"You gotta damage them a little...or, well, ALOT, but dont make them faint because then you cant catch them.... Im not sure why actually but you can't, and then you throw this little ball at them
and sit there just WAITING for it to wiggle and wiggle and if it wiggles three times then you caught it, and you can train it and pet it and...."
The words kept streaming from her mouth, and Jotun registered them being there, but he wasn't listening.
Well, not much anyway. Him and his new... Whatever she was, were walking down the promenade near the beach.
She'd invited him to come along, that he'd 'need a little sun to cheer up'.
He had been down a little lately, that was true. The sun was beating down on them, but it did little to clear his mind. It kept leaping back to his past life, his past love.
Sif. The outcast valkyrie that he'd helped back into valhalla, after his own hubris cost him everything.
She had killed him to see him again, carrying him aloft on golden wings of light. Saved him from the misery that was his one-man crusade for penance with the Gods.
She was lithe, deadly, strong. Fast, accurate, masterful at the art of combat. But she was also toned, elegant, downright gorgeous...
A hard woman for any man to turn down, especially one such as him.

He looked down at Kahlua. "And then I BARELY managed to catch it, and it was so cool because its this super cute little plushie thing, but underneath there is this SCARY GHOST right, and..."

Jotun felt an old, familiar sting in his side as his thoughts forcefully drifted on, as if trapped in the heavy undercurrents of a frozen river.
He had loved Sif, it was true. So much that he had taken the blame for his own untimely death, framed himself to save her the shame of interfering with the Gods' great plan.
She had come down to earth to slay him in combat, and slay him she had. The Gods resented her for that. She'd taken their plaything, their puppet of tyrannic irony.
A man who wanted nothing more than to die, but simply never did.
'Jarnthradi' his new travelmates had dubbed him. 'Ironthread', as the Norns just couldnt seem to cut his life-string.
She had loved him, and he had loved her. Fiercely so.
But would they have been happy? Could two bitter, gnarled warriors with bloodstained hands and sullied honor really fulfill eachother?
Of that, he was not sure.
What would she have thought of him now?
Walking down under a blazing sun, not a shred of armor, no weapon in hand, no intent to plunder.
Would she think he had gone soft? Would she still have loved him?

He looked down at his much shorter friend, and she was babbling on about water attacks and a gym of some sort.
Sif was so much that she wasnt. But Kahlua was also so much that Sif could never be.
Warm. Compassionate. Playful.
Happy.
She was like a gleaming sun to the frozen tundra of his soul, feelings he had long since buried under shame and fury thawing out to warm his heart.
She didn't care about honor, didnt ask about faith. She just... Was.
He felt as if his worries, mistakes and failures all washed away by the sheer passion she was exhibiting about everything.
The joy in her voice, the gleam in her eyes, the way her hair blew in the breeze... the way her lips moved when she spoke and her hips swayed when she walked.

"Hey, you're so quiet. Something on your mind? Am i boring you?" she said, head cocked as their sunlit walk took a pause.
The question caught him a little unaware, and he realized he was smiling.
He looked her over, the lovely curve of her hips, the enticing form of her chest, the loveable face nestled in a big mane of brown fur.
The shimmering starlight eyes were locked on his.
"No little one, you aren't." he rumbled, stifling a soft chuckle.

The look of concern on her face tugged at his heart. He missed Sif, the rawness, the challenge.
But Kahlua was here. Kahlua was now. Kahlua was... God, she was everything right now.
"I was... Just wondering if you wanted an icecream." he smirked, hoping it was not too obvious a lie.
"Oh HELL yeah i want icecream! There's a shop right down the road, they got the most AMAZING pistacchio cones and you won't believe the iced tea they make, i cant wait for you to..."
Jotun smiled up against the sky as she went on. 'We are vikings.' he thought to himself. 'We live in the now. Yesterday is already gone, all we can do is prepare for the cold night ahead.'
Sif had told him those words, and they sprung back into mind after all this time. He was tired of the cold night, and it was about damned time a new dawn came about.

He slipped his hand around Kahlua's, no warning, no asking for permission.
She paused, looking at that massive, grey slab of a paw of his wrapped about her fingers.
"O-..Oh...Uh..." she stuttered a little, turning redfaced.
The look on her face as she peered up at him, the broad, shy, but sincere smile...
He hadn't been sure if he was actually in love again, it had been so long. But there was No doubt anymore. The tingling sensation in his guts, spreading to his chest... It was unmistakable.
Tugging her little hand, he nodded down the road. "Well? Are you going to show me that icecream place or not?"
Whatever she had been to him before, he felt confident he was about to call her his girlfriend.


They were unaware of it, but somewhere high above, untouched by time and history, a white valkyrie smiled down at them.
He would never again be hers, but at least he was happy. And therefore, so was she.

---

Art @ :Sabertooth-Raccoon:
Scribble @ Myself
Nuff said, really. God i love these two <3