outer_divide | Video | Monday evening

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Video | Monday evening

[After a day of wandering around the island market and learning a bit about this place, Thor has finally borrowed Kaidan's communicator, since he's not about to try making a call from inside a ship that sails under the water! So here he is, looking somewhere between confident, amiable, and concerned. Maybe concerned is a bit more to the forefront than he would like.]

Greetings! This is Thor Odinson of Asgard, and I was told there are people who know me who can hear this message. Stark? Doctor Banner? Can you hear me? I will keep this device on hand, please feel free to reply to my message later, if you cannot hear it yet.

[And that's that. He fiddles with buttons for a moment, carefully so as not to damage the delicate little thing, and then the feed shuts itself off.]

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That is different. They were enemies. We have peace with the Vanir. And I have learned better than that, now, even if you do not believe it. Even an Aesir can change, can he not?

[There is still something little-boy-ish in his reply, there, defensive and unhappy. He's hurt that he's being questioned like this; he knows his past is not particularly honorable at times, but he's trying so hard to rise above it and move on, dammit!]

Because you and your kind are so thick-headed and thick-skinned!

[ Just there, he proves to Sigyn that he doesn't deserve any chance or deal or anything of the like. ]

[Thor is not one to give in, but he's getting awfully frustrated. She isn't hearing a thing he's saying, it seems like.]

What can I do to prove myself to you, Freyasdotter? Is there a single thing I can do? I saved Jotunheim from my brother's schemes. I am trying to learn how to be a good king. Midgard is under my protection. I want to be better than I was.

Give back Vanaheim.

[And that, right there, shows that there's not a thing he can do. He's not stupid, and he likes to think neither is she. Looking frustrated, he says,]

That is not within my ability, Freyasdotter, and I believe you know that. Exchanges of that nature are more complicated than they appear, as I believe you should also know by now. And even if it were simple, I am not king, nor am I am even in Asgard to speak to the king, on your behalf.

[He's been trying to learn how to be a good king, recall. Even if politics aren't his strong point, he's still trying to learn about them.]

Oh, I know. I just hoped that you would be less black-hearted than your brethren. Why do I speak with you. It is hopeless. You are Aesir, and Aesir shall never be trustworthy. That is what Grandfather told me. But Uncle Freyr believes there is hope. What hope?

[ Tears come to her eyes and she pushes her hands against her eyes so that Thor doesn't see the frustrated waters. ] You will just kill me the way you killed my aunts and my uncles.

[Wait. ... wait, what? Thor rears back a little from the camera with an expression like he's been severely offended.]

I will not raise my hand to an ally. I have never killed a Vanir, and I will not kill you. Wherever did you get such a terrible idea?

Why do you continue feigning stupidity! You know that your kind killed the most of my family!

We were at war! Your people killed many of mine, as well, but that does not mean I expect you to try to kill me at first chance! Freyasdotter, the war has been over for a millennia, and I have no desire whatsoever to kill you or any of your family. Do the Vanir really still expect to be killed by any Aesir they come across?

[That seems... just a little bit stupid, to him, to be perfectly honest. To his knowledge, no Aesir has raised a hand to the Vanir since the end of the war-- when he was still a child.]

YES!!

[ What seems stupid to him is reality for her. Not all Asgard is kind like you, Thor. ]

[He breathes out long and hard, puffing out his cheeks with the exhale. When he speaks again a moment later, it is with more patience, because he is making a very great effort to be patient and kind and gentle. Diplomacy. He's been learning this. He can do this.]

Freyasdotter, please believe me when I say this: I bear you no ill will, and I bear your family no ill will. The Vanir are allies and companions of Odin's family, and should be treated honorably. If you have been treated poorly by the Aesir since the return of peace between our races, that was a great wrong, and for this I apologize on behalf of my people. When I return to Asgard I swear this by Mjornir: I will see that this wrong is righted.

[He can't promise the return of Vanaheim, but he can promise that the rules he, at least, is supposed to live by of will be enforced to the best of his ability for all other Asgardians.]

[ Sigyn removes the hands from her wet eyes and stares disbelieving into the video footage. He's lying, right? He can't actually be meaning this, right? It's just an Aesir trick like her grandfather warned her. He won't do anything for her people. They'll continue to live in their fortress in Asgard until Ragnarok comes and wipes all of them out.

But Sigyn has Freya's willingness to understand what she would not usually understand. She is like Njord before Njord's heart hardened after years of prejudice his people received by the very people who promised a free life in Asgard's heart, and instead gave them hard hands and sharp shoulders.

She is not Var. She is not Snotra.

She is Sigyn.

And she wants to be free. ]

Do you swear by the blood of Yggdrasil?

I swear by the blood of Yggdrasil. And by the blood of my father, Odin Allfather, and by my hope of the bifrost reforged.

[He says is seriously, with great solemnity, with the gravity of a true oath. He may be a sheltered princeling, unaware of the many tensions between co-habiting people, but he does not want a race he considers allied with his to feel threatened. It is not right, and even at his worst, Thor at least tries to do what is right.]

[ If he will make such an oath -- and her heart beats fast at such an oath. He is telling the truth. He is sincere. She must do the same. -- and lifts her hand to make her own. ]

I swear by the blood of Yggdrasil. And by the blood of my mother, Freya Njordsdotter, and by my hope of Vanaheim restored, that I shall now honor this oath and give unto my Prince my fealty.

[That isn't what he was expecting, but he is a prince, and a charismatic one, even when he was a brat on top of it. So he's kind of used to it. The smile he gives her is warm and relieved.]

And I accept it and vow to protect you to the best of my ability-- and to the extent that a sorceress like yourself would actually need protection. Though I am afraid the ship I am promised to travel upon will not be back to your city for many weeks....

[ Sigyn blinks in surprise at the smile, which prompts her face to break into a smile, cheeks pink, and a giggle escaping her. All tension from her body is gone and she looks very much like the cheerful little girl who would cling to her sisters' dresses and peek around with laughter. ]

Aye, I hear and understand, Odinson. I await your return to the Verdana with patience.

I will try to keep in contact as much as I can, when Alenko or one of the others give me leave to borrow a communicator. I will not have one of my own until I return to the Old City.

Until then, take care, Freyasdotter. I am glad to have spoken with you.

[Even if it took forever to get on even footing. Phew!]

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Video | Monday evening

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[Video] ho shit, Vanir - Aesir alliance up in here!!

[Video] hell yeah :B Thor is just glad she's not mad anymore!