Anonymously, I'm still in the 'quiet but reading and liking everything you write' team.
Some Rookanis with Rook Ingellvar. Something involving culture differences between Necropolis and outside world - what passes as a cute and proper nevarran way to woo someone may be received as morbid or aberrand for the rest of the world (or quirky and peculiar if you're lucky enough).
Maybe the moment where it hits Lucanis that this girl is not trying to threaten him with death but just awkwardly flirts with him? And Rook being relieved that she didn't scare someone away (yet again) just by showing someone they're important to her?
Hello, hello! Lurkers and anons are always welcome here. I hope you enjoy this little piece. I'm not certain it hit exactly what you were looking for, but I tried to maintain the spirit at least.
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Over the course of decades, Lucanis had honed his instincts to a razor's edge. He always knew when someone was looking at him, but more importantly he knew how they were looking at him. He could feel the difference between someone looking at him and someone just looking in his direction. He could feel when someone looked at him with desire and when someone looked at him with ill intent. He could feel when someone was taking him in as a whole and when someone was looking for something specific.
Rook made his instincts go haywire.
For one, she was always looking at him. He could feel it before and after battle, out of battle, during battle. He could feel it in the Lighthouse, on the streets of Treviso, beneath the trees of Arlathan. At first he thought it was Spite. She clearly could not hear the demon as Emmrich could, but she was aware of him on some level. If Spite made a sudden move, her head would turn, tracking the motion. Spite was delighted, of course, which had led to him spending an entire night zipping back and forth in front of Rook while she sat on the sofa in the dining hall. It was one of the few times he had heard her laugh, a quiet thing that would not echo in the cavernous chambers of the Necropolis.
But Lucanis was fairly certain she could tell when the demon was not immediately present (as much as was possible, bound as they were), and it changed nothing. She still watched him, and he still could not pin down what motivated her. He could not read what was behind her gaze. He could read Davrin's hostility (not that the Warden tried to conceal it), Bellara's friendly curiosity, Harding's wariness, Emmrich's intellectual fascination, Taash's admiration, even Neve's attraction.
But he could not read Rook.
In time, the only instinct he felt he could rely on was survival. He did not truly believe Rook meant him harm, but if someone in the Crows had betrayed him, why not a relative stranger? It was safer to avoid her when he could and try not to be alone with her when he couldn't.
Several weeks passed before he failed at both points. After an enjoyable supper filled with stories and wine and the first real stirrings of camaraderie among the team, Lucanis had looked up from finishing the washing to find Rook standing in front of the exit.
Watching him, of course.
He dried his hands on a dish towel and walked toward her, keeping his gait and expression as neutral as possible. He stopped several yards away and shifted his weight to the balls of his feet.
"Rook," he greeted her.
"Lucanis," she replied. "I've made you uncomfortable."
He had not expected her to address the issue so directly—or at all—so he was unprepared with a suitable response. She seemed to take his lack of reaction for the confirmation it was because she nodded.
"Neve and Bellara have advised me to apologize and explain."
Then, to his further confusion, she clasped her hands behind her back and lifted her chin as if about to deliver an academic lecture.
"For the first several weeks of our acquaintance, I was assessing your aesthetic qualities, of which you have many. As I suspect you are aware of these and have been subject to such appraisals before, I will not enumerate them now."
She paused for breath, but as he could not think of a single thing to say, she continued on.
"During the weeks that followed, I began to catalog your non-aesthetic but no less meritorious attributes. Examples of these include your competence, your generosity, and your intelligence.
"And lastly I have been attempting to ascertain whether you fostered any partiality for my physical appearance and/or character." A tiny furrow appeared in her brow. "Given that my attention seems to have given you cause for alarm rather than celebration, I believe I have my answer."
After her bewildering recitation, she made a small bow. "I sincerely apologize for having disturbed you and will curb the behavior that engendered such disquiet immediately."
She turned to leave and was already reaching for the door when Lucanis found his voice.
"Rook... wait."
She looked over her shoulder, and for once, her gaze stayed away from him, lingering on the floor instead. To his surprise, he found he missed it.
"You're saying... you like me?" he asked.
Her eyes met his again, and this time... this time he thought perhaps he could read a hint of warmth in them. "I do. And I will continue to do so. Even if you do not regard me as a suitable romantic prospect, I will always regard you as a valuable member of this team and a trusted and cherished colleague."
From anyone else, it might have seemed a cold assessment, but he knew Rook was difficult to impress. That he had managed it prompted a flare of pride in his chest.
"I confess I have not considered you in that light," he told her. "Would you allow me time to make an assessment of my own?"
Again, he thought he caught a flicker of emotion, a slight uptick at the corner of her lips. "Of course."
Perhaps he simply needed to recalibrate his instincts for Rook.
"Then I suppose I will let you know when I've reached a conclusion," Lucanis said.
"Excellent," Rook replied, as if they had come to some sort of formal agreement at the end of a successful negotiation. "Enjoy the rest of your evening."
"And you as well."
Once the door had closed behind her, he scratched at his beard. Then he went to make a fresh pot of coffee. At least he had plenty to occupy his thoughts for the night ahead.
Absolutely obsessed with how illario tells a lucanis romancing Rook that they chose the wrong dellamorte
SAME oh my god. It’s the fact that it’s a romance specific line that really gets me- it could easily apply to Rooks that aren’t romancing Lucanis, if he had meant “you chose the wrong Dellamorte to assist with your cause, because I’m the better assassin.”
But that’s not what he meant. Illario is specifically referring to Rook choosing the wrong Dellamorte as a romantic partner.
The jealousy he must feel, to be thinking of Rook and Lucanis’ relationship in the middle of their fight is CRAZY. I’m so curious whether he wants Rook because they don’t respond to his flirting, or whether he wants them because Lucanis has them- either way, I don’t see an explanation for this line that doesn’t come down to Illario wanting Rook for himself, and that being part of his frustration at being the “lesser” Dellamorte
It's me again, speaking into the ether of a dead fandom. Don't mind me I just need to get all this out. If there were any doubts about Riario being in love with Da Vinci, s03e06 surely erased them.
We get this incredibly soft moment between them where Riario admits he could not watch Da Vinci die after all they had been through. And Da Vinci, well, he sheds a tear before he can catch himself. Vows right after that he will save Riario as Riario saved him. I-
Riario also called Da Vinci Leonardo for the first time ever I believe. It was slow, he took the time to let it roll off the tongue, then he literally said it 20 times after that because the floodgates had been opened. Riario's darker personality can't help but tease and ask if he can call Da Vinci 'Leo' and I just know Riario had dark thoughts about saying exactly that in a different context.
The dark personality, the Sinner, tells us that Leonardo is the reason Riario has become so good. Leo has made Riario 'weak' & Riario admires Leo greatly. He hisses at him because of it like a feral beast being cornered. The dark side of him hates this because he knows that Leonardo can get rid of him.
And get rid of him he did though not the way he had planned. Leonardo tried everything he possibly could with science and ingenuity but it wasn't enough. Not this time. In the end he had to tear down his walls, confess his truth and open his heart to Riario to bring him back.
Leonardo in turn calls Riario Girolamo properly for the first time too. I can't believe I had forgotten the poetry of it all. These two 😭
I wish I had been active in the fandom when this show was live. It's still so good.
