HEO.

                               nonsense,  she almost says,  thinking of their younger sister.  but he had been merely t w o when mairi had been born,  she recalls,  & she had worried more of him giving the babe away than of seeing her fall.  still—he will be be an uncle soon,  & she will not see her children distant from their blood.      ❛   well—you might as well learn at some point. …with a mattress under you,  perhaps.   ❜    

And here he thought being stuck in Norden was bad, to be stuck in a place whose woods the wolf in him didn’t even begin to trust was truly something. Hands run down his face in agitation. Gods, fuck this, fuck this, he was already done with it. “What’s keeping us from leaving, everyone is fine right? Just dandy? Because I’m about ready to leave.” His tone was flat and winy, and Judas lets out a huff of air, he felt far too cooped up in this place, Norden no longer felt so stifling all of the sudden; it was as if his wolf self was howling under his skin and bones, clawing to get out, to run free.

     he’s minding his own business. he always is. but, in accordance to the universal fact that people just liked to bother the quiet people, he is victim to the norden prince’s rant. he watches the prince for a moment before finally, “ do it. ” pyros says, a mischievous almost smile on his face. “ walk straight into the forbidden forest and just... leave. ”

“You don’t like people?” She asked plainly, she knew more than one person that were more than happy to be on their own and would even get in a bad mood if they had to spend too much time with people.

     it’s not exactly a secret that pyros would rather be on his lonesome than hear someone chatter nonsense to him. “ not particularly, ” he says with a shrug.

     “is the population even all that interesting?” he prompts back with a half smile. it’s very clear from the other’s demeanor that clancy hasn’t stepped on any toes. he enjoys befriending other nobles in general but the idea of turning away one who might be somewhere near his level of general disdain for most things wouldn’t sit right with the duke. “i’d venture to say that the visitors this kingdom has happened to attract is currently its greatest asset.” why yes, he is talking about them.

“You think so? It helps though, that way no one gets in your way and you are safe from anyone that could try to you know steal from you when you’re distracted.” She said shrugging.

     “ i suppose that’s a fair point, ” pyros says, still not sold on the idea, “ but i think i might take my chances. i don’t fancy company too much. ”

pyros,

i will never forget that day i met you on the beach and i will cherish it forever as it’s brought a man such as yourself in my life. thank you for all you do, i love you. happy sanda mel!

love, anya

“It is though you can always come with some guards or something and then, no one will bother you.” Which was something they used to do a lot, 

    “ seems a bit excessive, ” pyros says. it’s a surprising statement for the duke -- everything he does in excess. but, seeing as he dislikes human interaction he would give any company a hard no thank you.

            his quick retort gathers suspicion in her but she doesn’t bother asking who he speaks of. “why wouldn’t you want to marry them, pyros ?? stake your claim, they are yours forever.”

      she rolled her eyes, eyeing his foot again as she contemplated whether another hit to the shoe would be successful or if, knowing pyros, would be worth the kick and vicious words he would be sure to send her way. she sighs, hand going to her hip as she wonders whether or not this is even worth it. pyros didn’t seem to enjoy the company of anyone and it wasn’t like sybil had anything important or specific to tell him, she was just being nice. “fine,” sybil says defeated. “i’ll go bother viola, maybe i’ll mention to her how rude you are being.”

     he gives a shrug in reply. pyros could’ve cared less whether or not sybil snitched on him. viola’s lectures hardly ever stirred an emotion other than annoyance. but, pyros had to admit that he was glad that sybil was leaving. objective achieved. chase away the future sister-in-law in one word or less. turned out it would be less. an almost smug smile grows from behind his book.

“she mostly ruined her own night by walking over and fucking beating me with a bloody loaf of bread. group effort, though, wasn’t it? and maybe if you hadn’t stuck your fucking nose in our business, you wouldn’t’ve been hit in the fuckin’ face.”

    “ she was drunk, ” pyros says, easily excusing her. “ maybe if you hadn’t been such a dick to your twin sister, you wouldn’t’ve been hit in the fucking face, huh ?? ”

lucien is unsure what to make of the words for the moment. he chooses to believe pyros is confessing to being devil-like and not accusing lucien of the same; it’ll make it a bit easier to keep this closer to conversation than altercation. which is lucien’s goal. at least, that’s what he thinks… no. pretending can’t go that far. “the devil likes taking up space on benches, i see.” but he’s still sort of trying, so the next thing he says is just: “goodbye, pyros.”

     pyros finds himself rolling his eyes. it must be easier for lucien to find the likeness of satan in pyros’ image than to consider that perhaps the image is inverted. already growing both bored and annoyed at lucien’s presence, he looks up simply to give the other man a smoldering stare, “ goodbye, lucien. ”

            she gives a small smile at his reaction. it was such a pyros’ thing to do. even as children, emeline never could imagine the duke marrying. but did that mean he was apathetic ?? she didn’t know. “do you not believe in love as well then ?” it was a simple question but perhaps a bit too deep for a brief visit in the gardens.

“Those elderly women can be vicious I hope you left unscratched.” She smiled at him “And you bought it early imagine how things are once more people arrive. It can get crazy.”

     he looks down at his arm, inspecting it carefully. “ not a single mark. i’d say it was a successful day. ” pyros gives a nod. “ yes, i imagine it’s akin to hell on earth. ”

To put it quite frankly, Pyros always got on her last nerve. Eleanor was known to be extremely patient, but that was tested every time they had the honor (or misfortune) of interacting. “If people wish to be left alone, they are free to do so by staying in their own private chambers,” she replied sternly before continuing. “If you are not capable of appreciating my company, then it is your loss. But you are free to leave. I will not stop you.”

     pyros gives a simple roll of his eyes. he’d rather just leave than listen to her enjoy the sound of her own voice. his legs swing of the bench and the rest of him follows shortly after. “ goodbye, ” he says as he decidedly leaves the presence of the princess.

avery shakes his head. that being said, he’s curious now. he relents. “you might look a bit familiar.” then it hits him. “you were that shithead that was at the fucking– was it the eclipse?” he almost laughs. “you know my sister, then.”

     at the eclipse ?? there’s an obvious grimace on his face because he truly doesn’t -- oh. at the eclipse. pyros puts down his book, affronted. “ i’m the shithead. me. i’m not the one who ruined anya’s night. ”

Ah so the other man returns his attitude does he, Nekhbet doesn’t know whether to be amused at that notion or only grow more annoyed; he thinks he’ll do the latter given that was always a good choice to be. “I’m sure you have, I’m sure you’ve been told countless times, perhaps as many times as you’ve probably been told that there was a stick up your ass.” Nekhbet rolls his eyes this time, his tone flippant and vaguely disgusted. He doesn’t have time for this, why he’d decided to pick an argument now of all times alludes him, yet here he is doing just that. He snorts at the mother comments, gods the poor women to be as insufferable as her son.

     pyros rolls his eyes, annoyed. the insult had very little sway over him because it had been used against him so many times. he had become completely desensitized to it. “ i don’t know how having anything up my ass is of any business to you, but i appreciate the concern. ” the sarcasm drips from his words like sickeningly sweet honey. “ i’ll have it removed and send you word immediately. ”