better run fast as you can

// he's nice, polite, he'll catch you by surprise //

“Oh come now, it cannot be that bad.” He teases with a flick of his tail and a knowing grin. It could, and often was that bad, even though Thalassa had never really been there to see him at his true worst. Either way, he lets the question hang in the air and punctuates it with a soft laugh, witnessing her stubbornness return, the fire boiling in her blood. It was great to see the old Thal, and it settles some yawning pit in his stomach that had been proof what he’d done was well worth whatever trouble it had put him in.

He is, however, surprised to see that she’s staying and not taking off in the morning – while the only glimpse of it is revealed in the raise of his brow and the twitch of his smile. And before he even has a chance to answer, she’s snagging the bone chime she’d placed in her trunk to go and hang it – the door opening with a quiet screech that sounds like nothing compared to the storms raging outside.

He drifts closer to the door as she figures out the best space for it, to which the butcher ducks as he slips out and peers up into the rafters, protected from the worst of it but enough for the wind to catch it and let it chime. “Oh this could be quite perfect, actually.” He hums, reaching for it should she hand it over to him, tugging a portion of a metal hook loose to slip the chime onto and slip back into the roof tiles to put it up. “What do you think, darling?” He asks, stepping to the side to let her see.

Astaroth

// a smile so bright, you'd never bat an eye //