video + action.

[rebuildyourruins]

Who: Thor + you
Broadcast: video, fleetwide
Action: the Blue Fish
When: now

video.
[The video opens on Thor. For those who've met him, it might take half a second to realise that, because his appearance has markedly changed. His long hair has been hacked short, and he's wearing an eyepatch over his right eye. It's weird. It doesn't even have a strap. Even his armor is different, much less flashy and looking worse for wear than the other silver set he'd had previously.

The look on his face is a bit harried, but he starts off with a long drawn out:]

So... [This just had to be his first address to the network, didn't it. Thanks, fate.] Hello. I had heard before that people in this place could fall asleep and end up back home for a while. It seems I now count myself among them. I have to say it's much more confusing to experience yourself. I think it's been only a few days here.

[He rubs at his chin a bit, looking off to the side in thought for a moment. This whole business on top of everything else makes him feel downright exhausted.]

Doesn't feel like it, though. [Thor returns his attention to the communicator, with a little shrug and less of a pensive look.] I'll add it to my list of grievances against the Atroma. I'm sure we'll have a library's worth to throw at them before the end.

If anything has happened in the last few days, I would be glad to hear it. If we haven't yet met, I am Thor, son of Odin, God of Thunder, and king of Asgard.

[It still sounds strange to him, though he trucks through it as gamely as he can.]

Rogers, Natasha, I need to talk to you both.

Oh-- [He smiles a bit, though it's a shade deadpan.] And happy new year.

action.
[Later, Thor sets about re-familiarising himself with the Blue Fish again, poking around the rooms and going through the kitchen cupboards. He could honestly use the distraction that pointless busy work can give, or conversation with anyone he happens to run into.]

Comments

[noprophecies]

You could always not explain it. [she shrugs, as though it's common sense - and to her at least, it is] I've not spoken of my own. It's all a bit too ridiculous in its own right, and to explain it would make it sound even more so.

[rebuildyourruins]

I'm afraid I must explain at least a part of it... in order for them to understand what will come next.

[noprophecies]

Ah. Well, then at least you only have to explain the necessities?

[rebuildyourruins]

I suppose so.

[He has another long sip of his drink.]

It's an opportunity to sort out my thoughts on it, at least.

[Order of events, what's relevant, what's best left unsaid. Thor isn't one to leave much out usually, but there are some things even he would prefer stay private.]

[noprophecies]

There is that. [she says it like that's one of the worst things in the world.

Spoilers: to her, it is. She takes a long sip of her drink, sitting back in her chair. Time to change the subject, some, at least to something a little more light-hearted]

You did not mention you were a god in our first meeting.

[rebuildyourruins]

Well, it didn't seem relevant to what we were doing.

[Staring at birds in the wilderness.]

[noprophecies]

Talking about magic in the woods?

[while staring at birds]

[rebuildyourruins]

Yes, that. I did mention I could use lightning though, which is part of it.

[noprophecies]

You did, but that is fairly normal to me. It is not something exclusive to gods.

[rebuildyourruins]

It is unique to me, as far as I know. Those of us considered gods have different talents. My brother is the god of mischief, and my sister was goddess of death.

[noprophecies]

[she pauses as she lifts her glass]

. . . you have troublesome siblings.

[rebuildyourruins]

[He has to laugh at that.]

Moreso than most, from what I've been told.

[noprophecies]

Mmm. So your - powers or godhood is not passed down, then? That is interesting.

[rebuildyourruins]

The power itself doesn't pass along that way, no. As for being gods - we are still people. We live and we die eventually. It's just on a longer scale than most others.

[noprophecies]

My people did not worship gods, so the concept of it all is a bit foreign to me, which is why I ask. [she tilts her head] How long do your people live?

[rebuildyourruins]

About five thousand years, usually. My father was that old.

[noprophecies]

Ah, like the elves, then. Though I've not met anyone that old yet.

[rebuildyourruins]

You have elves in your world then?

[There are two kinds in his own universe - the Light Elves and the Dark Elves. Though the latter had all finally perished only a couple of years ago.]

Asgardians are one of the longest lived races in the universe. It's rare to meet others who outmatch us.

[Not impossible, though, if the Grandmaster was anything to go by.]

[noprophecies]

Mmmhmm. I am half myself - my mother was an elf. Are they in your world too?

[it would be a first, to meet someone from a world where elves exist, but wasn't from a time period similar to hers]

I do not know for sure who the longest living is where I am from - there are arguments made for both elves and dragonborn. But we also don't have any races that can claim they are gods, either.

[rebuildyourruins]

Not in Asgard, but Alfheim is the home of the Light Elves. There used to be Dark Elves as well, many years ago, but their kind perished.

[Were killed off, really, by the war of his grandfather. Thor had seen to the last of the Dark Elves a bare couple of years ago.]

Well, my father used to remind us that though we may be gods, we're also still people. We aren't immortal, or infallible. In the end we're just another race.

[The reminder has become ever more stark these past few days, as the golden shroud was ripped away from their history. Now they're a homeless race, with little status to speak of. It's grounding in a way Thor never would have thought of growing up on tales of Asgard's heroism.]

[noprophecies]

Light and dark? [that's interesting, and even moreso that Elves exist elsewhere too] What were the differences between them?

[though if the dark elves are what her mind first went to, well, good riddance]

Your father was very wise. [the usual lilt in her voice is gone, a bit more serious now] I doubt many bother to think that way.

[rebuildyourruins]

The Dark Elves existed before the beginning of the universe. They had wanted to return everything to the same darkness that came before everything else. They were fought back by my grandfather because of that.

The Light Elves are more peaceful, and there are quite a few different groups of them.

[Thor finishes off his drink, musing on Tempest's words, and his own. He had believed in his father's wisdom for a long time. Now that he knows the truth of things, he hesitates over just accepting it. For all Odin's wisdom, his failings had nearly been the ruination of their family and their people.]

True enough. I think it's worth remembering.

[noprophecies]

Ah. [her lips purse and a bit of annoyance peeks through. It's been a few years since she experienced the Drow in her world, but their memory still sours] There are different races of elves where I am from, too - my mother was a High Elf, for example. But we also have the Drow - who are like your dark elves. They live in the northern mountains.

[she hums a little and finishes her own drink, though watching him perhaps a bit closer than before, curious. She isn't one to push, but she must admit she does wonder about certain things. Ah, well]

Indeed. [...] Just how old are you, then? You don't look much older than I am.

[rebuildyourruins]

Really? That's interesting, to know similar peoples exist in other universes. Though perhaps after what we have seen here, it shouldn't be so surprising.

[He runs his thumb absently at the edge of the eyepatch, before refocusing on her question.]

Oh, I'm a thousand years old.

[noprophecies]

Those of us who come from more . . . magical worlds, it's rare to find similarities. The more modern worlds seem to match up more often than ours.

[she raises an eyebrow]

Ah, I was only off by 970 years.