WHERE: Vallo: New Asgard WHEN: February 26th, 2023, Evening WHAT: Jake and Thor have a quick check in on the status of their family. WARNINGS: N/A STATUS: Complete
It was an unseasonably warm evening, though Thor wasn’t complaining in the slightest as he and Jake sat peacefully on the rocky outcrop only a hundred meters away from their cottage in New Asgard. The view overlooking the sea was breathtaking, especially at sunset, as the village settled down for the day and started to prepare for the coming evening’s sleep.
Taking a swig of the beer they had been sharing between them, Thor offered the bottle to his love before leaning back on his hands to breathe in deeply. The salty air of the coast was refreshing and Thor felt a sense of calm settle over him.
“She’s coming, my beloved,” Thor said to Jake, a certainty to his words that had been bolstered by the vision he had back in Lucifer’s Hell. “Days, not weeks or months.” The image of Love was getting clearer in his mind’s eye with each passing day and her surroundings were starting to look very similar to how New Asgard looked as the springtime approached and winter started to fall away. The Asgardian had spoken in length to Jake about what he had seen after his return from Hell, and had felt relieved that Jacob seemed to be on the same page as him when it came to their lives together. He would know who Thor was talking about now.
Jake took the offered bottle and a hearty swig from it, gaze still captured by the sunset. They had seen more than a few now, sitting there together on the rocks in peace and quiet or murmurs of conversation as if anything louder would disturb the tranquility of their surroundings. Sitting there beside Thor, Jake felt at peace, content with his life in a way he never expected but accepted as part of the journey - their journey now.
He pulled his attention from the sunset to the god next to him. It felt like so long ago and yet just yesterday that Jake couldn’t believe someone like Thor would ever take an interest in him, remembering the tales he’d read. These days he saw Thor for much more than just his legend, the man he’d come to know and love. Whom he trusted like no other. Jake nodded once and held out the bottle to Thor.
“You think we’re adequately prepared for when she arrives?” he asked softly. “Her space, is there anything else we need to make it hers?” He remembered every detail Thor gave him on the child that would soon be part of their family but in Hell, Thor had experienced her presence. “Tor and Pix and Love…goddamn, look at us building a family,” he murmured after a moment, his smile growing to a grin. “Glad I didn’t see none of this coming, you know? I don’t think I would have believed it and if I did, not sure I could have waited.”
Taking the bottle back and draining the rest of it, Thor set it aside with the others that they had already consumed while they had been sitting out there. “If anyone could figure out a way to be impatient about this and do something, it would be you and your Librarian horde of magic and gadgets,” Thor teased, as he reached over to the cooler to break open a fresh bottle for them. “But no, I think we might have over prepared for her arrival,” he said pointedly with raised eyebrows at Jake. “I don’t think any child needs three pairs of character house slippers.”
The girls had been a big help on figuring out what comfort things that Love could use as she settled in with them, but they had the essentials thanks to Jake and the rest could be figured out when she got there. “Are you ready for this?” Maybe someone else would feel doubtful, but Thor felt nothing but certainty as he peered at Jake with serious eyes. “It’s a big commitment, raising a child. Together. With me.”
Jake laughed loudly, head tilting back. “Cal’s excited about it too, by the way he zips around. Another young warrior to practice with?” There was a time when treating a sword like a person was something he only read in books and researched, not experienced, but the legendary sword was as much part of their growing family these days. “We don’t know what her preference is going to be so maybe we give her options, y’know?” he protested.
Leaning over, he tried to swipe the freshly opened bottle from his partner’s hand. “Thor, ain’t no one I’d rather be raising a child with. There was a time where I’d figure this would go a certain way, settle down as expected, have a posse. This wasn’t anything I expected and yet all of it, you, the kids, it’s all that I have ever wanted.” He laid his hand on Thor’s. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you raising the ones that need a home, that deserve a home. You deserve this life too.”
It had been about mutual attraction, when they had first gotten together. But the warm affection Thor felt in his heart now was the same warmth he had felt when he had first started this thing with Jacob. Before it had been new and exciting. Now it reaffirmed everything he felt for this man and what they were building together.
It was a reassurance he appreciated, as he looked into Jake's electric blue eyes. "We both deserve this life," he corrected, turning his hand and gripping Jake's back. "There's no one else I can see myself doing this with. I'm glad we're doing this together."
When he first became a Librarian, they had been told that the life would be lonely. Jake had grown to expect that beyond his fellow Librarians, their Guardian, and Jenkins. He’d been proven wrong in the best way possible. Finding himself at a loss for words he leaned over and slipped a hand behind Thor’s neck, leaning up to kiss his partner hard.
As he broke away, he stayed close. “I ain’t going anywhere, Thor. You got me and we’re in this together with absolutely no doubts. Whatever comes at us, we got this. If it tries to convince us otherwise, well, you’ll strike it with lightning and I’ll stab it and we’ll leave it with a few regrets,” he added with a laugh.
Thor almost chased after his lips, mind quickly veering in another, more appealing path, before Jake spoke again. "A solid plan as any, as far as I'm concerned," Thor said, joining in with the other's laugh. It had always amazed him to find Jake, who seemed to perfectly embody the person Thor tended to feel attraction toward. The perfect mix of intellectual and warrior.
The sun had barely disappeared beyond the horizon, its last dying rays casting wonderful pink and orange hues as the night quickly approached. He offered the bottle back to Jake after stealing one more kiss, before standing and stretching. "Let's clean up and get something on the grill going? I can already hear Megan yelling about starving to death if we don't feed her asap."
“When in doubt, throw down.” Words only got so far and while both he and Thor would use them when necessary, sometimes they just needed to get the point across a little quicker. That was a battle he would always stand back to back with Thor on.
It took him a moment to realize the bottle followed the kiss, still feeling comfortable and content in that space. He took the bottle from Thor and rose to his feet slowly, managing to take a drink while moving without spilling any on the rocks. “Mmmhmm, certainly wouldn’t want to be responsible for that. Once they get started, you won’t hear the end of it for days.”