"Something like that." He had never let a male partner control him as freely as he seemed to let her, and hadn't even considered the possibility of allowing it whilst in female form. He was too broken for that; no doubt a trait that she would discover soon enough. Only because she was human, and he knew the upper limits of her strength. Only because she was who she was, and chose to have him anyway.
Being the one chosen... That was a novel sensation.
He felt her absence a little too keenly when she moved, and when she draped her leg he rolled onto his side, resting a hand on her waist. They lay there, face to face, for a long moment.
He didn't expect what she said next, about staying. It felt like she'd dipped into his mind and answered the question he hadn't dared to think, let alone consider. His first instinct was to joke, to cloak himself in comedy to protect his fragile peace. Something about being a kept man, a warm body for her bed when it suited her, a dirty secret from the rest of the world. But he held it back on account of something that he couldn't quite quantify. Something in her eyes was too... ?
"I want to..." He admitted quietly, to himself as well as to her. "I want to stay."
Everything now pushed him towards Earth. Not just her, though her was front and centre on the list. Thor also, the people of Asgard. If they still lived.
"I am tired of running. I'm tired of being... Outside, looking in." The feral creature, too wild to live in society, too tame to survive the wild.
It was the same thought that had brought him back to Asgard, to Thor's rescue. He could feel it in his throat, the Great Truth aching in his chest. To belong, anywhere... was all he had ever wanted.
He was sure there were tears in his eyes.
"For as long as I can." He whispered. For as long as you will have me. "Before they make me run again."
gummygunk
kianamaiart
