ivakir:
Something in his head warned him: Ryzhiy, don’t ask this question, you will regret it, but when he listened to his inner voice? After all, he was a fallen man, the fallen people didn’t have an inner voice, they had devils on their shoulders, on the left, on the right, the angel was kicked out. Drugs, alcohol, sex, money… For Ryzhiy, it was a woman. The man didn’t tell Her name. Who would have known what would have happened if he had said Her name. He would die right here, and no one would know about it, Ryzhiy would be forgotten for the whole world. Some man died, will be written in the tomorrow’s newspaper… or maybe not, because a rat doesn’t deserve even his name written somewhere.
His palms were sweating and his head was spinning. Obviously not from the effects of magic. He didn’t know what to say. He had not spoken to Her for a long time, to pronounce Her name was like accidentally touching the garment of God - a mortal cannot count on forgiveness, the sweet arms of death would be a salvation. Ryzhiy rubbed his neck. What did his brother say? That you can’t do business with Her. But Ryzhiy had one question.
“How is she doing?”
He covered his throat with his hand, as if he had not spoken for many years, and only now could he find someone who would listen. Such a simple question, but it made him almost throw up.
'How is she doing?', he asked.
Ilyas had known Viv for a good while now. He'd come to learn that everyone had an opinion about her, be it good or bad. She was the type of person one could only love or hate. Of course he himself was somewhere in the middle, but Ilyas always was an exception to practically every rule out there anyway.
Those who loved Viv usually only did so because they wanted something from her. When they did not get this something, when she did not agree with their wishes or when she screwed them over somehow, most of the time, these folks would very quickly move over to the hate camp. Viv did not seem to care, so neither did Ilyas. His job was to keep her safe from these people and although it may not always have looked like it, he took it very serious.
Judging from the question asked, this man could very well be on either the love or the hate side. Ilyas could not yet determine, but he'd now grown more suspicious. And that was a reason to hold the conversation.
"Oh," he casually said, shrugging his shoulders. "You know her. She's always got her nose up in everybody's business, claiming that's her 'job' and all. But hey, if she's happy with it and everyone else pays her for it, who am I to complain?" He allowed a moment of silence while he watched the other guy closely, trying to see any sort of reaction, any kind of twitch or movement that indicated just how he felt about Viv. Could this man - or what was left of him - be a threat?
"Do you.. need her help?"
