There had never been a sight more perfect than the one before her. Her vision was slightly blurred, but she still saw Bragi laugh as a tear rolled down his cheek, and that was so perfect. They were both too happy for dry faces, and the laughter shared between them was warm enough to melt all the frost in Niflheim. Idun reached up to gently brush away the tear on her husband's face, and she regretted it immediately, if only because her glove was still on and she couldn't properly feel his skin beneath hers. "I never doubted we would," she told him. It was mostly true, but being here, being home, it was easy to forget any doubts she might have had, and that made it completely true.
Idun had learned rather quickly that the best way to keep Bragi quiet was by kissing him. It was the only method that successfully stopped a sentence before it was fully developed, and there was something rather satisfying about hearing that abrupt end to all verbal communication. Bragi was skilled at speaking through body language, so it wasn't like he was truly silent. The message was just very different as they kissed. Idun felt overwhelmingly loved as he whispered silently against her mouth, and it was staggering how their first kisses had contained this same hidden dialogue. She had been so silly, to miss that entirely, but now Bragi was hers. She'd make it up to him.
"I think I much prefer the notion of never ever saying goodbye," Idun offered. Her eyes were closed, and she knew he wanted to make it warmer in their hall, but opening her eyes again meant he'd go about all that. He'd leave. Even a tiny separation seemed like a terrible, terrible goodbye. She sighed, knowing her eyes needed to open eventually. Bragi was such a wonderful sight, Idun, for the countless time, wondered how she had ever opened her eyes to any other sight. He was all she wanted to see. "Go on then. You never left." Idun watched him disappear, but faced forward when his footsteps grew loud again. She didn't want him to know she'd been watching for his return. Bragi had never left, after all.
She laughed as the blankets were unceremoniously dumped on top of her, but she undeniably appreciated the feel of Bragi unfolding blankets over top of her. It was very sweet, a perfect gesture. Idun wasn't even that cold anymore. He was the warmest thing, and having him was all she really needed. But Idun suspected he needed to care for her, if only to soothe his own worries. She didn't protest. "I love you," she whispered instead. "Hopelessly. Desperately." He kissed her temple, and Idun's entire body turned to liquid as she sighed.
The problem with his request to stay there was that she could actually see him building the fire. She could see him working. And that was the sort of sight that made Idun want to shed all her blankets and scamper over to him to hug Bragi around the middle and kiss his ear until he, too, was sighing. Bragi wanted her to stay here, on this couch, while he looked absolutely wonderful, after Idun had been frozen away from him for so long. Her solution was to tug one of the many blankets over her head, tucking it behind the couch.
If she couldn't see him, she could resist temptation. Anyway, hiding under blankets was a silly sort of fun. After this terrible, terrible journey, they needed a bit of fun again.