A Twist Of Marvel || Infinity War

38. Earth

Naomi really shouldn't have been surprised, but the Hulk's bedroom was much bigger than she anticipated. The room itself was very open and expansive, and the ceiling arched high enough to be comfortable for Hulk's towering figure. She easily recognized, however, the hot tub in the corner and the giant skull bed frame at the far end. The shelves of alcohol were immediately attacked by Valkyrie, who snatched a seemingly random bottle and a whiskey glass, which was definitely only for her use when she visited since it wasn't Hulk-sized. At the right side of the room, a quaint lounge area was set up, probably for valkyrie's use once again since it was regularly sized. The lounge consisted of several pillows and cushions, and was tucked underneath a large window, where Naomi suspected she would see the quintet Hulk arrived on if she looked out into the junkyard.

Hulk was sprawled out over several pillows, taking up the majority of space in the lounge, but Naomi and Adelina followed his lead and made their way over. After seating themselves on some spare cushion and exchanging glances that were part awed and part fearful, Valkyrie finally sauntered over with her drink, which was uncommonly full, and squatted next to Hulk. Valkyrie eyed Naomi for a moment, bringing the glass up to her lips. "So, you want to start talking?"

Naomi hesitated for a second, subconsciously kneading an expensive blanket in her lap as she considered where to begin. "Well, i'm from Earth, first things first."

Hulk immediately fixed his gaze onto Naomi, his expression more clear and focused than she had ever seen on the movie screen. Clearly, she had his full attention now that he knew she was from the planet that hated him. Naomi noticed this, and felt her heart drop a bit under his intense gaze, even if his posture wasn't remotely threatening. "Um," Naomi looked back to Valkyrie, still feeling his stare. "But I'm not from this dimension. I'm from a different Earth." She risked a glance back at the champion, who appeared more confused now than he had been, probably not familiar with the concept of different dimensions. However Valkyrie was fully aware of what she meant, and was fast to question her.

"What do you mean 'different dimension?" She took a swig from her glass, which was getting frightfully close to empty. "I thought those were just a theory."

"So did I," Naomi laughed. "But- here I am." Valkyrie rose her eyebrows, leaning forward in her seat to study Naomi. Beside her, Adelina nudged Naomi to remind her that she needed to explain further. "Right, but that's not the crazy bit."

"You being from a different dimension isn't the crazy bit?" Valkyrie asked incredulously, downing the rest of her glass and immediate moving to get the rest of the bottle. After Valkyrie got up, Hulk took the opportunity to ask a few questions of his own.

"What's dimenson?" He grunted, slurring the 'sion' at the end. He wasn't angry at the moment, but Naomi found that it was a little easier talking directly to Valkyrie than it was the giant green rage machine. 

"It's uh, a different version of Earth. Same planet, but different people and stuff." She explained, hoping the point got across.

"So," The Hulk took his time, thinking through what she had said. "Not Earth."

Naomi let out a conflicted breath, unsure whether or not to correct him. "Kind of, yeah." She said. Hulk seemed pleased enough with that, and didn't bother to ask anything else. From the booze shelf, Valkyrie tossed a large bottle onto the couch, and ditched her glass in favor of drinking straight from the bottle.

"Right." Valkyrie sat down with a huff, booze in hand. "Crazy bit now."

"In my dimension, all of this," Naomi gestured to the room around them, and to the rest of the planet outside the window. "And actually, all of you-" She pointed to Valkyrie, Hulk, and even Adelina before lowering her hands. "Are fiction. You are stories we tell and even movies we watch- generally, the movies center around the Avengers, and some other assorted superheroes."

Needless to say, their reactions to the news were varied. Valkyrie arched a brow at her whilst chugging down whatever was in her bottle. Adelina, who hadn't heard the full extent of where Naomi was from, stared at her with a clouded expression, a bit put-off. The Hulk frowned, getting frustrated for the first time since he met Naomi since she kept saying strange things and using words he didn't understand. "Hulk not story. Hulk real." He snarled at her, throughly terrifying the poor woman who was just trying to stop a purple asshole from getting his rock collection.

"I know, I know! You're real, I know that now." Naomi hastened to pacify him before things turned ugly. "On Earth, my Earth, we tell stories about you, about all the heroes. We love you guys." She said. Hulk and Valkyrie both frowned, sensing that she was completely serious about what she was saying.

"Earth hate Hulk." He said, staring at her in confusion, his anger dissipated. By his side, Valkyrie played with the empty bottle, mulling over her thoughts silently.

"Not my Earth. We love Hulk." Naomi smiled, albeit a bit bashfully. It was true though- her dimension couldn't get enough of the big guy. Last Halloween, she saw several children dressed as him, with little muscle suits and plastic masks. Hulk himself had a surprised expression on his face, a rare smile on his lips. Naomi felt quite proud then, that she had made the Incredible Hulk smile.

"Hulk like her." He commented to Valkyrie, looking down at the woman who was still undecided as to whether she trusted the brunette. Naomi was positively beaming now, making a giddy face at Adelina- who seemed shocked that Naomi had managed to win over the savage and terrifying champion that famously murdered everyone who fought him. He was quite nice actually. When he wasn't murdering in the heat of battle, of course.

"Okay." Valkyrie interrupted, bringing the conversation back to its original point. "Let's say I believe you. What's this fight you were on about?" Everyone leaned in toward Naomi, eager to hear about the mysterious battle that she had been constantly talking about, but never explained.

"It's a war, actually. This guy called Thanos is going to try to wipe out half the universe with these things called infinity stones, and we need to stop him." Naomi nodded.It was painfully watered down, but she had a feeling that Hulk and Valkyrie would stay for the entire lecture on Infinity War like several other heroes had. In fact, Hulk was already nodding along to agree to the  fight. "It would involve brining you two, and possibly others to Earth to meet up with everyone else."

Hulk was less excited about that, but refrained from commenting and decided that all this talk earned him a bath. Grunting, he left his seat and made for the hot tub- Naomi averted her eyes incase she made the same mistake Thor had.

"I think you're insane." Valkyrie said. It was a simple statement, and somehow Naomi wasn't offended. She could admit that Valkyrie didn't have much reason to trust her- didn't have any reason actually.

"I know you don't believe me- but I can prove it, kinda." Naomi offered. "Not too long from now, two men are going to fall out of one of the wormholes into the junkyard. It would actually be great If you could pick them up." Valkyrie let out a breath, willing to go along with it for now.

"And who might these two men be?" She asked.

"The princes of Asgard.." Naomi trailed off, as Valkyrie's face screwed up in confusion.

"Princes? You don't mean to tell me Odin had more kids?" Valkyrie groaned, rubbing her temples, no doubt remembering how well his first child went. "Tell me they don't have black hair and a tendency to try and conquer planets."

Naomi stayed silent for a long moment, and Valkyries eyes widened in disbelief the longer they lingered in silence. Adelina sat looking between them, thoroughly confused. Eventually, Naomi worked up to courage to embarrassedly say, "Only one of them."

Valkyrie got herself about six more bottles.