Not that it wasn’t true. Howard probably paid off the mother’s of his half siblings, of that Tony was relatively certain. There were a moment of self doubt there which, as most people would agree, was a rare thing to see on his face.

For that reason alone he decided not to be such a baby about shaking hands and carefully, quickly, gave Steve’s much larger paw a good shake before both hands went back into his pockets.

“You can call me Tony. But I’m still not interested in wrapping myself up in a flag and being your sidekick.”

What was wrong with this guy? Why was he being so antagonistic as if Steve had mortally offended him somehow? He smiled, a tight smile that wasn't particularly friendly or amused.

"Lucky for us both that I'm not planning on asking you to do that, isn't it?"

He turned and followed where the others had gone, deciding to put Stark's son and his bad attitude out of his head. He caught up just as Fury was showing the aliens to where the Tesseract was.

As soon as Loki saw it, he went pale and took a half step back, muttering something in a voice that sounded oddly like snow falling on a hillside. He turned wild green eyes to Thor and changed to Aesir, though his voice still shook.

"The Tesseract."

He, at least, had studied the infinity stones as a child of magic. He assumed that surely Odin's get would know them as well.

“Loki...” Thor was on hand to put an arm around Loki briefly so that he could not back up further into the humans gathered around. The fyri looked pale, as pale as a blue skinned person could, like his colour had shifted almost to gray. He glanced over his shoulder at the others, all of whom looked at least partially concerned and followed up with a “I know that name. I do not quite know where I have heard it.”

At least he was honest about it.

He’d never heard of Thanos. He’d never heard of the Infinity Stones. But he did know about the gauntlet. He’d once tried to touch it when he was little but his father had stopped him.

He had no idea why but he might put the two together if Loki told him the name. For now, he was more worried about the implications.

“Does it pose a danger?”

Loki was genuinely and truly shaken. He had felt the call of the Tesseract and not even known that's what it was, and to heed it would have heralded disaster for them all. He wanted both to leave as fast as he could, and to remain to make sure that nobody did anything foolish.

He remained in the Aesir tongue. Even if it was rude to the mortals, it was important that he give this information to Thor first, too shaken to even reprimand him for knowing so little.

"Thanos, the Destroyer, this is his creation and something he seeks. It is far beyond the power of the Casket of Ancient Winters, and it does not belong on Midgard. It does not power their realm, it only endangers it, for if Thanos discovers where it is then he will destroy this whole planet to recover it."

Thor looked again at those gathered and leaned in to have a more private conversation with Loki, though he doubted anyone spoke their language. It was still important to keep this in whispers, despite his genuine inability to do anything quietly. He was still confused, but he kept that out of his mind. Trust that Loki knew what he was talking about was the only thing he genuinely needed right now anyway.

“If it is a danger wherever it is, what do you think we should do about it right now?” They couldn’t just hurdle it into a star or through the void, as much as that mught amuse him to see. If this device became powered up again, it would cause quite the trouble for them all. “If it is a beacon to call this Destroyer, this Realm is already in danger—” Thor looked again at Fury and the son of Coul, momentarily forgetting to use All-Speak when addressing them. “How long was this left powered?”

Coulson didn’t answer, and for a moment, neither did Fury. He clasped his hands behind his back. “A few days. Are you about to tell me that the tesseract is dangerous?”

“In and of itself, no,” Thor said, which had Fury nodding before he added: “But there is a being to whom this belongs. Loki, is the flash of a few days enough to alert the Destroyer?”

No one liked that particular moniker. “Destroyer?” Tony asked. He had to. Everyone else was too grim and tight lipped. “Yeah, might just be me but I doubt it’s like a cute nickname you give to a tiny dog.”

Loki allowed himself to switch back to All-Speak as well so that he could converse properly with the mortals, concern furrowing his brow. Gone was the almost teasing threats and confident language, it was obvious that he was in earnest about the danger here and not simply trying to steal something of power.

"I do not think so, but I know little of what the Destroyer may be capable of. It would be wise to set this in Odin's vaults under high guard at all times, and Midgard may need to be protected for some years in case it did alert him and he is coming."

Instinct had ice forming around his hands, weapons to protect himself. The temperature of the whole room began to drop rapidly.

"Whatever benefit you think you may gain from this power, it will never outweigh the risk it presents."

"I agree," that was Steve. "I never liked this thing when the Red Skull had it, and I sure as heck don't like it now."

“You’ve got to understand that we don’t know you. Your word isn’t much good,” Fury said, not unkindly, but because it was the truth in this case. “That think has a long history. It’s been on and off for centuries.” That wasn’t quite true, but for all he knew, it did flicker on and off at times.

The words made Thor shake his head. “All the more reason to secure it. It takes time and energy to travel vast distances through the void, but if it has been flickering for centuries, Thanos may be well on his way here.”

“We can take care of ourselves.”

“I do not doubt this, but for all the wonders Midgard holds, your technology is still slight. You have focused on comfort and convenience. Your might and mettle are untested against a being that startles those of great warrior Realms like Jotunheim. Asgard will extend the protection it can, but the safest measure is to remove this from your Realm completely.”

Fury shook his head. “It’s not my call. I’ll have to talk to some people. Will you be staying with Stark?”

Tony sighed. “There’s probably no where left to stay. You haven’t met their friends.”

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