A/N: Um. I utterly underestimated my finals? Sorry I left you waiting, guys.
Summary:
Tony doesn't seem to be making too many new friends. Loki redecorates.
Chapter IX—What About Those
Workings (noun): the way in which a machine, organization, or system operates.
Four walls. That was enough to drive a man crazy. Four walls and no alcohol. Hlin hadn't come back, let alone Loki, and by midday, Tony was well and truly bored. His only visitor had been a short woman who'd brought food and some suspiciously-smelling, thick liquid she'd called medicine. At least it hadn't been too disgusting to swallow.
The pain in his head had ebbed away, and he was growing restless. Being knocked out had forced him to sleep for a few hours, which was all his body really needed. He'd functioned on less before.
When he returned from the bathroom, wondering how much longer he'd have to pace to leave a trail in the floor, the door slid open. Tony's eyebrows rose.
"Jane?"
"Hi." She closed the door behind her, nearly catching a fold of her gown between it and the doorframe. "I would have brought coffee, but it doesn't seem to be growing on Asgard."
"Yeah… And they're possessive of their mead. Wouldn't let me have any." He sat down on the bed and gestured at the chair. "Make yourself comfortable. Where'd you lose Thor?"
Jane sat down, crossing her arms over her chest. "Talking battle, I hear. I'm going to walk around for a bit, and I thought you might want to join me. Explore Asgard."
He hesitated. Perhaps Loki would come looking for him and wouldn't find him here… But Jane wasn't sitting around waiting for Thor, either, and if the Thundered had thought she would, then he'd been tragically mistaken.
"Sounds like fun." And he could have fun. He could totally have fun.
"Great. You can leave here, right?"
The corners of Tony's lips curled upwards. "When have you ever known me to ask for permission?"
~*oO*o*Oo*~
Bad morals or not, Asgard's technology was impressive, from the ball a few boys were playing with that somewhat resembled an atom with a golden core and silver orbits circling around it, to entire buildings floating in midair. Floating! The scientist part of him kept doing back flips (because apparently, it could do that, never mind his forty-something, pain-susceptible back), and one look at Jane told him she wasn't any less excited (even though she'd convinced him not to steal that ball).
"Why didn't those jerks show me any of this?" He poked the surface of a reflecting pond. Well, some kind of a reflective pond. No ceiling or walls were mirrored in it. Not even Tony's face showed on the surface when he leaned over the water. Instead, the pond offered him a look at the sky, all the stars and nebulas and moons above Asgard, even though Tony was certain the hole in the ceiling right above the pond wasn't even nearly large enough for that.
"What jerks?"
"Fandral and Sif." He stuck first his finger, then his whole hand, through the surface; the water rippled around it, but the image remained. "Thor forced them to give me a tour. They kept talking about wars."
"Oh." Jane sat down on the edge of the pond. It was rectangular and made out of some light stones that all seemed to be exactly the same size. "I've met them."
"And?"
"And what?"
"They're warriors in a culture of warriors." She lifted her gaze up to him. "You don't like them."
"They weren't exactly Loki's best buddies."
"Thor said they were friends."
"Thor doesn't always see everything."
"Perhaps, but he's nice." She pressed her lips together.
"That doesn't make all the non-nice things in the world go away." Tony pulled his hand out of the water and shook it. Droplets landed on his clothes. That reminded him—sometime soon would be a good time to change…
Jane pressed her lips together. Her fingers traced the narrow dip between two stones. "Have you ever considered Loki's version of the past might not be entirely true?"
"Sure I have. Doesn't matter, though; it's true for him. I'm sure Thor has a different version with different feelings, but that doesn't make what Loki feels any less true."
"I... suppose you could be right." Jane's gaze lingered on her fingers. "Thor didn't talk much about the past. I know he was banished for starting a war and all that... But... Loki was jealous, wasn't he?"
"Honestly? I'd say somewhat, yeah. He said it was about protecting Asgard first, and I believe him. You've seen this place, these people. They don't think the way we do. Battle and death mean glory to them. Thor wouldn't notice a morally delicate situation if it kicked him in the butt, but that doesn't mean none were there. I guess Loki's way of thinking is... different enough to notice the bad sides of Asgard.
"I mean, come on, look at their feasts. The food has to come from somewhere, and there have to be people who work the whole day so that the warriors can eat. If somebody loses a limb in an accident, he's probably doomed to shame and starves to death because he can't work, but it this happens to a warrior, it's celebrated."
Jane finally looked up. "Is that true?"
"The limb thing? No idea. It seems like something that would fit the place. Not that I want to see it, but I keep expecting some Game-of-Thrones-worthy gore. It can't all be polished and shiny like my suits."
"Hm."
"Takes away some of the magic, doesn't it?"
Jane nodded. Tony spent another moment hoping the aforementioned gore wouldn't make an entrance and being torn between wanting to ask Loki if Asgard had slaves and really not wanting to know the answer.
"They're not even aware how much science—or magic—they have in this place. It's taken for granted."
"It's everywhere," Jane said. "Maybe that's why they don't pay attention to it."
Tony poked the water once more. "They're blind. Should we go somewhere else?"
"The bridge?"
"Bifrost?"
"Yes, that."
He nodded.
~*oO*o*Oo~
His hand was deceptively pale.
Sometimes, Loki wondered why he bled red when his skin was peeled off, why it did not reveal rotten blue instead. Other times, he knew himself to be foolish. Whatever spell Odin had cast upon him, whatever spell was hiding his true nature, it changed the colour, not covered it.
He should ask how it worked, what exactly it had done to his body, but these questions were much easier to face when he was sitting in the darkest corner of the library.
He didn't really know much about frost giants if he were to be completely honest. Monsters, yes, but how do monsters function? He'd assumed his touch froze everything, yet Tony had come away unscathed. He'd assumed, at first, the transformation could only be triggered by the Casket, but he'd done it without any help in a desperate act of self-defence and later while struggling to reach for his magic. The poison had forced him to change as well, or perhaps it had been his own violent emotions? Fear? Despair?
Could he learn to control this?
He buried his fingers into his hair and tugged at the locks. Monster. His origins had ruined his entire existence, caused him to be shunned by Asgard and brutally punished by the Chitauri. The blue of his skin was nothing but a curse.
Save for that one time it had kept him from freezing on Earth, kept him alive long enough for Tony to find him...
He sighed. Now was not the time. There was a war hanging over the horizon, and he had to plan and strategize, but he couldn't focus. Thoughts of Tony kept sending pangs of pain through his chest as though there was an invisible string connecting his heart with Tony's and somebody was stubbornly tugging at it. His gaze came to linger on his hand the second he dropped it into his lap again.
Hatred burnt dark inside him.
He couldn't even love Tony properly. He really was a monster. But maybe, just maybe, if he understood how the monster inside him worked, learnt what made it so monstrous, he could kill those parts?
Leaning on his hands, he pushed himself onto his feet. His footprints were barely audible in the large hall, the echoes suffocated by shelve upon shelve of books and scrolls. He let his fingertips trail the shelves and his feet carry him to the far side of the room, dedicated to the less-known realms. Vanaheim and Earth—Midgard—each had its own, larger, section. Somewhat smaller were those of Nidavellir, Svartalfheim and Alfheim. The rest shared a part of one section.
Loki ran his fingers over the book spines. He didn't even have to look to know the records of the entire Great War with Jotunheim were there; his fingertips found tiwaz carves into the leather covers.
There was nothing else, though. Whether it had never been created or either Odin or Bor had ordered it destroyed, Loki didn't know. His heart sank. Surely war records wouldn't contain any particularly useful information... They should, really, because knowing the opponents' physique could only be an advantage, but even if somebody had taken time to study the giants, perhaps even dissect a corpse (which was very unlikely), it had probably been used on the battlefield and then left to fade away. After all, the records were here to sing glory to Asgard, not change those monsters into real, individual beings.
Were they? Were frost giants real, individual beings?
Could they even not be different individuals? Loki knew he was smart and a master of magic, but those could very well be the results of his more civilised upbringing. Surely they must have been, otherwise the Jotnar wouldn't be living like savages, would they?
He stole their heart.
Loki shook his head as if that could banish all thoughts of blue light—don't, don't generalise, don't think about them—and went to work.
~*oO*o*Oo~
The Bifrost? Long like that country road Tony had gotten lost on when he'd been twenty. Sure, it was amazing, but that didn't make the walk any shorter or his legs any less tired. The first bursts of enthusiasm he'd felt when he'd set foot on the crystal surface had faded, and so had his conversation with Jane. Tony was only hoping the observatory in front of him would provide some answers about the bridge. And some water; his tongue was practically plastered to the roof of his mouth.
"Hello?" he called out.
A clank of metal came from the inside, and then a man.
"You've come a long way."
"Hoping for answers," Jane said.
"And something to drink," Tony added. "If you have something and wouldn't mind sharing?"
"You are smart, Jane Foster, but there are things even you can't understand." Golden eyes travelled to Tony. "I can give you water. Come inside."
Where was Asgard hiding all that famous alcohol if they had only water to offer him?
"Thanks," he said anyway because he was thirsty. "Can I just... How do you see everything in the Nine Realms? I mean, people need light to see, right? But you're light years away from Earth, for example, so how can you see what's going on there right now?"
Heimdall, leading them into the observatory and to a small door, so ornate Tony could barely tell it from the wall, on one side, gave the inventor a short look. "Your universe and mine—they don't exist on the same plane." Then he disappeared through the door.
Tony turned to Jane. "Magic. Why does everyone attribute everything to magic?"
Sure, it was supposed to be advanced science, but this? What if there really was some kind of magic that was different from science, that defied science's rules?
"Why do we always attribute everything to science?" Jane countered.
"We don't. You have no idea how many people can be tricked with simple, scientific, tricks into thinking they're seeing something otherworldly." He crossed his arms over his chest. "Other than that, we do it because it makes sense. How do you explain that? How can he see without the light even getting here? And don't tell me it comes through a wormhole. We came through wormholes, but there isn't—"
Those passages Loki used… But even they needed to be opened by somebody, so light couldn't just spontaneously travel through, could it?
"—isn't one now. Unless Heimdall has a tiny little Bifrost ray for peeping through."
Jane arched her eyebrows and shook her head. Her gaze landed behind Tony, and then followed Heimdall to their side.
"Could you tell us more about the Bifrost?" she asked. "How does it work? How do you activate it?"
"With magic," came the stoic reply. Heimdall offered each human a cup of water.
"Is there anything… more specific you can tell us? You know how we connect science with magic, and if—"
"Perhaps there are things that are not for you to know."
Jane shut her mouth and pouted. Tony sipped his water and looked directly into Heimdall's unnerving eyes.
"How about something else, hm? Tell me about that time Loki tried to kill himself. What happened?"
Something shifted in Heimdall's eyes just a bit. "I notified the Allfather. He intervened."
"You notified Odin?"
"Yes."
"So you were watching Loki? Enjoying the show?"
"I did not turn my eyes upon the Prince often before that. It was a mere coincidence I saw him. I realised later that I should, perhaps, have watched more carefully."
A mere coincidence.
All the air left Tony's lungs.
A mere coincidence that Loki was alive now. What had been the odds…? He'd thought he'd lost Loki, and then he got him back, but to hear now how close he'd come to really spending the rest of his life without Loki in it…
He couldn't do it again. No matter what Loki had said about too strong attachment, they could figure it out. Together. Because Tony sure as hell wasn't letting Loki fall into some metaphorical chasm on his own again.
"Did you see… The Chitauri… Could you have seen what they did…?" Just thinking about it made Tony's stomach rebel.
Heimdall shook his head once. "My gaze does not reach outside of the Nine Realms. Still, I have seen enough of what followed. If you should want to do so, you can let Loki know he has paid enough for attacking me. I consider us even."
Tony's hands travelled to his hips. "Yeah? Why don't you tell him that yourself?"
"I still dislike him, as I am sure he dislikes me."
"Hm."
"You should leave now. The Bifrost is not the place for you to stay too long."
The bridge surely wouldn't hurt them, but Tony doubted he'd be willing to bear Heimdall's company much longer.
"Right. Sure. Come on, Jane, let's go find some food."
The scientist glanced from him to Heimdall, some question or comment obviously on the tip of her tongue, but nodded her agreement.
"Bye," she said to the Watchman. Tony didn't say anything.
~*oO*o*Oo*~
"Loki's tried to kill himself?"
Tony raised an eyebrow. He'd been wondering how long it would take Jane to ask, and the fact that they'd already got back to the city was quite astounding. She must have been either thinking about something else really hard or convinced the question was rude and considering how Tony would react if she asked it nevertheless.
"Yeah."
"What happened?"
"That's not for me to tell. What do you think, how could Heimdall notify Odin of anything in mere moments?"
Better yet, how had Odin saved Loki then? Just snatched him from midair? With the Cube, or something?
"Magic?" she suggested. "What about those birds? Hugin and Munin?"
"The ravens? Hm." He was about to start thinking about other theories out loud when an unfamiliar voice reached his ears.
"Hey, there."
A group of Aesir—four—no, five—was sitting on the stairs leading to a tall, narrow building, and shaded by what could be an oak tree. Their gazes were directed towards Jane. Tony's eyes narrowed.
"Lady Jane, was it?" one of the three blonds asked. "Would you like to keep us company?"
She shook her head. "I'm sorry, I have to get back to the palace."
"Naturally." Blonde number two nudged blonde number one. "Prince Thor is calling, eh?"
Jane pressed her lips together. Tony's gaze darkened even more.
"Mustn't keep him waiting then. What the Prince wants, the Prince gets, whether the whore is from Asgard or... mortal."
Tony shot the guy a glare and wrapped his fingers around Jane's biceps. "Come on, let's go. They're idiots."
"Oh, you're in a hurry, too? Wait, you're the other Prince's whore, aren't you?"
The group laughed.
"Or is he your whore?" the only redhead in the group asked. "Once an ergi, always an ergi..."
Everything in Tony's body ached to attack, to lunge forward, wrap his hands around the idiot's throat and squeeze, but he'd probably end up hospitalized for a year. Perhaps Loki would kill the guys in retaliation...
A hand landed on his shoulder. Then it was gone and Fandrall stepped past him.
"You would do well to keep such words to yourself, Thorgar. I hear the Princes have ears everywhere."
The redhead lowered his gaze but didn't apologize.
"Perhaps next time you cannot keep your mouth shut, somebody will have to flog you."
"Yes, my Lord." It didn't sound very apologetic, but at least it was something. Tony's fists remained clenched, though, to keep them from trying to strangle anybody. It was bad enough he had to be saved like a child; he didn't need a few broken bones on top of that.
Fandrall slipped between him and Jane and placed an arm around their shoulders, then started leading them away.
"Thank you," Jane said. Tony didn't have it in him to do the same.
"You are most welcome, Lady Jane." He flashed her a smile. "Have you seen Prince Loki?"
"No," Tony said. Okay, maybe he snapped a little. Just a little. Barely noticeably.
Fandrall arched an eyebrow. "He was supposed to come to the council meeting. You don't know where he is?"
"I told you I don't." Definitely snapping this time.
"What's wrong with you?"
"Me?" Tony stopped and shook Fandrall's arm off his shoulders. "You think he hasn't told me anything?"
"And by anything you mean...?"
"Your treason? I though such a crime was punishable by death..." True, he never would have met Loki if things hadn't turned out the way they had, but if that meant Loki wouldn't have had to go through Thanos' torture...
Fandrall's expression turned serious. "We knew what we were doing and what to expect. We had our reasons."
"Really?"
" We assumed Loki left the frost giants into Asgard. That he was working with Jotunheim."
"And you assumed that because...?"
Fandrall didn't answer.
"Uh-huh. You just assumed it because he was capable of doing it."
"We didn't know he was planning to destroy Jotunheim."
Tony snorted. "Of course you didn't. Why would you?"
Another pause. "I don't have to justify our actions to you."
"You're right." Tony's voice quieted. "Probably because you can't. You can hate Loki all you want to, but you also defied Odin's orders."
"We were doing for Thor what you would do for Loki."
Okay, yeah, apparently running out of the hall after Loki had let the whole Asgard know he was close to the Trickster. But then he'd known it would.
"You're not in love with Thor, are you?"
Fandrall rolled his eyes. "Of course not." He started walking again. "Let's go."
"Fine," Tony grumbled. And then, as a precaution, he added, "Are you going to kill me in my sleep now?"
A short laugh answered him. "I like your spunk. You can stay."
Right. He'd insulted the guy to his face, and that apparently meant he had spunk. Made perfect sense.
~*oO*o*Oo*~
Somebody—Thor, that was Thor's booming voice saying, "Loki! Loki, are you in there? Loki!"—banged on the door.
Loki pulled his knees closer to his chest and shivered in a way that had nothing to do with the ice covering the room.
A/N: Thanks for reading. Please review :)
~shades