*noms on*
surprinsingly, he had the patience required for a creature whose appetite was as relentless as the tide, whose affection often arrived mistakenly dressed as chaos. one moment, he had been seated amid ledgers, messages, and the innumerable demands of others, those who apparently believed his time belonged to everyone but himself [ ... ] the next, briar had been beside him, her attention fixed upon him with that bright, hungry curiosity that rarely remained still for long. the moment she found his ear, was also the moment his hand had paused above the table, one clawed digits suspended over a half-finished note, spheres half-surprised, half-expecting. ❝ briar. ❞ her name had left him, vox carrying the weary gravity of someone who had already survived several catastrophes that day and had just discovered another one had teeth.
❝ you know, most people say hello first. you just skip right to cannibalism? ❞ his gaze had lowered towards the paperwork scattered before him, albeit he had not truly been reading it anymore. his attention remained fixed upon the creature attached to his side, upon the restless movement of her mouth. one broad hand had lifted at last to settle against the back of her head with firm patience, his digits resting there as though he were attempting to keep her from drifting into some new form of mischief before he had finished speaking. ❝ real polite. and before you ask, no, my ear is not a snack. neither is my nose. or my fingers. don't even look at 'em like that. ❞
