Ratiljóst

“You sure you want to share me part of that time, Kats? I mean, this is me we’re talking about. I can be a massive ass handful, plus some. Even I don’t want to share me with me.” He teased, giving her a hard time. Even though he and Laela are dating, and his self proclaimed neediness makes it where he wants to spend as much free time with her as possible, he knows it’s important to not allow himself to get too wrapped up to the point they never hang out with their friends. That’s never healthy. Matt started to dance with Katla, purposely doing a slow dance to a fast number, which confused the people around them but hell, why not do something different? “You got any resolutions lined up for the new year? I haven’t even started to think of any of my own. Basically go in blind and hope things turn out decent.” Then he thought of something. “Maybe I’ll shave my head. Does that count as a resolution?”

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“Think of it as a favor I’m doing for you and Laela. I’ve had years to get used to you, and I wouldn’t want you to overwhelm her and scare her off,” she teased in return, smiling warmly. In all honesty, she was just happy to see the smile on his face when he talked about the princess. Any worry or skepticism she felt on his behalf, she kept to herself, these things had a way of working themselves out, even if Laela’s position would make things difficult. She’d found herself thinking about that more and more lately, the possibility of what would happen in the future between a pirate and a royal who found themselves romantically entangled... she couldn’t quite put her finger on why. She giggled as Matt slowed down their dance, bumping into other confused people on the dance floor. Katla didn’t care, she was having fun, and spending time with Matt brought out the fun and mischief inside of her, and she enjoyed it too much to want to put a stop to it. “That’s not a bad way to start the year,” she pointed out. “I think I might try to start talking to my family more, it’s been a long time, and I miss them, even if it’s difficult to do.” She let out a cackle, “I don’t think so but I do still think you should absolutely do it.”

♚

Empathy had never been something Rian lacked— it had always been difficult for him to reconcile his empathy with the fact that he needed to maintain an ironclad hold on objectivity wherever possible if he was going to be King one day. Still, he felt something cracking open in him as he listened to Katla speak about her home– as her watched her features shift and brighten and fall again all in the course of a bit of conversation. He shifted, reaching for her after a moment to rest his hand on her forearm– an apology settling on the back of his tongue and remaining there stubbornly even as he attempted to voice it. He cleared his throat, “You don’t have to stop talking about it,” He said quietly, an earnestness in his voice and in his expression– a softness he could never shake. “I’ve been to quite a few places but never Iceland. If you… want to talk about it at all I would love to listen– the language as well– I can’t speak it but if you’d like to– even if I won’t understand it I can essentially promise I’ll enjoy hearing it. I’ve always been a bit of a… well, nerd– for languages. For loads of things but languages are certainly one of them.”

He imagined his reassurance was quite low on the list of things Katla needed in that moment but it was all Rian had to offer and he would offer it freely if it would make her feel more comfortable around him or give her space to process what he was sure was a case of homesickness he would never quite understand. “Maybe… you could tell me all of the things worth seeing. Aside from, you know, the country as a whole. That way if I ever do make it out to visit I’ll have notes on what to see from an expert,” He continued, his gaze falling to meet Katla’s properly as he spoke. “Would that be okay?”

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Katla inhaled sharply when she felt Rian’s hand on her arm, not that she didn’t like it, it just caught her by surprise. She looked at him, and there was something in his expression that she just couldn’t put her finger on, and it bothered her that she couldn’t quite place it. As she listened to him talk she only grew more baffled, “Well, first of all, I’d start by recommending you go there as soon as you get the chance. In my completely unbiased opinion, it’s the most beautiful place in the whole world,” she smiled. “I can teach you a few words if you’d like. Hello is halló, which isn’t the most exciting I’ll admit, but we also have ég elska þig, which means I love you, which is a little less useful for tourists, but I love the way it sounds. I’m from a town called Stykkishólmur, it’s in the west of Iceland, on the Snæfellsnes peninsula. It’s a small town, there’s only about 1,200 people there, and it’s breathtaking there.” 

She tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, “I love languages as well, but the ones I’ve learned are mostly the other Nordic ones. We had to learn Danish in school, but over the years I’ve picked up a few more. You kind of have to when your native language is Icelandic,” she let out a soft laugh. “Well, of course you’ll want to see Reykjavik, I went to school there for a few years, it’s right on the sea, it’s lovely. More than that, I think you’ll want to see some of the big natural sights, like Geysir, the one that all of the other geysers are named after, and if you come in the winter, you might be able to see the Northern Lights.” 

⚓

“Luckily for you and your logic I didn’t get you anything for your birthday then, isn’t it?” Duncan quipped in reply. “I made it for you which I’ve always felt is loads better than buyin’ things if I can help it,” He continued, his smile remaining firmly in place even as his eyes rolled skyward at her comment. “I don’t make it much of a habit to go home with anyone after I’ve been drinkin’, Kat– or much at all unless I’m in a real good mood. ‘Sides, I’ve been wanting to give it to you for days and I’ve been trying to be patient but if I don’t hand it over soon I might explode and I trust you don’t want that on your conscience.” His expression shifted– something stern and steely in his features for a fraction of a second before it cracked in favor of the warm, dimpled smile he offered his friend, reaching out to hold her against his chest just long enough for him to press a kiss to the top of her head. “Then a drink you’ll have, lass,” Duncan declared brightly, turning to the bartender with an eager request for a surprise for the pair of them before he returned his attention to his friend. “Remember: if it’s shite it’s not my fault and I won’t be taking criticism for it, yeah?”

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Katla’s expression softened, and she stood still for a moment, “You made me something? That’s incredibly sweet and completely unnecessary.” Still, she reached out her arms and wrapped Duncan in a warm hug, “Thank you.” She grinned, “Well, I certainly can’t have you exploding, they’d make me responsible for the clean up and I’d never get your guts out of my hair, and that’s just not a look I can pull off, Lewis.” She scrunched her nose up a bit as he kissed her head, and she stood up on her tiptoes and pressed a quick peck on his cheek. Katla laughed, feeling the sensation rumble through her stomach and her body, and not for the first time, she was overwhelmed with gratitude for the fact that she had friends like this. “Oh, I can’t guarantee that at all, if it’s shit there’s no one to blame but you, and if it’s good, all the credit goes to our friend the bartender here.”

“What on Earth do you mean, if I had to? I can’t imagine a scenario where I would, or could kill anyone.”

“I don’t do romantic entanglements anymore.”

“My hair is fair enough that I’ve never felt the need to. What an odd thing to be saying about someone.” 

“Don’t be ridiculous.” 

“Aww, that’s incredibly sweet!” Katla grinned, “I always knew you had it within you, but it’s nice to see you finally embracing your sappy side.” She leaned her head against his shoulder, letting out a contented sigh, “We should do this kind of thing more often, I feel like we rarely get the chance to just... relax and hang out.”

Have they ever committed a murder?

“What kind of a question is this? Absolutely not. Unless you count fishing as murder.”

“That’s what I thought, too! I’ve got the shakes, Katla. They’re bad. At least a little bit of us time will get rid of those pesky withdrawal symptoms.” He took her hand and gave her a tug to come to him, giving his bestie a hug. He knows she had a sucky time not too far back with a certain anniversary and sure, time has past since then and they’ve celebrated a couple birthdays and Christmas, it doesn’t diminish his need to be a type of brother to her. “A girl has to just ask me to dance, is what. I don’t think Laes will mind too much. Gives her a break from my needy ass.” he didn’t mind admitting that about himself because it’s completely true. “So you gonna ask me or should I go and be a wallflower over there.” He cocked his thumb in some random direction behind him.”

Katla laughed, wrapping her arms around Matt in a warm hug. It was a comforting sensation, and she felt a surprising wave of emotion, she felt unbelievably lucky to have someone like Matt in her life, not everyone got that kind of friendship in life, and she had. “Well then, may I have this dance?” She smiled, “Laela should know by now she has to share you at least a little bit with me, that’s just part of what she signed up for.” Katla extended her hand for him to take before leading him onto the dance floor. The last week or so had been rough, and Katla hadn’t been much of a joy to be around, and she wanted to show Matt just how much it meant to her that he’d been there for her, it was the first time since it had happened that she’d actually had anyone there for her, who actually knew what was going on.

things were going well and that was all aisha could hope for. at least after tonight, she’d one or two people. hanging out with her outside of the party? that was whole other matter that she didn’t bring up. “yeah, even has a hermit. it’s been nice.” she couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle. “yeah, the heat is doing a number on my hair but i think i have it covered.” that was the only part of the heat she was worried about. “i will, now that i’ve braved the party and shown my face to everyone…i guess i can come out of hiding now.” 

“fair enough. i’d like to say i wasn’t either. those developmental years y’know?” by sixteen, she was sort of set in her ways. “hey, small villages are fine and uni is only great if it’s something you really want to do.” it was something she wanted after all. “well grandpa, he wasn’t a royal and that was the main reason why i was able to have such a care-free childhood. my dad has an heir and three spares but i guess, he thought at some point i should be treated like his other kids.” she could only shrug. “normal is great, normal is good. people take normal for granted.”

Katla smiled warmly, “Believe me, I understand the impulse to be a hermit, if I didn’t have my friends dragging me to social things well... let’s just say there’s a reason I voluntarily spend all day by myself on a boat out in the middle of the ocean,” she let out a soft laugh. “It definitely takes some getting used to, the coldest night here in the dead of winter is so much hotter than the warmest summer day back home, it takes a little while to adjust.” She looked at the princess thoughtfully, “These things can be difficult, it’s brave to show up, especially if you’re still getting used to the place.”

She smiled, “I love the way I grew up, I love my hometown, even if I haven’t been back in a long time. My whole family is still there.” Katla listened as the princess talked about her childhood, she didn’t presume to know anything about royalty, but Aisha’s description of her childhood struck her because it seemed so vastly different from what the other royals she’d met described. “It’s wonderful that you got to have that kind of childhood, not enough people get that kind of freedom. They should.”

♚

It was almost reflexive, the way he turned to study the easy calm of the island as far as they could see it from their vantage point— he found imitation to be remarkably easy; it had been half the way he’d learned the finer points of his social graces as a child and something he was at least vaguely aware he still did as an adult whether he was conscious of it or not. It was a fair question– the one being posed to him– and for a moment Rian considered generating some far more exciting reason for his presence on the island; something other than the fact that he’d sorely needed to step away from the pressure of being crown prince of anywhere at all and he’d planned on taking a vacation long before the island had ever cemented itself as his destination. He shrugged, “I’m afraid it’s not a particularly exciting story,” He said absently, reaching up to fiddle with his bow tie until it hung from either side of his neck undone and he sighed happily.

“I’d been planning on taking a vacation for quite a while but I was never quite sure where and… well, it’s going to make me sound a bit terrible as soon as I say it, I reckon, but I’ve never had to plan very far ahead considering I can all but wave a hand and make it easy to do whatever I want whenever I want,” Rian’s expression soured for a brief moment at the picture of privilege his own words painted but it wasn’t inaccurate to the way he’d grown up and there was no point in denying that part of his life. “I’d heard about the island before and it… well, it sounded far enough away that I could forget about home for a while and no one would be able to scold me for it.” He smiled briefly at Katla, “So far that’s been the case and I’m hoping my luck holds out. If I could stay here forever I can admit I’d be a bit tempted based on what I’ve seen so far. Would you go back? Home, I mean. To Iceland. If you could– even if it was only to visit.” 

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As Katla gazed out into the night she felt a wave of calmness wash over her, the cool night breeze fluttered the curls that had come loose from her braid. She took a deep breath in and out, just enjoying the quiet and the calm of outside while she could still hear the din of the party just on the other side of the doors. “That’s alright, a story doesn’t need to be exciting to be interesting or worth telling. I wish a lot of mine were a lot less exciting than they are.” She glanced over at him just in time to watch as his long fingers untied his bow tie, staring for a moment, transfixed before realizing what she was doing and looking back out at the trees. 

“I think I’d be much more quick to judge if my decision to leave home hadn’t also been more on the last minute side of things,” Katla grew quiet, unsure of what else she could really say. The kind of life that Rian clearly lived was so unlike anything she’d ever known, she’d never even left Iceland before she joined the O’Malley fleet, and there were almost no people who left her village and moved away, much less people who left the country entirely. Katla looked back over at Rian, slightly taken aback by his question, “I would. My whole family is there, and I haven’t seen any of them in... six years now. I miss them, I miss it, I miss the cold and wearing sweaters and the glaciers and the mountains and speaking Icelandic—” she cut herself off, realizing she was rambling, and she felt a lump of homesickness in her stomach. She’d known she missed it, of course she did, but something about the evening made it hit harder.

The drinks needed to keep flowing that night considering it was the first night in awhile where he and Demi could celebrate together without the worries of work or others trying to be a third wheel. It was probably their third round by now, which Luka volunteered to get at the bar. He had been so focused in walking straight and not bumping into anyone, that he couldn’t have expected someone else to push against his shoulder. “Oh, it’s no problem,” he said once eyes met with a red headed female who was dressed to the nines. She seemed embarrassed despite it being a subtle collision. “No harm, no foul. I’m glad I don’t have to wear heels like that,” he grinned as he straightened his 6 foot 2 inch frame. He hardly needed the added height and fortunately Demi didn’t have a high heel kink. 

“Have we met before?” He asked, finding her oddly familiar. Luka had been on the island for three years so it was possible their paths had crossed at some point, he just wasn’t sure where or when. When the bartender looked his way, Luka ordered two double shots of whiskey. “I love your dress,” he complimented, knowing a lot about fashion growing up near one of the most prominent fashion capitals in the world. 

Katla smiled, a little bit self-consciously, “Well, I’m just glad I didn’t spill anything on you, I’m much more used to making my way through the world in sneakers, it’s been a while since I’ve attempted any shoes this... wobbly.” She felt a wash of relief that he seemed to be fairly easygoing about their collision, as minor as it was. “Well, as tall as you are, I’d imagine if you did you’d start bumping into doorways,” a more relaxed grin began to spread across her face as she started to find a rhythm to the conversation. 

“I don’t believe we have, but I’m sure I’ve seen you around, at least from a distance. I’m Katla, Katla Aronsdottir, nice to meet you.” She extended her hand towards him, inviting him to shake it. “Oh, thank you so much! I don’t usually have much opportunity to dress up like this, so I figured I might as well go for it since I had the chance. You don’t look half bad yourself.”

⚓

“Me?” Duncan exclaimed, returning Katla’s hug with a low, rumbling laugh. “Look at you! You look stunning, Kat,” He informed her brightly. Duncan had been a part of the O’Malley fleet much longer than Katla herself had but they’d become fast friends when the Icelandic woman had joined the fleet; a small part of Duncan was always reminded of his little sister whenever he interacted with Katla but that hadn’t been what cemented their friendship and it wasn’t what had made him more than happy to continue it. She was one of the kindest people he’d ever had the pleasure of meeting– a gentle soul to match his own that he wouldn’t have traded for anything. “I’m one drink into the evening and I’m feeling pretty great, actually– it can only get better from here, aye?” He replied, quirking an eyebrow briefly. “Whenever you’re ready to head home– let me know, yeah? I have something I want to give you for your birthday but it’s not something you need to be carryin’ around all night. You want a drink?”

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“Yes, you!” Katla teased, a wide grin lighting up her face. Her cheeks tinged slightly pink, she’d known on some level that this dress she’d picked would get some attention, but that was quite different from facing the reality of it, it was flattering, but slightly uncomfortable to be looked at in that way. It just wasn’t something she was used to, it felt slightly alien, even coming from her friends. “You don’t look half bad yourself, Lewis.” She smiled warmly, “I’m kidding, you look completely dashing.” She reached out an arm and wrapped it around Duncan’s torso, squeezing gently. “You didn’t have to get me anything for my birthday, you know that! It’s very sweet of you, but completely unnecessary.” Katla let out a soft laugh, “Besides, we both know you can’t guarantee that you’ll be available to walk me home at the end of the night... you might very well be otherwise occupied. But yes, I’d love a drink.”

By this point in the night Matt’s eaten and drank quite a lot, enjoying every bit of the celebration as those around him. He and Laes been together for a good chunk of the night since they arrived but she wandered off somewhere and left him all by his lonesome. He was mid chew when his favorite redhead bounded towards him. “Happy almost New Year to you.” He grinned, dropping his food and hugging her back. “It’s been what…” he acted as if counting numbers in his head, “twenty-four hours since I last saw you.” It was her birthday the day before, something he made sure to celebrate. 

Katla beamed, she had a hard time doing anything different when she was side by side with her best friend. “A whole twenty-four hours? Well that’s just unacceptable. It’s far too long a period of time to be without one of my favorite people on this entire planet.” She scrunched up her nose as she grinned, “What does a girl have to do around here to get a little dance with her best friend?” She extended her hand towards Matt, “If Laela doesn’t mind me stealing you for a little while, of course.”

“can’t argue with fair.” she grinned, as long as she got over her embarrassment of knocking into someone. though, it didn’t seem like the woman in front of her that was a royal, which was also welcome. and then in the next breath it was confirmed and if anything, aisha relaxed a little more. “yeah, i got here like…a week or so go but i’ve been confined to my housing with my pups. just wanted to get away from the family and correct! i’m an american.” and she snorted at that, thinking about her home country.

when she noticed the other woman’s hand, she reached out quickly to shake it firmly, blushing slightly when she realized. “sorry, my grandpa always said a hand-shake is like a first impression, make sure it’s firm. nice to meet you katla, but i can say i don’t know too much about being one. most of my childhood was spent freely…then i hit sixteen and my world changed.”

Katla smiled, this princess seemed more down to earth than some of the others she’d met, not that she was the type to lump all of the royals in with one another. “Well, I hope you’re enjoying your time on the island, then. I know it can all be a bit overwhelming at first, I know it took some getting used to for me. Mostly with the heat and humidity, at least.” She shrugged, “I can imagine many worse places to be stuck than on a beautiful island with your dogs. I hope you do some exploring around though, it’s a really lovely place.” 

Katla gave her hand a firm shake, “You really don’t have anything to apologize for, I wasn’t raised with very many formalities at all. It’s nice to meet you too. Again, I wouldn’t really know much about that at all. I grew up in a tiny little fishing village and dropped out of university before I became a pirate. And even here on the island I stick to reeling in the fish. But that does seem nice, it seems like you had a much more normal childhood than a lot of the other royals I meet around here.”