#Knopsvane

[ifelten]

Sølvhejre (Ardea alba)

Fouragerende knopsvaner (Cygnus olor) i baggrunden.

Great Egret (Ardea alba)

Mute svans (Cygnus olor) foraging in the background.

[nunoxaviermoreira]

Mute swan by wjpostma © WJP Productions 2020 https://flic.kr/p/2inFuKi

[directionlessbuthappy]

Dawn of the Draugr: p4

Modern AU: Alex H. Anderson x Reader

Warnings: depictions of violence, mild smut

Prev. part

Tagged: missrobyn81 @steadypiepsychicflower  idrivebettyblue

I couldn't help the sigh that escaped me. I was disappointed, sure, but expected some sort of roadblock to the direct approach. It was something I had to say though. I knew Mrs. Lothbrok well enough to remember her. She was around mid forties, very tall, always welcoming to me. She had a drinking problem when her husband died, but from what my mom reported back to me, she'd gotten better by the time Alex and I graduated. Don't get me wrong, I can imagine the toll it takes, having a drunk in the house. Still, I refused to judge her. I didn't know anything that went on in their home. Yet I couldn't help mourn for her, wherever she was now...

Turning on my heel I went to get my backpack. I shuffled my way into the living room to grab it; lucky me, it was right by the front door. The hallway was right next to the front door, and the kitchen was along the far wall opposite the front door. I could hear the guys in the kitchen talking, being a bit rowdy. My bag in hand, I turned to leave, but couldn't help hear something. "You think she'll stick around?"

"Maybe. She's kinda small though. If she's not fast she won't hold up against her first draugr. If she can even kill em..."

"Meh, it'll be nice having a girl around..."

"Alex thinks so! He had a boner the second he climbed down the stairs from the roof!"

Blush crept onto my face while I heard laughing. Turning to go back, I bumped into Alex's chest with my face. 

"Jesus! Watch it!" I hissed, suddenly volatile. Alex lost his grin.

"Sorry," he mumbled. "I got you a towel if you wanted to shower."

"Sure, whatever," I snapped. Rushing past him and up the hallway I went into his room and shut the door briskly.

I went into his bathroom and locked myself in. The place smelled like his shampoo. Tile underfoot, I stripped carefully. I considered, for a minute, if I could use deadly force if necessary. I mean, everyone says they could do this or that in a survival scenario, but when you're really faced with it, could I pull the trigger? When I was in school, I was interested in medicine. The goal of animal medicine was to keep your patients alive for as long as possible, so long as they thrived. I'd never even killed a mouse before.

The knock on the door startled me. I was standing in the shower, water cascading over my head while I thought. I could hear Alex's voice.

"Elyse? You okay in there? Just checking in."

"Y-yeah, Alex, I'm good. Just give me a second."

I went and grabbed some soap to actually do some washing. For a moment, I considered where I was and who I was with. I trusted these guys, right? I mean, if it came down to it... No, that was doubt talking. I wasn't going to betray them. Imagining my survival alone, constantly worrying about how best to protect myself, would turn me into an emotionless husk of survival skills and nothing else. I had to open up and connect with these guys if our little alliance was going to work. If I expect to be cast out or abused, that fear would manifest, and it would be more likely to happen. Shutting myself out and worrying about just me was going to get me nothing but strife. The Lothbrok brothers were nice guys.

Most of them.

...

"This was back in Cambridge. My friend was going to uni there and-" "Uni?" I chuckled. "You mean college?"

"Yeah, uni, college, boot camp, whatever. Isn't it all the same?" Alex snorted. Jordan shot him a look. Alex pulled my hood a little further over my eyes to catch my attention again. "So we went out, and this was his girlfriend at the time. Can't remember the girl's name but she had the weirdest glossy legs. So I asked to photograph her and I got this."

I giggled, holding the picture. In it was a blonde girl leaning against a brick column nearby someone's front door. She was thin and pretty, but the camera flash bouncing off her legs made it look like she was glowing naturally. Literally, glowing, like those god awful fluorescent lights in old libraries. But she was beautiful. Alex really made such a strange quality beautiful.

"Where's the one you took up her skirt?" Marco muttered. Alex glared at him while I giggled some more; three beers down, I wasn't even drunk, just giggly. 

"I wanna see that one!" I cawed.

"I didn't take one like that!"

Marco and I started laughing. David looked at least a little amused while he drew on his sketchpad at the dining table. I was curled up on the couch next to Alex, looking through his shoe box of old photos. I asked to see them knowing he'd gone to school for this; imagine all the pictures he'd taken.

"What's this one?"

"A swan," he replied sarcastically. I replied by hitting him with the picture I held. "Fine, its a knopsvane."

"Can you just answer the question dickhead?"

He started laughing again along with Marco. I felt myself turn red; was I really that angry about this?

"Its a mute swan. They're quite popular in Denmark. Got a picture of that one when I was walking along the canal after school," Alex finally answered. "Is it really mute?" I asked.

"Sorta. They're quieter than other swans. Prettier too, I think."

"You think anything that doesn't talk is prettier Alex," Marco chuckled. That got him into a headlock. I however, had greater class...laughing my ass off in my seat.

Bedtime called for me while I stood up to stretch. Alex and Marco were still arguing and messing around. I gave David a wave goodnight; he was the only one to look at me when I made my exit.

Climbing into Alex's bed felt odd. He must've been a heavy sleeper; the mattress was hard, but there was at least a pillow-top. I settled in, but was still able to hear the faint noise of the guys out in the living room. They were talking and tussling still, but I couldn't really make out much since I was far down the hall. Actually, all that commotion helped me go to sleep. I felt safe, knowing I had protection...and knowing that if a sick person walked in, I wouldn't be going first.

/

I didn't like to think about it. The idea the dead could come back to life was absurd, yet here we were. I'd only been with the guys a couple days. They talked about their roadtrip so much you could see how excited they were. I was happy for them; my plan was to stay at their house after they'd gone. It felt more like home than my empty house that reminded me of my mother never returning. My plan was shattered when Alex came into his room the fourth night I was staying with them, shutting the door behind him.

"Alex? That's you right?"

"In the flesh," he chuckled. He sat down on the edge of his bed and turned to look at me. The guys had gone out for target practice but since I'd been shooting all day, I was tired. "I wanted to ask you something..."

"Sure," I sat up. I slept in my t-shirt and underwear. Alex caught a few glimpses this morning while I was getting dressed; it didn't bother me now if he looked. It didn't bother me then, actually...

"Would you wanna come to our uncle's house out in Strawberry?"

"You sure?" I asked. "Its one more person. Another mouth to feed, another hand to hold when I inevitably kill a living person and have a nervous breakdown."

He chuckled at that. My morbidity didn't exactly improve after the end of society.

"I wouldn't mind."

"Your brothers might," I suggested.

"I've told them all you were coming," he shrugged. Alex tended to lean towards doing things his way. Not that he was a jerk about it, but if he had the choice between doing the right thing or the wrong thing, he wasn't going to let someone stop him. "Told em if they want to leave you here, they can kneel down and kiss my ass."

I smiled and huffed a small laugh, tucking my knees into my chest. "Thank you...I'd like to go."

"Knew it," he said. His sigh of relief was noted, though, and he threw his back to the bed.

"Do you miss your bed?" I asked after a few moments. He leaned back to look at me from upside down; his jaw looked a lot sharper at this angle.

"Nah. Couch is good too."

"Well...its a little firm," I admitted. "If you want, you can have it back for tonight."

"I'm not kicking you out of a decent bed!"

"I can just take one of the other g-"

"No."

That struck me. No? Was I being told no? Like a child?

"What do you mean no?" I snorted. "Its no big deal, really, if your tired I can-"

Alex reached out and pulled on one on of my ankles. I giggled at the slight ticklish feeling, despite being in no mood to laugh. "I said no. You're staying here."

"Then at least stay with me."

Finally I got to see him struck. He sat up immediately and gave me a look. I got my foot back, but I didn’t withdraw it very quickly. Blue eyes raked across me and up to the headboard.

"You sure?"

[fritsahlefeldt]

Dw00274 Mute swan

Watercolor of Mute swan ( Cygnus olor, Knopsvane ) Illustration of bird Watercolor by Frits Ahlefeldt Dw00274 Mute swan ( Cygnus olor, Knopsvane ) See more of my: Bird watercolors or Animal watercolors keywords: animal watercolour, watercolor, wildlife, painting, bird, birds, biodiversity, biodiversitydk, akvarel, biodiversitet, birding, ornithology dwwatercolor dwwildlife, dwbirdsdk,…

[vicislifeinbinary]

Don't break my arm, I'm just admiring you for a second! 😉💕 #swan #knopsvane #muteswan #water #svane #denmark #amager #copenhagen #animal #strong #beautiful (her: Amager)

[samantha-carter-is-my-muse]

Mute swans and their 7 cygnets <3 

Photos taken May 24, 2015 in Hørsholm Slotshave, Denmark.

[valotv]

#swan #swans #littlebelt #fredericia #syddanmark #beach #nature #denmark #knopsvane #muteswan #culture #nordic #valotv #animal

[ifelten]

Knopsvane (Cygnus olor)

Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)

[ifelten]

Knopsvane (Cygnus olor)

Immatur

Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)

Immature

[ifelten]

Knopsvane (Cygnus olor)

Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)

[ifelten]

Knopsvane (Cygnus olor)

Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)

[fritsahlefeldt]

Dw00273 Mute swan

Watercolor of Mute swan ( Cygnus olor, Knopsvane ) Illustration of bird Watercolor by Frits Ahlefeldt Dw00273 Mute swan ( Cygnus olor, Knopsvane ) See more of my: Bird watercolors or Animal watercolors keywords: animal watercolour, watercolor, wildlife, painting, bird, birds, biodiversity, biodiversitydk, akvarel, biodiversitet, birding, ornithology dwwatercolor dwwildlife, dwbirdsdk,…

[fritsahlefeldt]

Dw00272 Mute swan

Watercolor of young Mute swan ( Cygnus olor, Knopsvane ) Illustration of bird Watercolor by Frits Ahlefeldt Dw00272 Mute swan ( Cygnus olor, Knopsvane ) See more of my: Bird watercolors or Animal watercolors keywords: animal watercolour, watercolor, wildlife, painting, bird, birds, biodiversity, biodiversitydk, akvarel, biodiversitet, birding, ornithology dwwatercolor dwwildlife, dwbirdsdk,…

[fritsahlefeldt]

Dw00271 Mute swan

Watercolor of Illustration of bird Watercolor by Frits Ahlefeldt Dw00271 Mute swan ( Cygnus olor, Knopsvane ) See more of my: Bird watercolors or Animal watercolors keywords: animal watercolour, watercolor, wildlife, painting, bird, birds, biodiversity, biodiversitydk, akvarel, biodiversitet, birding, ornithology dwwatercolor dwwildlife, dwbirdsdk, dwbirds, fugle, denmark

[fritsahlefeldt]

Dw00270 Mute swan

Watercolor of Mute swan ( Cygnus olor, Knopsvane ) Illustration of bird Watercolor by Frits Ahlefeldt Dw00270 Mute swan ( Cygnus olor, Knopsvane ) See more of my: Bird watercolors or Animal watercolors keywords: animal watercolour, watercolor, wildlife, painting, bird, birds, biodiversity, biodiversitydk, akvarel, biodiversitet, birding, ornithology dwwatercolor dwwildlife, dwbirdsdk,…

[fritsahlefeldt]

Dw00086 Mute swan

Watercolor of Mute swan standing ( Cygnus odor, Knopsvane )

Illustration of Mute swan bird

Watercolor by Frits Ahlefeldt

Dw00086 Mute Swan. Bird watercolor painting ( Kniopsvane)

Bird watercolor ref. number: Dw00086

See more of my: Bird watercolors or Animal watercolors

keywords: animal watercolour, watercolor, wildlife, painting, bird, birds, biodiversity, biodiversitydk, akvarel,…