Page 19 of Thor

Kirsten burst into a laugh. “You’re funny. I love you girl.”

Elle wasn’t sure what she’d said that was funny.

CHAPTER7

“Where are we going?”

Thor walked through the portal back to the underworld with Elle in tow. They stepped into the underworld side of The Raven Weaver and Thor led Elle through the throng of denizens looking their way. They rounded the bar and Elle pressed closer to him. He fought the urge to take her hand or put his arm around her. He told himself it would only be for her safety, but he couldn’t lie to himself. He would actually be doing it to make himself feel better, and to make sure all the hellspawn knew she wasn’t to be messed with.

They made their way to the exterior door, and he opened it for her. She paused and bit her lip before stepping into the muggy darkness.

Once outside, Thor again fought the urge to take her hand.

“Are we going to the café?”

“No,” he said. “I was going to take you to one of my favorite places to eat but I decided there was something more pressing we needed to do.”

“More pressing?”

He looked back at her angelic face. So, trusting and yet so terrified.

“Elle, you need to learn to take care of yourself. Both in the human world and the underworld. If you don’t, you’ll be eaten alive.”

Her eyes widened.

“Not literally... well at least not on Midgard- Earthside. Down here anything is possible.”

She scanned the area like she was waiting for someone to jump out and attack her.

Thor took her hand, and they rounded the corner on autopilot. He’d made the trip so many times from Frigg’s place to his home that he’d done it blind drunk in the past.

They rounded another corner, and he slowed as his shop came into view.

Elle wrapped her arms around herself. “You live here? This looks like a business.”

“It is. I have a loft over my pace.”

“Do you have a restaurant like Frigg?”

Thor snorted. “I can barely cook grilled cheese. No. I have a mechanic’s shop. I fix and build motorcycles.”

“Oh,” she paused for a moment. “What’s a motorcycle?”

He looked back at her quizzically. She really had been sheltered. “An automatic bike which has a motor on it so you don’t have to pedal.”

Thor stopped outside the door of his shop.

Elle noticed his sign and smiled. “Mjölnir “

The way she said it surprised Thor. Her pronunciation spot on. He’d never met anyone outside of Asgard who pronounced it correctly. And most of the people there couldn’t do it.

He opened the door, and they walked into the shop floor.

“You don’t lock your door?”

He flipped on the lights. “No reason. No one here would dare come into my shop without permission.”

She smiled. “Guess everyone is scared of you.”

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