Beyond The Stars (UNDER REVISION)

I'm Fine

I walk up to the blue truck. "Hallo! Vi trenger en tur til New Asgard. Hvor mye?"

The man looks at the two behind me. "200 krone. De to ride i ryggen."

"Prefekt! Tusen takk!" I turn to my friends. "Get in," I wave. They walk up. "We have to ride in the back." They both nod. I pull the correct currency from my pouch and pay the man.

As we sit in the back of the truck, I let the cold, Norwegian air fill my nose. Rocket hits the side of the truck and it stops. We all hop out. "Kind of a step down from the golden palaces and the magic hammers and whatnot."

"Hey, have a little compassion, pal. First they lost Asgard, then half of their people. They're probably just happy to have a home."

"You shouldn't have come."

We all turn around. "Ah, Valkyrie. Great to see you, Angry Girl."

"I think I liked you better either of the other ways."

"You get used to it," I smirk at her.

Bruce looks down at me and then back at Valkyrie. "This is Rocket," He gestures to the raccoon.

"How you doin'?"

Valkyrie looks between Bruce and I. "He won't see you."

"it's that bad, huh?"

"We only see him once a month when he comes in for... 'supplies'." She looks back at the beer barrels.

Bruce winces. "It's that bad."

"Yeah," she sighs.

"Well, he's my brother and their friend. We're not leaving without him. Where?" Valkyrie points to one of the houses. "Come on." When we reach the house, Rocket knocks. There's no answer so he looks back at us. I nod and he knocks again, but the door opens by itself.

We walk in, myself behind Rocket and Bruce behind me. I'm hit with a bad smell. "Whew, somethin died in here," Rocket says.

I hear the sound of bottles. "Hello? Thor?"

"Are you here about the cable? The Cinemax went out two weeks ago. The sports are all kind of fuzzy and whatnot."

I see an unrecognizable man. "Thor?" Bruce asks.

"Boys! Oh, my god! And Dri!" He walks up and hugs me and then moves on to Bruce. "It's so good to see you!" He walks over to Rocket. "Come here, you cuddly little rascal!" Rocket protests. "Hulk, Dri! You know my friends, Miek and Korg, right?"

"Hey, boys!"

"Hey, guys... Long time no see."

"I see you're wearing... Hawaiian shirts now, Korg."

"No, yeah. Quite comfortable, breathable, really. Beer's in the bucket. Feel free to log onto the wifi. No password, obviously." Korg shifts in his seat. "Thor, he's back. That kid on the TV just called me a dickhead again."

"Noobmaster..."

"Yeah, Noobmaster69 called me a dickhead."

"I'm sick of this." Thor grabs the headphones. "Noobmaster, hey, it's Thor again. You know, the God of Thunder," My face reads a stressed, unbelieving expression. The three of us look at each other. "Listen, bud if you don't log off this game immediately I am going to fly over to your house, come down to that basement you're hiding in, rip off your arms, and shove them up your butt! Oh, that's right, yes! Go cry to your father, you little weasel!"

He hands the headphones back to Korg. "Thank you, Thor."

"Let me know if he bother you again, okay?"

"Thank you very much. I will."

Thor turns to us. "So, you guys want a drink? What are we drinking? I've got beer, tequila, all sorts of things," I watch as he uses his axe to open his beer.

Bruce steps up to Thor. "Buddy. You alright?"

"Yes, i'm fine. Why?" Lie. "Why? Don't I look alright?"

"You look like melted ice cream." Rocket says.

Thor laughs. "Thor, it looks like you haven't bathed in weeks," I say with a concerned look.

"So, what's up? You here just for a hang or what?"

"We need your help."

"Mm."

"There might be a chance we could fix everything."

"What? Like the cable?" Thor burps. "Because that's been driving me bananas for weeks."

"Like Thanos."

Thor's face instantly turns. He freezes for a second before reaching up and grabbing Bruce. "Don't... Say that name," I hear the pain in his voice.

"Uh, yeah. We don't actually say that name in here."

Bruce whispers, "Please take your hand off me." Bruce pulls Thor's hand off. "Now, I know that guy might scare you."

"Why would i be..?" Thor scoffs. "Why would I be scared of that guy?" I can actually feel the fear in him without using my magic. "I'm the one who killed that guy, remember? Anyone else here kill that guy?" Bruce puts his hand on Thor's shoulder. "Nope," he shakes his head. "Didn't think so... Korg, why don't you, uh, tell everybody who chopped Thanos' big head off?"

"Uhm, Stormbreaker?"

Thor walks past Rocket and I. "Who was wielding Stormbreaker?"

"I get it. You're in a rough spot, okay? I've been there myself. And you wanna know who helped me out of it?"

Thor slurs. "Mm, was it Natasha?"

"It was you. You helped me."

"Why don't you ask the Asgardians down there how much my help is worth?" He heavily takes a seat. "The ones who are left, anyway."

"I think we could bring them back."

Thor laughs. "Stop."

"Everyone, Thor," I add.

"Stop, okay? I know you think I'm down here wallowing in my own self pity, waiting to be rescued and saved, but I'm fine, okay? We're fine, aren't we?"

"Ah, we're good here, mate," Korg says.

"So whatever it is you're offering, we're not into it. Don't care. Couldn't care less. Goodbye."

I hang my head. "We need you, pal," Bruce says.

Thor chuckles quietly and takes the final sip of his beer and drops the bottle on the floor. "There's beer on the ship."

"What kind?"

"First, you shower," I sternly say. 

Thor chuckles. "What are you? My mother?"

"You know good and well Frigga would be appalled by this... smell," I say. He smiles fondly for a second. "What?"

He chuckles and stands up. "You just remind me of him."

"Him who?" Rocket asks. 

I scoff with a soft smile. "Shower, now." I point to a random door. Thor nods and stands.