- Chapter 63 -
Slowly, reverently, Tony pressed their lips together. His fingertips ran over the ridges on her arms. He nipped at her lips, biting gently then soothing over them a moment later with his tongue. Little kisses and tiny nips were pressed into her jaw and along the side of her throat. He growled in delight when she tilted her head to the side. Her throat was his most favorite place, besides all of the rest of her. His wandering hands found her hips and jerked her closer. One hand drifted up to rest between her shoulder blades, holding her close. His other hand pushed at the hem of her pants before slipping beneath to grip the flesh there. Tony could feel his pulse quickening as his breath grew heavier. This was good, but he wanted more.
He grasped Loki around the waist and lifted, standing up straight. Tony's seidr flared outwards to grip the loose pants so they could be dismissed to his interdimensional pocket. Her legs were left bare under the long tunic. He didn't bother to stop kissing her. Walking back to the nearest wall he lifted her until his hips were pressed against hers. His tee shirt was quickly discarded. While he was pleased to have her hands grasping at his shoulders that wasn't where he wanted them right then. He gripped the back of her thighs and brought them up around his hips. Fire was spreading through his blood, and he was already hard and aching for her. Tony rocked slowly against Loki and moaned in pleasure at the friction. Her thighs tightened around his waist as his fingers dug into her flesh. He released one leg so that he could grab both of her wrists in one hand and hold them to the wall over her head. Each breathy little moan or shuddering gasp he could pull from her fanned the flames within. With her arms pulled upward, her body stretched out against him. One of his most favorite sensations was feeling her breasts pressed against him beneath the soft cloth. Her hardening nipples rubbing against him with each of her heaving breathes caused the anticipation to coil tightly in his belly. This was where he wanted her, stretched out beneath him. The seidr was gathering in his mouth. He could feel it rolling over his tongue thick like honey.
.-.-.-.
Another spike in anxiety caused Thor to glare at the screen, at the man he previously called his shield-brother. He tried to counsel himself to not be angry by reminding himself that Stark was Loki's spouse, the father of Loki's children, Thor's nephews and nieces. It didn't stop him from thinking, How dare he put his hands on Loki so? All of Stark's mannerisms seemed so disrespectful. He reminded himself again that is wasn't his place to say how Loki spent his time. His time? Her time? How am I to think of him now? Can I think of Loki as a woman? He's my Little Brother. I think I'll always think of him as such. How can I think of him as other than that?
A moment before he summoned Gungir Odin tensed and caught himself. A powerful urge to relieve Stark of his hands before relieving him of his head struck Odin hard and fast. This manner of behavior was despicably disrespectful to Loki. He'd never tried to be overbearing when it came to his sons taking someone to their beds. Provided that they were someone of good standing who understood how fortunate they were to have drawn a Prince's attention, then he had no objections. There were times when a young man might want some company. What he was seeing wasn't something he would ever have expected Loki to tolerate. Stark was manhandling Loki like he was a common bar wench. Odin tensed up again before consciously relaxing. He was going to speak with Frey on this. It needed to be dealt with since it was so far beyond acceptable. Odin truly hoped that Loki hadn't simply been overwhelmed. He didn't want to think that.
Her free hand balled into a fist as Frigga glared at the screen. This was more than manhandling and disrespect. She wanted Stark tossed in the dungeon for many years. That she couldn't have it added to her irritation with what she was seeing. This sort of disrespect was utterly unacceptable. Her and Frey were going to have words over this. He was going to speak with Stark in her stead. Some Midgardian should be easy enough to move. It was a delicate situation that required a fine touch. Her brother was more than capable of it. In the course of securing his cooperation Frigga was going to speak with him on why he hadn't. This situation was intolerable.
Frey averted his eyes because he knew what was coming. He wished his beloved sister didn't have to see Anthony use the claim mark. The marks could take any shape and be placed anywhere on a person's body. It was no surprise that Frigga and Odin didn't understand what this was leading up to. Even though the rest of them didn't understand what they were seeing, Frey did. He worried over how he was going to tell Anthony that their privacy had been violated, by Anthony's own hand at that. His nephew-by-law's anger over this was going to be difficult to contain. He could still hear the anger in Frigga's seidr. There was no private room or even tiny closet that he could pull her aside in and explain what was happening. Even if he could put up walls to wall them off, he still wasn't certain that she would keep the conversation quiet, and that was the biggest concern. Openly discussing a claim mark outside of a warded room would only serve to turn his beloved sister a less than entertaining shade of red. Embarrassment was of no use to Frey. At that moment, he wasn't sure that there was anything that would be.
.-.-.-.
Seidr was burning along Tony's nerves. It glowed in his eyes and lit up his skin. The fire in his blood was spreading rapidly. It was burning straight through the core of him. His heart held a heavy beat in his chest. He rocked his hips against hers again and again. Tony could feel the moist heat at the juncture of her thighs and was eager to bury himself there. There was something else he had to do first though; something far more important.
Each line and whorl on the side of Loki's neck was traced over with biting kisses and swift licks. The taste of Loki's skin mixed with the oddly tart taste of his own seidr. They mingled on his tongue as the seidr concentrated in his mouth. Seidr lightning arcked off his skin and into Loki's. It danced and climbed between them as though they were a living Jacob's ladder. There was a hunger deep within his belly, one only Loki could satisfy. All the random thoughts cleared out of his mind leaving nothing behind but a single impulse. Need, want, mine! Tony opened his mouth over her damp skin. His claim mark at the juncture of her neck and shoulder was glowing emerald as it called out to him. It was always a perfect fit to slide his teeth into it.
Mine! Tony sank his teeth deep into the well-worn scar. As Loki's blood welled up and washed over his tongue his seidr surged out of him and into her. It forced small amounts of her seidr out into him to complete the circle. He swallowed down a mouthful of her essence while his seidr flowed forcefully into her. The taste of her blood was the greatest aphrodisiac there was for him. Tony only vaguely heard her cry out as the seidr burned between them. Pleasure sang down all his nerves. His heart pounded swiftly in time with hers. A fine layer of sweat beaded up on his skin as he leaned harder into her. Loki writhed between him and the wall. Tony could feel them racing towards climax as their hearts sped up together. Silver sparks ignited around them. Golden radiance chased after the sparks as the fires of pleasure burned through both their bodies. One final press of his teeth into her, one final thrust of his seidr and they both found completion. A satisfied growl left Tony as her cobalt skin briefly lit up orange. Orange seidr burned along her skin to light up her eyes before it faded away. When Tony moved away the scar was healed over with new pale cobalt skin. His heart was still racing in his chest. The air he sucked down burned in his lungs. There was always a pleasant tiredness that spread through his muscles after he used the claim mark. It took a tremendous amount of seidr to use it. That didn't stop him from using it. It didn't even stop him from moving on to more and different pleasures. It was just the one that had to come first.
Releasing Loki's wrists Tony then slid his hand around to the back of her. When her head rested on his shoulder, her hands on his biceps, he pulled her away from the wall. Gentle tremors were sliding down her back causing her thighs to spasmodically clench around his hips. He strode down the hallway towards their bedroom. No attention was paid to the fiery bent Lines of Power flowing over his shoulder blades and down his sides. They never bothered him.
.-.-.-.
Mjolnir was singing for battle. Thor ran his fingers over the etchings in the metal. A fierce anger poured through him. I cannot interfere. I cannot interfere. I've interfered before and it did incalculable damage to Loki. I cannot interfere. He closed his eyes, breathed in deeply and tried to let go of his anger as he exhaled. Thor understood the urgency of passion and burning need of desire. He was as hot blooded as any Asgardian. None of that prepared him for seeing Loki slammed into a wall like some barmaid. When Stark restrained Loki's wrists Thor's muscles jumped in a need to slam his fist into Stark's face. The image of Loki's blood spilling down the wall with trails of fire chasing after it as Stark sank his teeth into Loki's shoulder left him fuming. Rage singing through his blood called to Mjolnir.
"You're handling this very well, Thor," Frey said calmly when he looked back up to see the recording was done. The angry expression on his nephew's face was dark, but Thor hadn't made a scene yet.
"That bastard is abusing Loki! It's not my place to interfere though," Thor said darkly.
"Loki tolerates this, and it isn't our place to judge," Frey said sternly. The boy most sincerely didn't need to understand what was happening.
There's a good reason for that. For just a second a smirk slipped past McCorrmick's control. He kept his face turned down towards his laptop while he put his calm professional smile back into place. They would see why tolerance wasn't an issue for Loki later on. "That concludes this file," he said quietly as he closed the file.
"He is abusing Loki!" Thor said loudly. There was nothing about the situation that he liked, and many things he didn't understand. Why is uncle tolerated it was chief among the things he didn't understand.
"Thor," Odin said calmly. "There's nothing we can do now." It hurt to say the words. It hurt to know his son was trapped. Even if he could annul the marriage it would make no difference. There could be no removing Loki from Stark. It was too late for that.
"Father, I know we've wronged Loki, I can see that. I know I've no right to interfere. I accept that I've lost that right," Thor almost choked on those last words they were so bitter. "But surely you can see Loki is being abused," he told his father. "I had counted his man among my shield-brothers, tell me Uncle Frey, how do you tolerate this? They come to visit you, and you do nothing? Why?"
"There is nothing we can do," Odin repeated for forcefully. He knows so little. It was deeply embarrassing.
"But ..." Thor protested.
"Did you see how Loki's skin was lit with Stark's seidr? That can only happen between two people who's seidr has imprinted upon one another. It's as Loki said. He is bound to Stark. Loki's seidr feeds on the seidr of this man and so he cannot be removed from Stark without a certain and slow death following," Odin sighed, "There's nothing we can do." He was starting to lament not properly educating the boy. The Lord of an Elder Realm shouldn't be so unknowledgeable about these things. He thought his reasons sound for withholding so much from Thor. In truth, he feared the boy learning the complete family history. He feared that Thor would look at him as he once looked at Borr. As the time to hand over Gungir and the throne of Asgard to Thor approached he was beginning to think that perhaps he made a mistake. For the Lord of Asgard to be so naive was not only embarrassing, but dangerous. I've sought to make his reign easier, yet he won't know what to do with what I've created because I haven't taught him how to wield it.
Bound together? If I pummel Stark will I harm Loki? Thor looked back to the empty screen. Anger and wrath took root as he saw how roughly Stark treated Loki. Knowing that Loki couldn't even escape the situation made the anger sharper while making it seem pointless at the same time. Again, I've found myself lacking an understanding of the situation. Thor looked back to Odin, his eyes narrowing. What have you kept from me, father, and why? "Fine," he said quietly. Mjolnir's song died down as Thor sat sullenly in his chair.
Nothing we can do. It was a heavy, hurtful thought for Frigga. Moving Stark through Frey couldn't remedy this. Even being angry seemed a little futile. The beast had well and truly snared Loki. Her hand tightened around her husband's again. A thin layer of tears obscured her vision. Loki couldn't come home now without Stark coming along. No matter their wants, they couldn't be rid of Stark. He had to be dealt with in other ways. Frigga didn't want to deal with him at all. He wasn't welcome in her family yet insinuated himself there anyway. What she just witnessed forced her to agree with Odin. There's nothing we can do.
This was another emotionally confusing incident for Clint. Part of him want to hit Tony for treating Lilith so poorly. The other part of him still didn't want to care about Loki. However little he wanted, there was an undeniable feeling of discomfort in seeing Lilith's blood on the wall before little trails of fire burned it away. What he wanted was to focus on the mission, which was to learn about and recruit a new asset for SHIELD. Watching Lilith at home was making it very difficult to do.
What she'd seen shocked Pepper. While Tony had always been an enthusiastic lover, he was never anything but gentle and tender. Seeing how he manhandled Loki was like watching someone else. When he bit Loki, Pepper didn't know what happened. Every new thing she learned about Tony pointed to him being a radically different person than the one she knew, but even that assumption was suspect. While it looked like it all began in that collapsed building, she knew better than that. There had always been signs, little hints and outright displays of oddness with Tony. He was adept at covering them. Despite those signs she still felt that something changed in the theater. What happened to you in there?
Five year plan for Africa - need specifics; Director Fury typed it into his notes app. His phone had a secure notepad app, and he loved that. Although he'd been angry at the beginning, this was turning into one of the best intelligence gathering opportunities of his career. The Director hadn't pulled out his phone at first because they had the files, there was no reason to think they couldn't view them again. As he thought over how this was part of some political play by beings far more powerful than even Thor's family, he realized that they might not get another chance at the files, so he was going to get as much as he could while he could.
As he was typing the Director acknowledged to himself that it was going to be difficult to see Loki as anything but a threat and dangerous. Loki presented such a psychopathic demeanor that Director Fury still instinctively wanted to recoil from Loki even when it was just a video. Was it all just a facade? Something meant to distract us? You're nothing like what I thought you were. Helping the Avengers, trying to take humans into space, hiring warlords to help the people of Africa. Creating new aquifers to alleviate drought, is that even possible? And what are those seedlings you mentioned? Who are you Loki? And what are you up to?
No matter what the others thought Bruce wasn't a medical doctor. He didn't know what was causing Tony or Loki's skin to glow. As much as he hated to think it, he suspected magic was at play. It felt wrong to seriously consider magic as a real thing even when it was in front of him. It was times like this that he liked to remember his favorite Arthur C. Clark quote, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." So, if magic is technology, then what kind of technology is it? Bruce turned around to ask King Odin, "Excuse me, sir. I have some questions if you wouldn't mind." When King Odin didn't ignore or stop him, he asked, "Seidr is magic, or the energy that makes up magic. Is that correct?"
"Why do you wish to know?" Odin asked as he eyed the inquisitive mortal. 'Inquisitive' and 'mortal' weren't two things he previously put together.
That caused Bruce to smile. "I'm a scientist, sir. We use an evidence based, reproducible, logic driven method to explore and come to an understanding of the universe around us. As such, we're very curious. We want to understand how and what, when and where, but most importantly why."
The mortal's answer brought a soft smile to Frigga's face, "You're like Loki then, constantly asking questions and never satisfied with the answers." Odin wouldn't permit a mortal to approach her, and this mortal seemed to understand that. Should she choose to speak with him, then she knew that her husband would allow it. For as long as the mortal was respectful there would be no problems.
"Well, ma'am," Bruce stopped to think about it. Yesterday he would've said that he was nothing like Loki. Today was a new day. A little smile touched his lips. "Yes, ma'am. I suppose so."
"Yes," Frigga said. Watching the thoughts flit across his face was mildly amusing. "Seidr is used to preform magic."
"And someone with seidr can manipulate this energy. Those are what spells are, ma'am? The manipulation of that energy?" he asked.
"The weaving of that seidr, yes," Frigga nodded.
"And this manipulation is done at will?" Bruce was excited by the concept of being able to manipulate any energy at will. There had to be complex biological processes in place to allow for it. The evolutionary adaptation and fossil record would be fascinating to look at, he thought.
"Yes," Frigga nodded again.
"Wow, that's amazing," Bruce stopped to consider the possibilities. "Would you mind if I asked two more things, ma'am?" Bruce was trying to be mindful of his manners. He thought that they might be more willing to speak if he was polite.
"You may ask," Frigga replied. She was pleased by the proper respect this mortal showed. It was one nice thing in that tiny room among so many terrible things.
"What does it mean that Loki's energy, or seidr, 'imprinted' on Tony?" Bruce had some ideas about what might have happened to his friend.
"It means that their seidr has formed an unbreakable bond. They each feed and feed off of the seidr of the other," Frigga said quietly. It greatly displeased her that Loki was bound to a beast of a man.
To maintain his respectful demeanor Bruce carefully considered his next words. "Before Tony met Loki he looked several years older, wasn't nearly as well muscled as he is now and was actually a little shorter than me. Is it possible that this 'imprinting' could cause the changes that we've seen in him, ma'am?"
"No. Imprinting causes small changes to the personality of those who imprint. It rarely ever effects the body. The greatest changes to a person are in their seidr," Frigga explained. How much did Loki change this man? Was it his own nature which simply shone through? This was yet another uncomfortable mystery linked to her son. Frigga didn't want to think that Loki could so radically have changed Stark. It seemed more sensible that his own unique nature was responsible. The frustration she'd been feeling spiked up again. If and why Loki was involved was something else she needed to know, as well as if Stark coerced Loki into it. With what she'd seen, that wouldn't surprise her.
"That makes sense. Remember, Rhodes was changed too," Natasha said.
"That's true," Bruce said quietly, a little disappointed. He still didn't know what happened to Tony. "Thank you for answering my questions, ma'am." It was quite a bit to consider, and he was grateful to have the clear mind to consider it with.
Both Dr. Banner's respectful treatment of Frey's beloved sister, and his open honesty regarding Anthony's appearance were appropriate and appreciated. Older, less fit, and shorter. He gave serious thought then to Rhodes having been changed as well. The quality of his work far exceeding what he expected from a Midgardian held back that conclusion. He still felt there was the possibility of Rhodes being a half-blood wearing a glamour. There was no spell Frey knew of that could change a person so dramatically. He wanted to keep the possibility that it was something unique to Anthony that made it possible. If Loki changed them both, then it wasn't something unique to Anthony. It can't be Blood Magics. That's the shaping of flesh only. That doesn't account for the seidr core. Frey added that to his list of things to speak with Loki on. For all the benefit he could see coming from using it as Loki did, Blood Magics weren't something to be used so casually. Any magic that could turn a man inside out while purposefully keeping him alive wasn't to be dallied with.
"The next file is from April 27, 2023," McCorrmick respectfully interjected. He quietly tapped his foot along with the singing coming from Thor's hammer. It hit a crescendo earlier then died back down. It was a beautiful tune from a beautiful lady that was very soothing.
