[For Thor] Post-Red Riding Hood

[sciencefact]

Jane's nearly halfway to Thor's by the time she realizes that's where her feet are taking her. When she'd plodded her way from the scrapyard, she'd been more than a little dazed and a whole lot irritated, so the fact that her body had turned her in the direction opposite her own home doesn't come as that big of a surprise. She's covered in slowly-

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[havenoplans]

Thor does not receive many visitors, and even then, there are few who would call upon him at this hour (and fewer still who would knock were there cause for much haste). Given that he has not been inside for very long, having spent the day hunting and continuing the construction next door, however, it is good fortune alone that finds him at home to welcome his guest. Though he is not surprised to find Jane waiting on the porch, he cannot hide his shock for her present state, and the smile he wears to greet her fades quickly from his face, his expression replaced with an immediate and almost angry concern. He steps in towards her without a word, and wraps her up in arms, not caring if he himself gets covered in blood as ushers her inside. A million questions spring to the tip of his tongue, but in the end, there is one he needs the answer to more than any other.

"Who did this?"

[sciencefact]

"Tony Stark," Jane deadpans as she's guided inside. "Don't kill him." Judging by the look on Thor's face, she thinks it's probably prudent to get that bit out first.

"I don't even know why I'm here, I-" Spying his dirtied shirt, she pulls a face and then glances down to herself. "It's not my blood. I think I need to use your shower."

[havenoplans]

"Is it his?" asks Thor, evidently not appeased by the explanation. Having met the man only once, and briefly, Thor counts him as a mere acquaintance, and even then, not a particularly friendly one.

"Jane, tell me: what happened?"

[sciencefact]

"No, it's-" Jane pauses, considering exactly how to answer that question accurately. She isn't certain she can. "I don't know what it was, it looked vaguely wolf-like before its brains exploded into my hair." That thunderous look on Thor's face makes her feel a little guilty, but when she reaches an instinctive hand up to cradle his jaw, offer a little comfort, the sight of her hand draws her up short

[havenoplans]

"Of course."

The words come out distracted, his mind still reeling from the implications of wolves and bridges and a potential way home that his concern about the blood becomes secondary, if only because Jane is otherwise unharmed. Relief mixing together with impatience, Thor's anger subsides, though it does not disappear entirely, instead lingering just below the surface, certain to make itself known again before the evening is through.

Blinking when he at last processes the extent of her offer, Thor hesitates before turning. Then with a slight shake of his head, he adds, "I'll fetch you some towels and something... to wear. The shower is just through that hall. Take as long as you need."

[sciencefact]

Without a doubt, this is the best shower Jane has ever taken in her life. Not even a naked Norse god in there with her could make it any better, and for a long time she simply stands under the stream and watches the water run from red to pink to clear.

One of Thor's shirts is big enough to function as a dress on Jane's petite frame, but she still can't help feeling a little self-conscious when she steps from the bathroom on bare feet, skin freshly scrubbed and hair a damp rope twisted over one shoulder.

"Better," she announces, toes curling under against the hardwood floor.

[havenoplans]

Thor looks up from the book he picked up in Jane's absence to pass the time. It's one of Loki's, something thick with runes that Thor only half-remembers from lessons as a child, and though his eyes passed over the text without absorbing the knowledge therein, as a distraction from his thoughts, it served admirably. Tossing it aside now that its services are no longer required, Thor moves to stand, his gait as striding as ever as he makes his way to her side with only a handful of steps, reaching out for her only to think better of it at the last moment.

There is something strangely appealing about the sight of her wearing his shirt, though her body is all but lost in the sea of fabric. His gaze dips down to her bare legs before he reins it back up to her face.

"Agreed," he murmurs.

[sciencefact]

With all the fuss that Jane caused with her arrival, it's a little surprising how quickly she stops worrying about Tony Stark or his portal or exploding wolf-creatures. It's still very much there, a slight tug at the back of her mind, but she'll get back to it later. If there's one thing they have in excess here, it's time.

"Thank you for letting me use your shower," she quietly says, refusing to give in to the impulse to cross her arms over her chest. "And for the shirt. And for letting me be a little crazy."

[havenoplans]

"You need not thank me," he says, eyebrows lifting with her last point of gratitude. Given her state upon knocking on his door, some craziness had to have been expected, and she did not act particularly untoward, regardless.

Stepping forward, he slides a hand over her shoulder and across her back, intent on getting her seated so that she might continue her story from before.

"But is it true, then? Is there a way home?"

[sciencefact]

Thor's hands on her in any capacity does an incredibly thorough job of making it difficult for Jane to think, so she waits until she's seated to answer.

"I don't know," she admits, tugging the hem of his shirt over her knees. "Based strictly on the information, that's the most accurate answer. But if you want my opinion, I don't think so." She hates having to give that answer, and maybe she shouldn't. Based strictly on the evidence, she can't know for sure. But nothing about any of what just happened back there at the scrapyard feels right.

"None of the data made any sense. The portal- the bridge, it shouldn't have been working. The science was right, the tech was sound from a theoretical standpoint, but the conditions were arbitrary."

[havenoplans]

"Then we'll try again," says Thor, fully knowing that there is no real we to be had. Though he certainly knows more about inter-dimensional travel than many of the mortals trapped here, his understanding is tied up in what most humans would deem as magic; even Loki, who knows more about the subject than even, perhaps, Heimdall would only be of so much use. Neither the sorcery nor the technologies of this place seem overly compatible with what the Asgardians know.

[sciencefact]

Naturally they'll try again, but even after all this time, Jane isn't certain Thor fully understands the wall she keeps running up again. Stark may have found a theory with promise, but she's convinced that it working was a fluke.

"Yeah," she assents, picking at the ends of her damp hair. "There really isn't anything else we can do but just keep on trying." That, at least, is a universal constant in this place.