Ragnarr Loðbrók

OOM: AU week, for Sinric

Sun, 21 Aug 2016 12:09:50 GMT

Ragnar walks outside, holding Sinric's hand, the ravens following with great curiosity.

Especially about the wings.

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AU week 2016 -- X-men style mutant contemporary Ragnar

Sun, 07 Aug 2016 11:28:36 GMT

Ragnar is from the beginning of his (somewhat different) journey -- he is still a farmer who just happens to be a superior navigator because he can sense the earth's magnetic field and connect to the brains of corvids. That is true for any ravens or crows, but he does have a flock of particular tame ones at home who scout for him and follow him into battle. When he comes to the bar, he will always have two or three with him.

He doesn't name them because he knows their raven names.

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OOM: Worried about Athelstan

Mon, 27 Jun 2016 16:38:54 GMT

[[After this]]

Ragnar is worried.

There are many things to be worried about, but at the moment, it's particularly Athelstan he's worried about.

It's been hours since Ragnar came back to find the door between their rooms closed; a brief check of the heart monitor and compass showed him Athelstan was definitely in there and alive, but he just didn't come out again.

At first, Ragnar assumed he just needed to be left alone, and went to do other things, talked to people, agreed with the Goth to meet up for the game of football that their descendants were playing in, and making a fresh batch of olive bread the way Rae had taught him.

But after half a day, Ragnar now wants to make sure Athelstan knows that whatever is the matter, Ragnar will be there and listen, and help if he can.

So he goes up and loudly knocks on that door. "Athelstan?"

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OOM: Returning Eunuch

Thu, 26 May 2016 11:34:22 GMT

It is late in the day, and Ragnar is lounging in his room, talking to Athelstan.

He could spend eternity just talking to Athelstan, and then an eternity again with all the other Athelstan-related things.

But they never run out of things to talk about, it seems.

"... will turn seawater into potable water, like making salt, just the other way around," he is saying.

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OOM: Taking the bike to the mountains

Sat, 05 Dec 2015 16:49:14 GMT

In the end, Ragnar had asked the bar for a magical backpack, as the kind of bike he has isn't conducive to loading up the way you do with a road bike; this thing from the same world the fabled biting book in the library is from snugly holds everything they need while still light and small.

He comes outside now, with the pack and a helmet for Athelstan. The bike is at the ready, filled up and good to go.

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OOM: Tattoos

Sun, 29 Nov 2015 11:56:57 GMT

Ragnar is sitting in the bar room itself, doodling on a large sheet of paper.

He's drawing stylised birds -- sharp beaks, outstretched wings, claws grabbing. A raven and a dove feature prominently and recognisably; the thirds is a songbird, rising in flight, so probably a lark.

He's not yet content with what he is doing, though.

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OOM: Reunion

Sun, 22 Nov 2015 22:28:50 GMT

Finally, they are together again, and kissing as if the other's lips were the very source of life.

Ragnar's big, warm hands slowly stroke Athelstan's neck and back while kissing him, slowly turning his head this way and that, as if seeking for the perfect angle that brings their kiss closest.

They find it soon enough, though Athelstan's mouth keeps moving against Ragnar's. Hesitantly, he begins to touch Ragnar's back in turn.

"Come," Ragnar breathes against Athelstan's lips, "let us..."

He steps backwards towards the large, comfortable, fur-covered bed, needing to have his beloved even closer. Just for a bit, while Sinric is safe in the warm water.

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OOM: Setting off the magic raven

Mon, 02 Nov 2015 15:27:26 GMT

Ragnar opens the door, which emerges into a small corner between a shed and a fence made of woven willow branches; what they seem to be coming out of is apparently a shed.

The air is icy, and there is a smell of wood-smoke and the sea.

Ragnar looks around.

"Nobody here," he declares. "Here, let's go and face these people. As I said, these kids are going to climb you like kittens when they realise there are sweets."

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OOM: Conversation with dead people

Sat, 31 Oct 2015 21:21:29 GMT

Ragnar Lothbrok comes striding out from the bar, walking towards the lake. It's one of those strange holidays, with Sinric's doctor friend decked out as a Viking warrior and unexpected frogs everywhere.

Ragnar doesn't get the point of this celebration (frogs? really?), so he goes outside to walk to the church and see whether Athelstan might have left anything there -- new candles, votive offerings, anything to see if he'd been here.

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OOM: With Sinric

Wed, 14 Oct 2015 21:43:59 GMT

Ragnar has only just returned, so their room is mostly still Athelstan's -- tidier than Ragnar would be on his own, for one thing.

Stepping inside with Sinric, Ragnar heaves a sigh, then puts it behind him.

This is about Sinric!

There are ample brown furs on the bed, as usual, but Ragnar grins and beckons. "Imagine these to be green, please!"

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OOM -- Slightly possessive Ragnar

Wed, 09 Sep 2015 23:13:47 GMT

"Indoors, the goat piss smells worse," Ragnar says as he opens the door to their rooms and walks through right to the bathroom. "I'm so sorry. They've been very naughty animals."

He turns on the faucet, then turns back to Sinric with lop-sided regret on his face.

"Let's get that off you."

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OOM: At the farm

Tue, 18 Aug 2015 21:53:06 GMT

Ideas are starting to come together for Ragnar, slowly and vaguely, but they are.

He's sitting on a fence, watching the farmer's goats, and listening to their voices as if they were suggesting ideas to him.

He might be open to some actual suggestions.

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OOM: Search for the children

Mon, 10 Aug 2015 10:31:39 GMT

The door Ragnar steps in through is small and unimportant, a little door to a little shed that's part of Floki's wharf. Behind him, Milliways can be seen very briefly; he stands straight, looks around, and closes the door.

Then, he strides out to find Floki and see if Diaval the raven has returned yet from his errand to the highland farms to find the children.

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OOM: This is good-bye

Thu, 06 Aug 2015 13:06:43 GMT

Ragnar is awake early today -- he's sorting a few select of his Miliways possessions into a bag, as to cheat on his world at least a little bit.

He's even had breakfast brought up already -- tea, bread, cold meat, and cheese, as well as some of those vegetables from the future. He stops with his packing to open the door to the rats who are bringing it.

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OOM: Getting all that blood off

Mon, 27 Jul 2015 21:42:25 GMT

The moment Ragnar comes into their rooms, the unstraps his sword belt and takes off his leather jerkin. They're caked with half-dry blood and other nasty matter.

"If we came back too clean," he muses, "it would be suspicious."

So he'll have to put the leathers back on as they are before going back.

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OOM: AU Athelstan by the lake

Sun, 19 Jul 2015 13:19:19 GMT

It's already dark outside, stars are coming out, and the air is cooling down slightly after the summer's day.

Ragnar comes outside, holding Athelstan's soft, small hand with his big callused one, and walks with him towards the lake. At the edge of the garden and the wild, sheltered from view by a large rock, there is some soft grass near the water, inviting and comfortable.

Ragnar sits down, back against the rock, and pulls Athelstan down with him.

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OOM: Pink Pizza

Wed, 01 Jul 2015 13:30:15 GMT

Ragnar is waiting in front of the door to their rooms -- one of them, rather, the one that they had not left an exhaustedly sleeping Sinric in -- with the tray, piled high with drinks and glasses and tomato salad and pizza and plates and tea mugs and what have you, waiting for Athelstan to arrive with the kettle (not currently glowing blue) and the key.

He'll suggest setting out the food first and then going to wake Sinric. Unless he's awake already.

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OOM -- Tattoo

Sat, 20 Jun 2015 11:04:45 GMT

Tattoos are for life, so they need lots of consideration. By now, Ragnar and Athelstan have a number of little ravens that could go on Athelstan's shoulder blade -- from realistic pictures to dark silhouettes to elaborate animal style, like Ragnar's own tattoos.

Ragnar has already fetched tattooing supplies -- bone needles with big wooden heads, and a soft mallet as well as a paste made mostly of soot, and a fine brush to draw the design on Athelstan's skin before starting with the needles.

In the privacy of their rooms, they will be free to explore how much pleasure can be in the physical closeness and small pain of tattooing one that you love.

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OOM -- New rooms

Sun, 07 Jun 2015 23:48:14 GMT

Carefully carrying the soap and the keys to their new rooms, Ragnar comes upstairs with Athelstan.

As they walk down the corridor, Ragnar asks for all the numbers on the doors that he can't read yet, and by the time they come to room 793, he can read the numbers off all the doors just fine.

And the tag on his own key, he has realised, reads 871 +/- 2, which is an oddly vague number.

Well, as long as the key matches the lock, and the door matches the room.

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OOM: Training montage

Sat, 30 May 2015 19:46:01 GMT

Turning a monk into a viable fighter is a process, one that will take some years -- taking a lot of work, some carefully applied practical experience, and the occasional break to let things settle.

By the end, Ragnar will have to be certain that Athelstan can pull his own weight in battle when they go to England. He can't afford to worry about Athelstan's safety in the back of his mind while he is fighting; he will have to know that he will do well and not hesitate. Just as he knew with Lagertha.

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OOM: Hunting Trip -- now with much less hunting

Wed, 20 May 2015 21:59:06 GMT

"I'll be back the day after tomorrow, or the one after that," Ragnar says, his voice ringing cheerfully from the hall as he strides through to the servant's quarters.

He's carrying his bedroll, and his bow; axe and seax at his belt, and a very full quiver slung over his back. He's clad in leathers, and wearing a cloak with warm fur around the shoulders.

"Athelstan! You're coming with me!"

Sounding completely spontaneous, as he can be.

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OOM: Unfinished business -- set during the four year leap

Sun, 17 May 2015 17:51:59 GMT

Ragnar is wandering the Earl's Hall of Kattegat this evening, looking into corners.

It's been his hall for quite some time now, but he still finds things in forgotten corners that he hadn't know were there, old things and new things.

With his new wife and her new maids, many new things had come to the hall. Everything old and familiar is lost now, or hidden in corners where he least expects it.

So far, Ragnar has found a few things he's been missing -- some clothes Lagertha had made him when they were still farmers, a toy horse that used to belong to Gyda, and a perfectly good knife that would just need some sharpening, when he happens on somebody whom he hasn't seen nearly enough of lately, either.

Not since Aslaug came, Lagertha left, and their door to the magic place went away. There'd been so much unfinished business between them, and then, the world had turned upside-down, burying their secret, sweet business underneath princesses, babies and drama.

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OOM: Vigil

Tue, 05 May 2015 23:34:36 GMT

Ragnar had gone out all by himself, built and lit the fire by the beach, and sat down, wrapped in his cloak, settling in for a night of remembering.

So much had happened since then -- Rollo's treachery, bloody battle, Floki's injury.

But Ragnar hasn't forgotten what the woman in the magic place had advised him, and he feels the need to do that before he can continue with the life he needs to lead. Before he can make new decisions and new plans.

He sits in the dark by his little fire and remembers his little Gyda. He remembers her coming screaming and bloody out of Lagertha's body, he remember carrying her on his shoulders to Uppsala when she was barely three; he remembers her playing with her baby goats, fishing and weaving with Lagertha, learning to read from Athelstan. He remembers Björn and her peering at their new slave. He remembers her watching the sacrifices in complete, accepting silence.

He's sitting by his fire, feeding it occasionally, and does not otherwise move. If he sheds some tears while he is sitting there, nobody will notice.

But he wouldn't be Ragnar Lothbrok if he didn't cheat at least a little -- at some stage during the night, he knows that company and some hot mead are coming and despite his grief, he'll be glad to share that.

The mead and the company, and the grief.

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OOM: Bathing in the fjord

Sun, 03 May 2015 20:29:58 GMT

It's a pleasant day; one of the last few before they will have to leave again to fight Jarl Borg.

Ragnar is taking a stroll down to the fjord, hoping to take a dip, or maybe take a boat out for some fishing. Something normal, before he will be forced to head out again, for a moronic fight he didn't pick himself.

There's somebody on the beach already, but Ragnar doesn't mind.

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OOM: Slice of life -- set near the end of the four year jump between 2x01 and 2x02

Thu, 09 Apr 2015 22:27:16 GMT

Having children is tiring work; even if you're an earl and have servants to look after your offspring. If you love them, you'll want to have them around, tell them stories, hold their little hands when they take their first steps, hear their first words, and comfort them when they cry at night.

When you have small children, you have to sleep when you can.

That's why today, Athelstan will find Ragnar on a bench in his hall, stretched out on the furs covering it, one arm dangling to the ground and the other one wrapped around a tiny Ubbe, while an even tinier Hvitserk is sleeping right on top of his stomach.

Ragnar is snoring.

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