Disclaimer: I don't own this.

Prose 13:

Everyone was awake and eating happily when Balder and Yui returned from the outside. Apollo waved them over, "Hey Miss Fairy, Bal-Bal! Looks like there's enough snow to make a snow fort."

Takeru flexed his muscular arm, "I challenge you north folk to an all-out snowball war."

Balder laughed softly, "We'll see. I warn you, though, when it comes to warfare in the snow, no one can beat the Norse."

Loki stood from his seat, looking decidedly displeased. He pointed directly at Balder giving out a furious, "Hey!" He then turned his finger to beckon Balder to him angrily, "I need to talk to you."

Balder looked skeptical, but lumbered towards Loki, Yui following inadvertently to join the others. Loki glared at her and said pointedly, "ALONE!"

Yui ignored him and removed her coat and draped it over the back of the sofa, sitting on the floor by the fireplace to get warm.

Meanwhile, Loki dragged Balder into the quiet hallway that led to a few closets and small guestrooms, safe and away from the others.

"Okay WHAT happened? What were you thinking?" Loki hissed, but Balder however seemed unnerved. "And don't get me started about last night-"

"-it was fine."

"Fine for you! I couldn't sleep for fear I would end up in a sticky mess because of you," Loki inhaled roughly, gathering wind to speak again. "Why did you go and kiss that…human? Let alone, give her your mother's amulet."

"It was a gift."

"The kiss was a gift. The amulet was a gift. I DON'T CARE!" Loki said a little too loudly after mocking what was already told to him. "She tells me you jumped her, Balder! Why? Why are you so set in kissing and jumping that girl?"

Loki truly wanted to know, hoping beyond all hope that Balder's fixation for Yui was just a phase. A phase of finally getting a chance of getting close to a person of the opposite sex. He hoped and wished that the phase would disappear sooner than later, for everyone's sake.

When Balder didn't answer Loki continued with finality, "I don't want you to go near that girl again. Understand? You can stay with Thor and I, but you two alone together isn't…."

He couldn't think of how to finish that statement. Not in a way that could make Balder understand several different intricacies of their relationship with each other, Balder's relationship with Yui, and Balder's nature itself.

"Loki…" Balder's tone was low, his face inquisitive. "Are you upset because…you like Yui?"

Loki cocked his head and rolled his eyes up at his friend and responded with sarcasm, "Uhh…no. That's not it. It's just…you…"

"You treated me the same way before we became friends," Balder explained. It was apparent by the look on his face that he assumed greatly that Loki's actions towards his and Yui's friendship was more than just distaste.

"Uh, no," Loki quickly refuted. "I went out of my way to make you suffer, which backfired considerably."

"Then why are you so mean to her? She hasn't done anything wrong."

Except make you revert to an overly hormonal ox. Loki frowned, "Ever since you've been hanging out with her you've been a huge handful. Moreso than before. I have limits too, you know. It has nothing to do with how much I do or do not like her."

Balder's face was stony as he reached over and grabbed Loki's shoulders. Loki's eyes went wide, going wider as he felt his body be lifted up slightly so easily by his friend, his toes barely touching ground.

"Whaaat are you doing?" he asked severely, a little afraid that Balder wouldn't believe his explanation and do something rash. Balder's blue eyes stared right through Loki's grey ones, making his face flush. Loki swallowed as his throat went suddenly dry.

Then, Balder's face broke, as his calm handsome smile graced his face, blue eyes twinkling, "I believe you Loki. But I don't see why you have to be so hostile to our friends. Perhaps you just need a hug."

"Balder, no-!"

Loki still suspended by Balder's strong hands was suddenly pulled into a crushing hug. He whined, hissed, and struggled in Balder's embrace, like a particularly ornery cat being hugged by an over zealous child. "Balder NO! Let me go!"

"C'mon buddy, just a hug," Balder laughed rocking to and fro, Loki going rigid, eyes flashing with distinct distaste, grumbling. All that grumbling faded away as soon as he heard his best friend laugh. It was so damn hard to be mad at him when he laughed.

"You're so cute sometimes, Loki," Balder murmured jokingly. Still it sounded so sincere that Loki's face went beat red. He tapped Balder on his shoulder.

"Okay, okay, let me down now," Loki then felt his feet touch the ground and the tight, warm embrace fade away. They were now face-to-face, secure on the floor. He could see the wry, almost pained smile on Balder's face.

"No need to worry, Loki. Yui…didn't want the same thing I did."

Loki was now torn. He was worried and furious to know that Balder wanted to get close to the human girl, but that look…It was painfully obvious that Balder was masking his disappointment with a smile. Loki had longed learned that it took a lot to crush Balder's esteem and spirit. Even when he was cruel to him before their friendship, Balder rarely broke. There were only a handful of times that Loki had seen Balder truly hurt and he never wanted to see that face again. Hopefully it would be a brief recovery.

Loki nudged Balder's shoulder, "You'll be alright pal. Plenty of girls around, you know. Now get redressed. I can tell you've been sweating and you reek of bear."

Yui helped herself to some hot cocoa, which felt like a tasty relief from being out in the cold. She watched bewildered as Balder wordlessly reappeared out of the hallway with Loki close behind. Balder ascended the stairs to his room and Loki gave her a stony glance before plopping himself on the sofa.

Not a moment later, there was a knock at the door.

While Loki reclined on the couch, busying himself with playing with reading a magazine, ignoring the knock at the door, Yui sighed and groaned at him, "That's okay, don't get up, I'll get it."

Yui assumed that perhaps it was Zeus or Thoth, or perhaps any of the Aztec gods, though they had already declined the offer to attend, stating that it was "too cold."

Perhaps one of the Celtic gods, but surely Crom Cruach knew better than to show his face anywhere near here. Yui opened the door and on the other side stood a young man. She had never seen him before. He had short black, greasy, messy hair, silky hairs on his chin and upper lip. His skin was pallid with perhaps a gray tint and in his hand was a long black wooden staff.

She couldn't see his eyes. A gray cloth was tied over them.

He was dressed kind of dingy. He wore a large grey hooded sweatshirt and musty dark pants. He reminded her of one of her friends' boyfriends. The guy dropped out of high school and went into construction to make money for his mother and three other siblings. Despite her friends' parents obviously disapproving of the relationship, the boy was obviously a hard worker and he'd always show up at get-togethers with dirty hooded pullovers and jackets and grimy skin.

"Hello," the young man uttered a little shyly. Though it was obvious he couldn't see, by all accounts it seemed he didn't expect Yui to answer the door. "Is…there a Balder or Thor here?"

"Holy cow."

Yui turned to see Thor peering curiously from the kitchen, giving a face that graced the most expression she's seen from him yet. He seemed pleasantly surprised, "Loki get over here!"

Loki peered out from the back of the couch, his face transforming from boredom to shock, "Hey! Hey! What are you doing here!" He leapt from the couch and joined Thor in inviting the blind stranger in. The young man looked a bit surprised at being ushered into the warmth of the dorm and Yui closed the door behind him, watching as Loki laughed and yelled, "Balder, get down here! You'll never believe who it is!"

A moment later Balder descended the stairs wearing a clean sweater. He paused as his eyes fell on the blind man and after a moment of stillness his face lit up lighter than Yui could ever recall. He beamed and shouted, "HÖDR!"

He ran down the steps, tripping and falling but wasted no time in gathering himself to resume his circuit over a chair and barreled right to the stranger, wrapping his arms around him and lifting him off the ground in a great big bear hug.

The young man was taken by surprise, but he held a bemused smile on his face and said softly, "I'm glad to see you too, Balder."

Balder let him down and in a very entertaining moment for the other gods in the dorm, all three Norse gods began gathering around the stranger-who obviously was not a stranger to them-and began jumping up and down in excitement uttering vague Scandinavian words that no one had any clue as to what they were saying.

"What do you think they're saying?" Apollo asked his uncle excitedly and curious. Hades glanced at Apollo and sarcastically responded, "Sorry my Excited Nordic Ramblings is a little rusty."

The black haired boy looked to be in awe and shock at seeing—or rather hearing—such a reaction out of people at his presence.

"Hödr! Hödr! How did you manage to get here?" Balder asked keeping the black haired boy at arms length gracing him with his beautiful smile.

The boy shrugged, "In truth I don't know who or what truly convinced Zeus, but he allowed me in. A Yule miracle I suppose."

"It doesn't matter," Balder wrapped his arm around Hödr's shoulders and turned him to everyone else, "Everyone, meet Hödr, my twin. He's the god we celebrated last night. And I bet my bottom dollar he brought the snow. Right?"

Hödr nodded, "Yeah, I brought winter, Balder."

"Hödr, this is Hades Aidoneus, Apollo Agana-Balea, Dionysus Thyrsos, and the Totsuka brothers, Tsukito and Takeru," Balder pointed to each god as he named them, though Hödr more than likely couldn't see them. Yui hoped he couldn't see because Tsukito was still in his briefs, scratching his belly, looking barely awake.

Balder turned Hödr to face Yui and said, practically beaming, his chest heaving in anticipation, "And this…is Yui."

Yui held out her hand and Hödr took it in a small shake, "Nice to meet you." Hödr's hand was cold, but not unpleasantly so. It was cool, soothing to the touch, and Yui was sure that if it were in the middle of a blistering summer, his hand would be a relief.

He smiled shyly, turning to the blond boy beside him saying something in Scandinavian making Balder chuckle a bit. Balder joked back, both boys smiling.

"C'mon guys. Speak standard," Yui complained in mild frustration, knowing full well they were talking about her.

"Sorry," Balder apologized.

"I just meant to agree with him that you sound and feel like a lovely person," Hödr replied.

Takeru stood up from his seat, licking syrup from his fingers, "Hold up. He's your twin? You sure don't look alike."

"Fraternal, right Hod-Hod?" Apollo asked thinking of his own twin sister, almost bitterly. He almost wondered what Artemis was doing. Whatever she did, always seemed to please Zeus more than what Apollo could ever think of.

Hödr nodded. Yui did recall that Balder said that they did not look alike and at first glance they didn't. Hödr had short black hair compared to Balder's long blond locks. Hödr's skin was a pallid grey in contrast to Balder's healthy bright skin. However, they seemed to be similar height, Hödr looking a little shorter because of his slightly hunched stature next to Balder's straight-backed posture. Most noticeably was the smile. Though Yui hadn't seen Hödr smile too much, the glimpses she's seen resembled Balder's brilliant smile to a T. If anything though, the winter god's blocky and tightly wound posture was a lot like Thor's. Perhaps the Norse had standards on how to present oneself.

In fact, although Yui couldn't cite specifics, there were a lot of ways that Hödr resembled Thor as well. It was a strange comparison.

"There's still breakfast, Hödr," Thor rumbled in his usual flat tone as he pointed to a plate of pancakes and sausage. Hödr gave a wry chuckle, "No thank you, Thor. I'm still stuffed from the feast last night."

Hödr smiled once again, patting his stomach to make his point. Balder frowned, "I'm sorry, I almost forgot to wish you a happy birthday…"

"Let it go Balder. We all toasted him yesterday," Loki whined before giving Hödr a toothy grin. "You should've seen him, Ice-cube. He was moanin' and groanin' he couldn't see his little twin for his birthday. Punched a few walls even."

"Loki…" Balder hissed, a little embarrassed.

Hödr brought both hands on his staff, leaning his weight on it, head tilting in the direction of Balder, saying under his breath, "Mama wouldn't be happy to hear that."

Balder's frown stuck and the black-haired Norse god laughed warily, reaching over and patting Balder's shoulder. "S'alright Balder. I got you all a gift."

At this Loki perked up, "Oh, what is it? What is it?"

"Come on and see for yourself, " Hödr grinned that bright charming smile that could make the most scrutinizing girl forget his dingy appearance.

There was the sound of chairs scooting, fumbling and grunting as the gods fought to get out the door after Hödr, curiosity getting the very best of all of them. Yui had to admit she wondered what he had for them.

Hödr stood by the door as the others filed out into the snow to see the gift he got them. Yui stopped next to him, unconsciously touching the god's elbow to lead him safely. He jumped a little and shrank away a bit, as if human contact was something so foreign to him. In her mind, she realized it may have been insulting. Hödr had been blind for likely centuries. He clearly was fully functional and capable of walking on his own.

"Sorry, I don't know why…it wasn't completely intentional. I didn't mean for you to think that I thought you were…"

Hödr eased and gave a relieved chuckle, "It's okay. I guess it shows you are a deeply caring person. You must subconsciously strive to help those in need."

Normally, she realized she would've felt flustered at being complimented. To this extent she was complimented so deeply on her character. The gods called her pretty, lively, and a lot of other compliments about her physical attributes. Sure, Balder and the others have praised her for her generosity and her personality, but coming from a blind man who had no other attributes to go off of, it felt almost…heartbreaking.

"Come," Hödr said lightly, nodding towards where the guys were all gathering.

As Yui got closer she got a clearer view of what Hödr brought with him. The were there in the snow gawking at a chariot sparkling in the snow, made of oak so polished it looked like white ivory.

But this chariot was clearly no ordinary chariot. It could've been made of the plainest material known to man and it would hardly be considered ordinary. That fact became prevalent as Yui circled around the chariot.

"Holy shit," Apollo said with an open mouth. "It's drawn by cats. That's so badass."

Four large cats were all tied to the chariot. The cats were the size of horses, with long fluffy fur. It was obvious though that the fur was not what made the cats look big. Their paws were huge, and could probably crush her in one swipe.

Loki threw in a fit of rapturous laughter, "This is great! How did you get this!?"

Hödr shrugged, "Freya lent it to me, so we can borrow it for the day. You all can pet them if you like. Just not anywhere near their bellies."

Yui sunk her hand into the fur of one, watch as the cat's ears rotated and twitched towards the sounds of the area, flicking at hearing Apollo's over-exuberant voice as he stroked the fur of another one. The cats stood at attention otherwise, eyes closing in mild annoyance at being handled by someone besides their mistress.

"Hod-Hod! This has got to be the best mode of transportation I have ever seen in my life!"

As Apollo glanced expectantly at his uncle, Hades shot him down, "You aren't getting a cat-pulled chariot."

"Dibs!" Loki cried out as he hurdled into the chariot. Takeru followed with a cheerful curse, as he vaulted over the back of the chariot. Loki didn't much mind that he was with his rival. He was busy trying to figure out how to make the cats move. He saw Freya ride this thing tons of times, but never determined what sort of motions or sounds she made to make the cats move.

"How in the hell do you start this thing!" he whined, grabbing the reins and flicking them.

Hödr simply laughed, and rapped his staff against the side of the chariot and made a long wet puckering sound with his lips set tight. Immediately, the cats rose up on all fours and started off in a brisk walk, pulling the chariot behind them into the woods.

Balder came up beside his brother, "Let's hope they don't wear them out."

"Eh, if they get annoyed they won't pull them anymore. I'm just worried about them walking back in the cold." Yui noticed Hödr rubbing his fingers together, the mere mention of winter cold pulling a subconscious habit of his.

Meanwhile, the two brothers standing together—like night and day—chatted whimsically. Balder had asked how Hödr's birthday celebration went and the dark-haired god replied in the same polite and familiar vernacular the god of light spoke in.

"It was fine, Balder. As it always is. Though Heimdallr was particularly less cantankerous since Loki was out of the picture. I'm glad he had fun. Mum gives you her wishes."

At that moment, Hödr shifted his staff, rotating it a tad, so that the only color on his form came into view.

"Who gave you this?" Balder asked as he touched what looked like to be a colorful woven bracelet that was tied around Hödr's black staff. Hödr went rigid, shoulders rising as if he were trying to hide something.

"No one."

"Come on. It looks pretty. It looks a lot like Nanna's work…" Balder's eyes went wide with a slight twinkle. "Awww she gave you a gift."

"Balder."

Balder continued to tease, flinging his arm around Hödr's shoulders, "She likes you…"

"Stop it," Hödr said trying in vain to hide a blush, the rare color forming on his grey cheeks. Thor joined in on the conversation, but stopped Balder from his teasing. He gave Hödr a friendly pat on the back, asking him about the rest of the Asgardian gods. Yui heard a particularly interesting mention of Odin, the ruler of the Norse gods. As they spoke it dawned on her that those three gods before her weren't just good friends and comrades.

"Wait..." Yui squeaked. The three gods turned to face her and then it clicked. "...you guys are...brothers!? All three of you?"

Thor glanced over at Balder and Hödr, lips parted, "You...had no idea?"

How could she? Sitting Balder and Thor side-by-side, at first glance, there was no way anyone could tell they were related. Perhaps in the face shape and maybe in some expressions, but otherwise there was nothing that would blatantly reveal that they were related by blood. It was like Hödr was the missing link. He looked a little like Balder and a little like Thor.

"We're half brothers, I guess," Balder shrugged with a weary smile. "We have the same father. Thor was born from the earth goddess however."

"How come you never mentioned it before?"

"It's not a big deal," Thor explained. "We have many gods who are related in some way as well as many who aren't. Given our rather...egalitarian...structure involving Asgardians, it doesn't really matter one way or another if one happens to be related."

Thor reached over and tousled Hodr's dark hair, "We don't form bonds through blood, we are just three gods who just happen to be the seeds of Odin."

Immediately her thoughts floated to Loki. Unless there was some hidden relation that Yui wasnt aware of, Loki was not connected to Thor and Balder through blood. But as Thor had said, blood didn't much matter to them. They were friends with or without it.

Thor's head jerked forward as white blasted behind it. He frowned and glowered behind his shoulder.

Dionysus chuckled in his throat, rolling another snowball and called, "Hey! You guys did say we could challenge you all to a snow ball fight."

Hades was looking around frantically, unwilling to be a part of such a spontaneous event. "Erm…uhhh."

Apollo already had an armful of snowballs, "Come on Dee-Dee. We've got these gods cornered!"

He chucked a snowball right at Hödr. Yui immediately ducked just in case it missed the winter god and hit her instead, but nothing happened. Balder shoved himself in front of his younger brother, using his invulnerability to have the snowball disperse after bouncing right off of him.

"I got your front Hödr!" he called back over Apollo's whines.

Hödr jerked his staff up, pointing it at the Greeks and poor Tsukito who was trying to help out, by taking his time with making perfectly round snowballs. The god drew circles with his staff in the air, wind gathering, snow accumulating with his winter magic, until a dozen or so small snow balls were floating in mid-air and with one push with his hand, the balls flew towards the Greek gods, sending Dionysus and Apollo scampering. Unfortunately, Hades was unable to get out of the way in time and received a snowball in the groin and one in the head.

"Where are those annoying Spartans when you need them!" Dionysus cried out, trying to think of something to use a defense against Hödr's snowballs. As fast as he could, Apollo began piling up snow to form a small barrier to hide behind. Hödr thrust his hand out, prepared to use his powers again to dissemble the barrier but Balder stopped him.

"We can at least play fair, seeing as we already have an advantage," he said, grabbing Hödr's wrist.

The two Norse brothers reset, attacking the Greek gods, relentlessly. Even blind Hödr heard every movement, every crunch in the snow and tuned his senses towards the fleeing Greeks. However, he became distracted when he heard the heavy plodding of the giant cats returning with Loki and Takeru, that he received a blast of snow to the side of the face.

Takeru and Loki returned with red cheeks, snow in their hair and on their shoulders, rolling out of the side of the chariot, breathless like after being on a rollar coaster ride.

"Who's next!?" Loki called, pointing back at the chariot with his thumb.

"Us! Us!" Apollo said, pulling an unknowing Tsukito along with him, throwing the still partially naked mood god into the chariot and leaping inside. Hödr shook the snow out of his hair and strode over to the cats, repeating the same motions to get the cats to pull again.

Yui watched as the remaining boys wandered around outside as if the cold wasn't there. Even Dionysus didn't give much care that it was cold either. She was cold though, pulling her sweater around herself tightly. She didn't even think about enjoying the ride on a chariot pulled by cats.

At least until after Apollo and Tsukito returned and Hödr asked politely, "Would you like a short ride, Kusanagi?"

The blind god had the reigns tight in his hand, glancing back at her expectantly. She glanced at the cats, a few licking their wet paws, and one scratching their ear with its hind leg.

Yui wasn't unfamiliar to riding on magical beasts. She rode with Apollo on Pegasus a while back, so riding in a chariot with felines at the helm would be manageable she figured. She accepted the offer and Hödr helped her into the chariot with a gentle tug of his hand.

He settled next to her, winding the reigns around his wrist, "Are you okay?"

"Y-yes," she didn't sound so convincing. Any hesitation didn't matter when Hödr thumped his staff against the floor of the chariot. The tugging was gentle as they casually were driven into the forest. The big paws of the cats crunched in the snow as Yui was treated to a rare sight.

She had seen the forest of the mountainous area of the garden plenty of times. It was, however, very different covered in white fresh now. Everything seemed almost just as sparkling and new as if it were spring. She was mesmerized by the patterns of tall dark trees encrusted with white snow that lay on the branches. Everything seemed to be in tones of crystal grey.

"Hold on tight," she heard Hödr say.

"What?"

Before she could brace herself, Hödr tapped his staff twice again and Yui jerked back as the cats began pulling the sleigh at an incredible speed. Ice and wind hit her cheeks, but for once she didn't exactly care as she braced herself with each sharp turn through the thick forest.

After ducking under a dangerously low hanging branch, Yui watched in horror as the forest ended in a cliff. She tugged on Hödr's sleeve, barely able to yell out that they were going to run off the cliff.

"Calm yourself," he said softly, holding onto her wrist for reassurance even as the cats seemed to breaking into an outright run, leaping off the cliff. Instead of plummeting to their deaths the chariot remained in the air, flying through the sky as the cats raced across thin air.

Yui took several gulps of cold air before regaining her senses, withholding uncouth words of distress. She stopped when she looked out, seeing the garden at a sky view. It wasn't like when she toured the area with Apollo on Pegasus. No, the white sparkling blanket that covered the hills, treetops, runestones and lakes, was pure, and untouched. Never had the garden looked so fresh.

"Wow…this is incredible," she whispered before turning to her companion, "You've got to see—"

She stopped herself and took one wary glance at Hödr, whose face was staring straight ahead, black hair blowing softly against the gentle air, not a care in the world that he couldn't see the magic he had brought.

Yui sat back and watched as the cats flew gently across the hills, nearing a forest across from the big lake.

"You know…I never thought much of winter," she said, whimsically. "I always thought it was part of the year. A thing that just happens. I loved it as a kid as all do. What is it about the season do kids feel a certain…magic?"

Hödr chuckled in his throat, "Beats me. Magic happens in all seasons. My father however had a particular fun during this season, testing people's faiths in each other, and rewarding well doers—especially children-with small gifts. Perhaps that is what you are thinking of."

Yui shook her head, getting the distinct image of Odin being Santa Claus. For what little she heard about Odin, it was a little odd to think the big man of the Norse was a fat jolly man in a red suit.

Pulling the reigns back, the blind god lowered the chariot into the forest, slowing to a stop on a small ledge overlooking the crystalline lake of the garden.

"We'll give these fellas a bit of a rest," Hödr stepped out and petted the head of one of the furry cats, before helping Yui out. As Yui drew closer to the ledge feeling the sun threatening to peak out, the rays bouncing off the white snow, warming her cheeks. More importantly the sky blue ice on the lake sparkled like diamonds.

"Wow," Yui gasped. "Not every day a dream you're greeted to something like this on Christmas."

"Then a Happy Christmas to you," Hödr said with a gentle smile, the whiteness of the snow flicking on his dark hair. Yui blinked at him and didn't respond immediately. Eventually she wished him Happy Christmas back, "You as well, Hödr. Sorry I didn't think—"

"You mortals call it 'Christmas' correct? I mean at least you do, right?"

"Yes, but, it's more of a winter holiday term rather than religious. It's to celebrate the festivities you know? Your brother seemed to take offense."

Hödr planted his staff in front of him, his face towards the icy lake into the wind, chuckling, "Let me guess. He was all upset because mortals are doing these festive celebrations which suspiciously reflect a celebration of me and me bringing winter but attribute it to someone else."

"Uh…yeah."

Shaking his head, Hödr continued, "You'll have to forgive Balder. He only gets defensive about that because he feels he is trying to protect me. As for me, I'm fine. I do my job. And of course, my brother doesn't see that everything dealing with the winter celebrations is more of a welcoming of him than me."

This confused Yui. At the very end of his statement, Hödr's humble soft tone took on a bitter edge. "I'm not sure how you mean."

"Every belief system has a celebration of winter. But its more to commemorate the light that will come," Hödr strode over to an evergreen and ran his palm on the furs, shifting the snow off and onto the ground. "Think about it, Kusanagi. You light trees and candles, have lighting ceremonies, fires during the darkest days of the years. To combat the darkness I have to bring."

He sighed, "Everyone welcomes my brother in my stead."

Standing still, she thought about what he said. As suddenly bitter as he became, he may have been right. Most hated the cold and the dark days of winter. Or at least in her time, they complained about it a lot. Her family always told her it was the cycle of the seasons and that people have dealt with them for centuries. Still, there wasn't a time in which her family celebrated Christmas without putting up a lot of lights and candles and lanterns to help the spirits or to ward off the darkness. Yui watched as Hödr sat in the snow, overlooking the frozen lake in peace and quiet.

"Have…have you told Balder about your feelings?" she asked. It seemed to her that Hödr didn't wear his heart on his sleeve like his counterpart. At least not as much.

"What could he do?" he said in resignation. "He cannot combat the centuries of fears of the people. Every known civilization has been terrified of darkness, so I take pride in knowing I am not the only one out there who was dealt the low end straw."

"Besides," he continued with a wry grin, "I'm sure you realize he may have his moments of wisdom but he's not too…uh…"

"Bright? In an intellectual manner of speaking," Yui nodded. "Yeah, but he sure isn't the only one."

Hödr laughed, "There's a reason he's here. At least he tries."

He stood and dusted off his pants and apologized for his rant. Hödr has always felt the solstice celebrations were arbitrary. The Norse gods never said no to a feast or celebration. Granted they weren't insatiable like the Roman and/or Greek gods. Still, Hödr would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy the slightly more attention he got now that Balder was gone.

For once it was him who got kissed on the cheek by Freya and Nanna. It was him who received a rough noogie from Tyr's handless stump. He received gifts every year, but it felt so much more personal this year without people wanting to flock over to Balder and his friends.

The thought soured his gut, "You must think I hate him. All I've done is complain."

"I…don't really know you well enough to say either way. But I think you don't know how much he looks up to you. Trust me, the way he speaks about you isn't pity. He loves your work ethic and reliability. And he really, really missed you."

Hödr's lips flattened, "Thank you, Kusanagi. I can tell why he loves you."

Yui's stomach dropped immediately, "L-love?"

"I may not be able to see, but I am still fully functioning in all my other senses. Whenever he talks about or even goes near you, trust me, I can sense his pheromones practically exploding."

"I feel like I'm having a conversation with a farmer regarding a farm animal," Yui sighed rubbing his forehead, "Why is it that you and Loki talk about him as if he was some pet or prized animal? Don't touch him, he'll get turned on. His pheromone levels are high. Scratch his belly after meal times, and feed him twelve pounds of deer meat every other hour. Balder is a sentient being you know."

It was mostly true. She always felt like Loki and Thor talked about Balder as if he were a beloved puppy. Not that Balder didn't act like one on occasion, but really. Yui continued, folding her arms over her chest, "I already discussed his 'puppy love' not long ago. He will move on."

Hödr's jaw clenched as he steadied his staff in the snow and he murmured a vague, "Yeah…" before turning back to her.

"We had better head back. I wouldn't want them to think I would kidnap you."

A/N: Okay, sooo...this was supposed to be the Christmas chapter to be uploaded on Christmas. But that didn't happen. Then I was thinking of uploading it for New Years. Yeah...that didn't happen either. Well, it's up now so I hope its okay. I was giving myself a gift with Hödr, but hopefully others will enjoy him. Anyway, you know the drill.