#*[ RANSKAHOVA V : STARTERS ]

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vasilissa could admire the kind of killer that cato was. it wasn't her style. she was quiet and deadly, and that had always worked for her. it still worked for her. brute strength could be just as useful though, and he proved that. she'd been given access to his academy scores, and his scores from tribute training. and now, well, she saw further potential. she'd gone out of her way to find a time when he was alone, because she didn't intend to lie to him about her identity like she did with most people. she bided her time, not wanting to put him on edge. part of her had wanted to toy with him, to follow him for as long as she could before he realized, but even for her that was cruel, especially when she wanted someone on her side.

she'd never been in two, and she knew the longer she spent out in the open the more attention she'd draw. she didn't want just anyone's attention, she wanted his. she settled on finding him in his home, knocking sharply on the door and waiting. she stood on the stoop, the strange feeling of missing her own district washing over her. four was much different, but she hadn't been home since her games. she didn't see anything familiar and yet... she straightened, pushing away the thoughts of four and of the sea she forced herself not to miss. she had business here.

STARTER CALL | starter for @lazaruhs / cato orestes *

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she'd been attending the university for three years now, and her time there was coming to a close. snow and his people were assigning her more and more duties outside of her classes now and she could tell she was becoming of more use to him. she was proud to serve the president, proud of the life she'd made despite not winning her games. she liked her secrets, the fact that only the president and his closest advisors knew of her identity. to all those who asked about her scars she was just a poor capitol girl who'd been hurt during the war and they just couldn't save her face. she wore a mask anyway, it hid her features well enough that those who might still recognize her as a former tribute couldn't do that and she didn't have to see where she'd been mauled every time she passed glass or a mirror.

she knew her final exam for the president would come, and while she didn't know for sure, she was beginning to think this might be it. a true test of her strength to prove that she could act under pressure and under no circumstances reveal her identity. she was sent to a party filled with former victors in order to celebrate the beginning of the 69th hunger games. she knew to stay away from gloss, the winner of the games she'd survived, but if she could pass the night without any trouble from any of the others well, lissa was sure she could do anything.

she lingered amongst the victors, the gamemakers and the capitol folk all dressed up in their best. vasilissa was dressed well too, nice enough that she fit in but not nice enough to draw attention to herself. her mask blended with the neckline of her dress and hid half her face in scales. in the eye underneath the mask, a snake like contact lens that made her pupil look elongated. finally though, she just couldn't help herself. she wanted a challenge. she moved through the crowd until she found the victor of last year's games. he was from two. she avoided the victors from four at all costs, too close to home. she approached him, sliding into a spot on the couch he sat on as soon as it was vacated. "have you ever seen a party more divine?" vasilissa didn't care about the party, she'd been to plenty since living in the capitol, but she need him comfortable and what better way to make him comfortable than playing the out of touch capitol citizen.

STARTER CALL | starter for @razorfst / andrei lupei *

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he was the son of rebels, of course the president had wanted someone to keep an eye on him. with the rumblings of a second rebellion, and uprisings in the districts, they were beginning to suspect there were agitators. they wanted to make sure that flynn wasn't one of them.

she watched him from the shadows for days, following him throughout the victor's day to day goings on. vasilissa was careful, but the ones that survived the games tended to be jumpy. she could be as well. her time following him inconspicuously was running out. she didn't have what she needed from him yet, confirmation as to whether or not he was a rebel sympathizer. it was time for her to be more overt.

she waited until they both found themselves at a bar. and then, she waited five minutes before she entered and another five before she approached him directly. vasilissa moved from her original spot to the one that opened up next to him. "can i buy you a drink?"

STARTER CALL | starter @w4ntd for / flynn ryder *

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she'd kept quiet, blending in with the various employees that kept the tributes living in luxury when she felt like it. a step above an avox in her opinion, but she really wasn't meant to be in the tribute tower. too much chance gloss or any of the other tributes and mentors might recognize her. she couldn't resist it though, being among them all again. she got so close to winning, and yet she had something better now. the ear of the president, his respect. she lived where others might have died. she walked among the best and they didn't even know she'd very nearly been one of them. or if they did get a good look at her face, they'd likely think they were seeing things. ghosts of tributes past or something similar. it wouldn't surprise her if the capitol's buildings were haunted, this one and all the former arenas especially. she haunted it now too, she supposed, at least while the quarter quell was nearly under way.

then she saw him, blonde hair and shorter than her. she leaned at the railing, looking out over the tower and waited for him to pass her. when he did, she fell in step with him. "i'm sorry to ask, but how does it feel? really? to win?" vasilissa found the faux bubbly curious tone easily, as easily as she hid her district accent for the capitol's preferred tenor.

STARTER CALL | starter for @devilsnare / peeta mallark *

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vasilissa wouldn't say she ever fully relaxed unless she was completely alone, in her own space, but she found herself able to relax around nikolai. she wasn't needed, or even allowed to be at the meeting nikolai was attending, and while she was perfectly capable of finding a way to listen in, she chose not to. she'd know if nikolai didn't tell her the truth about the whole meeting. she sat on the plush couch reading and waiting until he came through the double doors. as soon as she heard his footsteps, she stood up, waiting for the prince to come in. "i was getting bored," she greeted him, striding to meet him halfway across the room. as he came close to her, she reached up and ran her hand over his hair, disrupting the carefully slicked back and coiffed appearance. "that's better."

silly lil starter for @kcrclrezni / nikolai lantsov *

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@loetise sent ❛  i always feel better with you by my side. ❜

vasilissa looked down at allie, it was shocking really. she shouldn't feel safe with her, not with what she was capable of and what she'd done to get here. it was nice though, knowing there was one person in the world who didn't think she was a monster and want to use it. she reached over, wrapping her arm around allie's shoulders and pulling her close. "i'll do what i can to keep it that way," she was sure that allie would come to realize she wasn't the person she thought she was in due time and the gentleness she received from her would fade.

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@themerchliing sent did you kill them?

she'd only just released her fist, hand falling loosely to her side when she heard a voice from behind her. vasilissa took a deep breath as she turned around. could nothing be simple? of course not, nothing was simple in ketterdam not even money. what was supposed to be easy was now complicated by a witness.

"no, of course not." there was a body behind her, lungs filled with water. "what makes you think that?" she stepped away from the man, a drunk with a thick beard and the ugliest green waistcoat she'd ever seen. vasilissa took in the kid. he didn't look like much, but she knew better than to underestimate someone.

vasilissa walked toward him, practically daring him to look past her. "why? did you see something?"

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she walked up to helm, filling a spot at the railing next to the sun summoner's companion. she'd kept her distance for the most part, just in case he recognized her from the few times she had worked alongside the first army or spent time in their camps. he was relatively unremarkable, so vasilissa had no idea whether she had seen him before, but it was better not to take chances. they'd been on board the ship together for long enough that vasilissa was mostly sure he didn't recognize her. if he did he didn't know her true name. the crew knew her as lara and she had been introduced to him as lara as well.

"oretsev," she looked from the water over at him. "is something on your mind?" she'd seen him walk away from the drinking and card games the crew was playing, and followed him after he didn't return in a few minutes. "i brought a bottle," she held up one of the bottles they'd opened in hopes that it would ease any anxiety he might have about talking to a stranger.

STARTER CALL | starter for @thegrectwar / maleyn oretsev *

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@kcrclrezni sent ❛ you shared a love of twisting the knife into one another. ❜

he was not the same man she had sailed with, but then again she wasn't the same person that he had sailed with either. they both had their scars. vasilissa had shed lara like a coat the moment she'd stepped back on ravkan spoil, but despite all that had happened she wanted to put that coat back on some times. she knew who she was though, a war criminal and the man she sat with was no longer her friend. as she began to speak, his real name felt odd on her tongue. he was captain to her, the king was not the man she'd known. "nikolai, is this really what you came all the way here to talk about?" old times. her old loyalties. it was still painful, but it must be much more painful to him. they sat in her small flat, open window facing out into little fjerda's central square. "i can see you're still angry. i understand. what i don't understand is why you came all the way here, why i let you into my home so you could remind me of what i left behind. what do you want?"

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* @artisanals​ sent [ CLOTHES OFF ] ― your muse helps my muse undress. from zafiya

vasilissa brushed her fingers through zafiya’s hair, tucking dark strands behind her ears. her hand trailed from her hair down to the other’s chest where she began to unbutton her blouse. “you’re so beautiful,” she whispered to her as she took her clothes off. when she was done with the blouse, lissa removed it from zafiya’s arms and tossed it onto the chair at her desk. she kissed down her neck and her shoulder, lips gracing over her skin “so fucking beautiful, zafiya.”

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@rietveild sent “  you don’t actually believe that, do you?  ”

she might look the part with her pale braided hair and cold demeanor, but vasilissa was ravkan through and through. it didn't hurt that she could play the part of a fjerdan though. it didn't come easy to her, hiding being grisha or living without her people, but she was adapting. adapt she would continue to do, and that meant lying to this particular barrel boss. "djel works in strange ways, but i see evidence of him here just as i did in elling." she was curious to see whether brekker believed that she believed in the fjerdan gods. it made her cringe, but with half her face hidden behind a leather mask, any twinge of guilt might get lost.

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@tsareviich sent ❛ if i could be a different person, i promise you, i would be. ❜

she had been expecting someone else, one of her fellow spies, not the prince himself. "my apologies moi tsarevich," vasilissa curtsied, only a hint of resentment passing over her expression as she looked down at her feet momentarily. her composure returned as she looked back up. "i wasn't expecting you, that is all." she fixed her gaze on him which wasn't difficult because she was easily looking at the top of his head if she didn't make eye contact. "is there something i can do for you?"

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grishaverse ocs : vasilissa ranskahova