love it! – dispatches from the dumpster

stardestroyervigilance:

So @jeusus did this artwork for an arranged marriage viking AU and I’ve been thinking about it all day so I wrote this… thing… about a first meeting.

“Your Royal Highness, the
Jarl’s landing party is here.”

Kylo was up
from his bed in a shot, his eyes stinging as he opened them. He rubbed at his
eyes, willing to pain to dissipate. The morning light was just beginning to
pour through the window, though the winter’s fog clouded its rays. There was some
commotion outside of his window, and when he emerged from his bed to look as to
why, he immediately remembered.

A few
months prior his Mother – the Queen – had arranged for a political marriage
between him and an heir of Jarl Hux’s choosing. Kylo, at first, had been
furious. How dare his mother make
such a critical decision without his consent. He’d certainly felt like quite
the fool the moment his Mother had explained that she had arranged the marriage
in order to placate Jarl Hux, the leader of the Northerners who had been
ransacking their land for many moons. With this information at hand, plus his
mother shushing him with the promise that the heir would be sweet, they would be quiet and doting, Kylo had begrudgingly
become used to the idea of marrying one of the barbarians that had caused them
quite the headache.

He felt the
flutter of nervousness trembling in his gut as he dressed. He tried to will it
away, knowing his uncertainly would surely be ridiculous once he saw the lovely
creature he knew awaited him by the shoreline, but the feeling persisted. Kylo
went to the basin by the door and splashed his face with water, the shock of
the icy liquid sufficiently shocking him into a slightly calmer state, though
his heart still pounded.

By the time
Kylo had made it down to the shoreline his mother was already there. She was
deep in conversation with one of the Northerner’s, one with blond hair and a
scar running across his homely face. As Kylo approached the Northerner became
silent and his mother turned to him.

“Jarl Hux
couldn’t make it, I’m afraid,” said his mother, her voice steady and
diplomatic, “Though he has sent an emissary along with his heir.” Leia gestured
to the northerner with the scar. “This is Karl Asgar.”

“A pleasure
to meet you,” Kylo said, bowing his head at the Northerner. He seemed unaffected
by the polite gesture, and rather turned to Kylo with a scowl.

“And you,”
he replied, their language sounding heavy and clumsy on his tongue. He turned
his back to Kylo, calling out something in his language to the people in the
boat by the shore that Kylo only caught snippets of.

There was
some movement in the boat. Two burly Northerner’s, both possibly as tall and
bulky as Kylo himself was, grabbed at another figure on the boat who was
sitting at the end of the small wooden structure. The figure shrugged away
their hands and stood, but refused to move any further. One of the Northerner’s
grabbed at him once more, finding purchase on his shoulder. With much protest
and squirming from the figure, the two Northerner’s dragged him from the boat
onto land. The two approached with the figure, and stopped to stand with him by
Karl Asgar.

“This is
Armitage Hux, Jarl Hux’s son,” Karl Asgar said.

Kylo looked
at the scowling man. Most of his face was hidden under a heavy grey hood, the
cloak covered in soft looking wolf and bear pelts, but Kylo could clearly see
the snarl that was etched along his lips.

“Show yourself
to your spouse, Armitage,” Karl said, his voice clipped with impatience. The
man, Armitage, threw his hood back angrily, and then stood with his arms hugged
across his chest, pointedly not looking at Kylo.

Without the
hood in the way Kylo could clearly see what this Armitage looked like. His
face, though perhaps soft at other times, looked dangerous in its current
expression. His eyebrows were dipped low and his chin was scrunched in barely
hidden fury. His green eyes glistened with moisture, the look within them both
stubborn and terrified. And his hair… his hair.
In the morning sun the bright copper strands shone like a barely contained
flame, the gold rings within the complicated weaving of braids in the wild mane
sparkling like embers. He was clean shaven unlike the two men beside him,
though the wildness of his hair certainly made up for the lack of fur on his
chin. He was beautiful, but, like with other stunning wild creature, Kylo knew
that if he got too close he might lose an appendage he was rather attached to.

Was this a joke? He thought briefly. Kylo had been promised a
sweet, docile spouse. The man before him, trembling with barely contained rage,
was certainly the furthest thing from the description. Kylo shared a look with
his mother, and he could see the cleverly concealed surprise clear in her eyes
too. In the interest of diplomacy, Kylo bit back any remarks he might have had
about the man who was to be his spouse and instead reached for the man’s hand,
bringing it to his lips. He could feel the effort of muscle Armitage was
employing to pull his hand away, but Kylo held on steadfast. The man’s hand was
soft under his lips, if rather cold.

“A
pleasure, Armitage,” Kylo said, his voice light and thankfully not betraying
the confusion and trepidation he felt about the situation.

Armitage
simply stared at him, his scowl deepening even further. He looked both as if he
wanted to run far away into the forests and break Kylo’s fingers at the same
time.

His mother’s
voice chimed in next to him. “Does he speak?” she asked, looking to Karl Asgar.

Karl Asgar
looked at Armitage, his expression one of disgust. “He does, but be thankful he
isn’t.”

Armitage
said nothing in response, only directed his gaze pointedly at the ground. His
hand had returned to its place around his chest, and everything about his
stance screamed discomfort. Kylo felt a pang of sympathy rush through him, but
he quickly pushed it aside.

Further pleasantries
were exchanged between his mother and the Karl before the Karl announced that
he would have to return to their ship. The Northerner’s returned to their small
rowing boat, and prepared to set sail.

“Kylo, why
don’t you take our guest into the dining hall?” His mother said, her voice soft
and friendly. Clearly she too saw the short fuse the angry orange Northerner
had attached to him and did not wish to be the one to set it alight.

Kylo
nodded, gesturing for Armitage to follow him. To his credit, he did, though he
stopped atop the hill to turn back towards the dock. Hearing the footsteps
behind him stop, Kylo turned to look as well. The Northerner’s had begun to
sail away from the dock, the boat beginning to disappear into the fog.

Kylo took a
quick glance at Armitage. The man’s gaze was glued to the departing boat. He was
wide eyed, and his fine, almost transparent lashes were darkened with the beginnings of tears. He was
biting his lip roughly, so rough Kylo worried that he would make himself bleed.
The man’s hand swiftly came up to wipe hastily at his eyes, his sniffle barely
audible. He still looked angry, though that now seemed to be directed inwards,
angry at himself rather than anyone else.

In the
interest of attempting to make Armitage more comfortable on English shores Kylo
waited until Armitage turned back to him once the boat could no longer be seen
on the horizon, making no comment on his to-be spouses’ emotional state. He
suspected that if he did so, he’d get burned.