Sunlight set the marble of their bedroom aglow. One of the perks of being rich, thought Danika, sleeping in. Hvitserk had returned rather late from a trip so sleeping in was entirely warranted. Rolling over she tossed her arm over his torso without a care in the world and pressed her forehead between his shoulder blades, savoring the warmth of his skin on her face, the rhythm of his breathing under her arm. Her eyes fluttered shut again, but as sleep in the hours of morning is wont to be, it felt like only minutes before her mind refused to remain in that glorious state of unconsciousness when one is just asleep enough to know one is asleep and appreciate it. Throwing the sheets off her, she began to sit up, but was met with the stiff resistance of the tree branches that were Hvitserk's arms.

"We have to wake up, Hvitserk." She pushed against what she knew would be a losing battle. But then just as he was getting used to her pushing back, she dropped her body, sending his arms crashing down after her. In that moment of surprise she hooked her left knee under his right leg. With a well timed weight shift, she managed to swing herself over his body to try and get to her feet on his side of the bed. However Hvitserk, never liking to lose, kept the momentum and they rolled once more ending up with him on top of her, his forearms on either side of her head.

"Waking up is inevitable, leaving bed is not."

"You're crushing me."

He let his arms go out. "Now I am crushing you."

Danika grabbed a handful of her hair and threw it over his face, forcing him to push himself back up so as not to suffocate.

Breakfast was in bed. So was lunch. Hours later they were still in bed, noses deep in books and papers. Hvitserk was getting deep into the new discoveries in science and engineering and political science. For Danika these discoveries were anything but new, so she was engrossed in trying to learn how to paint. Drawing she had sorta picked up, but painting was something else. And what better time to learn than from the Italian masters! Their villa had a modest collection of paintings, sculptures, and other pieces from many of the greats, all of which Danika intended on preserving into the future. There was a knock at the bedroom door. After an affirmative hum, the door opened to reveal Lavinia, now with copious streaks of gray in her hair and a much more matronly gait.

"Alessio has just let Signore Lorenzo de Medici and some artist into the entranceway."

"Lorenzo?" Hvitserk set down the paper he was reading and turned to Danika, "Were you expecting him?"

Danika shook her head,untangling her legs from the bedsheets to begin dressing. "Some artist?"

Lavinia nodded, "One of Verocchio's boys."

"Verocchio...Donatello's old pupil?" Danika allowed Lavinia to tie her laces although Alessio's wife usually took up the task these days. Lavinia's fingers were not as nimble anymore no matter what she said.

"The very same."

Hvitserk pulled a shirt over his head and began to comb his hair back. Danika tied the short strings which rested just over his sternum. He pulled on a leather vest and cringed at the latest fashion: codpieces.

"I miss dressing like a Viking," he whined.

"Me too," sighed Danika, "but getting an unobstructed view of your legs isn't all bad for me."

There were two very handsome young men awaiting them in the entryway. Both were just a few years shy of thirty. One was Lorenzo, who was a close friend of the Biancos, though he did not know they were equally close with his grandparents. He considered Hvitserk to be the grandson of Saverio, Saverio II. But beside Signore Medici was an equally handsome but unassuming man with very dark curls and a well trimmed beard. He had that artist look about him, since his eyes were always moving, then suddenly fixated on one thing, capturing everything about it. Both men bowed and provided the necessary kiss to the back of Danika's hand.

"Saverio, Donna, I apologize for appearing without warning."

"Nonsense," Hvitserk waved the apology away, "I am always happy to see you Lorenzo." Hvitserk and Lorenzo could often be found fencing in either the Medici courtyard or the Bianco's. They had been fencing in the halls but Danika had banished them outside before her precious paintings fell victim to the blades.

"And who have we here?" Danika gestured to Lorenzo's companion, whose laser like gaze had settled on Danika's face. She stared back plaintively.

"Donna, allow me to introduce Leonardo Da Vinci, I recently began working with him and as your household loves the arts as much as my own, it seemed right to bring him to you."

Danika's stoic smile broke down into barely concealed awe. An awkward silence passed, with Hvitserk needing to touch her shoulder to remind her to say something back.

"Oh yes! Of course! Signore Da Vinci, it is always a pleasure to meet a new artist."

Da Vinci nodded gratefully, "It would be an honor to do a portrait of Donna de Bianco, if you wished."

"I bet you say that to all the potential patrons."

"Only those whose faces I think I could bear to look at for several hours." At this, Danika laughed. Hvitserk knew that Danika could easily lie and laugh like a silly young girl, but this one sounded weirdly genuine.

"In any case, I myself am learning to paint and would appreciate discussing matters of technique with you. You are welcome here anytime."

Hvitserk nodded in agreement, though it did not understand her strange reaction to the man. Many artists had traipsed through these doors before and none had garnered the attention of his wife like that. She was practically staring! As he was the one with his wits still about him, Hvitserk extended the offer for the two of them to stay for dinner. They refused, and he was unsure if he was disappointed or relieved.

"Sadly, we must decline. Business with the Signoria this evening. Saverio I don't understand why you don't run for office, surely you would be elected and your textiles make you a prominent figure. The people love you," Lorenzo and Hvitserk clasped arms as Alessio opened the door.

"Yes, but you forget I also inherited a mercenary business, Lorenzo. We wouldn't want people to think I am bullying the Signoria into agreeing with me. The only person I need to love is right here." He set his arm on Danika's back, looking at Da Vinci, he seemed too engrossed in the ceiling of the hall to notice.

"That very well might be the only way to get some things done with those old men." Lorenzo joked with a wink, and with that he and Leonardo disappeared out the door. Danika's reveries broke as the door shut.

"Back to bed then?"

"So what is it about this Da Vinci that entrances you?" Hvitserk stepped forward with a thrust. Danika parried to the side and slid her blade up for a slash which he caught on the crossguard. She was in her black leggings and sports bra, while he was wearing loose trousers. Both of them were sweating in the warmth of the Italian sunset.

"How to explain Da Vinci…" she mumbled while prancing around his attacks. Hvitserk had always been a forward aggressor in a fight. It amazed her how they learned new languages and lives but how some things never changed. She, on the other hand, moved more...laterally. She ducked under his sloppy wide swinging slash, her blade held over her back to catch the flying metal. She felt it click then straightened up.

"Try to tell me, or am I a silly man from the past who won't understand?" he chopped down violently, not a technique for the thinner Renaissance swords.

"Whoa there, do you want to switch to axes or-"

"You aren't answering my question."

She stepped away from their match and lowered her sword. He was still gripping his tightly, a sign he was uncomfortable.

"Let's not discuss this with swords in our hands."

"Why not?" The playful, cocky Hvitserk was back, but she knew better.

"Because out of all the times I've died not one of them has been by your hand and I'd like to keep it that way." She went and sat down on a bench in their courtyard. He lowered his sword and walked over, but didn't sit. He felt insecure, she noted.

"I would never kill you Dani."

"I sure as hell hope not. Hvitserk...are you...jealous?"

"Jealous? Of some skinny little artist?" He shrugged and scoffed.

"Oh Hvitserk…" Danika stood up.

"I just want to know what he did, or will do, that turned your mind into clouds floating away on the wind."

"Leonardo is very famous. Even in my time. He is a genius. An artist, an architect, an inventor, a scientist. He is a master of, of everything! To meet him is a huge honor. So little of his work survived to the future, if I could get some it would mean so much! His mind is a treasure."

"So you are an admirer."

"Of his work. If Ragnar were not your father, how would you have felt to meet him? The most famous man in the world?"

"I... suppose I would be stunned."

"So you understand?"

"Yes, BUT I am not losing my woman to the mind of a genius!" his playful joking tone was back, but this time it was not veiling thoughts about murder.

Danika tapped his blade with her own and they resumed combat stances.

"Da Vinci is a genius. But he will grow old. He will die. You are stuck with me son of Ragnar, whether you like it or not."

"1200 years is a long time to be stuck with just me."

"It's good you keep me entertained then." Like lightning she leapt forward.

That night she was asleep tucked into his chest, but he lay awake thinking. His jealousy had subsided after their conversation earlier, but his mind still worked. Danika clearly valued Da Vinci's intelligence. Hvitserk was not dumb. He was an excellent strategist, combatant, diplomat, and problem solver. He was level headed and not impulsive. His congenial manner hid a secret cunning. He was Ragnar's son and Ivar's brother after all. But this Da Vinci man had something. And Hvitserk was determined to get it too, his native Viking culture riled. He would convince Da Vinci to teach him. This Da Vinci would be his Athelstan. He would make it so.

"If Donna would but tilt her head only slightly more away from the light. The shadows are better this way."

Danika dutifully guided her chin a little more down and to the left. Out of the corner of her eye she spied Hvitserk tinkering with a model of something, she could not see clearly enough to know what. It was pleasing to watch him. He reminded her of his father with Floki. He was so deeply entrenched in his experiment. It was beautiful.

"Leonardo, you are supposed to be teaching me how to paint, not painting me. The word order is slightly different."

"We will look at your paintings when I am done. But one cannot ask the afternoon light to wait."

Danika took a deep breath and was grateful for her immortal tirelessness. How normal people sat so still for so long amazed her. They must surely be frozen stiff after, and not frozen like her. She was draped over a cushioned chair, her hands folded on the armrest. She was in a dress of white, which made her skin look much tanner than normal. It contrasted well with her dark hair and the marble walls which shone gold in the light. Making sure not to mover her head lest she be met with Da Vinci's scolding, she called out to Hvitserk whose hand was on his chin in thought.

"I'm busy looking pretty over here if you'd care to notice." Sarcasm dripping from her voice. Hvitserk didn't even look up, twisting the top of his model.

"You look pretty every day, I am not significantly deprived."

"Good answer."

Leonardo scowled comically and she smiled and realigned her face. Hvitserk and Leonardo were like two thieves, often holed up in the workshop together that Da Vinci kept in their home. Danika considered ironically that she was the one who ought to be jealous. But Hvitserk really seemed to be enjoying himself so she just smiled and took joy in his joy. She and Hvitserk now spent just as many nights sparring as they did brainstorming over blueprints and designs. Their current project was improving the design of the armor Danika had worn way back in the day, and making a set for Hvitserk as well. It needed to be easily concealed under clothing for Danika and light to allow for mobility for them both. It was unique in that its focus was not on protecting vital areas. That was not a concern of theirs. Instead they worried more about protecting areas where injury was more painful, as that would slow them down, and fortifying their strike zones so they could hit at full force and not worry about needing to wait for elbows, knuckles, and knees to heal.

"We could weave these leather strips over the steel rod lining the shins."

"And then at the bottom, will it tie? Or clasp?"

"Good question. And should it attach to the metal heel stop?"

"If it did, would we be able to take it off?"

"Oh you're right. But I do like the elbow pieces."

"You were the one who combined it with the forearm knife sheaths."

"You were the one who gave me the idea."

"But you made it work."

Danika rolled her neck and shoulders as Leonardo set down his brush and walked over to her canvas. She spied a look at her portrait. A Da Vinci original, of her no less. She would make sure Gideon saw this. Making her way to look over Leonardo's shoulder. Hvitserk also joined in looking at her latest exercise. Brown hair and deep, intense eyes looked out at the three of them.

"And who is that supposed to be?" Hvitserk teased. Danika huffed.

"It's supposed to be you, idiot!" Hvitserk laughed hysterically and she smacked his arm. Leo joined it.

"It is a good likeness, Donna, though it could use a background." It was true Danika had just painted Hvitserk's face onto a deep green background. She thought it brought out the green in his eyes.

"I just can't seem to get the nose right." Danika mused, displeased. She had spent too many hours toiling over that stupid nose. Hvitserk had started wondering if he had dirt on his face because she had been staring at it so hard.

"Noses are difficult, yes. It is important to recognize where each point of the nose sits in relation to the rest. The mathematics of it makes it easier. The geometry." Da Vinci began to demonstrate, pointing at Hvitserk's face, who patiently stood still. "See how the corners of the nostrils for a triangle with the pupils and a smaller triangle with the corners of the lips."

Danika grabbed Hvitserk's chin and looked hard, trying to see the lines. She resolved to try and fix the nose tonight.

"However, let us not be negative, Donna has wonderfully captured Signore's scars and the mark on his cheek."

"You are too kind Leonardo. Sometimes I wonder if you lie to us because we pay you," she jested.

"About art and beauty, I never lie. Speaking of, I have a gift for you both."

"Leonardo, your teaching is gift enough." Hvitserk began, but Da Vinci held up his hand. In it was a paintbrush, with a polished white handle.

"Aspiring artists should have fine brushes. The handle in this one is made from the bone of a horse who sadly died of extreme old age yesterday. In a way making it was a different form of art. Danika took it and felt its study lightness, handing it to Hvitserk before putting it in her pocket. Both of them expressed their depthless gratitude. But when the appropriate thanks were all expounded, Hvitserk walked back to the table where he had been working.

"Now, tell me, what is this machine that you have brought today? I have never seen it before."

He was gesturing to a glass bowl surrounded by gold and wooden metal work. Inside the globe there was a clear liquid which they assumed was water. Then there also seemed to be a bone of some sort inside the water. Hvitserk picked it up and examined it closely before handing it to Leonardo. The metal work around the globe allowed it to rotate on all three axes. Da Vinci smiled knowingly.

"I thought you might find that intriguing. I am only responsible for part of this machine. I am still trying to understand how it functions. I did the frame on the outside, but the idea came from a man I met when I was younger. He was an immortal time traveler like you both."

Hvitserk dropped the wooden model in his hands which splintered into pieces on the marble floor. Danika's mouth gaped, trying to process what had just been said. The silence was palpable.

"I beg your pardon?" Danika tried, surely believing her ears had deceived her. Both she and Hvitserk were not looking forward to killing which servant had told. None of them would have! Not Lavinia, or Aldo, or Alessio, his wife or his children! They would never. No certainly not. Hvitserk drew his sword, but Danika stopped him. They could not kill Leonardo Da Vinci! Leonardo seemed surprised by this reaction. He had not expected aggression.

"I apologize if such a presumption is an intrusion on your privacy, but rest assured no one told me, and your secret is safe. I will not be telling anyone. The other man did not seem to mind that I knew. He wanted my help to build that machine, which is why I brought it to you."

Hvitserk's mind was reeling. How had he figured it out?! Danika was more fixated on the implication that they weren't the only immortal time travellers in the course of world history!

"How did you-"

"Discern your immortality?" Da Vinci waved a hand at the splintered model that Hvitserk had dropped. It had been a simple model of a helicopter. "Only two people have ever entertained the idea of my aerial screw, my flying machine. You and the other man from the future who inspired me with his stories. There is no technology like it now, but you seemed very sure that one day there would be flying machines. How else could you know? Donna refused to help with the project despite my asking, presumably because she knows how the working machine functions and did not want to interrupt my study as it is now, like with all my other inventions. Therefore she is surely from the future. But, you Signore did participate in my projects, meaning you are not from the future. Your perspective was too varied to be that of one lifetime and you have knowledge of things long forgotten, meaning you, sir, are from the past, but have lived your way to here, just like her."

"I told you he was a genius." Danika said. Da Vinci looked at her.

"That and the other day you accidentally cut yourself while cutting paint, but later when you were painting your grip on the brush was the same as it always was, which it would not have been if the cut was still there."

"This other man," Danika asked, "where is he?"

"He was working on that machine in one of my other workshops. I went to pour myself some water and when I returned he was gone. He left the machine and I never saw him again. Nor did anyone else that I know of. It was a shame. He was so close to getting the machine to work, but he refused to tell me what it was supposed to do, only what he wanted me to make. He said something about abuse of power."

Both Hvitserk and Danika frowned.

"Honestly I was hoping that you could tell me what the machine did. The curiosity has been consuming me for years now."

Danika broke the silence, "I have absolutely no idea what it is or what it does. I've never seen anything like it. I'm sorry." Leonardo looked bitterly disappointed. "But I'm certainly gonna try to find out." At this he perked up. The setting sun shone into their eyes.

"I have a dinner with the Medici's this night, so I will leave the machine with you, but pray if you learn something please share it with me. I beg you."

They nodded absentmindedly as they examined the machine. Noticing their preoccupation, and respecting their understandable shock, he showed himself out. Once he was gone, Hvitserk and Danika's voices erupted.

"Did he just!"

"He did, but-"

"He's a genius!"

"But still-"

"And then there's another-"

"But he's missing?"

"But if he's like us-"

"Then surely he's not dead."

"Could we find him?!"

"When do you think he's from? Your time, mine?"

"Either way I think this machine is the key."

"Agreed."

They needed two hands to hold it. It had no discernable buttons, levers, or anything. It just rolled around in its frame, lolling the liquid and the bone around as it did. They could discover nothing and didn't want to risk taking it apart. Their nerves were strung so tight that when Alessio entered and announced dinner, they jumped three feet into the air. They tried to catch the machine before it broke, but it slipped from their hands. They heard the glass break and the water splash. They felt the flecks of cold liquid hit their skin and they shut their eyes against it.

When Danika opened her eyes, she felt the familiar disorientation of landmarks not being where they left them. Hvitserk was tugging on her sleeve incessantly. He sounded scared.

"Dani...Dragon."

She turned to see what he was going on about. For the second time that day, her jaw hit the floor.

"Not a dragon Hvitserk...Dinosaur."

to FrazzleChips, you mentioned extinct animals?

Now, call me crazy, but I couldn't help myself! Da Vinci and Lorenzo Il Magnifico were well acquainted and the Medici did commission several works by him. Da Vinci is one of my absolute favorite historical figures and I know way too much about him. I thought that no other person would be better to figure it out than him. And he had so many visions of future technology that him having met someone else from the future practically wrote itself. That and I love dinosaurs. If you aren't a fan, I totally won't be offended if you skip the chapter(s) about dinosaurs. It's not for everyone and I promise things will get back on track, I am so not done with the Renaissance yet!

DANIKA'S PORTRAIT OF HVITSERK CAN BE FOUND IN DEVIANTART UNDER MIMITATIONBALANCE (SCREWED UP NOSE AND ALL). Honestly I'm pretty proud of it.

There aren't really any historical notes for this chapter. As usual all name drops are historically supported save for Lavinia and her family, so please keep leaving those reviews. I love to read them.