Doin' things we know we shouldn't do [Hakon & Sofie]

After a few days of pretending to be in a relationship with Hakon, Freyja was fairly certain that Sofie believed they were sincere. She felt a tiny bit bad about lying about something like this, when she knew deep down, Sofie was just trying to help her. But, Sofie needed to learn what it felt like when someone meddled with your life without your permission. Which was why she was currently seated at the table in her house with her feet up, ‘resting’ while Hakon was ‘moving’ all of Sofie’s shit around upstairs in the loft. In reality, Freyja had gone in and adjusted the angle of a few key pieces of furniture, making it look like they’d moved all her stuff around, without actually invading her privacy too badly. She wasn’t that mean.

Freyja had positioned herself to get a clear view of the front door, so she wouldn’t miss a second of the expression on Sofie’s face when she realized what they were doing. Hakon was sitting on the stairs leading to the loft and Freyja looked over at him and winked. She was so ready for this.

She had to admit, this whole charade hadn’t been as hard as she’d originally suspected, when Hakon had first mentioned it while they’d been locked in that closet right over there. She had always been a very big fan of her own personal space. She rarely even hugged her sisters, unless she knew they were upset about something and wanted to comfort them. But she’d never sought out physical intimacy, she didn’t like when people got too close and she hated when people touched her without her consent. Even a pat on the shoulder was enough to irritate her if it was from the wrong person or she was in the wrong mood.

But, she’d discovered, she didn’t hate it when she held Hakon’s hand. She didn’t get irritated when he stood too close. And she’d been quite surprised to discover she’d rather enjoyed sitting in his lap the whole time Sofie had them locked in that damn closet. A lock that Freyja had completely destroyed at the first opportunity the moment they’d been released from the room. Why did they even have a room that was locked from the outside?

So by the end of the afternoon, all of this nonsense would be over, they’d have pranked Sofie back, hopefully taught her not to meddle in their business, and everything would go back to normal. Right? Freyja was reluctant to admit that she was no longer so sure. And even more reluctant to admit that she wasn’t sure she even wanted it to. But Hakon was leaving soon, to go to Kattegat with Haskell and Henrik, and she was glad. It would give them a bit of space from each other and once he came back, she was confident everything would just go back to how it used to be.

“Are your plans all made? For Kattegat?” she wondered, as they hadn’t really talked too much about it. She knew he was going, she knew who he was going with, and that was about it. Mostly because it wasn’t her business. Looking up from where he was sitting to the loft, she added, “Can you tell from where you’re sitting that nothing’s really moved around? I don’t want her to ruin it before…” she trailed off, shooting him a grin. He knew what she was trying to say.

Hakon is sitting on the stairs leading to the loft, watching Freyja with her feet on the table, trying hard to ignore the urge to walk over to her and run his fingers through her hair. Freyja is one of his closest friends, and for a long time now he’s been struggling with something he didn’t understand until very recently. And to be quite honest, he would rather go back to ignorance because at least that wasn’t painful.

It was something that happened so gradually, he couldn’t even remember when it had started, but maybe it had all begun the first day she’d ever walked into his shop. Beautiful and sweaty and sad, but when she’d smiled at him, his answering smile had been automatic, and he was a man who seldom smiled, especially back then. She had been his customer ever since, and become one of his few friends not long after, and Hakon had been absurdly grateful for it. He still wasn’t sure why this funny, hardworking, and fiercely loyal woman had ever decided he was worth her time and attention, but she even seemed to enjoy his company.

At first, the small jump in his belly when he would see her, the grin that would automatically cross his face to answer hers, and the joy he felt around her had been easy to ignore. The feelings had started out so small. Slowly, they grew into something stronger, something that threatened to consume him every time he looked at her, and still he tried his hardest to ignore it. And then Sofie walked into his shop and said she knew the truth: that he was in love with Freyja. Hakon denied it, but later that night, he was absolutely horrified to discover she was right.

And that was fine. He could live like this. He could pretend everything was the same it had always been, because he would never do anything to endanger his friendship with her. He knew there was no way her feelings would be returned. Hakon was ready to simply endure, as he always had. His whole life until he’d become Vidar’s apprentice was simply to endure and survive, and so he knew he could do it. He just didn’t know how much it would hurt sometimes, to see the gold of her hair and not be able to run his fingers through it. It had been easy for him to pretend to flirt with her when Sofie locked them in the closet, because he wasn’t pretending.

But now their charade is about to draw to a close, and although he knows it was pretend, there’s part of him that’s sad. At least when they were tricking Sofie, he had been able to hold her hand, to gently touch her shoulder, to simply allow her to fuss over a small burn on his wrist. He might be a bit sad, but he hides it well, glancing up toward the loft and then grinning over at her. “She won’t be able to see it.” He assures her. He knows things will simply go back to normal, and while that isn’t what he wants, normal is good and easy and fun, and so he will be fine. He will heal in time, probably, and if not, then he will endure.

“We leave in a few days, most of the plans are set already.” He grins over at her again, excitement plain on his face. “It will be nice to leave Skagen for a little while. I haven’t left in so long.” His grin suddenly drops away, his face becoming very serious even as he’s trying not to laugh. “I will miss you, of course, and our baby. Should I be doing something for you when Sofie comes in? Should you be…. eating? What do pregnant women eat?” He allows a note of mock panic into his voice, knowing it will amuse her, and he stretches his brawny arms, rolling his shoulders, before planting his elbows on the step behind him and leaning back.

She was certain that any time now, Sofie would be walking through the front door. And it couldn’t happen soon enough for her, to be honest. Freyja was simply not ready to admit anything to herself, and certainly not ready to admit anything to anyone else. So she kept telling herself everything would be fine, and go back to normal, as soon as they finished this final prank. Sofie had been harder to convince than she’d anticipated, which was rather irritating.

Why did they need to convince someone who already thought they had feelings for each other that they had feelings for each other? Shouldn’t it have been the easiest thing in the world? But evidently her sister was a skeptic, and had needed convincing. But they’d managed, to some degree at least, and she was getting ready to go ask Tóra to go hunt Sofie down to get her there faster.

When Hakon assured her Sofie wouldn’t be able to tell that they hadn’t actually messed with her things, she grinned back at him. Of the things she knew about her sister, one was that she hated when her pranks didn’t work, and another was she hated when people touched her things. So here they were, telling her that locking them in a closet hadn’t gotten the results she’d wanted, and also that they’d messed up her stuff. Freyja was prepared to be dealing an incredibly angry Sofie for a bit but hopefully she’d learn her lesson.

Nodding when he answered her questions about Kattegat, Freyja smiled at him when he said he was looking forward to getting out of Skagen for a while. She could understand that. She hadn’t been out of Skagen ever, having always been more concerned with looking after her family, and thought she might quite enjoy Kattegat if the opportunity ever came. But for now she was happy where she was.

“I’m sure you’ll all have fun,” she told him with a nod. He, Haskell & Henrik were all responsible adults. For the most part. Then his comment about ‘the baby’ had her laughing loudly, letting her head fall back against the support beam she was resting against. “Well I was kind of thinking it would really mess with her if she thought you were the one moving her things around upstairs? What do you think?”

She raised an eyebrow and tilted her head at him a bit. “Do I look like I know anything about pregnant women?” After about a second, she realized she most definitely knew more than he did at least. She could still remember all four of her mother’s pregnancies with her sisters. “I take that back,” she added with a grin and a shrug. “But I don’t think we need to worry about it. I’ll just rest my hand on my stomach like this,” she demonstrated for him, laying her hand on her belly, which was still the same size as it had always been, and continued, “And we’ll mention making room for ‘the baby’ and mission accomplished?”

Hakon leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees and his chin on his hands, and considers Freyja as she’s “resting” at the table. He’s sure it’s just wishful thinking on his part, but things have felt a bit different between him and Freyja the past few days. Then again, he’s willing to admit that maybe that’s because they’ve been acting like they’re in a relationship to try to trick Sofie. It’s hard to separate what’s in his heart from the reality, and quite frankly, going to Kattegat is sure to be a relief. When he comes back, when there’s some time and space between them and the prank has been over for a while, he’s sure things will go back to normal.

He grins over at her as she laughs, the sound hitting him like a punch to the gut. When did he become so weak? “Fun? With Haskell and Henrik? Hardly.” He laughs, too, because he knows they will have fun. He’s known them both for years, and the three of them are strangely suited to each other. He and Henrik make sense as friends--both quiet, a bit gruff, not very friendly or outgoing. But Haskell is the oddball of the group, friendly and outgoing. He’s the one that draws the other two out of their shell, and with Haskell at the helm, he knows the three of them will enjoy themselves. If it were just him and Henrik, they would probably just find a quiet corner of a tavern and drink in near-silence, maybe try their luck with the unsuspecting women of Kattegat, although Hakon has no interest in any woman except the one in the room with him.

He raises his eyebrows at her with a snort. “I’m not the one with four little sisters, so you probably know more about being pregnant than I do.” He manages to roll his eyebrows, somehow recovering his good humor in her presence even though he’s sad their charade is coming to an end. Pretending to be in a relationship with Freyja is so easy, it makes him wonder what the real thing would be like. He pushes those thoughts aside, nodding in silent approval as she rests her hand on her stomach. He stands with a sigh, stretching his hands over his head, and starts up the stairs. “When I hear the door open, I’ll just start making noise like I’m moving things.” He starts up the stairs, knowing he’ll easily be able to hear anything she calls up to him if she has any other ideas. He shoots her a smile over his shoulder, sighing softly as he turns away from her. He just needs some space, because his chest feels tight when he looks over at her and remembers that none of this is real.

Sofie had been having an interesting last few days. After she had shoved her sister and Hankon in the closet, they claimed that they had been together before she had done so, and that they just didn't tell her or anyone else because it wasn't her business. So She had decided to do some investigating behind their backs and asked around to people who knew them as well. What she came up with was that no one knew what she was talking about. Not one person thought they were together, and were all a little confused when she asked them if they thought her sister and Hankon could be even dating in the first place. Sofie knew that they were both secretive people, and that was fine, she was too. However if they had really been together people would have noticed. Someone would have noticed something at some point, at least she was pretty sure. She could be wrong about it all. She had seen them touching a whole lot more then they had been before. So it made her want tot be happy for them. If they were actually really together the way they were so strongly trying to make her believe. If they had been together though, it couldn't have been for too long. Sofie talked to a women who claimed to have slept with Hankon not horribly long ago. So if he had cheated on her sister she would have to stab him in the arm or something.

After a long day of training and pulling pranks here and there Sofie decided it was time to go home and eat something, then maybe work on the dress she had been making for the summer time. She had been getting a lot of that done lately, and she was really happy with how good she was getting at making the flowers. She would be grateful to Visna for her showing her how to do them for a while, and for that her sister was still prank free. Plus she had been showing her in their free time how to defend herself. So once that was all over she was sure Visna would find herself back on the pranking list. Their was only one sister who had never been pranked yet and that was Tora. Tora was just too sweet, and besides, Sofie made her help with pranks. It would be stupid to prank your own helper, then you lose that helper and have to get the nasty bugs all on her own. Sofie hated bugs almost as much as she hated snakes. Nasty little things that they are, her least favorite one being the one named after her by Hankon. She still thought he was an total asshole for that.

Walking into the house Sofie noticed a few things all at once. There was sounds coming up from the loft area, Freyja was siting on a chair with her hand on her stomach, and a weird ass smile on her face.It registers to her that that is weird, and the she should ask more about it, but she wants to know what the sounds are. Sofie walked into the house just a little bit more and looked at her sister."What are you doing home?" she asks her first as she walks toward the loft area more. Then she sees something that looks like Hankon, and he is by her area of the loft. Sofie goes from confused to mad in a matter of seconds. "What the fuck do you think you are doing?!" she screams at him and then looks at Freyja. "I get that you were upset, but how dare you touch my stuff. I have never, not once touched anything in your part of the loft. I'm aware I have touched other things, but never that place. Its our one place in the house thats actually ours." she says to her even madder. "Get out of there right now Hankon!" she tells him next.

Panic filled her heart as she thought of her things, things that she had hidden and kept safe. Things that the two of them would never be able to replace if they ruined them in their little bullshit."There is something in there that if you ruined I swear to all the gods in the world I will never talk to you ever again. Do you understand me! Its from dad and its can't be replaced. Me not talking to you is a lot better then killing, because that is what I'll really want to do." she scream up at him and then turns to give her sister a glare. "Talk now! and why the fuck are you holding your stomach? Are you pregnant or something, really?" she says to her last. If that was really the case she would be happy for them later on, however at this very moment and time she wanted to stab them both with a spoon, because she was mad, but didn't want to hurt them forever.

@Freyja Stafnsdóttir @Hakon Odinsson

For whatever reason, which she was entirely unwilling to examine, Freyja enjoyed just watching Hakon. He wasn’t even doing anything interesting right now. Besides smirking at her but that wasn’t anything new, obviously. But she quickly turned her attention back to the front door, not wanting to miss Sofie’s entrance, or linger on weird feelings at the moment. She returned his smirk, though, when he made fun of his friends. Whether or not the three of them would have fun in Kattegat wasn’t even up for debate, but she knew he was just messing with her. That was their whole ‘thing’, after all. “You’ll have to keep Haskell in line. Who knows what kind of fun you could accidentally get up to if you and Henrik don’t keep him quiet the whole time.”

Laughing, Freyja nodded in agreement. “You’re right, I definitely have a little more experience than you do.” But to be perfectly honest, Freyja had paid less attention to her mother’s needs and wants and had been entirely focused on how exciting a new baby had sounded. Nodding in agreement at his plan to move around a bit when Sofie arrived, Freyja thought they had a good handle on the whole thing.

And finally Sofie arrived. Freyja had to try very hard not to grin mischievously at her sister as soon as she walked in and asked what she was doing home, but after a few minutes that all changed. While she’d known Sofie would not be happy when she say what they were doing, she hadn’t been prepared for the instant rage she went into. “Stop yelling at him,” Freyja said finally after her sister went on and on about staying out of each other’s personal areas in the loft. Sofie really didn’t get it did she? “Oh so that part of your life is off limits? How do you even make these rules up, Sofie?” As far as Freyja could tell the rules were basically ‘stay out of my life, but don’t get mad when I meddle in yours.’ Sadly for her sister, that wasn’t how it worked.

She felt guilty when Sofie mentioned she had something up there from their father that couldn’t be replaced, and realized that was probably the reason she’d gotten so mad. Freyja was glad they hadn’t actually messed with her stuff and risked ruining something like that. Just as she was about to assure her sister that whatever she had up there was perfectly fine, Sofie noticed the hand on her stomach and asked if she was pregnant and Freyja was so irritated she practically growled in frustration. She spun around a little, taking her feet off the table and planting them hard on the floor. “Really? You can’t just once react how we want you to?” It was extremely annoying.

She didn’t even want to try going through with it anymore. “We were going to say I was, and that we needed to make room for the baby, which is why we were messing with your things. Also, calm down. He didn’t touch anything. I just moved a shelf and a couple other things to make it look like I moved all your stuff but I barely touched anything.” Freyja sent an apologetic look towards Hakon. “Sorry. I’m not very good at this pranking stuff,” she told him with a shrug. Turning back to her sister, Freyja stood up and crossed her arms across her chest. “Can you guess what the point of this little exercise was?” No matter how obvious it seemed to Freyja, she was fairly confident Sofie would entirely miss the point. She was very good at that.

Hakon is not in a great mood. He's sad his little pretend relationship with Freyja is drawing to an end, and he's sad because he's in love with her and she will never know because he'll never tell her. Her presence in his life is too important to gamble on something as trivial as his feelings, and she would never love a man like him, anyway. No one would, he knew that, and he'd accepted it long ago. And of course he was furious at Sofie, because everything had been fine until she barged into his shop and accused him of being in love with Freyja. Up until then, he'd been completely oblivious and perfectly happy about it. Now, this was all he could think about, and if Sofie had never meddled, it never would have happened. Despite that, he manages to give Freyja a horrified look when she mentions having fun if they don't keep Haskell in line. "I'm sure Henrik and I will be able to gag him while he's sleeping."

He's up in the loft pretending to move Sofie's things around when he hears the door open, almost immediately followed by the sound of Sofie yelling. The first statement seemed to be directed at him, but he wasn't sure about everything that followed that. All he knows is that everything that's happened is Sofie's fault, and they barely moved anything and were entirely respectful even though she locked them in a closet, and he's fairly certain Sofie is yelling at Freyja, and that sets his blood to boiling. He storms down the stairs, his hands clenched into white-knuckled fists, and Freyja is already answering Sofie by the time he reaches them. He takes advantage of that time to get a slight handle on his anger, but as soon as Freyja is finished he turns the full force of his eyes to Sofie. His eyes are strange, one blue and one hazel, but both are full of fury, and his voice is barely a pitch above a menacing growl. Sofie can prank him until the day he dies, but he will never stand by and watch her disrespect Freyja, not after all Freyja has done for her.

"Do not ever speak to Freyja that way. She became a shipbuilder so you would have the freedom to do anything you chose. You will respect her." He shakes his head as he continues. "Of course we didn't touch your things. We respect you and your boundaries, although I am not sure why. You clearly don't respect Freyja, or take anyone else's feelings into consideration if they do not match yours." He takes a deep breath as if he's going to continue, but instead he only shakes his head and seals his lips shut. What good is talking to her, anyway? Nothing he can say will make a difference to her. His different colored eyes are both still dark with anger, and his face is arranged into an intimidating scowl, but he gives her a small, apologetic shrug. He'll understand if she tells him to leave, it's been a very long time since he's lost his temper this way.

Sofie was still fuming. She couldn't believe that Freyja would even dare touch her shit. She had never touched anything of her own. So it just pisses her off even more when she hears her sister say “Stop yelling at him,” to her. No, she was not going to stop yelling at him anytime soon. She wanted to go to his house and move every little thing in his house so he would know how it felt. She may break people, but she generally has rules and things she wouldn't do. “Oh so that part of your life is off limits? How do you even make these rules up, Sofie?” Freyja says to her next after she says she would never touch her shit. Sofie just rolls her eyes at her. Not giving a shit about anything she has to say. She is too mad, and too upset about everything to even think about anything else at the moments.

Sofie keep on yelling at them, threatening them if the flowers are ruined she would never speak to them again and demanding to know if Freyja was "pregnant" with how she was holding her stomach. “Really? You can’t just once react how we want you to?” Freyja says to her and she just gives her a confused look. What the hell was she talking about. “We were going to say I was, and that we needed to make room for the baby, which is why we were messing with your things. Also, calm down. He didn’t touch anything. I just moved a shelf and a couple other things to make it look like I moved all your stuff but I barely touched anything.” her sister says next and Sofie just gives her the dirtiest look ever. Thats something pretty horrible to joke about. Seeing as she knew there were women that couldn't have kids in this village. However the fact that they hadn't actually touched her stuff was calming her down just a little bit.

Sofie watched as Hankon comes down, he looks pissed off, more mad then she had ever seen before, and its all directed at her. “Sorry. I’m not very good at this pranking stuff,” she hears her sister say, but she doesn't even look at her. She keeps her eyes on Hankon. “Can you guess what the point of this little exercise was?” Freyja says next and she is just about to turn toward her to answer when Hankon goes off on her. "Do not ever speak to Freyja that way. She became a shipbuilder so you would have the freedom to do anything you chose. You will respect her." he tells her and Sofie feels all the calmness she had gotten at the fact that they didn't touch her shit leave and be replaced by anger again. Who the fuck did he think he was yelling at her. "Of course we didn't touch your things. We respect you and your boundaries, although I am not sure why. You clearly don't respect Freyja, or take anyone else's feelings into consideration if they do not match yours." she hears Hankon say next and Sofie just takes a deep break and looks at him for a moment.

After taking a moment to try to calm herself down, Sofie just decided to say fuck and yell at him too. "You think i do not respect my sister for doing what she did? For giving up her dreams for us?" she yells at him first. Her eyes going dark and her hands start to shake with the want to hit him. "I know very well what she did for us, and she should know that I am grateful. It is why I became a fighter myself. Because I wanted to do something to help the family. To raid and earn riches for her, so she can do what she wants to do.So she can make less boats or whatever the fuck makes her happy. I wanted to be a dressmaker until my father died, so clearly she isn't the only one to give up their dreams." she says to him next before taking a deep breath. "But then he died and our whole lives get fucked over, we are all sad and cope in different ways. I was trying to help you two be happy, because I can see it, Visna can see it, others can see it, but you both are blind to it. Blind to your feeling or just to scared to act on them. I wanted to help, but my dad dying fucked me up. I can't handle most emotions without needing to pull a prank after doing so...The idea of showing any weakness in front of people makes me want to puke. I have just found out myself that I like someone and I have no idea how to handle that...emotions are complicated for me..So I thought shoving you in a closet was a good idea, because it would make you open your eyes and maybe Freyja could be a little more happy. Have something in her life that was good other than family. I am sorry I even bothered, I swear to all the Gods I wont again. You can both die alone for all I care!" she screams at him and then looks at feyja.

Tears start to fall down her face as she realizes she shared way more then she wanted to, but she was so mad at them. So upset by so many things going on in her life at the moment. "I wont be coming home tonight. I'll sleep outside, don't bother looking for me. I'll make sure you can't find me." she says through her tears before bolting out of the door and toward the dunes. It was somewhere no one would think to look for her, or at least she hoped so. She needed to be alone, and she didn't want to be around any of them at all. Sofie feels so badly that she went off that way but he had just made her so mad, and she just reacted. When she reaches the dunes she just finds the deepest part to sit down in and hug her keens to her chest and have herself a good hidden cry.

@Freyja Stafnsdóttir @Hakon Odinsson

While Freyja hadn’t really expected Sofie to laugh at their attempt at pranking her, she had not been at all prepared for how angry her sister had become. It didn’t take long for Sofie to explain why, and Freyja felt bad for making her worry that they’d ruined something that was clearly very important to her, but at the same time, Freyja didn’t feel all that bad. Sofie deserved to get pranked once in a while, and she’d locked them in a closet. Their lingering irritation at how she chose to stick her nose in their business was entirely justified, as far as she was concerned.

Though what really did surprised her was Hakon’s reaction to Sofie. She expected irritation, but he was angry. And what was even more surprising was why he was angry. Some of it was probably still left over from the whole ‘being locked in a closet’ thing but the first words he spoke to her sister were to defend her. To tell Sofie not to talk to her like that. This… had never happened before. It was a weird situation for Freyja. She was so used to automatically letting things just roll off her, that the idea that he could be upset over something like that, something that she herself wasn’t all that upset over, was strange. She wanted to try to get in between them a bit and slow things down. This was supposed to be a joke to just get back at Sofie a little and now the pair of them were genuinely upset. She didn’t like it.

Unfortunately, before she could interject and try to smooth over the situation, Sofie let loose on Hakon for snapping at her. Freyja sighed and rolled her eyes. This was going poorly. When Sofie paused to take a deep breath in between yelling, Freyja saw an opening. “Can we just-” Sadly, Sofie was not in the mood to be interrupted, and started going on about their father and coping and emotions and how she was trying to help and it was a lot. Like, a lot a lot.

After all of that, Freyja honestly wasn’t sure what to say. Luckily, she didn’t have to say anything because Sofie started crying, told them she wouldn’t be home and left. “Sofie, wait-” she tried, taking a few steps closer to the door, but Freyja knew better than to chase after her sister when she was in this sort of mood. There was nothing she could say that would get through to Sofie right now, even if she kicked it off with an amazing apology. Which, if she was being honest, she didn’t really even feel that Sofie deserved. Just because she got emotional and upset didn’t automatically warrant an apology, Freyja decided.

Turning towards Hakon, Freyja sent him a shrug of her own. “That went well,” she drawled sarcastically, shooting a smirk in his direction. She was trying to lighten the mood after all that shouting and had never actually seen this particular side of Hakon before, and wasn’t sure how to react.

“Sorry for… all of that,” she said with a wave of her hand towards the door Sofie had just run off through. “I didn’t know a lot of that, actually. About her wanting to be a dressmaker, or that she’s got something up there from my father.” It made her feel like shit for messing with Sofie’s stuff but that was her problem, not his. “I’d tell her to go find you and apologize but I’m thinking that would just make things worse at the moment.” She didn’t like the idea of Sofie being mad at Hakon though, and wanted to fix that as soon as possible. “I’ll take the blame for all of this, at least. I’m her big sister, she’s always mad at me for something, so it’s nothing I can’t handle.”

» All hail the new kids [Haskell, Hakon & Sofie]
» I Was Dreaming of Bigger Things
» Beautiful things come together one stitch at a time
» This is all about us [Hakon]
» Sofie Stafnsdóttir