“Technically, I’ve never seen you have fun with a woman, thank gods. But… Since I’ve seen you look at a woman?” She patted his shoulder. "Too long."
"I don't want fun," Thor admitted. "I want..." What did he want? "I want to know her."
Frigg searched his face for a moment. "Then do it. But go slow. Elle is... fragile."
Thor glanced over at Elle again. Frigg's description of Elle seemed correct. But Thor remembered what he had felt when he touched her. Power. Deep, raw, untapped power.
"And be careful."
"I am not going to hurt her," Thor said.
"I didn't mean her. I meant you.”
What did that mean? What did Frigg see?
“But, if you want Elle, you have to go through Val." Frigg smiled. "And may the gods be with you on that front."
He waited for Frigg to move on to her other guests before turning back to Heimdall.
Heimdall studied him. "You like her."
"I don't know her."
Heimdall smiled. "What does that matter? You know better than anyone you cannot stop fate."
Thor gritted his teeth. Heimdall had been trying to help Thor release his guilt over Ragnarök for centuries. The problem was, it was the first battle Thor ever lost, and it ended with his home destroyed and all its remaining inhabitants displaced.
"Is that what she is? My fate? Both you and my mother see what lies in my cards, so tell me and save me some time. Is Elle my fate?"
A part of him wished more than anything that the fiery-haired beauty was his fate. The part that hadn’t been able to do anything other than think of her all night and all morning. Even when he’d been in the ring fighting. Afterward, when he’d gotten drunk and fallen asleep in one of the guest rooms at his father’s bar. And then first thing when he’d woken up and headed home to shower. That part of him had been able to do nothing more than remember her scent, her eyes, her soft smile. But another part told him that, after everything he'd done, he didn't deserve someone like Elle.
"I cannot tell you the future," Heimdall replied.
"Why? You've done it tons of times before," Thor countered.
"Yes, but…” Heimdall stared at him for a long moment, his golden glowing eyes glazing over.
Heimdall saw something. Something in the future. Thor had seen that look in Heimdall’s eyes a million times before.
Finally, his eyes cleared and dimmed. “The things I’ve told you have involved the fate of the nine realms, not the fate of your love life."
Thor glared at Heimdall, trying to let the weight of his gaze push Heimdall into speaking, but it was pointless. Heimdall didn't bow to anyone but Odin- and he only did that out of respect. Heimdall was both older and more powerful than even Odin.
"So you won't tell me?"
Heimdall shrugged. "Wouldn't you rather be surprised by how it plays out than ruin the ending?"
"Not this time." For some reason, that was the truth. Thor didn’t like knowing the end of the story before it started, but this time, something told him he needed to know.
Heimdall chuckled. "Well, too bad, old friend. I don't want to spoil how it ends before it gets going. If it were a book, I'd rip out the last chapter so neither of us peeked."
Thor growled and clenched his beer. Okay, so for some reason, no one would help him cheat this time. He had to do things like a mere mortal wanting to get to know a woman. The thought both intrigued and aggravated him.
Suddenly, an idea popped into his head.
"Fine. If you won't help, I'll find someone who will."
Heimdall shook his head. "You already asked him, and he wouldn’t say anything. Are you sure you can trust what he tells you now?"
