Of Tafl and Dwarves
Clint reached across and set his gift for Loki on his lap. Loki blinked and wondered if he should expect a bomb but that was silly, right – after all, he would hardly try that when his friends were in the vicinity. He really was expecting SOMETHING unpleasant though… he felt both confused and ashamed when he stared down at the chequered board revealed to him when he opened the box. “A tafl board.”
Clint shrugged “It’s probably not exactly what you’re used to but, I remember you said that you would like to play it. It’ll probably be Tony who learns to play it with you first, given his competitive nature.”
Loki grinned at him, pushing down the slight annoyance that once again, someone had brought him close to tears.
“I spotted it a while back, figured it was near perfect for you, with the red and green pieces and all.” It was true, he had but, back then he had no plans to buy it for Loki but he refused to be outdone by the god. “I mean, if it’s not right, you can make some sketches for me and I can make you up your very own, if you’d prefer. Of course, you could always just go and get your own one from Asgard…”
Loki cut him off, almost placed a hand over his in emphasis but stopped himself. “It’s perfect, thank you Clint. Truly.” It was all Loki could get out at that moment. Words failed him. This was a disturbing day for the Silver-tongue indeed.
Clint nodded then turned his attention to Tony before pointing to the box sitting in front of the genius, billionaire yada yada. “All right, Stark – open the box. I know you’ve been itching to.”
Tony grinned. “Damn, and I thought I was hiding my curiosity so well.” He tore into the thing, laughed as he saw what Clint had chosen for him. “A train set… awesome. I always wanted one of these but…” Howard had believed that such a frivolous thing would hamper his schooling. To heck with him though – he was long gone and he could do as he pleased! He ignored the slight guilt that thought brought him and grabbed the box, moving to an empty space on the floor so he could set it up, not caring that the others laughed at him – they weren’t laughing, they were laughing with him… or pleased for him. Whatever. He didn’t care.
Loki shook his head and smiled before taking two small packages out of the bag in front of him. When that was done, he took the bag over to Tony and set it down beside him. Tony looked at it. “Are you giving me a magic bag, Loki-doke?”
Loki snorted. “Not yet, no.” He tapped the bag. “I’m giving you the contents of the bag.”
“…which is..?”
“A block of dwarven metal – enough for you to be able to make your next suit with.”
Tony wasn’t really sure whether to be impressed with that so was glad for the distraction that came in the form of Thor’s dismayed gasp. “Loki, please tell me you didn’t go back to those two sons of-“
Loki shrugged. “It’s no big deal, Thor. They wiped the slate clean when they were paid last time.”
“Paid by being allowed to sew your lips shut, you mean?”
Loki laughed. “That was a lifetime and a half ago, brother. It was worth it so forget it.”
“What did they charge you this time?”
He waved a hand dismissively. “Nothing I couldn’t afford to give. Stop fretting, Thor.”
Tony coughed to bring their attention back to him. “So… dwarven metal – that’s magic, right?”
Loki nodded. “Indeed. It has all the properties of your strongest metal but is as light as air to hold or wear in your case. At the same time, used in battle, it will not be so gentle towards your enemies. Like Mjolnir, I suppose.” He eyed the silly hammer in question.
Tony was quite impressed. There was just one problem. Well, two actually: “I tend to change my suits a lot – y’know upgrades and whatnot. Also, how do I turn into something other than a block?”
“Ah, for that you will need a forge.”
“A magical forge?”
Loki shook his head. “Just a regular forge. As soon as you put it into substantial heat, it will melt down, back to the original block form.”
Bruce butted in at that, looking worried. “Loki, what happens if an enemy with a fire ability launches a prolonged attack on Tony? Wouldn’t that mean he would get… melted or squashed or whatever along with the metal?”
Loki frowned at the image but shook his head. “Excellent question but no – the fire alone won’t do it. There’s a special incantation that needs to be said too. Before you ask, the dwarves did not supply it to me – at my request. Brokkr will be here within the hour no doubt to tell you himself. Or he will be if he wants paid.” He grinned a little evilly then but didn’t say any more.
Tony threw his head back and laughed. “A dwarf is coming here? Fury is going to pitch a fit!” This made him happy. Perhaps even happier than the metal waiting for him did. “So I can really make anything I want out of this?”
“Anything you would normally make out of metal, yes.” Loki shrugged.
“That is… really cool! Thanks man!” He grinned at Loki as ideas started taking form in his mind. Of course, he wouldn’t be able to do much until the dwarf got there and, he would actually have to get the old forge up and running again but, they were minor details really.
It was tempting to run off right there and then to plan things out with JARVIS but, the small part of his brain that he called ‘Pepper’ reminded him that it would be really bad to leave his friends to go and play in his lab. He manfully held back a pout for a moment until he remembered that he had a train set to play with…
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