Hvitserk x Floki's daughter reader //Part 3
Y/n looked at the sleeping man on her lap. The naked sleeping man. He looked so peaceful now. The grime off of his skin, the hair free of all the gunk, he looked healthier. There of course was still the same paleness and dulness to his skin, but he looked cared for.
Y/n was about to rise, when Hvitserk let out a hiss. "I will take care of you, my Hvitserk. Sleep, son of Ragnar", she whispers gently and strokes his hair. The man on her seems to be content with her words and touch as he relaxes again.
Gently Y/n lies the man down onto the floor. And on her tippy toes she collects the furs and piles them around and on top of Hvitserk. He didn't look like he had slept for days, and if he was content sleeping now, she would not be the one to awaken him.
When the morning came, it was all too soon. Hvitserk was up on his legs rummaging Y/n cabin for mead. Y/n had been quicker though. All her flasks were empty or filled with water.
"NO!!", Y/n bolted to her feet as she saw Hvitserk going for her healing jars. She had not meant to be so aggressive in her movement, but awakening to the man holding something that could be used as a filler for the mushrooms, scared her.
Hvitserk dropped everything he was holding and dropped to the floor. "I'm sorry", he whimpered. Y/n was quick to collect herself and fell to her knees in front of him.
"No, no. Forgive me for being so sudden with my movements, I had not meant to scare you"she says gently stroking his shin which was now covered by clean pair of pants. Y/n had prepared him a set of clean clothes to use while his clothes were washed and dry.
"I-I need it", he whispers shaking. All the voices were louder now. Not as loud as usually, but they woke him up nontheless. He needed a quiet place, even just for a moment.
Y/n sighs and helps him rise from the floor. She was afraid of what he would do when left alone, but she also knew she could not babysit him forever. "Do not forsake your healing for a moment of quiet"she whispers and prays in her head for the gods to ease his burden.
Oh please answer, to us gods, we need you more than ever.
"I need to go to the market today, do you want to come with?"she asks.
"I-I'll come", he whisper. But then his chin quivers. "No one has cared for me like this in such a long time"he sobs, "I need to th-thank you,I'll try-to get better- for you."
Y/n's eyes fill with tears. "Do not thank me for caring for someone I hold dear, for your thank you's are not needed. We are in this journey together, and we are only at the first steps" she grins, "now let's go to the market and I'll bake for us, I'll make something that makes you forget everything but food."
Hvitserk lets out a teary giggle. But the giggle feels like it lasts an eternity for both of them. The beautiful sound after the shackles of pain.
Y/n knew it would not last, there are the highs and the lows, but at the beginning as they were, Hvitserk was still very much on edge and very much sick. If only one night could heal him, it would be too good to be true. They had to be patient.
Hvitserk puts his hands on Y/n's shoulders and looks down at her. Shakily he pulls her to him. A warm hug, a safe embrace. Y/n smiles to herself, she wouldn't abandon this man even if it took her whole life to get rid of his ghosts.
Y/n held Hvitserk firmly on her arm as they walked along the market. Many people came to greet her after they had not seen the healer in such a long time, and it was best to keep the Ragnarsson in some sort of restraint before he got out of reach and found a way back to his "friends".
Hvitserk was paler than before, he was shaking and jumping to the smallest noises. He looked at the growd and sure enough he saw Ivar crawling to get to his legs.
He lets out a loud yell, and rips his arm off of Y/n's and runs off. His steps are shaky and he is clumsy, but in the growd he has easier time than Y/n. Y/n was shorter and generally smaller which made it harder for her to push through the crowd.
"Hvitserk!! No, Hvitserk, we are safe!!", she tries to yell, but soon enough, he has tracked his way out of the crowd and in to the docks and allies that made Y/n shutter.
Y/n bites her lip while tears come to her eyes. She cannot follow him there, she cannot, or she won't be able to breathe. The thought of the dark ally and her being vulnerable makes her hands shake so hard that her basket falls from her hands. She would have to wait till he went to the homeless.
"Y/n!" It was Amma. Amma who yelled for her. "Ubbe wishes to see you...and Hvitserk", she says out of breath.
"I just lost him", Y/n whispers tears falling down her face. "And I know where he is going", she sobs. Amma looks heartbroken as well, as she tries to stroke the woman's back.
"But I need to talk to Ubbe" Y/n says finally. Ubbe was Hvitserk's brother after all. And no matter how everything turned out, Hvitserk loved him the most out of all the brothers. If Y/n could talk to Ubbe, he could be Hvitserk's saviour.
Everything felt awkward as she stepped in front of Ubbe and Torvi. The man before her was as handsome as he was before, the woman next to him was one of the closest friends to the woman who killed his mother. And more importantly, Y/n once would've killed to be in her place.
No, not as the queen, but carrying the child of Ubbe. For a moment when she looked at the man before her, her heart gave the same flips it used to.
"Y/n!"Ubbe says and rises from his throne. He was smiling which surpised her. Their last few encounters had been more than filled with tension.
"He is gone", Y/n whispers and stares at the sea broken heartedly. Her father was gone, her papa. Her everything. "Why do you abandon me so" she sobs.
"He was afraid", Y/n jumps at the voice. Ubbe. The last person she needed now. "You are too precious to him"
"Doesn't your wife need you during the wee hours, my prince", she bites out her chin trembling. Oh fuck her heart, for betraying her.
"She indeed does, but you need me more than she does" he says while laying an arm around the crying woman.
Y/n jumps as if burned. Then she looks at Ubbe with a teary sneer. "Should've thought of that before you married her then"
Now the smile on his face was genuine. "King Ubbe", she grins softly and opens her arms. Ubbe does not disappoint. His arms were always warm, and for her, they used to be always open. No matter what had occurred between them, she could not bring herself to hate him.
"Never a king to you, my little shipwright", Ubbe whispers while holding her close. Y/n fists the leather straps on his armour. "He is not alright", she says shakily. "I don't want him to drown", she cries quietly.
"He is not your responsibility", he says back with a long sigh. Y/n snaps back from the hug.
"Then who is going to care for the man who bleeds from the inside? Ubbe, he needs you, he needs you more than ever", her voice is so desperate, it breaks the man's heart. And what truly breaks him, is that his brother is out there, alone and scared, and he doesn't know how to help.
He loved Hvitserk. No matter what he had done, he loved him and would always love him. But he didn't know how to help a man who was emitting his own poison. It scared Ubbe more than anything in the world.
"How can I help him", Ubbe asks still just as quiet. The people in the hall had started to whisper, and Torvi was looking more than displeased. She wanted to cut in, but seeing the looks between the pair, she knew Ubbe would not tolerate it.
"By loving him", the short and simple answer makes everything drown around Ubbe. And he grasps the woman before him against him once again.
He never wanted his brother to forget that he loved him.
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