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Thor was uncertain, exactly, why his manner of dress seemed to be attracting positive attention of late instead of the usual confusion he was used to experiencing from those not of Asgard. He had long learned that the people of Midgard did not dress in his style and while those comrades-at-arms he knew as the Avengers did not care, the average person had a reaction ranging from laughter to hostility.

But that seemed to have changed. He had spent the morning in New York, enjoying what was certain to be only the start of a slide into autumn and when it began to rain, he had decided to come back to the hotel, yanking open a door that seemed to go into an abandoned building and ending up in the Nexus once more. While in New York, his attire seemed to be amusing to most and while a few told him that "Halloween is in a couple weeks, you're early," or something of that nature, most seemed agreeable.

Thor wasn't sure what Halloween was, exactly, so he hadn't thought much of it until he got a similar comment from the bartender in the hotel. They didn't normally speak much to him other than to say hello and ask what he wanted and he thought the comment strange, especially given New York, so he wondered if anyone could explain it to him. While he was far from shy, he did have some measure of pride and overcoming that pride to ask what seemed a simple question was often a battle within himself. In the end, his desire to know overwhelmed his desire to not look like a fool.

He sought out the library, then, and started looking among the books to see if there was a clue about this Halloween. He assumed it was a festival or holiday of some sort, based on the way it had been used, and he had pulled out a large tome that professed to be a compendium of known holidays around the world. While he wasn't stupid, his talents lay more in the physical and less in the mental and he wished that Jane could just explain it to him instead of him trying to find it in a book. It would take less time and probably be more enjoyable in the end; while he did not always know what she said, he always enjoyed listening to her say it.

He put the book down and put his face in his hands, trying to soothe his wearied eyes.

"If anyone can explain Halloween, I will buy you a round of any drink you desire."

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"From conversations I've had, it seems that I am not always a nice person," Thor said, laughing warmly.

"I assure you that I do not intend to use it to bring harm."

"It's not that you're not nice," Olaf explains as he would any oracular problem to someone he's speaking to, "but you're a bit batshit mad," he says point-blank. "And I tend to like my head where it is, so encouraging a crazy person with a hammer doesn't fall high on my to-do list."

"I assure you that Mjolnir is not going to be used on your head," Thor said, laughing warily. He really did not understand these other versions of himself.

"I apologize for anything my past version may have done?"

"Trust, man," Olaf says, grinning as he nods with appreciation. "Besides, the last story I heard was about Axl accidentally knocking a goat's brain out, clear in the pasture," Olaf confides. "Besides, it's not that Derrick did anything, per se, but he did almost try and pass a mortal for a goddess, which might have turned out pretty badly."

"Your life seems much different than most on Midgard," Thor said, equal parts amused and intrigued by that.

"Normally it is a lot...calmer, I've found."

Olaf shrugs idly and gives Thor a searching look. "Well, I'm not exactly as normal as everyone else in Midgard," he says. "So long as I stay away from Helheim and Nidavellir, I'm happy." Olaf wrinkles his nose. "I don't like dwarves. They smell like game. Much prefer giants," he says.

"I don't prefer giants," Thor said, making a face. "Frost giants are not a pleasant encounter in life. I have had not so pleasant experiences with them."

"Never met a frost giant," Olaf admits, but then, Bryn isn't exactly a giant by any measure of the word. Then again, watching one kidnap Zeb hadn't been pleasant, either. "You come from Asgard, then? Proper Asgard, before we walked amongst mortals?"

"Yes, where Odin the Allfather rules," Thor explained, unable to keep from smiling wistfully at that. He loved both Asgard and his father an immeasurable amount.

"But I am here, now, along with my brother Loki."

Olaf's face goes rather stony. "Loki," he echoes. Given the history the Johnson family has with Loki, he feels like maybe he's owed that. True, he's not owed as much revenge as Ty is, but he still feels for his grandson. "Can't say I get along very well with Lokis, in general."

"Neither am I," Thor admitted readily.

"But he is still my brother and I am honor bound to at least try with him, even if it is a futile effort. I have kept him in check here at the hotel thus far."

"Yeah, well, so long as he doesn't get out and burn my family to cinders for his daughter's own madness, we're good," Olaf promises, feeling strange at this cross-purpose, but still understanding that the universe is mad and will deliver situations like this to you without you wanting them.

"If it were my doing, I wouldn't have Loki here at all," Thor said easily enough.

"He is a menace to all that is good and whole in Midgard. He was in my custody before I came here, back in New York, and I am not sure how he is free here. He claims not to remember what happened but my brother, of course, is not to be trusted completely."

"Well, some things never change," Olaf comments, mostly to himself given that he's not entirely sure that he'll ever find a world where he'll meet a Loki who isn't the god of tricky fuckers. "You're definitely not what I expected of a Thor and I've seen about three iterations of them," he says, still marveling at all the hair and the muscles.

"And I gather that is a good thing, right?" Thor was of the opinion he needed to make up for all the other versions of himself he kept hearing about.

"The last Thor I met tried to marry off his mortal daughter, raised goats, and wielded his hammer like a man who was insecure about ... other things," Olaf informs him. "Do you keep goats?"

"No, livestock isn't anything I'm interested in," Thor said, making a slightly disgusted face at the thought of it.

"Horses are fine, when needed, but I am no farmer."