Chapter Text
❊
His lips pressed together in a hard line, Bucky let his eyes drift over the completely unfamiliar landscape and did his best to figure out what exactly the sight and the rest of the sensory impressions were doing to him.
Despite his conscientiousness and the time he spent on this endeavor, he sighed in defeat after a while, frowned uneasily, and slid both hands carelessly into the pockets of his tattered hoodie.
Then he finally turned back to his companion. As he did so, the warm wind that made the burning heat of the day bearable whipped his already tangled hair annoyingly in his face.
"Steve?" He asked unhappily, almost bleating.
Although Bucky hadn't spoken quietly, and neither the rush of the wind nor the sounds of the surrounding nature were loud enough to cover his words, his friend showed no sign of reaction.
Steve simply continued to stare motionlessly at the surroundings, with a facial expression that was, on average, at least as stunned as Bucky's.
More specifically, his clear-cut face flickered with a variety of emotions in rapid succession, as if he didn't know whether he should be laughing out loud or weeping bitterly.
Since even his artistically talented friend was apparently struggling with this truly extraordinary sight, Bucky simply nodded tersely and turned his gaze back to the source of their discomfort.
Unfortunately, no change had happened in the past few seconds.
He sighed again as he recalled their innocent euphoria of the last two days.
Despite all they had done and experienced, the opportunity to visit another realm had been anything but commonplace for them.
They had only needed to share a single glance before they had both agreed, wordily and enthusiastically, to do this journey.
Even during the three days of their outbound flight, which for most of the time took them only through the melancholy emptiness of space, their enthusiasm had not waned. Since they had no other way to spend their time in the confined place anyway, they entertained themselves by imagining what the destination of their journey might be.
What started out as a really serious endeavor had quickly turned into a silly game where they tried to outdo each other with their craziest ideas and most bizarre thoughts.
For a while, this made them feel less like the hundred-plus-year-old soldiers they were and more like little boys who were excitedly but cluelessly discussing the latest science fiction novel.
Even the mocking comments they heard from the cockpit from time to time because of this just rolled off their shoulders.
Even more so when, at the very moment of mockery, a colorful space nebula passed by one of the windows and completely cast its spell over them.
This childlike enthusiasm lasted unabated until their spaceship finally reached its destination.
With sheer excitement, they both could hardly wait until the landing ramp was finally extended and the way out was clear.
Even at this point, the mocking laughter that came after them still missed its mark.
But what finally made them come back down to earth was the confrontation with the hard, pastel-colored reality.
After only a few steps, they had both frozen more or less in sync and they started to look around uneasily with distinctly mixed feelings.
And now they were still standing there side by side and in front of them was the wet dream of every snow globe collector.
But without any snow at all.
Instead, there were suns.
Two huge glowing spheres of gas, slightly offset from each other, leisurely traced their paths across the unfamiliar sky, whose color ranged from dodger-blue to orchid and was speckled with scattered fluffy fleecy clouds.
Their rays not only warmed the air to a midsummer level, they also impressively illuminated the unbearably tacky landscape.
In their golden glow shimmered the picturesque town with its pretty houses and artfully curved roofs supported by richly decorated columns. The brilliant white of the marble-like stone from which the buildings were made of, contrasted sharply with the lush green of the surrounding meadows and colorful plantings.
And on top of that, in the middle of the settlement, a massive structure towered far above the other buildings.
One of the suns was currently located just behind the ornate palatial structure, causing the semi-transparent crystal-like stone to glow from within.
The light from the other sun refracted in the ornamentation and curlicues, causing the parts of the imposing building that were not glowing to glitter instead.
The highest point of the palace was a slender tower, which was studded with so many windows and ornate recesses that any human structural engineer would inevitably have a heart attack at first sight.
Around the tower itself, several birds slowly traced their graceful paths.
With their long tail feathers and the fan-shaped crest on their heads, they were enormously reminiscent of white peacocks, except that one could assume from the distance that each one of them must be about the size of a Boeing P-26 Peashooter.
Beside him, Steve awoke from his motionlessness and made a noise that sounded like a mixture of retching and whimpering, and Bucky's attention unwittingly turned back to him.
His friend had turned slightly to the side, but one could still see that his stunned gaze was now fixed firmly on the crystal-clear waters of the small river that meandered through the immaculate landscape not far from where they landed.
He followed his gaze, but for quite a while he could not make out what could have attracted Steve's attention.
But then he noticed something else.
The melodic chirping that had filled the sweet-smelling air continuously since their arrival suddenly grew louder.
So whatever was the source had to be coming closer.
A moment later, their jaws dropped simultaneously as a small school of silvery fish leapt out of the water in graceful choreography, and the volume of chirping increased many times over.
Songfish! Bucky shuddered uncomfortably.
After recovering from this new experience as well and finding his tongue again, Steve finally forced himself to say something. "Everything is ...so ...perfect."
At first, Bucky could only nod in agreement. "Disgustingly perfect," he then emphasized a moment later, when he could manage to find words as well.
"Downright hideous," Steve added on top of that.
They shot each other a quick look and then both started laughing at the same time.
"Yep," Loki agreed with them as he also stepped out of the spaceship and joined them.
He grinned smugly and looked down on the settlement with his arms akimbo, as if he owned it.
"Welcome to Álfheimr."
His amusement resonated unmistakably in his voice, forcing Bucky to suppress the childish urge to stick his tongue out at the man behind his back.
"Is Asgard like that?" Steve asked him, frowning.
"Not in the least," Loki assured him with a grin, and cheerfully began the descent to the settlement.
"I guess when we get back to Earth, I'll go for a long walk first. ...In the New York City sewers," Steve sighed, and again Bucky could only agree with him.
"Sounds good to me."
After a moment, he added in a deliberately whiny voice, "What were we getting ourselves into, pal?"
Steve shrugged his broad shoulders helplessly.
Bucky gave him a wry look, which would be returned in equal measure, until finally he sighed in resignation and said, "There is nothing we can do about it at this point."
Bucky nodded dejectedly, but turned longingly one last time to their spaceship, which sparkled in the light of the suns.
When they first laid eyes on it just before their departure, especially Bucky had been completely giddying with excitement. But here in all this glory, the plain ship looked like a huge pile of space junk, and he couldn't help but feel a little pathetic himself.
He sighed wistfully and finally turned back to follow Steve's example and jog casually after Loki.
◈
Any hopes that the initial assessment of their surroundings might have been a bit exaggerated were extinguished just as they followed Loki through the chiseled city gate.
Álfheimr remained spotless and of overwhelming splendor.
The streets were sparkling clean, there was not a single wilted blossom in the numerous flowerpots, and the apples and other strange-looking fruits on the market stalls, didn't show a brown spot, but filled the air with their sweet scent.
Even the buildings were perfect.
As they slowly followed Loki through the streets, they noticed that while none of the houses were like any other, but they all had the same flowing floral decorations in the white, gold-streaked marble. Despite their different sizes and varying numbers of windows, they all seemed to be part of the same work of art.
But what finally tipped at least Bucky over the edge were the people.
Ljósálfar, Loki had called them. Light elves.
All around them walked in small groups, or at least in pairs, probably the most beautiful beings imaginable.
The ljósálfar were remarkably slender men and women who moved their long limbs with a grace that would bring tears to an ordinary human's eyes.
Both sexes wore their golden, silvery, and occasionally ebony hair long.
At first glance, they looked decidedly androgynous.
They all had flawless fair skin, straight narrow noses, strikingly large eyes with long dark lashes and full red lips.
But looking more closely, some differences became apparent.
The female elves were noticeably smaller. Their faces were softer and neither the jawline nor the cheekbones stood out as sharply as the men’s. But the most noticeable difference was made by their ears.
They were basically long and pointed, but while they stood out clearly from the shiny hair of the male elves, the female elves showed only occasional flashes of a cute little pointy auricle between their flowing hair.
The preferred color in their choice of dress was undoubtedly a shimmering, almost silvery gray, although a few other pastel shades were occasionally seen.
They all wore similarly cut long tunics, gathered at the waist with ornately embroidered belts. The clothing was otherwise simple, yet beautiful in its entirety.
Although there could be no doubt about their slender physiques, the loose cut of the garments doesn't reveal how slender they actually were.
In some of the individuals they encountered, Bucky suspected that there could be little more than skin and bone beneath the garments.
Another thing that caught his eye in the course of his shameless observation was the complete lack of jewelry of any kind.
The ljósálfar seemed so satisfied with their embroidery and fine fabrics that they had no need for necklaces, rings, or earrings.
Bucky had unconcernedly eyed the first five elves they had passed with completely undisguised curiosity. However, the knowledge he had gained from this now caused him to push his left hand deep into his pocket. It also made him bow his head down and wish that the ground would open up right in front of him and make him disappear. Either that... or that he would be naked.
In fact, being naked was something he would much prefer to the condition he was currently in and only now he painfully recognized.
Never before had he been so aware of the tattered state of his sweatshirt, the baggy knees of his tactical pants, and the dirty boots. And never before has he cared about it like this.
He hadn't looked in the mirror before they left the ship, but he was also convinced that his hair looked like something pigeons would nest in. He didn't even want to think about how many days old his three-day beard actually was.
In other words, naked would definitely be better. With his abs, he might be able to make a point then. In any case, it couldn't get more embarrassing for him.
He glanced quickly at Steve, who definitely looked a bit intimidated as well, but overall didn't seem too uncomfortable.
Bucky squinted his eyes and silently cursed him for his perfect hair, the fashionable, way-too-tight T-shirts, and his whole angelic Steve-ness.
It was rare, but in weak moments he missed the time when he had been the good-looking one of them. A time that officially ended with an embarrassing rejection from Peggy Carter.
And right here, right now, he experienced one of those weak moments.
He let his frustrated gaze wander further, only to discover with annoyance that Loki offered him no comfort either.
The man strode confidently before them with his usual regal grace and did not seem least intimidated by the surrounding splendor.
And as if to deliberately annoy Bucky, he also looked outrageously handsome in his ridiculous Asgardian robes.
Bucky silently cursed once again and made a mental note to visit a hairdresser and get some new sweaters after their return.
Finally, he continued to explore the inhabitants of Ljósálfgard. Only this time with considerably more restraint.
It took him a surprisingly long time to notice that he and Steve were watching the elves, but they in turn took little notice of them.
Although every now and then an elf glanced in their direction, no one actually seemed interested in the fact that three obvious strangers were walking through their settlement.
The sporadic reactions they received were also decidedly moderate. Sometimes, one of the elves smiled, while primarily addressing Loki, or one of the perfectly shaped eyebrows raised gracefully as soon as they came into view. But not once did a finger point at them or they go into a huddle to whisper.
The ljósálfar were either the most goddamn polite beings in the galaxy, or they just didn't give a damn to an extent that bordered on ignorance.
Probably the most violent reaction to their appearance that Bucky could witness came from one of the few elves who were wandering alone.
The man had apparently just come out of one of the buildings and suddenly stopped, as if rooted to the spot. His big moss-green eyes widened in astonishment and with his mouth open, he stared blatantly in their direction.
Bucky already had a vague suspicion of what exactly had caught his attention, but he turned around just in case, to see himself confirmed.
As suspected, it was Steve who triggered the elf's fascination.
Bucky smirked, but couldn't blame the man. His friend was already well-built by human standards; to a ljósálfar, his physiology had to seem practically impossible.
He wanted to draw Steve's attention to the staring elf so that he could tease him a bit about it later, but when he turned around again, the elf had suddenly disappeared.
In his place now stood a petite female elf who, as if by chance, brushed his gaze, turned away with a smile, and followed the road in the other direction.
Bucky frowned in confusion and quickly looked around for the man.
He saw several male elves nearby, but none of them appeared to be the missing one.
After a few moments, he gave up his search and shrugged indifferently. He had probably simply overlooked him, after all, the elves pretty much all looked the same.
They continued their walk.
Although the settlement was larger than it first appeared and their progress was slow, some suspicion grew in Bucky's mind that the tack y palace in the center might be their destination.
Loki had so far stubbornly refused to explain the reason for his visit to Álfheimr, and basically Bucky was perfectly fine with it, since he just wanted to take the chance to ride in a spaceship. But now that they were here, he became interested in Loki's intentions.
He was wondering if it would be worth asking Loki again about his destination when the man stopped abruptly.
Bucky also stopped and gave Steve a questioning look. He received a frown in response.
Together, they bridged the distance that separated them from Loki and positioned themselves to his left and right.
A second later, they relaxed again.
The reason for Loki's abrupt halt was about three feet tall, had long silver hair, huge turquoise eyes, and nibbled shyly on an index finger.
The child watched Loki curiously, completely ignoring both soldiers.
There was also a whole group of children some distance away, glaring in their direction as well.
It was impossible to tell if the children were boys or girls. Neither the child directly in front of them nor the others.
The staring contest between Loki and the child continued until Bucky kept sending impatient glances in Steve's direction, hoping that his friend might intervene.
But before that could happen, the child suddenly took a step toward Loki, reached out a hand and tapped him on the chest.
After that, the child laughed as bright as a bell and ran back a few steps, only to stop again and stare at Loki once more.
Bucky shared another confused look with Steve.
Before they got a chance to ask Loki about the meaning of it all, he leapt forward without warning and lunged at the children, growling loudly. His hands raised like claws.
Polyphonic bright laughter rang out as the group whooped and fled in different directions. Loki chased them and finally he disappeared around a corner like the children.
Steve and Bucky remained petrified and stared in disbelief at the now empty street in front of them.
Some time passed while the laughter of the children rose and fell, but none of them nor Loki showed themselves.
Finally, Steve cleared his throat quietly and asked, "Did you know Loki plays catch?"
"I had no idea," Bucky replied sincerely, quite overwhelmed by the realization.
After a few minutes, Loki came back to them with a pep in his step. Over his shoulder hung an enthusiastically whooping child, whom he held with one arm, while at the same time he was surrounded by a whole crowd of children who were chattering excitedly.
This was the moment when suddenly even the adult elves showed interest.
Several of them now turned towards Loki and watched him and the children with shining eyes and beaming smiles. Quite a few of them even began to laugh and the sound of their melodic voices made the soldiers giddy.
Overwhelmed, Bucky watched a group of elves across the street who seemed particularly amused, and he swallowed hard before leaning slightly in Steve's direction. "How can anyone be so damn beautiful? That's not normal," he whispered, wide-eyed.
"Yeah...", Steve breathed back in awe, nodding slowly.
But when Bucky broke his gaze from the elves and looked to Steve, he noticed that his friend was staring in a completely different direction.
He followed his gaze and frowned in confusion.
There was no one standing there except Loki and the children.
Bucky arched an eyebrow derisively and nudged Steve, who was obviously stuck with his head somewhere in the clouds. "Come on, punk. Let's go get our alien prince back."
◈
The children followed them through the streets for quite a while.
As before, they had eyes only for Loki, who chatted amiably with them in their melodic language.
The fact that the man spoke for a long time at a stretch, and only occasionally one of the children commented on something, gave Bucky the eerie suspicion that he was telling them a tale.
But even if he was wrong about that, the friendly tone of his voice and the affectionate smile on his face were enough to send an icy shiver down Bucky's spine.
His usual cynical comments and mocking grin didn't make the man seem half as creepy as his current behavior.
Steve seemed to have similar thoughts, because every time Bucky looked over at him, he stared at Loki with widened eyes.
When they finally arrived in front of the palace, the children scattered in all directions and it became obvious that this was indeed the destination of their journey.
Up close, the structure was even more imposing.
The intricacies of the stone carvings revealed their full magnificence, and no matter how hard they tried, neither could detect any joints or structural changes which would indicate that the building was composed of layered stones. Rather, it appeared as if the entire palace was cut from a single unimaginably massive rock crystal.
"Do you prefer to wait or do you wish to accompany me?" Loki asked unexpectedly, snapping the soldiers out of their thoughts.
Steve was quicker and answered first. "That depends. Are you finally going to tell us what you're up to?"
Loki sighed softly, but as he brushed one of his black strands from his face and turned to them, he smiled.
"As I explained to Anthony, and afterwards to Dr. Banner, and then again to Anthony, since he obviously didn't listen to me any more than you did, my knowledge of the Norn Stones is limited. ...I know that they originated in Asgard, I know the ir essential abilities, but I do not know their seiðr ."
"Seiðr ?" Bucky repeated, bemused.
"You would call it magic," Loki replied promptly. "However, the ljósálfar know forms of magic long forgotten in Asgard, or perhaps never known there. So, if anyone can give us a clue as to why runestones with extraordinary abilities are suddenly appearing all over Midgard, it will most likely be a light elf."
"So you're hoping to find information?" Steve summarized succinctly.
Loki tilted his head before mischievously replying, "Something like that."
"Loki...," Steve groaned, rubbing a hand over his eyes. "I know that grin. You're up to something."
The dark-haired man's smile widened, and his white teeth flashed as he patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Steven. Our stay here will be only a short one."
"Steve," he corrected him grumbling.
Loki ignored his interjection and instead made his way to the wide-open gates of the palace, forcing the two soldiers to make a decision.
They shared questioning glances until Bucky shrugged indifferently. "After him!" he decided without further ado.
by Vince
◈
The interior of the palace was as richly decorated as the exterior. But the furniture seemed almost modest.
The numerous halls and corridors they passed through were mostly empty. Only occasionally there was a fluffy carpet or a small table with a few chairs. There were no cabinets or chests of drawers at all, nor were there any paintings. Instead, the numerous windows offered a varied view of the picturesque landscape.
A more frequent sight were large floor vases decorated with opulent bouquets of flowers and swarmed by small multicolored swarms of butterflies.
All the light that illuminated the palace seemed to be of natural origin, because artificial sources of light were nowhere to be seen. However, this meant that in areas with fewer windows, the light penetrated through the milky crystal walls and strangely distorted perception.
The shadows cast changed, and the soldiers found it increasingly difficult to estimate distances. They stumbled several times, cursing softly as they did so.
Steve also blinked for some time and rubbed his eyes again and again.
After some time, Steve stumbled and collided ungently with Loki, who promptly stopped in the middle of the corridor.
"Are you feeling uncomfortable?" he inquired worriedly. He didn't even mention or condemn the bump itself with a raised eyebrow.
"Keep moving," Bucky grumbled in his stead. "It's just the weird light." He waved his hands insistently to get him going again, since he felt no desire to linger in that place any longer than absolutely necessary.
Steve nodded in agreement and rubbed his eyes one more time. "The colors ... I feel like I'm color blind again. Also, it seems like the walls are moving. I can barely manage to walk in a straight line."
Loki smiled at them sympathetically. "It does indeed take some time to get used to it." He patted Steve on the shoulder and gestured with a nod toward the other end of the corridor. "Come on. I promise it's not far. The light is more comfortable there, too."
Together they continued on their way, but now Loki set a more moderate pace as he led them purposefully through the palace.
They just reached the next hall when Steve addressed him again. "Do you actually come here often? You seem to know your way around pretty well."
Loki nodded without turning around. "I visited Álfheimr regularly in the past. Both for diplomatic and ... personal reasons. But in recent years, I've had little opportunity to do so." He heaved a loud sigh. "My time has been too consumed by Odin's treachery, Thanos' tortures, and my other ... Hobbies."
The deeply sarcastic tone made Bucky grin, but Steve seemed less comfortable with it and frowned uneasily.
It didn't escape Loki's notice either, because his scowl smoothed out immediately afterward and his voice sounded friendlier. "As I said, I've spent a lot of time here in the past and have many fond memories of this place." He offered them a smile to lighten the situation.
Steve nodded in relief but proceeded to nibble uncertainly on his lower lip until he could force himself to ask his next question. "So ... what's the deal with the kids?"
To their astonishment, Loki stopped again and turned to them with a laugh. "I can' t remember when it started. At some point the children just started to invite me to their games, and apparently the ljósálfar have never forgotten, because there are always a few children who want to play, no matter when I visit Álfheimr." He grinned mischievously at them. "Thor was always jealous. The children never asked him."
"It's very kind of you to play with them," Steve said softly, and it sounded so serious that Bucky looked at him in wonder.
Loki seemed a little puzzled, too, because his mischievous smile slowly faded and instead he looked almost a little embarrassed as he returned Steve's gaze.
After a few seconds, he turned away and cleared his throat softly.
"We arrived," he informed them, as if deliberately trying to change the subject.
They looked up and were surprised to realize that they were standing in a comparatively small room. At its end was a large, massive golden double door. To the left and right of it stood two elves in light armor, carrying long spears with leaf-shaped blades.
Even at first glance, it was obvious that the material the armor and weapons were made of was definitely unknown on Earth.
The polished surface shone silvery, almost chrome-colored, but on closer inspection a whole spectrum of colors could be seen where the light of the suns was reflected. But the strangest thing about it was that the color gradient did not appear directly on the surface but gave the impression of coming from within the material.
As they approached, the two guards pushed open the huge double doors without any special request and stepped aside in silence.
The wide room that opened up in front of them was possibly even more magnificent than all the rooms they had passed through before and also much more opulently furnished.
All around the walls were tables and cushioned seating areas with tastefully arranged pillows. And in many of them sat chatting and laughing elves.
The walls were decorated with colorful banners and the floor was covered with numerous rugs.
Unlike the other rooms they had passed through, this one was not only beautiful, but actually conveyed something like coziness. At least if one could disregard the smothering perfection that still prevailed.
To their relief the room once again had huge windows and the dim crystal-distorted light was replaced by a pleasant illumination that didn't confuse their senses.
They crossed the room, or rather the hall, briskly. Loki kept moving purposefully toward a group of elves who had gathered around a large oval table.
Just before the visitors reached them, the elves raised their heads and watched them curiously.
One of the elves differed considerably in appearance from the others. He wore an unusual deep red robe, which made his fair skin shimmer almost silvery, but harmonized perfectly with his exceedingly artfully braided ebony hair.
The chair on which he had been sitting and from which he now rose with an unreadable smile was also different from the others, since it looked suspiciously like a throne.
"It has been a long time since the Norns have led guests into our hall. ...What a pleasure!" the elf exclaimed as he approached.
The sound of his words nearly made Steve and Bucky trip over their own feet in surprise.
His voice was not particularly deep, but he spoke in a melodic rhythm, emphasizing most consonants heavily and rolling the R conspicuously. In addition, his voice produced a strange reverberation that made the air vibrate like a personal little echo.
"Prince Silvertongue. ...What a pleasing sight," the elf continued although his tone of voice did not indicate whether he meant his words sincerely or not. "What may I do for you and your ...interesting companions."
"Konungr Asfaloth," Loki replied, and bowed respectfully before lifting his head again with a smile and looking the elf directly in his blood red eyes. "These are Steven Rogers and James Barnes. Honored warriors of Midgard."
He pointed at them with an elegant gesture of his hand, not bothering to look at them. "Th ey accompanied me out of curiosity about your beautiful realm. ... But unfortunately, I am led here by another concern, as much as I would like to make up for lost time and rejoice in Álfheimr's beauty."
"Eloquent as ever, Prince Loki," the elf replied smiling. "I take it from your words that you wish to have a private dialogue?"
"Indeed, your majesty," Loki confirmed, indicating another bow.
The elf nodded his comprehension, thereafter, beckoning a petite woman with a quick gesture of his hand.
He addressed a few melodic words to her in a foreign language, before turning to Steve and Bucky, both of whom felt quite out of place.
"Please enjoy our hospitality. Nessa will be at your service. Feel free to make a request if you feel like it."
He turned away and led Loki aside before either of them could compose enough to stammer a polite reply.
They shared a quick glance which was equal parts skeptical and amused but followed the elf without protest.
The petite woman led them to one of the comfortable seating areas and asked them to take a seat with an elegant gesture.
Shrugging, they complied with the request, only to find that the lush upholstery was obviously not intended for people of their body mass.
They both sank deep into the cushions and had difficulty getting into a decent posture.
Nessa waited politely and with a stoic face until they both found a position in which they could risk letting go of the tabletop without sliding under it.
Finally, she clapped her hands several times and more elves came rushing over, placing various platters of colorful fruits and fragrant pastries in front of them, as well as two large jugs of unknown liquids.
They thanked her politely and after Nessa asked several times if they really had everything they needed, the elf retreated and gave them some privacy.
Without hesitation, Bucky reached for one of the jugs and poured a small amount of the golden liquid into a goblet.
"What do you think?" he asked a moment later as he skeptically sniffed the drink.
"About what? The drink?" Steve replied, lost in thought. He let his hand circle over the platter of fruits for a brief moment, but finally selected a single juicy grape.
"Actually, I mean everything. This world ... Álfheimr, the elves and stuff like that," Bucky added, gesturing once around the room with the goblet. "It's all quite... a lot."
Afterwards, he drank the contents in one go.
Immediately followed by a disgusted grimace. "Ewww yuck! ...This is ...extremely sweet. Guess it's mead or something like that. "He shuddered and wiped his mouth several times.
With a laugh, Steve grabbed the other jug and poured himself some. After carefully tasting a sip, he nodded with satisfaction. "Here's some cold water."
He filled his own goblet to the brim first, then passed the jug to Bucky before returning to the subject at hand.
"I don't know what to make of this. I don't have much experience with aliens not trying to conquer Earth. …I guess I'm a little out of my expertise."
Bucky nodded and sipped his water. "I feel the same way. I don't know what I was expecting, but this certainly wasn't it."
"Still, it was very nice of Loki to take us here. After all, you've been dying to go into space since you were a kid," Steve replied, and plucked off another grape.
"Mhmm. And all I had to do was live a hundred years," he laughed and even Steve joined in, though he clearly looked a little uncomfortable.
But shortly after, Bucky became more serious again and frowned slightly. "However, I wonder why Loki offered to take us in the first place. He's not exactly... sociable. ...Or accommodating."
With a smile, Steve shrugged. "Or maybe we've just completely misjudged him so far."
Bucky grunted a vague reply.
"Did you notice anything worth drawing?" he asked a moment later, and this time Steve shook his head.
"You always said I would draw everything prettier than it really is, but if I tried to draw anything or anyone of this world, I could only fail."
He paused for a moment, drinking a little, and thought.
Finally, he added thoughtfully. "Although maybe I'll try my hand at the space nebula we flew past. It's not really my style, but I liked it a lot."
"Yeah, that one was really impressive," Bucky agreed, sliding a little deeper into the comfortable chair. "It was worth the trip for that alone."
"I still hope Loki learns something useful, too. After all, our problem won't just go away while we're gone."
◈
After sufficiently satisfying their hunger and curiosity about alien food, they decided to look around a bit.
The room itself didn't offer much new, so instead they strolled among the other tables, trying to find out what the elves were busy with.
When their interest became apparent, one of the elves invited them to join him at one of the tables. As it turned out, some of the elves were playing a game, and those who weren’t playing actually followed it with interest.
The game itself was not unlike chess, but the board was divided into different sections of landscape rather than the usual quadratic squares.
While Bucky preferred to stay a bit in the background and observe their hosts, Steve followed the game with excitement.
Along the way, he had the rules explained to him by a breathtakingly beautiful elf who, for her part, was downright delighted by the prospect of being able to converse with the soldier which brought her several times gently reproving looks from other elves, who were most likely older. Although that was really hard to determine.
Steve was in the middle of his first game when Bucky's attention was drawn to two elves sitting some distance away in front of a board on their own.
But only one of the elves was concentrated on the game, the other one was staring over at them and seemed to prefer to join the rest, who’d all gathered around their table by now and were watching Steve.
When the first elf finished his turn and noticed that his opponent was distracted, he initially gave a glance in their direction as well. His expression showed clear disinterest. When he crossed Bucky's gaze with strange blue-violet eyes and realized he was being watched, the elf arched an eyebrow mockingly.
Immediately, he turned away bored, nudged his opponent and returned his attention back to their game without paying further attention to them.
Bucky frowned in surprise.
The elf's behavior was nothing special, but considering how they had been treated so far, it seemed unusually rude to him.
He turned a little to the side so that it would not be too obvious that he was watching the elf.
It also didn't take him long to notice some other odd details about the man.
His posture, for example, was far more casual than that of the other elves, even though he still displayed a creepy level of decency and dignity. The clothing was also slightly different.
He wore one of the popular gray tunics, but unlike the others, the belt at his waist was made of plain, unembroidered leather, and his clothing had no other ornamental elements. Next to Bucky, he would still look neat as a pin, but compared to the other elves, he was almost sloppily dressed.
His face was as even and beautiful as those of all the other elves, and his long, shiny hair was of the common golden color, which was unlike any earthly blond.
His long, pointed ears were also noticeable again.
At least his right one, since Bucky could only see this one from his position.
Dark spots appeared at regular intervals along the entire outer rim, which actually gave the appearance of ear punctures, even though the man was definitely not wearing any jewelry.
He was suddenly distracted from further observation of the strange elf when Steve's opponent made another move, giving his friend a spectacular defeat. At least, the exclamations of the other spectators could only be interpreted that way.
Nevertheless, his opponent congratulated him kindly for his strategy and several elves enthusiastically assured him that he had played genuinely well.
Bucky was about to lean over the armchair and make some comments of his own when the big double doors opened, and Loki returned alongside King Asfaloth.
He let his gaze wander around the hall and hurriedly approached them right after he spotted them.
"Are you ready to go?" Loki asked surprisingly, as soon as he had come to a halt next to the table.
Steve rose from his chair and gave him a puzzled look.
But before he could verbalize his concerns, Asfaloth took the floor so loudly that everyone had to hear him without fail. "Are you planning to leave us so soon, Silvertongue?"
To their surprise, the man averted his gaze from Loki. Instead he looked conspicuously at the elf who had also caught Bucky's eye, of all people. He watched him intently for a few seconds without the other taking notice, and only then did he turn his gaze back to Loki to give him a decidedly unsettling smile.
If Loki attached any significance to the strange behavior, he didn't let on. Instead, he smiled politely and bowed. "I regret Konungr, but unfortunately we have no other choice. Midgard is in crisis. The help of my companions is needed and it is my imposed duty to support them ."
"I understand," the elf replied, bowing his head slightly as well. "Your ...commitment to the mortals honors you."
Loki continued to smile, but there was no mistaking that it now seemed a bit agonized. "I owe it to them. No doubt. "
After a brief pause, he finally took his leave. "Please give my regards to Dróttning Aelsa, as well as my regrets that a meeting could not be arranged. ...Farewell your majesty."
◈
"Did you learn anything useful?" Steve asked for the repeated time as they hurried up the short ramp to their spaceship.
Loki had stubbornly refused to divulge any information about his conversation with the Elf King the entire way back, instead maintaining a hurried pace while they returned to their landing site.
He didn't respond immediately this time either, and Bucky was about to ask annoyed questions of his own when Loki dropped into the pilot's chair, briskly typing commands into the console and checking various displays.
But when he was done, he suddenly seemed to relax.
He folded his hands in his lap and turned the pilot seat to face them, since they had both stopped at the entrance to the cockpit. "No," he said tersely.
"No?" Steve repeated, perplexed.
"No, I learned absolutely nothing that could help us in any way with our problem," he now elaborated more precisely.
"Does that mean we came here completely in vain?" Bucky asked stunned.
Before Loki answered, an almost frighteningly wide smile spread across his face and he tapped a button with an overly dramatic gesture that retracted the landing ramp and locked the hatches.
"Not at all," he finally said, turning back to the control panel with his smug grin to initiate the launch procedure. "I got exactly what I came for."
Speechless, the two soldiers stared at each other as if they could find the explanation for Loki's remark in each other's faces.
But after a few moments, Steve's eyes widened in shock, and at the same time, alarm bells began to ring in Bucky's head.
They spun back around just in time to see the co-pilot's seat turn as well, and two long, slender arms wrapped lasciviously around Loki's chest.
"So, Loki, what mischief do we wreak this time?"