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[mjolnir_retriever]

Thor thought he was leaving his chambers for the palace hallway. (He also thought that the only doors to Milliways seemed to be on Earth, and not Asgard.)

And yet: Milliways.

The Thor that casts a look across the barroom looks notably different than anyone here will have seen him before. He's clad in armor, and carries a large war-hammer easily in one hand. And there's a subtle radiance to him that wasn't there before -- not an actual glow, but as if the light is hitting him differently, so that all the colors of his body and clothing are just a tad more saturated than those of anything around him.

Other things Thor looks: weary, and heartsore.

Thor wouldn't necessarily mind companionship right now, but this -- this brightly lit room full of bustle and strangers and curious faces and lives untouched by his brother's life and his brother's (probable) death -- is exactly what he doesn't want. That one look done, he heads straight for the back door.

You'll be able to find him out back, striding alongside the lake, or sitting on a rock some ways away from the bar with his forearms on his knees and his hammer resting beside him.

Or, perhaps, you'll just see a strangely isolated thunderstorm moving rapidly over the lake towards the mountains, with what the keen-eyed might perceive to be a humanoid form in its midst.

Comments

[themysciran_diana]

"I cannot think it unfortunate for myself, or for my friends."

Her smile is a small thing, and crooked.

"Particularly for them. They none of them signed up for the troubles I bring with me, as an Amazon and as Wonder Woman."

[mjolnir_retriever]

He thinks, inevitably, of Puente Antiguo.

That small, generous town -- so fragile, in the face of Loki's anger, or Thor's own. How much of it is rubble now? How many of those houses and shops and diners will they rebuild?

He swallows, eyes downcast, and searches for words for a long moment.

"I have no doubt that your friends are brave and steadfast. They will see any trouble through to its end."

"But I will hope they have no need to do so."

[themysciran_diana]

"Your hope is the same as mine, in this," Diana says quietly.

"Might I hope the same for your own friends, and for your own people?"

And more, besides.

[mjolnir_retriever]

Thor half-smiles, though there's no lightness in it.

"I share those hopes. Yes."

They'll see if their fates agree.

[themysciran_diana]

"Do you and I both have will enough, perhaps more than a few of those hopes will come to pass."

She rests her hand on Thor's shoulder a moment.

"It will grow more bearable, my friend, little though it might seem so, yet."

[mjolnir_retriever]

He doesn't want it to grow bearable. Loki is lost, in pain, possibly dead -- that should never be bearable. Thor doesn't want to reconcile himself to it, not for an instant.

A small spark of temper flares -- and falls away to ashes. He doesn't have the energy to be angry at a friend, not now, not about this.

And for now, he has no choice but to bear the grief and failure.

Perhaps, he wants to say; he bows his head and says nothing, instead.

But her hand on his shoulder is some kind of comfort. As much as anything can, it will serve.