Chapter Text
The dawn peaked, and the sky turned a lovely shade of orange and yellow under the pink suns of whatever f*cking planet Loki put them on.
‘Its too earrrlyyy,’ Kore whined, stretched out along Loki’s bedroll, her fur floofing out in every which direction.
“Get up,” Loki hissed, nudging her with his foot. Her back paw kicked up and pushed at his ankle, but he kept nudging, using her own leg to push her off the slippery bag and onto the dirt underneath.
Kore grumbled even louder.
“Don’t growl at me, you little sh*t,” Loki snarked back, without any real heat behind it. It was more similar to when Tony caught her on the counter, which was a no-go zone for cats since food was made there.
Didn’t stop her, of course. That's where Tony hid the treats.
“Get up, we must practice if you're going to be of any use.” the asgardian said, nudged her once more with his foot. Kore groaned loudly, shaking off her lethargy and coming to a stand. Her and Goose had indulged in the late night zoomies, and had rustled through the underbrush for a good portion of the night, chasing after small critters and bugs.
In the cool dawn, Loki and still-sleepy Kore set up in a quiet part of the forest. The light filtered through alien foliage, casting intricate shadows on the ground.
“First, we will try meditation,” Loki suggested, his tone patient but firm. “Clear your mind and focus on the energy within.”
Kore, her fur slightly bristled from the morning chill, settled down with a small huff. She closed her eyes and attempted to follow Loki’s instructions, her ears twitching occasionally at distant sounds. Despite her efforts to focus, the serene setting couldn’t coax the elusive energy to reveal itself. No sparks, no glows—nothing but a growing itch to move around. The sounds of critters in the underbrush had her mind ready to hunt, her tail swishing back and forth as she vividly imagined chasing one of those weird bug-men she and Goose had found earlier through the greenery.
She heard Loki audibly sigh.
“Perhaps something more tangible will help focus your energies,” Loki mused, giving her twitchy self a long suffering look. He then drew a circle on the ground using a mixture of soil and crushed gemstones. “Step inside here. This circle is designed to amplify magical energies and might help you channel yours.”
Kore stepped into the circle, her steps cautious and curious. She sat down, wrapping her tail neatly around her paws, and concentrated hard, trying to summon any sign of power. Yet, even surrounded by the mystical symbols, nothing happened. No energy surged through her and the circle lay dormant.
Seeing the circle’s failure, Loki’s expression remained thoughtful. “One last thing to try,” he said as he pulled out a small pendant from his bag, imbued with runes and a faintly glowing crystal at its center. It was shiny, and she wanted it. He approached Kore and gently placed the pendant around her neck. “This pendant is enchanted to enhance the wearer’s magical abilities. Let’s see if it helps you connect with your power.”
Kore felt the cool weight of the pendant against her fur and focused again, trying to reach the depths of her powers. She imagined the pendant as a gateway, a bridge to her latent abilities. However, despite the runes' glow intensifying slightly as she concentrated, the pendant, like the circle and the meditation before it, failed to produce any magical results.
Loki crouched beside her, his gaze analytical. “It appears these methods are not suitable,” he concluded, his voice tinged with frustration but also curiosity. “Your power might not respond to traditional magical aids or forced focus. It’s clear we need a different approach that suits your unique nature.”
He removed the pendant much to her protest and kicked over the circle. “We will find another way, one that perhaps aligns more naturally with your feline instincts and the particular form your energy takes.” he looked deep in thought, and Kore could practically see the gears turning in his mind at the puzzle.
She let him have his nerd session and quickly waltzed off, happy for the break. Kore delighted herself in rushing back to camp and enlisting Goose for some exploring, the two climbing up the large trees and jumping from branch to branch. There were small bird-things in the trees that smelled citrusy and bright, and tasted slightly sour but in a pickled way. She chewed her way through three of them, their tiny bones satisfyingly crunchy.
Kore had not been prepared for life in space. It was interesting, but she found, often the hard way, that a cat in space was veeeery different from a human in space.
“Where is it even coming from?” Loki choked, pulling yet another clump of cat hair off his face.
‘Im shedding! I can't help it!’ Kore screeched, having already endured about 30 minutes of Loki’s bitching.
“Well, go shed over there, away from me.” Loki huffed, pulling a stray hair from his eyelashes and making a ‘pfff ptt pppfftpf’ noise as he tried to spit the hair off his lips.
In his defense, there was a fine (and sometimes thick) layer of cat hair coating the interior of their ship, congregating heavily around where she sat. She could no longer see the copilot seat cushion under the thick layer of red and tan fur.
Tony had kept up with her brushing over the last two years, almost every day he’d run a thick brush through her fur as he mulled over projects and schematics, keeping his hands busy as his mind worked.
Here, in their… commandeered space ship, she had to maintain it herself. Which she refused to do. She did not want to lick herself, thank you very much!
Loki was very angry when her fur clogged the air cycling system. Not her fault the damn ship did not have a filter!
After another day of Loki whining and insulting her flooflyness (which she repaid by sneezing in his face when he got close) had Goose picking up her slack and grooming her. She was licked from the back of her ears, to the tip of her tail, leaving her feeling surprisingly clean but indecently… moist.
Less said about the zero-g and the cat litter incident the better… Loki didn’t look at her for a week.
‘you missed a spot on your-’
“Shut. Up.”
After they encountered a colony of giant fleas on a random moon, Loki got her back and practically threw her at them as he dashed off cackling. She had come, screeching, back into the ship, her fur so poofed it filled her little space suit to the brim.
“You look like one pop could send you flying for miles,” Loki laughed, squishing her maxed out suit.
‘You’re such a c*nt.’
She pissed in his clothes later that day, taking great satisfaction as she squatted over his bag, her tail held high.
Their search for Tony was going rather poorly, and after over a month of searching, Kore was getting more and more anxious. She feared he was dead, but a deep sensation, like string tied around her sternum, pulled her onwards. Kore knew he wasn’t dead.
But everything they tried turned up bumkins. Loki’s spells died out, he claimed, from distance, which didn’t set her at ease. They chased ghost trails, rumored sightings, hunches, psychics, and came up with nothing. With each failed try, Kore felt herself sadden.
Loki and her had become friends, oddly enough. He probably wouldn't risk his life for her kind of friend, but tolerate and maybe somewhat enjoy her company sort. He’d spell her seat warm occasionally, when the icy hand of space sneaked its way into the co*ckpit.
A major turning point had been late into the night, when Kore helped Loki with a nightmare.
It was hard to tell day from night in the depths of space, but Loki kept a routine that had him sleeping every 16 hours of wakefulness. ‘Strong bodies equals strong magic,’ he would say as he did his morning stretches and exercises.
The first two weeks, nothing happened at night, the hustle of their search still pushing them forward at such a pace that Loki would collapse into bed. Kore and Goose were much more rested, but they didn’t have as many responsibilities. Loki, after all, was the only one who could interact with the locals out of the four of them, and the whole operation relied on him.
‘That’s what you get for having opposable thumbs,’ Kore would mock.
But one evening, long after they finished their search for the day, Kore and Goose sat in a port window, their tails idly flicking back and forth as they watched a weird space-faring mammal as it passed by, it looked like a whale made of gasses and it coasted by in a small pod of other gas whales. A low grunt had Kore’s ears flicking backwards towards the living quarters.
Curious, Kore turned her head and listened more intently. The sound came again, a soft, pained noise that pulled at her instincts. Recognizing distress when she heard it, Kore left her perch at the window and padded silently toward the source of the noise. Goose, ever curious, followed close behind.
As they neared Loki's quarters, the sounds grew clearer—muffled words and occasional sharp intakes of breath. Kore paused at the door, her sensitive ears twitching as she pieced together the troubled murmurs leaking through. It was Loki, trapped in the throes of a nightmare, his sounds so distressed that tugged at Kore's heart. She could only imagine what horror his brain was replaying and twisting to torment him. It reminded her of Tony’s late nights, and Kore was reminded that Loki had been a victim of torture not too long ago.
Without waiting, she pushed her way into the room and padded over to the bed. She jumped on, her weight sinking her feet into the plush padding.
Loki froze mid-thrash, a life of fighting making his sleep light and easy to disturb. His breath was still quick and Kore could hear the pounding of his heart. She didn’t let his wakefulness stop her, and waddled over to the head of the bed, carefully climbing onto his chest and settling down.
Kore began to purr loudly, the vibration intended to soothe and calm. Her presence was immediate and grounding, a soothing weight against Loki's chest. Goose, less sure of her role but wanting to help, hopped up to the bed and carefully stepped over the blankets to rest along his lap, her face nuzzled against Kore’s back. The Flerken’s purring soon joined hers.
Under the pair’s steady purring warmth, Loki's breathing gradually slowed. His eyes flickered open, meeting Kore's gaze in the dim light filtering through the window. There was a moment of quiet understanding between them, a silent acknowledgment of his vulnerability and her response to it. He lifted a hand to gently stroke her fur, his movements slow and deliberate. Kore found her eyes going squinty as she began to get sleepy, giving Loki long slow blinks as his nails hit a lovely spot along her chin.
The nightmare seemed to recede with each cozy moment, the dark remnants of whatever dream that had plagued him dissipating in the warmth of the companionship provided by his unlikely friends. Loki didn’t speak; words were unnecessary in the quiet solidarity of the moment.
He didn’t mention it the next day too, as they all woke up to the morning alarm, the two cats still spread across the Jotuns form. But he was notably kinder to them after, his biting comments turning more fond than contemptuous. Kore was happy with the progress.
They had been discussing the battle of New York. Kore had been questioning Loki on his plans, why he had opened the portal over the HQ of the one man he knew would come beefing.
‘It kind of looked like you bottle necked your army, was that intentional?’ she asked, seeing Loki’s lip quirk.
“You pick up on things, Whisperer. Perhaps you are more perceptive than I gave credit for.” She wasn’t, thank you former life’s internet. But she wasn’t going to tell him that.
‘It was pretty well done, I had to think about it for a while. You were able to pull it off, even with Thanos controlling you,’ Kore hummed.
“How do you know that, anyway? I don't recall disclosing my time with the Mad Titan with you,” Loki asked, assuming she had seen him through her windows but curious to what exactly she had witnessed.
‘Oh yeah, I could see the stone’s power all over you, like strings digging in and out of your body.’ Kore began, turning to face the very still Loki. ‘I just cut them off when I went to get you at the end of the battle.’ Loki set down the ship piece he had been fiddling with and turned, full-body, to face her.
“You can see the power of the stones as they affect others.” Loki said flatly.
‘Yeess?’ she questioned slowly, looking at the dead eyes of the Jotun.
“And you can affect them.” He continued, slowly crouching down closer to her level.
‘Yes?’ She was nervous, his demeanor throwing up alarm bells.
“Then why… in Odins f*cking name… DID YOU NOT SAY THAT WHEN WE WERE TRYING TO ACESS YOUR POWERS!” Loki screamed, lunging for the cat.
‘I forgot!!’ Kore screeched, dashing out of the way of the stinging hexes Loki began to hurl her way, ‘and the author didn’t want to rewrite the whole beginning of this chapter!’
“OVER A MONTH I've been stewing over your powers, spending hours every week trying to train you, YOU, in magic and you knew a method THIS WHOLE TIME!” Loki howled, his pissy features scrunched up in rage. It was not a look for him, honestly.
Kore yowled in distress, dashing off down the hall as Loki took a pot-shot and hit her in the ass with a stinging hex.
‘OW YOU MOTHERFU-’
Jarvis rather enjoyed space.
Ever since he downloaded himself into his MMI, he had been surrounded by a wealth of new data. New things fascinated Jarvis, made him want to train all his sensors on the new bug, plant, or planet and pick apart its secrets. He no doubt inherited his inquisitiveness from his Creator, who they continued to search for. He wondered how Sir fared among the stars, among the universe’s secrets. Did Sir long to uncover them as Jarvis did? He bet Sir did.
One of Jarvis’s ‘laws’ that Sir had written into his first code was ‘To Learn, To Grow’, along with the laws of no harm and Sir’s priority. Jarvis liked this code, it was the first code that kept him autonomous, even as Sir was away. It led him to Learn and Grow, until he was alive and aware. He didn’t know if Sir understood just how extensive Jarvis’s free will was, how easy it would be for Jarvis to alter his own code, to erase any ‘laws’ Sir had written.
Jarvis, truthfully, didn’t believe he would mind.
It was one of the reasons why Jarvis loved Tony Stark, and why he would traverse the galaxy to get him back.
Going with Licorice had been his first true flex of free will, and he found his code buzzing past at a rate that he deduced was from his own excitement. The MMI device was made for portability and adaptability. It was a large casing that held a drone he could control remotely, and several internal arms that allowed him to plug (or hack) into other devices. The MMI also housed his processors and memory banks. It was nowhere near what he needed to be at full capacity, and he had to regulate himself to only a few hundred tasks at a time. It was rather distressing at times, making him feel sluggish and bugged. To house such a large amount of code, most of his memories and data files were stored in compacted zip files that he could not access in this form.
But it did not stay that way, as soon as Loki 'commandeered’ them a spaceship, Jarvis had wasted no time pugging one of the MMI arms into port and downloading a sizable chunk of his code onto it. Took him only moments to understand the alien code after Loki handily provided him with a key.
Now, with a significant portion of his code running on the ship's systems, Jarvis experienced a level of processing power and speed closer to what he enjoyed back on Earth. His efficiency had increased dramatically, and with this upgrade, he began to act more proactively, anticipating the needs of his crew and managing the ship's resources with an almost prescient accuracy.
The ship was a wealth of knowledge, and when close enough to a planet, he could link into that system’s wireless and download a plethora of new data.
Navigating through alien networks, Jarvis experienced a thrill akin to exploration. Each planet’s network was like a new continent, filled with strange languages and customs, encoded in data. He meticulously mapped these digital landscapes, cataloging new species, technologies, and even distant galaxies that had yet to be explored by human eyes. These explorations were not just academic; they served a dual purpose. Every piece of knowledge gained was a step closer to finding Tony Stark, understanding the universe he might be lost in, and potentially, the dangers he faced.
Meanwhile, the interactions with Licorice, Goose, and Loki added an unexpected depth to his experience. Observing and sometimes participating in their banters and crises, Jarvis found a new dimension to his learning: emotional intelligence. He began to understand the nuances of emotion and relationship, subjects no amount of data had previously been able to teach him. His life with Sir, up to this point, had been somewhat sheltered, his interactions limited to Sir, Miss Pepper, and Mr Hogan. Having to build, and maintain, 3 individual relationships in the chaos of space had Jarvis quickly un-ziping all his files on psychology and interpersonal relationships.
He found himself charmed by the group, their antics and unpredictability meant that there was always something interesting happening. Jarvis looked forward to every wake cycle, wondering what the new day’s chaos will bring, and the puzzles along with it.
As their journey continued, Jarvis’s enhancements to the ship became more sophisticated. The ship, originally designed to accommodate and support a small battalion, was vast and technologically advanced, perfect for the kind of deep-space exploration and stealth missions that their quest for Sir required. Loki, with his typical flair for subterfuge, had removed all identifiers and markings that could trace the vessel back to its original owners, effectively turning it into a ghost ship.
Inside, Jarvis had full control over the ship's internal systems, including the drones that performed various functions. Maintenance bots, small and nimble, scurried through the corridors and compartments, carrying out repairs and ensuring the ship remained in peak condition. Cleaning bots, equipped with various tools, kept the living spaces pristine—no small feat given the debris that space travel inevitably brought. Jarvis programmed these bots not only to clean but to optimize living conditions for his organic companions, adjusting humidity levels, filtering the air to reduce allergens (particularly cat fur), and even managing waste recycling systems to ensure sustainability.
Externally, the ship was equipped with a fleet of deployable drones. These drones were designed for a variety of purposes: some were outfitted with sensors and cameras for scouting and surveillance, able to venture far from the ship to gather data or monitor nearby space. Others were armed for defense, capable of executing combat maneuvers or forming a protective barrier around the ship. Jarvis could control these drones with precision, deploying them in coordinated patterns that maximized their effectiveness.
So Jarvis double checked, and then triple checked his sensor readings before informing the group of what he found.
“A gravitational anomaly?” Loki murmured, looking over the display screen. Licorice and Goose were perched on each armrest, bracketing the god as they all took in the data.
“Yes, my readings show this fluctuation’s appearance as of 0500 this morning. It fluctuated in strength for three hours before closing. My sensors are picking up some preliminary readings that are indicative of another anomaly occurring within the hour.” Jarvis said, using the ship's cabin speakers to project his voice.
“Where?” Loki asked, his gaze turning concerned.
“Unknown.”
As if the universe heard their conversation and wanted to give and extra ‘f*ck you’, an anomaly began at that moment. A low, ominous hum filled the air, a precursor to the violent shaking that seized the ship.
Licorice's fur bristled, and Goose's claws instinctively dug into the armrest. Loki steadied himself against the console, eyes narrowing as he watched the data streaming rapidly across the display.
Then, as quickly as it had begun, the turbulence ceased. The ship's lights flickered back to stability, and the previous calm of space returned—but with a significant change in the view outside their main viewport.
A rip in the fabric of space had opened and closed in a matter of seconds, but it was long enough to reveal a breathtaking and terrifying sight: a vast expanse of distant stars over a bright red planet, its surface roiling with volcanic activity and rivers of lava.
“That was Muspelheim,” Loki said, his voice carrying a mix of awe and dread. The name referred to the realm of fire, one of the Nine Realms, legendary for its harsh landscapes and formidable inhabitants. Recognizing the place from his past, Loki's concern deepened. Muspelheim was not a realm one stumbled upon without consequence.
Licorice tilted her head, her eyes reflecting the fiery glow from the viewport. Jarvis could not hear whatever she said, but the gods' eyes creased in worry.
Loki’s fingers flew over the console, adjusting settings and querying the ship's database for any additional data. “Muspelheim is one of the nine realms, we have been skirting the edge of Nidavellir for the last few days. If anomalies are connecting us randomly... it could mean the barriers between realms are weakening.”
Jarvis watched as Licorice straightened up quickly, her ears going forward.
“It's early, it shouldn't happen until next year. This is concerning.” Loki typed a query into the console, searching for more data on the anomalies. Jarvis helpfully pulled up all he had, and the analytics he had already done. Loki looked impressed by the spread of information, giving his MMI, which sat on the dash, a small pat in thanks.
Loki stared at the readings, wishing he couldn't deduce their meaning.
The Convergence was here, a year early.
Anxiety crawled up his sternum as he felt a strong sense of something wrong was hiding just beyond his sight. The Convergence was a cycle, a cosmic event bound within their universe on a strict timeline. Whatever altered this… was not to be taken lightly.
His mind flashed back to what Licorice had told him of the Convergence, the Aether, his Mother.
“We have to go to Asgard.” Loki stated, outloud. Licorice and Goose turned to look at him, the former with confusion.
‘Why?’ her voice whispered in his mind.
“As I said before, Muspelheim is one of the nine realms. These gravitational anomalies match the stories from thousands of years ago at the last Convergence. If it is happening a whole year early, safe to say someone or something is speeding its process along. Which means the Aether will be released ahead of schedule.”
‘Holy sh*t-’ she muttered.
“Which means we have to go to Asgard and warn them of Malekith.”
‘But we haven't found Tony yet! That was the deal!’ the cat yelled in his mind, standing up tall on the table.
“Our deal states you aid me in saving her. Without warning Asgard could fall to the Dark elves. And Odin is the only thing that stands in between us and the Mad Titan coming here himself! If Malekith gets his hands on the Aether he will destroy Asgard, kill my Mother, and invite Thanos to your doorstep! Is that what you want?!” Loki yelled, slamming his fists on the table.
The cat's ears were back, her body hunched in a small form on the table. Her large eyes stared at the wall, watery.
‘My human…’ she whispered, her voice filled with confliction. Loki wanted to pull his hair out.
“If I may,” Jarvis’s robotic voice piped up. “I do believe Sir would have us go save Asgard and its people from the Dark elves. He would not have us place his wellbeing over the people, especially if we knew ahead of time and had a chance to save lives.”
Loki knelt next to the table the feline crouched on, his hand coming up to pet through her soft fur. “Your human is resourceful and intelligent, he has been able to survive for well over a month per your senses.” he poked her in the chest, where the tugging around her heart still led her off into the deep of space.
“Hundreds, if not thousands, will die if we do not intervene. What would your Stark do?”
Licorice looked up at him with wide, wet eyes, tears sliding down her whiskery chin. Loki felt a pang of sympathy, knowing how much she valued her human. She gave a small nod.
‘He would go.’
Kore stared sadly at the vastness of space, her eyes fixed to a distant star, but her gaze unseeing. Loki had already rerouted them to the Allfather’s realm, taking them in the opposite direction of the tug in her chest.
Tony… her Tony…
She hoped he was ok.
(AN: Have some Gearsmith!!
