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Thor gently returns Jane to the ground after their embrace, and she bites her lip and widens her eyes up at him. ‘So,’ she says.
After two weeks’ away, it is not the greeting Thor hoped for. He does his best to regard her sternly. He does not know what her look heralds, but the last time she sent it his way was after she accidentally reconfigured the holographic displays throughout his chambers, upsetting all of his saved information and preferences. His staff had to spend an entire week running about, doing their work by hand, and restoring the old information.
(He had his Chief Steward pay out a bonus as thanks, and quietly enjoyed the mess. It meant he had more time to spend fighting and with Jane herself, as less could be done discussing laws, treaties, taxes and policy, and any other work requiring the holograms.)
(He should have known bringing Jane to Asgard for an extended visit would be… interesting.)
‘So,’ he echoes levelly, still watching her.
‘It’s not that bad,’ says Jane quickly.
His lip twitches, but he thinks he masks his smile.
Then hers twitches in response and he realises he’s failed.
‘What have you done?’ he asks. He still attempts to sound grave, but with Jane it is hard not to give into smiles.
‘Done? I haven’t done, well. I mean. I have done some things. But it’s not bad. I was just curious! And nobody stopped me. I mean, they even welcomed me. So. I didn’t do-’
‘Jane,’ he interrupts, laughing and leaning down to plant a kiss on her mouth. ‘You are absurd. I missed you. Tell me.’
‘Ugh, shut up,’ she says. She reaches up to wrap her arms around his neck and curl her fingers through his hair. ‘I missed you too. Is your thing sorted?’
He puts his hands upon her waist, smoothing down the satin of the dress she wears. Jane sits and moves in a way that rumples even the most perfectly tailored of clothes. It is uniquely precious. He nods in response to her question.
His “thing” had turned out to be a corrupt regional governor. Fandral had been travelling, heard some strange rumours, and alerted Thor. Thor had spent the last two weeks’ in the West, unravelling the truth with the help of his friends. He never had a head for this sort of thing, but without Loki’s mind, he’s had to learn quickly. ‘He is deposed and replaced, and we will keep a presence there for some time. Will you tell me what turmoil I have returned to?’
‘OK, it’s really not that bad. I just think your dad’s gonna be pissed as hell.’
‘Ah,’ says Thor. ‘Well there is yet hope. He has been busy lately, I’ve hardly seen him myself. He may not notice.’
‘Yes, well… your, er, Great Aunt said she was probably going to have to tell him about this.’
Thor blinks. ‘My… Aunt?’ He thinks through his extended family for a moment before an obvious solution presents itself. ‘Aunt Hillevi? You were at the University?’
Jane nods. It was one of the first places she’d asked him about, so he had shown her around, and introduced her to Hillevi, who sat as Royal Chancellor. Jane had of course been pleased, with bright eyes and a large smile as they’d toured the buildings. Through Hillevi, he had obtained the credentials Jane would require to visit again, and to use the libraries. It was no surprise that she had.
‘What happened?’ he asks.
‘Not bad!’ she repeats.
‘Jane-’
‘So I may have won a place to study the branches of Yggdrasil for the next fifty years for a fifth band program of study, which would get me, as far as I can tell, the rough equivalent of a Masters’ degree.’ She grins broadly. It is a little manic. It hits Thor immediately that the wide-eyes and awkwardness were entirely put on. She is thrilled.
His own pride at her achievements rushes through him, warm and enough to burst, and he lets out a short, triumphant laugh, and wraps his arms around her more tightly to pick her up again, brushing their noses together. He has missed her and her chaos deeply.
‘Then you are to be congratulated,’ he says, placing her back upon the ground gently, though leaving his arms around her. ‘How?’
‘Well the first couple of days you were gone I basically spent the whole time at the university library,’ she says, words tumbling out in a gleeful rush now that the truth is out, eyes glittering with excitement. She is beautiful, though he does not interrupt her to tell her so. ‘And I talked to the main librarian a bunch. Except she didn’t know who I was, and she asked if I was studying for the course placement exam thing, and I said no, that sounded interesting, and so she gave me some more information, and I… started studying for the exam.’
‘And you passed?’ Thor keeps his voice even. Jane’s intellect never ceases to amaze him, but surely even she could not learn what must amount to a hundred years’ of formal education in two weeks.
‘I kinda scraped through,’ she admits. ‘I mean, it helps that your exams are somewhere between a thesis defense and a conversation with the examiner, so she could prompt me and I could do a bit of thinking on my feet. And also that your actual scientific knowledge of the Bifrost is honestly pretty shocking, given how vital it is to you guys. I mean, it was out of action for two years when you broke it! How is that possible? So my proposal for my field of study for the independent research portion of the whole thing was about understanding it in more repeatable terms than just a fancy bridge and a sword. Everything else was just memorisation. They did say if I want to take it up then I need to do, like, an absolutely phenomenal amount of foundation courses to make up for being from Earth, but, academic snobbery aside, that sounds like the complete opposite of a problem!’ She beams.
Thor shakes his head with amusement. ‘Only you,’ he says warmly. He kisses her nose. ‘You are wonderful.’ Her cheeks turn pink and he kisses them too, enjoying her blush. He thinks he should take her to bed before he’s summoned before his father, but he still has questions. ‘I did not realise that university examinations were open to Midgardians,’ he says. ‘I didn’t think most were even open to non-Asgardians. If I remember correctly, Aunt Hillevi has permission for one hundred alien students at any one time, from a very small number of realms.’
‘Well it turns out the law about that is sort of… a bit vague. Because your Aunt wrote the draft of it and she wanted as many options as possible. So the law just says Asgards “allies” in the Nine Realms are welcome without specifying what that means. And she pointed out Midgardians have saved your ass a bunch of times, so we’re probably allies.’
Thor freezes in place momentarily. Then he leans back. ‘Oh no,’ he says. ‘Did you- Surely you didn’t-?’
‘What?’ Jane’s wide eyes return.
Thor is instantly suspicious. ‘Aunt Hillevi does not approve of my father. The battle to open the University to those from other realms was long-fought. Knowing her, she would not have hidden this from you.’
‘She… may have mentioned your dad. A few times. When she told me it was definitely fine for me to take the exam. And when we talked about my scores. Which she sounded pleased about.’
‘Oh no,’ says Thor again. A sudden vision of Aunt Hillevi in her office with Jane swims into view.
“Naturally Midgardians are included,” she would have told Jane, with quiet glee. “Please do sit the examinations. A university cannot be strong if its students are not diverse, so you would be most welcome.” It is an argument she made many times to Odin Allfather.
‘She is right though,’ says Jane. ‘I mean, you can’t have a good education system if you exclude other perspectives. Your dad just needs to learn to accept that.’ She smiles up at Thor, exuding an innocence he now knows to be false. ‘Besides, apparently obtaining a higher level education is one of the very few routes by which aliens might gain permanent right of abode on Asgard.’
Thor lets out a breath. ‘There are a few other stipulations-’ he begins cautiously. He does not want to raise either of their hopes.
‘Lady Hillevi told me,’ says Jane. ‘Something about proven service to the King. We thought helping defeat one of Asgard’s ancient enemies and saving the Nine Realms might do the trick. Just because I’m mortal, doesn’t mean I couldn’t belong.’
Any slight suspicion that poor, innocent Jane may have been manipulated into a family feud by his obstinate and cantankerous Aunt instantly vanishes. Jane has never forgiven what she calls “the goat thing”. Her jaw is set as she looks up at him defiantly, daring him to argue.
‘Jane, I love you, I am so proud of all you’ve done, and if you wish to study here then I promise you I will do everything in my power to make sure that happens… but I had hoped for at least a day of rest when I returned,’ he says. ‘I missed you,’ he adds again.
She gives him another of her wide beautiful smiles, and leans up to kiss his chin, chaotic energy mollified, at least for a moment. ‘All right,’ she says. ‘I’ll message Lady Hillevi and tell her tomorrow. Bed?’
He grins. ‘Most gladly,’ he says.
She hesitates for a moment. ‘You don’t… mind, about this?’
He touches her face, cups her cheek with his hand and she leans into his touch, making him feel warm. ‘Of course not,’ he says.‘Nothing would make me happier than to see you learning all we know of that which you love.’ She smiles again, and despite the complications she brings, it settles him in a way nothing else can. ‘Come to bed. And tomorrow we shall once more fight for a better future.’
‘God, you’re so dramatic,’ she says. She reaches up and takes his hand from her cheek, lacing her fingers through his, then leads him to his own bedroom with the presumption of one who lives there herself. Thor finds himself hoping that one day, she just might.