( mighty ) thor

“I think thou can be better than thou art pretending to be. Why?”

It still felt wrong to wield the hammer in front of him. It didn’t matter that Thor Odinson didn’t know her identity. Mjölnir had chosen her and she carried his name now. “And here I thought  the people were beginning to like fishing.” Asgardia’s coastal haven was a far cry from the opulent gold that had once been Asgard. Thor chose not to reside there because she had another life, but a part of her was now tied with the Asgardians for better or worse. “How does Valkyrie feel about that?”

“I’ve seen a few different sides of you, Loki. Some I’ve liked a lot I haven’t. But Thor told me what you did. Or, what a version of you did. It was admirable.”

“I’ve been bald before.” Technically, she still was. “There’s a weightlessness but it’s also far colder.” 

“It makes me people uncomfortable. You either offer sympathies or you tend to pretend like it’s not happening. I’m trying to be as direct as possible.”

“Understandable, all things considered. Earth really never seemed like it could be your home.” Not completely, at least, even though Jane had hoped it could be the case. Bundled up under both a sweater and a blanket, the former scientist had helped herself to a seat shortly after arriving. As a rule of thumb she was tired and her body ached. “It’s a big universe. You know that. I don’t think there’s a singular place we absolutely belong, per se, or are completely safe but there’s places that fit better than others.” It worked like that with people, too. Maybe they weren’t completely right for you but they could fit still. She needed to drink some tea and stop from getting existential. 

“And be visible? People like me don’t go to Valhalla. We don’t know where we go, but I don’t think you can follow,” Jane shifted. “We always knew.  Both of us. Your life goes on and on and mine was always going to be way shorter. Maybe not by this much, but from the moment I started loving you it was inevitable.” It was always going to  be Jane even if Thor’s life was always in danger. Even now she found her humanity to be her mortality, the cancer and not the new superheroics. “Too much.” That was what they had lost. They had lost too much. “If you want, I can tell you that I’ll stay alive for you.” So he didn’t have to lose everyone. “You know I still love you.” A part of her always had, even when they had drifted apart.

“Of course. Although, I do not seek pointless confrontation with everyone who has a small mind. I would never stop fighting if so.”

“I’m expressing confusion, not announcing defeat. I do not plan on going anywhere.”

“This world, then.” She  corrected herself. “What is holding you here? Thou does not seem like the type to stay restrained. I am more familiar with this world than I will usually admit, but I still hold out hope for it.”

“I did figure as much, Odinson. It is hard to let go.” For a moment her mind began to slip back to their previous conversation before remembering there had been no hammer and helmet. As in, she had spoken to him but he had not seen her or spoken to her. “I never meant to take your identity. Please know that.” Pacing a few steps away, the ( not so ) goddess set Mjölnir down on a table. Normally she would have tossed it but that seemed too forward in front of its former owner. “Greedy, power hungry, murderous. He only seeks to benefit himself.”

“I know I am not the only one. They’ve come after the children, and for Sam for  the color of his skin. For every person who wants to make the world a better place there is one who does not.”

“People are  fearful of change and they act out in expressing that. Sometimes they pick what they think is an easy target.”

“I thank you, even though I consider him to be quite cool as well.” Thor was surprised she could even get the word out. It was far too modern for the antiquated way of speaking she’d been forced into.

“Aye, Odinson is missing an arm. But I am not him and he is not me, nor is my friend Sam his friend Steve despite sharing a name. I must be held separate for my own actions regardless of my gender.”

“I wonder if they ever will. This should be a time of unity.”