𝔳𝔦𝔤𝔤𝔬 𝔞𝔰𝔤𝔢𝔦𝔯

she is painfully aware of his eyes upon her , their slow journey over a body dressed in a way she’s not certain he’s seen her before . she has been in this court for longer than he has , has dressed in the finest of gowns and felt herself lost within them , invisible , and useless . but he is looking at her now in a way which makes her stomach leap , makes her avert the gaze she has always felt so comfortable sharing with viggo . “ much work to be done . never ending in fact , i cannot remember the last time i slept properly . ” rolling her eyes , she sips on her wine , gestures to a nearby cupbearer for another . she will need to be somewhat loosened up if she is to get through this night . 

when viggo leans in close , the spy master swallows , her gaze once more raising to meet his . how many she has seen her old friend flirting with but has not much felt the warm ray of his attention , not felt her cheeks flush with the proximity –– she blames it on the wine . “ you’re an arse , ” she mumbles , head shaking . secretly , she is pleased with herself , pleased to notice his eyes upon her dress , draped in black the colour of night , of the shadows she belongs to . with a sigh , danya nods , places her hand into his . “ only if you promise to get absolutely blind drunk with me tonight . i’m entirely fed up of being so well behaved recently . ”

~

          He looked at her a little worried for a moment. She was always working, always being the eyes and ears of the King. “You have other people working for you, right? Make them work and you take some time off for a change, alright?” he brushed the back of his fingers against her arm, his worried expression still present, but it faded soon after. Viggo hated himself for having such a hard time focusing on anything else, but her. He watched Danya as she finished her drink, his eyes taking her in. Fuck. He looked away.

the air around viggo , as always , is so full of him , and danya grins when she sees him approaching , a smile bright as the sun directed firmly at her . glancing down at the slip of a gown she’s pulled herself into , she can’t help but wince , certain that her old friend will tease her for the shadowy silks , so used to seeing her in her usual cloak and dagger attire that she looks entirely foreign in such finery . “ my lord , ” a roll of her eyes , danya bends her head in a mock bow , fingers running gently over the stem of her goblet . 

“ what do you think ? business as usual . spies don’t get a night off . ” a scoff , pressing her wine cup to her lips , danya watches him over its rim , candlelight flickering in her eyes’ reflection . as viggo’s eyes trail over her , she awaits his teasing , her fingers self consciously smoothing over her skirts though his words , they surprise her . cheeks heating , the spy master shakes her head . “ don’t tease , viggo . it’s a wedding , i had to dress up . ”

          A small laugh left his lips seeing the eyeroll she gave him. Even though she was dressed in a fine gown that accented everything perfectly, this was the Danya he knew so well - not big on the overly polite and almost theatric pleasantries lords and ladies did, feeling much better in trousers than dresses, and always having at least a dagger on her wherever she went. Although, now that he thought about it more, he was sure she had one on her even dressed in this gown, that hugged her in all the right places.

          “My mistake. I should have expected the answer,” Viggo replied with a smile. For some reason he couldn’t quite look away from her. Was it the dress, which he wasn’t used to, or the way she wore her hair for the night, she was having all his attention. His eyes followed her movements, her hand that went over the fabric of her dress over her own thigh. It was a dangerous territory, and he looked back up at her. “I’m not teasing,” he replied, but his smile quickly turned into his usual smirk as he leaned in a little, “but only this time, don’t get used to it.”

        It was no surprise Viggo was invited to the wedding, he had fought side by side with Aidan during their time in the army and they even once almost formed a band while drinking at a tavern, thinking they’d be much better singers than the bard who was performing there at that evening. Even though the idea wasn’t half as bad and their voices put together sounded good, that idea faded along with their buzz as they slept it off. But seeing Danya there surprised him a little. Although it shouldn’t, knowing that she was master of the spies. Of course the King would want to keep tabs on everyone.

          There was a lot on his mind, with everything that had happened lately it was plagued with a constant worry of the future. All vrajiit powers came back to their rightful owners, but it was not because they fixed it. It just did. Someone was toying with the people of this kingdom, the King seemed to have gone off rails and this was becoming a much bigger mess each day.

          “I am fine, trust me,“ he replied dismissively as he saw her walking towards him, he could clearly see worry in her features. “The blood isn’t even mine. Not the most of it at least.” He didn’t want to worry her, but the way he looked didn’t help his case. There was dried blood running down his temple, but starting somewhere in his hair, his lip was cut and there might be a bruise near his eye the next day, but it was nothing. Viggo expected Danya to smack the back of his head, but she did no such thing. Instead she brought both hands up to cup his face, making his breath hitch in his throat. He looked down at her silently, watching her, taking in Danya’s features. How could he never noticed just how deep her dark brown eyes could be? He took a small step closer, his gaze never leaving hers. Normally he would playfully tease her or throw a dirty remark, but he couldn’t. Not this time. He was tongue tied. All he could do was look at her silently and hope he had enough strength not to glance down at her lips.

she feels that she is lost without her powers , but she is no less busy . the silents pads of her feet , the nimble brush of her fingers are not accredited to being vrajiit , and she thanks the gods above , for who is she if not the spy master of this kingdom ? however , she is distracted , she is weary . danya needs a friend and so she makes her way toward the training grounds , soon to be directed towards the healer’s tent .

she smiles as she steps within , approaching viggo where she reaches to take the medicine and bandages he needs , eyes rolling . “ don’t flatter yourself , ” she responds , her head shaking . “ do you need a hand with that ? ”

          Viggo was always happy to see a familiar face, especially in these trying times. It was not easy to deal with all the shit that was happening in the kingdom. People wanted answers that he didn’t have. So, seeing Danya was a relief.

‘  that’s  very  kind  of  you  to  offer  ,  viggo  .  ’  kindness  shined  through  in  times  of  troubles  ,  where  others  selfishly  would  retreat  to  give  themselves  more  comfort  ,  others  shared  what  little  the  have  .  admittedly  nalini  was  the  former  ,  for  her  family  and  her  wenchika  she’d  have  no  trouble  being  seen  the  villain  .  ‘  would  you  kindly  keep  an  eye  on  my  children  ….  they’ve  been  through  so  much  ,  as  you  might  know  .  ’  voice  dropped  ,  eyes  casted  downwards  ,  the  shame  of  it  all  ,  yet  nalini  knew  it  wasn’t  their  fault  .  yet  there  was  no  helping  the  seething  anger  that  seeped  through  her  lips  ,  painted  her  words  as  she  delivered  them  to  her  children  .

for  shame  .

‘  if  …  if  you  should  hear  more  ,  could  you  tell  me  about  it  ?  it’s  just  all so  strange  ,  is  it  the  power  of  another  vrajiit  ?  but  there’s  no  individual  strong  enough  to  affect  the  whole  castle  ,  i  refuse  to  believe  it  .  ’  eyes  closed  in  dismal  ,  perfectly  shaped  eyebrows  furrowed  ever  so  gently  .  ‘  and  if  it  really  is  ,  then  only  adi  can  save  us  all  .  ’  the  thought  of  someone  possessing  that  much  power  …  a  power  that  loomed  over  them  even  as  the  night  passed  ,  affecting  every  single  person  in  the  keep  .  the  mere  thought  of  it  terrified  her  .

          “Of course. I will send my best guards,” he assured her, placed his hand on her arm and gently squeezed it. Ever since they came to the capital city, nothing went their way. The Ghita family had gone through a lot, nothing went their way. He could only imagine the stress Nalini was going through.

          Even though all vrajiits were left without powers, including his men, life didn’t stop. He still was still in charge of his men, they still needed to keep themselves sharp, ready to fight whenever needed.

— eddie brock / “venom”

No-frills and dedicated to justice. Eddie’s got a bit of a punk rock vibe to him. All he needs to be happy is a cool motorcycle and a strong woman to join him on it. Yet for as casual and laidback as he can seem, Eddie is also dedicated to standing up for the oppressed and taking down corruption.

— john mcclane / “die hard”

Tough, stubborn, and outwardly cocky. To Hans and his crew – and bad guys in general – John McClane is one of the most formidable and irritating enemies in the world. Even when the odds are stacked impossibly against him, he can't help making jibes at his foes. John is especially dangerous due to his willingness to take huge risks when necessary.

— indiana jones / “indiana jones”

dark eyes caught the ghost of a smile crossing viggo’s face and her own mouth pulled ever so slightly. she wasn’t ignorant to how it stopped just shy of the lines around his eyes, shadows clinging to the soft skin under his eyes, speaking volumes to the exhaustion weighing on those broad shoulders. “then consider me completely pooped,” she said, amusement vibrating in her warm voice but it was a fleeting amusement, quickly overtaken by the crinkle of concern between her eyes, “how far past ‘completely pooped’ are you? it looks like you left that behind a long time ago— you look tired, viggo.” ( aren’t we all though? )

she’d expected this answer and there’s nothing but quiet acceptance of that on her face. “if there were a vrajiit that powerful in the army, we would’ve known about it—  told ghost stories around cook-fires, whisper rumors about them to new recruits. you and i both know those sorts of secrets don’t stay secret in the army.” her eyes lifted to his face, head shaking to banish his words, “i wish you did too, but there’s nothing to gain in lamenting what answers we don’t have.” she reached to lay her hand against viggo’s cheek, “besides, if i know you it won’t be long before you find better answers. i only wish that you would be careful in your search for them.” 

          Of course he wasn’t glad to hear she was beyond exhausted, but their way of saying it did make him smile a bit. “Oh yes, that ship has already sailed and it’s not coming back,” Viggo replied with the same small smile and a shake of his head. He had already forgotten how a good night’s sleep felt, more often than not he was with his men and fellow leaders, looking for anything that would lead to finding out the attacker’s identity. A good rest was much needed, but he couldn’t afford it. Or more like he didn’t dare to have it, he felt bad doing nothing while others were working so hard.

          He listened to her words carefully, she was his friend, he trusted her and her judgement. And, besides, two heads were better than one, maybe she could give a new idea. “You are right, we would have definitely heard something. I’m starting to think maybe they had someone helping them, someone who could make people forget... Because at this point it feels like we’re chasing a ghost.” A sigh followed his words. Viggo was slowly starting to lose hope finding anything, but he was ready to dig as deep as he possibly could.