valzyrys: gifted, dnt please. (● 00289)

[personal profile] valzyrys 2023-04-09 05:49 am (UTC)(link)
[ He watches his nephew, letting himself be distracted by the sight of him bare, even as he's quick about towels. Thinking about it abstractlyβ€” young, fit, attractive. Aemond could be all Targaryen for how he looks, and the missing eye even adds to the aesthetic value; his face is a little too sharp, otherwise. Daemon understands. He can't have his hair all the way back or he looks stupid for it.

Furious little viper. Daemon sinks back, and is planning on dunking his hair under to try and work out some of the tangles before it dries again, and then he's reminded about just how dangerous it is to let his attention diffuse.

Aha. No startle, but not because he's too badass for it. Purely because he's grown sluggish with the heat. Woops. But he's fine with appearing to have unflinchable nerves.

Daemon's quiet laugh follows the younger prince. ]


Guess you don't want to fuck, either.

[ Why? Shut up, Daemon.

He does dunk his hair back this time, and if Aemond chucks another knife, it could very well get him in the throat. ]
valzyrys: gifted, dnt please. (● 00300)

huehuehue

[personal profile] valzyrys 2023-04-10 04:56 am (UTC)(link)
[ Tragic, that Aemond may never have a better opportunity to kill him with such little effort. An infinite spawn of daggers would be very helpful at the moment. But Daemon gets away unscathed, running long fingers through his hair and working out any remaining tangles as his nephew storms away, sounding very much like a big duck.

He takes his time extricating himself from the bath, and drying off in blissful solitude. Lurking maids find his company less objectionable, and he retires to his loaned room β€” not the lord and lady of the castle's, quite content to inhabit whatever's been set up and small enough to solidly bar the door from the inside. This is when, were he another man, he might follow up on that something better. But he doesn't. Because it's more petty, and thus more satisfying, to leave Aemond waiting.

And also because there is in fact something more sad and pathetic than the idea of Aemond scrambling after his knife, and that's the state of Daemon's passions. He would literally rather die being choked in a bath with a soggy towel than let the younger prince know he isn't turned on by negging, to the extent where the slightest hint of discomfort or insecurity makes him unable to perform. No thanks! Absolutely the fuck not!

He stays in his room. Menacing seduction from afar is plenty.

When someone knocks on Aemond's door in the morning, after not enough hours and when the sky is still grey outside, it's not Daemon, but one of the serving girls. She nervously tells him that a visitor has arrived to request an audience, and his companion is already in the dining room with him.

Daemon waits, a new knife tucked into his boot, with a strange man telling him about an even stranger invitation. ]
valzyrys: commission, dnt. (● 00214)

[personal profile] valzyrys 2023-04-16 09:26 am (UTC)(link)
[ Sometimes, in his posture, Aemond reminds him of Viserys when they were young. He was scholarly and well-mannered, and the regal distance with which he held himself - that looked so kingly, eventually - was sharper. Especially when their father was still alive, and Viserys carried that spark of wanting to impress that Baelon's death extinguished. That's how Daemon remembers him. How he continued to see him, even as he grew old far faster than he should have, and began to decay.

He sees it in Aemond as the younger prince joins them.

Makes his decision to scorn him overnight sting just a little (for Daemon has never been in denial of what he really wanted, merely resigned to the impossibility). But only a little. What'd have been worse? Failing to maintain an erection, or accidentally calling him his father's name?

No one, it turns out, should fuck Daemon Targaryen. And yet. He turns a spoon over in his fingers listening to Rogier and his absurd hat, decidedly not thinking about sex, and some of what the man says lines up with the masked man he'd murdered. Some more lines up with rumors he's heard whispers of. ]


The wind tells tales of the Roundtable Hold not really existing, [ he drawls. ] Does it? As a place? Or is it merely metaphorical?

[ When the sorcerer explains that it's a place just slightly out-of-step with the realm of the Lands Between, and further out-of-step with any other reality, Daemon is forced to accept that is sounds like it might as fucking well be true. It's not like he and Aemond are from this place; they did not arrive by being carried from one place to another.

The talking hat continues, ]


I see you have managed to apply some runes here and there. To really take advantage, you'll need to negotiate with a Finger Maiden. The collective at the Hold can point you in the right direction.
valzyrys: dnt please. (● 00085)

[personal profile] valzyrys 2023-04-19 05:36 am (UTC)(link)
[ An honest tragedy: Daemon absorbs all of this with an opaque expression, privately mourning all the ways he's been ground down by life, because he really can't justify saying what he wants to, which is, Finger Maidens sounds like something I got in trouble for as a boy.

Aemond and Rogier maintain their straight faces. What a world, what a world.

A keep set between realms, mystical women that commune with strange powers, the light of grace. Daemon thinks of priestesses of fire, glass candles, and blood magic. He wonders how much of the world was like the Lands Between, before the time of the Freehold. How much of it is still like this, in the shadowlands.

He takes a breath and sits up from his lean, looking at his nephew before finally moving his gaze back to the sorcerer. ]


I see no reason not to investigate your claim. [ Sure, it could be true. But it could also be bullshit. Hard to tell, here. ] If you speak true, it would be very helpful. And if notβ€”

[ He shrugs. ] Seems like a waste of your own time, really.

[ Apparently they'll come back, more likely than not. ]
valzyrys: commission, dnt. (● 00185)

[personal profile] valzyrys 2023-04-23 07:54 am (UTC)(link)
[ Field trip time. Daemon takes the spoon.

And of course it's another fucking sept. What's wrong with these people. (Just wait until he hears the whole history of Marika vanquishing the race of dragonlords that ruled the Lands Between before she was imbued with divinity.) He's plainly unimpressed as he trails behind Rogier and Aemond, taking stock of everything with a critical, skeptical gaze. ]


'Grace', [ he says, his voice dry with disrespect. ] Does your god truly welcome her own replacement? Do traps not exist in this realm?

[ Little things skitter and retreat in the rafters, startled by speech when footsteps had not disturbed them. Rogier is somewhat incredulous about this challenge, explaining that it's the various powers of nature β€” that include the Greater Will, sure β€” allowing them to shift around, not Marika.

Her statuettes being all about the place and facilitating things are just a coincidence, Daemon's sure. Mmhm. ]
valzyrys: gifted, dnt please. (● 00285)

[personal profile] valzyrys 2023-04-29 08:51 am (UTC)(link)
[ As far as Daemon's concerned, if the Erdtree ever resurrects him, it'll merely be proof it's a foolish cunt without any sense of self-preservation. Nothing worth respecting in that.

He reaches out a hand to join with his nephew's, and the sorcerer's. Serpent-quick, his hand shifts, they moveβ€”

When all three materialize in the Roundtable Hold, Daemon is already jerking Rogier forward. It sends the man offbalance and stumbling towards him, and Daemon darts his other hand up to grab him by his collar. What starts as a sound of awkward apology quickly shifts to alarm when it's clear Daemon did it on purpose, and is even now taking a step back and hauling the man with him, one hand at his throat, the other keeping him from grabbing his sword.

Other people are noticing. ]


Interesting, [ he says, around shouts of protest. ] It worked.

[ As if he was going to just go into that blindly without the potential for a hostage if needed. And now, jeez, everyone is so riled up, maybe if they'd?? Relax?? He'd just let Rogier go??? ]
valzyrys: gifted, dnt please. (● 00301)

[personal profile] valzyrys 2023-05-01 06:03 am (UTC)(link)
[ A quiet laughβ€” ]

You put your faith so blindly in these people? [ His voice pitches lower, speaking his native tongue. How's your High Valyrian, kiddo? ] In this magic that isn't ours, in this land that's taken us.

[ Speaking to Aemond, while still holding fast to Rogier, whose free hand is flailed out to forestall his companions from reacting. Daemon is only restraining him, no blade of his own out yet (despite the younger one's escalation, which his uncle finds funny).

Perhaps someone's ears prick to hear something that sounds like the dragonlord glyphs of old made alive. Perhaps it goes unnoticed, irrelevant. Either way, Daemon keeps his gaze fixed on his captive, whose face is finally clearly visible up this close, stupid hat knocked askew. Not a bad looking man. Daemon speaks quietly to him after a moment, deliberately private; no harm in being a little mysterious. For fun. He and Aemond are not a team, after all.

Things continue to be tense, until suddenly, they're not. Rogier steps away, no harm done, and for a brief heartbeat before he sweeps his hat back on, there's the sense that his face has gone red.

He's also holding a spoon.

Daemon raises both hands, and smiles. ]


That was very dramatic of all of you. We were only speaking.
valzyrys: commission, dnt. (● 00012)

[personal profile] valzyrys 2023-05-05 05:25 am (UTC)(link)
[ Aemond's High Valyrian is okay.

(Daemon is still an asshole.)

Awkwardness is for everyone else. Daemon stands there, utterly unfazed, no doubt further annoying the others with his audacity to feel no shame at his own poor behavior. Setting the tone. He doesn't want to be welcomed, or to be seen as a fledgling in need of guidance; he wants hostility and distrust, he wants people to leave him the fuck alone.

Negativity is honest. He wants to see them without pretense.

His voice is smooth and gracious when he speaks to the tarnished who nuts up and talks to them, faint smirk tucked into one corner of his mouth the whole time. It's all very interesting, but he's never been much of a joiner. These assorted cunts aren't Valyrian sealords. They're desperate failed men all grasping for the same escape hatch, and this brotherhood will crumble, one way or another. They will betray each other or they will buckle in sentimentality.

Maybe they'll have food that sucks less, though. Daemon incline his head, accepting an invite for a tour. Probably this will not include seeing the Two Fingers so early, which is a shame, as Daemon would have Opinions. ]
valzyrys: commission, dnt. (● 00184)

[personal profile] valzyrys 2023-05-13 11:09 pm (UTC)(link)
You might have a go at recruiting a few lonely widows, [ he offers dryly as they go along, regarding the state of the place. ] It'd be less eventful as far as arrivals go, anyway.

[ Taking the piss out of himself. (Then again, you never know. Maybe a lonely widow would come in swinging.)

It's not the most dreary keep he's ever been in. And it has security going for itβ€” at least superficially. Still standing despite their insubordinate aims. He wonders who the initial engineer is, and what their stated reasons are; more, what their hidden reasons are. Who benefits? Who stands quietly at the center, an idealist or a strategist?

Hmph. ]


With who, you? [ Daemon is a little over-quick in High Valyrian, sometimes. A habit picked up from Rhaenyra, all her mumbled rs and smushed words. She sped through to sound yet more mysterious as she got older, and he would mimic her to tease her. Now it's thoughtless.

Anyway. Just pulling Aemond's pigtails for a second. ]


This appears to be a valuable resource towards understanding this world and our appearance in it, even if their goal is childish.
valzyrys: gifted, dnt please. (● 00258)

[personal profile] valzyrys 2023-05-22 08:03 am (UTC)(link)
[ Candles flicker overhead. Their guide only pauses once to look over his shoulder, uncertain if he should be disapproving or if he should leave the strangers to their foreign conversation. Ultimately he doesn't interrupt, and merely continues to lead the Targaryens towards the wing of the hold with private quarters.

Daemon considers shoving Aemond into a wall and getting into a fight just here, in a hallway.

It'd be funny.

Instead, serenely, ]
If anything's worth doing it's worth holding the record.

[ Including getting banished. But Daemon thinks he's technically tied with Maegor, alas. ]

I wasn't banished, after her wedding. I chose to leave Westeros.

[ Viserys never actually followed through on anything even though his marriage to Laena was unsanctioned. What was he going to do, banish them to Essos? Too late. Surely his small council seethed, but even then, Viserys was simply too avoidant to do anything about it. (Maybe, if his brother asked him to return, he would have. But they'll never know.) ]

You learned the same lesson I did, you just took a different path. You gained no more recognition through obedience than I did from deviation. That must be very frustrating.
valzyrys: gifted, dnt please. (● 00280)

aemond, wheezelol

[personal profile] valzyrys 2023-05-23 06:14 am (UTC)(link)
[ Tragic, that every time Aemond has Daemon in a position where he's utterly defenseless, it's in some kind of nonsense moment like waddling away from a bath or in a hallway with a witness.

Because he does get him. WHAM, the book connects and Daemon staggers and their guide shouts in alarm. It's not like a mummer's puppet play, he does not keel over unconscious, he merely has his ears ringing and the kind of impact burn that lets him know he'll have a headache for two days. He's swearing luridly with a paradoxical rasp of laughter in his voice as the native tarnished man rounds on Aemond, hollering about behaving, bringing the sound of clanging armor to all ears present as others are roused to the commotionβ€” ]


Oh, let him off, [ the elder prince says, despite being bent at a funny angle still, one hand at the back of his head. Fuck, that hurt. Crosstalk, clangclangclang of a knight coming down the corridor after them, muddled chaos in a tight space. ]

He's just sore over figuring out his life was meaningless. But we've all been there, haven't we, gentlemen.

[ If it had been the side of a sword, Daemon would be headless right now. Alas. Still talking. ]
valzyrys: commission, dnt. (● 00097)

he is valid and daemon deserves it

[personal profile] valzyrys 2023-05-26 07:06 am (UTC)(link)
[ Little cunt. Daemon's going to have such a knot on the back of his head.

It is funny, though.

The miniature pile-on doesn't seem to concern Daemon as he straightens up properly, not bothering to hide his wince. Despite it, there's no mistaking the look in his eyes: though Aemond got a stellar and comical hit in, he hasn't managed to get under his uncle's skin. Daemon has learned to eat his own emotions, and it's been many years since he's flown off the handle for anything less thanβ€”

(Well. Doesn't matter any more. Rhaenyra and her insecurities are far away. Wearing her rightful crown. He will hope eternal, no matter how they ended, that she's able to maintain her throne without him enforcing her will.) ]


Your sorcerer had the wrong impression of us, [ he chuckles, addressing the beleaguered knights. ] But we'll keep peace. I will, anyway. Hopefully you have enough of a buffer between chambers so I don't have to sleep with one eye open.

[ A pause, as if he's going to say something else, and then he makes a faux-apologetic face and closes his mouth.

He doesn't have to say the one eye joke out loud, does he? ]
valzyrys: commission, dnt. (● 00144)

way harsh tai

[personal profile] valzyrys 2023-05-27 06:42 am (UTC)(link)
[ It says something about this world, their new home of the Lands Between, that there's no reaction from the peanut gallery about the implication that Daemon was like his brother (whoever that may be) to fuck him. Apparently that doesn't rank on the chart of relative weirdness, which is an interesting cultural note to jot down; doing so buffers the very real irritation Aemond manage to inspire in him with the barb.

A retort fills his lungs but dies behind his teeth. Aemond should take care when speaking of brothers. He traverses thin hypocritical ice.

Daemon looks at his nephew with a particular temperature in his eyes. Obvious that something has landed, though what it's elicited is harder to divineβ€” angry, predatory, a mixture? He offers no further verbal clues. He'd feel gratified by a full blown fight here, but he doesn't want to give Aemond the satisfaction of having set him off.

Not yet, anyway. There may come a time (perhaps soon) where he decides it's just as gratifying for himself to give in and take a fucking swing. There's something delightful about it, in a twisted way, to be on the receiving end of his own brand of instigation.

Instead of any of that: ]


He's had a long day.

[ Gracious. ]

Of course, we both have. Why don't you continue with my nephew, I'm happy to wait.

[ Go ahead and have first crack at picking a room, kiddo. Uncle Fuckface will hang out and twiddle his thumbs in the meantime. ]

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