Warrior's Heart |Thor|

09. Not Looking For A Fight, and Yet...

Esme hadn't been looking for a fight. Rather, it felt as though the fight searched for her.

It found her in the town she and Thor travelled to one night.

The two had wanted an evening out, to take a breather from their training and nature walks at Esme's place. Really, either could make an argument that the place was theirs, being that Thor had become a permanent resident. The unspoken big step felt more monumental than when Thor had proposed they get married all that time ago.

The two had finished up at one of the small restaurants when Esme's ears picked up the sounds of the beginning of a scuffle. When she saw a group of bullies harassing a couple—holding one woman hostage, beating the other one senseless—the need to stand up for the two surged in her.

This may not be my fight, but it's going to be. She walked calmly to the scene, well aware of the daggers she carried on her belt loop. If Thor called for her, she tuned him out. If he followed her to stop her, she would most certainly fight him off. She wasn't about to let this awful deed go unpunished.

"You may want to stop that," she said in a level tone. It was a group of six attackers, four men, two women.

"What, is it 'cause we're beating up one of your kind?"

Esme wrinkled her nose. "What's that supposed to mean?" She fingered one of the dagger hilts at her side. "I will give you one chance to leave them alone."

One of the men cracked his knuckles. "And if we choose to stay?"

"Then you're a complete idiot." Esme yanked out one dagger. Everyone before her were either gob-smacked or quaking slightly in fear. She was sure she saw one of the men piss himself. The smell of urine confirmed it.

"Four on one is pretty good odds," spoke a shorter man.

Not against an Asgardian it isn't.

"Doesn't seem like your boyfriend wants to help. What, will he get tired just walking the distance?"

"I'm not asking again. Leave the women alone and scurry off, unless you want to hop away in little pieces that I cut you into."

"I ain't afraid of you!"

Thor stood back as Esme charged. She unsheathed her second dagger. Her goal was not to kill, but to maim, to get her damn point across. A few slashes into one of the men sent him scuttling away. One of the two females was knocked out with an uppercut. Esme grabbed one of the taller men by the collar of his shirt, pushing him up off the ground.

When all was said and done, the only people left on the scene were Esme and the two women. She helped the one off the ground. She had a few scrapes on her face and grabbed around her stomach. Her partner rushed to her aid.

"Thank you," she blubbered.

"Why did they do that to you?"

"It's because they're jealous of what we've got," sneered the woman with the scrapes. "Or the fact that, you know, we don't love who society has always dictated that we do."

Esme cocked her head.

"We play for the blue team. Come on, you make it sound like you live under a rock."

While Esme had seen people of the same gender together, she had always thought they were merely friends...never romantic partners. While the concept was foreign, Esme firmly believed that as long as the two were happy, who was she to say it was right or wrong? "I might as well have been."

"You know, normal people wouldn't do that."

"Do what? Save someone in need of help? I believe I'm not the only decent being on this planet who would've done the same thing."

"In any case, we owe you," said the non-injured woman.

Esme waved off her thanks. "You really don't need to."

"We should probably be thanking your pal too over there. If he hadn't let you get here..."

As if Thor should get thanked for being a spectator. Esme let it go, though.

The pair nodded to Esme in thanks once more before walking the way Esme and Thor had been coming from. The women intercepted Thor as they crossed paths. The two briefly conversed with him, saying words Esme couldn't hear. Esme noticed the awed look in Thor's eyes once he parted ways with the women she had saved. She blew a dark lock away from her face.

"Didn't feel the need to lend a hand?" she retorted.

Thor smiled. "You had things handled. I had no reason to worry."

"A shame, really. It would've been cool to work together to take them down. Why do you look so happy that I harmed people? I mean, I know they deserved it, but still. Being happy about violence done to others isn't you."

"It's not even that. I forgot how quick you are as a fighter, Esme."

"Yes, well," Esme sheathed her daggers, "if I didn't intervene, those women would've been worse off." She scoffed. "I don't understand the prejudice. So what if others are different? There's no need to stomp on them for it."

"Some think it's unnatural."

"Well, screw them."

Thor nodded. "I believe this calls for a celebration."

"Does it now?"

"Yes, the women you saved offered to treat us to some drinks. They told me where to meet them once we were ready."

Esme frowned slightly. "They have no reason to repay...wait a second, treat 'us'? You didn't even do anything!"

"To them I did for allowing you to run into danger and rescue them."

"I suppose it wouldn't be a bad idea, even if they shouldn't feel obligated to pay me back. Will you be on your best behavior?"

"Why do you think I won't be?"

"There's going to be alcohol involved." Esme feared the taste for an overabundance would send him spiraling back down the path he was straying from. "That's a weakness of yours."

"Not so much anymore. It's not at the top of the list."

"What is, then?"

"That is something neither here nor there. We can't keep them waiting."