Okay since it’s nearly the first day of fall (only a couple more hours 😂) I was hoping to request something with either the reader taking Hela to their family’s house for Thanksgiving or with Hela taking the reader to meet her parents idk why I just thought it’d be hilarious 🤷♀️
A/N: This turned out to be a lot more... serious than I intended for it to be when setting out to write it, but over the course of a week writing it... this is what happened. The prompt should tell you how long some of these requests have been sitting in my inbox, oops. Disregarding the fact that it’s currently February, please enjoy Thanksgiving shenanigans with the Odinkids~
WC: 4292
Rating: G
TW: Homophobia
“Y/N, it’s not too late to back out, right? Why don’t wejust go back to the hotel and we can cuddle and watch a movie and maybe take abath together, and get into some shenanigans…?”
You had to laugh at Hela’s weak plea.
It hadn’t exactly been her idea to go to Thanksgiving withthe rest of her family, but you had been the one to find the invitation Thorhad sent the pair of you in the post, and you’d done your best to convince Helato RSVP for it. You’d known that things had been fairly rough between Hela andher parents growing up, and that they’d kicked her out at some point, but youhad a feeling you didn’t, and wouldn’t ever, know the full story, and youdidn’t want to make her tell you, soyou’d simply never pushed it.
Hela had certainly seemed less than thrilled at the prospectof seeing her parents again, to the point she spent an hour telling you howmuch of a bad idea it would be to have all five of her family members under oneroof, but you’d done what you could to remind her that it would be differentbecause you’d been there, and thatyou wouldn’t let anyone be mean to her. It wasn’t until the promise of a rewardwhen you got back home that Hela finally caved, and even then, you knew it wasless that she wanted the reward of intimacy and more that she wanted to prove apoint to you by agreeing so that you could see how quickly things would godownhill.
Nevertheless, you’d made all the plans, booking a hotel roomand packing your car and making all the other necessary arrangements for theweekend. You’d even tried to make the whole road trip up to see them a game,playing I Spy with Hela in the car, and bringing all of her favorites sweetsand snacks so she’d be in a better mood.
But as soon as you’d pulled in the driveway for the actualdinner, Hela had started to become visibly less confident, and had resorted totrying to convince you to leave.
“Hela, we can’t go home after we already told them we’d behere. Besides, I think there’s someone at the door waiting for us. Is that…Thor? I can’t see from here.”
“Of course it’s Thor, he’s always the goody two-shoes whoshows up extra early so he can help and get on mom and dad’s good sides so theystay proud of him. Typical little shit.”She scowled and crossed her arms over her chest like a petulant child as shesank down in the passenger seat.
“Hela,” you chided softly, unbuckling your seatbelt so youcould turn to face her, reaching to take her hand in both of yours. “I guarantee you, everything is going to beokay. And if it isn’t then you get to say ‘I told you so’ as soon as we getback in the car to go back to the hotel. Okay?”
Hela didn’t look at you the entire time you spoke, stillscowling at nothing as she faced out of the windshield, but eventually shenodded once, and gave your hand the slightest squeeze, and you smiled, bringingher hand up so you could kiss her knuckles gently.
“Thank you. Now, let’s go. You have the wine we brought?”
“…I wasn’t supposed to drink it?”
You gave her a look,one eyebrow raised, and she sulked, though you couldn’t decide if it wasbecause you hadn’t fell for her joke, or because she was still being a littlegrumpy.
“Fine, fine. But I wishI’d drank it. I’m gonna need it.”
“You get drunk in there and start swinging insults, and noreward when we get home. Understood?” You knew you were being a little harsh,but you knew that Hela tended to make not so great decisions when she drank alittle too much, and you were not preparedto be the mediator for that tonight.
“Yes, ma’am,” she retorted, with just enough brattiness thatyou knew she was just trying to get a rise out of you now.
You simply rolled your eyes and opened your door. “Come on.Before Thor comes to drag us in himself.”
You heard Hela mutter something about the likelihood of himdoing just that, but you busied yourself with getting your purse and the piesyou’d stress-made the night before when you realized you should probably bring something besides a host gift. By thetime you’d rounded the back of the car to where Hela was standing, she wasalready cradling the two different wine bottles you’d chosen, still sulking abit, but you could tell that, under all her petulant, childish grumpiness, shewas nervous, and it made you soften a little.
“…hey. You know I love you. Right?”
Hela seemed to soften, as well, as she turned back to lookat you. “…I love you, too. Can we just… get this over with?”
You nodded, and leaned up to kiss her cheek chastely beforegesturing for her to walk in front of you.
As you’d thought, Thor was at the door, holding it open foryou once he saw you coming up the walkway. “Sister. Fiancée-in-law. Lovely tosee you both, as always.” He tried to reach an arm out for Hela, but she onlyscowled at him, and shoved a wine bottle into his hand instead, before continuinginto the house, and Thor watched her for a moment before looking back at you.“How much convincing did it take her to agree to come?”
“More than I’d care to admit. We just spent five minutessitting in the car while she tried to talk me out of it. Again.” You huffed outa laugh, and let Thor hug you awkwardly while you both tried not to drop whatyou were holding. “She’ll… be okay, though. I’ll make sure.”
Thor nodded, and you did as well, and for a short moment, anawkward silence fell over the two of you as you watched Hela disappear around acorner.
“Ah… Kitchen?” you asked, glancing down at the baked goodsin your arms, and Thor seemed to come back to himself a bit.
“Yes. Right this way, I’ll show you.”
You’d expected Hela’s childhood home to be somewhatgrandiose, as you knew she and her whole family had come from decent money, butyou hadn’t expected a kitchen the entire size of your apartment when Thor ledyou around the corner. You couldn’t help but to stare at all the counter andcabinet space a little jealously. What you wouldn’t give to have this muchspace in your kitchen.
“You can set them right here.” He gestured to a counterwhere you could see an almost comical amount of different dishes and dessertslaid out. You were pretty sure you’d seen entire bakeries without this muchfood in them.
“It’s a beautiful house. Do you miss living here?” You hadto make some kind of conversation tofill the silence in the room that was quickly becoming more and more awkward.
“Sometimes. But it’s nice to have my own place. Well, Imean, I share it with Loki, you know, but… still. I don’t think… any of us could stand living here anylonger.”
You bit back the urge to mention that Hela hadn’t had achoice in continuing to live there, but didn’t want to be the one to cause anydrama when you’d specifically told Helanot to, so you just nodded in response instead.
“Yeah. Sometimes you just have to get away from home. Whenit’s time, it’s time.” You smiled a little. “Speaking of Loki, are they hereyet? Have you seen them?”
“We came together, actually. That took some convincing, too.I believe they’re in the living room. I imagine that’s where Hela is. Shealways liked Loki more than me. Sometimes I feel like I’m the adopted one of the bunch.” He laughed, you didn’t, but itseemed he didn’t want to sink back into the tense silence, either, because hecontinued almost immediately. “Let’s go find them.”
You let Thor lead the way into another room, a grandioseliving room done up in rich golds and earthy hues that made you feel like you’dstepped into a room straight out of some sort of palace in a fantasy film. Yourelaxed when you saw Loki and your girlfriend standing off to one side talking,though you couldn’t help but to feel nervous already, given that she had aflask in her hand that she was passing back to Loki.
“Sister, Loki, there you two are. You left me all alone withY/N in the kitchen. Some help you both are.” His voice was light and teasing,and you wanted to laugh when Hela and Loki both rolled their eyes and flippedhim off. It was rather in characterfor them, after all.
Thor let it roll off his back, and as he went up to talk toLoki, you sidled up to Hela, eyes narrowed, but before you could even sayanything, Hela heaved a sigh.
“I know. I said no alcohol, but look, it’s really… weirdbeing back here. Everything’s different, nothing is the way I remembered it,and it just… feels wrong being here. And I haven’t even seen my parents yet, so who knows how awkward that’s going to be.”
You put a gentle hand on her wrist to stop her fromspiraling any further. “Hels, I’m not mad that you’re drinking. Realistically,I knew you would. I can’t imagine how it feels to be back where you were oncetold you were unwanted. There’s bound to be a lot of emotions running high, Iget that. I do. I just… Don’t want you to make things any worse. You know that.Right?”
Hela nodded once, and glanced around the room, though youcouldn’t tell if she was sizing the place up because she was bored or becauseit was unfamiliar to her. “…you wanna see my room? Assuming I still have aroom, I mean. Could be a broom closet now, for all I know.”
You smiled a bit, though it was tense and a little forced.“Darling, I think we should stay down here. I don’t want your parents to see uswandering and get the wrong idea.”
Hela smirked. “And what idea would that be?”
You scowled playfully. “You know exactly what it is, and I’m not falling for your mischief tonight,so.”
“You’re no fun,” she grumbled, though she put an arm aroundyou and pulled you close, nuzzling her nose against your cheek and kissing yourjaw in a rare show of public affection that made you smile.
“Blech. Gross. Go be an adorable couple somewhere else,”Loki insisted, in that tone you could never decide was serious or playful. Theysmiled at you, all the same, and you smiled, as well.
“Good to see you again, Loki. How have you been?”
“Dreading this as much as my sister has.” They stopped totake another sip from the flask. “It’s been a bit since I’ve seen them, too.Things got… weird, after I found out I was adopted. I’m sure Hela’s told youall about that.”
She had, but you didn’t want to overstep any boundaries.“So, why did you all agree to come, if you’re… nervous to be here?”
“Free food.”
“Free booze.”
Loki and Hela spoke at the same time, which would have beenamusing in and of itself, but then Thor chimed in in a voice so innocent thatit made the whole thing far more hilarious.
“…to see my parents.”
You nodded. “…fair enough.”
Loki opened their mouth to speak again, but the sound offootsteps coming from another room caused everyone to turn around just in timeto see Hela’s mother step into the room.
“Well, I see everyone else has made it safely.”
Loki was the first to approach her, and you’d never seenthem look as small as they did when they hugged their mother. It was souncharacteristic that you weren’t entirely sure that you were watching the sameperson who always seemed so cunning and sharp-witted and quick-tongued. Thorstood to the side, and you assumed he’d already had taken the time for helloswith his parents.
As Loki stepped away, all eyes went to Hela, and the roomgrew uncomfortably stiff and silent while everyone waited for someone to move or say something. Youcould feel Hela’s grip on your hand tighten slightly, but she said nothing,even as her mother crossed the room to stand in front of her.
“Hela, sweet girl, it’s been far too long.” She steppedforward to carefully wrap Hela up in a hug, and you could feel Hela tenseslightly, even as she let go of your hand. She didn’t return the hug; ratherjust stood there and let it happen, as though she had lost all control of herbody and was watching the exchange happen from a distance.
Eventually, she drew back from her, patting her arm gently beforelooking over at you. “And you must be Y/N.”
You smiled a little awkwardly, still feeling the thicktension residing in the room. “I must be.”
“I’m Frigga. We’re so glad to have you here with us tonight.Welcome to the family.”
Before you could even comprehend what was happening, shehugged you, and you were surprised athow comfortably you settled into it. You’d never met Frigga before tonight, butyou’d heard stories from all three of her children about how she was a bettermother than any of them deserved, and you had to admit, she exuded the most angelic motherly energy you’d ever feltfrom a person in your life, includingyour own mother. You didn’t even have the heart to tell her that you didn’tthink you quite counted as part of the family just yet.
When she stepped back from you, she patted your cheekaffectionately, and then turned so everyone could see her a little better.“Your father’s already in the dining room. Shall we eat?”
“Let’s,” Thor responded before anyone else could sayanything, and he followed his mother out of the room, Loki following at a shortdistance behind them.
Hela, however, stayed where she was. You could tell thereality of seeing her father again years after he’d kicked her out was finallycatching up to her, and you softened, stepping in front of her so that she hadto look at you.
“Hey… It’s gonna be okay. I’ll be with you the whole time. Andif he says something completely and totally out of line, then we’re gone.”
Hela looked at you skeptically. “…just like that?”
“Just like that. And we’ll never come back again, if youdon’t want to. Deal?”
Hela nodded, and cupped your face, pressing her forehead toyours before kissing you gently. “…alright. Let’s do this.”
You let Hela take you by the hand, and prayed to whatevergod that might be listening that things would go smoothly during dinner.
In retrospect, you should have known dinner was going to beas awkward as it ended up being. The tension was so thick between Hela and herfather alone that you mused you could pick up the butter knife on the table andcut right through it.
Loki and Thor managed small talk amongst themselves and withtheir mother, but Hela and her father, sat the furthest apart from each other,didn’t utter a word, even when they were addressed by someone else. The staringcontest between them was so tangible that no one seemed to want to be caught inthe line of fire, even going so far as to quickly grab dishes and glasses fromthe table as though reaching across it would put them directly in the line offire.
By some miracle, everything managed to stay polite enough,until it was time for dessert. You weren’t sure if you had missed somethingwhile you were looking somewhere else, some sideways glance or eye roll or something, but all of a sudden Hela wasfuming, gripping her empty wine glass so hard that you thought she might snapthe stem right off.
“If you have something you want to say to me, out with it.I’m a big girl, whatever you want to throw at me, I can take it.”
For what it was worth, she didn’t sound as drunk as youthought she might be, but it was little comfort. Hela didn’t need alcohol toassist in confrontation. She’d just been biding her time long enough that shesimply couldn’t anymore.
From the other end of the table, you heard Frigga sigh, andyou glanced across the table to see Thor pointedly looking down at his plate,and Loki hiding in their glass. You knew they were waiting to see how thisplayed out without interfering, and you couldn’t help but to realize you werein the exact same situation. Nothing you said or did would make any differenceat this point, and it was better to let Hela air out whatever frustrations shehad with her father and be done with it. Maybe it wouldn’t be as bad as any ofyou were worried it would be.
“I just don’t understand why you feel the need to flauntit.”
You looked up just in time to see her father gesturingbetween you and Hela, and immediatelyfelt your heart sink. It was, in fact, going to be much worse than you were worried it would be.
“Odin…” you heard Frigga murmur warningly, but it was toolate, and everyone knew it.
Hela reacted as you expected she would, slamming her glassdown on the table, miraculously without shattering it, and standing, handsslamming against the table.
“You’re the same now as you were then, cruel and hurtful andpathetic. I’ve never done anything to hurt you, we’ve never done anything to hurt you.Why do you hate that I love women? Isit because I ruined what you thought was going to be your picturesque, perfectlittle family?” She sneered then, nodding to herself when Odin averted his gazefrom her. “That’s why you kicked me out, right? I no longer served a purpose to the family. I was no good to you. I was never good enough for you. Well, guess what, father. I don’t need your permission on who to love. I don’t needyour blessing or even your enthusiasm. I’m marrying Y/N, and you’re going todeal with it. Even if that means I never see you again.”
You risked another glance across the table to see both Thorand Loki looking at you apologetically. You’d known about Hela getting kickedout, but you hadn’t known the context. It made your heart ache, to think abouta teenaged Hela being thrown to the streets just because of who she loved. Youmade a mental note to talk to her about it at a later time, when she was readyand willing to.
“I just think that you could have done so much better,Hela.” Odin’s voice was calm and collected, and it kind of made you want topunch him in the face, if you knew you’d make it out without consequences.
As it was, you felt your mouth opening as though you wantedto respond, but Hela spoke before you even had the chance to decide what youwanted to say.
“…that’s where you’re wrong. I’m the one that doesn’t deserve her. Y/N has been everything that I never knew that I needed, andI’m absolutely lucky that she’s stuck with me as long as she has. She’s kindand she’s gentle and she’s loving,and she loved me when I didn’t know if I knew how to be loved or to love in return, but she taught me. Reassuredme that I’m not what the past has made me. I’m better than that, and I’m better than you. And god, I don’t deserve her. I don’t think I ever will.” Shepaused, and you stole a quick glance up at her only to see that she was lookingat you, with that look in her eyes that melted your heart and warmed your verysoul. “But I’ll be damned if I don’t spend every day of the rest of my lifetrying to.”
You smiled softly, and let her take your hand and gentlypull you to your feet.
“We’re going now. This was… Well, it was.” She turned to Frigga then, who looked more apologetic thananyone else at the table. “Thank you for dinner, and for the invitation,mother.”
Frigga dipped her head in a nod, and stood, as well. “Let mefix you some leftovers to take home with you.”
Hela nodded, as well, and looked back at Odin, and you knewthere was a small part of her that was still hopeful. That wanted her father totake back what he said and be a real,supportive father figure to her. Butall he did was take a long sip of wine and return to his dinner plate, and youcould practically feel Hela wilt that very last bit.
“…come on. Let’s go,” you murmured softly, tugging her handto get her to come along with you, and as you left the room, you heard thescraping of several chairs behind you, smiling when you realized that Hela’ssiblings had left the table with their mother, following you into the kitchen.
As soon as everyone was gathered by the kitchen island,Frigga immediately pulled Hela into a hug, and surprisingly, she melted intothe embrace with such a defeated look that you thought she might burst intotears right on the spot, regardless of her detestation for crying in front ofpeople.
“My little love, I’m so sorry. I really thought that by now,he would have…”
Hela shook her head, looking pitifully small as her mothercradled her. “I didn’t. If he had, he would have reached out by now. It’s why Ididn’t want to come.” She spoke matter-of-factly, but you knew her well enoughby now to know she was deeply suppressingher emotions.
“And I shouldn’t have pushed you.”
“Nor should I have.” Thor stepped up to his sister and triednot to look alarmed when Hela let himhug her while Frigga started moving around the kitchen. “I knew this might havehappened, and I still continued to push you to come.”
“Well, I could have told you definitively that this wasgoing to happen. I remember how he reacted when I told him I was genderfluid.”Loki shuddered at the memory, and took a lengthy sip from the wine glass they’dbrought along with them.
“Don’t worry about returning any of these dishes, darlings.A small price to pay.”
You looked up to see that Frigga had filled a rather large bag with all sorts of containersand dishes holding various food leftover from the meal. It made your heartsimultaneously soar and ache at the gesture.
“Thank you,” you murmured, taking the bag from her as youlooked back to Hela, who was still being comforted by her siblings. “I’ll… talkto her. Make sure she’s okay on the ride home.”
Frigga nodded, and wrapped you up in a brief, though gentle,hug. “…I know she’ll likely never come back here again, but… do let her know,if she ever wants to meet for dinner or coffee or anything, I’m only a phonecall away.”
You nodded, smiling faintly. “…thank you so much, for yourhospitality. Other than… the obvious, it really was very lovely to meet you andto share dinner with you and your children.”
If Frigga noticed you left out her husband in the statement,she didn’t show it, only nodded in response. “You’d better get on the road.It’s getting late.”
“Hotel’s only a few minutes away, we’ll be fine.” You lookedover to Hela, who was standing between her siblings, who each held a hand. “Youready to go?”
Hela gave a slightly more dignified nod, and you could tellshe was putting her walls back up, bit by bit. You let her say goodbye toeveryone, and you did, as well, thanking them for their support and company,and promising them you’d see them all again soon.
It wasn’t until you got back to your car and got yourselfand all the food situated that Hela finally spoke. “…I’m sorry that you had tohear all that. I… If I’d known he’d be thatblatant about it.”
You shook your head. “We don’t have to talk about it rightnow. Or about him kicking you out. Not until you’re ready. Okay?”
You could tell Hela was relieved. As long as you’d beentogether, she still had things she didn’t like or want to talk about, and you knew she appreciated that you let herhave that space.
“…I love you. So much. More than you’ll ever know.”
You smiled softly, and leaned over to kiss her gently. “AndI love you the same. Always.” You turned back around so you could start thecar, switching gears so you could back down the driveway. “And hey. You did tell me so.”
Hela could only laugh, and you did the same, letting hertake your hand as you drove down the street and away from the house.