WHERE Pepperony Wedding Reception WHEN June 5th, after this! WHAT Darcy follows after her friend to find out what happened :( STATUS Complete! WARNINGS None really, just a little sadness :(
Darcy knew something was wrong immediately. Being hugged by her Asgardians? Not unusual. But Fandral usually at least did more than just attempt a smile as he murmured quiet goodbyes. It was still early enough into the reception that the party-harders weren’t going anywhere, but late enough into it that her heels were dangling off her pinky finger and she was a little tipsy.
Didn’t stop her from chasing his (arguably fine) ass down as Fandral made his exit, though. But it was more difficult given she had shorter legs and heels in hand. Not wanting to call attention to making a scene, Darcy waited until they were just outside where it was a little more quiet before attempting to catch up. “Fandral-- Okay you, tall, dark, and handsome, stop right now. What happened?”
Not that Fandral was ever the type to leave a gathering like this without any warning, but his quiet goodbyes to the few people he knew well enough who would care was as close as he got to doing just that, unsure of how long he was going to be able to keep what he was feeling at bay.
He’d managed to make it outside and was heading for a waypoint that would take him back to New Asgard when he heard Darcy’s voice and it made him grimace a little. Not out of distaste or anything, but because he’d been caught. He blinked back his tears and tried to discreetly wipe at his eyes before turning, putting on a smile for her. “Hm? Oh, hello, Darcy. What do you mean? I was just heading home for the evening.”
“I call bullshit,” Darcy responded easily, peering up at him. In this instance, she felt particularly short, barefoot and all. “They haven’t even done the Macarena yet, and people aren’t being obnoxiously drunk.” Okay, maybe someone in there was being obnoxiously drunk, but she wasn’t babysitting them so she had no real issues stretching the truth.
Instead, her focus was on Fandral. “Are you okay?”
Leave it to her to be able to read right through his faux charms at that moment. Not that he was exactly doing a great job at putting them on. His smile faltered then, the veneer cracking a little and he glanced down at the cement beneath his feet for a moment. Finally he pushed out a quiet, rattled sort of breath and looked back up to her, the tears he’d been forcing back making his eyes shine. “I am not, but I will be, I promise. Thank you for asking, Miss Lewis.”
Darcy could be a petty, bitter, bitch with the best of them, ready to throw down and fight someone in an alley at a moment’s notice. But she wasted no time reaching forward and snagging his hand with hers to squeeze it.
“Did something happen with Thor?” That might’ve given away she knew a little more than she should’ve, at least about the topic in general, but at this point who gave a fuck if one or both of them were hurting. “Someone else? I’ll fuck them up.”
The reaction he had to when she asked if something happened with Thor likely gave away that the answer was yes, a half-hearted nervous sort of chuckle breaking through as he glanced away, using his free hand to wipe at his cheeks then. He hated to be seen crying like this, but between the alcohol in his system and the way everything just hurt right then, it was inevitable. And at least it was happening with someone he trusted deeply.
“Aye. Thor and I just had a long overdue conversation, is all.” Or at least that was how it seemed to him. “I suppose I should not be surprised.”
Oh. Shit. Darcy immediately winced. But she busied herself by digging into the little black purse hanging off of her wrist and pulled out a clean tissue for him. Usually it was for needing to fix any lipstick errors but they were in dire straits now.
“So uhhh-- didn’t go great?” What did that mean, though? Did Thor confess feelings and Fandral wasn’t interested? Shit. “Anything I can do to help?”
Fandral mumbled a quiet ‘thank you’ when she handed him the tissue and he promptly used it to try and keep his face dry. This was only mildly embarrassing at this point and he was sure he looked ridiculous standing there crying.
“I do not know what there is to be done. Thor… well, he more or less told me that he wishes to be with me but that he does not think he could stand it if he has to share me.” He swallowed then and felt more tears, though now he was just growing annoyed with himself. “He does not fault me, says it is his burden, though I cannot help feeling as though I am to blame for the way that I am.”
And there it was. Darcy winced again, knowing she’d poked Thor to be honest with Fandral, but she’d had a fairly optimistic view of how it would turn out. At least Fandral’s response didn’t make her lose complete faith that they could work it out. Maybe. Hopefully.
“Okay first-- It’s not everyone’s bag, but polyamory is a totally valid thing, and there’s nothing wrong with you or that. It just--” God it hurt her to say this, and Darcy met his miserable gaze with one of her own. “Might not be for everyone and that shit sucks. But you’re not to blame, and I bet you anything Thor doesn’t either.”
“I do not know what polyamory is, but I trust that what you say is true,” he replied, his voice hushed. Darcy seemed to know what she was talking about, at least where this situation was concerned, and it would not have surprised him to find out she’d talked to Thor about this before.
Fandral bit back another sigh and reached out, pulling the smaller woman against him for a hug, his chin resting momentarily atop her head. “Thank you, Darcy. I did tell Thor how I felt as well, but it did not seem to make a difference regarding his views on things. His mind is made up and I cannot be mad at him for that. I simply do not know what to do and I worry that we will be unable to go back to how we were before all of this.”
Not that he wanted to go back to how they were before. The idea of that made his heart hurt even more.
“Multiple romantic-- you know, it’s not important--” She was pulled into the hug before she could continue anyway, and Darcy wrapped her arms around his waist so she could give as good as she got.
She sighed against his chest - which was distractingly firm, damn Asgardians - and mumbled against him. “Stubborn.” If it was directed his way or Thor’s way was anyone’s guess, but she was definitely of a mind to go poke at Thor now and figure out what the hell was going on in his own head. “Just give it some time, okay? I think it’ll work itself out.”
Having her so optimistic helped, though he still fully intended on drowning his however temporary sorrows in a bottle of mead when he got back to the cottage. Fandral let out a muffled, half-assed sort of laugh before he dipped his chin to press a kiss to her hair. “I certainly hope that you are right.” After another brief pause, he loosened his hold on her and pulled back enough to give her a sad, but firm look. “Please go back to the celebrations and enjoy yourself. Do not give Thor a hard time, either. He may not be up for much conversation after our talk.”
She was reluctant to let go, but did it after one last squeeze of his waist. When she leaned back, Darcy reached up to fiddle with her hair and smooth it down, giving her something to do with her hands. “Okay, but no promises.” She frowned. “Maybe. I probably won’t, but I can still hope for the best, anyway.”
Darcy started backing away, but gave him one last firm look. “Text me if you need anything, okay? Anytime.”
He gave her a small, sad smile and nodded, leaning forward to press a sweet kiss to her forehead before she pulled away to head back inside. “You are too kind to me, Darcy Lewis. I thank you and I truly hope that your hope pays off.”