Time-sensitive question how flirt girl

[pirateangelbaby]

It's been some time since Thor has sought the Nexus for advice. Which is not to say that he's not a regular visitor, but he's felt relatively assured in his day-to-day life enough to feel that he has a good handle on what he's doing with himself, or at least that his struggles are routine and need little guidance to overcome. Today, apparently, this is not the case.

One might be forgiven for assuming the glass bottle in his hand is beer at first glance, but on closer inspection it seems to be a cream soda instead. It's not what he wants, but just having a drink in his hands seems to be a comfort, making it easier to think. The little picnic table is off to one side off the main Plaza, its benches warmed by the summer sun as it overlooks a small koi pond. Thor's one good eye stares through the glinting fish rather than watching them, lost in thought.

What's he supposed to do now?

Is this even a good idea? What happens once a few decades pass? What if he decides not to risk it, and she leaves? Should he even be seriously considering putting himself through this again? He doesn't even know his own heart yet, what if he ends up stringing her along without meaning to?

Those are the questions he keeps to himself, but there are more yet to ask. He picks at the soda label with his prosthetic fingers, metal lightly tapping against the glass.

"How do you realize when you're in love?" Not quite getting to the point, but Thor is honestly not even sure where to start on this one.

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[itmeanstruth]

Now that his ankle had healed, Minoru was getting in a few good laps around the plaza. Which put him in the right place at the right time to hear Thor’s question.

He ran back around, vaulting over one of the nearby benches.

“I didn’t.” He answered, chuckling to himself. “Well, not at first. It took me a couple weeks before I realized Ziggy was flirting with me, and Isamu pretty much had to spell out for me what interest in someone felt like.”

Not that he really believed him at the time. It honestly took Minoru a lot longer to realize it himself. It was something he had to seriously think about for a minute.

“I guess I really realized it… well, after Hiroki disappeared.” His voice was softer, far more serious. “I didn’t care how overwhelming his empathic powers were, I just… I had to be there. I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.”

[pirateangelbaby]

Thor's frown only deepens, his hands still idly peeling off the corner of the soda label. "You wouldn't do that for a dear friend?"

That doesn't seem right to him, but he's never really had reason to put these feelings into actual words before. That has always been more Loki's strength than his own, and his romance with Jane had been whirlwind enough that little needed to be said about it at the time.

[itmeanstruth]

“I would.” Minoru nodded quickly. Because he had. “But this… this was different. Maybe some of it was how sensitive I was to Anthean empathy. But some of that power was Ziggy just projecting my own feelings back toward me and I’d never felt anything like that before. Ever.”

He was being completely honest there. Ziggy was his first relationship. Making this very hard to explain.

[pirateangelbaby]

Ah. That explains some things, and Thor's expression clears just slightly as he takes a drink from the soda. "Empaths are cheating," he grumbles, though not in a malicious way. "So this 'Ziggy' knew before you did, then?"

Throw rocks at she.

[telekinesis_kills]

Danny's not sure why he's wandering toward the koi pond in the Plaza -- he was never one for watching fish (never really had the time for quiet activities like that, even as a child). Maybe the Nexus was nudging him into the right place to overhear Thor's question. Deciding not to fight the happenstance, he slides onto the bench and sits across from the big man.

"I knew it when I started to think about living life with him, and the idea of him not being there was... not something I wanted to contemplate."

[pirateangelbaby]

Sometimes, talking things over with a stranger can be more valuable than with a friend. Thor's not sure which way's better, but he's not about to turn down a chance to figure it out. The picnic table's rather small, and he takes up a good deal of space, but there's room enough for someone else.

There's a light frown creasing his brow, his one-eyed gaze focusing on the stranger now sitting across from him. That answer strikes a chord, and probably not for the reasons that Danny intends. "What if you knew it would be temporary?"

[telekinesis_kills]

"It's all temporary," Danny replies, in a matter-of-fact tone. "We never know how long anything will last. And when I die again, I want some good memories in my head when I'm flashing back through my whole life."

He rests an elbow on the edge of the picnic table, then shrugs that one shoulder and leans his head in his hand. "Life's hard enough without actively denying what could make you happy."

[pirateangelbaby]

It's a good argument, but Thor still shakes his head. "I wish it could be that simple."

It's honestly only one of many things he's dwelling on, the whole mess too complex to distill down to a single question. "I don't want to be without any of my friends. The people I care for are all precious to me. Yet I already know I will outlive many of them, should I die an old man."

He takes a swig of his cream soda, a gnawing regret buried deep that it isn't something stronger.

[delphicbooksandbaubles]

Dor's ears perk up at the sound of the bottle and then scents the air before padding over his son softly cooing and babbling at the sight of the fish and such genly in his bjoin strapped to his chest at the moment. Dor smiles down at their eldest and rubs his check gently against his head as he carefully comes over to sit nearby the other blonde. With a warm but empathic look.

After a moment he responds. "Well, it can vary from person to person..But I suppose one way to tell. Is if you would put their needs or life before your own if it came to that. Or barring the need for that extreme sort of measure think at least how your actions affect them one way or another?"

He murmurs softly at his son and holds his finger up for Gawain to grab onto, as he babbles softly, "Dadadada. " Though his eyes seem to be drawn toward anything shiny on Thor and watching the movements of the fishes.

[pirateangelbaby]

Thor's sleeves are rolled up to his elbows, exposing the gleaming black metal of his left arm. That's likely shiny enough to catch a baby's attention.

He smiles faintly, but his brow is still creased, troubled. "I'm the Allfather. Putting my people's needs before my own comes with the job. Not just Asgardians, but every citizen of the Nine." Therein lies some of the trouble - the woman in question isn't exactly one of his subjects, but if her life was in danger, he would no more hesitate to come to her aid than anyone else.

[delphicbooksandbaubles]

"Baa-Roo." Murmurs Gawain reaches out to try and pat the shiny likely in a manner similar to how his mother might pat the big fellow's shoulder if she were here.

Dor blinks but nods softly, "Ah, naturally..Love and Duty aren't always easy bedfellows but a balance between them takes practice." He murmurs half in thought. Stroking his chin and then nuzzling his son with his check again. Making some soft playful nom nom growly noises causing the youngster to giggle.

He hums softly, "Is it then how to perhaps erm approach her on more...personal instead of other matters that's difficult?" He half asks, trying to narrow down and clarify perhaps some roots of the problem. Or at least what was niggling at the other man. With a diplomatic tilt of his head.

After all, broad and big pictures were good things to focus on but that made it all too easy to have blind spots when one went at things on their own. He knew he would be miserable and miss many colorful and wonderful things in life if not for his help mate..And Aal would likely be down and stuck in circular ruts etc without a hand up and out some days.

[pirateangelbaby]

Thor can't help but smile a little at the child, still too young for speech. He lets his arm rest across the table, enough for the baby to touch the metal and grasp at his fingers. It's not an exact match for a living arm, but the godforged prosthetic has a sense of touch, letting him gently grasp those little fingers and shake them playfully.

It's a softer contrast to the conversation that has him looking so troubled. "No, rather the other way around. She confessed her feelings for me. I suggested a date, and that caused her to take fright."

[albtraum]

Oh, the topic of love. A favorite. Mind, it preferred the topic in ways of longing and heartache, but what can you do. Just so happens that someone had fallen asleep nearby and there's quite a bit of shadow under a large oak tree nearby. Which was where this creature crawled up from to lurk.

"If you're asking this question, mein freund, I think you are." It could answer how it had known, but Albtraum preferred to keep those stories to it chest. Besides, it sounded that Thor was asking for more than just to hear other's stories of love.

[pirateangelbaby]

Mysterious unseen voices are rarely a good sign, and Thor's absent distraction becomes focused rather suddenly on the origin of the speaker. He can't see them clearly enough to know if it's just someone perched up in a tree, or something more... supernatural. Spirits abound in the Nexus, and he's run afoul of his share.

"It's not like that," he protests, a hint of wariness in his voice. "Unless being confessed to means you must feel the same in return."

[albtraum]

It's just there chillin' in the oak tree shadow, really. Perhaps eventually a face might become more clear; some outline of a body. Not particularly human looking. As for the topic at hand? Aaah, well then. That's another matter. And to that, Albtraum hums.

"So what is the problem, are you unsure of your own feelings? If not, it's a matter of honesty."

[pirateangelbaby]

"Among other things." It's the question upon which the others rest, though, so arguably it's the most important, if you ask Thor. He doesn't look convinced by the stranger's claim though, peering at them skeptically. "You think it so simple?"

[coldsong]

"Oh, Thor." Loki approaches with a knowing look, but not a smug one. He has a pretty good guess what's unfolding here, and while he approves and dearly wants to see it work out, he's not actually sure what advice to offer. "I'm not very good with feelings."

Nevertheless, he wanders thoughtfully closer and claps his brother reassuringly on the back. At which point, Thor might notice the small reusable grocery bag in one hand. Loki gently places the handle thereof into Thor's palm and gives him the most affectionate of brotherly smiles while closing his fingers over it and patting his knuckles.

"The children took our last harvest and made several pounds of highly questionable zucchini bread. It's your problem now."

Yeah, that was probably the whole reason he approached. Nevertheless! He sits next to him and crosses his ankles. "I'm such a tangle myself I'm afraid anything I tell you about love might be suspect. It sneaks up on you, as far as I can tell. No--you chase it and chase it until you're exhausted and then it sneaks up on you after you've given up."

[pirateangelbaby]

Despite his conflicting thoughts, Thor's face visibly lights up a bit when he sees his brother, accepting the unexpected gift with amused exasperation. "Questionable? Do I want to know what's in this?" he asks, making a show of peering into the bag.

Loki may not be good with feelings, but he's certainly better with words than Thor is prepared to be. Every bit of that rings true, especially the last part. He lifts the cream soda a little in mock toast. "Truer words. I've not been looking, but it may have found me." Though not in the way he would've expected. Then again, does it for anyone? "I didn't know it could be so... slow."

[coldsong]

The bread looks more or less like bread. Boxy loaves with rounded corners, maybe a little overly-browned at the ends. Wrapped in rainbow-tinted plastic wrap.

...oh, wait, no, it's normal plastic wrap. It's the bread that's tinted. Hmm.

"Well," Loki says, "first they tried to make it with pop rocks because Una thought biting into fizzy bread would be fun. That didn't work well, though, because pop rocks effervesce as soon as you mix them with anything wet, so it fizzled out in the oven. It came out rather light, though. Bit crumbly. A little bit watermelon-flavored."

"Then they decided to put Skittles in the next batch, which made them very heavy and very chewy and I'm afraid I'll hurt my teeth on them. I prefer walnuts, personally."

He sniffs a little when Thor raises the soda. Already he's pretty sure it's not alcoholic, but cream soda has a nice smell, not quite like how it tastes.

"I think the slowness comes from us being a little older," he admits. "Abrupt and passionate love affairs go better with adolescence and young adulthood. We're...almost like mature adults now."

[pirateangelbaby]

"They could not have used chocolate chips?" Thor grumbles good-naturedly, shaking his head with fondness and closing up the bag to set it aside. He's going to try to eat it, certainly. The children will no doubt ask him what he thought of it the next time he sees them anyway, and it can't possibly be as unfortunate as the Halloween of years ago now.

Almost like, Loki says, and Thor lets out a surprised chuckle. "Hey," he protests, but there's no heat to it. He's in good spirits despite the dimming of his smile, a more thoughtful look taking its place. He's quiet for a moment, sipping his soda as he mulls it over. "Can you court someone without realizing you've been doing it?"

[sweetcandygirl]

Harley is still dressed for beach time. In fact, it may be true that she was just returning from swimming, or some other water-related activities, because she looks like she was drenched from head to toe and is still drying off.

Bruce follows her, similarly appearing drenched head to toe and drying off. He has a big piece of somekind of fish in his jaws right now.

Harley pauses when she sees Thor. And laughs softly at the question. She has a pretty good idea where this is coming from, after seeing Amelia in the Nexus a while back.

"Well, no one here can answer that question besides yourself. And hate to break-it to ya, Thor... I sort of think you have answered it for yourself. Ya just looking for confirmation..." And in typical Harley fashions, she answers Thor in a similar way she answered Amelia. Straight forward and to the point.

"If they are in your mind and your heart this much, to be asking the entire Nexus about it.. then I think you might be there."

She approaches, and leans in to speak softer. "I know for me, it is always hard to say the words. Admit the feelings. And if something is worrying you... you can talk to me about it?"

[pirateangelbaby]

"Harley!" Thor's face lights up a bit to see her, only for a vague sort of alarm to take hold, which he tries to push down. It hasn't occurred to him until just this moment that Harley once dated the same person he's here about, and he's not sure how she's going to take that when she finds out. Will she be happy for them? Jealous? Rationally, he knows their breakup left them on good terms, but irrational fears don't care what his logical thoughts have to say about it.

But beyond that, everyone seems to think he knows his heart better than he claims to. Is... it that obvious? Why can't he tell? Or are they just being encouraging out of a sense of optimism? Round and round his thoughts go, as they have since he first learned of his lady's affections.

"I've... not done this before," he admits to her, one of the few he'd be this open and direct with. "I mean, I've loved, but... it was a swift thing to fall."

[sweetcandygirl]

Harley pulls up a chair to sit with Thor at the picnic table. Once Bruce is settled by her feet, she places her legs on top of the tired-out hyena. It is obvious she has done this lots, by the fact that Bruce does not seem to care, and just chews on his stolen fish.

"If you are anything like me... the swift fall was the hardest to get over, right?"

"And that is what I thought it should be every time."

"But it turned out that the love I needed was the one that took time. Took understanding. Took respect. That it felt less like I was falling... but I was growing to love."

[pirateangelbaby]

Trust Harley to know how to get to the heart of the matter. It's not even close to the first time she's turned her skills toward helping Thor sort out his life. He's glad that this time around, it's because of something good hanging over him... if he can make it work.

"It was," he agrees quietly, but easily, a nostalgic pang in his chest. "What I had with Jane... it was different. Immediate, like a sudden storm on the sea, and gone just as soon." The loss is still one he feels deeply, and it might always be so. The heart does not simply stop loving someone dear to oneself, nor does it stop him from loving someone else all the more.

Growing to love... that's what rings most true to him. Like a seedling planted and left to sprout into an oak, or an overcast day promising a long, gentle rain. He nods, looking thoughtful. "When did you realize?"

[tanthalas]

"If I were a younger man I'd say when she can knock you on your backside, and your still willing to get back up and face them again." He leans against the wall chuckling because the twins' sister had done that a few times, to both himself and Sturm.

As I've gotten a little older, I've found that it's more of realizing you're heart pains whenever they're gone from your side, yet you would risk your life to protect theirs." He watches the larger man. "It is something different for different people I feel."

Tanis shrugs slightly. "I fear in my long life I have been fallen ill of love a few times. Each, was different in their way. So, I may not be of much help."