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Thor was restless, 'antsy' Darcy had called it. He had not understood what she meant by that, but after her explanation: 'It's like you have bugs crawl all over your skin, you just want to jump up, run around and go: huaaargg!', Thor felt it was an apt description. He did want to jump, to run, to fight; he wanted to do. He may be a Prince, but he was a warrior first. Unfortunately there seemed to be little actual doing going on on Midgard.
There were certainly not fights, either to train or against real enemies and Thor's muscles crawled in anticipation. He had helped an older man move some furniture just get some movement. The furniture had been heavier than expected, but the chore, simple as could be, had brought him more pleasure than the endless free time in the desert.
After Jane and Darcy's council at Walmart, they had returned not only decided, but with supplies. Thor was gifted with new clothing and bedding and though grateful, he could not escape the feeling that he was treated somewhat like a child. He was also suddenly aware that he had nothing to pay for these thing. Their quality left things to be desired, but he was certain they had not been free. Also, a plan had been hatched quite without his input, which did not aid his discomfort at al. He was used to being the one everyone asked for an opinion.
His insignificance was truly driven home when Erik Selvig had mentioned that "off course Thor was not expected to come with them. At all. He was free to go where he pleased. Quite free. To go elsewhere." Thor had been quite surprised at those words; he believed he and Erik Selvig had come to an understanding, but it was clear the older man wanted him gone.
Later, after plans has been laid to travel to 'Nova Scotia', where Jane would continue her research, Thor had asked after Erik's change of opinion.
"I think you're a good man Thor. But I don't think you're good for Jane and that girl is like a daughter to me." Erik had explained. "The world's a big place and I think it would be better if you and Jane occupied different spaces in it." Erik was clear and did not encourage any affection between them it seemed. Again, it was not something that happened to him.
"I would never hurt Jane!" Thor had been offended thoroughly and was about to call Selvig out on it when the older man continued.
"No, you wouldn't harm her." Erik sighed. "Hurting her would be unavoidable." Thor didn't understand and Erik must have noticed. "You, you claim to be a god."
"Nay, not a god." Thor said, he was not a god, but once the Midgardians had believed him to be.
"Thor, God of Thunder." Erik stated but did not give Thor to confirm or deny. "And I'm sure you believe you are, but, but Jane..." Erik seemed to deflate suddenly, he looked sad and angry and frustrated, quite like Thor felt. "But," Erik dragged a frustrated hand through his hair. "dissuading you, both of you, from this, is impossibleit seems." Erik made an encompassing motion with his hands when he said this, it was laced with frustration and Erik abruptly turned away, kicking at the leg of a table on his way out. Thor was thoroughly confused, a common state lately. He didn't like it.
...
But it had all concluded in Erik, Darcy, Jane and Thor dividing themselves and their possessions between the two vehicles and setting off, Erik would be getting off after two days travel to go back to his own work and Jane, Darcy and Thor would continue on to a town called Sheet Harbour. The strange electricity between Jane and Thor remained and Thor was often in a heightened state of awareness around Jane, but these moments were often evening moments outside, the actual trip was hellish.
Jane drove the large vehicle (Winnie, apparently it was called.) that reminded Thor of a small hut on wheels and Darcy followed them in her smaller vehicle. There was little to do inside and Thor found he could not read the books that were available. He could vaguely remember his brother telling him the Allspeak was just that and not the 'Allread' (as it did not translate written text), but he had to admit he hadn't paid much attention to Loki's words.
Jane was an attentive listener when he spoke, but sometimes so attentive she would make mistakes in her driving, causing Darcy to create loud noises behind them. Also Jane seemed to be made for movement and thought and not the mindless driving, making her more annoyed and snappish as they travelled on.
Added to that, they would all sleep together inside 'Winnie'. Jane and Darcy would share the big bed, Erik slept on the pull-out sofa and Thor slept on his 'air-mattress', a strange but intriguing invention, on the floor. There was no real space, as when Darcy had to use the bathroom at night, she would step over him, prompting Thor to wake ready to battle his enemies, only to find Darcy with sleepy eyes and hair like a thundercloud. The situation was oppressive to the extent that Thor was continually on edge, always a little bit angry, and permanently ready for a fight. When Erik left, Darcy moved to the sofa and Thor stayed on the floor.
Thor was unable to live like this. The Aesir lived communal lives. They spent their time in large halls and training areas. Friends, family and neighbours lived, worked and had their meals in large groups, in public halls. But they would, at night, retreat to their own sleeping areas. Privacy was incredibly highly valued and only the very poor and the very young had no space just to call their own. Even on campaigns Thor had never slept this closely to others. Their movements and their breathing; Darcy muttered in her sleep and Jane moved around continuously as she did awake as well, it kept Thor from sleeping. At last he took his air-mattress and blanket outside and slept under the stars.
On one such night, he could not always sleep outside, as there were other people (so many other Midgardians, the sheer amount of them was mind-boggling) and other vehicles he might be in the way of, but he though Darcy, who was the route-planner, made sure to stop in secluded places as often as she could, he woke without realising why. It was not, as usual, Darcy's mid-night trip to the tiny bathroom, or Jane hitting a wall during her sleeping exercises, it was someone else entirely.
"Mother!" Thor scrambled upright. "What are you doing here? It is very late, what is wrong?" Thor's mind raced. War with Jotunheim? Father?
"It is but mid-day on Asgard." Frigga said. "And can I not wish to see my son?"
"Off course." Thor let out a sigh of relief, he approached her, but when he stretched his hand towards hers, it passed right through. Frigga gave him a sad smile.
"Heimdall gave word of how the mortals reacted to the Bifröst." Frigga nodded to Winnie, in which Darcy and Jane still slept. "I thought it best not to alert them once more." Thor thought it was more Mjölnir that attracted them then the Bifröst, but he refrained from stating as such.
"How is father? How is Loki, the Warriors Three? The Realm?" It had been almost two weeks since he had heard of Asgard and Thor was surprised at his hunger for knowledge.
"Odin remains as he was." Frigga informs him, her eyes clouded with grief and maybe something else, but it is too fleeting for Thor to name.
"You must hate me." Thor realises, looking away.
"No! No, no, my son." Frigga starts forward, but her hands pass through once more. "Off course I do not hate you. My dear son." Frigga reassures him. "Your actions and decisions may have been.." Frigga searches for a word.
"Stupid? Foolish? Selfish?" Thor suggests and Frigga's lips twitch.
"Unwise." Frigga decides. "But Odin is old." It is no secret Odin is quite a bit older than Frigga and that Odin has extended his life-span beyond the norm due to the use of the Odinsleep. "And he alone is ultimately responsible for his…" Frigga pauses once more in search of a word. "Inaction." There is bitterness there Thor realises. What must it be like for your spouse to sleep at unexpected times for an unknown amount of time to ascertain a longer life? Thor has never spent much time thinking about his parents' relationship, but it was now clear it was not prefect.
"But Loki does well I daresay." Frigga continues more cheerful. "His first attempt at peace with Jotunheim did not go as well as he hoped, and Laufey is.. dead." Frigga relates. Dead?! Not as well as hoped?! Thor is shocked from his musing on his parents' relationship with this strange news. "But it seems Laufey was not the king he once was." Frigga continues without noticing. "The southern lands as well and the western isles are beholden to Queen Berenganya now and Loki has achieved some, interesting, results with her." Frigga seems quite pleased with this. Thor knows not what to think.
"Interesting?" He questions. Interesting is a dangerous word in relation to his brother. Frigga laughs lowly and her dark mood has lightened.
"They 'bicker like an old married couple' in Fandral's words and they often meet without escorts, but the results are promising. We may soon have snow-thread on Asgard once more." Frigga announces happily. Thor is even more confused. Bickering? Loki having private assignations with a Jotun queen? Laufey, the monster under every child's bed, dead? His thoughts run wild, but all Thor can say is:
"Snow-thread?"
"Oh yes. It's a thread, not actually made of snow, but similar in structure. It used to be one of Jotunheim's greatest exports, along with Eternal Ice." Frigga explains and Thor realises he knows very little about Jotunheim. They were enemies and monsters for all his life and yet his mother seems inordinately pleased at the prospect of trading with the Jotun. Again, if he reads her words correctly.
"Ah." Is all Thor can say.
"He is also trying better relations between the Vanir and Asgard and your friend Hogun has gone home as a sort of ambassador now. The same intentions towards the Dwarves, this has also been interesting." Frigga is amusedThor sees and he realises the term 'interesting' is used more traditionally in regards to his brother here. Things may have exploded.
"Oh." Thor says.
"Hogun and Volstagg were injured during the first visit to Jotunheim, but not life-threatening. Fandral often accompanies the Dwarven delegates and they seem to quite like him. Hogun, as mentioned has returned to Vanaheim and the lady Sif heads the escort that accompanies the King on Jotunheim." Frigga brings more news, seemingly quite pleased.
"And my old friend Volstagg needs some time to recuperate from his wounds, which he does in close proximity to the palace kitchens." Frigga smiles fondly. "He, as well as many older merchants and soldiers, is also pressed by Loki to remember what he can of our past relations with Muspel en AlfHeim." Frigga is genuinely happy and proud of Loki and Thor is somewhat resentful. Not because Loki is doing so well, but maybe because he, Thor, the Golden Prince, seems quite superfluous. He is not needed at all. The Warriors have battles to fight and apparently missions to complete. Loki is a good King. Frigga is happy. Everyone is well sorted, except Thor.
Thor is quite useless, he has no tasks to fulfil, and he is continuously cooped up, constrained and antsy. He cannot read and even though he enjoys his talks with Jane, he already has little else to tell her. He simply never spent that much time considering the planets or the stars, let alone the universe. His is travelling, but unlike horseback riding, it is entirely passive. He is, the realisation has been setting in for some time, quite lost.
But he tells none of this to Frigga, instead he talks about Jane and her work, what he knows of it at least. He speaks of Darcy, who combines her brash personality with unexpected kindness. And he talks of Midgardians in general. Of all the things he does not understand, and Frigga listens and laughs and makes Thor feels so much better. Part of him wishes he was once more a little boy and he could simply watch her spin and listen to her stories all day.
Then, suddenly, the same things happens as what happen when Loki came to see him. Suddenly it is as if it is not Frigga on Midgard, but Thor in her Solarium. His vision is blurred, but he sees his brother's outline striding towards Frigga and then she is gone. Thor feels he loss keenly.
The magic pushes its way into the foreground, once more unhappy and in the distance thunder rolls. Not him, he is mortal, but the magic itches on his skin and he moves his bed inside Winnie. He himself stands outside and lets the rain wash him clean, somewhat.
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