Page 32 of Thor

She stared at him for a moment. “Now?”

“It doesn’t have to be now. But when you are comfortable.”

Her stomach twisted like her insides had turned to rope. “All right.”

He smiled at her, making her smile in return.

“What about jewelry making?” he asked. “Have you ever worked with anything more than base metal?”

“I’ve polished rocks before.”

“Polished rocks?”

“Yeah. I found different rocks around where I lived and if I liked their color, I would pick them up and polish them up until they were the shape and size I like.”

He stared at her. “By hand?”

She nodded.

“How long did that take?”

“A couple of them took me several years.”

He shook his head. “You are indeed incredibly talented, as well as patient. I could never be that patient.”

“I am sure if you’d had as much time on your hands as I used to, you’d learn to become that patient.”

Thor snorted. “I lived in Valhalla where I had nothing but time and I’m still impatient.”

She laughed. “Maybe that’s a ‘you’ problem.”

“I’m sure it is.”

They finished the rest of their meal talking about things to do in Los Angeles and the parts of Midgard Thor had visited in the past century. The conversation flowed easily like they’d been friends for years.

She learned Thor had traveled extensively when he’d first arrived. He’d taken to riding a motorcycle around the whole country of America before settling down in purgatory. Surprisingly his bikes were in demand in the underworld, and he made a decent living for himself there.

“Have you thought about moving to purgatory?” asked Thor as they finished up.

“To be honest it rather scares me down there.”

“Has anything ever happened when you were down there?”

“No, it’s just so dark and ominous.”

“But it’s also peaceful. Usually quiet, at least in my neck of the woods. And I find the people who live there to be rather decent. They want to live well, have fun and be happy.”

“Isn’t that what mortals want?”

“Yes, but the difference is, unlike in purgatory, mortals are in such a rush to have everything now. But when you live as long as we do you learn a bit of patience or at least become accustomed to waiting.”

“Patience is something I’ve had to learn in spades already,” said Elle.

Thor pulled out some money and tossed it on the table. “Are you ready to go back?”

“Are you?” She wasn’t ready to end the night but she didn’t want to keep him longer than he wanted.

“If you aren’t too tired, I’d like to show you one more place.”

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