Chapter Text
“I’m still not sure if I believe you,” Regulus announced as they entered the forest. It was still early enough that only the bird were away to see the light filter through the leaves.
“You’re here. You’ll see the truth.” Barty moved further into the woods with confidence.
“I guess I will. I’m just not sure if it is a new kind of creature like you claim.” Regulus shrugged as he followed his best friend. “But by Odin’s beard, you are convinced, so I’ll come along.”
“Thank you for that.” The pure honesty in his voice was so delightful.
“No problem.” Was there any other possible answer? None that was the truth, that much was sure.
“Oh, look who we have here.”
Regulus groaned as he recognized the voice. “Lucinda. What are you doing here?”
“Look you don’t need to pretend. I know you find me attractive. I've seen you looking at my breasts. So why don’t we take some time alone?” She proposed rather officiously.
“You’ve got it wrong!” Regulus protested within a fraction of a second. Because really. Him liking Lucinda Talkalot? Um, no?
There was someone else he liked. And that someone was here with them and hopefully would not think there was any fact to Lucinda’s claims.
Just as she was about to say something in reply, that, without a doubt, would have been dumb, she was hit by a green apple.
“You should get some of your friends for this brawl,” Barty suggested. “Otherwise you stand no chance. Oh, wait, I forgot, you have no friends. My bad.”
“Sometimes, I feel like we might be a bit petty,” Regulus commented as Lucinda stomped away from them.
“We are followers of Loki,” Barty reminded him, using the talismans that were always around both of their necks as a prime example. “What exactly is your point?”
“You’re right.”
They passed a stag or two as they moved further and further into the woods.
“Are you sure this is the right way?” Regulus questioned once his legs started to become heavy.
“It should be.” Barty shrugged. “While I admit that I don’t know how much it moves around, I can prove this way is right, see?” Barty pointed to two sets of footsteps still visible in the ground.
One set was human and more than likely Barty’s. The other, however, didn’t belong to any creature Regulus could recognize. Which, due to his boyfriend being the apprentice of their village’s hunting expert, meant that it was a whole lot.
It wasn’t clearly discernible whether or not the footprints had hooves or not, which caused Regulus’s stomach to start rumbling.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” he questioned one last time.
“Yes.” Barty nodded emphatically. “Not only can I prove everyone that I was telling the truth, but there’s also the point that we’re vikings, I remind you.”
“Right. Stubbornness issues. I should have known.”
“You really should have,” Barty affirmed.
Before Regulus had the opportunity to give a witty response, there was a sudden movement and then Barty was helpless on the ground while a strange creature attacked him.
The creature has a beak and some of his legs ended in hooves while others did in paws. It had some feathers, its cat-like tail, however, was covered in fur. In general, it seemed like a weird amalgamation of animals thrown together by the gods at random.
The important thing right now was that it had Barty in its grip. Regulus could not let that happen.
“Hey, you stupid beast!” Regulus yelled while pulling out his sword. “Leave my boyfriend alone!”
He surged forward, suddenly grateful for all the training he had had to endure as the son of the chief. Within a few harsh strokes, he had managed to pull the creature off Barty and after a few more it was hissing as it moved back into the shadows.
Regulus rushed to Barty and helped him sit back up. “Are you alright?”
Barty grinned at him. His hair was ruffled and he had a few scratches all over him, but all in all, seemed relatively unharmed.
“Boyfriend, huh? Guess now I know why you’re not interested in Lucinda.”
“Shut up!” Regulus protested.
“Gladly.” Barty responded as he leaned in for a kiss.