"I won't try." Aaron smiled and waved his hand. "I can't lift this hammer."
It wasn't that he couldn't lift it, but showing off clearly didn't suit him. Better to avoid it if he could.
"Hehe!" Hela let out an ill-timed laugh, then looked at Aaron teasingly. "I seem to recall someone saying that a man can't say he can't do it."
"Ooh!"
The others began hooting, each of them watching like they had front-row seats to a juicy spectacle.
Aaron's mouth twitched, his face darkening.
Damn it! If I ever bring you out again, I'm a dog.
Hela answered his unspoken complaint with a provocative look: Remember what you said.
"Ahem!" Aaron coughed. "Cousin, isn't it a little inappropriate to put it that way? Barton, Tony, Rhodey, Banner, and Steve can't do it either."
"At least we tried," Tony immediately said. "Unlike someone who says he can't before even trying."
"I'm afraid you'll be embarrassed if I lift it."
"Not embarrassed. Not at all," Barton said with a meaningful grin. "Now that you've said that much, how can you not give it a try?"
Aaron shot Hela a fierce glare, then forced out a stiff smile and walked over to Mjolnir.
He took a deep breath, gripped the handle with his right hand, and put on an expression of gritting his teeth with effort.
"Ah!"
His face reddened and veins bulged, but the hammer did not move at all.
One second, two seconds, three seconds...
Aaron planned to count silently to five before giving up, but Hela walked over when he reached three.
She gave Aaron a meaningful smile, then grabbed the lower part of the handle beneath his right hand.
Mjolnir sliced through the air with its distinctive sound, utterly shredding Aaron's plan.
Everyone present stared blankly at