#but it's like it's hit a plateau and won't finish going away

[shiningwonho]

can the stupid irritation bump on my nose piercing gO AWAY

[punsmaster69]

18/DEC/20XX

"hey, would you look at that."

"technically got up before one."

"IT'S TWELVE FIFTY-FIVE."

"yeah, that's what i said."

"technically before one."

"WERE YOU LIKE THIS WITH MS. TORIEL, TOO?"

"oh."

"no."

"way worse."

"THE FACT THAT SHE PUTS UP WITH YOU..."

"you put up with me."

"OF COURSE I PUT UP WITH YOU."

"YOU'RE MY BROTHER."

he picked up a mug from the counter.

"...THOUGH."

"YOU WOKE UP LATER THAN I THOUGHT YOU WOULD.."

"WHICH MEANS THE COFFEE I TRIED TO PREPARE FOR YOU IS NOW COLD."

"AWAY IT-"

"hold on."

i stopped him before he poured it into the sink.

"i'll still drink it."

"BUT IT'S COLD."

"coffee's coffee."

"YOU'VE COMPLAINED WHEN IT GOT COLD IN THE PAST."

"well."

"normally it's not made by you."

"........"

"BROTHERLY LOVE ASIDE, YOU DON'T LOOK LIKE YOU'RE ENJOYING IT ANY MORE THAN YOU HAVE PREVIOUSLY."

"i'm finishing it."

"YOU DON'T HAVE TO."

"i am."

"IT'S REALLY FINE. I'M NOT GOING TO BE UPSET THAT YOU DIDN'T."

"there."

setting the now empty mug on the counter.

"however, maybe..."

"if you do make me coffee again."

"might be better if you wake me yourself before it gets cold."

"LATELY YOU HAVE BEEN SLEEPING LIKE A BOULDER. I'M NOT ENTIRELY SURE YOU'D WAKE UP ANY EARLIER IF I TRIED."

"OR YOU TRIED."

"NOT EVEN EIGHT ALARMS HELPED YOU."

"maybe i'll try nine alarms instead of eight."

"AND IF THAT DOESN'T WORK?"

"then i'll set ten alarms."

"AND IF 𝘛𝘏𝘈𝘛 DOESN'T WORK?"

"eleven alarms."

"I'M NOT SURE INFINITELY EXPANDING NUMBERS OF ALARMS IS GOING TO DO IT."

"no, no. can't be infinite."

"number's gotta plateau 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦."

"SO YOU'LL JUST KEEP ADDING ON UNTIL YOU HIT IT...?"

"i mean."

"you got any better ideas?"

"....NO."

"ok. more alarms it is."

"........."

"YOU WOKE UP WHEN UNDYNE KICKED YOUR DOOR IN."

"we're not calling undyne to come wake me up."

"IT 𝘞𝘖𝘜𝘓𝘋 WORK."

"to give me nightmares, maybe."

"i won't get to sleep if i'm thinking about how i'm going to be violently drug from bed come morning."

"WHAT METHOD DID MS. TORIEL USE TO WAKE YOU UP?"

i thought again about the sound i made when hitting the floor.

"uh."

"she didn't mean to wake me, so i don't think it counts as a method."

"kinda just hit the floor."

"...WHAT?"

"HIT THE FLOOR?"

"yeah. fell and hit the floor. an accident, but certainly woke me."

realizing i was digging my own grave if he asked any more questions, i moved on.

"i'm sure i'd wake up if you came and shook me a little."

and then i realized that i was telling him how to wake me up at a normal time.

like a psychopath.

"wait."

"no."

"hold on."

"only wake me up if you make something that'll be cold by noon."

"WHY?"

"because otherwise, i'm rolling back over immediately."

he stared at me for a moment.

"I DON'T KNOW WHY I EVEN ASKED."

"OF COURSE YOU WOULD."

"you should try it."

"TRY WHAT?"

"sleeping in."

"NO!!"

"I DON'T EVEN SLEEP."

"......"

"you kinda do though."

"NO!"

"I ONLY REST MY SOCKETS FOR EXTENDED PERIODS OF TIME ON OCCASION."

"DON'T GET IT CONFUSED!!"

"you should try 'resting your sockets' for an extra-extended period of time than usual."

"NO."

"why?"

"BECAUSE!"

"why?"

"BECAUSE THAT'S LAZY."

"like sleeping?"

"LIKE SLEEPING."

"ok. well."

"just sayin'. you should try it sometime."

"DON'T TRY AND PULL ME INTO YOUR AWFUL BEHAVIORS!!"

"c'mooonn. it's not that bad."

"IT IS. HOW DO YOU HAVE TIME TO DO ANYTHING WHEN YOU GET UP SO LATE?"

"how?"

"that question's solved by a simple answer."

"i have enough time..."

"by doing nothing all day."

"can't not have enough time for nothing."

"CAN'T... NOT..."

"WHATEVER! I'M NOT PLAYING INTO THIS. I REFUSE TO PARTAKE IN YOUR LAZINESS!!"

"one day, one day."

"ARE YOU SAYING ONE DAY I SHOULD, OR ARE YOU SAYING 𝘍𝘖𝘙 ONE DAY I SHOULD."

"yeah."

"WHAT?"

"just one day, some day."

"AH."

"...NO."

"yes."

"NO."

"WHY?"

"you always get up so early."

"AND THAT'S A PROBLEM HOW?"

"not even 𝗼𝗻𝗲 day of slack?"

"NOPE. THE GREAT PAPYRUS DOES NOT FALTER!"

"even just once?"

"i won't tell anyone."

"N-"

"NO."

"aw."

he glanced at the clock.

he did a double-take.

"WHAT."

"SO MUCH TIME HAS BEEN WASTED ON TRYING TO CONVINCE ME TO BE LAZY!!"

"what do you have to do today, anyway?"

"........."

"......"

"wow."

"busy day."

"so 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 why you're still here."

"I-"

"I JUST HAVEN'T FIGURED OUT WHAT I'M DOING QUITE YET!"

"wanna binge watch stuff with me?"

"...YEAH, ALRIGHT. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO WATCH?"

——

and that's how i convinced papyrus to be "lazy" with me for today.

really oughta do that more often.

he needs more breaks.

[mo-mo-and-porkchop]

Freedom is a state of mind

Vikings Fan Fiction

Chapter 10 (Chapter 9 here)

*I do not own any part of the Canon Vikings characters. It is simply my interpretation. I make no profit off of this.

**I do own the original characters and everything associated with them.

Tagging for updates: @whenimaunicorn , @captstefanbrandt , @kenzieam , @mblaqgi , @wish-i-was-a-mermaid , @microsmacrosandneedles , @babeyouareenough , @youbloodymadgenius , @yourpurplequeen

She finished taking care of him for the night before making her way away from his room, stopping in the doorway. Nervously she glanced back at him.

“If there is nothing else, I will return in the morning to change your dressings,” she added flatly.

As she waited for him to break the silence she felt as she would be sick. Her stomach did flips and her heart raced. Her fingers trembled as she held to the frame of the door. The memory of the raids and what she'd lost had gripped at her heart, squeezing it mercilessly. She hadn't been hit with such grief since the tragedy had struck and desperately wished to be relieved of her duties for the night. Thankfully he waved her off in dismissal.

He shifted an arm up under his head as he laid in bed after she'd left. He still felt that initial tug in his gut every time she was near. It was a puzzling feeling. One he had neither felt nor understood any better as the months passed. He couldn't help but wonder what it was that pulled him to her the way that it had.

His mind wandered over the possibilities as sleep began to weigh against his eyelids. Ivar's eyes fell to the doorway as he rolled over and for a fleeting moment she stood before him. A smile tugged at his lips as slumber washed over him.

------

Ivar's brothers couldn't help but notice he, more often than not, was off in the forest and that she was also m.i.a. along with him.

"Where do you think he goes?" Hvitserk asked Ubbe, nodding in the direction of their brother as he caught sight of him crawling from town.

Ubbe watched until he disappeared among the trees. "I don't know," he offered simply.

"He is different, yes?" Hvitserk asked turning back to his brother, his curiosity getting the better of him.

He couldn't deny the change in Ivar's behavior. One most would never notice, but the sons of Ragnar were brothers and saw things hidden to the rest of the world. It hadn't taken him long to notice Ivar's calmer demeanor. There had been no outbursts. No instigation. Not even an arguement between him and Sigurd.

"He has been much more quiet lately, yes," Ubbe agreed.

A wide grin spread itself across Hvitserk's face. He'd been wanting to figure out the mystery ever since the air had begun to change around Ivar. Asking Sigurd was out of the question, the youngest brothers' relationship already shaky at its best, but he wanted help.

This was his chance.

Ubbe's eyes finally found Hvitserk. Whenever he got that glint in his eyes they always ended up in trouble. He doubted now would be any different.

"No," Ubbe said firmly, though it was hard to resist the urge to go along with whatever scheme Hvitserk was planning.

His grin deflated immediately. "No what?" Hvitserk asked feigning ignorance to Ubbe's presumptive denial.

"No to whatever it is you are plotting," Ubbe said definitively.

"What are you denying our brother now?" Sigurd asked casually as he came upon his brothers at the market.

"Nothing," Ubbe lied, his eyes staying with Hvitserk a moment longer. Regardless of Hvitserk's involvement in any mischief, the eldest son of Aslaug knew absolutely nothing good would come from Sigurd finding out about Hvitserk's offer and tagging along.

"Then let him do whatever it is he wants to do," Sigurd offered in defense of Hvitserk.

Hvitserk's eyes caught sight of a familiar, raven-haired slave headed off in the same direction and quickly sided with his older brother.

"Ubbe is right," he said with a quick smile. "It is nothing."

His brother looked at him quizzically, but declined to dig further into his sudden change of heart, hopeful he had listened to him for once.

"I have found something much more entertaining to do anyway," he lied with a sly smirk, motioning to Maragrethe as she walked past through the crowd.

Sigurd and Ubbe followed where he pointed; Sigurd smirking deviously and Ubbe's jealousy creeped up knowing what the two would end up doing. Hvitserk left in her direction, but changed his path for the woods as soon as he was clear of his brothers' sight

------

"No. Like this. Ég er Glohg-ving-uhr ehld-hoos-feef-uhl pah-kah-roif."

"Ég er Gløggvingr eldhúsfifl bakrauf," she repeated with a prideful smile. Ehrlana felt she now knew enough to pass for any other Northerner thanks to Ivar. Surprisingly.

"Good," he said with a slight chuckle.

"What?" she asked growing suspicious.

"It means I am a stingy good for nothing ass," he admitted letting his laugh grow.

"Ivar!" she said feigning offence.

She pulled a bit of grass out and tossed it his way, but laughed all the same. He batted the blades away, his laugh dying down.

"You know enough. What else is there to teach you?" he asked with a shrug.

"I guess nothing," she said convincingly with a sigh, lying back on the ground. "You are useless now."

"I am not useless," he started angrily.

She didn't fight verybhard to contain her laughter.

"That is not funny," he said with a slight pout in his voice.

She shifted an arm under her head and watched as the clouds drifted by in the early evening sun. "I was only joking," she admitted.

Ivar was the one thing that kept her safe among Kattegat and its residents. Everyone feared his wrath and wouldn't dare touch what was his. Including her. But it wasn't his protection alone that made him useful to her. It was their unspoken friendship. He was the one person who, ironically, made her feel normal. Declan was a friend and an ally, yes, but he still treated her as her father's daughter - as a fragile princess. Ivar simply let her be and she returned the favor.

"I know that. I am not stupid," he countered; though a smirk tugged at his lips.

Their ease had been an unexpected side effect of his lessons. One he hadn't fought. He wouldn't deny it felt good to have at least one person seemingly accept him. He also wouldn't let it cloud his judgement of her however. She was after all a slave. He knew what levels they would stoop to in order to gain their freedom. Ehrlana hadn't yet tried anything near as disgraceful as Margatethe, but he wasn't letting their budding friendship distract his knowledge that one day she would. They all did eventually.

-----

The scene unfolding before Hvitserk was far from what he had expected - though he hadn't been one hundred percent sure of what he would have found, but Ivar getting along with her was the last thing he'd imagined.

-----

Ehrlana watched the clouds as they drifted by. "You could teach me the ways of your Gods," she offered as a solution to their educational plateau.

Ehrlana had been watching as the others participated in the celebrations. She’d always been warned about the pagans and their violent nature. While the sacrifices were brutal, she began to understand why they did the things they did. She wasn’t sure if it was the shock to her system at such brutality or the passion they all seemed to share for their rituals, but whatever the reason, their steadfast belief in the Gods fascinated her.

"Won't your Christian God become jeslous," he added with a laugh.

Her family, their people, the neighboring countries…all of them practiced Christianity. But Ehrlana was different. She always had been. As she grew, her need to question her path in life had grown along with her. A non-believer was valueless to her father and he had been furious with her after voicing the curiosity; making sure to keep her aversion well hidden and contained - never surpassing the initial defiance.

"This my home now, yes?" she replied, ignoring his mocking inquiry.

Unexpectedly his heart jumped with her words. Excitement sent a slight chill over him. "Is it?"

She sat up and looked directly in his eyes. It had been long enough that she knew she was here indefinitely. Even with the scare of being discovered, her family had yet to show. If Kattegat was not her home by now it never would be.

"I have not left." Though they both knew as a slave she had no power to decide on travel plans. "I have been here long enough to accept your city as my own. Kattegat is home. You have taught me your tongue well. Now I wish to learn your customs. Of your Gods. The harvest celebration will soon be upon us and I want to be a part of it. I can think of no one better to show me how," she added playing to his ego.

He forced the smile that attempted to show itself away. He would never allow her to see how excited he was to convert a Christian; even if it was just Ehrlana.

"I will think about it," he said with a shrug and slid from atop his rock to leave.

Ehrlana smiled, knowing he would eventually agree. "Then I will wait eagerly for your decision," she said playfully as she stood and followed him. Both unaware of his brother's prying eyes.

-----

As the weeks turned to months Ehrlana’s paranoia over discovery relaxed more and more, eventually fading away. But it would soon return.

She was back at the market restocking ingredients for another batch of Ivar’s balm, it now a part of their nightly routine. And even though he never admitted it, she saw how well it was working. His had pain visibly lessened and she’d been forced to wake him each morning. It was a small victory, one unacknowledged, but a victory nonetheless.

Addis caught sight of her familiar face and followed Ehrlana from stall to stall. His breath nearly caught when she turned his way. He'd been right. Ehrlana was in alive. And here, in Kattegat.

As she made her way to the next stall his voice called out her name, just as Ivar crawled around the corner of a nearby building. The unknown man rushed over to her spouting off something about raids on her homeland and her father. Declan's warning of her discovery and the fear she'd felt came flooding back.

This is who Declan had warned about!

She desperately wanted the man to stay quiet. She grabbed him by the arms to stop his excited movements. He continued rambling on as her eyes darted around looking for Ivar. He had slowed to a stop, hidden and watching. “Ní rachaidh do chabhair ar aghaidh,” she said with a rushed smile.

Speaking her native tongue was the only way to ensure Ivar wouldn’t understand anything if he was near. Her voice was soft and feminine, but there was a ferocity behind it that conveyed her seriousness.

"Ach ní féidir linn labhairt anseo. Buailfimid anocht. Seolfaidh mé focal. Anois téigh.” Her gaze eventually left him and found Ivar. “Téigh!”

Her chest tightened. She could feel the heat of her skin as it flushed with fear.

Her eyes found his and she wrestled it into control and tried her best to prepare for what was to come next.

She glanced over her shoulder at Addis while he rushed from the square. She couldn’t help but notice he left in the direction of Declan’s as he disappeared behind one of the many buildings. When she turned back she fully expected to be met with a barrage of questions from Ivar, but he'd continued on toward the Blacksmith's. Strangely he had decided not to confront her, though she knew he'd seen them.

------

Addis fled to find Declan to tell him of his news. "Declan! Declan, she is here!” he said between breaths when he’d caught up with him. “Ehrlana….I have found her,” he finished, closing the gap between them.

His voice fell to a whisper. As if the two were conspiring against the Queen of Kattegat herself. But this was their way out of this place. This was their way home. He didn’t need listening ears to ruin his plans of leaving.

Declan’s heart dropped. His mind went blank, desperately trying to find a way around all of this. “In a few months time you and I will be in the King's hall, feasting on our behalf,” Addis continued excitedly before Declan could speak. "I’m sending word tonight."

Then, just like that he’d gone, leaving Declan more worried than ever. He had no idea what to do. He'd tried his best to keep Addis from seeing her. He'd run circles around the two for weeks now. The man had no clue just how much danger he could be putting her into. Declan knew Addis was only thinking of the wealth and fame that would come along with such a rescue. He knew the man would spin a tale of some damsel in distress that he valiantly saved. He may have been his father's friend, but he was a storyteller first. Addis could make shoveling manure sound impressive. Especially if it would give his reputation a boost.

-----

Ivar's attention was grabbed with the initial shouting Addis had done. It was the same man who'd been with Ehrlana earlier. He met with someone Ivar had never seen before. His watchful gaze remained focused on the two men when her name was mentioned. From his perch in the blacksmith's he could see everything. He only wished he could hear them.

Sparks flew from the blade he was sharpening, landing in nearby piles of hay unnoticed. Smoke slowly began to rise.

"I do not wish to burn alive today," Sigurd said to his brother as he handed his axe to the smith. Only Sigurd's irritating voice could pull him away from the scene unfolding before him. "Perhaps you should stop staring at your boyfriend and pay attention to your work," he added pointing out at the two men.

Ivar sneered at his brother. Only Sigurd could manage to pull him from the scene. Thanks to him he missed most of their conversation.

"Jealous?"

Sigurd huffed and turned his attention to the smith, watching as his axe was sharpened. Ivar's eyes went back to Addis and Declan, but they had already disappeared. He would simply have to ask Ehrlana later who he was and what exactly he was up to.