Casey Donovan is Witch (hissycat) wrote in doorslogs, @ 2013-08-13 21:46:00 |
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Entry tags: | jaenelle angelline, superman, thor |
Who: Thor, Casey and then Jaenelle
Where: Asgard of course.
When: Guys, seriously, this was so freaking long ago Loki was still sparkling. To say recently would be a lie. A big lie.
Rating: Bicep oogling. That's about it.
Alright so technically Casey wasn’t going anywhere with Thor, Jaenelle would be going with Thor. And he had no doubt in her mind she was going to love every minute of it. Visiting a new realm, meeting new people, it was basically her life’s work. He didn’t mind, he wasn’t entirely convinced he’d know what to do with himself in Asgard. Jaenelle would know exactly what to do. And he’d still get to look at Thor which was going to be very fun indeed. He was pacing a bit, hands in his pockets while he waited to be let into the door.
He was worried about his brother, Loki was some kind of a handful alright, and he hated to think that Louis would wind up paying the consequences for something that Loki did, or something that happened to him. He owed Jaenelle and Thor something for this one - though how to repay them considering how this whole Door thing worked was a mystery. Instead he’d walk through the door, Jaenelle would see Loki, it would all be fine. Everything had to be fine. Their family couldn’t take much more.
All too well Thor understood what it was like to worry for Loki and while Loki was not their brother, he was attached to the man that was, and no one, not even their healers, knew the full effects of what Loki had done. Louis might be fine, unchanged, or he might be different. They would not know until Loki woke.
And though he wanted to be in his chambers when it happened, he still had Asgard to run. There were still council meetings to attend, the tomes of all his research to be returned to the library, and the single book which held the secrets of the Bifrost to house in the vault, where both the cube and Loki's staff lay. Anything that he could take care of while he remained in his quarters, he did, in the chance that Loki would wake up. There was no knowing if his brother would be violent when he woke or disoriented, and Thor tried as much as he could to be there, but there were occasionally duties that took him from his own quarters to somewhere else in the citadel. Like now, as listened to a bitter complaint from a set of farmers about rock giants on the eastern edge.
A group of warriors was sent to deal with them. If they needed assistance, then, and only then would Thor go. Let the young men prove themselves and earn their own glory this day; he could not have it all for himself. With nothing else pressing, Thor returned to his quarters, shut the door between his bedroom and the rest of his apartments, and opened it again for Casey.
Casey stood there for a moment, just looking. This was so completely unfair. “The woman I’m about to turn into, her name is Jaenelle,” he said. Almost stalling. And definitely staring. He knew swooning would be a complete waste of time. And he’d promised to do this. “God you have nice arms,” he said with a sigh as he stepped just a little closer to the door. “And great hair."
Being looked at was nothing that bothered Thor, but he'd never been stared at it in quite the way that Casey was, like he was to be taken in by the eyes only and not with breath and touch, senses filled to the brim. It was an odd feeling, made odder still by the fact that this was Louis' brother and not his, nor Loki's. "Jaenelle," Thor repeated, the corners of his lips curving upwards. It did not quite reach his eyes though, no familiar, warm crinkle in the corners. There was too much concern for that now, but it did not stop Thor from inhaling a bit more, chest expanding with Casey's compliments. "Thank you. I think."
Casey winked at him and nodded, he was most welcome indeed. He sighed before he took one last look at Thor from head to toe and back up and stepped through the door.
If Casey was tall and broad shouldered, Jaenelle was short, and skinny - almost bony really - but she was healthy. Her blonde hair was long and hung in a messy braid down her back, she was wearing a pair of baggy trousers and a white button down shirt that was too big for her and clearly not hers. It was half tucked in, and her well worn boots were laced a bit crookedly. She had a bright smile, but there was a and oldness and a serious wariness swimming around her deep blue eyes. Her eyes surveyed the room and then stopped on Thor for a moment. “Prince,” she said nodding her head, not in deference, but in a simple greeting, she liked him already. “My name is Jaenelle, I’m the Queen of Ebon Askavi, thank you for inviting us here.”
Jaenelle reminded him more of the courtiers, perhaps even a slight bit like Loki, who he had always thought too thin. She had the same look about her, but that was where the similarities ended. Even after his willful separation from Asgard, the first time that Thor had seen his brother, he had been neat, groomed, his hair wild but not untidy and though he bore the evidence of his travels, his armor clearly belonged to him, whereas hers clearly did not. At another time he might wonder, but his attention caught on her words. "King now." And today he felt every bit of that weight on his shoulders as he returned her nod.
"My Lady Queen," he said, slipping into the more formal speech as she stepped through. "You're welcome. I know his family on Midgard worries." He had no idea where Ebon Askavi was, it was no part of any of the Nine Realms that he knew, but she was from a different door. Perhaps there was no Asgard where she was from. Before he could continue down that line of thought and give himself a headache, he gestured towards the second bed in the room, the one canopied by golden light that trickled down onto the much younger form of his brother.
Jaenelle only knew about the concept of kings because of what Casey knew. It was still a little lost on her but she nodded and acknowledged it - she was in his realm after all. And she didn’t feel remotely unsafe. “My apologies, king. I am afraid we don’t have that caste where I come from. But I do assure you that Prince was said as I say it at home and thus in the highest regard.” She cleared her throat and smiled almost wryly, the mischief on her face unmistakable. “So, basically,” she started. “You’re the Warlord Prince of Asgard - if we were in my realm.”
She looked around him, standing on the balls of her feet almost as she peered over to where Thor’s brother was lying there. She stepped a bit closer and tilted her head a little. She didn’t want to disturb him. There had been magic on and near him and she was Witch. Who knew what her jewels could or couldn’t do just by nature of their existence. She would respect Thor’s wishes that a healer from elsewhere not touch his brother. “He feels healthy,” she said her brow furrowing a bit. She’d never seen any magic like this, it fascinated and intrigued her. She doubted she would be any good at it - she wasn’t any good at it at home. But still, a new realm! “How long has he been like that?”
"You have Queens but no Kings?" Thor asked, curious. Even Midgard, as strange as some of their cultures could be, seemed to have that in common with Asgard. Much of the Nine Realms were the same, with the exception of those few realms that were ruled by women and not men. There were some that looked down on those women, but Thor knew better. "When my brother is better, I would like to hear more about your home, if you are willing." Diplomacy was not his natural trait, but he knew when he was offered a gift and this was not one he would turn down.
Turning to look back at Loki, Thor reached through the shield to clasp his brother's shoulder. There was no movement from Loki, not a twitch, not a dodging of his grip, nothing at all to show that his brother might feel it. "A few days. I contacted Sam as soon as the healers moved him here." If their places had been reversed, he would have wanted to know, he owed her the same courtesy. "We have spoken before."
"We have Warlord Princes, they're not quite as high ranking as Queens, but they're our highest ranking male caste," she said wondering if she would be going into any further detail. Not that she minded, not in the least. At his request she nodded, "I would be glad to share some stories. I don't know much about Asgard either, Casey has been reading a bit."
"Who? You and Sam have spoken before? Or you and I?" she asked curiously - if it was the latter she suddenly felt very rude and silly. Jaenelle was someone who took her sweet time healing both inside and out, and she encouraged those she healed to do the same. They didn't always listen, mostly males of course. "I slept for two years once," she said putting her hand gently on Thor's shoulder. "It doesn't mean he isn't coming back if he takes his time," she didn't know if he was worried about that - but she knew how worried her own family was when she did a bit more than she could handle and it wound up with her having to sleep and heal for extended periods of time. Again. Males.
To this information, Thor nodded. Another time, he would be happy to tell Jaenelle more of his home and be pleased to learn more of hers, but now he could provide little more than a distracted listener. If he was going to learn of her home, she deserved no less than to have the entirety of his concentration -- something he could not give her at the moment.
"Sam and I, on a few occasions," he said with a small curve of his lips. There were many things he didn't understand about the mortal woman, but she had made a favorable impression with him and he knew that she cared about her brother as Thor cared about his. "To my knowledge, you and I have never spoken." Even with the journals, he had a memory for names and hers roused nothing for him. Like nothing would rouse Loki. He nodded slightly to her words. "It is not unknown for us to sleep years when we have need of it." Though if Loki needed that much time, it would be a long two years for everyone involved. "Or longer," he added, thinking of the Odinsleep. But the Odinsleep was brought on by a vast use of energy. in Loki's case, he had become a conduit of that energy when he was not prepared for it.
She nodded, she had never talked to Sam but she paid attention when Casey did. It was important that she knew who was around her at all times, even when she was someone else for a while. “I think I would remember,” she agreed.
“We sleep when we need it too, sometimes bodies need a break. And I’m sure he’ll come around before two years. That was a complicated situation,” she was convinced this was complicated as well, but she couldn’t really compare her two year sleep to anything going on here. “I’m sure he’ll be okay,” she said again and she sounded quite sure of herself. “And everyone in Casey’s family will be glad to know we were here to check on him.”
"As I would." While he did not remember all that he spoke to, there were names that remained within his memory. Hers would have been one of those to stay.
But then she gave voice to a concern he would not voice. What if it was a long sleep? He would have to grant passage to more of Louis' family, but what would it do to the man on the other side? And what lasting effects would it give to Loki? The bed maintained all his vital functions, it would heal where he was hurt, provide sustenance through the gold orbs that fell from its ceiling to his skin to be absorbed. But there were also things it could not do -- bathing Loki for example and it could not restore life to those that were dead. The healers assured him that all that was Loki was intact and that it was a matter of healing him, resting.
"There are many that think my brother weak, for his use of seiðr. He has never been so." There was no doubt, could be no doubt that Loki would return. It was only a matter of when. "Fools are they who underestimate him." He gave the man on the bed a wry smile before turning to look at her. "He will do something unexpected when he wakes, for no other reason than he can."
“Thor,” she said shaking her head slightly, “No one can shape your opinion about your brother but your brother. You know him well enough to make the judgment call on whatever it is you feel. We all go a little crazy sometimes. We use Craft in my home all the time,” she bit her lip for a moment, “I’m the most powerful creature ever to walk in any of my realms - and I can’t boil water without an explosion happening in the kitchen, and I sure as hell can’t call my shoes in from the closet. And I’ve been underestimated my entire life because of it.”
Thor had more memories than he could count of Loki using his seiðr. Anything his brother could imagine, innocent things when they were children, crueler things as Loki grew older, grew angrier with the rest of them. His own was born of nature, the tie between Asgardian Odin and Midgardian Gaea. Even now he could feel where soil cried out for water, where plants pushed deep into soil, where the wind blow and where it meandered, stirring up scents and long hair, cooling and temperate. At will, he could bring the storm and leave it, or channel the lightning as he needed, but that was the extent of his seiðr. "I have underestimated his place in my life for a very long time. He brought our mortal foes here, to Asgard, on the day of my coronation and it changed both of us. Before I always expected him to be there and rarely saw him, like a piece of furniture that has never been moved. You never notice it until it's gone. Afterwards, it was the only place I could look and he was there no longer." His fingers lingered along the edge of the bed for a moment before he turned to look at her again, and smile. "Forgive me, I've thought too much and I am sure that your people are eager to have you back."
Jaenelle listened thoughtfully, and mulled his words over in her mind. She understood them. His worries and his fears, they were all so natural. It was comforting to hear that from him, in this unnatural place with rules she didn’t understand. This Asgard which was so different from home but still a home. And still a place where families grew together and apart. Where bonds were forged and broken. People fell in love, and fell out of love. She didn’t feel so out of place. She stood next to him and took one of his gigantic hands in both of her tiny frail looking -but unbelievably strong - hands. “Thor, that is what it is like to lose someone,” she said honestly. “You remember only that they’re gone. And all of the times you could have appreciated them more. Whether a permanent loss like death, or a heartbreaking loss like the ending of a love story - or a fight between two brothers … Loss is loss. But you can heal from it. He will heal from it. I don’t believe that things are ever all bad. I know two brothers who are so different yet so much the same. Over seventeen hundred years they fought with each other, fought for each other, loved each other, hated each other, and hurt each other. You aren’t thinking too much, you’re thinking all of the right things. Even if they feel bad. It won’t always be so.”
Never had his hands been held by any that looked so fragile, but the strength in them reminded Thor of Frigga. If she had been here, she would likely have given the same wisdom that Jaenelle did, yet it did not ease his conscience about what he had done to Loki. If he had the chance, he would have changed how he acted, but there was no guarantee of that and even now, when he saw Loki, the pain had already whittled deep into his brother's soul. It would not be so easy to remove. "We cannot change what was. We have now to change what will come." And when that moment came to change the future he knew, would he know it for what it was? Would he make the decision that he had to make? He gave her hands a warm squeeze and smiled slightly at her, quiet affection instead of boisterous happiness. "Your people are fortunate to have you as their Queen."
“Sometimes we can’t even change will come,” she reminded him gently. She smiled up at him grateful and strangely proud of the Warlord Prince of Asgard. She leaned up on her tip toes, and then stretched even a bit further so she could kiss his cheek. “Find me if you need anything, I mean that.”
"I will," he promised her. Once he would have boasted how the King of Asgard needed for nothing, but now he knew the value of allies and friends outside of his own realm. "And should you have need of anything, you may call upon me," Thor said as he took her hand and raised it so he could kiss her knuckles. "Fare well, Jaenelle, Queen of Ebon Askavi. Know that the halls of Asgard will welcome you and your kin if ever you should find yourself within these realms."