Chapter 16

"Ah Alvar, how was your training?" Alvars grandmother asked him as he stepped through the entrance into their shared home. Inside his grandmother was standing in their kitchen possibly preparing their dinner for the day. Not long after Alvar his grandfather came through the door behind him and while doing so gruffly ruffled through Alvars dark hair earning the old man an indignant grumble to which said man only laughed softly.

"Good though Sjorn loves to pelt me with arrows for some reason…" Alvar replied while letting himself fall into one of the chairs near the bonfire while his grandfather came over to him with two horns filled with some kind of drink and gave one of them to Alvar while keeping the other for himself.

After talking a sip from the liquid Alvar identified the drink as nothing but water and without hesitation gulped the fluid gold down as if he were dehydrated which wouldn't be much of a surprise considering he trains literally 24/7 with his armor always on.

"Hehehe, I like that instructor of yours! Reminds me of my younger days. Gods was I a beast back then…" His grandfather spoke with a soft nostalgic expression on his face.

"Oh don't flatter yourself so much you old buffon. If I remember correctly you didn't start your career with much to show for!" Alvars grandmother called over from the kitchen with a slightly mocking voice causing Alvars grandfather and Alvar himself to spit out their drinks respectively. His grandfather due to being ripped out of his self glorification and Alvar because he couldn't stop himself but roar in laughter at the indignant banter that erupted between the old couple.

Their bantering though was interrupted by a knock on the door to which Alvar stood up and marched over to it. Opening it the grinning face of his friend Veli greeted him who promptly marched inside and grabbed Alvar in a bonecrushing hug who had for a few seconds difficulties with breathing properly.

"Alvar my little sweetheart! What a pleasant surprise to meet you here! Say, you wanne go on a lovey dovey date with yours truly? Hmm, hmm?" Veli spoke to Alvar with one arm over his shoulder in a half hug while he was wiggling his eyebrows at his friend who still tried to regain his normal breathing.

"I swear, your hugs will be the death of me some day you damn widow maker!" Alvar replied while cuffing Veli over the back of his hand under the supressed laughter of his grandparents that were observing the whole scene with endless amusement.

"What widow maker? You aren't married yet you idiot! So how could I possibly be one? Hehehe" Veli replied with an all knowing grin on his face with Alvar only grunting at his friends snark.

"So what brings you here? Run out of skirts to chase? I swear you could go for being the illegitimate son of uncle Olaf with how you're acting 24 hours a day…" Alvar grunted out, walking over to the kitchen where he refilled his drinking horn once more and chugged it down not a second later in one go, followed by a satisfied burp.

"Aiaiaiai, did you wake up on your wrong foot or something? Or maybe you are worried over a woman? I knew it! It's always women that are the problem…" Veli mused with his right hand rubbing his chin as if deep in thought.

"Preach boy!" Alvars grandfather called over with a slight laughter while his grandmother only cackled in delight at Veli's words, at what Alvar didn't know though.

"No matter, we will cheer you up today sweetheart! Of we go, the great hall awaits our awesomeness and I heard a few hold maidens will be coming there today as well hehehe" Veli said while pulling the sputtering Alvar along with him out of the door and towards the great hall.

'I swear, Veli swallowed a squirrel when he was little or something with how energetic he is sometimes…' Alvar thought to himself while being dragged up the hill towards the great hall by his friend who was still blabbering about all the girls in Hoelbrak without an obvious end to his musing in sight causing Alvar to sigh in indignation after which he braced himself and joined his friend in his wonderings, no matter how dumb they sometimes were.