ᴄᴀᴛᴄʜ ᴍᴇ ɪғ ɪ ғᴀʟʟ ғʀᴏᴍ ɢʀᴀᴄᴇ

            he takes a deep breath in an attempt to center himself. yes, he’s angry. when he left to search for the infinity stones, he certainly hadn’t anticipated tony turning on steve. and thor knows it’s more complicated than that; it’s politics and it’s just what the situation was — that much he understands. but the fact remains he finds it difficult to let it go. “tony,” he greets coldly.

            steve’s right, of course. there’s no reason they can’t take care of each other. it’s merely that after all that time thor spent caring for steve when he was unable to care for himself, he just wants to make sure that steve knows nothing has changed there. he will always take care of steve whether the soldier needs it or not. “steven, wait —” a pause; he takes the man’s hand and smiles for a moment before pulling him in for a kiss. though brief, the grin remains on his lips as he pulls away. “i love you.”

            is he sure? no. he never is truly positive about these things, but he has faith and the healers here are far better than any doctor they’d be able to find on midgard. “i believe the medicine we have here is far more advanced than that on earth. we will do everything in our power to help you, bucky.”

            “this is asgard.” a beautiful place; different from earth, but his home nonetheless. it’s where he grew up. were it not for steve, he likely never would have considered leaving had he not fallen in love with steve. and now he has both: steve and his home. “are you going to be alright here? i know this isn’t ideal for you, but it means a lot to me to have you here.” even under the circumstances.

            though it, perhaps, might come as some surprise to her, the email which thor claims is truly his, courtesy of one tony stark who encouraged him to ‘get with the times!’ if he was serious about living on midgard. so yes, he has an email and a phone and whatever else tony has pawned off onto him, but using them is still a few steps away in his integration process. earth is... certainly an adjustment from asgard. he grins at her. “one of these days, beth, i might yet come prepared and surprise you.”

            “ants — you can speak to them?” a truly great takeaway in this conversation. he finds himself more intriguing than perhaps he should. even with all of beings he is able to communicate with, ants aren’t one of them. can they even talk? they must have tiny voices. “and they listen to you?”

            though skeptical, thor opts not to argue. he has no reason to assume the worst in the man. “say i believe you, can you tell me what happened here?”

            a felony? is that what they’re doing? had he realized, he may have warned her not to come along. “aye. of course. next time, i promise to be more careful.” because next time certainly makes up for what they’ve already done. “are you alright?” / @manhattancoffee

            it seems fair. they need to protect themselves, after all, and most people with weapons have a tendency to fight a man with a metal arm and an alien holding an intimidating hammer. “i accept those terms.” in spite of the quickly-approaching battle, thor smiles at his friend. although, given the looks of their would-be opponents — “i don’t think you need prepare yourself for an apology.” / @theassxt