._.
Beneath
Chapter One Hundred Eighty-Eight – Date
"Did you find Brokk?" Frigga asked. She'd been informed of the plan upon her return to the city.
"We did. He still had the talisman, and Nadrith's amulet led us straight to him."
"You were successful in capturing him, then?"
Thor opened his mouth, then closed it again. "He had a knife," he said a second later. "There was a scuffle. Brokk did not survive."
"I see," Frigga said.
Jane, meanwhile, watched Thor, and recognized everything Loki had told her not to do. Hesitating before answering a simple, direct question, unlike the one right before it. A gaze that flickered where before it had been steady. Thor was lying. She didn't know exactly what about or why, but she knew he was lying.
"It was unfortunate, but more unfortunate that Brokk didn't know any means of reaching Thanos. They only communicated…through some kind of magic. Even that gem he used to drive Vigdis mad…it was already on Asgard. Thanos merely told him where to retrieve it. Loki thinks it may even be from Glodir's days as gatekeeper, left behind for a future attack when it became clear that that one would fail. We had hoped Thanos had provided it directly to Brokk, since that would mean Brokk knew where to find him…in person," Thor added for Jane's benefit.
"What else did he tell you?" Frigga asked.
"Nothing of value, really. He did say that he was told to find that gem in a particular location in a field, but that a house had been built over it. He said he burned the house down. I've asked Bragi to speak with Bosi and Oblaudur to see if we can identify the house. I'd hoped there would be more."
"Impressive you got what you did. You neglected to remove his weapons from him before questioning him? Or did he answer all these questions during that scuffle you mentioned?"
"He- The knife was-"
"Never mind. The most important questions were answered, even if the answers weren't what we hoped, and Brokk is no longer a threat to anyone. That's the most pressing matter. Have you seen your father?"
"Not yet," Thor said with a glance to Jane, relieved to be let off the hook. "I've only spoken with Bragi thus far; Father wasn't back yet so I left it at that. I'll convene the Assembly first thing in the morning. I hope he'll attend. I can speak with him before then if you think I should. I was hoping to join you at least for dessert but I can see I've arrived too late. I'd like to take Jane out for a little while, then, if you agree, Jane."
"I think it shouldn't wait," Frigga said before Jane could respond. "He may have already checked in with Bragi anyway, but I will speak with him myself. I think that will be for the best. Although it does unfortunately mean that I must take my leave of you, Jane. Thank you so much for keeping me company this evening. I know you it's not me that you came here to see, but I'm glad we had this opportunity to spend some quiet time together."
"I enjoyed it, too, thank you. But do you have to go just yet? You never got to finish that story, and I'd love to hear the rest of it."
Thor cringed and followed it up with a smile. "I gave Jolgeir permission to tell childhood stories about me, Jane, not everyone you meet."
"You really should have made that clearer, then. Don't worry, I'm teasing. And actually, this isn't a story about you. It's a story about how your parents met."
"I'm sure Thor knows it well enough to tell it himself, don't you, dear?"
"You tell it better, Mother. But it's best told when Father is here to object to the details you throw in."
"I do sometimes enjoy adding details that he finds irksome. But only when he's present. Shall I continue then, Jane?"
"Please do," Jane said, not for the first time glad that Odin wasn't here. She'd been anxious about that when the invitation had come to dine with the queen. It was easier to relax and enjoy herself with just Frigga.
"All right. As I was saying, although Odin enjoyed his adventures and revels in those days, still he took his responsibilities seriously."
"She's always included that part," Thor said to Jane, "and I've long believed it's aimed at me."
"You're not wrong," Frigga said. "Though perhaps it's less necessary now than it once was. Odin asked me about a vest. I took him right over to the selection that was available in the shop, but of course he didn't want something already prepared. He wanted something customized for him, something thick and strong enough to provide protection, not just a stylish cut, though of course he wanted that, too. He also wanted something which would take well to metal-work armor overlaid. He had many questions, and while I tried my best to answer them…the truth was I didn't have all of the answers he wanted. He grew angry and I grew flustered and he grew angrier and I grew more flustered, and then he said –"
Jane saw Thor wince before Frigga had even repeated what Odin said and knew it had to be bad.
"You are the most useless, incompetent excuse for a shop clerk that I have ever had the misfortune of encountering in my entire life. You attempt to sell me leather without anything beyond a child's knowledge of the subject, and you lack even an ounce of understanding of the integration of leather and metal, when most of the items in here would reasonably be expected to provide that function. I find it difficult to imagine that the proprietor of this shop could be unaware of your utter ineptitude, but given that you are still employed, it must be true. Be assured I will be speaking with him or her. I suggest you return immediately to introductory training and plan to spend an extended time on it, or else find yourself a new trade."
"Wow," Jane murmured. Frigga had spoken the words sternly, angrily, and Jane could picture Odin saying them – though not to Frigga – and making anyone who heard him tremble.
"She adds a few words every time she tells it," Thor whispered loudly, leaning in toward Jane.
"In fact I have long removed a few words, out of habit from telling it when you and Loki were boys."
"It reminds me of the head of my dissertation committee. Um, the professor who had the main responsibility for approving or rejecting my doctoral thesis."
"You must have handled this professor well, yes? This is why you're known as 'Dr. Foster'?"
"It wasn't easy, but I had experience with having to stand up for myself by then, so, yeah, you could say that," Jane answered with a smile.
"In this instance, the problem was that much of what Odin said was in fact true. I was incompetent as a shop clerk. But he made a serious mistake in speaking to me that way. You see, I wasn't flustered anymore. I was angry."
"My mother doesn't easily anger. But woe unto those who manage to incite it."
Jane turned back to Frigga in anticipation of the rest of the story, which wasn't turning out to be the romantic story she'd expected it to be.
"I informed the prince, with only the tiniest modicum of politeness, that he was quite welcome to contact the shop owner, but that before he did so he'd best take heed of a few things. I told him that the owner and his family, including his daughter who was my friend, had all gone to Vanaheim for the day to attend a trade fair of leather suppliers. As a favor to the family, I had agreed to stay at the shop to wait for the delivery they were expecting; I was not a sales clerk in a leather clothing shop, but a trainee in local-trade management. I told him he would have known this if he'd bothered to ask before castigating me in such a rude manner. I told him that I had attempted to assist him as best I could in the absence of those who actually did work in the shop, and reminded him that I had suggested he return at another time, when the owner could provide him with the level of service he needed. And then I told him that he may be a prince, but he had no right to speak to me with such disrespect, and I would not tolerate any more of it. Then I asked him to leave. When he hesitated and started stammering, I took hold of his arm and led him to the door."
"And?" Jane prompted, eyes wide. She thought she had said some strong words to Odin. She had nothing on Frigga. "Did he beg for your forgiveness? Or get mad at you?"
"Neither, really. He stood there, outside, under the shade, staring at me through the glass on the upper part of the door, looking stunned. I started to feel nervous that I might have gone too far, so I locked the door behind him, lest he storm back in and I truly lose my temper. I went behind the counter and stuck my nose in a book. The delivery came about an hour later, I accepted it and secured it, then I closed up the shop and went home. The next evening my friend, the shop owner's daughter, told me that someone had come around the shop inquiring about me – I'd still been anxious when he first showed up and I'd never properly introduced myself – and the day after that I received a very formal, respectful letter requesting an audience with me, because the prince wished to apologize for his inappropriate and presumptuous behavior."
"And you said yes?"
"I did. But when he suggested a time and place in his next letter, I responded that I was busy then. I wasn't," Frigga said, breaking into laughter. "It was dishonest and unkind, but he had truly offended me. I didn't want him to think that just because he was a prince I would fold so easily to what he wanted. It's also true that I was nervous. I'd been to the palace a few times, most everyone has, but it was very much not a normal part of my life then. I'd never personally met any of the royal family, and I didn't know what to expect. What does one wear to meet one's prince? What sort of hair style says, 'I respect and honor you as my prince, but I think you are an immature arrogant nit for treating me the way you did'?"
Jane laughed and fought to keep a hand from going self-consciously to her hair, which she figured said "you haven't had more than a two-minute shower in months"; an awkward half-shrug made it out instead.
"From there, the story is much more conventional. And here we are."
"Conventional? I don't see how marrying a prince can ever be called conventional."
"In that sense, no, of course not. At the same time…it really was rather conventional. Certainly there were complications because of who he was. Most relationships have complications of one sort or another, though. If it's important enough to you, I believe you can usually find a way to overcome them. But there's a lesson in this story, Jane, one that I very much believe in. Do not tolerate any man's disrespect toward you. Or any woman's, of course."
Jane nodded, and looked up at Thor after feeling his hand brush hers.
"Jane, I did apologize for my behavior when I first met you, didn't I?"
"You did," Jane agreed.
"Good. Better to have not behaved in such a way that an apology was required in the first place, but good that you apologized, and better that your behavior has improved. Now, I really should go see your father."
They started their goodbyes, but Jane interrupted with an idea. "Can I…take something…?" she asked, pointing back toward the dining room area.
"Yes, of course. Just ask the servants. It will still be nearby."
"I'll be right back," Jane told Thor once Frigga stepped away. A minute later she was back, with a small covered platter she could carry by a handle on top. "For later," she said to Thor's questioning look. "Where are we going?"
"You'll see. It's a long walk, though. I could send for a carriage…or we could take a shortcut," Thor said, lightly gripping Mjolnir at his side.
Jane's face split into a grin. "I vote for the shortcut."
Thor took Mjolnir and held his arm open for Jane.
/
/
"This is amazing," Jane murmured, the words breathless as the city passed by, far more of it than she'd ever seen before, and from an entirely new perspective. The improbable green spaces she'd had glimpses of before stood out, gardens, trees, even streams, not only between the buildings but atop them and on huge ledges and stepped terraces. And as incredible as the city below her was – literally incredible, for one building she could see when she angled her neck to see behind her was apparently hovering and slowly rotating in mid-air – the sky above, and beyond the horizon, was stunning. Jane blinked away tears and wasn't sure if they were from the wind stinging her eyes or just from being overwhelmed by the beauty of it all.
Thor smiled and let Jane enjoy the view in silence, happy for her happiness, and for himself, that he was finally able to get out and enjoy himself for a little while, for the first time in months.
The height of the buildings began to decrease, and the space between them to increase. "What's that?" Jane asked. She was tucked in close to Thor and too new to flying to dare to stretch out her arm and point, but she figured it was pretty clear that she was asking about the dark line in the distance far beyond them, punctuated by occasional lights and crawling with hazy movement she thought had to be people.
"The wall. Builders and magic weavers are working around the clock to repair the towers along it. They anchor the shield surrounding the city. Many of them were destroyed or badly damaged in the war, and it left the city vulnerable. Without the shield, our people are in danger."
It was a sobering thought. It was easy to forget for a while, ensconced in Asgard's palace or flying over the city, how dire the situation here had become, and how much work was left to be done. Frigga had told her about the villages she'd visited earlier today; of some of them, nothing was left but ash and charred stone.
"Our destination."
With one arm around her and the other extended out holding onto Mjolnir, Thor definitely wasn't pointing, but Jane followed his eyeline and saw a circular building they were rapidly approaching. Situated in a large grassy clearing with pathways and what looked vaguely like jungle gym equipment for kids, the building was on the small side compared to the others she'd seen in Asgard, and definitely on the short side, maybe just two or three stories tall. It had dark walls and a clear rounded roof that looked like it was made of glass and reflected distorted images of the nighttime sky. Jane sucked in a quick breath and glanced at Thor, to find him also glancing at her. She gave him her best reassuring smile then bit her lip to keep from making any other noise. Thor had been planning to take her out for dinner in something called a "viewing chamber," which Jolgeir had said was similar to a telescope. They'd missed dinner, but maybe that's what the building was. Jane didn't dare ask in case it wasn't; she didn't want to have to hide her disappointment now that the possibility had occurred to her.
The change from horizontal to vertical was so smooth that by the time Jane realized it was happening she was already upright again, feet gliding a few steps over the grass until Thor lowered her the rest of the way to the ground. It was her second flight with Thor, and this one was even better because that little twinge of fear was no longer there, and she realized only with feet back on solid ground that not even once had she been distracted by analyzing the improbable physics of what they were doing.
"Are you all right?" Thor asked.
"Oh, yeah, sorry. Just thinking. That was amazing. Way better than a carriage ride."
"Faster, at least. And colder. You're shivering. Let's go inside."
"Am I? I guess I am! Soooo…inside where?" she asked as they headed for the dark doors.
"This is where I meant to bring you for dinner. I apologize for missing dinner with you, by the way."
"That's okay. I know what you were doing was important, and I had a good time with your mom. This is a viewing chamber, then?"
"It is," Thor said, opening the door and stepping back for Jane to enter. He allowed a broad grin only when her back was to him. He'd been eager to bring Jane here, eager for her to enjoy it, but now he felt an unexpected flash of nerves. Asgard's development still surpassed Midgard's in most ways, but Midgard had also developed some things that Asgard had not. Thor knew this from the few days he'd spent there, but he also knew that he'd had only tiny glimpses of the realm, and could not be certain what Jane would find new and exciting. He would have to keep his enthusiasm under control, in case she didn't love this as much as he hoped she would.
Jane stepped in, and the first thing she noticed was the dark blue carpet under her feet. It stood out, because while she'd seen a number of rugs on Asgard, she'd never seen what looked like wall-to-wall carpeting. Her experiences, of course, were pretty limited. Scattered around the room were a number of black leather chairs that looked kind of like recliners, designed for leaning back and relaxing in, feet up, and in the center of the large space, which took up the whole of the building as far as Jane could tell, was a circular chest-high partition similar to the actual walls, but with gaps in it wide enough for a person to easily step inside it. The domed ceiling was almost unnaturally black; she found herself straining to see the top of it and giving up when it made her feel dizzy. The light was low and diffuse, seeming to come from behind the black stone wall that encircled them. She didn't see anything that remotely resembled a telescope; the closest comparison she could come up with was a home theater setup, except for the size and the lack of a screen.
Thor led her over to two of the recliner chairs; the carpet was thick and absorbed the sound of their footsteps. Maybe it is an Asgardian version of a movie theater. She'd understood from Loki, though, that Asgard didn't have movies, not like they did on Earth. "Oh!" she exclaimed just as she was about to sit down. "Is this a planetarium?"
"Planetarium?" Thor echoed, watching as Jane suddenly took off sprinting over to the center of the chamber, first peering into the speaker's platform, then stepping inside it.
Surprised to find the space inside the low enclosure completely empty, Jane hurried back to Thor's side and slid into her seat. "Never mind. I couldn't help trying to guess. I should stop doing that and just let you show me."
"Then I'll delay no longer in showing you," Thor said, taking the seat next to Jane's.
The room was plunged into darkness and Jane jerked upright in the chair.
Thor reached over, splaying a hand across her forearm. "It's all right. Just give it a moment."
Jane laid back again, feeling silly for the moment of fright. She slid her arm back and found Thor's hand, wrapping hers in his much larger one.
She blinked, and it was as though the ceiling was no longer there. The glass, or whatever it was that made up the domed roof, was perfectly clear, no support structures visible, no distortions, as though it wasn't even there at all. And then she thought, maybe it wasn't. It had to be a screen, but a screen on the ceiling. "It is a planetarium," she said. A good one. It looked real. She recognized what it was showing: Asgard's sky, the one she'd been looking at on the way here.
"You do have them on Midgard, then?" Thor asked, trying to keep the disappointment from his voice. Jane still sounded happy, at least.
Jane nodded, then remembered Thor couldn't see her, then remembered that maybe he could, given Loki's pronouncements about his sight being better than hers. She answered aloud regardless. "We do. But I don't understand. Where's the star ball?"
"Star ball?"
"The projector system. I looked there in the middle, which is normally where it would be on Earth, but there's nothing there."
"The speaker platform? There's no projector there. That's for someone leading a group through a presentation. No one will be using it tonight. You and I are the only ones here."
"But then where does the…wait, that's a projection, right? Or are we looking at the actual sky?"
Thor laughed, understanding the miscommunication now. "I think this is not the same as a planetarium. We're looking at the actual sky. When you see something you want to look at more closely, you need only look at it and point. The chamber tracks your line of sight. If you want to look even more closely, repeat the process. You can rotate the view, too. Just motion for it," he said, tracing a circle on the back of Jane's hand with his finger. "I think you'll find it easy to use."
Jane glanced over at Thor – the night sky above now provided just enough light for her to make out his outline – and wondered if he'd say the same if he knew how long it had taken her to figure out how to unlock the door to her room. "I don't even know where to begin. I want to look at everything."
"You can begin anywhere you like. Do you want me to demonstrate?"
"Yes!" Jane said with a squeeze of Thor's hand, literally bouncing in her seat until she caught herself and stopped.
Thor leaned over toward Jane, his shoulder brushing hers. "All right. In that green nebula over there, there's an enormous realm, bigger by far than any of the Nine."
Jane watched with rapt attention as Thor only vaguely stuck out a finger – whatever technology this was definitely didn't rely on the direction of his pointing – and suddenly it was as though the sky was zooming toward them. It was disorienting, and Jane instinctively drew back in her seat, heart racing. She was looking at a portion of the green nebula, closely enough to easily make out the distinct stars within it.
"Let's see…I think…no, there," Thor said, pointing again.
The nebula grew again; this time the image didn't literally draw closer, but the image was so detailed and immersive it still felt like it did. They were now zoomed in enough that Jane realized this was not a 2D image, but rather a 3D one. The distances involved still rendered it rather flat, but she could tell the third dimension was there. Thor zoomed in three more times, until they were looking at a planet in streaks of red and black, with little patches of off-white haze that didn't look like cloud cover, or anything else Jane had seen in images or renderings of planetary bodies.
"What is it?" Jane whispered.
"Watch," Thor whispered back.
A few seconds later, movement drew Jane's eye to a plume of red, and Thor immediately pointed and they zoomed in even further. The plume of red was a volcano, on a planet covered with volcanoes and lava flows. The top of the plume then disappeared in a burst of sparkling white light, and when the light faded, another of those hazy patches was left behind.
"Something in the atmosphere is reacting to the lava?"
"Yes. It's a gas that freezes into ice crystals at that altitude, and when the lava burst reaches up high enough, it causes an explosion."
"It looks like it reverts to a gas when exposed to heat. Which sounds kind of like liquid nitrogen, except… What's the name of the gas?"
"I don't know. I'm not sure I ever knew."
"What's the name of the planet?"
"We called it the exploding lava realm."
Jane shook her head and laughed. "The name of the system? The star it orbits?"
Thor grinned. "Sorry. I was just a boy. I had lessons here sometimes. Loki and I. Our cosmology lessons focused on the Nine Realms, but our teachers wanted us to know that the cosmos was vast and varied. We looked at all sorts of things here, but we didn't really study them individually. This was one of my favorites," he said, glancing up at a burst of light caused by another explosion from the same volcano. "The gas freezes again and you get another explosion."
They watched for a while longer, but Jane had questions Thor couldn't answer, and from what she could gather from things Loki had said, and then Thor once she asked, Asgard didn't have anything quite like astrophysicists. There was likely no one in all of Asgard who could answer her questions, though Thor offered to introduce her to one of his old tutors.
"Where's Alfheim?" Jane asked, turning to Thor with another surge of excitement.
"It's not visible from here. Too far away. I could show you Vanaheim," he offered.
"Okay. I'd love to see Vanaheim." Jane paid attention to Thor's motions and his eyeline, learning the process, which was indeed pretty simple.
Exploding Lava Realm disappeared and they were looking at the sky through a seemingly non-existent roof again, and this time when the sky came racing down at them, Jane managed to restrain her reaction to a tighter squeeze on Thor's hand.
"It looks a lot like Earth does from space," Jane said when Thor had drilled down far enough that they were again looking at a single planet. "Except for the five moons. I don't see any ice at the poles, either."
"Eight moons," Thor corrected. "Three are on the other side."
"Eight moons," Jane echoed, vaguely wondering how tides worked when you had eight moons. Vanaheim clearly had oceans, and big ones. The water-to-land ration, she figured, was probably similar to Earth's.
"Would you like to see it someday? To go there, I mean?"
"Are you kidding? Of course I would. I want to go to them all. I want to study them all." Jane paused to take a breath. "I want to understand them all. If I had a hundred lifetimes it still wouldn't be enough."
"One thing at a time," Thor said. Jane was actually starting to look a little upset, which certainly hadn't been his goal in bringing her here. But he understood her eagerness, not unlike his own when faced with a new adventure. If he came across a new mountain range, he wanted to climb all of the mountains, all at once. Jane was frustrated at not being able to climb all her mountains, all at once. "Ready to try it yourself?"
Jane nodded, focused her gaze on a green-tinted moon, and extricated her hand from Thor's to point.
/
/
"Wow. Look at that." After Thor had told her that safety filters were applied to the magnified view brought down to their level – to protect children's eyes – she had started focusing on stars. And she had just found the most interesting one yet, a pair, in fact: probably a red giant, and, not too far away in stellar terms, what had to be a white dwarf, greedily sucking fuel from the red giant into its gravity well. The presumed white dwarf itself was barely visible, a speck of bright light encircled by a giant brown doughnut of energy. She had seen animations of such events, but hadn't ever seen the actual thing herself…much less with the naked eye. The view was dizzying at times; it really looked like it was happening right in front of her. And it was, she supposed. Just a lot farther away than it appeared, which probably caused the brain – her brain, at least – problems in interpreting the visual input. "That star, the smaller one, the white dwarf? It'll eventually blow up and go supernova."
She glanced over at Thor, and saw that he was looking at her, instead of the night sky. She realized then that quite a lot of time had passed, surely at least an hour and maybe even two, in which she'd been so engrossed in the sky that she'd barely remembered Thor or anything else existed. "This is amazing," she said, swiping a hand to send the enhanced image racing back up to the ceiling, shrinking as it went. It was hard not to watch it go; whenever she got that wrapped up in something, pulling herself away from it and refocusing was a struggle.
"You're amazing," Thor said, and meant it. Jane had been utterly enthralled, and watching her had enthralled him.
Jane looked away, feeling a little embarrassed. She hadn't been doing anything amazing. She'd just been geeking out, for the most part. "I brought something for you," she blurted out, having spotted the little covered tray she'd set aside on the floor when they first arrived and had since forgotten about. "Um…do you want to go over there?" she asked, pointing to the dark blue cushioned bench seating that lined most of the curved wall. "So we'll have somewhere to set it?"
Thor readily agreed, and they moved over to the benches, where Jane turned to the side and tucked her legs up onto the cushions, smoothing her hands over her suede skirt.
"I was wondering what this was," Thor said as Jane, clearly excited, handed the tray to him. He removed the lid and placed it on the bench on his other side, revealing two slices from a round pie of some sort, and two small dessert forks. "It looks good," he said, reaching for one of the forks and holding the tray out to Jane to take the other.
"It's all for you," she said with a hand up. "I already had some." She watched with a smile as he took a bite. His eyes narrowed, then quickly came back up to hers and her smile grew.
"Cheesecake?" Thor asked as soon as he'd swallowed.
"Cheesecake," Jane confirmed.
"You brought it all the way from Midgard?"
"Nope. Just the recipe. I knew you had cooks, and I was hoping…well, I told your mother about it, and she had the recipe sent to the cooks. I had to find an alternative for the crust since I figure you don't have graham crackers here, but I think in the end I found a recipe that your cooks wouldn't have any problems with."
"Our cooks are talented. And glad to be back to cooking. Thank you, Jane."
"You're welcome."
"I haven't even asked you what you think of Asgard so far. And Nadrith, did he behave himself? Did you learn anything interesting from him?"
Jane told him what she'd seen and done so far, and that she'd enjoyed her time with Nadrith, who had been polite and even charming. Explaining what they had discussed was simple, while explaining why was a little awkward, since the details of the trip to Alfheim were still a secret.
"I'm sorry I haven't been able to show you around myself."
"You don't need to apologize. I understand, really."
"Yes, but I want you to know how much I want to be with you, Jane. Loki and I were talking about holding a feast, a first feast – there will be many, soon. A feast for the entire Assembly and War Council. It was Loki's idea, actually, and I kept trying to turn it into a meeting…a difficult habit to break, when nearly every meal has been combined with a meeting, to save time. He reminded me that it should be a celebration, for relaxing, not for discussing casualties and damages. He said I should make that clear by inviting family and friends. You were the first person I thought of, Jane. It seems something is always keeping me apart from you."
"It was a good idea. I'm glad you invited me. And it sounds like maybe you and Loki are getting along better?"
Thor considered that. He wasn't sure they were "getting along," really, but the fact that while stuck on Svartalfheim neither of them had lost their tempers with each other, that they had laughed together, if only for a moment, that was surely something. "Circumstances have required us to work together on a few things. It hasn't been easy, but I think it's a little better than it was."
"I watched you evacuate the station together, and repair the station together. You work well together, when push comes to shove."
Looking back on it, it seemed years ago rather than mere days. A great deal had happened since then. "That was more working in parallel than truly together. And push coming to shove," he said with a light laugh, "that happened a few times, too. Or nearly so." He sighed, gaze growing unfocused. "I used to think things were fine between us before. Before he found out about his birth, before the planning for my succession to the throne… I understand now that things haven't been fine for a long time. I let teasing between brothers and my own arrogance go too far. I didn't treat Loki as I should have. I probably didn't treat anyone as I should have, but especially Loki. He was the easiest target. The closest, at least. And the one who could never turn away."
Jane's hand covered his for a moment and squeezed, and it pulled him from his reverie. "But I apologize. This should be a happy evening."
"Okay. So tell me more about this place. Have you ever been back since you were a kid? Or is it only used for teaching kids some of the basics of the universe?"
"I've been back, but not for a very long time. We also use the viewing chambers for some of the early lessons on navigation, for those who study it."
"And you did?" Jane asked, already fairly certain of the answer both from what Thor had just said and what Loki had mentioned about navigating by the stars.
"Yes. Though I much preferred the practical lessons."
"Why am I not surprised?"
"Because you know me," Thor said with a laugh. "Have some?" he asked, holding out the extra fork. He had just started on the second piece. "You're about to lose your chance."
"All right. One bite." She stuck with her one bite while Thor finished the rest over the course of a story about being left in the middle of a dense forest to find his way out, starting with climbing a tree since from the forest floor he could barely see the sky. Thor was an enthusiastic storyteller, and Jane was quickly wrapped up in the story.
"Thank you again for the cheesecake," Thor said, swallowing down the last bite at the end of the story. "It brings back good memories."
"It does," Jane agreed. "That night was incredible. I'm so glad I got to share it with you."
"We have too few such memories together, Jane. I want the chance to make more."
"So do I. We are. And you've…"
"I've what?" Thor asked, bending down toward Jane as Jane leaned in toward him.
"Got a little bit of cheesecake, um…right here." With the pad of her thumb she brushed the corner of his lip. Then Thor's arm came around her back, her eyes fluttered closed, and her lips replaced her thumb. He tasted of the cheesecake, sweet and soft, and a shiver made its way up her spine when he sighed into her mouth and deepened the kiss. His arm tightened around her back; his other hand slid up through her hair and pulled her closer.
Jane's knee bumped into the platter resting between them on the bench, and in the next instant it fell to the floor, hitting the lid with a startling clatter. Jane jumped, pulling away to look down at the platter, lid, forks, and crumbs on the carpeted floor, then laughed. She leaned into Thor and wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her head in the crook of his neck. His hand went back behind her head, and for a minute or two they sat there like that. It was, Jane thought, the most unhurried, lingering kiss they'd ever shared. And while it couldn't quite compare to that first urgent, fiery kiss back in Puente Antiguo, full of all the passion and excitement heightened by turbulent emotions brought on by a battle and Thor's near death, her first flight and Thor's imminent departure to another battle on another world… this one had been good, too. Really good.
"I suppose it's getting late," Thor said. Jane nodded into his neck and he reluctantly let her go. "I should escort you back. Leave it," he said when Jane bent to pick up the overturned platter. "Servants will come behind us."
"They will? You're the king, of course they will. Okay."
Outside, guards who hadn't been there before were standing to either side of the doors, and a horse-drawn carriage waited on the wider stone path some hundred feet away. Jane glanced up at Thor as they walked; she supposed things like that just "happened" when you were a king, because he certainly hadn't whipped out a phone and asked for any of it. He gave her a hand up, and it was nice not to have to hide behind curtains in this, her second carriage ride. Along the way he pointed out sites they passed, from the field outside the viewing chamber where families came for picnics and children liked to play, to towering monuments, to the uses of specific buildings, like a proper tour guide. He grew quiet after pointing out the building housing the law library and what sounded like Asgard's version of law school.
"What?" Jane prompted.
"Nothing. I'm meeting the First Magistrate tonight, that's all. I didn't mean to get distracted."
"You still have to go to a meeting tonight?"
"Several. If the treaty's been finalized, as I expect it has been by now, I'll need to meet with my diplomatic advisor and review the text, too. There'll be a signing ceremony tomorrow, so there's no time for delay."
"I'm sorry. I wish I had known. We didn't have to-"
"Jane, don't say that. Please. We did have to. I wanted to. And I'm accustomed to my nights being short now. Believe me, I'm getting much more sleep now than I was during the war."
Jane smiled, but behind it she couldn't help feeling guilty that she'd been flicking through star after planet after moon with Thor sitting there patiently beside her when he had so much work to do. He'd never given her any sense there were any constraints on his time; clearly he hadn't wanted her to know. He'd wanted them to have that time together without concerns over his other obligations, so in turn she would do her best not to show any concerns herself.
Thor resumed his tour guide role, and soon enough they were back at the palace, entering through the same door she'd come through with Jolgeir earlier today.
They reached the point where the grand staircase led off from the main corridor. "I can take it from here. I know how to get back. You go on and take care of your meetings, okay?"
"It's no trouble."
"For me either. Really. What time are we heading out tomorrow?"
"Not too early, with your different time at the South Pole. Is ten all right?"
"Ten is perfect. Should I meet you somewhere?"
"I'll come to your door. Jane…"
"Yes?"
"I very much enjoyed our evening."
"Me too."
Thor took her hand and kissed it, and while a tiny giggle still managed to escape, at this point it seemed odd. She wanted to take his hand properly, hug him, maybe even kiss him, but there were guards about, and she still knew little about public decorum here, at least as it related to PDA with the king.
After bidding her good night, Thor watched as Jane headed up the stairs, away from him, twisting around to toss a smile back at him as she went. How much he would have rather remained out in the viewing chamber, with Jane's soft warmth pressed to him, than hold this meeting.
/
/
Jane reached her door without incident, encountering no one she knew and ignored by the few others she did meet along the way. She was surprised to not find Halfur or another guard near her door, but not particularly worried. Even the elitist of elite guards, she figured, needed bathroom breaks and such, and she wasn't exactly used to having guards around anyway and didn't feel the need for one.
A second later, just as she was placing her hand on the doorknob, she changed her mind, gasping as a figure peeled away from the shadows further down the hall. Two seconds after that, she had already forgotten about the missing guard, realizing the figure from the shadows was Loki in the same instant he started quietly snickering at her. "Don't do that," she said, aiming for sharp, though she was pretty sure her smile undermined the intent.
"It's good to see you again, Dr. Foster."
"Likewise…Mr. Cane. Or whatever your title is here."
"Officially, 'my prince.' But 'my king' is preferable. 'Your Majesty.' 'Your Brilliance.' 'Your Magnificence.' 'Your-'
"How about 'Loki'?"
Loki pretended to consider it, with a hint of distaste. "I suppose it will suffice."
"That's a relief. It's so good to see you again, Loki."
"Likewise, Jane," he answered with a soft smile that no longer teased. "Tell me, have the day's events left you unduly exhausted?"
"It's still five hours earlier for me, so I wouldn't say unduly exhausted, no."
"Care to extend the night a little longer, then?"
/
Sorry for the long delay, folks, as some of you know from profile updates I had some real-life complications since the last chapter. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, let's do it again real soon, hm? :-)
"GlitterQueen": It really is a magical location IMO, as much like being on another planet as you get while still on the Earth. And re the 300 Club...yep! Oh and now I realize it must be you who also mentioned the neutrino find by IceCube? Yeah, very very cool to see the real life stuff dovetailing! / "nathanthewise": Thanks so much! And re the other stories, too. I'm not sure anyone has ever quoted "Trials" in a "Beneath" review, ha, that is awesome. And yeah, Odin has some partial blindness going on besides just the physical. And just as Loki's (re)actions haven't taken place in a vacuum, neither have Odin's. / Guest (19/20): Thanks! I really have a thing for realism. :-) It is honestly so jarring to me now to go back a read Loki "having the time of his life by lying and manipulating Jane"! So much has changed since then. Re his speech, it's meant to be a bit of the "Lucas" act bleeding into actual Loki, and I do think there's some truth in that, that Loki is more self-centered, self-focused, than selfish per se. / "Star" (131/132) I can't remember if I put this on a note in that chapter, but for me it was the letter "w." We were all little miscreants. :-) (159/160) I think Thor, for the most part, sees things in pretty simple terms, and "Brother" = "Loki" is emblematic of that, glad you liked that bit. (162/163) He did let a little of it out there. (163/164) I had to look that up, yeah, there were two races Loki looked down on (and he wasn't the only one...), the big ants and the regular ants! (165/166) Thanks! To be honest I really like that line myself. (88/89) It's definitely sad. And I don't think he'll always feel that way. But right now the broken trust and the pall it casts over his entire life causes him to see it through that lens. (187/188) The Other can't exactly see into Loki's mind, it's more indirect, he's limited at this point by what's more directly on Loki's mind via his dreams. If Loki were to be dreaming about Pathfinder then The Other could see that, though he'd still have to gather all the components and such, including a really strong power source. / Guest (187/188): Auburn-haired man? What auburn-haired man? Hmmmmm... :-) Thanks so much! / Guest (47/48): Cruel? Me? ::bats eyelashes:: Loki's "mischief, darkness, and vulnerability," thanks, and a really nice summary of him! Thanks too re Tony & Odin, & totally agreed re Odin. (50/51) LOL, yeah, nothing's hidden there, it was absolutely lust. Ha, re Jane, she tends toward the practical, and head and heart are not always quite in agreement. (70/71) Re the woman Loki fell in love with, who says there's only one? :-) / "Caroladl": (100/101) Maeva is the woman you have in mind. And yeah, a calm before the storm! I debated quite a lot before settling on what Loki would show Jane in the past and originally envisioned something much more recent, but when I thought of this I loved it too much to do anything else.
There were a lot of reviews since the last chapter and I'm a bit behind, but catching up, so if you haven't heard from me yet, you will.
Previews for Ch. 189: Jane tells Loki she's too tired after all, and asks for a rain check. Oh, just kidding, come on!
Excerpt:
Loki extended an arm out toward the stairs that Jane was already edging toward, and they set off. "If I didn't know you've been here all day and Asgard doesn't have it, I'd ask you how many double espressos you've had."
"Oh, that would be so dangerous. I know it's getting late here, but I'm glad you showed up because I don't know how I would have been able to sleep."
"You wouldn't have. You would have been up trying to take things apart."
