Warm Hearts on a Planet of Ice

When We Were Young

"Loki!" A young giantess called to her best friend. "I'm here!"
A prince of about ten looked over, smiling brightly upon his friend's arrival. He could finally make her out through the thick smog of snow that fell down unto the land.
"Angy!" He called back to her, hopping through the fluffy white snow to meet her in a tight hug. He'd missed her terribly.
After several moments in each other's embrace, they broke apart. Angrboda was very excited and happy to see the Prince of Jotunheimr. It was surprising to her that Laufey actually let him out this far. The palace, of course, was still in their range of sight, but was hardly visible through the thick smog of hard snowfall.
The children were safe in the boundaries of where the palace could be seen, guards patrolling the grounds almost always. The two of them would play together beneath a bare tree, and it was often their meeting place.
"What do you wanna do?" Loki asked Angrboda, who was playing with the snow using both her hands and feet.
"Race you to the top of the tree?" She said, starting towards it.
Loki smirked, "you're on." He leapt towards the tree, climbing as fast as possible, but the giantess was slightly quicker, and a bit of a faster thinker, too.
Loki was slipping on the branches, as most of them had a thin layer of ice over the bark.
"Careful, Loki! It's slippery," she said, laughing lightly.
Loki had, of course, already taken note of that almost as soon as he began his climb. He felt himself growing tired, but Angrboda was far from it. She was always energetic, and pushing her best friend a little bit more out of his comfort zone.
Loki let out a small shriek as he nearly fell out of the tree.
Angrboda's head snapped over her shoulder to be sure he was alright. She stopped at a thick branch and sat down. She waited patiently for the boy-prince.
Loki looked up at his friend, worriedly. He was still at the middle of the tree's trunk, and he was afraid to climb any higher. "Angy, I-I don't think this is a good idea!" He called up to her with a concerned tone in his voice.
Angrboda gave him a confident look, "sure it is! Want me to help you?" The giantess asked, watching him closely with her blood red gaze.
"Y-Yes please," the boy stuttered, holding onto the branches for dear life. His fingers tingled from the numbing cold, but that never bothered him. Loki was very shaky as he felt unstable in the tree. He looked up and met his friend's gaze trustingly.
Angrboda clambered back down to where he was. "Put your foot here," she instructed, "and push yourself up to grab this branch." She helped pull the wary Loki up.
He made a short whimper as he slipped again, but Angrboda had him. She wouldn't let him fall. But even if he did, there was enough snow on the ground to break his landing.
Loki eventually made it to the large branch of the tree and let a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Angy," he said, smiling.
The girl sat beside him, and wrapped her arms around Loki. "You're welcome."
Loki felt butterflies in his stomach. He'd never felt that way before. Maybe it was because of Angrboda.
The two stayed there for quite some time, talking back and forth. Most of it consisted of sharing stories and remembering when they were much younger. In time they would look back at their childhood and remember how they met and learned to love one another.