ragnarsson | IC Inbox

Ivar. [Ragnar still wasn't used to using the phones, but he was improving slightly. The video, however, wasn't that helpful, horribly lit and poorly framed... on his chest. Good to see he was still wearing the same tunic and didn't look completely filthy, right??] Ivar, I want to ask you something.

[Ivar's amused by his father's phone struggles. He went through plenty of that when he first got here. He props himself up and it's clear he's lying in bed. He gets so few moments just to relax between his job, his other job, and caring for Winter.]

What is it?

I have been thinking about you and Gyda and Winter. [And thinking about how he was failing to provide for his children like a father should.] I am going to find a house. I have already spoken to Gyda about it.

You and Winter are welcome as well if you would like. [Ragnar considered Ivar of the age where he should be starting a family of his own and providing for him so, while the offer was there, Ragnar didn't completely expect him to take him up on it.]

That's more than you've done for me in a long time.

[He doesn't elaborate on the cryptic statement as he thinks about it. Much as Ivar values his family, he also is fiercely independent.]

Thank you for thinking of me and Winter, but I'm going to stay where I am. Leave a room open for us though. No telling when I might need a place to go.

[Though his expression remained stubbornly neutral, there was the slightest little twitch before he blinked.]

The offer is always there. [He gave Ivar a nod.] Or if you wanted, I would not mind watching Winter sometimes.

Thank you. And I will take you up on watching Winter sometimes.

[He pauses, wondering if he should tell Ragnar this next part.]

Her mother came back.

I would love to.

[He smiles softly, thinking about his adopted granddaughter. He's about to ask Ivar if Gyda had met her yet, when Ivar mentions the girl's mother.]

Is that a problem? You said she abandoned the child.

[Ivar looks serious. While his anger towards his daughter's mother has dimmed, he also knows what Letha has already done.]

It could be one. This is the woman that seriously thought about abandoning her perfectly healthy daughter in the woods so the monsters would eat her. She only relented when I threatened to go through with it. She wants Winter back, but how can I trust her?

She abandoned her child and you adopted her. Surely, even in this strange place, the law would agree that the child is yours and yours alone?

How can you trust her? The answer is simple - don't. There is no reason to endanger your daughter, Ivar.

I don't trust the law to be on my side in this place. She'll argue I've no blood ties to the girl and therefore have no claim to her.

[Frankly, Ivar trusted very few people when it came to his daughter. But he knew he could trust his father. Ragnar would have fought anyone he thought threatened his family.]

She claims she's changed, that she wants to be a mother again. I want to believe her. But it's easy enough for her to say that when she has the power to rip my soul out of my body if she wants to take Winter away.

[Ivar had told her she'd take away Winter over his dead body. When it came right down to it, that's what might happen if the worst came to worst. Any decent Viking would fight to the death for their child and Ivar was already fiercely protective of his daughter.]

[Ragnar worried the inside of his lip as he thought everything over. He didn't know much about this woman, but most people, even the most powerful, were significantly weaker against an attack they couldn't see coming.]

She is your woman, so it is your choice. Do you believe her, or want to believe her, enough to say that we should not just kill her now?

[Of course, he's completely serious. Not that Ivar would even question such a thing.]

I'll believe her... for now. I don't want to have to kill the mother of my child and have Winter grow up to hate me because of it, the way I hate my mother's killer.

[Perhaps he shouldn't have let that last part slip. Too much knowledge of Ragnar's future was a dangerous thing.]

But she's already out of chances with me. The minute she poses a threat or tries to take Winter away, her fate is sealed.

Mm. Even if you did not tell her, she would likely find out eventually.

[He raised an eyebrow at that, but refrained from asking. Despite his usual curiosity, the future felt like something he should know as little about as possible, which was odd because it was exactly the sort of thing he'd gone to the Seer to ask about many times before. In that case, however, it was the gods giving glimpses of vague events. Being told about the future from those who would live it simply felt wrong.]

You know where to find me. And she does not know me, or where I live. Gyda and I will gladly watch Winter if you need.

[He'll never let too much slip about the future. That just involves basically saying "You and everyone you care about are dead." But sometimes, there's things Ivar forgets to hold his tongue on. Aslaug's murder still weighs heavy on his mind.]

Thank you, Father. I'll let you know if anything ever needs to be done about her.

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