a very trusting god
"So, shall I ask why you put a spell on the rightful heir to my realm's throne?" Asked the man with sass in his voice
"My friend, you very well know Thor Odinson is not the rightful heir" she said with a pointed stare and her hands on her hips, "You also know very well why I did it, he'll blabber on and on about every and anything concerning his midgardian adventures to dear mommy and daddy" Cora added dismissively
"I should be inclined to advise you not to refer to the royal family with such lack of respect."
"When has that ever stopped me, great Heimdall?" Retorted the giggling woman
"Never, queen Cora" The two friends laughed at the use of titles, very much unnecessary between them
- - -
Back at the tower, Cora had left the group half an hour ago, now only Thor, Clint, Natasha and Tony were left in the sitting room, everyone else had scattered around shortly after Francis had left. After talking about trivial stuff for a bit longer, the god decided to bid everyone goodnight and walk to his room.
In his floor there were four rooms, one belonging to him, another to Wanda and the other two had always been empty, well, not anymore since Cora had been given one of those deserted bedrooms.
The rooms were located in a way that it made a zig-zag of doors in the picturesque hall. The elevator opened to a large hallway, the first door was to the left and belonged to the scarlet witch, the next door was a few meters away from the first door, this one was to the right and it was the, now, only empty room in the floor. The third door was the one where the new teammate was residing in, second door on the left. And finally, the last door, located in the right side of the hall, was Thor's.
Naturally to get to his bedroom he had to pass the other three. When he passed Wanda's he heard the sound of the characteristic rehearsed laughter that were always heard in the sitcoms the witchling was so very fond of.
Thor chuckled to himself at the memory of Wanda making him watch the show "Friends" and saying he was almost exactly like Joey, difference being the god was a gentleman and the fictional midgardian wasn't. He of course didn't understand a word the woman had spoken and had to, later that day, ask Steve what the redhead twin had meant.
As he walked past the second door he wasn't surprised to hear the fainting sound of Maximoff's TV and nothing coming from the empty bedroom. He kept going and as he neared the third room, there was a humming that gradually became louder.
Thor stopped dead in his tracks as he got to Cora's room, he couldn't stop listening to the enthralling noise she made. It was familiar, so familiar, he knew that sound from somewhere, from someone, sometime, somehow. It was on the the tip of his tongue, he was already practically pulling at his hair trying to force his brain to work out where that hum came from
"Valhalla" breathed barely audibly the god
That's the tune his father had taught him, everyone who was placed in Valhalla was welcomed with that beautiful little number the second they crossed its gates. Cora was humming heaven's melody. It made no sense at all.
He went to knock the door but thought better of it remembering the doctor's letter and decided to ask Jarvis
"Sir Jarvis, is Cora awake?"
"Evening, Point Break, Miss Francis seems to be currently meditating. Shall I call Dr. Strange?" The god nodded, it was pretty late but he couldn't just walk away from there now, he needed some sort of answer.
"Hello? Who is this? Do you know how late it is in New York right now?" said a very irritated and sleepy wizard
"Hello, friend Strange, I call because i'm outside Cora's room, as I have to pass her door in order to get to mine... I'm not being creepy" Added quickly the god with a chuckle, he coughed and carried on, "anyway, I asked the Jarvis and it seems that she is meditating but I can also hear her hum a lovely tune, what would that be about?" The god heard the sorcerer let out a sigh from the other line of the call
"Look, Thor, she always does that, we don't know for sure, Wong thinks it had to be something from her home, I reckon it's just a tune she created to concentrate when she needs peace. Don't think too much of it, you'll probably end up with more questions than answers" The doctor didn't even wait for a response, said goodnight and hung up
Thor then started thinking aloud "If sir Wong is correct then that would mean Cora is from Valhalla? But that's just impossible, what would someone from literal heaven be doing in Midgard? No, that can't be. Maybe someone taught her the song, just like father taught me and brother... But who would teach her, father said he only knew what the melody was like because he knew the ruler of the realm... Ugh, what was the name? Freya. Could Cora have met the queen Freya? Maybe-" Thor's monologue was cut off as the door of Cora's room opened showing the woman looking very confused
"Thor, what the hell are you doing?" she asked still confused but with a hint of a smile playing on her face
The god pondered for a minute, maybe he should leave this be for the time being, he really enjoyed Cora's presence, she was like a happy puppy, a very powerful and old puppy, but still. He had his suspicions, he was pretty sure the woman in front of him was anything but midgardian, he wouldn't nag her about it, the silver eyed woman clearly wasn't ready to mix her past with her present, he understood as much, and he respected it. But he difinitely didn't consider her a threat, and that was enough for him.
"I apologize, Cora, I passed by your door in my way to mine and decided to ask Jarvis to check up on you, make sure you were settling in well in your first night here, I didn't want to knock in case you were meditating"
"Oh, don't worry Thor, thanks for checking up, although, it will take a bit more than a knock on the door to break me from a trance" she chuckled and the man joined "Have a good night, god of thunder" She finished with her usual smile and a wave before closing the door.
- - -
"So..." began the woman "Where does Odin think I am now?"
"Just as you requested, I've told him you've left the palace but have put on a cloaking spell that stops me from being able to see where you are"
"My oh my, clever Heimdall, don't worry, if he finds out i'll say I ordered you to not tell him of my whereabouts" She thinks for a second before adding "If he gets too annoying i'll just pull rank" Cora told him wiggling her brows up and down with a big smile
"That always enraged him" Said the gatekeeper with a booming laugh as Cora shrugged with 'what-can-you-do-about-it' look
"I only did it a couple times" Cora told him rolling her eyes
"Anyway, how much progress have you made with the 'death conundrum', Cora?" He asked cryptically, but both of them knew what he meant
"Well, that is part of the reason I left home for the time being, I found the answer! I'm almost ready, I just need to figure out the spell that will be needed and it'll be done!" Announced Cora slightly jumping up and down happily
"I'm very proud of you, your majesty, I believe Odin will be very pleased, he has secretly been hoping you would find a way to fix it" Her friend told her with a gentle smile and a reassuring hand on her shoulder
"I still want to kick him in the nuts, he can really suck" Cora said with a frown looking at her feet, Heimdall slightly snickered before he spoke again
"Oh, I should warn you, prince Thor is outside your chambers, apparently he has heard your hums" Cora grumbled at this and muttered a 'shit'
"What is he doing?" she asked
"He called your friend, the one you had an affair with but is also in love with the man of iron?" He asked for confirmation to make sure he had got it right, she nodded and the man continued "It seems Wong got it right and speculates your humming is from your home. Thor is now pacing in front of your room talking to himself trying to figure out how you could know 'Valhalla's song', questioning what someone from heaven would be doing on Earth, mentioning your mother, etc. Try not to put another spell on him, if you enchant him too much Frigga will recognize the magic next time he visits" Finished Heimdall in an advising tone. Cora nodded but sighed disappointedly
"Damn it, I guess i'll have to cut this one short, ugh, I wanted to visit Lenora tonight... Could you go say hi to her and tell her i'll pop by soon?"
"Of course, Cora, good luck and farewell" Said the man hugging her goodbye, the woman saluted mockingly and disappeared
- - -
Cora had been reading Thor's mind since the moment she opened her bedroom door to when she closed it. So, naturally, she heard what Thor said, or thought, about how he wasn't going to ask and would respect her privacy, she almost teared up at that. She didn't deserve how welcoming the god was being towards her, the man trusted her and didn't see her as a threat even if he knew next to nothing about her, he was willing to, and would become, a great friend of hers
Cora went to sleep that night feeling good, she found new friends in the Avengers, she visited an old friend and she was close to finally being able to get her best friend back. At last, life was giving her the peace and happiness she had been deprived of for such a long time.