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Heltwar
and Gunnhildr Nordic were considered somewhat ... strange, mostly because
of their outlandish looks, and because of the way they sometimes stared
at the most common things in confusion. They also weren't were forthcoming
about their origins - Heltwar just said that they had wanted to move
to a warmer climate, and that they preferred to leave their past in
the past, and Gunnhildr - well, Gunnhildr simply ignored all questions.
Heltwar, however, soon became popular - he came to be a rising star
in the local sport team, and was soon considered just one of the local
guys. It helped that his clothing got a bit more - normalized.
Gunnhildr never found any friends in Normalville. She was perfectly
polite, but there was always this feeling that she was - strange. Out
of place. And while she eventually started to wear her hair in a more
sensible fashion, she insisted on keeping her somewhat unusual garb.
But Gunnhildr didn't need anyone but Heltwar - they often spent all
of their free time in bed together - which predictably led to Gunnhildr
becoming pregnant.
Her pregnancy seemed to make her even more introspective than usual,
and she spent a lot of time in the little alcove Heltwar had walled
off for her, which was her private sanctuary, where she could sit and
think, or read. It contained all the things they'd brought with them
from - well, wherever they came from.
Sometimes, at night, the neighbors across the street could see her stare
out into the darkness, unmoving, for hours. But her time alone in there
always did seem to refresh her.
And soon their first child was born: a healthy boy they named Holgar
Sven. Gunnhildr seemed to be somewhat disappointed with a boy, but both
parents took good care of him.
Very quickly, Gunnhildr became pregnant again, giving birth to another
boy, Gunnar...
who was an incredibly cheerful but also extremely barf-y baby.
The next two pregnancies yielded first Siegwulf (who was a photo-shy
baby, and of whom no toddler-aged facial pictures existed) and then
Hildven .
Soon the children were growing up, first Holgar Sven, then Gunnar.
They were fast friends, enjoyed playing with each other, and didn't
mind that other kids sometimes made fun of their clothes.
And Gunnhildr was pregnant again, despite the fact that each pregnancy
seemed to become harder and harder on her body.
On the day Siegwulf celebrated his 6th birthday, Gunnhildr gave birth
to what would be her last child: a daughter they named Svertgart.
The birth of the little girl caused a huge family celebration, ...
a fact that Siegwulf resented mightily. He also demanded to wear what
he called "normal clothes, none of that freakish stuff", and didn't
want to have much to do with is siblings or parents. Rather, he focussed
on his studies: he was always driven to be the best, and to have the
best.
And with all the excitement over Svertgart, Siegwulf managed to get
away with his really unpleasant manner. Everyone doted on the little
girl, who turned out to be extremely pretty and sweet, and who was the
only other family member allowed in Gunnhildr's little private alcove.
By the time Gunnhildr started to wonder about Siegwulf, he had already
learned to hide all his resentment and jealousy,
Hildven also profited from his parents focus on Svertgart, and Siegwulf's
previous "rebellion" over clothes. Because Hildven wanted to wear silk,
and pink - and since he was much nicer about asking for what he wanted
than Siegwulf had been, his wishes were granted.
Soon, the kids started to grow: Holgar Sven was not exactly gifted with
an impressive intellect, but he took after his father in his talent
for sports, and excelled there. He was also the one who took delight
in caring for his younger siblings, and it was clear that one day, he
would make a wonderful father.
Gunnar grew into a good-looking boy who also joined the local sports
team. He was very popular, and whenever he found himself banned from
using the phone line, he instead spent hours on the computer, chatting
with his friends.
Siegwulf grew into a rather jealous teen: he wasn't as popular as Gunnar
(although he would have liked to be), and it irked him that he wasn't
as good at sports as Holgar Sven, despite being more intelligent. And
even on the intelligence front, Svertgart soon got better grades than
he ever had, and with much less work. The only one Siegwulf wasn't jealous
of was Hildven - and that was because looked down at Hildven.
But Hildven didn't care one bit. He was friendly, he was outgoing, and
he was popular despite his tendency to wear pinks and purples, and to
wear flowing clothes that could almost be called feminine. Although,
by the time he grew into a teen, he instead adopted a different style:
more formfitting and revealing. He also started to spend quite a lot
of time in the boy's room when all the other 3 were at their sports
jobs, thinking (or doing) who knows what... (*cough*)
And Svertgart grew into a beautiful young girl, her looks combining
the best of her parents.
Gunnhildr focussed on encouraging her daughter's love of learning, and
in addition, many evenings were spent in her alcove with Svertgart,
dressed in special dresses that her mother otherwise kept locked in
an ornate box, telling her fabulous stories and legends from a faraway
place, completely enchanting her daughter with them.
Gunnhildr and Heltwar were still happy and in love, and the years (and
the 5 children Gunnhildr had born) had done nothing to cool their lust.
Heltwar could still get Gunnhildr to drop whatever she was doing by
parading his unclothed body in front of her.
While her husband spent sometimes weeks travelling with his sports team,
and her children were at school or at their afternoon jobs, Gunnhildr
finally learned to conquer to electrical appliances in her home, saving
the family quite a bit of money when it came to home repair costs.
Which eventually turned out to be a disastrous idea, as the electrical
appliances in the end conquered her.
Her family could only watch in helpless horror as her body spasm'd with
electrical currents, before giving out completely.
Well... not the *whole* family - Siegwulf had retired much earlier,
after spending most of the previous night awake and tinkering with the
same computer that had now killed Gunnhildr...
The family agreed to keep Gunnhildr's ashes in her alcove, where she
had spent most of her time, and where she would be surrounded by all
the things from her home.
Svertgart was shaken hard by her mother's death, and even cut off all
her hair in mourning. She also put away the dreams and fancies that
her mother's stories had kindled in her heart, and instead focussed
on the hard sciences, eventually gaining a very good job as an assistant
at the local science institute before she had even finished her schooling.
But life moved on - especially for Hildven. Now that his mother was
dead, and his sister also had an after-school job, he had the house
to himself in the afternoons. And that meant that he could bring over
his best friend, Will Everyman. They'd always been close, gossiping
and joking together...
but recently they'd grown much closer than they had expected (although
in Hildven's case, it was not an unexpected development).
Hildven trusted Will enough to even show him his really hidden passion,
and was overjoyed that Will *liked* to see him in a pink dress.
Unfortunately Siegwulf, who'd been suspecting something "disgusting"
(his words) going on when Hildven was home alone in the afternoon, eventually
caught his brother in his special clothes - and mocked him mightily.
And then caught the surprise of his life when Will nearly broke his
jaw and made him apologize to Hildven. It really didn't do anything
for the already stained relationship between these two brothers.
Time moved on, and with it, everyone grew older. Holgar Sven chose to
remain living at home, while Gunnar moved into a tiny house right across
the street to start his family.
Siegwulf and Hildven both moved away: Hildven moved in with his lover
Will, and Siegwulf just wanted to get as far away from the rest of his
family as possible, so that "they wouldn't impede his success in any
way".
Svertgart stayed living at home as well (and eventually let her hair
grow back out), to make sure all was well with her older brother and
her now elderly father.
Everyone (well, maybe not Siegwulf) hoped that Gunnhildr would approve
of what they were making of their lives.
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