Julian was neither of the two and therefore confusing and something she didn’t know how to gauge.

“Did you never get told in elementary school that when a girl purposes starts ragging on you that they like you? It’s their way of showing their interest? It doesn’t really change no matter how old you get.” She actually huffed at him, eyes narrowing just slightly at the blonde. Damn it, he only seemed to get even more good looking when he was angry.

Every single thought in her head vanished though when he returned the kiss, there was something incredibly needy in the way she held on to him throughout it until she had pulled back. “More than likely yes, but at least you’ll get to enjoy me not being a brat for the rest of the night?” It was all that she could offer because honestly, she probably would become a handful again in the morning when a new day started.

But for now, she seemed to be calm, even when she was pulled down into his lap, her body shifting so that she could straddle him as her arms went about his neck. There was even the sound of a soft laugh, her breath hot against his neck as she burrowed her face right into the crook of it. For a moment, it didn’t seem so cold anymore as her lips trailed back up his neck to his ear. Fingers twisting back into his hair as she attempted to get as much of a reaction from him as she possibly could before her brother returned.

Little did she know though, that Alex was already back around. It didn’t take long to gather wood but when he’d seen the genuine display between the two, he half hid behind a tree and watched. A small smile on his face as he watched the two because all he ever wanted in this life was for his sister to find some happiness again - perhaps Julian was a way to break that wall down that Annette had forged when the world changed and Alex could have his sister back, the person she was before the plague had struck.

Maybe.

[ ✖ 𝓙. ℬ𝓵𝓪𝓬𝓴𝔀𝓸𝓸𝓭; @silentiumxamoris ]

     — Julian rolled his eyes, fingers indenting into the fabric of her brother's t-shirt as he drew her closer. "No. Because that is bloody well rude and bollocks and sexist as fuck and you know it," he replied with raised eyebrows, poking his tongue out at her childishly. She could be a brat all she liked, the blonde didn't care, as long as she wasn't hateful toward him. "If you go back to being mean to me tomorrow then how can I enjoy it now?" he asked, jutting his bottom lip out into an adorable pout yet his words were utterly sincere.

Clearly how she HAD been acting DID really hurt him.

"You can be a brat all you like, just don't be an utter arsehole. There IS a difference you know." it was said once he tugged her down into his lap yet it didn't seem Annette would voice her thoughts on the matter when he felt her lips on his pulse point and her fingers in his hair— which indeed earned a reaction— a soft moan against her cheek as Julian's nimble fingers traced the curve of her spine, dancing over the vertebrae as he half leaned back so he was nearly laying down with her straddling him.

She wouldn’t turn him in, it was his burden to bare and she had no right in telling others their business. It was hers now as well, especially since they were going to be married come tomorrow. His secrets were her secrets. That’s what Lagertha had told her once, that a wife took on their husband’s secrets too once their hands were joined and Katrina took that seriously.

“O-oh,” the blonde shook her head, giving a nervous laugh. “I wouldn’t dream of doing that, what good would that do me?” When he placed his hand on top of hers, she found herself taking a deep breath because there it was again, her heart starting to race a she looked over at him. Her mouth opened to say something but she just found herself nodding after she couldn’t form words.

When he had hurried off and she was alone, Kat looked around her surroundings again before a nervous smile crossed her face. Walking to the door, she just leaned against the frame to watch him by the water and it wasn’t until he had gathered the dishes and started back that she snapped back to reality and moved away from the door going back to fix the bed up.

By the time he came back to their home, she had put everything else into it’s place and the bed was turned down as well as her over dress taken off and folded neatly onto a chair for tomorrow. “I got the bed ready for you, you must be tired.” She’d wait until he was situated before she would join him, her fingers nervously twisting the fabric of her undergarment in her hand.

[ ✖ 𝓙. ℬ𝓵𝓪𝓬𝓴𝔀𝓸𝓸𝓭; @silentiumxamoris ]

     — Julian was concerned that Katrina now feared him, but for the moment he attempted to push it out of his thoughts. He'd show her. He'd prove that she had no reason to worry and be frightened of him. Becuase it WAS a person's actions instead of words that made them ring true. Anyone could spew promises and lie about them, but if your heart was true and your vows genuine, actions would speak louder than words to calm a nervous heart.

Giving the blonde's hand a final squeeze, Julian (drunkenly) go to his feet, gathering their plates and utensils and cups and carried them outside to wash in the freezing river.

Distantly, he could feel eyes on him, someone watching him, but he didn't have the mental capacity to care at the moment which could have been dangerous for them both if it had been anyone besides Katrina with her eyes on him from the doorway of their home.

Singing softly as he scrubbed, Julian paused for a minute to look up at the night sky just in time to catch a streak of light stream rapidly across the darkness before vanishing in a twinkle. A shooting star! Quickly making a wish— that everything would be perfect tomorrow and they'd remain safe and he'd be able to properly care for Katrina— Julian finished up and gathered everything to carry back inside.

“I’ll be fine,” he said confidently, grabbing his knife and sticking it into his boot. The tone that Julian gave made purposely walk past him and rest his hand on Julian’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze before he wandered off to the woods.

When Julian started talking to Annette once her brother was gone, she looked everywhere but at him. She felt like an idiot and worse yet, her pride had been wounded somehow by having to be saved by someone else. She prided herself in being the hero to her own story, the one that protected other people and here she was, having been rescued by someone else. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to slip you know. I should have been more careful.”

“Wait, what?!” Annette asked, shooting to sit up and shrugging his jacket off her, pulling the one blanket around her tightly. “Wow. You know, they always say boys are blind but you, Julian have to be the blindest idiot that I have ever met in my life! I do not dislike you, I have been trying to do everything that I can do aside from throwing myself at you again to show that I do like you. Since we all know how well it was received when I did that.”

Scoffing, she shook her head, letting the blanket drop a bit, wearing Alex’s shirt which was far too large for her small body and a pair of her jeans that had holes all over. “You know what? You don’t get to leave us, not after everything that we’ve been through the last little bit and we trusted you. My brother adores you and I will not let you hurt him because you have these blinders on that I somehow I hate you.” To say that Annette was furious right now might be a understatement because this just wasn’t about her anymore. It was about her brother too.

She had started getting up to move away from him before she stopped and turned back to him, putting her hand around the back of his neck and promptly pressing her lips to his in a kiss while her fingers threaded into his hair, gripping and twisting it with them. Her teeth bit down on his bottom lip as she pulled away, breathless. “Does that feel like I’m pretending to like you?”

[ ✖ 𝓙. ℬ𝓵𝓪𝓬𝓴𝔀𝓸𝓸𝓭; @silentiumxamoris ]

     — Julian couldn't hold back the faint smile that tugged at his lips nor was he able to stop himself from leaning his cheek against the other boy's dark head for a moment of stolen comfort, wishing he wouldn’t have to let go. So instead, he waited until Alex pulled away first and then he drifted to where Annette sat huddled beneath a pile of blankets and joined her for the warmth. 

The last he saw of the other boy before he disappeared into the darkness of the woods was when he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up as Alex gave the round of it a reassuring squeeze. Julian smiled up at him tiredly and then watched as he turned away and was gone.

— Leaving him alone with his sister.

No time like the present to get it all out. Especially after a near-death experience such as hers.

Julian rubbed at his forehead in utter exhaustion. "I told you. But you never bloody well listen to me now, do you?" he replied sharply, a heavy weariness in his tone as he sighed loudly. Why did he choose to have this conversation with her NOW? All he wanted was to curl up like an oversized cat in front of the fire, warm up and sleep for a year.

But he also knew that if he didn't he wouldn't talk about it EVER.

Julian looked at her in utter disbelief, balking and sputtering as words momentarily failed him— until finally, the English vocabulary was at his disposal once more and the boy shot to his feet as he watched her get up to move away, sky-hued eyes impossibly wide in their sockets. It was her trying to WALK AWAY from him that FINALLY got his mouth working again, a peal of strained high pitched laughter bursting past his lips being the first sound to leave it. "Have you gone absolutely mental? I've tried to fucking talk to you but all you do is make glib jokes and laugh at me or send mixed signals and it fucking HURTS, okay? Do you even get that, Annie? You don't understand what it does when I’m— "

And then she was grabbing him, pulling him down to her height, fingers in his hair, her lips on his, kissing him breathless.

Julian melted into Annette's touch, into her lips, even moaned her name softly against her mouth when she pulled his hair and drug her teeth against the sensitive flesh of his bottom lip. "No, but will you go back to being a dreadful twat tomorrow?" he whispered with a semi-playful tilt to his lips, blue eyes ping-ponging between her similar gaze, pleading. "You're killing me, smalls," he whined, gaze lowering to Annette’s lips for a second before he sat back hard on the ground and pulled her down with him so she was on his lap. 

“I was treated as well as can be expected,” which to be honest was not the best but she hadn’t had ill happen to her either until recently. “The Queen has always looked after me, even when Ragnar was ruling. That’s not to say that things didn’t happen of course, but I’ve remained as innocent as a woman can be during these times.” It was a honest answer, things had happened but Katrina had persevered through them. Learning from them even.

Listening to his story, her eyes widened a bit. He hunted their kind? Killed them?! The story of how his family passed was horrible enough but to hunt their own kind? That had to be even worse. She couldn’t imagine ever doing that to someone of their nature. It must have weighed on him now over what he’s done, right? She wasn’t frightened of him, there was no need, if something were to happen to her then she knew the Queen would have Julian’s head.

Katrina couldn’t explain why her heart picked up a beat whenever he’d look at her, it made her feel flustered and it wasn’t something she was particularly used to. It was a different look from how she was normally glanced upon. It wasn’t just desire from the other, it was appreciation almost? Maybe? Or perhaps she was just wanting something so badly that everyone else had she was imagining it.

Gathering the plates, she situated them to plate the fish, quiet for a moment before she spoke again. “It must have been hard for you, but now you’re safe and even if everyone is afraid of you here or doesn’t like you, you are safe. Lagertha will see to that.” Biting her lip, she handed him a plate before taking a small portion for herself, seating herself back down next to him before pouring him another cup of wine. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt safe, I always knew there was something different about me, but I didn’t know what it was exactly. I’m scared, Julian. I don’t want to hurt anyone that I care for.”

[ ✖ 𝓙. ℬ𝓵𝓪𝓬𝓴𝔀𝓸𝓸𝓭; @silentiumxamoris ]

     — Julian's breath sharply sucked inward past his teeth at Katrina's omission before he went silent for a few beats out of respect for her before finally speaking, sky-colored hues searching out hers as he made his vow. "Please know, if anyone ever attempts to harm you again they will atone for their actions. I'll make sure of it. Personally." his voice was flat— deadly— and entirely serious. The one thing Julian couldn't condone or agree with was slavery— something that the Northmen avidly practiced. Spoils of battle. Raids. It disgusted him. They were PEOPLE, not trinkets.

Grimacing and lowering his gaze while the flaxen-haired girl doled out the fish between them, Julian sighed. His biggest worry was Katrina hating or fearing him and he couldn't help but wonder if being truthful with her had been the wrong course of action and a mistake. What if she turned him in? Told Lagertha? Truly trusting someone was difficult. But what could he do now? Whats done is done. No way to go back now.

Taking the plate of fish, Julian slapped a hand down over the cup. "No more," he laughed, "Unless you're TRYING to get me drunk that is." he teased with a playful quirk of one eyebrow, the pensive expression from a minute ago sliding away to transition into one of amusement as he lifted the cup and drank deeply of the honey flavored contents. 

Julian’s drunk demeanor sobered however at Katrina's confession, the playfully unrestrained smile he wore crashing from his features. "You won't. I'll help you learn. Starting tomorrow. We'll go out and practice and you'll learn to control it like I have and then you will no longer worry about hurting others." he smiled gently, reaching over and laying a hand over hers and giving it a reassuring squeeze. "I give you my word, Katrina. I'll keep you safe. If you give me the chance to do so of course."

@bannumblood

                    pushed the ❤ on this lill’ sc !!

                                            No, she had not expected it. None had, truthfully. First Ragnar’s murder, now Aslaug’s. By the hands of someone loved and trusted nonetheless. There was conflict in the small herbalist’s heart for both women, Lagertha and Aslaug, were friends, good friends even. Not even Floki had seen it coming; something that also had worried him tremendously.      Many were celebrating, the hal filled with plenty of people who had returned from their trip to the Mediterranean. She was one of them, together with her family. But where her children were already asleep, and her husband had scampered off to isolate himself from the crowd, Helga sat there alone around the fire, a brimmed cup in her hands, but she did not seem to be able to push herself and take a proper drink from it.      Was she the only one quiet? No- thankfully not. More seemed to be observing. Newcomers maybe, or those who had travelled alongside Lagertha from Hedeby perhaps. Rumours were already spreading that another raid was planned to avenge Ragnar’s death. One that without any doubt would also attract many who had been inspired by the old king.

     ❝ None would mind if you poured yourself a drink- ❞  the blonde hummed, the tip of her forefinger tapping against the edge of her cup, dark hues cast up to the man sitting not so far away from her.  ❝ You seem a little lost. ❞

[ ✖ 𝓙. ℬ𝓵𝓪𝓬𝓴𝔀𝓸𝓸𝓭; @theboatbuilderswife  ]

     — Julian was indeed lost. Not in the way that Helga perhaps meant, but in the way of not knowing what the coming days would hold.

There were whispers of another raid to avenge Ragnar's death and he thought that perhaps he'd depart with the others as well to participate in the battle, make himself useful. Anything to keep moving, to not have to stop and think for longer than a night or two.

The blonde had been staring into the flickering, dancing flames of the fire when Helga spoke, jarring him from his reverie and in turn catching his attention. Julian chuckled low in his throat and offered her a playfully lopsided smile of amusement as he lifted his cup to show her he had already done so. "I'd like to hope not considering I already have." he joked with a soft snort of laughter, realizing suddenly that they were— or had been— the only two in the hall not enjoying themselves and sitting quietly instead. "Perhaps I am. I'm not certain anymore." he glanced up at her, looking a tad wistful.

As soon as he spoke his accent would give him away as not being a native Northerner despite his outward appearance. In fact, he sounded similar to Athelstan, revealing that he was also of English heritage and not a native Viking.

"How about you? Are you lost? You seem to be just as quiet as I am during this joyous celebration."