Page 35 of Thor

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Thor helpedElle carry her chosen books into her flat.

“You can put them on the table,” she said, setting her jacket down. She glanced around to make sure she’d cleaned her place, but like always, it remained spotless.

Thor set the stack of books on the coffee table. “I like what you’ve done with the place.”

“What do you mean?”

“The neutral colors make the place look bigger than it is. I like it.”

“Oh... thank you. Most of the things I got at a thrift store.”

Thor headed to her bookshelf and picked up one of the figurines Val had made for her.

“Did you make these?”

“No, Val did. She made them for me when I was young, so I’d have something to play with. Probably to grab a small break from having to read books to me.”

Thor smiled and put it back. He picked up one of her rocks.

“Is this one of you polished rocks?”

“Yes. That is one of the ones which took me a year to complete.”

He stared at it for a moment. “You know what this is, right?”

“A sparkly red rock?”

He chuckled. “It’s a ruby. They are rare on Midgard. People pay a lot of money for them.”

“Do they?”

He held the stone up to the light. “One of this size would net you a couple thousand dollars.”

“What?” She couldn’t believe it. The red rocks had been all over Muspelheim.

He nodded. “How did you learn to put all these facets in it?”

“Facets?”

“Yeah, the angles you carved in to be able to refract the light so it looks... glitterier.”

“Oh... I saw someone wearing one that looked like it once and I... did it.”

He stared at her in astonishment. “You should come back to my shop and work with the tools I have there.”

She nodded. “I’d love to. Thank you.”

Thor put the stone back and checked out the other items and books on her shelf. Elle held her breath afraid he might find something he would recognize as being from Muspelheim, but after a minute he turned to her.

“I should let you go so you can sleep.”

“Of course.” She tried to keep the disappointment from her voice. She wasn’t ready for Thor to leave yet.

Thor walked to her and gave her a hug. She hung on to him for a moment allowing the warmth of his strong body seep into hers.

Finally, Thor pushed away. His gaze landed on her face and lifted his hand to cup her cheek. “What is it about you?”

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