Re: Tabula Rasa
Thor watched as Eva entered, silently thrilled to be in her presence, but crippled by his emotions and battered pride. She displayed the tapestry, which he of course remembered and cherished. He withheld a playful comment about whether she used magic or a ladder to pull the artwork down. It wasn't the time for jokes yet, but hopefully soon. The Allfather thought he understood her meaning, but when she posed her question he realized perhaps assuming understanding was one of their weak points.
"I..." he began and gave his head a rather mighty shake. "Yes, you misunderstood but that isn't your fault," he confirmed gently. "Eva," Thor stood then and slowly moved around the desk. "Some of the things I said were honestly," he paused because he'd hadn't completely thought it through himself, "part of the... roleplay?" he decided to call their mishap of a sexual encounter earlier. They should have had a safe word. "When I said those words, I thought it was part of the act... of taming?" he attempted to explain. "But it probably didn't help that you didn't understand my actual thoughts on the matter, which I don't think I did either," Thor informed her.
"I will never give you an ultimatum that ends with you leaving Asgard," he said but kept the second half of his thought unsaid - because were he to reach that point he'd sooner destroy Nathaniel (or whoever) than force Eva to leave. "And what I decided, somewhere during our encounter," again he fumbled with a words and his hands. "Was that I don't want you to be queen of Helheim or marry Nathaniel," he explained slowly. "I think it's caused you undue stress and misery. And selfishly, I simply don't want to see it, you are my wife and my queen and I'm extremely prideful of you. But I have no problem with you continuing to be with Nathaniel. He's been good to you, to us. I believe he brings you joy and that you love him very much. Besides, he hit me today, I rather like Nate," Thor admitted and allowed a smirk to shine through. "I do have to apologize. I should have explained myself better and not lost my temper," he told her with sorrow in his eyes. "But when you tested me, I couldn't help but attempt to meet your challenge. I am sorry."