Rocky Reunion [Closed to Pandora]

[bonelessviking]

Ivar had traveled with the raid to a far off land where he would find a woman with darker hair than him and exotic pale skin. Her eyes were captivating and despite missing his wife, he found more than just a new companion. She had come willingly to his bed, which had been suspicious and had Ivar on his guard until he could tie her up and have her. Yet after that, she didn’t leave. She flattered him with her words and that gaze of hers. It was enchanting and Ivar suspected that she could be a witch. Yet with how good she made him feel emotionally and physically, he was starting not to care.

Once his child was inside of her, he asked her to return to Kattegat with him. It was only after she agreed that he informed her of Pandora. He was oddly certain that she would agree to such an arrangement and surprisingly she did.

Ivar sat close to her in the boat while she stroked his hair through the sea illness. She struggled with his language but picked up plenty and very quickly yet even without speaking, he felt there was a connection. That this peasant woman wasn’t a threat to him and would make quite the second wife, aiding on his goal to spread children. Yet the extra wife aspect was a new piece. For now they weren’t wed, but he had courted ber to know that she would be at his side and be a second wife to him. Nikita smiled when he said this and had agreed.

As they approached the docks of Kattegat, he looked forward to being reunited with Pandora and their son, while also anticipating this introduction.

Comments

[littlepandora]

Pandora had not expected Ivar to be gone so long. His previous raids had been fruitful, but ended before the harvests began. This time, he was gone far longer, but she was occupied with Ragnar, who had began to hold his own neck and back up when held, and who could now roll from his front to his back and his back to his front. He would crawl soon, she was sure of it.

The dreams came often. Vivid images of her husband - in front of armed men pounding swords against their shields, in a tent looking over maps, curled in the embrace of a long haired woman.

When the call came that the boats were returning, she was eager to go. She dressed little Ragnar for the early autumn chill and went with Winnie to the docks. This time, she looked like the suitable wife. Her dress had been dyed with woad into a lovely blue, with cochineal mauve and weld gold embroidery. It was the finest thing she'd made yet, complement to the clothing she'd been sewing and decorating for her husband in his absence. Her hair was curled in neat braids, until she looked the part of a Ragnarsson wife.

Even close to the docks, it was hard to see with all the taller men and women roaming around. Little Ragnar tugged and chewed on her necklace as she strained and peered, looking for her husband. "Do you see him?" she asked Winnie.

"There!" Winnie said pointing.

Finally, she spotted him. A smile started on her lips, only to turn to confusion as she laid eyes on the beautiful woman accompanying him. "Who is she?"

[bonelessviking]

Ivar spots his wife with Ragnar and smiled to them. They didn't have the spark as the new woman did, the excitement of a new toy was difficult to compete with afterall. Once the boat was docked, Ivar utilized his men to aid him in standing and disbarking the boat. Just as many of his brothers had before him, he finally had a wife waiting with child for his arrival beside her slave.

"Wife-" He gestured, standing with his legs in their brace and with Nikita rising behind him as she slowly stepped off the boat. "I have brought us a treat I found in the far off land that no Viking has been to before me."

Nikita stood just behind Ivar and nodded her head, keeping it bowed as she knew that Pandora was already wed to the man she had traveled with.

Ivar came forward to kiss his wife and the head of his son, seeing that they were well while Nikita simply kept her place. "I ought to find my mother," As if there was nothing new about this situation.

[littlepandora]

A treat. Pandora soaks up his affection, encouraging her son to greet his father. Though little Ragnar did not speak yet, he was a friendly, sociable baby. "Congratulations, husband," she says. "On your accomplishment."

But a treat was not a slave, and as she examined the dark haired woman past her husband's side, she thought the dress laid a little oddly. "I will come with you," she says, brightly. That would not be an unusual thing. "You can tell me of this new slave for us to enjoy."

[bonelessviking]

“She is no slave,” Ivar had soaked in the praise, but now he spoke directly as they walked. “She is with my child and we may be wed.” He spoke so casually that he might as well be referring to cattle. "Much like a second wife-" He paused and offered a seemingly kind smile to sooth his wife, "But there is no need to be rid of the first. Think of her as an addition. Like Winnie, but mine and not a slave."

“Come,” He gestured to Nikita to follow and she obediently did, taking in Pandora just as much as Pandora observed her. She knew some words that were spoken but most importantly, she stayed silent and saw no reason to be anymore than she was at that moment.

[littlepandora]

Pandora was not sure if she should fear being set aside. It seemed strange to her that, despite all his sweet words and promises, he came home with another wife. One who never started as a slave. Was the proof that he could father children enough for him? She did not think she had to fear slavery again, but rejection of her and her son - divorce - would be difficult.

Her gaze ticked to the other woman but her slightly confused smile did not change. She would bring this new woman to heel, or the new heifer would have to go. Simple as that. So she smiles for Ivar. "If it makes you happy, husband."

[bonelessviking]

Ivar smiled at the response but looked forward as he walked. He had known that there was a chance Pandora could protest but when she didn’t, he was very pleased. Aaslaug was happy to see him and when he presented the new wife, she didn’t seem as phased as a mother might have been. She had, after all, been the second wife herself and it had panned out very well for her.

Nikita was along for the ride, she smiled when she needed to smile, she bowed when she needed to bow, and simply took in the new place she would now come to call home. She felt Pandora’s eyes on her, but she didn’t feel the threat. Not with her confidence to hold her own and keep a man pleased.

She sat beside Ivar at the great feast to welcome the men home while Pandora sat on the other side, a position that left Ivar feeling like quite the king. He was, after all the one that took after their father the most. He simply saw his brothers as unable to maintain two women at the same time in such a fashion, but he intended to prove that he had such an ability.

[littlepandora]

Seated at Ivar's right, Pandora had the privilege still of filling his cup. It was a small thing, but a wifely duty she clung to in this moment. She had the sneaking suspicion that her time alone with her husband may be limited for a while.

She had had enough time to deliver baby Ragnar to Winnie alone. Perhaps it was merely the paranoia of new motherhood, but she gave strict instructions that her child was to be kept away from the new bride, and never, ever left alone. Perhaps they were just dreams she was having at night, but there was no reason to take a risk.

"Where does the new wife come from?" she asks lightly, over her own cup. Her head was tilted, expression one of warm curiosity.

[bonelessviking]

Ivar was enjoying his spot between the women but kept his attention outward until he was spoken to.

"A land far off away from your own. Far east." Ivar recalled, not entirely caring to get too deep into it. He turned his head to Pandora to speak when his own question arouse. "You may speak to her if you like. Probably best you two get to know each other." Not that he really had ambitions to have them become friends, but talking was what women liked to do, he figured.

[littlepandora]

"This is my land," she pointed out. He had brought her here, and she had done her best to adopt to the ways of her terrifying and beautiful husband. This new wife makes something itch against her spine, but with her small hand on Ivar's arm affectionately, she leans to address the other woman.

"Where do you come from? Who are your people?"

[bonelessviking]

That answer makes Ivar smile approvingly before leaning back for Pandora to speak.

Nikita looks up at the words, understanding well enough to respond clearly, "My land is Russia, but no longer. I am to be married so this will be my home now." She spoke seriously, not offering much emotion towards Pandora; something that may be cautious but could easily be mistaken for cold.

[littlepandora]

Well. Married, certainly, but Pandora was very determined that she'd never be the mother of Ivar's children. Barring Freyja and Frigg themselves from intervening, she'd make sure of it.

Now, though, she smiles as if mildly confused. "You must be happy about this. It is a happy event. Do women from Russia not smile when they are married?"

[bonelessviking]

“I am not yet married.” Nakita clarified, not breaking a smile until her eyes shifted to Ivar. “But I am very happy now that I have Ivar to keep me.”

Ivar offered her a smile for the sake of it, but he was more distracted by what his brothers were doing at that moment to be genuine.

“This is happy event and I am happy. Are you, first wife?”

[littlepandora]

He can keep you, Pandora thinks, her smile smoothing from confusion to mild amusement. But he will put you aside when you give him no children. Perhaps it would be soon. Perhaps it would be in a few years. But she will make sure there are no children, even if she has to sacrifice to the gods to ensure it.

"I am happy. My husband finds pleasure in keeping me so, like the best of men."

[bonelessviking]

"We have both found the best of men then." Nakita smiled, not entirely seeming to react to any perceived or real threat from Pandora. Yet, with her words, she slid a hand on Ivar's forearm affectionately.

Ivar turned at the touch and smiled to her. "Yes," He agreed, despite not entirely being a part of the conversation.

Looking to Pandora, he added, "What occurred while I was away?" His son had looked healthy and things appeared to be normal, but he assumed it was worth asking.

[littlepandora]

Her son is her favorite topic right now - and probably for a long time afterward. "Your son rolls belly," she says excited. "to his back, and then to his belly again. And- and he pushes with arms and legs when he is on his belly. Your mother says he is trying to crawl. She says he is quick to learn."

She has a spare little hope that Ivar will not be so caught up in this new wife that he misses it. She wants him to see the progress Ragnar has made in his absence.

[bonelessviking]

Her prediction was correct and Ivar looked to her with attention, "Are there words?" He hadn't a clue how early babies spoke, so he was genuinely curious.

He smiled at her news. "He is already strong! And he will be quick when he is of age. Maybe one day quicker than his father." He watched her eyes before he spoke again. "Have you missed me?" She had already said it, but his ego needed to hear it again.

[littlepandora]

"Sounds," she confirms. "Almost words."

His interest in their child and the way he seeks reassurance of her attention is comforting. Whoever this other woman is, she is not the favorite. Pandora intends to keep her place as the best-loved wife and mother to his children.

"Always. I felt you gone in each breath, like the air in deep winter," she tells him, cuddling close even though it meant peeking up over his shoulder to see his face properly. But then she pulls away, tilting her head to look down at the table. Just a little bit of distance between them. "I have missed you in a way only a wife can miss her husband." Though she tries to flirt, she cannot help the pink on her cheeks.

[bonelessviking]

"Soon." he had a confident nod when he said this, although barely having seen his son since he returned, he felt he just knew.

"Are you ready to satisfy your husband in his bed tonight?" He inquires, a familiar wicked smile coming to his lips. "I imagined you and your slave kept you content enough until I returned." It was something he had known women to do, and his wife was close with Winnie.

Nakita simply watched the exchange, studying it but remaining silent.

[littlepandora]

Her blush darkens, and she tilts her head to regard him with a coquettish side-long glance. "Always," she says. "But do you not want your new second wife?" She is careful to sound only curious, as if it were perfectly natural that he should bring home a second wife in such a way.

Really, she thinks she's handling this surprisingly well.

[bonelessviking]

"I want you both," He calmly elaborates, his right hand reaching out to touch Nikita's arm as if to bring her into the conversation; which it does aid to perk up the Russian woman.

"My appetite has only grown." Spoken as if this was a normal thing that happened to men sometimes. "So I need more to satisfy it." With his hand closest to Pandora, he intertwined his fingers as if he were some romantic, sweet husband by default rather than the unpredictable man he had become.

[littlepandora]

More to satisfy it her left foot.

Pandora smiles at her husband, sweet and pleasing. Her expression is eager to make him happy. This cannot be so difficult. She has brought Winnie and a few other slaves to heel. This one will not be an exception.

"If it pleases my husband."

[bonelessviking]

"Then shall we go back to our bed and get more acquainted?" Ivar suggested, but it was more of a instruction as he began the small struggle to stand again. Looking to Nikita, he nodded, "Come-" as he took one last swig of his ale and began towards their rooms in the back of the large house.

Hobbling as he always did, Ivar led the way and brought himself to sit in a chair off to the side of the bed where Pandora probably used for feeding. He looked to both of the women, Nikita entering behind Pandora intentionally. She didn't hesitate to move forward and assist Ivar with his leg braces, assuming this as a duty of being his wife.

[littlepandora]

Pandora does not interrupt her. Instead, she observes. Granted, she covers it with stripping off her shoes and then her dress, but she is watching to see how Ivar reacts to this woman. How competent and familiar she is with his braces. Her gaze ticks minutely to the crib, but little Ragnar is not in here. Winnie has him, and most likely has taken him to the wet nurse. But her attention is back on Ivar as the widened neck of her dress slips over her shoulders.

[bonelessviking]

Ivar allows Nikita to remove his leg braces, watching her calmly until he sees Pandora start to strip and then she gets his entire attention. Smiling wide, he reaches for her. “Yes-“ he takes her hand and pulls her close to move in beside him. His mouth goes to her soft skin, kissing her stomach and her breasts since they were at eye level. His arm instinctively wraps around her.

“Do as she does.” He speaks down to Nikita, nodding towards Pandora. Nikita’s eyes flicker to Pandora and then back down as she stands and works to strip herself, far more slowly than the other woman had. She glances up to the couple to be sure she is doing it all correctly. Not that this was new to her and Ivar but things felt very different here. Yet she stood tall when her pale body became entirely exposed.