Webs of the Heart

chapter thirteen

Tom Hiddleston POV

Today, on October 4th, 2017, the cast of Thor: Ragnarok was going on the press tour to promote the movie. The first place we were stopping at was my birth town, Westminster.

We arrived at the convention early, so Chris and I went through make up to look like Thor and Loki in modern times, and Crystal went through make up and wardrobe to look completely like Maighstir, including the hair rings and slender dreadlocks with braids.

There was a red carpet before we went into the hall where we got interviewed by a crowd, and there were tons of paparazzi there, already shouting at the director and other cast members. Crystal stood next to me, and I looked down at her, inspecting her movements to see if she was nervous.

"Are you nervous?" I asked. She looked up at me and I could see the fear and anxiety in her eyes, even before she answered.

"I'm terrified." My heart got twisted at this, and I wrapped her in a hug, feeling as though I had to protect her.

"You can stay behind me, if you want. There's nothing to be ashamed of in being a little nervous, alright?" She took a deep breath then nodded, stepping back and holding onto my hand tightly. I squeezed her hand reassuringly, then stepped out onto the carpet, ignoring the shouts and yells of the rude cameramen. I did what I normally did, posed a bit and followed the traffic director's instructions, then Chris came over and we both stood in front of Crystal, protecting her from the blinding lights and abusive questions. The only time Crystal made a sound was when she heard some fans of hers, calling her gently. Then she tugged on my sleeve, and asked to go to them. Chris and I accompanied her, then we stood on her left and right sides as she talked to the young girls. One gave her an ipod with some high quality ear buds, and explained,

"The paparazzi aren't nice, so we thought you could use this on red carpets during the press tour. When you listen to it, you'll be reminded of us and how much we love you instead of how the haters are." The young woman explained, and I was impressed with how much thought and kindness had gone into this seemingly small gesture. Crystal gave her a very long hug, then hugged the other girls before she tucked the Ipod into her belt and put the ear buds in her ears. She took a deep breath, and we continued on the carpet.

When we finally got to the end, Crystal took her ear buds out with a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness. Is it going to be that hard all the time?" Chris and I nodded, and she shrugged before cracking her knuckles and jumping up and down a few times to make herself more energetic.

"Well, let's do this!" She exclaimed, making me and Chris laugh as her name was called at the panel and she ran out.

"Yeah there's no way we're making a better entrance than that." Chris told me and I laughed, walking out to the panel in a more calm manner than my predecessor.

Crystal POV

The rest of the day went by smoothly, and I ended up falling asleep in between Chris and Hiddleston -as I called him to not confuse him with my boyfriend- on the way to our flight. I didn't wake up until we were half an hour from our landing in London, when a little kid behind me fell against my chair, jolting me into consciousness. Then I rubbed my eyes and sat up, popping my back in and focusing my eyes on my backpack on the floor in front of me. I stretched my arms above my head and leaned forward, searching through my backpack with the hope of finding clothes more comfortable than my Maighstir costume. I found cotton denim jeans and a t shirt, so I took my hair brush and toothbrush into the bathroom. I came out much refreshed and more respectable looking, and after putting away my costume and storing my backpack under the seat, I exchanged my contacts for my "nerd" glasses and went in search of Chris and Hiddleston. I found them a few rows back, both just watching something on their phones with headphones on. I tapped them on their shoulders and they stopped their videos, and Hiddleston told me,