Thor Odinson is a flummox. (thepowerofthor) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-08-08 16:13:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, anya corazon (spider-girl), thor odinson |
Who: Thor and Cora
Where: The Mallory house
What: Talking amongst friends
When: Before the bodyswap
Warnings/Rating: PG
Status complete
Whilst Thor was visiting Elaine to get his muscles limbered up in preparation for his flight to Japan, Cora was tidying the house, and fixing a large pitcher of cherry limeade--made with real cherries and limes, of course. She was in a pretty good mood, in spite of the many, many grown up questions and concerns that were collecting in the back of her mind. For the present moment, they all took a backseat.
By the time the limeade was ready, her fingers were stained a deep, sticky red, and judging by the mound of pits on the cutting board, she probably wound up eating at least as many as made it into the pitcher. But that was okay. Cherries made her happy, and there was nobody around to make dirty jokes and make her blush until she was dizzy. Not this time.
Thor exited the massage area, stretching and feeling rather good. He glanced down the hall and spotted a glimpse of movement. With a grin, he wandered that way. "Cora?"
Cora waved to him from the kitchen area, bouncing down from her chair to greet him. “Hi, Thor! How are you? Want something to drink?”
“I’m good! How are you, My friend? And surely. What have you?” He smiled as he wandered in, eyes warm and gave her a hug. “How have you been?”
She hugged him, pushing away a fleeting thought of how tall and broad (read: big) he was compared to Nate. No thinking about that, ever. “Okay, I guess,” she said, hopping back up onto the chair. “Awkward and teenagery, but I’m told that’s normal.” She smiled, and pushed a glass of the iced, blended drink toward Thor. “I made cherry limeade.”
“Good. And yes, we have all gone through that stage, even if yours has been pushed forward some. “ He took a glass and sipped, then smiled. “It’s very good! Thank you.” He was fond of tart tastes, hence Natasha.
“Are you ready for school to start again?”
“You’re welcome!” she said, beaming. “The fruit is from the farmer’s market.” She sipped her own drink, and nodded back. “I think so. I’ve met a couple people on the Valarnet who will be going to Creekside, so that will be nice. If I really hate it, mom says I can do online high school, from home, but I want to try to interact more, with all ages.”
She was glad to have had the option of staying home, she appreciated that Elaine had given her a choice, but she knew intuitively that she would never really grow into herself if she never had to stretch. “I want to go back to dance class, too.” Neena said she should get in touch with her body...Cora had decided that getting back into dance would be a good way to start.
Thor nodded. “Dance is a good way to do so, as is exercise of any sort. Have you asked into dance at the new school?” The time of classes starting up was fast approaching. He knew this from conversations with Elaine, Emma, and others.
Thor nodded again. “I think you will do well. Just trust yourself, and things will come in time.” He sipped his drink.
September tenth would be the first day. Just a little over a month left to go. Cora wasn’t nervous yet, but only because she’d had a few other things on her mind lately. “We looked at the activities and stuff; I guess they have flag football, basketball, and softball, volleyball, soccer, and aerobics in PE. And they have painting and ceramics classes for art. I might just have to come up with a good cover story to go back to my old dance school. Like...change my name to Corazon Dresden.” Which actually sounded like a kick-butt kind of name, if you asked her. Especially when she pronounced it with Anya’s spanish accent.
“Could be your own cousin. “ He grinned at her, eyes dancing. “It is a good name, but are you ready for that?” He nodded as she spoke and he smiled softly. “Any dance school will be lucky to have you.”
Cora shook her head. “I’m not ready for any of it. Especially not...” She glanced over her shoulder, as if to make sure that her mom was out of earshot, and said in a stage whisper, “Sex ed.” She made an ‘ick’ face. She already knew where babies came from, and had no objection to her parents having another baby, she just didn’t see the appeal in the act itself. At least not personally. Romance was another story. There was a huge difference between sex and romance, and Cora had no idea how to bridge that gap. She wasn’t even sure she was supposed to want to bridge that gap, except that Aunt Neena seemed to think it was important.
It made Cora wonder if maybe she was...behind. Everything was new and unfamiliar and she didn’t know where she was supposed to be at. She just knew she wasn’t there. “I’m not sure I want to find a new dance school. It’s just...too much change.”
Thor nodded softly. “Perhaps you could be excluded from the class? There are always ways to do exceptions.” He rubbed his face softly. He eyed her, sensing some of her turmoil and smiled softly. “It is hard advancing from one state to another and not knowing where you belong, is it not?” He had felt that way for months following becoming Thor, God of Thunder. Had to not been for Natasha, Clarice, and the crises at hand, he was not sure he ever would have. “I have felt similarly at times.”
He nodded to her last words. “Then I am sure your mom and dad will help you find a way to go to the same school.”
Cora shrugged her shoulders. “What do I tell people if I get nervous and...” She let her blue exoskeleton cover over her body to show Thor what she could do. “I’m still growing into it. Sometimes it comes out when I blush.”
Thor rubbed his chin. “I do not know, other than train more with it, to try to control it. When my powers first manifested in this world, I fried three phones, two heart monitors, and quite a few lights.”
Cora giggled. “Mom burnt out a lot of lights, too. And demagnetized the TV screen, like the time when I was little and tried to stick actual magnets to it, and made funny-colored spots all over.” Which was actually fixable, if you knew someone who had the right tool for it. “I’m getting better at not turning blue by accident, but it’s...reflexive.”
Thor chuckled, then grinned at her. “And in time you will control it. For now... maybe you could ask your mom to see if anyone on Valarnet has an answer? Or ask them yourself? The net often seems a good place for answers.”
“If you can find them under all the bluster and drama,” Cora said, snorting. Sometimes the Valarnet was a serious, thoughtful place; sometimes it was just silly. A little silly was good, but there was a line. “In my dreams, I have Spider-man, and the whole Spider Society to teach me. In real life...I’m too nervous to ask if they are even out there.”
Thor laughed. “All too true. Like anything else, it has good, bad, serious, and silly. I know a couple of people who might be able to help. My advice, other than your dad, is to contact Hermione Granger and Kitty Pryde. Tell them I sent you because you needed someone who was trustworthy.”
Thor nodded. “There is a Spider-Man here, but he is not accepting the dreams of yet.”
“Okay,” Cora said, nodding as she repeated the names in her head. She felt a little sad that Peter probably wouldn’t want to talk to her, and she didn’t even know why, except that Anya looked up to him in the dreams. “I’ll try. At least with them, I won’t have to pretend to be grown up. Right?”
“Very true. With them or with me. They understand the dreams and how they can affect people.” He smiled softly. “They helped me a lot, before I dreamed.”
“Powers...puberty...” Cora wrinkled her nose. “I feel like everything’s happening at once, and just when I think it might slow down, something else happens. I’m taller, faster, and stronger, but I have curves, and things in places I’m not used to, so I get all discombobulated. And then my exoskeleton comes out, and I’m all sleek, and graceful, and...blue.”
She sighed, staring down at her blue hands. It was a pretty color, really. And it was part of her now. She was glad she didn’t have to hide who she was all of the time. “Do you ever get stage fright, or feel self-conscious in front of the cameras?”
Thor nodded, grinning. “Yes! Oh yes. I don’t fr smaller things, most of the time, but these movies I’m doing...” He paused and sighed, staring off for a moment. “I never intended to be a big star. It was an accident and feels a little fake, still. It happened because I tried to help someone and somehow ended up famous for it. And it feels weird. Being the star of these big movies, being the center of them, and suddenly having far more fans, and far more attention, and far more power, as far as how people listen to me? It feels odd. I love that people like my work, but sometimes... it feels like they like an image, and not really my acting. So it makes me suddenly feel very self-conscious about who I am, what I’m doing, and what I am saying. Makes it a lot harder to act in front of people, I’ll tell you.”
"'With great power comes great responsibility,'" Cora said in an exaggerated, faux bass, like she was imitating the famous movie trailer voiceover guy. She laughed. "Peter Parker gave me that speech in my dreams. I don't think dream Anya is very good at keeping her identity secret. Everyone she's told so far already seems to have figured it out. But I guess it's good we have a place where we can all be ourselves."
Thor blinked, then chuckled at her, listening. He nodded slowly. “I like just being Thor Odinson, actor who loves acting and helping people, and who happens to possess the powers of an alien that give him godlike abilities. I like being me, and if I went back to being a nobody few people had ever learned of tomorrow, I’d be glad, as long as I could just still be me.” He poked her.
“And on that statement? I think it should be modified. Yes, great power brings great responsibility. But not necessarily to use it. Sometimes the responsibility is to become a better person, and stronger inside ourselves, rather than just use the powers we have.” He paused. “That said, I have been using my powers almost exclusively to help people since I got them.” He chuckled.
"I think you're right, " she said, "I mean, my symbiotic exoskeleton manifested when I pushed one of my dance classmates out of the way of a falling stage light, so I know the powers will be there when I need them, but mostly, I'm just trying to use the memories to adjust to being twice my age. It's hard work."
“I can only imagine.” Thor gently clapped her on the shoulder. “I wish I knew a way to help, but all know is that you are brave and smart, and kind. I believe in you.”
"Thanks," she said, "it helps, having people I can talk to." She knew she wasn't alone, and that made a big difference.
~fin~