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Sara laid in her bed, staring at the ceiling. She’d been laying there for hours, it felt like. She couldn’t sleep, even though she was exhausted. Her wings had never been allowed to fully grow in during her capture, and she had never experienced an itch like this before. It crawled along her spine to every feather tip. She turned restlessly onto her side, shuffling her wings behind her.
She didn’t want to bother Bucky or Steve, she knew they had come back from a mission last night and it was still early morning. Rubbing her wings against her smooth sheets was satisfying, but it wasn’t enough. She got up and padded to her door. Because of her tossing and turning, dusty chaff from her feathers ghosted along the floor behind her with bits of fluffy gray down. Sara did not care. She knew her room was hers alone, something that had taken long months to understand in the tower.
Steve had worked on explaining the concept of her room to her, as well as other things. The only people she hung around were Bucky and Steve, but she quietly tolerated the others. She Liked Clint.
When she first made peace with Barnes, and started venturing out to the common floor by herself, she found the archer spread out on the couch late one night. She was feeling skittish that night from bad dreams-Bucky had said they were called nightmares, and they plagued her almost every time she closed her eyes to rest. She almost cried- she didn’t think she could stand if Clint tried to talk to her, her throat was sore from screaming and her head was pounding. She didn’t know why she came to the common floor in the first place, but by now Clint had seen her and it was strange to turn back. Clint stared at her for a second, not saying anything. He took in her ruffled hair and feathers, wings tucked tight to Sara’s back, and came to a decision. He nodded to her, patting a cushion beside him in a silent invitation.
Sara was relieved, and thought that Clint was okay as long as he was sitting peacefully and not making a single sound like he currently was. She sat carefully next to him, and as she came over she was able to spot that Clint had been watching something on TV. Sara did not notice at first because the TV was muted. Sara did not use her TV, even though Steve had shown her how. It was too loud, and she was uninterested in whatever Steve had put on. She could stand the TV if it was silent. Clint was watching some colorful show with dogs. She turned her head to watch, keeping Clint in her sight.
His scent wasn’t too bad, she decided. A mix of bowstring wax and leather. She let his scent wash over her as they sat and watched the show. Clint had told her later that it was called Paw Patrol. They had spent the rest of the night like that, and Steve was surprised to find them in the morning, still sitting together.
So, she liked Clint. He wouldn’t mind the mess of her feathers either. Sara knew Clint was messy and unbothered by it. She hoped Clint was awake. If he was, Sara could maybe find him in the common area and they could sit so she didn’t have to lay in bed turning. He had been teaching her a bit of sign language lately, and she could use some practice.
Her bare feet carried her to the elevator as she went down to the common floor. Unfortunately for Sara, Clint was not there. His scent was very faint in the room too, so he must not have been down here for a few days. She glanced around the room, deciding. Yes, that corner would do nicely.
She brushed a wing across the corner of the kitchen island experimentally, and shivered. It was better than her sheets, and the edge was reaching parts of her wing she couldn’t. She continued rubbing the chaff off her wings, lost in the feeling, when someone clearing their throat caught her attention.
Immediately, she stilled. Thor was positioned in the entrance, fist covering a smile.
“Apologies, my lady, I did not expect anyone to be around at this hour,” he spoke softly. Sara tilted her head at her. It was late, so why was the god here? He read her question and answered,
“Ah, Natasha had made some confections earlier, and I had swore not to have more… but I thought I may be able to covertly eat some,” he grinned conspiratorially,
“Surely, you wouldn’t mind an extra one yourself, my lady?” He crossed to the kitchen, where a plate of cookies was left out and swiped two, then slowly walked over and offered one to Sara. She shyly took one and nibbled, one hand idly scratching at her wing as she ate.
They finished their cookies in companionable silence before Thor spoke again, “I hope you don’t mind me asking my lady, but, are your wings bothering you?” Sara glanced up at his hulking form and shrugged. He did not need to know how badly her feathers were truly itching. He shifted,
“I just mean to say, that is, I have had close encounters with other Valkyries. They, too, experience seasonal molting and shedding. They oft complained of itching…” he trailed off, unsure,
“I have helped my winged comrades groom their wings before, so I would be honored to do the same for you, my lady.” Thor was always polite to Sara, but it didn’t stop her from tensing at his suggestion. Historically, any of the Avengers getting close to her back ended badly. Too many memories of pain accompanied any memories of people getting close to her. Still, the offer was strangely tempting.
She knew Thor thought she was special, as he always called her by honorifics, and never intruded on her space. Sara’s wings gave a twitch, a prickling sensation crawling right along her outer feathers, impossible for her own fingers to soothe. Thor tracked the movement of her shoulders as Sara shivered, trying to shake the sensation.
“It is no trouble, truly,” he offered again. Sara considered. She knew that Steve and Thor were well matched in strength, and if Thor were to do anything, Steve would be on her side. Bucky, too. Sara had never had so many allies before, much less friends. Thor waited patiently for an answer.
Sara eyed the god, her decision made.
“Sit?” pointing to the couch in front of the TV, Thor followed her instruction eagerly. Sara picked up the remote and put on an episode of Paw Patrol on mute. She knew she would need a distraction. Sitting next to Thor, Sara carefully extended a wing into his reach. This way, her back was protected by the couch, and she could retract her wing quickly if needed.
Thor gently pulled her wing into his lap, and carefully started rolling a sheathed feather to break the rough layer off of the feather to unroll it. He glanced at Sara often between movements, checking to see he had not done harm. Sara was surprised at how deft and sure his hands were at this work, and how Thor knew just the places to gently scrape at. She shivered at the soothing motions as Thor’s spice and mead scent filled the space between them.
She found herself relaxing against her will as Thor continued to soothe the spots that had been irritating her for weeks. As long as Sara kept an eye on the TV and didn’t think about how easy it would be for Thor to yank her new plumage out, this was fine. Dust and loose down was starting to build up on Thor’s lap, but he paid it no mind, moving his hand through her feathers to smooth them down. The pair stayed side by side in a fragile peace as Thor worked.
He had been sitting with Sara for the better part of three hours, and had just finished one wing, when Sara shifted. She almost couldn’t stand how, now that one wing was soothed, the opposite one’s discomfort stood out in stark relief. Sara carefully shifted to face the back of the couch, legs balled up in front of her and all but shoving her ungroomed wing into Thor’s lap. This way, she couldn’t see the TV, but she was used to Thor’s steady movements, and they were almost soothing to her without the edge of fear. She told herself she could still escape, or vault over the couch, as she rested her cheek on her knees.
Sara was too on edge to truly fall asleep, but she drifted as Thor continued to work on her wing. Thor was quite pleased his plan worked so well. He had been meaning to offer advice to lady Sara about her wings since he noticed her molting, but thought he was not close enough to her yet. He worked an old feather loose as he considered. He really truly had only meant to consume more of Natasha’s confections, but this opportunity to bond with the Valkyrie was too good not to offer.
They sat together in silence until the morning light started to creep through the windows. Sara slinked away when Thor had finished, but he was not offended, for he knew the enormous trust she had just shown him.
Later that day, Tony came up from the workshop to the common floor.
“What the hell?!”
He took in the absolute mess of down and dirt on the sofa Pepper had just bought for the common area. The couch might have been ruined. He slid his hand down his face, sighing, “This is all Capsicles fault, I swear.” Still, he couldn’t find it in himself to be truly angry. He took it as a sign that the newest tower resident was becoming more comfortable with him. It didn’t stop him from complaining loudly to everyone about the enormous mess and the extra cleaning fee for the couch.
Thor took the complaints in stride, never revealing what had happened that morning. It was worth the man of iron’s whining when he went back to his quarters and found two glossy feathers on his pillow, a wordless thank you gift.