For Sinric

[athelstanthescribe]

Athelstan's room is almost pathologically neat, the bed made and everything in its place.

He stands aside to let Sinric in, the bathroom door standing open to reveal the huge sunken bath inside.

Comments

[thewidewideworld]

"Machine?" He asks, eyes bright and eager as any boy. "Machines for what?"

[athelstanthescribe]

"For chores around the house, cooking and cleaning. And they have ways to bring water right into the house and keep it stored and hot - or cold - until it's needed."

[thewidewideworld]

He frowns. "Like aqueducts?" That doesn't seem that new to him. Constantinople has very good aqueducts.

[athelstanthescribe]

"Not into the city", he tries to explain. "Into each individual house, with pipes. And they can keep their houses as hot or cool as they like, no matter the weather."

[thewidewideworld]

"Really? Can you show me?" He asks excitedly.

[athelstanthescribe]

"Come into the bathroom", he says, stirring in preparation to get up, "and I'll show you what I can of the arrangement in there."

[bigarmy_strangepants]

At this moment, there is a knock on the connecting door.

[athelstanthescribe]

Athelstan glances to Sinric, unashamed on his own account but not wanting to embarrass his new - friend.

"Shall I let him in?"

[thewidewideworld]

"It's your lord?" He looks mildly panicked, a little of that vulnerability still leaking through. "One moment."

He pulls back on the dress and slides the brooches in place, arranging himself as the demure servant in the corner and then nods.

[bigarmy_strangepants]

The knock comes again, patiently -- Ragnar will not simply invade. At least not in Athelstan's room. Countries across the sea are another thing entirely.

[athelstanthescribe]

"It's all right", he says to Sinric calmly, but does nothing to stop him dressing if it makes him feel better. "Come in, Ragnar!"

[thewidewideworld]

Sinric lowers his eyes, assuming a position of subservience. He hasn't yet connected Athelstan's Earl with the handsome Viking from the bar.

[bigarmy_strangepants]

Ragnar walks in, in breeches and without a shirt, and -- starts laughing!

"Good morning Athelstan, Sinric!" he says. "I see you found each other."

He did mention the name of Sinric to Athelstan when he told him of the wanderer, did he? Ragnar isn't certain. They spoke infinitely much, about almost everything upon the ash tree of worlds, in the last four years or more -- and they weren't always sober.

[athelstanthescribe]

"Sinric?" Athelstan asks, eyebrows raised. "Do you prefer that, or Oriens?"

He doesn't judge the use of different names.

[thewidewideworld]

Sinric takes a slight step back. At first to was delighted to see the Viking he flirted with in the bar but then he uses a name Sinric has never used here.

"I-" He swallows, still unbalanced by this. "Sinric is... my name. But I've never- I don't use it often."

[bigarmy_strangepants]

Oops, so Sinric really didn't mention it last night,

"You were very full of hemp smoke," Ragnar says. "sweet, cuddly and hungry, too. I am sorry; tell me what you want to be called, and I'll stick by it."

He looks at Athelstan, trying to gauge whether the name of Sinric means anything to him.

[athelstanthescribe]

It doesn't seem to - Ragnar might well have mentioned it only for it to get lost in four years of conversation.

"Oriens was the name I was given", Athelstan offers.

[thewidewideworld]

"I quite like Oriens." He answers, starting to steady himself. "It has a nice feel to it."

He moves towards Ragnar, flirtatious mask returning. "So you are the great earl who deserves such a wonderful bath."

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"I am," Ragnar says. "And it's not just baths I am getting, Oriens."

He looks at Athelstan -- how much does Sinric know yet?

Ragnar is willing to be discreet and even forgo a kiss for 'Good Morning' if Athelstan would be careful around somebody from their world, even one that Athelstan has clearly shared his bed with.

[athelstanthescribe]

"He knows", Athelstan says with a small smile. "We can trust him."

After all, Oriens has secrets of his own.

[thewidewideworld]

"You're a very fortunate man, Earl Ragnar. To have such a kind-hearted and gentle lover."

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"You can't even begin to know yet just how wonderful Athelstan is," Ragnar declares. "I thank Fate every day that it gave him to me."

He crosses the room to Athelstan, takes him in his arm, and kisses him deeply and lovingly.

Being able to touch his beloved in front of a witness is a special thrill, a feeling of both belonging and possessiveness he is usually denied.

[athelstanthescribe]

Athelstan blinks, having not expected such a forthright action, but quickly relaxes into the kiss.

[thewidewideworld]

Sinric chuckles and lounges a little on the bed to watch. "He is a treasure, sure enough." The warmth is his own thighs attests to that.

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"Do you mind?" Ragnar whispers against Athelstan's lips; he doesn't want to embarrass him.

He'll have to explain later who Sinric actually is, and how much they owe him -- even though this beautiful youth has no more idea of it than a piece of amber has of the Silk Road.