It had taken Eirlys two weeks to return to Asgard. Two weeks of sleepless nights, crowded healing chambers, dwindling supplies and the terrible realization that not everyone who came to her had been someone she could save. Vanaheim had demanded everything from her, and she had given it willingly until there was almost nothing left to give. By the time she finally returned, she looked nothing like the woman who had left. Her face was paler, her cheeks slightly hollow, and her clothes hung more loosely around her frame. There were shadows beneath her eyes that no amount of sleep could immediately erase, while her hair, usually cared for even when she was exhausted, had been hastily tied back and left that way for days. She looked wrecked but she barely noticed.
The moment she arrived, she refused to let anyone come too close. She had spent too many days surrounded by sickness and death to risk carrying anything back with her. She went straight to her chambers, bathed until the exhaustion made her knees weak, changed into clean clothes and carefully left everything she had worn in Vanaheim away from her bedchamber. Only once she was certain she had done everything she could to keep Asgard untouched by whatever illness she might have carried home did she finally allow herself to collapse. She fell asleep. And when she finally woke, the first thing she thought about was Loki. It startled her how immediate the thought was.
She had not seen him properly in what felt like forever. Their last days together before her departure had been complicated enough, and she had left without even saying goodbye properly. She wondered whether he had been angry about it, whether he had wondered why she disappeared so suddenly, whether he had been waiting for her return. The thought brought the faintest smile to her tired face. She rose, dressed simply and stepped into the corridor. She had barely walked a few steps before she nearly collided with someone. Thor.
Eirlys stopped so abruptly that her eyes widened. "Thor, when did you come back?" she asked, genuinely surprised. "I thought you were still on Midgard with Jane."
Thor's expression shifted. He just looked at her, not knowing what to say. "Things changed."
Eirlys nodded slowly, accepting the vague answer without question. Her eyes then dropped briefly, remembering something else. "Oh." Her face tightened with embarrassment. "I owe you an apology."
Thor raised an eyebrow.
"For the slap," she added, wincing. "And for barging into your room. I was angry, and I shouldn't have—"
Thor simply shrugged. "It was deserved."
Eirlys stared at him. "It absolutely was not."
"I've survived worse."
Despite everything, a tiny laugh escaped her. The sound seemed to affect Thor more than he ever thought it would. His gaze lingered over her face and almost immediately he noticed what Eirlys herself seemed determined to ignore. She was thinner and paler. Exhausted in a way that went far beyond ordinary tiredness. There was something fragile about the way she stood, as though she had returned only because her body had finally run out of strength to remain elsewhere.
Thor's expression softened, without warning, he stepped forward and pulled her into his arms making her freeze. Then, slowly, she relaxed against him. Thor held her tightly. He had seen warriors return from battles looking healthier than she did now. He knew what Vanaheim must have taken from her without needing to ask. "You look terrible," he murmured.
Eirlys gave a weak laugh against his shoulder. "Thanks for the assessment."
"You know what I mean."
"I do."
He didn't tell her, not then. He couldn't bring himself to. Not when she had only just returned from two weeks of watching her people suffer and die. Not when she looked as though one more piece of bad news might finally break through the composure she was barely holding together. Thor's eyes avoided hers because somewhere beneath the palace, Loki was waiting. And somewhere in this exhausted woman's mind was the expectation that she would soon find her husband exactly hos she had left him. He tightened his arms around her because he finally understood how cruel the truth might feel. He did not want to be the one to give it to her.
Eirlys eventually pulled away from Thor, rubbing beneath one eye as though embarrassed that the exhaustion had become so obvious. She tried to compose herself, smoothing the front of her clothes and pushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear. For a moment, the two of them simply stood there.
Then, almost naturally, Eirlys asked, "How is Jane?"
Thor's expression changed. It was subtle, but Eirlys noticed. He looked away for a moment, as though the corridor had suddenly become very interesting. "She's… fine."
Eirlys waited as Thor cleared his throat. "Probably."
Her eyebrows drew together. "Probably?"
"I haven't actually seen her since the day I left with her."
That answer only confused her further. "But you went to Midgard 'with' her."
"Yes."
"And then?"
Thor hesitated because there were far too many things he could have said. He could tell her that Midgard had become a battlefield after Loki had taken the Tesseract and then the Avengers had fought him. Especially Loki had been defeated, beaten nearly senseless and brought back to Asgard in chains. He could tell her that Jane had never been there when he returned. Instead, he gave a small shrug. "Things became complicated."
Eirlys studied him, she was exhausted, but she was not oblivious. "You're being strange."
"I am always strange."
"That is Loki's excuse."
Thor almost smiled and Eirlys's expression changed, something hopeful appeared in her tired eyes. "And Loki?"
Thor's heart sank when he saw the way she said his name. Not suspicious or angry, just hopeful. As though she expected Thor to tell her that Loki was somewhere nearby, probably irritating everyone and waiting for her to return so he could make some ridiculous comment about how long she had been gone. "Have you seen him?"
Thor opened his mouth but nothing came out, he could not lie to her. Not about this when she was looking at him like that. So instead he glanced toward the dining hall. "You should eat something."
Eirlys blinked. "What?"
"You've been in Vanaheim for two weeks. You look exhausted."
"I am asking about Loki."
"And I am telling you that you need food."
Her confusion deepened. "Thor."
"Fruits," he said quickly. "And milk. Something healthy."
She stared at him as though he had suddenly lost his mind. "Why are you telling me to eat fruits?"
"Because fruits are healthy."
"I know that."
"Good." He gave her an awkward pat on the shoulder. "Then go eat some."
Before she could question him further, Thor turned and began walking away. Eirlys watched him disappear down the corridor. "Thor?"
He did not turn around, leaving her more confused. She knew something was wrong, she simply couldn't figure out what. Thor reached the end of the corridor and finally stopped, letting out a breath he had been holding. He couldn't do it. How could he look into her hopeful face and tell her that Loki was imprisoned? He couldn't tell her that the husband she had gone away worrying about had secretly travelled to Midgard, stolen the Tesseract and nearly brought an entire world into chaos. And he certainly couldn't stand there pretending everything was normal. So Thor made his decision, he would return to Midgard. He would take some time away from Asgard, from the realms, from celestial conflicts and royal responsibilities. Perhaps by the time he returned, he would know how to tell Eirlys or someone else would. Maybe Loki would find some way to explain himself.
Behind him, Eirlys remained in the corridor, watching the empty space where Thor had disappeared. Her brow furrowed because she had returned home expecting to find Loki. Instead, she had found Thor, an apology accepted too easily, a hug she had not expected, and an answer that had somehow created more questions than it solved. She still didn't know where her husband was. And, for the moment, nobody was telling her.