Chapter Text
Tony was bouncing on the balls of his feet in excitement. He was going to visit a new planet! (Realm, whatever.) He was going to be the first human in ages to do so, according to Loki, which was super cool.
He had packed light, per Loki’s instructions, and had been ready to go for the last 20 minutes, hardly able to contain himself.
“Tony, please sit down. You’re making me dizzy,” Glyne said. The Elf was sitting calmly on the couch, watching Tony with a mixture of fondness and exasperation. It was the same look he often gave Loki, which Tony found hilarious. It was also the same look Tony got from Rhodey and Pepper. That really said a lot about him and Loki, didn’t it?
“What’s taking them so long?” Tony asked, ignoring Glyne’s request. He couldn’t sit down, he was too hyped up!
Loki and Elya were taking their sweet time finishing their preparations just to annoy him, probably. Loki didn’t even have to pack anything since he had it all in his handy pocket dimensions already. Elya, though… Was she getting cold feet? They were going to Vanaheim to see her parents, after all, and there was a chance (albeit a small one, with Tony and Loki on the case) that things would go badly.
Tony hoped she didn’t think they were going to abandon her there. While Tony had only known her for about 10 months, he felt very protective of her (like a big brother, and wasn’t that an interesting development? He’d never felt like that with anyone), and would do his best to make her happy. If staying on Earth was what she wanted, then he was going to convince her parents of that – and he could be very persuasive when he wanted to be, after all.
“Tony, if you don’t stop jumping around I’m going to use magic on you,” Glyne threatened.
Tony stopped pacing and narrowed his eyes at the Elf. “You wouldn’t dare.”
Glyne raised an unimpressed eyebrow, which made him look remarkably like Rhodey. “Try me.”
With a cheeky grin, Tony started jumping up and down like a maniac. “I’ll tell Loki,” he said, passing in front of his friend like a demented energizer bunny on crack.
A wave of gold magic erupted from Glyne’s hands and enveloped Tony’s body, stilling his movements. It wasn’t painful, it just felt like he was inside an invisible box with little room to move.
“Loki!” he yelled. “Loki, help!” He glared ineffectively at a smirking Glyne.
“I did warn you.”
“I’m gonna get you for this. Remember that you live in my house with my AI keeping an eye on everything.” When Glyne remained impassive, Tony shouted even louder. “LOKI! HELP! Jarvis, deploy a suit. I’m taking this Elf down.” He tried to give Glyne a stern look, but the corners of his mouth twisted upwards of their own accord.
Jarvis, the traitor, replied that there were no suits currently available, which was a big fat lie.
Glyne’s smirk got even bigger at that. “Looks like you’re at my mercy, Tony.”
Tony stuck his tongue out, just about the only thing he could do at the moment. “You’ll pay for this. Vengeance will be mine.” He used his best super villain voice, complete with mock angry tone. Then he cracked up and smiled. “Loki and I are really rubbing off on you, huh? No more uptight Elf.”
“Yes, you two are horrible influences.” Glyne’s eyes sparkled with mirth. “This is your own fault.”
“What’s going on here?” Loki asked, coming into the living room at last. He was wearing his Asgardian leather getup, which was really fucking hot.
“Babe, you’ve got to save me!” Tony whined. “Evil Glyne has trapped me with magic. That’s hardly fair.” He pouted. “Also, damn, you look good. Get me out of this thing so I can have my wicked way with you.”
“That does not encourage me to release you at all,” Glyne said, amused.
“And why exactly do you have Tony trapped, Glyne?” Loki inquired with a raised eyebrow at his best friend and a warm smile in Tony’s direction.
“He was driving me crazy with his pacing.”
“Well, excuse me for being excited about going to another planet,” Tony said with his best puppy dog eyes. “It’s only every nerd’s fantasy. You guys have already been all over the realms, but this will be my first time.”
“Are you looking forward to it, darling?”
“Yes!” he exclaimed. He tried to move again and nearly face planted into the floor when Glyne abruptly ended his spell or whatever. Loki caught him before he actually hit the ground and Tony took the opportunity to kiss him as thoroughly and as loudly as possible just to hear Glyne grumble at them to get a room.
“Are we leaving or will Tony and Loki need some time for themselves first?”
Elya was carrying a small suitcase and watching them with amusement.
“I have been ready for ages!” Tony complained, disengaging from Loki with some reluctance. “It’s you and Loki who took forever, leaving me to suffer terrible abuse at the hands of this evil Elf.”
“Oh, you poor thing,” Elya drawled. “Such hardship…”
“He trapped me in an invisible magic box!” Tony grumbled, levelling an accusing finger in Glyne’s direction.
“Oh, you’ve got to teach me that,” Elya replied, giving Glyne a high-five.
Tony spurted in indignation. “You’re all ganging up on me, that’s not fair. Here I am giving you all room and board out of the goodness of my heart and this is the thanks I get.” He crossed his arms and pouted.
Elya looked a bit guilty at that and launched herself at Tony for a hug. “I’m sorry, Tony. You’re the best, really! I’m so grateful for everything.”
“I know, I’m just kidding,” he replied. Now Tony felt bad.
“Oh, enough with the dramatics,” Glyne said. “We all love each other. Now, can we go already? Even in the jet it’s going to be a long trip.”
“Yes, let’s!” Tony agreed, wide smile back in place. He kissed Elya in the cheek, getting a kiss in return. “Are we all ready then?”
“Yes, darling.” Loki put everyone’s belongings in his pocket dimensions and extended a hand.
Tony wrapped himself around his boyfriend while Elya and Glyne merely held on to his arm and the four of them disappeared from the penthouse to reappear down at the garage. From there they would drive to SI’s private airstrip and take the jet to Poland, where the pathway to Vanaheim was located. All in all, the journey would take several hours, but Tony wasn’t worried. In fact, he was looking forward to another road trip with his friends. The first one had been a lot of fun, after all, even if it had involved exploding humans and alien revelations.
“Can I drive?” Elya asked. She had gotten her driver’s license a couple of weeks ago and had been taking short trips with Happy to get some more experience.
“Not this time, sorry,” Tony replied. They weren’t on a schedule, exactly, but Tony was far too excited to tolerate any delays, and Elya was likely to drive too slowly.
The car trip was spent with Elya listing all the places in Vanaheim she wanted to show Tony. There was the Library, of course, where she had first met Loki and Glyne, as well as other cool spots she thought he would enjoy. Loki and Glyne chimed in with their own ideas, and before they knew it, Tony was parking the car in the airstrip. Glyne and Loki got their luggage and the four of them made their way into the Stark Industries jet that was all set for them.
“Good morning, Mr Stark,” the pilot, Martin, said. He nodded to the others after Tony had made the introductions. “We will be taking off in approximately half an hour.”
“Great, thanks.”
Flight crew personnel came by to collect their things and stow them, and to make sure they were all comfortable.
“This is so much better than commercial flights,” Glyne said, stretching out on his seat with a contented sigh.
“Yep,” Tony agreed.
“Teleporting would be even better,” Elya said. “Tony, you really should work on that. I mean, if Loki can do it, then that’s possible, right?”
Tony laughed. “I have thought about it, actually.” Of course he had. It was one of the many things he had discussed with Loki since finding out exactly who and what he was. Unfortunately, he still hadn’t found any way to translate Loki’s magic into something compatible with current human technology. It was very frustrating, really. “So far I’ve got zilch, I’m afraid.”
“You’ll figure it out someday,” Loki said, and he sounded sincere rather than condescending.
“Aw, thanks, babe.”
“Please don’t start making out again,” Glyne whined. “Or, if you do, find a more private location.”
“Don’t worry, Glyne. We’ll keep it PG for now,” Tony replied with a grin.
They all buckled their seatbelts for take off and the conversation was interrupted until they had the all clear to take them off again.
“So, hmm,” Elya said timidly. “Does anyone have a plan? I mean, for what to say to my parents? In case… in case they want me to stay.”
“You should tell them the truth,” Loki replied. After all the lies he had been told, Loki had come to appreciate honest communication a lot more, and Tony certainly understood. He too knew what it was like to be lied to and manipulated, and it sucked.
“I agree,” Tony said, then added, “you should be honest about what you want and how you feel. They might not accept it right away, so you should be prepared to have to stand your ground and argue your case.”
“It might help us prepare if you tell us more about your parents,” Loki suggested.
Despite the fact that they were aliens from another realm, Tony figured Elya’s parents were probably not that different from most human parents, but it would be good to have as much information as possible.
Elya was an only child, which seemed to be more common in the other realms – their longevity apparently interfered with fertility, Loki said, – and thus was a bit overprotected. Her parents were simple people: her parents, Arne and Ionna, were farmers. They grew vegetables and fruits to sell, as well as jams, cakes and such made from those at the local fair. Neither had much to do with the Vanaheim royals or palace life in general, despite living in the capital city. They weren’t poor, exactly, but they didn’t have a lot of luxury either. Their marriage was a successful one, and they enjoyed living off the land and attending local festivals and events as leisure activities. Neither was particular fond of books, so they had always been a little baffled by Elya’s passion for literature, pursuit of knowledge and wish for adventure. Ionna had tried to get Elya interested in cooking, but she’d never taken to it. Arne, for his part, had attempted to teach Elya about agriculture also without much success.
“It’s so boring!” Elya said as she explained it all to them. “It’s just the same thing over and over again. You plant something, then you wait for it to grow. Then you box it up and sell it or cook something. And it’s the same thing again and again.”
Tony nodded in commiseration, as did Loki. That did sound dreadfully boring. Tony would have gone mad inside six months if that was his life, even though he knew that there were plenty of people on Earth – and presumably on Vanaheim and other realms – who would be pretty okay with a life like that. It wouldn’t be for him, though, and it clearly wasn’t for Elya either.
“Mom tried to get me to learn sewing and embroidery too, but that’s just as boring. I mean, at least you can be a little creative, but… It’s still…” She shook her head helplessly.
“Yeah, I get it.”
Elya sighed. “I haven’t really felt close to them for a while. We never really had anything to talk about. Farming life is fine for them, but I… I always wanted more. Reading books in the Library was the closest thing to a different life that I had, so…” She shrugged. “They weren’t happy when I said I was going travelling on my own before, but I think they could see that I needed it. I guess they figured I should get it out of my system so I could finally settle down or something.”
Tony nodded. “And this marriage they were setting up for you?” Tony really disliked the idea of anyone being pressured into marriage, though he knew that different cultures had different ideas on things like that. Still, he couldn’t see it being a good fit for Elya.
“I don’t know. I think they thought that by sending me away, I’d be happier.”
“You never saw the guy?”
She shook her head. “No. It was still in the initial planning stages. I would have met him eventually, and we’d get the chance to figure out if we were… compatible, I guess, but I know my parents were hoping it would happen.” She sighed. “I suppose he’ll have found someone else by now.”
“Did you ever tell your parents you didn’t want to go through with it?” Tony asked.
“No, I… I never really told them anything. I didn’t think I could refuse, you know? I didn’t know I had a choice. I didn’t think I had any other options. I mean, I didn’t have other options, not until Loki and Glyne showed up.” She smiled at them, eyes filled with gratitude and love. “I would have been stuck there otherwise.”
Loki smiled at her. “I’m glad you came with us.”
Elya went on to tell them a bit more of the life she’d had before, which consisted mostly of helping her parents at the farm and going to the Library. She hadn’t had any real friends. There had been one girl around her age she had been close to once, but she had moved away with her family decades earlier. Since then, she hadn’t had anyone she felt close to talk to. The few boys her age around hadn’t been interested in hanging out with her, and she in turn hadn’t had much interest in them.
“Why not? Where they mean to you?” Loki asked, all protective big brother.
“No, they were just… You know, boys. They wanted to practice sword-fighting and pretend to fight battles.” She rolled her eyes a little. “I have no idea who they imagined they would be fighting, though.”
“Boys always think there’ll be a fight somewhere,” Tony said with a snort.
“So, bottom line,” she concluded, “life used be really boring. I’m much happier now hanging out with you guys.”
“I’ll drink to that,” Glyne said, raising his glass and clinking it against Elya’s.
“Well, I can’t say my life was boring before,” Tony said, “but I’m glad I met you all anyway.”
“To friendship,” Loki said, and they all toasted to that.
It was a long flight, so there was time for games and a nap before the pilot announced that they were approaching their destination.
Tony’s excitement came back tenfold when they disembarked and wheeled their bags out of the airport and into an awaiting car. From there they travelled to the city of Chocholow, where the trio of aliens had arrived on Earth a year ago. It was a charming little town, Tony noted as they stepped out of the car, but not what he really wanted to see. They made sure they weren’t being observed and Loki made them all invisible, storing their luggage back into his pocket dimension. Then it was a simple matter of teleporting them to the forest where the pathway was. The last bit of the journey was made on foot, with Tony practically skipping besides the others as Loki led them into the correct spot.
“Tony, I swear to all the Norns, you’re driving me crazy,” Glyne said, though he sounded more resigned than upset. “Even Elya wasn’t this hyper when we first met her.”
“Hey!” She protested. “I am not hyper.”
“I think it’s cute,” Loki said, smiling fondly at Tony, who was walking backwards now so he could see his friends.
“Of course I’m cute. I’m adorable. The Vanir are going to love me.”
“Oh, I don’t doubt it,” Glyne muttered.
“We’re here,” Loki announced, and Tony immediately stopped.
“Hang on, hang on.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Jarvis?”
“Here, Sir.”
“Anything?”
“Nothing that I can detect, Sir.”
Tony was still trying to calibrate his sensors to pick up whatever energy signature Loki could read. Some magic was measurable with his instruments, but the Yggdrasil pathways were not one of those. This spot of the woods was the same as any other as far as he could tell, and it was a little frustrating. He had been hoping that, by identifying the signature, he could find other pathway points on Earth since, according to Loki, there were likely to be hundreds of them on the planet, leading to all worlds in the Nine.
“All right. Worth a shot. Tell Pepper, Rhodey and Happy that we’re off, then.” He had already told his friends goodbye yesterday, of course. “We’ll be back in a few days.”
“Have a safe journey, Sir,” Jarvis said.
“Don’t worry, Jarvis,” Loki said, “I’ll bring him back safe and sound.”
“Of course, Sir.”
“Bye, Jarvis,” Elya told him.
“Good luck, Miss Elya.”
She smiled. “Thanks.”
“All right, come on.”
Everyone took hold of Loki, and then the world disappeared.
*****
Inter-realm travelling was not very comfortable, Tony thought as he did his best not to throw up on his shoes. Loki had warned him, of course, but Tony had thought that he’d be okay – after all, he was used to flying around incredibly fast in a metal suit. This, however, was nothing like that. It felt like his insides had all been scrambled together and then reset incorrectly. It was way worse than the regular teleporting.
When Tony finally managed to open his eyes, he noticed that Elya hadn’t fared much better, and it made him feel a little better that he wasn’t the only one having a hard time. Glyne seemed only slightly unbalanced while Loki, of course, was perfectly fine – as composed and graceful as always, waiting patiently for the rest of them to get their shit together.
“Is it me or was this trip worse than when we went to Midgard?” Elya asked once she had recovered.
“It shouldn’t be,” Loki replied. “Direction does not affect the trip. Although we do have one extra passenger this time. That could have made the ride a bit… bumpier.”
“I guess I just got too used to the comforts of Earth, then.”
“Tony, are you all right?” Loki asked.
“Yeah, fine.” The dizziness and nausea were thankfully passing, so Tony could finally take in his surroundings and appreciate the fact that he was standing on a different planet. It was amazing!
It didn’t really look very different, though. They were standing in an open field with regular green grass (or something that looked the same). There were trees nearby which could have been Earth trees (from Tony’s admittedly limited knowledge of botany) and a gravel road. It wasn’t at all like New York, but it could have been any number of small towns from back home.
A bit underwhelming, perhaps, but Tony wasn’t going to complain. He was probably the first human to ever set foot in Vanaheim, and that was really cool. He got his phone out of his pocket and started taking pictures.
“Shall we go, then?” Loki asked.
“Sure.”
They followed the road for a few minutes, chatting as they went. Elya explained where they were and what they would see when they reached the city proper. She named the trees and plants they passed by and pointed out a few birds that flew over their heads.
Tony noticed she got more and more nervous as they approached the city and kept up a steady stream of questions to try to get her mind off the upcoming family reunion.
They had decided to get settled in the inn Loki and Glyne had used in their previous stay and do some sight-seeing before taking Elya home. The plan was to drop her off there and give her some time to talk to her parents on her own. In a day or two – depending on how that conversation went – they would come by to check in with her and meet her parents. Tony thought they would feel better about letting Elya go if they got the chance to meet her new friends – the people she had been living with for the past year since she’d left home, and with whom she wanted to stay for likely several years more.
Tony really hoped, for her sake, that they would be all right with it.
It was only when they arrived at the city that it really felt like being on an alien planet. Though the people themselves looked human, their clothes were quite different, as were the buildings and vehicles in the streets.
The clothes were more colorful than Tony had expected, with heavy fabrics and lots of embroidery for the women. They wore long skirts and had elaborate hairdos. The men wore leather, with long boots and some fancy vests. Most had beards and mustaches, though hair length varied a lot.
The few vehicles he could see were basically carriages with a different design pulled by horses, seating only two or four people.
Overall, the effect resembled something Tony had seen in renaissance fairs on Earth, though with some alien touches here and there.
There was no technology like on Earth. No phones, cars or even electrical wires. Since it was still daytime, he couldn’t tell what kind of street lights they had, but there were light spots here and there.
The buildings he could see were small, four stories at the most, and seemed to have been built out of stone and wood. They looked nice, in a low-tech way.
Despite the fact that this was the capital city, it didn’t seem very busy. The people strolling around were in no hurry, just chatting about with friends or whoever.
Their group didn’t attract much attention, though some people nodded to them as they passed. Elya was wearing one of her Vanir dresses with her hair tied into a braid. Loki and Glyne wore leather pants, a loose tunic (Loki’s green and Glyne’s an ochre color) with high boots. Tony himself was wearing black denim, sturdy boots and a dark blue long-sleeved cotton shirt. He had considered getting some leather pants, but they didn’t really feel very comfortable. Loki had assured him that he wouldn’t stand out too much. Even so, he’d only brought clothes that had no logos or prints, since that was more discreet.
It was still a little odd going about without being recognized, though Tony had to admit he enjoyed it. Thanks to Loki’s perception filter, Tony could now be utterly unremarkable even on Earth – just a random dude instead of one of the most famous people on the planet.
After a few more minutes they came to a square with a big fountain in the middle of it. It resembled many squares in cities on Earth, though with some different motifs in the design.
“That’s the Library,” Loki said, pointing to a big building up ahead. It was the highest structure Tony had seen so far, and very impressive, with what looked like Greek columns at the entrance.
“Holy shit,” Tony exclaimed as they walked inside. It was huge, filled with bookcases as far as the eye could see in different levels. The floor seemed to be made of marble, and there were golden trimmings here and there – on the floor, the walls, the columns and the bookcases – that gave the whole place an elegant look. From the entrance (like a lobby), one could see all the (Tony counted) seven levels. It reminded him of a few museums on Earth, with its circular design, but there were little touches here and there that made it obvious that this was not Earth. The biggest one, of course, was the enormous chandelier hanging just above the main desk, which seemed to be just suspended in the air.
“Is that magic?” Tony asked Loki quietly, pointing to it.
“Yes. There’s a lot of magic here, mostly to preserve the books and prevent anyone taking something they aren’t allowed to.” That, Tony was sure, wouldn’t have deterred a sorcerer as powerful as Loki, of course. He had already heard some stories of Loki ‘borrowing’ books from the Asgard library, and he couldn’t imagine that this would be different.
“Come on, let me show you some stuff.” Elya took Tony’s hand and led him to a staircase.
They only made it to the first floor above the lobby, where, in addition to the rows and rows of bookcases, there were also tables, smaller (individual) desks and comfortable looking armchairs – which seemed to be the same in every level. There weren’t many of those currently occupied, but Tony did see a couple of old men (at least he thought they were old) talking quietly at one of the tables, a few heavy tomes opened in front of them.
Tony followed Elya to a bookcase and perused the books as he passed them by. He selected one at random and nearly dropped it – damn, the thing was heavy!
“Here, let me get that for you, darling,” Loki said, holding the book with ease. Of course, they were all much stronger than the puny human.
With Loki’s help, Tony opened the book and turned a few pages. He couldn’t read shit, obviously, since he didn’t know whatever language they were written in – it looked like runes or something – but he could still admire how beautifully crafted they were. The book looked like something from the Middle Ages, with the fancy letters and colorful illustrations.
“This is really cool,” he said. “What’s it about?”
Loki glanced at it. “It’s about Vanir history.”
“Come see this one, Tony!” Elya yelled from further ahead, and Tony joined her.
They spent a few hours looking around the Library. Tony liked the books that had drawings of alien creatures the best, for obvious reasons, though he enjoyed seeing the different styles of books as well. Some were plainer – like regular textbooks – while others were much more elaborate. There were also technical manuals for stuff (including magic spells) that made Tony’s inner engineer want to pour over it until he could figure out what they were about. (Of course he took pictures with his phone so he could analyze them later, with Loki translating for him).
As a laugh, they went over to the section about Midgard (rather pitiful, to be honest), and amused themselves with how utterly inaccurate it was.
“All right, guys,” Glyne eventually said. “We’d better go get ourselves a room and some food.”
“Yeah, I can eat,” Tony agreed, then his eyes widened. “Ooooh alien food! Awesome!”
This trip was going to be fantastic!