"The North Calls" — Bjorn Ironside x Reader
Pairing: Bjorn Ironside x Reader
Genre: Fluff
Warnings: Canon-typical references to violence and raids, stubborn!Reader, protective Bjorn.
Summary: After returning to Kattegat, Bjorn has only one concern before setting sail once again—you. Unfortunately for him, convincing you to stay behind proves far more difficult than facing any battle. Perhaps some journeys were always meant to be shared.
"You cannot keep following me."
"Why not?"
"Because I am trying to leave."
"And I am trying to stop you."
Bjorn sighed heavily as he turned to look at you, wondering for what felt like the hundredth time that day why Odin had decided to curse him with a woman as stubborn as himself.
He had returned to Kattegat only three days ago and already the two of you had argued more times than he could count.
Not that anyone was surprised.
The people of Kattegat had long since stopped reacting whenever Bjorn Ironside and you started bickering.
After all, the two of you had spent years doing precisely that.
"I am going on a raid," he reminded you as if you had somehow forgotten.
"And?"
"And it is dangerous."
You laughed softly at his answer.
"When has danger ever stopped me?"
"It should."
"You sound like Ubbe."
"And you sound like someone who has never listened to a word I have ever said."
You smiled innocently.
"That is because I haven't."
He couldn't help but smile at that.
The truth was that Bjorn had never been particularly good at hiding how much he cared about you. His mother had realized it years ago, Ragnar teased him mercilessly whenever your name was mentioned and even Ivar seemed amused by it—which somehow felt more insulting than Ragnar's teasing.
Everyone knew.
Everyone except you.
Or perhaps you simply chose to ignore it.
"I mean it," he continued more seriously this time. "I do not want you coming with us."
"And I mean it when I say I am going."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Have you always been this stubborn?"
"Have you?"
You watched him run a hand through his hair in frustration before letting out an exhausted sigh.
Gods, you could drive him mad sometimes.
"You do realise," he finally said, "that one day I shall win one of our arguments."
"No, I don't."
"Why?"
"Because I know you."
He hated that you were right.
________________________
The following morning, Bjorn discovered that threatening to leave without you had been a complete waste of time when he found you standing beside his ship carrying a bag over your shoulder.
Ubbe immediately started laughing.
"I told you she would come."
"You owe me three silver coins," Hvitserk grinned as he held his hand out towards his older brother.
"You were betting on this?" Bjorn questioned in disbelief.
"Everyone was," Ivar answered from where he sat. "I won."
"You bet against me?"
"No," Ivar corrected. "I simply know that she listens to absolutely nobody."
"Especially not you," Hvitserk added helpfully.
Bjorn ignored his brothers and instead focused his attention on you.
"What are you doing?"
"Getting ready to leave."
"No."
"There seems to be a misunderstanding here, Bjorn. That was not a question."
"You are not coming."
"And yet I am already here."
The argument continued for another twenty minutes before Lagertha herself finally grew tired of listening to it.
"If you do not allow her onto that ship," she called out from the shore, "I shall."
Silence immediately followed.
Bjorn looked horrified.
"You are supposed to be helping me!"
"I am helping the person who is right."
"Mother!"
"And if anything happens to her," Lagertha continued threateningly, "I shall hold you personally responsible."
"How is that fair?"
"It isn't."
With that, she smiled sweetly before walking away.
He was beginning to suspect that every person in Kattegat secretly enjoyed watching him suffer.
______________________
The raid itself had gone better than expected.
You spent your days exploring new lands alongside Bjorn and listening to the stories of distant kingdoms he wished to visit one day.
He had always belonged amongst the waves and foreign shores.
Sometimes, when you watched him standing at the front of his ship, you wondered whether the sea loved him as much as he loved it.
"You have been staring for quite some time now."
You smiled sheepishly as he sat beside you by the fire that evening.
"Have I?"
"Yes."
"And what conclusion have you come to?"
He raised an eyebrow curiously.
"That the North would miss you greatly if you ever stopped exploring."
His expression softened immediately.
"And what about you?"
"What about me?"
"Would you miss me?"
There was something vulnerable hidden beneath his question that very few people ever had the privilege of seeing.
"Always."
He smiled at your answer before looking back towards the stars above you.
"When I was younger," he admitted quietly, "I wanted nothing more than to be greater than my father."
"And now?"
"Now I simply wish to leave something behind worth remembering."
"You already have."
He laughed softly before shaking his head.
"No, not yet."
"You are wrong."
"And why is that?"
"Because people do not remember great men solely because of the battles they fought."
He looked back towards you curiously.
"They remember the lives they changed."
For several moments neither of you spoke.
Instead, he simply watched you as though he was seeing something he had somehow overlooked all these years.
"You know," he finally smiled, "I have travelled to many places."
"I know."
"I have met queens and princesses."
"I know."
"And yet somehow I always find my way back to you."
You felt your breath catch slightly at his confession.
"I do not think I realised when it happened," he admitted quietly. "Perhaps it has always been this way."
The smile that spread across your face was impossible to hide.
"You know," you teased softly, "for a son of Ragnar Lothbrok, you can be surprisingly romantic when you wish to be."
He laughed quietly before taking your hand in his.
"There is something else I wish."
"And what is that?"
"When I discover new lands one day," he smiled as he gently kissed your knuckles, "I should like you to see them with me."
It wasn't a declaration of love.
Nor was it a marriage proposal.
It was something far more fitting for Bjorn Ironside.
An invitation to spend a lifetime chasing the horizon together.