"LADY Y/N I FEAR IF WE DO NOT DEPART FOR THE BIFROST IMMEDIATELY, MY BROTHER WILL TRY TO IMPALE ME WITH A CONJURED OBJECT AGAIN. PLEASE, WE MUST GO."
Thor's muffled shout from outside your bedroom door pulls you from your thoughts. Sitting on the edge of your bed, you hold the picture of Loki and Anthony that you had brought with you in your hand. It's creased in the middle, well-worn from having been looked at every morning and every evening. You had tried to touch it as little as possible to keep it in good shape, but you couldn't go long without staring into those big green eyes.
Tracing your fingers over their blue bodies, you wonder how Loki will react once you reach Jötunheim. Will he shift immediately? Will he fight to keep his Aesir form? Setting the picture gently on the bedside table, you let the thought go. Letting it flicker into nothing like a dying candle wick. Whatever form he decides to keep, you'll support him.
"Y/N. WE MUST GO!" roars Thor.
He used your name. Just your name. He's serious.
Quickly, you slide on your silver bracelet and twist it, allowing your Stark Industries tactical suit to materialize over the thermal leggings and long-sleeve sweater you had conjured beneath. Thor warned you about the cold.
You're about to leave when you spot the glint of something shiny on the dresser. Changing direction you spot Loki's black metal band from Tony sitting next to his weapons belt.
"Oh for God's sake," you breathe out in exasperation. You know Loki is already waiting for you at the Bifrost. So clearly he had once again forgotten the only two items of importance.
Snatching up his band and belt, you open your door to an impatient Thor whose crossed arms and tapping foot tells you that you had taken far too long.
"Thank the Norns, let us go," says Thor. "We have not the time to ride the horses my lady, so we ride Mjolnir instead," he says, pulling you quickly by the hand as you reach the palace steps.
You let out a laugh. "You ride your hammer, Thor?" you tease him.
"No, Lady Y/n, you know I don't ride my hammer," he retorts, his cheeks turning red. "I spin it really fast and it pulls me off-"
"Oh my God," you say, cutting Thor off. "Your hammer pulls you off?" you ask innocently.
"THE GROUND. It pulls me off the ground. Up into the air. That's how I fly," Thor mumbles.
"Sounds like you have a pretty special and intimate relationship with Mjolnir, Thor," you tease. Thor simply walks faster, causing you to have to run to keep up with him. But you let out a laugh as Thor's entire face and both ears are now completely red.
Once you reach the platform at the bottom of the stairs, Thor grabs ahold of your waist, pulling you in close.
"Hold tightly, my lady," says Thor as he begins to twirl Mjolnir in his hand. As it speeds up, you feel your feet lifting slightly off the ground. Suddenly, you regret teasing him so much.
"Uhhh, Thor? Thor I don't think I want to do this any-AAAHH!" you scream as Thor lifts you both into the sky at a dazzling speed, flying you high over Asgard towards the Bifrost. You cling desperately to his chest, even partially wrapping your legs around his waist in a desperate bid to keep from falling.
"I HATE THIS!" you scream, terrified.
Thor merely laughs into the winds at your discomfort as your stomach loops and drops. You squeeze your eyes shut, praying to who even knows what that your trip is nearly over. Finally, you feel Thor's velocity slowing, and can tell he's descending.
But you keep your eyes closed and your legs and arms wrapped tightly around the blonde god, clinging desperately to his figure. Your nails digging into his back.
"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?"
You hear Loki's shout close by but you're frozen, your heart beating faster than it ever has before. Your head is still spinning and you're afraid if you open your eyes you'll vomit.
"Peace, brother. She has simply flown for the first time. It is a normal reaction."
"Y/n? Darling, are you all right?" you feel Loki's hand on your back, but your entire body is still shaking, and you're locked in place.
It takes several minutes to pry you from Thor. When you finally release him, you cling to Loki nearly just as tightly.
"I-I-I...I almost...," you stammer as Loki holds you, running his fingers through your hair for a few moments.
"Satisfied, brother?" he sneers, looking up at Thor who merely laughs. "You've broken her."
"Peace, Loki. She simply needs a moment to recover her nerve. For it is strong as steel is it not, mighty Y/n of Midgard?"
You shoot Thor the most vile, wrathful glare you can muster under the circumstances. But you know you look more like an angry, scared kitten than the furious wildcat you had intended when he simply laughs and turns his back. You scowl as he walks up the golden steps of the Bifrost platform towards Heimdall, who bows. Loki, however, continues to hush you gently as he summons a mitt-full of green seidr, placing it over your chest, slowing your heart rate. You very quickly feel better, but your blood still boils at Thor's rough treatment in the sky - payback for your teasing.
"I see you made amends," smirks Loki as he finishes calming you down.
"Can I stab him?" you whisper up at Loki. "Please can I stab him?"
"No, darling. Not right now. Maybe later," Loki coos.
"Pleeeease?" you whine.
A delinquent grin spreads across Loki's face as he conjures a dagger and places it in your hand.
"All right love. But only once," Loki smirks.
You raise your hand, about to toss the dagger square at Thor's back when a strong hand catches your wrist.
"An understandable reaction to your first journey through the skies, Lady Y/n," a deep, baritone voice whispers in your ear. "However it is my duty as gatekeeper to ensure no harm befalls the Crown Prince on my watch. Unfortunately I cannot allow you to let loose your weapon of choice."
You pout and allow Heimdall to take the dagger from your hand.
"You're no fun," you grumble.
"So I've been told," Heimdall says, casting a pointed glance at Loki who simply shrugs as Thor stands blissfully unaware of the commotion several long paces away.
As Heimdall retreats back to his podium, you turn to Loki, and hand him his weapons belt.
"You left this behind. Again. You're going to need this one day, and you're not going have it. What then?" you ask as he takes it from you and secures it around his waist.
"Then I shall be cut down," he declares in a theatrical voice. "And I shall fall to the ground, slain. Staring into the abyss of death until the mighty Y/n of Midgard with nerves of steel comes to my rescue," he declares, mocking Thor's earlier tone as he reaches below your waist to pick you up, giving you a gentle kiss.
"Loki put me down," you giggle.
"Let us not tarry, brother! Sister! On to Jötunheim!" Thor calls.
Letting out a gruff exhale, Loki releases you from his grasp and the two of you make your way to the golden platform.
"I need not remind you that you will not be received warmly there," Heimdall cautions Thor.
"Of course not, old friend. 'Tis a realm of ice! Nothing there is warm," chuckles Thor. You snigger as Heimdall struggles to contain his eye roll.
"To Jötunheim!" calls Thor once more.
With a twist of his sword, the Bifrost opens and you, Thor and Loki are sucked through the weightless cylindrical tube of light. You smile as you watch the colors dance ever so briefly before your feet hit the ground. But the landing is soft and you nearly lose your balance.
You feel the cold before you see the snow.
You've landed in what looks to be a forest, coated in several thick layers of freshly fallen powder. Shivering, you raise your hands to your chest and cast the warming enchantment that Herkja taught you for hypothermic bodies. The blissful heat drips in tendrils down your ribs and through your arms and legs. You know it will last for several hours.
You extend your glowing blue palms out to Loki, offering the same. But he gives you a somewhat pained-looking smile and conjures a thin cloak with black fur around the shoulders and hood. With his Jötunn blood you know it will be enough to keep him warm.
"Oh!" you say, "I almost forgot."
Loki arches one brow as you pull the black metal circlet from your pocket and hand it to him.
"In case you get lost," you say with a smile.
"In case I get lost?" Loki says with a cocky grin, sliding it on for the first time. A small look of pleasant surprise passes his face as he feels it size to his wrist.
"Yeah," you say. "In case I have to come rescue you from the giants with my nerves of steel," you grin.
"As if I would ever allow myself to be captured by these dull creatures," Loki scoffs, rolling his eyes. Nevertheless, he takes your hand and pulls you along as Thor begins walking quickly through the woods, seeming to know exactly where he's going.
You shoot a questioning glance at Loki who merely huffs and rolls his eyes. He reaches out for your hand and you take it, allowing Thor to lead you both through the dense, frost-covered vegetation.
As you walk, you can't help but marvel at the frosted fir trees. You're not sure what you had expected...but it certainly wasn't this.
Clearly, time works differently across the realms. You left Asgard, in the early afternoon. But it looks as if sun is beginning to set in Jötunheim. The long rays of the day casting a pink and orange glow on the snowcaps, creating an ethereal landscape of long, painted shadows.
It's beautiful.
"Where are we?" you whisper.
"The Forest of Hlifgardr in Billingrheim," whispers Loki.
"How do you know?" you ask.
Loki points ahead to the tiny tip of a blue checkered flag far away in the distance, poking out above the trees.
"See that flag?"
You nod.
"That's the flag of the castle Tveilgardr. The clan of giants that rules this land. There's only one forest in their territory," Loki whispers.
You walk in silence a while longer until you see the edge of the tree line - several thin plumes of smoke rising in the difference.
"Thor!" hisses Loki pulling you quickly to catch up to Thor who has managed to get several paces ahead. Wherever he's leading you, he's eager to get there. "Slow down you oaf, we need a plan," Loki says.
"No need for a plan, brother," Thor smiles. "One is already in motion."
Loki arches a suspicious brow as the three of you near the edge of the tree line, crouching behind the dry coppice as you watch the buzz of the village in the distance. You gasp when you see dozens of large, blue figures mulling about their evenings. Some carry baskets of grain and leathers, others hauling animal furs in carts. Small blue children play in the streets, their laughter bouncing across the snow, making its way faintly to your ears.
They seem...so ordinary. Despite their massive sizes.
Thor begins to step from the bush, but Loki pulls him back.
"What are you doing?" he hisses. "We can't just walk in there!"
"Why not?" asks Thor.
"Yes. Brilliant, Thor. Let's just walk through the middle of the village and hang "wanted" flyers with Amora's face on them while we're at it," Loki hisses, his words dripping in sarcasm.
"He's right, Thor," you say quietly, placing a hand on your friends arm. His muscles are tensed. You shoot him a curious glance.
Why is he so eager to get into this village?
"What's going on?" you ask him. "What's here that's so important to you?"
Thor simply smiles, but you spot a tinge of pink in the tips of his ears.
"There is a safe house here," Thor says quietly. "Father said we will know it by it's red and yellow checkered blanket on the linen's line. Let us find it. Quickly."
"Woah, woah, woah," you say, grabbing his arm as he once more tries to move from the brush. "Didn't you say we had friends waiting for us? Maybe we find them first," you say.
"They are here, my lady. At the safe house," Thor says, his eyes never leaving the village in the distance. Scanning. Watching. Searching.
"Oh," you let out a small gasp of understanding, and a simple, knowing smile crosses your face.
"What?" asks Loki, catching it.
"Nothing," you say, grinning. "But I have a feeling we won't keep Thor restrained for much longer. He's going to charge in there whether we want him to or not. So let's think of a plan, and think of one quickly."
Loki let's out a groan and summons his seidr.
"Prepare yourselves," he says.
"Wait, what?" you say as Loki's green magic completely envelops both you and Thor, who begins swatting at it like a pesky insect.
"Brother unhand me!" he shouts.
"I'm not touching you, fool," says Loki. "Now relax. I'm giving us a way in."
You and Thor both briefly lift off the ground, your feet floating inches above the snow. You feel a strange warm and almost wet sensation drip down your body from the crown of your head to the soles of your feet.
"Loki, what are you-"
"Lady Y/n? By the Nine, brother what in Helheim are you doing to her?" Thor whispers angrily.
"So dramatic, Thor. I'm doing the same to all of us," Loki says, as he slowly brings both you and Thor down to the ground.
Throughout the entire process, you haven't paid attention to Thor's murmurings. Instead, you are fixed on Loki. His face and his skin change color and his facial features shift. He's transforming into his Jötunn self but...it isn't right. It isn't...Loki. You realize that he's purposefully changing his body like he had those years you were on the run. He now looks Jötunn but, he's not Loki.
Why, you wonder?
You had been so focused on watching Loki that you hadn't even bothered to look over at Thor, who now stands on the ground - a full Jötunn himself. You gasp when you see him, and walk over, tentatively reaching up and tracing the lines on his blue face and fingering his new robes.
Oddly enough, his skin is still warm. Seamless. You can see the lines, but you can't feel them.
Thor does the same to you, reaching a tentative hand to your face, and running his thumb over your forehead. You look down and see your hands are completely blue. You gasp.
"Would everyone please get ahold of themselves," Loki hisses. "It's an illusion. I haven't actually shifted you," he mumbles, watching the small village.
"Will it work?" you ask, still struggling to form coherent sentences as you take in Jötunn Thor. It's...unsettling, to say the least.
"It should. The Jötunn are notoriously private. They don't care who you are as long as you don't cause trouble. Keep your heads down and stay quiet."
With that, Loki takes your hand in his, and you notice it is still warm. You realize that he hadn't truly shifted himself into his own Jötunn form. Rather he had cast an illusion on himself like he had for you and Thor. You find it curious, but decide to let it go.
Loki steps from the brush, pulling you with him as Thor follows. And the three of you in your Jötunn illusions begin making your way to the frost giant village to find these "friends" within a safe house.