She knew. Bragi didn't remember if he'd ever mentioned the floorboards before. When he talked about his childhood, he liked to waltz around them. The house had a really nice thatched ceiling. Sometimes you could hear the birds. The walls had a very nice wood and straw smell to them. The window was just wide enough, and a tree was close enough that Bragi could make it to the ground when he climbed out. He mentioned these things. Not the floorboards. But Idun knew about them anyway.
She was very perceptive that way. She didn't just pay attention to what Bragi said. His tongue talked about walls and ceilings. His eyes and the way they periodically slanted toward the nearest corner of the ground talked about floorboards. Bragi nodded and swallowed. He was sad that he'd told her about the floorboards so many times. But it was nice that Idun knew. It was nice that he'd told someone.
When she made her promise, Bragi smiled softly. The joke was on her. Bragi would have settled for not freezing, or spying on dead people anymore. Or even not walking away very far. “If you ever get that mad again....which you might,” Bragi said, “Promise to tell me where you're going. You can say it really angrily if you want. Maybe throw something at the wall while you're saying it...” He'd settle for that. Even the wall part was negotiable. It was more preference than anything. Bragi bruised easily.
The air felt much colder standing up. Bragi's heart beat a little bit faster and he found Idun's eyes and checked them to make sure they hadn't turned into cracked marbles. He had to keep checking to make sure the vitality was still there. He breathed in the moments when he found that it still was. Bragi clung with his arm tightly around her in case Idun needed the support. She hadn't walked or eaten a meal in a long long time. When she pulled her glove off, Bragi wanted to shout, and protest loud enough to wake the dead. Idun didn't understand what it had been like to see her like that. She didn't understand how badly Bragi wanted to not risk it. Not risk anything.
But then her hand found his, and it slipped into it better than a glove. Cold flesh to cold flesh. Hand in hand. Bragi hadn't felt her hand in such a long long time, and by some miracle, even though ice bit in every pore, he actually could feel it. He actually could feel that hand. Bragi squeezed it. Then he let go, and found their respective gloves before he squeezed it again. They couldn't risk losing a thing like that. A smile slowly spread across his face. “That's what all the legends say.” Bragi's tongue said that. His eyes said something else.
He pulled Idun closer for support, and then shakily took a step forward. Bragi moved them cautiously. His eyes didn't stray from Idun. “This is the way Heimdall went,” Bragi explained. They weren't too far into the realm. The farther away from into the realm they got, the less likely they were to get lost.