nexus_crossings | +1 King of Asgard

+1 King of Asgard

Thor really should have no right to be as cheery as he is right now. Mjolnir destroyed, his father dead, his eye ruined, Asgard exploded, the last of his people crammed together onto a single spaceship on their way to seek aslyum on Midgard, one cannot really say they've been having a good day, to put it mildly.

But it could be worse.

It's taken him years to fully understand what it means to sit on the throne of Asgard, and now that kingship falls to him at last, the lack of that throne doesn't bother him at all. Asgard isn't a place to rule, it's a people to guide. And even if they couldn't save all of them, those who remain are precious to him. A new start awaits them all on Earth.

Or so he hopes.

Thor strides down the corridor of the Statesman, cape billowing behind him as he navigates his way towards the bridge. Hmm. Or was it this way? It's so easy to get turned around in this blasted thing. But ah, the sound of a multitude of voices; surely this is the way.

It takes him a moment to realize that he's no longer surrounded by Asgardians, or even Korg's crew. No, the people here are of all shapes and sizes, and the sky above him suddenly opens up, wide and blue. Not on a spaceship anymore. How very strange to find himself suddenly transported across the galaxy - again - without so much as being shot through the Bifrost. His attention is caught by a familiar voice, and despite his confusion, a delighted grin lights upon his countenance to see his good friend Rogers giving prerecorded messages in his battle regalia.

Perhaps this is Midgard, then? But no, the more he listens, the more he understands. A place between the worlds, hmm. A place to seek counsel, and befriend countless warriors from across the universe. Thor crosses his arms over his chest, and contemplates what question he should ask. Something somewhat relevant to his current situation, perhaps. "If you were put in a position of power, what would you first command?"

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It's not like Thor to talk in cryptic circles. The Asgardian is many things but subtle isn't really one of them. So when he says Ragnarok has come to Asgard like that's some kind of coded message Natasha narrows her eyes to a squint and tries to understand before she remembers her mythology.

He means literally.

That's why he's on a ship.

"That's not good. Wh-can we stop it?"

Thor shakes his head. "It is done. The realm of Asgard is no more." He doesn't look entirely devastated by that, however; there's a determination in his remaining eye and the set of his shoulders, the confidence of a king settling into his role. "Many were evacuated to the Grandmaster's Statesman and spared the destruction." He decides not to mention one of those survivors is Loki; that revelation will surely come later, once he's had time to think over how he wants to break the news. "They are mine to protect; the throne of Asgard falls to me now, such as it is."

"What the fuck."

Thor may be settled into this fate but Natasha is only just now hearing about it and the small bit of emotion on her face is concern for her friend. She's only human and its not in their nature--especially Thor's companions--to simply accept things as they are.

After a moment she shakes her head, trying to wipe away the proof she cares as much as any of them do about each other.

"...Steve's here. You want me to call him?"

Edited 2018-09-02 12:49 (UTC)

Ah, Natasha, Thor may see less than he used to but he didn't miss that furrow to your brow. He's had far more time to process all this, time to come to terms with the implications and begin to deal with them, time to dwell on grief and loss. He will greatly miss those who perished in Asgard's defense, most of all the Warriors Three, but there's some solace in knowing they feast eternally in Valhalla and Fôlkvangr. For now, he must focus on the welfare of those who remain, for their sakes.

"Yes, I saw his message," Thor says, his expression brightening a tad as he nods over his shoulder to the massive screen displaying good old Captain America. "Seeing him in person would be far more delightful."

Natasha looks over her shoulder at the huge screen in the plaza and then, strangely, her face does the same thing it did a moment ago. She ducks her head and sighs quietly before looking up again.

"Just a warning....things haven't been so great for us either back home. He's not going to be so friendly."

Okay, now Thor's starting to wonder. What in Odin's name has been happening back on Midgard to put such a look on his good friend's face, that would lead her to deliver such warnings? Without Heimdall at his observatory post, there's been little news from the realm of humans, and his brief recent visit left him with little impression of imminent danger. Just one very annoying wizard.

It's his turn to frown in concern and puzzlement. "What has happened?"

"You won't believe it. Tony decided to follow the law. ...Steve didn't. Now half of us are wanted fugitives and the other ones are the government's pets. What they call the Avengers now are on the government's leash and the rest of us have been on the run. Steve and I spend a lot of time between missions here to regroup."

It's harsh and it's cold and Natasha wants to say what's on her mind fully before she calls Steve in. She doesn't like to talk so harshly around him. He's been through enough lately. And Nat chose to stand by him, even though she didn't agree with the way he let things go down.

"You've missed a hell of a fall for a lot of us."

Well. He certainly has missed a lot. Thor's pretty sure he's missing a ton of details, but the important takeaway here it that the Avengers are not what they once were, broken up by the Earth government of all things.

"So it seems. I welcome his companionship regardless, if he will have mine. And yours," he adds, since he wouldn't leave his sister-in-arms out in the cold either. Perhaps they'll all trade sad stories of the deaths of kings, so to speak, over a hard drink.

Natasha nods then, her usual expression back firmly in place before she calls up Steve. Though her message is unhelpfully brief. 'Come to the Plaza, you're going to want to see this.' Sounds like way more trouble than an old friend and when Steve comes its in his tattered uniform with the crystal shield Naugus and Harrowheart made for him held on one arm.

Ready for a fight.

But that's not what seems to be happening here. Steve isn't as hard to read as Natasha is and his shock on Thor's being here and his state is apparent. He stops a few steps shy of his friend.

"You look like you've had a rough week." His gaze slides to Natasha and the spy nods. Theirs, so far as she can tell. It's impossible to be completely for sure until they've talked to him more.

"It's been Hel," Thor says, meaning that quite literally for once. Huh. How about that.

His eye sweeps over the other man, taking note of the battle-damaged uniform, the shield that has apparently transformed from wondrous metal to gleaming crystal, and... "I see you've copied my beard," he says with a grin. Let us not dwell on darker thoughts, Steve. Thor steps forward to close the gap, and claps his hand to the other man's shoulder. "It is good to see you."

"Tell me about it. Actually, yeah, you want to come back to my place? You look like you could use a beer and a minute's rest."

Steve moves the shield round to settle on his back with the same confidence and control he would his other shield so it seems to be a decent replacement. All the better to have his hands free when he claps Thor back on the shoulder.

"Not yours, but definitely the look. I know another captain who wears it like this." Might have taken a few pointers from him too. It's not as easy as it looks to make it look half decent. "Glad to have you back."

"If you boys are done flirting, I heard the word beer." Natasha gives both men a good natured roll of her eyes before she starts walking back toward the less crowded areas of the Plaza.

"That I could." Truth be told, Thor could probably use more than a minute's rest, but even that's more than he has had much time for lately.

Another captain? A likely story, Rogers. Thor smiles and decides to take that with some salt. But before he can call him out, Natasha is beckoning them towards a respite, and Thor decides to let him keep his dignity in favor of getting to the beer quicker. "You heard the lady."

"I've got a place here we use for a safe house in between missions."

Steve shoots Natasha a look but the spy doesn't even have to look over her shoulder to give a nod as she keeps walking through the plaza and toward a more residential area of the Nexus.

"I told him how you fucked up Steve, don't worry. We just chose to follow you." She's only half joking and Steve doesn't flinch away from the truth. He sighs instead and gives Thor a slow nod instead.

"She's right. We've been on the run for a while now. Hence the beard and Nat's new hair. Every little bit helps us avoid detection when we've got to come out and do work. At least until the fighting starts. Then it's pretty obvious who's who."

Well, it's a far more effective disguise than Thor's most recent attempt. Plus having a blanket over his head was rather uncomfortable, to boot. But then, they've had a little more time than five minutes to prepare, as well.

"Yes, so she said. Though she failed to mention what law was broken," Thor says, glancing over at Steve, brow furrowed slightly. Earth laws are so complex that he's never bothered to learn more than the bare-bones basics.

"...Steve chose his friend over the mission. The one we were on an all points bulletin to watch out for up to and during the shit in Sokovia I might add."

"Sokovia changed a lot of things. The government got involved. Said we were too dangerous to be allowed to operate without their sayso." Steve doesn't say anything about Bucky. Thor wasn't there for most of that fiasco and Steve doesn't have nearly enough to drink to talk about it.

Not that the beer he has at home does anything for him. It's mostly Natasha's. He just drinks it for the familiarity. The house they walk up to looks perfectly ordinary. The sort of place a new family might settle into. For once the house is quiet when Steve opens the door. An orange doglike creature and a chunky little yellow dinosaur with a funny growth on her head are curled up together taking an afternoon nap on the loveseat by the window facing the front door. Aside from a sleepy noise they don't move for Steve and his friends.

"Those're the gals. They watch over the place when I'm on assignment with some help now and then. I'll introduce you properly when they're awake."

Thor listens, frowning, as he follows Natasha at Rogers' side. Sokovia had been a success, he'd thought. Ultron defeated, a majority of civilians saved from the battle, and a new ally or two recruited to their ranks. It wasn't like Stark and Banner had meant to create a lifeform bent on genocide.

Nor had Odin, his subconscious whispers. And though the Allfather was a wise, good king in the centuries since Thor's birth, Thor has recently begun to realize that some villains' hatred for Asgard may not be entirely unwarranted or unjustified.

A disconcerting thought.

But even so, perhaps the Earth government meddled far deeper than their right, shackling their mightiest for fear of their power. Where once he would have leaped to conclusions, Thor holds himself back, unwilling to speak ill of situations he does not fully understand. Whatever has befallen his shieldbrothers, these two at least are safe, and that is worth celebrating. "How fortunate that you too have discovered this haven, then."

Rogers' house is almost pretty in that quaint Midgardian way, and Thor casts a side glance at the coat hooks in the entryway as they pass, a flicker of loss in his heart that he has no hammer to hang there. But it's a momentary thought only, set aside as he looks around the interior, rubbernecking a bit more than usual to compensate for his blind side. "I look forward to meeting them," he says with a smile, peering curiously at the sleeping creatures. What a pair they make!

"Technically Natasha found it."

Steve doesn't want to get lost in the weeds talking about the time travel and alternate universe hopping he's done since his time in the Nexus first began. It's a huge headache and he doesn't even fully understand it.

"I've got a safe house built around the portal to contain and monitor it back in our world. Courtesy of Nick Fury. All the paperwork on it disappeared when SHIELD dissolved, so we're the only ones who know about it now." Natasha pipes up from the kitchen, tossing Thor a cold bottle as she emerges from the doorway to the right of the front hall. She'll toss another to Steve too.

"We decided hiding out here was safer than anything else we could do once things went downhill. The whole Accords situation was a huge mess start to finish." Steve sighs while he pries off the cap on the bottle. "And Natasha's right. A big part of that is on me."

If Thor notices Steve is leaving something out, he gives no sign of it. He nearly fumbles the catch, still getting used to this whole lack-of-depth-perception thing, but manages to snag the beer bottle and only make it look slightly awkward.

He pops off the cap with his thumb with ease and finds someplace comfortable to sit, listening to them both as he takes a swig from the bottle. "Because you disregarded orders. Your friend, did you get him?" Was it worth it, in other words.

"Oh. Right, sorry."

Natasha has the decency to look appropriately guilty at Thor's fumbling with the drink. In their time working together it's become natural for her to have a general level of familiarity around Thor and while they've been separated for a couple of years now she'd been trying to show that same level of relaxation around him.

Kind of overlooked the eyepatch though.

"It was a set up. But I got him. I protected him, and he's somewhere safe now. Recovering from what was put into his head without his say so." It was worth it to Steve. He'd do it again. He's not sure of much anymore but he is sure of that.

"Problem is, Steve's friend did a lot of not so good work while he was under HYDRA control. Including hurting Tony's family. So on top of them fighting about the Accords, when Tony finds out Steve's friend had a hand in his own family trauma things really tank."

Steve doesn't deny it either. He'd choose to protect Bucky again and refuse the Accords again no problems there. But keeping quiet about everything The Asset was responsible for was a bad idea.

"I sent Tony a way to contact me after we both had time to cool off, but we were trading blows that could have killed last time we saw each other so I figure it'd take the end of the world for him to reach out to me at this point."

Thor is quick to smile at her apology, and he raises the bottle slightly in appreciation. No hard feelings here, Natasha. It's the thought that counts.

As for the rest... he's certainly no stranger to long-buried secrets rearing their ugly heads and causing no end of trouble, some more recently than others. But it saddens him to hear that one such secret has caused the Avengers to fracture, both sides with perfectly legitimate grievances to bear. Thor frowns as he listens. "A difficult situation indeed. I'm sorry I was not there to aid you." Though what he could have done is anyone's guess.

Steve sips at the drink before setting it aside. It might as well be tasty water for the good it does him but he does still enjoy the flavor. He feels raw airing all of this out like this but he's done with secrets. Much as he can be anyway. As much as he respects Natasha and everything Peggy taught him, Steve's no good at lying and sneaking around peoples' backs.

It doesn't sit well with him either. He's been trying to be better and that means airing all of this out. The good and the bad, when he's catching up his Asgardian friend.

"Sorry we couldn't be there to help with your situation either. You look...rough."

"He wants to know how you lost the eye."
"I can speak for myself Nat."
"I know, but you weren't getting to the point." As the only person in the room who can properly enjoy the drink in front of her, Natasha is pacing herself.

Thor's free hand reaches up to touch the eyepatch, almost self-consciously, though every waking moment can't help but remind him of its presence. A younger Thor might've found it a glorious war wound, but that was before he truly understood the gravity of it all. Now he knows better.

"This was Hela's doing. The goddess of death, and my sister." Even now it seems strange to say, to acknowledge her existence after centuries of ignorance. But her influence is undeniable; one need only look at him to prove that.

Thor shakes his head, rewinding his tale to the beginning. Or closer to it. Steve's not the only one who's become tired of secrets. "I returned to Asgard after a year away to find Loki on the throne in my father's guise, having banished Odin to Earth. By the time we found him, it was too late; old age had taken its toll, and he was near his end. He warned us of Hela, imprisoned centuries before my birth, her name erased from our histories, and that her prison's magics would die with him. No sooner did Odin's life leave him that she found us, and destroyed Mjolnir with a single hand."

"We were all three caught up in the Bifrost together, but Hela cast us out before we could arrive, and Loki and I were trapped on a planet called Sakaar, where none are ever allowed to leave. It's there that I found Banner," he says, his gaze lifting to Natasha. "Or rather the Hulk, serving as champion of the Grandmaster's gladiatorial games, my opponent in the arena. As well as an Asgardian, a Valkyrie, who had faced Hela in battle once before." There's more to that part of the story, of course, but it's not the tale they're waiting to hear. Maybe later.

"We managed to stage a jailbreak and steal a ship to take us back to Asgard, but Hela had had days to secure her power, slaughtering our army nearly to a man, and raising entombed soldiers to do her will. Heimdall had managed to hide away a good number of common folk, and to distract her long enough to let them escape, I fought her in single combat. She cut out my eye, and in return I struck her with the most powerful lightning I have ever summoned. It did not even slow her step." Of all the people who may one day hear this story, Thor knows the two humans here will appreciate the weight of implications that accompany that statement. "Her power was drawn from the realm of Asgard itself, and so to save my people... we caused Ragnarok. By my order."

Edited 2018-09-08 11:27 (UTC)

That's a hell of a story, though Steve's gaze snaps from Thor to Natasha at the mention of Banner being found too. The blonde says nothing though and sips her drink pointedly so Steve's pretty sure she must have found out that part already. Two of their number on a place called Sakaar. Strange, but lucky that Thor was able to bring him back.

Not like, Here back though. From the looks of things.

"I'm sorry for your loss." It's Natasha who speaks up first. Leaning forward from the doorway she's leaning in from. It sounds an awful lot like Bruce, this Valkyrie, and Loki are all free and together on whatever ship he mentioned before when they made their escape. It's a strange thought to have Loki and Bruce together in the same place without a Code Green coming of it but there you go.

"You destroyed Asgard to stop her. But what's left of the people...they're safe with you." Is Steve hearing this right? To not have any effect with all of his powers. To destroy Mjolnir as though it was nothing. Thor's sister sounds way out of their depth insofar as powers go. "What's the plan now?"

And how can he and Nat help, more importantly.

"Thank you." No matter which loss she refers to, the sympathy is still appreciated. It's been bad times all around, it seems. But knowing that what's left of his people are safe is enough to keep him going, bolstered by the pleasure of seeing his human comrades again. Despite the circumstances.

Things could be way worse.

"Yes," Thor answers, looking back to Rogers. "The realm is lost, but the survivors are safe aboard the Statesman. And some friends we made along the way," he adds, a slightly more lighthearted smile coming to him at the thought of them. Not the most likely of allies, but welcomed regardless.

That smile becomes an ironic one as he thinks about his options. "Well, I had planned to bring them to Earth, and seek asylum there. But from what you've told me, that might be more complicated than I'd thought."

"Oh...well." Natasha exchanges a look with Steve and the captain inhales sharply before settling back in his seat. Loki being among the survivors means Thor most definitely wont' want to bring them to the States right now, such as they are. Then again, neither Steve or Natasha are welcome there right now either.

"I can call a guy see if he's got any ideas. Wakanda might be safer than America right now." It breaks his heart to see the States so closed off against immigrants and anyone even remotely different than their picture of normal these days. Among other reasons.

"We won't leave you and yours hanging out in space. But someone's going to have to keep an eye on your brother." Especially if Bruce isn't doing it. Natasha is used to playing the bad guy among her friends and it does need to be said.

+1 King of Asgard

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