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Valkyrie hummed to herself happily. Date nights didn’t come about all that often, with her partner darting around the galaxy, so she enjoyed them when she could. (Truth be told, she liked the distance. She wasn’t sure she was quite ready for non-stop company).
She poured two drinks, grinned to herself, then sauntered back to the bedroom. She made it a step before she paused.
There was a girl on the bed, dark-haired and dark-skinned, in a baggy purple shirt. Said shirt was adorned with a cartoon Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye standing over a box marked with an Ikea label, and captioned with the text ‘Avengers Assemble!’
Valkyrie raised an eyebrow.
“You’re not Carol,” she said, after a moment.
The girl, admittedly, seemed just as surprised to be laying there. She looked around the bedroom, from the wardrobe, to the rack of swords, to the ornate mirror, to the row of band posters. Her gaze settled on a distinctive blue-and-red costume draped over a chair. She squeaked.
“Carol Danvers?” she said. She squeaked again. “She was here?! You know Carol Danvers?”
“Er. Yeah,” Valkyrie said.
“What was she doing here?” the girl said, suddenly forgetting her confusion to sit bolt upright, excited.
Valkyrie paused.
“Tell you when you’re older,” Valkyrie said, at last.
She took a step over, quickly kicked a box under the bed, and carefully sat down near the girl. She tilted her head; a minute ago, she’d left for drinks and Carol had very much been in here.
Now…
“Why am I here?” the girl said. Her eyes widened. “Is this an Avengers test? Does Carol want to meet me? Ohmigod if Carol-”
“Back up,” Valkyrie said. “Why would I know why you were here? Who are you, anyway?”
“Kamala Khan,” the girl said. “Didn’t you summon me?”
“Trust me, had no plans for anyone else to interrupt tonight,” Valkyrie said. “Wait, you didn’t choose to come here?”
“Um. No?” Kamala said.
She paused. Her eyes widened, again - Valkyrie was slightly concerned. Kamala squealed, and Valkyrie jerked back.
“You’re Valkyrie! Hi Valkyrie!” Kamala said. “Oh wow! Sorry, I didn’t recognise you without your armour.”
Valkyrie glanced down at herself. The Phantom tee was comfy - she shrugged, and looked back up at Kamala.
“So,” Valkyrie said slowly. “Where were you before this?”
“New Jersey,” Kamala said.
“I have no idea where that is,” Valkyrie said. “You have a lot of countries to learn the names of.”
“Oh, er, America,” Kamala said. “Not New Asgard. At all. I was shopping.”
“Huh,” Valkyrie said slowly. She glanced again over to the costume draped over the chair. “Then where’s Carol?”
Halfway across the world, in a department store, a blonde head peered up over a rack of jackets. She looked at the scattered handful of shoppers, expression bewildered, face slightly flushed, shoulders very bare.
Slowly, she slunk back down to crouch behind the rack. There was a rustle a second later as she snatched a jacket off of it.
“Okay,” she muttered to herself. “That’s a new one.”
“Drink?” Valkyrie said.
She proffered a glass to Kamala, and downed the other. Kamala sniffed it nervously.
“Um. I’m 16,” Kamala said.
“Cool. I’m a thousand,” Valkyrie said. “Want it?”
“Er. No thanks,” Kamala said. She hesitated. “Thanks though!”
Valkyrie raised an eyebrow. She eyed the glass, shrugged, and downed it too, before putting both aside.
“Know how to play hnefatafl?” Valkyrie said, after a moment.
“What?” Kamala said.
“It’s a game,” Valkyrie said. “Fill time.”
“That’s it?” Kamala said. “I magically appear here and you want to just wait?”
“Pretty much,” Valkyrie said. “You didn’t choose to come here, I didn’t summon you, so something else triggered it. When that kinda stuff happens, you’ve pretty much just gotta wait it out. Take it from me.”
“This has happened before to you?” Kamala said.
“Not this exactly,” Valkyrie admitted. “But I’ve dealt with curses before. Comes with the territory. Sometimes the best thing to do is wait for whatever happened to happen again.”
Valkyrie shrugged. Kamala hesitated. Then she started vibrating, but bit her lip. Valkyrie sighed.
“What is it?” Valkyrie said.
“Just. I’ve read a bit about you, saw a few pictures, and-” Kamala began.
“Just say it,” Valkyrie said. Kamala squealed.
“CanImeetyourhorse?” Kamala said, all at once.
Kamala nervously approached the field with a horse brush in hand. Valkyrie, after a quick change into her casual armour, was a few steps back. She snorted.
Warsong trotted over to the newcomer curiously; Kamala reached a hesitant hand out to him, only for him to whinny and stretch out a wing, as if inviting her in. Kamala bounced from foot to foot and grinned to a degree that genuinely alarmed the watching King, before brushing the steed’s side.
“Huh. He likes you,” Valkyrie said.
“He does?” Kamala said, voice shifting to an honoured wheedle. “I love you too, flying horse dude.”
Warsong whinnied again.
Kamala drank from a juice box - it was the first non-alcoholic drink Valkyrie had been able to find, and she’d been thirsty. Banter had turned to reminiscing, which had turned to Kamala listing off things she’d read for about five minutes and Valkyrie was pretty sure she hadn’t taken a breath during.
Which had led to, well, showing off. Valkyrie charged in on Warsong, leaping off without landing, managing a flip, a parry, and a twirl that was admittedly more stylish than practical.
Kamala jumped up, clapping and squashing her juice box.
There was a clash of steel against steel. Valkyrie ducked sideways, then shot forwards, managing a quick thrust at the air.
“See?” Valkyrie said. “All in the shoulder, most of the movement comes from there, and the rest flows.”
“You are so cool,” Kamala said.
“I know,” Valkyrie said. “Try again.”
Valkyrie stepped back. Kamala lifted a borrowed Asgardian blade out in front of her, tottering a little as it seemed half her height, staring at the silvery sheen. She stumbled forwards, then righted herself, and mimicked Valkyrie’s slash.
After a successful jab, Kamala beamed, and almost clapped excitedly before promptly realising that would be a bad idea.
“Not bad, kid,” Valkyrie said. “Make a Valkyrie out of you yet.”
“You really think so?!” Kamala said.
She made a high-pitched keening sound and span around. A nearby chair became a stool.
“Sure,” Valkyrie said. “Hey, want to keep the sword? Souvenir.”
“Can I?” Kamala said. She grinned, then faltered, looking up and down the blade’s length. “Actually. Um. I don’t think my parents would let me.”
“Really? Huh, Midgard’s strict,” Valkyrie said. “Okay, compromise. How about a little axe? Every kid’s gotta have an axe.”
Valkyrie reached back into the weapon rack, and pulled out a sturdy-handled axe; it was medium-sized, just a meter long, with two blades set into the end. She turned around to offer it to Kamala, and Kamala stared back with stars in her eyes.
“Best. Day. Ever.”
Valkyrie only left the room for a minute. She made it back with a bottle of squash, expecting to continue in her duties at host, only to find Carol now sat in her living room. She still seemed a little bewildered, clearly only recently returned, wearing a tightly done-up trenchcoat.
“Huh. You’re back,” Valkyrie said. She tilted her head. “How was your day?”
“Ever had to streak naked through a shopping mall?” Carol said.
“Ooh, not for a couple of centuries,” Valkyrie said. Carol chuckled.
Valkyrie poured a glass, walked over, and sat down, offering a drink to Carol. Carol quickly gulped it down. She paused.
“Non-alcoholic?” Carol said.
“Kid had hang-ups,” Valkyrie said.
“You were looking after a kid?” Carol said. A smirk played at her lips. “Must’ve been fun for you.”
“Think I did a great job to be honest,” Valkyrie said. “Considering how much I was looking forward to what she interrupted, could’ve gone way worse.”
Carol chuckled.
“Yeah?” Carol said.
“Yeah,” Valkyrie said. She leaned closer, then paused. “Plus, her parents were way too restrictive if you ask me. I was waving a sword at half her age, I don’t think she’s even been allowed a dagger.”
There was a pause.
“Val,” Carol said. “Please tell me you did not give a child a sword.”
“Relax,” Valkyrie said.
Carol breathed a sigh of relief.
“Was just an axe,” Valkyrie said.
“Val,” Carol said.
“Not even a big one!” Valkyrie said defensively. “She’ll be fine. She could handle herself in practice.”
Carol didn’t say a word.
“What?” Valkyrie said. “I was supervising! I’d only had half a dozen drinks. It was totally safe!”
Vaguely, Carol noted that she was still halfway leaned-in for a kiss before she’d gotten sidetracked. Shrugging, she completed her journey.
She drew back eventually. Both were smiling, both a little calmer; Carol still shook her head in amused despair.
“I love you,” Carol said. “But I’m not leaving you unsupervised with a kid, okay?”
“Hey, she loved me,” Valkyrie said. “Warsong liked her too. We’ve had worse date interruptions.”
“Don’t remind me,” Carol said. She grimaced. “Speaking of, are you gonna pick up where you left off any time soon, or am I just gonna be sitting here?”
“Where I left off? You’re the one that vanished,” Valkyrie said.
“Not by choice, believe me,” Carol said.
She leaned in. Valkyrie smirked, and met her lips half a second later. Well, it was good to have her back.
“Kamala Khan, what is that?”
“Nothing mom!”