Anger is a gift

[ragnarsson]

who: Ivar and you!
what: Fireflies, a chariot, catch-all for April
when: Late April
where: All over the city, the stables
warnings: Possible violence with the red firefly?



These little fireflies are an awful nuisance. Throughout the week, he would get bit by a whole troop of them. Sometimes just one, but if you catch him at the right time, there might be a few overlapping effecting him.

Red
When he gets bit, the obvious question is, "How can anyone even tell?" Ivar's always got a constant simmering state of barely-contained anger below the surface. It tends to come in two forms: the kind that instantly rises to the surface and makes him do stupid things like pick fights with people or attempt to murder them for the most banal of reasons. Or the second kind, which is far more dangerous. He buries it down and it lurks below the surface as he plots, ready to destroy whoever it is that's wronged him. It won't last too long, considering the handle he's already got on his anger, but beware anyone who finds him while he's still got his weapons nearby. Fortunately, this one only lasts about a day before the effects fade and he's back to his usual simmering anger.

Orange
The bug prompting him to be more open and honest hits him pretty hard. Ivar's never been one to hold back precisely what he's thinking, but usually it's veiled by a layer of biting sarcasm. Now, his honesty is much more naked, not really held back by any restraint. He's not going to bite his tongue even if it gets him into deep shit. On the other hand, if anyone has ever wanted to see what lies beneath the tough-as-nails exterior he's constantly projecting, now's the time to make the most of it. This one will last a couple of days before fading.

Violet
This one will affect him the longest, lasting almost the entire week. Ivar's entirely unused to dealing with the softer emotions of life. Vikings aren't big on open affection and love...well, love for him is a complicated emotion as it is. His thoughts during the week seem to be all over the place. He thinks an awful lot of a certain dark-haired necromancer, but oddly enough, he finds others creeping into his thoughts. Several of them are guys and that is definitely surprising. Anyone who catches him during this period of time is going to be in for a surprise. He can be quite caring and affectionate when the mood is exacerbated as much as it is by the fireflies.

Chariot Racing
Ivar takes a trip down to the stables to see his horse. He looked the gelding over, brushing, currying, and digging the bits of muck out of his hooves. Then it was time to do what he'd wanted to for a while. He harnessed the horse to the war chariot from home that had turned up one day. Then he got situated on the seat, slapped the reins down, and took off tearing down the street.

Anyone notice a horse and chariot barreling down at top speeds while the driver cackles like a madman? Yeah, that's Ivar. Best to get out of the way. He's not stopping if he runs you down. But he will stop if he sees anyone he knows, mainly so he can brag about the sweet set of wheels he has now. C'mon, it's ten times cooler than just a simple car.

Wildcard
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Comments

[ragnarsson]

Ivar can't tell if she's laughing at him, which would enrage him, or something in her own head, which would be kind of endearing. The blush makes him decide it's the latter. He hands her a comb to get the snarls out of the horse's mane and tail.

He busies himself with a hoof pick, seeing to the gelding's hooves. Ivar's got a natural talent for getting the horse to do what he wants, including lifting up his feet when the animal would otherwise be stubborn and refuse. He staunchly refuses to so much as look at Letha as he mumbles out an answer. "I am. A lot." Oh, he's going to kill every single one of those little bugs if it's the last thing he does.

[burntbridges]

She'd started on the horse's mane by the time he spoke - very careful to treat it as gently as she would her own hair - when she has to stop short as Ivar's words make her fingers tremble. She has to grip the comb just to stop it from falling out of her hand, and this time has to press her hand to her lips for a moment to stop herself from letting out a nervous giggle.

Well, Letha is nothing if not a pusher of luck. "Then why did you run away, the last time we spoke? You could have kissed me... and I would have liked it." She's honest enough not to say 'I would let you' - but not quite honest enough to admit she hopes for it any time he comes close enough. As if there's any doubt between them now of her feelings.

[ragnarsson]

The horse idly stamps one of his front hooves as Letha combs his tail and Ivar cleans the muck out of his left hoof. He wants to remain sullen and silent as he usually does when faced with something he doesn't want to talk about. But the words spill out of him unbidden.

"It may have escaped your attention, Letha, but women don't usually look on me as an object of interest. I wasn't sure what to make of how you felt towards me. Or of how I felt towards you." He had to retreat and figure things out for himself. What he'd discovered was that he liked Letha, probably just as much as she liked him.

[burntbridges]

She opens her mouth to mutter some knee-jerk reaction, before just huffing quietly and going back to combing the horse's hair as she actually thinks her answer out. She's been starting to think before she speaks - people should be proud of her for that.

"Well, I can think of at least ten very good reasons why my family would disapprove of you. A few of them I might even agree with. But they aren't here, and those reasons don't particularly matter." She doesn't look up from her work, partly because she knows if she looks at him she'll lose her nerve, "And you are the most handsome man I've ever met. You're brave and smart and... I feel safe with you near. If I lost everything I have here but kept you, I'd be happy."

[ragnarsson]

He's utterly floored by what he's hearing. No one has ever expressed such sentiments to him before. Always, he's been an object of mockery at worst and pity at best. Ivar had given up a long time ago on hoping that a woman could ever feel the same way about him in that same way that other men got to experience.

He doesn't say anything at first. There's vulnerability in his gaze, something he doesn't ever let people see, too afraid of getting hurt if anyone saw that side of him. He wheels himself over to Letha's side and takes her small, gentle hand in his own larger, callused ones. The honesty bug doesn't seem so bad right now, loosening up emotions he wouldn't otherwise dare express. "I care about you a great deal, Letha. I've never had that with a woman before. You're beautiful and caring and even when you're doing stupid, reckless things, I still want to be near you." He reaches up a hand and rests it against her cheek.

[burntbridges]

The horse comb drops from her hand easily, almost shocked by his touch after such open and soft sentiments on both their parts. Her cheeks are red as she leans against the hand on her face, sort of blown away by the fact that her affections are fully reciprocated, in a way she'd never dreamed of back home.

After a moment she leans down, cupping her free hand over Ivar's cheek in turn. A small hesitation more, and she presses her forehead gently against his in that same peaceful, if uncomfortable, gesture he'd shown her before.

"When are you going to kiss me, then?" She teases gently, a bubbly little giggle making it through her words.

[ragnarsson]

It feels so natural to show his affection through physical means, though he's never even thought about it before. He leans into the forehead touch for a moment, eyes closing as he wills himself not to do something stupid again like pull away. It's hard to override a lifetime of instincts that have told him every woman will never see him as anything but an object of pity. When she prompts him to kiss her, he opens up his eyes.

Then he kisses her. It's not a very experienced kiss. He's never had time to practice with women like his brothers did and watching them could only tell him so much. But there's affection and passion behind it, which helps make it all the sweeter as he rests one hand on the back of her neck and one on her shoulder.

[burntbridges]

She feels sparks and fireworks the moment their lips touch. And in all fairness... she doesn't need the experience, because she could count the amount of kisses she's gotten on her fingers. The passion alone, the fact that he is holding her down and kissing her, the feeling of his strong hands and the scent that is so very uniquely Ivar... That's all she needs.

Her fingers run through his hair in turn, as she pulls away just to kiss him again and again, giggles bubbling out of her in between each one. She could almost cry, after all this tension and confusion finally being validated. And... maybe her eyes are watering, just a bit.

[ragnarsson]

If it weren't for the fact that Letha tends to giggle at just about anything, he wouldn't be sure she was actually enjoying the experience. But she seems to be getting as much out of it as he does, and when their lips meet again, he has enough courage to deepen it into one of those kisses that were said to make women go weak at the knees if they were done right.

When he feels a little bit of dampness on his face, he opens up his eyes and pulls back a little. "Hey. What's this now?" He reaches up and wipes away the tear brimming at the edge of one eye. Had he done something wrong? He didn't think so, but as proven by his interactions with Letha up until now, women were a complete enigma to him.

[burntbridges]

She's a bit dizzy as she stands up straight, pulling out of his reach to wipe her face and try to pull herself together. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry, just give me a moment-..." Her voice cracks, but only a few tears fall before she manages an honest effort to pull herself together.

An effort that sacrifices her physical balance, and she ends up neatly slipping down to kneel in front of him. Lucky that the stable floors are clean, but she's barely noticing her surroundings. What she is noticing is that she's the perfect height to look up at Ivar, maybe place her hands on his lap if he'll let her.

"I just... I didn't expect you to care for me in return. I was so afraid of being left pining after you, and..." Another nervous giggle escapes her, as she makes another failed attempt to dry her eyes and calm her voice. "I'm sorry, I'm making a fool of myself. Again."

[ragnarsson]

She sinks down so fast for a moment he's afraid she's fainted. Nope, she's still conscious, and staring up at him in such a manner that he wonders how he was ever confused about her feelings for him. Ivar twitches just a little when her hands land in his lap. That's a little too close to touching his legs for comfort, but she knows how sensitive he is about them.

Then Letha's giggling and still crying and Ivar is just so very confused. This is what he gets for falling for a pregnant woman. They're already cuckoo with hormones and this had just made things so much more emotional for her. "Yes, you are." Well, she'll never have to worry about him being honest in this relationship. "Did you say pining after me? I've never had anyone pine after me before." The grin that appears across his face goes a little sharp, almost like a smirk more than a smile. "I could get used to this."

[burntbridges]

She is a complete mess... and there is Ivar, grinning down at her with his lovely face, and being so very straightforward. Being all the things that she loves about him.

"I've been nearly driven crazy about you since-" She purses her lips, remembering the feeling of his fingers running over her cheek as she listened to his heartbeat, nearly a month ago now. "-Well. A while. And I just... I'm sorry, I... I don't know what to do with myself."

She's stopped giggling, at least, instead just letting out stifled little sobs as she tries to bottle her emotions back up and finds herself dealing with a flood. She can only imagine the harsh words her elders would have for her... no respectable Regis should show even a flash of upset, much less collapse in tears in front of someone. And she's already started to bash herself in her head, for doing something as useless as crying at a time like this.

[ragnarsson]

She's sitting there with her hands in his lap, crying her eyes out, and her words aren't making it much clearer how she's feeling. Ivar can only do what comes to him naturally. He puts one hand on her head and strokes it slowly, taking long her hair out of its updo in the process so that it's hanging down past her shoulders. He keeps at it until the sobs begin to lessen a little. "I...wasn't sure how I felt about you at first. I was confused as to why you would pick me of all people." He doesn't have to say the worst thought, how he thought she chose a cripple and reject over someone whole.

He presses a kiss to the top of her head and then goes back to running his fingers through her dark tresses. While he might have been confused by how he felt, it wasn't that way any longer. Vikings were never one to hide their feelings, especially when it came to members of the opposite sex. He'll just have to figure out how to deal with this as they continue on through whatever their relationship is now defined as.

[burntbridges]

She falls silent at his touch, relaxing slowly as his fingers trace through her hair. Her only motion is to shakily reach out and pull the crow pin from her hair herself, to hold it tightly to her chest while she lets Ivar pet her.

The crow is gurgling softly, a sound only she can hear, and it's almost as comforting as Ivar's affection. She finds herself amazed that anything could be more comforting than her crow, but... here he is.

"I don't see a reason not to care for you." She offers meekly, after a long and warm silence. And while she tries to think of something else she could say... she's out of words. And she just leans up to kiss him again. She can do that now, and it's amazing - and really all she needs to know about where they stand.