Title: weekend getaway
Fandom: Thor (MCU movies)
Pairing: Jane / Thor
Rating: PG
Length: ~600 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written in one hour. Also written for the 'weekend getaway' prompt at card_writing.

Summary: compromise is good for relationships

Jane believes in compromise. It's good for relationships! Both people give a little, everyone gets what they want some of the time, and it's all good. At least, that's how it's supposed to be.

And Thor has been very supportive when she needs to take a weekend off in some foreign city for a conference. Well, to him they're all foreign cities, so she guesses that isn't too much of a change, really. But he handles spending most of the weekend actually inside the conference really well. A lot of people complain about going to Tokyo and seeing nothing but the same people they saw at the last conference and the inside of another hotel. Thor never seems to mind.

So yeah, he deserves to pick their destination this time, since Jane can actually take two whole days off from her research. Sure, she was thinking about spending the whole weekend in bed, but okay. Thor's turn to pick. Compromise. It's all good.

But this is too far.

"Camping? Seriously?" Jane shakes her head, hoping she heard him wrong. "Where we carry stuff on our backs while we walk to the middle of nowhere, sleep in flimsy canvas sacks, and get eaten alive by insects? That kind of camping?"

Thor looks surprised. "Are your insects truly so large as to eat a human alive?"

"It's a figure of speech."

"Ah. I have been told that your wilderness is majestic, and almost entirely safe."

"Almost? See, almost is a problem."

"I would protect you."

And that's almost certainly true. The worst they're likely to find out there are bears, and honestly, Thor could take on a bear or three by himself and have a grand time of it. Come to think of it --

"You're not planning on fighting any bears, are you? Because I think they're endangered species and we should leave them alone if we can.."

He doesn't laugh, or interrupt her, but he is looking at her with such fond patience that she feels, suddenly, incredibly embarrassed. He takes both of her hands in his, gently, and she loves him terribly, she does --

"Would you tell me why my suggestion causes you such distress?"

-- but it's so hard when he sees what she's trying to hide.

"I'm not frightened," she protests.

His patient look doesn't waver.

"It's just... it's so quiet," she says finally.

"But you were in the desert with no one around."

"In an RV! With a refrigerator and a television and a bunch of equipment that hummed all night, and two people who snored, and a highway nearby, and --" she realizes she's gripping his hands too hard, but can't seem to let go. "And it was still a little too quiet."

"Ah." Thor doesn't try to loosen her grip, either. "You've spent most of your life in cities. You feel safe with other people nearby, and the proof of your civilization."

"I know it's silly --" She wants to duck her head, but he won't let her look away.

"There is no need to be ashamed of your fears. I know you are no coward."

And with a sinking feeling, Jane realizes she's been completely maneuvered. Now that she's admitted that she's afraid, she won't be able to not go. Even if Thor backs down, she'll find the idea poking sharply at the back of her mind for the next month, until eventually, she has to poke back. She really hates being afraid of anything.

So she's going to do this. But she's damned if she's going to do it blind.

"So where were you thinking of going?" Jane tugs away from Thor and pulls out her phone, already starting to make a list of what she needs to know. "I'll need a couple of hours to research decent gear. And the weather patterns. Do you think we have enough sunscreen --"