At heart, the mighty beast seemed to wander, here and there, far from lands, but he always seemed to drift back like some sort of leaf on the wind. Or perhaps a turtle returning to the beach they had been born on. In this case, he was merely a large horse wandering back to lands that he could call home in some shape or form, wearing new scars as ever. The one on his back now seemed to be the most prominent, where the great winged beast had laid him open. It was a nice trophy.
Still, now his massive hooves clipped and clopped on the hard flooring of the Court, the old blacksmith looking a little more up to date, and he eyed it, as if wanting to step inside the old structure to bring life in to it. A warrior at heart, and Champion of Battle, wouldn't it be fitting if he were to become a blacksmith? It would keep him from wandering, certainly.
Perhaps it was something to bring up to Maxence when he got the chance.
Regardless, he slipped away, standing near a wall and exhaling before shaking his great body, sending his mane and tail everywhere until his head lifted up and he released a rumbling hum from somewhere deep in his chest. It was good to be home, though here it was more barren, he could hear others deeper in the Court, away from the yard that was to be spruced up more.
The click of hooves alerted him though, and he turned himself curiously, only to find a gleam in that ruby eye of his as he grinned, scarred muzzle lifting somewhat as he looked forward. "Well well well, Eden," he rumbled, easily stepping forward with a lazy lope to his feathered legs, and he leaned in.
There was a bump of his muzzle to her neck, a very... affectionate gesture coming from the giant. A rare one too, at that.
Dusted with star matter and borne upon tides of nature, hers is the beauty of wild places.
She had been waiting for his return.
He had been wandering as of late, leaving the keep and stretching those long legs into the distance, becoming a sun limned speck upon the golden horizon. It was different without him around, lonely in a way that Eden had never felt before. She wasn't quite sure what that meant, but Bexley hadn't been around long enough to ask - the beautiful woman had been dancing in and out of her life with a frequency akin to blinks. A soft smile played upon blackened lips as he thought of the aurelian spitfire, those sharp eyes and sharper tongue catching everything and everyone in her snare. Eden missed her dearly - missed both of her beloved friends dearly - and wondered if she should pick up a hobby that was more productive than brooding over her companion's absences.
Yet, as the scent of Leviathan's sand scoured skin came drifting through the halls, all thoughts of loneliness and yearning vanished.
Glee surged within the girls' breast as she trotted merrily through the keep and finally into the presence of her adored brother in arms. The sweet smile that had toyed with the edges of her mouth had grown, splitting her face into a grin radiant enough to eclipse the very sun as she cried, "You're home!" The magnitude of her happiness at seeing her friend again was something that held a modicum of shock for the maiden - she had never felt such a surge of affection for another creature before, not even toward her mentors back at the monastery - but that was something to ponder at another time. For now, Levi was whole and home and probably starving.
Eden was about to say just that when she felt the warm brush of Leviathan's nose against her neck. Amber eyes widening in delighted surprise, the girl stepped forward to return the gesture, though the discrepancy in height ended with Eden pressing her ringed nose to the behemoth's scarred chest. Lingering there for a moment, the paladin reveled in the all encompassing sense of safety and warmth that enveloped her being any time her friend was near. Heaving a contented sigh, the girl moved back, beaming up at the horned stallion.
"I'm glad you're home, tumbleweed man. Where have you been?"
@Leviathan this was so sweet it almost gave me diabetes someone help
Leviathan never would have expected some sort of welcome, or even joy at his return. Generally it was just a nod of acknowledgment and a "there you are" that passed between his lips and some face he passed in the Day Court. It was never really any different, except now.
Eden's reply caused a swelling in his chest of warmth and joy, and he wasn't sure how to pin it down. Or maybe he was, but there was certainly a worry about attempting to peg it down as... something he hadn't had in a long while. It was phantom like, that sensation in his chest, but it was still warm.
The smile pulled on his lips all the same, and he leaned his head down as he felt the brush of her nose (and that ring) on his chest. It allowed the goliath to stick his nose right in the mess of her dread mane and flowers, taking in her scent a moment before his head drew upward when she stepped back. Both ears flicked forward, the torn one giving a twitch as he listened, and his head bobbed just a little, laughter bubbling in his throat at the nickname, finding an awful fondness somewhere in his belly.
"Wandering, as always," he admitted, cracking a smirk and shifting to adjust himself, resting one weathered hoof on its tip instead, feathering brushing in the somewhat cooler winds. Just because it was Fall didn't mean that Solterra got a break from the heat. Maybe only a few degrees of difference, if that.
"Think I might be staying a while this time. Gonna bug Max about the blacksmith shack over there, see if I can use it myself, or start making things. Kinda need to get back in to doing more than wandering like a tumbleweed." His chest heaved with another laugh, his eye warm as he tilted his head to glance at her.
Dusted with star matter and borne upon tides of nature, hers is the beauty of wild places.
The sensation of Leviathan's heavy skull pressing against the crest of her neck was a welcome one, wrought with warmth and adoration. It wasn't that deep emotion was foreign to the lass, no, Eden was a creature that thrived upon passion and deep-seated feelings that stirred her into action. But... This? The tangle of joy and comfort and elation and absolute, unequivocal wholeness that she felt in the presence of her behemoth companion was one that she was unfamiliar with. Not even Maxence stirred such emotion within her tiger striped soul - not that she wanted to decode the confusing mess that was the relationship between she and her winged Commandant.
So shaking her flower adorned skull to banish anything that could detract from the full bodied sound of Leviathan's laughter. The smile that had graced the paladin's features since the moment she had laid eyes upon the ebony spattered stallion had yet to fade and showed no sign of wavering as she listened intently to his rumbling reply. This time, as he laughed, she joined him, warmth bubbling up from her belly and out into the air, his mirthful manner contagious even as he fixed her in his scarlet gaze and wild woman slipped from his scarred lips.
Quirking an eyebrow playfully at the nickname, Eden rolled her shoulders in an approximation of a shrug as she spoke, "I found the library - a dusty old place and smells rather stale, but there are some interesting maps down there, of blueprints and buildings. I think there are catacombs beneath the main hall of the fortress... and while I'm not much of a grave robber, I can't help but wonder what sort of things could be hidden with the dead." Pursing her lips for a moment and affecting a mischievous expression, the maiden peered up toward the horned facade of her friend then let her gaze slide along his well muscled frame, "I think you might be too big for the smithy and the catacombs, comrade. Maybe you should skip a few meals."
Of course, Eden couldn't be serious, she liked Leviathan just the way he was - too big for certain buildings and all.
@Leviathan henlo they just need to figure it out already<33
