Gentle Heart

It felt like ages when Thor kept a tight grip on Talen, she didn’t know how to perceive the embrace. She should have loved the way he was holding her, she can feel the love and happiness that seeped from him into her, but seeing that Jane was standing up with a questionable look on her face, Talen cleared her throat as she reluctantly let go of his upper body letting her arms hang loose.

“Uh, Prince Thor. Y-You can let go now.”

A gush of wind flooded through her windpipes as she was released from the prince’s grip, “My apologies. I did not expect to see such an old face so suddenly.” Talen could see there were so many questions that Thor wanted to ask, but refrained himself since Jane felt like the outsider for that moment. The goddess felt horrible for letting the human woman feel that way and before she can say anything else, Jane interrupted.

“Wait a minute, so you are from Asgard as well and what do you mean by seeing an old face?” Jane had questions of her own as she interrogated the goddess who felt overwhelmed at the moment.

Putting her hands up in surrender, she smiled, “One question at a time. Why don’t we head on inside and I will answer all of your inquires.” Her grey eyes glanced at Thor as he merely nodded with that goofy grin on his face. She never felt so wanted as he finally looked at her, he didn’t see right through her like he did previously. All his attention was on her as if she were to disappear if he took his eyes off of her.

Guiding them towards her small house, Talen offered them anything to drink, both answered with their preference of drink. Thor’s quality of drink couldn’t be provided and suddenly she felt like a failure to not have ale in her fridge, looking back at the prince, she apologized, “I’m sorry, my prince, but I don’t have any ale. Would Coke suffice?”

“That would do. Thank you.” He offered her a smile as she set down two bottles of Coke before sitting across from the couple with her hands clasped around the bottled water.

“What would you like to know?” she asked, looking expectedly at the two her eyes were more focused on Jane seeing that the human was itching more for answers about Asgard. Thor probably has told her many stories about the wonderful world that she was born and raised in.

“First off, what is it that you do? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“I’m the goddess of horses and healing.” Talen simply answered. There should be no shame in what she was, but she couldn’t help to hold that twinge of shame as those words tumbled out of her mouth. Jane kept firing questions that brought back memories of her childhood, the more she answered, the heavier her heart was becoming. She could remember the day she met the prince, quite clearly.

The young pink haired girl sprinted away from the crowd of children that were chasing after her, “Get her!” Panic flood through her veins as she tried to run faster with her short legs. Talen had no conflicts with these children, but because she was the smallest and weakest, they decided to pick on her daily.

Despite her runs, she couldn’t keep up the speed for much longer as she quickly turned a corner; her sandal got caught in a crack in the ground sending her tumbling head first. Talen yelped in pain as her entire front portion of her body was burning in small waves. She could hear the kids inching closer; quickly, she tried to get on her feet, but was unsuccessfully able to.

With her third attempt on getting up, she felt someone’s hand grip a handful of hair, pulling her up forcefully. Talen let out a cry of pain as tears sprung into her eyes, “Aw, is the little milksop about to cry?” Talen whimpered as silent tears rolled down her chubby cheeks. It wasn’t fair that everyone was growing so fast, she was the same height she was two years ago and no progress has ever been made.

Talen opened her mouth to protest the taunts of the boys gathered around her, but it was futile. The only sounds that came out of her mouth were small cries. “Look the little milksop is trying to say something. Come on, say it. I dare you to.” The sinister tone in the boy’s voice sent shivers down her spine.

Talen was frightened as she squeezed her eyes shut, hoping that the pestering would stop. Constantly, she would be taunted for her boyish figure and seeing that she wore baggy clothes much like a boy didn’t help much. Talen was withdrawn and never fit in with anyone; first she tried with the girls to see if they were sweet in any way. She wasn’t so lucky and as for the boys…

Well, anyone could clearly see where that went.

As she opened her pink colored lips, she stammered, “I-I-I…n-n-not a…a…”

Laughter erupted from the group as the leader mocked the little girl, “I-I-I…n-not a…a. What a buffoon! You can’t even finish a bloody sentence.” He turned towards his lackeys with a grin, “Why don’t we see if we can get more words out of her.” they all nodded, cracking their knuckles as Talen embraced herself for the impact.

This time, nothing came.

The grip on her hair was loosened, she fell to the ground with a small thud, and her eyes remained shut as she circled her tiny arms around her legs in a fetal position to protect herself. Talen just wanted to protect herself as much as possible, “Are you alright?” the kind voice from above confused her.

Cautiously, Talen opened her eyes to see a slightly older boy kneeling beside her with a concerned expression lit on his face. Timidly, she answered quietly, “I think so.” Her eyes looked around as she asked, “Are they gone?”

“Yes and they won’t ever bother you again. I promise.” The golden haired boy reached towards her with a comforting smile, “No man should ever lay a hand on a beautiful maiden such as yourself.” Talen blushed at the first compliment she ever received from someone. It felt unnatural to be in the presence of someone as great as the prince. She knew who he was once she opened her eyes, but was too afraid to move.

Looking at his hand, she grabbed it gently as she stood up along with him. Dusting herself off, she quickly bowed in embarrassment, “My apologies, my prince. You shouldn’t have come to rescue me for which I have tainted your hands with such disgrace.”

Thor chuckled as he shook his head, “No worries, my lady. It was my pleasure rescuing a damsel in distress.” He grasped the hand that was still in his, lifting it up and placed a tender kiss on the back of her hand. “By what name do you go by, milady?” his courteous nature made her feel faint as she saw that Thor was a natural wooer when it came to the opposite sex. Thor indeed would be a heartbreaker in the near future.

“T-Talen Minervasdaughter, your majesty.”

“Such a beautiful name for a beautiful girl.” Talen blushed as she avoided his gaze.

After that time, Talen admired Thor from afar. He didn’t look at her the way he did when he first met her, Thor would merely glance her way with a tiny smile before focusing back on his task. Talen felt even tinier after that day, she thought that maybe after him rescuing her would change her life for the better, but she was wrong. It just made her realize how truly alone she really was.

“Talen? Talen?” the goddess turned her head towards the worried couple as she shook her head to get rid of the memory that flashed through her mind. “You okay?” Jane asked. With a firm nod, Talen continued to answer any more questions that Jane had for her. Most of them were lighter questions after the incident that just happened and when the sun started to descend, Talen invited them to spend the night.

“We don’t want to be a bother.”

“Nonsense! Talen is a dear old friend. We would not be any trouble for her.” Thor insisted. Jane glared at the golden god as Talen confirmed that they would not be any trouble. It took a while for Jane to cave in, more so because of Thor’s persistence and Talen merely stood back and reassured whatever the prince was saying. After showing the room that Jane and Thor would be residing in, Jane decided to resign herself to the bedroom leaving the two Asgardians alone.

Talen sat on the steps of her porch as the dim light illuminated the space, a massive shadow clouded most of the stairs as the thunderous steps of Thor inched closer to her. Without a word, he sat down next to her, Talen felt a bit small as his massive body took most of the space on the stairs. Scooting an inch away from him to create more space, her heart rate did not decrease in the slightest.

“I never thought I would see your face again.” Thor muttered unexpectedly.

Talen peered at the prince in shock not hearing such a gentle voice coming from him; usually his voice held such dominance and power that would make her bones quiver. Instead of that feeling, a soothing relaxing emotion swept over her. “I never thought I would see you again either.” She confessed.

The pink haired goddess knew what she had done when she asked All Father if she could permanently reside in Midgard, she would not see Thor’s face ever again or that was what she thought. She didn’t think that All Father would banish Thor to the planet she resided in.

“Why did you leave? Did you think that you had nothing to live for in Asgard?” Thor had so many questions to ask of Talen and so little time. He held his personal question back knowing that Talen would already feel uncomfortable expressing her feelings towards him nonetheless Jane. Talen fiddled with her fingers as she thought long and hard, how can she explain to him that she felt like an outcast? That there was no reason for her to live in Asgard? No one respected her; the same boys that bullied her during her childhood were relentless during adulthood.

Talen could never seem to catch a break.

Instead of spilling her guts, she fibbed, “I just didn’t love Asgard as much as I used to.”

Thor paused as he looked upon the sky for answers; he wanted straight answers, real ones instead of the fibs that she was telling him. Licking his lips, he murmured, “Does your heart truly lie in Midgard?” Talen nibbled on her lip as she wondered why he was asking so many personal questions. She didn’t want to be rude, seeing that even back in their homeland, Thor didn’t give her much thought, so why now? Was it because she was the only Asgardian around? Or did he truly miss her?

Where her heart truly lied wasn’t in Midgard it was for a certain prince that was sitting beside her, but she would never confess something as foolish as that.

Such selfish thoughts, she scolded herself. Thor couldn’t possibly miss her. Instead of answering the question, she evaded it. “I have enjoyed my time here in Midgard and I know you have too.” Her grey eyes flickered towards the house where Jane was sleeping.

Thor followed her gaze as he realized what she was mentioning, “Yes. I do enjoy my time here with Jane.”

“My prince, I know this is out of line to ask, but,” she wringed her hands together, quietly asking, “What are you doing here on Earth? Prince Loki has been brought back to Asgard for his treacherous ways and there is no mortal danger to Midgard at the moment.”

“Precisely. As of now, I want to spend my days and nights with Jane as much as I can before traveling back to Asgard. I know my friends and family miss me dearly.”

Talen frowned at the mention of people missing him; anyone would miss the only heir to the throne. It was then that she wondered if anyone had missed her. Her parents’ maybe? They were probably relieved that their child was nowhere near them to embarrass them in any way. Taking her mind off of her dark thoughts, she muttered, “I see.”

“If you do not mind, I am going to retire for the night.” Thor announced as he picked himself up, his large stature still made a ruckus as he stood tall on his feet.

Talen stood up in politeness as she bowed her head in respect, “Very well. Good night, my prince.”

“Good night.” He took a few steps towards the front door when he didn’t hear another set of footsteps trailing behind him, turning back, he asked, “Are you not going to retire as well?”

Talen kindly shook her head, “I’m not tired yet. Don’t worry; I have my friends to keep me occupied.” a light smile placed itself on her lips as she heard a couple of neighs from her barn on cue. Most of the horses were asleep by now, but there were a couple that stayed awake to accompany their owner if needed. Thor nodded, knowing that Talen was very well of taking care of herself.

With not much to say, she heard Thor walk into the small house as she gazes upon the stars wondering what her native land was like. Did it change? Did the people in Asgard change? Would they recognize her? Thor didn’t, but that was until she showed her power.

Walking towards the barn, she opened the latch that released Alastor, the white stallion who was always restless no matter what time of the day it was. Daisy peered up from her stall as she heard the latch being removed, peeking out of her stall, she saw it was Talen she pulled her head back into her space and fell back to sleep. The goddess strapped the white horse with a saddle and reins, hoisting herself up, she got comfortable before she galloped out of the barn with ease.

“Let’s go for a ride, my dear friend.” She mumbled before she dug her heel on the side of the horse. Alastor gallop turned into a run as they took off across the hills for some peace and quiet for both of their minds were buzzing from today’s chain of events. Talen has hoped that everything that she had dealt with today was all a dream.

Please, let it be a dream.