I was scared of pretty girls and starting conversations [Tóra]

Tóra always listened when Freyja spoke, because she loved and respected her older sister. And so here she was, stepping into the blacksmith shop to find a man named Hakon, and collect a knife he had made for her. She didn't know what use she would possibly have for a knife, but Tóra always obeyed her eldest sister. Besides, Sofie had told her that she thought this Hakon liked Freyja as more than a friend, and she was very, very curious about him. Freyja was a wonderful person, and anyone less than an amazing man would be unsuitable for her, as far as Tóra was concerned. Sofie had asked her to carry a message to this Hakon, and so she would. Not because she respected Sofie, but because she wanted to remain prank-free for as long as she possibly could.

Tóra pushes open the door to the blacksmith shop, and the first thing she sees is a knife flashing in the dim light as it spins through the air. She watches the knife as it falls, as the point sinks into a man's palm before the knife clatters to the floor. She hears the man curse, then curse again, and she waves off his awkward apology as she stoops to pick the knife up from the ground. Her blue eyes dart quickly to his hand and she sees blood bright against his pale palm, and she gasps as she reaches automatically forward and grabs his fingers. "Oh! You're bleeding!" She tells him, completely unnecessary. She's vaguely aware of the blacksmith, a lean man with brawny arms, laughing so hard tears are streaming down his face. The man is still chuckling heartily as he tosses a rag toward them. "No blood in my shop." His voice is good-natured, breathless from his laughing, and Tóra murmurs a thanks as she plucks the rag easily from the air.

She presses it against the man's bleeding hand, applying light pressure, and squeezes his fingers in a reassuring manner. "I think you'll be alright, though." Finally, she turns her face up to see his, a bright, warm smile on her face, and her smile falters for just a moment, her face turning a lovely shade of pink as she realizes what she's just done. "Sorry! I didn't mean..." She trails off, dropping his hand as if he'd burned her, and turns her smile to the still-laughing blacksmith. "I'm Tóra Stafnsdóttir. Freyja said to come here and find Hakon." Her gaze slips between the two of them, and she gives the man who's hand she'd grabbed an apologetic little smile, a bit embarrassed but trusting to her charm to save her. Hakon hands her a small knife, and even though she'd been expecting it, it still shocked her a little. From the awkward way she grabs the knife, it's clear she has very little experience holding them, and Tóra considers she may be more dangerous to herself than anyone else with the knife. But she smiles and thanks the blacksmith anyway before turning back to the other man. "I'm really, really sorry."

Hakon is still laughing, but Tóra raises a brow as she turns to him, pointing with the sheathed knife. She probably should get Sofie to teach her to use this thing before she cuts her own finger off. "Sofie wants me to tell you that Freyja isn't going to be single forever." She notes with a bit of satisfaction that that shuts him up quick enough, and suddenly he's very interested in a piece of wood on his worktable.

Tóa didn't realize until she looked up at the man that holding his bleeding hand may be a bit strange, and that's why she lets go when she looks up and meet his eyes. He threw the barest hint of a smile her way before she threw his hand like she'd been burnt by it, blushing pink, and introduced herself to the blacksmith. She hoped the man didn't think she was being rude, it was just that she'd never accidentally attended to a very handsome man's admittedly minor wound before. What does one do in this situation? Sink into a hole in the earth? Pretend it never happened? Apologize? She went with the last one, and the man told her she'd probably just saved his life. Tóra stares at him, his handsome, serious face and flat tone of voice, and it takes her a full two seconds to realize he's joking. She immediately starts giggling, and she's still giggling as she takes the knife from Hakon.

She watches as the man--she still doesn't know his name--takes his turn reprimanding Hakon, and Tóra looks over at the blacksmith for an instant before the man beside her speaks again. She turns the full force of her blue eyes to him, watching the movement of his hand, and she grins up at him. This sounds like fun. She turns toward the blacksmith, who sighs and rolls his eyes toward the ceiling, but obediently stands still. Tóra turns the sheath toward the blacksmith and takes a small step forward to give her throw more power. She tries her best to imitate the man's motion, and lets out a shocked, delighted giggle when the knife bounces off Hakon's chest and he catches it. A bit low, but it would still hurt. She's practically skipping as she goes to retrieve the knife from the blacksmith. He leans down and whispers in her ear, then slips the knife into her hand. She looks up at him, tilting her head, and Hakon simply nods once. She gives him a grin and bounces merrily back toward the man who's name she still doesn't know. Behind her, Hakon mockingly mouths "its educational" at his friend, raising his brows, hoping he'll go along with this.

"I don't think I caught your name? And you already know my name is Tóra Stansdóttir, so I think I should know your name. It's only fair." She gives him an exaggerated shrug. She's stopped a bit closer to him than she did before, and she tosses her long blond hair carelessly back over her shoulder. She's trying to act entirely innocent, but Tóra isn't good at this, not like Sofie, and she can't entirely keep the mischievous smirk off her face. Hakon told her she'd need to be fast to get him. "Are you a Viking? Two of my sisters are training to be shield maidens. Do you know them? Sofie and Rúna?" As she speaking, she darts the sheathed knife quickly toward his left side. She knows she probably isn't quite fast enough, or subtle enough, because she can barely keep a small giggle from bubbling out into her voice as she's speaking. But she tries anyway, her small hand darting forward as quick as she can be.

She hadn't been expecting to actually hit the blacksmith, and she couldn't stop a small, delighted giggle. Henrik tells her it's probably still a kill shot, and she grins over at him. His face is still so serious and Tóra guesses that he's not a man who hands out praise lightly, and the thought makes her feel a bit warm and glad inside. She can feel her cheeks heating up a little and knows she's probably blushing, so she's skipping toward the blacksmith so maybe the other man won't notice her blushing. She does grin back at him over her shoulder, though, so he won't think she's rude. "Thank you! I have a good teacher." Of course she's referring to him, but she turns her attention to the blacksmith to retrieve her knife. He whispers in her ear and she tilts her head questioningly up at him, but he's reassured by his nod. She heads back toward the other man, chattering and friendly, her face open and warm, but a hint of mischief in her smile. "Andorsson?" She tilts her head, considering him. "My sister Freyja has an apprentice named Alien Andorsson."

She shakes her head when he asks her if she's much like Sofie, and her blue eyes are wide and entirely too innocent as she looks up at him. "I help her with her pranks sometimes, so she won't prank me. So if she ever put anything gross in your bed, I probably helped her catch it." There's an indignant grunt from the other side of the room, and Tóra gives Hakon a reassuring smile. "I had nothing to do with the snake, though. I tried to stop her." She turns her attention back to Henrik, a sheepish smile on her face, and rubs the back of her neck, a small thing she does sometimes if she's feeling a little embarrassed. "So I'll just apologize in case. I'm sorry for any spiders that Sofie may have put in your bed."

She's surprised when the knife actually strikes him. She'd been expecting his hand to block her, but instead the knife makes contact with his side. Her blue eyes are wide and surprised when she looks up at him, expecting praise, and finds him waving his cut hand in front of her. He says he's injured, and seems to be blaming the small cut on her successful strike. A smile tilts up her face almost immediately this time. She's beginning to understand his dry sense of humor. She giggles again, lifting the knife to gently tap the tip of the sheath against his nose. "You're funny, Henrik. But you're right, next time I'll be sure to stab you only when you're at your strongest. It must be embarrassing for such a strong Viking to be pretend-stabbed by someone who wants to be a healer." In truth, she hadn't been certain if that was what she wanted to do, but she was becoming slowly more sure of it, and as she smiled up at Henrik and told him she wanted to be a healer, it felt like fate. In that instant, she knew that's what she would become.

Then Henrik is grabbing her wrist, and although she can feel the strength in his hands, his fingers are warm and gentle as he adjusts her grip. The knife feels more comfortable in her hands after he fixes her grip, and she smiles happily up at him. Her face is warm and open, as it nearly always is, her expression friendly and inviting. Tóra loves talking to people, and even more surprisingly, she likes the way Henrik's fingers feel against her skin. He shows her where to aim, still holding her wrist, and suggests she try again. When he lets go of her wrist, she's surprised she wishes he hadn't. "I've always wanted to pretend stab someone in the kidney." But she doesn't want to disappoint him, and so she darts her knife forward again, toward the spot he'd indicated, and after she strikes she looks up at him for his assessment. She doesn't want this little lesson to end, though, so she quickly comes up with another question. "What's the easiest place to strike someone? Maybe not to kill, but to get them to leave me alone?"

She's vaguely aware that Hakon, who had turned his attention to some idle carving on a knife handle, straightens suddenly at the question, his face darkening, and she wonders why he's suddenly so concerned. Her wind is whirling suddenly, things clicking into place. Hakon was giving her sisters knives for free. He'd started paying attention when she'd asked how to get someone to stop bothering her. There must be trouble in Skagen that she isn't aware of. She gives both of the men a bright smile, hoping her face gives away nothing, but her voice sounds a bit too cheery even to her own ears. "No one has been bothering me, but just in case." She can feel the blacksmith's eyes on her, assessing her, and finally he sighs. He shoots a dark look to Henrik, and Tóra feels certain that look has a secret behind it, something they're going to discuss once she's gone, but Hakon returns to his carving. She curses her own question, and hopes he won't bring it up to Freyja. She has enough to worry about, without worrying about Tora.

Tóra was sure Henrik had better things to be doing than teaching her how to stab people, but she selfishly wanted to keep his attention on her. She liked his attention, she liked his dry sense of humor, and she liked his stupid, handsome face and the way his fingers felt on her wrist when he showed her where to aim the knife. He was so good-looking though, so obviously a gifted warrior, that Tóra was certain he probably had a wife waiting for him at home. Obviously he wasn't teaching her this because he was genuinely concerned for her safety or interested in her, but simply because he liked knives and stabbing, and if he was friends with Hakon then he was probably friends with Freyja, too, and he obviously knew Sofie. He was probably just doing this as a favor to her sisters even though he would much rather be talking to Hakon, or going home to his wife, but Tóra is being selfish.

Besides, his reaction when she tapped his nose with the sheath of her knife was absolutely adorable. She wonders absently what's wrong with her. Henrik towers over her, he has broad shoulders and is probably covered in scars and Vikings like him are the reason the world needs healers. The fact that she can consider anything he does adorable defies logic, but again she doesn't care. She smiles up at him into the silence, which he then breaks by saying he doesn't get embarrassed. His reaction when she tapped him with the knife says otherwise, just like Hakon's howl of laughter. He quickly suppresses it and goes back to his carving, his eyes warily sliding from Henrik to the knife in Tóra's hand. She guesses that it's not every day he gets to be a practice dummy for a clueless little girl. She ducks her head slightly as he says she would make a good healer, because his statement has her feeling suddenly shy, but when she looks back up at Henrik her smile is pleased and her cheeks are pink. She giggles at his next statement. "Thank you, it required a lot of skill. If it had only been Hakon here, you would probably be dead right now."

She's happy when her strike hits exactly where he told her, and his praise has her face flushing slightly pink again. Just a bit faster, she could handle that if she needed to. And then she asked her question, reassuring the two of them automatically and hoping her bright smile stays in place. She doesn't want to make any trouble for anyone, and she's old enough to handle herself now, and if Freyja or any of her sisters find out, they'll just make a big deal out of it. She can deal with it on her own now. She has her little knife and she knows how to stab someone in the kidney, although maybe something a little less lethal would be appropriate for the situation. It's nothing too extreme, just comments that leave a vague feeling of discomfort in the pit of her stomach, but she's been babied her entire life and she's ready to be treated like a woman now. She doesn't tell anyone, because she can handle it herself.

She shakes her head quickly, golden hair fluttering around her shoulders, when Henrik suggests the eye. "I don't want to maim anyone forever! Do you have any suggestions that are less.... Permanently disfiguring?" She tilts her head as she tries to decide on the words to use. She feels the blacksmith's eyes on her again, still suspicious, and she takes her attention from Henrik long enough to roll her eyes at Hakon. His eyes are still narrowed but he doesn't press the issue, and Tóra is starting to panic just a little because she doesn't want anyone to find out, especially not her sisters. She doesn't want to be treated like the baby anymore, she's fifteen now, practically an adult. "Just in case." She adds with a smile, tossing her hair back over her shoulder with a shrug. Just when she thinks that if Hakon doesn't stop looking at her, she's going to throw the knife at him again, she hears him sigh and turn back to his work. She grins up at Henrik, eager for the next part of her murder lesson.

Tóra had been expecting to grab her knife and leave, but staying here and getting a lesson in how to defend herself from a very handsome Viking was far more interesting than anything else she could have been doing. She doesn't want this little lesson to end, doesn't want Henrik's attention to go elsewhere. And even though they aren't exactly alone, the blacksmith is off doing his own thing and doesn't seem to be interested in being part of this little game. She's shockingly grateful for that, because while she doesn't mind the blacksmith's presence, she much prefers Henrik's right now. She's sure Hakon is a perfectly nice person, and she knows that Freyja is friends with him, but Henrik is much cuter and much funnier, anyway. Luckily he's content to just go back to his work, occasionally laughing or making noises, just sort of adding his own nonverbal commentary on their conversation. Like now, when Henrik says Hakon probably would have just rolled his corpse into the street because of his no blood in my sho policy, the blacksmith actually chuckles and shakes his head, and his eyes are amused as they flit between Tóra and the Viking.

Tóra decides to tease him just a little, and she does her best to hide her smile. She winks up at Henrik to signal him she's about to do something funny, then arranges her face into an expression of supreme innocence as she glances over at the blacksmith. "According to Sofie, he wouldn't have time to roll your corpse into the street because he's too busy running away from his feelings." Hakon gives her a look that's something between indignant and exasperated, but he doesn't rise to the bait. Sofie is clearly better at taunting people than she is, maybe she could ask her for some lessons. She turns her attention back to Henrik with a shrug and a smile, as if to say, ah well, maybe it'll work next time? "But maybe I'm the lucky one because you're here, and now I know how to stab someone in the kidney?" She tilts her head as she's asking him the question, as if it's a matter of utmost importance.

She shakes her head with a small giggle as he says it wouldn't maim them, it would kill them, and she can't help rolling her eyes just a bit. She watches as he smirks over at Hakon, and then he turns back to her and winks, and it feels sort of like the bottom of her stomach drops to the floor when he does that. That small wink makes her feel immediately off-balance, and so she does something to take back control of the conversation. She already knows that she has the power to stun Henrik into silence for a few seconds, and just a few seconds of silence is all she needs to gather her thoughts after that wink scattered them everywhere. "Like this?" She asks innocently, bright blue eyes just a bit too wide, and drives a knee hard up toward Henrik's groin. At the last possible moment she twists her leg so her knee connects with his thigh instead. She doesn't want t actually hurt him, since then he may not want to keep teaching her, and Tóra is surprised to find she likes talking to Henrik.

Hakon is laughing in the background again and Tóra does her best to ignore him. She nods, listening intently, as Henrik lists off the ways she could discourage attention without seriously harming someone, and she's surprised to find these are the types of things she'd been hoping to learn. Just something to give her enough time to get away, something to teach Audun that maybe she isn't someone to be messed with. That she might be small, but she still has teeth. She grins joyfully up at Henrik, nodding, but then her smile falters as she realizes something, and her eyes widen. "I've never actually punched anyone before." She hears a muffled groan from Hakon, who's realized he's probably going to be the practice dummy while Henrik teaches her the proper technique. He's probably wondering what he's done to deserve such treatment, but he sets his carving down and raises his brows at Henrik, signaling he's willing to allow the girl to practice on him. She's like half his size anyway, it'll be like getting hit by a fly.

Tóra shakes her head quickly when Henrik suggests she just tell him, partly because she's still trying to convince them that no one is bothering her, and partly because she doesn't want to say anything around Hakon because he'll probably tell Freyja. She also gets the distinct impression that he definitely will not do his best to not disfigure Audun permanently, and Tóra doesn't want any blood on her hands. "There's no one bothering me." She places careful emphasis on each word by lightly jabbing the sheathed dagger into Henrik's broad chest as she speaks, then smiles up at him as she drops her hand to her side. "This is for educational purposes only." She hopes they believe her.

Tóra can't quite keep the smile from her face as she winks up at Henrik and then sasses Hakon. The blacksmith doesn't rise to her bait, though, and instead Henrik whispers to her, definitely loud enough for Hakon to hear, and even then he doesn't butt into their conversation. Tóra shakes her head up at Henrik, and when she answers him it's in a loud whisper, too. She likes talking to him this way, it makes her feel like they're sharing a secret even though they definitely aren't. "All you missed is Sofie sticking her big nose into everyone else's business. Again." The blacksmith chuckles in agreement and shoots her a look of approval before his attention returns to his carving. She shrugs, and whispers again. "Sofie thinks they're secretly in love with each other, isn't that romantic?" She hears something like a choked, indignant snort coming from Hakon, but she ignores him and continues whispering. "I haven't noticed anything, though."

Her blue eyes are wide and full of mock worry as he tells her he usually charges a fee, and especially for kidney stabbing, and of course she can't keep the small smile from her face, hard as she tries. "I didn't pay you! Does that mean you're going to stab me in the kidney? Or can I pay you by pranking Sofie?" She would have asked if she could pay him by kneeing Hakon in the groin for his amusement--she's sure it would have had him wiping tears of laughter from his eyes--but she doesn't want to give away what she's about to do. Hakon had told her earlier that Henrik was fast, but she hadn't necessarily believed him, since stabbing Henrik the first time had been so easy. Her distraction tactics had worked well the first time, but it seemed now he was suspicious of her. She adjusted her angle to connect with his muscular thigh instead, and she's shocked by the warmth of his hand on her knee as he grabs her. He's quick to release her, but not quite quick enough. She hadn't been expecting him to block her at all, and it threw her off balance.

Her knife clatters to the floor as her hands grab for the nearest solid surface to keep herself from falling, and the nearest solid surface is Henrik. Her hands rest against his chest quickly, just long enough to steady herself, but even with that brief touch she can feel the hardness of his muscles beneath her hands. Tóra's face is flushing pink and she stammers out an apology as she stoops to retrieve her knife. When she rises, Henrik is telling her that yeah, it's like that except next time go for Hakon, and that puts her at ease enough to smile up at him again. Her cheeks still feel a bit warm and she knows she's probably still blushing because it's hard to forget the way his chest felt beneath her hands even though she only touched him for a moment.

But then Henrik is about to begin a new lesson on punching because she's never punched anyone before, and having something else to focus on helps her steady herself. Hakon walks over with a sigh to stand before them, but she's watching the way Henrik wiggles his fingers before clenching them into a fist, and his blow is soft as it connects with Hakon's shoulder. She imitates it, and Hakon sighs and gives Henrik a bemused look as he says he's injured. "Mmm, injured, right. You can hit me though, actually hit me. You didn't twist your body or step to put power behind it. It's not like this will be the first time I've ever been punched. She's small, she needs to know how to put her whole body behind it. I barely even felt it when she hit me." Hakon's face is serious. If he's going to be a punching dummy, he's going to at least make sure she figures out how to really punch. Plus, he's trying to help his friend out a bit. He has a feeling Henrik feels protective of this girl, and if he's smart, he'll take his chance to get closer to her, to use his own body to guide her in how to punch. And Tóra looks up at Henrik, her blue eyes wide and teasing. "If I give him a bloody nose, do I need to pay you?"

She wrinkles her nose when Henrik tentatively agrees that it sounds romantic, but she's quick to shake her head. "Sounds like a hassle to me. What's the point of being secretly in love with someone? All that means is that you don't get to be with them." Tóra's bright blue eyes are wide and serious as she nods when Henrik says he hasn't noticed anything, either. "I think Sofie is just bored. Maybe this is just some prank? I can never tell when she's being serious." She gives a heavy sigh, as if being Sofie's sister and sometimes-assistant-pranker is a great burden. The truth is that she doesn't mind it at all, and she enjoys helping Sofie with her pranks if only because she gets to spend time with her. With so many of them running around, it can be hard to spend time just one on one with any of her sisters.

She giggles when he mentions getting in trouble with Sofie over something like this, and simply shakes her head. "I'm pretty sure I have to be prank free forever. She lost me in the woods once when I was very small, and Freyja didn't believe her when she told her I was missing. Just for that alone, she owes me." She talks about it like being lost in the woods as barely more than a toddler wasn't incredibly terrifying, as if she hadn't had nightmares about being lost and alone for years afterward. She tilts her head, looking up at Henrik through her lashes when he says they can call it even because she saved his life. Finally she nods, unable to contain the joyful grin on her face. "I suppose that sounds fair. I saved your life, so naturally you should teach me how to kill someone."

When Tóra thought to knee him in the groin, she never expected that it would lead to a brief moment where her hands were on his chest and his hands were on her waist and it takes her breath away because it just feels.... Intimate. She's sure she's reading way too much into it, but she can feel her cheeks getting hot and she pulls her hands back very quickly, and he's just as fast to pull away. It was just a brief moment but the place on her waist where his hands rested feels like its on fire, and she quickly averts her eyes and ducks down to the floor, tossing her hair forward to hide her blush behind a wavy golden curtain. She's mostly gathered her thoughts by the time she stands, and she tucks the knife into her belt as Henrik shows her how to punch. Turns out Hakon doesn't think she's very good at punching, and Tóra grins sweetly up at the blacksmith as she asks Henrik about giving Hakon a bloody nose. Hakon only rolls his eyes.

Tora watches Henrik's slow motion demonstration, trying not to focus too much on the way his muscles tighten and stretch with his movements, and she can feel her cheeks heating up again. But then he moves full-speed, and his punch has enough force behind it that Hakon steps back as he absorbs the blow. He seems unbothered by it though, and Tóra wrinkles her brow in concentration as she does her best to mimic Henrik's movements. She curls her hand into a fist and places her right foot back, then steps forward with it and twists her upper body from the hip the way she'd seen Henrik do. She isn't holding her wrist firm enough though, and her wrist bends forward when she lands the blow. It doesn't hurt much but it still surprises her, although Hakon looks slightly more impressed than he did earlier.