#chocolatecheesecake

In an attempt to get Freydis and Leif into the Great Hall, Skarde and Njal caused a distraction big enough for the siblings to slip through. The only issue Njal had seen from the beginning in their great plan was the backlash Skarde and himself would have to face from the Christian housecarl. 

It was the moment one of them spit into Skardes face and called him a woman that escalated the whole situation and Njal didn't even have time to roll his eyes, making his presence known anew to their opponents. It took a right hook for them to back off, but by then Skarde was already bleeding somewhere. "What is it with you, always getting hurt." Njal growled and took hold of his friend, to drag him back to the little hut they were allowed to stay in. It was quite the feat, since Skarde insisted on walking on his own, but Njal was firmly holding him, not giving him much of a chance to wiggle out of his grasp.

"It's nothing," Skarde waved off, when Liv gasped at the sight of them. "Not even that deep." He joked and took his hand away from his side to look at his bloody palm. Skarde swallowed, steadily getting more concerned that the cut might be deeper than he'd thought at first. 

"Right," The dry tone with which Njal spoke left no room to interpret his thoughts on the matter in any other way than disbelief. "Sit." He told him, pushing Skarde into the empty stool near the fire as Liv rummaged through their supplies to find bandages to press on his wound in order to stop the bleeding. 

"I cannot believe this happened," she scoffed, sharing a look with Yrsa who had just gotten back with a bucket of fresh water. It was one of those the boys got themselves into a mess- looks they exchanged more often than not. "You have more injuries than Freydis and she's usually the main source of trouble." Liv scolded him, pulling his tunic up without much fanfare before she stared Njal down to help her remove their companions' clothes. 

Yrsa was busy filling the water into a smaller bucket and put it near Liv and Skarde. "I don't feel so well," he said, looking down at the wound that was indeed much bigger than he previously assumed. Njal took the position behind Skarde to prevent him from falling off the stool, a firm hand at his neck while Liv wet a cloth to clean the cut. Momentarily distracted, he turned his gaze up to meet Njal's reassuring and yet concerned eyes. 

Everything happened so fast, when Liv stuck a piece of wood between Skarde's teeth to bite down on and then Yrsa was there with a glowing knife that radiated with the heat of the fire it had laid in only moments prior. Njal could feel it even from his vantage point, causing the hairs on his arms to rise at the knowledge of what was to follow. Quickly he reached down to take a hold of Skarde's forearms to ensure Yrsa would be able to close the wound without a hassle. His friend's muffled screams caused Njal to pull Skarde closer in an attempt to comfort him.  

"It's alright, we're done," Liv said softly, patting his shoulders after she'd taken the wood out of his mouth. Njal had watched her apply a concoction to soothe the skin and then how careful she'd bandaged his torso to make sure Skarde's wound would not get infected. It caused Njal to let go of his companion's arms, only to realize he had to carry him to one of the cots they inherited when his friend fell forwards a little, too weak after the procedure. "You did good." Liv praised, but it wasn't directed at Skarde, she was looking up at Njal who swallowed in discomfort. He hadn't done much in his knowledge, which made it impossible for him to accept such kindness and deemed a grunt in reply as sufficient. 

Once Skarde was settled, Liv got in Njal's way, pushing the hair out of his face to observe the shiner he was probably sporting by now in such a loving way, he already felt bad to plan how to get around an answer to a question she would certainly ask, "What happened?" She wanted to know, her hand lingering at his throat, making it clear she would not let the topic go until he was truthful with her. 

"Can we wash his face?" Njal evaded her question by asking his own. Meeting Yrsa's disapproving eyes for a second, who wordlessly grabbed the bucket to get more water. Clearly she did not want to be there for when Liv would make him talk and he knew she had her ways. She waited him out, looking up expectantly until he eventually sighed in defeat, "The diversion worked, but the Christian housecarls wouldn't let us go so easily."

"I see," Liv said after contemplating what Njal had told her. Her thumb caressing his hairy chin to let him know she was there for him as well. It was an odd relationship they had developed. Liv was his companion, but also Skarde's, and Njal was somewhere in between with both of them now. It didn't help that he wasn't too sure what he felt for his injured friend anymore. It wasn't something he would talk to Toke about, much less with Leif or Birger. As much as they were his friends- almost like brothers- he didn't think they would understand. "It gladdens me you're not as hurt as Skarde."

Liv indicated that Njal should lean down to her, her other hand twisting in his tunic to emphasize. He willingly followed her plea to bring their heads together. Only then did he manage to take a hold of her too. The concern he'd felt for Skarde started seeping out of him when he pulled her close and sealed her lips in an almost chaste kiss, not willing to initiate anything further, but to let her know what he couldn't say out loud. Oh, how in awe he’d been when he watched Liv handle the situation effortlessly.

"I do not wish to break you two apart, but I brought fresh water," Yrsa said, huffing out a breath as she let the door fall shut behind her, "Again." Her tone gave away her irritation easily enough to recognize. 

Njal got to work on cleaning his companion without being told, wiping Skarde's face clean of the Christian's spit. His short locks framing his face got wet in the progress and coiled even more than usual. Njal remembered a time where Skarde's hair had been long, obtaining envy by so many for it. He'd cut it off painfully short months before they'd left Greenland and Njal had missed Skarde's longer hair bitterly, but he could understand why he'd done so. Liv leaned against his back. a warm and comforting presence, where he was crouching down next to their companion. Her chin dug just so into his shoulder to assure him she was there for him as well. "They called him a woman and spit in his face," he finally disclosed, still disgusted by these Christians, who called themselves civilized. 

Skarde must feel as confused as Njal about their arrangement, he concluded, if he got angry so quickly about such an unimportant thing. "He is beautiful," Liv stated as she stroked Njal's arm in a soothing manner. How she always knew when to touch to magically take the jittery feeling of anxiety from him, he couldn't tell, she must have a special sense of sorts. "I loved to play with his hair and loved it even more to braid it." She said quietly into his nape as he dried Skarde's face off.

Njal hummed, not able to agree or disagree yet. He'd loved it too, though, twirling a loose lock around his finger when they'd all laid in bed together, and even more so how Skarde would smile at him the closer Njal's hand would get to his face, knowing what would follow. There hadn't been much privacy for them to be together, unless it was one of them with Liv alone to not raise any questions. Njal suspected that this was the reason he felt so unsure about them, and why he felt so disconnected. In Greenland everything had been so simple, they had clear boundaries, a place to be just them and with the old ways no one would judge them. 

Here in Kattegat, with all those Christian threats surrounding them, he was afraid to endanger either Liv or Skarde by expressing his care for them even a smidge too much. They already hated them, called them pagans and made them feel like their life wasn't worth more than that of livestock. Yrsa's pots clanking together pulled him out of those dark thoughts and he turned enough to look at Liv, "He is." Njal agreed at last, giving away much more than he initially intended to. 

There was only love in Liv's eyes, perhaps a touch of relief. "Skarde will be fine," she reassured Njal with a squeeze to his shoulders, "Valhalla has to wait a little longer for him." 

When Liv went to help Yrsa to cook their nattmal, Njal reached for Skarde's hand to let him know someone was there. He was too caught up in his own mind to notice how his companion woke up, which had him flinching in surprise when Skalde tightened his grip on Njal's hand. Their gaze met, heavy with meaning and unspoken words as he realized Skarde looked at him the same way Liv did and he hoped his companion knew he reciprocated those feelings. Would have even said them out loud, if it weren't for Toke and Birger returning to their hut by slamming the door open and shut violently. They'd been gone for most of the day and appeared to be drunk out of their mind.

With a nod Njal let go of Skarde's hand to rise, "Rest up," he told him in hopes his companion and friend would do so. Instead he saw him watch Toke's fruitless endeavor to take his boots off and the way Birger lost himself in his tunic, a smile tugging at Skarde’s lips when his eyes met Njall’s. "Do you need help?" Njal asked them without even looking, but turning in time to see Toke wave the offer off in a big gesture that had him fall into the same cot Birger already occupied face first. 

"Two mouths less to feed." Yrsa deadpanned, before continuing her task. Many things, such as privacy had been better in Greenland, but only here in Kattegat they could all live together and Njal would not change that for anything.

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