Building an Arm for a Thunder God ((for pirateangelbaby))

[liverfree]

After offering his Hephaestus' services to Thor to build him a new prosthetic arm, Prometheus went straight to work locating his cousin. It wasn't too difficult; he always had his forge under an active volcano -- but not too active, as that would disrupt his work.

It took longer to convince him to build a god from a completely different pantheon a new arm. A god of storms, even. It could be interpreted as a betrayal to his father. But Hephaestus owed Prometheus -- his mentor, of sorts -- the favor, and besides, Zeus's authority had grown weak over the millennia as humans believed in his divinity less and less.

And Hephaestus did love a challenging project.

A week after Thor's tragic arrival in the Nexus, Prometheus sends him a set of PINpoint coordinates. They'll take him to the base of a large volcano -- more like a mountain, really -- where the Titan is waiting. He's shouldering a backpack, but is otherwise dressed in his leather jacket and jeans, so he must not be anticipating too strenuous a hike. "Welcome to Mount Etna in Sicily. Not too far from Greece."

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[pirateangelbaby]

If it means having a prosthesis that will last him the rest of his long life, Thor will cooperate with whatever the smith needs from him as he takes his measurements and weights. This is a far more involved process than crafting Stormbreaker had been; the mold had already been prepared and there was no need to alter anything to fit him, though the handle had not exactly been planned.

It’s the last gift he has from a new friend, and Thor wishes he’d had time to thank the young tree before...

...well.

It’s so hard not to dwell on what happened, and once he starts, he knows he may not stop. A distraction like battle would have been more than welcome, under different circumstances, and Thor is not entirely certain what to do in lieu of that. “Oh, I definitely could,” he agrees, forcing a smile. His friend was kind to offer, and he appreciates the gesture, even if it’s only a hypothetical anyway. “I guess learning to fight one-handed is going to be next on the list. Just in case, you know.”

He’s quiet for a moment, then, reminded that Prometheus played a part in helping him adapt to his other injury. “Thank you, by the way,” he says softly, looking over at his titanic friend. “I don’t think I would have done as well in the battle if not for our bout.” His failure to slay Thanos had nothing to do with his eye, in the end. He cannot - and will not - shift the blame from where it belongs, as if it had been something beyond his control.

The return of the Cyclops is not subtle, of course, and Thor turns his attention on the giant as he makes himself at home right on the floor. Which he supposes he probably is, in fact. The questions are eager, well-meant, though Thor’s smile is a sad one. It seems everything reminds him of what he’s lost, of late, even one so innocent as this. But grief is like that, and there is no way around it, though he rather wishes he had a strong drink to hand right now to soften the edges. Ragnarok, at least, is a lesser horror now, and he had never thought he’d be grateful for it.

“We had no giants on Asgard, though the other Realms have many,” he says, his voice mostly steady as he looks into the Cyclops’ face and wonders just how young this being is. He reminds Thor of Hulk, a little. “Asgard was... it was beautiful. Forests and mountains and an endless waterfall that spilled over the edge of the world, and a golden palace at its heart. We had visitors, sometimes, elves and dwarves and occasional giants. Few who stayed.”

[liverfree]

A weapon, especially one crafted for a god, can be rather personal, but this is Thor's new arm, and Hephaestus doesn't want it falling off of him at an inopportune moment. If all goes well, the fit will be seamless.

Prometheus knows his friend is trying his best not to keep replaying, over and over, his failed battle, so the fact that he would thank the Titan for their incidental sparring match brings a warm, almost bashful smile to his face. "I'm glad I was able to help in some small way." He clasps Thor on the shoulder, the one that still has an arm attached. "It is wise to learn how to fight one-handed, although I'm sure Hephaestus has a trick up his sleeve to keep it from being wrenched off of you, or lost."

Perhaps the Cyclops is the distraction that Thor needs while his arm is being made. Or, even if it's not, Steropes seems unlikely to budge from his spot on the floor. "Oh, I'm big, but I'm not a giant! Giants are these jerks who tried to take over Olympus after the Titans lost, but my brothers and I helped out so they are all in Tartarus with the bad Titans... sorry, Prometheus! You didn't tell him any of this?"

Prometheus has a hand half-covering his face. "No, but.. it's fine..." Fates, how embarrassing. So many cousins and half-siblings of his, born of Gaia but so aggressive and stupid...

"Anyway," the Cyclops continues on, "Asgard sounds so nice! A little bit like Olympus, but I've never been there." He pokes at the ground with a finger. "I mostly just stay in the forge."

"Thor, if you have any tales of your past adventures, I'm sure Steropes would love to hear them," Prometheus suggests mildly. "I can go grab that ambrosia, while we're waiting."

[pirateangelbaby]

In the end, Thor had had a lot of things turned in his favor, which is why it spears him all the deeper than he didn't finish off Thanos when he had the chance. But he hadn't prepared alone, and those who helped deserve to have their contributions known, even if he had failed them all in the end. "Oh, probably," he agrees, putting on a smile that doesn't quite touch his eye. "But better to have a skill and never need it than the other way around."

Conversation with a giant - who insists he isn't a giant, despite meeting all the qualifications Thor cares about - is not how he'd thought to spend the time in between, but it's tolerable enough, and he has centuries of stories to draw from to keep them all occupied. Tales of happier, more innocent times, before the universe had turned on its head and driven him to ruin. Even so, the nostalgia of his memories sometimes stills his tongue for several long moments, remembering friends and family long gone, but it helps, a little, to recount the lighthearted adventures from his boyhood. Many of them center around his dear friends the Warriors Three, who are no longer counted among the living, and the Lady Sif, whose fate Thor still does not know for certain. The stories that feature Loki, he finds harder to tell without his voice leaving him, the grief of that loss still far too fresh, and he's quick to change the subject whenever he realizes he's drifting toward his brother's memory yet again as if drawn in by gravity.

In all his travels across the universe, Thor has rarely been homesick for Asgard, knowing that it was there waiting for him whenever he chose to return. But now that it's gone, so is that peace of mind, uncertain even of how many of his people still remain. But he smiles anyway to put the others at ease, and picks at the strange food that Hephaestus has provided. His appetite hasn't been what it was, lately, either ignoring food entirely or eating purely for the comfort of it. The ambrosia, however, reminds him of nothing too familiar, and he manages to finish most of his portion in between the Cyclops' eager questions and Prometheus' gentler commentary as the hours pass.

It might be the longest conversation he's had with anyone in the last week at all, and if not for the ambrosia to wet his throat, he might be getting hoarse by the time Hephaestus returns, halfway through a story about tracking a bilgesnipe that had trampled his hunting party's camp in the middle of the night, some eight centuries back.

[liverfree]

"Now you're sounding like me," he says, grinning cheekily, although he can't say he disapproves.

For what it's worth, Steropes is a terrific audience, riveted to Thor's every word. He laughs at the funny bits, tenses when the action mounts, and lets out gasps of wonder at various feats of strength and skill. Though he is huge, there is something almost childlike about him, or perhaps sheltered, if life in the forge is all he knows.

Prometheus is familiar with some of these tales, having read up on Norse mythology, but of course it is more entertaining to hear them from the source. And anyway, many of them are different from the myths, which doesn't surprise him. He notices the way Thor has the most trouble when talking about Loki, and he can't help but feel a sympathetic pang of grief in those moments, too. It wasn't the Loki that he considers a friend, but it doesn't matter, it is still a tragedy.

When Hephaestus returns, limping steadily towards the trio, he has in his hands a prosthetic that looks similar to the prototype, but without a harness. "Let's try this on before I coat it," he says without preamble.

"Awww!" Steropes groans. "Thor was just getting to the good part!"

"Get back to work, please," Hephaestus says in a tone that one might use on a whiny teenager. The Cyclops pouts and gets to his feet, slouching over to his workstation. "And use your eye gear this time. You remember what happened to Polyphemus." He shakes his head a little and offers the arm to Thor. "Here, slip that on, take a few swings, tell me how it feels."

The arm's end is curved, perfectly fitted to Thor's stump. It will attach seamlessly, the sensory feedback nearly identical to a real arm.

[pirateangelbaby]

The storytelling is a little more emotionally muted than it would've been not all that long ago, but Thor's audience doesn't seem to mind all that much. It's definitely easier than trying to speak of the more recent years, seeking comfort in old memories despite the ache of knowing what he's lost. Even he is surprised a little at just how much he's able to share, and if he occasionally has to discreetly smudge the dampness from the corner of his eye, neither of the others is impolite enough to mention it.

Still, Hephaestus' return is a welcome one, though Thor regrets having to cut the tale short when Steropes was enjoying it so much. Maybe he'll have to have Prometheus tell him the rest, some other time.

If he'd thought the prototype was strange, this is even stranger, at least in part because of how natural it feels. Once everything is properly connected, Thor flexes the fingers and twists the wrist, and it responds exactly like it should, almost indistinguishable from the one he'd lost if not for how it looks to the eye. Which, if he's honest, he doesn't mind all that much anyway.

He shifts the axe to his left hand and hefts it, impressed despite himself at how well it handles the weight, much improved from the smith's first attempt. The balance is better, as well, and he can tell the difference in the swing of the arm immediately, though he still gives a few additional passes with Stormbreaker to make certain.

"It's perfect," Thor says, trying not to sound too surprised. It wouldn't do to insult their host now, especially, no matter how well-meant it would be. "It feels... very normal. Comfortable."

[liverfree]

Hephaestus watches closely, his eyes following the swing of the arm and the way Thor reacts to its balance. A satisfied smile graces his lips for a moment, and he nods to the praise. "Of course it is. It's calibrated to you and your abilities. All it needs now is a skin for aesthetics. What are you into? Gold? Silver?"

"Put lightning bolts on it!" Steropes shouts from his workbench.

"Hold on, hold on." Prometheus steps up to his cousin, hands raised. "What do you mean that's all it needs? What about your divine blessing?"

Hephaestus snorts. "What, my craftsmanship isn't enough? That arm will last him millennia."

"He's a god, cousin. And his people need him. Your blessing will see to that."

A scowl appears on the deity's face. "I already let you talk me into building him an arm in the first place, Prometheus. If my father gets wind of me helping a god from a different pantheon, let alone a god of storms --"

"Then you can put all the blame on me," Prometheus interrupts. "You know, like you did last time."

Hephaestus glares at the Titan, the volcanic heat of the cavernous forge rising, nearly stifling for a moment or two, until finally the younger deity relents, turning his gaze away with a sigh. "Fine, fine. But no more guilt trips after this. And you have to subscribe to my wife's instagram."

Prometheus groans. "Oh, come on, Hephaestus."

"She needs the followers, Prometheus." After the Titan reluctantly nods, he turns his attention to Thor. "This way." He leads the storm god to the back of the cavern, where the lava forge awaits. "Go ahead and stick the arm in the fire," he instructs. "Just hold it there and don't take it off. You'll know when I'm done."

[pirateangelbaby]

It's actually a relief that there's no intention to make the arm look identical to his real one. Though Thor's battlescars are not ones he would find glory in boasting about, like he'd once thought he would, it would disgrace him further to hide these kinds of wounds and pretend they never happened. But he's lost his taste for gold after Ragnarok, and he's not certain he could bear to wear one of his brother's colors anyway. Silver is something he's left behind as well, once he bore the crown. "Can you do it in black?" It would match his armor, and suit his mood, all at once.

But then the arguing starts, and this has suddenly gotten awkward, like realizing you've accidentally stepped into a poorly-fenced minefield. "I don't want to cause any trouble," Thor says cautiously, although it might be missed in all the excitement. He may not be aware of the full extent of this Zeus' hangups, but what he's heard reminds him of himself a bit when he was younger and far more bloodthirsty. The last thing he wants is bringing that kind of violence down on a friend, or a friend of a friend.

Even once it's seemingly resolved, Thor's stomach still twists nervously. Can he not even do this simple thing without risking ruin for a friend? Still, he follows the forgemaster as commanded, as agreeable as possible to avoid making things even worse. With the axe back in his real hand, he doesn't hesitate to do as he's bid, though he half-expects to burn anyway. The fires of Nidavellir are still agonizingly fresh in his memory, but this feels nothing like that at all as he plunges the prosthetic arm into the flame.

[liverfree]

It wouldn't be completely outside Hephaestus's wheelhouse to make the prosthetic appear lifelike. But gods have certain aesthetics. Black is not as common a choice, but certainly doable. "I can do it in black. Some onyx will give it a nice shine."

There's a reason why Prometheus warned him earlier not to bring up Zeus. This is clearly a hot-button issue, and perhaps provides a bit of insight as to why Prometheus is so eager to leave his pantheon behind. But when Thor speaks, Hephaestus simply shakes his head. "It's not your concern," he replies dismissively. Now that he's made his decision, he's stubbornly sticking to it.

The sensation of the flames is a curious one: Thor will feel the heat, but not the pain. The prosthetic remains inert, not even singeing or sparking in the fire. Hephaestus watches for a moment, then nodding to himself, he places his bare hands into the flame and lays them on his creation.

He begins to glow, brighter and brighter until it is impossible to look directly at him. The white light of his divinity overwhelms his body as well as the prosthetic. One gets the impression that a mere mortal would turn to ash in his presence, although considering his godly status, Thor appears to be safe.

Still glowing, Hephaestus grabs a hammer from the side of the forge, and with a mighty blow, strikes the prosthetic. The sound rings out like a thunderclap, and in an instant, all that searing white light disappears.

When Thor pulls his new arm from the flames, he'll find it black as requested and crackling with an unfamiliar, but powerful magic. "Give it a few minutes to set," Hephaestus says. "Then you're good to go."

[pirateangelbaby]

In a way, the sensation almost reminds him of how it felt to first channel lightning, the white-hot heat never so much as singeing a hair on his head as it passed through his bones, utterly painless. Not exactly the same, of course, but enough that he doesn’t fear what happens next, as Hephaestus begins to radiate his own inner light until even Thor can’t look at him anymore, turning the blind eye to protect what vision he has left. Even so he doesn’t need his eye to feel the prickling of magic building on his skin, like static before a lightning strike, strong enough that Thor does not need to be a seidrmann to take note of it.

And then abruptly, all that energy is released, like a singularity collapsing in on itself.

Thor blinks a few times to clear the spots from his vision, and looks down at the arm, which seems to have soaked up the magic as easily as Stormbreaker had taken in his own power, though he doesn’t recognize this seidr at all. It feels good, though, and the color appeals the way he’d imagined it would, shining black in the firelight.

“It’s beautiful. You have my deepest gratitude, Hephaestus.” The smith might brush him off, but Thor was raised with royal manners - even if he sometimes hadn’t cared much to use them, as a boy - and even though he’s been brought lower than he ever has before, he’s still clinging to whatever bits of normalcy he can find.

[liverfree]

The honest gratitude seems to break through a bit of the god's gruffness, a small, but genuine smile appearing on his face. "You're welcome. Use it in good faith, Thor, and it will serve you well."

Prometheus claps a hand onto his cousin's shoulder. "Excellent work as usual," he says, giving the deity a playful jostle. "I knew I could count on you."

"Yeah, yeah," Hephaestus grumbles, shrugging off the Titan's hand. "You can show yourselves out, I've got a volcano to run." He limps off without further ado.

"I suppose that's our cue," Prometheus murmurs. "I'll take you back to where you arrived."

"Bye, Thor!" Steropes calls out, before they leave.

[pirateangelbaby]

Despite the abrupt farewell, the manner of their parting does ease a bit of the lingering anxiety Thor has over the argument the cousins had had, and he raises his new hand to wave at the Cyclops on their way out. “It was nice talking to you,” he calls out, and follows Prometheus back out the way they came.

He can’t quite stop fidgeting with the hand, though, flexing his new fingers and marveling at the tactility of it. “You said he was good, but this is better than I’d expected,” he admits, his spirits a little higher than they were when they’d arrived. “Thank you for arranging this. I doubt I could have gotten a replacement half this good on my own.” He would not have the slightest idea where to begin looking, anyway, not with Eitri and Nidavellir in their current states.

[liverfree]

Prometheus grins at Thor as he leads the two of them out of the mountain. "Not unless you found another god of the forge," he says with some amusement before his expression sobers. "And you're welcome. It was only a little trouble."

Still, when he thinks back to his argument with Hephaestus, he looks a bit embarrassed, his gaze averted. "I'm sorry you had to witness our bickering. I thought I had smoothed out the details ahead of time, but..."

He trails off, waiting until they've passed through the magical barrier. "Hephaestus and his parents have a rocky relationship. His siblings receive far more attention... Apollo especially. The literal 'golden child'." He rolls his eyes. "It makes him reluctant to contradict Zeus. But he is one of the few gods who actually cares about humanity, so I'm glad he came through."

His smile returns. "And you seem to have acquired a new fan! I really ought to take Steropes traveling with me someday. Poor fellow has been cooped up in the forge for too long."

[pirateangelbaby]

Only a little trouble, he says. That there was trouble at all doesn't sit well with Thor, but what's done is done, and things seem to have turned out all right in the end. Assuming Zeus doesn't get wind of what happened here, that is, and that thought sticks in the corner of his mind like a thorn.

It's unfortunate that Thor should share any understanding of that kind of family dynamic, but though the house of Odin was far less... dysfunctional... than Prometheus', there is an uneasy resemblance of sorts. He's never heard the term 'golden child' but it needs no explanation, really, as he once filled that role himself. Still is, perhaps, even though his entire family is gone now. "He is a good man," Thor agrees quietly. "I'm glad he has those who see his worth, even if his parents won't."

Steropes is an easier thing to talk about, though, so he takes the shift in subject in stride. "You should. He, ah, doesn't come off like he gets out much. If he liked my stories, he'd probably love the Nexus."

[liverfree]

For what it's worth, Prometheus doesn't seem concerned, only embarrassed, and considering how much thought he puts into things beforehand, that's probably a good sign. It's unlikely that anyone's going to end up chained to a mountain with their liver pecked out this time around.

"Oh, he has his moments, too." The Titan smiles wryly, thinking of the rare but notable times that Hephaestus let his pettiness get the best of him, as so happens with all the Greek gods at one point or another. "You could probably blame most of those on his wife. She's the goddess of love and beauty, and a real piece of work."

Speaking of which, he pulls out his PINpoint and opens a social media app. "Let's see," he says as he scrolls along. "Where is she... ah, there she is." He groans as the smiling image of a beautiful blonde woman appears. "A make-up blog, great. What I always wanted."

But, if this is what it takes to square away his cousin's work, he'll do it. He clicks the subscribe button, then immediately mutes her and tucks the PINpoint away.

"No, he doesn't, unfortunately. There aren't a lot of places you can take a one-eyed giant these days." But then Thor mentions the Nexus, and he grins. "Oh! That's a wonderful idea. I'll see if he can get some time off."

[pirateangelbaby]

Thor is thoroughly unfamiliar with Instagram, though he’s heard of it in passing, and he can’t resist taking a peek over his friend’s shoulder to see what all the fuss is about. It doesn’t exactly help. Though it does give him an idea what kind of woman would marry Hephaestus, and she does look rather stunning in her own right, which isn’t a surprise after what Prometheus has said about her. “Well, I suppose we all have a little bad influence in our lives,” he says before he remembers that he doesn’t really have his, anymore. Not the same one he was raised with, anyway, and it still hurts just as much as it does every time he remembers that Loki is gone.

He clears his throat to hide it, though, and shifts the balance of the axe over his shoulder as casually as possible.

That there’s few places on Earth that Steropes could go sightseeing strikes Thor as rather sad, actually. The Midgard he knows is now unsurprised by the existence of other intelligent species, although he does imagine more friendly visitors might draw attention in most places. After all, Thor can pass for one of them - in theory - and he’s become quite used to being asked for selfies and autographs in his time on Earth. “Surely there must be someplace on Earth he could visit, too,” he says, a thoughtful tone in his voice. “Though maybe not as populated.”

[liverfree]

Prometheus snorts at the comment. If he notices the small hitch in friend's expression afterwards, he pretends right along with Thor that it didn't happen. He knows that grief can cast a shadow over even the most innocuous of things.

"She's... well, let's just say that you don't want to cross her. There's a reason why so many love goddesses are associated with death. She isn't, but she'll make you wish you were if you tick her off." Although she suspects that Aphrodite would have other plans for Thor, if they happened to cross paths.

"The problem is his size," he muses as they make their way down the trail. "An illusion can take care of his eye, but I can't do anything about his height. It's a shame. He and his brothers were locked up by their own father in Tartarus. Zeus freed them, but they went straight to the forge to fashion lightning bolts for him. And now that they finally have more time on their hands, the world has changed too much to accept them."

As they reach the knotwork circle Thor made in the dirt, he adds, "That is why I think the Nexus might be better for him."

[pirateangelbaby]

Thor's thoughts run in a somewhat opposite direction, trying to picture Hela as a love goddess and completely failing. Not because she wasn't beautiful enough, or because she was his sister - although those are important factors, yes - but because he just can't see her having the patience or self-control to not just kill her way to whatever she wanted. "One goddess of death was enough for one lifetime," he says instead, shaking it off. "So that's probably for the best."

He can feel the subtle pull of the Bifrost's energies as they get close to the landing site, a faint hum of resonance through Stormbreaker where it rests against his shoulder. "Probably. He won't have to hide there, although you may need to scout out which buildings have high ceilings for him," Thor adds with a subdued sort of smile. It goes without saying that Prometheus probably has an eye for that sort of thing.

He shifts the axe to his new left hand and offers his right for a handshake, too little to express the gratitude for this favor but it's all that Thor has, right now. "Thank you again, for this. For everything you've been doing for us."

[liverfree]

Prometheus has heard tales of Hela from his houseguests, so he nods soberly at Thor's assessment. The only thing that woman appeared to love (other than power), was her infinite supply of knives. No, Aphrodite is not a murderer, although she is an epic troll at times, using her powers to screw over mortals (and the other gods) for her own amusement.

He should bring her up to Loki sometime. The stories might cheer him up a little.

Thor's smile, as subdued as it is, puts a warm one on the Titan's face. "Yes, I'll have to warn him. He has a very hard head -- physically, I mean. I'd worry more for the ceiling's sake than him."

He takes Thor's hand, clasps it with both of his own. "You are welcome, Thor. If there is anything else you need, please don't hesitate to ask." It feels insufficient to say, knowing that both Thor's pride and Prometheus's own limitations means that he can only contribute so much. But he'll offer what he can. "You can call on me any time."

[pirateangelbaby]

As a man who has accidentally broken quite a few things during his time on Earth, Thor can only nod in agreement. Human furniture and architecture is typically not designed for Asgardian levels of wear and tear, among other things.

It may feel like a small thing to offer, but in light of everything that's happened, everything he's lost, Thor has very little pride to stand in the way anymore. His father had wanted him humbled, once, and he can't help but hope that this wasn't what Odin had had in mind. "Thank you. I... might do that."

He stands in the center of the knotwork rune, and once he's satisfied that Prometheus is clear of its radius, he raises the axe and calls the Bifrost. The rainbow light roars down around him, and when it clears, only the rune circle remains.