New York State of Mind {Steve}

[Thor Odinson]

For some reason, people tended to stare at Thor when he went out into New York City, even if he was wearing Midgardian clothing at the time. He supposed it made sense; he was very tall, after all. And he did tend to carry around a rather large hammer, even though it hadn't been necessary for a little while; he preferred to keep Mjolnir with him, just in case. After it had been taken from him in his youth, he had kept a much closer eye on it than was probably strictly necessary; most dared not attempt to steal from the God of Thunder himself.

Especially on Midgard. For on Midgard he remained, to help those who had no means of protecting themselves. All was quiet right now, but new villains emerged seemingly every day. Which was another reason he carried Mjolnir with him; he did not want to be caught off-guard should some threat appear that he needed to be able to deal with.

No, it was far better to attract the stares of the Midgardians than it was to be unprepared. He had learned much in his time on Midgard, and part of that had been that, yes, while he should have faith in his abilities, both power and physical, he should not become over-confident.

Today, though, he had left the Mansion that the Avengers called their home (or at least, he did, since he didn't exactly have anywhere else to stay) in search of a coffee shop. Yes, he could have had a latte in th Mansion, but he enjoyed wandering through the city, taking in the sights, seeing the people.

It didn't take him long to find a little, out-of-the-way place near Central Park, and he ordered the largest latte they had. The Asgardian paid for it with the card that friend Stark had given him, and, latte in hand, headed for the Park itself.

It was not nearly as magnificent as Lady Frigga, his adoptive mother's garden in Asgard, but that was what it reminded him of. And he came here whenever he felt a longing for the Golden Realm, to sit with his latte and just think. To remember why he had chosen to stay on Midgard, and to enjoy this Realm for which he had such an affection.

Tag: Steve Rogers

[Steve Rogers]

In the mornings Steve went running.  Some days he ran for hours.  He was fast and covered a lot of ground, but all of it moved by in a blur.  Other runners he passed had headphones, but not Steve.  Music didn't help.  He just shut his mind off and ran.  One foot in front of the other.  Again and again.

It was worse the longer they went without a mission.  Without that distraction, the loneliness crept in.  Steve had always been somewhat of a loner.  Not by choice.  He'd simply been too sick to go out and make friends.  Bucky had been the exception to the rule.  Here he was surrounded by people.  He could go wherever he wanted and talk to anyone at all, and yet he felt even more isolated.  Steve was trying to acclimate himself to this time, hoping it would make connecting easier, but so far no luck.

Steve reached the park and slowed to a walk, sweat rolling down his back.  Glancing up at the sun, Steve judged the time out of habit even as he reminded himself that he had nowhere to be.  He began to jog again when he caught sight of a familiar figure on one of the park benches.  The blonde hair and the wide shoulders make Thor unmistakable.

Steve walked up behind the bench, stepped around, and sat down too.  He stretched out his legs and glanced down at Thor's coffee cup.  Steve had learned early on that coffee these days was exceedingly complex.  "Is that a... pumpkin spice?  Everyone keeps talking about the pumpkin spice."  It was one of the many things he had written down to figure out.

Out of all the Avengers, Thor was perhaps the one Steve felt most comfortable with.  They were both out of their element.

[Thor Odinson]

Thor's thoughts had started to wander down a different path, towards a much more dangerous subject: Loki. They had been raised together, but they were not truly brothers. The thunderer cared very deeply for the trickster, which had made it quite difficult to have to face him in battle. And he knew that he was going to have to face him again, sooner or later, either by himself or with the Avengers by his side.

The thought that troubled him was that he wouldn't be able to fight Loki, that he would try to reason with him, when the trickster seemed to be beyond reason. And that could prove disastrous.

He was blessedly drawn out of his thoughts when someone sat down on his bench. Thor glanced over to see who it was who had sat beside him, and was delighted to see one of his fellow Avengers, the warrior called Captain America, though he was known to his friends as Steven Rogers.

Thor greatly respected the Midgardian Captain. They had much in common, perhaps more than the others on their team. They were both warriors, both learning about this new Midgard. Thor had been here such a long time ago that things had changed greatly. And though he knew much about his own Realm's technology, he was still figuring out that of Midgard.

The other blonde glanced at the cup in Thor's hand and asked if it was pumpkin spice. Thor, too, had heard much about these pumpkin spice lattes, but he had chosen his preferred, 'regular' latte.

"It is not," he said with a grin. "Though perhaps I shall try one, the next time." He paused for a moment, then added, "I have been told it tastes like pumpkin pie in liquid form." Which would be interesting, to say the least.

Thor noticed that the Captain appeared to have been out running, something that he tended to do when he didn't want to be around the others. Or so he thought, at least. He would not presume to know what was going on in the Captain's mind.

"Is something troubling you, my friend?" he asked, on the off chance that he was right. If he was, well, perhaps friend Steve would like someone to talk to about it. And if not, well, no harm done.

[Steve Rogers]

Steve looked ahead, a little sideways smile on his face.  It was always odd, seeing Thor in civilian clothes.  Steve knew that Thor was a god-like alien from another world, a man of myth and legend.  To see him enjoying the sun with a cup of coffee like this amused Steve.  All of the Avengers were larger than life, but Thor was even more so.

Thor was a warrior, but he was surprisingly perceptive.  He asked Steve what was troubling him and Steve glanced over at the Asgardian.  "... I was out here trying to clear my head.  Sometimes running helps." He shrugged his shoulders.  Despite the running, he still felt anxious.  "It's been pretty quiet.  I keep waiting for the call."  It had been a relatively long stretch of time since their last mission.  He knew this was a blessing, for everyone, but the days were long and he struggled to find some way to fill them.

He knew Thor probably felt the same.  After they defeated Loki, the trickster god seemed to vanish without a trace.  Where was he?  What was he planning?  Steve had gathered that Loki was a sensitive subject to bring up around Thor.  Loki was insane, yes, but he was still Thor's brother.  So, instead, Steve offered Thor a smile.  "Do gods run?  You should start coming with me.  You might actually be the only one who can keep up."

[Thor Odinson]

The god of thunder took a sip of his latte as he waited for his companion to speak. If there was one thing that Thor could afford to have, especially on Midgard, it was patience. Asgardians were extremely long-lived, and he did not mind waiting for Steve to gather his thoughts.

The other blonde man glanced over at him and finally said that he had been trying to clear his head, that running helped. Thor nodded, understanding what Steve meant. He didn't tend to go running for that, though; Thor generally went flying when he didn't want to think. Though sometimes, it backfired on him, gave him too much to think about.

"I know what you mean, my friend," Thor responded. They were all waiting for something to snap; it had been relatively quiet, as far as potentially world-ending catastophes were concerned. Which was very good, on the one hand; it meant that they weren't needed to save the world. But on the other hand, it made for very restless days.

And then, Steve asked if gods ran. Thor couldn't help but laugh, clapping his friend on the back. "Not only shall I keep up, friend Steve, but I shall give you a ... run for your money, as you Midgardians say." The expression on his face could only be described as a smirk; Steven Rogers might be the peak of the human condition, but Thor was a god. He had no doubt that he could keep up with the young Captain.

He glanced down at his current clothing and laughed, "Though I think I shall require a change in attire before we undertake this new endeavour," Thor commented. He was in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, but he knew that that wasn't what mortals tended to wear when they went running. And he wanted to do things properly.