Response to reviews:
Justme (Guest): Whoa, thanks! I really wanted to insert humor into this story as much as possible, so if I can make someone snort/laugh/giggle/whatever, it's considered a personal achievement! Thank you! (PS: A sword named 'Bonnie' ?! Only Jack.)
Justme (Guest) (Second review): Well, I received your first review in my email, so no worries. The trilogy of the series you recommended? Yeah, I finished that two weeks ago. IT WAS AMAZING. I'm following the last story of the trilogy now, and I see that you review really frequently.
TakadaEmo: Thanks for taking the time to review! I think humor is important when writing fanfiction so I insert as much of it in as I can. And Loki isn't recovering, he's just getting better at hiding it. But not when it worsens in this story, though. And yes, I do read Percy Jackson. It was because of that fandom that I first started reading fanfiction, then writing it. Check my profile out and you will see a few Percy Jackson stories there too.
Salty Ice Crystals
Time
Chapter 2: The Fires of Muspelheim
"Hot hot hot hot HOT!" Tony yelped as soon as the sun rose the next day, shooting out of his blankets like he had a rocket attached to his pants. But when one looked closer, they would notice smoke rising from the back of his pants, so technically, his pants were on fire. He patted it out with his hands frantically, still yelping in an undignified high voice.
Bruce climbed out of the blankets more slowly, wincing with every movement. He was lucky that the Other Guy hadn't made an appearance yet due to the burns on his body. His shirt rubbed on them uncomfortably, and Bruce bit his lip.
Steve reacted more calmly, flinging the blankets off him, stretching and yawning just like on any normal day. The only reaction he showed to the heat was the glistening sheen of sweat on his body.
Thor didn't even seem fazed by it. He bounded up, joyful as usual, and greeted them with a cheery, "Good morning, my good friends! Let us have new hope with the rising of a new day!"
Loki didn't even move from his spot. He just lay there, stiff and pale.
"Thor. What, exactly, is the HELL?!" Tony yelled, as the fire finally went out but left him with no pants and a pair of Iron Man boxers.
Bruce snickered and Steve looked mollified.
Tony looked down.
"Oh."
Luckily, he had spare pants, and was pulling them on as Thor answered, "Friend Stark, this is no Hel. In fact, this is better than I could have hoped for. We are on Muspelheim."
"Muspelheim?" Steve perked up. "I know that one!"
"Yes, do please give us a history lesson." Tony snarked under his breath.
Steve, being a super soldier, heard it, though the sarcasm was lost on him.
"Well," he began, clearing his throat. "Muspelheim is one of the Nine Realms. It is the realm of the Fire Giants and they are usually unaggressive if not provoked. They are wary towards other beings though. Their climate is hot and fiery. But, Thor, if we are on Muspelheim, why does this mean good news?"
Thor beamed so brightly that it could have outshone the sun on Muspelheim. "Captain, as you rightly say, Muspelheim is one of the Nine Realms. That means that we should be on a path through it, and we will be able to replenish our supplies here. And I am glad to be out of that dark and dreary place. Who knows what it might have done to Loki's fragile mind?"
Bruce remembered a small tidbit of information Thor had told them long ago. Well, what seemed like a long time ago.
"Thor…"
"What is it, good Doctor?"
"You did tell us that Loki's true heritage is from the Jotunn, known as Frost Giants, right?" Bruce lowered his voice so that Loki would not hear. Not that it looked like he was awake anyway, but just to be safe.
"Yes." Thor was confused. "What is the matter?"
Tony caught on as well. "Aren't frost liable to melt under heat?"
Thor was even more confused. "Is it not common knowledge, my friends?"
Even Steve understood by now, and he wondered how Loki, a genius mastermind, could cope with Thor being so dense all along. Patiently, he tried to explain to the Thunder God.
"Look, Thor. This place is hot. Heat melts frost. Loki is a Frost Giant. This place can melt Loki. Loki is in danger."
Thor, upon hearing this, quickly bundled his precious and delicate little brother into a blanket, shielding him from the worst of the sun and quickly started power walking down the path.
"Hey, wait!" Tony called after him, nearly tripping over the blankets. "We haven't even packed yet!"
Steve was already moving. "Lend us a hand, Stark, and we might just be able to catch up."
It was sundown again, and the temperatures went down drastically. Loki hadn't woken up once, if you didn't count the feverish ramblings and the shivering. Tony had to donate another blanket to Loki if he wanted to share Thor's warmth that night. No wonder Loki sometimes described Thor as the sun. The guy really was hot. Both in figure and temperature.
Loki's skin had turned blue again to help him cope with the temperature, but he didn't notice it when he finally woke up for a short period from a nightmare that seemed to involve him being strangled and suffocated.
"Water." He croaked, voice hoarse. He was barely able to prop himself up on his elbows to receive the cup, and in the end Steve had to dribble it down Loki's throat bit by bit, Thor hovering anxiously by since his hands were too big and clumsy for such a delicate job, as Tony had so tactfully put it-not.
After he finished the water, he managed to hold it down for twenty minutes, a new record, before vomiting half of it. The cold seem to have done him good and his body absorbed the water faster because of the amount of liquid it had lost during the scorching day.
"That's good." Steve encouraged. "Do you want more?"
Loki shook his head weakly, now shivering despite the extra blankets. "Are we on Muspelheim?"
Bruce confirmed Loki's question and moved to drag a stethoscope out of his bag, ignoring Tony's wide eyes.
"We go on an inter-dimensional trip and need to stuff our bags full of food and water supplies and you bring that?" he said, gawking. He sighed when Bruce pulled out some IVs and a heart monitor too. "Never mind, Hermione, don't ask me how you fit those in there."
"I had Loki cast a spell on it similar to the one Hermione Granger cast on her beaded bag in Harry Potter 7." Bruce said, dragging the supplies over to Loki with Thor's help.
"Whoa, why don't I get one too?" Tony complained. Bruce raised an eyebrow.
"I asked nicely."
Steve grinned. "Ooh, burn."
"…"
Tony had enough shocks for the day. Now Captain America, commonly known as Captain Popsicle and Do Gooder, was actually using modern day slang? The sky must be falling.
"I'm going to sleep. Hopefully I'll wake up tomorrow morning and Cap is still as clueless as Thunder Boy here." Tony muttered, curling into his blankets, not even bothering to take off his jacket.
"I understood that reference!" Steve yelled excitedly.
Bruce couldn't help but smile. "Sure you did. The object of that is right beside us, after all."
And Thor just stood there, completely lost in their conversation while tending to Loki, who was laughing and coughing at the same time, almost choking but he didn't care, tears rolling down his cheeks in mirth.
Then he broke, and the tears of mirth turned into those of desperation and sadness. Thor noticed the difference first, and quit sending death glares at his fellow friends, kneeling down beside Loki.
"What is it, brother? Do not despair. We shall convince Vervandi to heal you."
Steve, being the most empathic out of the rest of them, knelt down beside Loki too, patting his shoulders and rubbing his shuddering back.
"It-it isn't that." Loki choked out. "We might be immortal-but we all know that-all of us-will die someday. But-I hate feeling so helpless. I require assistance for something as-mundane as-drinking." He coughed again, splattering blood onto Tony's blanket.
"Hey, that'll cost 140 dollars if I send them to the best dry cleaners in town!" Tony jibed half heartedly.
"Then don't." Steve snapped, not getting the joke this time. He wasn't in the mood to 'get' one either.
In the end, it was Bruce that kept his calm the best and handled the delicate situation.
"Look, Loki," he said, lifting Loki's head to look at him. "You're helpless. Face it. Accept it. I don't know what kind of fucked up moral values they teach you in Asgard-"
Here, Tony covered Thor's ears.
"-but on Midgard, it's normal for us to rely on each other. That's why we have friends and family. Those who don't rely on others become mentally disabled. I'm not joking, it's true. You can see any number of psychologists when we get back, Tony will pay, and they'll all tell you the same thing."
"Hey!" Tony squawked indignantly. "Just because I have money doesn't mean I pay for everything!"
Bruce ignored him. "Even your father cannot help himself sometimes. Why the Odin Sleep, then?"
"To recover his mighty strength." Thor answered, now that Tony had let go of his ears.
"And does he clean himself up and take care of himself during the, uh, Odin Sleep?" Bruce pressed.
"No. Mother does that most of the time." Thor answered, slowly realizing what the scientist was getting at to Loki.
Loki was listening with rapt attention now. "And Thor?"
"Brother, I do require help." It was a huge step for Thor to go from all high and mighty to admitting weakness, but if it would help his little brother, so be it. "I require your help to escape from foes my pride has angered, I need healers to heal me after I have been injured, that healer mostly being you, and so many others that I cannot name."
"See, Loki? There is a reason why villains always fail. That's because they think they don't need help, when in fact, they need it very much." Steve felt the need to share his own experience. "I wasn't always like this, you know. If not for a very kind scientist, I think I would be rotting away on the battlefields when the war was over."
"Well, if it weren't for some very good friends, the big guy would be rampaging through the cities right now." Bruce admitted sheepishly.
Loki tilted his head, trying to grasp the concept of needing help, one so familiar and yet so out of reach to his fogging mind.
Seeing that everyone (minus Loki) was looking at him expectantly now, Tony cleared his throat. "Um, yeah, needing help. Well, I can say that I got a boatload of daddy issues too, and if my friends didn't help me I would be out there still indirectly destroying cities with my tech. Oh, and did I mention a cave and a stupid guy who actually died for me? He helped me escaped, and paid for it with his life. If it weren't for them, well, yeah, I won't be standing here." Tony felt his voice hitch and silently prayed, not again, not again before he started tearing up.
Sigh. So much for the prayers.
"I'm gonna sleep." He mumbled, diving back into the covers, feeling sympathized looks on his back and wished that they wouldn't look at him like that. Yinsen definitely won't look at him like that.
"I think I understand now." Loki's quiet voice distracted them. "Now will you all have some sleep? I do not want you all staying awake on my account."
"Oh. Sure." Steve was the first one to go pit pattering away towards his sleeping bag. "Thor, take first watch. Wake me for the second. Bruce goes third. Don't disturb Tony. He has enough for one night." He cast a sideways glance at Loki, expecting him to protest at the lack of a chance to help out, but Loki knew his limits, it seemed, and did not protest.
Bruce tucked himself in comfortably, giving Loki one last pat.
Thor helped Loki to settle down in his bed comfortably, arranging the blankets around Loki like their mother would have done. He pressed a kiss to his brother's burning forehead and settled down beside him, eyes wary for any sign of danger and making sure that Loki slept.
Loki did sleep.
But not for long.
The first attack began as the sun rose.