Summary:Betty drops in for a late lunch Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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The Kerensky Residence is often the scene of quiet dinners. Or in this case quiet lunches. Fenris is working from home - being as old and well off as he is he can afford to dictate what his schedule will be like. It's a little bit of a late lunch, largely consisting of deli cold cuts and a cornucopia of cheeses and rolls. They've invited a guest to this late afternoon lunch. A brave mortal who has done bold things for them. Someone Astryd might have in another time shepherded off to the afterlife.
The Old Wolf is, at the moment, piling some cheese and pastrami onto an onion roll and then going to get the brulee torch for meltiness. His breath… is going to be terrible after this.
"Can…you eat that?" Betty asks gently. The invitation was met happily, the woman now living in Hell's Kitchen bubbles a bit more like herself. She was sleeping, smiling, her clothing more fit her personality and her feet were back in crimson heels. Her golden-bronze hair is back in a loose tail, and with plate in hand, she watches after the wolf with care. "Dogs, um, onions are poison to dogs. But you're, well, I guess you're not just a dog so…"
"He can eat anything…" Astryd answers as she exits the kitchen with a pitcher full of drink. "My patented punch, I hope you enjoy it." The blonde looks … slightly worn … since Betty last saw her.
"How is the new place, Betty? Hell's Kitchen is much changed since we arrived in New York?" The food on the table is abundant, as usual, a good selection of deli food, cheeses, breads and dips.
On the sideboard behind Fenris is a small gift, neatly wrapped.
"I only look like a dog." Fenris notes as he uses the brulee torch to melt the cheese on his improvised monte cristo and then takes a big bite. He sits back down at the table with the others and lays the torch aside. Fenris picks up the gift and lays it on the table near Astryd. They'd spoken of this earlier. And she'd went and gotten it.
"It used to be aptly named. I was always worried a bit that Hel would take a liking to it. Now it's… well. Hell has a very nice Kitchen that's all I can say about that."
The Old Wolf takes another bite and swallows. "I hope that, given everything you've been through, things are settling a little?"
He'll need some of that punch in a moment.
Betty Brant frowns softly, looking after Astryd with a level of concern in her gaze. "Are…you alright? Astryd?" She murmurs softly, only following after the pair and claiming a seat. Looking between the pair, she nibbles at her sandwich (something with much, much less (or none) onion than Fen's dish.
"Hmm? Oh, it's alright. A bit more room than my last place and it's a nice re-start, I guess. Still have some unpacking to do, but the furniture's in. I've had some visitors and that's been nice. I'm back at work, too." There's only a pause as she reaches up and touches across the fresh scar left on her throat. "I only lament I didn't get to finish off that asshole Zsasz, other than that? I'm getting back to being me."
A glance to both, she looks to the Valkyrie. "And you? Are you ok?"
Astryd pours three glasses of punch and puts one in front of Fenris with a snort. It's a nice blend, slightly fizzy - that's the sparkling white wine that Astryd uses.
"Me? Oh, I will be in time. A run in, you might say, with Tammuz… a very old deity." the taller blonde takes the gift and hands it to Betty. That might occassion more question from Betty and Astryd isn't shutting the conversation down.
"A small gift for your new home, I hope you like it. From the Old Wolf here and myself."
Inside is a glass plate - something you'd use to serve food on - with the depiction of a wolf and a raven.
"He hurt her… in ways that only beings like he can." Fenris notes. "But she will recover and he will not soon do that again." The God-Wolf's Anger is a terrible thing when it is unleashed. Of course that anger is dangerous. That anger will lead to the apocalypse, or so say the stories.
"I am sorry we were not better able to help you with your own… complications. But I trust they are well handled at this point. No one needs to be ambushed in a dark alley and Eaten, and then carried to some forsaken netherworld to spend the rest of eternity?"
It may sound like a humorous offer but it's rather deadly serious. If Betty did say that someone needed such a thing… well Fenris and Astryd don't really have human morality. They might well do it.
"Who hurt you?" She asks, her expression darkening deeply. "Tammuz? Who-what is that? How do I find them?" Eyeing the package, she leaves it be for the time being, finding more attention set on Astryd and Fenris. "No, no I'm…I'm going to be stronger now. I'm going to start fighting back. If someone does need to be ambushed, it's only because I failed to deal with them myself." She promises, shifting in her seat.
"How can I help you with this Tammuz figure? If they're hurting you two I have to do something about it." Then, only then, an after thought perhaps, she digs into the box and smiles faintly at the plate. "Now you'll always be in my home. Thank you."
Astryd finally sits, next to Fenris, and makes herself some food. An collection of everything on the table, arranged neatly on her plate so she can pick at it. "Tammuz, a Mesopotamian deity. He was a little miffed that we took something from his domain. It didn't belong to him, mind, so we weren't stealing from him. But still."
Astryd chuckles and shakes her head "You can find him, Little Sister, if you walk the underways to places that no one goes anymore. Then continue walking till you find the shining garden. Your concern is appreciated but Fenris has ensured, I think, that he won't be touching me again."
That's also not to mention the blast the Valkyr took from Balor. That's just another thing they're dealing with though.
"If dealing with them requires more, I will lend my sword to your cause. And you are back at work, yes?"
"Earth God. Husband to Ishtar. Not a relationship that worked out well for him…" Fenris notes as he finishes off his sandwich and takes a bit more of that punch. Mmmmm. It's good punch.
"Oh you're quite welcome. A token of our regard is the least we can do for you Betty. As I said before you were bold when many would not be and your boldness may have in the end saved many lives."
"I will confess to being a bit concerned though. Fate's circle is drawing tightly again and when it does that it has a tendency to sweep mortals up in it. It's… a very unpleasant thing, being on the wrong end of such an inexorable, impersonal force. And I'd be lying if I told you that further association with us wasn't a bit… risky."
Betty does not seem like one much deterred by risk but it'd be rude of Fenris not to tell her about it.
"Still, if you need help. I mean, I don't understand why you took something from him in the first place?" Sipping her punch, she sits back and picks at her food, not seeming to hold much interest for it. "Yes, I'm back to work now. Working on a few things. I'm working up to it. I think Jonah is just lad I'm back to handle the office." She muses with a light press of a dimple in her cheek.
"Isn't that fate, though? You're drawn in because that's where you're meant to be?" Blinking, she frowns. "Would you rather I not visit or…?"
"You've heard, I'm sure, of the trouble the Asgardians have been experiencing Betty." Astryd murmurs. It had been kind of obvious. The god fights in the streets and what not. "We recovered a bow that belonged to Loki. A bow that was stolen from him long ago. A bow that we hope will keep things even." Then again it's Loki.
That Betty is back at work gets a faint smile from the blonde as she shakes her head at the last question. "Not at all. I would be offended if you stopped visiting, Little Sister. But you should know what you're getting yourself into. Fates weave has tightened about us which means those about us might be affected. We don't know how or what it might mean."
Fenris nods to Astryd. "Fate is where you are meant to be, but… most people don't stop to wonder who means you to be there. Or why. Fate, after all, might not be a benevolent force. Suppose it was completely self interested? Suppose the beings that set it were completely self interested? What then is Fate?"
Philosopher's questions, or they would be if Fenris didn't mean Fate to be a very real, very present force that reacts to what people do.
"And no of course Betty we both want to see more of you. At least, for as long as you're around." Mortals have such… short lives by their standards. "But it'd be unkind of me not to tell you that it entails some risk to you and if you didn't want to take it, I would certainly understand."
"I'm sorry. You stole a bow that belongs to Loki. Why do you think it was taken in the first place? And why would you return it back to, well, Loki?" Looking between the pair, her eyes widen slightly. "I know some stories are different, like you told me, but…if Loki is still like the stories say, that's asking for trouble, isn't it?"
Leaving the food alone now, and her drink, the woman relaxes back and crosses her legs in a smooth motion. "If Fate is self-serving, and even you are susceptible to it, then Fate is an entity far greater than anyone can even imagine. A God of Gods. I'm grateful for the warning, but if I've come this far, there's no reason to not continue."
"That is a very good question and one that I asked myself." Astryd nods slowly at Betty's question. "I could say 'Loki told me it was stolen' but we all know the god of mischief. I think the last part of your question is the salient one - why return it? Because it messes with Fates pattern and anything that disrupts Fate is good for us."
Betty might understand why Astryd is so strong on that one.
"Gods of Gods perhaps? We do not for certain. We have heard whispers though of ones called 'Those Who Sit In Shadows' and tweak Fate to do what they want. This is something we would rather not do."
"They… are widely held to be myth. Those Who Sit Above In Shadow. Not even all of my kind believe in them. But…" Fenris does. Fenris thinks he sees their hand in events. In the weaves and patterns of fate. Does that make him insane? A conspiracy theorist? Or is he on to something that even those called gods find hidden?
"In any case I am rather glad to hear you are not deterred though not at all surprised. Tell me, do you still work for that newspaper?" She'd been writing a column and doing some reporting, he knows that much just from looking her up on the internet. What else she does or plans to do, he does not know.
"Are we still fighting against the story of your end?" She asks of Fenris, shifting slightly in her seat to sit forward. "I understand breaking a pattern, but…you can always make anther pattern from that skip, can't you?" She asks now of Astryd. Thinning her lips, she starts to consider things before leaning in, elbows on the table and fingers weaving together. "Hmm? Oh yes. I still work there. Never really thought of going anywhere else. Why do you ask?"
The question is asked of Fenris and Astryd looks at him to answer. Nodding to the second question posed "You can indeed. No action is not without consquence, Betty, which is why we are careful. Or at least try to be."
The blonde pours more drinks for them all as she thinks.
"We prefer to make small tweaks if we can and only nudge things here and there. Fenris spends a long time examining the weave before we act but you're correct, we can create a new pattern entirely if we're careless."
"We are fighting against that story yes. And until Fate itself is no more we will continue to. Failure is… not really an option."
Fenris would assist in the destruction of midgard before meeting his end and being reborn to continue the cycle again. And who knows how many more tens of thousands of years it would go on?
This is a chance, with the Old Wolf awake and aware and fighting, that they may not get again.
"Or if we're careful. Sometimes new patterns can be helpful. But we have to be careful to make sure they don't just get incorporated into the overall pattern. That happens a lot."
He pauses. "I want some help with something. Newspapers get tips of news all the time, a lot of which isn't considered newsworthy. I've detected something nearby which should be leaving some odd signs though. If you could let us know if your paper gets informed of any weirdness it chooses not to print. Fortean events. Strange sightings. Mass hysterias. That kind of thing."
"Well, alright." Is all she can think to say. Looking at her drink, she gives it a swirl and sips. "Weird and strange is pretty much the bread and butter of the Bugle. I'll see what comes in, but I can also ask some contacts about what they've seen too." Another sip, she drains the glass and sets it down. She chuckles and sits back now.
"Someday, we'll just have dinner, right? No talk of fate or destiny, just…dinner? Some stupid movie? Truth-or-dare or something stupid like that, right?"
Astryd chuckles and takes a sip of her drink. It really is delicious.
"One day we might just do that, Little Sister." She says to Betty. "Perhaps you should give me a list of stupid movies you like. I'll have to work on the old man here to watch them."
It's hilarious really that Astryd calls Fenris old, she's 200 years older than him.
"But what fun is life if not for these little things?"
"Dinner and a show. If you ever want some culture with that we'd be happy to take you out. See a broadway play or an opera if you like. I'm not quite sure what you're tastes are." But a stupid movie is a good an entertainment as anything else. Indeed Fenris has grown to enjoy the myriad of ways humans have come up with to stave off boredom or just introduce some humor into their lives.
"Well, shall we break out the dessert then?" Because at the Kerensky house, there is always dessert.