At the edge of the Bi-frost, Heimdal watched the conversation between the two women play out, heard the barbed threats they passed over, and registered the laughter when the words took a less hostile approach, but it was the phrase "…immortality equal to my own Aseir status…" that held his attention and made his hands tighten fractionally over the hilt of the sword that he held tip-down before him. He had heard the same whispers of Idunn's apples that the rest of the Aseir had, of the powers that the fruit held beyond prolonging their own pseudo-immortality. The rumors said that they could heal any near-fatal would and make anyone immortal, but giving that person "…immortality equal to my own Aseir status…" was unheard of.
Until the day Sigyn had walked away from Idunn carrying the apples, he hadn't known anyone could withstand the Firebrand dagger. Many had tried over his long years as Guardian and he had watched each of them fail. When he had told her of the events to transpire between her husband and Thor's shield-brother he hadn't expected that she would go straight to Idunn, had never dreamed that she would break ties so thoroughly with Asgard and seek the company of humans, but he also couldn't condemn her choices.
Still.
"…immortality equal to my own Aseir status…"
It troubled him that he didn't know what she meant by that statement.
The lab was strewn with bits of technology that were in various states of completion, there was a bed tucked into one corner for the times Tony worked too long, Dummy and U were whirring happily around them, and, in the center of it all, an apple sat on a holographics display beneath the picture that displayed its chemical break down and innards. Pepper watched Tony pace his lab wearing a greasy ACDC shirt and making gestures with hands that bore several grease smudges that told her he had been at this project and several others for the last few days.
It had been three days since the dinner with Sigyn and she listened as he vented his frustration at not knowing what the motives behind the apple were, his frustration at Loki's wariness and impatience, and his frustration at not understanding all of the elements that made the apple special, but beneath all of that she heard his reluctance to be indebted to someone. She let him pace and vent while she reviewed everything she knew.
Loki and Tony were Soulmates and Tony would live only a human lifespan unless he took the apple and that wasn't good for Loki because "…he will be the bringer of Ragnarok if he is not balanced." Sigyn had told her more, so much more, over the course of their dinner. Some of it had been stories about mischief she had shared with Thor, Loki, and their friends and some of it had been about the wars Asgard's warriors had fought in, but most of it had been about Loki and pieces of the life she had shared with him. Sigyn probably hadn't meant to send her to check on Tony-probably-but some of the things she had hinted at, the way she had choked on repeating the words of the Ragnarok prophecy had told her enough to glean the knowledge that Sigyn cared for Loki like she cared for Tony.
So. She had set aside several meetings and pushed aside a mountain of paperwork to stand in Tony's lab three days after the dinner because Sigyn's worries had echoed her own and three days was a long time for Tony to chew on an issue that had an answer unless it bothered him in some form or fashion. While he was swearing at the trace compositions that made the apple an apple and the other things he couldn't identify, she understood that he didn't want to be indebted to anyone.
Instead of answering the rhetorical questions he was posing to her and Jarvis about the apple and its hypothetical ancestors and various acts they may have performed, she said, "Give it back, then. If it bothers you this much, give it back or destroy it." She paused under the incredulous look he was giving her and then continued, "Something about this situation makes you wary and that's good enough reason to back away from it, but…" she paused again when he glanced between her and the apple with a suspicious glare "…consider the impacts it might have on your…lover…if you were to die at the end of a handful of years. Aseir are quite long-lived, as I understand."
The look he gave her after that was a long one. Having been on the end of all of Tony's looks, she couldn't say what she read in this one. It was almost a novelty to find something she hadn't seen in him before. "You want me to take the apple," he said.
"I do," she replied.
"You met her?" he asked, a fleeting emotion flashing across his features.
"And talked with her for a bit." Three hours and dinner was more than a bit, but Sigyn had had interesting stories and been more than interested in learning a few things she knew about Earth, but still. He didn't really need to know that. "I won't pretend to understand everything going on with you right now, but I think you should accept the apple or give it back."
They both glanced at the apple sitting inconspicuously in the middle of his worktable. It gleamed gold beneath the lights. "Loki isn't sure about this either," he admitted. "He wants me to live as long as he does or as long as the apple will grant, but-apparently-very little is known about the bargains that are necessary to gain one of these things. Sigyn is the first he knows of that has successfully passed the Firebrand trial and made whatever bargain is required to gain this thing." Frustration crept into his tone as he scowled at the apple, like he was remembering a frustrating conversation.
She was quiet for a moment, studying him. For as long as she had been with him-employed or otherwise-she would never claim to completely understand him. He was shallow sometimes and self-centered, he used flirtatious behavior to deflect a lot of attention and questions, but he was also brilliant, dedicated, loyal, and-above all-desired to keep their world safe even if it cost him his life. That last part had been the wedge she couldn't get past, the part that she couldn't overlook. Maybe, maybe, with an Aseir trickster out of their old legends for his lover he would survive himself and live longer than she had ever hoped.
"Tony," she said softly. "You told me once that you didn't have anyone but me. Do you remember that?" She caught the flash of guilt, but she pressed on saying, "That was true for us up until the Avengers. Now, you have Steve, Bruce, Natasha, Clint, and even Thor. You have Loki, now. You have a Soulmate. You're not alone like you were, then, but you're human. How long can you keep up with them?" She remembered those first bullet holes in that Iron Man suit-Mark II, if she recalled right-and remembered the terror that had first frozen her in that moment. "I met Sigyn and I talked with her. I don't think that she's out to hurt you or him. If you can't find anything wrong with the apple and Loki doesn't think there are any strings attached, if he trusts her, what harm is there in accepting it as a gift? What harm is there in thinking that maybe she doesn't want to see her…ex-lover…suffer through the loss of a Soulmate? I wouldn't want you to go through that and I'd like to think, in her place, I'd make the offer for your lover."
Pepper watched the words sink in, saw the weight of them impact him. She didn't know him as completely as she might once have wanted, but she knew him well enough to know he wouldn't reject the possibility of the apple being a gift simply because he didn't want to be indebted to someone. Sometimes, he was too smart for his own good, but sometimes he was justified in his reluctance to trust people. With Obadiah, she hadn't known until it was almost too late. Now? She wanted to believe that the offer was genuine, but she also wasn't above thinking that she wanted the offer to be genuine because she wanted Tony to survive himself. The decision, now, was up to Tony. She'd planted the thought that maybe Sigyn didn't want anything from the whole situation beyond Loki not suffering sooner than necessary the loss of a Soulmate. It was more than she had wanted to do in the first place and it was enough. Laying a hand on something that looked like one of the Iron Man gauntlets, she asked him about the piece's function and started him off on a complicated explanation of its design, how the malfunctions were occurring, and what he was trying to accomplish with it.
Sigyn paced Pepper's office around the dark brown couch that was set in front of the desk, unsure why she had come to the other woman. It had been five days since they'd had dinner, twelve since she had left Asgard, and still Loki's mortal had not eaten of the apple, but he had also not returned the gift. It was starting to become an itch under her skin, this wanting of it to be over, but she didn't want to intrude into their lives like she was an overbearing ex-lover who didn't know when to stay away. So, she had found herself at Stark Industries Headquarters without meaning to show up and had asked to see Pepper. Despite the guards' initial mistrust, they had taken her request, passed it along, and-to hers and their surprise-Pepper had invited her up to her office.
Ten minutes later, she was still pacing around the couch and Pepper still hadn't said anything to her beyond the initial greeting. Pepper occasionally glanced at her over the tablet that she was reviewing something on, but otherwise let her pace in silence. "He hasn't taken it," she said, finally bringing herself to a halt before Pepper's desk. "He hasn't eaten the apple."
Pepper glanced at her again, then back to the tablet. She finished something on it with a flourish of her hand and then set the tablet aside on a small pile of paperwork. "I'm aware," she said. She folded her arms on the desk and leaned forward. "I talked to him a few days ago, but how do you know?"
"I'm a Healer," she started and then paused as Pepper's tone caught her attention. There was suspicion in those words and wariness in her eyes as she tracked Sigyn's movement. Suddenly unable to complete the lie she began, she sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "I haven't been spying on them-if that is your worry-and there are no spells active in that Tower that are not Loki's. I-" she hesitated, turning her head away to look out the ceiling-to-floor windows. "There is no bargain that does not come without a price. The apples come at a very high price because there are few races that do not covet immortality." She glanced at Pepper. "I have chosen to pay that price and made an exchange with Idunn for the apple. It makes me…uniquely…aware of whether or not it has been eaten. Which it hasn't." She brought herself up short before she could continue and reveal everything. Trusting this human was too easy and saying the wrong thing for her to take back to Stark could ruin the bargain she had made. "I apologize for using your time in this manner," she said shortly. "I shall not bother you again. Good day."
She turned away and started for the glass door. Better to do this the human method than have the guards asking questions about her disappearing act. Better to be alone with these questions than try to connect too much with the human who seemed to understand wounds the way she did, who could maybe show her what it was to move past them. Better not to ruin Loki's chance at a forever after of the sort that Soulmates represented.
"Wait," Pepper called and Sigyn took one more step before she hesitated. She half turned to see Pepper had risen from her desk, an expression of uncertainty flickering across her expression. "You don't…You don't have to disappear so quickly, if you don't want to."
The words left her before she could stop them, "Would you like dinner tomorrow, then? There are some questions I have about Midgard's history if you are inclined to answer them."
"Same restaurant?" Pepper asked.
Sigyn shook her head, smiling now. "Something different, your choice. Let me know through the same method as last time."
Pepper gave her an odd look that was a mixture of chagrin and amusement. "I asked Jarvis to hack the monitor you were standing next to, that time. It's not actually legal to use technology in that method."
A pause, and then, "What is a proper method of communication on Midgard?" She knew what she would have done with Asgard's technology or with another Sorceress, but this planet was young in both technological advancements and magic users.
Pepper appeared to consider her question. "Why don't we add that to the list of things you want to know about and I'll just ask Jarvis to contact you again?" she asked and Sigyn's smile widened a fraction.
"It is agreed, then," she said and then vanished with Pepper's laugh ringing in her ears.