Faint Of Heart [Ivar x Reader]

Chapter 2

Ivar kept his piercing blue eyes on you for a couple of seconds before he made a come hither motion, making your cheeks burn. So far, he had only come to bed when you were already asleep and left before you could wake up, so this was highly unfamiliar.

"What?" you felt the need to ask and he shot you a look.

"I don't feel like yelling all the way there, it's a big chamber."

"But Ivar, I'm indecent."

He rolled his eyes, "Yes, very. Come here, bring your books too."

You hesitated only for a couple of seconds before you grabbed your books, hugged the fur around you tighter and walked to sit down on the foot of the bed, a bit further from him. His eyes focused on your almost transparent nightgown only for a moment before you shifted your weight, pulling at the fur around you and he averted his glances to grab one of the books.

"How about I ask you things?" he asked, "Then you can see if you understood it or not?"

You pushed your hair behind your ear and nodded, nervousness filling you. You never liked this, not even when you were a child and your tutors were intimidated by your parents, and now...

Well. There was no one in the world that Ivar was intimidated by.

"Those two pages only though, for now." You showed him the pages, making him nod and he leaned back,

"Who's Odin married to?"

"Freyja."

He shot you an almost amused look, "No he's not."

"Yes he is."

Ivar chuckled, "I think I know Aesir a bit better than you, little shark."

Little shark.

Right.

You had almost forgotten about that.

You hated the sea. You had been at the sea for days now, and just when you thought you couldn't get any more seasick, your stomach would start flipping inside your belly again, making you throw up. Thankfully, you were left alone with some shieldmaidens and they honestly looked either amused by your reaction to the sea, or took pity on you. Only about three of them knew your language and one of them had said fresh air would help, so you had gone up to the main deck of the ship. You gripped the taffrail as tight as you could to look over, standing on your tiptoes, a childhood memory hitting you with its full force. Not far away, Ubbe and Ivar were arguing very loudly in their own language –which you had no idea about- and you sniffled. The constant seasickness along with crying whole night was taking its toll on you but you kept your gaze stable, your eyes searching the waves. Ubbe pinched the bridge of his nose as Ivar snapped at him, then he shook his head, apparently out of patience.

And now you were trying to understand what people were saying due to their gestures.

Barely anyone had talked to you since you had left your country.

And God, you missed home.

"Careful there," Ubbe's voice reached your ear, "If you fell down the sea, we wouldn't be able to find you in these waves."

You looked over your shoulder, blinking a couple of times, "Me?"

"Yes, you." Ubbe's eyes were soft, much softer than Ivar's- who seemed to be glaring at you.

"I'm not going to fall." You shook your head, still leaning over the rails "I'm trying to see something."

"What?"