To Ragnar, sleeping on the couch the night after their argument had been second nature. When Lagertha was frustrated with him or something he'd done, he'd always been banished from their bed. He'd assumed, without asking, that the same punishment would apply with Athelstan and he was oblivious of the even bigger rift it caused.
He can't help but smile impishly at the look on Athelstan's face when he unceremoniously joined him under the hot water. Without asking, he got the soap and cloth and lathered it up, slowly moving the cloth over Athelstan's chest like it was the most natural thing in the world to be doing.
"Not as comfortable as the bed, I am sure," He hummed, still assuming that's where Athelstan had slept and that the monk was still a little angry at him from the argument and not because he hadn't joined him in bed.
Athelstan is still visibly flustered when Ragnar starts to move the lathered up washcloth against his skin, his eyes on the man's face. Despite the fact that he's still a bit angry and upset he doesn't want him to leave even if sharing a shower like this is odd, it's not exactly a communal bath after all.
"I wouldn't know," Athelstan says, indirectly inferring that he hadn't slept in their bed either. He's not exactly attempting to start an argument but it's more of a passive aggressive sulky response.
He pauses for just a moment as he was moving the washcloth up Athelstan's neck. He studied his face for a moment, easing the washcloth across his collarbone.
"What do you mean?" He leaned forward, brushing his fingers through Athelstan's hair, "Why? Did you not sleep in our bed?"
He brushed his thumb along his jawline, giving the monk a questioning look.
Athelstan meets Ragnar's gaze, swallowing slightly and somehow a simple thing like washing is utterly distracting. But the questions bring things back to the present.
"How could I sleep in it when you are not there?" Athelstan questions back in way of his answer. He frowns slightly, he had thought the other would have understood that the last time it'd happened.
"But were you not angry with me? How could you stand sleeping in the same bed as me?" There was something about the way he said it, his tone had slipped into the same one he used with Lagertha when they were fighting. Almost purposefully annoying. He had a terrible habit of trying to rile people up when he knew they were already mad, especially when he didn't feel like he'd done anything to earn their ire. It was a strange mindset he'd always had - if someone was going to be angry at him for no reason, then he'd give them a reason to be.
"I did not realize I was welcome," He was still using that teasing, goading tone, but it was obvious it was a little more than that. It was obvious he genuinely believed that.
Athelstan frowns further, because he could easily recognize that tone and it's working at irritating him but he's nothing if not almost infinitely patient so he doesn't let the other rile him up outwardly.
He sighs, and for the first time since the other entered the shower he reaches out to touch him, curling his hands into his sides. "No matter how angry I might be...I can't sleep there without you," his brows furrow. "I thought you did not want to sleep with me."
Ragnar moved his hand so he could trace his fingers along Athelstan's arm when the monk reached out to touch him. Finally. He looked appropriately confused, searching Athelstan's face for a moment before furrowing his brows for half a second.
"I thought you would want space. It would not make you angrier? My... very presence would not be an annoyance?" Lagertha's words coming out of his mouth.
"I am not Lagertha, Ragnar," Athelstan says quietly, his grip tightening where he held the other. He looks at him and he's not looking nearly annoyed as he had been only moments before.
"If I want space i'll tell you, because it just..." he exhales heavily, like he hates admitting any of this, "it just upsets me more when you're gone."
"I have noticed," In many ways, it meant another person to attempt to figure out. He'd thought he'd known Athelstan well before, but he'd never really tried to please and placate him. Get his advice and potentially follow it, most definitely, but it had never been an out and out partnership before like it was now.
"You are sure? Think about how angry you were with me. You would really want me beside you?" There was no teasing or goading, just genuine concern and a desire to make sure he would get this right in the future.
Athelstan nearly rolls his eyes at the question. His hands slid upward over Ragnar's torso until reaches his shoulders, then he cups his cheeks, almost like you would a child that you want to pay attention. "Twice now, I've been upset that you wouldn't sleep in our bed, so yes I am sure. Are you sure it is not you that isn't wanting to sleep in bed with me when we have argued?"
Ragnar doesn't hesitate as he meets Athelstan's gaze, blue eyes warm and adoring.
"No. I would prefer to sleep with you, I think," He wasn't completely sure. It felt like getting kicked out of their bed was the 'right' thing. Would he prefer to curl up against Athelstan the night after a fight? He certainly thought that sounded better than getting kicked out.
He was, after all, the one who seemed to try to bridge the physical gap between them each morning after a fight. Now it made a little more sense if Athelstan had been made angry all over again because they hadn't shared a bed the previous night.
Athelstan seems to relax further when Ragnar answers. He smiles slightly and leans in to press his lips to Ragnar's in a warm and inviting kiss. His arms wrapping around him and the water is still going and still warm but he's not so much thinking about finishing his shower and getting on with his duties for the day just yet.
"I hope we do not argue again but now, you know better," Athelstan murmurs against his lips.
"Mm I'm sure you will find something to displease you," He teased, smirking into the kiss as he stepped a little closer, making it easier to pull Athelstan flush against him as their lips met.
He dropped the cloth in favor of running his hands over Athelstan's back, his skin warm and slick from the water making it easy to almost massage his fingers in as he moved. With a soft hum of approval, he broke the kiss, sucking on Athelstan's bottom lip before running his tongue along them to lap at the water. Moving slowly along his jaw and down to his neck, still seeming intent to lick the water off of Athelstan, he slipped his hands lower, giving Athelstan's ass a squeeze as he drew him closer to grind their hips together.
"Or you will just do something stupid," Athelstan retorts, teasing back before the kiss is truly drawing all of his attention. It's hard to think about fights and arguments though, with their bodies pressed to one another.
Ragnar's hands moving along his skin make it difficult to concentrate on any particular thought, and perhaps that's a good thing sometimes but when his tongue presses to his neck, the hands on his ass sending a shock of heated desire through him as their bodies press together, something that the water seemed to make all the more sensual.
"What are you doing," Athelstan murmurs, his lips searching skin to kiss, finding his shoulders to press light kisses and a few gentle bites to. "This is a shower," he says as if Ragnar doesn't well enough know that fact.
"You know what I am doing," He rumbled, voice low, tilting his head so his lips brushed close to Athelstan's ear as he spoke. He turned his head slightly, raking his teeth lightly over the spot his lips had just teased.
"Mmhmm," It was obvious from Ragnar's tone that he'd failed to understand why Athelstan had felt the need to state where they were.
He rocked his hips forward, not deterred in the least bit, pulling Athelstan's hips gently towards him as he did. This time the contact forced him to stifle a quiet groan, already half hard. Pressing a light kiss on Athelstan's jaw just in front of his ear, he once again moved down to his neck, biting before running his tongue over his damp skin unhurriedly as if he were going to lap up the water there. One definite side effect of the shower and water seemed to be that Ragnar was even more eager than normal to bite, suck and lick Athelstan anywhere he could reach.
The words vibrate against his skin, warm and tingling in the aftermath, a slight shudder as the teeth followed up to tease the sensitive skin of his ear all the more. He has to bite back a moan that the attentions cause to well up in him.
As their hips rock together, easily feeling that Ragnar is starting to get hard and Athelstan is in much the same state as his hands press into Ragnar's back and he tries to remember exactly what he had been saying about the shower exactly when the other's mouth makes it hard to really concentrate on anything.
"This isn't...the shower isn't the place for this," Athelstan manages to say, flushing slightly as he does even though his body doesn't seem to care that they're in the shower and he doesn't really resist pressing his hips against the other's on his own, the water from the shower making it all the easier to rub against one another.
Ragnar can't help but chuckle softly as Athelstan continued to insist, for reasons Ragnar legitimately couldn't comprehend, that the shower wasn't the place to have sex.
"Why do you think that? Anywhere can be a place for sex," He snickered, interrupting himself by getting distracted, sucking on Athelstan's neck with a quiet moan, "But this is a very good place. We will be clean as soon as we are done. And the water makes things..."
He squeezed Athelstan's ass again, rocking his hips forward. As he relaxed his grip, he slid a finger teasingly over Athelstan's entrance.
Athelstan is more flustered the more Ragnar continues to touch him, his mouth against his neck sending a shudder through his body. His breathing is heavy as Ragnar's finger presses against him, the ring of muscle contracting slightly at the teasing, the sensitive nerves making it hard to concentrate on any words.
"This is meant for the bedroom," he manages to say, flustered and it's clear enough with their bodies pressed together, wet and slippery that he's aroused despite the light protest. He doesn't know why either that he doesn't simply give into this. He knows that sex can happen anywhere but there's an immodesty to places outside the bedroom that he hasn't quite started to cope with.
"Sex?" He practically purred the word into Athelstan's ear before sucking on his earlobe suggestively, stroking him at the same time. He was finding it incredibly amusing that Athelstan had decided to avoid using the word 'sex' all of a sudden.
"Like I said. It is a perfect place. Clean... wet... hot..." Alright, some of those attributes had nothing to do with how suitable the bathroom was for sex. But Ragnar was also pretty sure that Athelstan had walked in on him and Lagertha in both the stables and the kitchen before.
Athelstan can't help the moan that the word, the teasing sucking on his ear cause and Ragnar's hand makes it no easier to remain question. As usual it's always hard to argue with Ragnar about this, or anything for that matter. He had his own misgivings, the immodesty of it is different than having seen Ragnar do so with Lagertha.
The lack of confidence that trails Athelstan in the bedroom is compounded in places where intimacy is unfamiliar but all the same Ragnar is hard to resist when Athelstan so easily feels a burning need for him. "How is it perfect? It's slippery, when you're done then instead of simply laying and resting one must do a multitude of things," he counters and maybe he's being a bit contrary just to give Ragnar a bit of his own medicine.
It made sense. Athelstan still hadn't really had to deal with cleaning up after messy sex. Ragnar had always appreciated getting a little too close and then having sex while bathing with Lagertha, but showers seemed even better. Warmer, roomier.
"Maybe you should stop talking and let me show you?" He hummed, nudging his nose against Athelstan's playfully before pressing in for a heated kiss, immediately slipping his tongue into Athelstan's mouth suggestively with a low groan. At the same time, he eased the tip of his finger into Athelstan as he rocked his hips forward, now fully hard.
There's no room for arguing more when Ragnar kisses him. The question playing in the air still and he would let him, Ragnar has a way of getting Athelstan to eventually do just about anything he desires. Maybe this intimacy between them had taken two decades, give or take, but Athelstan had given into him as he had made so many concessions before.
Athelstan moans into the kiss, the other's tongue warm and wet and Ragnar's taste invading his mouth and he savors it as he kisses him back. His hands tighten around Ragnar when the other's finger teases him, their hips sliding together with each of Ragnar's movements, both of them hard and wanting. Athelstan feels the uncertainty of what exactly to do, what Ragnar wants from him. The battle of where to put his hands, how to move had been solved, mostly, in the bedroom setting and this was a new way of things but he tries not to think too much and to instead let his hands wander over Ragnar's chest and around to his back, hands easily moving over his skin slick with the warm water.
Ragnar seemed more than content with the simple fact that Athelstan was in his arms letting him kiss him and moaning in pleasure against his lips. One of the furthest things from his mind was what Athelstan was, or wasn't, doing with his hands. But if the monk paid attention, he might notice the way Ragnar pressed in a little closer and reacted to things by how forcefully he pressed in the kiss, the little subtle twitches, when his fingers traced over his old scars, the skin more sensitive in those spots.
With the hot water trickling over them and a bit of the slick soap still on Athelstan's skin, it was easy to patiently press a finger into him, moving it slowly a few times before adding a second. He was still a little overly cautious about moving too fast, ready to pause at the first inklings of discomfort from Athelstan. He hated that his thoughts went to Dodger and what he'd done as he reminded himself to take things a little slower than he otherwise might have.
Athelstan in contrast is doing everything he can to steer his thoughts away from any memory of Dodger and what he'd done. He's secure with Ragnar and at least physically, Dodger had not hurt him in any lasting way. He can focus on how good Ragnar's fingers feel as they press into him, quiet moans pressing against Ragnar's lips as they kiss, his nails digging lightly into Ragnar's skin. He's starting to notice the things that Ragnar likes, he's been learning for a long time now.
He tries not to think at all as his fingers trace of ridges of scars and the dips of muscles. There is no one that Athelstan more wanted to memorize every part of. For years he had drawn Ragnar, afraid to forget his face if he went too long without recreating it from his mind's eye.
"Ragnar," Athelstan whispers softly. "I want you." The words are hesitant and careful, as if still afraid of being rejected as irrational as it is when Ragnar is so clearly wanting.
Athelstan's words are met with another long, slow drag of Ragnar's tongue up the side of his neck punctuated with a light bite to his jaw. He eased his fingers out just as unhurriedly.
Then, in stark contrast, he turned Athelstan and pushed him forward slightly, bending him over so his upper chest was pressed against the smooth, shockingly cool tiled wall of the shower. Again, he teased his fingers over Athelstan's entrance, his other hand finding his wrist to guide the monk's hand up to press against the wall for balance. Nudging his legs further apart, he ground his hips forward against him as he bit down on his shoulder with low groan.
He pressed a kiss over the reddened skin he'd just bit down on, one hand going to Athelstan's hip, the other on himself as he very slowly eased into Athelstan, breath turning into soft, focused pants.
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(no subject)
Date: 2018-02-12 06:09 am (UTC)He can't help but smile impishly at the look on Athelstan's face when he unceremoniously joined him under the hot water. Without asking, he got the soap and cloth and lathered it up, slowly moving the cloth over Athelstan's chest like it was the most natural thing in the world to be doing.
"Not as comfortable as the bed, I am sure," He hummed, still assuming that's where Athelstan had slept and that the monk was still a little angry at him from the argument and not because he hadn't joined him in bed.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-02-12 06:18 am (UTC)"I wouldn't know," Athelstan says, indirectly inferring that he hadn't slept in their bed either. He's not exactly attempting to start an argument but it's more of a passive aggressive sulky response.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-02-13 06:00 am (UTC)"What do you mean?" He leaned forward, brushing his fingers through Athelstan's hair, "Why? Did you not sleep in our bed?"
He brushed his thumb along his jawline, giving the monk a questioning look.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-02-13 07:35 am (UTC)"How could I sleep in it when you are not there?" Athelstan questions back in way of his answer. He frowns slightly, he had thought the other would have understood that the last time it'd happened.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-02-13 08:02 am (UTC)"I did not realize I was welcome," He was still using that teasing, goading tone, but it was obvious it was a little more than that. It was obvious he genuinely believed that.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-02-13 08:26 am (UTC)He sighs, and for the first time since the other entered the shower he reaches out to touch him, curling his hands into his sides. "No matter how angry I might be...I can't sleep there without you," his brows furrow. "I thought you did not want to sleep with me."
(no subject)
Date: 2018-02-15 08:33 am (UTC)"I thought you would want space. It would not make you angrier? My... very presence would not be an annoyance?" Lagertha's words coming out of his mouth.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-02-16 12:00 am (UTC)"If I want space i'll tell you, because it just..." he exhales heavily, like he hates admitting any of this, "it just upsets me more when you're gone."
(no subject)
Date: 2018-02-16 06:46 am (UTC)"I have noticed," In many ways, it meant another person to attempt to figure out. He'd thought he'd known Athelstan well before, but he'd never really tried to please and placate him. Get his advice and potentially follow it, most definitely, but it had never been an out and out partnership before like it was now.
"You are sure? Think about how angry you were with me. You would really want me beside you?" There was no teasing or goading, just genuine concern and a desire to make sure he would get this right in the future.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-02-16 01:49 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-02-18 09:06 am (UTC)"No. I would prefer to sleep with you, I think," He wasn't completely sure. It felt like getting kicked out of their bed was the 'right' thing. Would he prefer to curl up against Athelstan the night after a fight? He certainly thought that sounded better than getting kicked out.
He was, after all, the one who seemed to try to bridge the physical gap between them each morning after a fight. Now it made a little more sense if Athelstan had been made angry all over again because they hadn't shared a bed the previous night.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-02-18 08:39 pm (UTC)"I hope we do not argue again but now, you know better," Athelstan murmurs against his lips.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-02-20 06:03 am (UTC)He dropped the cloth in favor of running his hands over Athelstan's back, his skin warm and slick from the water making it easy to almost massage his fingers in as he moved. With a soft hum of approval, he broke the kiss, sucking on Athelstan's bottom lip before running his tongue along them to lap at the water. Moving slowly along his jaw and down to his neck, still seeming intent to lick the water off of Athelstan, he slipped his hands lower, giving Athelstan's ass a squeeze as he drew him closer to grind their hips together.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-02-20 06:33 am (UTC)Ragnar's hands moving along his skin make it difficult to concentrate on any particular thought, and perhaps that's a good thing sometimes but when his tongue presses to his neck, the hands on his ass sending a shock of heated desire through him as their bodies press together, something that the water seemed to make all the more sensual.
"What are you doing," Athelstan murmurs, his lips searching skin to kiss, finding his shoulders to press light kisses and a few gentle bites to. "This is a shower," he says as if Ragnar doesn't well enough know that fact.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-02-20 07:09 am (UTC)"Mmhmm," It was obvious from Ragnar's tone that he'd failed to understand why Athelstan had felt the need to state where they were.
He rocked his hips forward, not deterred in the least bit, pulling Athelstan's hips gently towards him as he did. This time the contact forced him to stifle a quiet groan, already half hard. Pressing a light kiss on Athelstan's jaw just in front of his ear, he once again moved down to his neck, biting before running his tongue over his damp skin unhurriedly as if he were going to lap up the water there. One definite side effect of the shower and water seemed to be that Ragnar was even more eager than normal to bite, suck and lick Athelstan anywhere he could reach.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-02-20 07:20 am (UTC)As their hips rock together, easily feeling that Ragnar is starting to get hard and Athelstan is in much the same state as his hands press into Ragnar's back and he tries to remember exactly what he had been saying about the shower exactly when the other's mouth makes it hard to really concentrate on anything.
"This isn't...the shower isn't the place for this," Athelstan manages to say, flushing slightly as he does even though his body doesn't seem to care that they're in the shower and he doesn't really resist pressing his hips against the other's on his own, the water from the shower making it all the easier to rub against one another.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-02-22 05:01 am (UTC)"Why do you think that? Anywhere can be a place for sex," He snickered, interrupting himself by getting distracted, sucking on Athelstan's neck with a quiet moan, "But this is a very good place. We will be clean as soon as we are done. And the water makes things..."
He squeezed Athelstan's ass again, rocking his hips forward. As he relaxed his grip, he slid a finger teasingly over Athelstan's entrance.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-02-22 05:27 am (UTC)"This is meant for the bedroom," he manages to say, flustered and it's clear enough with their bodies pressed together, wet and slippery that he's aroused despite the light protest. He doesn't know why either that he doesn't simply give into this. He knows that sex can happen anywhere but there's an immodesty to places outside the bedroom that he hasn't quite started to cope with.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-02-25 04:22 am (UTC)"Like I said. It is a perfect place. Clean... wet... hot..." Alright, some of those attributes had nothing to do with how suitable the bathroom was for sex. But Ragnar was also pretty sure that Athelstan had walked in on him and Lagertha in both the stables and the kitchen before.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-02-25 04:58 am (UTC)The lack of confidence that trails Athelstan in the bedroom is compounded in places where intimacy is unfamiliar but all the same Ragnar is hard to resist when Athelstan so easily feels a burning need for him. "How is it perfect? It's slippery, when you're done then instead of simply laying and resting one must do a multitude of things," he counters and maybe he's being a bit contrary just to give Ragnar a bit of his own medicine.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-02-25 05:44 am (UTC)"Maybe you should stop talking and let me show you?" He hummed, nudging his nose against Athelstan's playfully before pressing in for a heated kiss, immediately slipping his tongue into Athelstan's mouth suggestively with a low groan. At the same time, he eased the tip of his finger into Athelstan as he rocked his hips forward, now fully hard.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-02-25 05:52 am (UTC)Athelstan moans into the kiss, the other's tongue warm and wet and Ragnar's taste invading his mouth and he savors it as he kisses him back. His hands tighten around Ragnar when the other's finger teases him, their hips sliding together with each of Ragnar's movements, both of them hard and wanting. Athelstan feels the uncertainty of what exactly to do, what Ragnar wants from him. The battle of where to put his hands, how to move had been solved, mostly, in the bedroom setting and this was a new way of things but he tries not to think too much and to instead let his hands wander over Ragnar's chest and around to his back, hands easily moving over his skin slick with the warm water.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-02-26 04:56 am (UTC)With the hot water trickling over them and a bit of the slick soap still on Athelstan's skin, it was easy to patiently press a finger into him, moving it slowly a few times before adding a second. He was still a little overly cautious about moving too fast, ready to pause at the first inklings of discomfort from Athelstan. He hated that his thoughts went to Dodger and what he'd done as he reminded himself to take things a little slower than he otherwise might have.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-02-26 05:09 am (UTC)He tries not to think at all as his fingers trace of ridges of scars and the dips of muscles. There is no one that Athelstan more wanted to memorize every part of. For years he had drawn Ragnar, afraid to forget his face if he went too long without recreating it from his mind's eye.
"Ragnar," Athelstan whispers softly. "I want you." The words are hesitant and careful, as if still afraid of being rejected as irrational as it is when Ragnar is so clearly wanting.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-02-27 05:25 am (UTC)Then, in stark contrast, he turned Athelstan and pushed him forward slightly, bending him over so his upper chest was pressed against the smooth, shockingly cool tiled wall of the shower. Again, he teased his fingers over Athelstan's entrance, his other hand finding his wrist to guide the monk's hand up to press against the wall for balance. Nudging his legs further apart, he ground his hips forward against him as he bit down on his shoulder with low groan.
He pressed a kiss over the reddened skin he'd just bit down on, one hand going to Athelstan's hip, the other on himself as he very slowly eased into Athelstan, breath turning into soft, focused pants.
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