Tony sighed as he looked at his...extended family, he guessed, "So, what exactly do you want exactly...uncle?" he asked, finishing in a questioning tone.
Harry frowned at that, "What do you mean, what do I want?" He questioned as he looked to everyone in his group and saw they too had no idea just what Tony was asking about.
"Jane Foster is here for a research grant, or maybe a secure job," he replied, "But what about you lot?" he asked.
"What?" Harry asked as he thought about what Jane's reason had to do with him.
Runa, thankfully, was the one to figure out what Tony was getting at. "I thought this guy was supposed to be a genius," She said with a roll of her eyes before turning to Tony, "None of us had a clue you were related to Harry. Or have you actually forgotten that you were the one to discover the relationship between you and Harry?"
Harry turned to Runa in surprise. "Wait, you mean he thought I came here to get something out of him because he's family!? I didn't know anything about that until his AI said we were related."
Tony blinked, then flushed with embarrassment, "Um, right..." he replied lamely before getting a glare and a smack from Pepper.
"How could you forget that detail so quickly?!" She scolded him in a whisper before turning to the group. "I'm sorry about Tony's behavior. You see, many people in the past, who've claimed to be related to him have tried to get something out of him. So it seems, upon hearing you truly are related to him, regardless of your not knowing before now, he defaulted back to the normal routine of treating that person like just another gold digger and completely forgot that you were just as shocked as he was by the news," she finished as she glared at Tony pointedly.
Tony grumbled for a moment before sighing, "Sorry, I didn't mean to be myself," he apologised cheekily.
Ari grinned, "Oh yeah, he's one of Prince Loki's children alright," He joked.
Harry, ignoring Ari's comment, let out a sigh of his own. "I don't want anything from you Tony, except maybe to be able to spend some time with you, and for you to meet grampy and maybe great grandma." He then made a face as he said, "Not sure about great grampy though. Might need to warm him up to you and aunt Darcy before introducing you both to him..." he finished uncertainty.
Runa raised a brow at that, "I think meeting them both in the same day just might kill him," She told Harry. She then got a thoughtful look on her face, "...having trouble though seeing why that would be a bad thing though..."
Godiva leaned in and stage whispered, "It's bad because Thor would then have to take over as king!"
"Ah that's right! Need to avoid that at all costs!" Runa nodded, smirking at Thor who was glaring at her flatly.
Tony sighed, "Sure thing...kid, uncle?" he would have to decided what to call Harry without it being awkward.
Harry let out a small laugh at Tony's struggle to figure out what to call him. "Given how many greats must be in my family title between you and me, I think we should just stick with first names," He said before adding, "At least until we come up with some good nicknames for one another," He shrugged.
Pepper took that moment to clear her throat and get everyone's attention. "Well, now that that has been said, we should really talk about how you all are going to go about things now that you are family."
Ari tilted his head in confusion, "Huh? What do you mean by that?" he asked in a confused tone.
"Tony is a very public figure, and the press tend to keep close watch on him. Therefore, when he starts appearing outside of his home with a group of young people like yourselves, they are going to want to know who all of you are and what your connection to Tony is. Failing to get that, will result in crazy theories being made up, and none of you will be able to escape the attention that will be thrust upon you from the media," Pepper explained carefully. "So, we need to decide, just how this is going to go to minimize the damage. Do we go public with the information that Tony is related to you? What information are you comfortable with revealing to the public about yourself? If you don't want to go public, then we need a cover story for why all of you are spending so much time with Tony, etc, etc."
Harry nodded, realising what she meant, "Well," he began, "Technically, Darcy is my aunt, what with being my mother's half-sister and all," he said, "And it could be explained she found out she is distantly related to Tony," he added, "Which is true, when you think about it," he chuckled amusedly. "Also," he added, "With her being an intern of Janes, it could be argued that we're just visiting family, no one has to know that I am actually Tony's uncle, several generations removed of course," he concluded.
Pepper gave a nod at that before turning to Thor and Darcy. "That still leaves the matter of you two. If you wish to go public to the world about this relation to Tony or not, and how you want to go about dealing with it."
"Why wouldn't I want everyone to know about my family?" Thor questioned, deeply confused as to why it would be a question at all.
"How about the fact that it could mean openly admitting that Tony has alien DNA in him?" Darcy asked Thor pointedly. "While that may be fine to your people, here on Earth, people freak out about that shit all the time! Bout if aliens came to Earth in the past and did messed up shit to us. Tony's lucky, cause his alien blood is so watered down with human blood he might not get too much trouble for it. But I'm half alien and so I'm gonna be wanted for study. Now, I don't know about you, but I don't want some white coats in a lab sticking gods knows what in who knows where. That ain't the life I wanna live," Darcy finished explaining with a serious tone.
"Oh, would it truly be that bad for both of you if it's discovered that you are related to my brother?" Thor questioned, still confused.
"People fear the unknown," Pepper spoke up wisely, "To suddenly hear that a celebrity like Tony isn't fully human? It will scare people," she added.
"Not to mention those nut jobs out there who are all 'The lizard people are taking over the world' will jump on this hard," Darcy added, "Not to mention the people who talk about Government conspiracies," she mumbled.
Ari spoke up, suddenly, "So, what, we lie?" he asked.
Runa face palmed, "Duh, you stupid bilgesnipe!" Runa replied.
Tony raised an eye brow and went to question just what the hell a 'bilgesnipe' is, when Pepper started speaking.
"If you feel that is the best course of action right now, then alright. After all, we can easily explain away why Darcy is hanging around Tony since she works for Jane," Pepper nodded in satisfaction.
"And we can explain Harry and them away by the fact that I'm related to them. No one's going to give two shits about who I'm related to until we blow the whistle on the Stark relation," Darcy smiled happily.
"Right. We technically wouldn't be lying to anyone, we just wouldn't be telling them the whole story," Pepper smiled.
"Alright then," Darcy said as she stood up. "So, I am going to ask this right now, since no one else seems to have a clue where to go next..." Darcy took a breath. "Can I go skinny dipping in the pool now?" she asked hopefully.
Tony shuddered, "I don't think so," Tony began to reply, "After all, the last thing I need to is to see my aunt, whose younger than me, and removed by who knows how many greats, in the nude, no matter how hot she really is..." he mumbled. His words, of course, earned him an angry smack from Pepper.
Darcy pouted at that before a thought hit her that had her smirking, "Well you know, given how far removed we are as family, we could-" She started before Jane jumped in.
"No! No, no, no! No talking about incest please!" Jane shouted as she jumped up. "I am so sorry about her and the things she's said!"
Tony frowned, "To be honest with you miss Foster, I have to agree with you," he replied, "If I wasn't related to her, I would totally ask her for a night out on the town, but as things are..." he shivered, "This whole new family connection is just too weird, I need a stronger drink..." he mumbled before heading to the bar.
Pepper let out an annoyed sigh and covered her face with her hand, "Now I'm really seeing the connection..." She mumbled before she turned to Tony, "So, do you want me to see about drawing up the papers outlining what you'll be providing Dr. Foster for her research?" She asked him, really wanting to get out of the room before anything more awkward happens then what had already happened.
Tony just waved off handedly at her as a sign that she could handle everything, in the meantime, he kept mixing what would probably be the strongest drink he had ever made, hoping it would knock him into a drunken stupor.
Pepper was about to leave the room, but when she saw what all Tony was putting into his drink, she walked over to him and grabbed his wrist. "Oh no! You are not leaving me as the only sober person to deal with this! Some of these people are your family and you are not getting black out drunk to avoid them!" She growled in a whisper. "You so much as dip your tongue in that drink and I am quitting right after I invite every reporter who can get here fast enough for a press conference and leaving your drunk ass to explain why they are here!" She warned.
Tony grumbled and sighed before picking up the unfinished drink mix, having intended to add a bit of every bit of alcohol he had, and then offered it to Harry, only to be smacked by Pepper.
"Are you out of your mind!?" Pepper yelled at Tony before pinching her nose, "He's a kid Tony!"
Harry decided to save Tony, at least in a small way. "Actually, in Asgard, kids are allowed to drink, but only after they start training as warriors," He explained to Pepper.
Thor gave a chuckle. "And what a mistake that quickly became, as Harry and his friend make it a habit to slip away with everything honey based, including the mead whenever they can!"
Harry glowered at Thor for that, "You're one to talk, Mr. Pop tart Thief!" Harry shot back with a rueful smirk. He then turned to Tony, "Here, give the drink to Thor, he may not have access to his powers as an Asgardian, but he should still be able to handle some stupid Earth drink," he finished with a shrug of his shoulders.
Runa smirked at Harry. "Aw, your bitter cause you still can't drink on Earth, well, outside of school that is," She taunted, ignoring Pepper's questioning look about the drinking at school part.
Harry growled, "Your one to talk Runa, the way you covet books about obscure runes..." Harry mumbled.
Runa raised a challenging brow at that. "So, then you think little of Lady Freya and your grandfather for their books on obscure things?" She asked him.
Harry gulped and looked down, "Sorry Runa..." he mumbled apologetically.
Tony smiled as he made a whipping sound under his breath.
Ari smirked at Tony. "Sorry I forget, but who gets to drink that drink you made because you got chewed out by a woman?" He asked cheekily.
Now it was Tony's turn to glower as he silently conceded to Ari's point. Then he smiled, "So, tell me, what's life like on Asgard?" he asked eagerly, eager to change the topic from his humiliation.
"Well, if you can get past the stuck up nobles who hate grampy, it's fine," Harry shrugged before turning a harsh look on Thor. "Don't you dare try to say it's the greatest thing in the Nine Realms, because it's not. You only think it's great because everyone's sucked up to you your whole life!"
"And it sucks even more if you don't have parents, or if one of your parents was accused of a crime. The four of us knew only cruelty in Asgard until Harry met us," Runa added sadly.
Thor frowned at that, clearly things were not as great as people liked to make him think they are in Asgard. He had known that the four friends of his great nephew had been treated badly, but with cruelty, surely that was a bit of a child's exaggeration.
"That's putting it lightly Runa, and you know it," Ari said with a frown on his face. "I mean, I would go hunting in the forest for what food I could find, and someone who had family and money and everything we didn't, would always try to take it from me, telling me that I had no right to anything and that it would be a kindness from them if they threw me off the Bifrost. Jarl had to start coming with me just to make sure we'd be able to have something to eat every day!" Both Ari and Jarl had scars from fights that they had gotten into over someone trying to take what Ari had rightfully hunted.
"Simply being seen on the streets was almost a crime for any one of us, and everyone took it upon themselves to make it clear that we had no right living, let alone being in Asgard." Jarl added, his fist clenched at the memories.
Godiva nodded, "As for myself, I'm a bastard, don't know who my father is, my mother was a barmaid at a tavern on the main drag to the palace," Godiva huffed, "And because children born out of wedlock are frowned upon on Asgard more than in any of the other realms, I, of course, get treated like a piece of garbage, Runa had it slightly better, but not by munch," Godiva added. "On top of that, I have royal guards following me everywhere too, no one will tell any of us why either!" Godiva finished as she crossed her arms, her words catching Thor by surprize while Tony, looking between Thor and Godiva, arched an eyebrow in curiosity.
"As for me, I'm looked down on by many people in Asgard for being Grampy's student, since we haven't told anyone outside the family and those we trust most who I really am. People suspect I'm a noble's son, but even then, I'm treated poorly just for being grampy's student. It's only thanks to the things I've exposed Asgard to that, half of the nobles, mostly the younger ones, are now starting to see that grampy's not so bad and thus starting to change things in Asgard," Harry said before adding, "But it's got a long way to go before it can really be called anything but fine or okay."
Tony meanwhile, kept looking between Godiva and Thor, so much so that Godiva shot him a glare. "What, never seen a bastard girl before?" she asked angrily.
Tony raised his hands defensively, "Hey, I was just wondering why you seem to have Thor's cheekbones and jaw structure," Tony said, getting wide eyes from Thor, Godiva, Runa, Jarl and Ari. Meanwhile, Darcy was now looking between the two of them as well.
"You know, he's right," Darcy said with a smirk, then she looked at Tony, "Ooh, ooh, do one of those DNA test thingies on them!" she said eagerly.
"You really think Odin would just allow someone who is the child of Thor to walk around on the streets of Asgard, to live on the streets of Asgard like trash?" Godiva questioned with a tilt of her head. "Were I related to him, I would most likely have been taken and raised by some noble who would've ensured I at least knew the things a 'Noble Lady' should know. This was not the case, and so I do not think we should waste time on something like that," Godiva dismissed uncaringly, stressing the words 'noble lady' distastefully.
Thor, meanwhile was reeling, as he looked at Throina, he did, now, notice that she looked like him, a lot like him in fact. Maybe he should talk with his father when, or rather if, he ever is able to return to Asgard.
Jane then spoke getting Tony's attention again, "Um, Tony, I just realised, due to my finding of Thor, and we're going to have to be on the road till he redeems himself, is...um, is that acceptable?" she began, only to end questioningly as she ended up looking down at the ground.
"Sure thing," Tony nodded. "After all, your work is very promising and you have living proof that your theories are correct. I can hold off on anything more for now," Tony told her as Pepper returned with the papers. "Though, you might want to look over and sign those before you go anywhere, so that you don't have to worry about them when you are done with this little thing of yours."
"Thank you Tony, er, sir?" Jane asked, unsure what to call him exactly now that she 'technically' worked for Tony Stark of all people.
Darcy, meanwhile, chuckled at her friends confusion and embarrassment. "You know you can call him whatever you want, technically," Darcy said with her patented smartass tone.
Pepper gave a short nod. "Yeah, he's not really big on titles for the most part," She confirmed.
Tony gave a glare, "Oi, you know I do deserve some respect around here!" he said with a pout, only to glower as Pepper patted him on the head petulantly.
"There, there, Tony, does someone want a cookie?" she asked him while giving him a shit eating grin, and how could she not, it wasn't often she got to do the teasing to Tony.
~w~
~Asgard, with Sirius and Remus~
Remus was smiling a bit distantly as he walked into the house, well, more accurately, it was a mansion, that he and Sirius shared on Asgard. Seeing his look, Sirius grinned, it was a look he knew very well from his younger days, even if he had been striking out here in Asgard, then again, Amelia had been quick to have an Oath from him about not seeing other women but her in an intimate manner. Sirius still grinned that he was still allowed to flirt though, thank Merlin for loop holes.
"So, who's the lucky lady?" Sirius asked, smiling at Remus with a shit eating grin as he put down the book he had been 'reading' while waiting for Remus to return from his little excursions that he had been taking of late.
Remus, snapping out of hiss dazed state, sputtered, "Excuse me?" he said intelligently, looking askance that Sirius had seemed to have read his mind.
Sirius grinned, "Don't give me that, you remember well my Hogwarts days Moony," Sirius said with a suggestive wriggle of his eyebrows, "You had that exact same look on your face just now!" he finished with a smirk.
Remus frowned and then sighed, heavily. "If you must know," Remus began, "I have met someone..." he finished, mumbling that last part.
Sirius dead panned at that, "Details man, details, I must know who has ensnared the heart of the 'Duke of Werewolves'," he said using Remus's title given by Odin, causing Remus sigh with exasperation.
Remus then told him, "She refuses to give me her name right now, but, she's tall, even for an Asgardian," he said with a smirk, "When we get together, she's so nice and caring, not to mention she listens to me and I to her," he added, "We just sorta...'click', I guess is the best way to put it," he said with a shrug of his shoulders. "Granted, she admitted the first time we met that she had been keeping an eye on me, apparently I drew her attention not long after arriving in Asgard," he finished with another shrug of his shoulders.
"And?" Sirius said with obvious interest.
Remus glared, "Your just loving this aren't you?" Remus said in a deadpan manner, "Well, she finally worked up the courage to talk with me, or so she says, and, we just...talked, I guess really," he paused to get a drink from the sink that they had installed via magic runes, "Anyway," he began again, "We've been seeing each other for about a few months, I think," he stated, "Asgard does tell time slightly differently than us after all," he said logically, "Anyway, I wanted to invite her back tonight, to introduce her to you, but she said she's not really well liked here in Asgard, won't say why either, but, I respect her secrets, and she respects mine, so, I guess we have a mutual understanding thing going on?" he finished lamely. Then he turned to Sirius, "So, how goes the gathering of allies?" he asked suddenly.
Sirius's smile turned into a frown now, "Well, so far we have all of those students practicing Asgardian Magic on our side," Sirius began.
"Naturally," Remus said, taking another sip of his cold drink of water.
"And we have the Warrior's three, and Thorina of course," Sirius continued, "The nobles though, well, their divided, naturally, I have managed to convince many of them that somethings coming and we have to start choosing sides. But, the others, well, they're either undecided, or have become what we on Earth would call strict conservatives," he sighed, "They either want to see Loki toppled, and Odin back on the throne, or the current line overthrown entirely..." Sirius finished glumly.
Remus nodded, taking the information in, "So, it's just like during the first Rise of Voldemort, people can tell something is up and that sides are being drawn, but either they've chosen a side already or are minding their own business and hoping it will all go away," he sighed heavily, "Well, as the leader of the Werewolves of Asgard, I can assure you that the Lycans are with us, they will support Odin whole heartedly for giving them a place where they can be themselves," he finished.
Sirius hmmed in thought, "One of us is going to have to approach him, you know that right?" he finally said.
Remus quirked an eyebrow, "What makes you think he isn't watching us right now?" he said with a smirk.
"Touche," Sirius said tipping an imaginary hat at Remus, "Anyway, I know that Skids and Mudflap are loyal to Thorina after that one incident she got them out of before Sif was arrested," Remus smirked.
"I remember," Remus nodded, "They had been watching her on Freya's orders, and when she confronted them about it, Thorina came rushing over and told her off," he added, then he smirked, "Thorina is a lot like James and Lily in demeanor, not in looks of course, but, it makes one wonder..." he finished mysteriously.
"It does indeed," Sirius said just as mysteriously, "Anyway, now that your home, I'm off to bed, you?"
Remus smirked, "Going to probably do some reading, mend a few books I'm behind on fixing for some nobles, then I will turn in, night Sirius."
Sirius smirked before heading off to bed.
Remus hated lying to Sirius, but if Sirius found out that Remus had been meeting Hela of Hel and Niflheim, he would never hear the end of it, not to mention that he had yet to tell Loki he was seeing his daughter romantically. Taking another drink Remus got up and headed to the library wing of the house to start fixing those old tomes he had been given to repair.
~w~
~Midgard, a few days since they left Tony's place in L.A.~
Harry smiled as he and Runa talked while Ari was running around the expanded camper. Ari had gotten his hands on Darcy's diary somehow, needless to say, she was chasing him while shouting obscenities at him trying to get it back. Harry was just waiting for her to catch him and then pummel into the floor of the camper, after all, he had seen what Darcy did to that one guy who tried to steal her lucky underwear once...it hadn't been pretty, but it had been pretty hilarious though.
Jane, meanwhile, was talking with Thor and Magni about Asgard and what she was like in Magni's timeline respectively. Jarl was, of all things, meditating, and, sparingly enough, was really good at it. If one wasn't watching Jarl closely enough, they would swear he was dead cause of how slow his breathing had gotten. He had gotten the idea from a book that Darcy had on meditation practices and centering one's self spiritually, she forgot who gave it to her, but figured it might be useful to the 'gentle giant' that was Jarl.
Godiva, meanwhile, was staring out the window, thinking deeply about everything that had been learned a few days ago at Tony's.
Suddenly, Erik called from the cab of the camper. "Alright everyone, were here!" he called as the camper stopped moving due to having being parked.
Darcy, who had finally caught Ari and was in the process trying to cut out his tongue with a pen, or at least get him to swallow the ink, hard to tell which it was from any angle, smirked and let the poor boy go. "We're in San Fran Tokyo?" she asked excitedly.
"That's San Fransokyo," Jane reminded her for the seemingly umpteenth time.
"Mah, mah," Darcy waved off uncaringly, "Same thing!" she then turned to Harry, "So, what do you want to see first Hare Bear?" she asked excitedly.
Harry thought about it for a moment before nodding his head to himself, but before he could reply though, his stomach made it known that it was empty. Five other stomachs soon made the same noise in symphony, causing a number of reactions. Harry blushed, Runa grumbled, Godiva smirked, Ari was laughing nervously with a black coloured tongue, Jarl frowned a little but other than that remained as he was, and Darcy, well, she was looking at the bare cupboards with a frown.
Jane, on the other hand, face palmed, "Well Erik, looks like we better find some place to eat..." she mumbled loud enough for Erik to hear, which thankfully, wasn't very loud since she did have her back to the driver's seat.
Erik laughed and nodded, "Right, starting the engines back up," he grinned amusedly. Erik had, originally, had his doubts about Thor being right for Jane, oh, he could see the attractions between them, but, admittedly, after seeing everything that Harry and the other four had shown him, not to mention told them about, he could see Thor was changing into a decentish person, though at times he did fall back into old habits.
About a half hour later, they had finally found a place, and just in time too as Harry and his Asgardian friends could barely move from hunger pains, while Darcy was starting to eye people with a glazed look, something that had Jane worried, even if she refused to say why exactly.
As they all disembarked from the camper, Harry was the first to spot the name of the diner. "The Lucky Cat Cafe?" he asked curiously.
Darcy pushed Harry aside, "Who cares what it's called, let's eat!" she said excitedly as she was the first through the door like a flash, causing Jane to face palm and shake her head at Darcy's antics, it was bad enough she knew about Darcy's...darker interests.
The others, meanwhile, causally entered the cafe/diner and took in the warm atmosphere.
"Hi, welcome to the Lucky Cat, what can I get you?" asked an seemingly older Darcy look alike.
Jane looked at the others and then back at the woman who looked a lot like an older Darcy. "Um, ahem, the adults of our group would like a cup of coffee each, while the youngsters would love some sugar coated doughnuts, doesn't really matter what they are, and keep em coming, these six can pack away mountains of food," she smirked, as she looked at Darcy who was pouting when Jane finished speaking.
The woman smiled, "Sure thing, by the way, my name is Cass Hamada," she said before getting to work on their orders, "So, big eaters the lot of them huh?" she asked, making jovial conversation as she started their orders by bringing over big platters of doughnuts.
Jane smiled awkwardly, "Something like that..." she replied awkwardly.
As Cass set down the platters, Harry, Ari, Jarl and Darcy, Godiva and Runa dug in with gusto, so much so that it left Cass looking on in shock, and rethinking just how much she had on hand and if she would have to make more.
Jane sighed in exasperation and shook her head in resignation. Magni, meanwhile, kept trying to sneak some of the doughnuts off a platter, only to nearly get his hand bitten by Darcy each time.
At that moment, there was a thundering roar as two boys came rushing down the stairs like a heard of wildebeests, before coming to a stop at the sight of the large group sitting at the largest table in the cafe.
"Hey boys, here for lunch?" Cass asked the two boys with a smirk at their dumbfounded expressions.
"Uh, um, yeah," the younger boy said, blushing as he saw Darcy looking to see what the sound had been, before turning back to her food.
The taller boy though, smirked seeing his little brother form his first crush, or at least, he assumed that's why his brother was blushing, turning to Cass, the older boy said, "Yeah, I see we have an interesting bunch of customers today?" he said, taking note of the man wearing some kind of strange armor, and figuring the guy was into cosplay.
Cass nodded before whipping up a bowl of mac and cheese with hotdogs for the younger boy, and a massive sandwich for the older boy. "Here you go Tadashi, and Hiro, stop staring at the customers!" she said looking at Hiro pointedly who blushed under her gaze and started eating his food.
Tadashi, taking his sandwich to a table near to the Asgardians and decided to try and start up a friendly conversation. "So, new in town?" he asked curiously.
Jane, hearing the question, smiled, "Just visiting," she replied, "I'm Jane Foster by the way," she added politely.
"Tadashi Hamada," Tadashi returned, "So, what brings you to San Fransokyo?" he asked curiously.
"The sights!" Darcy said through a mouthful of food but in an excited voice, then she swallowed her food, causing a massive lump to go down her neck, before turning to Tadashi, "So, what's a good looking guy like you doing later?" she asked in her flirty voice.
"Darcy!" Jane said pointedly, "I think he's a bit 'young' for you," she said adamantly to Darcy.
Darcy pouted, "Really Jane?" she replied, "Have to spoil my fun..." she pouted.
Tadashi smiled, taking a bite of his sandwich and smiling before speaking, "Sounds like you have your hands full with this one," he replied, then he turned to Darcy, "As beautiful a you are, I'm only fifteen, sorry to say, but, I'm way too young for you," he smirked playfully.
Darcy immediately balked and blanched, "Oh crap, I just flirted with jailbait!" she said in a disgusted voice, before shaking her head, "Seriously though, you don't look fifteen dude!" she said defiantly.
Tadashi laughed, "Um, thanks, I guess?" he said in an amused tone. Then, finishing his lunch, he turned to Cass, "Hey, Aunt Cass," he said, gaining the woman in question's attention, "I'm going to go hang out with Go-go," he said with a smile.
"Alright Tadashi, just make sure there's no funny business!" she said giving him an amused glare. Tadashi just smiled before taking his leave.
Hiro, meanwhile, who had finished eating, was looking at Darcy and the others, mostly Darcy though.
Darcy, taking notice of the feeling of being watched, looked around before spotting Hiro watching her, sighing she looked away and said, "Sorry kid, I know I'm beautiful, but I'm not into shota's," she said uncaringly, causing Hiro to frown.
"I'm not a shota!" Hiro frowned, blushing a bit, "And you're really pretty!" he admitted blushing the whole time.
"Yeah, yeah, you and just about every other man I have met have told me that," Darcy waved off.
Jane, seeing an excellent opportunity to tease Darcy, said, "Awww, looks like someone is the crush of someone else!"
Darcy shot Jane a glare, "Whatever..." she said uncaringly before returning to eating.
When Darcy had finally eaten her full, she appeared to have a food baby in her stomach as she sat back, patting her stomach a few times before letting out a belch, a loud one.
"Nice one Aunty Darthy!" Harry cheered cheekily.
"I would hit you right now if I could move!" Darcy growled before looking around the cafe. It was fairly busy at the moment, granted, they were the biggest group currently in the cafe at the moment though. As she looked around, she suddenly noticed a man working on a laptop who had short, almost crew cut brown hair wearing some casual looking clothing. As she really took in his features though, it finally sunk in why she thought she recognised him, causing her to give a slight girlish squeal, much to Harry and the others amusement, and Jane's confusion.
"Darcy, you ok?" Jane asked her stuffed friend in concern.
Darcy coughed a moment before struggling to get up and failing miserably. "Damn," she cursed, "The first time I get to be get to see one of my 'fantasy boy toys', and I'm too 'fat' to get up..." she grumbled.
Harry smirked, "Just like one of those girls in the art you look at eh Aunty Darth?" he asked cheekily.
Darcy immediately shot a glower at Harry, "Don't go there Harry, or I swear I will doing something horrible to you!" she shot back, then, sighing she clarified her earlier comment, "That's Eddie Brock, only the hottest male news reported in the world..." she grumbled, "And I'm too fat to get up and ask him for his autograph...or anything else!" she protested smacking her distended stomach.
Ari, looking at Darcy's stomach thoughtfully asked, "Um, what kind of art exactly did you find on Darcy's laptop?" Ari asked with obvious interest.
"Never you mind that!" Darcy protested pointing a finger at Ari angrily.
Harry smirked, "I could tell you all, but, it's more fun watching Aunty Darth squirm thinking about what exactly I might have seen on her laptop..." he countered.
As for Runa, she smiled, "Sorry to hear your too fat Darcy," she said sadly, wiping a fake tear from her eye. "It must be hard eating almost as much as we do and yet not staying anywhere near as fit!" she finished with a laugh.
Darcy shot her a glare in response.
Jane, sighing and shaking her head asked, fearing the answer, "'Fantasy boy-toys'?"
Darcy blushed, "I...um...might have a habit of recording his 'Brock Reports'..." she replied evasively, "And I might tend to do it over your older research tapes you never look at anymore..." she added looking down at her gut.
"Darcy!" Jane exclaimed angrily, easily figuring out what Darcy wasn't saying due to current company.
Jarl meanwhile, was shaking his head at Darcy's antics and got up.
"Where the heck are you going?" Godiva asked Jarl curiously.
"To get autograph for Darcy," Jarl replied before walking over to Eddie.
Darcy could only watch in horror as Jarl walked up to Eddie and instantly got his attention, as Jarl was easily really big, so his age was hard to be guessed from just looking at him, despite the fact his features, other than his height, made him look more his age. Watching as the two talked for a moment, then, Jarl pointed at Darcy, causing Eddie to turn and look at her with a curious look before turning back to Jarl. Eddie then said something to Jarl, causing Jarl to laugh as he shook his head and then said something back, causing Eddie to nod with a smirk.
Eddie slowly got up and walked over to Darcy, Jarl following behind him with a shit eating grin, which easily told everyone who really knew him he was up to something.
Once Eddie reached their table, he stopped, and looked at Darcy for a moment as he said, "So, you're a fan girl of mine, huh?" he asked curiously.
Darcy blushed a deep crimson, trying to make herself look as small as possible, but with her big stomach jammed with food, it merely caused to her belch in response to her movement, making her blush even more crimson.
Eddie blinked, "Well, that's a new one," he said jokingly before smiling at Darcy, "I'm flattered, really, that you consider me a 'fantasy boy toy'," he said smirking, "But I'm sorry to say, I already have a girlfriend," he finished.
Darcy, now suffering from extreme embarrassment, blurted out suddenly, "I have a fiancé!" then slapped a hand over her mouth, wishing she could just die of mortification, from revealing that fact in front of her best friend, her nephew, his friends, her uncle, not to mention her extra dimensional nephew, and, more importantly, her 'fantasy boy-toy'.
Jane rolled her eyes at her. "Really Darcy? You, of all people, are trying to claim to have a fiancé? I've seen the parade of guys going through your bedroom door. Hell, you just tried to hit on a guy you didn't even know was fifteen not a minute ago," Jane scolded. "If you're going to lie, at least be more believable."
"Gonna try to pass this off as you being pregnant next?" Runa questioned as she poked Darcy's big belly.
Ari, unlike the others, had tilted his head in thought as he looked at Darcy, trying to sink into her seat to disappear in embarrassment, and then said something that caught everyone's attention, and caused them to remember that incident several days ago. "Is that what was in that little black box I stole from your stuff?" he said without thinking, and as he realised that he said the word 'stole', he immediately gulped as Jane glared at him.
"Ari, we're gonna have a long talk back in the camper later about this..." Jane told him in a tone that made it clear that there was no getting out of it.
"Wait, for real?" Harry asked looking between Ari and Darcy. "You're really engaged? To who? Do I know them? Come on auntie Darth, spill!" Harry ordered as he leaned over the table a little.
"Harry, don't lean on the table or you're going to knock things over," Erik scolded.
"This is wonderful news Darcy. I hope I get to meet this man one day," Thor cheered happily.
Darcy glared at Ari, her eyes promising punishment later. Then she turned to Jane, and sighed, "Yes, I really am engaged, doesn't mean I can't have fun till whenever we arrange the wedding though does it?" she replied in a huff, "Besides, he's all the way on another realm...I think..." she ended questioningly.
That got the Asgardians attention very quickly, as there weren't many realms that happened to come to Midgard.
"Wait, are you saying he's from Asgard?" Runa questioned with wide eyes.
Eddie, who was still at the table looked around in confusion, not really sure what was going on and not sure if he should excuse himself to get back to work.
Darcy just huffed and nodded, "It was bound to come out sooner or later eventually..." she said in disgruntlement and defeat. Then she sighed again and said, "I think he said he comes from Vanaheim," she admitted finally. Thor was the one to respond first as he only knew of two people from Vanaheim.
"Surely you're not marrying Hogun the Grim?!" Thor exclaimed in shock. He had no idea his friend had been making secret trips to Midgard, much less that he was seeing someone. As the shock of the news slowly began to give way, Thor realized that his brother wasn't going to be too thrilled with this news. "I now fear greatly for Hogun when Loki finds out..." Thor mumbled.
"No way! Hogun, that Hogun, the one who's almost always super serious, is gonna marry Darcy?!" Harry asked in disbelief before turning to Darcy. "How the bloody hell did you manage that one?"
Darcy glared over her belly as she spoke a reply. "We met at a bar, I think..." Darcy said confusedly, "There was a lot of drinking and...um...other stuff...that night..." She added lamely, trying her best to be polite for Jane. "I had been looking for a good f-um, good time...and, apparently I rocked his world good, so good he found me some time later and...um, popped the question with his mother's wedding ring..." she finished lamely.
"You got engaged after a one night stand?!" Jane shouted in shock and disbelief. "Are you that mental?"
Darcy huffed and looked to the side, "Fine, we had a number of dates, ok?" Darcy replied, "I was just trying to be-" she began only to be cut off by Harry.
"To be Aunty Darth, 'breaker of hearts, and men, and showing that she is a stone cold bitch', right?" Harry recited with a smile, making it clear he was repeating words Darcy had said who knows how many times before.
Darcy stuck her tongue out at Harry for that before speaking again. "I was also put on the spot!" She grumbled in annoyance.
Jane put her head in her hands, "How did this become my life?" She mumbled in defeat. This was perhaps some of the most insane things she had heard in a while, and that's on top of the fact that she's sitting at a table eating donuts and drinking coffee with aliens and someone from another dimension.
At that moment two scummy looking individuals entered the cafe/diner and, walking up to the counter, quickly put on masks before one pulled out a handgun, and the other pulled out an uzi from their jackets.
"Alright, everyone freeze, this is a robbery!" the one with the hand gun shouted before firing his gun a few times into the air.
Eddie, acting on reflex dropped down to the floor before looking around along with almost everyone else in the cafe. Well everyone but the kids and the blonde man, and the oddly dressed red haired guy.
"What are you doing, get down before you get shot!" Jane snapped from where she was hiding under the table.
Harry looked at his friends and family, and Magni, with a questioning look. "This won't even count as a warm up..." He said to them, ignoring Jane.
Jarl cracked his knuckles. "There are no good fights outside of school and home," He sighed.
"Weapons allowed or unarmed?" Runa questioned with a smirk.
Ari looked over at the men before speaking. "Ah, leave the weapons. These guys look like they would break if we sneezed on them!"
With that said Harry and his friends stood up from the table, with Harry taking a second to look at Thor and Magni. "Well, you two coming to help or are you just going to sit there while armed men rob this place?"
Thor thought about it, on the one hand, he still had his training, even if not his superior strength and other abilities, on the other hand, though, his nephew seemed angry that his teasing of Darcy had been interrupted. Making up his mind, he decided to help, "At your command, great nephew!" he smiled.
Magni, meanwhile, huffed, "Why waste our time on such measly mortals?" he huffed.
Darcy looked over at Magni with a look of disbelief. "Dude, you were ready to go to war with Harry over how the Loki in your world treats humans, but now that some humans are being threatened in front of you, you're going sit on your ass and do nothing? Guess we know who really doesn't give a shit about humans after all," she shrugged.
Magni glared at her, as he simply said, "Stuff it fatty..." before getting up and raising his hammer.
"No, no weapons!" Harry growled. "These are normal humans and our strength and skill will be more than enough," Harry told him, getting a glare from Magni that he just returned. "Put the hammer down!" he ordered.
"Fine child of Loki!" Magni growled before hitching his hammer at his side and launching himself at the thugs.
"Grandchild!" Harry snapped after him before going for the other thug.
Eddie, who was nearly under the table with the rest of the group, watched in shock at what was happening. These people were not only fighting these men, but also taking bullets and shrugging them off like they were nothing. "What the hell?"
It was over before it got too heated, as the two thugs were knocked out and beaten up with a few broken bones in a matter of minutes. Harry cheered, "That was way too easy!" he said happily.
Thor, meanwhile, had noticed a group of more thugs entering the cafe, he groaned.
"Hey, was coming to check on what was taking you so lon-" the one in the front said before cursing, "Shit, they're being attacked!" he said before raising an assault rifle and firing. Clearly the thug was weak though as his aim was off and some of the bullets hit the table that Jane and the others were hiding behind.
Thor scowled and charged the group that had just entered, slowly working his way through with his superior training for brawling.
Eddie, not believing what he was seeing, quickly pulled out his phone and set it to record as he tried to capture as much of the action as he could. This was going to make a far better story then that update on the police training scandal he'd been covering. After all, how often does a reporter witness several superhuman people like this in action?
With Thor, Magni and Jarl leading the charge, Harry and the others performed sneak attacks by running behind the three bigger members of the group and diving out at the ones that managed to dodge the large trio.
"Shouldn't we be stopping this?" Jane questioned.
"You wanna go out there and tell them to stop, be my guest!" Darcy stated in reply before a bullet hit the ground just a foot from Jane, making her squeak in surprise.
As the fighting wound down, and the thugs were knocked out, Harry smiled at his friends, none of them had used magic, they had used only physical attacks, and, while they were faster and more durable then mortals, they could be explained off as highly trained, if anyone was to question them that is. As the final thug was knocked out by a smiling Magni, Thor noticed one of the thugs pointing one of the strange weapons at Harry's back, without thinking; he jumped in front of Harry as the thug fired before passing out with a smile.
As the bullet left the gun, Jane screamed for Harry to duck. At the same time, Darcy was debating using her magic to try and stop it, but then remembered she could hardly move on her own, and cursed herself for stuffing herself like a pig. Runa, Ari, Godiva, and Jarl all cried out for Harry trying to warn him. Magni, meanwhile, was turning when he saw the bullet hit Thor's stomach, causing him to crash with a grunt of pain.
"Thor!" Harry shouted as he knelt down next to Thor in a rush.
Jane quickly got out from under the table and ran over to Thor. "Please don't be dead!" She begged, only part of her finding it ironic that those were the same first words she'd said to Thor the night they had met.
Godiva, being one of the few skilled in healing magic's amongst them, looked Thor over before standing and giving him a swift kick to the side. "Get up already! You know you aren't hurt," She ordered.
Grunting in pain from the kick, Thor smiled as he rolled over, exposing that he had no wound. Looking at Harry, Thor said, "I wasn't sure if your mortal blood would cause you to take injury from the strange weapon, nephew," Thor said, "But, if I could prevent your injury, I would consider it worth the injury," he finished seriously.
Harry stared at Thor for a moment, feeling a little touched by his words, but then he remembered how Thor had just laid there like he'd been hurt, he then turned to Godiva, "Kick him again!" He ordered, to which Godiva happily did so...with a smile. "That was for giving us a scare by just lying there like you were hurt." Harry told him as he got up. "If you're going to take a hit for me that you can shrug off, then do it and get right back up!"
Thor grunted. "To be fair, the taking of the strange munition did hurt..." he groaned, "Though not as much as Godiva's kick!"
Runa smirked, "So, big tough heroic Thor can't take a kick from a little girl!" She teased.
Eddie, stopping his recording only when Thor got up looked to the three hiding under the table with him. "So um...is this normal for you guys?" He asked them.
Jane gave a long sigh at that. "What even is normal anymore?"
While everyone was distracted, Darcy sneakily waved her hand at Eddie's phone, frying it with the wave of pure magic she had sent in the direction of it. As it sparked causing Eddie to drop it, Darcy said, "Wow, that's weird," she said in a shocked tone. Though, internally, she was happy that the footage would have been erased by the magic frying the phone.
"Damn it!" Eddie sighed, part of him upset he lost the footage and the other part wondering if he could get a replacement phone that day. Sure he'd lost a good story, but who would believe it with just a cell phone video as proof? And without the video, there was no way his boss would let him run the story on air.
Darcy pouted, "Sorry about your phone Hunky," Darcy said sadly, only to get a glare from Jane.
Eddie waved it off. "Not like anyone would believe me. This is one story way too out there, even for me," He told her as he got off the floor. "Well, this has been exciting but I better get back to my laptop. Still have work to do after all." He then looked over at Harry and them. "You guys are unreal," He told them before heading back to his table, happy to see his laptop was intact and right where he left it.
Harry meanwhile, was busy tying up the thugs with some rope Cass had gotten for him from the back rooms when he asked her for something to tie them up with.
Ari smirked, "I think we should punish them, Asgardian style..." he smirked.
Erik gave Ari a caution look. "Asgardian style?" He questioned.
"Well, more of our style, I guess..." Ari replied suggestively.
Harry gave Ari a flat look. "Ari, stop pretending like we have some special punishment, or you'll be eating Sirius's cooking for a month next time we're in Asgard."
Ari shut up at that and glared at Harry for a moment before saying, "You wouldn't dare!"
"Remember that soup he made?" Harry asked with a grin. "The one Runa tried to dump out into a potted plant and it died within seconds?"
Ari glared at Harry, "You wouldn't really subject me to that, we're brothers in combat after all!" Ari protested with fear as he started to realise Harry might not be joking this time.
Harry just crossed his arms and stared Ari down.
"As much as it would be fun to see Ari trying to survive those meals, can we go back to eating 'our' food?" Runa asked hopefully.
Ari continued to look at Harry though, then, seeing Harry's lips twitch in a smile, decided to drop the subject, for now, and went back to the table, righting it as best he could with Darcy's gut making a great obstacle from putting it back in position. "Mind sucking it in?" Ari asked with a grin.
Darcy glared at him and merely said, "Bite me twerp!" in reply.
"Darcy!" Jane said in warning as she picked up the chairs. "I think you're mouth has said enough."
"And eaten enough," Harry joked with a huge grin.
"Watch it, before I decide to have roasted midget!" Darcy joked right back at Harry.
Hiro, meanwhile, was astonished, these...kids...who were his age, but seemed a lot dumber, had put down a group of thugs with no fear in them, he was impressed. "Wow," Hiro said, "That was really cool!" he then walked up to Runa, "You, uh, want to hang out some time?" he asked awkwardly with a blush.
Harry frowned at Hiro's invitation for Runa, he wasn't sure why he was bothered by it, but he was. "We're just passing through," He told Hiro a little colder than he had meant to.
Runa gave Harry a raised brow before rolling her eyes. "Boys," She sighed.
"Sadly, Harry is right. We're not going to be staying too long in this city so there's not going to be a lot of time for anyone to hang out with anyone," Godiva explained to Hiro gently.
"Oh," Hiro said sounding a bit put out, Then he looked up with a smile, "Wait, do you have a phone, we could exchange numbers!" he said excitedly.
Runa looked to Darcy for a moment. "Um, not really. We tend to spend a lot of time in places where phones don't really work," She explained.
"Yeah, these guys live in a dead zone for phones," Darcy chimed in with a chuckle.
"Damn..." Hiro mumbled, he really liked Runa too, he then looked at Runa pointedly, "Think you might ever stop by again sometime?" he asked really hopeful she would say yes.
Runa thought on that for a moment. "Well I have been enjoying traveling like this, and there seems to be a lot of stuff around here that I haven't yet seen," She shrugged. "Don't really see a reason we wouldn't come through here again at some point," She answered.
"Then if you stop by again, please drop in, ok?" Hiro said excitedly before letting out an 'Eep!' as Cass poked him in the back lightly.
"Sorry about him," she said with a laugh, "He tends to be really shy around new people, he must really like you for him to act the way he was," she said, winking at Runa.
Runa shrugged. "Yeah well, he can join the rest of the boys fawning over me. Trust me, there is a fan club, and they aren't as sneaky as they think they are when it comes to their movements," She waved off.
Harry's head swivelled to her the instant she said she had a fan club, "You have a fan club?!" he squeaked. This caused Darcy to laugh at Harry's reaction.
Ari gave Harry a look of disbelief, "You mean to tell me you didn't notice all the guys stalking Runa at school? Just how blind are you?" To which Jarl smacked him upside the head.
"Ow!" Ari whined, "Watch it Jarl, your stronger then any of us after all!" he said, rubbing the back of his head, "Anyway, we all have fans and stalkers, both at Hogwarts and in Asgard," he finished.
Harry groaned at the memory of his stalkers, almost missing as Godiva slapped her hand over Ari's mouth.
"SHHH! No talking about school!" Godiva ordered, hoping that Hiro and Cass would just think that they didn't want a reminder of school rather then they went to a secret school.
Cass came back over with more doughnuts, having been too busy to hear what they were talking about. Smiling at Darcy, she asked, "Does the wittle piggy want some more?" she asked teasingly.
"Great, now my slightly older twin is teasing me over this..." Darcy grumbled.
"That's what you get for over stuffing yourself without doing any of the work that we do," Runa taunted. "We work and train hard, making our bodies burn through food faster and thus letting us eat more without gaining the weight you just did."
Darcy just glared and stuck her tongue out, "For the record, I only over ate cause of how good it was," she stated, "And secondly, I do work out, you lot just don't see me when I do it!" she counter argued.
Harry, sighing, walked up to Cass and offered her some of the money that he taken out of his Gringotts account and exchanged for US dollars, "There, that should cover our bill," he said with a smile, knowing full well it was more than the bill was, the reason he was doing it was also to buy her silence though.
Cass, looking between the huge amount of money, then at the thugs, then at Harry, nodded, "Yeah, I guess it should," she said with a knowing smile, "Alright you guys, have a good day!" she said as they all, slowly, managed to get up, Darcy requiring help to get up still. They then slowly made their way to the door. None of them noticing Eddie watching them leave.
"Alright let's get out of here before we have to explain to the police what happened here. Everyone get in the camper!" Erik said as he waved everyone to the camper. "Where to next?" He asked as he headed for the driver's seat.
"What about the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology?" Jane asked hopefully.
Darcy let out a groan. "More geek stuff? Didn't you get your fix back at Stark's place?"
Runa chuckled, "There is no end to geek stuff when it comes to her I suppose."
"Give that girl half the chance to go to geekdom and she will leap on it!" Ari added teasingly.
Jane glared at them for the teasing. "You know, I could end this road trip right now and have all of you doing work in my lab for the rest of the summer," She warned.
Harry turned to Erik, "Erik, she's threatening us!" He mock cried.
Erik sighed, and decided to do as Jane suggested and head to the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology.
~w~
~In Hel with Hela~
Hela listened as 'The Moron', otherwise known as Uncle Death, reported everything to her that he'd seen, both in Asgard and Midgard, and while she was pleased to see that he felt loyalty towards Harry, she was displeased, however, with the state of things in Asgard.
"Of course those idiots are trying to rebel against father. They would not care if Odin himself openly announced he was leaving father in charge for a time," She sighed in annoyance.
"Yeah well, what can you do? Stupid will always do stupid," Uncle Death said with a shrug of his shoulders.
Hela took a second to mentally chuckle at the irony of him saying that. "But you say that there is currently an even split of those against my father and those with my father?" She questioned.
"Yep, and not just those Midgardian wolf people, there are plenty high up nobles siding with your father, and I've heard that little Thorina has some kind of plan herself in regards to those against her favorite brother," Uncle Death confirmed.
"A bright child, one so young and yet already plotting against her families enemies," Hela smiled with pride. "And Harry is traveling with Thor?"
"Oh yeah," Uncle Death chuckled. "Seems he thinks Thor will redeem himself better if they travel around Midgard. Though it was a surprise seeing that red headed Thor look alike."
Hela frowned at that, "Who are you speaking about?" she asked in confusion.
"When I went to see Senpai there was some red headed guy that looks like Thor. I was told his name is Magni and he's Thor and Amora's son from another dimension. Though, if you ask me, that kid's got more than a few sticks up his ass," Uncle Death explained.
Hela face palmed, "Of course he would, he's a child of Thor, if what he said is true that is, when isn't a child of Thor full of themselves?" she sighed.
"Ah, I don't know about that. After all, the dumb blonde himself seemed kind of subdued by Senpai's anger towards him. So there might be a tiny bit of hope for the dumb dumb yet," Uncle Death commented with a shrug. "Senpai's a good influence on him."
Hela smiled through her hands, "Of course he is, he is a child of Loki, well, grandchild, but still of father's legacy," she began to reply, "And if there is one thing you can count on from father's legacy, it's that they have the power to rein in Thor's idiocy," she finished.
"Well, I wouldn't be sure about that," Uncle Death began. "After all, wasn't it your father who tried to talk Thor out of what he did to get banished? That didn't go so well."
Hela glared at Uncle Death, "Shut up, that was Thor's fault, not father's!" she said heatedly, "Thor is an idiot and idiots don't always listen to the wise!" she finished.
Uncle Death raised his hands placatingly. "I meant no offense, my lady. Just pointing facts out," He said in defense. "Oh! I almost forgot to mention this, but I hung around in secret and followed Senpai for a while as him and the group he's with went to this fancy looking house in a place called Los Angeles. I managed to listen in and discovered that Senpai has found a long lost branch of Loki's family. And I do mean longlost," He informed her, stressing the one word.
Hela smiled in resignation, "I am sure there are quite a few lines of the various gods on Midgard," she said in reply, "Still, whose the lost sheep of the Herd of Loki?" she asked, smiling at her little joke.
"Some rich smart guy by the name of Tony Stark," Uncle Death answered with a shrug of his shoulders. "Interestingly enough, the guy looks like he could be Senpai's father, or older brother for the most part. The guy even thought Senpai was there to try to get something from him like some kind of greedy brat who'd rather get gifts from the absent father then have a father."
Hela smiled impishly, and decided to contact her newfound wayward nephew, the one that Uncle Death just informed her of. Waving her hand in front of her, she opened a communication portal and smiled as she got a good look at the faces of two people, one, who looked astonishingly a lot like her father almost, and the other, an attractive red head, both of whom were looking at her with deep confusion.
"Um...hello?" the redhead said uncertainty.
Hela smiled, "Hello, I am Hela, ruler of Hel and Niffleheim, Asgardian goddess of the dead, and daughter of Loki," she spoke with a winning smile of hers, "I would like to speak to my nephew, Tony Stark," she added with a shit eating grin.
Tony just sighed and mumbled something about, weirdness, relatives, and how things couldn't get worse.
~w~
~On Jotunheim~
The Jotun's ambassador gulped as he entered Laufey's frozen palace, or rather, its ruins. After centuries of not being able to use the Casket of Ancient Winters to expand the palace for one reason or another, or to even repair massive damage caused by rampaging Frost Wyrms, it had slowly begun to fall into ruins. Needless to say, after the loss of his son the day Asgard had invaded to end their raiding, and now the disappearance of his daughter, well, Laufey had taken to punishing Jotunns who had made minor mistakes quite harshly. Hopefully with the news that Loki had given him, the Ambassador would be spared by giving that good news to Laufey in turn.
Laufey, meanwhile, was currently torturing the Jotunn in charge of the Frost Wyrms for once more losing control of them, and worst of all, for the death of his pet, Farren. Farren the Frost Wyrm had been one of the biggest, and Laufey had sent him after Thor and his friends only for Thor to kill Farren by using his hammer to tear a hole through Farren's mouth and out the back of his neck.
Laufey dismissed his Wyrm handler as the ambassador entered the throne room. "Ah, my loyal friend, welcome back," Laufey greeted, "Tell me, what did the old fool, Odin the Allfather, 'relinquish', to end the war?" he asked with obvious disgust for Odin and Asgard.
The ambassador chuckled nervously, "Um...m-my lord," the ambassador gulped as he began, "Odin has fallen into the Odinsleep, and with Thor's banishment, it has left Loki of Asgard to assume the throne until Odin awakens," the ambassador proclaimed, "And it was he I was dealing with upon my arrival," the Ambassador continued. He then gulped, "In exchange for peace, he started negotiations by 'offering an olive branch', so to speak, in offering the return of the Casket, and your daughter!" the Ambassador finished.
At first, Laufey began to lose interest, but upon hearing that Loki had assumed the throne, his interest was piqued, but now, hearing that Loki had offered the Casket and the return of his missing daughter, well, colour him interested in negotiating with the prince of mischief.
Laufey, looking at his Ambassador, smiled, truly smiled, for the first time in centuries, "Go back to Loki, and tell him I would like to discuss with him in person the terms of the peace agreement, though, admit that I am interested in his terms with what he is offering in exchange," he finished.
The Ambassador nodded, "As you wish my lord," he then began to turn around before stopping, "My lord, if I may speak my mind?" he asked.
"Speak my friend," Laufey said, continuing to smile.
"Prince Loki seems much more amicable then Odin ever did," the Ambassador explained.
Laufy smiled, "Indeed he does, and may we hope that he takes the throne of Asgard, rather than see his idiot brother should he return to Asgard..." Laufey said as he dismissed the Ambassador.