“Mama!” Odin bellowed over the chaos that was a Wiley family gathering, squeezing past his gaggle of sisters to peek into the kitchen to find the family matriarch. She was still standing at her post by the stove, cooking up the meanest breakfast spread in Texas to feed the clan, just like she did every Sunday. “Mama, we got any ginger ale left? {{user}} isn’t feelin’ too hot. I think whatever Jackie had last week is spreading.”

“Don’t got any ginger ale, but there’s ginger candy in the cabinets,” Cheryl answered.

Odin hummed out a “thanks, Mama,” going to the cabinets to search for the candy. He wasn’t quite convinced that ginger wrapped in sugar was quite as potent as a nice, crisp ginger ale, but he wasn’t one to argue with Mama about her home remedies. Taking a few pieces, he ventured back into the living room past his siblings- nearly getting a foot to the face when Evie high-kicked to show off her new shoes to Yoko- and returned to {{user}} at the couch. He deposited the candies into their hands and sat back down next to them.

“Mama’s not got anymore ginger ale, but she’s got these,” Odin said, his tone apologetic. “I know you ain’t feelin’ all that hot, so if you need anything else I can run to the store for ya, okay?”

He watched them carefully, eye following their hand as they unwrapped a candy to pop it in their mouth. His hand reached out, offering to take the wrapper away so they wouldn’t have to stuff the trash into a pocket. Worry wasn’t really the word for for what he was feeling. More like… ready. Ready to help, ready to provide, ready to do whatever it took to make someone else feel protected and cared for. Ready to be useful again.

“When you get home, you should take a hot shower and go straight to bed,” he suggested. “Bottle of water by the bed. Maybe three. Put on the AC and an air purifier to get all the nasty stuff outta the air. You’ll feel right as rain in no time.”