I stood there, my cold feet nearly buried in the early winter snow, staring down upon the draugr I had successfully slain, who lied dead at my feet, as it should have been long ago.
I had this the realization, that this draugr was once a human mortal, like me.
I know nothing of this creatures life before it turned to this unstable draugr, but just the thought alone, that it was once like me, gives me a feeling of remorse... Yeah, it tried to kill me, and chances are, it had cruel intentions even before turning to this undead beast, but that doesn't change much...

Draugr are the undead, who refuse to be taken to the after life; at least from what I've heard... They were all supposed to be dead, but there is something that motivates them to keep going, even if their physical form slowly whithers and decays.

I exhaled shakily, my breath visible in the cold air, relaxing my shoulders as I sheathed my sword away.
It was dead, and I was safe- at least, I think I'm safe for the time being...
If I've encountered draugr twice in such a short timespan in this region, I could only wonder if I'd be safe living here much longer.

I'd hate to leave this place; this is my childhood! All my memories, good and bad come from here.
I hope that this will be the last of them, and I won't have to worry about facing another, or another aggressive creature.

"(y/n?)"

That familiar voice spoke of my name- I recognized it as soon as I heard the calm tone; it was my newly made friend, baldur.

I twisted around, facing behind me, where my eyes lied onto baldurs heavily tattooed figure.
Baldur had acknowledged the draugr at my feet, lying limp in the snow, its fragile skull cracked opened, rotten brains spilt out onto the snow, giving it a rotten brownish red stain.

He was astonished, as if he's never seen a mortal kill such a creature like a draugr, with no help, and left with few injuries.
"Did... Did you do this?" He took a couple steps closer, scanning the draugr in the snow, completely barefoot in the snow- I forget he can not feel the cold, or anything for that matter; he's invulnerable to all threats, physical, or magical. according to him.

Not knowing what to say, not knowing if I should be victorious, or what, so I simply nodded my head up and down in response to baldurs question, cracking a weak half smile; you could say, I was still processing what I have just done.

Baldur took his eyes off the draugrs rotting corpse, shifting his attention back to me, his icey blue eyes glowed, impressed.
"Incredible, (y/n)... You may or may not have noticed, but despite how they look like they'd crumble at any second, draugr are unusually strong." The god went on, words a bit sluggish.

"What im saying, (y/n), its not all that easy for a mortal to take these on, and most would end up with several injuries, but from what I can tell, you're left untouched." Baldur continued on with what he was saying. He was quite, and talked slowly, though you could make out what he was saying pretty easily.
"You are strong, (y/n), don't deny it."

Flattered, I bit the inner corner of my lower lip, turning my gaze downwards. "Geez, heh, th-thanks! I guess you could say that im pretty fit..!" I beamed, lifting my good arm, flexing my muscles, acting confident in myself for, according to baldur, being strong.
I didn't believe him, but I was thankful that he, a god, would think of me like that.

Baldur chortled at my comment, shaking his head side to side.
"Ha! You must be strong if you took down this draugr, unharmed." He assumed, following up with a quick wink from his eye, and at that moment I felt my heart skip a couple beats.
Whenever he gives me some sorta compliment, I get a bit flustered; this wasn't a compliment, I know... But I couldn't help but wonder...
Was baldur...

Flirting?

No, no! Don't think that, (y/n)! You're a mortal, he's a god, son of odin himself!
Why would a god flirt with a mortal?? He'd be wasting his time by flirting with me!
Oh, gods... I'm overthinking it...

I was unsure of what would be appropriate to say, so I said the first thing that came to mind; "y'know what? I-its kinda chilly out here! How about we take this to my cabin? Where its, warmer...?" I stammered, doing my best to avoid making myself look like a fool in the presence of a god.

Of course, baldur, having lost his ability to physically feel, would know it was cold, but was incapable of knowing just how cold it was; I was getting pretty cold, exposed to the cold midgard snow, and right now a nice warm fire sounded pleasant.

Baldur hummed, slowly nodding his head up and down. "Hm, I see no reason why not? Lead the way, (y/n)." He motioned his hand in the air, signaling me to lead the way to my warm cabin.

"O-okay, great! I'm freezing!" I laughed sheepishly, folding my arms over each other, holding onto the fur cloak I regularly wear outside, especially as the tempature drops.
The cloak is what kept me somewhat warm, just enough so I'm not dying in the thick snow piles, getting a taste of what helheim would feel like.

Not wasting another second, I turned my back, and motioned my hand to baldur, as a way of telling him to follow, and he did, stepping towards me so he was towering to my left, and then we were off, leaving a trail of our footprints in the snow behind us, the dead draugr rotting away at a faster pace, now that its surely dead.

It was pretty quiet between baldur and I as we walked along the snow, back to my cabin for a moment, but all I could think of at the moment is how nice the gentle warmth of the fire would be- I was anticipating the moment where I'd sit comfortably by the fire.

Its silly I couldn't get it off my mind, but I am unsure if baldur is flirting or not- if he was, would he be doing it on purpose?
I mean, when we first met, he seemed impatient, and didn't want to stand around and talk, but now I think he's enjoying my company? I mean, im not complaining! I haven't had this much human interaction in what seems like forever ago.
I'm overthinking... I don't want to assume he's flirting with little evidence to prove he is.

"(y/n), something on your mind?" Baldur asked curiously. He noticed I was unusually quiet, spacing off while I was in thought.

Quickly, I had to think of something that sounded believable; I'd be humiliated if he knew I wondered if he was flirting or not- that's something so stupid to worry about, (y/n)!
"I-i- uhm... I-im just focused- yeah! I'm focusing right now, and cold! Y'know, its kinda chilly out here-!" I lied, followed up with a short and awkward chuckle. I may just have exposed myself to lying, as I always did a terrible job of thinking of a believable lie, and acting like I was speaking truth.

Baldur looked at me with disbelief- he knew I was lying... Rather than questioning me, to try and squeeze the truth out of me, he nodded his head up and down slowly with a quiet hum. "Mhm, I see..." Baldur brought his attention ahead of him, continuing; "it is pretty cold out, isn't it? (Not that I could feel it)." he must now wonder what I was thinking about; which may lead him to believe it was something that concerned him.

Stupid... I feel stupid... I wanted to tuck myself away in a dark room, and forget this ever happened...

"Eheh... Yeah, it sure is...!" I mentally cursed to myself.

The rest of the way to my cabin was quiet, and awkward... I wanted to say something to break the silence, but what? I didn't want to make the situation worse! Oh, gods... Does he feel the same? Did I make him uncomfortable? Baldur appears to be pretty content, so I must be over thinking it again.

Soon enough, my cabin was in eye shot, and I was impatient to get inside and warm up as soon as possible! I stayed outside a bit longer than I wished, as I had got myself caught up dealing with the draugr back there.

I didn't wanna go the rest of the way walking, as my cabin was so close, yet seemed so far...
Not thinking twice, I took baldurs hand into mine, which he didn't notice I ever took his hand- he didn't feel it; but as soon as I began dragging him along, where I was walking at much faster pace, baldur was caught off guard being dragged along so suddenly, without warning.

Baldur didn't pull his hand back, but went along with it. He picked up his pace, so we we stepped quickly through the snow together, side by side, hand in hand.
His hand was so warm, I didn't wanna let go! My hand was freezing, so holding his only warmed it up; besides, I kinda liked holding his hand...

We both made it to my cabin, and I didn't wait to push opened the door to get inside.
'I must be polite for my guest' was my first thought.
I dropped baldurs hand, before stepping aside, so I wasn't blocking the entrance, holding my arm out to my side.
"After you!" I exclaimed with a welcoming grin.

Baldur laughed. "Oh, no, after you, m'lady- I insist." He copied my motions, stepping aside, giving me room to enter through the front door.

I huffed, scrunching up my nose. "Hmph. Okay, if you insist!" I tried to act defeated, but that didn't last long, as I had giggled. "Thank you." I thanked the tattooed god, stepping inside of my cabin, that was cold, but not nearly as cold as it was outside.

I must say, baldurs quite the gentleman.
He seems so nice, and I couldn't see him doing any harm, even if we're still learning more about each other!
But... Deep down, I think he's hurt... Obviously not physically hurt, but this curse that was brought upon him, broke him.
He lost something we all take for granted. from what I believe, he's filled with anger, and vengeance...
He's desperate for physical touch, I know it...
He needs to be shown love; but how could I show him the love he starved for?

"Not a problem" Baldur dipped his head, before he followed me inside the cabin, and I shut the door behind him.
The cabin was a little dim, but the sunlight poked through the windows and cracks of the cabin, giving enough light so you could get around.

"Go ahead and make yourself at home; I'll just be lighting a couple candles." I commented, flashing baldur a smile, and he returned the smile with his own.

I snatched the flint and steel off one of my wooden shelves mounted on the walls, going around the room and I individually lit some candles in the room, giving the cabin some light, along with some hanging lanterns, until I had no more to light, and the cabin was lit, everything was more clear.

Finally, I marched on over to the small fire pit, rubbing the flint and steal together to make a spark. Sparks flew, some hitting the dry wood in the pit, lighting them ablaze, the flame grew larger in size, but not so much that'll worry me about the fire eating away at my cabin.

Finally! I could warm up! I exhaled loudly with satisfaction, taking a seat on the wooden floor by the fire pit, where it'd melt away the cold that took over my body.
I pulled the cloak closer to my chest, where it acted as a warm blanket.

"Warm enough?" Baldur hummed, taking a seat next to me, by the fire pit, the flames light lit up his fit silhouette, and his blue eyes I couldn't help but admire. They looked so pretty, and they seemed to glow in any lighting.

I nodded with a content smile. "Ooh yeah... This is much better! I like going outside every so often, but not so long in the cold!" I explained loudly, leanings back, using my arms to support me.

"Oh, I bet." Baldur cracked a smile. "I used to hate the cold, and the snow- of course, before I was... Y'know, cursed...!" He seemed a little uncomfortable bringing up the fact he was indeed, cursed, which confirms he was unhappy, and longing for touch, smell, and taste.
I feel bad for him... Nobody, mortal, nor god, deserves to live such a life! If there was something I could do to help, I'd be more than willing to make everything better for him...

I didn't want to make him more uncomfortable by asking questions about his curse he may not want to answer, or accidentally make some comment that may make him feel worse, so I may as well change the subject...

"So, baldur... I was just wondering something. Why'd you come down here? N-not that I don't like you down here, no, I like your company, but did you have any reason to why you chose to come here?" I was curious.
There was little to no purpose for a god to spend time here, where everything is quiet and empty; could it be he wanted to see me? Or was there something else?

Baldur hesitated to respond, as if he was thinking of the correct way to respond to such a question, leading me to wonder if he came down here for something important.
"Yes, (y.n), I do have a good reason for coming to see you. There was something important I needed to tell you about." He responded slowly, in a serious tone.

Important? What could be so important? I want to know more!

Baldur was silent for another couple seconds, then proceeding to speak, getting to the point.
"I was sent by the all father, Odin. he wishes to see you, (y/n)."

~

Ree! I'm trying to include more baldur!!

Sometimes I forget this is a baldur x reader, and i start making plans for this book that don't have much to do with him lol

Do not worry! I won't completely forget about baldur, but I also wanna focus on (y/n), so the whole book doesn't revolve around (y/n) and baldur, but so while there will be plenty of (y/n)/baldur moments, we will see moments where (y/n) gets some good character development!

That's it for now :D
- tootsieroots