Askeladd - Thorfinn x reader -

63.

Chapter 63
Letting go (1)

"Well look who it is..."  Y/n cracked the door open, sticking her head inside. 

Canute was sitting at the desk tucked in the corner of his large room, a book opened up on the table. He was leaning his cheek on his balled up fist, elbow propped up on the table. His usually tamed hair was ruffled, his bedhead showcasing he'd just awaken not too long ago. If that wasn't a clear enough giveaway, he was still dressed in his sleeping garments. 

"You know you're supposed to knock first right?" Canute spoke sarcastically, his tone hoarse, Y/n wouldn't be surprised if it were the first time using his voice since the new day began. Not bothering to take his attention away from the book he was ready, he ran his fingers through his blond tresses scratching his hair as he flipped the page. 

Knock knock. 

His gaze finally lifted off the book shifted to the sound, he scoffed seeing Y/n had literally closed the door to knock. 

"Don't come in," He joked, Y/n opening the door fully this time while rolling her eyes. 

It'd been just over a week now since Y/n returned from the grounds of war, and she was getting adjusted to being out of commission again. 

To say she was bored would be an understatement, but at least she had Canute who she could bother. 

Closing the door behind her she invited herself into his room knowing he wouldn't turn her away anyway. 

"Why are you sticking your nose into books first thing in the morning?" Y/n walked over to where Canute was sitting, narrowing her eyes at the pages and trying to read whatever the blonde was indulged in. "Is this what rich people do?" 

"Do you even know how to read?" 

Y/n gasped, her jaw dropping to the floor-- she raised a hand to her chest like it'd been struck with an arrow. 

Canute was about to flip the page once more but when he heard the sound drop from Y/n's lips he turned his attention to her; worried he may have actually struck a nerve. He just realized he didn't actually know if she was literate. 

"I actually can read thank you very much." 

"Wow I'm surprised--" Canute tried to suppress his laugh but failed when Y/n roughly shoved his shoulder. She laughed with him, and he wondered how he ended up so lucky to hear such a pleasant sound so early into the day. Any day he was able to make Y/n smile and laugh was a good day. 

Suddenly all interest he had in reading the book laying on his desk vanished, all of a sudden the only thing that mattered was her. 

The way the sunlight seeping through the window of his room bounced off her skin, her smile doing a better job of lighting up the room than the sun itself. 

"Your hair looks like shit by the way."  His eyes softened as Y/n ruffled his hair, a boyish grin on his face as he kept his cheek rested on his fist. 

If Canute could freeze the time right now as he continued to go back and forth with Y/n making witty comments he would. If there was a way he could live this moment over and over again he would. Even if that meant giving up the future, maybe even forgetting about the past he didn't care. 

He didn't want this to become a memory. 

"King Canute and you...Know each other?" The man who towered over Thorfinn repeated his words in disbelief, he was intimidating, a large scared over the left side of his face where his eye was shielding with an eye patch. Even without the sword on his waist, it wasn't hard to detect he was a viking.