Hola chicos and chicas! I didn't to have this chapter done until next week, but figuring I didn't have anything else to do, I thought I complete it:) There is really not much to say but I am thrilled by the pace I am keeping for this story, and hope everyone enjoys this new chapter.
Title: Forever This Way
Author: xxxLovely Insanityxxx
Fandom: Thor
Rating: PG-13- for disaster related peril, violence, brief language, and sensuality
Summary: In 1985, the wreck of the Titanic was discovered. There was rejoice and celebration. But in that same year, it resurfaces Loki's memories of that ill-fated voyage. Of when he came to Midgard and became an unwilling passenger, and of the young woman that changed his life forever.
Characters: Loki, Elizabeth, some Asgardian people, Titanic people, etc...
Pairings: Loki/Elizabeth
Theme: My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion. As well as Never Let Me Go by Florence + the Machine
Disclaimer: As usual, I do not own Thor the movie or its comics, and never will. It all belongs to Stan Lee and Marvel
Over&Out!
April 10th, 1912
Southhampton, England
It was nearly noon and sunny on a Wednesday. You could barely see any boats on the waters, except for the massive steam ocean liner, waiting to be move across the deck, dwarfed by the awesome scale of the steamer. A crowd of thousands gathered near to Titanic in a hasty effort to see their beloved ones depart, and people moved from one side to the other, bringing possessions and checking in. High society women bringing their dogs as their servants carried the heavy luggage within the ship, cars of various models were carried with cranes as men yelled at people to get out of the way if they didn't wanted to be crushed under one of those expensive cars. On the pier horsedrawn vehicles, motorcars and lorries move slowly through the dense throng. The atmosphere is one of excitement and general giddiness. People embrace in tearful farewells, or wave and shout bon voyage wishes to friends and relatives on the decks above.
A white Renault, leading a silver-gray Daimler-Benz, was pushed through the crowd leaving a wake in the press of people. Around the handsome cars, people stream to board the ship, jostling with hustling seamen and stokers, porters, and barking White Star Line officials. The Renault came to a stop and the driver got down from the car to open the door for a young woman in a stunning white, black, and purple outfit, with an enormous feathered hat. She was no more than at the ripe age of seventeen and very beautiful, with a slightly upturned nose and waves of medium blonde hair that was up in a braided chignon, and pale skin. She also had piercing pale blue eyes, that gave her a sense of regal bearing.
The young woman's name was Elizabeth Bradshaw. She moved her head to the side to look up at the ship, taking the sight in with silent awe but cool appraisal. Beside her, two children came out of the Renault. A boy no more than ten with dark hair and blue eyes, and a little girl who was not yet six, with red ringlets and doe brown eyes. Both children were amazed as they grasped both of Elizabeth's hands. There names were Nicholas and Rose "Rosie" Ashford.
"We're travelling to America on that ship?" Nicholas asked.
"Yes, I suppose so," Elizabeth said, and turned to Rosie. "What do you think, Rosie? It's quite a boat, isn't it?"
"Elizabeth! It's not a boat, it's a ship!" Rosie exclaimed excitedly, as if she were the adult and Elizabeth was the child.
"You're right," Elizabeth smirked, but looked back up at Titanic with cold disdain. "I still don't see what all the fuss is about. It doesn't looks any bigger than the Mauretania."
A valet opened the door on the other side of the car for Clayton King, the twenty-nine year old heir to the King family's Pittsburgh steel business and fortune. Clayton is tall, arrogant, rich beyond meaning, and handsome with brunette hair, and dark brown eyes that appeared to be almost black in color. Clayton had a calculating demeanor that he constantly hid behind a mask of fake courtesy.
"You can blase about some things, Elizabeth, but not about Titanic!" Clayton exclaimed. "It's over a hundred feet longer than Mauretania- and far more luxurious. It has squash courts, a Parisian cafe, even Turkish baths!"
Clayton then turned and greeted Elizabeth's guardian and Nicholas and Rosie's mother, Lady Margaret Ashford, who descended from the door behind him. Lady Ashford was in her late thirties to early forties; she had dark auburn hair and with a very sophisticated appearance, was a society empress, from one of the most prominent Philadelphia families who married into British high society. Recently divorced, she ruled her houshold with a gentle but firm iron fist, unlike her former husband.
"She can be much too hard to impress, Margaret." Clayton said jokingly, making her slightly chuckle. Looking down at a puddle, he says, "Watch your step."
Lady Ashford, who was walking beside Clayton, stared at the leviathan of a ship.
"So this is the ship they say is unsinkable." Lady Ashford remarked, earning Clayton's attention.
"It is unsinkable. God himself couldn't sink this ship!" Clayton exclaimed with the pride of a host providing a special experience. Lady Ashford continued to walk beside Clayton and behind them, Elizabeth was walking with the children, without looking at anything in particular and not really paying attention to whatever her guardian and fiancee were talking about.
Behind them were Lady Ashford and Elizabeth's maids, and other servants along with Clayton's personal valet and righthand man, Warner, who looked like an impassive, dour undertaker at best and as a guardian dog at his worst. Elizabeth had never liked him and she was glad that she almost never made contact with the man,; as the servants arranged the luggage, there was a calling from behind them, one of the White Star Workers scurried towards them, looking desperate and tired with all the last minute loading.
"Sir, you'll have to check your baggage through the main terminal, round that way-"
Clayton rolled his eyes and nonchalantly handed the man five pounds and the worker's eyes dilated and grew big; five pounds were a big tip on those days.
"I put my faith in you good sir," Clayton pointed at Warner and said, "See my man."
The White Star worker nodded and said 'thank you repeatedly'. "Yes, sir. My pleasure, sir." Clayton smirked as he turned back around to face the ship. He never tired of the effect of money on the unwashed masses.
As Warner arranged their belongings, Elizabeth leads Nicholas and Rosie, and followed Clayton and her guardian. Clayton breezes on, leaving the minions to scramble. He quickly checks his pocket watch and said, "We'd better hurry. This way, everyone." He pointed towards one of the wooden ramps, guiding them out of the path of a horse-drawn wagon loaded down with two tons of wooden cases, for Titanic's first class gangway. Elizabeth looked up at the Titanic one last time as if it were a great, looming iron wall. Clayton looks at Elizabeth and motioned her forward as they entered the Double D Deck doors, feeling a sense of dread coming over her. Clayton moved his hand and brought it to rest possessively over Elizabeth's arm. He escorted her and the Ashford family into the ship.
To everyone else, Titanic was the ship of dreams. To Elizabeth, it was a slave ship taking her to America in chains. Outwardly, Elizabeth was everything a well brought up girl should be. She was the perfect English Rose. But on the inside, she was screaming.
During his stay with Quentin, Loki grew to like the young Brit. He was like Thor, only Quentin actually used his head before rushing into things. He was self-possessed and surefooted, having lived on his own since he was fifteen. However, one of the few flaws that Loki really disliked about Quentin, was that he gambled. And he gambled with money he did or didn't have. Which led he and Loki to their current predicament. You see, Quentin had to go to Southhampton to pay off some debts that were his late parents, to his late father's boss. What was left of the money, Quentin took Loki to one of the local pubs near the docks where Titanic was still residing for take off. Both men were amazed by the sheer size of the ocean liner; many thoughts entered their heads. To Quentin, it showed the possibilty of his dream to go to America and become a famous artist like Monet or Cassat. But to Loki, Titanic was the living proof of how far the transition of discovery and wealth from the former primal days of the mortals. When they entered the pub, Quentin's eyes lingered to the corner table where two men were playing poker. He tried to stay away, but the sight of the game brought him closer and closer to the table, as if it were a calling siren.
So here they now were. Both Loki and Quentin playing poker with the two other men. Loki and Quentin glanced at the other two, Sven and Olaf, arguing in Swedish. To say the obvious, Loki was still irked by Quentin's moment of weakness. He had entirely betted all of what was left of their money in the game. However, seeing that the Midgardian game was similar to the ones that he, Thor, and the Warriors Three had played when they were younger, Loki was able to play a few tricks up his sleeve to "help" him win the game.
"Idiot!" Loki heard and understood what the man, Sven, say to Olaf. "You stupid fishhead. I can't believe you bet our tickets."
"You lost our money! I'm just trying to get it back." Olaf snapped. "Now shut up and take a card from the deck."
Passing cards at each other and staring at the other two young men in front of them, Quentin smirked and tauntingly said, "Hit me again, Sven." Sven handed a card to Quentin who took it and slipped it into his hand.
They all were looking at each other but their expressions betrayed nothing. Loki moved in his chair as he closed his eyes and sighed after he refused a card; in the middle of the table there were bills and coins from four different countries denoting that the game had been going on for a while. Sitting on top of the money were two 3rd Class tickets for RMS Titanic. On the distance the Titanic's whistle blows again giving the final warning to those who hadn't boarded yet. Final Warning.
Quentin sighed and looked at all the men on the table and says, "The moment of truth boys. Somebody's life's about to change." after that Loki puts his cards down and so did the Swedes while Quentin held his cards close.
"Let's see..." Quentin said looking at Loki's hand, "Loki's got nothing. Olaf, you've got squat. Sven, uh oh... two pairs... mmmm..." As he made a short pause, Quentin turned to Loki and said, "I'm sorry, Loki."
Loki clenched his fist as he felt his temper rise. "Excuse me? All you can say is sorry when you have lost all of our money and now-"
"I'm saying sorry because you're not gonna see your mother for a long time," Quentin threw his cards down on the table showing a full house, grinning. "Because you're going to America! Full ouse boys!" Loki stared at the cards in surprise. America? I'm going to America? No- he couldn't be. That wasn't part of his plan to get back to Asgard! Loki watched as the table exploed into a shouting of several languages and in all the chaos, Quentin took the money and the tickets.
He smirked at Sven and Olaf."Sorry boys. Three of a kind and a pair. I'm high and you're dry and...my friend and I are going to-" He looked at a shellshocked Loki, who couldn't contain his excitement and yelled, "To America!"
Olaf lifted up his fist, pulling and holding onto Loki's collar. The Norse god, thinking he was going to be hit closed his eyes for the pain that never came; Instead, Olaf punched Sven, who flew backwards and fell onto the floor, meanwhile Quentin was dancing around. He kissed the tickets, and yelled, "I'm going America... to the land of the free and the home of the real hot-dogs! I'm finally going to be an artist! Why aren't you cheering?"
"You can't serious!" Loki hissed. "We- I can't go. I need to stay here-"
"And wait for nothing to happen?" Quentin. "Besides I can't leave here- you'll ending being somebody's punching bag! We're going to America! On the Titanic! We're riding in high style now! We're practically goddamned royalty, my friend!"
Quentin kept on dancing with Loki still watching, until the voice coming from behind the counter called their attention, the bar owner yelled at them, "No, mates. Titanic is going to America, in five minutes." Loki and Quentinnlooked at each other, "Oh shit! Come on, Loki!" grabbing their stuff they ran to the door.
Loki and Quentin, started running while carrying everything they owned in the world in two small duffel bags that were hanging on their shoulders, as they were sprinting towards the ship they passed right in the middle of the crowd that were buzzing right next to the terminal. They dodged piles of luggage and struggled as they moved through the group of people, coming right to the front of the crowd both men stared at the iron wall of the ship's hull, towering seven stories above the port, the Titanic was indeed huge, Loki said to himself.
Quentin ran back and grabbed Loki by the arm, and they were once again sprinting towards the third class gangway at the E deck. They reached the bottom of the ramp just as an officer was detaching the ramp at the top, looking at the guard Quentin yelled, "Wait! We're passengers!"
Flushed and panting, he waved the tickets, The officer looked at them and asked, "Have you been through the inspection queue?"
Quentin looked cheerfully at the man, "Of course! Anyway, we don't have lice, we're Americans." He says pointing between Loki and him, "Both of us."
Loki stared at Quentin incredulousy. Was that seriously the best lie he could come up with? He mentally thought sarcastically. The officer seemed doubtful but nodded at them with a curt nodd, "Right, come aboard."
As Loki and Quentin came aboard, the guard glanced at the tickets, then passed Loki and Quentin through to another officer, who looked at the names on the tickets to enter them in the passenger list, looking down at the paper in his hand, "Gundersen. And... Gundersen."
He handed back the tickets, looking suspiciously at the two men; noticing that, Loki took charge, grabbed Quentin's arm and said, "Come on, Sven."
Having left the officers behind, Quentin and even Loki laughed in victory as they ran down the white-painted corridor grinning from ear to ear.
"We are the luckiest som of the bitches in in the world!" Steve said ad they ran towards the top of the ship to wave at the cheering crowd that had gathered to say goodbye; Loki silently was as Quentin yelled goodbyes to people that he didn't even know but at least for him that was part of the fun.
Then the ship started to move down the river and towards the sea, Loki touched Quentin's arm and told him to go inside so they can see their cabin.
At the third class berthing on the G-deck, Loki and Quentin were walking down a narrow corridor with doors lining both sides like a college dorm, there was around an air of complete confusion as people were arguing about luggage, belongings, and whatnot in several languages, or were wandering in confusion in the white labyrinth, they passed by emigrants studying the signs over the doors, and looking up the words using some sort of dictionaries.
They eventually found their cabin, it was a modest cubicle, painted white with four bunks and with exposed pipes overhead. There were two other men already there. Loki threw his bag on one of the bunks, while Quentin took the other.
The two other guys within the cabin looked confused and one of them asked in Swedish,
"Where's Sven?"
Yeah... I may have sort of lied that Forever This Way is not like the movie- but it really isn't! Just in some parts. Anyway, hope you guys liked it and review plz!
