Jemma Simmons is a terrible liar (needanewplan) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2018-06-23 15:36:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, !partner thread, jemma simmons, thor odinson |
Who: Jemma and Thor
What: Collecting all the Avengers Meeting
When: Recently (before the bar with Valkyrie)
Where: Cafe near the Agency
Warnings: Should be low
Status: Partner Thread | Complete
Jemma was more or less used to the glasses the Doctor had made for her at this point, though they were certainly easier to manage when she was in an enclosed area without the hustle and bustle of dealing with a lot of people where sounds and words could get jumbled into an unintelligible mess. But compared to the absolute silence and no way to know what was being said to her or around her? Well, she would take it.
Right now she was in line to get tea as Nathanson was being particularly trying that day. Normally she could have made her own at the Agency but well….. The level of annoying required a different touch. Besides, they had a good selection at this cafe, along with good coffee and smoothies for those who were interested in that. Which was probably most people. But good baked goods, good coffee, good tea, good smoothies? It made sense the place was popular and it got her away from Nathanson where she might actually snap at him otherwise.
Of course the one thing she hadn't necessarily planned for was that she wouldn't realize when her order was called thanks to all the background noise her glasses were picking up.
Thor was a little subdued at the moment. Dreaming of his own father banishing him was enough to make anyone think twice. Not that he couldn’t blame Odin. In the Dreams, Thor was brash and impulsive and kind of an asshole. Of course, awake, Thor could be brash and impulsive but that had been moderated by life experience.
“Huh,” he said out loud. “Maybe that’s Father’s point.”
And because of the background noise, Jemma missed her order being called and it took someone snapping at her to get her attention. Wow, that was annoying but no matter. She said her thanks and grabbed her drink and had been about to go in search of a table when another sentence seemed to pick up on her glasses, more prominent than the other comments going on around her.
Turning her attention, Jemma then noticed Thor. She had seen him on the network and was pretty sure there had been discussion between them on it. It was hard to recall really who all she spoke to. She also was seemingly one of the few people on her team who wasn’t likely to fawn over the god of thunder. Asgardians just left messes on Earth after their fights, leaving them to clean up the giant mess. Still… that wasn’t his fault, not here.
So might as well be polite.
“Is everything all right?”
Because Jemma could tell that something was weighing heavily on him, probably the matter about his father.
Thor,the patron saint of lesbians according to Tumblr apparentlylooked up, giving Jemma a polite smile, “Oh yes, I’m just distracted. Am I bothering you?”
Some things were better left unknown, like Tumblr and fandom really. Still, she returned the smile and shook her head.
“No. You just had the look of someone dealing with something like an upsetting dream.”
Subtle but those on the network did tend to pick up on those subtleties when in public. It was always a strange dynamic, the open secret of weirdness that most just ignored unless they were on said network when it became much more difficult to ignore.
He tilted his head, then looked down at his drink a moment before gesturing at the booth in front of him, “Have a seat?”
While she hadn’t intended to stay here, the place was busy and a bit more time away from Nathanson was always a good thing when he was being like this. So giving a small smile of thanks, Jemma took the seat in the booth across from Thor.
Obviously she knew more than she was letting on about it, but Thor took a moment to sip from his drink before speaking, “An upsetting dream is one way of putting it. I think you might mean more than that.”
That did tend to be the way of it. Knowing more than one would let on. Especially in Orange County where people crossed paths all the time and found out they had something in common but didn’t want to spoil anything.
“Who doesn’t here? We spoke on the Network once, and if you’re on that, you tend to recognize the signs of dreams that are more than usual ones.”
“Like being awake, and in another world.” He seemed to look past her, to somewhere else. His voice was soft, lacking the boisterousness he was known for and yet so very Thor, “A world that feels more like home than any place I’ve ever experienced.”
She might not be able to hear his voice or the inflections, but Jemma could generally read people’s expressions. She was at least getting better at it. So seeing the words and seeing Thor’s expression gave her a general idea on how he felt on the matter. “Precisely that.”
“Does everyone who comes here Dream of a place, or is it just a special few?” He couldn’t imagine the chaos if everyone was a someone from somewhere else. But that begged the question of if his brothers and sisters might dream, or his father.
As it was, right now, he wouldn’t want to look his father in the eye.
Taking a sip of her tea, Jemma then placed the cup down. That did seem to be a common question, though she couldn’t say she blamed Thor for it. She didn’t know what had happened with his father but clearly it was enough to make him say anything aloud to himself about it. And well…. She didn’t want Loki to start dreaming.
“It seems connected to those who join the Network. We’re not sure why that is, but those would be the special few I suppose.”
“Interesting. And it appears to have been going on for some time.” Thor leaned his elbows on the table. “And you, what do you dream of, if I might ask?”
“Six years by my count.” Because of course Jemma had started mapping the information. Plus Kitty had...basically been around from the beginning from what she could tell. That also helped in knowing the information. “Oh you know, trying to be a line of defense to protect the planet, evil organizations that pop up all the time, alien invasions, cleaning up after said alien invasions..”
“It sounds exciting,” he decided, even if he was technically an alien, compared to Midgardians. He hoped he wasn’t one of the reasons there was some kind of invasion. “Do you enjoy it?”
“It can be.” The excitement wore off as the fear and PTSD set in, but there was no need to go into all of that. She barely went into it with people she loved and trusted because there was always something else to focus on. As for if she enjoyed it…. “It certainly is never boring.” What she wouldn’t give for boring though. At least once in a while.
Thor nodded, sensing something in her tone but choosing to let it go. He knew what it was like to be in a place where it wasn’t boring, “Funny thing, I came back here precisely because I wanted a little bit of boring after my time in Syria.”
Thank goodness for things being dropped because Jemma didn’t want to get into all of the trauma of her dreams. Especially with someone she didn’t actually know. She did perk up seeing him mention how he wanted a little boring after his time in Syria.
“You did choose the wrong place for that. But what did you do in Syria?”
“I was with Doctors Without Borders,” he explained. “I still am, but I was rotated out to take a break.” Even the strongest person needed time away, to recharge and rest. He knew he’d be back, eventually. If not there, then somewhere else.
That was definitely not what Jemma was expecting. Admittedly, she didn’t know what she was expecting.
“Important work. What are you hoping to do while you’re here on break?” Because usually if someone did that sort of work, it was hard to get out of that mindset. Or that was just Jemma. While her focus was science, she was never known for her ability to take a break. And it took a certain type of person to be able to do the work Thor did.
“Unwind, try to find balance in my mind without feeling guilty about it.” Because there was guilt, guilt for abandoning people in need, people he could help. No matter the universe, that was something that Thor would feel.
Jemma nodded slowly. She could understand that. The guilt of doing nothing when there was so much that needed to be done. Admittedly, Jemma could feel guilty about anything that went wrong. She was quite comfortable with the that actually.
“I’m not quite sure how well you will unwind here, but you’d be surprised by the opportunities that can come up here for those who are more aware of what is going on.” She was already planning to reach out to Martha and Natasha about seeing if Thor would be a good fit for the clinics they’d discussed setting up for Orange County specific issues, as well as just helping people in need.
“At least I am not losing my mind,” Thor decided. He lifted his sandwich as if to toast. “Because it’s good to know I am not alone.”
“It can seem that way, but no. You are not losing your mind.” Smiling some, Jemma rose her tea in the toast, “And you are certainly not alone.”