FENRIR ※ Tony Stark [2]

7 - AN OLD FRIEND

➾ Asgard, Many Years Ago

Silence had fallen over the Asgardian Palace as the night cast a soothing aura on the capital of the realm. Somewhere in the eastern wing of the castle, Angrboda, daughter of the infamous Himnir, was sleeping soundly.

Suddenly, a crashing sound on the other side of the hallway startled her awake. She distinctly heard the small thuds of footsteps in the distance and sat up tiredly, knowing exactly what was about to happen next.

Sure enough, the door of her bedroom creaked open and a small silhouette appeared in the doorframe.

"Angrboda... are you awake?"

Angrboda's heart sank hearing her brother's trembling voice and the sniffles that punctuated his question. He was crying.

"Yes sweetheart, come here," she pulled the covers away from her legs and the little boy wasted no time running up to her. He threw himself into his sister's arms, bursting into tears.

"It-it happened again... I tried to do what you taught me but it didn't work!" he was sobbing profusely. Angrboda held his shaking body, tightly against her chest.

"Shh... I know Fenrir, it's okay..."

The little boy was inconsolable though. He kept crying for a long a time and Angrboda knew there wasn't much she could say to make him feel better. As always on nights like these, the best she could do was try to make him feel safe.

After the long minutes it took for Fenrir to calm down, she sat him on her crossed legs as he nestled against her arm.

"Do you want to tell me what happened this time?" she asked softly, brushing away the strands of hair that had fallen on his face.

He sniffled a few times, curling up even more "I-I was sleeping and... and then I woke up and I felt really hot..."

"Did it hurt again?"

Fenrir nodded slightly, almost shuddering at the memory "It was so bad this time, I thought it was never going to stop!"

Angrboda ran her palm along the length of his back "Sweetheart you know it always stops eventually. The Warg doesn't want to hurt you, it... it just wants to come out sometimes."

Tears filled Fenrir's eyes a second time "But I just want it to go away!"

He started sobbing again and Angrboda could do nothing but rock him gently. She hated feeling so useless when he was in this state.

"Listen, why don't you try to get some sleep. We'll ask Father about it tomorrow, alright?"

Fenrir's head jerked up, his tear-streaked face turned plain panicked "N-no please don't tell Father. He will get angry."

In all honesty, the thought of asking their father for anthing made Angrboda shudder too. Himnir was the most obnoxious creature in the nine realms. With the years, Angrboda had learned to deal with it, but Fenrir was just a child, he didn't know better.

"You know what, I'll talk to Loki," she said, trying to sound as positive as possible "He might convince Frigga to give us some of that potion again."

Fenrir's traits immediately relaxed and he nodded eagerly. Loki cared so much for her little brother. He was particularly helpful when it came to Fenrir's condition.

The potion in question was some kind of painkiller mixture that Loki's mother had in her extensive medicine storage. Angrboda didn't really like giving it to her brother because it always knocked him out cold for several hours. She wasn't sure a child's body was meant to handle such a strong drug, but right now, she simply didn't have the heart to refuse him anything.