//countryhuman stories\\

DenEst (goddess au) 6

Her questions were not quite answered as they arrived at a small, cosy-looking shop: an old bell dinged once they entered and a figure sat up from his seat, walking over to his customers.

"Oh!" The taller boy smiled. "Hej, Den! Who's this?" He looked at the young girl beside his brother, giving her a warm and welcoming smile.

He reminded Esti a lot of a dog. Not a big one, like a puppy. Small and cute.

"This is Esti. She's... new to town," Den explained slowly, unsure if he should add 'and she's not human' on the end. Oh well, Nor would probably figure it out on his own anyways. "I've got a job to work today, so I won't be able to watch her. Mind if I leave her here? Oh-- and Esti, this is my brother Norway." He remembered to introduce his brother at the last second.

Esti waved shyly, dropping her hands back to her sides a moment later before fiddling with them a little bit.

"You're very pretty!" Norway chirped, smiling a little as he put his hand out. "I'm glad to meet you, Esti."

She shook his hand and nodded, a small pink dusting her cheeks at the compliment. Yeah, still wasn't used to being praised.

"Likewise," she looked at him, "um-- thank you."

She awkwardly slipped her hand away after a moment, the tall boy turning his head to look at Den as he shook his head.

"Nej, I'm sorry. Jeg er veldig opptatt i dag. Jeg tror hun ville kjede seg veldig raskt, og alt er litt rotete. (I'm really busy today. I think she'd be bored very quickly and everything's a little messy). Maybe try Fin? Sweden's still asleep."

Den stuck out his lower lip in a fake pout. "With Fin? It's sort of dangerous there, with the furnace and everything... Are you sure you're too busy?"

"Den," Nor huffed a little laugh, crossing his arms over his chest. "Jeg vet at du bare prøver å unngå Fin. (I know you're just trying to avoid Fin). She'll be alright, she looks like a very intelligent girl." Nor motioned to Esti, who just looked between the two with a confused expression, not saying anything.

Taking Esti's hand, Den pulled her to the door. "Alright, alright, I get it, you want solitude. Have fun being antisocial."

Esti got the chance to wave goodbye before Den pulled her out the door. He didn't seem very happy.

"Listen, when we get to the blacksmith's shop, don't touch anything, alright?" Den cautioned, not entirely comfortable with leaving her with Fin. "There's a lot of sharp and hot things in there there could hurt you, so be careful, okay?"

"O--okay." She held onto his hand as she kept her gaze to the floor, trying her best to ignore the stares she got from other people.

Den probably knew a lot of people in the village. So to see him dragging around a girl none of them have ever seen before like he was an angry father would have raised some eyebrows, understandably. Not that he never dragged girls around town, because he did. Often.

But that didn't make her feel any better about being stared at.

"Oh?" Fin's eyebrow raised when he opened the door, leaning against the frame as he smirked down at his younger brother. "Look who decided to show up. With a pretty girl, too. Are you getting engaged? I never would have thought you could commit, seeing all the girls you f--"

"Can't you go two seconds without saying something snarky?" Den interrupted, frowning at Fin. Normally he didn't mind sarcasm, but something about Fin sometimes rubbed him the wrong way. "Listen, this is Esti, she's new to town and she's staying with me for now. She can't really handle herself on her own. I have a job today, so I can't look after her, and Nor can't either."