st_ormbreaker | (no subject)

“Let’s not beg the question, please, Mr. Odinson. I won’t argue it’s not worth doing but there’s no easy out.” The prickling anxiety heated beneath his skin. “I’ll be blunt. A sustainable solution for all your asks may not exist. Not while I’m alive.”

"Why not while you're alive?"

“The only way I could convince the world not to lock up the Avengers was to collar us. The Avengers. They made fugitives out of half of us in the end. Anyone pleading Loki’s case would be eaten alive by those in living memory of New York.” Just the facts. Breathe in, breathe out.

Thor sighs and rubs at the side of his neck, thinking. The more he thinks about it, the more his head hurts at the thought of it.

"I have no idea what I'm going to do."

Tony sealed his lips. He didn’t have a place making asks of the man—you think when you’d married someone you would, but his needs were far lesser than anyone else’s.

"You know, I might not need to worry about any of this if he's dead for good," he says, with remarkable lightness given the seriousness of the conversation. "Then, Earth shouldn't be as much of a problem."

“Don’t say that.” Tony peeled back another layer of the piece, letting the wires hang off their connectors.

"It's more of a possibility than him living at this point," Thor says. "I'm just trying to plan out for whatever possibilities might lie out there."

As much as he hates to admit it, without Loki truly on-board with changing things as they stood on The Statesman, he has some extreme doubts a living brother is in his future. He's not even sure that the possibility exists because he's already lived a timeline where Loki was dead.

"If he lives, we may end up going to Vanaheim," he says. "Our uncle rules there. Loki has claim to Jotunheim as sole heir to the throne, but it's no place for non-Jotuns to live. Nidavellir would be a possibility if we managed to fix what Thanos destroyed, but I'd much prefer solid ground beneath our feet if I can help it."

‘So you asked knowing there was no way.’ Still Tony bit his tongue, silently pulling bits and moving others within his creation.

Thor knits his fingers together and looks down at them.

"If given a choice, I'd rather be on Earth."

“You’re not given a choice. You’re a king. You make them.” Thor was ambivalence incarnate and the ambiguity was carving at his nerves for reasons he couldn’t articulate.

"I know that," Thor says, trying to swallow back his irritation. "If I had a choice I wouldn't be the one making them, but I accepted that responsibility when I took on the mantle of king."

Regardless of what he wanted to do, he would inevitably have to chose what was best for what remained of his people.

"There are many nations of Earth that are not welcoming to refugees," he says. "I'm not even sure how the Accords might come into place when my people arrive. I don't know how Vanaheim will react to our arrival, given that my brother spent two years on the throne neglecting any of the responsibilities that came with it."

Patching the piece back up, Tony set it to the side and produced a smaller pack from the enormous one, this one the size of a briefcase. Unlocking it, the disassembled pieces of a sniper rifle revealed themselves, and Tony picked out the scope to inspect.

“So.” He circled his fingers around the rim of the wide end. “Unknown after unknown.”

Thor watches as Tony fiddles with the pieces of the gun. He avoided trying to say it outright; he'd hoped, perhaps, that Tony would read between the lines and know exactly what questions he was asking, but Tony has been mostly non-responsive for most of the conversation, saying things to just fill the space between them.

"I need you to tell me why you think Earth would be a better choice," he says. "If there's an option that is good for my people and good for Loki, I'm going to take it. If there's something better than that for just my people, that is always going to be my choice, my feelings for Loki be damned."

“You don’t think I want to say that?” Tony’s head snapped up to pinpoint Thor. “I haven’t argued Earth’s case as the right choice because I don’t know if it is.” If Thor didn’t know, Tony couldn’t imagine why he would think a mere mortal would know any better.

The fire was creeping to life and the drone finally made its departure to the skies. Tony rubbed his eyes for the smoke.

Thor's gaze never leaves Tony's face, even as the droid flitters away from their fire.

"Pretend that it is, then tell me why."

“I made my vows. I wouldn’t have made them if I didn’t believe. What else can I say.” Down went the gadgets, set aside for another time. “That, despite all the questions, you have me. You have me whether you’re there or not.”

Thor's gaze flickers away from Tony and down to the fire, now crackling with life. There are so many emotions churning inside of him and it's difficult for Thor to know what to do with them. He has always felt more powerfully than most, and that emotion was the driving force between many of his crowning achievements and his worst defeats.

"I don't think I ever told you this, but I gave up the throne shortly after the attack on London," he says. "I thought the best thing I could do for the Nine Realms was be there to protect them. Once I understood the responsibility of the throne, I doubted my ability to rule and rule well. Even now, I still have those doubts. Am I considering Vanaheim because there is some slim possibility my brother may live, or because I believe our father Frey might support us? Did I want to go to Earth because it is the only Realm I love as much as Asgard, or because I thought I had bought enough goodwill to make settlement there a possibility?"

He looks over at Tony. "I'm not longer in a position to make these decisions based on what I want and I don't know if I can."

“I want you on earth. I want you with me.” Tony’s voice wavered.

Thor didn't expect that answer.

"What?"

Tony mirrored Thor but even moreso. “What?”

The distance between them suddenly seems too great. Thor pushes himself up, then pads over to the opposite side of the fire. He moves Tony's tech aside to give him sufficient space to sit, then and settles down next to him.

Thor wraps an arm around him, pulling Tony's smaller body tightly towards him.

Thor doesn't say anything for a few wordless moments because he isn't sure what to say. He finally settles on the three that come easiest.

"I love you."

"I know. So do I." Tony's body sagged against Thor's, merely admitting it both a release and a great weight. "I wish it were enough."

"It is plenty," he says, giving Tony a squeeze.

His lungs released a wry but weak little chuckle.

"Well. I can promise something as small as unimaginable stretches of spacetime won't get in the way of it."