Work Text:
Rio has been watching this mortal for quite a while.
She makes up a peculiar case. Not of the same caliber as the woman that’s always at the back of her mind no matter the circumstances, it’s something else. Familiarity.
Rio notices it in her eyes when she watches her from afar.
She’s not ever scared of what she’s done. Doesn’t feel slight remorse. She’s fascinated by death. Watches life slipping away from her victim’s eyes. She watches and smiles. She greets death willingly, with open arms. Constantly instigates meetings. Maybe it could be a friend?
Today is messy. She’s sitting around the bodies of several guys she was ordered to kill but she is in no hurry. She seems tired? Not physically per se, but exhausted mentally? Maybe Rio is reading too much into this.
She’s sitting on the floor, and leans against a desk, letting out a heavy sigh. This could just be the cue for Rio’s entrance.
- Nice work.
Simple words set a whole killing machine in motion, as Rio is suddenly pinned against the floor, a small knife pressed to her neck. Why does she always end up in these situations?
- Who are you? – She’s urgently demanding answers, but Rio can’t help but start laughing maniacally. It confuses her new acquaintance.
- This won’t do anything to me. – Rio tries gesturing to the knife with her eyes.
The woman gets even more confused. She might not be used to people laughing instead of begging for mercy.
- What do you mean? – Thick Russian accent. Rio could toy with that a bit later.
- Try it. Try cutting me. – Rio says it with a bit of an edge in her voice but she’s relatively calm. She’s not even struggling to get out, this is much more entertaining.
The woman looks at her cautiously but after a split second carefully cuts Rio’s left side of the jaw. It bleeds just for a moment and then instantly heals.
That sends the new friend (?) flying up and backing to the nearest desk. Huh. Even cold-blooded assassins have their weaknesses.
It doesn’t help that Rio stands up with the help of a gust of wind she can summon.
- What the fuck are you?! – She’s frantically looking between Rio’s jaw and her knife which still has remnants of Rio’s blood on it.
- Oh the profanities. Pleasure to make your acquaintance. I’m Death. Or Rio. Whatever is more to your liking. Смерть will do too.
- The concept of death is in front of me? Did I take something? I don’t remember taking anything other than that gorgeous cake batter I made today. Did I accidentally add something to that..? – Oh boy. She’s going way off the rails.
- Relax. I just wanted to say hi. Impressed by your handiwork. Quite a hassle sometimes to clean all that up, but I don’t mind. I like gifts.
She’s still staring at her. Assessing. There’s less fear with each passing second. And then she just blurts out the most random thing:
- Why are you dressed like you’re about to enter an adult Halloween party?
Rio looks down and scoffs. All skintight, dark makeup, and dagger to her side for good measure, she sees the vision. They are developing a banter already. Good.
- What can I say, I like to keep up with the times. And that long robe is a nightmare to carry around. – Rio talks in a tone like she’s letting her in on a little secret.
That amuses her. She’s walking up closer to Rio.
- So I can touch Death. Fascinating. – She traces Rio’s face with her index finger and Rio squirms just a little. Too unused to physical touch after years of self-inflicted solitude. As a punishment for what she’s done. It’s not the time to think about it now though.
- And Death can touch you in return, no casualties. – Rio boops her on the forehead. She doesn’t want this to get sensual. Not the angle she’s working on.
But her opponent seems to be working in that angle anyway.
- Wanna have sex? – There isn’t exactly a primal urge Rio senses. Pure curiosity. Sure, the concept of intimacy with Death herself could be interesting to some people. But alas Rio is tragically monogamous.
- Ah. No. Not really, - Rio shrugs after pretending to consider the offer.
She doesn’t seem bothered by the answer.
- Not my type anyway. I prefer older women.
- Well, if you really think about it, I’m more than a millennia old, so… The oldest of them all.
She quickly assesses Rio’s features.
- You look… young?
- I moisturize. – Rio shrugs again, even smiling playfully.
The woman snorts loudly at her words. Nothing elegant about it, but almost childlike? Like she hasn’t lost that childlike wonder despite all the horrible things she’s done. Or maybe it's her coping mechanism against the can of worms that is her inner torment. Maybe they are too similar. Still, could be good for both of them.
- You’re funny. – She’s still smiling as she extends her hand. – Villanelle.
- Pleasure. – Rio shakes the hand.
They look at each other for a moment, and Rio realizes she hasn’t really thought the encounter through this far ahead. So she steps back and concludes:
- I gotta go. Have to reap all the bodies you so generously gifted to me.
- You’re welcome. – Villanelle flashes her a smile that probably charms countless women she meets on her path. – See you again later, yeah?
- Sure. Еще увидимся, лапуль.* - Rio bows but Villanelle stops her. (*See you again, sweetie)
- How do you know Russian anyway?
- I mean, I’m Death. Don’t you think I know every language?
Villanelle nods in agreement.
- Yeah, makes sense.
Rio smiles at her one last time. Time to get back to work.
//
They are sitting on a freshly mowed lawn in the backyard of some rich guy Villanelle was ordered to kill. He’s happily drowned in his pool and Rio isn’t in a hurry to pick him up just yet. Been a while since they got time to catch up.
Besides their fondness for insanity, not abiding by rules, and constant desire to stir chaos just for the sake of it, they have another thing in common: a fondness for women who don’t want to have anything to do with them ever again.
- I just wanna know the simplest stuff, you know. What she had for breakfast, how her day has been, was it boring? I mean, yeah, probably boring when I’m not there but… would be nice to hear from her? – Villanelle reminisces, her tone bittersweet. She’s rarely that open and vulnerable in front of anyone, but who’s Rio going to tell? She’s her only friend at the moment.
- You did kill her best friend though. I picked that guy up. Very much no harm to society, other than having exceptionally good gaydar. Clocked your Eve in seconds.
Their lazy laughter scatters around the backyard. There are still faint sounds of bubbles coming out of the dead guy. Peace and tranquility.
- Ugh, that was so long ago!
- And you threatened her ex-husband.
- I wasn’t even the one who killed him!
- That’s barely a good enough rebuttal, hun. – Villanelle sighs petulantly and almost starts having a tantrum. Watching her is amusing. Somehow, she reminds Rio of a younger version of herself. It’s oddly comforting.
- Anyways, what did you do that your dear Agatha is so up in arms with you? - She's trying to rile her up for fun. Shame the topic isn't as amusing as it could be.
- Took her son away. It was his time.
The mood suddenly dropped. Great. Now Rio is a mood killer.
- Shit.
- Yup. That was shit alright.
- Well… maybe she forgave you? Where is she now?
- No idea. The Darkhold has her now, she’s concealed.
- Dark-what-now? Is this some kind of drug? You eternal entities are so silly.
Villanelle boops her on the nose now. Makes Rio chuckle.
In retrospect, they have similar tastes in women. Villanelle’s love seems to have a better moral compass but Rio has noticed her shifting, finding that spark of madness deep within herself. Hunger for killing. One thing for sure they have in common is feigning annoyance anytime they meet their unruly lovers.
- Wouldn’t it be easier if we just dated each other? – Villanelle muses curiously.
Rio clicks her tongue in response.
- That’s like dating your carbon copy, no offense.
- Oh my, I’m a descendant of Death herself, you flatter me, солнце. (*somewhat equivalent to sweetheart, because it doesn’t directly mean “sun” in this context)
- Just stating simple facts. We’d get bored of each other too easily. And admit it, you do like the chase.
They both hum, thinking of their respective (sometimes reluctant) lovers.
It was time to go. The body is getting stale, and they are overstaying their welcome, otherwise, the nosy neighbors will definitely sense that something is up.
They keep meeting like this, in brief moments. Sometimes Villanelle has to flea the scene as fast as she can in the fear of getting tracked down, so she leaves her little gifts.
One day Rio whines about how she would torture any poor soul for a good pomegranate, and there it is, a bunch of them actually, in a neat tiny basket, right beside the cold body Villanelle left for her.
“Enjoy, солнце x” is a note next to it, and Rio chuckles to herself once again. Having a friend once in a century is nice. It’s a shame that humans have expiration dates. Rio is quite fond of this one, no matter how much chaos she causes around her.
//
They meet up for the last time, and Rio has to drag her cold body out of the River Thames. Rio’s black heart is crippled with bitterness, watching this untimely demise, and she barely holds herself back from pouncing on that smirking little bitch with pixie hair, who watched it all unfold in front of her eyes.
- How did this even happen, V? – Rio’s voice is colored in deep regret. She’s been flying too close to the sun. It burned her to a crisp.
- I do not wanna talk about it. – She’s suspiciously vain about it. Was it embarrassing?
Rio can’t help the small gentle smile forming on her face.
- Come on, V, you can tell me.
After the longest pause on the way to the Underworld, she finally utters.
- A bullet in the back. Sniper.
Rio stops in her tracks. She looks her in the eye genuinely shocked. Villanelle is almost starting to squirm.
- Seriously? Oh god, that’s…
- Pathetic, I know! I didn’t even die a pretty death, it was so undignified and empty and--
- Did she survive at least?
Villanelle nods. Rio sighs out of the mix of annoyance and resentment. This isn’t fair. Not like both of them are supposed to be treated fairly. They for sure don’t grant that courtesy to anyone else.
- Then it was all worth it. – Rio states firmly, and they agree in silence by simply looking into each other’s eyes.
After a moment, Rio shows weakness as she does once in a few centuries.
- I can keep an eye on her if you want. Make sure she’s alright. Just a favor. To a friend. – Rio shrugs and smiles at Villanelle.
She’s suddenly enveloped in a tight hug. It’s not possible to squeeze the life out of Death but Villanelle is sure on a mission. When she pulls away, her eyes are filled with gratitude.
- Thank you, Ri. You were my only friend in the end.
- Same sentiment goes for you. – Rio states simply, and they continue walking down the path toward the Underworld.
Until Villanelle stops once again:
- Promise me something else?
- Can’t assure it’s gonna happen, but sure?
- Fight for yours too, okay? In the end, it’s all so… fleeting.
Villanelle’s voice is painted in grief and regret. Rio knows the feeling. Years spent on the chase; they never know how to simply stop.
Rio nods in silent promise and sets on another journey: staying as close to Agatha as she allows to. It’s the least she could do.