Contest of Champions

59

Once we depart from Titan, Jane gets everyone organized and tells us when dinner will be served. Then we are dismissed and I spend the rest of the time in my room, lying on my bed until the sweat starts to flow and then standing by the window, staring out into space. I rub my fingers across Nebula's pin the entire time, the repetitive motion of my fingertips gliding over the smooth carved wood almost therapeutic.

Dinner is a quiet affair, with almost no one saying anything. The recap of the interview is watched in silence, with only Jane making any sort of comment about our performance. Then we all retire to our rooms and I am left with a long, damp night as I alternate between sleeping and sweating and pacing around the room restlessly, still sweating.

Between the thought of seeing my parents and Gamora again tomorrow and Veers coming to live in Asgard, I can't get a single coherent thought to cross my mind, just snippets and unintelligible words. Around two in the morning I fall asleep on top of the sheets, the quilt having been tossed to the floor earlier on. Although my sleep is fitful, I manage to receive a couple hours of rest before a knock sounds at my door.

My first instinct is to bolt out of bed, assuming a defensive position before I can even think about it. The twin daggers that appear in my hands I didn't even consciously summon; it's simply a reaction at this point, a result of my time in the Contest.

Gamora would have been pleased by my swift reaction.

With a sigh, I dispel the daggers and that thought from my head and walk to the door, opening it up to see Veers standing on the other side. She's wearing a faded green wraparound tunic with dark sweatpants and has her arms crossed over her chest.

"What is it?" I ask.

"Can't sleep," Veers answers apologetically, lifting her shoulders into a slight shrug. For a moment, we just stand there in silence, before she adds, "And I can't stand to stay in my room anymore."

I step aside and gesture for her to enter, and the Kree strides inside, her muscles stiffening slightly. After glancing out into the corridor and seeing no one out there, I shut the door and turn back to Veers.

This is slightly awkward, her being in my room. I know she's technically my girlfriend now, and that everyone in the entire galaxy probably knows about us being a couple. But still. My mother was always very strict about proper behavior when it came to the opposite sex, and so Gamora and Nebula were never allowed into the bedchambers of Thor and I, and vice versa, even just to hang out. Frigga would be frowning now if she had seen me let Veers into my room, but what was I supposed to do? I know what it's like to not be able to sleep.

Veers is standing by the window, staring out into space. There's a long moment where neither of us says anything. I take a look around my room, the quilt crumbled on the floor, and then Veers speaks. "I take it you can't sleep, either."

"Not really, no."

She turns around as I walk over to stand beside her. "You told me once that Asgard was fading," she says quietly. "Tell me about Asgard again, but this time tell me what I can expect." Her voice is devoid of emotion, simply resigned to the future. I can't help but be reminded of our conversation on the balcony, before the Contest, and how different this is from that.

"Asgardians don't like Kree," I say quietly, looking down at her. "But that isn't much of an indication for your future. We don't like Thanos, either, but Gamora and Nebula, his daughters, are tolerated."

"Tolerated," Veers repeats, her voice holding an edge of mockery. "That's what I want to be, of course. Tolerable."

I roll my eyes, despite myself. "Veers, come on. No, the people won't like you, but what does that say? My mother will ensure you adjust to Asgardian life. You'll be living in the palace, in the champions' wing, with Thor, Valkyrie, and I. It's not as bad as it sounds. Just...trust me, all right?" They're not fond of me, either. Then I remember how the people all knelt to me when I volunteered for Heimdall and don't bring up that final point.