Spoilers for TDW likely in comments.

[brosif]

There is a time to act, and a time to hold.

It does not do to act with anger in one's heart. That is a path towards actions rash and ill.

I would not act with anger. And so, I must be given time.

Hold. This is a time to hold.

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[tordon]

[ there are any number of reasons for the Lady Sif's ire to be stirred, and Thor knows well it is not a thing to be trifled with. ]

Sif.

[ though it is but a word, it is seeking without being a true question, and Thor looks at her curiously. ]

[brosif]

[She does not return the look. Her knows her well enough that eye contact is a dialogue.]

Time, my friend.

[tordon]

[ his jaw clenches, a thoughtful gesture, but where another may take this at face value he instead comes to lean at her side. he does not try to catch her eye again- not yet. ]

I have known time, in some cases, to fester a thought, not soothe it.

[brosif]

I think -- [Time. Many moments pass, as she puts thoughts to words.]

I think you have not known soothing thoughts for some time, now. Years.

[sonofcoul]

That's not a bad philosophy in general.

[brosif]

It is not one I often have cause to employ.

[tordon]

[ it is her silences that cue Thor to what may trouble her, and his gaze sweeps down before cutting sideways, watching her profile, the way she lends not to glance his way. her words ring true, though he had not meant to have this conversation throw to his thoughts and his losses. ]

Perhaps. But this is not about me. [ as soon as the words leave his mouth, though, he wonders if that is, indeed, the truth. a heartbeat passes before he adds: ] Is it?

[sonofcoul]

But you obviously found one. What set it apart?

[brosif]

It is of Asgard. And thus, it is of you.

[She is still. For someone so characterized by movement, Sif can stand an unchanged as a pillar. That, too, is considered one of her strengths.

Years have passed, since their childhood. She is, in her own fashion, the least changed. She mapped a course and held to it. And perhaps that makes her the most changed of her generation, as the world around her has distorted into something nearly unrecognizable.]

And thus, it is not of you.

[For he has walked away from their nation. From his oaths and duties. For this, she has no words.]

[brosif]

[Sif eyes the human, cautiously -- she remembers him, from her few moments on Midgard. But trust is not so easily given, these days.]

I would know your purpose in asking.

[tordon]

[ it is a compromise to Thor, to turn down the crown to stand at the front lines, to act as he feels he should and not as the throne would demand. In a sense, he can now understand Loki's talk of freedom, late as it is. But the deeds to bring him to the decision- his time amoung the people of Midgard- he knows not how he could explain it. But he does know how it may seem a betrayal of his duty.

Perhaps in the future, the realms may change, and Thor with them. But for now, his heart tells him Asgard's great halls are not his place. It is only in the face of Sir's quiet tone does he waver, the sort of uncertainty he felt upon breaking the news to his father and knowing he just as soon could have been banished a second time.

He looks outward again, a mirror image of her. ]

How things have changed.

[brosif]

[There is an anger in Sif that she is wary to give breath to.

His decision is a betrayal. One that cuts far deeper than Loki's, for it is borne not out of madness, but out of careful thought. There is are no lies to account for Thor's decision. No imagined treason.

There is grief, but they all grieve. Sif herself feel's the Allmother's absence every day. She grieves for Frigga, for the soldiers lost. For Loki, in the end.

She grieves for much.]

Things will change further, still.

[With no clear heir in place, Asgard will face a civil war. It is a simple as that.]

[belovedone]

A wise course, I believe, Lady Sif.

[tordon]

And I will be there to bear witness.

[ he turns, then, angles his body toward her so she may know his earnestness, that to Thor his words are true. His chin dips, regarding her fully though she may not return his attention such.

He knows there is selfishness in his actions, but he sees what Loki had tried to explain to him now: he is not ready. He is not a fit ruler. (And maybe, maybe he flees the heartache of losing his brother, his mother, their fallen people; Thor does not think on it, has not wept ) ]

I have not abandoned you.

[brosif]

It is not myself I think nor speak of.

[It is Asgard. Always. She could be loyal to none other.

She shifts -- barely an inch. In her youth, she might have turned to him fully. Pleaded. She cannot see what that might accomplish, now.]

If I speak much further, Thor, it will be in anger. In this, I know myself.

[brosif]

[Oh that's fine Frigga, just drop Sif's heart out of her chest.]

I -- it is advice I give myself for lack of your good counsel, my queen.

[belovedone]

[Man, it's not like she tries to do that on purpose or anything...]

You flatter me. But you made good enough decisions without any need of my counsel before. I have no doubt you will continue.

[brosif]

My need was greater than I gave voice to. And yet your counsel seemed to find ways around that stubbornness, all the same.

[belovedone]

Perhaps it is I merely have much practice with stubbornness. [Brief but oh so knowingly wry.]

And any need that would be given voice is great enough in its own right. But if you would speak, then I would not have you be silenced. I am more than willing to hear of your troubles.

[sonofcoul]

Curiosity only. You don't need to answer. Or just answer in generalities, if you'd prefer.

[brosif]

[She weighs her options -- is it madness, talking to ghosts? Yes. But a welcome form of it.

What she speaks on should remain a matter to be resolved between the House of Odin. But two of its members are dead, and one has walked away. Effectively, the house does not stand.]

They are Asgard's troubles.

[brosif]

If I recall -- you are something of a leader, among your men?

[sonofcoul]

Something of one, yes.

[belovedone]

And thus, they are many. As has seeming been the case more often than it is not, these past few years. The reparations due for a long age of peace. But...forgive me. Go on.

[tordon]

But I speak of both.

[ her anger simmers beneath her skin, but Thor reaches forward and lays his hand on her arm. it's a grounding touch, one she could spurn if she wished, but he squeezes her briefly before letting go. he will not push, he knows it will only end in an argument— one he tempted by approaching in the first place. ]