Faint Of Heart [Ivar x Reader]

Chapter 2

"When I was a child, a wanderer swore to me he saw a mermaid in the depths of the sea."

Ubbe pulled his brows together, "A mermaid?" he asked, the word foreign on his tongue and you turned to him.

"It's- um..." you tried to gather your thoughts, "It's a creature that lives in the sea, looks like a beautiful woman."

"Selkie." You heard Ivar's voice and your eyes snapped up to him, "She's talking about Selkies."

"Oh," Ubbe laughed, "That's why you're shedding tears into sea then? To meet one?"

"I just want to see if he was telling the truth," You said silently, turning your gaze to the waves and out of the corner of your eye, you could see Ubbe walking away. You felt tired, almost as tired as the ship herself but stubbornly refused to lift your glances.

"Your wanderer is mistaken." Ivar spoke after almost a minute of silence, "He's seen a shark, most likely."

You withdrew your hand from the deck, "Are there sharks here?"

"Yeah."

"Why is no one scared?"

Ivar stared at you, "Of a shark?"

"I heard that they're huge. They sink ships."

"You've never seen a shark?" Ivar asked, dumbfounded and you shook your head,

"I've seen the paintings."

"Gods..." Ivar shook his head, "A shark isn't big enough to sink a ship. Your painters have quite the imagination."

"Oh..." You mumbled, holding onto the rails again as the ship rocked, and Ivar looked amused for a second.

"You were hoping the ship would sink, hm?"

You shook your head "I just thought sharks were more dangerous."

"They can be dangerous," Ivar shrugged, "Depends on the person."

You thought for a second, then leaned over the rails again,

"Then I want to see the sharks."

"Not the Selkies?"

"No," You muttered, "Selkies are just pretty. I like dangerous things better."

You snapped out of your thoughts when you realized Ivar was staring at you and you licked your lips, trying to focus.

"It was something similar though," you insisted, already frustrated with yourself, "Frey- Fr- Frigg!"

Ivar looked like he was struggling with a smirk, "So Odin is Frigg's..."

"Husband."

"And husband is...?"

You scrunched up your face, "Husband is- don't say it, I know that one," You pinched your lips and looked up, "Verr?"

He looked almost impressed, "And Thor?"

"Odin's son." You said quickly.

"Thor's mother?"

You shrugged, "Frigg."

"No."

"But you said-" you huffed out, "You just said she was his wife, Ivar."

"Yes, but Thor's mother is the Giantess Jörð ."

You gawked at him, "Giantess?" You repeated, and leaned in closer to see the page, "Where?"

"Here, see? Gýgr is Giantess."