#reykjarvik

“We’re in public. You’re sitting here with me. I’m as safe as I can get from a boy,” where did he learn this ridiculous practice, she feels the need to go interrogate the rest of the Nordics and figure it out. Maybe get revenge for her lack of freedom. “Relax, will you? You don’t have to watch out for my virtue.”

“Oh, I’m not telling you off, I’m encouraging you. If you’re stirring up trouble no one will notice me slip away, see?” with a grin of mischief, she pats his back as high as she can reach given that she’s wearing flat shoes. “But if you didn’t intend to, forget that I just told you this, okay?”

“Slippin’ away for what though?” It’s not like she’s a little child that needs to justify herself when she wants to go away for a time. “Trouble might be the wrong word for it though, then again, Norge will certainly think so.” Somewhat helplessly, he gesture with his hands, mouth twisted with discomfort. 

It’s clear in the way he holds himself that he doesn’t think he would be a good person to ask for advice, by the way he sighs and closes his eyes. Rubs the nape of his aching neck. But it would be unfair to just dismiss her, not when she holds her in such high regard.

It’s sometimes so easy to forget that she’s more his daughter than anything else. Especially when such tender words leave her lips, causing his blood to run a lot warmer than previously. That’s probably why he grabs her wrist, gently pulling her towards him to share it.

To share his warmth with her, since she’s the reason.

Generally I’d agree, yeah. But it doesn’t mean that everyone’s the same, ya know? Motives differ and with that the amount of everything.” He holds still. 

“But we’re here now.”

He says, gently, softly, tucking a stray curl of hair behind her ear. “Everything we did brought us to what we are now, og don’t you think that was worth it?”

It’s rare that he admits it to himself, even rarer for him to admit it to her. It’s just him, maybe, but he’s done with regret. They can’t change the past and truthfully, they should not yearn to do so.

“You grew, I grew, everyone did. We got wiser, quieter, better. We improved, love, og we’ll continue to do so. Don’t stunt yourself with these kind of thoughts.”