Chapter 22
Thor shifts uncomfortably as Teddy stares at him intensely, currently-green eyes boring into him as if he's trying to get Thor to confess to every bad thing he's ever done. Shifting his gaze over to the pink-haired woman for a moment, he semi-nervously says "I thought your eyes were darker before…" Also, his hair is sandy once more.
Teddy grins mischievously, saying "They were. I can look however I want, got it from Mum. Uncle Loki and Aunt Amora helped Mum teach me how to control it."
"Ah, of course…" He is so very out of his element that it isn't even funny - Loki's currently trying to track down the town he ended up in, and Amora had to leave for an hour for 'Warding stuff' in a terrifyingly casual announcement to the house. According to the Lady Andromeda, she and Loki have a business that deals specifically in Enchanting and Warding things. People seriously pay to have those terrifying things applied to their doors?!
Teddy pulls him from his thoughts, asking "Did you really have to put on a wedding dress one time because someone stole your hammer?"
Thor flushes redder than Amora's hair, and asks "Loki told you that?" Teddy nods, grinning as he says "Uncle Loki talks about you sometimes."
Immediately latching onto safer, less embarrassing grounds, Thor asks "Oh? What do they say?"
Teddy shrugs, picking at his shirt sleeve for a moment, and says "Erm, it's just Uncle Loki that tells stories about you, really. Aunt Amora prefers to talk about other Realms. But…I heard her tell Mum, Dad, and Grandma that she didn't want to make me hate the place and everyone in it without giving it a chance if I ever ended up there somehow."
After a moment, Thor says "Ah. That was…kind of her." Honestly, he half-expected her to have told him everything she's experienced on Asgard. And by him, and second-hand through Loki as well.
After a moment, Teddy motions for him to come outside - away from Remus Lupin-Black, Nymphadora 'just call me Dora please' Black, and Andromeda Black, that is. Once they're outside, Teddy crosses his arms and says "I get the feeling Aunt Amora doesn't like you all that much."
Thor runs a hand through his hair, and says "No, she doesn't. She's never gone out of her way to express that unless Loki was upset, but we've not been on very good terms for some time. How could you tell?"
Teddy shrugs, saying "She doesn't talk about you. Aunt Amora doesn't talk much about things she doesn't like. Like, I didn't even know we used to live in Britain when I was first born until Aunt Hermione showed up ranting and raving about some guy called Draco Malfoy and how ridiculously close-minded he still is. Him and the rest of Britain, apparently. Or how the two of them went to Hogwarts and that's why everyone was so against me going there. And why Aunt Amora personally went to see Ilvermorny before it was even seriously considered for me." He was nine at the time, and he's halfway-certain she visited several other schools as well before they all unanimously decided on Ilvermorny. He's a proud Thunderbird, having had to choose between that and the Wampus since they both wanted him - but his entire family, even Aunt Hermione and Aunt Luna, all told him he wasn't going to school to learn to fight. To treat it as an adventure, where he could spread his wings and learn to fly.
He picked the House of Adventurers, something he could tell relieved everyone to no end - besides, as he kept to himself, adventures can usually be fun if you try to make it fun.
Thor finds himself getting curious despite everything - he knows some of what Amora went through, but that was under Albus Dumbledore. Surely whoever took over would've learned from his errors, right? And the Godson of the 'Girl-Who-Lived' would've surely been accepted no matter what? "Why did everyone leave Britain? I'm aware the country has a few issues, but…" But, it was their home. He couldn't imagine leaving Asgard permanently to go live somewhere else.
Teddy asks "You want Dad and Grandma's explanation, Mum's explanation, Uncle Loki's explanation, Aunt Amora's, or what my classmates say?" He's heard different versions of explanations over the years, some more polite than others.
Thor quickly says "Classmates, please." He's sincerely hoping he can keep up with the explanations of children.
Teddy shrugs, and says "Britain's a pack of backwards idiots, who see the world in black and white and nothing else. They banned about eighty-percent of all kinds of magic at an old guy named Dumbledore's word that it was too dangerous, and if they get into a war they're screwed because they don't have the knowledge, population, or skill to do anything of much significance."
Thor mostly followed that, he's proud to say.
Teddy offhandedly says "Also, they're extremely prejudiced, even now, and the instant word got out that I'm a born 'Wolf I'd be hunted down, Aunt Amora's Godson or not, always in control of myself or not. Dad almost was, and he was a Professor at Hogwarts with that Dumbledore guy's backing."
Thor frowns, then asks "Does everything all come down to this Albus Dumbledore?"
Teddy shrugs, then says "Pretty much, apparently. Anyway," he claps his hands, "back to the original topic. Aunt Amora not liking you. I might be able to help you get into her better graces."
Thor brightens considerably, he'd like to spend more time with his brother and it'd go much smoother if Amora liked him better. "Wonderful! How-"
Teddy holds up a hand, and says "I didn't say I'd do it for free."
Thor frowns, asking "What do you ask in return, then?"
Teddy grins, a glint entering his eye that's all Loki, and asks "How much chocolate from Asgard can you get your hands on? Cause, that stuff is the bomb."
That's all he wants? Chocolate? Thor will happily supply him with endless amounts of chocolate.
When Loki gets back from Puente Antiguo, having finally tracked down the town in New Mexico Thor was taken to - Hela didn't have a name either, just followed Thor's constrained energy to him - he finds Thor lying collapsed on the couch, Amora with a slightly puzzled look on her face as Teddy eagerly recounts getting to know Thor. "-and then we wrestled in the yard and I finally managed to pin him to the ground! It took a solid ten minutes, but I managed it!"
Amora chuckles, and says "I believe it, what with all the mud I spelled off you. Go get changed, I'm making dinner in thirty. Who's up for Enchiladas?"
Teddy cheers at once, racing up the stairs to his room, and Loki kisses her before murmuring "Your cooking is the greatest. He's not wrong about that."
Thor groans from where he's lying on the couch, and picks his head up slightly before dropping it back to the couch. Both of them stare at him blankly, even as Thor says something into a pillow they don't understand, and then Amora and Loki trade highly-amused looks. Amora hisses "Looks like Teddy wore him out."
"Looks like Thor's going to need to get in shape if he wants this Jane he told me about to give him an heir."
Seleana and Jormangund both let out hissy little laughs, and Jormangund hisses "Little Hatchling would kill him through sheer exhaustion, if they're anything like the wolf-child."
Seleana hisses "Wolf-child is gentle with us, though. One of his offspring might be even worse."
Amora snickers, not having it in her to tell them to be nice like she first did with Hermione, Luna, and the Weasley Twins - Thor does look pretty done for the day, and it's barely four in the afternoon. To be fair, though, the Full Moon is in two days - Teddy always gets more active around the Full Moon, the effect lasts from about two days before to two days after.
Remus almost cried in relief, according to Dora and Andy, when he realized he was getting up and walking at six months at the full moon was because he's just that much more active during that period of the lunar cycle. He did cry in relief that first month, ugly-cry at that, when Teddy didn't transform and just got way more talkative and hyperactive in his own baby-way.
As soon as Loki's done with a quick shower to get the sweat and dirt off him from Puente Antiguo, he shakes Thor by the shoulder and says "You'll want to get up, Thor. Amora's cooking, and you like food too much to want to miss it."
Thor groans, then rolls onto his side and mumbles "That child is more exhausting than training…"
Loki shrugs, and says "The Full Moon is coming up, he always gets like this then. And he'll eat your share without hesitation if you don't get to the table by the time dinner's ready."
Thor groans again, then his nose physically twitches as he smells the Enchilada sauce Amora's making. Propping himself up with some difficulty, Thor asks "What is that smell? It's delicious."
Loki smirks, and says "That would be Amora's handiwork in the kitchen. One of the many amazing things she can do is cook even better than what's served on Asgard." He's been of that opinion over a century before they learned they're Soulmates, and that particular discovery only biased him towards her cooking even further.
Thor finds that extremely unlikely, there's nothing better than the feasts on Asgard - he's keeping that opinion to himself, though. Else Amora - or, in this case, more likely Loki - will probably toss him out into the Wards outside.
When he sits down to the table where everyone else is already gathered, Amora's floating a hot pan out onto several protective pads of some kind. "Alright, who wants how many? Teddy, you always want four to start with…"
Thor goes for three, and it doesn't escape his notice that Loki holds up a plate for two…and then sets it down in her place before holding up what was her own plate. She just gives him a look he can't quite decipher, as if this is an ongoing thing between the two of them.
Teddy cheers, saying "Your cooking's the best, Aunt Amora!"
Nymphadora grins, saying "No arguments here, I'm lethal in the kitchen."
Andy shrugs, saying "I was never taught, Ted was the one who could cook between the two of us." And Ted's gone now, has been ever since he was killed by Snatchers before Teddy was born.
Thor instantly notices the sudden drop in mood, but Teddy quickly says "Let's dig in!" And, to his credit, it only sounds a little forced.
Thor watches everyone else for a moment, then proceeds to try and copy how they're cutting into the 'Enchiladas' - what he gets is a gush of sauce and cheese from the food, so he spears the piece he just cut with the fork and puts it in his mouth - and then he disregards his earlier doubts about Amora's skills in the kitchen, because this is the most delicious thing he's ever tasted in his entire life.
Loki, he readily concedes, was perfectly accurate and he's cursing his younger self's foolishness when he and the rest of the soldiers rejected her offer to making some food for everyone that first battle he and Loki were sent to - she offered to make some food for everyone, Thor refused and the rest followed suit. She and Loki ended up sharing a small pot of either some kind of soup or stew, and it must've been good because Loki had four bowls of the stuff without hesitation. The rest of them made do with the rations they had, but if it tasted half as good as it smelled in their small camp then he was the Realm's biggest fool then and there.
And then Teddy winks at him, disguising it as blinking and rubbing at his eyes, and asks "Can Thor come visit some more? He's fun to play with!"
Amora promptly starts coughing, and Loki rubs her back as she takes a drink from her glass. After a moment, she rasps out "Went down wrong..."
Loki waits another moment to be sure she's truly alright, then gives Thor a highly confused glance before evenly saying "That's up to Thor. We won't force him if he doesn't wish to, and kidnapping him wouldn't go over very well back on Asgard."
Teddy turns a convincingly pleading gaze on him, eyes turning bright blue as he does, and clasps his hands together saying "Please? Pretty please, Uncle Thor? You'll come back and visit, won't you?"
Loki quietly sputters in shock, even moreso when Thor nods and says "Of course." He quickly adds on "If it's no trouble, of course." Bright blue eyes was their agreed-upon signal for Thor to play along so Teddy can get Amora to willingly spend time with him...for ten bars of chocolate a visit.
Andy nods her head, the only one that doesn't seem completely surprised by the exchange, and says "Not at all, Thor. Teddy could always use more interaction." He's the most social person she's ever met, and she went to Hogwarts and was surrounded by people for most of the day every day for nine months of the year. He craves company like thirsty people crave water.
Loki finds his voice next, switching the topic to Teddy's last part of the school year, and Thor gets a quick run-down of Ilvermorny. And that Teddy's in the House of Adventurers.
At Thor's look, Loki immediately says "No, Thor, absolutely not. every single one of Amora's adventures nearly killed her, and nobody wants to find out the hard way she unwillingly passed that curse onto Teddy."
Teddy pouts, and says "I'd be fine, Uncle Loki, really!"
Amora says "When you're of-age, and not a minute earlier! Children shouldn't be risking their lives to do the things the adults should be competent enough to take care of!"