Bergljot didn't exactly consider herself a people person. Though she observed how people tended to act, it wasn't as if she understood what she was seeing. She often found herself rather confused by how people acted. But she had at least thought she got a handle on the King's Crew.

Today was making her think that perhaps she was wrong though. Not only did they all seem to be acting strangely, but they were avoiding her as well. They had been ever since they'd gotten back from the quests King Astro had sent them on.

Another tear in the boundary opened up and allowed even more creatures from Tartarus to slip though, and Astro had to mobilize quite a few warriors to dispatch them. The area they'd been sent to had been swarmed by the largest number of them, and for a moment it looked like they would be overwhelmed.

They had managed to hold their ground however, completely wiping out the opposition and keeping any of the creatures from reaching the nearby village. On the way back Lacerta had said something to everyone, excluding her, and she'd been getting odd stares from them ever since.

It unnerved her being left out of the loop, and not knowing what was going on. They weren't even trying to hide it all that well either. Whispering and looking right at her as she made it known she was clearly very much aware of what they were doing. If they cared at all they didn't show it however. They just snickered about it.

She thought about demanding an answer out of them, but she knew that wouldn't really work. If anything they'd just be all smug about it and annoy her. She didn't want to try to go snooping around to try and find out either. She didn't want to look shady or suspicious to the King or the royal family.

So she decided to wait and just bide her time.

Thankfully she didn't have to wait very long.

"Hey, come with me."

Bergljot looked up from her weapon, which she had been sharpening, and saw Lacerta standing over her. She raised an eyebrow at him. "Why?" she asked.

He scowled. "Because I said so."

She scowled right back. "Try again."

The two redheads glared at one another for a few moments, and then Lacerta smirked and crossed his arms. "You want to know what we've been keeping from ya, right?" he asked, crossing his arms. The look she grew on her face told him he was right. "If you want us to finally tell ya, then c'mon."

He turned and began walking off, and with a grunt, Bergljot got up and began following after him. She was ready to see just what this was all about. "If this is something stupid, I'm gonna knock your teeth out," she warned.

He waved her off. "Yeah yeah, don't get pissy. Just c'mon."

The two made their way through the castle, going up to the roof. Bergljot felt a bit weary about all this. The idea that this could be some sort of prank or trap kept popping up in her head. They got up to the roof, and she saw the rest of the King's Crew waiting around.

Dagon wore a scowl on his face, while Raza smiled when two. Pavo sat with his eyes closed as he hummed to himself, and Ravana just looked bored. The one who really surprised her however was Vander. The boy sometimes tagged along with them, but she was still surprised to see him here. Hati was laying off to the side, but rose his head when he caught her scent.

"Here comes the guest of honor," Pavo said.

"Cool, she's here. Can we get this over with now?" Ravana asked.

Vander bounced up and down excitedly. "Yeah! This is gonna be awesome!"

Bergljot looked around confused as Hati made his way over and nuzzled her. "What's going on? What's happening?" she asked, patting the wolf. This didn't seem like a prank or anything, Ravana definitely wouldn't have been a part of it. So what was the deal?

Lacerta walked in between everyone and then stomped his foot. "What's going on is that we had a tear in the boundary the other day, and more of those creatures from Tartarus slipped through," he said. "And as usual, as the King's Crew we got together and handled shit. Because that's what we do."

"Hell yeah," Dagon said, smirking.

Lacerta continued to pace around between everyone. "And, when shit got rough, we toughed it out. No surprise there. But, someone toughed it out a little more than the rest of us. Never let it be said your future king doesn't recognize credit where it's due," he said before suddenly pointing to Bergljot. "Bergljot, weird as it is to say, showed the hell out on that mission. And that's why we're here."

Bergljot looked even more confused. It sounded like… like Lars was giving her credit. Which was strange. Even when he did compliment her on something, it was usually backhanded. Or followed up by a statement on how he could have done better. "My old man always said the battlefield is where you find who's really got your back. And, you had ours. So we're here to give you props."

Bergljot was silent for a moment, and then cleared her throat. "T-thanks, I guess," she said. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to do now. Did they really all gather here just to make a show of thanking her? All she did was what she always did. Fight.

"I ain't finished, so don't thank us yet," Lacerta said before looking towards Pavo. The Incubus pulled something from behind his back and tossed it towards Lacerta, who caught it before holding it up. "Bottle of giant slayer, right from my old man's cellar." He could honestly make a trip to the giant tribe and get some for himself, but sniping it from his old man always made it taste better.

Raza sighed. "King Astro is gonna be annoyed, isn't he?"

"Oh! I wanna sip!" Vander said.

Ravana put a hand on his head. "Don't get ahead of yourself kid. You know how potent that stuff is," she warned.

Bergljot knew too. The gods had plenty of wine and other forms of alcohol, not that she had been allowed to try them very often. But Giant Slayer was by far the strongest of anything she had ever had. "What's going on? Why'd you bring me here?" she asked.

"Because we took a vote, and we decided that since you're actually kind of useful and you keep tagging along anyway… that we might as well make it official," Lacerta said.

She still looked confused, but then Ravana spoke up. "They… we want you to join the King's crew. By like our dumb official rules or whatever," she explained.

Bergljot raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"You may have been tagging along with us, but that didn't make it official. We have rules after all," Pavo said. "For a new member to join, we all need to have a vote. And then we have a ceremony, with all members present."

Raza stepped forward and then set a number of mugs down. "Yep, we all share a drink of giant slayer. The drink of titans. It's a tradition," he said.

"I didn't vote for you by the way! I was totally against this!" Dagon spat bitterly.

"He's lying. The vote has to be unanimous. He bitched about it for like five seconds and then he caved," Ravana said. Dagon scowled at his sister who reached down and grabbed her mug. "This whole thing is stupid if you ask me, but at least I get to drink so…"

Bergljot shook her head. "Wait, hold on… you're saying you want me to be part of the King's Crew?" she asked. "Like, permanently."

"Well, the general idea is that the King's Crew for life, so if you die I suppose that's an out," Pavo said, shrugging his shoulders. "Doesn't seem likely for you, but hey."

Bergljot looked down at the mug in front of her for a moment. "I… I'm not a titan."

"Neither is this one," Lacerta said, nodding towards Vander.

Vander huffed. "Not yet! Give me a couple of years!"

"I'm not even a monster. I'm a god. I'm from the Norse," Bergljot pointed out. "Eventually I'm gonna have to go back to my Pantheon. I can't… I can't stay here forever."

Lacerta grunted. "Yeah, you being a god made it sort of iffy. But we talked about it and decided that since you're just barely badass enough, we'd let it slide. And so what if you go back? We don't stop being part of the crew just because we separate. That's not how that shit works," he said.

Bergljot narrowed his eyes. "So how does it work? Because if you just want me to help you become king then-"

"I don't need ANYBODY to help me become King," Lacerta said sternly. "Being part of this doesn't mean you just watch my back, it means you watch everyone's back. Which, I'm willing to admit, you've been doing for a while. I thought you'd slow us down, and I'm willing to admit that… I was mostly wrong."

"Don't you mean completely wrong?"

"I know what I said." Bergljot kept staring down at the mug, and then Lacerta leaned on her shoulder. "So, what's the call? Are you part of the crew, or are you just going to keep on playing tagalong. I mean, I made the offer. So you can't say shit about me never doing anything nice for you."

Bergljot looked hesitant. This had sort of caught her off guard. The Norse, the people who were supposed to be her own, didn't trust her. Not that she blamed them, but… it was making this weird feeling grow in her stomach. She wasn't sure if she liked it or not.

"Hey, are you joining or not?! I'm thirsty here!" Dagon complained.

Bergljot looked back up at Lacerta. "What happens when I get back to Asgard?"

"Then you go back to Asgard, dummy," Lacerta said as if it was obvious. "What about this aren't you getting? You can go the fuck home, you're still gonna be part of the crew. Sharing a drink together is like… symbolic and shit. Them bonds don't break easily."

"But what if something happens?" she asked, looking unusually worried. She quickly caught the slip up. "When… when I'm not here I mean."

"If something happens here, then come help us," Pavo said simply. "And if something happens on Asgard, then we'll come help you. It's as simple as that."

Bergljot looked around at the others, who were all looking back at her either expectedly or impatiently. Hati nudged her side, and she reached down and scratched him behind the ears. "I… I'll join," she said.

"Because you want to, or because we grilled you about it? Because if-"

"I want to," Bergljot said, cutting Raza off. "I wanna be part of the King's Crew."

Lacerta stared back at her to make sure she was serious, and then smirked. "Alright then. Lets fill em up," the said, popping the bottle open. Everyone moved in closer and held them mugs together, except Vander who had a much smaller cup compared to the others.

"Hey! Why is mine so tiny?!"

"Because you're tiny!" Dagon laughed.

"In a couple years he'll probably be bigger than you…" Ravana said.

"Shut up!"

Lacerta filled everyone's mugs up to the brim, and then poured some in the bowl he had brought out for Hati. "Alright you assholes, drink up and celebrate the newbie joining our ranks," he said before knocking back his mug. The others follow suit, all of them drinking down their mugs with gusto. Bergljot was the last to do so, looking around at them all before drinking her own.

Vander finished first, having just over a ship's worth in his cup. He dropped it on the ground and then stomped on it. "Yeah!" The other dropped their mugs on the ground and then began stomping on theirs as well. Even Hati chomped down on his bowl and snapped it in two with his jaws.

Bergljot looked at them curiously. "It's part of the ceremony. We always smash the mugs when we're done. You don't have to stomp it, just-" Bergljot tightened her grip, smashing the mug in her hands. Raza hummed. "Okay, that works too."

"Welcome to the Crew newbie. By the way, your kill count resets. So you're back in last place," Dagon said, crossing his arms. "Also the newest members always get lookout duty, so have fun with that."

She scoffed at him, and then Lacerta patted her on the head and ruffled her hair. "Also I'm the leader, so you're gonna have to start treating me with a bit more respect," he said. She elbowed him in his side. "Terrible start…"

"I told you not to ruffle my hair…"

"Hair ruffling is a part of the initiation."

"Since when?!"

"Since just now."

"Get off me!"

"Well, you're not the only girl in the crew anymore, Ravana. You're not going to get all jealous and catty about it, are you?"

"Do you want me to punch you?"

"Hey, there's some more giant slayer leftover? Who wants another mug?"

"I do!"

"Anyone else who's not Vander…"

"C'mon!"

The commotion on the roof continued, the young group all unaware of the figure who was watching them from one of the other towers. Astro looked at them closely, a frown on his face. He had just happened to be going down to the cellar to get himself a drink, when he noticed one of his bottles was missing.

And when one went missing, it meant one of two things. Either Lacerta or his friends were doing something stupid, or Maria was trying to prove she could handle her liquor. When he had seen Maria in the garden he had confirmed it wasn't the latter. So he knew his son had snagged another from under his nose.

He had come up here to interrupt whatever mischief he was going to get up to, but… he couldn't quite bring himself to do it right now. Their little ceremony was a rare thing to see these days, and the fact that he had done it for Bergljot was surprising.

Right now his son, Hati, and Dagon were all trying to dog pile on her to ruffle her hair, while Raza tried to keep what was left of his bottle of giant slayer out of Vander's clutches. Pavo and Ravana sat off to the side and watched them, muttering to one another.

Bergljot was shoving them all away, but Astro had noticed something was different. It had been for a while now actually. Despite the rough housing and scowl on her face, she didn't have her guard up. Not really. She was relaxed. Comfortable.

Ever since she had arrived here, she had never for a moment seemed to let her guard down. It was like she expected some form of threat to leap out of nowhere at any time. He knew what that felt like. He'd been like that for a long time when he was younger, and it had taken him a while to learn how to turn it off.

His past had made him like that, and he could only assume that it was the same for her. Though he obviously didn't know the details. Whatever they were, he was just glad that finally seemed to be willing to unwind. Living that that wasn't good for anyone, and it was partly why Thor had sent her here.

The god of thunder had hoped that Mewni would do for her what Earth had done for him. And judging from the look on her face right now, it was working.

The smile on her face when she had finished drinking had been the most genuine one he had seen since he met her. And the one Lacerta had when she accepted his offer had been pretty high up on the list too. "I'll let you have your moment for now…" Astro muttered. Though he did intend to make him go get another bottle later.

A/N: Fic of Bergljot becoming an official member of the King's Crew. Lacerta and her butt heads all the time but baddassery respects badassery. And even if he would rather tear his heart out than admit it he's getting used to having her around, just like the rest of the Crew lol. I thought it would be nice for them to have sort of an initiation/ceremony for adding new members. I have a lot of Bergljot ideas for her bonding with the others (including the rest of the Butterfly family) so look forward to that!