❝Whatever happens, just know that I never stopped trying.❞
. . .in which she must do whatever she can to protect the world and what's left of the ones she loves.
[BOOK THREE]
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★ ★ ★
23 DAYS AFTER DECIMATION
JUNE 23, 2021
★ ★ ★
Marlena's feet were propped onto the table. Thor sat beside her with a somber expression on his face. The two were sharing a bowl of popcorn and talking amongst themselves while the remainder of the team stood talking in front of them. Marlena wanted to listen to what they were talking about, but Thor needed someone to vent to. He needed someone who hadn't met his brother to talk to about him, and Marlena was the perfect fit. Thor always remembered Marlena's compassion and her ability to see the best in people, and he needed her to see and hear the best in Loki. He needed someone who wouldn't judge his brother, someone who could provide him peace with his brother's sacrifice, and Marlena was that someone for him.
"Did your brother ever stab you?" Thor asked Marlena with a mouthful of popcorn.
Marlena shook her head at him.
"How unfortunate," he grumbled. "It really builds character."
"You know what else builds character?" Marlena asked nonchalantly.
Thor hummed and grabbed another handful of popcorn. "Would the answer to that be a bottle of Stark's finest?"
"You are correct."
"I'll be back in a minute, little human."
Marlena only chuckled as she watched Thor fetch a bottle of liquor and two glasses from the kitchen. Steve looked to Thor and then back at Marlena with a raised brow. Thor and Marlena had become drinking buddies in the days beyond the snap, though it wasn't more often than twice a week. Steve knew what they were doing and why they were doing it, as did the remainder of the team, but they couldn't judge. Everyone had their own ways to cope with the situation.
"Don't look at me like that, Rogers," Marlena spoke telepathically to the soldier, and he immediately turned his head away from her, but Marlena could still make out the smallest smile pulling at the corner of his lips. "It's purely medicinal."
"I'm not judging you—either of you."
Thor returned to the table and Marlena grabbed a shot glass from him. "Don't worry, you're still my favorite comfort zone, but you're just a comfort zone I can't get drunk with."
"Very funny."
Marlena poured a shot into the glass and downed it before shoving more popcorn in her mouth. "Cons of being a super-soldier, I guess."
