When they approached across the Bi-frost escorted by a number of guards, Heimdall was unsurprised to see Sigyn and Thor. He had, after all, answered the questions that had sent Sigyn on her hunt and broken the last strands of her patience. That Thor had stood by her through her revelation of her decision spoke volumes of what had happened. That the prince was here, now, made him almost smile. For however long they had been banished to Midgard, he would See that no undue harm followed after them for their decisions.
The pillar of bright light mixed with lightning had become-perhaps-too common of an occurrence but when Thor was deposited with a bemused female on their rooftop, Jarvis wasn't the least bit concerned. What did interest him was the composition and biological structure of the apple that the female held when he began his routine scans of all guests that entered the Tower.
The female paused on the threshold when she focused on the little rays of light that slid over her and Thor. Tentatively, she reached a hand out passed it through the light. Fascinated, Jarvis repeated the scan and watched her expression morph into one of curiosity rather than resigned pain. Her palm turned up and Jarvis expanded the scan to encompass her whole body, watching the swirl of energy within her pool into her palm and produce a bright orb of light. When he focused the scan entirely on the orb, she gave a laugh of delight.
"What is this, Thor? This is nothing that Loki would do and no magic that I am familiar with. I do not even feel its energy passing through me," she said.
While Thor thoughtfully eyed the ceiling and sought the words to explain, Jarvis continued in his scan of the energy she had conjured. The energy in her palm was very similar in composition to the energy he could detect flowing through her body, but it lacked the biological composition that made up living bodies. So far as he could detect, the energy was held together by nothing but itself. It was a curiosity logged for later analysis.
"It…He…is Jarvis. Jarvis is…like Heimdal, the watcher and guardian of this tower, but he resides within the tower itself. He assesses all new occupants and guests with those lights to determine whether they are of hostile intent or not," Thor said.
"It is a very close assessment," Jarvis replied as the scans were logged and the results assimilated into his internal memory. "However, the scans also determine species as well as what materials you carry on yourself. As well, they are routinely used monitor the physical health of those entering the Tower. As I have no record of you ever visiting Stark Industries or any of its facilities and there are no other known sightings of you known to date, I must assume that you are one of Thor's companion's from Asgard." The last he directed to the small female.
She closed her palm and smiled up at the ceiling. "My name is Sigyn and I was once a Healer for Asgard, but that is no longer my primary function. It is a pleasure to meet you."
Jarvis was silent for a moment, then answered, "It is good to meet you as well, Ms. Sigyn. The Liesmith is out at the moment, but if you would like I can pass along a request to Mr. Stark and alert him that you are present." He took note of the way that her face closed off at the mention of his creator and the other occupant of the tower and reassessed her as a possible threat with low probability of turning hostile. Thor had, after all, never allowed any of his companions who accompanied him to attack anyone within the Tower.
Her free hand slipped back to the apple that she cradled something precious. "Please, inform him that I have come to impart upon him the means by which he may spend one of our lifetimes with Loki as his soulmate," she said quietly.
Not ten miles away, Loki released the spell which showed him the new occupants of the Tower and closed his eyes against the momentary curl of guilt and shame before he quashed it. When the perimeter spell had been triggered, he had expected Thor, not Thor and…Sigyn. He snapped the book shut that he had been looking at and ignored the other patrons as he slid the book back onto its shelf and departed the store. No one blinked twice when he vanished from the crowded sidewalk.
When he had said, "…let your healers fix…" and agreed to try for a thousand-odd years with the god of mischief, he hadn't known, would never have guessed it would have come to this. When Jarvis had relayed her name and message then asked him what he wanted to do, he'd been speechless…for once. Tony stood in the middle of his garage, a wrench still in hand paused in the middle of the repairs he had been doing for one of his suits. Carefully, he set it down and grabbed a rag to try and wipe the oil from his fingers as he said, "Pull up feed of where they are. Let me see her."
When Jarvis complied and showed him that Thor and the female were still in top floor living room, he wasn't sure what he had been expecting, but this…this hadn't been it. Objectively speaking, she was gorgeous despite the plain, blue robes that she wore. Dark black hair bound back, light olive skin, high cheekbones, and a fit build. Her hands were still cradled around the golden apple that she held and her head was turned away from Thor who looked to be trying to engage her in some form of conversation. After a solid minute of trying different tactics, he could see when Thor gave up and joined her by the window to gaze at the city below.
"She hasn't said anything since she spoke to me," Jarvis advised him. "I am…uncertain of what to make of her. Based upon Norse mythology, the name is indicative of-"
"I know," Tony said, swiping the feed from the screen. "But why would she claim that name? She can't…It…Loki hasn't mentioned anything about his past to me. Everything I know is based on old myths and bits and pieces that Thor has dropped. It…Why would she-?" he stopped and stared at the now black screen before he rubbed a hand through his hair and sighed. He knew, abstractly, that the best way to get answers was to go up and actually speak with her, but he was reluctant to do so. "Give me your assessment of her," he said.
Twenty minutes after they had arrived, the metal door on the far side of the room dinged and slid open. Thor watched with some trepidation as Tony stepped into the room and paused to study them. Tony's eyes slid to Sigyn and stayed there, like he was assessing something. She turned her head and met his gaze.
"So," she said conversationally. "You're the one." The blank expression she wore broke and the pieces slid away to show the things she had tried to hide: pain, resignation, heartbreak, and…yes, just a flash, but…jealousy.
"And you're…" Tony started, but there were, apparently, there were no good words to describe her.
"Sigyn, yes," she filled for him. "And you're Tony Stark, Soulmate to my husband." The way she said his name with the curl of accent wasn't disdainful, but he wasn't entirely certain of what to take from it. "I understand the original circumstances of your bonding were unpleasant. For that, I am sorry, but I also understand that you have made your peace. Is that correct?"
"That's one way of putting it," Tony laughed, recalling the kidnapping and the events that followed. Her lips quirked upwards in response and she tilted her head. He resisted the urge to fidget under the way her gaze seemed to sharpen on him. "Look, I know what Jarvis said about your message, but if you're here to stake a claim and try to scare me off, you'll have to do a whole lot better than this." Her eyes shifted to a point just beyond his shoulder and a hint of something softer crept into her expression.
Even without looking, he knew who it was, as if the shift and pull of emotions wasn't enough between them, Sigyn's expression told him everything. He didn't turn, didn't want to see that guilt and touch of longing reflected in the face of the one he had chosen, the one that had cost him so much to come to terms with. Instead, he looked at Thor, who looked as lost and torn as he felt. Well, he figured, at least there was someone else in their tiny, messed up world who understood.
"She does not need to try, Stark, to stake a claim. Hers is a thousand years old bought with blood and strife and if she were to try and 'scare you off,' all she need do is simply desire that you be gone and she would find a way to do so," Loki said quietly, stepping to Tony's side from where he had teleported into the room. He was wearing a variation of his usual green, gold, and black attire. "Hers is a power that is similar to mine though her nature is contradictory."
She laughed at that and scrubbed a hand across her face. "The courts used to laugh at us. 'Chaos tamed by fidelity,' they whispered. How far from the truth they were," she sighed. Dropping her hand to her side, she held out the apple and stepped forward. Loki's gaze dropped to it and everything about him seemed to freeze. "After the last time, after what was said and done, even then I'd hoped we would still find a way to work, to move past it, but you've made your choices."
"Iduun does not give her apples without a price. What bargains did you make?" Loki asked.
"Bargains that were mine to make, dear husband," she answered. "I give it to you because I want to, not because I am forced into it. I will perform the healings, as well, if Stark allows it and he is still willing to go forward with this."
"That-"
"They were mine to make," she interrupted gently and closed the distance between them to take his wrist and turn his palm up so she could deposit the apple in it. "Take it or not, but you've made your decision. Your presence here tells me enough of that. I know it was not intentional and that you had no choice in whether or not it happened, but it happened and you've chosen him."
Loki held her steady gaze again and, before she could register the building of the spell, he had teleported the both of them away, leaving Tony scowling at the spot where they had been. "Jarvis," he started and then paused when he caught Thor's expression.
"He won't have taken her far, just far enough away to have words in private," Thor said.