Follow the White Rabbit

She was still expecting to see him gagging on the very air he was breathing to her idea but as she caught a glimpse of him past one set of lashes, she would not see anything indicating something of such repulse. It gave her a flutter of false hope as her ears twitched in place for a moment in some mundane victory, she knew wasn’t really anything to hold pride in. Still the way he normally looked about to vomit to everything she uttered, the bar was about as low as it could go. There was an unbecoming craving for approval from him, one she never wanted to admit but she fairly confident he already knew.

That bit of calm would quickly turn into a storm of rage when he told her to shut up, making her tail thrash like a whip, spraying water all behind her as it cascaded off her lush tail. Despite the brimming rage she was feeling, it didn’t crawl up quite to the means of hostility, feeling too elated to become combative. Clenching her teeth, she let out a huff, purposely breathing loudly with each dramatic rise and fall of her breath and flaring of her lungs to make sure she was heard clearly since he wanted every detail and all. Okay, maybe she was becoming a bit petty at this point, and she became all too aware of that when he accepted her request at the last second, when her voice was milliseconds from shattering any peace that he might have had. “What? Really!?” she said abruptly, with probably more excitement than she would ever realize unless he pointed it out.

With almost childish giddiness, she would wade closer to him, sitting not that far away but still with enough space not to be invasive in her own opinion. Who knew where his get the hell away boundary was. It took some effort to allow herself to relax fully, melting into the liquid and focusing on the way it wrapped around her aching limbs.

His first answer was lacking flourishes, but she would accept it for the most part, deciding it was more than he gave her regularly and therefore should count it as a win. She would wait for a question in return but that wasn’t what she got next, some surprise dancing along her visage when he started talking about colors and she felt her face warm a little. “Hey, I’m red and gold…and cream and brown. A mosaic of fall colors really, like a leaf pile. So, maybe ya wouldn’t find me an eyesore!” she laughed. It seemed any ounce of tension was gone from her body with this bit of small talk, a mind swept away from the rage moments ago.

A missed sound? Her ears would tip back as she thought for a moment. “I miss the sound of waves crashing and songbirds singing, children laughin and… beautiful voices so I didn’t have ta stare awkwardly at others to even know what they are saying. Though I guess it ain’ all bad, at least the most common faces I have to stare at are nice to look at and now that I can’t hear, the constant tinnitus is gone,'' she gave a toothy grin, her voice soft and thoughtful. Leading up to her total deafness, she had had the most headache inducing ringing in her ears all day every day to the point that doing anything in her day was just too overwhelming and she didn’t want to get up because it would just make the throbbing worse. She didn’t miss that part of her last bits of hearing, and she rather stay deaf than have to deal with that noise constantly again.

“Haha no, I used to want to be a pirate in the earliest memories! It wasn’t until a little bit before ah went to college mi focus shifted to such things…joined the college to be a healer to try to fix things. Me things. You type things… guess my ma’s death in birthin my sister also kinda made me want to learn midwife type things to try preventin that from happenin again. The alchemy, trying brews, would come outta that cause even if I can’t fix an illness, I can at least make it more tolerable in one way or another. Sometimes those others happen to be forbidden substances the courts find evil,” she shook her head. Looking over at him, feeling like she probably said way more than he ever wanted to know with that question but perhaps it gave some better clarity to why she sought his hand specifically.

She would pause for a moment or two before attempting to ask a question, almost forgetting completely. “Was childhood as a noble as magical and luxurious as common folk like me think it is? Or was it hell and just as full of unachievable expectations?” she raised a brow, recalling never being able to live up to where her family wanted.

It was hard not to miss the exaggerated ways she huffed at the air nor the symphony of droplets dancing against the water’s surface, that lashing tail giving way to upset that could not be seen. Only for it all to fade away in an instant as an excitable trill swiftly took its place. Weaving upon each phrase, radiating the utter glee she felt at the idea of acceptance; all while wading closer. The shifting waves lapping against his hide until finally she would still within the lagoon’s embrace as well. Lilac sights lingering over where she lay, a touch too close for comfort all while that influenced part of his mind whispered she wasn’t at all near enough. Twisting thoughts bringing him to scoff as it lay covered by assurance, “Yes. Really.”

Hopefully he would not come to regret this. Questions could get prying. For now they were simple. Easy enough to answer just as he figured his own were as they slipped from his tongue. A touch of surprise finding him as she interjected with a laugh. Humor touching every phrase even as she joked over appearances, how he might not find her as some hideous beast. Flecked crown tilted, ears swiveling lightly in unspoken curiosity. Silent musing filling his cerebrum as she spoke of colors, of the entangled display which decorated her coat and yet he could not begin to imagine it nor the patterns which so carefully etched themselves against her frame.

Mithras knew it to be large, a towering figure compared to his own in the ways weight had settled beside him time and time again. How muscle moved beneath that plush coat in what could be recalled from a trip from the redwood. Though these fleeting glimpses of stature alone could not paint the picture in full. It could not craft the hopefully stunning visage of the autumnal woman perched before him now. It would not give way to each dip and curve of her features, of the flesh which made her herself. An askance hung on the tip of his tongue and yet lay swallowed back in the moment; choosing instead to listen to all else she said first.

Constant ringing of the ears something the serpent was sure he would not be able to live with easily, an annoyance even in the short moments it gripped his own whenever voices or sounds in general grew too loud. Threatened to become overwhelming in a rising cacophony though in time it always passed. Sensations fading either by removing himself from the noise entirely or finding adjustment, some way to block it all out. Yet there was a particular phrase he clung to, a faint smile turning his lips no matter how often the subject of his own looks left her. Softened murmur rising, “The most common faces being myself and Kaveh now, hm?” Question she need not answer for the draconian to know the truth ever since moving to Rionna.

Now was not the time to be hung up on such things though as ears turned toward rising laughter. A pirate? How absurd though it certainly would have proven a rather entertaining path to hold, the waters something the judge himself enjoyed. However, the clatter of treasure, of jewels and coin, were something he could behold with the title of nobility alone, of the wealth amassed over his years all without having to steal it. Though some may apply that very phrase to the manipulation or backhanded means some went about obtaining such rewards. In his eyes all had been gained justly. Creatures had come to him after all and his time - his experiences and assistance - were a precious commodity.

Thoughts which do not grip him for much longer as talks shift of all she hoped to fix. Speaking first of herself and tracings of the issues carried, offhandedly mentioning his own which earned a soft click of the tongue. Some elixir would not mend deafness nor would it grant sight to the blind no matter how she may try though - in part - he figured that was not the matters she alluded to. Already he’d heard the way her heart fluttered, how it hammered and seemed to sing to an off tune beat though the reasons as to why it were so escaped him. “And that is why you skirt around the law,” and the little judge only helped to cover her trail for the sake of an untarnished name. Of keeping those peculiar brews in check. “There are some things that cannot be mended,” a brief touch of dejection reflected in those unseeing eyes though it vanished as quickly as it appeared. Almost as if it were a mirage. Just what did she think could be fixed?

Briefly decorated crown shook before settling on her anew, “It has it’s perks. Luxuries that few can afford, those you yourself have experienced within m-our home.” The draconic catching himself and offering correction for it was indeed a shared dwelling now. One which housed more than just himself and his keeper ever since Bellatrix had declared her move. Bringing along an attendant of her own, “But there is more to it than that especially for those of higher status, with more at stake.” More to lose in way of title, of the power carried in name alone; accentuated by the positions held.

“They expect you to be perfect, to uphold the image so carefully crafted by those who came before you. An heir to the fortune cannot be some useless disgrace. One cannot bring shame to an illustrious name without facing consequence or crafted rumors, only build upon it.” Air huffed lightly from his lungs, “There are lessons over etiquette, of how one should present themself and who they are meant to interact with. Mask what is seen as unappealing or unacceptable within another’s gaze. Your business is never your own as all eyes settle, waiting for you to slip. And there is always the ever looming threat of a hand being given away without an utterance of approval if it will better the family.”

Face suitors who wanted nothing more than to pine for a betrothed’s wealth and possessions, to claim status as if it were their own. Or die trying. That particular aspect one he had not completely turned away from with the arrangement held with this very wolf but now whatever reach - the power - he may have obtained from this union lay locked beyond the borders. Leaving him with nothing more than a bride and the questionable mixtures she concocted.

“A portion of which you will no doubt endure in time for yours is a presence that will need to be made known,” announced to keep queries at bay though in what way had yet to be decided. “But such are worries for another time,” a paw lifting from the lagoon to gesture lightly as if brushing the matter aside. Augustine had already met her within the privacy of their home, bore witness to the disregard cast upon hardly mannered phrase… and yet Mithras had not denied the callings bestowed upon him them. So long as she did not address him as princess amidst any noble gatherings then it mattered not what she called him when relatively alone. Merely thinking of it coaxed a sigh from his lips with the subtle shake of his skull.

Though a mind kept drifting back to earlier explanation, spurred by a want to drift away from delving into much more detail in regards to a noble upbringing before being able to forge his own way beneath the family name. Slowly air filled his lungs as lyrics hung on the tip of his tongue, an askance he did not expect to fall so easily - so soon into this little ‘game’ - yet phrases interjected, “What do you look like Bellatrix?” Sightless gaze fixed upon her in full as an honest question fell without trepidation or restraint. Seeking something of more detail than vague patterns and colors decorating her fur.

Her tail swayed enthusiastically as she didn’t see him flinch away or anything of the sort, somewhat used to him being a jumpy pup whenever she got at all close. Ears would tilt back a little as she remembered she was supposed to tell him when she was going into his personal bubble but in this instance, she didn’t think she was really close enough to need to do such a thing. It wasn’t like she was poking him or leaning into him or even allowing their hairs to touch, there was plenty of space for him to move without crashing into her so long as he didn’t lunge into her direction which she doubted he would ever do. Well, maybe if something gross touched him he might hop into her arms like a damsel in distress and if that day came, she would catch him and take full advantage of seeing it as a hug.

Today, sadly, was not that day. It was question day. Whether that was going to be a good thing or bad thing was yet to be decided as she yammered on forever about things, watching his face react to each new bit of information. He seemed curious though she wasn’t exactly sure that was genuine curiosity. He could just be playing the role of the good husband to try and get out of this paradise he was stuck in with her.

Before her thoughts could take a downturn spiral from the optimism that was there a moment ago, her ears would perk up dramatically upon his questions that followed her hearing remarks. An awkward guilty giggle escaped her throat unknown to her, looking away from him as she cleared her throat. Her lips parted a touch as she let out a breath of hot air, rippling the water under her muzzle. “Well you two are nice on the eyes…Ophelia is pretty too but she’s an old pickle,” she mused, knowing her own maid to be old enough to be her grandmother even if she didn’t seem to age as quickly as others. The same could be said about the man before her and it brought forth a question that she wanted to ask next but kept it to herself for now.

She would miss some things he would say, having not turned her gaze back onto him while she answered his question reversed from her own. Perhaps she should have allowed that gaze to return to him as soon as she was done speaking but his comments on mending would only buzz her ear hairs and nothing more.

That large skull would turn back to him in time to view his response to what Mainlander Nobility life was like and her ears would fold as more and more questions entered her thoughts. She couldn’t ask him all of them at once, but they all seemed like important subjects to her that she shouldn’t hop over. What she did gather was that her mother hadn’t been much different than what Mithras described was expected of him. Generational destruction from one to the next and it hadn’t evaded either of them, but she didn’t feel like clinging to that very much. “Is that why ya seem so angry at me all the time, cause I’m ruining ya image?” she blurted without thinking about how she should only be asking one question at a time and should choose wisely, especially when he hadn’t even gone yet. It wouldn’t be long before the question did spin onto the horizon but not before something else was mentioned.

Make it known she was with him? Her heart ricocheted off her ribs, feeling a bit flustered to think about making some announcement at a party or something. Was he really going to bolster her like that when he seemed not really for a big wedding originally? She hated parties of flouncy idiots; she preferred a rowdy pub any day of the week. If it was something outside of a party, oh she didn’t want to think of how awkward that would be but thankfully he asked something to lull her mind away from a future event that she dreaded the more she thought about it.

Her cheeks grew hot as he asked what she looked like, staring at him for a few long seconds before grinning. “You are free to feel and find out, suga, if that helps,” she mused, having no issues with his paws or muzzle feeling up her face and some parts of her though not all of it. “Was an autumnal pile not a good enough description?” she lowered her head to look at her own reflection and let out a long hum. “Well I ave hazel eyes, a little more on the dusty green side. My face is mostly red and chocolate but hardly symmetrical as off white splashes over it and messes it all up, more on one side than the other. Ma whole body is a toss around of different leaves. One could say snow it all over the leaves hmmmm,” she trailed off, not sure how to describe it any better than she had. She was no poet by any stretch, even in her own imagination. "Oh and I'm also huge!!! Can't forget that, ya could probably fit in my arms easy enough."

There came startled pause as her voice suddenly pierced through a tick of silence, interjecting before he had even finished answering the query issued to him. Ears tilting back lightly though focus dared not drift. Instead those sightless eyes seemed to fixate upon her ever more as a slow sight laced the air and, for a moment, the draconian seemed to carefully consider his words. Only for them to drip vaguely from his tongue, “That is part of it.” The other was entirely outside of her control and hardly a matter he intended to bring up now. Issues he did not wish to dwell on as the star marked searched for something, anything else, to hold attention.

Choosing to continue on with attempting to distract her with further questioning, to lure her mind from this assumption of hatred; of why he harbored distaste toward her usual acts. And with it came the rising beat echoing deep within her breast. A fluttering rhythm which drew his ear and brought a twinge of concerned frustration to tug at the softened expression which had nearly taken root upon his visage. The viper’s tongue ever quick to lash, “Do not get too excited about it Bellatrix. You are hardly ready for such an outing.” Not with the mannerisms she so brazenly displayed, especially those that graced her the moment too much alcohol flowed.

“But Augustine knows of you. It will not be long until you are expected to appear at my side on occasion,” like a proper noblewoman. Though he would need to find her a tutor or offer lessons of proper etiquette himself. Anything to at least attempt offering guidance, a paw to lead her from a path of risking embarrassment to not only he but their shared now. For there were certain ways those of the courts, the elite, expected another to behave… and he would not be shamed. However, her obvious unease over the matter had him wondering, “Tell me, why did you seek a place amongst nobility if you were not wholly willing to adapt to it?”

Even if just in the eyes of those with status, no matter the rumors which may stir from glimpses captured outside of noble duties and esteemed gatherings. Notions which worked toward souring the buzzing high these strange waters concocted in the depths of his cerebrum. Annoyances barely scratching the surface, unable to fully take root before fading into the recesses of the mind as if they’d never existed at all. Yet not even the lagoon could steal away what was known over his own being. Of how those tendrils so often sank with unrelenting pressure, holding grudges; never forgetting those perceived of wronging him.

However, beneath the haze he cannot cling to such thoughts as unheard whispers guide curiosity to win out and soon enough it was his turn to stare. Vexation once more lacing the draconian’s features as he looked to her, “By the gods Bellatrix, that would hardly be appropriate in the midst of a conversation.” Sodden fur failing to bristle despite the wave of discomposure which threatened to grip him. Feeling her up - in any sense of the phrase - was so, so… a quiet breath robbed him of such thoughts as Mithras collected himself. “Let me think on it. Perhaps when we are through I will take you up on the offer,” for he did wish to know the structures of one who now dwelt at this side. To confirm what others foretold of interlacing patterns and the very stature she bore. The latter something he was already all too aware of. So much had given away the towering frame she carried with each step.

Briefly a frown creased his lips as she seemed to find amusement in the lack of an answer. No, autumnal leaf pile was not enough. It did not tell him how those supposed arrays of reds and golds danced and tangled against her pelt. Of how both a decorated hide and those unknown structures worked together to portray what was inherently her. So to an explanation he would listen. Attempt to piece it all together to paint a bigger picture of just how everything lay yet she had not offered much though it were likely the best he would get. Enough to assume that patches of snow scattered lay wind carried over the dazzling colors once glimpsed in the red wood. Shades of orange, red, and gold; some dried and browned like the spices Kaveh was so fond of using. Of those that interlaced with the wine radiating from her skin.

Though it is her final exclamation that brought air to flee his lungs in a barely subdued huff of amusement, “That much was obvious. It is hard not to notice the way my bedding sinks whenever you are in it.” Passing moments whenever there was need to intrude and tend to what had once marred delicate flesh. The rare occasions when she would be allowed to stay should a fire and furs be deemed not enough to chase away the nightly chills. Nor could he forget how easily she’d been able to carry him along her back. How she’d dwarfed him in not only length and overall stature but through the very muscles felt to shift beneath her skin. “I know for fact that I could fit.”

“Excited? I wasn’t excited…I’m nervous and uncomfortable at the prospect. I'm so bad at talkin to nonchildren,” she corrected him swiftly, not sure why he thought she was excited in the first place when she had done nothing but drop the conversation as a whole. A huff flared her nostrils as she looked at him, confusion riddling her expression as she tried to understand where he was coming from but coming up short rather quickly. What had she really done to bring that assumption on? It made no sense to her, and she didn’t feel like trying to focus on it any further as the mists continued to keep a body at ease no matter how her thoughts spurted for a few moments, within seconds any panic about it would be entirely gone as she allowed herself to slip further into the water, dipping more of her body in as she slouched.

That calm would quickly be tossed aside, however, when mentions of Augustine would take root and further, questioned why she harbored a desire for nobility. She stared at him, unmoving, for a few long moments as she tried to think of a reasonable answer that wasn’t just something snotty and childish to deflect. “By blood I’m already one but raised in a way that it didn’t matta, it was stripped from me. I could say I just wanted the wealth or the means to do what I wanted that I shoulda had from the start. That would only be part of it and not a very good reason I suppose. I hated the Highlands, I hated the culture in which I was raised and I was tired of bein a third rate citizen, heiress or not of Daddy's domain,” she said with a shake of her head, splatting a bit off water away from her ear canals as she sat back upright to avoid potentially getting water in her mouth on accident. “And well, marrying ah judge has its benefits. Not that I married you just to use you…I’m not so heartless as that. Even if not a unity of love, I still will care for ya till death do us part,” she added as she got comfortable with her adjustments.

Her head had started to drift away from him but the feeling of eyes on her would make her attention drift right back to him, her ears perking up when she saw those sightless eyes on her. Suddenly she felt paranoid, not so sure why he was looking at her like she just said something baffling. She had thought the suggestion reasonable enough and for a moment she forgot he couldn’t even see in the first place as she tried to position herself in a more proper fashion under his scrutiny.

A brow arched as he blabbered about her poor behavior and she chuckled. “We are alone, don’t think it mattas how cultured I am, Mithras. Besides, it was nothin sexual…I mean…not meant to be anywho hmmmm,” she fumbled a little, feeling herself get hot under the collar again as her mind kept slipping to things she shouldn’t say at all but kept being all too vocal about as she kept adding an unless to every clause.

A grin and a chuckle sounded when he stuck hold to the size comment and she leaned back down, relaxing back into the water from where she had been. “I like this side of ye…it’s a lot more comforting, even if it is still a little sassy,” she smiled to herself, growing a bit sleepy as she yawned part way into her comment. “So, tell me, what kind of voice am I missin out on? Is it as honey smooth as I would expect it to be, able to sing me ah beautiful ballot?” she asked, feeling like deflecting his question back at him on her own disabilities.

A single paw waved lightly beneath the waters as if to brush the notion aside only for lyrics to rise in her silence, “And that is something to be worked on.” For he would hardly be able to keep her presence hidden away. Talk would no doubt rise over an autumnal woman seen flitting around and entering his dwelling so freely. It would be better to make an identity known before too many rumors could take root. And yet if she were ever to grace such gatherings at his side it simply wouldn’t do to have her tarnish a name through acts or phrasing alone.

“You talk to me relatively fine and I am no child,” none too quiet musing as lilac sights lay glued to where she lay, “Perhaps I should guide you myself rather than bothering with some foolish tutor.” At least that way he could ensure it was being done right. That some outsider did not instill wrongful information into Bellatrix’s mind over what was seen as proper. Though in these moments he would speak no more of it, anything else which may rise into thought kept to himself as her phrases fell in exasperated refrains.

Those fading into sincerity the more she spoke. Her mother a wolf recalled as a fleeting presence amidst nobility, memories of her more easily cemented through interactions amidst the college grounds. However, it was not any of this that a mind chose to cling to but rather her declarations of displeasure. Hatred toward not only the lands she once dwelt but the very culture of it, how status was regarded by all else who thrived there. “If those lands were so despised then why stay there?”

Why bother enduring it after a marriage had been finalized for so long? So easily that could have been excuse enough for her to wield against him. Yet soon enough the gentle cascade of water from coat brought distraction as ears turned toward the steady drip before a short huff fled his lungs, “Heartless or not, you would not be the first to try if so.” So many already attempting to get in the judge’s graces through whatever means they deemed necessary. Rejected flirtations, forging a path of ‘friendship’, while others took the route of bribery in hopes to gain what one desired within the courts. Each providing mixed results.

For Bellatrix, however, he hated to admit that evidence would be twisted should it ever be set against her and risk tarnishing a shared name. Connections were held for a reason. Scenarios unable to play through his thoughts for long as the perfumes lacing the air bid them back. Pushing such fantasies from mind in hopes of replacing them with far different ideas. Those stirring notions drawing a huff from his lips as briefly attentions flickered from that unseen frame. A figure he could not deny wishing to know, if only to hold structure to the woman wed and yet… it still felt strange.

Hollow stare returned to her, drawn by that voice as eyes narrowed slightly and once more an expression threatened to twist, “I didn’t either.” Lyrics falling rather matter of factly before dark lips parted anew, softer this time, “Alone or not it would be rude for paws to rove when speaking with you. Though I will not lie and say I am not curious. Just this exact moment is not the time for it.” An askance to let him think on it still something to hang on to. However, no decision would be made until such a moment came.

Silence gripped him for a moment, ears turning toward that half compliment though he knew all too well it may not last. The shields so often kept up would return but when he was not certain. Yet here within these lands, it bid for relaxation; to let down his guard in the presence of this particular wolf. A rarity nearly only Kaveh had glimpsed over the years. “And the latter will never fade, adds to the charm,” a statement she may not agree with, “Not so sure about singing.” A feat he wasn’t exactly fond of though he would not deny her a matter of tone, “Though each phrase drips with honey. Sophistication.” Attentions lingered wholly upon her as if it would transfer the sound directly into her mind, “Extravagant, suave, a touch of flamboyance I’ve been told.” Theatrical even, “Need I go on?”

The temptation to point out his size was rising as he said he wasn’t a child but that wasn’t a reason at all, she only really noticed he was small when she had to put a paw near him or if he was nestled against her side on a cold winter night. She bit her tongue, choosing not to start anything with him when the mood was actually not that bad for a change. He wasn’t bad. Ears pivoted as she shrugged, forgetting he wouldn’t notice the gesture, as the only response. She would never say she communicated with him well, not when he was so quick to tell her how wrong she was every other sentence she offered him. At times it made her feel rather stupid, but she didn’t let it bother her too much, at least that was what she told herself every day. She didn’t care what he thought about something so difficult for her when her hearing had already been fairly bad before she ever lost it fully.

Her head raised higher in some palpable surprise as she blinked at him wildly. Teach her. “Ya know, that means ya have to spend even more time with meh. Ye?” she mused, a wave of laughter washing the shock away as she relaxed back down and sunk all the lower in the waters grasp. She wanted to close her eyes and just enjoy the water, get lost in her own head but it seemed this was not going to happen any time soon. He was a talker, and she couldn’t not look at him when the conversation was mostly pleasant. Mostly. Some of the topics were less than pleasurable.

She did allow her eyes to close as she spoke but they would flutter right back open afterwards to see if he had anything more to say and sure enough he focused on this territory thing. A sigh flared her nostrils though she would relent. “Didn’t ya say you were marrying me for my influence in the North? Can’t do much if ‘m not there and sides, I didn’t think ya exactly enjoy ma company… though now that divorce is an option and my reach isn’t so strong there with the border… why stay with me? I don't even have pa’s wine to sate ya,” she asked with no filter, flinching a little at her own thoughts.

Maybe she shouldn’t have voiced those options. He would definitely want to toss her aside if he realized she was mostly useless to him now. He was a judge; he probably could appeal it without even having a trial. Though, why did the idea of divorce bother her when she didn’t even love him. Did she?

Fuck.

A grin pulled at her lips as he made the claim that he would indeed like to feel her up, finding amusement in it all and no less confusion in why not now. “Then how about when we get home? It will probably feel extra cold whenever we get out of ,ere. Might as well touch it while we are snugglin anyway,” she hummed, half teasing but all too serious. It made the most sense after all. “Or should I say, if we eva get outta here?” She huffed, finding it strange nothing had really changed since they got here besides this deepening fog.

A brow would raise in argument about it being charming that he was a sassy little monster. Maybe when she got used to it fully, she might agree but for now she would stamp that statement as false. Shaking her head, she wouldn’t feed into it, letting him have his little delusion while focusing on what he had to say about his speech and letting out a single chuckle at the question at the end. “Would you stop if I said no?” she asked playfully.

Ears turned back lightly as that wave of laughter rose to fill them, a sound partially drowned beneath splashes of water as she constantly shifted within. Part of him wished to huff. Bid her to sit still instead of fidget about as she did though before phrases could sour she did just that. The steady drip fading entirely, leaving the draconian to his assumptions of even feigned relaxation. Let the warm waters envelop as a conversation carried on despite the undertones which laced it. “Yes, I am well aware of that detail but it also means I’d have control over the lessons. Able to make sure the correct ways were taught rather than trusting some stranger to do it properly.” For instilling such confidence in another was not Mithras’ strong suit, something always wrong - no matter how minute of a fault.

While poise, elegance, the proper ways to speak and act where hardly the sorts of lessons he’d instructed others in before… he knew each well enough. There was no lack of confidence that he could do this, whether she believed in him or not was a different story however. Lilac sights held upon her for a time even as the subject shifted toward matters of marriage and the very border which hindered his reach. In fact, nearly halted it entirely as well as any other benefit that lay in the north - all of it so far from his reach now.

“My own paws were more than capable of gracing those lands before this tension driven divide,” though that was not to say the draconic enjoyed making trips so far north for little reason. But the prospect of wine did help, “Your influence, your word, helped and may still especially for assisting in lessoning hostilities toward me. A number of you highlanders aren’t very welcoming,” though the very same could be said for the creatures of Rionnach. The very same distaste and hatred shown for those not like them but she gave him an excuse, a reason to wander. With a slow sigh he found pause, sightless gaze rolling with a light scoff as if any idiot could have come up with a reason as to why.

Why he had not simply filed for divorce the moment her usefulness to him had begun to wane. Divorce would be the talk of the town, it would ruin whatever prestige and image one clung to. It would ruin him more than the very declaration of who had been married or the acts she carried out, “Remember that little thing about image we spoke of? It would be seen as a scandal in the eyes of nobility. Something to gossip over as they fabricate their own delusion behind it.”

Just as they had of another’s runaway bride, of those faced with allegations of unfaithfulness and abuse. The list went on and while he may find amusement in rumors - the proverbial downfall of others - had the judge been on the receiving end of such matters… well, there would be hesitance to show his face for some time. “I will not willfully place myself in such a position of embarrassment. Nor you.” That final phrase fell softer as that hollow stare lingered upon her, only to alter as if in self correction, “Besides you still have your uses.” And with time or even coercion at the borders… perhaps a reach would not entirely die. “Just don’t ask me to list them. It would take far too long.”

A small lie and yet a part of him did not wish to go into details, to offer forth the musings which plagued the mind over more than just her skills in alchemy and the laced potions she brewed. Instead he would welcome a shift toward admittance. Of the unrelenting curiosities which haunted him over the figure not once beheld before sights had faded. Though with it he yielded another truth, “I cannot make that promise. We shall see.” Even as he knew the want to know of her structures would lay cemented in his mind, the desire to trace her features would no doubt fade. The flare of nerves, any rolling wave of pain which sought to grip him would be enough to stall his touch. Even now.

Here in the waters there was a sense of mercy as the heat permeated his flesh, chased away any notion of the chill that so often triggered discomfort. It soothed in ways he would never admit for such things were better off hidden from an outsider’s gaze. Yet he was wrenched from such thoughts as her own question teased, drawing a light huff of laughter from his lips, “Oh, I suppose so. Why talk if you held no intent of listening?” All she’d have to do was look away and he’d be none the wiser until a question went unheard. Ignored as she had done so many times before.

So he would shift back to matters of escape. Those vacant eyes drifting as if able to see the unshifting lands around them, the fog which thickened and blotted out the shore. A short huff giving way to the exasperation the very aromas here worked so hard to quell and as if on cue all one gained from a hopeful venture of understanding was another rush of that sweetened perfume. A star marked crown lightly shook before attentions fell wholly upon Bellatrix once again, “Has anything changed? The longer we’re here the less likely it seems we’ll be let go by… whatever this is.” Fae lands or not it was still more than peculiar, “Any other grand suggestions come to mind? Or questions you wish to ask?”

A mind was becoming slowly more void of heavy thoughts, sinking away further and further into the dreamscape this place felt like and it was apparent the quieter she seemed to be getting as she lacked her usual trigger happy tongue that was so quick to argue with her husband. He certainly seemed as chatty as ever though, but that wasn’t exactly a bad thing. It meant he was listening at least, which was more than some husbands would do from what she had seen at bars as an angry wife about skins her cheating toxic man alive. Looking at him, her mind would drift to the thought of him ever being a cheater. What was holding either of them back, really? This was all business. Was there any need for faithfulness when no hearts would be broken? Her mind was losing focus on what he was saying or perhaps she was focusing only on the parts that made her happy.

“You wanna spend time with me~” she said in singsong, deducing that he was making quite the excuse to spend more time with her with the use of these lessons. His follow up statement to why he wouldn’t get a divorce having only added to this thought process, a diluted one at best. She couldn’t think of how she could be useful but if he was so avid on saying there were too many to count and avoiding saying what they were, she figured it was heavily composed of flattery or even on the borders of flirting in her own naive eyes. Without being able to hear the tones of his voice, she couldn’t say if he was being sarcastic or if he was genuine, she just chose to believe the latter for her own sanity.

She knew wolves in his line of work were manipulative scoundrels. She knew he could be lying to her every step of the way in this topsy turvy marriage where two hearts didn’t beat as one. They only both beat for wealth. Any other matters were disconnected and unfocused at best.

A grin would streak across her face when he dodged making any promises of cuddling. It was a sad grin, one that wasn’t surprised in the least he wouldn’t agree to it outright. Probably the moment they returned home, this side of him would vanish entirely and she’d be back to being the subject of his constant insults. It was just a matter of time for this comfort toward him to change and she’d let out a sigh as her muzzle slipped under the surface, causing bubbles to rise and pop. Ears angled back as her thoughts drifted to those depressing thoughts once more. Maybe she had gotten her hopes up too much that things were changing between them a few seconds ago.

He still hated her, surely.

She’d allow her muzzle to resurface as he seemed to be amused. “Can’t listen to ya even if I tried! Sides… the little bit of noise that can reach my ears is like a raging muffled wind. I can’t make out anything. Like when ya take some numbin herbs and someone bites ya. Can feel the pressure but can’t feel the pain,” she tried to explain. She can feel the buzzing of the air vibrations along the hairs and the drums but otherwise it was white noise at best.

“Nope, all the same.” Wading a touch closer as he sputtered on about never escaping and more questions about questions, she stopped a few inches from him, her mouth submerged again as she stared at him intently, thinking for a long moment or several. “Do ya think… ya could ever love me? Or want any kids with me?” the words were quiet, a mere whisper as her puppy dog eyes peered up at him, her brain too murky from the mist to hear the voices whispering in her ears anymore how hopeless she was.

For a moment ears turned back as lilac sights gave a light roll. If that is what she wished to believe than so be it. Time would be spent with her if such lessons were taken upon his own shoulders, that much was true; however, the only admittance that would ever fall from his lips would be those of assurance. Claims that it was all to ensure such important matters were correctly taught. Nothing more and nothing less. Yet that likely headache was to be handled at another time, right now they needed to focus on figuring out just how they were to get out of here. To steer conversation onto other subjects even if they were not ones with appealing answers.

Slow breath fled his lungs at the confirmation given. Nothing had changed in this land akin to a dreamscape. It still made little sense on how they even came to be here, where the college had gone when it was seemingly replaced by a heated lagoon wafted in sticky sweetness. Thoughts which were cursed to muddle in nearly the same instance they dared to creep back into his mind. Things such as this were not what one needed to worry over now, a whisper which reverberated within his cerebrum as it drifted upon perfumed breeze. A subtle bite that bid a frame to sink lower against stony perch, allow more of the water’s soothing warmth to embrace him all while ears swiveled.

Taking in the autumnal hound’s own motions in the tell tale ripple against the surface, a figure drifting nearer with the gentle lap of waves against him though still she herself did not touch him. Barely even a hint of her breath felt before it disappeared beneath the rolling waters and yet it was impossible to miss the question which laced against near silent breath. It brought the draconian pause. His own gaze turning down to where she lingered unmoving, vibrant unseeing eyes staring to where hazel hues no doubt peered back with silent hope. So easily he could lie, say exactly what she wished to hear or even brush the topic aside as if it had never been asked of him.

With but a word the star marked knew she could be crushed and yet there is hesitance gripping his throat, “I.” It was not an impossibility and yet the rise of falsified affections were just as likely as something true. On the subject of love - in the way she asked for it - he was inexperienced; hardly any soul ever winning his heart and managing to keep it. And those who did were in the past… there was no reason to answer dishonestly. Especially when the pervading sweetness of the mist twisted his tongue from the harshness of usual phrases, “I do not know. Love does not come easily to me.” Only tolerance yet even this teetered upon trust, something broken far too many times to count.

“It is something that could happen but cannot be promised,” still he was curious, “Is that what you want from this arrangement?” Did she want his love and not just the occasional welcome of her presence in his bed? When nothing more but warmth was taken from her, all while sparking a far different sense within her. A query he need not ask himself for why else would she have brought it up if it were not what she craved.