"I haven't played enough yet!" Thor interjected, his tone like a child being urged to go home.
"There are still many things in Midgard I haven't seen! I haven't been to that Mount Everest yet! Tony hasn't given me that Flamestrider yet! And hot dogs—I haven't eaten enough hot dogs yet!"
Heimdall was silent.
Loki spoke up from the side, his tone much calmer than Thor's, but it also carried a rare, unyielding quality.
"Heimdall, tell Father for me, I also want to stay a while longer."
Heimdall's voice changed slightly—carrying a hint of surprise.
"Your Highness Loki?"
Loki leaned against the window, arms crossed over his chest.
"My eldest sister is here," he said, his tone as flat as if he were commenting on the weather.
"We haven't seen each other for hundreds of years. Now that we've finally reunited, I don't want to leave so soon."
Heimdall was silent for a long time.
Then he spoke, his tone carrying a hint of helplessness.
"I will convey this to His Majesty."
The light dissipated.
The living room returned to its normal lighting.
Thor stood in front of the sofa, his expression somewhat sullen. He picked up the remote control from the coffee table and turned off the television.
Loki walked back to the balcony, picked up the cup of tea that had already gone cold, and took a sip.
Mavuika walked over with hot cocoa and placed it on the coffee table.
He looked at Thor. "You don't want to go back?"
Thor sat down, hands behind his head, looking up at the ceiling.
"Eldest sister, I've only been here for a few days," his tone carried a sense of grievance. "I just ate a hot dog, just learned how to use a mobile phone, just learned how to ride an escalator—and you want me to go back?"
He paused.
"Besides... I want to stay with you for a while longer."
Mavuika sat down beside him and gently patted his shoulder.
Thor turned to look at him, a childlike dependence in those blue eyes.
"Eldest sister, when are you going back to Asgard?"
Mavuika was silent for a second.
"Soon," he said. "Hela will be out of seclusion soon. Once she leaves the Underworld, I will take you all back together."
Thor's eyes brightened, then dimmed again.
"Then how long do we have to wait?"
Mavuika thought for a moment: "At most one year."
Thor smiled immediately: "A year isn't that long!"
Loki walked in from the balcony and sat down opposite Thor.
Asgard, Golden Palace.
Odin sat on the throne, holding the Eternal Spear, watching the ball of seven-colored light dissipating before him.
Heimdall stood before him, head bowed.
"Your Majesty, the meaning of Prince Thor and His Highness Loki is—"
"I understood," Odin's voice was low and majestic, like muffled thunder rolling across the horizon.
His expression was calm, but Heimdall had followed him for thousands of years and knew what lay beneath that calmness.
"They don't want to come back."
Heimdall did not speak.
Odin was silent for a while.
Then he spoke, his voice carrying a hint of suppressed anger.
"Thor's trial has been passed, and Mjolnir's power has been restored. What other reason does he have to stay in Midgard?"
Heimdall carefully chose his words. "Your Highness said... he hasn't played enough yet."
Odin's eyebrows twitched slightly.
"Not played enough?"
Heimdall nodded.
Odin was silent.
Then he looked at Heimdall: "And Loki?"
Heimdall paused. "His Highness Loki said... he wants to stay with His Highness Mavuika for a while longer."
Odin's expression changed slightly.
Mavuika, his eldest daughter.
A daughter he hadn't seen for hundreds of years.
Odin was silent for a long time.
His gaze traveled through the hall of the Golden Palace, through that huge floor-to-ceiling window, and landed on the Bifrost Bridge in the distance.
The bridge shimmered with seven-colored light under the starlight, connecting Asgard and the endless Universe.
Odin closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Then he opened his eyes and looked at Heimdall.
"Pass a message to them again."
Heimdall bowed his head: "Yes."
Odin's voice echoed in the Golden Palace, every word like a hammer striking an anvil.
"Tell Thor and Loki—come back when you've played enough; Asgard needs its princes."
He paused.
"Tell Mavuika—"
His voice changed slightly, becoming less majestic, and instead carrying a kind of... softness.
"Tell her, I am waiting for her to return."
Heimdall raised his head and looked at Odin.
On that face carved with wrinkles by the years, there was something he rarely saw.
Longing.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Heimdall turned and walked in the direction of the Bifrost Bridge.
Odin sat alone on the throne, watching the starry sky outside the window.
Only the wind passed through the corridors of the Golden Palace, emitting low whimpers.
New York.
In Mavuika's apartment, Thor had regained his spirits.
He was holding that cup of hot cocoa, sipping it in small mouthfuls, the expression on his face as satisfied as a cat basking in the Sun.
Loki sat opposite, holding a mobile phone, watching a tutorial video about chess.
Mavuika sat between them, quietly watching the night view outside the window.
Then, the light came again.
The seven-colored radiance pierced through the ceiling once more, landing in the center of the living room.
Heimdall's voice sounded again, this time with a subtle, considered tone.
He conveyed Odin's words exactly as they were.
After the light dissipated, the living room was quiet for a long time.
Thor looked at Mavuika, and Loki also looked at him.
Mavuika sat there, his golden-red long hair shimmering with a warm luster under the light. His expression was calm, but in those amber eyes, something was shimmering slightly.
He missed home, too.
For hundreds of years, he had always thought he had gotten used to life on Earth.
Used to the hustle and bustle of Manhattan, used to walks in Central Park, used to those silent artifacts in the museum.
But at this moment, hearing his Father say "I am waiting for you to return," he suddenly realized—
He missed home.
He missed the Golden Palace of Asgard, the wind on the Bifrost Bridge, the sound of swords in the training grounds, the tapestries Mother wove, and the way Father sat on the throne.
He also missed Hela.
"Eldest sister." Thor's voice interrupted his thoughts.
Mavuika turned to look at him.
Thor's expression was very serious: "When are we going back?"
Mavuika was silent for a while.
"I said, wait for Hela to finish her seclusion. She will be back soon."
He paused.
"When that time comes, we will go back together."
Thor nodded.
Loki leaned back in his chair, the corners of his mouth slightly raised.
"And before that?"
Mavuika looked at him.
Thor smiled: "Before that, can we continue eating hot dogs, riding escalators, and seeing the Statue of Liberty?"
"Fine," he said. "We'll go see the Statue of Liberty tomorrow."
Thor cheered.
Loki bowed slightly, a hint of a smile on his lips.
Mavuika stood up and walked to the window.
He looked at Manhattan outside the window, that sea of brilliant lights.
Then he looked up at the sky.
There were many stars, very bright.
In some distant place that the naked eye could not reach, there was a Golden Palace, and an old man sitting on a throne, waiting for him to come home.
Soon.
Mavuika smiled softly.
Very soon.
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