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Ragnor wasn't sure how he ended up with these two young ones, practically babies, following him around. He'd always traveled alone, caught up in his research, sometimes making connections with others, but only as it related to that research. This though, was different.
Magnus had been presented to him as a warlock in need of training. And then the little bastard (and all warlocks are bastards, technically speaking) went and found another. Well, Magnus had saved Catarina from being burned at the stake, nearly getting them both burned, and then needing Ragnor to get all three of them as far away from Rome as possible. Which was unfair really, Ragnor quite liked Rome, especially this time of year.
Instead of Rome, he had these two. He didn't even know if they had stopped aging yet. He was pretty sure Magnus hadn’t, the boy was in his late 20s and looked it... Catarina, though she looked 30 if that and Ragnor was pretty sure she was closer to 40. All this was to say though, they were babies without a century between them. Babies who didn't know their full powers and didn't know how cruel the world was... actually the last part wasn’t fair. Ragnor saw the way Magnus' eyes were haunted, the way Catarina would flinch away.
What got to Ragnor was that they looked at him wish such trust, when Ragnor was really just a babe himself in the scheme of things. He was barely past his second century. He was in no position to help guide these two on the road of how to be a warlock. He didn't know himself. All he knew was his research and that he could use his mark to get people to sleep with him out of curiosity.
Ragnor didn’t know what was the biggest annoyance to him: the fact that he had two ducklings or that fact that he was going to fail those ducklings miserably.
It finally came to a head when they were deep in the British Isles, getting ready to enter a new town. Ragnor stopped them outside of the village, turned, and, said, "I can't be your father!"
Catarina and Magnus, who had been talking about goodness knows what (he'd tuned them out while he spiraled) and stared at him. They then looked at each other and did the most baffling thing yet (which was really saying something); they started laughing. Hard. Their whole bodies shaking and doubled over, clutching at their sides and each other.
"What?!" Ragnor snapped, now embarrassed as well as distressed and annoyed. He should just leave them. Leave them to be hedge witches and not make any real money or discoveries.
"We don't want you to be our father," Catarina managed to compose herself enough to say. Magnus nearly weeping at this point, propping himself up using Catarina's shoulder.
"Then why are you here?!" Ragnor asked, waving his hands. “Why are you sticking with me?”
"Because you're our friend!" Catarina said, as if it was obvious.
Ragnor blinked. "I don't understand." No one had ever just wanted... Ragnor. They always wanted something from him. They wanted him to do magic, they wanted him to give them a pleasant night's tumble, they wanted to show him off as a prize freak they'd found.
Magnus sobered at his tone, bright eyes flickering behind the glamour he’d put up. "My sweet emerald prince, we want to cause trouble with you and get back out of it," Magnus said. "We want to have your back, if you have ours. I thought you understood that?"
Ragnor blinked, and felt his throat tightened. He cleared it, or tried to. "Well, why are we out here?"
"You said you needed to research something, so we thought we'd keep you company," Catarina said, stepping forward while reaching a hand out, resting it on his shoulder. He jumped but then leaned into it a bit. "If we're bothering you-"
"No! No," Ragnor suddenly realized he didn't want them to leave. He straightened and tried to pull some of his dignity back together. "Well, you're always bothering me. But you don’t have to leave."
Magnus gave an undignified snort, but moved closer as well, taking his hand. Ragnor... couldn't remember the last time someone touched him just in comfort. He couldn't remember the last time he thought of the people he was with as friends.
"Well... well, that settles that," Ragnor straightened, but didn't pull away from either of them. "Shall we find some piss poor mead and get to work in the morning? There are some old rock structures I think might have magical importance."
"Sounds good to me," Catarina grinned, moving to loop her arm through Ragnor's and spin them in the correct direction. Magnus then took Ragnor's other arm.
"You're so annoying," Ragnor complained, gripping both of them tighter, not wanting to let go.
"But you love us anyway," Magnus' grin was wicked. What was Ragnor going to do with the boy?
"Our sparkling personalities too much for you?" Catarina asked, but her eyes held the same spark as Magnus'.
"Hrmph," Ragnor told them and then set off, the world looking brighter than it had for a very long time.