Health is the greatest gift.
Nathaniel had slept that night in the bed next to Brayden's in the Asgardian infirmary. The boy had awoken, briefly, and even had a short conversation with his father - until he drifted away again. Thankfully, this time his son had only gone to sleep. Eva had visited several times, which fueled Nate as much as Brayden's partial recovery had.
Once Nate felt comfortable enough to venture outside of the sickbay, his first stop was the queen's reception room, where he knew Eva would be. The door opened and when Nathaniel entered he was ecstatic to discover Zap alone. He moved more hurried then expected to her side, and prevented himself from collapsing onto her. Caltrops bent down on one knee, which still left the adviser eye level with the sitting queen, and his fingers held the soft skin across her cheek. His lips neared in and he kissed her other cheek softly, but mostly just enjoyed their closeness. "I've missed you," he admitted with all pretense shattered. Their contact had been light since the consummation of their relationship. "Yesterday, I was concerned about your conversation with Thor..." Today not so much. "Now I don't care. I just want to be with you any way I can. You're Brayden's step-mom and I want him to know that."