It gets easier

Chapter 9 / Lunch

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Thorfinn sat, overlooking the water, on top of a small rowboat that had been turned upside down to be lacquered. In his hands he had bread and dried seal meat, a usual lunch, but he hardly had any time to eat it.

It was his break. It was time for him to eat, which he had about thirty minutes to do, but as he had walked away to find a more quiet spot, away from the sound of metal against metal and crackling fires, he met Leif.

He felt bad; he had almost forgotten that he was still in the village. He had just been so busy trying to make Gudrid comfortable and trying to find a new routine as a married man that socializing with the old man had become less important.

"So, youre leaving tomorrow then?" Thorfinn asked. Leif sat beside him, enjoying some of his own lunch as well. It had been two weeks, so he supposed it made sense that Leif would be leaving now.

"Aye, as soon as the sun rises. I've already said farewell to Gudrid and the rest of your family."

"I see. Did Gudrid take it well?"

The old man chuckled, "Gudrid? Of course, she couldn't wait for me to leave."

"Really? But she was sad when your sister left."

"That's different." He waved his hand and furrowed his brow. For obvious reasons, Gudrid had always been closer with Tulla; after all, Leif had barely been at home, and now he was the one who had arranged this marriage, so she was still a bit bitter about that.

"It is?..." Thorfinn mumbled, not able to piece those facts together in his head.

Leif ignored him and grinned. "You know, she'll be happy to hear how the two of you are doing."

"Really? But there's not that much to say, is there? I mean, how much have things changed since your sister left?"

"Oh, more than you seem to be able to tell. Though I can't blame you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Thorfinn asked, genuinely confused, and again, Leif just waved his hand and took a bite out of his cod.

"Oh, nothing, but didn't you say Gudrid brought you your lunch today?"

Thorfinn looked down at his food, almost lying forgotten in his hands. The jerky was something his family had kept for a while, but the bread was the remnants of a loaf Gudrid had tried baking the other day.

A smile made its way onto his face at the memory.

It was slightly burned, though only on the outside, and it was crumbly and dry on the inside, nearly falling apart in his hand. Ylva had sighed and called it a waste of good flour, but the taste hadn't been awful, and he had said as much. He could see that Gudrid had appreciated it.

"Yes, I had forgotten it, so she brought it to me."

"That was kind of her." He said before chuckling. "She would have let Thorvald starve."

Thorfinn remained quiet, not knowing what to say when Leif brought up his dead brother and Gudrid's former husband, but Leif didn't seem sad at that moment; he looked rather happy.

"Your relationship will probably be much different than theirs was, Thorfinn. Actually, I think it already is."

"Really?..."

Thorfinn thought about it. He didn't know much about what her previous marriage had been like, other than that she had been extremely unhappy. He certainly didn't hope that she was as unhappy now, because he found that he had begun to enjoy the routine they created together.

In the evening, they would eat together with his family, and Thorfinn often just found himself watching as Gudrid talked with the others, seeming to fit in perfectly.

He also thought fondly of the evening when Gudrid and his niece seemed to begin getting close. The girl had stolen his seat while he was out, and he almost felt bad taking it back. His niece had come back over a few minutes later, and she ended up spending the rest of the evening in his lab, chatting with his wife.

Normally, when they were done eating and talking, they would head to the annex.

There, they wouldn't go to sleep, but they would stay up talking. Gudrid had so many questions, and he found himself unable to keep quiet when she looked so excited. But of course, he was not able to tell her the whole truth about himself, which bothered him.

In the morning, he would wake up before her, get ready, and then head out to go to work. He didn't have to worry about being quiet. She was impossible to wake up in the early morning, and he was sure it was because she didn't get as much sleep as she should during the night, as he kept waking her up with his nightmares.

She never judged him for it. She was always kind, and he truly admired that.

Thinking about it, she didn't look as unhappy as she had been when she first arrived. Actually, she was smiling more often than not. She was smiling, laughing, and teasing him as a friend would, and she was kind to him.

That was more than he could have hoped for in the beginning, wasn't it?

He smiled, suddenly feeling that he didn't need Leif to answer that question.

He took a bite of the bread, catching a few crumbs as they fell, and nodded, mumbling with his mouth full, "Yes, I suppose."

Leif smiled up at the young man. He was proud and happy. Happy for him, because after everything, Thorfinn truly deserved this.

It almost brought tears to his eyes.

He closed his eyes for a moment. The image of Thorfinn back then, tired and so angry, was an image he could still easily bring to his mind, but when comparing it to the man in front of him now, he wouldn't have guessed they were the same if he didn't already know it.

Thorfinn had been good and had been looking happier than he did in York for many years, but Leif knew that Thorfinn was still not done changing. A big change would come now because of Gudrid... he could feel it.


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Leif left, and somehow the same thing repeated itself. Gudrid kept bringing Thorfinn his lunch.

The first few days, he told her she didn't need to. He was sure it was just an annoyance, but in the evening, she let him know that it was actually the opposite.

She didn't mind walking the short distance over to where Thorfinn was. She said it was like she was getting a bit of a break. She could rest her mind for a short while and just have a pleasant conversation with her husband until she returned to her new duties, helping her mother-in-law and sister-in-law.

Thorfinn felt honored, and he was happy. The two of them really didn't spend much time together, only in the evening.

It felt odd how grateful he felt to be able to spend more time with her, but he decided not to question it too much.

Having Gudrid come by around lunchtime simply became another part of their routine.

"Thorfinn, your wife is here. Again"

Thorfinn smiled, nodding towards his coworker, and dumped the glowing, hot metal in the bucket of cool water.

They were not even surprised any longer, though they had been in the beginning.

He placed the hunk of metal he was smashing into a shovel onto the table and walked out, feeling the cold air turn his sweat cold. It was a stark contrast to how hot it was inside, standing over the fire and handling glowing metals, but it was a refreshment he welcomed.

"Thank you" was the first thing he said to Gudrid as she handed him the small bag.

"Don't mention it." Gudrid shrugged but didn't manage to hide the fact the fact that she did like being appreciated. "There wasn't more bread left. Somehow it all got eaten, even though it was so bad.

"It wasn't," he interjected, but Gudrid kept going.

"So it's some steamed carrots and fish jerky."

"That's also good."

"Yeah, Ylva got a whole bunch of carrots from a merchant the other day, so you can expect that to be all we're eating for a week or two."

He chuckled and nodded. "We might get tired of them after a while."

"Yeah, we might."

It was pointless conversations like that that they would have, and it was what made them feel like friends.

They talked for a little while more, just about what Gudrid had been doing since that morning and what she would be doing after she went back home again.

He could tell she was working hard from the way her hands looked. Her fingertips were red, and the skin on her knuckles was a bit frayed. He hoped his sister was expecting too much from her and being too hard on her; he knew Gudrid was still adjusting to this life.

She waved off her worries easily; she told him she was just helping Ylva clean that day, as the children tracked snow and dirt onto the floor after they had been playing outside, as they often forgot to place their boots by the door. That was just how children were; it really couldn't be helped.

After a few minutes, Gudrid went back, and he stared at her back for a second longer than he needed to before he poked his head inside again.

"I'll be back in a little while."

"Yeah, your wife brought you lunch, didn't she?" His coworker, Benteinn, nodded over his shoulder, only giving Thorfinn half of his attention.

"Yes, she did."

"This is, what, the sixth day in a row?"

Thorfinn did the mental math. Was it really? The days passed rather quickly nowadays, though that was not a bad thing.

"Yes, I believe so."

"Hm, well, alright, enjoy your lunch, Thorfinn; your work will be waiting for you to get back," he grinned over his shoulder, and Thorfinn frowned slightly before he nodded and left.

The two men left inside, shooting each other glances.

"Pretty weird, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it's strange."

That was all they said about the matter before they got back to work.