No. Of course, there is no way to know if the gods- [he paused, stopping himself and rethinking what he was saying]- if the... 'universe' will grant you what you have asked of it. But... is there not a price to be paid if the wish comes true? Why would the universe grant a wish without taking something in return? So... how do you know what you might be expected to give for a particular wish?
[Ragnar's world was one of give and take. Good things happened because one sacrificed to the gods or because wanted something from a person. Asking something of 'the universe' sounded like a terrifying practice to him because any god might decide to do what the person had asked and then expect payment a person might not be willing to give.]
Hmm. I see. Then it was not a 'booty call'. She did not have a friendr, so I helped write one for her. She did not appreciate what I wrote for her. [He smirked. He couldn't really remember exactly what he'd put for her preferences and bio, but he definitely remembered using a lot of emojis.] We were having sex, but that had nothing to do with the friendr I made her. And was also not a booty call. [Their relationship really hadn't been what he would describe as 'casual'.
He nodded when he realized the mistake he'd made with his order.] Like whiskey? [He nodded again. It was a drink he'd been introduced to and liked quite a bit. Without much pause, he knocked the shot back, shaking his head at the burn.] I think I will switch to ale. It is easier to drink slower.
[Once again, he waved the bartender over, getting a stein of cold beer a moment later.]
That's the thing about birthdays. If you blow out candles all in one go while making a wish on your birthday, and you don't tell anybody what the wish was, you get a freebie! No payback plan required!
[ Cisco had done a little bit of research about Vikings, a little while after he'd met Ragnar, but there were so many things that would never come up in books. He could read all about sailing technology, but a textbook wasn't going to tell him that Ragnar would see the world so transactionally. But this conversation is clueing him in to that. And it's not an entirely foreign concept, just not one that is as prominent in his mind. ]
Oooh. Gotcha. Well, I stand corrected. [ He nods quietly, keeps his composure for about ten seconds before he blurts in a rush: ] Okay I tried not to ask but I'm gonna be way too curious if I don't know, who was it!?
[ It's not prying to ask, is it? Cisco might not even know her, anyway, but he can't resist a piece of gossip. At least he's not asking what Ragnar wrote. It was perhaps something a little too honest, or a little too lewd. In any case, from the sound of it, whatever relationship Ragnar had with this woman is no longer going on - there was no missing the past tense. ]
How are things? With your family?
[ He knows that Ragnar is in a somewhat strange position in this place - with his daughter who he knew was going to die, and his son who hadn't yet been born, and his grandchild. There's got to be domestic complications that arise from all that, surely? ]
None? And this... the ritual is - it must be the time of year you were born, you must blow out all the candles at once, and you must not speak of your wish? [He was taking this seriously, okay? A free favor wasn't something that came around every day and he was pretty sure he'd been born in the fall sometime.]
Who? [He broke into a smirk and then leaned in like it was a big secret, smile already turning more smug and cocky.] A goddess. [He bit his lip, pausing for dramatic effect.] Sif.
But... She has been sent... back to her world? Or wherever people go when they leave this place. [He made a face but shrugged a little. He missed her, of course, but there was nothing he could do about it.] What about you? It is... 'sex month' or something. Do you have someone you are looking forward to experiencing the festival with?
My family? [He took a long drink of beer, buying himself time to think through his answer.] Gyda is doing well. She's learning to read. At the... the... what is it called? [The word he was looking for and couldn't remember at the moment was 'school'.] Ivar... Ivar just returned. He arranged to leave for a short time. Myself and Thor watched over his daughter for him while he was gone.
On the anniversary of the day you were born, yeah. [ He's starting to feel a teensy bit bad about how seriously Rangar is taking this, and wants to make sure he makes it clear this isn't a guaranteed thing, or some kind of trick. So he shrugs and adds, lightly: ] If you believe in that kind of thing, I mean. And plenty of people don't.
[ When Ragnar explains who it was, Cisco says 'ohhh' in a soft way that seems to hint both that he'd heard the name Sif before, and had been familiar enough with her that the revelation makes sense to him. Their interactions had been brief, and almost entirely professional - her helping him to test out some tech he'd made for the guard - but he can see how she might have reacted in that way to the situation.
He is, inconveniently, taking a sip of his drink when Ragnar calls it sex month, and spends the next few seconds choking on margarita. At least it gives him an excuse for how croaky he sounds, and how red in the face he goes when he answers: ]
Uh- yeah. Yeah, I do. The, um. That guy I told you about? The one who I knew in my own world, before I came here?
[ Eddie had come up during that first conversation of theirs, when they were discussing life, and death, and meeting people in this place who were dead in their own worlds. But that detail isn't important, right now. ]
We're together, so...
[ They had plans - to go to the raves, the expo, etcetera, but going in depth into any of those feels like it might be a little bit TMI. He's going to need a couple more drinks before he loses enough inhibitions to discuss his sex life any more frankly than that. ]
At school? That's awesome. If she's ever having any trouble in math or science, you totally send her my way, okay?
[ He somehow feels that, despite his obvious keen intelligence, Ragnar's not really in a good position to help the kid out with her homework, the way some parents could. ]
Leave, like, through the portal? Damn. I can't get over how weird that's gotta be. Having a kid that grown up, from the future?
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no subject
[Ragnar's world was one of give and take. Good things happened because one sacrificed to the gods or because wanted something from a person. Asking something of 'the universe' sounded like a terrifying practice to him because any god might decide to do what the person had asked and then expect payment a person might not be willing to give.]
Hmm. I see. Then it was not a 'booty call'. She did not have a friendr, so I helped write one for her. She did not appreciate what I wrote for her. [He smirked. He couldn't really remember exactly what he'd put for her preferences and bio, but he definitely remembered using a lot of emojis.] We were having sex, but that had nothing to do with the friendr I made her. And was also not a booty call. [Their relationship really hadn't been what he would describe as 'casual'.
He nodded when he realized the mistake he'd made with his order.] Like whiskey? [He nodded again. It was a drink he'd been introduced to and liked quite a bit. Without much pause, he knocked the shot back, shaking his head at the burn.] I think I will switch to ale. It is easier to drink slower.
[Once again, he waved the bartender over, getting a stein of cold beer a moment later.]
no subject
[ Cisco had done a little bit of research about Vikings, a little while after he'd met Ragnar, but there were so many things that would never come up in books. He could read all about sailing technology, but a textbook wasn't going to tell him that Ragnar would see the world so transactionally. But this conversation is clueing him in to that. And it's not an entirely foreign concept, just not one that is as prominent in his mind. ]
Oooh. Gotcha. Well, I stand corrected. [ He nods quietly, keeps his composure for about ten seconds before he blurts in a rush: ] Okay I tried not to ask but I'm gonna be way too curious if I don't know, who was it!?
[ It's not prying to ask, is it? Cisco might not even know her, anyway, but he can't resist a piece of gossip. At least he's not asking what Ragnar wrote. It was perhaps something a little too honest, or a little too lewd. In any case, from the sound of it, whatever relationship Ragnar had with this woman is no longer going on - there was no missing the past tense. ]
How are things? With your family?
[ He knows that Ragnar is in a somewhat strange position in this place - with his daughter who he knew was going to die, and his son who hadn't yet been born, and his grandchild. There's got to be domestic complications that arise from all that, surely? ]
no subject
Who? [He broke into a smirk and then leaned in like it was a big secret, smile already turning more smug and cocky.] A goddess. [He bit his lip, pausing for dramatic effect.] Sif.
But... She has been sent... back to her world? Or wherever people go when they leave this place. [He made a face but shrugged a little. He missed her, of course, but there was nothing he could do about it.] What about you? It is... 'sex month' or something. Do you have someone you are looking forward to experiencing the festival with?
My family? [He took a long drink of beer, buying himself time to think through his answer.] Gyda is doing well. She's learning to read. At the... the... what is it called? [The word he was looking for and couldn't remember at the moment was 'school'.] Ivar... Ivar just returned. He arranged to leave for a short time. Myself and Thor watched over his daughter for him while he was gone.
no subject
[ When Ragnar explains who it was, Cisco says 'ohhh' in a soft way that seems to hint both that he'd heard the name Sif before, and had been familiar enough with her that the revelation makes sense to him. Their interactions had been brief, and almost entirely professional - her helping him to test out some tech he'd made for the guard - but he can see how she might have reacted in that way to the situation.
He is, inconveniently, taking a sip of his drink when Ragnar calls it sex month, and spends the next few seconds choking on margarita. At least it gives him an excuse for how croaky he sounds, and how red in the face he goes when he answers: ]
Uh- yeah. Yeah, I do. The, um. That guy I told you about? The one who I knew in my own world, before I came here?
[ Eddie had come up during that first conversation of theirs, when they were discussing life, and death, and meeting people in this place who were dead in their own worlds. But that detail isn't important, right now. ]
We're together, so...
[ They had plans - to go to the raves, the expo, etcetera, but going in depth into any of those feels like it might be a little bit TMI. He's going to need a couple more drinks before he loses enough inhibitions to discuss his sex life any more frankly than that. ]
At school? That's awesome. If she's ever having any trouble in math or science, you totally send her my way, okay?
[ He somehow feels that, despite his obvious keen intelligence, Ragnar's not really in a good position to help the kid out with her homework, the way some parents could. ]
Leave, like, through the portal? Damn. I can't get over how weird that's gotta be. Having a kid that grown up, from the future?