Disclaimer: I do not own Thor, or Marvel, and this story is not for profit.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who favorited or followed the story since last chapter! I appreciate the support. And a special thanks to the people who reviewed the last chapter, velvetSunset, kristina44, kaybal3, Kate Elizabeth Black. Your reviews were all super sweet and they definitely help me write faster. Also, I'm super nervous now, because at this point in the story things are starting to get... well... different. I hope you all don't hate it. Anyways, let me know. And I -hope- that you all will enjoy. :)

Chapter 20: Arrivals

What a strange land was Lorelai Anastasia Haraldsdottir's first thought upon arriving in a place she had only imagined in her dreams; images that were conjured from the memories of her father and the cold assessments of her ex-king.

At first glance the whole world looked like it had been painted by someone who only had the colors green and blue. Tall blades of sharp green grass reached up to touch an endless soft blue sky.

Lora remembered having experienced a similar feeling to the one she was having now, when she had been just a little girl and her mother had taken her on a day trip to the sea.

She remembered the view being entirely of water up until where it met the horizon.

It had been beautiful, but terrifying as well.

She had the same feeling now looking at this prairie land.

Upon a closer look she saw that there were millions of more colors than just green and blue, but gold and brown and purple in the little flowers that grew closer to the ground.

Beautiful, she thought. Not the concrete jungle he had told her about, but breathtaking in its own right.

"Lora, are you just going to stand there like a bilgesnipe seeing a spear for the first time, or are you coming? We're hours and hours away from the city."

As usual, it was impossible to have any thoughts that weren't logical around her roommates.

"I'm coming," she told Dagny and Erica as she picked up her bag and they followed the smuggler.

The man who had transported them to Midgard had transported them to this spot to avoid anyone finding out. Inter-realm travel was still a dream for many people, and not really allowed in Asgard without Heimdall or the King's permission. So it had to be done with extreme secrecy.

After the smuggler had transported them, it had been about an hour when he led them to a paved road where a human man was waiting next to a device she assumed was for transportation.

The smuggler had a network of a few trustworthy Midgardians who earned money for doing things that he needed done.

"Hi." The man said, smiling at them when they were close enough.

Lorelai held her breath as she saw a fellow human for the first time.

Strange to say, he didn't seem that different from most of the grubbier Asgardian men, aside from his clothing. He was wearing a shirt that left his arms bare, and tight blue breeches that had dirt on them. He had sandy blond hair, and one hand over his eyes to keep out the afternoon sun.

"I guess I'm supposed to give you ladies a lift the airport. The closest one is in Kansas City, and that's about a two-hour ride. Smuggler here says you all have an 8:00 flight to New York City. We best be going now."

My Gods, Lora thought, "airport," "flight," "Kansas"; I feel like I'm a child again who reads a book but only understands half the words.

He took their bags from them and put them into his "pickup truck" while Smuggler gave the twins and Lorelai a number of someone on Midgard to call if they needed him for some reason, provided he was on Earth at the time. It was a possibility that actually seemed very likely; as they had made the journey they had learned that the Smuggler had a Midgardian girlfriend that he lived with while he was on Earth. She tried not to dwell on that, but couldn't help thinking about the irony.

The twins wanted to sit in the back because they had some paper work and legal things to look over to insure that their arrival in New York went smoothly, so Lorelai sat in the front with the man who said his name was Jason.

While he drove across the road that went through the grass sea, he tried to answer all of her questions as best he could about Midgard and Midgardian life. He gave her what felt like a lot of helpful information about starting a new life here in what he told her was the kingdom of 'Merica.

She learned about him on the ride as well. He was thirty-seven years old, and had a young wife who was pregnant with their second child, the first being a young three-year old girl.

"I do this for the extra money, you know, since I got another kid on the way and one already in little tennis shoes. For their college and stuff. They aren't going to have an excuse not to go, or to drop out like their dad."

"You dropped out of school?" His words had struck a resonant chord, and she was even more interested now. A childish part of her wanted to yell, "me too!" but she guessed that it wasn't something the man was actually really proud of, and neither was she.

"Yeah. I lost my football scholarship for doing some stupid things, and I couldn't afford to pay for it without, so I dropped out, and started painting houses for a living."

"I'm sorry."

"Me too. I'm not complaining, though. I've got a beautiful wife and baby girl, and I don't mind painting much. I wish I had stayed in school though, because painting, it's hard work, and not a whole lotta pay. But once it's too late, it's too late. And you have to try to make do with what's left over."

She turned to look out at the purple sunset as she let his words turn over in her head.

Lora turned her head back when she heard Jason laughing to himself.

"What it is it?" she asked.

"I just figured I must have given ya something to think about. That's the first time you've stopped looking at me like I was an animal in the zoo all afternoon."

"Oh, uh," she started, but he cut her off before she could embarrass herself further.

"It's O.K.," he said, "I understand. Seein' a human for the first time ever. Most people like you end up being disappointed. We're not really that different from you, are we?"

"No," Lora whispered, looking back out the window, "no, you aren't."