Berserkr (boyxboy)

Chapter 6: Scars to Skin

Once they'd ascended to the loft, Vali was quick to herd the Alpha over to the trunk he'd discovered earlier that day, jumping up to sit on top of it before gesturing for the large man to sit with his shoulders bracketed between his short legs.

At first, the Alpha found himself wildly confused with what the Omega could possibly be attempting to accomplish, even briefly wondering if this were his attempt at initiating some sort of sexual advance he'd never heard of. But once he obediently followed directions and Vali was able to get him situated just right, the sensation of nimble fingers disassembling his overgrown plaits made everything make sense.

Vali's hands were like freshly churned butter as they dissolved into Einar's scalp and began to massage the places where the plaits once were. The Alpha leaned deep into the touch, eyelids fluttering when something so simple as gentle contact made his entire body relax, hard muscles softening as they finally released themselves from decades of fight or flight.

Rendered to goo by his Omega's hands for the second time that day, Einar could barely conjure up the ability to move his lips and ask the question that had been lingering on his mind since the night prior. But luckily for him, once Vali concluded his scalp massage and got to work re-weaving careful plaits in the sides of his hair, the Alpha was able to regain a slim fraction of his mental capacity.

"Ástvinur," Einar's voice was gentle but probing. "How has your mind fared since the... events of yesternight? You do not have to answer if you are uncomfortable speaking of it with me, but I cannot help but agonize over your well-being. I... I worry." He finished, attempting to remain truthful to his emotions.

Vali's fingers paused their ministrations for a moment before continuing to weave.

But in lieu of matching the honesty that he could practically feel wafting off of Einar in nervous waves, Vali opted to remain forthcoming as well. Or as close as he could get to it with only mere words as a tool to convey the profundity of his complicated feelings.

"I... am sad. There is an ache in my heart that is just so endless, like I have fallen down a bottomless well with no way of climbing back to the light." He described, and Einar leaned over as he listened, resting his temple against Vali's slim thigh. The contact soothed them both.

"A simple apology would be inconsequential in portraying the depths of my regret for playing a part in your sorrows." The Alpha turned, now resting his forehead against the soft skin of Vali's bare thigh that peeked from under his shift. In any other situation, his actions would have been considered scandalous and improper at best, but they both knew that this kind of touch was different. "If the choice were mine to make, I would have never..."

Einar's voice broke, unable to speak of the atrocities that he was ordered to commit, and Vali's hands faltered. This time he did not go back to his completed weft, but instead leaned down, wrapping his arms around his Alpha's neck and resting his cheek atop the crown of Einar's blonde head.

"Through the depths of my fright and despair, you have done nothing other than comfort me, keep me safe and feed me of your own ration." Vali whispered, eyes fluttering closed as he pulled in a shaky breath. Everything felt so clear now. "Although the blood may have been forced onto your hand, the fault was never yours to bear."

The moan of agony that broke through Einar's chest was like glass as it punctured through his ribcage, releasing all of the pressure that he'd tried his best to ignore for far too long.

"But I have hurt so many, ripped countless innocent souls from this very earth. And I have done nothing, nothing as I witnessed their blood flow, watering the very soil that I strode across as I pilfered their riches without so much a spare glance in their stead." Einar bellowed, iniquities falling from his lips like bile. "And beyond even this, I have not even been able to preserve myself as chaste for you." Einar croaked as he admitted to his greatest sin of all, and Vali's heart stuttered. He could no longer stand to watch his fated fall apart from afar.