Collision Course {Marvel} ||1||

1. Past and Present

It happened, again.

The universe had to be telling me something, because there was no reason why I should have had him in my dreams. It was acceptable when I'd learned what had happened to him. But why would I think of him in my dreams now, almost a year later?

True, I did think about him sometimes, but he brought me too much pain, so I popped the thought like an irritating pimple.

I sighed through my nostrils, ruffling my dark blonde hair. The dream was as clear as the room I lay in. It hadn't been a memory, more like a fantasy of what could have been had things been different, had he not turned out the way he did.

I pulled my knees to my chest, resting my chin down on them. My eyelids felt heavy, tempting me to fall back asleep. I knew better than to give in. If I did, most likely he would be there again, waiting for me. A dream and a memory was all he was now.

I rubbed my eyes. Todd was surely going to ask about me; I wore my worry like an odor. I would tell him, though. He knew enough about me to have the right to know why he was suddenly appearing while I dreamed.

"Something's up."

I looked to the doorway to see Todd half naked, leaning against the doorframe. No matter what, his dark hair always looked ratty. It was like he knew he was on my mind.

"Bad dream?" he pressed cautiously.

"Not really," I confessed. "More like a bitter fantasy."

"Let's talk it over breakfast."

"You're going to make breakfast?" I gasped. "Is the world beginning to end and I'm just now finding out?"

His brown eyes did a dramatic roll. "Some men know how to cook."

"In the time I've known you, you have barely made food."

"Do you have any preference?"

"Surprise me." I smiled sheepishly.

While Todd went down the hall to the kitchen, I slipped out of bed. I exhaled deeply, letting whatever tension I had disappear. I looked at the standup mirror in one corner of the bedroom.

I had changed drastically in the course of a year. My former attire was all but a memory, just like he was. I had conformed to the Midgard lifestyle, somewhat. There was still much I had to learn from the world, and from Todd. Thanks to being in New York, my speech changed a little bit. I guess it wasn't so much my speech that differed as the words I was using.

Even though Todd corrected me to say "Earth" instead of "Midgard" every time when referring to the planet I was now on, it would always remain Midgard to me.

I could see the old me in the reflection: her hair done up nicely, her attire making her look very elegant and important.

Now, I looked ordinary. In most cases, most would hate looking common. Even in my old home I was considered normal. I wasn't born into royalty.

On Asgard, I was normal. Here in Midgard...I appeared normal, though Todd, myself, and only a select few others knew that I wasn't.

I sat at the dining table in the small kitchen as Todd made breakfast. We weren't together; it was why when he walked around our apartment half-naked I had no lustful feelings stirring. We'd literally run into each other, that's how our friendship started. How we bonded was rather odd, being that we were from two different worlds—not like he knew that in the beginning.