ooo this one is older (and actually written in past tense! Wow!) so I admit I kind of forgot where I was going with it but I think it had something to do with the idea of duality in one's person from both a metaphorical standpoint and literal, as it was a TES fic focused on hiisi and bodharza (one of whom is a politically involved assassin and the other being a werewolf which just kind of. lends itself to duality) with a little bit of teen aventus aretino in the mix as another person kind of caught between worlds. I should finish this sometime lmao
Again, she sighed, this time exhaling out of her nose in frustration.
"Don't play the 'mysterious assassin' game. I've seen it before, from far more seasoned killers. It's never clever, I should add." Bodharza tore the wax seal — handprint-shaped, tacky — from the rolled paper with her thumb. "Not even your Listener bothers with it around me, you know."
The boy glanced at the ground, laid a bit low at that.
"It's Aventus. Aventus Aretino."
She frowned, pausing before unfurling the paper. Just over the note's yellowed top edge, Aventus watched her, an unblinking juvenile hawk weighing whether or not to take flight for safety. He was sallow and appeared to have no need of shaving yet, with pitch-dark hair that fell just over his equally striking eyebrows.
Hiisi had not told her much about the new recruits — why would he have? It's not like it was her business, and she scarcely made it so. He had mentioned Aventus in passing, once, though. What had he said? An orphan who had run back to his dead mother's house all the way in Windhelm, away from Honorhall.
His dead Imperial mother. Left behind after the death of a Stormcloak father. No wonder he fell in with the Dark Brotherhood.
bodharza complains about having to Do Her Job constantly and this includes when she starts doing merc jobs for the dawnguard and then all of a sudden there's a vampire girl following her around with the absolute audacity to ALSO be complaining about life and she's like what the fuck. should we kiss. who said that
i will say although bodharza is generally not one to go out of her way to become friends with people (especially as an adult) she does maintain a friendship with gwilin from ivarstead and they hang out when she passes through town. he gives her all the good small town gossip and she tells him about the most exciting thing she's had to do while escorting a merchant lately (usually having to pommel-strike a troll or something)
bodharza is a one-woman union except for when anfisa asks really nicely or hiisi pays her a lotttttttttt of money that she pointedly does not question how he acquired it
thinking about bodharza . one thing about her is she has NOOOO understanding of when someone is flirting with her. which does happen from time to time bc she's a large handsome butch orc woman whom women want/fish fear. but she straight up will respond to offers to go to the tavern after the day's over with shit like "maybe. I was planning on looking at mammoths from afar once I'm done running errands though." and if someone invites themselves along she literally just goes about her business in complete silence and doesn't really acknowledge their presence. she's not trying to be rude she's just really into her own business
completing the warrior-mage-thief character trifecta among my 4th era skyrim ocs with bodharza (nord/orc mercenary who hiisi and anfisa meet in whiterun and who becomes harbinger of the companions) (not dragonborn but thinks the legend is cool)
