Son of the Storm

Before the Storm

Odin was King of Asgard, ancient, mighty and noble, if not immune to the occasional mistake. Behind every powerful man is a powerful woman, in this case, Queen Frigga, kind, wise and clever.

Legends and histories document this ideal of the Good King and the Good Queen well.

What they are less revealing on is the man (or woman, but usually a man due to patriarchal societal conventions) who is simultaneously adviser, factotum, diplomat, accountant, PR officer, decorator and occasionally, baby sitter.

Algrim was that man. He was one of the Light Elves of Alfheim, something he considered to be a cosmic joke when weighed against his strangely purple skin, though his hair fit the Light part: it was as white as snow. A clever child who had grown into a cleverer man, he was called the Strong by those who wished to mock him, and the Clever by those who didn't. Others still called him 'Odin's Good Eye'.

Loki had learned his magic from his mother and his cunning from his father. But refining both and developing his ability to observe, to perceive and to seek out the inconsistencies, the little things hidden between words and numbers… those were arts he had learned from Algrim. There was only one lesson that Algrim had tried and failed to teach him, eventually determining that he must learn it himself: to judge without preconceptions. To take things as they truly are, not as prejudice and previous experience twist them into shapes beyond recognition.

Thor had, at first, learnt little from Algrim, save basic manners, brushing off the softly spoken and scholarly elf in favour of soldiers, his teachers in the arts of war. But he would always listen to Algrim, however reluctantly, and would sit, enthralled, when he told them a story of the elder days, whether they be of weapons and war, ladies and love or dungeons and dragons.

But since his second exile (or as Loki referred to it, 'glorified sightseeing and matchmaking expedition') on Earth, he had paid far more attention to his father's Chancellor, the man who would in all probability be his Chancellor one day, his right hand man, listening to his every suggestion, every quiet notation on the situation and most particularly, every piece of advice.

He was a man who Kings listened to, Queens confided in and Princes modelled themselves on. And for all that, he was a quiet and unassuming man. But not one above taking his amusements where he could find them.

And so it was when he walked down the corridor towards the room that had been chosen as the latest impromptu lab of Tony Stark and Bruce Banner, occasionally referred to as 'the Sciencebros' or 'the total maniacs' depending on who was speaking.

Of course, now they had a new friend, a certain Sirius Black, who had a certain demented genius and no grasp of personal safety. Naturally, the Sciencebros had welcomed him with open arms.

When he reached the doorway, he said, "Ah. Lord Stark. I thought I heard the sounds of destruction past, present and yet to come emanating from here."

Tony turned, and Bruce noted in slightly exasperated amusement that he was preening slightly. Asgardians tended to refer to him as Lord Stark because of his riches and power, which was arguably equivalent to that of one of the higher ranked aristocracy in Asgard. Tony, having watched and read too much Game of Thrones for his own good, lapped it up.

"Hey Algrim," Tony said casually, looking up at the tall purple skinned elf. Apparently, he was from Alfheim and looked the way he did thanks to a genetic mutation of some kind. Bruce had taken it as read that he'd been bullied for it, and after spending a few minutes in his presence, equally took it as read that no one would dare piss off Algrim the Clever, even leaving aside the fact that he was Odin's Chancellor and one of his most trusted advisers.

It didn't hurt that he was likeable, being kind and friendly, in a quiet sort of way.

However, Bruce had decided that, equally, it did not do to underestimate the man who had helped raise Thor and Loki and come out in one fundamentally unruffled and perfectly polite piece.