I have gotten so much great feedback on these last few chapters that I just wanted to write a brief author's note to say thank you. This series really is a labor of love for me, and though I do not have personal experience with all of the disabilities and illnesses portrayed here, I sincerely try my best to do the research and portray them accurately and respectfully. Everything you guys are saying about this story really warms my heart and encourages me to continue writing and striving for this level of quality. So thank you, and I hope my work continues to live up to your expectations.

Thor IV: Ratatoskr

Valkyrie adapted seamlessly into the family dynamic. She accompanied Thor everywhere, and they all felt safer knowing she was there to help him should he seize. But one thing quickly became evident. Valkyrie did not very much like Hela. Thor and Loki found this endlessly amusing. Hela tried at first to get into the dog's good graces, sneaking her food under the table and offering to play with her beer bottle. But Valkyrie ignored the offerings of food and took her toy and marched it away from Hela every time she tried. Eventually, Hela gave up and the two just glared like the other murdered their entire family every time they saw each other.

Thor suspected Hela was jealous that he got to bring his dog in public while Fenris had to stay home. But that was the whole point of a seizure response dog—bringing her everywhere.

"Does the dog have to come?" Hela asked grumpily when the three Odinson kids piled into the car with Mor to go back to school shopping.

"Yes," Mor said sternly. "Thor, you remembered her vest, right?"

"Yes." Valkyrie had accepted the vest eagerly, as if she knew it marked her as a dog with a very important job.

Hela grumbled and crossed her arms, but made no further complaints.

"You mewling quim," Loki spat.

Hela's face distorted into a display of pure spite and she smacked her youngest brother across the arm. Thor was glad he made Loki sit in the middle so he wasn't caught in the crossfire. He scratched Valkyrie's ears and pretended not to notice. Ever since they came home from training, Loki had been borderline obsessed with Valkyrie. At least twice a day he asked if he could play with her and her stuffed beer bottle, and he fluffed her bed every morning when she got up and started following Thor. Well, Thor thought it was Loki. He doubted Valkyrie knew how to fluff her own bed, and he certainly wasn't the one doing it.

This shopping trip looked a little different than usual because Hela was preparing not just for another year of school, but to move out. She and Mor spent ages going through aisles for things like sheets and towels, and Thor and Loki quickly grew bored. So, inevitably, Loki encouraged Thor to sneak away and let him straight to the toy aisle. "Lackey, don't break an…any-thing," Thor said. He didn't want to explain to Mor why he let his brother cause mischief.

"I'm not your lackey. If anything, you're my lackey."

"You knaw..know what…I meant," Thor grumbled. Honestly, he should just stop trying with his brother's name. Every time he tried and botched it, he only grew more frustrated, and that only made him mess it up more. Loki started looking at action figures of different animals, and he picked up a horse. Thor watched him carefully in case he tried to steal it. Some random person walked into the aisle and stared, wide-eyed, at Valkyrie. He stepped closer to her and stared right back at the woman, daring her to say something. The woman shook her head and walked past them to the other end of the aisle.

"That was weird," Loki remarked.

"Some…people have never…seen a ser-vice dog."

"There you boys are," Mor said, appearing at the end of the aisle. "Don't run off like that again."

"I told you they'd be here," Hela grumbled. Loki stuck his tongue out at her. Thor wasn't sure if he was excited for Hela to move out or afraid because she and Mor were the only people who could ever put Loki in check.

~0~

Never a huge fan for familial sentimentality, Hela tried to get Far to leave without making her say goodbye, but he refused. "We're not going anywhere until you say farewell to your brothers."

"Fine," she relented. "Loki, for the love of all that matters in this world, don't steal anything I left in my room. I will know and I will kill you."

"Love you too, sis," he quipped back.

"Thor." Valkyrie hopped to her feet as Hela approached, eyeing her suspiciously. "I'm glad you're back home and I hope you have a great year." Then she added, "Valkyrie, take good care of him."

As if in answer, Valkyrie walked a circle around Thor's feet and planted herself once again beside him. Hela hugged Mor goodbye and at Far's request of, "Let's get this show on the road," headed out the door. Fenris, who'd gotten his own long goodbye before Thor or Loki, watched them go forlornly from the window. Thor and Loki exchanged one quick glance and immediately tore off to Hela's room.

"Boys! No property destruction!" Mor called after them.

"Okay!" Loki shouted back. Hela hadn't even left that much behind, packing most of it to bring with her to university, but it was the novelty of standing in her room without threat of having something hurled at their heads that entranced them. Loki immediately started jumping on her bed. Valkyrie watched him with fascination, and then looked to Thor as if expecting him to do the same. He wanted to, but he also knew that he was likely to get too excited and bounce high enough to hit his head on the ceiling. Thor didn't come home from the hospital just to put himself in a position to get more brain damage.

"Watch Hela come…home be-cause she forgot…something and bust you," Thor remarked.

Loki started spinning in circles mid-bounce, and then he plopped down to a seat in the middle of Hela's bed. Hers was nearly twice the size of their twin beds. Thor had always been jealous that she got the best room all to herself while he and Loki had to share. Whenever he complained, Mor and Far retaliated with the same argument: "She's the oldest and the only girl." Thor couldn't argue with that. Loki tried, but he always failed. Back at Gravesen, Thor had his own room, but he found he actually didn't like it all that much. He missed being able to whisper stupid nonsense late at night just to make Loki laugh.

Already bored with infiltrating Hela's room, they decided to play outside instead. "Fenris, wanna come?" Loki asked, holding the door open. The dog didn't even glance away from his position at the window. It was kind of sad, watching him wait for Hela to come home knowing she'd be away for such a long time. "Come on boy, wanna play? It'll cheer you up." Reluctantly, he stood and grabbed his favorite knot of rope and carried it up to Loki. Thor grabbed Valkyrie's beer bottle and together they made their way to the backyard.

The difference between the two dogs' play styles was startling, probably attributable to their breeds' history. Valkyrie could play fetch for hours, dropping the toy obediently at Thor's feet every time she brought it back. Fenris, on the other hand, refused to ever let his teeth unclench from the toy trapped in his jaws. Not even Far could get it away from him if he was really playing. One time, when Fenris was just a puppy, Far picked up a toy and Fenris came with it, hanging by only his jaws.

On another memorable occasion, Fenris played such a hardcore game of tug-of-war with Loki that he pulled the kid off his feet and dragged him around the yard for almost a full minute. Thor didn't think he'd ever laughed that hard. He picked up Valkyrie's beer bottle and hurled it as far as he could without entering the neighbor's yard. She dashed after it, barely slowed down to pick it up, and returned it to Thor's feet. "Good girl," he said as he picked it up to throw it again.

"Can we switch?" Loki asked.

"Sure." Thor loved a good tug-of-war with Fenris. He tossed the beer bottle and took the loose end of the rope in his hand when Loki dropped it. Fenris's green eyes fixed on him and he dug his paws into the grass, leaning back with all his weight. Thor did the same. Valkyrie bounded back with her toy and dropped it beside Thor, looking up at him expectantly. Loki picked up the bottle and tossed it. Once again, Valkyrie brought it back to Thor. She seemed affronted when Loki threw it again, but she still played. Thor laughed aloud. Just as Fenris had always preferred Hela, Valkyrie had a clear favorite. But it was her job to love and protect Thor the most.

"I think we need another dog," Loki remarked. "One who will like me the best. Even Far has his ravens at the cabin."

"Then you…con-vince Mor and Far," Thor said. He doubted they'd spring for a third dog, especially when they'd just gotten the kid population of their house down to two.

"You're right. That'll never work." He paused for a moment, then pointed to a squirrel in a nearby tree. "Ratatoskr!" he called, the name of the squirrel in Norse mythology who carried messages across the world tree Yggdrasil. The squirrel perked up at the sudden outburst and looked right at Loki. "That's my new pet."

The newly-christened Ratatoskr scampered down the tree and across the lawn. Fenris immediately let go of his rope toy and gave chase. Valkyrie returned to Thor's side and sat down, watching the spectacle unfold. The squirrel was fast, but Fenris was just as fast. He leapt for safety in a tree, and Fenris's more muscular hind legs propelled him after the small rodent. A flash of teeth and an aborted squeak later, Fenris waltzed up to Thor with a very dead squirrel in his mouth as if waiting for him to resume tug-of-war with this new toy.

"Not it," Thor said.

"What do we do?"

"Wait for him…to drop it. We can't…let him bring it…in the house."

"How long's that going to take?"

Forty five minutes, apparently. Fenris paraded that squirrel around the yard, even offered to share it with Valkyrie at one point. She almost agreed to partake, but Thor told her no and she obeyed. When he finally dropped it, Loki picked it up by the tail and swung it far away. They both went inside, washed their hands thoroughly, and agreed not to breathe a word of the incident to anybody.

That night at dinner, Mor broached a subject Thor had hoped she never would again. "I'm only going to say this once. You both need a haircut before school starts."

"No!" Thor and Loki instantly said. Thor had been growing his hair out for years and he had no intention of cutting it shorter anytime soon. It seemed Loki had the same goal, arguing with Mor every time she brought up getting his hair cut. His wasn't nearly as long as Thor's yet, but at this rate he'd catch up in a year or two.

"Why not?" Mom asked exasperatedly.

"My hair is mah…my pride," Thor said. "Nuh-no…bo…dy cuts my…pride."

"Yeah," Loki echoed.

Mor threw her hands up. "Fine. No haircut. But if it ever gets tangled, I'm not helping."

~0~

Thor couldn't wait to bring Valkyrie to school with him. Even though they couldn't play in the middle of class, just having here there would probably make him less bored. On that first morning, he combed his hair—and Valkyrie's too—and put on her vest. He was doubly excited because this would be the first time he saw his friends since returning from Gravesen and since he got Valkyrie. They'd all been traveling or otherwise busy the entire summer, and Thor missed them like crazy. But now that he was so far from them, he also missed his Gravesen friends. The time difference made interacting with them a little difficult, but he kept up to speed in the group chat and contributed plenty of Valkyrie pictures for them to look at.

"Have a great day," Mor told them.

"I will," Thor said. "Thanks Mor."

He clipped a leash onto Valkyrie's vest, per the school's rule, but it was a stupid rule since she never left his side anyways, and waltzed into the building with his head held high. Thor knew his peers had noticed his absence—because his presence had always been rather loud and noticeable—and many of them smiled and waved or even offered him high-fives now that he was back. Still, Thor kept his responses to nods or smiles because he didn't want to reveal his inability to speak. Only his close friends knew about that, because all their parents talked to his parents on a regular basis. Thor found Sif, Hogun, Fandral, and Volstagg in their usual spot in the hallway.

"Thor!" Hogun called eagerly. He was first in line for a reunion hug. They were all eager to see him.

"It's been too long, my friend," Fandral said.

"It has," Thor sighed. He couldn't wipe the smile off his face if he tried. Sif didn't hug him, instead stood with her arms crossed and surveyed him as if checking to make sure he was really Thor and not an imposter. Then she turned her gaze to Valkyrie and her brows magically unfurrowed.

"Oh my God, can I pet her?" she asked.

Thor froze. "No…sorry. She's working."

"That's right, I'm sorry. But she's beautiful."

"Thanks."

"Man, how have you been?" Volstagg asked between bites. Thor couldn't even tell what he was putting into his mouth, but he didn't think Volstagg much cared.

Thor shrugged. "Eh."

"That's an eloquent way to put it," Fandral remarked.

"It was a long…time to be…away from…home," he said, focusing extra hard to get the words out right. His friends clearly noticed the dramatic change in his speech pattern, but they didn't point it out or belittle him for it.

"Well, we're certainly glad you're back," Hogun said as he clapped a hand on Thor's shoulder.

Thor smiled. "Glad to be back. You guys didn't have…too much fun with-out me?"

"Not at all," Sif said with a smirk.