You're My Idiot (Blitzstone)

6. Hearth Makes Some Rules

Hearth POV

After the church incident, Blitz and I weren't able to locate Magnus again that day. It wasn't the end of the world; I had no doubt we'd cross paths again.

Once Blitz and I were back in Nidavellir, we collapsed on the couch. Blitz let out a lofty sigh as he draped his body over mine, and I couldn't help the content smile that pulled at my lips. We stayed like that for Odin knows how long, Blitz's head rising slightly with each breath I took. I closed my eyes, fingers knotted in the fabric of his shirt.

I must've dozed off, because by the time I opened my eyes again, Blitz was gone. My chest gave a painful throb in his absence.

But Blitz was merely in the kitchen, stirring a large pot of soup. He wore a white apron trimmed with ruffles. He put down his spoon so he could sign. Hungry?

Yes. I took the spoon from where Blitz had set it down on the stove and dipped it into the soup, then brought it to my lips to taste. Instant regret.

The spoon clattered to the floor as I paced to the sink to run my mouth under the water. I spent agonizing minutes ensuring that my tongue would not be charred. As soon as I shut off the water, I noticed that Blitz was holding in his laughter. I narrowed my eyes at him.

You mock my pain, I told him.

Blitz raised an eyebrow, signing and speaking. "Life is pain." He paused. "Did you really like that movie?"

The Princess Bride was one of Blitz's favorite movies, and he and I had watched it so many times that I knocked the film from his hands every time he tried to put the disk in the DVD player.

First few times, I replied. Script is forever stuck in my head now.

"As it should be," Blitz grinned. "Soup's done! Let's eat."

...

The next few weeks, Blitz and I settled into our shifts. We scouted out all the areas we thought Magnus might go, all of them near Copley square. We checked out Statler park, the Boston Common, the Charles River Esplanade. We scouted out further to the Boston Public Library (Mimir's suggestion), and the area around Old Harbor. It was anything but easy. Sometimes we went days without seeing Magnus, but once we found him in one place, he'd typically stay in the area for a few days. He was a clever kid.

Blitz and I had to learn how to be stealthy. This wasn't hard for me, as I'd grown up being treated like I was invisible. I had learned to make my footsteps soundless, to inhale and exhale without sound, and even to let out my tears in the shower so that I wouldn't be heard.

Blitz seemed like he would have a hard time, as clumsy and flustered as he was in his daily life, but the truth was he could adapt to any situation that was thrown at him. Growing up, he'd been surrounded by people who had constantly looked down at him. He'd had to defend himself, prove them wrong, watch his own back. He was doing the same thing now. Blitz changed his clothes, his demeanor, his attitude. The social codes of Midgard came quickly to him, and the night life contrasted to the day life that I was being accustomed to.

It had taken Blitz and I the better part of a month to map Magnus's frequent stops. But we had started camping out at a couple of the same locations, deciding that it would be better to let Magnus come to us. If we were always at the same spot, maybe he'd come to associate one of us with that location, and we'd gain some trust. Like Mimir had said, we couldn't interfere with his own choices.

Copley Square remained one of those locations, despite the church incident. I was camped out there one February afternoon. It was freezing, although I never would have admitted it. I had acquired a cup of tea and wrapped my hands around it for warmth. I tried to look like a smug badass in my leather jacket, sitting on a park bench, but I fear I may have looked like I was catching a cold.

A short police officer with an impressive mustache got out of his parked car. I had been here too long; he was getting antsy.

I got up, threw my paper cup away, and crossed the street into the alleyway, where I proceeded to camp out in front of a boarded up corner store. If I had been a smoker, this is where I would've taken a long draw on a cigarette.

Barely a minute had passed when Magnus Chase skidded into the alleyway. That was easier than expected.

The boy threw himself into the doorway of the abandoned corner store, protected by the concrete column outside the door frame. His chest heaved with each breath. I was just about to get up when the officer from earlier came to a halt in front of the alleyway.

The officer had worked up a sweat, and his face was purple. I didn't know that humans could turn such a color. He rounded the corner and took Magnus by the collar, shoving past me as if I didn't exist. He shouted something, pointed at me, and Magnus said something else. Their conversation was too difficult to follow.

The officer let go of Magnus, letting him fall to the ground. He made eye contact with me and said something like, "Don't let it happen again," and then stalked away. I caught a glimpse of his name tag first: S. Gomez.

Immediately I helped Magnus off the ground. He brushed himself off and replaced his winter hat on his head, as it had fallen off. Although shaken up, he seemed otherwise unharmed. I just looked at him, arms crossed. Whatever he had done, it had been stupid.

Magnus rubbed the back of his neck. "Thanks," he said. "I hate those guys."

I raised my open palms at him, waiting for an explanation. Magnus looked behind him as if expecting more trouble. Instead, he just asked, "Do you live here?"

I just nodded; it was the easiest explanation.

Magnus rubbed a palm over his hand, then sat down on the steps of the corner store. "You're deaf, right?"

Yes. I pointed to his mouth, letting him know I could read his lips.

"How do you make it? How do you survive?"

I just looked at him for a moment. The wide, gray eyes, the thin face, the forehead with too many creases in it already: this kid had already had a life's worth of pain.

Rules. I showed Magnus the sign, touching my fingers to my upright, open palm, kind of like writing a list. Then I took out the receipt from my tea earlier that morning and wrote on it with a spare pencil.

You follow their rules, play their game, and work around them on your own terms.

1. Never go looking for trouble

2. Be stealthy, work in the dark, stay out of sight

3. Don't talk back, but stand your own ground

-Hearth

I handed the list to Magnus. He took a moment to read it, then tucked it carefully into his pocket.

"Hearth?" He held out his hand to me. "I'm Magnus."

I gave a small smile as we shook hands.

Magnus opened his mouth to say something else, closed it, hesitated, and then finally spoke: "I never thought I'd get in trouble for just existing."

I wanted to tell him I knew how he felt. Instead, I just nodded.

"Well, thanks for this." Magnus held up the list, and made the sign for thank you, fingertips touching chin.

I waved, and then he was gone.

I just realized it's been almost a year since I've updated this. Big oops. I'm getting back into this story, and it's been encouraging seeing as how many of you enjoyed my previous blitzstone story. Your support means a lot to me <3 Hang in there!

-vera