D E I M O S
The banter continued, unrelenting, and he laughed, a reverberating set of notes deep from his chest, struggling to fight rolling his eyes at Jigano’s assertion before the man leaves. Kiada had always been a force of nature, no matter which fragmented timeline or ghosts refracted in his sights, and no sooner had she been mentioned, she appeared, eternally a fury. The beast has always appreciated her ferocity, her might, her will, because it’d been far more than so many others, a consuming pluck, a seething determination, no matter the goals or aspirations. Before, it’d been a tempestuous storm, beckoned away when she followed her mother, and then gone, sunken and withered away when he closed his eyes for the last time.
He could always remember her though, and so many others, reflecting in his nightmares, in his dreams, before reality scattered them to pieces.
The Reaper refrained from telling her, allowing the mischief, impish connotations of his grin to do a majority of the talking; an arched brow at her insistence on blossom braids in his beard, and now he has to contend with that notion and idea planted in her brain – a wayward snarl beckoning its way along his lips. You would not dare cast its way from his puncturing, narrowed eyes into hers, but he knows she’d likely attempt it regardless of his exasperation. “There would be retaliation,” he murmured, a spiral of conspiring whispers and oaths, promises and assurances in their wicked refrain; she’d know, realize, his vows were shrouded in omens and foreboding.
The happy smile, the grin, the fervent upheaval was such a brighter spot than the broken, addled confusion and torment, so he took her hug, receiving it far better from someone he knew, someone he trusted, grabbing hold and then swinging her in the opposite direction, releasing her with more devil-may-care aloofness, providing his own method of escape and departure. “Perhaps,” he shrugged, but didn’t give anything away, beholden to naught but the nature of his search of sojourn, bending down to scratch the top of Auni’s head, a pattern, a ritual, they both managed to maintain with little fanfare (but a lot of acknowledgment and fondness on the warrior’s part).
He slowly backed away though, launching into evasion tactics borne from a lifetime of shadow walking and darkness hovering, bending back into crowds and leaning into the formation of more beings gathering in the sanction. “Fascinating,” was a hallowed bark of a laugh again at her notion of eating worms, because he had no intention on discovering if what she remarked was true; waving as he molded into the mass and multitude, still heads above a majority of them, crown and petals curled on the top of his cranium.
It felt like a flow into his age-old habits, removing himself from the stirrings, from the discussions, from the melee, but he was content, renewed, filled with the purpose of exploration and discovery. He wandered up and down the gaming pavilions, eyeing several he’d likely be able to conquer, but the smell of food, some sweet, some spicy, some mixed, confectionary morsels enticing him further, insisted he turn specifically towards the food stalls.
The warrior recognized the scent of bread quickly, snapping his eyes in the direction of the laden perfumes, familiar for a variety of reasons; instantly wolfish and rapacious. When his gaze caught the Devas Bakery sign nestled along the booth, his strides became more savage, more purposeful, laden and lacquered with a wild, untamed roguishness, the festival picking apart the glacial aspects, pervading his essence with the devilry nuances instead.
Looming closer, the depths of his gaze lingered on her more than the pastries, though they were just as tempting. Something appeared off – he expected
“How much?” He didn’t offer much more of a greeting than a nod, but the depths of his playful, teasing grin were extended solely to her, an index finger pointing to one of the loaves embroidered and detailed with the sun. It wasn’t one of his works; though he did glance carefully for the cinnamon and honey infused pastries.
