Sorry I missed a week, everyone, things have been a bit hectic! But here's the latest chapter, enjoy.
"Sir."
It took a few moments for Tony to register that JARVIS had spoken to him as he was so engrossed in his work. The first batch of nanites hadn't been quite what he needed them to be, but a few tweaks and the second set worked far better.
"Yes, JARVIS?" Tony questioned, distracted.
It was taking some effort to get the nanobots to do what he needed them to. He'd had to put micro sequencing repeater implants into himself, but with those he was able to get the bots to do what he wanted.
"Prince Loki would like to see you."
The words were so unexpected, it took Tony a moment to ensure he had understood them correctly.
"Loki? Me?" Tony questioned, looking up from the armor he'd managed to get on just his right arm.
"Yes, he is waiting outside," JARVIS confirmed.
Tony blinked, glancing at the currently opaque glass door to his lab. "Did he say what he wanted?"
"No, he merely requested to have words with you."
A quick glance around showed he had nothing out which Tony thought Fury could really complain about (though no doubt Number Two would if he ever learned of this).
"Yeah, sure, let him in," Tony said.
The doors slid open and Little Prince entered, looking around.
"Thank you for allowing me to see you, Tony," Loki began, head tilting to one side as the nanobots slid back up Tony's arm to the housing he wore in his chest. "That is a different suit from your others."
Three days ago, they had caught part of a news rerun on TV showing some of the Avengers in action, though luckily not all, so Loki hadn't questioned where he was.
"It's a new one I'm working on," Tony explained, hesitating just slightly before continuing. "It's based on something you said, actually."
"Me?"
Little Prince looked so startled Tony knew he'd made the right choice. More than enough had been said and done as of late to indicate precisely what kind of relationship Thor and Loki had while growing up, and just how Ásgarðr thought of the latter even as a child. It no longer surprised Tony that Loki had rebelled. Indeed, he was far more shocked it hadn't happened far sooner. Many humans had snapped with far less incentive than Loki.
So, yeah, if he could do something to show the little guy was both seen and heard here, then he'd do it.
Besides, a good idea was a good idea, and his new suit would definitely far outclass even his old ones!
"Yes, you pointed out some weaknesses in my suit design and those will now be fixed with this new one," Tony confirmed.
"Knowing of a possible weakness was enough to prompt this?"
"Of course. I don't want to leave it there for someone to use against me," Tony replied, startled. "Wouldn't people do so on Ásgarðr?"
"Nay, they would think if they were strong enough, the weakness would be irrelevant."
"Do you believe Thor still thinks so?"
The current relationship between Point Break and Little Prince had been fascinating to watch. Not only did it give them all a real insight into all that Thor had ever meant when saying his brother used to be very different, but it was also clear their alien friend was taking his second chance very seriously. That Loki found this over attentive version of his brother shocking was more than clear, but it was just as obvious Little Prince was lapping up the attention and enjoying every moment of it.
Hopefully this would go a long way towards proving to their mini villain that Thor truly did still love him. Not that Tony was so optimistic as to think it would do anything for Loki's opinion of Ásgarðr. That seemed to be rooted in reality as far as he could tell.
"I..." Loki began before breaking off, face thoughtful. "Before he would have."
"Yes, but people change," Tony pointed out, gently.
"Have you changed?"
"Absolutely. I used to be quite self-centered, thinking of nothing but myself," Tony replied. "The media used to call me the Merchant of Death, as all I did was make bigger and better weapons that I sold without a thought for how, and by who, they'd be used."
"And now you are a hero."
Tony snorted. "I guess."
"You do not view yourself thus?"
"Not really," he replied. "I didn't set out to be a hero, not like Steve. I built my first suit to escape from people who were holding me hostage, and then to get my weapons back as some of them had been sold to terrorists."
"Which people saw as heroic."
"Exactly. Still, SHIELD didn't see me as an Avenger until we got attacked and they needed my help."
"Miðgarðr is very strange," Little Prince declared, making Tony laugh.
"I know from what has been said that Ásgarðr doesn't seem to like people who are different, but here- or at least in America- we encourage people to follow their heart," Tony said. "Even if that means being different from others."
It was difficult to fully decipher the look Loki gave him, but Tony was sure he could detect both longing and jealousy in there. Luckily, the latter did not seem overpowering, at least not at present.
"Is that Álfheimrian crystal?" Loki suddenly demanded, eyes sharpening.
Startled, Tony glanced down and realized he'd absentmindedly picked up the fake Tesseract casing.
"Uh, yeah," Tony replied, offering it when Little Prince stepped closer.
"These are quite valuable," Loki said, before he frowned. "I used this."
Tony's eyebrows flew up. "You remember it?"
"Nay, I can feel residual seiðr in it. My residual seiðr."
"What? No way, I ran every test and scan on it that I could think of, and they all came back negative."
How on earth could that be if Little Prince could so easily detect lingering magic? Damnit, he would figure this out!
"I do not know what science you performed, but 'tis clearly there," Loki responded. "Did I give you this?"
Uh...
"It had fulfilled its purpose," a true statement. "And you knew I'd be interested in it."
Also technically true, so it shouldn't ring fake if their mini-God of Lies had any ability to detect falsehoods.
"You believed you would be able to utilize it to learn more of seiðr?" Loki smiled.
"Magic is just science we haven't discovered yet," Tony protested. "Thor said so to Dr. Foster."
Little Prince scoffed as he handed the crystal back, suddenly reminding Tony far more of his older self.
"And what does Thor know of seiðr?" Loki questioned. "He has always distained it as a womanly art."
Oh, ouch! Tony didn't need to know about Ásgarðr's norms to understand that one.
"Maybe that too has changed?" Tony offered. "He has never seemed dismissive when speaking of magic to us."
"I..." Little Prince sucked in a sharp breath, eyes widening. "Something just came back to me, though I know not of its context."
Dangerous.
"Oh?" Tony prompted.
"Some do battle, others just do tricks."
Yeah, Tony didn't have anything for that. It was a pretty inexcusable thing to say to your little brother, especially one as powerful and capable as Loki.
"Here on Earth, we'd say that was jealousy talking," Tony finally replied.
"Jealously?" Little Prince repeated in disbelief and no little scorn. "What does Thor have to be jealous of me?"
The insecurity and self-deprecation made Tony hurt. He could only all too easily recall what that felt like. The scars of it never fully went away, they just scabbed over.
"How about your power? Your intelligence? Your ability to come to a new Realm and fit in in ways that, well over a year later, Thor still hasn't managed?" Tony rattled off. "Not to mention your good looks."
And, clearly, he'd just lost Loki as the little guy's face clouded over.
"Do not coddle me!" Little Prince snapped, drawing back.
"What?" Tony demanded, confused. "What'd I say?"
"I know well how my looks are perceived!"
Tony's eyebrows shot up again. "Wait, really? Wow, I didn't see that one coming. So, what's Ásgarðr's ideal?"
"Thor."
Okay, now little Loki was really starting to remind him of big Loki in less than stellar ways.
"Okay, fine, I'm not Ásgarðrian and this isn't Ásgarðr. Here we have different beauty standards, well for men at least. The stereotypical female bombshell is blond," Tony said.
A frown. "What is the male one?"
"In four words: tall, dark and handsome. And let me say, adult you has all of those in spades."
"Dark hair is liked?" Loki questioned, still distrustful.
"JARVIS, photos please of those who inspired that particular phrase and some of today's celebrity heartthrobs."
"Of course, Sir," JARVIS replied, photos already flashing up.
The images drew Loki right in and Tony smiled as he watched the kid step closer, absently reaching up to touch his own hair. He did have to scowl as JARVIS included more than one photo of him in the lot, though with the way the tabloids treated him he couldn't truly complain. More disturbing was the fact that he could pretty much name everyone whose face was up there.
What Tony was pleased with, was that JARVIS wasn't shying away from adding in photos of those who didn't fit the criteria he'd listed. That way Loki would not later be able to claim that they'd tried to trick him. Yet, even with those in there, most of the men shown were dark haired. It was an aspect of the stereotype which Tony liked. Now, if only he could do something about the height thing...
"Most have short hair," Loki noted, glancing back at him.
"It's generally the style at the moment," Tony replied, even as he pointed at one of Orlando Bloom with shoulder length locks. "Though it's changing a bit."
Little Prince frowned. "He has curly hair?"
"Yeah."
"Most on Ásgarðr would straighten it."
As Loki had as an adult. Tony suddenly recalled one fight they'd had with Reindeer Games on a particularly muggy day. The Hulk had drenched Rock of Ages and it had caused Loki's long hair to start to frizz and curl. It had made him wonder at the time what it would look like if Loki didn't constantly slick it back.
"JARVIS, show Orlando Bloom as Will Turner," Tony requested, before he addressed Loki once more. "He and one of his co-stars were quite the sensation during these films."
The display changed to dozens of photos of the blacksmith-turned-pirate. Was this film series an appropriate one to show a seven-year-old? Normally Tony wouldn't think so, but Ásgarðr was hardly Earth and it seemed the warrior culture extended to teaching kids how to fight. So, perhaps, he'd have to check with Thor first, though, as the last thing he wanted to do was add to the little tyke's nightmares.
"Now, I know you didn't come here to talk about Earth beauty standards," Tony said once Loki seemed to have taken his fill of the photos.
"Nay," Loki agreed, giving him a sly look. "Your... mechanical construct, he is incorporated throughout the tower, aye?"
Tony frowned. "Yes," he agreed, wondering why Little Prince would care, before a thought occurred to him. "Oh, I see. You want to know if he'd notice if you played a trick on someone."
"Mayhap."
Ha! As if butter wouldn't melt in his mouth, though the expression quickly gave way to Loki's true feelings. Tony had to admit, the look of mischief and delight in those green eyes was enough to make Tony laugh and the kid hadn't even done anything. It also sent a thrill through him much like the one he'd felt the other night, when they went for their illicit midnight snack.
How long had it been since he and Rhodey had a proper prank war? He couldn't even recall and that was a true tragedy right there.
"Just because JARVIS sees all, doesn't mean he tells all. Isn't that right, J?" Tony prompted.
"I believe the rules of a prank war are for each party to determine what happened on their own, without outside interference, so long as none of the pranks are dangerous," JARVIS replied. "Which includes any pranks people may wish to play on Sir."
"Hey!" Tony protested, that was confidential information!
Loki laughed, eyes sparkling, and Tony knew he was in trouble.
"Okay, okay, how about this? Me and you against the others?" Tony offered. "Partners in crime, so to speak."
"I have never had a partner thus before," Little Prince pursed his lips, thoughtfully.
"Really? Never?"
Although Tony could see that now he gave it a moment's thought. This Loki was only a child, so most of the tricks he'd have played on others were probably done on Thor. Royalty often didn't have as wide of a social network as others might have, being more sheltered and protected.
"Although I suppose it may be helpful to have aid in determining what is, and is not, permissible for humans," Loki continued.
"Yes, exactly! Besides, I can warn you about what to look out for if the others retaliate," Tony replied.
"Very well."
Let the true mischief commence! 😂
Who knows what those two can get up to together?
Old Norse:
seiðr - witchcraft, sorcery / a type of sorcery practiced in Norse society during the Late Scandinavian Iron Age - i.e. magic
Miðgarðr - Earth
Álfheimr - "Land of the Elves", also called Ljósálfaheimr - home of the light elves