Misfits

Ahrima looked around himself at the setting that the Tesseract had dropped him in. He was back on Earth after twenty years, in a neighborhood on a less populated edge of New York City. He knew exactly which house he was going to, though when he spotted it, it looked much different than he remembered. He didn't have to wonder for long, for a woman with blonde hair and the kind, grey eyes he remembered so well wandered out of the front door. Even after twenty years, the woman still made his heart flutter. Once she spotted the man in his unique Asgardian uniform, she froze, staring at him with a near terrified look on her face. The man gave a charming smirk despite his nervousness.
"Come now, Daisy, don't look so terrified. You knew I was coming, I'm sure," Ahrima said, letting out a chuckle. The woman stammered as she tried to speak.
"Uh... Y-yes, of course I was expecting you. It's just..." she squeaked out, an incredulous laugh escaping her lips. "It's just, it's been so long! And you don't look a day older than when I met you. And here I am, twenty years older, I probably look hideous-" she babbled.
"You still speak too much and too quickly when you are nervous, love," Ahrima sighed, nostalgia washing over his mind. He approached her and gently took her hand, lifting it to his lips. "And you will always look beautiful to me," he added quietly after placing a soft kiss on her hand. A blush quickly rose onto her cheeks.
"Well, um, come in. Let's get you into some more normal looking clothes," Daisy said, leading the god inside. After he was dressed in more... mortal clothing, Daisy suggested they go talk over dinner. They went into the city to a restaurant Daisy liked. While waiting for their food to arrive, Ahrima started the conversation Daisy was dreading.
"I assume you know my stay here will be short lived," he said, taking a gulp of his wine. Daisy sighed.
"I know. I just hope Taryn will forgive me before she leaves. She was really upset when I told her the truth," Daisy said, her shoulders drooping.
"That is only expected. I would probably have reacted the same had I found out something had been hidden from me my entire life. Does she know about her departure?" Ahrima said. Daisy shook her head.
"No. She knows you and I made an agreement, but she doesn't know what the agreement completely entails," she said.
"I shall meet her tomorrow, I'm hoping. I'll speak with her and attempt to provoke her forgiveness of you," Ahrima said, reaching across the table to take Daisy's hand. She nodded slightly before looking up into the dark, forest green eyes she fell in love with. Taryn was a spitting image of Ahrima. She had his eyes, right down to the little golden flecks, his brown hair, and his porcelain skin. She had the same charming smile and wit. Taryn was, as the saying goes, her fathers daughter.
"And you're sure taking her to Asgard is a good idea? What will the other Asgardian's think of having someone who's only half of what they are among them?" Daisy asked, concerned.
"You need not worry, my love. She will be treated with respect among the other gods," Ahrima reassured her. Daisy spared him a small smile. After a few moments of silence passed, Ahrima simply admiring the woman before him, he sighed, catching her attention. "My love for you has never faltered, Daisy. Not even for a moment in the twenty years that have passed since meeting you," he said, locking his eyes with her.

Taryn sat on her couch in her small New York apartment, watching Cartoon Network and shoveling another almost-too-big spoonful of ice cream into her mouth. She didn't even care how messy she was being either, there were drops of melted ice cream sprinkled over the old shirt she was wearing. After finding out how big a lie her life had been earlier, ice cream on her shirt was the least of her concerns. She had the right to act like a giant baby if she wanted, she was upset.
She woke up on the couch where she had fallen asleep the previous night, and sighed. She looked at the time on her phone. A squeak emitted from her lips. If she didn't hurry, she would be late to work. She rushed around the apartment, grabbing any clean looking article of clothing to wear that day. Once dressed and made up, she basically ran the few blocks to the music store she worked at. She busted through the door, wide eyed, and looked at her manager who was behind the counter.
"I'm not late am I?" Taryn asked breathlessly. Her manager laughed.
"No, T, you're not late," he said walking around the side of the counter. "Relax a little bit, I won't kill you for being a few minutes late," he added. Taryn nodded in understanding, taking gulps of air due to her exhaustion. Her boss turned back to her at the door.
"Oh, there's some food to fill up your cabinets and a cup of coffee waiting for you in the back," he called out. He had just helped her out with a few things around her apartment recently and was surprised by the lack of food she had.
"Zeek, you didn't have to by me food!" Taryn said.
"You needed it, kid. Have a good day," Zeek winked before leaving the building. Business was slow in the store that day, so after stocking a few things, Taryn didn't have anything to do but wait for a customer to come in every now and again. The bell on the door would ring occasionally, and she would greet the customers without looking up from the comic book she was reading.
"Hi, welcome to Slaughter House," she called out distractedly, having reached a really intense battle scene between the hero and the villain. She heard the shuffling of feet approaching the counter and she looked up from her book. A buff man with brown hair and dark green eyes was looking down at her. "Can I help you, sir?" she asked politely.
"You are Taryn, are you not?" the man questioned. One of Taryn's eyebrows rose at his strange style of speaking.
"I am, sir. What can I do for you?"
"My name is Ahrima. Your mother told me where to find you. I am your father," the man said, deep voice calm as he spoke.
"My father?" she repeated. She thought it over for a moment, trying to keep her eye from twitching in frustration. The man nodded slowly.
"Ugh, I can't do this today," she muttered to herself before looking back up at the man. "Look, I get off work at five. Come back then," she said. She didn't feel the need to be nice to this man if he really was her father. He basically abandoned her, after all. The man looked around the store, then back to her, a small smirk on his lips.
"You do not look terribly occupied. Unless that book of pictures is of great importance to your profession," he teased, arching an eyebrow at her smugly. She sighed, and glared up at him, closing the book and tossing it onto the counter.
"The part I was reading was 'of great importance' to me," she huffed, defeated, taking her feet down from the counter and facing the man before her. "So, what exactly are you here for?" she asked.
"My business here is to speak to you," the man informed her. "If you will permit me, of course," he added. Taryn watched him for a moment. This guy was weird.
"I'll uh... permit you. Speak away," she said, leaning back in the chair. She might as well just get this over with.
"Your mother has already briefly informed you of your situation, yes?" the man started.
"Yeah, you left her with a baby to raise all on her own and that baby turned out to be some half-god freak," Taryn huffed, voice bitter.
"Taryn, do not be angry with your mother. She only did what she thought was right. The both of us did. You must understand, your mother and I fell into things too quickly. It was better for the both of you for me to return to Asgard. You had to lead a normal life. Normal to the standards of Midgard. I was too young to have left Asgard in the first place, and life would have been far too difficult for you and Daisy had I remained here," Ahrima explained before delving even deeper into his story.
"Part of a normal life on this planet is to have a father around. I don't know how things work in your little magic land, but it's different here," she snapped.
"It is not fair that you were left without someone to call your father, I know, but you must not let yourself be blinded. Your mother raised you with enough love for the both of us. Do not be mistaken, I have watched over you and your mother through Asgard's Gatekeeper, Heimdall. I have learned of your growing years, and it has pained me greatly to not have been here to watch you learn and grow into the woman you are today," Ahrima said, a desperate tone underlying his otherwise calm voice.
"What are you here for other than to tell me to forgive my mom? Yeah, I'm mad at her, but I have perfectly good reason to be. I'm only mad, I don't hate her or anything," Taryn shrugged. A small grin tugged at Ahrima's lips in relief before he began on the main reason of his arrival.
"Before I left Midgard, your mother and I made an agreement. If you were to show signs of the blood you share with me, I was to come here to show you what you are. She and I agreed that you would come to Asgard with me to learn-"
"I would what?" Taryn interrupted. "I'm supposed to go to your floating space city with you? I can't do that, I have a whole life here! I have a job, and an apartment, and friends. I can't just leave my mom here, she would be devastated!" she rushed, now in a panic.
"Taryn, your mother agreed to this. You are of Asgard, you deserve to learn of your kin, and she is aware of the circumstances. She was the one to suggest it, actually," Ahrima said.
"You can't take me anywhere against my will," Taryn said lowly, eyes turning to a glare.
"You are correct, but I highly suggest you consider it. I will leave you to your business, now. Speak to your mother once you retire from your duty," the man said, heading back for the door. "Farewell, Taryn," he said, bowing his head slightly before leaving.

"Mom, I can't just leave here. I have a job, an apartment. And you, I can't leave you here alone," Taryn said, pacing across her mothers front room that evening.
"Taryn, Ahrima was right. I was the one to suggest it. I think it would be good for you to learn about the blood you come from," Daisy said, watching her daughter pace. The younger girl stopped pacing suddenly.
"Look, Mom, I'm sorry about yesterday. I just think you could have given me some sort of answer while I grew up," Taryn said, her tone of voice momentarily growing softer.
"It's okay sweetheart, your reaction was perfectly understandable," the woman smiled at her daughter. A moment of silence passed.
"So... If I did agree to go to this Asgard place, when would I be leaving?" Taryn questioned.
"Tomorrow, if you consent," a man's voice sounded from behind her, making her jump. She spun around to see Ahrima leaning in the doorway of her mother's bedroom.
"Tomorrow?! That doesn't give me time to do anything! Why so soon?!" Taryn squealed, looking between the two.
"Currently you are unable to control your abilities, and if something unexpected happens, you can potentially harm yourself or others by accident. On Asgard you will receive proper attention and you are much less dangerous in my realm. We must get there as soon as we can," Ahrima explained.
"Great, so now I'm some sort of time bomb? What am I supposed to tell my boss? And my friends? I can't just disappear for some unknown period of time without telling anybody," Taryn questioned.
"I've already spoken to your boss. I told him it was a family emergency and you would be unavailable for an unknown amount of time. As for your friends, you get tonight to tell them goodbye," Daisy said, looking at her daughter sympathetically.
Taryn spent the rest of that night trying to hold back the urge to start sobbing like a baby as she and her few friends spent her last night on Earth together. She was not looking forward to leaving.