Disclaimer: In case you haven't read any of my other works and perhaps find me delusional, I should tell you something: I don't own this stuff. I own anybody you don't recognize from Norse mythology or Marvel or whatever. Basically, I own the main character and a few extras. Thor's not mine. None of the gods are mine, as much as I can wish…
Prologue
Fast forward six years…
Maria Barsi stared into the mirror with the lights around it, tuning out her bandmates as they did whatever to get ready. For some reason, she had been in a thinking mood today. And thinking moods always got the better of her, taking her back to the one night she almost wished was a dream. She shook her head and reached for her eyeliner, drawing a cat-eye line across her left eye.
Her ears perked up at the sound of rain hitting the metal roof of tonight's venue. It had started to rain. For some reason, she always felt that she performed better when it was raining, even storming outside. She hadn't ever let herself think of that night in explicit terms, not since the first few days after. It was just one of those things she kept in her head – everybody had secrets. Rolling her eyes, she steadied her hand and fixed her right eye with cat-eye liner.
"Maria! We're on in fifteen!" yelled one of her bandmates. "You've been in there for half an hour, what the hell are you doing!"
"Nothing you need to know about!" she called back, her voice automatically going higher-pitched and taking a flirtatious tone. "I'll be out in a minute!"
They were all-right guys, the fellas she sang with. They'd all been out of school for about a year now, put together their band in senior year. All of them shared an interest in the old jazz standards, Frank Sinatra, and old movies. The group, calling itself The Fitzgerald Storm, had taken on a 1940s/post-war image.
She dressed like a pin-up girl and sang lead. Her best male friend, David, played the piano and occasionally sang a duet with her. He was a baritone with some exceptionally high notes in his range, like Dean Martin. Jamie played guitar – occasionally he'd take up a clarinet, despite the abundance of complaints. And Bing, whose real name was Dwayne Arthur and he hated it, played drums and could blow a trumpet like no other. They all had their quirks, but managed to work well as a group. Together, the four of them had approached a few different venues and they had cobbled together something like a tour.
Tonight, they were playing an old warehouse-type place that some people had converted into a club. It was a rockabilly-themed night. The Fitzgerald Storm had rehearsed earlier in the day and arrived about an hour ago. David and Jamie set everything up and the guys checked their instruments. Maria had tested out her voice and was pleased with the space. The guys had turned up dressed already, but she had to change.
In her duffel bag, she had a couple of dresses, but she picked the red and white cream striped one. Struggling into it, so as not to disturb her hairstyle, she pulled the skirt down and adjusted the top. Her garter belt dug into her skin, so she yanked at it for a minute. How did ladies back then dress like this every day! She'd always wondered that. Nothing she had ever worn was as comfortable as the pretty lavender dress she kept in the back of her closet.
Her friend Becca had seen it when the two girls were going through Maria's closet, trying to find her a beginning performance wardrobe. The other girl had been so curious about it. For as long as it had been in the closet, the dress had a unique smell. No, it had a scent to it. Becca said it smelled like it was like the dress was made on the moon! Maria had laughed and called Becca a silly Sailor Moon fangirl, and shouldn't she be practicing instead of reading fics?
Maria leaned close to the mirror, listening to the rain as she overdrew her lip line just a bit, like they had in the '40s. Maybe that was why she had been thinking so much lately – fishing through the closet with Becca. After fixing her mascara, she batted her eyelashes at the mirror. Right now was not the time to go all introspective and start thinking about what happened years ago. Sighing, she reached for her blush and put some roses in her cheeks. She had been a little pale today, so she added more than usual. Then she slapped on another coat of brick-red lipstick, just in case.
She had to bring herself back to the real world. Giggling, she told herself she had to come out of her closet. Giving herself a little shake, she studied herself in the mirror, looking for anything that might need improvement. In less than ten minutes, she had to be out there looking perfect.
"Maria!" David groused, banging on the dressing-room door with his fist. He leaned heavily on the door frame. "Quit being such a girl and get out here! We're on in five fucking minutes!"
He had taken her out to dinner the night before and he was pissed right the hell off. Maria had totally just friend-zoned him. And after all this time! He had practically taught her how to sing in a band. She wouldn't have this band or be worth a damn without all he had done for her! And she had fucking dodged him when he tried to kiss her and just said thank you and good night!
"I'll be out in a sec!" replied that stupid fake flirty voice.
She really did know how to use guys, didn't she?
"'ay fella, you ready?" asked Bing, flipping his drumsticks around because he could. He affected a strange combination of accents, something like Irish with a touch of eastern European. "And what the hell's wrong with you"
David shrugged and folded his arms across his chest, glaring at the chipping paint on the dressing-room door.
"It's just Maria," he said dismissively. She could probably hear him, but she probably didn't care. "You notice she's been kind of a bitch lately?"
Bing tilted his head – he could be a bit femme sometimes and scrunched his face deliberately in thought.
"Nah, we had lunch a few days ago and she seemed all right," he said, driving his inflection up at the end of his sentence, to make it like a question. "Why?"
David bristled at first – what had she been doing having lunch with Bing and then letting him take her out to dinner? Bing lifted a curious eyebrow at him. Had something happened between the two of them? Nah, there was no way in hell. Bing was about as clueless about that kind of thing as humanly possible. David was about to answer when Jamie came round the corner, scratching his head – the guy probably used too much hairspray again.
"Have you guys seen a page three from 'As Time Goes By' floating around?" he asked, flicking through a large, dirty black binder. The other two looked at him like he had grown a second head. "I took my score out to reorganize and my page three went missing."
Oh, well he was always losing things, David thought. Maria said a few times that she had a soft spot for the clarinet. Hell, that was probably why she friend-zoned him – she had to be screwing Jamie, that was all! Bing turned out to have the spare page three, so that got resolved rather quickly. Then Jamie looked at the closed dressing-room door.
"Is Maria still in there?" he asked, his voice concerned, raising his hand in case he needed to knock as well. "It's been forever."
David looked at Jamie, sizing him up.
"Something going on with you two?" he asked bluntly.
Jamie stared, his hair falling to the side again – no amount of hairspray could fix that for some reason.
"Nah man, we've just been out shopping a couple times," he said with a shrug. Then, to defend himself, he added, "They don't make much of our kind of stuff in my size."
The guys ignored that last comment. David turned back to the door and was about to give it a couple more solid thumps when it opened. Maria sidestepped his hand and smiled at her bandmates. Bing bowed like he was in a Robin Hood movie or something – he did things like that sometimes. Jamie smiled back, a touch too hopefully in David's opinion.
"Ready to go?" asked Maria, her long hair pinned up at the back of her neck in an imitation of a '40s swing style. "We're starting out with 'Fly Me to the Moon' tonight, right?"
Her bandmates provided general assent and they headed for the stage, straightening up hair and sheet music. David hung back, watching her laugh with Jamie and Bing as they walked along. Her heels clacked on the floor, skirt swinging round her knees. For some reason, that caused David to realize how much smaller she was than him or either of the other guys. He picked up his music folder and followed the other three.
It was not only mortal men who watched Maria Barsi that night. A viewing portal in Asgard had been open for some time. The god of thunder felt himself in a brooding state of mind tonight. As a result, the storms started in the heavens and on Earth. Winds swirled in places he had never been, while thunder and lightning plagued the humans below.
He felt a sense of loneliness that had lasted for a fortnight. No maiden in the harem or goddess in the palace could bring him satisfaction. He had fought a full three days with the heroes of Valhalla. The Valkyrie Brunhilde led the opposing side. When he bested her in all ways, he still felt unsatisfied. So for two days straight, he drank the strongest mead until his vision swam. The amount it took to leave a god sprawled on the Hall floor would kill five human men.
So, irritable and fighting the closest thing to a hangover a god could feel, Thor stared into the viewing portal, scanning the faces of Earth. He visited the work of Jane Foster, smiling at the progress she and the good doctor achieved. But something had him moving on from that. Jane had her own special qualities, but lacked something he sought at the moment. He couldn't place what it might be as he watched the streets of New York teem with people. Central Park and Grand Central Station had been repaired, as far as he could tell. Closing his eyes, he asked the portal to show him what he truly desired.
And it gladly obliged. With a shimmer, it showed him a rainy night in a place called Atlanta. The streets were crowded with people in strange garments, some oddly-colored, some just in assorted pieces of clothing. Several of these people had hair colors that did not occur in Earth's nature. Others had many pieces of metal in their faces and bodies.
The front of the building he saw had a dirty façade with bright pink and turquoise neon lights, proclaiming it to be the "Star Lounge." People in more odd clothing crowded in the propped-open doors. Across the street was a strange building with an entrance built to look like a skull with flaming eyes. Humans did such ridiculous things, thought the god.
Then the viewing portal switched its view into the interior of the Star Lounge. A battered set of furniture… Everything with chipped paint… It did not look like a very happy or well-kept place. There were a few people there – three young men, two men a bit older – very big with long hair like Viking warriors. A woman in leather trousers ran about with a clipboard. Thor lifted an eyebrow, wondering why the portal had shown him these people. It shifted back to the three younger men, its edges shimmering.
But then, it found the one that could satisfy the particular need of the God of Thunder.
A young mortal woman named Maria. It appeared that she had cut her long hair short and affixed a large red flower at her left ear. She wore a short… gown? With red and cream-colored stripes, it sat very well against her suntanned skin. Her lips were painted brilliantly red and black lines framed her eyes. He found himself very interested in the black seams up the backs of her legs. The same long, graceful nails tipped her fingers. Thor's gaze softened as he gazed upon her face again.
Back on Earth, it rained harder and the wind picked up its speed.