𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐍𝐄 rang a third time, she finally looked at it. To her surprise it was Thor. She sniffled and wiped away her tears, put away the wine bottle, she had straight drunk out of, then she accepted the call. "Hey." Thor sighed in relief. He had had a bad feeling and had tried to reach her, just to make sure she was fine. "Lady Mara! Is everything okay?" She frowned. How'd he know? Instead of telling him, she forced a smile onto her face. "Yeah, everything's fine. What's up?" She heard a faint noise of music. "Oh, nothing. I..." he started. He didn't think further than this. What should he say? 

    "I saw a light inside your shop", he quickly said. "Just wanted to make sure, nobody was breaking in." Mara chuckled. "No, yeah that's just me." She slid her hand over the floor. "No need for the mighty Thor to come and save the day." She chuckled at her own words. "Well, okay then." Thor had no idea what to say. He heard a rumble in the background and then a sigh. "Yup, just me," she repeated. 

     Silence. Then, Thor cleared his throat. "Well, Lady Mara...", he started, but Mara started to speak at the same time. "Why are you up so late anyway?" She giggled. "Sorry, I didn't want to interrupt you." He smiled, just imagining her nose scrunching up as she did made him all warm inside. "No, you speak", he insisted. "I asked why you're still up? It's like", she took a quick look at her watch. "Three-thirty." He sighed. "I do not sleep well lately." Mara nodded in understanding, before realizing that he couldn't see her. "Oh", she said. "Yeah, me neither." 

    Mara hesitated. She really wanted to ask him to come over, to keep each other company. But she really did know him for barely a day. Was that too inappropriate? Not that he got the wrong idea. Oh screw it, she thought. "Wanna come over? I mean since you can't sleep either." She looked over to her wine bottle. "I've got booze." She heard Thor chuckle lowly. "Sure, I'll bring glasses." 

     Ten minutes later, he joined her on a blanket on the floor. Both a glass of wine in their hand, they talked through the night. 

    "Can I ask you something?" 

    She had her legs pulled close to her chest, her chin was resting on her knee. Thor couldn't help but think, the moonlight in her eyes made them shine as bright as stars. Her hair was all flowy around her head, curl after curl messily laid about, but still so beautiful.  He nodded slowly. "Were you scared?" He looked down at the wine in his hand as he thought about it. "Terrified," he then said. It was like he was reliving it for a moment. 

     Mara sensed that was a sensitive subject. "I'm sorry", she responded. Thor raised his head and looked into her eyes. Such beautiful eyes. "What about?" She set her glass aside. "You've lost many people. I'm sorry." He gulped. "Thank you", he said lowly. He couldn't quite realize that she was actually sorry for him. He put his glass aside, wine was not really his favorite kind of drink. 

    For a while, they just looked into each other's eyes. Nobody said anything, yet the silence wasn't uncomfortable, it was rather peaceful. They both wondered, why their eyes looked so familiar to each other. 

    "You know, nobody really said that before", he broke the silence after a while, making her eyebrows furrow in confusion. "What?" He shrugged. "Most people do not care, they just thank you." Mara pressed her lips together. "They do not think of us as people, you know? We're just heros." Mara scooted over to him and lay a hand on his arm. "I don't think that." He smiled. 

    Her hand felt small against his arm, yet it was warm and left him feeling weirdly safe. Mara smiled and looked into his eyes. The blue one had little gold sparks in them, she noticed. The brown one looked strange, almost see-through and she wondered what had happened. "You have really pretty eyes", he suddenly said. Her cheeks warmed up, as she looked away. 

    "Thanks." She didn't really believe him, her eyes were the thing she liked the least about herself. Plus, now they probably were all red and puffy from crying. His hand went up to her face, he cupped her cheek and raised her head back up to look at him. "I mean it, Mara." She smiled. That was the first time, he has said just her name. "Thank you", she repeated, but this time she believed him. 

    This moment felt so incredibly intimate, but not in a bad way. Mara felt like floating. Like she was on cloud nine. Thor felt the same way. Everything about her made him feel fuzzy and warm. Weirdly familiar, like he'd known her all his life. Like he wasn't alone anymore.

    He took a glance at her lips. They were red-stained from the wine they had drunk. She wet them, not aware of his glance. Her eyes flew to his lips instead. They were also red from the wine, she noticed. Their eyes met again. Thor looked down to her lips again and back to her eyes, catching her looking at his lips this time. Her mouth slightly curled up in a smile. They both leaned in at the same time. 

    When their lips met, it was like home. Nothing about it felt new. Like their lips had already met a thousand times before. Yet, it felt like fireworks. Simply magical. 

     His thumb stroke over her cheek, as he looked her in the eyes again. Those eyes, he felt so familiar with. He must have seen her in his dreams before, he couldn't explain it otherwise. Then, it hit him. The dream. 

    She realized at the same time. Where'd she had seen him before. In her dream. Day after day she had dreamed about him, holding her, gently cupping her face. On that field, the stormy sky above them. That dream, she had always forgotten. "I knew you were familiar", he whispered. She smiled. "Like we've known each other our whole lives." He nodded, still taking her in. Then, he kissed her again. 

     And finally, they weren't alone anymore.

~ 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓮𝓷𝓭 ~