deep shadow that devours

Viggo merely grunted, barely acknowledging Lio's greeting and comment as he took his place next to the Egyptian demigod at the firing range. He was not fond of guns but he trained with them religiously in order to stay in shape. He had finally found somebody on the island (not Irelia) that he could actually tolerate to spend time with. It helped that their backgrounds were similar he supposed.

He placed the muffs on his ears even as he loaded his pistol, still not acknowledging Lio's early comment. After a few shots, he side-eyed his friend. "And you look like you crawled out of some chick's bed." He shot another round of bullets at the target. "And loved it." He added with a smirk. Viggo saw no need to explain he was still pissed Irelia was keeping her ass out of Mount Phoenix, obviously tempting him to track her down.

“And what would happen if you lost to her, besides having your pride shattered?”

Lio refused to abandon the topic, finding this the golden time to gain a deeper look into this complex tug-of-war Viggo and Irelia were playing. Usually, he would not give a damn, too tangled up in his fights and his wicked schemes to care about someone’s love life. But Viggo and Irelia were not just someone, for both had learned about the man behind his harmless mask of a gym owner and a weapon shop’s clerk. 

“You’ve never let anyone owe you too much or too long, Vig,” he added, matter-of-factly, punctuating his statement with a last precise shot on the target. “And you love your veggies so much no one can touch it. Except her.” 

Lio’s feline-like smirk reappeared on his face as soon as he was reminded of how Karina had looked that morning, and that conveniently reminded him of what happened the night before. Leisurely, he reloaded his gun, secretly savouring the recollection for a tad longer before getting back to their conversation. 

"It's just..." He breathed roughly through his nose as if the thought of even speaking about who Irelia is to him was he was the one being held in gunpoint. "just how we roll..." He finished almost lamely.

Placing the empty gun on the table, he removed his muffs and turned fully to Lio. "Irelia and I go way back. It's almost difficult to separate us at this point. This...?" He gestured at the empty space. "Is just another one of her games." He smirked. "And I'm always her second."

At the mention of nicknames, Viggo's smirk widened. Indeed they had plenty of nicknames for each other, which were never spoken except in the vicinity of one another.

Viggo merely grunted, barely acknowledging Lio's greeting and comment as he took his place next to the Egyptian demigod at the firing range. He was not fond of guns but he trained with them religiously in order to stay in shape. He had finally found somebody on the island (not Irelia) that he could actually tolerate to spend time with. It helped that their backgrounds were similar he supposed.

He placed the muffs on his ears even as he loaded his pistol, still not acknowledging Lio's early comment. After a few shots, he side-eyed his friend. "And you look like you crawled out of some chick's bed." He shot another round of bullets at the target. "And loved it." He added with a smirk. Viggo saw no need to explain he was still pissed Irelia was keeping her ass out of Mount Phoenix, obviously tempting him to track her down.

As soon as he registered Viggo’s death glare shooting his way, Lio burst into low chuckles. If they did not know each other more than most individuals on this island did, he would never jab this cranky, deadly chef in the face about his barely-existing sex life. But, since Lio knew Viggo would never point the gun at him, he now enjoyed getting on his friend and neighbour’s nerves whenever there was a chance. 

“You’re the only one who’s been keeping track of her, Vig, of course you should go look for her,” Lio stated after the laugh died down, calmly aiming the gun at the target and pulling the trigger. Bullseyes. 

Lio glanced at Viggo at the gruff noise he let out, his facial expression got partly serious. “You sound like a kicked puppy, bro. Lovesick?” 

Lio took a step back to reload the fun, leaving Viggo the space he needed to junk out whatever response he might want to toss at his face.

"She's in Budapest, I know exactly where she is." He grunted again and squeezed the trigger. "And I am not lovesick. Girl still owes me thousands of dollars worth of groceries. Do you know how many times she threw away my ingredients? Because they're vegetables?"

Bam!Bam!Bam!

"Princess?" He threw Lio an incredulous look. "Didn't peg you for the high maintenance type, let alone royalty." Funny that Lio managed to find a girl to tumble in bed. He squinted his feline eyes at him suspiciously. There was something different about Lio's scent after all. Just how long had they been cloistered together?

Viggo merely grunted, barely acknowledging Lio's greeting and comment as he took his place next to the Egyptian demigod at the firing range. He was not fond of guns but he trained with them religiously in order to stay in shape. He had finally found somebody on the island (not Irelia) that he could actually tolerate to spend time with. It helped that their backgrounds were similar he supposed.

He placed the muffs on his ears even as he loaded his pistol, still not acknowledging Lio's early comment. After a few shots, he side-eyed his friend. "And you look like you crawled out of some chick's bed." He shot another round of bullets at the target. "And loved it." He added with a smirk. Viggo saw no need to explain he was still pissed Irelia was keeping her ass out of Mount Phoenix, obviously tempting him to track her down.

This time, it was a cranky Viggo with his pistol at the firing range. Among the common things they shared, besides their crime-bleak past, Lio liked the fact that Viggo also found the art of wielding bladed weapons more charming than the power of bullets. Finding Viggo with a gun outside the ‘battlefields’ was rather bizarre, but really, Lio could not be surprised by how well the other fired his shots. What truly triggered him into teasing Viggo was the pent-up anger loaded in his whole body language. 

“Bro, you look like you have not got into any chick’s bed for a decade,” Lio retorted, an understanding smirk sat proudly on his face, while he was reloading his pistol for the next shooting section. “And absolutely hate it.” 

He emphasized what he had observed by firing six shots, each hitting the head of the figure on the target. Lio then turned his head to look back at his friend, his voice got slightly more serious. 

"And why would I look for Irelia?" His deep voice was laced with annoyance. Did everybody know about his business with the daughter of Morrigan? He missed the days when they didn't know jackshit about each other. Now they were all up in each other's business, and now friends were giving advice. For that darn upstart Arwyn, and now Lio--who up to now Viggo had thought was a smart guy, had also joined in on this train.

"She'll turn up sooner or later," He said with a gruff voice, sounding as if he was trying to convince himself.

"Bullshit." Viggo's voice was his deadpan tone, even as his hand flew across the chopping board as he chopped up some chives to finish off the baked potatoes that were fresh from the oven. "You don't fuck your enemies." It was a bald-faced lie but Irelia and he hadn't been enemies for the longest time now. Maybe. Sometimes the only way they could have a decent conversation was through the edge of their knives. So what? Everybody had their own kinks.

Like the guy in front of him, Viggo raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything as he served the plate of steak and potatoes to his guest. Ever since Irelia left to goddamns where, most of the people in her life were now popping every now and then at his apartment. Mcluhan even dropped off some flowers the other day. Did he look like a guy who sniffed flowers?

"I'm fine."

"Is there a point?" He grit out, expression unamused as he watched the laughing demigod yet again disrespect his food by scarfing it done and giggling at him.

"all i'm saying is that maybe you should admit that you missed her." he shrugged. "at least one of you should, you can let her be the one in deep denial. plus i'm sure if i went to rummage through your drawers i'd find something of irelia's chucked in there somewhere somehow even though you two aren't supposedly staying together."

he bit back another cackle as he watched the other demigod's eyes stray towards the knife set upon the kitchen table.

His hand twitched as if he had meant to reach for the knives only to level a glare with his feline eyes at the other demigod. "I don't miss her." He bit out rolling his eyes at Arwyn's attempt to rile him up. "She can drag her ass back here if she wants, I'm not going after her."

"uh huh. veggies are about to go bad. as if you care about that before." he peeked once more from behind the sofa, silver eyes bright. "it's okay. you'll get to the point where you actually do admit it one day." a flash of a wild grin graces his face fleetingly. "it's not like you need those veggies for your everyday life. without iri around you hardly cook." he pointed out almost viciously.

He scoffed at the further words Arwyn spoke, palming his knife. "Yeah, I know." He rolled his eyes. "She's sending a message; I'm just fucking ignoring it."

His eyes drifted towards the picture Arwyn showed him, his eyes narrowing further at the provocative outfit and company in that photo that Irelia obviously did to get his attention.

(  various  dialogue  prompts  to  send  to  your  worst  enemy  (affectionate).  feel  free  to  change  how  you  seem  fit.  )

❛ oh great, it's you again. ❜

❛ you? kill me? that's funny. ❜

❛ for being someone you hate, i'm sure on your mind a lot. ❜

❛ you're the last person i wanted to see, actually. ❜

❛ do us both a favor. stay away from me. ❜

❛ you really are an asshole, you know that? ❜

❛ i'm the asshole? what does that make you then? ❜

❛ sometimes i think you must hate me. ❜

❛ i thought you said you never wanted to see me again. ❜

❛ if you want me to go, then you have to tell me to leave. ❜

❛ well, someone's cranky today. ❜

❛ well, someone needs to shut the fuck up. ❜

❛ just stay out of my way. ❜

❛ of all the idiots in the world, i'm stuck with you. ❜

❛ what is it you want this time? ❜

❛ sometimes i wonder if you're in love with me. ❜

❛ do you honestly think this is easy for me? ❜

❛ why would i ever want to be friends with you? ❜

❛ can we please just talk? ❜

❛ there is nothing for us to talk about. ❜

❛ you can yell at me later. just let me help you. ❜

❛ touch me, and you're dead. ❜

❛ oh, so now you care? ❜

❛ there is something deeply wrong with you. ❜

❛ i know i'm the last person you probably want to see, but... ❜

❛ you don't think we could be friends, do you? ❜

❛ i'm tired of fighting against you. ❜

❛ don't pretend you give a shit about me. ❜

❛ you're an idiot, but... i trust you. ❜

❛ oh, don't be cute. ❜

❛ wait, did you just say that i'm cute? ❜

❛ we're not good for each other. ❜

❛ if i say yes, will you shut up? ❜

❛ don't you have to be stupid somewhere else? ❜

❛ maybe we should kiss just to break the tension. ❜

❛ i'm sorry i can't turn off my feelings as easily as you. ❜

❛ maybe there's a universe out there where we're friends. ❜

❛ how can you be so smart yet so dumb at the same time? ❜

❛ don't think this changes anything between us. ❜

❛ you look ridiculous in that outfit, by the way. ❜

❛ if you die, i'll kill you. ❜

❛ is that a challenge? ❜

❛ ah, so you're not heartless after all. ❜

❛ i don't think i've ever seen you smile. ❜

❛ you never cared about me, so why now? ❜

❛ why didn't you kill me when you had the chance? ❜

❛ i don't even remember why we started fighting. ❜

❛ i don't have time for distractions right now. ❜

❛ you're not as bad as everyone says you are. ❜

"Bullshit." Viggo's voice was his deadpan tone, even as his hand flew across the chopping board as he chopped up some chives to finish off the baked potatoes that were fresh from the oven. "You don't fuck your enemies." It was a bald-faced lie but Irelia and he hadn't been enemies for the longest time now. Maybe. Sometimes the only way they could have a decent conversation was through the edge of their knives. So what? Everybody had their own kinks.

Like the guy in front of him, Viggo raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything as he served the plate of steak and potatoes to his guest. Ever since Irelia left to goddamns where, most of the people in her life were now popping every now and then at his apartment. Mcluhan even dropped off some flowers the other day. Did he look like a guy who sniffed flowers?

"I'm fine."

"Is there a point?" He grit out, expression unamused as he watched the laughing demigod yet again disrespect his food by scarfing it done and giggling at him.

"all i'm saying is that maybe you should admit that you missed her." he shrugged. "at least one of you should, you can let her be the one in deep denial. plus i'm sure if i went to rummage through your drawers i'd find something of irelia's chucked in there somewhere somehow even though you two aren't supposedly staying together."

he bit back another cackle as he watched the other demigod's eyes stray towards the knife set upon the kitchen table.

His hand twitched as if he had meant to reach for the knives only to level a glare with his feline eyes at the other demigod. "I don't miss her." He bit out rolling his eyes at Arwyn's attempt to rile him up. "She can drag her ass back here if she wants, I'm not going after her."

"Sure," Viggo responded, voice dripping with sarcasm as he studied his guest. It was 3 am and while that normally wouldn't bother him, it was something else entirely if the guest reeked of blood and something acidic.

"Tell me again why you brought the princess with you?" He asked as he opened an ice cold beer and dropped it in front of Lio on the counter. He didn't need to voice aloud that if it had been the two of them doing whatever job Lio needed to be done, it would have been neater.

“Because Princess knows her kingdom better than you and me combined,” he explained, one whole big sip of ice-cold beer too late to remember that he was recommended against taking alcoholic beverages for two weeks. 

It would not kill him anyway, Lio shrugged, and so he allowed himself to gulp down some more before adding. “We just kind of forgot that she can’t know all of her people. It seems like not all of them are humans anymore.” 

His smile could be seen as too carefree, too unbothered for the topic at hand, but damn, it was 3 am, and Viggo looked sort of cute getting fussed over his and Karina’s messy close shave. Lio then realized that almost all the times he showed up at the elder’s kitchen, they ended up talking about a bloodbath. 

"She's trouble walking," He rumbled, folding his arms against his chest and eyes narrowed with distate. Ever since the snake had slithered into the island she was everywhere. The fact that Irelia was off island also rankled the son of Bastet. How was he supposed to deal with her crazy ex in town?

"Paintball?" He blinked, as if not fully realizing what Lio invited him to. "You'll trust me with a gun?" The smirk on his face was practically predatory." He hardly recognized most of the names Lio rattled, but he supposed they were all part of his attempts at fitting in on the island. Viggo could understand that.

"Bullshit." Viggo's voice was his deadpan tone, even as his hand flew across the chopping board as he chopped up some chives to finish off the baked potatoes that were fresh from the oven. "You don't fuck your enemies." It was a bald-faced lie but Irelia and he hadn't been enemies for the longest time now. Maybe. Sometimes the only way they could have a decent conversation was through the edge of their knives. So what? Everybody had their own kinks.

Like the guy in front of him, Viggo raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything as he served the plate of steak and potatoes to his guest. Ever since Irelia left to goddamns where, most of the people in her life were now popping every now and then at his apartment. Mcluhan even dropped off some flowers the other day. Did he look like a guy who sniffed flowers?

"I'm fine."

" I'm sure Irelia begs to differ." Arwyn peeked up over the sofa, wide eyed and cheeky as he cackled at the way viggo savagely chopped his veggies. "Listen, it's okay to admit that sometimes, just sometimes, you've got that teeeensy little soft spot in your heart for a particular girl or two that's left you hanging like an undried piece of laundry. You're practically dripping with moodiness now that Iri's left." Arwyn popped another fry into his mouth, kicking back to relax on the other demigod's couch.

Now without Irelia here, he had taken it upon himself to check on the not-so-boyfriend that both Irelia and Viggo had refused to admit to either of their friends. Or even each other.

He snorted lightly at the thought, remembering the threat and the wide-eyed look of Iri wanting to stab him for suggesting that she liked Viggo--because according to her who liked cats?

Arwyn snorted into his drink to stifle his laugh once more.

"Is there a point?" He grit out, expression unamused as he watched the laughing demigod yet again disrespect his food by scarfing it done and giggling at him.