Bragi tilted his head to the side. He pushed his lips together, and peered at her almost squinting, as though he were thinking and processing the information he had just received very hard. “So” he said in a let-me-get-this-straight sort of way, “you're saying you...don't.. want me to grow the beard back?” His expression remained deeply ponderous, but the smile in his eyes, and the grin tugging at the corner of his lips betrayed this for the malicious teasing that it was. Over the years, Bragi had begun to suspect that Idun's response to that beard had been less than warm. There were many clues that supported this. A lot of them were vocal. After a few seconds, the grin won the fight and emerged.
He knew it was a good idea when it could make Idun grin like that, even after they'd been discussing shaving cream. “The glass tunnel.” Bragi agreed, “Though to be completely on the safe side with these two, we'll make sure it isn't one with sharks.” Perhaps a fear of bluejays allowed for stunning bravery in the face of all non bird related creatures, but until they found evidence of this, Bragi thought they had best err on the side of caution. He remained optimistic about this future encounter, but if it didn't work out, even a second time, Bragi was pleased to have an excuse to take Idun. He loved the spark of curiosity that came into her eyes when a pretty fish swam by, and Bragi thought she looked very pretty in blue. Plus, he'd always been a fan of their picnics. Ever since the first time in their orchard with a few stolen kisses, Bragi had realized these were life defining events. No matter how far away he was, he couldn't afford to miss one. He didn't really need an excuse to take Idun on a picnic, ever, but Bragi liked coming up with them. He'd take her even if the clockmaker declined the opportunity.
“Best.” Bragi said, “This is coming from a completely unbiased source.” He could tell that she thought she had won at this point. Bragi would just keep letting her think that. “We'll need to confer with both of them to figure out the best day for this but I don't think we should run into any scheduling conflicts.” At least with Vidar. But Lottie seemed interested enough in Vidar to make herself flexible, even if she wasn't naturally so due to her status as a silent solitary figure.
“Sneak?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “Me? No. You may have been frustrated into marriage but I didn't have anything to do with it. I never even brought up marriage. You asked me. I was just sitting there minding my own business....” Bragi's words were all about his innocence, but he was laughing with her while he said them. Then he stopped talking, and laughing, and grinning for a small moment. He looked into her eyes. He took in the warm of her smile and admired the way the light from the kitchen bounced off her hair. “I love you, you know,” Bragi said. The smile came back in full force. “Even more than this amazing sundae dying before us. The upstaged and neglected casualty of our nefarious plans.”