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The sea was a wonderful way to keep a person awake, the spray of salt making every morning poking the eyes just enough to make them awake.
The man carefully sipped his lukewarm cola, sitting on the rocking chair he was gifted to by the old widow nearby who was moving away. Mobius would miss Brigitte terribly, but she felt herself ready to get back to her life.
“Boy, I had enough rest! I don't think anyone could make my bread better than me!”, she firmly explained as he helped her pack away all the knitted paraphernalia she accumulated.
“I know, Rachel won't know the surprise until she's thick into changing the recipe again,” he gravely replied like a soldier ready for war before laughing at her unimpressed look.
They spent the rest of the day like that, packing away all the tiny bits and baubles she accumulated for the past few years. Everyone had visited in some way the days before, with Korg being one of the most memorable. The spacey mass of rocks helpfully unhelpful and probably the worst thing he could've done if he even thinked gave tips on how to play the game-that-must-not-be-mentioned, nearly leading him, the gruff sailor who doubled as Brigitte's handyman and reluctant grandson and Valkyrie, who tagged along to avoid any incidents, into stopping the old lady from hurling her mitts at a very confused Korg.
But aside from that whole incident, she had a relatively unremarkable farewell from them.
He thought that Thor wouldn't come, but the Norse god had cleaned himself up enough to kiss her cheek goodbye. The both of them watched as the horrendously bright yellow taxi she entered turned back to the mainland.
He shook off his melancholy of yesterday and slowly made his way back to his cottage, the remains of an oat porridge on the kitchen sink. The man mindlessly rubbed his nose, deep in thought.
M—
He whirled around, hand nearly on a baton that wasn't slipped around his waist. The cottage was empty, he always made sure of it.
So what—?
“Leo? You there?”
He wasn't the guy to check on every person, that's how New Asgard was. He's not the mayor of this town, if someone really wanted something done, just go to Valkyrie.
But Miek pointed out how the guy with the banged up nose was very close with one of the craftsy grandmas.
Y'know the granny who nearly broke the PC?
He only had to look at her, the angry grandma was the scariest thing in New Asgard in recent times. Holy crap the amount of bowing all three of them did afterwards still made his back hurt like hell.
She's gonna get back. Maybe check on the guy.
Thor shaved and managed to see the old grandma off, banged up nose already done shaking her hand. It was a random decision, but he kissed her cheek.
He'd never tell anyone, but he knew that at that moment, Brigitte had already healed. He's not much of a jealous guy, but as the yellow car moved away, the man selfishly hoped that somehow, someway, maybe he'd be like that.
But enough about the old grandma, he's gonna check on the guy the morning after. It's gonna be worth the thirty minutes of unskippable ads that's always in the morning.
The blond may not be swinging his hammer anymore, but he knows who's carefully watching him when he's outside after a while of going insane with his lose streak. In the corner of his eye, the guy is drinking something. He's not the worst looking guy, his scars and aura made him look like a 'workaholic daddy' as Darcy would've said.
But above all, the guy reminds him of a certain someone, way back in the Battle of New York.
How is SHIELD anyway? Must check on Na—
He stopped walking, a few steps away from the house.
...
Fuck, he's not meant for this checking up on other people thing. But he's already here, so with a heavy feeling on his shoulders, Thor yells out that he's here at Leo's door.
The door was quickly opened, the guy looking like he'd been spooked by something.
Honestly, he doesn't know what to do now. Put him in a bar brawl and he'd rather go home and sleep.
What do people say when a friend goes away? Once, he might've sent for a barrel full of ale, and they'd spent a night with goblets sloshing around.
He didn't need to think about stuff, as the guy led them two to the inside of a very plain room.
“Hey, you sure you got money?”
He stopped himself from turning around and looking at the god.
“What?”
Thor replied, seemingly calm. “I don't see any of her stuff.”
“Her gifts in the laundry, maybe I'll wear it later,” he replied before going to the kitchen.
The apple he was forced to buy under her watchful eye would probably be the only thing that wasn't the bland cola that fuelled him to live.
Mobius peeled and sliced it, bringing the apple slices to the awkwardly seated man on the sofa. For the next few minutes, they just ate. It would be the first time he ate with someone else in the three years after him, with his brother of all people.
The apple tasted okay.
The guy also looked okay.
He should go now, back to Korg messing up another round, Miek enabling him to be worse.
Probably that was the usual thing to do. So Thor stood up and thanked him for the food. They said farewells to each other, but it had taken him to wear his headset to realize that Leo was, weirdly enough, carrying a trace of his brother's grace.
How is that possible?
“Thor, the kid's in the chat again!”
“Korg, trash talk him back!”
“But it's hurtful!”
He breathed out a sigh of relief as the blond god closed the door behind him.
Was he trying to do a wellness check on me?
He went on with his day, checking Giselle and Andy weren't helping themselves too much with the papers of the library's printer for his afternoon shift. The other security guard left him a croissant. It... could be eaten.
Mobius went home with another can of cola, ready to crash at his room and ignore his nightmares. But that night, he pulled out the unwashed knitted mitts she gave him and sat on his rocking chair, breathing slowly, nearly but never sleeping, until he could just believe that the faint touch on his arm is the man still with him.