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[mjolnir_retriever]

Thor thought he was leaving his chambers for the palace hallway. (He also thought that the only doors to Milliways seemed to be on Earth, and not Asgard.)

And yet: Milliways.

The Thor that casts a look across the barroom looks notably different than anyone here will have seen him before. He's clad in armor, and carries a large war-hammer easily in one hand. And there's a subtle radiance to him that wasn't there before -- not an actual glow, but as if the light is hitting him differently, so that all the colors of his body and clothing are just a tad more saturated than those of anything around him.

Other things Thor looks: weary, and heartsore.

Thor wouldn't necessarily mind companionship right now, but this -- this brightly lit room full of bustle and strangers and curious faces and lives untouched by his brother's life and his brother's (probable) death -- is exactly what he doesn't want. That one look done, he heads straight for the back door.

You'll be able to find him out back, striding alongside the lake, or sitting on a rock some ways away from the bar with his forearms on his knees and his hammer resting beside him.

Or, perhaps, you'll just see a strangely isolated thunderstorm moving rapidly over the lake towards the mountains, with what the keen-eyed might perceive to be a humanoid form in its midst.

Comments

[a_bolin_stone]

Oh. Bolin frowns, with plain and genuine sympathy.

"I'm sorry, man," he says. A pause follows. "...You ever had seaweed noodles?"

We swear this isn't a non-sequitur, Thor.

[mjolnir_retriever]

Thor blinks.

The sequitur isn't obvious -- but the general concept of 'so, subject change! ISN'T FOOD AWESOME' is one Thor is very familiar with.

Accordingly, he gamely answers, "I have had seaweed, and I have had noodles. But I know not if I have had what you mean by the combination."

[a_bolin_stone]

O, says Bolin's face, rly.

"Hang on a second," he says with a grin, and pulls his scarf up a little higher. Muffled again by the layer of wool: "I'll be right back!"

And he dashes toward the lake door.

[mjolnir_retriever]

Amused -- dimly and distantly, but genuinely -- Thor waits as directed.

Nothing will really lighten his mood today. But his heart is lifted just a little, as much as it really can be, by this earnest young warrior with his enthusiasms written all over his face.

[a_bolin_stone]

Five minutes later, Bolin comes bounding back over the snow like a particularly enthusiastic polar-bear-dog. He's clutching two thermoses, one in each hand; the left one has a pair of chopsticks taped to the side.

"Okay," he says, skidding to a halt next to Thor before he plops on a free patch of rock. Holding out the be-chopsticked thermos, "Seaweed noodles in this one -- " and the other, "tea in this one. They're both pretty much the greatest stuff on the planet when I'm bummed out, so, you know..."

His smile's a little more tentative, a lot hopeful.

"Maybe it'll help a little too?"

[mjolnir_retriever]

Thor does not think, oh, kiddo.

But there might be some Noble Epic Hearty Warrior ghost of the sentiment in his heart.

"Thank you," he says gravely, and accepts the noodle thermos.

And smiles back. It's a small smile, and subdued, and it doesn't really reach the sorrow in his eyes; but then, nothing much would right now, and as small as the smile is it's also genuine.

[a_bolin_stone]

Hey, a smile is a smile! And Bolin's greatly heartened to see even a tiny one out of this guy.

"Anytime," he says. Laying a hand on his chest, "Name's Bolin, by the way."

[mjolnir_retriever]

Bolin is gonna be even more startled by the contrast whenever he meets Thor in a good mood.

The gesture is very close to the Asgardian sign of fealty, and Thor -- mouth full of delicious, delicious seaweed noodles -- looks briefly startled to get it from a stranger of another world. But no, it's not actually the same.

He swallows. "I am Thor," he says, "son of Odin."