Current mood:	calm
Entry tags:	active: torunn thorsdottir, inactive: francis barton

Torunn & Francis
WHO: Torunn Thorsdottir & Francis Barton
WHAT: Getting to know each other
WHERE: Walking outside
WHEN: Tuesday, 3/5
WARNINGS: Nope!
STATUS: Completed

Francis was sitting in the entrance hall, cracking the knuckles of his left hand absently while he waited for Torunn to join him. He knew she’d be making her way over eventually, and he wasn’t about to be impatient. It was hard, though. The itch to move was under his skin, the itch to keep moving because being still wasn’t safe. The way it prickled along his spine reminding him that they were in danger even though it was contrary to the world around him.

Ugh.

He leaned his head back, thumped it against the wall twice like that would dislodge the thoughts and then got to his feet, sharp hearing having caught the sound of footsteps. He adjusted the way his jacket was on his shoulders and then stuffed his hands into the pockets, rolling his shoulders and rocking up onto his toes. He could feel a small smile curling up over his face before he caught himself and cleared his throat. She didn’t know him, and he was a lot older than her, now. It was weird.

Man, she was shorter than he remembered. Had they ever looked so young?

“Hey,” he greeted with a tilt of his head. “You wanna go for a walk?” He still needed to explore and it would be good for them to be moving while talking. “I’m Francis, which you know. I’m a friend. And a team-mate.”

He really hoped she didn’t just punch him and call it quits.

Torunn was still getting used to Goodland after coming from such an insular place. She didn’t seem to easily make friends with people her own age; they were either adults or kids. She couldn’t help wondering if that had to do with being raised by an adult surrounded by boys of varying ages. Sometimes she really missed that family even if the world hadn’t been safe. She didn’t yearn for freedom, but to visit Asgard and know her dad. Now she had her dad, well, some form of him, and other family, but they still didn’t replace those she was raised with. Thank Odin she had James at least.

It was weird that James knew someone from home that she didn’t. She knew they’d leave the compound eventually, but they were supposed to do that together. Alright, she knew they did leave together, technically, but she was too young to know any of that beyond what James mentioned. Now here was Francis, someone who was obviously important to her brother, and she knew nothing of him. It was just wrong, which was why she was happy to meet with him.

“Hi,” she said warily. “A walk is fine.” Normally she’d be more on guard, but this guy wasn’t a stranger. Technically. “Weird, huh?” She asked as she started toward the door.
“Very,” Francis agreed with a smile and a nod of his head, stuffing his hands into the pocket of his jacket as they moved, untucking one only to push the door open and follow Torunn through it. The wind was cool, but nothing he wasn’t used to. The frigid weather only got worse in the future, after all, and he was way better equipped here to handle it than back at home.

So far so good, no punching, but Francis resisted the urge he had to gently bump her with his elbow (it would have been his shoulder, Torunn gets tall) because she clearly had no idea who he was and even smaller than him he was well aware if she grabbed his wrist she could send him flying across the street. She was a force to be reckoned with and Francis respected that. A lot.

“I really gotta stretch my legs. Feeling all cooped up here and shit.” He rolled his shoulders and tipped his head to the side until something in his neck popped. “James says a version of your dad’s here? That must be cool, right?”

“And a grandmother and an aunt.” She shrugged. “It’s…complicated. He’s really excited about me, which is…” She paused, wondering how much Francis knew about her in the future. Well, her future. His present? Time was so convoluted. “It is different,” she continued. “This one’s a good guy though.” She didn’t mention she was afraid to get her hopes up. Thor had been great, but part of her wondered if that could last.

She fell quiet, unsure what to say, for a moment. “You said I need to know you in context.” She cast him a glance, having to look up to do so. He was taller than her. “Why? What context?” She sensed even from the tidbits she got from James that something major happened in their timeline.

That… was a lot of family. Something in Francis’ gut twisted, a feeling he was used to from before but was rearing its head with a vengeance. It felt a lot like jealousy. He pushed it down, though, it wasn’t the time - or the place - to be dealing with those feelings.

“Never one to beat around the bush, huh,” he drawled, shrugging his shoulders and gently nudging Torunn around the corner. “Me neither.” Subtlety was for cowards, or something. What that meant for him, well, probably that he was a giant hypocrite but he’d take that. It wasn’t like anyone knew or anything. He was a locked box.

He blew out a breath and looked up towards the sky. “You guys leave your home,” he told her, glossing over the finer details. “End up in mine. That’s how we meet, at my place rather than in yours. Pretty sure that’s a Francis-free zone. Then we become a team and work together.” Did he mention Ultron? Best to wait for a bit, see if she asks, he thought. “And become really good friends.”

She stiffened at the gentle bump, but followed his lead. She reminded herself that he was a friend, albeit currently a stranger. James trusted him and Torunn trusted James. “Why did we leave? Ultron?” She wasn’t dumb and she was starting to piece together things she heard when Ultron was in Goodland. “Good like you and James?” she asked.

She wondered about his “Francis-free” comment. Why wasn’t he with them? She thought she should wait to ask, but...he was right and she was impatient. “Why weren’t you with us?”

“Yeah, Ultron,” Francis answered after a moment. “But it’s cool. We kick his butt.” He tipped his head at her. “You save us all, too, Torunn. Chuck his metal ass into space or something.” It had been impressive watching her fly away, he remembered seeing her disappear and then watching the others - her siblings - pacing and restless and terrified she wouldn’t come back.

He didn’t really know what that felt like, though in the time after when they’d all been working together he’d started. “And yeah, I mean, almost as good as me and James. But we’re boys. And you’re way too good for us.”

He cleared his throat and hunched his shoulders, kicking at a stone and watching it skitter away into the road. “That’s the question, huh,” he said. “Got left behind. When Iron Man rescued all the other kids I wasn’t one of them.” He shrugged. “It’s cool, I got to play hero and protect what was left of the humans in Ultracity.” It wasn’t cool, but Torunn didn’t need to know that.

Torunn stopped walking. “Wait,” she said, “that’s…” It was a lot to unpack. However, as the idea settled, she grinned. “I knew I could be useful when the villains were here!” She paused. “Er, before you got here? We had a bunch of villains running around.” Thor had taken her on some patrols, but she knew he was protecting her by not letting her fly alone. Everyone saw her age in Goodland, which was dumb. She was a warrior! Fourteen and in training, but still.

Her expression grew less cheerful when she thought about Francis on his own. “Well,” she said, trying to disguise her empathy, “Figures I’d get stuck with yet another boy.” She playfully punched his shoulder, which she had to reach up to do.

“Yeah, James said,” Francis nodded, “sucks that I arrived when everything was bright and sparkly and shit rather than when I’d have been able to actually do something.” His shoulder lifted again. “But you’re totally kick ass, I don’t wanna get on the wrong side of you.” Which he had done more than once. Her aim with that sword was deadly. Literally.

He watched her face fall slightly, and so stumbled exaggeratedly when she punched him in the arm. “That totally woulda sucked for you,” he agreed, rubbing his arm as though she’d actually hurt him. “It’s okay, we all live together now.” He missed the others, even if he didn’t miss the circumstances. It was hard settling here where there was nothing ready to jump out and kill him. He might have felt better. “And we’re saving the world.” Pause. “It’s taking a while.”

Torunn rolled her eyes at his exaggerated moves, but laughed too. “And don’t you forget it,” she kidded. It was strange; she never met him until then, but she felt a familiarity. Maybe it was the James connection? Or the fact so few shared their world? Whatever the reason, Torunn decided she liked Francis. He was on her team here and in her future. “Yeah, I hear saving the world takes a long time.” She tucked some stray hairs behind her ears. “This place…” She gestured around. “It gives me hope that we can do something like this at home, you know? Fix it? Do you think we can? Or that we are in your time?”

Francis didn’t say anything for a moment before he just nodded. “I mean, it’ll never look like this. But with the dream team we can at least make it safe and then,” he put in a voice that he’d seen on old inspirational holo-vids that his dad had pieced together, “we can rebuild civilisation.”

He hesitated for a moment, trying to work out if it would be welcomed or not before he just went for it anyway. Fuck it. He slung his arm gently over Torunn’s shoulder, not so hard she couldn’t pull away if she wanted to. “What’s left of Ultron’s forces don’t stand a chance.”

His action surprised Torunn, but she allowed it. It was like James or one of her other brothers hugging her (when they weren’t all arguing, that is). She gingerly wrapped an arm around his waist. “No chance against the dream team.” She echoed his sentiment. “You know, Francis? I can see why we’re friends.”

Francis felt himself relax a little when she wrapped her arm around his waist and he squeezed her lightly in a half hug. “Yeah,” he nodded. “We are. D’you wanna go get some ice-cream? I hear it’s pretty good.” He’d tried it once since he got here and he wasn’t a huge fan but it was probably something you had to get used to, right?

“It’s a change from candy,” Torunn pointed out. She too was getting used to the food, but she found she liked sweets. “You know we had an ice cream for breakfast day? There was a truck here and everything.” She squeezed him back. “And that? In case you couldn’t tell, is a yes!”

Francis snorted and shook his head, “Thanks for clearing that up,” he said with another smile. It felt easy, even if his arm did tighten around her a little when he spotted a crowd up ahead. “C’mon,” he told her, nudging her in a different direction. He really hated crowds. “I’ve got no idea where we can find ice-cream but that’s part of the fun, right?”