fenrir-the-monster-wolf:

iamthefirechild:

fenrir-the-monster-wolf:

iamthefirechild:

“Here, keep hold of my hand,” Summer directed when they arrived at Target. It, too, was packed with people. Summer threaded her way swiftly through the throngs, picking up three pairs of jeans and five shirts of various colours. She shoved them into Fenrir’s free arm and pointed. “Go in there and try these on. We need to see if they fit. Clothing isn’t made to your measure any more, it’s made in preset sizes.”

Trailing behind her like a child, Fenrir kept his hand within Summer’s. The store held all kinds of things he had never seen before, as well as many people. The store seemed divided into loose sections, and Fenrir was surprised to find how many different items were sold here. It seemed that specialized skill was no longer the dictator of what the shelves bore. He accepted the clothing when it was given to him, intrigued to find just how light it was. No leather, no metal (save for on two places towards the front of the trousers). “Thank you.” He said before entering one of the little boxes and shutting the door, as another man had just done. 

Fenrir looked at the already-made clothing before shrugging off the archaic scraps he had found in his cave. The material was oddly soft and offered little protection, but it was comfortable and easy to dress oneself in. There were odd accessories hanging off of the shirt and trousers that annoyed Fenrir, and he saw no purpose to their being there. They had English written all over them, and they hung on some kind of thick string. When he was properly dressed, he stepped outside the door, looking down at himself and adjusting the clothing here or there. “How is that?” He asked, honestly not knowing.

Summer bit her lip, smiling and looking him up and down. “You look human, certainly. Very casual. Now, if you want to dress up, that’s more work. But those fit well enough for your time here. Which reminds me, when should I have you back home?”

Fenrir turned to check the mirror briefly for himself before returning his attention to Summer. “I have until tomorrow, I suspect. I’ve been looking for a solution to prolong my humanity, but as of yet there are no dice.” He had heard that human expression once before, though it made no sense. Humanity had nothing to do with dice.

That smile had to be hidden; she did not want Fenrir to think she was making fun of him. “Have you asked your father?” she managed after a minute. Summer put her hands on Fenrir’s shoulders, very carefully, and turned him around, gently pushing him back into the changing room. “Real quick, have those off so I can pay for them, and then we’ll go wherever else you want.”

fenrir-the-monster-wolf:

iamthefirechild:

fenrir-the-monster-wolf:

iamthefirechild:

fenrir-the-monster-wolf:

iamthefirechild:

“This is a car. Humans have spread out so far we need mechanical assistance to travel from place to place quickly, and magic … isn’t really acceptable here.” Reaching in, she popped the door open and scrambled awkwardly across the gearstick to the driver’s seat. “It won’t hurt you; she just makes a big noise.” Summer petted the steering wheel. “She’s a good girl, my Lypiphera. We’ll just go really simple on the fashion, then: jeans and tee shirts. Target.” She smiled at Fenrir. “It’s overwhelming, I know. Even for me, the big city is scary.” Gently, she pushed a feeling of welcome and safety at Fenrir.

He nodded, accepting her responses. He hesitantly climbed into the passenger seat of her car, feeling odd somehow as he sat on the leather seats. The interior was cluttered with a variety of things Fenrir did not understand. Midgardians had complex means of transportation. What ever happened to chariots and goats? “She? This car is a female?” Named Lypiphera, apparently. He nodded again, not really knowing what ‘jeans’ and ‘t-shirts’ were, but willing to act like he did. “Alright, that sounds nice.” He suddenly felt much more at ease, though, and even settled back into his seat. Perhaps he was getting used to the big city after all.

Carefully pulling out into the ever-present New York traffic, Summer laughed a little. “It’s a human tradition to, hmm, personalise many of the inanimate things around them. Especially vehicles. Interestingly, the gender is usually female.” She threw a swift glance at Fenrir, admiring his profile as he gazed around in wonder, and let silence fall for the rest of the short drive.

Inanimate. The car was not alive, but it was moving and making noise. And it had been given a gender… Midgardian culture today had surely changed. He nodded, staring out the window at what they passed by. “I see.” He muttered to himself, already distracted with what he was seeing. There were people everywhere—not to mention cars flooded every road. The city was alive with movement and noise, effectively culture shocking Fenrir with everything he had missed by spending his life in a cave.

“Here, keep hold of my hand,” Summer directed when they arrived at Target. It, too, was packed with people. Summer threaded her way swiftly through the throngs, picking up three pairs of jeans and five shirts of various colours. She shoved them into Fenrir’s free arm and pointed. “Go in there and try these on. We need to see if they fit. Clothing isn’t made to your measure any more, it’s made in preset sizes.”

Trailing behind her like a child, Fenrir kept his hand within Summer’s. The store held all kinds of things he had never seen before, as well as many people. The store seemed divided into loose sections, and Fenrir was surprised to find how many different items were sold here. It seemed that specialized skill was no longer the dictator of what the shelves bore. He accepted the clothing when it was given to him, intrigued to find just how light it was. No leather, no metal (save for on two places towards the front of the trousers). “Thank you.” He said before entering one of the little boxes and shutting the door, as another man had just done. 

Fenrir looked at the already-made clothing before shrugging off the archaic scraps he had found in his cave. The material was oddly soft and offered little protection, but it was comfortable and easy to dress oneself in. There were odd accessories hanging off of the shirt and trousers that annoyed Fenrir, and he saw no purpose to their being there. They had English written all over them, and they hung on some kind of thick string. When he was properly dressed, he stepped outside the door, looking down at himself and adjusting the clothing here or there. “How is that?” He asked, honestly not knowing.

Summer bit her lip, smiling and looking him up and down. “You look human, certainly. Very casual. Now, if you want to dress up, that’s more work. But those fit well enough for your time here. Which reminds me, when should I have you back home?”

fenrir-the-monster-wolf:

iamthefirechild:

fenrir-the-monster-wolf:

iamthefirechild:

fenrir-the-monster-wolf:

He was pulled from his curious head-swiveling by Summer’s voice. “I shall do so.” He replied, though he already had enough questions to try the patience of the being the mortals referred to as ‘the Buddha’. They continued walking for a time before Fenrir was brought before some form of very small, metal-and-glass house. No, it was on wheels. But there were seats in it. Some form of strange cart? His brows knotted together, and he scratched his chin at the odd thing. He gave her a surprised look. “In that? What is this thing?” The marvel was not absent from his tone. “Uh… I know nothing of Midgardian fashion, so I suppose I do not. Mayhaps you would be so kind as to help me with that as well?” He asked with a tinge of sheepishness.

“This is a car. Humans have spread out so far we need mechanical assistance to travel from place to place quickly, and magic … isn’t really acceptable here.” Reaching in, she popped the door open and scrambled awkwardly across the gearstick to the driver’s seat. “It won’t hurt you; she just makes a big noise.” Summer petted the steering wheel. “She’s a good girl, my Lypiphera. We’ll just go really simple on the fashion, then: jeans and tee shirts. Target.” She smiled at Fenrir. “It’s overwhelming, I know. Even for me, the big city is scary.” Gently, she pushed a feeling of welcome and safety at Fenrir.

He nodded, accepting her responses. He hesitantly climbed into the passenger seat of her car, feeling odd somehow as he sat on the leather seats. The interior was cluttered with a variety of things Fenrir did not understand. Midgardians had complex means of transportation. What ever happened to chariots and goats? “She? This car is a female?” Named Lypiphera, apparently. He nodded again, not really knowing what ‘jeans’ and ‘t-shirts’ were, but willing to act like he did. “Alright, that sounds nice.” He suddenly felt much more at ease, though, and even settled back into his seat. Perhaps he was getting used to the big city after all.

Carefully pulling out into the ever-present New York traffic, Summer laughed a little. “It’s a human tradition to, hmm, personalise many of the inanimate things around them. Especially vehicles. Interestingly, the gender is usually female.” She threw a swift glance at Fenrir, admiring his profile as he gazed around in wonder, and let silence fall for the rest of the short drive.

Inanimate. The car was not alive, but it was moving and making noise. And it had been given a gender… Midgardian culture today had surely changed. He nodded, staring out the window at what they passed by. “I see.” He muttered to himself, already distracted with what he was seeing. There were people everywhere—not to mention cars flooded every road. The city was alive with movement and noise, effectively culture shocking Fenrir with everything he had missed by spending his life in a cave.

“Here, keep hold of my hand,” Summer directed when they arrived at Target. It, too, was packed with people. Summer threaded her way swiftly through the throngs, picking up three pairs of jeans and five shirts of various colours. She shoved them into Fenrir’s free arm and pointed. “Go in there and try these on. We need to see if they fit. Clothing isn’t made to your measure any more, it’s made in preset sizes.”

fenrir-the-monster-wolf:

iamthefirechild:

fenrir-the-monster-wolf:

iamthefirechild:

He looked her over from his new vantage point, awkward and disused to life on two limbs. Feeling under-dressed in the clothing he had found in his lair, among the bones of past victims, he self-consciously drew a pelt about his shoulders. It was cold without fur anyway. “Greetings.” His voice shouldn’t have surprised him, but it did. Somehow it still sounded similar… Just smaller, less of a rumble. Definitely more human.

Heya. Oh, dearling, you look cold. *makes a fuelless fire* D’you want me to take you shopping, get some actual warm clothes for that long frame?

The once-wolf blinked, feeling like a child for his ignorance. It was an uncomfortable feeling, but not quite embarrassment. “Pardon… What is shopping?”

She laughed a little, a friendly laugh. “Of course, you wouldn’t know. Shopping, a trade of one item for another. In my culture, the trade is usually money for a made item.”

A light went on and Fenrir suddenly felt silly for asking. “Ah, forgive me. I know the meaning but not the term.” He smiled, white teeth flashing against the contrast of dark facial hair. His bright eyes gleamed. “This sounds as if it could be a fun venture.” 

A thought suddenly struck him. “I have no money.” And then another. “And I’m bound to the cave.” He frowned, looking down at Gleipnir still wrapped around his ankle. He wondered if maybe he would be able to undo the binding… So long as he was back in his chains before he returned to his natural form… Or before anyone could find out.

“Huh. Money I can handle. Chains … ” She knelt down beside the chain and touched it gently. “Well, here goes nothing.” Summer dumped heat into the metal.

Fenrir’s now-sensitive eyes glanced away from the explosion of hot metal when it lit up like a flame. When he turned back the chain was white-hot and melted on the floor, pooled around itself and seeming as if it would begin to cool. Fenrir suspected that somehow Gleipnir would repair itself. But it would take some time.

He grinned at Summer in thanks and stood, unsure how to show her his gratitude. “Thank you, Lady Summer. I owe you a tremendous amount for this.” For the first time since he was a child, he actually had the freedom to leave.

She grinned back. “Nah. No one should be chained against their will.” She held out a hand. “Come on! There’s so much to being human you should see!”

“Agreed.” He reached out his own hand to clasp hers. The feel of skin on skin surprised him, but the opportunity to hold another’s hand in his kept him from recoiling. “Aye, and I’m eager to see as much as I am able.”

A twist of Summer’s hand called a fiery portal into being. Still holding Fenrir’s hand, she jumped through it, emerging in a dense copse of trees in Central Park. With a big smile, she turned to grin at him. “Welcome to Midgard!”

Fenrir’s body froze as he emerged on the other side of the portal, though he soon began to turn in order to take in his surroundings. It was sensory overload for the once-wolf. All of the people, the sounds, buildings, animals, scents, sights… the warm air. Fenrir found it hard to tear away from one thing long enough to ogle another.

“This realm… is far beyond anything I had ever experienced…” Perhaps Asgard outshone Midgard in many ways, but he remembered little of the Realm Eternal. Midgard was vastly impressive.

“Truthfully, this is barely anything. On the other side of these trees is an enormous park, and all around that, for miles, is one of the biggest cities on Midgard. Millions of people.” Summer was still holding his hand, and squeezed it a little. “When you’re ready. There’s a lot more to see and do.”

He nodded though he did not agree and felt a lopsided smile stretch his features. “Mayhaps it is not in your eyes, Lady Summer, but when one has seen nothing but cave and snow for centuries even this mere section of your world is a thing of beauty.” He gave the area one more look-about and then nodded again, eyes on her now. “I am ready. Lead and I shall follow.”

Ducking through the trees led them to a path, which after some winding led them to the street. Summer took her time, letting her hand hang in Fenrir’s and commenting on particular things as they passed through Central Park. “Just cut me off if you have a question,” she said, once.

Once to the street, a few steps along revealed a smart burgundy-and-black convertible, top off. “In with you! Have you got any preferences for clothes style?”

fenrir-the-monster-wolf:

iamthefirechild:

He looked her over from his new vantage point, awkward and disused to life on two limbs. Feeling under-dressed in the clothing he had found in his lair, among the bones of past victims, he self-consciously drew a pelt about his shoulders. It was cold without fur anyway. “Greetings.” His voice shouldn’t have surprised him, but it did. Somehow it still sounded similar… Just smaller, less of a rumble. Definitely more human.

Heya. Oh, dearling, you look cold. *makes a fuelless fire* D’you want me to take you shopping, get some actual warm clothes for that long frame?

The once-wolf blinked, feeling like a child for his ignorance. It was an uncomfortable feeling, but not quite embarrassment. “Pardon… What is shopping?”

She laughed a little, a friendly laugh. “Of course, you wouldn’t know. Shopping, a trade of one item for another. In my culture, the trade is usually money for a made item.”

A light went on and Fenrir suddenly felt silly for asking. “Ah, forgive me. I know the meaning but not the term.” He smiled, white teeth flashing against the contrast of dark facial hair. His bright eyes gleamed. “This sounds as if it could be a fun venture.” 

A thought suddenly struck him. “I have no money.” And then another. “And I’m bound to the cave.” He frowned, looking down at Gleipnir still wrapped around his ankle. He wondered if maybe he would be able to undo the binding… So long as he was back in his chains before he returned to his natural form… Or before anyone could find out.

“Huh. Money I can handle. Chains … ” She knelt down beside the chain and touched it gently. “Well, here goes nothing.” Summer dumped heat into the metal.

Fenrir’s now-sensitive eyes glanced away from the explosion of hot metal when it lit up like a flame. When he turned back the chain was white-hot and melted on the floor, pooled around itself and seeming as if it would begin to cool. Fenrir suspected that somehow Gleipnir would repair itself. But it would take some time.

He grinned at Summer in thanks and stood, unsure how to show her his gratitude. “Thank you, Lady Summer. I owe you a tremendous amount for this.” For the first time since he was a child, he actually had the freedom to leave.

She grinned back. “Nah. No one should be chained against their will.” She held out a hand. “Come on! There’s so much to being human you should see!”

“Agreed.” He reached out his own hand to clasp hers. The feel of skin on skin surprised him, but the opportunity to hold another’s hand in his kept him from recoiling. “Aye, and I’m eager to see as much as I am able.”

A twist of Summer’s hand called a fiery portal into being. Still holding Fenrir’s hand, she jumped through it, emerging in a dense copse of trees in Central Park. With a big smile, she turned to grin at him. “Welcome to Midgard!”

Fenrir’s body froze as he emerged on the other side of the portal, though he soon began to turn in order to take in his surroundings. It was sensory overload for the once-wolf. All of the people, the sounds, buildings, animals, scents, sights… the warm air. Fenrir found it hard to tear away from one thing long enough to ogle another.

“This realm… is far beyond anything I had ever experienced…” Perhaps Asgard outshone Midgard in many ways, but he remembered little of the Realm Eternal. Midgard was vastly impressive.

“Truthfully, this is barely anything. On the other side of these trees is an enormous park, and all around that, for miles, is one of the biggest cities on Midgard. Millions of people.” Summer was still holding his hand, and squeezed it a little. “When you’re ready. There’s a lot more to see and do.”

He looked her over from his new vantage point, awkward and disused to life on two limbs. Feeling under-dressed in the clothing he had found in his lair, among the bones of past victims, he self-consciously drew a pelt about his shoulders. It was cold without fur anyway. “Greetings.” His voice shouldn’t have surprised him, but it did. Somehow it still sounded similar… Just smaller, less of a rumble. Definitely more human.

Heya. Oh, dearling, you look cold. *makes a fuelless fire* D’you want me to take you shopping, get some actual warm clothes for that long frame?

The once-wolf blinked, feeling like a child for his ignorance. It was an uncomfortable feeling, but not quite embarrassment. “Pardon… What is shopping?”

She laughed a little, a friendly laugh. “Of course, you wouldn’t know. Shopping, a trade of one item for another. In my culture, the trade is usually money for a made item.”

A light went on and Fenrir suddenly felt silly for asking. “Ah, forgive me. I know the meaning but not the term.” He smiled, white teeth flashing against the contrast of dark facial hair. His bright eyes gleamed. “This sounds as if it could be a fun venture.” 

A thought suddenly struck him. “I have no money.” And then another. “And I’m bound to the cave.” He frowned, looking down at Gleipnir still wrapped around his ankle. He wondered if maybe he would be able to undo the binding… So long as he was back in his chains before he returned to his natural form… Or before anyone could find out.

“Huh. Money I can handle. Chains … ” She knelt down beside the chain and touched it gently. “Well, here goes nothing.” Summer dumped heat into the metal.

Fenrir’s now-sensitive eyes glanced away from the explosion of hot metal when it lit up like a flame. When he turned back the chain was white-hot and melted on the floor, pooled around itself and seeming as if it would begin to cool. Fenrir suspected that somehow Gleipnir would repair itself. But it would take some time.

He grinned at Summer in thanks and stood, unsure how to show her his gratitude. “Thank you, Lady Summer. I owe you a tremendous amount for this.” For the first time since he was a child, he actually had the freedom to leave.

She grinned back. “Nah. No one should be chained against their will.” She held out a hand. “Come on! There’s so much to being human you should see!”

“Agreed.” He reached out his own hand to clasp hers. The feel of skin on skin surprised him, but the opportunity to hold another’s hand in his kept him from recoiling. “Aye, and I’m eager to see as much as I am able.”

A twist of Summer’s hand called a fiery portal into being. Still holding Fenrir’s hand, she jumped through it, emerging in a dense copse of trees in Central Park. With a big smile, she turned to grin at him. “Welcome to Midgard!”