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The celebrations of the evening, post court, are in full swing. The palace is large, very, very large but still there can be heard the sounds of celebrations wafting in the air, particularly from the balcony. Thor has taken off some of his court finery and left it behind; gone is the red cape, and ceremonial bits and pieces leaving tunic, breeches, boots. Opening the door slowly, Thor first puts his head into the room, unaware if perhaps Crystal is abed and sleeping, or still awake and awaiting his return.. or perhaps she isn't within at all, having taken a guard or Fandral and gone to the celebrations in the Feast Hall.
Sconces are lit, the flames dancing within their holders, and stepping in, Thor closes the door behind him. "Crystalia? Are you within?"
*
Once court was dismissed, Crystal waited until it was time (as judged by those around her), then returned to the quarters she'd been sharing with Thor, still shaken from the events of the evening. Relieved, yes. The suit is official. The immediate danger of smiting by Odin is past. But that doesn't mean it's all over. It just means it's all truly beginning.
She's changed out of her court finery and into a simple nightgown, brought from Midgard. Amora's sartorial advice did not extend to lingerie, apparently. It's little more than a dark green silk shift, falling to mid-calf. She's let her hair down from its careful pile, tumbling around her shoulders. "Here," she calls softly from a chaise as he returns, sitting up a bit. "Is everything…Your father?"
*
The suit is official on this side of the water. There is one other hurdle that must needs be jumped, and no amount of 'let me handle that' can assuage his fears. He's still on eggshells, treading carefully in country that he really hasn't been. Everything else.. like children playing at life and love. But this?
"Father is well. He needed to speak to us as we were all gathered, myself, Loki and Baldr." Thor walks slowly into the main area, following her voice before he smiles, drops his head, and finishes the cross of the room in order to sit beside her. "He is simply tired, which means soon he will sleep." Brows rise at the night shift and he chuckles softly, "Ready to bed? There is a party going on that threatens to continue for days. Or will if Fandral and Volstagg have a say in the matter."
*
"I can't." Crystal shifts as he sits, moving to lean against his shoulder with a shake of her head. "I know what Amora did - what she tried to do - was wrong. I understand that, or at least I think I do. But I can't shake her face, or her voice. She was hurt, Thor. And I'm not blameless in that. I tried to help, yes, but I played it as a game, too, and one I intended to win, and for that…she was hurt. And I did that. And I'm not certain I believe that she deserved it."
*
Thor takes a deep breath, and reaches to put an arm around Crystal's lower back in comfort. He looks down at her, and gives her an attempted encouraging smile. "Do you know what she did to deserve exile? She reached in to steal something from the All-Father. She would declare the necklace hers, but it is, by rights, his. He could have put her in jail, but instead he gave her her freedom, but away from Asgard to consider her actions. During her exile, certainly.. she carried herself well.. but her jealousy raged." He looks away before he leans gently, "You were a target of hers, and I'm sorry for that. Then, when she realized that that would not work, she attempted a spell to gain my love and lust." Thor pauses before, "You have to remember that I am also her Prince. And I have told her outright that she would never gain the Throne of Asgard." A sideways glance is given before he ducks his head to see her face. "Then the runes. If it were not for you and Fandral, I am certain that half of Asgard would be blighted. There would be famine. Animals would die, no crops would grow. Your people, my people, would suffer hardship."
*
"So- So put her to work on a farm. Show her the labor she would have ruined. Show her-" Crystal trails off with a sigh, resting her head against his shoulder. "She was terrified, Thor. I know she did wrong, but…It was all very cruel, and I feel badly for my part in it all the same." She looks back up to him, smile faint. "I'm sorry, I know there are more important things at hand, and I know I should go and be seen. I'm just…I forgot how tiring it can be to be on display all the time, is all."
*
"It was an attack on Asgard itself." Thor shakes his head and exhales softly, "I don't know how to explain it any differently. What my father did was kind. Queen Karnilla, while she isn't the most patient of women, is a useful ally and one that we can't always count on. The fact that she kept Amora from being put back down in the dungeon or exiled indefinitely is a good thing. She will be taught again the use of her magic. Father didn't take it all. She just doesn't have use of it here until she can be trusted." It wasn't easy for him, either, but he is looking at it from his father's point of view.. trying to look at it that way.
Thor shakes his head and ghosts a smile, "It was not easy for me to watch either. But knowing what I do, and what could have come about, it was the best thing for her."
*
Crystal hums quietly, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. An acknowledgement of an uncomfortable truth. She reaches for his hand, twining her fingers with his. "About…earlier. I'm sorry I was so blunt. I was frustrated after last night. After Amora. And then Sif. I know it must have hurt you more, to know you'd been a part of hurting people you care about, even if you don't care about them in the way they would like you to."
*
A low, rumbled chuckle sounds at the apology, and Thor takes her hand easily, entwining her delicate fingers in between his great paw of a hand. "You were right, after a fashion. I prefer to see things as I wish to. Amora, I've known about her affections ever since we were children. Growing up, she would try to make me jealous, thinking that would be the way that I would finally realize the error of my ways. Loki, Fandral.. and countless others were in her sights." He shakes his hand and his shoulders rise soon after as he looks away and back, "I was honestly surprised by Sif. She was our childhood friend. Always fighting with us, at our side. Palace friends. Then, she'd gone away for a thousand years, and returned as you see her. Nothing had changed. Not for me, anyway. She was still my best friend. A skilled swordswoman that never strayed from my side; not unlike Fandral, Volstagg and Hogun."
His tones take something of a far away sound, and his eyes cast down, "Now, either I allow her to depart upon her request or forbid it. In which path does she detest me less, I ask you?"
For a long moment, Thor remains silent before he pulls his head up and he takes a deep breath, squeezing her hand. "My father." A change of subject. "My father has decided to assign Loki the title of Protector of the Realm of Midgard. My brother Baldr is to seek out and discover why the jotun was on Midgard. He is responsible for Jotunheim.. while the All-Father has seen fit to assign to me the diplomatic policies of Asgard as it relates to the Nine." His head shakes, the blond hair moving gently, "Once father departed, we three pledged our support in each other's endeavors, and the strength of Asgard is at our call."
*
"You let her go," Crystal says without hesitation. "She will return in time. But you won't force her to forget her feelings by making her stay here to watch you." The family talk, though, is one for mind rather than heart. "He plays you and Loki like pieces on a board to where he wants you to be," she says, rueful. "Though Scarlett will be pleased to know that Loki is free to remain on Midgard. I don't believe I met your other brother. I'm sure I will soon."
*
Thor chuffs a breath and straightens, giving Crystal's hand another squeeze. "Our father is not only our father, but.. yes. And while we are his sons, yet we are more." Thus is the life of active royalty in a court as the boys are coming of an age where they can actually take over running not only a single realm but overseeing the Nine, and all who dwell within. "I know you understand what it took for him to give us his approval. Potentially, all this will be yours and he needs to be sure it will be secure for thousands of years more." At least Thor understands. A half-smile quirks and a quiet chuckle takes him, and he adds ruefully, "I would not know how to react if my father acted as a normal father. Though, I am lucky that Mother is more like others, even though she has act in her true capacity more than once during my raising."
Scarlett.. to this, Thor looks to Crystal, his expression sobering once again. "She has confided that she loves my brother. It goes unrequited, I am certain of it."
*
"Well, if you'll forgive me for saying it, I'm beginning to think it's an Asgardian racial trait," Crystal smirks, nudging an elbow back toward his ribs. "Do any of you love anything if it can't be tragic and unrequited? Scarlett, I think, has enough of you all in her to know. And to be as much at peace with it as someone can. I don't think you can love Loki without knowing where you'd stand with him."
*
"Are you tragic and unrequited, my princess?" Thor's teasing, but there's a touch of something behind those blue eyes of his. "If so, then your answer is 'yes'. We are all hopeless, blind fools." The last bit is rather self-deprecating as it is light hearted. "Loki has had love affairs before. Don't think him the heartless cold brother. I have seen him laugh, play the gentleman and the fool. He can be rather dashing if he wished to be." Thor brings his free hand to *boop* Crystal on the nose in underscore, "All without the use of magic, I will have you know."
*
"Not yet," Crystal smiles ruefully to his question, folding her arm over his as she settles in more comfortably against his chest. "I assume if your father calls you to diplomacy here, you'll need to spend more time in Asgard," she muses. "Which means I should speak to Charles about whether or not you'll be allowed to visit at the Institute. Though with Medusa found, I should hopefully not need to spend so much time in the city. And if I visit here more often, then I should have less issues with the pollution sickness."
*
Thor turns about to try and tug her onto his lap so she can lean a little easier against him. "No. He said for Asgard. Not on Asgard. I will be here more than I have, but I have not forgotten my promise to you and your people. And I would like to be allowed to visit your institute and speak with the leaders there." Of course, that would help Loki a great deal as well.
Thus, the brothers working together.
"You would have free movement between Midgard and Asgard, which would help…" Pause. Thor turns his head so he can look at Crystal, brows rising, "Pollution sickness? Are you in need of the healers?"
*
"Not after a week here, no," Crystal replies, resettling herself. "It's nothing, really. From living in Attilan so much, we as a people tend to be sensitive to the pollution in the cities of Midgard. I…am more susceptible to it, thanks to my powers. I also have a better ability to fight it, to purify the things around me, but it's tiring. It isn't a problem here, though. Everything here is fresh and clean. After a week here, I feel…refreshed." Indeed, while she's rarely looked sickly, her color is better, her skin more clear, her breathing easier. Whatever the politics may be, Asgard itself clearly agrees with her.
*
Thor lifts a hand to caress her cheek, and there is concern in those blue eyes. "Then we have more reason to return your homeland to you. It is well within my rights as given me by the All-Father. But remember that Asgard is another home for you. All you need do is call on Heimdall and he will bring you here." Heimdall the Watcher.
"Are you alright then to return to Midgard on the morrow? See your sister again? She must miss you now that she has only recently regained you." Of course Thor knows about siblings!
*
"Mmm, and you'd like to get her approval now as well," Crystal laughs softly to his question. "But yes. I've already been gone longer than I thought I would. I'll return tomorrow, speak with Medusa, speak with Charles. See where everything else stands. I imagine there was been conversations with the rest of my family while we've been away. I'll take my leave in the morning, though. Tonight…" She pauses, looking back up at him. "Tonight, would you stay with me?"
*
A chuckle sounds and he gives her a gentle squeeze, "Am I that transparent?" Thor rolls his head forward to kiss the top of Crystal's head and remains there for a few moments, just letting the scent of it surround him. "I would very much like to. I feel that if she agreed to this match, it would herald a new time for Asgard and the Nine Realms. With my brothers and you by my side?"
The timing is as Thor expects, and he nods against her, "I will be certain that I am there to escort you. I won't be far behind, however, and somehow I will get word to you that I am arrived and where. Loki was speaking about getting a small dwelling within the city of York for us all so we could be close." It's the question, however, that gains his fullest of attention, and there is a pause, but it's not one of indecision. It's more, giving her a chance to say, 'I changed my mind' or 'nevermind' before he answers softly, "I would be honored."
*
"New York," Crystal laughs softly. "It's called New York." But she has her answer, and she has her plans. And for now, she has at least the comfort of his presence. "It has been a very long week. I think tonight, it would be good to rest before I go home. To let things…settle." She closes her eyes then, resting her head against his shoulder. Let the parties continue outside. Here, there will be some peace.