The Asgardians head out after dinner and some additional socializing. I'm glad to see the horse leaving. It's pretty creepy to look at.
The next day, Thor returns with the commander of the royal Guard, the captain of the prison deep underneath the palace, where Loki is currently kept, and two specialists--one in security, another in construction. Thor seeks me out where I'm waiting with Sigurd and a team to welcome the Asgardians.
"Father bade me bring this to you," he said brightly, striding over with something tucked under his arm. I put out my hands and he gives me....a puppy. Brown and fluffy and wiggly, it licks my hand enthusiastically and I have to put it down before his wiggles make me drop it. Sigurd carefully touches his nose to the puppy. "It is Sigurd's son, from the last litter he sired," Thor tells us, and Sigurd looks up, surprised and a little worried. The puppy must resemble his mom a lot. "It is with his mother's consent that the puppy is allowed to be here. It is felt that he will benefit from his father's example and teaching." Which means that he's probably a real handful. I'm suddenly grateful that my furniture isn't expensive or rare, and, just in case, decide to wrap the legs of the Austrian table until I know whether this little guy likes to chew.
"Please tell me he's housebroken," I say urgently, and Thor smiles.
"He is," he confirms. "And Sigurd will be able to help you keep him from chewing on things."
"What's his name?" I asked, watching Sigurd get used to his son. He was so cute, all round and furry.
"You must name him," he said. "He will return to Asgard at some point, so please select a dignified name." I smirk.
Then it's time to get to work. They bring the plans for the cell Loki inhabits, but right off the bat we know it's to going to work here because there's magic involved, that weird force I've seen in Odin and Thor's weapons, and we can't manage it effectively and reliably. We have an architect and two security experts on our side, and I watch only, because this is definitely not my area of expertise. We relocate to the conference room where there's plenty of room to spread out and work on the problem. Tony shows up a bit later and jumps in. He is a pain in the ass, but he is useful.
While they're discussing an interesting system of electricity between two panes of glass that would electrocute anybody who broke them, I ask Thor what Loki's like.
"Who were his parents, if he's adopted?" I ask quietly, so as not disturb the others. "Does he have any contact with his birth family?"
Thor looks around and answers even more softly. "He is a Frost Giant." I look blank, and he explains about Jotunheim and its late ruler Laufey.
"Why can't he go back there to rule, if he wants a throne and he's one of them?"
"He killed his father," Thor points out, "who had abandoned him, and Jotunheim is a miserable place. It would be better if they had the Casket of Ancient Winters again, but a return of their power would mean a return to war and invasion of the other realms, including this one."
"Ok, suboptimal," I say. I get him to explain Frost Giant physiology as he understands it and discard the idea of using heat as a method of control since it doesn't seem to affect them. Thor explains Loki's personality and skill with sorcery, which he learned from their mom, and I can't help feel that perhaps Frigga could have been a little more cautious in developing such power in him. Evidently he can use his sorcery here effectively, and I shake my head again.
"This is going to suck," I say.
"You are convinced he will escape?" Thor asks, and my lips twist.
"Aren't you?" Before Thor can reply, one of the guards has a question for me regarding the strength of the alloys I can create, and once armed with the specifications, I excuse myself and head to the forge to play around.
Steve shows up with a late lunch for me and ideas for the attachment points for his shield when I have the time. I add these to my notes, and he looks bemused to see Sigurd's new companion. "What have you named him?" he asks after I explain.
"I looked up some Norse names," I said, finishing the pasty from the cafeteria. "I though I'd name him Torburn."
"That's cute," Steve said. "What does it mean?"
"Bear of Thor," I say, with an evil smirk. Steve laughs.
"Oh, he's going to love that." Torburn tumbled over in the grass.
I worked on the alloys all afternoon, thinking and trying to come up with something exceptionally strong. By the end of the day, I had a few ideas that I wanted to test out the next day. Accompanied by Sigurd and Torburn, we headed back to the housing block to wash up (me) and get some dinner.
"What are you calling him?" Thor said idly. I told him, and he shook his head firmly. "He is not mine and he is not a bear."
I smiled at him and called for the dogs; they were eating over by the windows. Sigurd looked a little worn; fatherhood must be hard work. Torburn yipped excitedly and ran over in a rolling, adorable gait. He kind of looked like a bear cub. "Aw, see? He loves his Uncle Thor," I said mockingly as Torburn tugged at Thor's cape, then yipped again and ran back to his dad. Thor looked up and I went back to my dinner with a smile.
The next day, I made small plates of three different alloys and gave them to Stark's team to test. That afternoon I got an inquiry about whether I would be able to make the metal components for Loki's cell myself or if they needed to do it at AvengerTech. I thought about it and said I'd do it. I wanted to be sure it was done as perfectly as possible. I managed to make a test shield for Steve where we could play around with the modifications before I got a message back from the team, approving one of the alloys for production. I couldn't shake my sense of misgiving, but started to work out the quantities of materials I'd need and figure out how I'd craft the pieces.I headed back to the meeting.