A/N:
1) I own nothing...
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One thing that she had learned early on in her life was that when she had given in fully to a task like this one, time lost all meaning to her, so when Thor arrived in her garage telling her that it was a lovely morning, she should have responded in like. Instead she was so surprised that she only managed a half-baked apology for waking him up, assuming that it was indeed the middle of the night.
Thor only smiled slightly, saying:
"You did not wake me, the sun has risen."
Suddenly embarrassed by being caught that unawares, Aella replied hesitantly, with a small nervous smile of her own:
"Oh, right… well, then good morning."
Aella knelt and finished replacing the last bolts on her motorcycle, realizing as she did so that she felt self-conscious about the black grease and grime all over her that stood out very obviously against her white t-shirt. The nervous brushing of her hair from her face only made matters worse since it left grease-streaks on her cheek, but she found herself ultimately laughing at the fact that for the first time she cared.
She had adopted in life a 'don't care, don't let anyone think you care' policy and it had served her well as a defense. Somehow, Thor managed to effortlessly slip through her defenses and she was not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
Ever observant, Thor asked, by way of explaining her edginess:
"You have not slept this night?"
Pushing away her concerns, she wiped her hands on a rag, replying:
"No, but that's nothing new for me… why don't I clean up a bit, and we can get something to eat."
Ten minutes later, after scrubbing the grease from her face and arms and changing clothes, Aella found herself contemplating a refrigerator with nothing but chilled tea and lemonade in it, and cabinets full of the stuff she usually ate, having no actual interest in cooking, period.
That said, though, she was fairly certain that her usual fare, MREs, was not an acceptable introduction to Earth food for an, erm "interplanetary" visitor.
Turning on her heel, Aella went back to her garage, pulling out the box that held all she had left of her family, and finding within it jeans and a couple shirts that would fit Thor.
Memories washed over her, memories of a family long gone, a home reduced to ash, and the irony of being left with only a few physical possessions from an old storage- among which were just two photos – that proved they had ever existed.
No, she would never share these with anyone else, but Thor was different… special, and though she had never imagined doing this, it felt like an honor to her lost family, rather than the opposite.
Returning to the living room where Thor was standing looking out the window, so expansive and perfect he seemed completely out of place in the darkened room, Aella gave him the clothes saying:
"You might want to dress in something less… different, we are going out for breakfast."
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