help

He looked around the room, trying to determine what the objects surrounding him did exactly. While Thor had been on Earth before, that was some time ago, and he wasn't able to explore and determine what things did when he was here last. So now he finally had the chance to spend the time admiring Earth instead of protecting it.

Or maybe he just wanted a distraction from thinking about how his little brother was in a lot of pain right this second, and there wasn't a thing he could do about it.

Thor sighed, picking up a long rectangle-shaped object. He thought he had seen one of these before, but never had he discovered its purpose. The rectangle had many different tiny shapes and colors on it, so he decided to do the only thing that made sense.

Press on every single shape on the rectangle until something happens.

After pressing a bunch of the shapes simultaneously, the television in front of him turned on. He jumped back, startled by the sudden intense sound blaring from the screen. He once again pressed every button until he hit one that turned the sound off. Thor relaxed once again, sitting on top of the bed and looking at the screen. He had seen many of these televisions the last time he was here, but he always assumed people controlled it with their voice. Humans really weren't that evolved. As he watched the screen, he realized they were showing the destruction of New York. They showed him and the rest of the Avengers fighting the Chitauri.

He pressed more buttons until the screen changed. Instead of showing New York, it now showed a brown furry creature. The furry creature was speaking, really more like growling, to a human with some sort of weapon. It then showed a gold machine of sorts with a smaller blue and white thing. A lady was shown, dressed in white and holding a weapon. She reminded him of Lady Sif; they both have the same powerful energy.

As the screen continued to show the odd group, plus a blonde boy and an old man, Thor got more and more entranced by it and wished he knew what it was. Even though there was no sound, he still enjoyed watching the screen. And when some glowing sticks emerged that could shield the wielder from other weapons, he realized that maybe Earth was more advanced than he thought. As he was watching, there was a knock at the door.

"Who is it?" he said while still watching the screen.

"It's Steve."

He quickly got up and opened the door, smiling as he saw his new friend.

"Hello Captain, come on in."

"You know Thor, you don't have to call me that. Steve is fine," Steve said while entering the room.

"Okay then, I won't, Steve."

Thor sat on top of the bed, and Steve did the same.

"What are you watching?" Steve asked.

"It's this interesting tale of an old man, powerful woman, young boy, furry creature, gold and small machine, and another man who fights with glowing sticks as weapons," he responded.

"That sounds... interesting. Sometimes I forget how much Earth has changed since the forties. Everything is so much more confusing and complicated."

"I feel the same way, it took me a long time to determine what the black rectangle with shapes on it did, but now I know it turns on this screen."

Steve laughed. "I remember it took me a while too to figure the new remotes out. There are so many buttons, and none of them are labeled."

"Exactly."

They both sat quietly, watching the screen.

"May I ask why you came to speak with me?" he finally asked, looking at Steve.

"I just wanted to let you know that I'm here if you need to talk about anything. About you, your brother. Even the black rectangle."

"That is very kind of you, Steve. Though I don't even know where I would begin."

"Wherever you want to."

Thor sighed. "I feel as if I should be thinking more about my brother today and what is happening to him now. But the only thing I seem to focus on is the past and how much things have changed. But mostly I am thinking of that day. The day he let go not only of my sword, but the cliff. He always thought he was hanging on to it all by himself when really we always had a hold of him. I always had a hold of him."

"But he never saw that you did."

"No matter what I did to prove it, he'd always say that Father and I never cared for him. I know my Father loved him even though Loki wasn't his by blood, though I can't speak for his actions or why he did what he did. I always loved him. But I never truly showed it. Maybe if I had, he would have realized that he had people who cared and wouldn't have let go."

"It's not good to focus on the maybes Thor, no matter how much you want to. What happened did happen, and there's nothing you can do to change that. You did what you could to help your brother, even if he didn't see it that way."

"Maybe I didn't though," Thor said, his anger at himself increasing. "If I had, he wouldn't have felt like his only option was to let go. I never treated him as an equal to me, I always criticized him and saw him as below me. And when I was banished and found out it was him, I was so angry. But he was right. I was always a selfish person who didn't realize what I did affected people, and if I had been made King of Asgard, the people would have suffered greatly. If I had treated him better back then, then he wouldn't have let go, and I wouldn't even have to be worrying about how my brother is in pain right now."

"I don't know what you did or what happened in your past with Loki," Steve began. "And I may have only known you for a few days, but I know this about you, Thor. You really love and care for your brother. When you were fighting him, you always gave him a chance, you always tried to reason with him, you did everything in your power so you wouldn't have to fight him. And at the meeting about Loki's innocence, you weren't afraid to tell us about how you think something's wrong with Loki, and I know that if we were to have said no, you would have helped him anyway. This conversation we're having now proves it too. You don't care about how you're doing right now, you care more about your brother and what you did to him in the past. The past is the past Thor, sometimes you don't like it, but there's nothing you can do to change it. You may not have treated your brother the way you should have, but you can make it up to him right now by sticking by his side and treating him better today. You have time to earn his trust and forgiveness, more time than any of us humans. The best thing you can do for your brother right now is to take care of yourself and be there when he needs you. You need to stop living in the past, and instead live in the now, the present times, which you can control. And it will be hard sometimes to do that, but I promise that in the end, it will be the best choice."

Thor sat there, thinking over everything Steve had just said.

"Your right," he said, realization dawning upon him. "I've been so focused on what I have done to Loki, I haven't realized that I should be focused on what I can do for him now. Thank you, Steve, I needed that."

Steve smiled. "Anytime."

"May I ask how did you get so wise?"

"I wouldn't really call myself wise."

"Then how were you able to make me understand?"

"Experience of sorts. I... I lost someone, someone really important to me."

"I'm sorry."

"Thank you," Steve said, a solemn look on the man's face. "I think about him every day, and I used to think about the maybes and how if I would have done something differently that day, would he have lived. It haunted me, hell, it still haunts me sometimes today. But I learned that thinking about those things wasn't going to bring him back. I learned to keep his memory alive instead, to think about all the good times we had together, the places we went. When all of this stuff ends, I'm going to go back to Brooklyn and go to all of our old spots we used to go to. I've been so busy adjusting to life here I haven't been able to go back to where I'm from. Some of those spots may be gone, and that'll be sad, but I'm mostly going there for the feelings. The feeling of old yet not forgotten memories."

"I did that after I thought Loki was gone. I went around Asgard to all the spots we used to go to as children together."

A smile entered Thor's face. "The garden was Loki's favorite place. Though I was never fond of it, I still went when he was very young. He'd get so mesmerized by all the colors and could spend days in there. There had been a few times when Father had to use Heimdall's sight to find Loki, only for him to be in the gardens. It's memories like those that I never want to and will forget for as long as I live."

Steve returned the smile. "Those are the memories we live for, no matter how long our lives may last."

They both went quiet after that, but not in an awkward way. Thor had connected with Steve, and it felt nice to finally have someone who understands him. Now he and Steve watched the screen, talking every once in a while about the people or what they were viewing. That was until the door burst open, and in walked Tony.

"Hey Thor," Tony began. "We have a super-secret meeting happening in five minutes, do you know where Rogers is because I couldn't- oh, I see he's with you. What are you doing here?"

"I was just talking with Thor," Steve said.

Thor nodded. "And now we are watching the movie with the glowing sticks!"

Tony walked over and looked at the screen before looking at the two of them. "You mean Star Wars?"

"Wait, there was a war of the stars? How am I just now being made aware of this?" he asked.

Tony stared at him. "Because this is a movie, meaning it isn't real."

"You mean that the glowing stick weapons are not real Earth weapons?"

Tony laughed. "They're called lightsabers, and no, they most definitely are not. Besides the ones that may or may not be in my lab at home."

"You made these so-called 'lightsabers'?" asked Steve.

"I said I may or may not. You decide which one you believe. Anyways, did you not hear the part where I said 'super-secret meeting in five minutes'?"

"I thought you said 'super-secret meeting happening in five minutes' or did I mishear?" he asked questioningly.

"Jesus, I've got a lot to teach you," Tony said with a sigh. "But anyway, I'm pretty sure it's been more than five minutes, and if we wait any longer, Natasha will come down here and beat all of our asses. Even my ass can't take that."

Thor and Steve got up, following Tony as they headed out of the room. Before Steve could step out, he grabbed Steves' shoulder, pulling the man back for a second.

"Thank you again for our conversation," he said.

Steve smiled. "Of course, Thor. Anytime you want to talk I'll be here."

Steve headed out the door. Thor lingered in the room for a second. It was time to do what he hadn't ever been able to do. He was going to walk beyond that door, and forget about all the messed-up things he did in the past. Loki needed him right now, and focusing on the past wasn't going to help Loki. He needed to fully be there for his brother, and that meant from now on proving himself to Loki.

Instead of letting go of the cliff he was on, he pulled himself up and stood once again at the top, where he would fight to remain. And as he walked out of the door, he let the memories that had been haunting him go. He let them fall down that cliff and fade, turning into the past that he would no longer be so fixed on.

And looked focused on the present that was ever-changing and his to make.