Chapter 9: Settling In
Disclaimer: read prologue
As Kelsey was enjoying the Asgard view, she felt the urge to puke again. She ran into the bathroom and had done just that. Kelsey sat down on the floor to massage her forehead. She hated being sick. Why do bad things happen to her? What had she done to deserve this?
Kelsey reached her arm out to grab the bathroom counter and pulled herself back on her feet, only to find herself face to face with her reflection.
She frowned, disapproved the way she had looked at the moment. The bandage around her wasn't improving it. Not only it was tight, but she's gaining sweat from wearing it. She debated whether to take it off or wait. Eir never said she couldn't remove it, but Kelsey cursed herself for not asking when she had the chance. Kelsey should've asked the do's and don'ts when it came to injuries as she had currently.
She decided to take a risk and take it off; surely it's not that bad underneath. She carefully stuck her fingers underneath the front of the bandage up and slowly lifted it to see the wounds.
"Crap," she was looking at an inch cut on her temple along with stitches. She noticed there was a small, red bump around the stitches. It didn't look bad, but it certainly wasn't a pretty sight. She gently put the bandage back in its place, until Eir gives her permission to take it off.
She exited the bathroom to look outside, still waiting for that maid, Frigga was supposed to send. She looked up and gasped with fright, noticed a young girl in her presence.
"I'm so sorry," the girl said apologetically, "I didn't mean to frighten you."
"No," Kelsey paused to catch her breath, "I just didn't hear the door open or somebody knock, that's all."
"Forgive me, My Lady. I should've knocked."
Kelsey dismissed her apology with a wave, "No. No. It's fine." She paused to take the girl's appearance.
The girl was close to Kelsey's age, probably a year or two older. She had blonde hair and blue eyes with a bit of freckle across her nose, she reminded Kelsey a little bit of Barbie, except the way she's dressed. Nothing glamour about her outfit. Sure, Barbie's too perfect and too perky for Kelsey's liking, but she did have the body of a model. Kelsey would kill to lose the pounds, and have a body like a doll.
Kelsey noticed that she's carrying a tray with one hand while holding clean robes with the other. She must be the maid Frigga sent.
Kelsey stepped closer and held her out for the girl, "I'm Kelsey."
The girl stared at her hand, questionably. Did she know how to greet somebody? Had she shaken somebody's hand before? Kelsey looked at her hands to see that they were full. No wonder. Kelsey lowered her hand and cleared her throat, ending the awkward silence.
"I'm Nanna, my lady," The girl curtsied before her as if Kelsey was royalty. Kelsey held her tongue from laughing for many reasons. The young girl's name was Nanna, a name used for a decent grandmother or a dog who was trained to tend children. Another reason, nobody bowed to Kelsey or called her my lady before, as much as she felt awkward about it, part of her felt eager to be treated like a princess again. It's been forever since she had that feeling of being unique. Her dad always treated her like a princess before he died. Now, Kelsey was feeling on and off about the situation.
"I'm here to bring you food and clean clothes," Nanna gestured the tray in her hands.
Kelsey nodded, "Right. Thank you."
Nana placed the tray at the footstool in front of the bed, then laid Kelsey's new clothes on the bed.
"Is there anything else, I can do for you, my lady?"
"Two things," Kelsey admitted. "One: feel free to call me 'Kelsey.' I'm not royalty. Two: is there a shower anywhere?"
"Shower, my l-" Nanna paused, when Kelsey glared at her, realizing that she wanted to be called by her real name, "I-I mean Kelsey."
"Yeah," Kelsey nodded, "a shower, a bath, a place where I can wash with soap and water." Hopefully, this girl knew what she's talking about.
"Oh!" Nanna nodded in understanding, "We don't have what you call a shower, but we do have a tub in the bathroom to cleanse yourself."
Kelsey furrowed her brows at the girl as if she was crazy, "Nanna, I've been in the bathroom, and I don't see a tub anywhere."
"Did you go through the door?" Nanna asked curiously.
"Door? What door?" All Kelsey remembered seeing in the bathroom was a toilet and a bowl of water on the counter, probably for washing hands.
Nanna sped past Kelsey, who turned to her curiously, not sure what she's doing. Alice opened the door to the bathroom and gestured her inside, "Right this way."
Kelsey followed behind Nanna with hesitation. Once she's inside the bathroom, she had a chance to analyze the bathroom again. Nanna was right by a large door at the side of the wall, opening it that revealed a flight downstairs.
"Go on, my lady, if you want to see," Nanna said.
Kelsey ignored the fact that Nanna was formal again. She was so curious to see what's down there. There wasn't a rail on the side, only walls. Afraid to fall because of her weak state, Kelsey held onto the walls as a rail, while she let Nanna lead the way.
Once they made it to the bottom, Nanna looked up at Kelsey with a shy smile, "Here we are, My Lady."
Kelsey raised her head, then widen her eyes after taking a moment at sight before her.
The room below was large, with an open 180-degree view outside. There were flowers, statues, beautiful décor - that's not what captured her attention. It was a large, circular pool in the center. She slowly walked to the pool and cautiously dipped her finger inside, testing the temperature.
Usually, when Kelsey took a shower or swim, it would be cold at first. She had to move around to get used to it, or until it warmed up. Not in Asgard. This gigantic swimming pool was also a relaxing hot tub. This place was like a spa, better than the kind she went for her sixteenth birthday.
"Does this meet your approval?" Nanna asked curiously.
Kelsey laughed, shaking her head, "My approval?" She turned around and smiled at the maid, "I'm far from that! I'm ecstatic! Look at this place. It's beautiful!"
Nanna smiled with relief, "I'm glad you think so, my lady."
Kelsey so much wanted to jump in and swim around the warm, refreshing water, but the bandaged around her stitches and her grumbled stomach gave her another idea. She was famished, but she didn't want to leave this paradise.
"I'll probably take a bath after I eat," Kelsey said with disappointment.
Nanna noticed that Kelsey was hesitant to leave the room, so an idea came to mind.
"Would you like me to leave your breakfast and clothes here?" she offered.
Kelsey looked up at her in shock, "You would do that?"
Nanna nodded, "Of course, I've been instructed to make your stay here as comfortable as possible."
"You've done a great job at that. Thank you."
"Is there anything else I can help you with, my lady?"
Kelsey paused, thinking through her questions like she didn't do with Eir. Then, she nodded.
"Yeah, actually. Could you show me where you keep the shampoo, conditioner, and the other good stuff?"
Nanna furrowed her brows at her, "Do you mean the oils?"
Kelsey nodded.
Nanna bowed, once again to her lady, "Right this way." She led Kelsey to a cabinet that held the toiletries inside.
Once Nanna returned with Kelsey's food and robes, she left Kelsey alone to eat her breakfast and bathe herself. Kelsey enjoyed her meal: the toasted bread, fruit, and sunny side up eggs (Next time, she'll ask for scrambled eggs) and hand-made orange juice (her favorite kind).
Making sure no one was looking, she stripped her dirty clothes and stepped inside the pool that was filled up to her waist. She bent her knees, getting her whole body wet except for her head. She wanted to wash her head but was nervous about her stitches. Should she get them wet? She cannot be sure. She decided to wash her hair, careful not to soak the stitches.
Kelsey frog-kicked her way to the center of the pool, facing a golden pole that had in front. Curious to know what the lever was for, she pulled it, and suddenly, water poured down from the ceiling soaking her head like rain.
She hissed in pain, covering the stitches with her pruned hand didn't help as much. She quickly pulled the lever again, and that stopped the water from falling.
"Don't have a shower, huh?" she asked angrily.
~000~000~000~
What Kelsey didn't know was that maid wasn't who she seemed to be. When Nanna exited the Kelsey's (Thor's) chambers, her body shimmered green. The girl's blonde hair darkened; her everyday clothing melted into a male, silver and green attire; her thick rosy lips stretched into a white, thin smirk.
The trickster god had done it again. He ditched the breakfast feast and visited the girl, posing as Frigga's attendant. He managed to find the real maiden, Frigga sent, and insisted on taking the items to Kelsey himself. The girl was baffled at this but didn't dare to question the prince. To avoid suspicion, Loki cloned himself that's currently eating and making small talk. He had everyone fooled as always.
His first impression on the girl was odd. She was different, of course, she's from Midgaurd. What's strange that she refused to let somebody wash her. Not that he wished to do it, for it would be awkward and he was a prince. A prince washing someone who wasn't royal was preposterous. Still, she was engaging, something different about her, and he planned on getting to know her, this time he will meet her as Loki Odinson and not a simple maid whose name he'd forgotten.
~000~000~000~
After picking the crazy man up, the gang had taken him back to their glasshouse. Jane provided him clothes to change into. The pants she gave Thor belonged to Garrett, who was currently pantless and was holding two ice packs against his sore biceps. Garrett could still feel the bruises Thor gave him on the night they met. Both Garrett and Erik felt that bringing Thor here was a bad idea, but the rest of the group didn't see a problem with it.
Thor walked out of the bathroom dressed in Garrett's pants, but shirtless. Darcy, AJ, and Jane couldn't help but admire Thor's six-pack.
Darcy wasn't afraid to stare and paid the guy a compliment, "You know, for a crazy homeless guy, he's pretty cut."
While Jane was walking around the room, trying to pay attention to her research journal but her eyes were wandering elsewhere to Thor's toned body.
AJ stared with wide eyes, he was right, Thor's body was like body armor.
Garrett couldn't help but feel intimidated by Thor, who received stares from the girls including AJ, while he got annoyed looks (mostly from Darcy). However, he never wandered around the glasshouse shirtless before, because he thought it would be impolite.
"I think he looks better with his shirt on," Garrett mumbled.
"Shut up, Gary," Darcy said, "If the guy wants to keep it off, it's fine with me."
Garrett rolled his eyes as Dr. Selvig took a long piece of tape to stick the icepack to Garrett's biceps. He inhaled sharply feeling the cold pack contact with his skin.
"That is cold!" Garrett cried out.
"If you think that's cold, imagine using the heat rag," Dr. Selvig said.
"The heat rag?" Garrett questioned him.
"Mm-hm," Erik nodded, sticking another icepack on Garrett's other arm.
"I'm sorry I tased you!" Darcy apologized to Thor, who made it over to Jane's lab table with various equipment products that Jane specifically told AJ not to touch.
AJ jumped off his chair and went over to Thor, looking up at him as if he was a giant, which he was in AJ's eyes, "Jane said not to mess with that."
Thor looked down at the boy, before kneeling in front of him to match his height, "Jane? Who be this 'Jane'?"
"My aunt over there," AJ pointed at Jane, whose eyes were locked on the pages when Thor looked at her way.
"Your aunt, you say?"
"Yes, Sir," AJ confirmed. "Is your name really Thor?"
Thor smiled, "That I am, young man. Thor Odinson, King of Asgard, God of Thunder. I demand to know who I am speaking to?"
AJ shrugged and reached his arm out for a handshake, "I am AJ Roberts, third-grader of Puente Antiguo Elementary."
Thor stared at AJ's hand as if unknown object. "I have no idea what that means," he admitted, standing up instead of shaking AJ's hand.
AJ narrowed his eyes at Thor questionably. What part didn't he understand? AJ's name? His school? A handshake? Thor looked at his hand as if he didn't know how to shake hands.
Thor started fiddling with a cord that was charging Kelsey's phone. He picked up the phone and started pressing buttons. Jane noticed and instantly ran over to stop him from causing damage.
"Excuse me! Excuse me!" she snapped, snatching the phone from Thor and placing it back on the table. Jane stepped beside AJ to face Thor, then couldn't help but check out his toned body up close and personal.
Once she finished glancing at the sculpted body, her cheeks heated up as she looked away.
"Um... S-Sir, do you mind?" Jane asked, indicating the shirt Thor was holding.
"Yeah! Do you mind?!" Garrett demanded. Thor glared at him, then Garrett quickly turned away, avoiding Thor's intense gaze. The crazy giant still scared Garrett to the core. Thinking about the bruises on his arms, he should know better than to open his big mouth to the big Hulk.
Thor looked down at the T-shirt in his grip and about to put it on, until he noticed something on it.
"What is this?" Thor asked, confused as he held up the T-shirt to Jane. He was pointing at a name tag.
"Oh," She looked up at a familiar name on the tag - Dr. Donald Blake - and stripped it off from the shirt, looking embarrassed.
"My ex," Jane explained sheepishly. "Good with patients and bad with relationships."
Garrett growled, remembering his former competition. Kelsey told him that Donald left Jane for his surgical career in Arizona. Garrett remembered celebrating by ordering a giant, hot fudge sundae from the Diner, that gave him a smile and a belly ache afterward. This guy - Thor Odinson - was nothing but trouble. He didn't even give anyone a polite glance behind that smolder face.
"Why do you even have his shirt,?" Garrett questioned Jane curiously.
"Would you like me to give him your shirt too?" Jane asked Garrett threateningly.
Garrett shook his head, "No."
"Then zip it."
Garrett raised his palms defensively, "Just asking, Jane."
Jane turned back to Thor, "They're the only clothes that I could find that would fit you."
Thor put the shirt on, despite Darcy's plea to leave it off. He was used to the heavy armor, and his pants weren't as tight as the one he was wearing currently.
"They will suffice," Thor replied, walking away from Jane and AJ.
What? No 'thank you'? Jane asked to herself.
"You're welcome," Jane responded quietly.
"This mortal form has grown weak," Thor stated. "I need sustenance."
"He needs a what?" AJ asked out loud.
"Food," Selvig answered while staring down at Thor suspiciously. "He needs food."
"Um..." Jane nodded, "Okay, Sir, what would you like to eat?"
"Do you peasants have a roasted pig in your kitchen?"
Everyone's mouths dropped at Thor's sudden rudeness.
"Peasants? Did that hunk just called us 'peasants'?" Darcy questioned Erik.
"I so much want to punch the living daylights out of him," Garrett mumbled angrily. How dared this man think he was better than everyone else in the room. As much as Garrett wanted to fight for his and Jane's honor, his bruised arms told his brain to remain seated.
"No," Jane said sternly, holding back unnecessary words, "we don't have a pig."
"I don't even eat pig," AJ added.
"You don't?" Thor asked AJ in shock, "Young man, a pig is a great meat a man can eat."
Darcy chuckled under her breath in realization, "Hey, that rhymes."
Thor walked over to him and poked AJ's arm, careful not to hurt him, "You need some meat in your bones."
"Is eating a pig going to help me gain muscles like yours?" AJ questioned him.
Thor shrugged, "I believe so."
"We're not going to have pig," Jane said sternly, "As I said before, we don't have one."
"How about a toasted pop tart?" Darcy suggested.
Thor furrowed his brows at the girl, confusedly, "What's a pop tart?"
Darcy's eyes brightened, getting up from her seat, "Oh! You'll love it! Best thing to eat in the mornings!"
Garrett shrugged, "Can't argue there. The chocolate chip is my favorite kind."
"Mine too!" AJ agreed.
Thor was silent until he nodded, "Alright. I will be willing to try what you mortals call a pop tart." He sat down on the chair next to Garrett, who widened his eyes and shuffled a safe distance from Thor. He clasped his hands together dramatically, "Feed me!"
Everyone stared at him as if he was crazy.
"Oh, hell, no!" Darcy shook her head.
"How dare you defy me?" Thor snapped. "I demand food now!" He banged his fist against the table in frustration.
"Not with that attitude!" Darcy explained, crossing her arms over her chest, "If you want food, you have to say the magic word."
"Magic word?! I know nothing about this magic word!"
"Then no pop tarts for you!"
Thor leaned back against his chair and folded his arms with a pout, a look that AJ used to make when things didn't go his way. AJ made it over to Thor's side and tugged his T-shirt.
"What is it that you want, boy?!" Thor demanded angrily.
"Hey, don't talk to my nephew like that!" Jane snapped, pointed the warning finger at him. It's bad enough when he called her a peasant, but talking to her godson like scum was crossing the line.
Thor wasn't afraid of a lot of things, monsters, trolls, even frost giants. However, looking at Jane was like looking at his mother, Frigga's stern warning look terrified him.
He raised his hand in apology and said softly, "I did not mean to raise my voice, Lady Jane."
Jane raised her brows from Thor's reference to her, 'Lady Jane?' It had a nice ring to it, but she debated whether to like it or not. She was still mad that he snapped at her nephew.
AJ went up to his tippy toes and whispered something to Thor's ear. He glared at Darcy, who stared at him, still had her arms folded.
"Darcy, fix me some pop tarts... please," Thor said the last word quietly and with hesitation.
Darcy smiled with satisfaction, "Ding. Ding. Ding! You finally figured out the magic word. Now your wish is my command. Two pop tarts coming right up!"
A/N: I hope you enjoyed that chapter. Kelsey met Loki but doesn't realize it was really him and not the maid. Will she figure that out in the next section, or will Loki's trick will remain a secret? Is SHIELD going to appear soon? I have plans for Thor's stay at the glasshouse before SHIELD make their appearance. How will Loki and Kelsey react to each other? I'm debating how I want their relationship to go. Will they stay friends till the end, enemies, brother/sister relationship, or much more? Leave a comment, an opinion, or something. This story needs support!
I know some of you are confused about Joro, so if you want to hear interesting facts about her continue reading this, if you don't like spoilers stop reading. For those who don't know the facts about Gaea (aka Joro from the Norse Mythology), she is an Earth goddess who is Thor's biological mother, not Frigga.
It all started with Odin wanting a son with special powers. Frigga didn't have what Gaea have, so Odin went to the Mother-Goddess for help. She mated with Odin and gave birth to Thor. Odin wanted to keep all this a secret for Thor's sake and let Thor believe that Frigga's his birth mother instead. What happened with to Gaea afterward? I have no clue. She may have disappeared and went back to her normal life. I didn't realize this until I searched Thor's family tree.