Empty Chairs at Empty Tables

07

My Supersonic Ship played in the background. Bruce sat at the back of a Utility car as they traversed the green countryside of Norway. They passed a sign labelled "WELCOME TO NEW ASGARD, PLEASE DRIVE SLOWLY.". They stopped at a small town on a port. Bruce and Rocket got out of the car, and looked around at the remaining Asgardians, living like normal humans at a port.

"Kind of a step down from a golden palace and magic hammers and whatnot," Rocket commented.

"Hey, have a little compassion, pal," Bruce told him. "First they've lost Asgard, then half the people. They're probably just happy to have a home." Bruce spotted Valkyrie looking over at him and headed over to her.

"You shouldn't have come!" Valkyrie said.

"Ah, Valkyrie! Great to see you, Angry Girl."

Valkyrie noticed Bruce's change of appearance. "I think I liked you better either of the other ways."

Bruce motioned to Rocket. "This is Rocket."

"How you doin'?" Rocket asked.

Valkyrie eyed Rocket. "He won't see you."

"That bad, huh?" Bruce replied.

"We only see him once a month, when he comes for..." she looked over to a pile of kegs of stout and other beer on the side, "...supplies."

"It's that bad."

"Yeah."

Rocket opened a door and he and Bruce walked through it.

Rocket grimaced at the smell. "What the... Woo! Something died in here."

"Hello? Thor?" Bruce called.

Thor, from another room, asked, "Are you here about the cable?"

Thor walked into view, and everyone's jaw dropped. He was shirtless, had definitely put on more than a couple of pounds. "The Cinemax ran out about two weeks ago, and the sports were all kind of fuzzy." He grabbed a beer.

"Thor?" Bruce called again.

He noticed Bruce and Rocket standing there. He cracked into joy. "Boys! Oh my God! It's so to see you!" He said to Rocket as he tried to hug him, "Come here, you little rascal!" He growled.

"No, I'm good," Rocket replied. "I'm good. That's not necessary."

"Hulk, you know my friends, Miek, Korg, right?"

Miek and Korg sat on a couch, PlayStation controllers in hand, played Fortnite and ate chips.

"Hey boys!" Korg greeted.

"Hey guys, long time no see," Bruce said.

"Beer's on the bucket. Feel free to log on to the Wi-Fi. No password, obviously." He went back to his game. "Thor, he's back. The kid on the TV that called me a dickhead again."

"NoobMaster," Thor stated.

"Yeah, NoobMaster69 called me a dickhead."

Thor walked over to Korg, took his headphones, and spoke into the mic. "NoobMaster. Hey, it's Thor again. You know, the God of Thunder? Listen, buddy. If you don't log off this game immediately, I'm gonna fly over to your house, come down to that basement you're hiding in, rip off your arms and SHOVE THEM UP YOUR BUTT! Oh, that's right, go cry to your father, you little weasel!"

Thor brought his headphones back and Korg replied, "Thank you, Thor."

"Let me know if he bothers you again, okay?"

"Thank you very much. I will."

"So you guys want a drink? What are you drinking? We have beer, tequila, all sorts of things." He used Stormbreaker to open a bottle of beer and started drinking.

Bruce walked to him, placed a hand on his shoulder and asked, "Buddy, you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine! Why, don't I look all right?"

Rocket, concerned, replied, "You look like melted ice cream."

Thor laughed. "So, what's up?"

"We need your help," Bruce said. "There might be a chance we could fix everything."

"What, like the cable?" He burped. "'Cause that's been driving me bananas for weeks."

"Like Thanos."

Thor's smile slowly disappeared. He put a shaky hand on Bruce's shoulder and pointed at him. "Don't say that name."

Korg stood and took off his headphones before saying, "Um, yeah. We don't actually say that name in here."

Bruce said quietly, "Please take your hand off me." He brushed away Thor's hand. "Now, I know that... guy might scare you."

"Why would I be?" Thor asked. "Why would, why would I be scared of that guy? I'm the one who killed that guy, remember? Anyone else here killed that guy? Nope. Didn't think so. Korg, why don't you, tell everybody who chopped Thanos' big head off." He walked away.

"Umm... Stormbreaker?" Korg questioned.

"Now, who's swingin' Stormbreaker?"

"I get it," Bruce said. "You're in a rough spot, okay? I've been there myself. You wanna know who helped me out of it?"

"I don't know. Is it... Natasha?"

"It was you. You helped me."

Thor walked over and looked out the window and pointed, still holding his beer. "Why don't you ask the, Asgardians down there, how much my help was worth." He dropped onto the sofa. "The ones that are left, anyway."

"I think we can bring them back."

"Stop. stop, okay?" He opened a packet on M&Ms. "I know you think I'm down here wallowing in my own self-pity, waiting to be rescued and and saved. But I'm fine, okay? We're fine, aren't we?"

Korg and Miek ate pizza and played once more before Korg said, "Nah, all good here, mate."

Thor continued. "So, whatever it is that you're offering, we're not into it, don't care, couldn't care less. Goodbye."

"We need you, pal," Bruce said.

Thor shook his head and ignored Bruce.

Rocket crossed his arms and stated, "There's beer on the ship."

Thor paused, but didn't look up then put the bottle down and asked, "What kind?"