Months went by without a sorceress arriving at the farmhouse; then again, she, probably, wouldn't arrive until late fall after crops were harvested and sent to market. One day, the sorceress, finally, arrived. Bruce greeted her. "Hello, the Queen told me to expect you. This is my lovely wife, Sif."
"I'm Elga," said the young woman, wearing a fur-trimmed cloak over her leather pants and linen blouse. She appeared to be in her mid-twenties then, this being Asgard, she may have been hundreds of years old. "Shall I come in?"
"Please, do," said Sif.
Elga enter the house and walked toward the fireplace but did not take a seat. "Bruce, I do not know how much you know of Asgard culture, but sorcery is considered woman's work. I shall teach enough that you do not harm yourself or others: no more. The only other male to study magic was also born from giants."
"Loki Laufeyson," Bruce sat by the fire on a bear skin rug with his wife joining him to sit on his lap. "Ah. Please, sit. I'm only half-giant; my mother was mortal."
Elga sat one of three normal-sized chairs in the curved room.
Resting against her husband, Sif said, "We had a guest cottage build for you. During the winter months, my husband spends most of his time in the workshop. He shall teach you carpentry in trade for you teaching him magic. I shall also expect you to help with the meals unless you plan to eat alone."
"You are most gracious," said Elga.
"When your elegant hands are covered with callouses and blisters you shall not say that," said Sif. "I suspect you shall come to hate me. You may be sent by the Queen to instruct my husband, but I'm mistress of house and you shall obey me."
Placing his arms around Sif, Bruce smiled with the understanding that Sif was laying down the law because she didn't want Elga to believe would be getting sexual favors from her pupil. Some of poems about sorceresses were quite pornographic and Elga wasn't to get the wrong idea.
While working in Bruce's workshop, Elga always treated Bruce with cautious respect. For days, she stood around while Bruce told her not to touch anything - just watch. Finally, Bruce moved her hand under his showing her the correct motion for sanding. Elga asked, "May I get to my own spinning?"
"Please, do," said Bruce, letting go of her hand. "You can instruct me in the evenings. Sif shall approve of us spending less time together. What she won't approve of is you using your spinning to get out of your household chores."
Elga swallowed.
"Why did you fear my wife more than I?" asked Bruce.
"Your wife is one of the few women to join the men in battle," explained Elga. "To be allowed into such a group, she must be fiercer than the men. I don't want to be blunt, but to handle a giant in the bedroom. I hurt just thinking about it."
Bruce nodded. "Go to your spinning."
That evening, while Bruce was rereading the letters Jane dropped off, he overheard Elga talk to Sif. "Your husband is extremely bright, more intelligent than Loki. And he isn't yet fifty. So young. But he doesn't have any magic. Frigga isn't wrong about these things, so she sees something I don't. Since your husband doesn't believe in magic and I've watched him for a week and witnessed no spontaneous magic, I'm going to go. I'm sorry for any inconvenience." Elga walked over to Bruce still sitting in his favorite chair. "I spoke to your wife."
Bruce said, "I heard."
"I'm leaving in the morn," said Elga.
"Would you like some dragon jerky for your trip?" Bruce smiled. "Please, take as much as you like."
"Load me up," said Elga. "Even if it tastes like leather, it will make a great souvenir. When I can tell people I evaluated a giant, I can give them a slice of jerky."
Sif said, "We had dragon steaks, then ate it in stews and ground it up for pies and casseroles. We even sold a lot of it when it was fresh. Made a good amount of gold. There isn't much of it left, but it's yours."
Elga's eyes got wide. "Bruce killed a dragon."
Sif said, "A farmer and I poked it while Bruce slammed it into the icy rock-hard ground until it was a broken mess."
"As in picked in up and smashed it into the ground?" asked Elga.
Bruce nodded.
"How big was this dragon?" asked Elga.
"Pretty big," said Sif.
"You aren't going to stay now?" asked Bruce.
"I'm not. It took three people to kill this dragon. Nothing to write home about. Bruce, I hope you have a long healthy life here on Asgard." Elga hugged Bruce then Sif.
After Elga left, Sif said, "That's the last of the dragon meat."
Bruce said, "What was all that about?"
"Heimdall wouldn't spy for Frigga," said Sif. "You're an outsider and you're nearly as brilliant as Jane. And you know how much Frigga hates Jane. Jane has a big palace to live in and she rather come here than share a roof with Frigga."
"Not true. Jane visits to drop off my mail from Misgard and to pick up the letters I'm sending to Misgard. She also likes talking science to me. She studies the very big while I was more interested in the very small. Misgard science still hasn't bridged the gap between big and small, giving us a theory on everything. Hank Pym seems to have bridged it. I wrote him a long letter and am waiting for his reply."
"Jane said your readings were low enough for you to visit Misgard."
"My best friend has his girlfriend write me," said Bruce. The letters were signed Tony and Pepper. "I wasn't an Avenger for very long, but they accepted me as one of their own. Thor is the only Avenger that isn't a mental case. I fitted right in."
"Did you just call Thor sane?"
Bruce smiled. "Don't tell him."