Chapter 24
Thor hadn't meant to upset Jane. All he'd wanted was to look out for her and Fenrir. Lately all of the dangers of this world had seemed more threatening than ever and not everyone had the power of thunder to aid them. It wasn't as if he was the only one to have concerns. Before leaving Asgard Frigga had come to Thor and made a point of reminding him that he would be Fenrir's caretaker now. Protecting Fenrir was his duty and, as for Jane, what self-respecting warrior wouldn't look after the safety of the woman he loved.
Even so, his actions had clearly made Jane unhappy and, for that, he was sorry. In his attempts to make amends, Thor had been making an effort to allow Fenrir and Jane time to get to know each other. This time excluding his presence completely. Jane had chosen to use the time to continue Fenrir's quest to embrace Midgardian culture. Thor had been thrilled when Fenrir told him about how they'd been spending their time together. And even though they watched several movies together that Thor had been hoping to see himself, Thor resisted the urge to go and join them. Despite such minor inconveniences, the plan seemed to have worked. Thor was pleased to see that the friendship between Jane and Fenrir seemed much stronger. He was also relived by the fact that they had decided to forgive him for overstepping.
Feeling reassured that he had mended any damage done to his relationships, Thor decided that he need no longer postpone his own plans for helping Fenrir to overcome his gloom. He waited until the fifth day of her visit, when he knew that Jane would be at a university sharing the results of her research with other scholars. Unfortunately he had forgotten that this was also the day that Stark had arranged for photographers to come and capture them all. Luckily the diversion was a brief one, and he was able to finish quickly enough.
Thor had barely been able to wait for Fenrir to get dressed before he was pulling him down the stairs and out the building. All the while telling him about the grand day that they had in store for him. The first thing he wanted to do was make sure that Fenrir knew how to get around.
"The tunnels are the best way to get around the city," Thor said, leading Fenrir down a flight of stairs. "Unless of course you are willing to reconsider flying." Thor looked hopefully over to Fenrir. Fenrir seemed to be making a point of not looking back at Thor as he continued down the flight of stairs. Once they reached the platform Thor continued his explanation.
"The approaching machine is called a subway," Thor said, speaking loudly over the approaching train. "It travels through the tunnels and can take you anywhere in the city." They waited for the train to stop and then stepped on. "According to Stark, the subways are all owned and operated by the makers of large sandwiches."
"Transportation and sandwiches?" Fenrir asked, trying to find a link between the two things.
"Yes. Midgardians are truly a versatile race," Thor said with a smile. They continued to stand in silence until they arrived at their destination, at which point Thor grabbed Fenrir by the arm and pulled him along.
Thor hurried Fenrir along to a large brown building. It was clear that Fenrir was unsure about where Thor was taking him, especially when he saw that they were heading to the center of a large crowd, but like always he followed Thor's lead. Thor quickly led Fenrir to a bench, once again surrounded by people, and indicated for him to sit down. Almost as soon as they were sitting a loud blaring sound came from behind them and groups of tall men came running out from all directions.
"Thor, what is this?" Fenrir asked, nervously sliding closer to his uncle.
"It's a competition," Thor said with a smile. "I found this place some time back. You have to understand that on Midgard people are limited in their options of questing. So they created these competitions as a way for the most skilled among them to distinguish themselves."
"So what are they doing?" Fenrir asked, looking down as the men began circling around one another and tossing something back and forth.
"They separate into two teams, and then they fight to get the orange ball through those nets at either end of the room," Thor explained. Just then one of the men managed to send the ball through the net and the crowd around them began cheering. "It's quite childish really." Thor whispered as the cheering died down. "But you have to remember how fragile the Midgardian body is."
About an hour and a half later the competition had ended and they were back on the train.
"It was enjoyable, but I'm still not sure I entirely understand the point," Fenrir said, as he watched yet another woman pretend to lose her balance and bump into Thor.
"I told you, the point is to get the ball through the net, and the team that does this the most is victorious," Thor said.
"But why are they putting the ball in the net at all?" Fenrir asked.
"Because that is how they achieve victory," Thor replied simply.
"Oh," Fenrir said, still feeling confused. "Are we heading back to the Tower now?" Fenrir asked, before Thor could try and explain it to him again.
"Not yet, there is still one more place I would like to show you before we return home," Thor said. It was another three stops before they got off of the train and it was clear to Fenrir immediately that this was going to be very different than the competition he had just witnessed.
"Come," Thor said, wrapping his arm around Fenrir. The entrance was marked by large metal gates and Fenrir couldn't help but stare as Thor led him through. Fenrir was still trying to figure out where Thor had taken him when he heard a familiar trumpeting behind him.
"Elephants?" Fenrir said in shock, as he walked over to an enclosure. Sure enough, behind a long fence, stood four elephants.
"How do you know of elephants?" Thor asked, walking up behind them.
"They were at the circus," Fenrir explained. "What are they doing here?"
"It's called a zoo. There are animals here from all over Midgard," Thor explained.
"War trophies?" Fenrir asked, still unable to look away from the elephants.
"I thought the same the first time I was here, but no. The owners of the zoo merely sent away for the animals," Thor said.
"Why are they here then?" Fenrir asked, finally looking away from the animals.
"To be admired, I suppose. Travel on Midgard is difficult. Some of these animals are on the other side of the planet and could never be seen without places like these," Thor said.
"That's nice," Fenrir said with a small smile. "It's very generous of the owner to allow people to come and see all of the animals. Do you think that we could thank him before we leave?"
"I believe that this place is actually owned by the leaders of New York, but I can speak to Pepper about relaying your thanks," Thor said, grabbing Fenrir by the wrist. "There are an entire realms worth of creatures here. I won't have you spend our whole day staring at just one."
With that Thor was pulling Fenrir across the park. Thor was pleased to see that, despite his initial confusion, Fenrir was fascinated with the different animals. The polar bears and penguins being especially entertaining. Soon they had seen over half of the park and were making their way through, what the signs called, the Safari Zone.
"The Sumatran Tiger," Fenrir read off of a plaque in front of him. "One of the most deadly predators in the world. It is a hunter which stalks its prey before bringing it down." Fenrir stopped in his reading and looked between the bars at the animal in front of them. The tiger was large and stretched out beneath a tree a few feet from the walls of the enclosure.
"She seems… bored," Fenrir said.
"That she does," Thor agreed, as the tiger yawned. "I'm sure she's just resting. Come, let's go and see more."
"It's not right," Fenrir said, kneeling down in front of the bars and looking at the tiger. "She's supposed to hunt. It's her nature. She should be a deadly predator and instead she's just sitting there with people looking at her all day."
"Don't worry Fenris, I've been assured that the animals here are very well taken care of," Thor said.
"Maybe," Fenrir said, quietly. "But she'd probably prefer to hunt down her food to someone giving it to her."
Thor frowned at the turn the conversation had taken. This trip had been meant to make Fenrir happy, and now it seemed to be making him act more somber than he'd been in days. Although, looking at the creature before him it wasn't hard to see Fenrir's point. Surely it was a shame to pen such a deadly animal.
"Perhaps she would enjoy an opportunity to embrace her instincts," Thor said, as an idea began to form.
"What do you mean by that?" Fenrir asked, sparing Thor a glance.
"How would you like to go on a hunt?" Thor asked.
"Like…Do you mean like the ones that you and my father would take me on? When I was little?" Fenrir asked. Thor smiled happily. This was something that he could truly get excited about. Sure competitions and trips out were nice. He would certainly do anything that would help Fenrir adjust to his new home. But a hunt was truly something to enjoy. Especially with such a formidable target.
"I'll go talk to the animal's keepers and see if I can arrange something," Thor said. Leaving Fenrir to watch the tiger and wait. He was quickly able to find an employee of the park and explained his request. The man initially laughed, which Thor thought was very rude, and then told him that hunting the animals was not allowed. Thor tried explaining that he thought that the animal would benefit from some sport, and them the man seemed to become very anxious. He annoyed Thor again when he told him to wait while he called his supervisor.
Thor went back to join Fenrir at the tiger cage while they waited for an answer to their request. Suddenly their silence was interrupted by Thor's cell phone.
"Hello," Thor said, answering his phone. "Pepper! It is good to hear from you. I thought you were spending the rest of this week in California." Fenrir watched as Thor took his call.
"Yes, we are at the zoo. How did you know that?" Thor said. Fenrir continued to watch, and saw Thor's face fall as he listened to what pepper had to say.
"I do not see how our request was so unreasonable," Thor said, before stopping to listen again. "Alright, I understand." Thor hung up his phone and turned sadly to Fenrir.
"It seems we are being asked to leave the zoo," Thor said, holding out a hand to Fenrir to help him up. Fenrir took one last look at the tiger before letting Thor lead him out of the park.
Thor couldn't help his foul mood on their trip home. This day had been meant to brighten Fenrir's outlook and not only had the park seemed to bring him sadness but then they had had to cut their day short for no reason at all. Thor hated to admit it but, even after three years on Midgard, he still wondered if he would ever be able to understand the people here.
They were jerks. His teammates were jerks and that's all there was to it. First they hadn't included him in their little group plan to make Fenrir happy. That would have been bad enough. But then when he'd actually tried to be a nice guy, what do they do, they stole his turn. They hadn't even let him get through one movie before everyone had shown up and taken over. Well Clint had learned his lesson. This time he was getting out of the Tower. That's right, he was kidnapping Fenrir! Again. Thor was off flying Jane around the city, or whatever it was they did on their dates. And judging by the explosion he'd heard in the labs earlier, both Bruce and Tony were busy. He just needed to make sure he avoided interception by Steve on the way out of the building and he was set. It was now or never.
"Fenrir," Clint said, when he found him in the library. "Grab shoes. Let's go." Fenrir stared questioningly at Clint for a minute before he silently got up to get his shoes.
Clint was glad to see that Fenrir was willing to just go along with things since it would save them a lot of time and lower their risk of being spotted on their way out. Fenrir did hesitate a little when he realized that they were actually going to be leaving the building, but still kept following so that made things easier. Clint was actually surprised that they were able to get inside a cab before Fenrir finally started asking questions.
"Where are we going?" Fenrir asked, looking out the window and watching the Tower disappear.
"Carnival," Clint said.
"A carnival? Like the… kind with rides and games?" Fenrir asked.
"You have those on Asgard?" Clint asked, surprised. This was not what Clint wanted to hear. He'd thought that this was going to be a novelty.
"No, we don't have them on Asgard. But Jane has been showing me movies," Fenrir explained. "The carnival seems to be a popular activity for, um, for people in movies."
"Well there's a reason for that," Clint said. Looking over at Fenrir he thought that it was a little strange that the other man suddenly seemed even more nervous than when they'd left the Tower. But then, most of the things that Fenrir did were pretty strange so he decided to ignore it.
The cab ride ended up taking almost a half hour longer than Clint had thought it would so it was already late afternoon by the time they even got to the fair grounds. As soon as they got out Clint began to worry that he might have made a mistake. The crowd at the fair was huge and Fenrir didn't seem all that eager to join in. Looking around to take in all of the flashing lights and noises, Clint made his decision.
They were already here. If it was a problem then they could go back. Besides, Fenrir needed to get used to people eventually. He couldn't spend his entire, ridiculously long, life stuck in the Tower. Clint reached out and took a hold of Fenrir's hand. Leading him through the stalls he made a beeline for the first thing that he thought might calm Fenrir down.
"Here," Clint said, handing Fenrir the cone as he paid the vendor.
"Cotton candy?" Fenrir said, taking the treat.
"What's wrong? I know you liked the one you had at the circus," Clint said.
"No I-I did. I just thought," Fenrir looked up at Clint and then looked back at the cotton candy. "This is nice. Thank you."
That was weird. Clint thought as he tried to figure out the look Fenrir had just given him. Was Clint being nice still such a shock? He decided that he was just going to have to work even harder to make this day count.
"Well, eat that fast, we have a lot to do," Clint said, beginning to scout out the rides. He decided to hit some of the easier rides first. Always a classic way to start the fair, and the bumper cars were a surprising success. Fenrir had even stopped giving Clint those weird looks, which had to mean he was enjoying himself.
They continued making their way through the rides when Fenrir saw the carousel. There was no line so Clint couldn't think of a reason not to so they headed for the gate. As soon as he saw Fenrir jump onto a horse Clint knew he was in trouble and fought the urge to laugh. Naturally Fenrir noticed.
"What?" Fenrir asks.
"Nothing," Clint said, immediately realizing that Fenrir wasn't going to let him get away without answering. "I was just wondering if your dad's love of horses runs in the family?" Fenrir's face turned bright red, which was actually a nice change considering how pale he usually was.
"That story isn't true you know," Fenrir said.
"Hey, I don't judge," Clint said, jumping onto the horse next to Fenrir. "What happens in the stables stays in the stables." Fenrir just stared at him and, for a moment Clint worried he'd pushed the joke too far, but then Fenrir seemed to roll his eyes. So Clint figured he was off the hook.
Once off Clint stopped to buy Fenrir a soft pretzel before heading to his favorite part of any fair. The games. Clint stopped and bought a wheel of tickets and then they were off. Fenrir tried a few and actually didn't do too bad; for someone who was playing honestly. As for him, he won every one he played. Just like always.
"There's a trick to it, isn't there?" Fenrir asked, after Clint was handed his fifth prize stuffed animal.
"I'm just talented," Clint insisted.
"No," Fenrir said, looking back at the game Clint had just won. "They did something. No one should be able to beat these games, but you did."
"Well, yeah, they're rigged so they don't have to give out as many prizes," Clint explained, making a beeline for the milk bottle tent.
"So how do you beat them?" Fenrir asked again.
"Like I said, I'm talented," Fenrir gave him a suspicious look. "That and I used to help rig games just like these. I know all the tricks."
"How do you beat this one?" Fenrir asked, when they reached the next game. "You're supposed to knock those bottles down, but they've clearly been secured."
Clint handed over his tickets and took a baseball from the man behind the counter. "Watch and learn," He said taking aim at the bottles.
An armful of prizes later and they had successfully hit every game booth that the fair had to offer. After Fenrir asked, what exactly Clint was going to do with all of them, Clint decided that it was time to reveal the next part of his plan for the day. He led Fenrir to the back of the fair and found the trailer he was looking for. He handed off all of the prizes that he had won to the man at the door and motioned for Fenrir to follow him inside.
"Pick one," Clint said, waving his hand at the pile or huge stuffed animals. Fenrir gave him a confused look so Clint decided to explain. "You can trade a bunch of little prizes in for a big one."
"Yes, I saw the sign at the door," Fenrir said, still staring at him.
"So what's the problem?" Clint asked.
"I didn't win anything," Fenrir said.
"Yeah, I'm giving you mine," Clint said. There was the look again! Clint couldn't figure out what had brought it on this time. Were you not supposed to share prizes on Asgard?
"Listen," Clint said, deciding to try a different tactic. "Winning the prizes is the fun part. I already did that. I don't really need another giant teddy bear. So pick one you like and I'll meet you outside."
Clint hurried to step out the door before Fenrir could argue. He had a feeling if he wasn't there then Fenrir would take a prize rather than risk being rude. Then again, Clint had to admit that, he didn't have any clue what was going on with Fenrir. For a little while they'd actually seemed to be having fun, and now they were right back to where they'd been when they'd gotten here. Clint didn't have much more time to try and figure Fenrir out since Fenrir emerged from the trailer soon after.
"You picked a horse?" Clint asked, when he saw the stuffed animal Fenrir was carrying.
"I am my father's son after all," Fenrir said, with a smirk. Clint was too impressed by the fact that Fenrir had just made a joke to respond, and just led him away from the trailer. A part of him did wonder if Thor would find the whole thing as amusing as he did, but there was time to worry about how badly Thor would react later. For now, he had something more important to think about. And that thing was dinner.
"I'm going to need you and the horse to stay here and guard this spot," Clint said, when he managed to find an open picnic table.
"What am I guarding it from?" Fenrir said, looking around.
"The tables are going to be in high demand this close to dinner. If we don't want to eat sitting in the grass one of us needs to stay here and make sure no one else claims it," Clint said.
"If it's so close to dinner shouldn't we be heading back? I think Thor was planning for me to eat with Jane and him," Fenrir said.
"Did he tell you that?" Clint asked.
"Well, no, but-" Fenrir said.
"So you blow him off and eat here. Food'll be better anyway," Clint said, heading off to get in line.
It took five trays, and two guys to help carry them, to get all his food back to the table but it was definitely worth it when he saw the look of awe on Fenrir's face. Or maybe it was just a look of hunger, but the point was that it was a good look.
"That is a lot of food," Fenrir said, staring transfixed at a plate of tacos.
"Yes it is. I tried to get some of everything," Clint replied.
"Isn't that expensive?" Fenrir asked, seemingly forcing himself to look away from the table.
"Don't worry, Tony agreed to treat for this," Clint insisted. Which was, okay, maybe not entirely true. What Tony had actually done was leave a credit card abandoned on the gym floor. But Clint took the fact that Tony hadn't canceled the card in the year he'd been using it to mean that it was meant as a gift.
"Besides, carnival food is one of the greatest things that this planet has to offer. I'd be insulting the planet if I didn't make sure that you try it all," Clint said, grabbing a hot dog and offering it over. Fenrir seemed to hesitate, but then a breeze sent the smell of all the food straight at him and all arguments were worthless.
Naturally, since Clint is a genius and fair food is delicious, Fenrir loved all of the greasy foods that the carnival had to throw at them. Between the two of them they were able to clear the entire table. Clint even had to go back for seconds on the deep fried peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. And Clint approved of anyone who would go back for seconds on the deep fried pb&j.
Clint had considered not going for dessert, but then Fenrir admitted that Thor wasn't buying him takeout. Apparently all of the Earth foods he's been giving him were things that would be somewhat familiar. Knowing that, Clint really didn't have any choice but to grab some deep fried snickers bars and funnel cakes.
Once they had eaten as much grease and oil as their bodies could tolerate, it was time to get moving again. Fenrir seemed to be on the verge of a food coma so Clint knew that he had to get him moving quick or they were going to be done. So, grabbing Fenrir by the back of his shirt to get him moving, Clint led them away from the picnic tables and back over to the rides.
"So I was thinking that you should try at least one rollercoaster before we leave," Clint said. "I know that you can hear it creak when it goes around turns, but that's really part of the experience." Clint looked over to see what Fenrir thought of the idea. At least Fenrir didn't look like he was going to fall asleep anymore. Admittedly he now looked like he was going to puke up everything he'd just eaten, but at least he was awake.
"Or we could digest and do something else first," Clint offered. Fenrir just nodded his agreement and looked relieved.
Clint slung an arm around Fenrir's shoulders and began walking him down the aisles. And just like that Fenrir closed off again. What was going on? Clint couldn't figure out what it was he had done wrong this time but clearly Fenrir was uncomfortable. He was just going to have to be more obviously friendly. Try and make him believe that this trip wasn't going to end with Clint throwing him off of the Ferris wheel. Although, Ferris wheel wasn't such a bad thought.
Clint led Fenrir the rest of the way over to the ride and they waited in line. Fenrir was looking even worse than he had a few moments earlier and Clint was actually starting to get nervous. Could some of the food have actually made Fenrir sick? Thor had never gotten sick and he'd eaten pretty much everything anyone ever threw at him.
Clint tried to get Fenrir to tell him what was wrong, but every time he tried asking a question all he got were nods. Finally they made their way to the front of the line and began the slow climb to the top. Fenrir was grabbing the safety bar like he thought someone was going to flip their seat upside down.
"You sure you're feeling alright," Clint asked again.
"I… I don't really like being up high," Fenrir admitted, gripping the safety bar even tighter.
"Well why didn't you tell me that before?" Clint asked. No wonder Fenrir looked like he was about to pass out. He was afraid of heights.
"It's not a long ride," Clint insisted, trying to help Fenrir calm down. "We'll be off before you know it."
"I, I'm fine," Fenrir said, staring straight ahead.
Putting an arm around Fenrir, Clint smiled and said, "Don't worry, it's completely safe. I wouldn't let you fall." This didn't seem to do anything to help the situation. Fenrir stared at Clint for so long that Clint was pretty sure he'd somehow managed to make things worse.
As they were finally approaching the top Clint had to admit that the ride had been a big mistake. Fenrir looked terrible and was probably going to be sick as soon as they hit the ground. Clint decided that he should probably cut his losses and take Fenrir back home as soon as they got off the ride. Clint turned to tell Fenrir the plan for heading out and saw that Fenrir was staring at him again.
"What's up?" Clint asked.
"Alright," Fenrir said, to himself. Then, before Clint could figure out what he was talking about, Fenrir leaned over and kissed him.
AN: That seems like a good place to leave things. Be sure and let me know what you think.