Reconnection

This is a flash piece drafted as part of a prequel adventure with my co-author as she participates in a writing challenge and we work on our shared universe. The flash pieces posted here are part of rough draft scenes that may make it into our future novels or may just be used to help flush out our shared universe.

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

“How many more of these are you going to have me talk about, my love?” Hodr’s head tilted down like he’d be able to see the woman stretched out along his side. Fingers dipped to tease through her hair, lips lifting even with the question. Though it likely had more to do with the warmth along his side and the leg draped over his.

He couldn’t see her, but he remembered what she looked like. It had stayed in his dreams as he replayed all of those moments that they’d shared before they were separated. And he could feel the warmth of her good side curled into his, where her cheek rested on his shoulder, and how her fingers teased along a section of raised skin just under and to the left of his heart.

A hum left her as her fingers continued to stroke the scar. “I want to know every story I missed. You’re littered with these and I don’t remember most of them.”

The corner of his mouth lifted up a little. They’d been holed up in her palace since his arrival in Niflheim, with only the occasional interruption when a newly dead came and needed to be welcomed. It’d only been a few days, but none of those in the realm had questioned it.

No, that’s not true. There was one who’d questioned why the two were spending so much time together without anyone else. But well, just as his mother had said before, he’d never lost his heart before so he’d never understand.

But he didn’t have a choice either. Hodr didn’t know if he wanted to see his brother right now. Or when he would be ready to. He needed time, because all of this that has led them here stemmed from his brother’s cowardice.

A kiss to his chest pulled him back to his thoughts with a hum of confusion. “Sorry, what?”

“I asked where you went, my husband. You went quiet.” Her fingers teased gently along his side, closer to his hip. “I know this one you’ve had since our trip to Jotunheim.” Her voice lit up a little at the end of the sentence when he gave a soft intake of breath. “You surprised me that night, stepping in front of the man to keep me safe.”

Dipping his head, he placed a kiss to her hair gently. “It was worth the scar to keep you safe. It was even worth father’s wrath and being housebound for the next like six months. I wouldn’t have wanted you hurt.”

He felt her arm slide around him to hug him tightly for a moment. “So where do you go? When you went quiet?” Her fingers gently teased along the scar she’d questioned him about moments ago, “And where is this one from?”

“I was just thinking about how I’ve loved getting to reconnect with you in the peace of our palace.” His arm wrapped around her a little more, fingers teasing along her hip idly just to remind himself she was right here with him. They were together, finally. “I’ve missed you, so having mostly uninterrupted time means the world to me right now.”

Her fingers tapped the scar before she stroked it with a soft mhmm. Clearly indicating that he was sweet and all, but he still hadn’t told her about the scar.

With a sigh, he caught her hand and brought it up so he could kiss the knuckles. “Vali. He got close to catching me in the village outside Athens. They’d had a small epidemic spread through the town and there were six people that needed tending to.”

“That’s when you spent almost a week because the one woman took almost four days to pass,” she mused. Her fingers slipped out of his hand so she could run them along his jaw.

Turning his head, he nipped playfully at the digit. “It was. You’d warned me he was coming, but he moved faster than we anticipated. But I couldn’t leave her either. Not when she was the last one who needed me.”

She pushed herself up to place a kiss to his cheek. “You have always had a good heart.”

“A rarity in my family,” he teased as he leaned into the kiss. Before she could ask him for a third time about the scar he stretched a little and she settled her head back on his shoulder. “About an hour after she passed, I packed up and headed out of town. He had just been arriving and ran straight into me. Literally, he grabbed me around the waist and tried to throw me down a cliff.”

A soft rumble of upset left her and she burrowed her cheek against him. In response he hugged her tighter to him.

“Obviously he didn’t, but we got into a fight and he pulled a knife. It went deep, enough to scar but not bad enough to stop me from getting away with him. I ended up entombing him on the side of that cliff in an ice cage that was spelled to melt after a couple days to give me a head start in getting away from him again.”

He could feel the tension in her where she rested, and the hand on her hip stroked the skin before moving up to tease along the good side of her spine to try and offer her comfort. “I hate that he got so close so many times.”

What could he say, stopping to care for the dead not only slowed him down but had given a marker on a map for where Vali could find him. Word had started to spread far and fast when there was a sighting of him after he’d made a name for himself. Most hoping he’d grace their sick to see them with care too. Praying to the Winter God.

“He was picked because Odin knew he’d see it through. He’s always been a vicious mini version of Father. But his temper, ego, and libido were ways to easily distract him to help get away.” Her fingers teased along his stomach, and he caught her hand before she could reach the next scar. “Enough scars for tonight, my love.”

A pout made itself clear in the soft sound in the back of her throat. “But we’re not done. You have many more.”

Dipping, Hodr rested his nose against her hair. If he could see, this is where he’d close his eyes to just sink into the feel of her a little more and let the weight of the past melt away. “And we will get to them, but I want to hear about you. You mentioned that there’s a refugee in Niflheim?”

“Oh, yes, I did. Speaking of Athens,” her voice stilled after those words and her fingers drummed softly on his chest. While he couldn’t see her, the tension hadn’t returned, so he got that it was more figuring out how to tell him instead of what to tell him.

His fingers tickled her side a little, causing her to squeak with laughter before she slapped his chest. “Now you’re going quiet.”

Humming, she rubbed her cheek against his skin. “Sorry, there are a couple of the Greek Pantheon resting here. Tyr decimated them, and their Underworld rulers found themselves here in my realm and I offered them sanctuary. His Queen was really hurt, but she’s slowly recovered, helped me with the dead on occasion.”

An ah’ha sound left Hodr and he chuckled, “Is that why you’re able to spend so much time with me? She’s greeting some of the dead to give us time together?”

“Well she said to take all the time I needed with you. She understands what we have, because she has it with her husband.” Geiravor's finger poked Hodr’s chest at his chuckle, “Don’t laugh. I’ll introduce you when I’m ready to share you.”

Shaking his head a little, he hugged her to him as he took a breath. “No rush, my wife. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Ymir right you’re not,” she murmured as she leaned up to steal a kiss from him. Kiss achieved, she snuggled back into him and any lingering tension slowly slipped from her when Garmr leapt up onto the foot of the bed and layed over their tangled feet with a happy huff.

— A short set before The Prophecies of Ragnarok, a Norse mythology based new adult series written with Marie Sinadjan. Hotel Fen is the first book in the series. Also checkout A Winter's Bargain and Marie's Vocal for more prequel shorts that take place before the novel.