First Ax [@the.boneless, video]

[ragnarsson]

[It's clear whoever is using this device is unused to it. The picture shifts around for a few minutes, and Ivar's face furrowed in concentration is seen several times before he finally realizes that it's on. He's sixteen, has blue eyes, and oddly enough, blue sclera as well. There's also an ax tucked at his side. He points the phone he's using outward, showing that he's in the kitchen, seated on a chair. His voice, when he speaks, has a vaguely European accent.] I have figured out what these do.

[He shows in turn the fridge, the sink, and the stove. The last one had caused a few burnt fingers, but hey, he'll survive.] But I still have no idea what this does. [He turns the device to the microwave. He's been playing around with the buttons, and while he's been able to turn it on, he hasn't yet realized food is supposed to go inside of it.] Anyone care to enlighten me?

Comments

[ragnarsson]

Well, they care about me, and I don't deserve it all the time. [He could be awful mean to them when he put his mind to it.] Just because a person does terrible things sometimes doesn't mean you stop loving them.

[His father had abandoned him for ten years. Ivar should have hated him for that. Instead, when he'd come back, he'd found Ragnar an easy person to care about. Maybe it was just part of his natural charm or maybe Ivar was just that desperate to have his father be part of his life. Either way, they'd grown close again in a short amount of time before he'd been cruelly ripped away again from the teenage Viking.]

[pundemic]

I dunno, you seem like a pretty decent guy to me.

[I mean, there's the whole murdering people thing, but Ellie's view of morality is a bit skewed at this point. Killing for revenge, or to survive, those are things she has an intimate understanding of.]

I think there's a difference between people who do terrible things sometimes, when they have to, and people who only do terrible things. I mean, I have no idea what your brothers are like or whatever, so... you know.

[ragnarsson]

Clearly, I'll need to change that opinion.

[Ivar says dryly. He's not a very good person in any sense of the word. Part of it is being a Viking and part of it is just his own cruel nature.]

There is a big difference. It just seems like not everyone sees it that way. The English and the Franks call us barbarians, but it's not as simple as all that. We just do what we must.

[pundemic]

[Somebody with something to prove. She thinks he probably wants to be seen as scary. So she just sort of shrugs. Until he's a dick to her specifically, or somebody she likes for no warranted reason, she won't have a problem with him.]

Well... 'barbarian' seems like something people say about other people when they just don't understand their way of life.

[ragnarsson]

[Ivar's defense mechanism is intimidation. He's used to having to prove himself to people who think he's just a helpless cripple. It's going to take him a long time to realize he doesn't have to do that here.]

Most people never even try. It's easy to dismiss other people out of ignorance.

[The way he likes to dismiss and look down on Christians. He's a bit hypocritical, but at least he's aware enough to note this.]

[pundemic]

[Her tone is pretty fucking wry, all things told.]

Welcome to humans, I guess.