i'd travel through all the realms just to see you,

by raging_nerd

Summary:

And they were so young. How could they have known what it would cost them?

But then she slips her hand into his and says “It wouldn’t have mattered if we did.”

 

or, atreus and angrboda are growing up in a world that should have died.

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chapter four: angrboda has a rough day. atreus cheers her up.

Notes:

This is a drabble series for anything God of War related because I'm having a lot of thoughts. Inconsistent updates as we watch these jötnar teens grow up. My precious babies...

Please enjoy it!

Chapter 1: Home

Summary:

Angrboda and Atreus talk about home.

“Do you ever want to go back home?”

 

The question comes out of the blue, disturbing the fragile but comfortable silence the two had found themselves in. They’re resting near some of the caves on Asgard, far from any members of the now broken civilization, but close enough not to be lost in the plains. He’s drenched in water, something he can thank his companion for, for she had been trying to teach him how to swim for the better half of the day.

 

Believe it or not, the marbles of the Jötnar could be found all over the nine realms, even the one they despised. It didn’t mean he was having much luck finding them for that matter.

 

Atreus looks at Angrboda from where he sits on the other side of the fire, her fingers playing with her hair as she watches him intently. There’s a gentle, knowing smile on her lips, and he ignores the way his heartbeat thunders in his ears in favour of shrugging.

 

“Sometimes,” he says finally, honest. “I know this is what I’m supposed to be doing, but sometimes I wish I was back home with my dad and Mimir.” He looks up at the cave’s ceiling, leaning back on his hands. “I don’t think it would be the same, though. Sindri hates me now and the last time I checked, Freya was traveling with them in my place. Not that I’m mad about that or anything, it’s just a fact.”

 

He turns to find her gaze again, his face warming when he realizes she moved closer to him.

 

The young man swallows. Then, “What about you? I mean, you’re always going back to Jötunheim whenever we go our separate ways, but home isn’t just a place. It can be people too.” A beat. “Like how it is for me."

 

His words are heavy but they ring with truth. Angrboda hums in that thoughtful way of hers, knees drawn up to her chest with her chin resting on top of them. She bites her lip before nodding. “In that case, I do. I miss my mother and my father and the stories they would share with me. By the time I was old enough to properly register my surroundings, most of the Jötnar had already died or gone into hiding. Jötunheim was always a quiet place full of nature for me. It still is, but…”

 

“It was better with your family?” Atreus supplies and Angrboda smiles.

 

“It was,” she confirms, but her voice is sad and distant.

 

They dissolve into silence again, the fire crackling as kindling snaps and dissolves. Outside, the creatures of Asgard call to the night, the blazing sun hanging low in the sky, the tip of it peeking above the horizon. It’s a beautiful sight, a comforting one, and Atreus stares at it, deliberating, before looking towards the giantess with something akin to determination in brilliant blue eyes.

 

“When all this is over,” he starts, treading carefully. “And by all this I mean when we find the marbles-- all the marbles-- could you, I mean, would you, like to come back home with me? To stay with my family?” His tongue is like a deadweight in his mouth as he waits for her response, his nerves overwhelming his reason the longer the quiet stretches on. 

 

It’s been three years since he left his father’s side, three years since he began this journey. There was no saying when it would end and he had no idea if the end was even in sight now. The prospect of going home was still outside what he would consider the realm of possibility, for there were countless Jötnar that still needed to be brought back to their realm, back to their home .

 

Angrboda tugs on his sleeve to get his attention, and he glances at her hand in mild surprise before finding her brown eyes.

 

She’s silent for a moment. 

 

“If I do… agree to come back home with you, we’d need to find a place for all my things and my animals. That, and you’d need to promise that we could go to Jötunheim whenever I wanted. I don’t think I’d have the heart to move the belongings of my parents,” she says, never once breaking away from his gaze.

 

He gapes like a fish out of water before finding his voice.

 

“Anything for you, Angrboda,” he finally manages, and Atreus cannot deny the way his heart skips in his chest when she smiles at him for real. 

Notes:

Thanks for reading! Tell me what you thought int he comments <3333
I'll see you in the next one!

Much love, stay safe <333333
~rupe

Chapter 2: Jötnar

Summary:

Atreus has doubts about the future. Angrboda consoles him.

Notes:

I had some thoughts this morning about Atreus' concerns (he is the Champion of the Jötnar after all). Sometimes, though, the unwritten future can be promising.

Please enjoy it <3333

“Doesn't it ever bother you?” he starts, turning his knife over in his hands. The dagger is sharp and glimmers in the sunlight, sparkling. The wind whistles and the trees rustle overhead. Atreus looks up and finds Angrboda’s form by the water’s edge, the young girl skipping stones across its surface.

 

“Doesn't what ever bother me?” she counters, sparing him a glance out of the corner of her eye. The rock she releases hops effortlessly atop the dark waters, taking five jumps before sinking.

 

Atreus drags his knife against the stone in his hand again, a bit more forceful than normal. “That we’re the only giants left. There’s no one else, only their souls in marbles. Doesn't that bother you? Scare you, even?” He puts the stone aside and stabs his dagger into the dirt. It cuts through the soil effortlessly. “It’s just weird to think about.” He swallows, pausing as Angrboda walks towards him, settling down in the grass beside him. “Will the Jötnar die with us?”

 

She blinks at his question, surprised for a moment, but then she sighs, a sound that carries the weight of a thousand words.

 

He watches as she removes his knife from its sheath in the dirt, wiping it off on her pants before handing it back to him. “It used to,” she says after a minute, her voice calm and steady. “But that was before Ragnarök didn’t destroy the entire world.” She smiles at him, a subtle quirk in the corner of her lips. Atreus doesn't return it, not yet, choosing instead to spin his knife in between his fingers.

 

At his silence, she continues, somber as the wildlife chirps and calls to nature in the distance. “I don’t… I can’t lie and say I know what the future holds for the Jötnar; that would make me dishonest. But I know it doesn't end with us. It can’t .” He looks up at her then, his dagger coming to a halt as icy blue meets warm brown. She flusters at the earnest look in his eyes, averting her gaze. “It’s just a feeling, nothing certain. I mean, look at Fenrir: he’s not a giant, but he’s pretty damn close,” Angrboda teases, relief washing over her frame when Atreus chuckles. 

 

“What I’m trying to say is that we’re not the end. We can’t be. The future may not have revealed itself to me yet, but if I’m confident about anything, it’s this.”

 

They’re quiet for a moment, eyes locked.

 

And then Atreus laughs once more, sheathing his knife as he lays back against the grass, legs outstretched. Angrboda does the same, seeking out his hand out of habit and exhaling when he twists his hand in her grasp, their palms flush against each other.

 

She turns her head to find him looking at her already.

 

“If you’re sure then I’m sure,” he says confidently, and Angrboda can only mirror his expression as the Jötunheim sun showers them in warmth.

Notes:

Thanks for reading as always!
Much love <33333

Chapter 3: Locs

Summary:

Atreus helps Angrboda with her hair.

Notes:

I got this idea while doing my hair this morning and I just had to write it. I listened to "The DJ Is Crying For Help" by AJR while writing (and editing)!

Please enjoy it <333333

Atreus doesn't mean to but he can’t help but stare at Angrboda when he sees her.

 

It had been a while since his last visit, a week or so for his friend, but over at least two months using the Midgardian lunar cycle. He likes to think he’s good at doing things on his own-- and he is , for the most part anyway-- but he can’t ignore the part of him that longs for company. If he can’t be with his father, he’d at least want to be with his best friend, a best friend who was currently meeting his gaze head-on, like a deer who knows its fate.

 

“Atreus,” she says, sounding mildly surprised, and he waves at her in shock, the stones of the realm travel door crumbling behind him.

 

Angrboda is standing near her tool shed, not wearing her usual garb but appearing far more relaxed in a cream-coloured tunic and beige trousers. Said trousers are rolled up to just under her knees, barefooted save for the markings that spiral around her ankles and calves. He looks away, embarrassed. He’s never… seen this much of another person-- no, a girl before. And, yes, even though he knows it’s natural it’s still weird . 

 

The Jötunn girl giggles. “You turn red like the leaves when you’re embarrassed,” she teases, and he waves a hand in dismissal.

 

“I’m not… embarrassed,” he complains, shrugging off his bow and quiver by the gate before approaching her. “It’s just I’ve never seen you so… casual.” He pauses, looking her over again, his face heating unconsciously. “That and your… hair is different.”

 

“My hair?” Angrboda repeats, reaching up to pat her head before nodding in understanding. “Oh! I just took my locs out. It was getting too knotty and I figured it was time to freshen it up anyway,” she tells him, fingering the coils that formed her naturally thick hair. She laughs again, hiding her smile with her hand. “It’s rather short, isn’t it?”

 

He rubs the back of his neck, shrugging. “I’d say so, yeah.”

 

Another hum from his companion as she closes the doors to the tool shed, beckoning for Atreus to follow her after she picks up a comb and a small container. “I spent most of the morning washing my hair, actually,” she says, looking over her shoulder. “It takes a really long time.”

 

“I’m guessing that’s mostly due to the texture, right?” he supplies. She hums in approval and he can’t help the way his lips twitch up into a smile, removing his chest piece to sit next to her by the river bank. Angrboda doesn't comment when he decides to watch her, staring, partially amused, mostly intrigued, as she combs through her hair, applying some kind of paste every now and then.

 

Picking up the small bowl, he lifts it to his nose, sniffing it with a frown before it melts away. The smell is sweet, pleasant. “What is it?” He asks, finding her gaze as she finishes off a twist. It bounces when she lets it go, and he grins when she laughs at the silly action.

 

“This,” she says, taking the container back from him, “is what I used to untangle my hair. It makes the knots easier to comb out. Softens my hair too.” She purses her lips, thinking, before brightening. “We should use it in your hair, Atreus!” Angrboda exclaims, and he blinks at her excitement. She seems to have realized how loud she was because she settles down instantly, placing the bowl down and picking up her comb again.

 

“My bad,” she apologizes, sheepish. “I haven’t done anyone’s hair in a long time. Not since…” the girl pauses. “I guess I was just too excited at the idea of actually trying to style your hair,” Angrboda says instead. “Even if it is a little short.”

 

Atreus rolls his eyes in fond annoyance, hoping his lax response eases the tension from her shoulders. When it does, he speaks. “I never said you couldn’t do my hair,” he says after a moment, chuckling when Angrboda turns to him in surprise. “But we need to finish yours first.” He opens his mouth before snapping it shut, gauging her wide-eyed expression as she stares at him with bronze-touched ambers that glimmer in the Jötunheim sun.

 

“If you’d teach me, I wouldn’t mind helping you,” he mumbles, bashful, and for a second he thinks Angrboda is blushing too.

 

But the moment is short-lived, the Jötnar girl giggling through a vague explanation of how to do her hair in an attempt to get it done faster. There are a few mishaps, curses and apologies slipping from her mouth and his respectively, but they finish the task regardless, Angrboda’s hair now styled in various twists to help aid her when she does her hair later.

 

“Your hair is way too short,” she says, massaging the paste into the tuft of hair that climbs from the back of his head to the front.

 

“Would you like me to grow it?” he asks then, genuine. “You’d have more hair to work with if I do.”

 

At her silence, he pulls himself out of her grasp and looks up at her, unable to read the look in her eyes as she watches him. But then Angrboda is smiling, turning his head gently as she returns her hands to his hair.

“I like it just the way it is now,” she says quietly, and for once Atreus is happy she can’t see him. He looks absolutely horrendous when his face is on fire.

Notes:

Thanks for reading! Tell me what you thought! Coily hair is hard as Hell to manage. Atreus has to learn the struggle.
I'll see you in the next one as always!!

Much love, stay safe <33333
~rupe

Chapter 4: Wolf

Summary:

Angrboda has a rough day. Atreus cheers her up.

Notes:

I struggled with this one and just said fuck it. Take it as it is! Please enjoy <33333

“N-not now, Atreus!”

 

The words leave her mouth before she has the opportunity to even register what she’s saying, his eyes widening in shock and hurt as she turns away from him. The words were brutally honest and cruel when she could have been kinder. The boy in question lets his hand fall away from where it hung midair, reaching towards her but now hanging limply by his side. Gods, she feels embarrassed. How is he supposed to know she’s unhappy? He just came back from Muspelheim! She had no right to snap at him like that and yet she did, hugging herself as she walks further into her home.

 

Atreus, bless his heart, follows behind her from an appropriate distance, not bothering to say a single word. Angrboda knows he wants to, can feel the unspoken question hanging above their heads, but he doesn't open his mouth. Instead, he stares at the back of her head, feeling more than seeing his confusion as he looks around. Nothing here will give away the reason for her upset, and so she ignores him for a little while longer as she sinks to the floor.

 

As much as the young girl wants to apologize for her words, to start over and ask him how his excursion was, she can’t find the energy to, a frown etched into her features as she glares ahead.

 

The past few days have been… rather difficult for her and Grýla.

 

While they’ve made progress over the past year, some days were worse than others. Sometimes her grandmother would see more than she’d like in the only family she had left, the ghosts of her past haunting every step she took. Angrboda does what she can to help her when this happens, she really does, but when Grýla lashes out her words always cut deep, ringing with truths the child would rather not think about.

 

What’s even worse is that she knows she shouldn’t take her grandmother’s words to heart. Even so, it’s hard not to when it comes from someone who used to look at her so lovingly in her childhood. Angrboda knows her value, her strengths, and her weaknesses; she knows she shouldn’t let the thoughts and opinions said by others out of anger interfere with that. Still, she can’t help it all the time though. Not always.

 

She’s pulled out of her thoughts by a soft whine, her golden eyes brightening at the sight.

 

Atreus had shifted into a wolf during the time she was occupied in her head and is now curled up against her side, his snout resting on her knee. 

 

“What’s this?” Angrboda chuckles, smiling at the sight of the blonde wolf she’s more than used to by now. Unable to stop herself from laughing out loud, she runs her hands through his fur, brushing it back as he settles even further. Her cheeks hurt with how giddy she felt, the pain in her chest easing into a gentle ebb. “Are you trying to comfort me now?” She asks, teasing. He makes a sound that she hopes is an answer to her inquiry, but she can’t understand it even if she tried, moving so she lays on her side beside him.

 

He tilts his head, curious, his eyes still so bright and so blue even in this form. She averts her gaze.

 

“I’ll… I promise to tell you when I’m ready. For now… can we just… I don’t know, sit in silence for a bit? I can tell you about my day, though I didn’t really do much.”

 

After a moment of silence, Atreus rests his head on her shoulder as if to show her he’s paying attention, burrowing down against the fabric of her shirt before settling. She laughs again, feeling much lighter now, and he listens, earnestly, as she tells him about anything and everything.

Notes:

Thanks for reading! I'm on twitter @rupertbutreally and I post my fanart and fics @rupebutreally. I have some Angrboda/Atreus doodles on the latter! If you want to chat with me on discord, be sure to let me know! I'll see you in the next one <3333333

Much love, stay safe <3
~rupe