Picking back up where he left off (Open and Closed prompts)

[ragnarsson]

who: Ivar and you! +some closed prompts
what: Someone's back from his canon update. Someone might be more angry and crazier than ever.
when: Late February-Early March
where: All over the Quarantine
warnings: Ivar is Ivar. 'Nuff said.

[If you want a closed prompt, feel free to PM me or shoot me up on Light_shade]



I. Back and ready to roll

It's only been a short time since Ivar left Riverview, but for him, it's been two years. He's missed a lot about living in a more modern era: the convenience of modern lights, being able to have hot water whenever he wanted it, his wheelchair, and the food. So he's catching up on two years of deprivation, which means he can be found all over the city, doing various things. He's at a different place for lunch and dinner almost every night. Being without pizza and burgers this long is a pure travesty.

He also gets back into the swing of things with the Perimeter Guard. His skills have only sharpened in his time away, so he can be found training, gleefully bashing in a monster's head, or coming from these various activities sometimes covered in gore.

Anyone that he's missed will find a more emotional Viking than normal. He's missed his friends and family an awful lot in his time away. Though he'll never admit it, he's learned to appreciate what he has just a little bit more. However, it also seems like something else happened while he was away, for Ivar seems to be keeping his guard up and his hard shell around him more than ever, like he's trying to keep himself from getting hurt after it's already happened too much.

II. Catching up with his daughter

Ask Ivar what the number one thing he missed the most and it would be his daughter. He thought about Winter every single night he was gone and it ate away at the Viking terribly. His biggest fear was wondering if the same amount of time was passing in Riverview as it was for him. Was he missing out on two years of Winter's life? He'd been relieved to find only two weeks had passed.

It seemed that Winter had been rather fussy and upset while he was away if her draining life from those that had been taking care of her was any indication. It drove home again to Ivar that he needed to find a way to help her control her powers better. Maybe he'd been spoiling her just a little too much, even if she still just was a baby. But any thoughts of discipline were driven out of his head in favor of spending time with her.

He took her to the park dressed in one of her cutest outfits, letting her play around on the grass as she chased after the butterflies, one of her favorite hobbies. It was clear how much Ivar loved and had missed his little girl just by the way he looked at her.

III. Morphing time

It's been a while since Ivar has been able to properly morph. He hadn't had a whole lot of time to himself back home, and when he did, he usually had more pressing matters on his hand than practicing his shapeshifting skills. Besides, if anyone had caught him, the Vikings would have thought him some sort of unnatural being, a witch or the like, and might have contemplated the idea of burning him alive. So while there's been the occasional foray out as a dog or squirrel, they haven't been frequent.

So now that he's back in the city, he's back to his usual morphs. So there's the occasional dog, cat, squirrel, or more extraterrestrial creature roaming the city. For those that know it's him, he'll gladly approach them, and chat while in animal form. For those that don't know it's him, he's up to his usual tricks of spying on the unknowing populace to find out what he can.

Comments

[tempredmental]

Red's only dangerous to her enemies or if I'm threatened, so yes... your daughter's fine. Red's safe.

[The Lion slowly and gently lowered her head to Winter's level so the child could touch her if she wanted.]

You were gone for a while. Did you go home or something?

[He'd noticed Ivar's absence in the house. He'd been able to spend time with Lola without feeling like he had to watch his back.]

[ragnarsson]

[Winter touches Red, expecting the familiar sensation of draining life and the white glow to surround her hand. But nothing happens. She frowns and puts both hands on the mechanical lion, pushing slightly, like that will make it work. She's still learning about how her powers don't work on everything, even if it seems like it's alive.

Ivar's amused by her attempts. At least this is one time he doesn't have to worry about anyone getting hurt because of her powers.]

Or something. I got involved in a war or two, some torture, human sacrifice, and getting myself a slave.

[You know, the usual things that Ivar was involved in.]

[tempredmental]

[Oh, yeah... totally normal. Usually, Keith was on the other side of that kind of war, preventing slavery and torture. He frowned a bit, narrowing his eyes, but managing to remember that Ivar was a Viking, and their lifestyle in those times was very different than what humans were now. He nodded.]

Right. Something.

[Red was curious for a moment, as was Keith, when Winter pressed her hands on Red's nose like that.]

What's she trying to do?

[Keith's tone was curious, not accusing, as he asked.]

[ragnarsson]

She's trying to drain life energy from your lion. Winter's still learning she can't do that to non-living things.

[Winter seems to have given up trying to do it and instead is patting Red with no small amount of delight. She'll probably end up wanting one of her very own soon enough.]

I'm trying to teach her control, but she's still so young.

[At least he gets points for trying?]

[tempredmental]

[Okay... so Keith really shouldn't be surprised by this because of all the things he's seen since leaving Earth, but it was still somewhat of a shock to hear that this little girl was something like an energy vampire.]

Wait... is that... like, does she have to do that? Or is that just... a thing she can do?

[Red, meanwhile, was curious about this power. Quintessence, the energy that fueled her, was infinite and recharged all on its own because of it's nature. Quintessence was life. While Winter on her own wasn't able to drain Red's energy, it wouldn't be the first time someone had done it to them. Haggar had found a way to do it from entire planets and, therefore, Voltron, but it still took very powerful Altean alchemy to do such a thing to a Voltron Lion.

The robotic Lion laid down on the ground so the small girl could reach better, and was visibly very gentle. She'd learned from having the puppy and cat in the house now that Shiro and Keith both had pets here in Riverview. Small organic beings were delicate, and she had to be gentle as to not hurt them with her hard metal body or her weapons.]

[ragnarsson]

A thing she can do, but it's kind of instinctual for her. She takes it out of living things and then can put it back into others to heal them. That's why people like her are called Healers in Letha's world.

[She was currently well charged up after having Thor babysit her for the past two weeks. The god had almost infinite life force, so Winter had just kept absorbing until she couldn't do it anymore. She let out a small giggle at patting Red and exploring just how big the robotic lion was. Ivar was relaxing a little bit now that it seemed she wasn't in any danger from Red.]

[tempredmental]

Does it harm the person she takes it from? Or... thing?

[Red wasn't very huge, even for a Lion. In fact, she was on the small side. But she was still big enough to carry Keith if needed. She was pretty cat-like, too, and, as Winter explored and patted, Red carefully rolled on to her side, her tail twitching in lazy motions showing contentment.]

[ragnarsson]

It does. First it's just some pain like a headache or like an ache in your joints, but if it goes on long enough, she can cause someone to pass out. I've seen her kill small things like insects.

[While Ivar held no compunctions about killing, he'd been exposed to it at an early age, having killed another child at age five. He knew how that could mess up a child's mindset and he was determined to keep Winter from a similar fate. Control was the key. She didn't do it to him, so clearly, she knew already what to do. It was just a matter of getting her to apply it to everyone.

Winter, for her part, found Red to basically be a fun new toy, even if she couldn't drain life force from her. She kept trying to catch Red's tail as it twitched, though considering she had a baby's reflexes, that wasn't happening anytime soon.]

[tempredmental]

And that's why she needs to learn control.

[Keith nodded in understanding. Well, Keith had to give Ivar marks for trying to get her there, but, yeah... she was pretty young, yet. He watched the infant playing with the Lion's tail. It was mildly alarming because that tip was a laser weapon, but he trusted Red to behave. It wasn't like she'd feel pain if Winter yanked on it too hard, either, so she wasn't going to lash out against the child.]

How old is she?

[ragnarsson]

She has it with me. But no one else.

[So she clearly had the capacity to learn. She wasn't going to be a little monster like Letha feared. Ivar would make sure that wouldn't come to pass if for no other reason that he wanted to spite her.]

Seven months. I can't believe it.

[Now he knew what parents meant when they said time with their children went fast. He felt like she'd barely been a newborn, then she blinked, and now here she was playing with a giant robotic lion.]

[tempredmental]

[For a second, Keith almost saw a completely different person than the one he'd met in the alleyway that day. He wasn't quite ready to settle down and trust that Ivar still wouldn't try to stick him with a sword next time he came to visit Lola, but he suddenly found it hard to completely hate the guy.

All because of a little seven-month-old girl with weird powers who thought robot lions were cool. He almost couldn't hide the tiny smile he felt forming.]

People say time moves fast with kids. I wish you luck with teaching her.

[And he meant that in a good way... not mean or sarcastic... just, 'good luck'.]

[ragnarsson]

[Indeed, Winter had brought out a side that no one had ever thought possible in the young, violent Viking. He cared for her the way he did no one else. Love had finally reached Ivar in the form of his daughter.

He's surprised Keith sounds sincere in wishing him good luck. Huh. Maybe things can be different between them. Just maybe. He calls to Winter.]

Come on. Time to stop playing with the lion.

[Winter at first ignores her father, too happy playing with the robot. It takes Ivar calling her a second time to get her to finally listen. With a small, reluctant sounding grumble, she give Red one last pat on the nose, and then starts crawling back towards her father.]

[tempredmental]

[Keith actually smiled a little at the moment, and then straightened up from where he'd been leaning against the tree.]

C'mon, Red.

[The Lion waited until the girl had crawled far enough, and then got up, being careful not to step on her or anything. She walked back over to Keith, who put his hand on top of her head.]

You had fun, huh?

[Red purred.]

Good.

[He gave Ivar a nod, and then headed off, Red at his side.]