Chapter Text
Five Years Later
Utgard, Jotunnheim
The sunlight landed on Loki’s face, the warmth teasing him to wakefulness. He stretched, his arms stretching over his head, his horns rolling from side to side as he emitted a low hum. His eyes fell on to the slumbering form of Aiko, her blue skin glinting in the pale morning light. For a second, the adult Jotunn wondered if his skin caught the light the way his daughter’s did. It was a breathtaking sight. He pressed a kiss to her head, breathing in her rich scent of lavender and oil paints, still unable to block the faint odor of ozone and fresh, spring rain.
The prince of Asgard let his princess lie, sneaking off to the bathroom to complete his morning rituals. His hair, cut back over six months ago to the length it had been before his fall, had grown out past his shoulder blades, thick and curtain-like, braided into his traditional fauxhawk. He would need to cut it again when he returned home in the next few days.
He clicked back through the bedchamber, smiling broadly at his sleeping child, and hurried to meet his brother to finalize their agreements between realms. April had become the month of visitation for the Laufeyson family. Aksel was still young, though far from small, and, after an incident that involved the smashing of a vase that was older than the worlds, the royal family of Jotunnheim did not visit Asgard often. Jotunn developed slower than mortals or Aesir, and his nephew had just reached the toddling phase, roving about the halls, his voice ringing through the halls of ice as Loki drew closer to the royal chambers of the Kings.
“Aksel! Get back here!” Elksa was shouting from the open door of the small chamber reserved for state business. The little Jotunn paid no mind to his father. Instead he barreled down the hallway, the multi-colored lights from the massive stained glass windows reflecting off his bald head, towards his slim uncle. The effect of four and a half feet of pure muscle and baby fat crashing into a lean figure that weighed less than he did, caused Loki to stagger backwards, his arms wrapping around the child with a soft ‘ehehehe.’
“And how are we this morning, Aksel-Nephew?” he asked, a broad smile on his face as he looked at his brother’s child. The little one brought his maternal instinct to the fore, and he hugged the child closer, relishing in the closeness and the adorable toddler stage that his other niece and nephew had outgrown.
“Blue!” the toddle crowed, proud that he knew his uncle’s nickname, an unfortunate habit picked up from Aiko that had also passed on to Daryn and Torsten. While the name bestowed on him during his exile held a warm place in his heart, he had hoped that his brothers’ children would refer to him as Uncle Loki, not a primary color. He sighed as he waddled the little heir back to his brother-in-law, the smaller boy standing on his horned feet, arms securely wound around his slim waist. At least Thor’s children weren’t calling him ‘Mama’ as they had tried to do nearly a million times since they had begun to talk.
“How are you this morning, Elksa-King?” Loki asked, his eyes flitting to the larger Jotunn’s stomach where a tiny swell was just barely visible, before focussing on his brother-in-law’s face.
“Well, besides a little nausea, thank you, Loki-All-Father, for asking. And you?” Elksa’s voice was a soft rumble, his hands rubbing the Crown on his son’s head gently.
“Very well,” the small Jotunn responded, smiling. “I enjoy being greeted by my nephew in the morning. Our visits are so rare, I feel like I miss so much during the winter months, including the birth of the newest addition to our family.”
Elksa nodded with understanding. He could say the same for the heirs of Asgard, though they developed much faster than the Jotunn. “Well, I must take this rascal now so that you and Helblindi-King may conclude your business. Thor-King will be wanting you back in the next day or so, I would wager. I am assuming you have heard of the raiders?”
The All-Father nodded, his scrying had kept him informed, not only of his family back home, but of the strife among the Nine. Currently, a band of brigands had materialized, stealing, pillaging and destroying bits and pieces of the Realms only to dispel into thin air when any sign of troops arrived. “Yes, Thor and I will be discussing ways to deal with them upon my return. It’s a rather troubling and pressing matter and it will be dealt with quickly, I assure you.”
Bowing to his brother-in-law, and hugging his nephew enthusiastically, Loki ducked into the state room, finding his brother alone, pouring through documents with a singular focus. “Helblindi-Brother,” the smaller Jotunn said, announcing his presence and greeting his younger sibling.
“Loki-Brother.” Helblindi looked up from the parchment and gestured for the smaller Jotunn to sit. “I am just looking at what we’ve accomplished thus far, and I must say, that everything appears to be in order.”
“What is left to discuss?” the All-Father asked, his horns inclined and curious.
Helblindi slid the documents across the iced tabletop with a finality. His ruby eyes roved over his older sibling, piercing, but filed with caring. “We need to talk, Loki-Brother, about you.”
The smaller Jotunn cocked his eyebrow and released a soft snort, turning his attention from the intense gaze of the King of Jotunnheim to the treaties in his hands. Determined to change the subject, he asked, “May I ask a request of you first, Helblindi-King?”
“Of course, anything for my brother,” the other Jotunn chuckled.
Loki raised his eyes from the parchment briefly, shuffling it nervously within his grasp. “I would like to bring further unity to our peoples through a royal marriage.”
“Oh? And whose marriage would that be? Already trying to rid yourself of Daryn-Princess? I know she can be a bit of a handful.” The taller man’s eyebrow was raised jovially, a smirk playing at his lips. “I am not entirely sure I approve the match for Aksel. I’d prefer that he found his life-mate, if you don’t mind.”
Loki flinched at the mention of life-mates and covered it with a gentle shake of his horns. “No, no, Helblindi-Brother. Between Aiko-Princess and Ren Aslaugson. I understand that his bearer is a lesser noble among our people and his sire was an Aesir of great diplomatic power. It has been nearly six years since the boy confessed that my daughter is his life-mate. I have given him permission to pursue her, though I must admit that my Child of Love is playing hard to get. I just want, when the time comes, for you to acknowledge this bond within your court. Can you do that?”
Helblindi clapped his hands together enthusiastically. “Why of course, Loki-Brother! What kind of uncle would I be to deny my niece’s happiness? It shall be a wonderful match!” He laughed, his rich deep rumble rolling through the room and into the halls beyond. “But now, we must talk of you, Loki-All-Father.”
“What about me?” His ruby gaze immediately returned to the documents in his claws, shuffling the papers aimlessly.
He heard Helblindi sigh, the ice chair he reclined in creaking as he shifted his weight, leaning back. The younger sibling was perceptive. There was something that had been wearing on his older brother and it had been festering for some time. Knowing Loki, it was probably years. “What has been weighing on your mind, Loki-Brother? And do not say nothing. Whatever it is, it has been bothering you for some time and it is something that you cannot discuss with anyone of your Aesir family. I know this to be true, so do not deny it. Know that you can talk to me. I wish to help you.”
Helblindi’s large hand reached over and covered Loki’s Claws, bringing his hands and the pacts down to the table. The older Jotunn’s ruby eyes met his brother’s gaze. He knew that he should tell someone that he trusted about the life-mate bond, someone besides Frigga who knew nothing about the cause and could do nothing about it.
He sighed, pulling a hand free to idly stroke one of his horns, finding comfort in the smooth rings that rubbed against his callouses. “I believe that I have found my life-mate, Heblindi-Brother,” he breathed, the confession pouring from his blue lips in a rush.
“Why Loki-All-Father, that is wonderful news!” The younger Frost Giant beamed, his three inch fangs catching the rainbow light from the floor to ceiling stained glass windows. The expression did not last long, however, as his older brother shook his head back and forth, frustration crinkling his Horns. “Why does it make you unhappy?”
“Look at me, Brother. I am not but a small Jotunn with peculiar features. Ugly, just like my past. I do not deserve to find happiness Helblindi,” Loki said fervently, all ceremony forgotten. “Not in Asgard, not with him. He is a far better man than I could ever dream to be.”
“But Loki,” Helblindi squeezed his brother’s hand urgently, “that is why your life-mate is known as your ‘better half.’ He should make you want to be that better Jotunn. I know Elksa does that for me.”
“Yes, but the two of you are perfect together, ice and snow. You do not have one without the other. This man is so unlike me, it is night and day.”
“They say that opposites attract.”
“Again, that is true. But this man is Aesir.”
“I could have guessed that, Loki-Brother. You are...uh...not exactly built to breed with others of our kind. The life-mate bond would only activate for a viable partner, your other half. Maybe the reason you are drawn to him is because he will balance you, equalize the parts that you find less than desirable within yourself and make you a better ruler of the Nine. Yes?”
“No, Helblindi, you do not understand. He is Aesir and the Law of the Aesir prevents the union of two men or two women. The act of intercourse alone, if discovered, results in twenty-five lashes and years in prison. If it is repeated, it results in castration or neutering. And besides, what would he think? Who would ever wish to be an outcast in their own society?”
“But surely Thor-King would change the Law for his brother?” Helblindi rubbed his hand over his sibling’s ridges, the friction releasing a calming effect. The younger Jotunn smiled, though he could not understand why his wise, scholarly brother had not thought to just change the harsh Law to begin with. Unless... “Oh.” It was more of a breath than a statement, the air rushing from the larger Frost Giant’s massive lungs in a rush, rippling the fly-aways in Loki’s braid.
“‘Oh’ is right,” Loki muttered, his hand stilling to wrap around the keratin protruding from his brow.
“And I guess you have not told him?” Loki’s eyebrow raised in an ‘oh, please’ expression, his lips turned downward in a small frown. “How long have you known?”
“It will be six years in November.”
“Brother, that is too long to go without telling him. Surely Aiko knows of Ren’s intentions?” The smaller Frost Giant nodded once, his gaze fixed on the center of the table. Helblindi continued, “Then the boy, while being dragged along, is not going mad at least. You, on the other hand, Loki-Brother, are letting it consume you. You will go mad if you do not at least tell him. His response may surprise you.”
“Oh, yes, Helblindi-Brother. I will run to him off the Bifrost and leap into his arms and say, ‘Remember when you lost your memory and found me attractive? It was right before your wife died. Well, it woke some deep, animalistic need within me, Brother. And now, I can smell you and your ozone-y glory even when I am in Jotunnheim. For a MONTH out of every year! AND, whenever I am near you, I become impossibly aroused and my mouth tingles with the desire to mark you as my own. Oh, please Thor, please mate with me!’”
Helblindi was laughing at his older sibling’s antics as the smaller Jotunn sat sideways in his chair, his arms wrapped around the icy back as if it were the King of Asgard’s broad shoulders, his feet kicking away in reckless abandon and his face mocking the young crush, eyes huge and shining, crazy smile upon his lips.
“Blue?”
Loki’s feet dropped quickly to the floor as his body spun to face the doorway. “Aiko!” he gasped, immediately ashamed of his immature outburst. “My Child of Love! How long have you been standing there?”
“Long enough,” she replied quietly, crossing her arms uncomfortably over her chest.
“Aiko,” the small Jotunn breathed, rushing towards his daughter, his arms open to wrap her into a tight embrace. “I am sorry you had to hear that. I-I wasn’t thinking straight. I was joking. I-”
The teenager pushed him away, a look of disbelief in her ruby eyes. “No.” Her father’s apologetic face fell, and he hung his head as he backed away slowly, self-loathing boiling up in the pit of his stomach. He was such a monster that his own bodily urgings were driving his own child away.
It was Helblindi who spoke next, surveying the state of despair that his brother had fallen into and the anger that his niece was radiating from her frame. “Aiko-Niece.”
The girl shifted her focus towards her uncle. “Come here, child.”
It was very clear to the taller Frost Giant that the small woman would have had no intentions of going to him except that she knew he could demand it. Ruling a country had some positives, he reflected as he watched the chocolate haired girl walk slowly towards him, her arms still tightly wound around her hourglass figure. The King of Jotunnheim sighed. He knew that his brother was ashamed of his form, his very nature, and it was apparent that he had told very little of the implications to his Aesir family.
“Aiko-Princess, how much do you know about your father’s people? The Jotunn are different from Aesir in so many ways.” His deep, gravely voice was calm, level but commanding.
The woman did not meet her uncle’s eyes and replied, “I know that Jotunn are intersex and can bear and sire children. I know that they are cold externally but warm inside. I know that that Jotunn have seidr that allows them to manipulate ice and snow. It’s something that I inherited from my father.” She held up her palm to reveal a tiny, perfect rose of ice resting in the middle of the blue.
Helblindi smiled. She knew the obvious, what she would have learned from interacting and living with the Jotunn for the last twenty-two years. “That is a good start, Aiko-Niece. You should know, however, that we do not marry. Do you see this?” He pointed to a faint circular scar where his neck and shoulder met, directly over the thick tendon there. His niece’s ruby eyes traced the scar, a question written across her face. “It’s a bit faded. It’s been nearly twenty-five years since I received this.”
“How did you get it, Helblindi-Uncle? It must have been given by a rather strange weapon.” Her face was curious, it no longer held the anger that she was feeling towards her father over his little outburst.
“Unusual indeed, though not a weapon - a mouth. I got it, and gave one myself, during my first mating with Elksa.” A faint, purple blush rose to color the young woman’s cheeks. “As Jotunn, we do not marry. Marriage is an arrangement, a pact. It is not always borne out of love. Instead, we Jotunn spend our lives searching for what are known as life-mates. They are our other half and it is an instinct derived from the deepest and purest love. Once a Jotunn finds his life-mate, he can scent him anywhere in the Nine realms, a constant reminder of how he completes you and how you cannot live without him. Once the bond is instigated, the urge to mate grows, and with the need to mate comes the instinct to mark and claim him as your own. Then the pair are viewed as partners, equals for the rest of their lives.”
“So...Ren is my life-mate?” Her question was small, barely audible.
“According to your father, yes.”
The teenager turned to the other Jotunn, who was trying to appear small and insignificant in the corner, his insecurity displayed in the arms that were crossed around his body. “Is this true, Blue?” His daughter’s eyes were wide, questioning.
“Yes. When he asked my permission to date you right before the twins were born, I could tell that it was more than a passing crush. He was so earnest, so desperate, and so I asked and he answered me honestly. Your scent haunted him as soon as he was reborn. And so, I gave him permission. It was you, my Darling Child, that refused his advances at the time. My permission still stands. He is a wonderful boy and I can see how happy he makes you. And that is all a parent wants, to see their child happy and loved.” He gave his child a soft smile, love radiating from his face as his arms dropped to his sides.
His child smiled back at him shyly, her cheeks still flushed. She ran to his arms, throwing herself into her father’s strong arms. “I’m so sorry, Blue. I didn’t know and I promised you that I would love you no matter what and I shouldn’t have gotten upset. You deserve to been happy and loved too, Blue. It’s just...strange...Thor. I mean, he’s your br - my uncle.” She snuggled deep into his chest. “I’m just sad that you didn’t tell me earlier.”
The small Jotunn guffawed. “And have you react the way you just did, no thank you!” He kissed the top of her head. “Besides, nothing will come of it. As you have said, Thor is my brother, and the King of Asgard. He will marry again in a political alliance with a noblewoman from one of the Nine. I believe that talks and delegations have already begun.”
“I would not be so set against your own happiness, Loki-Brother,” Helblindi chided. “If you do nothing, you will crumble to madness. I do not think that Odin All-Father had you inherit his title to fail because you refuse to acknowledge that you are worthy and deserving.”
“You should tell him, Blue.” Aiko looked up at her father, squeezing his waist in her blue, ridged arms. “What is the worst that could happen?”
Loki smiled, knowing exactly what could happen. It was not good.