Chapter Text
Athelstan didn’t know quite how this had happened.
When Ragnar Lothbrok had approached him at the end of their Comparative Religion class, Athelstan had felt a veritable roller coaster of emotions. Nervousness was definitely there, after all Ragnar was the star quarterback of the university football team and Athelstan was, well, about as far from that as it was possible to be. Annoyance was there too; Athelstan didn’t know much about him, but he assumed he lived the pampered life all members of a beloved college football team did. As a starving history major, Athelstan’s life was pretty much the opposite of that. And he would have been a lying history major if he had said lust wasn’t mixed in with those other emotions in his initial reaction. Maybe if he had been in back in high school, before he had come to terms with his bisexuality, he might have tried to convince himself that the tall, muscled football player and his piercing blue eyes didn’t stir something in him, that his heart hadn’t fluttered just a bit when Ragnar had looked straight at him. But thankfully he was over that, and well, what was the point in denying that, even if he turned out to be just another football douche, Ragnar was pretty hot.
But the foremost emotion Athelstan felt as Ragnar walked up and started speaking to him was surprise. So much so that he completely missed the first thing Ragnar had said.
“Uh, pardon?”
“I said, you seem to know your stuff.…” Ragnar answered, clearly waiting for a name.
“Athelstan.” He said, belatedly holding his hand out.
“Ragnar.” The taller man answered, accepting the handshake, “Like I said, you seem to know your stuff. You answered like, almost every question.”
“Oh, yeah I guess” Athelstan said, ducking his head down.
“Listen, I didn’t do so hot on our last exam, and since we’ve got another one coming up next week, I was wondering if maybe you would be up for some tutoring. I’d pay you and everything. Sound good?”
“Oh, uh,---yeah. Sure.”
Ragnar gave him a smile, and clapped him on the shoulder, “Great! What’s your number? I’ll text you tomorrow and we can get together.” And before Athelstan could utter so much as a “What the fuck.” they had exchanged numbers and Ragnar had walked away, leaving him standing in the emptying lecture hall.
Once Athelstan had tried surfing when he had been eleven and at the beach with his cousins. Emphasis on the once, because that one attempt had ended with him being flipped head over heels by a huge wave, and coughing up half the ocean on the beach. He was having a very similar feeling in the wake of his encounter with Ragnar. He found himself wondering if Ragnar had even needed him to be part of the conversation.
He could certainly use the money though. He had tutored a few times last year, but usually for people he knew.
But money was money and even if Ragnar turned out to be just another dumb jock trying to buy the answers to the test, well, at least he would get paid.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Athelstan lived on the west side of campus in a house with five other guys. They were all, aside from him, Computer Science or Math majors, leading them to jokingly refer to the house as, “The Monastry” because clearly, none of them were getting laid. But aside from participating in the occasional Halo marathon he wasn’t really close with any of them. He spent most of his time in his room, which was small but had two huge windows with a view of the big oak tree in the front yard and the busy street beyond. Athelstan was sitting on his bed looking out of it the next day when Ragnar texted him.
Hey I have time 2 study if ur not busy
Sure. He wrote back. Where?
My place. Where do u live? I’ll pick u up.
In another ten minutes Ragnar pulled up outside. Athelstan had been expecting him to drive something flashy, an SUV with shiny rims and speakers loud enough to make the street shake. What he actually saw through the window was an obviously used but well cared for black sports car, probably from the 80’s or 90’s. It looked well-made but wasn’t at all ostentatious. In fact it looked pretty damn cool. The car gave two short honks. Athelstan grabbed his backpack, and his scarf and coat to guard against the still nippy March air and headed out the door.
“Nice place.” Ragnar said as Athelstan opened the door and slid into the passenger seat. He wasn’t sure whether the tall blond meant it sarcastically or not so he simply said.
“Yeah, not really when you’re sharing it with five other guys.”
Ragnar chuckled as he pulled onto the road.
“Yeah I know what that’s like. I lived in the dorms freshman year and I tell ya, sharing a bathroom with twenty other guys is not fun.”
“You lived in the dorms?”
“Yeah. Why’re you so surprised” Ragnar asked as they stopped at a red light.
“Well…I’m just saying, it’s hard not to notice that football players get treated like gods at this school. I just figured dorm living wouldn’t be ideal for the high and mighty quarterback.”
“Do I detect some resentment?”
Athelstan hesistated. He didn’t want to lie but it seemed like Ragnar might be less likely to pay a guy who insulted his teammates and his beloved sport. He looked sideways at Ragnar for a moment and met his gaze; those piercing eyes didn’t seem to hold any anger.
“Well…kinda.” He finally admitted.
“I guess I can’t blame you.” Ragnar said with a smile, “A lot of the guys do act like idiots. But I don’t really buy into that stuff. I like playing football, but I do it for the scholarship, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to afford to go here.”
“Oh. So, you don’t wanna play professionally?”
Ragnar burst out in genuine laughter, a big, full throated sound that fills the car.
“God no. I like playing but---“ before he could finish he started laughing again, “I wouldn’t do it for a lot of reasons but mainly I think my girlfriend would kill me.”
“Why?”
“Oh, you’ll see. We live together, so you’ll get to meet her.”
“So, what do you want to do?” Athelstan asked, curious now.
“Write. I’m an English major. And I may not be the best at Comparative Religion, but I’ve got a 3.5 GPA in case you still thought I was a dumb jock.”
“No I didn’t think that…for very long.” They both laughed at that, “Sorry, “ Athelstan said, “I’m not always the best with, ya know, words.”
“So definitely not an English major?”
“No. History.”
“Oh good, at least we’ll both be equally unemployable when we graduate.”
“Yeah, I look forward to seeing you in the unemployment line.”
By the time Ragnar pulled into the parking lot of an older looking apartment complex a few blocks north of campus Athelstan felt like his day had turned a 180. He’d expected a boring afternoon of studying with someone who probably wouldn’t even want to be there. Instead he was actually having—fun.
Ragnar’s apartment was on the third floor of a tidy brick building that looked like it had been around since the 1940’s, one of those ones with big windows and old fashioned fire escapes that were ripe for student living. When Athelstan walked in he could tell it was relatively small. Bigger than his own one room obviously, but it was just a living room, with a galley kitchen attached and through a door what he assumed must be the bedroom and bathroom. It wasn’t much, but it’s occupants had clearly tried to make their mark on the space, evidenced by the various posters and memorabilia scattered about. There was a worn gray couch opposite the T.V. and a full bookcase in the corner. Beside that was a record player and an organized collection of vinyl.
“Hey L, I’m back!” Ragnar shouted to the bedroom.
A girl emerged from it, tall and athletically built with long blonde hair in a braid down her back. She was gorgeous, but she added to all the surprises of the day by being nothing like what Athelstan expected the star quarterbacks girlfriend to be. She looked… well to be honest the only word that came to Athelstan’s mind was kickass. She had no makeup on except for a rim of dark eye liner around each blue eye. She wore a black Smiths t-shirt and a pair of bright purple skinny jeans. Her ears were pierced twice on both lobes and on the left one he could see a small silver hoop going through her cartilage.
“Athelstan this is my girlfriend Lagertha.”
She gave him a little wave.
“Hey. You can call me L is that’s too much of a mouthful.”
“Mines not any better,” Athelstan responded, “I’m sure I can handle it.”
Lagertha smiled.
“My mom’s Norwegian, what’s your excuse?”
“My dad really loves dead languages, including Old English.” Athelstan answered, shrugging.
Ragnar threw his bag down on the couch as Athelstan took a seat. He grabbed Lagertha from behind and gave her a quick kiss on the top of the head.
“Athelstan’s gonna make sure I don’t bomb another Comparative Religion exam.” He said, his arms still wrapped around her, his face pressed to her neck. Athelstan felt a small blush creep over his face and shifted his gaze to the arm of the couch.
“Oh good.” Lagertha said, turning her head to look at Athelstan, “I was no help at all last time, being a godless atheist.” She unwrapped herself from Ragnar’s embrace, “I’ll just go chill and let you boys get to it.” She grabbed her laptop from the coffee table and took it into the bedroom.
“Wow,” said Athelstan, “She seems really cool.”
“Yep” said Ragnar with a proud smile on his face. As they sat down on the couch a figure slinked out from behind the couch and then suddenly Athelstan had a lap full of black and white cat. It mewed at him and pushed into his hand, demanding petting.
“That’s Gyda.” Ragnar explained as he unpacked his books and settled on the other side of the couch, “Bjorn should be around here somewhere too, but he can be pretty anti-social.” As if summoned by his name, another cat, this one all black, emerged from the other side of the couch, gave them one disdainful look and scurried into the bedroom.
Gyda, on the other hand, seemed to think that Athelstan made an excellent place to sleep, and proceeded to do just that as he and Ragnar got down to studying. It was clear that Ragnar was a smart guy but had just gotten a little confused during the first half of the semester. He was funny too; half of their time was spent studying, but the various antics of some of the more mischievous gods and goddesses provided ample fodder for Ragnar’s wit and provided more than their fair share of distraction. More than once they found themselves gasping for air, their textbooks forgotten between them.
They spent an hour or two going through material and by that time the sun had begun to set. Lagertha emerged from the bedroom and both cats perked up as she opened a couple of tins of cat food and filled their bowls. Then she came and perched beside Ragnar on the couch.
“I’m hungry. You wanna stay for dinner?” she asked Athelstan, “Neither of us can cook, but we’re really good at ordering takeout.”
Athelstan was tempted. Ragnar actually seemed really nice, Lagertha too, and he had been having fun. But in the moment he took to consider the question, he saw Ragnar reach his arm around Lagertha’s waist, his thumb brushing against a sliver of uncovered skin between her shirt and pants. It was intimate and suddenly Athelstan felt a bolt of heat rush through him and squirmed slightly in his seat.
“Um no I’m fine. I better be getting home actually.”
“Fair enough.” Said Ragnar,“I’ll drive you. I’ll be right back, L.”
The ride back was short and Ragnar dropped him off with a smile, twenty dollars for the tutoring and a promise to meet again sometime before the exam.
Athelstan was glad there didn’t seem to be anyone around in the common areas of the house as he came in and he hurried up to the privacy of his room.
Surely the feeling that had driven him from Ragnar and Lagertha’s apartment was just…awkwardness. Yes, that was it, he just felt like he was intruding. He felt like a third wheel and that could always be uncomfortable. That was what he had felt…and if there had beena hint of ---pleasure mixed up with the awkwardness, well Lagertha and Ragnar seemed very sweet together. It wouldn’t be so weird to feel happy for a cute couple.
Yes, he just would have been intruding if he had stayed, he thought to himself as he gazed out of him small room into the empty, dark street.