(no subject)

[never_promised]

Harry isn't exactly resigned to being in Milliways, but he's getting there. At least he's been able to settle in enough to enjoy a ride--and to appreciate some unexpected gossip from a Frenchman. He's still smiling to himself about that when he comes back into the common room, knocking a little snow off his boots.

Harry Percy, horse thief. What a world. And now, let's see...what were some of the things he used to order from the Bar when he was here before?

Comments

[mjolnir_retriever]

There's a fellow he may remember down towards the end of the bar, perched on a stool and holding conference with Bar.

He's not wearing visible armor except for the vambraces on his forearms, at the moment. He still looks awfully warrior-y and shiny, it must be said. (Today he's given Bahorel's godawful embroidered-as-a-prank poncho a miss, in favor of a tunic of a deep and faintly gleaming red maybe-wool.)

The end result of this discussion is a large platter of various small fried things that might be dumplings, surrounding a few central bowls of colorful sauces. Thor looks satisfied at its appearance.

[never_promised]

Indeed he does remember. And somehow, the man looks even larger and shinier than he'd recalled. What was it he'd thought, seeing Thor when he was first at Milliways? That he looks like a battle, just before the fighting starts? Well--he still does.

Harry makes his way over, raising a hand in greeting. "Thor Odinson, is it not? Well met, sir!"

(of course he's not casually inviting himself to join thor's meal. of course not.)

[mjolnir_retriever]

"Harry Monmouth," Thor greets him, genially. "Well met, sir. Wouldst join me?"

He has lots of mysterious dumpling things!

[never_promised]

"I thank you." He makes himself comfortable without ceremony, dropping his gloves on the counter and looking keenly at the mysterious dumpling things. "What have we here, sir? A delicacy from your world, or are you no more enlightened than I?"

[mjolnir_retriever]

"Both," Thor answers, with the kind of prompt unhelpfulness that has some mischief in it.

...Okay yes he'll explain more in a minute, but Harry gets to react to the unhelpful monosyllables first.

[never_promised]

Oh? Well. That sounds like the sort of challenge the King of England can meet! He rubs his hands together, cracks his knuckles, picks out one of the larger pieces and dips it into the nearest (and brightest red) bowl of sauce.

How much will he regret this? NOT AT ALL, says his determined face.

[mjolnir_retriever]

Ha! Excellent. You're a man after his own heart sometimes, Harry Monmouth Henry's son of England.

For the record: this is a wide assortment of fried stuffed things. Thor made sure that none of them were actively harmful to human beings, given his tendency to share food with humans here, but otherwise left the selection up to Bar's whim and discretion.

Also for the record: Asgardians don't taste capsaicin. That bright red sauce tastes thin and sour and a little smokey to him.

Thor dips something else in the nearest bowl of sauce (green and creamy) and watches, without troubling to stifle his grin.

[never_promised]

He's--ah--heh--hem--still--not--regretting it--ehehhehemhh.

Not. Regretting.

Anything.

After some heavy breathing and eye-watering and subtle fist-clenching, Harry smiles and nods. "'Tis very well! This would--" gasp "--fuel an army, methinks, feed them like any salamander, on fire." Oh God, does he have to have another bite? He'd better at least finish the dumpling.

is there beer

wine

.....water?

[mjolnir_retriever]

Thor hasn't been stifling his amusement very well, but he bellows laughter at the reply, and slaps the Bar companionably -- gently, rather like he'd slap the back of a human friend.

"Art valiant indeed! Here, Miss Bar, something kinder as reward for my friend -- I thank thee."

Bar, in mercy, gives Harry either beer or something dairy-based, as his mun prefers.

"Fried small foods like this are winter fare of my home, but I asked Bar for a surprise in the details. It'll do thee no true harm, and that's all I know of that one. Save that it must seem more fiery to thy people than mine. They're not all akin."

What do the people of Muspelheim think of this stuff? Hmm. Something to ask Bar or Heimdall later, maybe.

[never_promised]

Beer it is. Hal takes a grateful gulp, and another. (And notes again the thee; all right, he'll follow suit.) "'Tis very well," he repeats. "When my Door is open again, I shall take a great flagon of it home, and feed my lords on it all unwitting."

He'll have another dumpling, in a minute; but yeah, he's going to nurse his beer for a few minutes first. "And how farest thou?"

[mjolnir_retriever]

Hey, if you can't be thou with another prince on neutral ground at the end of the universe, who can you be thou with?

(Or, aggressively laid-back friendliness: the Thor Odinson diplomatic approach.)

He grins, approving of the threat to feed his lords hot sauce, whether or not Hal actually means it. "I'm well. There's little of moment to speak of."

Which... is its own frustration, and not just because Thor is impatient. Efforts to rebuild the Bifrost are proceeding only slowly, and every day that passes is another day of power vacuum outside Asgard, but there's no point in spreading that news around.

He eats another dumpling, this one smaller and stuffed with... spinach? Maybe spinach. That green sauce is pretty good. (So is the bright red sauce, but he doesn't want to rub in the species difference there.)

"What of thee? Art Bound, then?" That's rough, buddy.

[never_promised]

"I am." For just a moment his face registers annoyance, frustration, maybe something near to rage--but he finds a laugh and a sideways smile, and snags another dumpling. A creamy, buttery-looking sauce this time. "I did not think to come here again, after I left, and kept to that plan for two years and more. But a king is no more master of his fate than any man, and here I am--where the food is far better than any in England!" Cheers!

[mjolnir_retriever]

Thor studies him thoughtfully.

(And ignores, fiercely, the way that moment when the mix of frustrated near-rage on Hal's narrow canny face flashes for only an instant and is covered by crooked humor makes something twist painfully in his heart.)

"Art king now? Then I'm sorry for thy loss. Milliways is a place of respite, looked for or not. I hope thou findest good of it."

[never_promised]

He's startled by the thoughtfulness, and the surprise shows--again briefly--on his face. "I thank thee. If this be respite, 'tis surely unlooked-for--unless it be respite from the heave and fall of the sea. I was aboard a ship before I came here."

And he'll have to get used to it again when he gets back, won't he. Well, might as well enjoy these dumplings and this distinct lack of sea-sickness! "And--thou didst say there was little of moment to speak of. Thy kingdom fares well?"

Because, you know, this is what kings and princes talk about. How's the kingdom?

[mjolnir_retriever]

Yeah, it's astonishing how often people are startled by Thor being thoughtful. Can't imagine why!

The thoughtfulness continues now. Thor has a solid idea of what he is and isn't willing to say about Asgard at Milliways, but what's best to say in this conversation, in this moment, with a human king he's sympathetic to but doesn't yet know well, is another matter.

"Yes," he says. "Asgard has weathered difficulties, some little while ago, but she weathers them well. Odin is wise and strong."

[never_promised]

"Indeed? Then is Asgard a fortunate land." It's said sincerely, though after a moment's thought he laughs a little. "England has seen her kings doubted, these last years--but thou hast heard some of that. 'Tis as necessary that a king be seen wise and strong, as that he be it in truth. --Was thine Asgard late at war?"

[mjolnir_retriever]

Odin is totally 100% genuinely wise and makes great decisions always, what're you talking about

Thor shakes his head, soberly. "No. War we avoided."

Leeeeet's not go into how narrowly.

"But my brother's life was lost, and Asgard feels his loss keenly."

So does Thor. It's clearly apparent, for all his calm; Thor is not a man whose feelings are especially masked. (Indeed, Asgard's court at large probably has much more mixed feelings on the subject of Loki Odinson's disappearance than Thor would insistently maintain they feel.)

[never_promised]

So in theory it's good to avoid war, of course it is, because war is very very bad (of course) buuuut--but anyway, before Hal can respond to that Thor mentions the loss of his brother. Hal's hand stops on the way to snag another fried dumpling and he nods soberly. "I am sorry indeed for thy loss, friend. I have three brothers, all dear to me."

Some dearer than others, sure, but all still his brothers. "The youngest comes with me to France now. I would not for the world diminish his honor, and so I risk him; but I shall have a heavy time of it if I must account to myself for his loss. Did thy brother fall in battle?"

They avoided war, certainly, but there might have been some preliminary skirmish...

[mjolnir_retriever]

Uhhhhhhhhh. Well.

"Yes," Thor says, choosing a half-truth that's not actually a lie, if you look at it broadly enough and from a certain point of view, "and by ill chance. He was a brave and stout warrior, wiser far than I."

Also, you know. Apparently he'd gone at least a little and temporarily patricidally and/or fratricidally mad when nobody was looking. But they could totally have gotten past that! They just needed to talk it out! And maybe punch each other some but who holds a grudge about that, it'd've been fine. If only Loki hadn't let go, if only Thor had seen it sooner -- so many if onlies, and he's not going to dwell on them now. That's for solitude, or the company of very dear friends.

"We were close in age, so I had not your weight to bear in risking him. We risked ourselves together, and were proud in the honor." Also, they weren't humans. "Hast war in France -- thy neighbor?"

[never_promised]

(They could totally have gotten past that. Hey look, Hal and Harry Percy are practically friends now, and that's after Hal killed him! Okay, Hal thinks they're practically friends. Maybe Harry Percy feels differently but he's always been a little temperamental. Anyway, Thor and Loki could totally have worked it out.)

But Harry, not knowing anything of Thor's brother, simply nods. "Proud indeed. A loss for thy kingdom and thyself; I am heartily sorry for it."

After a meditative pull on his beer, he takes up Thor's question as a less painful subject. "Our neighbor, yes. A narrow channel of water separates us; were we brothers in one house, we would be the sort that cannot be long at peace, having always some fair claim against the other--that he hath taken my horse without leave, that I have won the girl he was courting, that our father's field by rights should come to--to whichever brother is speaking." A rueful laugh. "I would not put it so in somber audience at home, but there thou hast it. Our great families have fought and married and fought again. --But by God, in this war I am in the right, that I have the truer claim to the French throne than he that sits on it now."

[mjolnir_retriever]

Yeah so there's a certain familiarity in that description. Thor laughs a little.

But to Harry's description of his claim... hmm.

"Wilt be a kinder or better king to both lands than he that sits there now?"

It's a genuine question, not said as a challenge; he knows something about stubborn pride of claim. But if you've already got one country and your rank established, that's the question that really matters, right?

[never_promised]

He's kicking himself a little, after having started it, for using the image of brothers when Thor has just been speaking of his own loss there. Well, that must have put it in his head, and anyway Thor doesn't seem to mind.

But--what?

Oh. Um. Sure, that's--that's a question a person could ask. Okay. The surprise barely shows at all on Hal's face as he collects an answer.

"God willing, I hope it; I know I am as yet but little tested in that regard, but I think my countrymen have found me a good king. In France, the king is afflicted at times with maladies, in body and mind, and his heir the Dauphin regards himself higher than any others do."

[mjolnir_retriever]

Mmm.

Well, it's a start.

"The right to a claim," he says thoughtfully, "is a first part, and key. But the wisdom of staking that claim is a second. I say nothing of whether thou'rt wise to do it -- 'tis none of mine to say yea or nay. But as rulers, we serve those who look to us for protection and guidance. It's their good that must rule the day. So my father taught me, though I was in my youth a laggard student." That last is a little rueful. Thor's always had to learn his lessons hard.

None of this is exactly Thor's business, beyond conversation in a meadhall. He may have friends from France, but he has friends from many places, and the fact is, he has no jurisdiction in disputes between different groups of humans on Earth, and plenty of reason to not have an Odinson step into them. But for conversation in a meadhall -- for that, he does have thoughts on the matter.

[never_promised]

"Thou sayest not yea or nay--but thou dost pose the question of my wisdom, which is as much as any nay." He's a little nettled. But it's still a fair question, and--and maybe it's a bit of a relief to speak with someone who can disagree with him, here in a common room with a tankard. Someone who can disagree with him still knowing who he is.

All right, Thor. You asked. And he'll have to make these same arguments again to others, sooner or later.

"'Tis true I put England's good above any thing--above the life of any one of her people, for well I know that many mother's sons, many husbands and fathers, have placed those lives in the hazard now, as I have mine own. But those lives have been impawned of late too much in English civil war, in war that can do England no good but only diminish her. To pull all together now on our passage to France--" He spreads his hands, fiercely impatient. Thor can see the point, of course.

"For France, I bear no malice to her people. The haughty scorn her princes have heaped upon me are no fault of the farmer; he in his field hath had no part in the continued harrying of our trade in the Channel. If God wills that I should be her king, I will care for France with every love and tenderness a king may show." A pause; Harry frowns, thinking. But there's no great secret about this next, and if admitting it now makes him look like a fool if he fails, well, every part of the business will make a fool of him if he fails: "If God wills that I should be king of France," he repeats, "it may be that some marriage may be made, and peace restored best by sons half French, half English."

He reaches for a dumpling and tries the green sauce that Thor has been favoring. And smiles steadily at Thor. "And now thou knowest more of my mind than any here. As thou art a prince, I trust thee to keep a prince's counsel when it comes to privy matters of state."

[mjolnir_retriever]

"Only if thou hast no answer," Thor points out, cheerfully unrepentant, and listens to the rest of this. (Munching his way through dumplings as he does. Bar, your selection remains awesome.)

And... it's not a bad answer, really. Assuming Hal actually means it, which he seems to; and assuming he'll follow through effectively, which remains to be seen, but it's not really Thor who will see the evidence or pass judgment on it.

He inclines his head, with a faint smile in return. "I'll keep any man or woman's counsel, unless honor demands otherwise. I see no reason it should call for aught but silence on this matter."

He's not totally sure why Hal cares so much, unless he has opponents of his own world and time here besides Harry Percy (who may be an It's Complicated, politically, but also is definitely dead as Thor understands it), but oh well. The fact remains.

[never_promised]

After watching Thor's face for a moment, Hal glances away. "I do not doubt thee. Nor am I so bashful about mine arguments as all that, I should not guard them so closely--but I have found--I have found, since becoming prince, and then since becoming king--do you not find, Thor Odinson, that many men who call themselves your friend and hang on your every word--who swear that their love for you is beyond price--that they are the quickest to live on the credit of that love and then to sell it? And that your every word is soon currency in the basest of places?"

His shoulders are tight by the time he finishes, and he laughs even more tightly. "--All the which is to say, that I have grown wary of putting any real value into much of my speech; and look about me when I am asked for a true thought, as a miser doth when he counts his hidden treasure."