Home for the Holidays

[sweetcandygirl]

Over the weekend, Harley was busy decorating her Nexus apartment, stylizing everything in soft whites and a few bright splashes of reds.

In the middle of the apartment, where her aerial silks normally hang from the cathedral ceilings, and several pinwheel decorations. And soft Christmas music is playing on the stereos, filling the open areas of her apartment.

The smells of several delicious foods waft from the kitchen. Everything is made with a vegetarian-friendly flare, that is still respectful to the season itself. And to supplement the fact there may not be any meat on the menu -- there is a large keg of ale on a countertop nearby. There is also plenty of wine, cocktails, and eggnog available.

Harley has invited a few people over to her apartment for a small pre-Christmas party. Mostly, those who already live or stay in her apartment.

[No posting order. Mingle around. Thread jump. All is good]

Comments

[brother_alone]

Now this is a cozily dressed casual motherfucker Josh can talk to without feeling hyper intimidated if one ignores the missing eye. Man's built like a meat truck even moreso than the jock in his old circle of friends but that doesn't seem to put Joshua off any. His own sweater has blades on it too and he's got a beanie on to keep his curly dark hair in check. They're matching!

The Canadian lifts his own very full glass of drink toward Thor when he hits the living room to mingle by way of a greeting.

"That's a hell of a nice hat, bro."

[pirateangelbaby]

The stranger's sweater looks festive enough to Thor; it has the right colors and snowflakes and everything. Sure, he doesn't recognize the figure that takes up most of the chest, but there's a lot of winter solstice traditions on Earth he doesn't recognize, so that's normal.

He grins at the compliment. "Thank you. It's not as sturdy as the helmet it resembles, but I hardly wear that these days anyway." Its warmth probably isn't exactly needed inside the apartment, but it doesn't bother him.

"I am Thor," he introduces himself. "Are you another of Harley's housemates?" She does seem to have a lot of them.

[brother_alone]

"Different functions, y'know? A helm can protect you from like a car crash or whatever but that's made to protect form th'cold. Sudden dangers versus insidious creeping ones."

Not that Josh dislikes Winter exactly? He used to love it more than anything but a lot's happened in the years leading up to him being in the Nexus. He has a healthy respect for Winter, these days. But he's well aware of how quickly it can turn ugly now. Seen it firsthand.

"Thor, like the god?" I mean he certainly looks like it. If Josh is being honest it's kind of strange to think of a god in a Christmas sweater but weirder things have probably happened in the Nexus. "My name's Josh. And no, not one'a her housemates. Just a friend."

[pirateangelbaby]

"The very same," Thor says with a polite nod. He'd be a little more pleased about his reputation preceding himself if he didn't suspect Loki might be partly to blame. Either way, though, it's nice to be recognized without needing to convince people he's not mad.

"Well met then, Josh. A friend of Harley's is a friend of mine." Well, maybe not every friend, but Thor is a man who would rather build bridges sooner rather than later, these days. And besides, he trusts Harley's judgment; anyone she calls a friend has to be an interesting person.

[brother_alone]

"It's weird. I've met people who were fictional in my world but I never thought I'd meet a god outta like, mythos and stuff."

Not Bad Weird, just weird. He thought he'd be more excited about this. Hell, when he met a Han Solo he nearly jumped out of his skin. That might not be taken too well here though. It certainly wasn't, back then. A god in a knit beanie and a tacky Christmas sweater.

The Nexus really does have everything.

"She's always been decent to me, but we ended up in a real bad spot together last year and it's been..." Josh struggles for the word he's looking for but surely Thor understands a comrade in arms? The bonds forged when individuals must overcome together are different than other friendships but no less genuine. "We look out for each other, ever since. Well, mostly it's been her lookin' after me but. She's the one who's better than human. Not much good I can do for her."

[pirateangelbaby]

"Just know to take the myths with some measure of salt," Thor chuckles. Norns, some of the stories are so far from reality that it's almost more entertaining to just watch them get wilder and wilder with every generation, just to see what happens next. Others are downright eerie at how accurate they are, and Thor can only be glad there were no human witnesses to the wedding dress incident. Also no cameras.

He may not know the context of what Josh is talking about, not remotely, but the sentiment is easy enough to understand and empathize with. "A friend like that is more precious than gold."