Natasha sees that Thor needs a friend (after Sylvie's disappearance) and heads out to
fish with him. They have some nice bonding moments.
⚠
None that I can think of
Ianto had found the place that Natasha had directed everyone to first. When she'd arrived, he already had a perch and a whole spot for himself. Over the next day, more had arrived, and they'd worked on building barracks and housing for themselves and the animals they'd acquired. It wasn't quite as homey as the campus, but if you went to the highest point in the nearby area after dark, you could actually see the stars. That was something that Derleth couldn't give on a good void week.
They'd lost a good chunk of people the previous week, but most of them were people that Natasha vaguely knew. While she wasn't close with Sylvie, she knew that other people had grown close to her. She also knew what Thor was like when he lost — a fight, people, his brother.
The extra set of memories in her head gave her a small insight into this Thor. She hadn't gotten to interact with the rest of the Guardians of the Multiverse as much as the others, but she knew Thor in her world(s). She cared about the Thor in her primary universe a great deal, having worked beside him for years. This one may have had a different upbringing, but there were typical hallmarks of what made Thor Thor in him.
That was why she was heading down river with a fishing net over her shoulder and a bag of bait. Leech blood and sap in this case. When she spotted him, she made sure to make just enough noise so as to not startle him. She might have superpowers now, but they were nothing compared with his.
"How's the fishing?"
Thor glanced briefly over his shoulder when he heard Natasha’s approach. She told him she was on the way, but in this wilderness where dinosaurs were an ever present threat, Thor wanted to make sure. He gave her a single nod to acknowledge her, then returned to his task. Many rocks lined the river at this place on both sides, creating shallow pools that fish would enter. Thor was standing upon one of the larger, flat rocks that gave him a decent view of some of these pools, along with a portion of the deeper river.
He had stripped to his leggings, the muscles of his exposed chest glistened with sweat, and his long hair, which was rather dirty by now, was tied back in a simple ponytail. Spear in hand, he searched the water for shadows that would let him know when the strike. It was actually a great distraction, since it helped him focus his attention on something besides Sylvie's recent disappearance, and his reevaluation of where he stood with the remaining Lokis.
When Natasha got closer, he placed the butt of his spear on the rock and turned to give her his full attention. “Not bad,” he said, gesturing with his other hand to show her the fish he’d already caught, some still flopping around inside a crudely woven basket. “Tonight there will be a feast.” He struggled to smile. “I see you brought a net! Excellent. We will be able to catch many more. I think I know just the place where you may cast it.”
He jumped off the rock and strode forward. “Black Widow. Is that the name you have given to your net?” In Asgardian culture, it was common to give names to your weapons, and because Natasha said she was going to show him a Black Widow, he made that assumption.
Though there were conflicting memories of Thor in her mind, there was one thing that truly stood out: this Thor hadn't spent five, extremely long and guilt ridden years in New Asgard, drinking and trying to forget who he was. He hadn't been suckerpunched by life — or Thanos — here, and she was hoping to keep it that way. The Thor of her primary world had suffered so many losses that it broke her heart.
The faux cheerfulness was noted. He was trying to let her distraction work, which was something. It meant they could at least catch some fish and figure out their worlds. What the differences were, where they were alike. Basically, Natasha was interested in getting to know this Thor. It couldn't be easy being the only one from your world.
She smiled, her lips curling into the corner of her mouth. "That's me. Black Widow. My codename. Like Peggy was Captain Carter. T'Challa was Star-Lord — Black Panther in my other world. Mine's Black Widow." Sometimes she wondered why she'd kept that moniker, but it had a certain cache that went with it. Good, bad — they could both be useful. She pulled her net from over her shoulder and looked at it. "This is just a net. I didn't name it because it'll probably break pretty quickly."
Upon hearing this explanation, Thor’s expression brightened into a genuine smile. “You’re the Black Widow!” he declared, sounding pleased. “Is it because of your skill at subduing your foes?’ Asgard wasn’t familiar with the Midgardian spider, but of course a widow was somebody whose husband has died, and black was the color of mournings… so Thor put the puzzle together that Natasha was so good in battle that she created many widows. In a culture that placed high regard on fighting, this was a complement. “What was my codename?” he asked, innocently.
Thor lifted a corner of Natasha’s net for inspection. “I do not think it will break so easily.” he said in an encouraging manner. “And if it does, we will create another. Come, let me show you the spot,” As he returned to the river, Thor confessed, “I am not much of a fisherman. The last time I engaged in this sport I was a young boy. But it is not that difficult. My aim is true.” He gave his spear a little victory hoist.
Black Widows were poisonous spiders, and the red hourglass on her belt was taken directly off that creature's belly. Then again, it had a lot of meanings, and Thor's mental gymnastics weren't far off either. "Yours was the God of Thunder. Pretty apt, considering you are literally the god of thunder."
Most of the items here broke fairly easily. Seemed like some kind of planned obsolescence to keep you moving and building things. Reminded her of video games, especially when you considered the whole respawning thing. She had yet to be killed by a creature, and if she was lucky, she wouldn't. Her speed and endurance had been raised since she'd been granted superhuman powers, and it was incredibly handy here.
"You do a lot of fishing in Asgard?"
For Thor, it wasn’t a code name… God of Thunder was his title, and for a moment he was disappointed he didn’t (or more specifically, his other self didn’t) have a more catchier sort of moniker. It was quickly dismissed with a chuckle as not very important in the scheme of things… God of Thunder suited him just fine.
If his spears broke quickly, Thor didn’t really notice. The materials needed to craft another were aplenty in this jungle. He led Natasha to an area of the river that ran deeper, much more suited for the net or a fishing rod if you had one. “I would not say often, but enough,” he said in answer to Natasha’s question about fishing. “My father wanted for me to learn how to handle myself in the wilderness, and not remain comfortable in the palaces of Asgard. I was shown how to fish and how to hunt, and went on camping trips. As I grew it became part of my training as a warrior, to live off the land.” Thor paused to look around at the large expanse of blue sky above, introspective but in a thoughtful sort of way, not sullen. “It was fun, but I never thought I’d actually find myself needing to utilize these skills in any crucial way. I suppose I have Odin to thank. What of you, Black Widow?”
Natasha inspected the net, untwisted bits of it that had gotten turned around on the walk over, and set about looking for a good spot. The nice thing about nets was that you could plop them down and wait a while. That's what she did, dropping a few bits of leech blood to entice larger fish. There was a large group of people to feed, and while they were pitching in, she didn't want anyone to feel like they had to starve.
It also bought her time to think about Thor's question. The honest answer was Red Room training as a child, but that took dark turns that she wasn't sure that Thor needed at the moment. He needed distractions, particularly happier ones.
"It was part of my training as well." That was vague enough. "Spies never know when they're going to be dropped in the middle of nowhere. Good to know the ins and outs of cities and countryside."
Thor watched Natasha with a fond smile. She was a very capable, confident woman, and the way she carried herself reminded him of Lady Sif. There had been talks that his parents wanted to arrange his marriage with her, and while he saw her as more of a friend, his major protest was that he was still too young to be tied down. How did the saying go, sowing one’s wild oats? His parents wanted him to become more responsible while he just wanted to play.
Chuckling a little, he said, “That was pretty much what my father told me about being a Prince of Asgard.” As he considered this, his smile slowly started to fade as he was flooded with a strange sort of melancholy… one which he fought to suppress with any other sort of conversation that he could think of. “I never learned how to cook, though. Not past putting things on the fire and adding a little salt, that is.”
The smile and laughter was good. She'd been hoping that having someone around — someone who knew him — might help. She understood what it felt like to be alone — truly be alone — in that second set of memories. It sometimes ate at Natasha in the middle of the night. Maybe that was why the mind link with Kovacs — Takeshi — hadn't been so bad for her. Any other circumstances, she'd have been pissed and asked one of the mages to block it. She was tired of people messing with her head. But that second set of memories… Still pinged her in ways she was still trying to understand.
Then she saw the falter in the smile. "Well, I know how to cook. I'm not an amazing chef, but I can teach you the ways of the kitchen. And how to put out certain kinds of fires too. You'd think water would do the trick, but it does not. Makes grease fires way worse." She was not going to tell him that she's used it not for cooking, but for other means in the past. "I'll have to teach you about spices beyond salt. A whole world of food will open up for you."
A burst of laughter came from Thor’s heart. “Oh, I know all about eating good food. Asgard’s feasts are legendary! If only we could go there, you would be amazed. Golden towers reaching to the skies, the Bi-Frost Bridge. I would make sure everybody got a royal welcome, and as a mighty warrior, you would be honored. I’d introduce you to Lady Sif, I believe you two would get along remarkably well.”
After this wave of nostalgia passed, Thor’s underlying mood quickly crept up again, replacing his grin for an expression of weariness. “I know what you are doing, my friend. A distraction is good and is much appreciated.”
Thor wasn't an idiot, and Natasha knew that. Even this Thor, who was so much younger and less damaged than the one from her world, had a thousand years on her. Natasha gave him a crooked smile. She readjusted the net and set a few metal rods into the ground to hold it, then she sat down.
"Then let me distract you with my terrible fishing skills." She was much better with a rifle and a beast on four legs. Well, maybe two here. Fishing wasn't her strongest suit, but it was a fairly passive thing. "I never did say thank you. For helping stop Ultron."
It was a bit of a surprise to hear Natasha speak about the Ultron fight. “I thought you weren’t the same Natasha?” He blinked his eyes, then turned to look out at the rippling water of the river. “I think about it often. Especially at the beginning of the week, when we awake after the reset and the experience feels fresh.” He grinned and briefly chuckled. “It was fun,” he said, playing it off as a joke, but a glance over at Natasha and his expression fell, revealing his true emotions. He broke eye contact with her and stared out at the water again.
“So much has changed since then. Lessons I can’t ignore” He chuckled again. “My parents always wanted me to grow up and take on responsibilities. I don’t think either of them imagining this sort of thing happening,” he said, tilting his head to not only indicate their immediate surroundings and circumstance, but the whole Derleth experience in general. “I doubt even Heimdall can see.”
Finally, he looked at Natasha to say with a firm nod, “You’re welcome. And I ought to thank you.”
"It's complicated — " Natasha tapped her finger to her temple a few times. " — in here. There's two sets of memories. I'm older than that Natasha, but I also have that one's memories. All of them right up until I landed in another universe after everyone left." She wondered what this Thor was like back in his home world. What kind of things he'd faced.
Natasha glanced around their surroundings. The woods, the tall grass, the river with all those strange and extinct species around. This place wouldn't be half bad, if it weren't for the bloodthirsty monsters. "Why would you thank me?"
“Oh yeah,” Thor said with a little apprehension. “You explained that before, when I first arrived. Memories that are not your own, but from another version of yourself.” He looked her over and shrugged. “I can’t say I understand how that works, but there are many things about this Derleth that go over my head. You look just like the Natasha I met, and sound like her.”
And that was enough for him to form a bond. Thor just forgot sometimes that others were not as free in giving their confidence.
“Why?” he scoffed, then teased. “For bringing your net!” After a chuckle, his smile faded into something less happy, more wistful. “For keeping me company at this time.” came his real answer.
Everything in those memories was the same, right up until Ultron did/didn't get Vision's body. That Thor had died along with Steve, Tony, Wanda, Pietro, Rhodey… The list of people was literally endless in that universe, and a little bit of that loneliness followed Natasha here in Derleth. She'd never really felt like she fit in, until the Avengers, and even then, some people — Tony — like to remind her of her past as a spy, therefore being untrustworthy.
But the thing about being a world-class spy?
She knew things about people, maybe even things they didn't know. Thor's desire not to be alone had been very obvious, and Natasha (And Stephen) were the only two who knew this Thor. It was pretty clear what she had to do, what she'd do for any of her family — whatever universe they came from — to know they could count on her.
"I'll always keep you company when you need it, Thor. I hope you know that."
A genuine smile blossomed upon Thor’s face, reaching his eyes that twinkled a bright blue. The way he looked at Natasha started out appreciative, but then softened into something more akin to dreamy... the same expression one might have if they were falling in love.
Breathing out a deep sigh, he wanted to speak, but the loud sound of splashing water broke the spell and quickly drew his attention away. “Odin’s beard! It looks like your net was successful! Grab that end,” he directed while holding on to the other, “There definitely will be a feast tonight. Pull!”