Thor x Reader

Forty

The house was in ruins.

When you stepped out of the portal with Freya behind Thor, she almost felt like laughing.

It was a pathetic sight. The roof had huge holes through which whole mountains could have passed, while the façade was full of cracks and dust. Windows were smashed.

"Sindri...", Freya gasped and hurried past you to the front door, which had been torn off its hinges. "Brok! Kratos?"

You stopped beside Thor and glanced up at him.

"The boy.", he said in a calm voice.

He seemed tired. His hand rested on Mjölnir but his shoulders had lost their strength.

"I will look around.", you said and squeezed his hand. "Rest a little."

He almost had to snort.

"If I rest, they will kill me."

"We have a deal."

"Do you think she'll stick to it?"

You hesitated for a moment.

"The question is not whether she will stick to it.", you whispered with pain in your voice. "What is the matter with you?"

Frowning, he settled down on a root of the tree Yggdrasil. The force made you stagger.

"You still don't trust me?", there was so much pain in his words, so much disappointment in his eyes.

You had to swallow hard.

"I trust you like no other."

"But?"

Again you hesitated.

Any more words would hurt him as no blade could have done. Even after all these years, he valued your opinion more than his own dignity.

"No buts.", you said at last, and gently grasped his face with both hands. "I want to save you trouble. Death, perhaps. We both know that if our attempt fails you'll..."

His hands closed around your wrists.

"If they so much as threaten you or dare to raise a hand against you, I will slaughter them as I did the giants.", there was not a single doubt visible on his face nor in those blue eyes of his. "I'll do anything. Because I've failed you once. I won't fail you twice."

It hurt.

It hurt so much to see that he was really trying. But the past could not be undone.

It hurt to know that he still loved you more than his own wife. Than the mother of his children.

Maybe it was true and he had really left you for the sole purpose of producing heirs. Perhaps.

But what hurt most, what tore you apart, was the certainty that you two would not find a happy ending.

This was not a question of whether you and Thor would become a happy couple again after Odin fell. All that mattered was saving Thor's life.

"You should be careful with your words.", you said softly and kissed his forehead. "Someone else might take them the wrong way."

He let out a long breath. How tired he looked. Perhaps all he needed was a long, dreamless sleep.

"Of course.", he murmured and closed his eyes. "I should always... be more careful. Think more. Not let others think for me."