(no subject)

[thewidewideworld]

{From here}

Sinric walks calmly till he is away from the bar and then runs. Something about Eric terrified him. Or thrilled him. Neither of which was good.

He ran till he came to a familiar door, Athelstan's. Having no place of his own and feeling that he owed Athelstan for interceding with Eric, he let himself in, meaning to wait for Athelstan's return to thank him.

He finds himself drawn to the window, sitting on the sill with his feet drawn up under him. He rests his head on his knee as he looks out over the lake, singing the elven song he learn this morning. The sound of it is soothing and he eases himself into a half doze.

Comments

[thewidewideworld]

Sinric comes to himself and let's himself drop from the ledge and into a bow.

"Earl Ragnar. Athelstan is in the bar, speaking with-" he hesitants a moment, "a man named Eric. He said he would come here presently." Its clear in Sinric's demeanor that Eric worried him.

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"Eric Northman?" Ragnar says. "The vampire?"

He walks towards Sinric.

"You don't have to bow to me. Did he scare you?"

[thewidewideworld]

"Yes." Sinric lifts his head slowly but not his eyes. "And yes, he did scare me. But I cannot say why."

[bigarmy_strangepants]

Ragnar comes closer, carefully, as if approaching a spooked foal.

"He is a blood-drinker," he says. "We are food to him. Of course that is scary to any sensible person, as a wolf or bear would be."

Pause.

"Even more so, maybe, because he speaks."

He holds out a half-hesitant arm, offering Sinric an embrace without forcing it.

[thewidewideworld]

Sinric doesn't move into the embrace, but the does lean towards it, too shaken to be sure of himself.

"The way he speaks makes it more so. Something like a serpent."

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"Yes," Ragnar says. "I hate the idea of Athelstan near him. Or you, for that matter."

He reaches out to touch Sinric's shoulder.

[thewidewideworld]

"He's there because of me." Sinric steps into the embrace at the touch, lead into the safety of Ragnar's protection.

[bigarmy_strangepants]

Ragnar hugs him close, just holding him safe.

"I know," he says. "It's Athelstan's free choice to do it, but I don't have to like it."

Pause.

"Athelstan is very brave and clever, and open-minded towards things others might find strange."

[thewidewideworld]

"He shouldn't be in danger because of me. It was foolish of me not to have run when the snake get too near." It's spoken into Ragnar's shoulder.

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"He's not in danger," Ragnar says. "I just don't like the idea of Athelstan being food to that self-important snake."

He keeps holding Sinric, gently stroking his long blond hair.

[athelstanthescribe]

And at that moment, Athelstan himself walks in, looking a little paler but otherwise fine.

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"Athelstan!" Ragnar says, holding out his other arm for him.

[thewidewideworld]

Sinric ducks out of the way, letting Ragnar go to Athelstan. He frets silently, chewing his lip for fear of what he has cost Athelstan.

[athelstanthescribe]

Athelstan reaches out for him, even as he moves into Ragnar's arms.

"Are you all right, Oriens?"

[thewidewideworld]

He nods minutely. "He didn't hurt me." He chews his lip again. " You should not have suffered him because of me. I'm sorry."

[bigarmy_strangepants]

Ragnar reaches out for Sinric at the same moment, pulling him back into the three-ways embrace that Athelstan had started.

In fact, he wraps himself around them both, pulling Sinric into the middle so they're both holding him, and Ragnar is holding them both.

[athelstanthescribe]

"Oh, Oriens... Eric and I have had an arrangement for a long time", Athelstan says quietly. "Nothing that happened today was your fault."

[thewidewideworld]

"I wanted to run when I felt his eyes on me. I should have run but he..." He shakes his head, burying his face in Athelstan's tunic, afraid to face the strange attraction he felt in that moment.

[bigarmy_strangepants]

Ragnar holds them both; he still doesn't like the idea of them being food.

"I hear it gives intense pleasure," he volunteers. "But he shouldn't make or persuade you."

Either of them, really.

[athelstanthescribe]

"It does", Athelstan agrees, stroking the back of Sinric's head. "But I didn't think you were ready for that yet."

[thewidewideworld]

"Is that why you... took my place? What power does he hold over you?"

[bigarmy_strangepants]

Ragnar says nothing, just holding them.

This might become awkward, for other reasons.

[athelstanthescribe]

"A debt I incurred years ago", Athelstan says simply. "At least by his reckoning, and he hasn't asked for more than I can afford to give. But you owe him nothing."

[thewidewideworld]

"How do we free you of this debt?" He asks at once.

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"You own him nothing," Ragnar says. "That debt wouldn't stand before any law-speaker, even one that takes no bribes at all! If you like to go with him, you are a free man, but if you only do because you think you must: - you don not!"

He holds them close.