Thor Odinson, God of Thunder, King of Asgard (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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nexus_crossings2018-12-16 12:21 am
pirateangelbaby) wrote in nexus_crossings2018-12-16 12:21 am
God Jól - Nexus Winter Party Post 2018
The winter solstice has arrived, and with it, the Nexus has made good on the promise of frost and snow. Soft white banks blanket the streets and buildings, a darkened evening sky curling overhead with brilliant green and yellow auroras, and just off the Plaza proper, a roaring bonfire offers shelter from the chill. An entire oak tree trunk, carved with nordic runes and anointed with spices, blazes with merry heat in the center of a series of open-sided pavilions, their supporting posts wreathed with holly and pine. The entire gathering is ringed by evergreen trees whose boughs are decorated with ribbons of brightly colored cloth, carved wooden runes, cranberries, and small squares of toasted bread. At the back of the grounds, an enormous straw goat overlooks the proceedings, bound into shape with strips of red cloth.
Beneath the shelter of the pavilions sit long communal tables and benches, decked with greenery and candles that smell of warm cinnamon and cedar and bayberry, and tableware laid out to host a grand feast for all. One table is loaded down with food of all sorts, dishes donated by visitors spread out equally amidst those provided by the host, roasted meats and cheeses and breads, bowls of apples and oranges, and an entire boar's head with an apple in its mouth. At the end of the table sits an enormous silver punch bowl of steaming hot wassail, surrounded by bottles of colder brews, some labeled as non-alcoholic while some others warn against excessive consumption by anyone without a godlike constitution. Staff wearing white goathide cloaks and horned helms tend the tables, replenishing food and drink as needed, and handing out honey cakes and small paper-wrapped parcels to all in attendance.
The jólfather himself can be seen wearing a finer goatskin cloak of dark red, his head wreathed with a crown of woven holly and ivy, a gold patch covering his missing eye, and carrying an oaken staff carved in the likeness of Gungnir, with springs of mistletoe entwined around its head. As guests arrive, and fill their plates and cups with the bounty of the feast, Thor raises a horn of mead to the gathering and speaks the traditional Asgardian Yule blessing. "Come those that will, leave those that will, stay those that will, I declare this place a sanctuary. To all that sit at my hearth, today we are family, and I drink to your health. To a good new year, and peace!"
Welcome to Yule, Nexus-goers. Eat, drink, and be merry!
[OOC: As this is a party post, please feel free to threadhop and mingle to your hearts' content! There is a post in the OOC community about Yule gifts here.]
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Or maybe whatever is on his mind is taking precedence. "Merry Christmas," he says simply, when they're close enough. "Your teammate knows how to throw a party."
"Merry Christmas, Steve." Adia gives her friend a hug, then digs through her messenger bag until she finds what she's looking for. A wrapped package containing a selection of charcoal pencils, both plain and tinted, as well as a framed photo of a familiar looking Braviary perched atop a modern wood cabin.
"We finally got Zelus settled on Atlantis," she explains, when he gets to the photo. "He loves it there."
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He glances around to see if he can spot Natasha but the spy has stepped away like she tends to do so his smile is all for Adia and Caspar as he raises a mug of cider toward them both in greeting. His eyes might be tired but the smile is no less sincere despite it.
"Oh, thank you both." And if a little more life comes back to his face to see the pencils well. Adia can be proud that she's brought a little more of her old friend back to see the yule celebrations. "Look at him posing. He's the same ham I remember all right." It's good to see B--no. Zelus. It's good to see Zelus doing well. "The gals are going to love this. I shoulda thought to do a Christmas photo with them. Maybe next year I'll have to do it."
He lifts the photo toward Caspar with a smile. "How are you two getting on these days?"
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The choice of art supplies for Steve had not come as easily for Adia this year as it had in the past. As she learned more about Steve's role as an Avenger (almost entirely secondhand), she wasn't sure if it was the right kind of present any longer. But watching the way his expression shifts, she knows that she made the right decision.
"He loves it up there," she says with a laugh. Her eyes light up at Steve's idea. "Oh, you should. Sarah and Ethel would look so cute in Santa hats."
As for Steve's question, the Cylon shrugs. "He won't always listen to me, but he minds his manners. I think the move to Atlantis did him a lot of good. Everyone else naturally gives him a wide berth."
"He has an enchanted ribbon tied around his ankle so no one thinks twice about his appearance." Adia hesitates a bit before adding, "Loki gave it to me."
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Oh.
The light hearted smile shatters like glass as something cold and heavy settles in Steve's gaze as he steels himself from the surge in his pulse just from hearing the God's name invoked. He can't help how he's scanning the crowds even now, looking for that greasy haired snake and half expecting him to be there waiting to strike. Loki's doing favors for the folk in the Nexus, is he?
And what happens when the god demands repayment with interest...? How many people will owe him more than they can pay in recompense? And that's if he doesn't delight in torturing them all emotionally first. Steve should have warned Adia and Caspar ahead of time. It's too late now, and even if it wasn't, would they understand? If Loki has wormed his way into their good graces nothing Steve says will do anything to sway them. He's seen proof of that before.
It doesn't make the hurt any less. Nor the worry and guilt.
"Owing favors to gods never works out for us humans in the stories." He finally decides on, voice tight with emotion only barely held back. "I hope you know what you're doing."
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Her gaze drops briefly. Apologetic, and maybe the slightest bit defensive. How does she explain to Steve that it is her fate -- or luck, or whatever -- to be drawn to into the affairs of gods? Would he rather that she run away like a frightened child every time she crosses paths with the supernatural? Where would that have left her in the Nightmare? Or at the Spring Revelry?
"I know the stories," she says softly. "It's not an owed favor, Loki didn't leave things open-ended. He asked that I warn him if my moon rune senses anything dangerous in the Nexus. That's all." She presses a pleat of her dress between her fingers and rubs at the fabric nervously. "Thor told me what he's done... I'm sorry, Steve. That gives you every right not to trust him. I'm being as careful as I can."
"You know what, while we're here, why don't you give us your side of the story, Steve." Caspar's suddenly looking a lot less relaxed; if the mere mention of Loki is getting the Captain all hot and bothered, then he wants to hear it.
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All this time, Steve's been so careful not to worry his friends in the Nexus. Not to let them know what sort of horrors and battles he's had to drag himself away from in between trips to this place he's called a second home for a few years of his life. All of that effort to have some people still know him as Just Steve Rogers eaten away by a few unintended words from one of his battle comrades.
And still, Adia listened to Loki?
The gaze he turns on Caspar is steeled and full of a fight that only those who have had to face Steve Rogers down will have seen before. A refusal to be silent or to swallow back his beliefs. A fire that drove even the small sickly man he used to be to get his faced pummeled into the ground on so many occasions that he damaged his hearing in one ear. One more ailment gone thanks to his new body, but still remaining in his mind.
"This isn't the place for those kinds of stories." This isn't a fight he wants to have. Once it starts, he won't stop. Steve knows that. Knows himself. "Maybe some other time. It won't change what's already done."
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Then she takes a breath. He must have had his reasons. Good ones. But it still stings.
Caspar, meanwhile, calmly pulls out his PINpoint and brings up his calendar app. "Why don't you pick a good time, then?" he says, offering it to Steve. His gaze is as unrelenting, albeit glittering in irritation. "If you know something, Steve, I'd like to know it, too."
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We'll talk later. Without Adia. Message me. It's going to have to be short notice because of my work.
Missions don't let him plan socially like this. It's a convenient excuse but also gives Steve the room to breathe he needs. When he hands Caspar back the device he still looks tense. His gaze shifts from the Cylon, to Adia and then past them both. He can't do this now. Can't ruin Thor's hard work for this Yule party.
"I think I"m going to go get some fresh air. Merry Christmas, both of you." And well there's very few in the Nexus able to stop him from doing just that.
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"Merry Christmas," Adia echoes softly, after Steve turns to leave, but before he's out of earshot. Not that she's feeling particularly merry about this situation. Her own feelings aside, she hadn't wanted to upset Steve like that.
"Hey." Caspar wraps an arm around her. "Don't take it personally, okay? He's probably pissed at himself more than anything."
Adia sighs and leans into him, trying to shake off her unhappy thoughts. She doesn't need her moon rune to tell her that this is going to be an issue between her and Steve, one that won't be resolved so easily.