I slid the fauld on under my skirt, then hiked the fabric up to buckle on my cuisse and greaves. Björn reclined in the pile of hay, watching the moonlight play off the mirror-like shine of my armor. He was almost hidden in the darkness, a shadow among shadows. But the light reflected in his eyes as he watched my risque armor show.
Finally, I pulled off the dress to attach my tassets to the fauld, exposing my breasts to the cool night air and Björn’s gaze. I heard his intake of breath and smiled to myself as I continued my work. My nipples pebbled instantly in the chill, goosebumps rising all over my upper body. My lower body was warm and comfortable, thanks to my armor, and so would the rest of me be in a minute.
Once the gardbrace was attached to the breastplate, I slid the entire piece over my head and reached behind my arms to buckle it into place. As soon as the last buckle set, there was a powerful rush of wind from my wings appearing. It was almost as if they flew in from space and attached themselves to my back on a whim, diving in and stopping abruptly.
This time Björn definitely gasped, and it drew a chuckle from my lips as I buckled on my vambrace. The warmth, the wholeness, immediately began filling me. Already my sense of humor was returning.
“I wondered… how that happened,” he explained, sounding almost sheepish from the shadows.
“I understand. It seems like there has to be more to it than that, but they literally just appear out of thin air. Like I said, it’s magic.” I grinned in his direction, and could just make out the gleam of his answering grin in the darkness.
“So, you’ll wait here, then?” It felt strange, hopping from the loft to exit through the door like a normal person and just leave him here, knowing I was off flying around.
There was a grunt and some shuffling, and Björn appeared from the shadows. “Actually, I was wondering if I could go out and watch you?”
“Watch what? I’m just going to go fly around, stretch my wings.”
“I know. It’s just so… incredible. Do you mind?”
I shrugged. “Sure. I could just sit here and chitchat, but honestly having the wings off all day makes them restless, so they need to get out and flap around a bit. That’s the only reason I do it.”
“The only reason?” Björn’s quizzical expression was audible in his tone, if barely visible in the darkness.
“Okay, it’s also fun,” I conceded. “Shall we?”
Björn turned toward the ladder. Before I could think twice about it, I offered, “would you like a lift?”
“A lift?” Of course, the phrasing didn’t translate well from English.
“A ride… I could hold on to you and we could fly down… instead of the ladder.” My cheeks were hot; thank Frigg it was so dark in here, he couldn’t see me blushing.
“Oh… okay.” He shuffled in my direction, and I raised my arm to his shoulder.
“Put your arm around my waist and hold on.” As gently as I was able, I lifted off with my wings and glided us to the floor.
Björn gripped my body tightly, pressing his hip to mine and squeezing along the length of my body. His rapidly beating heart betrayed his emotions; he acted nonchalant, but I could feel the trepidation in him.
However, we landed safely on the ground a few seconds later, no worse for the wear. His grip on me eased, and then he stepped to the side awkwardly.
“So… what now?”
“Well… now I go outside and fly around, and you watch, I guess?” This was his plan, after all.
“Right. Let’s go.” He gestured me through the door. I tucked my wings tightly and ducked to prevent them smacking on the doorframe. It took awhile to remember how big they were, but I was getting the hang of it.
“I guess… I’ll see you in a bit?” I still wasn’t exactly sure about this. It felt awkward to me, him just standing on the ground watching me enjoy myself in the sky.
Björn nodded, his eyes gleaming in the moonlight; a hulking shadow with shining, excited eyes. “Go on.”
Turning, I took a few steps away from him and launched off, the gust of air from my wings kicking up dirt and bits of straw, sending a swirling cloud around my audience. I waited until I was high enough he couldn’t see my expression in the dark sky, then turned and glanced at him. I could still see his face clearly, bathed in moonlight and tilted upward.
He was smiling.
At first I just kind of flapped around, wondering if he was expecting me to do something interesting. Then I realized that what he wanted to watch was me enjoying myself, so I tried to stop overthinking and just do what felt good.
I soared through the air like superman, driving across the sky with my hands forward. Then I performed several loop-de-loops, barrel rolls, and spins. When I glanced back at Björn on the ground, his smile had grown wide, stretching across his face. I’d never seen him smile so big—he was the happiest I’d ever seen him, watching me being myself. He looked so much like Helgi this way.
The reminder of Helgi stabbed my heart, and I coasted on the light breeze as I considered. It took me awhile to see it; yes Björn was a large man, as Helgi had been. There were certain physical characteristics that were very similar. But at first, Björn’s personality had been so closed off, I didn’t think the two had anything in common at all. Helgi had always been so warm, so sweet and thoughtful and comforting. He didn’t press, but he seemed to know exactly when my weakest moments were, and stepped in to bolster me up.
And now here was Björn, doing exactly the same style of bolstering support. Arguing that I was stronger than I believed. Reveling in my strength, but supporting me in my weakness.
It was as if Björn was Helgi reincarnated, or perhaps Helgi had been Björn reincarnated, given that he wouldn’t be born for a few hundred years from now.
My heart was telling me something, and it was time to listen.
With a surge, I drove my body straight upward, then allowed myself to slow, stop for a heart-wrenching pause, then tip backward and dive back toward the ground.
I landed gently, just a few feet from Björn. My skin was humming with joy and excitement and a deep, aching longing that had been building ever since Björn wrung that dress out for me, what felt like ages ago.
I stepped up to him, watching his features grow somber as he read the tension in the air, and pulled his head toward mine.
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