Chapter Text
Diana Wessex has known Ivar Lothbrok since she was seven years old and he was nine. He is the first boy she hates and the first one who pulls her braids. They verbally spar with a ferocity that seems to translate into their every interaction. Whether they are fighting or simply talking it is like they are the only two people in the world.
The simple fact is they are bound by emotions neither want to acknowledge or bring on the light of day for years. It costs him the respect of his brothers and it drives away her many boyfriends away.
Ivan for his physical impairment is an attractive man who has no problem hooking up with women. His blue eyes and strong arms and bay bot persona draw them in like flies to a dead carcass.
Diana is a perfectionist who demands nothing less than the best from everyone in her life. Everyday she leaves her family mansion she always looks her best. Hair, makeup, and clothes to perfection. She may be a slight woman but she makes up for in her personality. Always with a man by her side she never hesitates to rub it in the face of her childhood rival and adversary.
But for all of their fighting with each other the pair do plenty of fighting for the other. Diana is the first to go after anyone who insults Ivar about he legs and perceived lack of manhood. Once she broke the nose of a classmate who took his crutches and made him crawl down a hallway. The resulting brawl had ended with Ecbert Wessex suing the school and the family of the boy when Diana had ended up with a broken collarbone and a concussion. The other Lothbroks had gotten involved as well leading to several suspensions and months of detention.
Diana pretends not to know when the boy who revealed her bulimia in front of a school assembly ends up beaten halt to death in the alleyway behind a brothel. The boy in question is the son of the mayor and it brings shame it his family. The reveal had led to her locking herself in the bathroom in her basement and puking her guts out until her nose bled and her eyes were bloodshot. After a few days absence she gets a ride to school with the Lothbroks. When she sits beside Ivar she says nothing as she grips his hand. He in turn laces their hands together and they hold onto each other like tethers into a storm.