He stared at the wall, unsure of what to do next. He felt drawn to the silly things, their leather beaten smooth with time and their scent, the scent of a warrior and a woman. In his eyes she was the most important woman in the nine realms, the woman who conquered them all. He smiled inwardly at the memories from his childhood flashing behind his now-closed eyes. As memories flooded his mind and the smells from her room bombarded him almost painfully, his body began to shudder. He was unaccustomed to this feeling. Stepping closer he picked one of the leather bound volumes in his hand, weighing it up and down gently before beginning to unfasten the leather strings that kept the opening fold and the back together.
Clenching his jaw he flipped it open rather harshly, briefly glancing away and taking in a deep breath before once again looking down the familiar writing that was scrawled against the thick parchment. Pages had been torn out, but not recently, the frayed bits that remained where yellow with age and curled in slightly. Looking down he smiled at the ridiculous amount of expletives used to describe his father- no, not his father. Odin. Smiling, he picked up another volume of the tattered collection and flipped through it haphazardly, finding a picture of her. His fingers glided across her face as he memorized the photo that had been taken, the smile her face held, that it would no longer hold. Slowly building up courage he began to read the lines and lines of his mother, her voice narrating the words. Without realizing it he sat down on her bed becoming engrossed now in her past. As he was turning the page, the page of her encounter with several rather brash men and the few but choice words she spoke with them he saw a faint marring in the page. Tilting his head he carefully prodded the intrusion.
Water.
Looking up and holding his hand out, he realized there was no water to fall on his head. As he glanced back down, an odd sensation began on the corner off his mouth. Reaching up as to scratch the odd sensation that annoyed him he began to understand.
Not water.
Tears.