"And I never will." She had no reason to but also because she valued his trust too much to ever sacrifice it for the sake of her comfort. It didn't matter to her that he couldn't always reciprocate; the world had been harsh to him and there would always be a price for that.
Taking another sip of her wine, Ruby leans back in her chair, deciding to start at the beginning.
"I was born a long time ago. Long before you were born, before your father even. I was not born into a kind world, not for people like me, anyway. I was caught out and I was left for dead." Another sip of her wine. "I was approached that night, while I lay dying in the street and I was offered a chance to be who I am supposed to be. At a cost.
"I'm not a witch but I'm not human either. I sacrificed my humanity and became something more. Some people would call me demon, others would call me vampir. Vampire. It's why my blood helps you and it's why I knew you were special. It's also why I don't age."
Ivar laced his fingers together and propped them under his chin as he listened to Ruby's tale. Whatever he'd been expecting her to tell him, it hadn't quite been something so extraordinary and remarkable, but he also didn't feel repulsed or like he needed to push her away. He still felt he could trust Ruby with his life.
"Well--" He said, pausing for another sip of the drink. "--You're an old lady," Ivar teased lightly. Much like Ragnar, he covered up a lot of what he felt with humor. "Is that why you were attracted to my family? Because we are different like you are, being varúlfur?"
At his tease regarding her age, Ruby lets out a soft laugh. "I am. I'm probably older than your father's father." Maybe even older still, despite her appearance.
"I won't deny that I was intrigued by the fact that your father and uncle weren't human like the men and women they fought alongside but my true interest came with you. Your mother protected you and loved you so fiercely despite the fact that she had been told that putting you out of your misery would be better for you. You were special. So I offered her my assistance in helping to ease your pain and I decided then that I would do whatever I had to to keep you safe until you were able to do it yourself.
"I didn't stay in Kattegat for your family. I stay for you."
"Yes, definitely an old, old lady. You must have been around when the Seer was a boy." If the old prophet's words are true, he's supposedly hundreds of years old. One can never tell with the gods' mouthpiece if he's being serious or just trying to teach his subjects a lesson.
The fact that Ruby was like the precious few others including Ragnar, Aslaug, and Freydis who had seen greatness within Ivar despite his disability made Ivar's heart swell with joy. Really, throughout the course of his life, that's all he's ever wanted to hear. It shows as his ice-blue eyes light up as Ruby tells him why she's stayed so long in Kattegat.
"Well then." He swallows down most of his emotions before he can form a proper response. "I hope I have given you reason to confirm the decision you have made."
"Careful. Hasn't anyone ever taught you to respect your elders?" Ruby laughs softly, finishing her drink and placing the cup down on the table. "Perhaps. I travelled for a long while before settling here." Something she'd only done when she'd come across Ragnar Lothbrok and his brother.
Reaching out, Ruby rests a hand on Ivar's knee gently. "You have far exceeded all my hopes for you."
"Nope. They taught me to kill my elders for being too slow to keep up with me any longer," Ivar says cheerfully. Really, he'd rather stay young forever than grow old and decrepit. He'd seen what that had done to his father and wishes to avoid a similar fate.
At that, Ivar flat-out blushes. "I only ever tried to not only be the equal of all those around me but to exceed what even they could do." So many Norsemen were given so much, like his brothers, and yet were content with mediocrity. Ivar would never understand it. All he's ever wanted was to be just like anyone else, and when he finally got there, he decided he wanted to be better then all of them as well.
"Lucky for me, I'll never have the issue of keeping up." Ruby winks, expression smug and teasing. It's not a dig at his disability and she hopes he doesn't take it as such; she was probably the only living person who didn't see it as a weakness. Floki, she supposed. One of two, then.
Ruby can smell the shift in blood before his cheeks colour and she knows he appreciates he honestly. "If you were not a wolf, Ivar, I'd have turned you. I'd have selfishly kept you and everything you are to myself.
Ivar smiles when she says she would have changed him. "I imagine that's not something that you offer to many people." It seems like becoming a vampire would be a great honor and also very much a burden.
"We shall then. As a wolf, nothing can get close to harming or touching me. And with you by my side, we can be invincible." Already, Ivar's dreaming of bigger and better conquests than just what he's done so far. He'll end up ruling over all that he's ever dreamed of one way or another.
"I've never offered it to anyone." Thankfully, that had never been part of the deal that she made; she was welcome to, of course but there was no obligation to make more.
"As a human, nothing can get close to harming or touching you. I'd kill anyone who tried before they even had a chance to raise their weapon." Ivar had never seen Ruby at her full power and maybe it was time to show him what she was capable of doing. "Together, we could rule the world."
"Well, I do so love being special," Ivar confesses. Really, he does. Knowing that Ruby saw him as being worthy of her gift was something that warmed Ivar's two-sizes-too-small little heart.
"Then you'll need to accompany me the next time I'm on the battlefield," Ivar says. Ruby has always had the propensity for nothing being able to touch her and now he knows why. He's already eager to see what she could do once she really let loose.
"The world?" Ivar echoes. He isn't sure how to even picture that. His worldview has always been limited to where Vikings have already roamed but he knows that's not all there is to what actually makes up the world. To think about going where no Norseman has gone before and having it all for the taking sounds like the achievement of all he's wanted to accomplish.
"You always have been in my eyes." Cupping his cheek, Ruby smiles. "And your mother's. I've never known anyone to love anyone the way she loved you."
Ruby had always been fond of Aslaug; there'd just been something about her that was good and the way she'd entrusted her most favoured son with someone like her had always meant the world to her. "I don't think your worshippers are ready to see someone like me on the battlefield. But perhaps I could just show you one day."
She nods. "The world." Ruby had travelled further than any of the Vikings had ever dreamed of, knew places they'd never imagined and she wanted to show it all to Ivar. "Especially with my ability to make us an army."
Ivar's eyes drop down and his face falls as Ruby mentions Aslaug. Even now, the pain of missing his mother will creep up and sting him in the heart when he's least expecting it. Even Ruby's company can't soothe that entirely from his mind.
"Then that is a day I will gladly look forward to," Ivar says with all earnestness. He really would love to see Ruby tearing through his enemies as though they are made of wet paper.
"Someday, when I am ready, we shall." He's not quite there yet, still coming into his own in terms of his fighting ability and strategic analysis. But someday sooner rather than later he will be and then....well, then the world will be their's for the taking.
Running a hand through Ivar's hair, Ruby presses a soft kiss to his head and sighs. She knows exactly what it does to him, to think of his mother but she also knows that she's the only one who can speak of her true feelings towards her youngest son.
"One day soon, I promise.
"You'll be ready before you know it, Ivar. You've come so far, so quickly."
He leans into the touch of Ruby as she kisses him. So few people show him kindness these days. Ivar appreciates the moments when someone shows him love or a soft nature to him since both of them are so rare in his life.
"The moment I think I am ready for it, I will tell you. Then we shall wage a war on the whole world." A very unhinged.
With another soft smile, Ruby pours them both another drink and reclaims her chair, crossing her legs and leaning back, beaming with pride.
"You will be ready before you even know it, my darling boy. And then we'll take this world by storm. Show them the true might of Ivar the Boneless, son of Ragnar Lothbrok."
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Taking another sip of her wine, Ruby leans back in her chair, deciding to start at the beginning.
"I was born a long time ago. Long before you were born, before your father even. I was not born into a kind world, not for people like me, anyway. I was caught out and I was left for dead." Another sip of her wine. "I was approached that night, while I lay dying in the street and I was offered a chance to be who I am supposed to be. At a cost.
"I'm not a witch but I'm not human either. I sacrificed my humanity and became something more. Some people would call me demon, others would call me vampir. Vampire. It's why my blood helps you and it's why I knew you were special. It's also why I don't age."
no subject
"Well--" He said, pausing for another sip of the drink. "--You're an old lady," Ivar teased lightly. Much like Ragnar, he covered up a lot of what he felt with humor. "Is that why you were attracted to my family? Because we are different like you are, being varúlfur?"
no subject
"I won't deny that I was intrigued by the fact that your father and uncle weren't human like the men and women they fought alongside but my true interest came with you. Your mother protected you and loved you so fiercely despite the fact that she had been told that putting you out of your misery would be better for you. You were special. So I offered her my assistance in helping to ease your pain and I decided then that I would do whatever I had to to keep you safe until you were able to do it yourself.
"I didn't stay in Kattegat for your family. I stay for you."
no subject
The fact that Ruby was like the precious few others including Ragnar, Aslaug, and Freydis who had seen greatness within Ivar despite his disability made Ivar's heart swell with joy. Really, throughout the course of his life, that's all he's ever wanted to hear. It shows as his ice-blue eyes light up as Ruby tells him why she's stayed so long in Kattegat.
"Well then." He swallows down most of his emotions before he can form a proper response. "I hope I have given you reason to confirm the decision you have made."
no subject
Reaching out, Ruby rests a hand on Ivar's knee gently. "You have far exceeded all my hopes for you."
no subject
At that, Ivar flat-out blushes. "I only ever tried to not only be the equal of all those around me but to exceed what even they could do." So many Norsemen were given so much, like his brothers, and yet were content with mediocrity. Ivar would never understand it. All he's ever wanted was to be just like anyone else, and when he finally got there, he decided he wanted to be better then all of them as well.
no subject
Ruby can smell the shift in blood before his cheeks colour and she knows he appreciates he honestly. "If you were not a wolf, Ivar, I'd have turned you. I'd have selfishly kept you and everything you are to myself.
"We could be formidable."
no subject
"We shall then. As a wolf, nothing can get close to harming or touching me. And with you by my side, we can be invincible." Already, Ivar's dreaming of bigger and better conquests than just what he's done so far. He'll end up ruling over all that he's ever dreamed of one way or another.
no subject
"As a human, nothing can get close to harming or touching you. I'd kill anyone who tried before they even had a chance to raise their weapon." Ivar had never seen Ruby at her full power and maybe it was time to show him what she was capable of doing. "Together, we could rule the world."
no subject
"Then you'll need to accompany me the next time I'm on the battlefield," Ivar says. Ruby has always had the propensity for nothing being able to touch her and now he knows why. He's already eager to see what she could do once she really let loose.
"The world?" Ivar echoes. He isn't sure how to even picture that. His worldview has always been limited to where Vikings have already roamed but he knows that's not all there is to what actually makes up the world. To think about going where no Norseman has gone before and having it all for the taking sounds like the achievement of all he's wanted to accomplish.
no subject
Ruby had always been fond of Aslaug; there'd just been something about her that was good and the way she'd entrusted her most favoured son with someone like her had always meant the world to her. "I don't think your worshippers are ready to see someone like me on the battlefield. But perhaps I could just show you one day."
She nods. "The world." Ruby had travelled further than any of the Vikings had ever dreamed of, knew places they'd never imagined and she wanted to show it all to Ivar. "Especially with my ability to make us an army."
no subject
"Then that is a day I will gladly look forward to," Ivar says with all earnestness. He really would love to see Ruby tearing through his enemies as though they are made of wet paper.
"Someday, when I am ready, we shall." He's not quite there yet, still coming into his own in terms of his fighting ability and strategic analysis. But someday sooner rather than later he will be and then....well, then the world will be their's for the taking.
no subject
"One day soon, I promise.
"You'll be ready before you know it, Ivar. You've come so far, so quickly."
no subject
"The moment I think I am ready for it, I will tell you. Then we shall wage a war on the whole world." A very unhinged.
no subject
"You will be ready before you even know it, my darling boy. And then we'll take this world by storm. Show them the true might of Ivar the Boneless, son of Ragnar Lothbrok."