Chapter 4

DAISY

A new day in the studio meant a new challenge, but I wasn't convinced I was ready for it. The judges' comments might have come via the presenters, but they weren't as complementary to my daisy chain as I'd have liked them to be, though thankfully they were still enough to get me through to round two.

I rubbed my arms, surprised by how chilly the room was, though I reckoned that would change almost as soon as the challenge got started.

I made my way over to my station, wanting to make sure that everything was in place. I couldn't do anything that would risk looking like cheating, but I could at least make sure things were in the right place so I didn't waste twenty minutes looking for a blow torch.

Thor was already in the station next to me, seeming to be focused on warping something with his hammer. I watched him for a moment, admiring the way his muscles flexed as he swung it. There was nothing showy about them, the way he moved made that clear.

He turned around, spotting me watching and I scrambled for something to say that didn't sound like I was an imbecile who only wanted to ogle him. "Hey, Daisy Chains ," he said.

"Hi, Thor." It still felt strange to call him that, but without actually knowing his real name, it wasn't like I could call him anything else.

"I like your flowers," he said, gesturing to my new sign. "How did you shape them?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Are you trying to work out how to beat me?"

"Absolutely." He grinned.

I laughed despite myself. "I shaped them by hand," I answered anyway. "I do it a lot when I'm sculpting."

An impressed expression crossed his face. "That explains a lot."

"It does?"

He nodded. "It's what I thought about your work before, there are lots of delicate pieces to them, which isn't something I'm good at." He lifted his hands so I could see them. They were large, like the rest of him, and he'd probably have no trouble picking me up.

My mouth became a little dry at the thought, and the ones that followed. I attempted to banish them from my mind. I was here to win the competition, not to drool over someone pretending to be a god.

Even if there was a lot to drool over where Thor was concerned.

I cleared my throat. "Your cloud is delicate." I gestured to his sign. "And impressive, it doesn't look like it's made of metal."

"I suppose not," he responded. "I can show you how I did it, if you want."

I raised an eyebrow. "You'd show the competition how you work?"

He shrugged. "I'll show you a technique that takes years to perfect. I'm not exactly worried that you're going to be able to pull it off today."

"Fair point." I should say no. There was no use in getting friendly with any of the competition when I needed to focus on beating them, but I was intrigued, and not just by the technique, but by Thor himself. "I'd like to see."

He gestured to his station. "We should have enough time, Mel said we're not starting filming for another hour."

"Mel?" I echoed. "I thought our producer was called Denise?"

"Mel is our producer, Denise is her assistant."

"That doesn't really clear it up," I admitted.

"Mel as in Melpomene, the Muse of Tragedy."

I blinked a few times. "A Muse."

"They own the station."

"Right, and you're Thor." Though now he said that, I did recall something about the Muses and a TV station, though I hadn't given much thought to it in the past.

He chuckled. "I am Thor, I don't know how you want me to prove it."

"I don't know, maybe magical hammer recall or something like that."

A smile twisted at his lips. "Like this?" He pulled the hammer off his belt and let it drop to the floor. For a moment, nothing happened, but then it bounced back up into his open hand. He caught it with ease.

I cleared my throat. "It's a basic spell."

He shrugged. "Sure, normally. But the hammer is enchanted. Want to try it?" He held it out to me.

My curiosity got the better of me and I took it from him, my fingers accidentally brushing against his as I did. My pulse raced at the touch, but I did my best to dismiss it.

"You called your hammer Mjolnir ?" I asked, running my fingers over the runes proclaiming it.

"I'm impressed you know that."

"Don't you think that's a bit of a risk? There are gods here." I had to admit that the runes were beautifully carved, and whoever had made the hammer was very talented.

"There are."

"Aren't you worried that they're going to think badly of you for using Thor's name?"

Amusement danced over his face in response. "Not really, no."

"Then you're an idiot."

He shrugged. "Or I am Thor. Can't really get into trouble for using my own name."

I stared at him for a moment, trying to work out if he was telling me the truth, or if this was some elaborate way of him trying to get under my skin. "No. Sorry. Not buying it. Your hammer should be much bigger if you're trying to pretend to be Thor."

"If you drop it, I'll show you that too."

I frowned, but figured there was nothing to lose from humouring him. I let the hammer slip from my grasp. It didn't even hit the floor and headed straight back into Thor's hand.

Without even waiting for me to say anything, he did something that made it grow right in front of my eyes, becoming as large as a war hammer, with intricate carvings along the head. I stared at it in shock.

He let it shrink again and leaned back against the pillar beside him. "Believe me now?"

I opened my mouth to say something, but realised I had no idea what I could possibly say in response. Inwardly, I rebelled against the idea that the man in front of me was a literal god. He was so normal. Or as normal as a skilled metal worker could be. "You're Thor." As much as I wanted to deny the possibility, it was starting to seem more possible.

"Last I checked."

"All right, so say I believe you are Thor..."

"I am."

"Okay, well, say I believe it. What are you doing entering a reality TV show? Couldn't you just go to the head of Jinx and ask for a piece to be put in their lobby?"

"I could," he agreed. "But there's no satisfaction there. They'd be putting it there because of who I am, not because of what I can do, and I don't want that. They're judging this competition blind, and there are a lot of talented people here. If I win this, then I'll be able to know for sure that I've won. If that makes sense."

"I guess it does."

"Why did you enter?" he asked.

"Because getting a sculpture in the lobby of Jinx would get my work in front of a lot of potential clients, and I need that if I want to continue working as an artist." My voice cracked as I said it. I'd wanted to be an artist for as long as I could remember, but now I was here, I realised that I wanted it even more than I'd first thought.

"You'll have so many commissions that you'll barely keep up once that happens," he said.

It took a moment for the way he'd phrased it to register. He'd said that he liked my sculptures, but this was a step beyond that. And I wasn't really sure what to do with that. "Would you show me that technique?" I asked. "I can show you mine with the flowers, if you want?"

He smiled. "Sure. I'm not sure I'll be able to pull it off the same way you can, but I'd love to see it in action."

"I think you might surprise yourself," I responded, heading into his station and trying not to think about how foolish this was. I shouldn't be getting to know any of my competitors, especially not one who claimed to be a god. Though I realised as I thought it that I'd decided he was probably telling the truth.

The problem with that was that now I somehow had to beat Thor at this competition despite the fact he was a god, and that seemed virtually impossible.