Stab me once, shame on you. Stab me twice...

[somnioergosum]

who: Ronan and Ivar
what: Ronan and Ivar’s friendship break up turns ugly
when: August 21
where: On the streets
warnings: Graphic violence. That BFF necklace isn’t all that’s getting broken.

There had been a lot of ups and downs here in Quarantine, but Ronan was finally starting to see more positives than negatives. He had a home, he had pets, and he had Adam. Whenever he was feeling down about his friends going home or worse, he remembered that. He was engaged now. He didn’t have to worry about anyone else.

That was what he told himself, anyway, as he walked down the street. He left his car some blocks back. He didn’t want to speed or drink. Just this once, he wanted to spend some time thinking. And just this once, Ronan probably would have been better off doing something else.

He thought he heard someone behind him and turned. His heart didn’t skip a beat, nor did it drop. It kept on as steady as ever while Ronan thought “shit. Ivar.”

He turned back around.

Comments

[ragnarsson]

Avoidance was never a good tactic to use with the Viking. He always preferred to face things head-on whenever possible and considered people who did otherwise to be cowardly and spineless. Thus, when he'd realized Ronan was avoiding him, he'd been annoyed. Sure, things he had been tense between the two of them ever since he got back, but he didn't think that warranted being ignored altogether.

Thus, he was irritated when he specifically sought out Ronan, and was ignored. He limped up to him on his leg braces. "So you're just going to walk away and pretend you didn't see me?" An idiotic move, but then, Ronan was never the smartest.

[somnioergosum]

If Adam were beside him, he would have told Ronan to keep walking. Ignore him. That was what he'd told him whenever they argued about Ivar. There were several topics guaranteed to result in a heated discussion and Ronan's continued association with Ivar had been top of the list until Ronan promised to avoid him.

He should keep going. He stopped instead.

Taking a deep breath, he turned to face Ivar. "No. I figured you'd be smart enough to know I don't want to talk."

[ragnarsson]

Ivar looked angry, but then, that was usually his default expression in some form. But right now he felt it was warranted. He hadn't seen Ronan in months and could only assume he'd done something, real or imaginary, to make the other want to stay out of his way.

"And why's that? You've been avoiding me like I killed one of your dogs or something." He folded his arms, waiting for an answer. He wanted the truth. If Ronan tried to lie to him, he was going to call him out on it.

[somnioergosum]

The only lies Ronan told were ones of omission. He could always try and twist the truth but there was no reason to now. Ivar already knew his powers, they'd already had conversations that were just about as close to heart to heart as Ronan could come. It sucked, life was a series of harsh truths and it was past time they both accepted this one.

Ronan had to. Folding his arms over his chest, he reminded himself that as much as he'd tried, there was no going back.

"Wouldn't put it past you." There was no good way to put any of this so he just got it over with. "After all the shit you did-- it's not safe to be around you. And sure, I don't care about that for myself but it's different when you drag Adam into it. I'm not going to keep you in my life so you can hurt him more. I'm not risking it. I'm getting married now. Things've got to change."

In another time, in another place, and most definitely when talking to another person, that would have been an incredible step forward for Ronan. Unfortunately, he picked exactly the wrong situation to try and take that step.