I'm Waking Up, I Feel it in My Bones [Henrik]

Henrik had had a long day. He usually woke up early to run any errands he had, and then spend the morning training, and finally relaxed and spent the afternoon in the company of one of his few friends, before heading home to see his brother. He liked his routine. He didn’t lead an exceptionally interesting life, but that was fine with him. Interesting people got into trouble, and Henrik definitely preferred to avoid trouble.

He wasn’t surprised when he arrived home before Aleinn. He knew his brother liked to linger down near the docks sometimes. Henrik didn’t know for sure why the nineteen year old did that, but didn’t think too hard on it, because he didn’t want confirmation that the reason he suspected was the actual reason. He was okay not knowing for certain. Plus, for all he knew, Aleinn had met a girl he liked to meet near the docks every afternoon. At least, that's what Henrik kept telling himself. 

Once home, he quickly put together some food, expecting his brother to wander through the door shortly, and made himself comfortable. He wasn’t kept waiting long.

Henrik raised an eyebrow when Aleinn asked if he had a minute, not certain what his brother would want to talk about. “Of course. I didn’t notice you training earlier?” he added, more of a question than a comment. If Aleinn wanted to rise in rank and be allowed to join him on raids, he needed to train, and hard. Haskell, the Radningar, wouldn’t let Aleinn slide or go easy on him just because he and Henrik were friends now. “How was your day?” he wondered, before biting into the food in front of them.

When the first words out of Aleinn’s mouth were ‘about that’ Henrik raised an eyebrow at his brother. He wasn’t sure if this was going to be good or bad news, and was trying to prepare himself for the worst. For someone acutely familiar with bad news, Henrik was having a hard time coming up with anything too bad, as Aleinn was clearly not ill or injured, and therefore couldn’t be in any life threatening danger. Luckily, he wasn’t kept waiting, and Henrik released a sigh when the rest of the news was shared.

Honestly, Henrik wasn’t too surprised at the news. The fact that he’d gone to shipbuilding was surprising, but not that Aleinn didn’t feel he was ‘cut out’ for fighting. He’d never seen in Aleinn what he’d seen in other aspiring warriors; that excitement just before a fight, the drive to push themselves harder, the need to be the best. And the idea that his brother wouldn’t be putting himself in danger was certainly a welcome one. Despite the immense relief he felt at Aleinn’s announcement, he still hadn’t so much as cracked a smile.

“You’ve already talked to Freyja? She’s already accepted?” He didn’t want Aleinn getting excited about an apprenticeship that wasn’t confirmed, but he knew Aleinn was a smart man. It didn’t seem likely he’d make the announcement without confirming all the details. “Is that what you really want to do? Be a shipbuilder?” He couldn’t recall ever having a discussion on the subject, but he certainly didn’t tell Aleinn every thought swimming around in his brain, so it seemed perfectly logical that there was plenty he wouldn’t know about his brother.

Finally, he realized he hadn’t really given his opinion on the matter one way or another. “As long as you’re happy, I’m happy,” he told the younger Andorsson with a nod. Aleinn returned his question and Henrik shrugged at him, “It was fine.”