We’re all scared of trenches. [semi-closed]

[worldsaway]

Who| Thor and [closed] to close CR/people who have arranged to meet him. Mostly Avengers/Vikings but if you have a burning need just message me!
What| Thor returns from the glorious finale and is understandably ruffled by how it went down.
Where| D2, the commons/particularly the bar area/training center
When| After Thor dies.
Warnings/Notes| Talk of a vicious death, drinking to cope

If there's any good Thor can take from this, it's that his legs don't hurt anymore. He awakes and returns to his dwellings in silence, the weight of the past few months sitting heavily on his shoulders. Self care comes first. He eats, he drinks, he showers and he tries to make himself rest in silence for at least a while. He soaks in all that he has gone without in the Arena, but he can't stay idle for long. Being alone makes him repeat everything, every mistake he made and every chance he should have used. It will be much better to be around people, his people. He hadn't expected Bro's words to stick and resound for so long, but it gives him something to strive for. To be, as he put it, selfless or whatever and someone to lean on just as Thor should be.

And so he sets off to find them, and he'll poke his head around many places in the tower. He's dressed casually in a flannel shirt over a white shirt and jeans with his hair pulled back, he definitely looks as unimpressive as he feels, but he won't dwell on that. He'll wander through the training center first in the hopes of approaching his friends, then he'll move to the commons in the hopes of catching them as they pass before moving to treat himself to a drink at the lobby bar. Eventually, he'll find himself back up in District Two and acquaints himself with the couch, knowing people will seek him out there.

Even with his friendly intentions, he can't help the fact that he's glowering for the most part. He tries to look approachable, but the stern annoyance is apparent in his expression.

Comments

The bar

[justoutrunyou]

Sandy tried drinking alcohol before. It didn't agree with her. Maybe sweet drinks were more her style.

As such she was at the bar moping over some kind of dessert. It had brightly colored fruits and jellies in a glass stacked in a tasteful sort of arrangement.

The TV screens overhead were featuring the highlights of the arena and Sandy was doing her best to ignore them. As such she didn't notice Thor at first.

[worldsaway]

The little girl struck Thor as familiar quickly, but his approach was not immediate. It is difficult not to remember her yells and her blood and the sad sight of her body as Tom flung the oil toward them. No. He will need a drink before he can approach her, long enough to stifle the fact that he wasn't able to save her from such a cruel end.

Finally, he picks himself up and moves toward her, taking a seat next to her and raising a hand to pat her back before he draws it back to himself. "That looks good." He cocks his head toward the dessert. "Too delicious to be ignored, surely."

[justoutrunyou]

She looked up from her treat to find herself face to face with the god of thunder himself. Her eyes widened a little and she wished she could sink deeper into her seat.

"Uh...yeah I guess so." She mumbled barely aware of what she was saying. She'd already met his brother sure but Thor was...well legendary!

[worldsaway]

The fact that her eyes widen in surprise isn't a new experience for Thor, he's pretty used to getting looked at like that and he's accustomed to breezing past it as best he can.

"If you don't eat it, you might lose it." He crinkles his nose at her. "What is your name, little one?" It's said without condescension, it's just a factual title for her.

[justoutrunyou]

She doesn't want to disappoint him so she takes a spoonful into her mouth and indeed it's every bit as sweet as it looks. when she swallowed She could answer his question.

"Sandy Marko." She answered plainly adding as an after thought "District Twelve."

[worldsaway]

He seems content with the fact that she obliges, even if he had mostly been joking to break the ice. Children should be able to enjoy sweets and jokes without the burden and strife of this place, she should enjoy it while she can.

"Thor Odinson, District Two." He rattles it off quickly, because it's obvious she knows who he is already. "How long have you been here, Sandy?" It's a solemn question, but he needs to know the answer.

[justoutrunyou]

That really was a good question. If Sandy had a mind to she could look up the exact date, but she'd never taken the effort. It was just easier to tell time by how many arenas she'd endured.

"Over a year." she explained before correcting herself "Almost two years. Eight arenas." she added with another scoop from her dessert to fill the awkward silence she expected would follow.

People usually needed a minute to take up the gravity of just how many times she had died.

[worldsaway]

Thor is no different from others in that regard, it's hard enough for him to think about the fact that he's been here a whole six months. It's hard to imagine his world turning without him for as long as he's been gone, two years is an unthinkable amount of absence and suffering.

"For so long.." It's like a thought he randomly decided to vocalise, trailing off in an effort to stop himself from saying the obvious. "And he so callously took victory from you." He states, this time it's a more processed thought. "Does that sort of thing happen often? To you?" It seems absurd to him that they wouldn't collectively work to get children out.

[justoutrunyou]

"Erm..." Sandy was dismayed to find she actually had to think about that question for a minute and looked to her fingers as she counted off the deaths she had endured.

"Head knocked off by mutant lady, Eaten by spiders, Eaten by zombie lady, eaten by giant eel, blew myself up trying to kill the girl who killed my best friend..." That one was particularly humiliating in her opinion.

"Got bitten by a friend of mine who was dying and turned into a zombie. I got infected and died and became a zombie after that." She explained unconsciously rubbing her arm where Clementine had bit her. Finally she ended with "And then that guy shot me in the face."

Here she paused and looked puzzled counting on her fingers again and only coming up to seven.

"Coulda sworn..." Her hand drifted down to her chest and realization dawned in her eyes.

"Oh right, there was this one time some monsters escaped into the Capitol. They made us go hunting for them and one jumped on my face and shoved it's egg down my throat. When it hatched it burst out my chest and I almost died but they got me to a hospital in time." That was where she had miscounted.

Seven deaths total and a handful of near death experiences. She shoveled another mouthful of ice cream and fudge into her mouth but it tasted bland after her reflection.

[worldsaway]

When Sandy goes over her list, Thor leans a little into the bar, allowing himself to become more comfortable for what inevitably will be a long conversation. It is a grim story to be told, even if she explains each scenario as if she's rattling off answers to questions from her tutor. It makes Thor ill, but she isn't at fault for that. He is in deep admiration of her strength, but it makes his bitterness toward Tom grow.

The last one leaves a bad taste in his mouth, so he'll take a long sip of his drink before he even figures out how to respond.

"You are a seasoned warrior, it seems. The likes of which we would welcome in Asgard." He offers her a smile to go with the small humor, but his tone becomes more stern. "It is my dishonor to have encountered Tom too late, but I will not make the same mistake. Should you ever need me, you can consider me an ally." He reaches out to put a hand on her shoulder, letting his smile widen just a little.

[justoutrunyou]

The spoon hanging from Sandy's closed mouth twitched as Thor made his proclamation of her apparent importance to him. She took it out and offered a silly looking smirk.

"I think you've got the wrong kid." She tried to let him down lightly. "I'm no seasoned warrior. That's like...Pruna. Or Mindy." She tried to clarify because there was no way he meant what he said right?

"I just...die alot. I'm good at running away but I can't run forever. And either I get too curious or I get upset and do something stupid like trying to fight someone better then me. I mean I know how to fight now sort of...but look at me." she gestured to herself. "I could get knocked over by a sort of large dog!"

How could he have mistaken her for a warrior just because of all the times she died?

[worldsaway]

Thor can't help but laugh at her incredulous reaction, even if he means to comfort her. The amusement shows brightly in his face and he shakes his head in response.

"I learned long ago that being a warrior means more than striking down your enemies." He leans in a little lower, as if telling her a secret. "You are stronger than you realise, little one. You've suffered much, but you have a good heart. There are many who would suffer and fight and come out worse for it, but your strength is in your resilience." He gives her shoulder a poke, a small distance above her heart. "I am certain of it."

[justoutrunyou]

She looked down to the place he had poked and indeed could still feel her heart thumping extra hard from having a talk with one of the biggest names in super heroics.

And he thought she was strong? A warrior just because she kept moving after getting knocked down so many times?

As much as every fiber of her being told her he was wrong...it's really hard to argue with someone like Thor so she nods gently.

"Alright...well I guess you'd be the expert on like...warrior...stuff." she mumbled face blooming in bright red blush. Suddenly she needed more ice cream and shoveled a spoonful into her mouth to try and cool off the heat that was rising to her cheeks.

[worldsaway]

It does Thor a little good to do it, in a way. He truly does admire Sandy for all she's survived, so it comes naturally to him to offer her praise and support when she quite clearly is in need of it. There will be nothing left for them if their spirits are broken.

"That I am." He gives her a sly smile. "You'd do well not to argue with me either, I don't take well to it." He can see that she's trying to bury herself in her ice cream because she's flustered and it earns her a soft laugh. "You'll make me want to order one of my own if you find it so well."

[justoutrunyou]

She nodded both in agreement that he should order an ice cream, and that she wouldn't argue with him. She swallowed another smooth cold spoonful and took a moment to clear her throat feeling more horribly awkward then she had in weeks.

"Yeah my uh...my dad told me you don't really take no for an answer. He fought you once in my world and I think you exploded him." She paused a moment and then realized how that sounded and hastily added "He put himself back together just fine though."

One thing she could never overcome here was how many amazing, legendary figures she was meeting from her own history. Each one was celebrated through stories that she had read or heard passed down from her father. Even after the city had been closed off and the police started burning books and newspapers...they couldn't hide it all.

[worldsaway]

It doesn't take much encouragement for Thor to wave someone down and vaguely gesture to indicate what he wants. It seems to take even less time for him to be presented with the treat. He might be chatting with a little traitor, but he's also a celebrated Tribute, given how impressive his last fight had been.

Here you are, Sandy. Eating ice cream with Thor who seems quite content to do so. As if he doesn't have anything more important to do than get to know her as a friend. Of course, that includes getting a little more than he bargained for.

"He's not wrong." He says curtly. A brow quirks at her story and he pauses to consider before speaking up. "What reason would I have to- as you put it- explode your father?"

[justoutrunyou]

Sandy looked sheepish but also a little amused because seriously what was her life anymore? She was having ice cream with Thor! God of thunder!

"Well he...wasn't really the nicest guy before I was born." She explained delicately before abandoning pretense. "He was a super villain called "The Sandman." She paused to see if there was any recognition in Thor's eyes. So far none of the other avengers had ever heard of him.

"He was stealing stuff...pretty much all he ever did. And when you came he tried to make himself all big to beat you but you kinda blew him up with lightning and made lots of glass out of his sand." That had more or less been the reasoning for him to tell her that story. He was explaining to her how superheated sand could become glass.