Chapter Text
It was nice to finally have a change of pace. The past months had been stressful and exhausting, both physically and mentally. They had been filled with loss, pain, battles and blood and Sihtric had found himself longing for some peace and time to heal.
Now he had that time. Uhtred and the lady Aethelflaed had left Saltwic two days ago to go to Aegelsbure, which left his men to protect the children.
The estate was nice enough, not the most spacious Sihtric had ever seen but it was enough for the seven of them. Aelfwynn and Aethelstan each had their own rooms while Stiorra and Young Uhtred had begrudgingly decided to share so that Osferth could be spared staying with Sihtric and Finan and could instead have his own, considerably smaller, room.
Osferth and Young Uhtred were the only ones in the house with solid cooking skills, which left Sihtric and Finan to take care of the children, seeing as Stiorra made it a point that she did want to do it anymore. Sihtric could understand that. Even though Aethelstan and Aelwynn were rather easy to look after, he imagined that it could get exhausting over time. Especially for one girl alone.
This afternoon Young Uhtred was watching over Athelstan, teaching him about the Christian god, from what Sihtric understood, while Osferth sharpened all of their weapons in the shade underneath the tall trees. Their baby monk had sent Finan to the next village to get some more food and ale not long ago, which meant that Sihtric was left alone with Stiorra and Aelfwynn. The three of them had found a nice spot in the shade of another, smaller tree, which stood in the middle of the small meadow surrounding the estate.
Aelfwynn had insisted on braiding Sihtric's hair and the Young warrior had finally caved, lying obediently in the grass while Aelfwynn gathered some flowers to decorate his hair with once it was braided and because Sihtric had nothing better to do he had agreed to telling Stiorra about the gods.
Uhtred's daughter was eager to learn more about her mother's culture and even though her father had grown up with the same gods, he did not know all the tales or made mistakes when telling some of them, a result of translation mistakes, Sihtric guessed. Sihtric on the other hand had heard the tales for as long as he could remember and he had soaked them up whenever he had had the chance to.
And so they spent the rest of the afternoon. Sihtric told Stiorra the story of how the world was created and of how it would end. He told her of Loki's tricks and of Thor's adventures, told her the story of how Odin gave his eye and the story of how Tyr lost his hand.
Stiorra had listened closely, no doubt trying to memorize each story.
When he finished and Stiorra had left to play with Aelfwynn after the younger girl had tired of hearing Sihtric talk, the Dane closed his eyes to rest for a moment.
That was where Finan found him when he returned just after nightfall, fast asleep in the grass, flowers decorating the delicate braids that streaked through his dark hair. The Irishman smiled fondly, crouching down to wake him up as it was starting to get rather cold outside. He moved the few strands that had fallen into Sihtric’s face back gently then placed a kiss on his forehead.
The Dane stirred and for a moment Finan thought he would try to kick him but Sihtric recognized his lover by how gentle he was, merely turning his face away from him.
"Let me sleep" he mumbled, not even opening his eyes. Finan sighed in frustration but then quickly came up with an idea. The older warrior prided himself with being a lot stronger than his lover and it wouldn't hurt to prove that to him again so Finan carefully scooped the younger man up in his arms.
Sihtric had gained weight now that he got food on a mostly regular basis and he had definitely gained some muscle as well but he was by no means heavy. Even if he were, it wasn't the first time Finan had carried him and as long as he could he most definitely would continue to do so when the situation called for it.
Sleepy eyes blinked open for a moment before closing again as Sihtric rested his head on Finan's chest wordlessly as the older man carried him inside.
"You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Finan asked jokingly, receiving a mischievous smile in return.
"Maybe"
The Irishman just smiled stepping to the side to let Stiorra and Osferth, who carried everything Finan had bought at the village from the cart into the house. Both of them smiled a bit when they saw them.
"Did he trick you again?" Osferth asked when he noticed the little smirk on Sihtric's lips.
"Shut up baby monk" Finan retorted, huffing when he stepped into the house. Once they reached the main room he dropped his lover on the pillows that were laid out on the floor by Aethelstan earlier. That caused Sihtric, who had closed his eyes again, to let out something akin to a squeal, followed by a string of danish curses that Finan had yet to learn the meaning of.
A mere second after he had landed on the pillows, Sihtric was on his feet again, jumping onto Finan's back when the older made the mistake of not paying attention to him.
"You bastard!" The younger had his legs wrapped around Finan's middle tightly while he tried to choke him with arm. Finan laughed, with some effort dropping the younger back down on the pillows again. But Sihtric didn't give up, turning them over so that he was sitting on Finan's stomach, a triumphant smile on his handsome face. That smile was almost enough to make Finan let him win but his pride ultimately stopped him. The Irishman turned quickly, throwing Sihtric off balance before pinning him down with both his arms above his head. Sihtric tried to kick and throw him off but Finan was too heavy.
The younger pouted, turning his head away from him but Finan would have none of that, letting go of one of his hands in order to turn his head back to face him. Sihtric reached up with his free hand, pulling Finan's head down to kiss him in hopes of distracting the other. Unfortunately for him, Finan knew his tricks and didn't loosen his grip regardless.
"Fine...you win", he grumbled once Finan had pulled away, "...but only this once"
"I always win" Finan moved off the younger then, offering him a hand to help him onto his feet, which Sihtric accepted. When the two of them finally took their eyes off each other they found the rest of their little household staring at them.
Stiorra was trying her hardest to stiffle a giggle while her brother looked only slightly bewildered. Aelfwynn was smiling a little where she had been playing with her bird before the two men had caught her attention and Aethelstan's look was vacant as always. Osferth on the other hand looked almost proud, like a father would when his son returned from a battle victorious.
"I'm hungry", Sihtric piped up after a few moments of awkward silence.
"Hungry for what exactly?", Finan asked almost teasingly, then Stiorra finally couldn't hold it in any longer, breaking into almost hysterical giggling while the children looked a little bit confused.
That night, as he was lying in bed after a good meal, a few cups of ale and a few relatively entertaining stories from Osferth's time at the monastery, with his lover's arms wrapped around him while his head rested on the other man's chest, Sihtric found that he had missed times like these even more than he had thought.