Steve felt badly the next morning. He'd been pretty judgmental and hard on her for her first time to an entirely new realm. It was like what he'd experienced times ten. Not to mention, his tiny apartment wasn't really set up for a woman; not even a woman on Earth, much less a princess of Vanaheim. But what did women even need?
Something stirred outside his bedroom; she was already up. It was 10 am; he'd grossly overslept. She probably didn't even know how to use the fridge.
But when he came out of his room, he was surprised to find her with a plate of eggs and toast and a glass of orange juice. She was curled up with her legs beneath her on one of his kitchen chairs quietly reading his copy of The New York Times.
"You should put a shirt on," she said, addressing him without even looking up at him. Steve flushed as he looked down. He went back into his room and quickly threw on a t-shirt and a hoodie over top that. When he went back into the room he was even more surprised to see her gesture to a second plate on the table for him.
"Wow, thank you," he said and sat down with her. "How'd you know how to use… everything?" he asked, gesturing around the kitchen, noticing it didn't look like anyone had touched anything.
She rolled her eyes at him before flipping the page of the newspaper, "Magic."
Well, apparently the attitude was there to stay.
"I thought today, I could take you out to… pick up some things for the house?"
She looked at him with an eyebrow cocked, "Can't we just pick up a new house?"
Steve frowned, but didn't let it get to him when he saw her laughing. He remembered she was the youngest of seven daughters total. She'd probably had it hard with teasing; she'd definitely grown up tough and quick.
"What kinds of things?" she asked, standing to properly fold the paper.
"Well, I don't really know…" he admitted, "I've never lived with a woman."
She laughed again; throwing her head back in the same mannerism he'd seen Zinia perform dozens of times during her visit.
"Don't worry Captain, I am an expert on living with women," she said with a coy smile. "Just take me to wherever I may purchase goods."
Steve wasn't sure why, but the best thing to do seemed to be to take her to Bed, Bath, and Beyond.
Anu had insisted that none of the clothes any of the female agents had left was suitable. So, looking through the few things she had packed, Steve thought one of her simple green tunics would be suitable. He gave her an oversized leather jacket of his to wear with it and she kind of looked like an artist that Clint had gotten him into, Janis Joplin. They didn't really look right together… but they weren't supposed to be together. The point was, he reminded himself, that they'd need to go clothes shopping.
They pulled into the parking lot of the Bed, Bath, and Beyond and Anu got out to stare at the building perplexed. "You keep your bazaars inside?" she asked.
"Sort of…" Steve replied and lead the way.
Inside, she wandered from aisle to aisle, scanning. Steve could only describe her face as disgusted. They came to an aisle of sheets in several hundreds of colors and thread counts. Anu picked up a pink pair dropped it to the floor disgusted. Steve hurriedly picked it up.
"Surely, there must be someplace with things more suitable than these!" From the purse Natasha had left for Anu she suddenly produced the largest and thickest gold coin Steve had ever seen. "How much can one of these get me? I brought several hundred."
"Put it away!" Steve said abruptly, pushing the coin down. "Okay, okay… I think we need to go to Manhattan."
At first, Steve wasn't exactly sure how to exchange Anu's gold for money. He thought they'd probably get scammed at a pawnshop. But then, Tony Stark turned out to be surprisingly interested in buying them off of her for a good price. Steve didn't know what he wanted with the off world gold but, knowing Tony, it was probably something stupid and frivolous.
So then they'd gone to Manhattan; Tony let them borrow a car and one of his drivers for which Steve was glad. He didn't particularly want to make that drive but he didn't think Anu would be able to stomach the subway or a cab or, God forbid, a bus.
She'd wanted to stop somewhere quickly to get just one outfit, insisting that she couldn't walk around an upscale part of town in his filthy jacket.
"Fine," he'd snapped and took it off of her as they walked into Saks.
As casual as could be, Anu walked up to a woman in the store and lay on a perfect British accent. "Excuse me, I've just arrive to New York and the airline has lost all my luggage! I'm terribly sorry but I don't know anything about American sizes, might you be able to pick out a few things for me?"
The woman was happy to oblige after Anu flashed a little cash explaining "I had to have money wired to me since I don't have my things!"
As the saleswoman bustled about the store, Anu walked with Steve, even picking up a few things and pointing them out to the woman who promptly brought them to a dressing room. Anu, he realized, commanded authority fairly easily. It must have been a trait of all the Vanir women.
Less than 20 minutes later, Anu was leaving the store in a sensible navy pencil skirt, tailored cream blouse, a fitted blazer, and suede cream pumps with a very expensive purse looped around her arm. The woman had, apparently, been able to glean her size instantaneously so they left with a number of other bags filled with clothing selected for her.
"How did you do that?" Steve asked her when they finally left. Where had she learned the British accent? About airlines? That they lost luggage? Getting money wired?
"Have you not noticed that every inch of this city is splashed with advertisements and bits of popular culture?" she asked. "You'd have to be daft not to pick anything up."
Steve wasn't sure if she was trying to insult him or merely stating what she thought true. He didn't sense any malice. He realized though, that perhaps she was not as cold as he'd first thought. Maybe she was constantly so silent because she was absorbing everything around her? If so, he was impressed.
From there, they'd gone to a home goods store where she picked out some of the most expensive linens he'd ever seen in his life and more things for a bathroom than Steve could think you would need in your whole house? She also had furniture shipped to him, after checking if he had room. He didn't but if she wanted to throw out the cheap stuff he'd picked up all over the city and from helpful SHIELD agents and replace it with furniture of this quality, he had no arguments.
He tried thanking her as they left but she dismissed him with a hand wave. "Please, it may be a gift of sorts… but this is almost entirely for my own comfort."
Steve smiled as she walked ahead of him. He suspected she was acting tougher and less gracious than she actually was. Was it just because she was the last daughter that she had developed such a protective shell or was there something else?
They'd all met at Stark Tower that night. Tony eyed Anu warily, but Steve could tell it was mostly for show at this point. It was certainly easier to take her serious when she didn't have a tiger skin thrown atop her. She looked quite professional. Still not like an Avenger, but definitely a professional Earth woman.
"Your sister has sent word." Thor was back today. "You are to return in just a few days for her wedding to my brother."
Tony scoffed in disgust. He, like most of them, still couldn't wrap his mind around the idea of Loki having a wife.
So she was invited after all. Anu smiled, happy to have another chance to go home. Maybe she could even grab a few more of her possessions. She had underestimated these Avengers. She didn't think she'd need her weapons to fight alongside them, but she found herself wishing she had her daggers.
"She would also like as many of you to come as possible," he said to the Midgardians around him, "She has invited representatives from each of the Nine Realms."
"Well then we better have some representatives there," Nick Fury said definitively. "You all are going. These gods aren't seeing anything but the best of the best."
Anu couldn't help feeling an impending sense of smug satisfaction. It would be hard not to respect her after seeing Vanir's capital and her home.
She'd kept her distance for most of the meeting. They were primarily discussing the logistics of their impending trip so she dutifully answered whatever questions came her way. She didn't realize it, but she was coming off as shy. That wasn't the case, she was just being cautious. She wanted to take as much time as she could to assess these Avengers before truly beginning to interact with them.
But already feeling bad for sticking the poor girl in Brooklyn, Clint and Natasha came up to her after everyone was done speaking.
"So we wanted to invite you two over for dinner tomorrow," Natasha began, clearly as a peace offering, "You can tell us what you've seen of the city so far and what we should expect for the wedding…" she trailed off, no one know how the Vanir girl would react.
"Yes, that would be lovely," she said, "And you two can tell me where I should go while I'm here. I'd like to leave New York, and even America, too."
"Sure that sounds great," Clint said.
"What time should we be over?"
"How about eight?"
They all smiled strangely at one another and walked away. It had been one of their most peculiar interactions to date. Steve was wondering if this was like a double date or if he was more like her chaperon as she navigated the city. Anu was still surprised at the fact that Clint and Natasha appeared to be some sort of item. And the latter pair was contemplating the very domesticated thing they had just done. After all of their battles together, they had never simply invited someone over for dinner.
So the next night, they were there at eight sharp. Anu had asked what was appropriate to bring on Earth and they'd stopped for wine. It was all very much like a Twilight Zone episode, Steve thought. It was one of the first television shows enough at his pop culture level that he was able to get into since returning to his conscious state.
They rang up to the apartment and Natasha buzzed them in. Steve was started to see her, for the first time, in a classic short black dress and heels. Anu looked the same, but her dress was navy. And Steve and Clint… well they both certainly looked like women had put them together. It was very disarming. The tension in the air was palpable.
"We brought wine," Anu offered.
"We have vodka!" Natasha added.
"I'll take both!" she said.
Natasha had made chicken kiev, a dish from Russia. This, inevitably, lead to Anu asking if she should visit Russia and Natasha simply replied she wasn't sure it was something she'd recommend.
They all proceeded to get smashed and Steve felt comfortable enough to poke a little fun at his friends' newly domesticated life. "You're even decorating," he said gesturing to some purple drapes.
"They came with the apartment!" Clint defended quickly.
"Well what about you?" Natasha asked, "Didn't you just go furniture shopping? And didn't he watch you try on clothes?"
Steve and Anu exchanged looks, both blushing, and turning away. Clint laughed.
"Alright, there's nothing going on here," Steve said, shutting down the discussion, "But we should be getting back."
In just two days before Zinia's wedding, Thor married her sister Enir on Asgard. Poor Enir had no one at her wedding since the family couldn't possibly make it to both. But Anu suspected she was also just happy to be wed first. And just after her own wedding, she and her new husband would be sent back to Vanaheim for Zinia, with no time to themselves. Thor was to be something of a guide for the Midgardians coming.
The next day passed quickly as they packed for the wedding. Steve had asked her if he was supposed to wear something called a tux. Not knowing what it was, she had insisted "No, just where the Captain suit." But then he showed her a picture of one and she decided, "Yes, you should bring one."
She'd insisted they all undergo enchantments to travel via her city's Spring. They simply couldn't have furs warm enough to protect the freezing water. And, upon their arrival, they had the same reaction to the miles high golden gates before a floating ruby city that everyone else did; they were stunned. Natasha wasn't even hiding the fact that she was gathering intel for Fury but she didn't care. Zinia might have had something to say but it wasn't as if the two realms would ever go to war. And if they did, no amount of intel would help them.
The golden gates of Vanaheim's capital opened to them, The Crimson City lay out before them and several large birds of prey were waiting to fly them to the floating city. Anu felt somewhat slighted, typically riding a phoenix, but it didn't stop her from turning to Clint to say "So, do you still wish to call yourself the Hawk?"
He shoved her playfully, still more concerned with looking at the city in awe, and she stumbled into Steve with a laugh. He caught her and set up upright before lifting himself onto one of the birds and offering her his hand. She took it and swung her leg over easily. Once everyone was settled they were off.
She had gotten her knives and immediately begun sparring with the Man of Iron, who had not taken off the suit since they arrived; he was so suspicious of the gods. In the next day before the wedding, the whole city would spend in leisure. In the days after, too. And part of leisure for the Aesir, Vanir, and many of their guests was to practice fighting.
There was also constant feasting and entertainment. But despite all the distractions and her last chance to be home… Anu found herself spending most of her time showing Steve Rogers Vanaheim.
She was waiting for him in one of their great outdoor courtyards, to show him around the grounds, but he was running late. She did not know that the soldier had run into Loki in the halls.
"So," the God of Mischief asked him, "Have you had her yet?"
Steve was so taken aback his jaw actually dropped.
"Please," Loki sneered, "Zinia told me all about her. How is it living with an incessant little tart like that?"
"What would your wife say if she heard you talking about her like this?"
"Whom do you think I picked the description up from?" he asked, laughing.
"You know, she's actually a lot like you. But no one calls you a tart," Steve said firmly.
Loki gave him a mysterious smile. "I'll have to tell Zinia that one; I'm pretty sure she's called me a tart at some point. But why do you think we chose Anu, specifically for Midgard? She is basically one of you already," his eyes glinted. "And why do you think we arranged for her to live with you?"
"You arranged that?" he asked, turning toward Loki in shock but also humiliated understanding.
"Zinia thought you might even her out," he said with a shrug, "She seems to have been right."
Loki abruptly lost interest and continued on his way. Still completely taken aback, Steve slowly began on his way to see Anu.