Stairs to the Attic

How We Love

"I knew a man who was afraid to love

To lay his heart on the bathroom rug

He drank his coffee in the same old mug

And sat in silence ‘til the world fell numb

Until the day when a girl came by

She had eyes like the rising tide

He felt a sharpness deep inside

The kind of ache that can’t be satisfied~"

Ingrid Michaelson - “How We Love”

…

“You don't suppose Asgard has any kind of enemies they regularly fight against?”

“How'd you mean?”

“Like, I don't know, don't they have to defend themselves against other people? Or Gods, or demony things. Back on Earth there's always fighting or wars or riots. You imagine they have something similar like that here?”

“I suppose. But we never hear about it. Doesn't mean it's all sunshine and daisies here. I'm sure they've got enemies...perhaps they haven't had to fight them while we've been here.”

“But if there was a war going on here, would we have to fight? I'd love to get in on that action, use the blades that Loki gave me, and fight them all.”

“You sound just like your old self. So very terribly violent.”

“So were you!”

“True. But that's in my job description.” There was a moment of silence. They hadn't thought about their old jobs or lives in what felt like forever. The two of them were too taken away with the brilliance of this realm. Even Catlin had started to love this place just as much as Morgan does.

In a whisper, she wondered aloud, “Do you think anybody misses us? Anybody back home?”

“I don't know...maybe our parents. But we're adults now, aren't we? It would make sense for us to take a vacation and not talk to them all the time, right?”

“Right...but. Is this what it is? A vacation? You make it sound like as if you want to live here permanently.”

“Well...”

“You do, don't you?”

“Whaaat? And you don't? Don't you remember our old talks? All we would ever talk about is wanting to escape that place and wishing something amazing would happen to us. And here it is.”

“I know...it's just.” Catlin took a sigh of exasperation. “Nothing.”

“We did tell the Allfather that we are staying here permanently...”

“True. Yeah okay you're right. I just miss home sometimes, is all.”

They left the conversation at that as they entered the training room where they met up with Thor and Loki and their friends. Morgan went off with Loki to continue learning how to throw knives properly and Catlin somewhat reluctantly went off with Thor and his friends. Morgan was all smiles and laughter as she hit the target five times in a row while Catlin could barely keep the makeshift sword up to block Sif's attacks. It wasn't the first time she wished she had her gun instead of the flimsy sword she's been training with. It was encouraging to see Morgan already getting the swordplay down, so maybe it wasn't as hard as she was making it out to be.

It was a long day of training but they had fun so neither of them could complain. After training, Loki offered a day of exploration for Morgan while Catlin went on to hang out with Thor and his friends. They all talked about their previous battles or how to properly sharpen your swords or how they wanted to train again later on tonight. Catlin wondered where Loki and Morgan had gone to explore as she pretended to listen to the friends' conversation...