Lesser Gods

With a shriek, she scrambled back on the palms of her hands, shocked by the actual figure of the dead God. But as her breathing slowed and the fear began to no longer hinder her vision or judgment, she slowly began to realize that this was no spirit lingering in Midgard — this was Thor Odinson in the flesh and blood. He was ragged — his beard trimmed, but not evenly. His hair was longer than in the pictures Raeyn had seen. And of course — the maddened look in his eye as he gazed at Raeyn. His hand was raised, pressed to the glass, just where Raeyn’s had been. It was, surely, the first contact with his kind in over a year.

“Who are you?” he asked finally, his eyes narrowing at Raeyn. His voice was soft, but gruff. She realized he had probably no use for it these past months.

She blinked, pushing herself up into a sitting position once more as she faced her brother.

“I am Raeyn of Midgard,” she answered evenly, sitting forward so her legs were tucked neatly under her with her hands folded in her lap and quite close to the glass now that she realized she was very safe.

“You are my brother’s consort.”

Raeyn frowned deeply. “I am his wife.”

Thor’s expression did not change, but he seemed quite skeptical. “So I am your brother.”

“Yes.”

There was a small silence as this sunk in to their minds. Family. It was quite an odd prospect, even for Raeyn, whose thoughts had not lingered here for the past year.

“Why are you here?”

Raeyn dropped his gaze. “I wanted to know…”

“Wanted to know what? What answers lie in these mortal devices to store memories?”

“Answers in general. I wished to know in your family that caused… all this.”

Thor gave a humorless laugh. “Well, silly girl, you should not have wasted your time. I have all these answers and more, you should have started here.”

She glared at him defiantly. “I knew not that you lived, much less that you… resided… here!”

For the first time, emotion flickered across Thor’s hardened features — confusion. “The Midgardians, what do they think? That I am dead?”

Raeyn gave him a bewildered look and nodded, as if this were the obvious. Though, if she thought about it, he would have no idea what the rest of the world was like at the moment. He had been trapped here for quite some time.

The expression on the God of Thunder’s face was unreadable. There was a long silence as this sank into his head, his thick brows knit harshly together and the wild look in his eyes, maybe, possibly, fading little by little.

“You still have not told me who you are, lady,” he finally said, sitting back a little to get a good look at Raeyn. “Why have I never been told of you? How did you find passage to this realm?”

Raeyn gave a small grimace. “I told you — I am of Midgard. I was born here. I have never laid eyes on your… our realm.”

Thor frowned. “Why would you want to live here with such a short lived race?”

“I never knew I had another option,” Raeyn replied curtly with a scowl. “There was a long time where I thought I was cursed, and my parents did not have the heart to tell me. It was not until your brother…”

Thor’s eyes lit up with understanding. “He was your savior. He was who saved you from your own madness setting in.”

She nodded. “Possibly.”

The god looked on the verge of saying something else, but bit his tongue. Finally, he parted his lips to ask the question. “Have you done the same for him?”

Raeyn blinked, and stared. And then stared some more. “Sorry?” she finally asked.

Thor looked up at her, his gaze penetrating her. “Have you saved him as well?”

Raeyn’s expression slowly morphed into one of slightly desperate confusion. “I do not know what you are asking. Saving him from himself? What is it to him that needs saving?”

Thor relaxed into a tiny grin. “Perhaps you saved him without even realizing,” he said more to himself than to Raeyn.

She did not know how to reply to this, so she simply sat and watched him as he thought.

“I may be too forward in asking, but I have heard you speaking these past few weeks. You are with child, I presume?”

Raeyn turned a delicate shade of pink and smiled at her brother in law proudly. “Yes.”

Thor beamed — yes, completely beamed at her. “I am going to be an uncle,” he said softly. It was with a sudden shock that Raeyn realized this was exactly how she expected Loki to react to being a father. Though they easily seemed exact opposites, it was a moment like this that proved these men were brothers.

Raeyn nodded, moving her hand so it was resting on her belly again. Though it would be quite some time before she began to show, it was already becoming habit. Her baby was in there, and she was still trying to force that to sink in.

“I have not told Loki yet,” she said softly, not looking up at Thor.

“When will you?”

Raeyn shrugged heavily. “When the time seems right. I have been busy, he has been busy. And in the mornings, when we used to see one another most, I am either asleep or sick.”

Thor gave her a small, reassuring smile. “It will get better.”

Raeyn smiled in return. “Thank you.”

“I am sorry for being so sharp with you at first,” Thor said suddenly. “I have not… seen anyone in weeks. I cannot bring myself to blame Loki for my imprisonment, and when I judged for myself who you were I came to the wrong conclusions. We are family because of our love for my brother, and I should apologize.”

Raeyn’s jaw dropped. “You are far too humble!” she said quickly, her green as jade eyes still wide from shock. “I — I am here, on the other side of this glass, helping you stay captured and supporting the man who keeps your containment, and you apologize for being only a little rude? I will not let you!”

Thor’s eyes glinted with a small smile. “I do believe that I like you. Will you come back, every so often?”

Raeyn gawked at him — silent for quite some time, simply staring at the God of Thunder in amazement.

“Has Loki come to visit you?” she asked quietly.

The glint disappeared. “Yes. He is the only other I have spoken to since the great battle.”

Raeyn nodded. Thor’s last moments outside this cage were watching his friends fall, and knowing the world he promised to protect would fall shortly after. It had to be a haunting truth to live alone with.

“Was that…?”

Thor shook his head. “Not pleasant.”

Raeyn swallowed, thinking of her words carefully. “The Loki you used to know… I believe that he is the man I am married to. If it gives you any comfort that he is still a great man.”

The god nodded, a faint smile still visible. “Yes, it does. Thank you.”

Raeyn returned to gesture before rising, slowly and gracefully, before making her way through the maze of cabinets and into the elevator. JARVIS reassured her that she had plenty of time to get to their floor and make dinner for her husband and herself.