Bragi laughed. “Not when I dated her.” His very first love had been six though...well, five. He'd been five too. Now that was a relationship that had spontaneously combusted from the inside. If Sigyn thought this story was bad....Unfortunately, Bragi couldn't think of a way to make telling that story relevant to their Idun and Loki dilemma. Dwarves. Bragi smiled with gratitude and took the apples that Sigyn offered. “Thank you. It's actually better for the tree if the apple falls farther,” Bragi explained. “If the apple gets corrupted with disease or pests from the fall and then rots at the base it can spread to the tree.” This did not happen often, but it could.
“Unfortunately the saying has truth to it.” Figuratively there were more exceptions than literally, though Bragi wasn't one of them. He definitely saw the resemblance between himself and both parents. Mostly he didn't mind, but he did want to be an exception in a couple cases. Bragi found Idun's nearest empty basket and set the apples inside. They looked alright, despite the fall, but he'd married the expert. Bragi had actually dropped a flute somewhere in the orchard the other day, and that was mainly what he was looking for, but he'd been looking for fallen apples earlier. He'd completely missed those two. Frankly, the odds were much more in his favor with apples. “You have sharp eyes” Bragi said, “If you see more apples or a flute let me know.”
The question made him laugh again. “Since I was seven?” Bragi raised an eyebrow and replied dryly. “I certainly hope so. When I was seven, I kissed a slug for a girl who moved as slowly as one.” Idun could catch a jack rabbit if she wanted, and she knew how to take care of things, and she never purposefully used people just because she knew she could. She was pure. Then again, he didn't know that he'd learned quite as much as he'd insinuated. If Idun ever insisted he kiss a slug, Bragi would probably still do it. On the other hand, he'd also be sure to kiss her immediately afterwards. Maybe he had learned something after all.
Bragi saw the concern in her eye and stopped joking. He stopped smiling and paused. His tone became serious. “If I define a fool as someone who thinks they are wise and a wise person as someone who knows they are a fool then commenting either way about myself would only create a mind-bending paradox,” he speculated. He stopped scanning and looked at her. “I can say that before I met the goddess currently in question I managed to date every wrong one imaginable. I learned from each experience. That's how I managed to marry the right one.” He bit his lip. “That and charm. And fate. And a few other things. I played all the cards.”
He paused. “Idun is faithful. She struggled with giving away her heart for a very long time because she knew she could only give it away once and only in its entirety. I've been lucky. But if another man can steal her heart, he is clearly the one who will make her the happiest and he should have it.” Bragi paused and smiled. “I'm not worried.” Then the smile became a grin. “Besides Loki calls her 'Little sister.' If romantic potential were a Jotun that would be the equivalent of sending Thor after it.”