Entry tags:

-backdated, -complete, tandy bowen, thor odinson

Who: Tandy Bowen + Thor
When: Backdated to Jan
Where: Community kitchen in the tower
What: Talking and eating after sparring
Warnings: None




Thor thoroughly enjoyed any and all sparring sessions. Be it with colleagues, or friends or enemies, it was always entertaining. When Fury had approached him to help a young woman of the name Tandy Bowen, Thor leapt to the opportunity.

In all truth, since settling in New NEW Asgard (Loki had asked him to stop calling it that, but Thor couldn’t help it. Too much change was good and bad), Thor had taken over training the warriors and ensuring that Asgard’s people were well protected in their new location. That meant that rigorous daily drills were part of his routine which, in all honesty, wasn’t bad but it was tiresome. Until he had his men and women in the perfect fighting condition, he would continue to work on the same basic skills. Over and over and over and over again. Tedious but necessary.

So a free-range sparring session with a girl of potentially explosive power? Thor eagerly agreed and he was glad he had. Sure, there was an obvious size and power difference, as well as the fact that she was clearly self-taught. Regardless, he had fun trying to get her to fight. In all honesty, she was the same size as Jane, which meant she was absolutely tiny and it fascinated him to see how lithe and graceful she was.

All in all, he was glad he’d agreed to the session, even more so afterwards when it was time to eat. Food was as much as an important part of training as the actual training. After all, it took up an extreme amount of energy to conjure lightning, to absorb any and all electricity… so food. And since part of the move to New New Asgard meant he was more removed from pizza than before (sob), whenever he was in New York, he took full advantage of all the food that there was. Therefore, in front of them were several pizzas, large amounts of fries and onion rings, hot dogs, donuts and a few salads so that he could later tell Jane that yes, of course he was being healthy. Exercise was healthy. So was lettuce.

“You move like a cat,” Thor said around a mouthful of pepperoni pizza. “Quick and light on your feet. I am pleased with your initial session. With progress, I believe you will be an asset on the field. I can see the work that Falcon Man has done with you. You are a testament to his teaching prowess.”

---

The first thing on Tandy’s to-do list after this meal was definitely going to be a shower. Or maybe even a bath. She was going to be sore for a while, more so than she usually was even after training with Sam or ballet practice, and already she was dreading school the next day. Still for now, she put that out of her mind as she dipped an onion ring in the mix of horse radish and hot sauce on the plate in front of her, then slipped it into her mouth. She had no real trouble with the food they were eating, because after all they had burned a lot of calories.

Smiling a little at the compliments, she looked over at the Asgardian. “You think so?” Despite her usual bravado and sassiness, Tandy desperately craved praise, because her own parental background had been...lacking that. Severely. Of course, she wasn’t about to just admit something like that out loud to just anyone. “Sam says my ballet background helps with that too, moving fast and all. Also, I vote that we change his name to Falcon Man officially. He’d be like Batman. Sounds more fun than just ‘Falcon’.”

---

Thor snorted at her comment about Sam’s new name. He wasn’t entirely sure who this Batman was, but if he was half the warrior Falcon was, he was sure to be a formidable foe. He then nodded solemnly. “Yes. You have much potential, and I am honoured to have had such an excellent bout with one as young as yourself.” He reached for his milkshake and quickly downed half. Not nearly as good as Valkyrie’s, considering there were no men waiting outside to learn the recipe. Passable, though.

“We will have to train hard so that you do not rely simply on your powers. Those can be …. Unreliable at times.” He knew from personal experience. “And the consequences dire. It is important to work on oneself and use powers as a last resort.” Said the man who quite enjoyed controlling lightning, and had helped create an entire ecosystem. He could get away with that though -- he was older than her anyways. An elder, really.

“I am afraid that I do not know much about you” Thor thought for a moment. “I do not know if you know much about me. Should I talk about myself? Or my wife? I would love to speak of my wife.” Jane was his favourite topic.

---

Tandy gave a brighter, more genuine smile at his words, even if she hadn’t really felt that way herself when hitting the mats. Still, she did feel like she at least learned several things, so this session had helped with that aspect and she hoped it wouldn’t be the only time. Reaching out for a second slice of pizza for herself, she took a large bite and chewed it thoughtfully as he went on, then looked over at him.

“They’ve been pretty reliable here, but I think I’d like more training with actual knives or daggers? I can throw my light ones pretty easily,” since spending all that time in Hess’s nightmare had helped with that, “but I’m not really used to like...the real weight of things like that, if that makes sense?” Hand to hand hadn’t been that hard for her to pick up so far, but she wanted more weapons work for sure.

“How old are you, really? And...what’s Asgard like? What’s it like out in space and all that?” Tandy asked curiously before continuing to eat her slice of pizza, dark brown eyes focused on him.

---

“Midgardians are always so fascinated to know how old I am,” Thor mused, a small grin tugging at his mouth. “We Asgardians do not put such measure in time when all is long-lived; however, for your purposes I am only 1500 years old. My father was over 4,000 when he went to Valhalla.” Thor shrugged. “So I am fairly young still.”

At least in his mind.

“As for space, I would not know. When it is the reality you have always lived with, it is hard to compare. Although yes, I have spent quite some time on this realm, it continues to be difficult to explain. It is simply home, and I enjoy it.” He shrugged. “I apologize if this does not answer your question.”

“How old are you?” He would guess under 20. It was hard though with Midgardians. They spent so much time trying to look older and younger. It was perplexing how there were entire industries dedicated to this.

---

“Well, it’s hard to know when you’re supposed to be immortal, or whatever.” His answer had the teen blinking in surprise, and she mentally added him to her list of ‘old guys’ in the tower, which she kept just for fun - and to occasionally sass them with. “Well. You look good for 1500, I guess.”

Frowning a little behind her slice of pizza, after a minute Tandy took another bite before going on. “Do you have any pictures of it? Or of any other planets?” She’d never even flown on a plane, so she was definitely interested in seeing what was out there.

At his question, she finished off the pizza and reached for her drink. “I turned 18 back in November.” Tandy didn’t see a point in lying about her age, though she might have if she’d shown up here a little younger than she had initially. “How long have you been married?”

---

As much as he would like to immediately start talking about Jane, he knew that Tandy had other questions that were important as well if he were to build the camaraderie that he knew was vital to fighting together.

“Oh, I am not immortal,” he clarified. “We are simply long-lived.” How could they be immortal when he’d lost so many people? His mother. His father. His sister (however brief that relationship was). Even his people. Only 10% had survived Ragnarok. It was a depressing number, knowing how they’d truly been decimated. “And I appreciate your comments with regards to my youthful looks. In truth, I have aged tremendously in the last few years.” Not to mention his lost eye. Sometimes, he even forgot that they were both different colours. “There was a time when my beard was not even this epic. It took some time for these braids.”

“And as for my wife…” He grinned widely, his food even forgotten. “She is the most brilliant person I have ever met. Do not tell Stark this but I truly believe it is true. She is kind, and beautiful and we have been married since August 9th; however, we have been together for many years.” Not counting the two or three years they were separated...and then there was that time jump… it was too confusing to think of. “She is my entire heart. Have you met her yet? Dr. Jane Foster?”

---

“Oh.” But to someone like her, long-lived was practically the same as being immortal, at least in her opinion. The comment about his beard earned a laugh, and she gave a nod of approval. “Epic is definitely the right word for that, sure.” Guys and their beards - apparently even aliens obsessed over that kind of thing.

Tandy blinked a couple times as he started in about Jane, but paid attention with a small smile. “Nope, I haven’t. But she sounds cool. She’s one of the scientists around here, right?” Sometimes it seemed like almost everyone was some kind of scientist, which made Tandy herself feel a little out of place when they started in with that kind of talk. She had a couple interests in one or two fields herself, but hadn’t really gotten around to figuring out what to do to study any of that - but the thought of talking about it with someone like Tony was kind of intimidating. “Astrophysics or something?”