FrostIron Headcanon #240: The first time Tony tells Loki about his time in the cave where he built the first Iron Man suit, Loki ends up telling Tony about Gerriod locking him in a box for three months.

This was a fun one, I have to admit, because before this headcanon I had no idea who Gerriod was. It's always fun learning new myths. Also, I'm sure that this headcanon was intended to be sweet and fluffy, but I can't imagine Tony ever being able to take a single Norse myth seriously, no matter how much the Gods tell him. ((Also, this is a bit of a rushed chapter, so I apologize for any typos; I will fix those when I can))

"I didn't really know what to think." he said, looking down to glance at the pale face lying on his knee. Tony and Loki were sitting on the floor before his fireplace, the usually untouched hearth burning with a red-orange fire that the God would occasionally play with, waving his hand and forming the fire into different shapes, sometimes people, other times more horrific creatures. "I mean, I was going to die in a few days, and all my captors cared about was making me build the Jericho."

"The missile?" Loki asked, making sure he was understanding the details. Tony nodded, running his fingers through Loki's hair once more. Still unaccustomed to more human habits, Loki hadn't washed his hair the night before, giving it a slightly oily feel, like cat fur. It was soft, and only invited petting. Loki himself didn't seem to mind this.

"Yeah. The missile. Anyway, Yensin"—he coughed to cover up the hitch in his voice—"he helped me escape. I built the reactor—the one downstairs, the prototype—and the first suit, and I escaped."

"And Yensin?" he asked. Tony didn't answer for a long time, prompting Loki to look up at him. His brow creased as he read the expression on the other man's face, and turned away when realization hit. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ask such a question." He seemed a bit disappointed when Tony didn't speak, but his hand never stopped stroking through his hair. The silence between them was tense, but while Tony thought desperately of something to break the silence, Loki spoke instead. "I was once captured by a Jotun." he said. "It wasn't the Frost Giants, but the Mountain breed; his name was Gerriod. I was flying, having taken the form of a falcon. He captured me one day, and he trapped me in a box."

Loki shivered, almost like he was convulsing from a seizure, and Tony pulled him up and held him close. Loki wiggled himself until he was sitting up comfortably, resting his head on Tony's shoulder. Tony looked at his face, not surprised to see his eyes unfocussed, seeing things that had happened probably way before his own lifetime.

"He locked me in that chest for three months. He refused to feed me until I promised him that I would lead Thor to him, without his hammer, without his armor."

"That would have killed him." Tony said. Loki averted his eyes.

"I'm aware." He was silent for a moment longer, probably waiting for scalding words for his actions. Tony said nothing, only squeezed his shoulder as a sign he should go on. Loki swallowed and continued. "It wasn't easy, as I'm sure you can imagine, but I managed it. Somehow he had met with another goddess, a woman by the name of Grid. She gave him armor and a weapon without my knowledge and allowed me to lead him to Gerriod. We had to cross a river, which kept rising and trying to drown us. Eventually Thor discovered that Gerriod's daughter was causing it, and he threw a stone at her."

"Wait. Thor threw a rock at a girl?" Tony laughed. Loki paused with a rather judgmental expression across his face as the man bent himself in half. The image of Thor throwing a rock at a young girl was just too damn funny. And Loki's correction that she was about three times Thor's size and not at all as small as he probably thought was not helping his case.

"Eventually," Loki began once again when Tony had finished his giggling fit—also refusing to let the man touch him, "we reached the Jotun's house. Inside was only one room with a single chair. Thor, of course, sat in it. It began to rise—Stark, you will keep your mouth shut until I am finished with this story—and for a moment I thought that he was going to be crushed. But Thor used the staff Grid had lent him and instead broke the ceiling. Gerriod's other daughters fell and died."

"Well, that's a bit too much."

"He locked me in a box and nearly starved me to death. I don't care." Loki snapped. "Gerriod was enraged when he found his daughters like this, and he began to fling molten iron at Thor."

"Where the hell were you?"

"How many times must I remind you I was starved near to death; I didn't have the energy to fight. Besides, it didn't matter whether or not I was able to help him. Thor was able to catch the iron easily, using Grid's gauntlets, and he, well, he threw it right back at him. Gerriod tried to hide from it, but he died." Loki, finished with his tale, fell silent. Tony looked at him expectantly, but there was nothing more to tell.

"…And that's the end of your story?" Tony asked, mouth quivering with held back laughter. Loki rolled his eyes and huffed, sitting back and away from him.

"I'm done with you." he said, standing. "I try opening up to you—that experience was traumatizing, I'll have you know—and you throw it back into my face. I can't believe you."

"Wait, wait, Loki—!"

"I shouldn't even bother." Loki shut the bedroom door behind him, ignoring his pleas as he collapsed onto the bed and pretended Tony wasn't begging to be let back in.