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[ragnarsson]

This is Ivar. Leave a message. Maybe I'll get back to you. Maybe I won't.

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I do what I want

[devilsandangels]

Alfred is annoyed. He’s been annoyed since Ivar got hurt. He’d been rather not helpful with the whole monster thing but afterward he might have been hovering over him more than he should. But a question was burning in his mind as he studied Ivar while the Viking was resting. At least he’d been tended to well. But he’d not been completely in the best of moods. When Ivar didn’t need something, Alfred had been giving him the cold shoulder again — he really had picked up his mother’s worst habits to be honest.

“You honestly were thinking about a knife when you could have been dead?” Alfred asks while not looking directly at Ivar and drinking a glass of what is probably wine. Definitely wine or something parading to be.

[ragnarsson]

Whereas Ivar couldn't read Alfred's mood very well the last time he'd been avoiding him, he saw clearly why Alfred was mad at him right now, and could see why he was engaging in passive-aggressive warfare.

Ivar was sitting on the couch. His injuries had been mended, but with the caveat that he took it easy for the next few days. It appeared his revenge on the monsters would have to wait.

Ivar shrugged nonchalantly at Alfred's question. "If I died gloriously in battle against such beasts, I would surely go to Valhalla." Ivar had never once feared his own death.

[devilsandangels]

Alfred looks more annoyed at the answer and since he’s looking at Ivar, it’s particularly easy to read his expression. He is never quite good at maintaining a passive expression after all. He takes another drink as he paces.

“If you had died, I would have found you and killed you,” the words have absolutely zero bite. Though, it’s clear they’re less of anger and more of a worry and upset. “You are terrible, Ivar.”

Alfred knew he must be willing to go to war but he didn’t relish violence in the way that Ivar lived for it and he couldn’t be quite happy about the whole thing. It seemed quite foolish of Ivar to have even been in a fight alone like that.

[ragnarsson]

"True. And yet you seem to enjoy my presence nonetheless." Alfred was likely going to want to punch Ivar in the face given that smug expression he was wearing right now.

Still, Ivar wasn't being nearly as snarky or rude as he could have been. He really did enjoy Alfred's presence and understood anger born of worry. His mother had often been the same way. "It was a good fight. Would you like to come with me and Caedra to go hunt them down?" He's actually trying to be nice with that offer.

[devilsandangels]

"Do I?" Alfred might not want to punch Ivar but the idea of dumping his drink or throwing his cup at him is becoming vaguely tempting.

"No, you are not going anywhere," Alfred huffs at the mention of Ivar going and hunting them down. He stops pacing for a moment and studies the Viking. He turns away from Ivar then, but mostly because the worry on his face is only deepening and he's very tempted not to stop talking altogether.

And, he might not particularly want to go fight with Ivar because he's sure it'd quickly become clear that he's not nearly as skilled as Ivar is or anyone else. And a very small vain part of him wants to impress Ivar.

[ragnarsson]

Ivar nods. "Oh yes. You've made that abundantly clear." There's been more than one instance now of Ivar ending up in Alfred's bed, always ostensibly because he was cold and needed to warm up. The fact they often had pleasant chats while lying beside each other was just an added bonus.

He sits up a little bit straighter and takes a sip of his drink. "Oh yes I am. I'm not letting such beasts get away with their partial victory. I intend to kill at least one of them." His eyes shine brightly at the thought of a hunt. He's never been all that good at hunting considering it usually requires being swift as well as skill, but these beasts allowed him to rely on his strengths of cunning and blunt force.

[devilsandangels]

Alfred doesn’t know why, or doesn’t acknowledge why, his face turns red at Ivar’s comment. It’s the truth. He fully enjoys having Ivar around, close. Ivar is someone he certainly doesn’t want to lose, in part, because of that combined with their friendship already.

The young king paces, frustrated with Ivar over it all. “Why are you in such a hurry to die and leave me?” Alfred said and it’s not something he intended to say, at least not like that. The worry and sadness is clear enough in his voice even if he won’t show his face directly to Ivar. “I do not enjoy seeing you pained.”

[ragnarsson]

Ivar likewise has come to rely on Alfred's company. Now that he knows what having a friend is like, a great fear is losing him, or doing something to alienate him so far that Alfred wants nothing to do with him.

Fortunately, Alfred seems to have the patience of a saint, so even going as far as Ivar tends to do hasn't managed to push him away just yet.

He tries to read the expression on Alfred's face, but the English king has turned away from him, preventing Ivar from seeing what he's thinking. He doesn't want to hurt Alfred by worrying him more than necessary. When his pacing brings him close to Ivar again, the Viking's fingers close gently around his friend's wrist to make him stop. "I don't want to leave you, Alfred. But fighting is in my blood and I cannot deny it."

His thumb rests lightly on Alfred's pulse point. He can feel the heartbeat present there just under the skin. "Pain is something I deal with every day. A little more or less doesn't bother me anymore."

[devilsandangels]

Alfred stops short at the touch, his pulse picking up and his skin heating at the contact, the affects that Ivar has on him can be infuriating at times. It's hard to think of an argument when Ivar's points are so clear and rather difficult to argue with. He doesn't pull away, though, even if he still isn't quite looking at the Viking. The fact that there's nothing he can say to sway Ivar makes him feel a little sullen.

"It bothers me. There are always more battles, must this be one you have to fight?" Alfred's more angry responses had slipped into a more pleading tone. "I don't know what I would do if I lost you."

He does finally look at Ivar and there's a conflict on his face. It's a tormented idea when he thinks of it too long, because eventually would they not end up pitted against one another?

[ragnarsson]

The touch grounds Ivar, keeping him from that anger and insanity always so close beneath the surface. Alfred has a strange way of keeping him rational. "Would you rather I stay here with you and be unhappy, untrue to who I am?"

It's an unfair question and a manipulative one, but Ivar is intent on getting his way in this one thing. His fingers slip down from Alfred's wrist to his hand and he squeezes it reassuringly. "If at all possible, I will always return to you."

[devilsandangels]

The question is very unfair and it clearly spikes Alfred’s temper that hasn’t completely abated.

“Do not manipulate me, Ivar,” Alfred has enough of it from Judith. But he didn’t pull away from him and his rebellious heart skips a beat when Ivar squeezes his hand. He can’t think of anything to say so he squeezes his hand back and then drops down heavily beside Ivar, his head going to his shoulder.

It probably won’t be the last of the flack Ivar gets about the situation though.

For Shigeru - Video

[ragnarsson]

[Once he's back to his senses, Ivar doesn't necessarily feel bad about what he's done. It's in his nature to kill people. Feeling guilty over what he's done is like trying to make a wolf feel bad about hunting and killing deer. It's just how his mind is made.

But he does feel he did Shigeru a bad turn. He'd helped Ivar when he needed it and what had he done in repayment? Tormented and terrified the healer. So while apologies usually turn to ash in his mouth, he'll man up, and try to make amends. He calls Shigeru, afraid that the sight of him might terrify the man more than anything else.

When he answers, Ivar immediately starts talking so that he can at least get out part of what he wanted to say.]

Before you hang up on me, I need to tell you something.