Humming to yourself, a smile on your lips, you stood behind Tyr who sat on the ground of the pond, legs crossed. He was so tall that he still managed to peak out of the water from his shoulders up.

You, on the other hand, had to stand up straight to be able to tend to his hair. Some of the braided strands were all messy and tangled. You had found a sharp rock that was able to cut through the straps of leather that you had used to tie them together.

Small beads jiggled in the outstretched palm of Tyr's hand. The light was caught by the gold and made it shimmer like pure drops of the sun.

"Will you braid my hair again?", he asked as you let the last few rings fall into his hand.

"I could braid a few more strands and tie them together into a knot.", you said and let your fingers run through the tangled sections to gently separate them. "It would be easier to maintain it on journeys."

"I could also cut it short."

"Don't you dare!", you playfully tugged at a strand to make his head fall back so that he had to look up at you.

He let out an amused breath. A smirk accompanied it.

"Are you in love with my hair?", he asked while his eyes wandered over your face.

You still weren't used to the way he looked at you now. It was more of a loving way, but also with something hungry hidden in it. Like a desire that he constantly needed to fight back.

It did not make you uncomfortable. You just acted shy around him. A strange development, if you thought about it.

Yet again, he had seen you at your most vulnerable. There wasn't really much left that you could be shy about.

And still. He made you fluster every time his eyes lay on you.

The god of war himself seemed to be changed as well. He did not act all that mighty no more. He had been friendly before, but more in the way of a companion. Now he was soft and loving almost every moment he got.

"I am in love with more than your hair.", you admitted in a silent voice, smiling to yourself.

"It's just hair."

"It's your hair. It suits you."

"Hm...", the smirk on his lips seemed to twist into a more malicious version. "So... perhaps I should shave..."

"Do you want me to leave you already?!", you splashed some water over his head.

As he chuckled, it got into his nose, made him snort and he had rise to catch his breath. Like a mountain he rose into the sky before you, water running along his gigantic limbs, over that athletic body of his and right along the v-shape that led into his private area.

You found yourself looking down, only for a brief second, but long enough for him to notice.

Dark brown hair stuck to his shiny chest. Golden eyes looked down on you.

Embarrassment tied your throat as you finally raised your head to meet his gaze again.

"A small reminder of last night?", he asked with a smirk and put his empty hand on top of your head.

Immediately your mind jumped to the thought that he wanted you to go to your knees. However, you were still in a pond. And if you'd go to your knees you wouldn't be able to reach him.

But you were most certainly willing to try.

As he caught your knees bend, ready to try and please him, his grip on you left to get a hold of your arm. You stopped, unsure.

He went down on his knees to meet you eye to eye. How soft he looked at you. So loving.

It made you dread the days that you hadn't been with him before. It made you regret that you had only acquired his affection now and not way earlier.

"From the second I've first lay eyes upon you...", it escaped you in a whisper.

Amongst a world of ice and constant suffering. Pain, so cruel it could make a child wish to perish. Lands so empty that even death had more to offer.

"From the moment your song has touched my heart.", he answered with a smile.

From the breath that he had held to get to you. No matter the cost. No betrayal great enough.

His hand slipped into the back of your neck. His nose brushed the tip of yours, leaving a slight burning sensation.

A trembling breath left your lips as you reached up to grab his face with both of your hands. The hair of his beard was so soft to your touch.

"Tyr...", you exhaled his name like a prayer.

"(Y/N).", his breath gently caressed your face as his lips hovered over yours. "My (Y/N)."

He pulled you into a kiss, both hungry yet so yearning for the softness of your lips and the taste on your tongue. There was still this desire in both of your chests to become one, to melt into each others touch and to fall asleep.

You could feel how his arms wrapped around your body while you let your eyes fall shut to salvage this moment. It burned itself into the back of your mind, like a tattoo on your skin it would never fade.

It wasn't a kiss that led into something dirty, with saliva dripping down the edges of your mouth.

No, this kiss felt much more like a vow of two hearts, a promise of the never ending, not even till death did part and one became two again.

No, because you knew as much as he did that there was nothing that could end this deep rooted connection. Even death wouldn't be able to tear the two of you apart no more.

If he'd end up in Valhalla and you in Helheim he would still find a way down and you wound not rest till you climbed up from the depths of the cold.

This was more than just forever. This was eternity.