Thor

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

The door from Milliways opens on the early morning landscape of the Capital Wasteland. Beyond the door is stony, blighted territory, the shadows of burnt, weathered stumps long in the morning sun. "The crater where we'll be picked up by the ship is just over that hill," Ellen says, indicating a swell in the landscape ahead of them. "I got kind of tired of walking half a mile to reach the nearest house with a door to get to the Bar, so I tore out an internal doorframe from the building and brought it here instead. It doesn't actually connect to anything, but it gets me back and forth- and we can always go to the house again if we need to, on the way back."

She glances at the Asgardian and adds, "We'll be traveling to the ship by a teleportation beam. There are two humans on board who can operate the controls, so it'll either be Dr. Tercorien or Sally on the other side."

Comments

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Mox nods. "Very well, then," he says. "We agree to your terms. We will help as we can with the frozen humans, but our job was to keep the labs supplied with power and functioning smoothly- we were not trained in how to thaw someone out safely. Still, we will assist in what we do know."

[mjolnir_retriever]

Fair enough. You don't know what you don't know.

Thor paraphrases for Ellen, keeping the wording pretty close to Mox's.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"I appreciate even that much assistance," Ellen says. "I'm grateful for his people's help and I'll do my best to get things moving quickly around here. And to make absolutely certain Dr. Tercorien doesn't ruin things, either."

[mjolnir_retriever]

--Right, yeah. That one's going to take some finagling, isn't it?

Thor, as someone who was very recently the vengefully furious person who was insufficiently finagled, reflects on this prospect with rather more rueful comprehension than exasperation. He doesn't even know the guy well enough to have any idea what would work as successful distraction or persuasion, beyond explaining the facts of the situation.

Anyway. He grimaces a little to Ellen in agreement, but what he says is, "Ellen appreciates your assistance, no matter its limits. She will arrange the humans' matters as quickly as she can, and accomplish her end of this agreement."

Which includes the 'no armored humans harassing you' clause, so he doesn't feel any need to spell that out again.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

A thought occurs to Ellen. "If I remember right," she says, "and I have no guarantee that I do- I was badly injured at the time- the other aliens on the ship had some kind of odd gel that worked to heal human wounds very quickly. Elliott's a soldier, but he was a doctor first. I think he might be more inclined to trust Mox and Xur's people if they had any of that to spare. You don't usually give healing substances to people you're planning to betray, right?"

[mjolnir_retriever]

Huh. Ellen has good notions.

"This is not an additional term," he says, with a glance at Ellen to make sure she approves of his wording, "but Ellen has a suggestion to ease the process. If you have healing substances which ease human injury, the humans would appreciate any you have spare. The armored hunter will be restrained from hunting you in any case, as we have agreed, but he would likely take such a gift as a sign of trustworthiness and good intentions."

Suggesting signs of trustworthiness is a dicey matter, so far as Thor's concerned, since it can edge close (intentionally or accidentally) to expressing doubt in someone's given word. But it's practical, and this is a situation where even the most honorable oath couldn't usually make it through the language barrier.

All the same, he feels a little awkward choosing his words for the last sentence. It may or may not show.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Ellen nods. Mox and Zur glance at each other, then nod. "That much is fair," says Mox, and turns to two of the others. "Ovu, Sej- go and gather up some extra bio-gel, please. We will make a show of good faith. And bring some repair epoxy if you find any, too."

"Thank you," says Ellen when the translation comes through. "I appreciate everything done here, and I'll make absolutely sure that Dr. Tercorien understands how matters stand."

She glances sidelong at Thor and adds in an undertone, "He may be a doctor, and older than me, but he's taken all of my orders and called me captain of this ship. If he gives me any trouble I'll take away his ammunition and give him a stun wand so he can defend himself non-lethally until he calms down."

[mjolnir_retriever]

Thor grins at that last, quick and full of fierce humor. This is a management system that makes total sense to him.

(It's also exactly the management tactic his father recently used on Thor himself, but Thor doesn't have the emotional distance right now to recognize that. Especially since Odin never actually said it was temporary.)

He repeats Ellen's thanks, although he figures Mox and Zur can probably guess at that content anyway.

This whole piece of work has been -- surprisingly satisfying. This is what Thor was trained for, as much as war, even if the arts of war were where he found more enjoyment.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Ellen then turns to Thor and says, "Thank you, Thor Odinson. I really appreciate this more than I can say- it's going to make a very big difference to a lot of people."

"I can take you back to the Bar now, if you'd like. I'll be along shortly myself- there's something I need to find first..." She eyes his arms thoughtfully a moment. "Shouldn't take long, though."

Power armor is tricky stuff if not fitted to the length of an individual's limbs, but she's almost certain there should be a suit or two in the cargo hold that'll be of the right size. A good host sees her guest off suit a suitable gift, after all. Especially if they've done an enormous favor.

[mjolnir_retriever]

Thor inclines his head to her in return, and accepts the scrutiny of his arms with amiable bemusement. (And half a guess of why it might be relevant -- tokens of gratitude aren't unknown, although he has no idea what her world has that's bicep-relevant -- but he's not gonna ponder too hard about it.) "I have no further tasks to accomplish, if you have no need of my aid," he agrees. "I will return whenever it suits you."

"And you are very welcome, Ellen Park."