"You left the day after I got here," he shrugged, as if it had been no big deal, but at the time he would have given anything to keep her around. "I didn't get the chance to speak to you before you went."

He pushed himself away from the back of the chair, placed both elbows on the edge of the tabletop, and leaned over a little. "I heard that you lived with Thor," he offered, uncertainty in his voice where he would usually be stating facts. "And you were close with a woman called Ariadne. She's adorably short. It's cute."