InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "i'm your honeybunny"

Sif hadn't been to the hospital before, so she had to ask where she could find Dr Palmer. This, she remembered, was the correct address for a physician, and the best way to honor Christine's work in Midgard. She'd been shown to what must be a waiting room for patients and watched the television news, which seemed to involve a lot people from what she guessed was the Althing of the Americas yelling at each other about the intricacies of policy.

"Why don't they just fight it out?" Sif muttered under her breath.

A few seats over, a woman whom Sif estimated to be of middling age looked up from her phone and grinned. "Don't we all wish?" she answered before she went back to her business.

About that time one of the nurses showed up to tell her that Christine was finished with whatever she'd been doing. Sif rose and followed, interested to see what Christine's work was like.

What a frickin’ day.

Like promised, she’d found some time in her schedule and she’d sent Sif a message. It’d been on Christine’s mind to call the older woman and take her out. Even though Christine had been living in New York since she was 20, she still found the city to be wonderful and one of her favourite places to be a tourist in. And when you had an actual tourist? Even better!

Of course, the minute she’d sent the message, it’d been emergency consult after emergency consult. A half hour after her shift, she finally managed to flag down one of the nurses and asked her to let Sif in to the charting area. That way Christine could finish her documentation before taking off, and Sif didn’t have to sit in the waiting room.

Did Asgardians even catch communicable diseases? Christine had no idea. Another thing to maybe ask.

When the tall warrior goddess walked in, Christine looked up and smiled, giving a wave. “Come! Sit! I’m just finishing some notes and we can take off.” She was in her favourite navy scrubs, her grey-long sleeved shirt peeking through, with her hair was in a high ponytail, and there was no make up on her face. In fact, she looked a lot different than she usually did when going out. It was her basic face.

“Sorry you had to wait, and sorry about this. I swear, it’s always when I have plans that emergencies come up. And these really were emergencies, not the usual ‘my toddler swallowed $10 in change’ or ‘I fell and something got into my butt’.” She grinned and raised her eyebrows. “You’d be surprised how many things 'accidentally’ end up in the butt. Is that a you people thing too or is it just us Earthlings who are too stupid to use flared bases?”

Why yes, she was getting right in there with a conversation about anal play.

Sif's eyes went a little big. "I am as yet a maiden, so my experience is not great. I imagine I'll hear all about that when and if I marry." Before Christine could say anything, Sif elaborated: "I don't mean I've never had a lover, just that it's never come up for me and I haven't had opportunity or reason to discuss it with other women. Being a warrior goddess doesn't incline other women to include you in their love-talk, for some reason."

She had dressed in Midgardian clothing: jeans and a t-shirt which said GODDESS in large letters across her chest. Someone had apparently showed her the way of Birkenstocks because that appeared to be what she had on her feet. And while she might be wearing cosmetics, they were minimal, but of course she was impeccably groomed. Maybe that was part of the goddess thing.

Christine was so glad Sif kept talking because she could almost feel her jaw drop at thinking of a two thousand year old virgin.

“Yeah, I can see that. You’re pretty intimidatingly perfect. Thank goodness I have a huge ego and self-confidence in spades,” she said cheerfully. “Otherwise, I’d ask you to change into some homeless clothes to give me at least a chance.”

It was all said in jest, and Christine hoped the smile dancing on her lips would tip Sif off.

Going back to her charting, she continued speaking“I was thinking of that conversation we had a few weeks ago, about how being in male-dominated fields is hard no matter where you are or what culture. It’s probably that too hey? You don’t know where you belong and people don’t know how to categorize you and then it becomes easier to just avoid it in general.”

She closed the file and looked up at Sif. “One more, and we’re good to go.”

Sif waited quietly while Christine finished her work, pondering the other woman's words. There was something to what she said: for all that Frigga had mentored her and taught her much of what she would have needed to know had things gone as Odin and Frigga had planned, Sif had always been set somewhat apart from other women by her love for battle and war. She had been an odd duck, though had she lived in the days of Brunnhilde and her sister Valkyries, Sif knew she would have found sisterhood there. But it was an idle thought, and no good would come from pursuing might-have-beens. In the here and now, she had Brunhilde and even Jane, who tried to help her, and now Christine. And maybe others.

Once Christine had started to put away her working gear, Sif asked, "So are you going to take me to find the mythical hot dog? I looked them up on the internet and I'm interested in trying one. Though not from the places where they say the meat is made from vermin." She grinned to show Christine that she, too, was joking.

Christine laughed as she jotted her signature in one more place. Christine Palmer, MD. Writing that out never got old. “I mean, the rat is the best part, but you’re right. We’re going to Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs asap here. I am so hungry right now. I really need to eat more than just a granola bar when I’m on shift.” Sometimes Bruce brought her food, and Stephen randomly texted her to remind her to eat, but she usually ignored a lot of that.

Putting the last chart on the pile, she gave a nod to the Nurse in Charge, and grabbed her coat and jacket. “Alright, now let’s take off before I get called back.” The pager was left on table as she punched a few buttons and logged out of the computer in front of her. “Vamanos, then!”

~*~*

A few moments later, they were in Christine’s Nissan Rogue inching through traffic. She didn’t often drive to work, choosing to leave her car at her building, but since they were going across the city, it made more sense to drive. Public transportation was amazing but after how many hours of work? No thanks.

Daft Punk was playing on the radio, singing about getting lucky, and Christine was tapping her fingers on the wheel.

“So, since being here, what have you been able to do? Have you gone to any shows? Movies? Or have you just stayed in that weird building Stark puts everyone in?”

"I've spent most of my time in New Asgard, actually. I've done a turn or two in the Tower and I have chambers there, but I have my own house in New Asgard. I was in New York for the time slip and when I went back, the place was decorated, just as I would have done it." Sif didn't have to say weird, because her bewildered tone and expression conveyed it.

"And I instruct some of the children in the arts of war. Age-appropriate," she hastened to add. "Mostly strength and endurance for the youngest ones, and blunted weapons and target practice for the older ones. So I haven't done a lot in New York yet. Though I would like to."

New Asgard. Christine had heard of that. It wasn’t anywhere near here, obviously, and she thought Stephen had made mention of portals and Thor’s hammer and other words she’d giggled over but hadn’t really understood.

The confusion over the time skip though? Oh yeah. She could relate. “We are living in a weird place,” she said vaguely, making a turn. “I completely do not understand how we’re the only ones affected and even though Stephen’s tried to explain?” She shook her head, her curls bouncing lightly. “I think it makes me more confused. It’s actually easier for me to just live life and ignore everything else, which to be honest, isn’t much different than what I would usually do.”

In all honesty, she had very little complaints. It was just day by day with her. “Is there anything you’ve seen on TV or heard about in New York that you’d like to do? I’m more than happy to take you around and explore. It’s fun being a tourist in your own city.”

"I don't even know where to begin. Perhaps some food, to fortify ourselves, and then--I hear there is a park, a great park, with temples of learning surrounding it. Both of art and science." Sif kept the actual description she'd had (primitive science) to herself, even though she knew Christine knew as much about science as any Midgardian. They were still a young people. "I am told there are little countries and towns in New York where you can find different foods, but I am also told that I should try the street vendors. Or pizza. So I put myself in your hands."

If Christine had been drinking, she would have spit everywhere. “Wait, you haven’t tried pizza ? Oh man, if you had told me, we would have started there instead of with hot dogs ...or had both. Both is good. In fact, we’ll do both.”

Christine had never been good at picking things.

“But yeah, back to what you said, there are lots of little neighbourhoods here. Little Italy is a good one, and then there’s Chinatown...ooh Spanish Harlem. Yup, lots of great food, great people and the festivals are fun.” And naturally, someone crossed the road in front of her, and gave her the finger, which meant that Christine had to stop talking to curse very colourfully out of her window and return the rude gesture.

“Fucking people. Think they own the road,” she grumbled. “Hey, do you even drive? Is driving a thing in Asgard? I don’t actually know ANYTHING about where you’re from. Why don’t you talk for a bit? What do I need to know as a complete outsider?”

"There are vehicles, or were, but Asgard had many towers and not all of the vehicles were wheeled," Sif started, aware she had to be careful of what she said because she wasn't supposed to talk too much about Asgardian technology. "Asgard is--was--a very old civilization. We've learned in the last few years that there was a lot we didn't even know, so I can only tell you what I learned with the caveat that it's not the whole story. We live a very long time by Midgardian standards, but I'm not always sure how that translates in terms of development. For children or for the adults who behave like children." At that she grinned in Christine's direction.

All the while, from the corners of her eye, she was aware of attack and defense angles: the road, the vehicle, the mortals, the window placings. Probably everything was safe here in New York. But this was part of the Goddess of War and always the use of weapons, of tactics and strategy, were on Sif's mind.

"Some of us came to Midgard a thousand or so of your years ago and were worshipped as gods. The Allfather, Thor, Loki, Heimdall, even me. Which is why there are legends with some small truth about them in parts of your world. There are nine realms we deal with, or dealt with. Asgard lies in ruins now that Ragnarok has happened, but there are still other parts of the universe out there.

"Asgard itself was a city, not unlike New York, but taller and larger and on a mountain, with more green spaces like your Central Park. More metal and less brick overall, I think. And much was built partway into the mountain so only parts of the buildings could be seen. I have heard that the same is done in New York, that people move about under the surface of the island?" Sif had said enough, she thought, for the moment, and now she wanted to draw Christine out a little.

That was more information than Christine thought she could handle all at once. She’d actually wondered how the whole mythology thing fit into their world, so to hear that it was actually Sif, Loki and Thor?

Well. Now if that wasn’t a kick in the pants, she didn’t know what was.

“Yeah,” she answered a bit distractedly. “We have a subway and it gets you from point A to point B in varying levels of annoying.” Her mind was processing all this information and Christine knew she’d be down a wikipedia rabbit hole after this conversation. “I can’t believe you live that long though. That’s ..wow. No wonder you all seem infinitely patient. I mean, I haven’t really talked to Thor much, or Loki, but you all have this sense of ‘give it time’ to you that always made me wonder. At least now I can see that it’s because you have all the time in the world, so why not make the decisions you want. If it doesn’t work out, you can just go a different route. Us puny mortals have to live with our decisions, and that’s just how it goes.”

She smiled though, to show that she wasn’t being maudlin or anything. “Perspective is such a bit part to all this, absolutely. And I like your attitude. I’m glad you agreed to come out with me. It’ll be nice getting to know you.”

"But you do so much," Sif exclaimed. "I am told that when last we visited this realm for any length of time, there was almost nothing here, perhaps a few low buildings of stone or wood. That each short generation devises better and better technology, of going about and living and relieving the doldrums of life. Not just by men and women like Tony Stark and Dr Foster, and yourself, but across many realms of endeavor, a bit at a time. I have so much to learn from all of you!

"And I am so glad you agreed to teach me the ways of pizza and hot dogs, and that we will be friends." Sif's grin grew wide with happiness. She was delighted, and, as a busy Asgardian, she was also often hungry.

“Oh we’re absolutely friends,” Christine agreed with no hesitation. “I also look forward to this amazing friendship built on food, although I think I might have to not drink around you because that, my friend, would be bad.” And Christine and Hope could drink but probably not anywhere near Sif’s level.

That being said … “Remind me to introduce you to a Bloody Mary. Mixed drinks in general. Somehow, I don’t think you get Pina Coladas out there on your floating rock.”

"I don't know what a peen-ya colada is. But," Sif added, still grinning, "but I'm eager to find out."