So, welcome back! It's been 2 and a half weeks (sorry!) but it is definitely better than the rate I was updating at before, so I am fairly certain I will have the next update out soon.
For a summary of 'The Monster Under the Bed' please see the first chapter.
What's happened so far in 'A Quiet Normal Life'?
- Everyone's living in Malibu together
- Sleipnir (and the other kids) have started school. Sleipnir freaks out because of the abuse he suffered from Odin
- Tony, Loki etc. are building an Einstein-Rosen Bridge. Secretary Pierce, the World Security Council and Fury want its plans. Tony is uncooperative
- Loki and Sleipnir talk about school and Odin, and Loki convinces Sleipnir to keep trying to go to school for a bit
- Tony and Loki find Captain America
Hel = Loki's daughter, Goddess of Death
Hela = Odin and Frigga's daughter, Queen of Helheim, Goddess of Life
They both share a sort of psychic link. There are also a number of different 'Lady Death's who run a variety of interconnected underworlds.
Thank you guys all so much for the follows, favourites and reviews!
01/03/19
Chapter Four - A Dinner Out-of-Time
"Hey, Helblindi," Darcy asked one of Loki's space-alien brothers. "Could you pass the sweet-and-sour pork?"
"Of course," Helblindi replied, putting down the chopsticks Thor was teaching him how to use (Darcy thought the big guy had really got the hang of them during her time away in Asgard) and passing her the bowl.
"Thanks dude."
"You're very welcome." Helblindi shot her a grin. Darcy ginned back. It had been kinda weird meeting them earlier, she mused, but hey, she'd seen weirder things than really tall blue people over the last few months, and they seemed super nice so far. They definitely seemed better than most of the Asgardian nobles anyway.
"So, then what did... Fre...?"
Darcy turned her attention back to Bruce, "Freyjr."
"Freyjr - thank you - say?" Bruce asked, before forking some biryani into his mouth.
"He was all like 'I don't think we should listen to what Midgardians have to say, not least a Midgardian woman, because here on Asgard we are so-mighty and we think women are only good for 'decoration'," Darcy snorted. "Like, I'm sorry I want to drag your butts out of the dark ages. 'Why should the peasants vote?' oh I don't know, because they're people? Ugh."
"Things have been bad," Frigga confirmed, delicately cutting a slice of pizza into small chunks. "Arguably we did commit regicide."
"By helping to kill Odin?"
"Yes." Frigga nodded. "We can argue that Odin was out of his mind, that he wasn't a fit king and his actions have led to the slaughter of many people. But then the council members state that if they deem that I am not a good ruler, does that not give them the right to dispose of me? I want to give the people more choice, to make them feel as if they have some say in the running of the realm, I do not want to be as Odin once was. However, giving the people power to disagree gives them power over myself. I cannot try to set up a constitutional monarchy and then throw people in jail for speaking against me."
"You absolutely could, Mum," Hela said.
"Yes," Frigga said. "But that would rather undermine my position as someone who doesn't want to run a 'police state' as Darcy terms it. It has not all been bad though," she brightened, "many of the lower classes do like the idea of having a voice, we have rounded up most of the radicals who were doing more than just complaining, and I've survived five attempts on my life so far."
"I tased two of the assassins," Darcy added. She was still super-proud of that event. Afterwards, she'd had to explain that she really didn't have magic and had promised to get all her handmaidens tasers. That was something she needed to remember to speak to Tony about before she left.
"This food is most delicious, Thor, what did you say it was called?" Byleistr's voice came from the end of the table.
"A roast potato," Thor replied.
"Though do tell us if you start to feel ill," Loki encouraged, looking worried, or in other words wearing his normal expression. "What we're feeding you is very different from frozen meat."
"We'll be fine," Laufey assured him. "We want to try all types of your Migardians' cuisine. I, for one, would be very happy importing apples once you have the Bridge finished and your politicians are somewhat in agreement."
Just then, Hela tapped on a glass and got to her feet. Darcy glanced up at her friend in surprise. "So," she said, rearranging her brightly-coloured sundress and glancing round at them all. "I just wanted to say that, well, do you remember how on Jotunheim I talked about Lady Death leaving the throne to me and going to look for this Titan called Thanos? Well, he hasn't stopped killing people, and-"
"Hela," Loki interrupted, his eyes flickering pointedly to his children. Darcy could see that they looked tense and all but Hel looked scared. "Is this really an appropriate conversation to be having right now."
Hela grimaced. "I just wanted to tell you all that I'm leaving, it's gone on too long, and he's getting closer to here. I need to figure out what he's doing, and how to stop him, before he gets too powerful, even if all the other Deaths don't want me too."
"Why wouldn't they want you to?" Darcy asked, frowning.
"He's sacrificing people in their name, it kinda gives them a thrill and boosts their power." Hela shrugged. "But, there needs to be a balance between the living and the dead, and he's upsetting it."
Loki frowned. "Is that why Hel's magic has been getting significantly stronger lately?"
"I expect so." Hela nodded. "But, the thing is, I need to tell you all about this tonight because you're not going to be able to contact me through Hel anymore, I'll be too far away."
"Does that mean you're not going to be in my head anymore?" Hel spoke up quietly.
"I'm afraid so."
"No!" Hel yelled. "You can't do that to me! You're always there when I need you, you can't just go!
"Excuse me," Jarvis interrupted. "I feel the need-"
"Not now J," Tony said.
"But Sir, it's important-"
"Jarvis, I can guarantee imminent magical meltdown is-"
A man burst into the room. Darcy stared at him. There was no denying that he was Hot. There was also no denying that saying he looked freaked out would be an understatement.
"Stark! What-" he asked, and then cut off abruptly. "Where...? Why are those people blue?"
-Q-
Steve groaned and opened his eyes. Then he shut them again. He was fairly sure this was the most confortable bed he had ever slept in and the sheets had no right to be so luxuriously soft, he'd never felt anything like it! One thing was for certain, he'd grown up in the depression and there was a war on, he'd take what he get for as long as he could justify it, because the bed had no right to be so comfortable.
Steve's eyes swung open again and he stared up at the shadow covered ceiling. He was right, the bed did have no right to be so comfortable. So where the hell was he?
He pushed himself up and looked around the room. As he rose, the room seemed to lighten and he could suddenly see into every corner. It was far bigger than any room had any right to be, especially as it only seemed to contain a really oversized double bed and a very fancy dresser. There was something that could have been considered to have been a painting on one of the walls. In Steve's opinion it wasn't very good.
He pushed himself out of bed and gasped as his foot sank into the carpet. Was everything so soft here? Steve allowed himself to grin as he stood up and wriggled his feet in the carpet. The only comparison he could come up with was if a carpet had somehow been fused with very clean and dry grass. It felt wonderful.
He made his way over towards a dark reflective panel, smiling at every luxurious step. He thought it was a window, it must be, just bigger and more elegant than he'd ever seen. It practically made up one of the walls without any breaks that he could see, and it was curved. Steve pressed his face to the cool glass and peered through. Yes, it was a window. It was night outside and he could see stars twinkling in the sky. When he looked down he could just make out a beach and some sand. Where was he? Well, wherever it was it was incredible, and definitely owned by someone who had more money than sense. Stark.
Then he remembered.
The shield, the missions, Bucky!, and then he had been on a plane and fighting Red Skull and Peggy had been crying and he had crashed the plane. The last thing he could remember had been an all consuming cold.
Had he died?
This wasn't what he thought heaven would be, not at all. Everything was clean and comfy and everything, but it really wasn't his style.
No, he decided. Something must have happened after he'd got in the water, and he'd just forgotten it. For some reason he couldn't remember it however hard he strained his mind, but he was sure it would come back to him, he had an enhanced memory from being a super soldier after all. And now, he must be at Stark's, because he was the only person Steve knew that could even think up a place as strange and futuristic as this.
But, it was a bit too strange, a bit too different. He'd been to some of Howard's places before and they hadn't looked anything like this.
Maybe he'd lost more memory than he'd thought he had. How old was Peggy, had he even been to the dance with her?
"Stark?" he yelled experimentally.
"Mr Stark is downstairs, Captain Rogers" a voice replied. It sounded almost like Jarvis had done. A new butler then? No, it sounded too similar. Had Jarvis just gotten older? "If you could just wait-"
"Jarvis, where are you?"
"I'm not sure how to explain, Sir," Jarvis said.
Steve frowned, surely it couldn't be that difficult. But then again Stark did make his butler help him with some strange inventions.
"Jarvis, how long ago did I crash the plane?"
"That was rather a while ago, I'm afraid, if you would just wait for-"
But Steve was done waiting. He needed to know what was going on, he needed to know where he was, he needed to know what had happened to everyone, what had happened to Peggy. Had they been on their dance?
Steve rushed down the stairs and towards a room in which a lot of people were clearly congregated. Stark would be in there, he would never miss a party, he would explain things.
He burst into the room. "Stark! What-" he said, and then stopped. Which one of them was Howard? "Where-" No, wait- "why are those people blue?"
Blue! He'd never seen blue people before. Where was he that blue people existed? Maybe he really was dead. Perhaps he was dreaming.
"Tony..." a man with dark, curly hair asked hesitantly. "Did you clone Captain America?"
"He's Captain America?" a woman with long, dark hair and an entirely too revealing blouse for polite company demanded.
"Look, I can explain," a man said, striding easily towards him. He looked like Howard but at the same time he didn't look like Howard at all. "I didn't clone him, yes he is Captain America." Not-Howard extended a hand towards Steve. "How are you feeling?" he asked.
"What is happening?" Steve asked, his mind whirring. "Where's Howard, are you his brother, his cousin?"
"Actually no, I'm his son."
"You can't be," Steve said. "Howard doesn't have a son."
"Yeah, we're gonna need to catch you up a bit," Howard's... son?... grimaced. "Jarvis didn't think you'd wake up so soon or we would have cancelled the party. Look... would you like anything to eat?"
"Not really," Steve replied. He probably could have eaten, he did feel a bit dizzy and his metabolism always needed feeding, but he needed to find out what was going on more, and he wasn't going to let anything distract him from that."
"Okay then," the man said. "The thing is, there's no easy way to say this and I am really regretting saving you right now. I swear, if I'd thought about the whole explaining part, I would never have done it. Anyway, look, it's January 4 2011, you've been a capsicle for 65 years."
"But-" Steve spluttered. There was no way this could be true, could it? "How?"
"Do you remember your plane going down into the ice?" Steve nodded. "Right, well, you were frozen solid. Howard dedicated his life to finding you, but he didn't manage it. Loki-" he indicated a thin young man whose dark hair fell to just below his ears- "and I found you last night."
"When you say he dedicated his life..." Steve said slowly, trailing off and not daring to finish the question.
"He's dead, Steve, he died in a car accident almost twenty years ago now."
Steve felt like all the breath had been knocked out of him and he slumped back against the archway. None of this was true, it couldn't be, and yet...
"We're really sorry for your loss," a woman said, and Steve looked up, blinking back tears. She had mousy brown hair and seemed dwarfed by a huge man who had even more muscles than Steve did. The blue men were sitting around her, but Steve did not have the mental energy to deal with them right now.
"I'm sure we could arrange for you to visit his grave," Jarvis's voice spoke up again.
"That would be great Jarvis, thanks," Steve said, trying to manage a smile and failing miserably. "Hey, at least you're still here."
"Um, Steve," the younger Stark said, almost apologetically. "That's not Jarvis, he died too. I made this Jarvis as a replacement."
"Oh," Steve said, unsure as to whether be upset about Jarvis's death or to be morbidly intrigued as to how you made a person. He opted for the latter as confusion was better than grief.
"How did you make another Jarvis... was it like in Frankenstein?" he hazarded.
Stark laughed. "No. God, how do I explain this to someone from the Dark Ages..."
"I'm not-"
"He's like, a machine, that can think and has feelings and kinda runs my house."
"Don't worry Steve," the small, dark haired boy spoke up. "Jarvis is super helpful and he can explain anything you want him to. He can play you holograms and tell you all about Midgard and he lives in all the walls, so if you ever have a question (or are feeling really scared) he'll be there to help!"
"Thank you," Steve said. There didn't seem to be anything else to say. "What about..."
"Peggy?" Stark asked, and he nodded. "She's still around."
Steve let out a shaky laugh. "Yeah, that sounds right, she's too stubborn to let death take her. I-"
"Where's Hel?" the skinny man exclaimed suddenly, leaping out of his seat.
"She went with Hela when Steve arrived," the same boy explained. "I think she's gone to calm down."
The man collapsed back into his chair. "Thank the Norns. Though I can't believe I didn't notice she was gone!"
"Worry not, Brother," the muscled man said. "I too, was very distracted by the arrival of Steve."
Howard's son walked over and put his arm around the clearly distressed man. "Hey, it's okay," he said, his body language and tone making Steve wonder about the nature of their relationship. "I've told you about my dad right, you know no one else can focus on anyone else once Steve comes along."
The man smiled wryly.
Suddenly, there came a whine and a pawing at his feet. Steve looked down in surprise to see a grey puppy. Smiling softly, he crouched down to stroke the small animal. Everything else was way to much to cope with, he thought, but a puppy? A puppy was something he could cope with right now.
So, I hope you all enjoyed that!
Next up: Steve tries to adjust to modern day life, but he keeps reeling with new discoveries and trying to deal with the old ones.
Steve and Tony talk.
Sleipnir makes a friend.
Also, an important question: should Stucky have been a thing? Should Steve have just been pining after Bucky but not really knowing what he felt/realising it and hating himself for it because of the attitudes of the time? Should they just have been friends? Idk :/