It was, by most standards of societal politeness, a very odd thing to be thanked for. Idun knew it was odd. Some might even say strange. But it didn't matter. She had been so busy not saying so many things that she hadn't truly considered what she was saying. And now that she could (strictly figuratively) step back and roll the words curiously around in her mind to weigh their worth, she realized why Bragi could possibly be looking at her like that. Their friendship was peculiar, but that only served to strengthen it in some ways. Idun truly wanted the best for Bragi. Things got a bit foggy once she started poking at what she believed was actually best for him, but in a broad sense, she had his best interests in mind. And she truly believed in him. When he told her anything, even some crazy plan that sounded painfully far-fetched, she somehow always came to the conclusion that he could pull it off.
If Idun had known his current plan was to torture her into realizing how much she loved him, perhaps she would've thrown in the towel right then and demanded a nice wedding ceremony by the sea. Alas, they would never know. She just smiled softly and nodded. "You're welcome." Loosely translated, those two words meant I believe in you, completely and unwaveringly. You amaze me. I just wish you'd found me before I lost faith in finding love. It was doubtful Bragi could read between the lines that well. Which was probably for the best, what with Jondi being in the picture and all.
He bit his lip. Idun really wanted to just close her eyes and ignore him, but she knew that sight would just be waiting for her when her eyes shut. There was no use. He was terrible. Even if they had the same ridiculous thought about woodland creatures coming to her rescue, even if that was terribly amusing, Bragi was still terrible. "Can you now?" she asked, far more curious than she wanted to be. She always was with him. Idun's eyebrows shot up as he gathered his things, and she gripped at the ropes tightly when he actually walked off. Her eyes widened, her lips parted, and everything he'd said flew out of her mind before she could realize what he was up to.
And then, just as quickly as things had fallen apart, Bragi returned, pack over his shoulder, sunlight teasing through his curls in the loveliest way imaginable. He looked even more handsome than he had a moment ago, and with a laugh, Idun realized that was because he was rescuing her. Being rescued added a romantic glow to the wonderfully handsome features Idun was already so used to. It was terrible, but she smiled anyway. He had done this exact thing before, when he first arrived, walking away to make his return that much more dramatic. Idun was amused instead of angered. She should've realized right then that she was in completely over her head. She was drowning and she didn't care.
The horrible ache subsided, laughter filling its place. Idun felt warm again, she could breathe again. She watched as he walked along, extended the knife to catch the light, doing everything he had said someone might. Of course he was that someone. He was always her someone in these situations, it would seem. Reaching through the ropes, Idun carefully plucked the knife from his hand and then lowered her gaze as she started sawing away at the fibers. She couldn't make eye contact. Now that the sadness had melted away, Idun felt even more vulnerable. He was charming again, and when he was charming and wonderful and acting as her devious savior, it was far too easy to forget about his goddess.
"Did you have this all along?" she asked him as she worked at the ropes.