The next morning was weird.

Steve came in from his morning run to find Thor's mom sitting in the kitchen, a cup of tea in her hands.

"She didn't even want to try coffee," said Jormungand, pouring a cup of coffee for himself. "I'll keep yours warm—go shower."

"Too bad you don't jog with me," said Steve with a teasing smile. "Then you could join me." A split second later he remembered Frigga was sitting at the counter and his entire face went red. "Umm. . . . ."

Jormungand chuckled. "It's fine, Steven—she already knows."

Steve's face grew even redder. "Oh. Great. Um, I'm gonna, go, um, shower now . . . " he muttered, turning tail and fleeing, still trying to think of why he'd said that to Jormungand in front of the man's grandmother.

Jesus.

Steve came back, freshly showered, and hesitated before wrapping his arm around the taller man and reaching up on his toes to give the other man a kiss on his head. Jormungand practically purred as he poured Steve a cup of coffee, pinching Steve when the blond passed. Steve squeaked and went red again, glancing worriedly at Frigga.

The older woman was simply sitting there, smiling as she sipped her tea.

"Good morning!" Erika chirped as she flounced into the kitchen. "Who wants waffles? I want waffles. Jor, you should help me make waffles." She turned to Frigga and stage-whispered, "Your grandson makes killer waffles."

"Is that so?" Frigga asked, and she didn't even ask what a waffle was.

Erika nodded solemnly. "J.A.R.V.I.S, be a dear and let everyone know we're having waffles this morning."

"Of course, Miss Stark, the AI replied.

Frigga looked mildly startled and Rannhal looked like he was ready to cut a bitch.

"Relax, that's just J.A.R.V.I.S. He's like . . . he's like a servant, but you can't see him." A beat, then, "I meant that in the best way, Jar-Jar."

"Of course you did, Miss Stark."

Twenty minutes later, Jormungand was preparing batter and Erika was cutting up fruit. Loki came into the kitchen first, going straight for the coffee. Clint and Natasha were next, followed by Bruce, Thor and Tony. Fenrir was last to enter, so he was last to dish up.

Frigga immediately launched in a conversation with Loki, asking if he was alright, if he was happy here. The rest of them politely ignored the very obvious mother-son chat. Breakfast passed quickly and Jormungand offered to do dishes, like he always did when he cooked. They left the kitchen one by one, until it was only Jormungand and Erika.

Neither one of them heard Rannhal come back.

"Still a faggot, then, Jormungand?" Rannhal asked, and Erika almost turned around and decked him before she saw the minute shake of Jormungand's head—Rannhal hadn't spoken English, and Jormungand didn't want him to know she understood what they were saying.

She was just glad he sounded nothing like Steve—that would have made things even weirder.

"He looks like me," Rannhal continued. "Still pining over me, Freak?"

Jormungand grit his teeth and said nothing.

"You want it to be me. You want me to tie you up and gag you, then fuck you like the whore you are."

"Okay, that's it!" Erika snarled, spinning around. "One, I have the Allspeak—I can understand every vulgar word coming out of that mouth of yours. Two, you have no right to say any of that. Three, if you don't apologize right now, I will taser your ass."

Rannhal looked flustered for all of two seconds before he sneered at her, still not speaking English. "You dare threaten me, half-breed?" he snarled.

"You're threatening my brother in his own home—you're damn right I dare!" she snarled right back, reaching for the taser Jormungand knew she always carried tucked in the back of her jeans.

"Erika, don't," he warned. "He's not worth it."

"Better listen to him, Bitch."

Jormungand moved so fast Erika almost missed it. He dropped the dish he'd been washing, spun on his heels, and slammed his fist into Rannhal's face. "Don't you EVER talk to my sister like that again, you fucker!" Jormungand spat.

Rannhal reeled back, holding his nose. He pulled his hand back and saw blood, and he growled before grabbing Jormungand by the throat and pinning him to the wall. Jormungand clawed at his hands, but he couldn't get free.

"Not so tough now, are you, Faggot?" Rannhal sneered.

Nobody expected a pissed off Steve Rogers to yank him off of Jormungand and almost toss him across the room. "Hey, back off!" he barked before inspecting Jormungand for damage. "You okay?" he breathed.

Jormungand let out a rattling cough and nodded.

"I told you I didn't want you alone with him," Steve muttered.

Rannhal practically roared and lunged for Steve, but Erika shot him with her taser before he even got close.


Frigga was NOT happy with Rannhal's behavior. At the end of her visit, she gave her sons and grandchildren a hug goodbye, and assured them all that Rannhal would be severely punished.

When she was gone, Loki snorted. "Rannhal will most likely get a mere slap on the wrist, if even that. He was always one of Odin's favorites."

Thor frowned. "Rannhal will receive proper punishment—Father is fair in his judgments."

Loki snorted and rolled his eyes. He left the room after checking over his son again, deciding he was bored with the conversation.

Erika and Tony were giving Thor a look that said 'seriously?'

After having Loki ripped from them at Odin's whim when Erika was young, they didn't think the old man was too fair. They said none of this, however, as nobody wanted to anger the God of Thunder.


Steve's birthday was coming up. Jormungand wanted to get him something, so Erika gave him a credit card and sent him off into the city to find something. He didn't have to look long, though, and found himself heading back to Stark Tower early.

On his way back, he passed something that made him pause.

There was a mannequin in the window wearing nothing but a leather harness and leather pants, a thick leather collar fastened around its neck.

'What an odd fashion choice,' he thought to himself as he entered the shop, curiosity getting the better of him.

After a few seconds of looking around, Jormungand realized exactly what type of shop he had just stepped into.

"Hi there," a woman with multi-colored hair greeted him from behind a counter, looking up from paperwork.

"Hello," he greeted back, glad he was familiar with how to greet people now (he'd been out of practice for a few hundred years).

"Let me guess—it's your first time in here?"

He nodded.

"Well, feel free to ask for help if you need it," the woman said before going back to her paperwork.

The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to buy the leather pants and collar he'd seen in the window.

He ended up buying them, along with a few other things he found that caught his interest.


A/N: Fair warning—the next chapter is basically PWP, so if you wanna skip the smut and continue with the story, skip directly to chapter 30. Kay? Kay.