Hello everyone! I promise I am not giving up on this story, AP physics is way more than I bargained for. I hope everyone likes this chapter!
Not mine, never mine, usual disclaimers
"Do you really turn into a giant, blue smurf when you are in extreme cold?"
This mortal was far too clever for his own good.
o~*+*~o
Right after he asked his question, Tony knew that it had either been the smartest things he had ever done or the stupidest.
Loki's face quickly circulated through shock, rage, sadness, and fear before the injured god mastered himself and let a blank mask slide on. The only thing that didn't change was the glowing emerald eyes that hinted at the emotions that roiled under the surface. While listening to Thor's glorious stories of gloriousness very rarely helped, this time it had. It was clear from Loki's reaction that at least some of the thunder god's tale was not exaggeration, but fact.
It was really only fair that he ask such a personal question about his new guest after revealing so much about his horrible personal life, even if he was pretty sure that Loki had only been half listening. Besides, focusing on Reindeer Games's problems did wonders for his own self esteem. If what Thor said was true then Loki had gone mad over stuff that, on Earth, didn't really matter at all. Except for the different species thing, that would not go over well initially anywhere that the genius could think of.
Even when Loki had been, without a doubt, his enemy, Tony had wanted to punch Thor in the face when he had said that Loki had been ridiculed for his magic and intelligence, an outcast in their society. Tony had been so tempted to ask just how Loki's magic worked but if it was easy for Tony to think of a way to avoid truly answering then it would be even simpler for the god of mischief and lies.
Besides, Loki's question didn't hold the same risk it used to pose but still struck near the heart of him and exhumed some particularly painful memories so it seemed only natural to ask something that really couldn't be used against Loki but was still a piece of useful information. Maybe when they had more than this tentative unspoken peace they would be able to take about magic and technology and how they were the same yet different. It would be nice to have a little trust between them but the idea was incredibly unlikely. With a track record like his own, Tony had learned not to trust anyone easily and had JARVIS constantly watching Loki for both of their safety, the god was severely injured by Earth standards after all. JARVIS could monitor the injured god with ease when he was in the tower but once outside it things got a little more complicated.
The tower was not intended to be a cage and Tony did not necessarily want to imprison Loki for crimes the genius suspected were not consciously committed. From the looks of the injuries the god had received, Loki had payed for whatever crimes he had ever committed in full. While Tony didn't want to make the god stay against his will, the inventor wanted a chance to study the other man and hopefully figure out just how the other man and his magic worked because Tony was of the belief that the magic the injured god possessed was merely an advanced form of science. From the stories that Thor had told it was likely that Loki was intelligent enough to hold a conversation with him, a rare thing, and have the knowledge to fill in the gaps that Earth findings couldn't.
The inventor had been so hopeful that Bruce Banner would stay after the Battle of Manhattan and his high hopes had been subsequently dashed when the other scientists fear of losing control and habit won over his own wishes. It didn't really matter, he still had JARVIS to keep him company and remind him to do silly things like eat and sleep, but he was left alone again.
The loneliness was a constant in his life though so he was used to it. He was a genius among geniuses and that was bad enough so Tony could not imagine what it must have been like for Loki, a genius among idiots, for hundreds of years. And on top of that he was not an Ãsier but a Jötun. The magic probably helped though.
After a minute of silence it quickly became evident that Loki was not planning on tailing anytime soon. "Thor was heartbroken after you "died" for him so when he came back to Earth he told many tales of your many achievements and failures," Tony explained.
"Basically, he told us your life story. I think I was the only one who really got that if you could all of this stuff when you were just a kid it really wouldn't be all that hard to fake being dead when you have so much experience. I believe I was also the only one who found it odd that you had not used any of your magic during your previous, uh, visit to Earth."
Still silence.
"You know, you did promise to answer any question if I answered yours. What's so bad about being a giant smurf anyways?" When Thor had tried to explain it Tony was almost positive that the thunder god was hiding some important details because being a different species alone did not make someone go as batshit crazy as Loki did.
"They are monsters." The whisper sounded like it had been ripped from the injured god's throat.
"How can an entire race of people be monsters?"
"They just are!" Loki took a deep breath before beginning again, the raven haired man's voice holding the same intensity as before in an incredibly soft volume. "I grew up hearing about the atrocities that the Jötun committed, how they were vicious and merciless and pitiless creatures. They were the monsters under the bed that I feared as a young child and became the pest to be exterminated as Thor and I grew older.
"One day, incidentally the day Thor was supposed to be crowned as the next ruler of Asgard, Frost Giants invaded the vaults and attempted to steal the Casket of Winters. Thor, in his anger, decided that the best way to prevent this from ever happening was too kill all of the Frost Giants once and for all." Loki glanced over at Tony and gave him a look. "Going to the Frost Giant's realm and attacking them was forbidden and doing so would break the tentative peace that had held for hundreds of years." Now the look made so much more sense.
"I attempted to dissuade Thor from his path but he felt as if the attack had been a personal insult that he would avenge. It was while we were in the Frost Giants realm when one of the beasts grabbed my arm, a terrible injury for anyone of Asgardian descent as Frost Giants are so cold that their touch causes severe frostbite. Instead of being injured my arm began to turn as blue as the monster who had touched me.
"Once his hand left my arm it returned to what I have previously considered its natural color and everyone who had foolishly followed Thor on this escapade was rescued by the Allfather. Thor was punished for his actions, banishment to Midgard without his powers until he was deemed worthy, while I went to confront the Allfather about what had happened."
"I had gone down to the vault with the Casket of Winters to touch it, the casket's cold reminiscent to the Frost Giants own, only to observe the same phenomena occur again. It was the ultimate betrayal, my entire life a lie. The Allfather tried to explain why this was happening but fell into Odinsleep before a sufficient answer could be produced."
While Loki continued to rant and mourn his lack of answers and the rather ironic timing of the Allfather's fall into Odinsleep, Tony couldn't help but draw the similarities between this Allfather person and Stane.
Both were father figures and both had lied and schemed and kept large and dangerous secrets that eventually brought downfall. The only big difference between Loki's story and his own was that while Tony brought upon Stane's downfall and death, Loki had inadvertently brought upon his own downfall in what seemed like an attempted suicide. What else would you call deliberately falling off the rainbow bridge of magic into the void of endless space below?
It wasn't until Loki cut himself off, rather abruptly, in the middle of his monologue that Tony registered what the injured god had been saying. Something about the rainbow bridge, the Chitauri, the tesseract and the other?
"So you don't remember anything from your previous, um, visit here?" Barton had remembered what he had done under the tesseracts control but, if Tony had to guess, it likely took a lot more power to control a god that possessed magic than a mortal with a bow and arrow.
"I could only remember bits and pieces but ever since I landed here the memories have begun to return. The only memories I had about my crimes were of after the green beast crushed my body and the tesseracts' hold was weakened enough for me to regain consciousness," Loki mused softly. Tony waited for the raven haired man to continue but when the silence persisted Tony felt the need to break it once again.
Silence was never a good thing in the genius's mind. Silence was anger, sadness, fear, pain, emptiness and the Void. He had no good memories of silence and likely never would. There was a reason he always had music on, or have JARVIS talking or talk himself when the room was quiet. Even the slightest background sound was normally helpful but when you had the man who you previously considered your worst enemy and the number one cause of panic attacks sitting right next to you the silence needed more push to break. So Tony would push.
"Just to verify, the answer to my question is yes, you do turn blue in extremely cold temperatures, right?" The glare he got in return could have frozen the desert but Tony Stark the business man was accustomed to these looks so it slid right off of him. The icy stare was quickly retaliated by a cheeky grin and then Loki just stopped.
The injured god straightened his back and tensed, as if expecting a blow, before locking eyes with Tony and said in all seriousness, without any trace of animosity, "Yes, Stark. This skin is not my true one, I am naturally a blue skinned and red eyed monster."
"Would you show me?"
Loki immediately opened his mouth to speak before quickly closing it again, staring at Tony with almost open incredulity. "Why would you want to see it?"
Tony rolled his eyes. "Your like the real life Avatar, why would I not want to see it?" There was a broken moment where Tony lay, waiting for the answer, and got comfortable under the covers. The last couple of days were catching up to him and not only because he had barely slept in that time. He had answers and his answer was a god sitting on his bed. The though was suprising my non-threatening but that was probably the sleep deprivation talking.
Tony had almost managed to doze off when he heard Loki whisper, "No. I can not show you my other form as I lack to magic and energy to shield my use of magic and I would be unable to change back." Tony smiled and closed his eyes and he relaxed further into the mattress.
"I guess I'll just have to wait till your powers come back." Just when he fell asleep, Tony was woken abruptly by a quick flick to the forehead. Not enough to hurt but definitely more than irritating, this man was depriving him of sleep. "What was that for?" Tony mumbled, refusing open his eyes and Turing away from Loki so he wouldn't be hit on his face again.
"Go sleep in your own bed." Loki didn't sound too angry though so Tony thought that he could probably get away with sleeping here, not that Tony planed on moving any time soon.
"I've gone over this. My tower, my money, my bed."
"Technically, sir, you did place-"
"No! JARVIS don't-"
"Loki in this room so it could be viewed by either way."
"Betrayer." Still without opening his eyes, Tony gets comfortable again and lazily waves off both JARVIS and Loki's argument. "Goodnight Rudolph."
"Rudolph?"
Tony fell asleep smiling.
I'm working on the next couple of chapters but it might take a while because of school so please be patient. Any ideas or comments would be fantastic!
Please review!