Reunited and it feels so... awkward - for mybroisadopted

[searches_forhim]

It was the last place Jane had expected to run into Thor.  She wasn't sure what had made her send him those hearts. After waiting for so long the only explanation possible was that her patience had simply run out.  He had promised to come back for her, yet he hadn't. She thought she had feelings for him, but her logical side kept telling her that she had only known him for a day and a half, there was no possible way she could know him well enough to fall for him that quickly.  Her heart and her brain were still at war when he arrived.

She opened the door to her New York apartment and ushered him in. The shoebox of a place seemed even smaller with him in it.  "So... hi."

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[mybroisadopted]

It was equally not what he was expecting. He had been told Jane had been moved safely away from his brother's actions - what was she doing here near the crisis itself? He looked much closer to how she remembered him before he had to leave for Asgard, in a pair of jeans that looked too high caliber for him to have chosen for himself and a tee shirt that probably had not either. He looked comfortable in it, far different than the media showing him in his full glorious armor wielding his hammer.

On seeing her, his smile was the sun. "Lady Jane," he said warmly, wanting to step forward and take her close. How deeply he has missed her...

[searches_forhim]

His smile was infectious, as always. Even after all that time, he could still make her heart skip a beat just by looking at her and calling her 'lady'.

"I've been searching for you," she said softly. "Erik was helping me until... well, you know." Until SHIELD had dragged him into helping with the cube thing, and then he'd gotten possessed and nearly allowed Loki to destroy earth. No big deal, right?

"I just got back from lecturing. It was a last minute request... you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

[mybroisadopted]

"You were moved to be safe from my brother's dangerous mind. If he had found you..." He stepped forward, a hand reaching to cup her cheek. "He could have used you against me. SHIELD would not allow it." He looked down into her eyes.

"Forgive me for being away so long. Time... Moves differently here than it does in Asgard, though I should have known." Less that one moved differently but Asgardians that lived thousands on thousands of years saw it differently.

[searches_forhim]

She placed her hand over his on her cheek and looked up into his eyes - those sparkling blue eyes she had missed for so long. She had begun to think she would never see them again. Yet there they were, along with the rest of him, in her apartment, and she felt as if she was in a dream she never wanted to wake from.

"They protected me so you wouldn't have to." She understood the way SHIELD worked now, after her experience in the desert. They would do whatever it took to accomplish their mission, even confiscating private property.

"I forgive you. Is the danger over now? Can you stay here?" Can you stay here with me?

[mybroisadopted]

Those words sliced like a knife into his heart, and it showed all too early on his face. His thumb caressed her cheekbone, hating to see such pain and hope in her eyes. "I cannot stay forever in Midgard, my lady. I must protect both Asgard and Midgard from the dangers that will threaten them. From either side, there is much demanded of my time. Yet..." In a rare moment of quiet hesitation, looking down to her, "there is one place my heart has resided, since the moment you captured it."

[searches_forhim]

She could see the answer in his eyes before he spoke. He did not say how long he could stay, or how long it would be before he returned again. Her heart ached in her chest, and her brain told her to back off, to stop letting herself feel for someone who would be there for her so unpredictably. Yet the moment he confessed his feelings her heart soared again and she smiled, moving closer to him to reach up with her spare hand and touch his cheek as he was touching hers.

"Really? I'm just a girl who hit you with my car. Twice." She yearned to kiss him but something held her back this time, unlike when they had said goodbye.

"You're the one who stole my heart."

[mybroisadopted]

He chuckled low at her words, his fingers slowly moving back through her hair. "I gave my word that I would return to you. It is safe now, though for how long, I do not know. Forces conspire betwixt Asgard and Midgard, always a plot for power, and I must be ready."

His hand moved from her hair to touch over her heart. "...I kept my word, but I also come to return your heart, if you so wish it. You will hold mine, forever and a day, but I cannot capture a heart that should fly free."

[searches_forhim]

His hand over her heart made it flutter like a hummingbird. Her hand fell from his cheek to his chest, mirroring his own movements. He was so warm - had he always been? She couldn't remember.

"I don't... I mean, I'm not... how am I supposed to know what to do? I barely know you. Can't we just, I don't know, go out on a date?"

[mybroisadopted]

His brows pinched together. "A date? What form of ritual is that?" The faintest cock of his head, all together looking a touch like a confused pup.

[searches_forhim]

She chuckled softly and took his hand in hers. "You don't date on Asgard? How do you woo a girl?" She led him over to the couch so they could sit and talk comfortably.

"A date is when someone who is interested in someone else takes them out. You can go to dinner, or to the park, or just about anything. But you take the time to be together just the two of you so you can get to know one another."

[mybroisadopted]

Thor sat down, taking up much of the seat he was in. He listened carefully, leaning forward, before he understood. "I see. Dating is the Midgardian way of wooing a woman! There are similar things in Asgard! I have oft taken a maiden to the edge of the sea, or riding through the Orchard. ...I would like to do the same with you, Lady Jane!" He looked pleased to understand and already had a concept in mind.

[searches_forhim]

His enthusiasm made her laugh, and the fact that he wanted to date her made her happier than she would have thought possible. During their time in the desert she had been so focused on learning what he knew that her feelings for him had snuck up on her. She would not let that happen this time. She was going into it with open eyes.

"Me too! There's so much we don't know about one another." He dwarfed her even more sitting down then when they were standing, if that were even possible. She didn't mind, though. She liked how dainty it made her feel.

[mybroisadopted]

"Shall I court you as I would a Maid of Asgard, or shall I learn the ways of this world to do so?" Thor would do what made Jane happy, which in turn would make him happy. To see her again, after so long a time, made his heart sing.

It felt very similar to being around Lady Sif, sometimes...

[searches_forhim]

"Hmm, that's a tough one." He did look very similar to an excited puppy who's about to be taken out for a walk.

"What does wooing on Asgard involve? Maybe you can show me how things work there, and I can try and show you how dates work here. Deal?"

[mybroisadopted]

Thor thought it over seriously. "The procuring of the best pelts, antlers, and other such pieces from fabulous kills, songs and poetry if one is the type, feats of strength, words of love." He gave a bright smile.

"Your suggestion is a wise one. I would like to learn of the Midgardian way to win a woman's heart!"

[searches_forhim]

She quirked an eyebrow at his description. Pelts and antlers? Jane was very nature-centric and eco-conscious. She would not approve of animals being slaughtered for the sake of romance.

"I think I can do without the first part. But poetry and songs, that doesn't sound so different from here. Sweet words are the way to anyone's heart, Midgardian or Asgardian." Words of love... like their equivalent of making a mixed tape!

"Not just any woman's heart - mine! And it usually involves a meal. Do you know how to cook?"

[mybroisadopted]

They were not simply slaughtered! The pelts would become warm furs or blankets or armor, antlers made into flagons and jewelry and buttons and clever things a woman's hands could make, the rest of the body used down to the stock of the bones.

At her words, Thor's face fell slightly. "No, my lady, I do not. Not beyond the simple meals of a camp fire when required."

[searches_forhim]

"Oh, don't feel bad! Lots of people don't know how to cook. That's why we have restaurants." She wasn't sure if they could go eat at a public place and have him not get recognized. She didn't want what should be an intimate date to get turned into a mob scene.

"I'll find us someplace to go. Somewhere small and private, but with good food. You're not still breaking things when you like the food, are you?" It was a playful tease, and the hand that was still in his squeezed a tad.

"When it gets warmer we can even go out and do activities together. We can go to the park, or to the zoo, or even horseback riding."

[mybroisadopted]

"I am an excellent horseback rider," Thor said more brightly, finding some common ground. "I have ridden since I was old enough to hold on on my own." He nodded firmly, but rubbed his chin in thought.

"There are many places we could go in this realm. I can bring us there, if you wish it. However, I do not know what a zoo is." Looking to her curiously for an answer.

[searches_forhim]

"I thought you might be! I've ridden a few times, I think I can handle myself well enough." She put a mental check mark next to that idea.

Of course he wouldn't know what a zoo was. She remember how it felt to fly with him - terrifying and exhilarating all at once. She was not sure that was the best mode of travel for a date, though. How could she possibly keep her hair perfect?

"A zoo is a place where they house animals, and people can go and look at them. Sometimes they're ones from other countries, or ones that are really rare. Some zoos are designed for children to go and pet the animals. Those usually have common ones that are gentle." She wasn't overly fond of the zoo concept, being a naturalist at heart, but she had thought it would be an easy way for Thor to learn about the different regions of Earth and the native animals in each.

[mybroisadopted]

"I am uncertain if this 'zoo' is a better way to keep animals than to have them where they belong, like the Noble who kept rare beasts in his home until they turned on him and his family." Thor turned over the idea. "I would, however, like to learn more of Midgard while I am able. It will not be long before I am asked to return to my home in Asgard."

His smile was for her alone. "And I wish to learn more about you, my lady." The woman who bested him.

[searches_forhim]

"Obviously it's not ideal, but a lot of them are rescued from people who buy them as babies when they're all cute and then can't handle them when they're big and dangerous." Sure there were zoos with a reputation for mistreating their animals, but most really took care of the creatures. And it was a lot cheaper than flying all over the world to try and see them in their natural habitats. Safer, too.

She frowned just a little when he mentioned returning to Asgard. He'd only just arrived and already he was talking of leaving. She didn't want to think about that.

"If we don't have a lot of time, maybe we should just get started now?" She'd hoped to have a chance to shower and change into nicer clothes but when it came down to it, had he ever seen her in anything but jeans and a flannel shirt? And if he had fallen for her in her regular clothes then they should be sufficient for the near future.

"More about me?" Jane wasn't a big fan of talking about herself. She would answer questions, though, if he had them. "There's not much more than what you already know. I'm pretty simple to understand."

[mybroisadopted]

"I wish to do what is necessary to 'date' you, properly," Thor said with a strong conviction. "I would not taint a woman's good name by going about things wrong among her people. Now is a perfect time." The strong, solid nod turned into a bright smile.

"You, my lady, are far from simple to understand. I believe many would say the same of me in my home." How he wished to bring her there, to bring her before Mother and Father as the Mortal that Bested Him, but he knew what that reaction would be even if Jane survived the trip to Asgard.

[searches_forhim]

She wanted that too, so badly that it hurt. She wanted to know what it was like to travel between worlds, to actually do the thing she'd studied and theorized about for years.

His compliment made her blush and grin like a silly girl yet again. He had an amazing ability to do that. "You don't have to keep calling me that. Just Jane is fine." She thought people would probably look if they heard him calling her 'my lady', and she wanted them to keep a low profile.

"I'm not trying to be complicated! Unless you like complicated. I don't think you're that hard to figure out either. Maybe at first, when I didn't know anything about you or where you're from but you explained it all to me really well. Remember? That night, next to the fire..." Those were her fondest memories of him. The sparkle of his eyes in the firelight was not something she would ever forget.

Sorry about the slow pace! So much happened this weekend - moving people, fairs, all sorts of things

[mybroisadopted]

"Yes, I remember." His smile turned even warmer, something just for her alone as his fingers dared to travel along her jaw. "I remember fondly that night, when I told you of the Nine Realms." When she had looked so beautiful in the firelight. It would be something he would not forget, not in all of his long years. The days when he lived as a mortal, and found the woman who touched his heart.

"You are complicated, but all people are. The only ones who are simple are simple-minded, and you, my lady, are far from that."