Avengers: Legacies

Among Mortal Men

Tait heard Sigyn suppressing a giggle as he walked out of the changing room with a scowl on his face. She glanced over at Rosalie who drank him in shamelessly. Tait had gotten in trouble last night, shortly after Sigyn had left the feasting table. Dr. Banner, who was his assigned mentor, had come up with the idea of taking him on a little trip to the city. Stark had been in agreement and said that it could do the demigod good. Now, he was being forced to wear Midgardian clothing, much to his disdain and bruised ego. He longed for his rough-woven tunic and leather trousers, his heavy cloak swallowing him up in its fur and lengths of fabric. He missed his armor most of all, but Dr. Banner had been adamant about what he could or could not wear.

With the help of Rosalie and his sister, he found an outfit that almost met his standards. A nondescript gray T-shirt beneath a red satin waistcoat, a pair of blue jeans, some black combat boots, and a gray leather jacket to top off the look. The clothes had been tucked away in a box with his father's name scrawled on it. It left a sour taste in Tait's mouth. He wondered if it was because his father had forged relationships with lowly humans that he even dressed like them at times or was it the fact that he felt like he was dishonoring his father's memory by being unkind to these mortals. He didn't know truly, but he had a feeling that it was a mixture of both. He shoved his hands in his jacket pockets, refusing to look his sister or James's sister in the eyes.

"Looking good, Your Highness. This new look of yours will have you turning a few heads around the Compound," the redhead smiled, stepping forward. She tilted her head to look up at him. He was surprised to find a truce within her eyes, a hope kindling in her forest greens. She stretched out her hand and revealed a couple pieces of jewelry. The first piece was a silver nordic hammer pendant tied onto a leather cord. Tait noticed the protection runes etched into its metal. The other piece was a thin black cuff bracelet edged in silver.

"I found this necklace with the clothes. I thought you might want it. And this is a gift from Tony. We all get one. It's how he's going to keep track of us all or try to at least," Rosalie said, rolling her eyes. She tried to sound casual, but it was clear that she didn't like the idea of being watched. Not that she would have any problem getting around that, Tait suspected.

He nodded, his mouth clamped shut. He wouldn't give her the satisfaction of cracking him. He took them doggedly out of her hand and put both the necklace and bracelet on. Turning, he peered at himself in the mirror. He thought himself to look too bare and stripped, exposed enough for others to see his humanity. He appeared weak. His expression turned stormy. He tugged back his shoulder-length hair into a low bun and tied it off with a leather cord. He ignored the girls behind him, both bearing pitying looks in his direction. That only infuriated him more to the point where he didn't trust his mouth if he opened it.

"Anyway," Rosalie cleared her throat. "I promised Barton that he and I could go on a test mission at eleven. It's getting close to that time for us to head out so I'll see you two soon."

Rosalie backed her way out the door and waved her goodbye. Sigyn stared after her, chuckling to herself. Tait grunted and glowered at his sister. He didn't trust James's sister. She reminded him too much of Loki which made him remember further that his sister was madly in love with the trickster. He glanced at his sister through the mirror's reflection. She had wandered over to his desk, fingering the unassembled stones and metals. She eyed the opened pages of his journal that held all of his designs.

"I had no idea you brought this all with you. I thought you had given up jewelry making, especially with all of the traveling you had been doing. Father never understood why you desired to learn such a trade when you had the best jewelers in all of the Nine Realms at your disposal," she said softly. She directed her eyes at him in the mirror, and he peered down to avoid her scrutiny. His sister was still angry from last night. Granted, he was angry at himself for making himself look like such an ass. He figured it was more of James's fault than anyone's. If he hadn't patronize him like he had, maybe Tait could have kept his mouth shut.