Re: “I made it link by link, and yard by yard.”
Hold her? Ego-bruised Thor did just that, he held his pregnant wife when she asked. The closeness to Eva and her lack of any barriers were salve for his mostly self-inflicted wounds. He'd made a fool of himself with Sif and handled that poorly, then brought unnecessary drama into Eva's bubble.
Truthfully, Thor didn't want to discuss it with anybody less. Regardless of his history with any of his friends or family, Zap had become his strongest confidante, which was why he'd unloaded so readily on her. But that had been another mistake.
Despite whatever emotions the Thunder God held for Sif, he understood now that the pair of old friends should remain just that. But in fairness to Eva and Sif herself, neither woman deserved anything but the finest treatment from the Allfather.
"No..." Thor began, directly responding to Eva's statement about Nate. "Asgard and Helheim must be joined," he offered from their reclined position on the bed. "Part of the reason I considered Nathaniel such a serious candidate was because of his love for you," he explained. "The two realms are linked, they need each other," he spared her the speech on balance she already knew. "You are strong enough to be queen of both realms and our shared love of you will strengthen that bond," he said, with more sincerity than his face was able to muster at this moment. "None of this is an accident," he eluded to some grand astral conspiracy. Thor and Nate were destined to love Eva and she was meant to bridge the gap between the light and the dark. "We will give him the mask and when he survives his trial, we can move forward," Thor was confident the wizard would succeed, why else would they have gotten this far? "I love you, Eva," the Allfather shed a kiss on the crown of her head.