Okay. They can put the novel stuff aside for right now. This is more important.

"I know. I know you don't want me to, but it's inevitable. It's..." He squeezes his boyfriend firmly. "I owe my mother a debt. And a debt like that is going to have to be repaid one way or another. Doing my part to keep the world safe will be... enough. I'm not so arrogant as to say I'm going to save the world myself. That'll probably... be the others, or something. But I owe her for my second chance. ... I don't think there's any way I can get out of paying something like that. It's not like she's a young new goddess who doesn't hold any sway - she literally runs the Norse underworld."