riverviewlogs | I bathe in sacred waters. [open]

Entry tags:

I bathe in sacred waters. [open]

who: Thor and ota
what: Mushroom collecting/Monster fighting/Mushroom tripping and TAVERNFEST
when: the current week idk
where: Beyond the walls, in the jungle and then TAVERNFEST so, taverns?
warnings: unintentional drug use, descriptions of hallucinations and general tripping ballsness

i. There is not mushroom for monsters
[Thor didn't take the job out of necessity, although he really ought to start investing in moving out of his dorm like so many of his friends and family insist he should. He takes the job because he's been so listless lately, so full of restless energy and boredom. He's going stir crazy without real excitement, so it's with pleasure that he aligns himself with a friend, ally or family member and heads into the thick of the jungle with his hammer in his hand.

Thor almost wonders if the promise of beasts had been a trick to lure adrenaline junkies such as himself into a simple, cushy job. It's been a while, he's filled a sack with the glowing mushrooms and he's wondering if they ought to call it a night. He glances around the remaining glow of the jungle while his partner works on gathering mushrooms, almost missing the pair of glowing eyes staring them down in the thick of it.

He gives his partner a gentle smack on the head with his sack of mushrooms, so he can draw attention to the eyes in the distance. When he moves, however, it ceases to be a pair of eyes in the distance and becomes a pair of eyes rapidly approaching. It's a large beast, aggressive from the get go and obviously looking for a fight.

Thor has his hammer at the ready, but he's not sure whether to drop his sack of mushrooms or not. He spares a final glance toward his partner before he throws mjolnir at the beast's antlers, striking it hard and setting it momentarily off course.]

ii. Feed your head, feed your head.
[It's been a long, long evening of pillaging mushrooms and fighting off monsters. Thor has caressed every surface of the jungle. He's tousled in it, rolled on its floors and inhaled its scents. He feels fine, if not a little weary. He needs a drink, and he needs a moment to clear his head.

He finds a relatively safe looking body of water, be it a pond or a river, and he dips his hands in it to drink and wash his face. He stares down at his reflection for a moment, and he swears his reflection winks back at him. Naturally, Thor squints back at himself, only to find his reflection is grinning in return.

The best course of action here is obviously to smack his watery reflection, making his face disappear in vibrant, colourful ripples that seem to twirl and dance like the shapes of a kaleidoscope. Thor smacks the water again, and as it flies to hit his face it seems to shimmer in the moonlight. Like beautiful stars, like watery crystals.

The beauty is beyond Thor's comprehension, and before he knows it, he's weeping softly by the water.

It might be a good time to tap him on the shoulder and ask if he's alright.]

iii. TAVERNFEST
[It's been a while since Thor donned his armor in public. He's become quite comfortable in board shorts and soft, cotton hoodies as of late. He enjoys embracing culture, however, and he's always excited to represent Asgard.

He's delighted to find that the different ales of different taverns are increasing in strength, and he barely needs to tamper with them by adding Asgardian ale to them. As such, he has a good buzz going and he's in a better mood than he's been in for a few weeks now.

He hasn't done this for a long time (to his memory) since he's learned it's something of a faux pas. However, if they're sharing culture here, Thor doesn't feel shame in smashing his mug to the ground after polishing off his drink.]

Another!! [He declares, and after a while, people are starting to catch on and copy him. Maybe he should have taught them another trick.]

iv. TAVERNFEST for Asgardians
[With some badgering from "little" Loki and Thor, they've managed to pull a dour Loki from his skulking and into the festivities. Thor has nabbed a table for all three of them, plus Angela, and he's managed to encourage a steady flow of alcohol and food to come toward them.

It's nice, and it almost feels like home, even if home never had two Lokis and an Angela. Thor feels warm and fuzzy from it all, and it's only a little bit because he's had a lot to drink tonight.]

It took them long enough, but I believe they may finally have my good opinion of their ale.

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A mission together, a task to complete - not exactly like what they've done back home, but it's a good first step. Thor is a friend. One of only three (possibly four) that she feels she can still be certain of after everything that has happened. To lose that... well, it would be the loss of something more than just friendship. So, while they haven't spoken about what happened (or much at all, truth be told) she's still hoping for the best. The quickest way to bury something in the past is to create the present, after all.

The gentle smack on the back of her head is rewarded by an instant elbow to his kidney. Not hard. He probably hardly even felt it, but it's the principle of the thing. A little jab, no pun intended, at who they used to be. Even if her eyes are instantly scanning the area, on alert for whatever caused him to call for her attention. It feels normal. It feels like relief.

She sees the eyes as they begin to move closer, hears the snapping of undergrowth and the straining of trees as they're crashed into. Thor may be indecisive about the mushrooms, but Natasha is not. She grabs the sack from his hand, wanting both of them free for the fight to come. She has just enough time to toss it into the air near one of the sturdier looking trees, shoot a dart from her Bite to pin it in place above their heads. It should be safe there, for the time being, and running from the creature barreling toward them has not even crossed their mind. They will stand their ground and fight, of course they will. She has her guns in her hands in a flash, unloading both clips into the beast while it's still at enough of a distance, hoping to at least slow it down a touch, to make it slightly less intent on killing them if she can steal even small part of its focus with pain.

Thor is steal dealing with the wake of embarrassment his amnesiac self left him to deal with. Some of it ranges from only vaguely remembering people he'd met during that time to more complex, emotional situations.

He can't say he regrets what they did, and he doesn't fault either of them for it. His only gripe is that it's making him aware of a chemistry between them that he hadn't properly considered before. It feels wrong to sleep with a fellow Avenger, especially when their team is already divided. He knows better than anyone that sex can be purely casual, but he also knows that it can be distracting.

It's played out well, thus far. Sans the occasional glance, seeing her in a new light and readjusting his thought pattern. It has been pleasant to spend time with her and casual conversation has been enjoyable.

He doesn't fault her for the elbow to the ribs, but he's glad to see her snap into action. He raises an agreeable brow at the mushrooms, pinned in place, holding his hand out for mjolnir to return. The bullets are distracting to the beast and successfully slows it down, but it has an incredibly thick hide. This is all the more apparent when Thor charges a bolt of lightning toward it and it fails to properly disengage the beast. It stops to shake off, but it's no less angry.

"It's a strong one." Thor declares, and he seems almost delighted by it. "We may need to get a good crack of its skull." He contemplates. "Will you distract it while I attempt to mount it?" He raises a brow at her. If he can get one good hit in, past those antlers, it might be enough to kill it.

Natasha is pretty sure this would all be so much easier if the sex had been bad. Or even mediocre. They'd utterly destroyed that hotel room, though, and one another. Sex is distracting. It's always distracting. Even when you don't have sex, the not having it is distracting.

Being here with him, she'd almost decided against it. She could really use the extra cash, though. She's sick of living in the barracks, and she absolutely can't go back to the communal housing building. Not after the fire. She just can't. If she is honest about it, and it's so much easier to be honest in her own mind, she can't think of many people she'd feel safer with out here. She knows she can count on him to have her back. He has honor. He has integrity. Besides, she knows he likes her. She can't say that about many people right now. It's the entire reason that the touch of the bag to the back of her head caused her to be instantly on alert. There is trust here. A lot of it.

She'll also be damned if that great hulking beast tramples what they've already gathered. These are worth way too much for that.

Thor seems so thrilled at the promise of a fight, she can't help but smile. It's like old times, in a way. She misses it. Which isn't really all that surprising. She just tries not to think about it most of the time. Her guns are re-holstered and her charged batons out in one smooth motion. More than ready. "Wouldn't have thought you'd need any help mounting anything." It's out of her mouth before she really thinks about it - the joke, the ease, and before they'd put a rather sizable dent in a hotel wall, it might have been easy to dismiss as just a quip. Of course, one of the last things he mounted was her, so that does change things somewhat.

Thankfully not much time to think about it. She's got a charging monster to distract. She puts one hand to her mouth and whistles, sharp and loud, to call attention. "Here, piggy." She's already off and running, breaking left so that Thor can head around right. Her batons crackle loudly, throw off a visible charge, and it catches attention as hoped for. Hundreds of pounds of snarling, enraged, wild fury turns on her and she is ready to meet it head on.

Natasha need not regret her words, because Thor isn't the type of person to cringe or make it uncomfortable for her. He laughs, loud, and though he's already smiling, his amusement is clear in his expression.

"Just this once." He requests, but Natasha is already prepared for business. He knows he can rely on her, so he's not concerned in that regard. He is, however, concerned about making a fast approach before the beast can harm her.

She's formidable, but it's a big creature.

Thor makes an easy leap toward the beast, grabbing onto one antler and bracing his foot against the beast so he can try to wrench himself upward. His grip is a little precarious at this moment, only amplified by the fact that the beast is running wildly. It's getting a little too close to Natasha for his comfort, so Thor wrenches its head by its horn as he pulls himself up.

Thor, the master of not making it weird. She's grateful for it, not that she'll ever express that gratitude, because that would make it weird and defeat the purpose. Tricky, that.

Natasha will definitely end up crushed like a ketchup packet if that thing manages to get her pinned against a tree or a rock, but she's got the advantage of speed and agility. She's awfully good at not dying. Thor hanging off the side of the creature makes its movements a little more unpredictable, but she can deal with that. Whenever it gets close enough, a hard hit from a baton causes it to shy away slightly. Enough for her to keep herself alive, anyway. Worst case scenario, she's keeping herself to areas with trees enough to scramble up if there's no other way to avoid being skewered.

She wonders, fleetingly in the back of her mind, if he's getting shocked each time she attacks. If so, he doesn't seem bothered by it. Perk of being the God of Thunder, perhaps. Well, one of them.

If Thor is getting shocked, it's not hard enough to bother him. He's focused on what he's doing, though perhaps not quite enough.

When the beast shies away, it jerks its head. Thor's grip slips momentarily and he twists to haul himself upward. He's hardly aware of the fact that one of the beasts sharpened, corroded antlers drives itself into his side. He'll spare a moment for it later, for now he's pulling himself up onto the beast's head, taking a moment to find solid footing before he raises his hammer over his head to draw power into it before he brings it down hard on the beast's head.

It puts a halt to the charge immediately, it lets out one last roar before it falls to its knees and skids to a stop. Thor, still atop it's head, raises his hands above his head and cheers.

When the beast crashes to the ground, its own massive weight causing it to dig a deep furrow in the forest floor as it skids forward, Natasha is right in its path.

Fuck dignity.

She's up a tree, scrambling up two branches to wrap all four limbs around another, pulling herself tight against it to keep her back from being torn open by the razor sharp tips of its horns.

Once it's gone past her, though, and stopped moving entirely, she breathes a sigh of relief. When Thor begins cheering, she can't help herself, she laughs. Then she lets go of the branch with her arms, and mirrors his pose of arms upraised in victory... though hers are technically raised down. Semantics. She screams with him, a happy shout of victory. She doesn't even know if he'll turn and look at her, but it's difficult to not get caught up in his excitement.

Once he's celebrated, the next order of business for Thor is to make sure Natasha is okay. He stays atop the beast, because the view is best, scanning his surroundings before he notices her hanging from the tree branch nearby.

It earns her a loud laugh and he claps his hand together, moving to dismount the beast by jumping off it and onto the ground. It makes him wince, which prompts him to look down at his side and realise that he has a sizable gash along it. He shrugs it off.

He approaches Natasha's tree, peering up at her curiously.

"We did well. Wouldn't you say?" He won't ask if she's alright, because she'll tell him if he isn't.

Natasha sighs, and relaxes slightly. So her arms go from deliberately held above (below) her head to just sort of dangling. Still, his happiness remains infectious. "Well... we're alive. I like being alive." Some days, she feels like she's lying when she says that. Not today. She drops her batons onto the ground, then reaches over and rests her hands on his shoulders to brace herself as she flips down off the branch and over his head onto the ground. "And the mushrooms aren't crushed, so we're still getting paid."

All in all, yeah, not a bad day. "Are you all right?" Her batons still on the forest floor, secondary concern, she reaches out and presses gently above the gash in his armour, wondering how deep it goes.

"Good. Then I can still afford my boat." He remains perfectly still as she uses him to flip herself off the branch. He's unperturbed by it, but he's visibly amused.

"It's not for nothing, we still have.. this..?" He gestures vaguely at the corpse behind them, but he's joking. He has no want or need for it, that he knows of, so his attention turns back to her. He doesn't shy away when he reaches out, but he hisses when she presses down.

"It will heal." He says, shrugging.

"Well, yes, most things will." Doesn't mean it doesn't hurt like a bitch in the mean time. Still, she trusts him to know his own body, what it can and can not handle. "I suppose a small chunk out of your hide is a fair trade for all of his. He looks a bit like a pig. Maybe he tastes like bacon." Even if he doesn't, it's a hell of a lot of meat. Spices and chilis will make up for a whole lot. "So you grab him, then, and I'll get..." The mushrooms are a little higher up than she can reach, and the benefit of the tree she threw them up was that her throw wouldn't be hampered by any branches. That also means there's nothing to climb.

Right. "Give me a boost, first? Then you grab him. We'll have whatever-the-fuck-that-is curry." They'll be able to afford much better with this haul of mushrooms, but she's got a tendency toward frugality. Making things stretch. Also, there's something about living a little rough, about keeping herself from being entirely comfortable, it keeps her edge sharp.

"He looks like the beasts I hunted back home." Thor gives his tusk a pat, suddenly very nostalgic for hunting in Asgard. He would certainly have carried this back home to eat on Asgard, but the notion is strange to him now.

"Grab him?" He repeats, skeptical. "If you want him, you can carry him." He's joking, of course, but she has the nerve to suggest he should carry it back as if it's nothing!

And yet, he's holding a hand out for her foot so he can raise her upward.

Natasha chuckles as she steps into Thor's hand and lets him lift her up, realizes no one but their dead conquest is around to hear her, and then actually laughs. Her impeccable balance keeps her from falling, only teetering ever so slightly with one hand on the trunk to help her. Her weight can't be much for him, and it's very simple for her to tug the bag free. She very briefly thinks they might look a bit like cheerleaders right now. If not for all the blood. And the dirt. And the dead pig-thing. "All right," she says as she hops down. "You carry the mushrooms, then, and I'll get this thing."

With a completely straight face, she walks over to the creature, wraps both hands around one tusk, and pulls as hard as she can. Her heels dig furrows into the dirt, and leave her leaning back far enough that she'd fall without the support of the literal dead weight. The beast moves about an inch. "I should be back in about two and a half months."

Thor is happy to hold onto the mushrooms and watch her try to pull the beast an inch along the ground. He remains perfectly unsympathetic to her plight.

"It's been nice knowing you." He says, plainly. His smile is wry, of course. Eventually, he relents and paces over, tossing her the bag of mushrooms so he can grab a hold of a tusk and start to drag it along in a far more efficient manner.

"I hope this is the best curry I have ever tasted."

"Well, it'll be free, and it'll be spicy." Natasha is not a great cook, but she compensates with spice. "And there will be beer." Alcohol makes everything go down easier. Np pun intended.

Also, the free thing is a huge motivator. This part she doesn't share with Thor, but letting this entire creature just go to waste? She can't. Thor is a prince, his upbringing so very different from her own, and he won't understand. He doesn't know what it's like to starve because there just isn't food, because you're on your own, because there's nothing there, because you're being tested, because you're being punished. Natasha knows what it's like to be hungry, she knows what it's like to go hungry. Wasting this much potential food isn't something she will ever be able to do.

She slings the bag of mushrooms over her shoulder and begins the trek back. "You look good like that, you know. Hauling back the kill. Very tough. Very manly."

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I bathe in sacred waters. [open]

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