It was only at times like this that he wished he could bring himself to speak a lie. Only enough to ensure that his Omega would remain healthy under his watch.

"I cannot feast while you go hungry." He explained truthfully, intestines twisting into a knot at the mere notion of such a blasphemous act. Nudging the bowl in Vali's direction, his eyes implored. "You must eat. You must."

Vali chewed at his lip, lowering his gaze to avoid the puppy dog eyes that the Alpha was so clearly attempting to use as a tactic to convince him to steal his rations for the second time. 

Dinner the previous day had clearly revealed that they both possessed the ability to embody every side of stubbornness in an attempt to reach their goals of shoving chunks of protein down the others' throat. So instead of resuming the interminable squabble of yesternight, Vali instead resolved to try an alternate pathway to success.

"Or, how about..." He began, turning to lower himself back down onto the furs before patting the spot beside him in invitation. "We share?" Vali tilted his head, pouty lips doing all sorts of things to Einar's fragile consciousness when a few strands from the white side of his hair tangled in the glistening moisture that coated them.

The Alpha wanted nothing more than to feel the press those lips against his own once more, to cherish the rosy flesh with his teeth and tongue until he managed to define every ingredient that made up the ambrosian recipe of his Omega's indeterminable taste. 

Vali's mere existence was a siren song to the Alpha, and before he could even recognize that he'd done it, he was sinking down onto the furs beside the abundantly alluring man. The hairs on the arm closest to the Omega raised with gooseflesh as if they, too wanted to be closer.

Einar's brain melted when Vali's lips stretched into a small smile, knees almost touching as he gestured to the bowl.

"You go first, as a taste tester." The Omega joked lightly, knowing that if the stew was anywhere similar to the one the previous night, it was sure to be at least somewhat appetizing. "Do tell me if it tastes wretched."

Somewhere in the rubbery remains of what used to be his brain was an understanding that his fated's words were nothing but a ploy, an attempt at tricking his inner Alpha into thinking that it was even somewhat admissible to indulge in a meal before his Omega. But by this point Einar was nothing but a glob of putty, happily being tossed around in the tiny man's hands, and the bowl was tipped up to his lips before he could even form the concept of objection.

The stew was absolutely wretched. At least, it was wretched in comparison with the sapid scent that gushed profusely from his mate's glands, filling the space around him with saltwater caramel so thick that he could see it like a fog, taste it like a sap, and feel it like a prayer.

Einar lowered the bowl, having been careful to only take an infinitesimal sip before passing it to the enchantress before him. 

"It is adequate for consumption."

Vali giggled as he accepted the bowl from the Alpha, who was currently attempting to remain upright at the unexpected sound, ears far from accustomed to any form of laughter. 

"Thank you for such a thoughtful, detailed review of our gourmet lunch." He teased, before finally taking a sip of his own. He chewed as he spoke again, although he held up a few fingers to obscure the macerated meat inside of his mouth, using the other to pass the bowl back. "It is, indeed, adequate for consumption."

The crooked smile that broke out across Einar's face, stretching his lips and turning his cheeks into little balls of light, made Vali falter in his approach, fingertips brushing against that of his Alpha as they passed the bowl. 

The sensation was one of everything and nothing, of infinite peace coupled with a beautifully jumbled array of human emotion. 

Eyes met, pupils endless as they reached for one other on a plane wholly unseen but profoundly felt. A whisper in the darkness, a match struck in an arctic wasteland.

They continued to hold onto the bowl together, drifting in the moment until Einar eventually gathered the bravery to rub slow lines onto the tips of Vali's slim fingers with his own, relishing in silken skin.

"I am called Einar." He finally broke the careful silence, corrugated voice gentler than he'd ever managed to temper it to before. "I wish to experience your namesake, as well."

His request was unbelievably formal, laced with a level of respect and admiration that Vali had only ever lived on the opposite side of. Moisture pricked at the overworked ducts of the Omega's eyes as he gazed up at the Alpha before him, a fresh kind of illumination pervading the large man's entire being and lighting up Vali's insides like a pyre.

Einar. Vali rolled the name around in his skull, eyes shifting, searching the Alpha's face as he affixed the name to the man. 

Vali moved his hands closer, sliding them further into the warm embrace that Einar's calloused flesh offered.

"A strong namesake for a strong Alpha." He complimented, mirroring the formality of Einar's words. "And not only strong, but kind." 

The Alpha couldn't help but sit up a little straighter at his Omega's praise, rapt with disbelief. 

While many a soul had called him strong – the extent of his physical brawn impossible to be overlooked even by a blind man – kind was far from a descriptor used to encapsulate his subsistence. But perhaps, after over two decades of speaking only when spoken to and following orders without a second thought, he had lost sight of his true nature. 

It was an unlikely possibility, but a possibility nonetheless. Einar clung to it.

"Your wish is well-greeted." Vali continued, and Einar waited with bated breath, cerulean irises following the swell of his Omega's lips. The Alpha's chest hummed as he anticipated the name that would soon tumble from them. 

On Odin's highest name, he would not miss a single syllable.

"Just as I have experienced your namesake, you shall also experience mine." His Omega confirmed as Einar's lungs stuttered. "I am called–"

"EINAR!" 

Both Alpha and Omega jumped at the sudden shriek that filled the air, a bit of stew flying from the bowl and soaking into the furs beneath them. 

Judging by the clarity of the sound, the person had to have been standing just outside of the barn, a realization that sent an avalanche of rocks tumbling into the pit of Einar's stomach.

"Get y'er ass back out here and pull this cart, dammit! Or else Guiscard is gonna be fixin' to skin somebody, and it damn well ain't gonna be me!"

The Alpha sped to his feet, panic saturating his features as his head rapidly snapped back and forth between his Omega and the ladderwell. 

He had been so close, only to have the one thing he longed for, ripped out of his grasp once again. 

Typical. 

"I am sorry. I must go." Einar apologized in a hushed whisper, and Vali jumped up to stand when the Alpha quickly made his way back to the ladder. 

"But wait, I–"

"I will come back to you." Einar ensured, torso already halfway down the ladderwell. As if on instinct, he reached out, grasping Vali's hand in as gentle of a grip as he could manage. He squeezed it briefly before gathering the extremity to his lips and depositing a brisk kiss to the Omega's knuckles.

Vali's heart squeezed, overloaded.

"Vali." the Omega whispered back, frantic. "I am called Vali."

Warmth bloomed like a flower in Einar's chest, thrumming through every artery and vein until he wasn't sure if he could even stand it. He rested his forehead on the knuckles he'd just kissed.

"Vali." He breathed the word, knowing that he would never grow tired of thinking it, saying it or living it. "Thank you."

Vali. My Omega.

"EINAR! Goddamn giant oaf, I know you fuckin' hear me! You know what, if you don't bring y'er ass out here in the next five fuckin' seconds, I'll come in there my damn self and cut y'er goddamn cock and balls off with my bare fuckin'–"

Einar tossed his head over his shoulder. "I am coming, Unnr."

"Good lad! Knew ye'd manage to find some sense if I used the old cock twist! No man wants his balls fondled, lest it's by the moist tongue of a fine Omega... Fuck, I gotta stop gettin' horny durin' the work day."

Einar was more than used to ignoring Unnr's incessantly inappropriate ramblings, but judging by the rosy hue that overtook the right side of his face, it was obvious that his Vali was more than flustered by the vulgar words.

Gorgeous. Einar immediately thought, but he didn't have any time to linger in it.

Reaching down, he grabbed the handle of the pail he'd previously forgotten on the peg beside the ladder, hauling it up to set it on the landing. Water sloshed out, nipping the tips of Vali's toes.

"You may wash or drink with this. Please finish our lunch while I am gone, we will resume our sharing during supper rations." Was the last thing Einar whispered before he released the deerskin, slid down the rest of the ladder, and made his way to the door of the barn, each step like a bomb underfoot as he peeled himself away from the man who held the other half of his soul.

Vali couldn't help but step forward, peeking past a gap in the skins to watch the last moments of Einar's departure. To his dismay, the Omega only managed to catch a flash of strong shoulder muscles and a flurry of blonde hair before his Alpha pulled the door of the barn securely closed, shrouding the entire structure back into a state of semi-darkness.

For a moment he just stared, wallowing in a ridiculous wave of self-pity as the beast of boredom once again threatened to consume him. That is, until a distinctly equestrian whinny interrupted the silence, and Vali suddenly remembered that he was – after all – not just in any barn, but a horse house!

Pure excitement almost sent Vali hurdling straight through the pail of water that still sat in front of the ladderwell, nudging his toe into the annoying, wooden bucket as it reminded him of his priorities.

The Omega finished their discarded lunch in record time, belly filling up with chunks of vegetable and beef before he moved back over the pail. Drinking his fill first, he used the rest of the water along with what he hoped was a washrag to scrub his skin clean of the unfavorable amount of filth that it had accumulated over the past two days.

Once he rinsed his hair, white and black curls clumping together as they dried, Vali pondered what to do about his clothing. 

Poking through the pile of fabrics that still lay in one corner, the only luck he'd had was in discovering that his fated was clearly some sort of miracle of nature, with the way all of his clothing billowed, large and wide like a ship's sail at sea. There was no way that Vali could ever even dream of fitting into any of it without tailoring the garments into something entirely foreign.

Unless...

Part 3 in Next Episode