[AW] [M] The call of Violence

[Eik]

The violence in her smile twists her face into something vicious but not entirely ugly. "Is that because your kin are used to making demands?" He tilts his head, that phrase- your kin- chafing like a collar round his throat. He thinks carefully of how to respond-- she is close to the truth, he gives her that much, but not quite there. "It is because Solterrans are proud."

He wonders what it is that draws violence and pride to this place, time and time again. And he wonders once more how he (humble and weary, crumbled by sand and time) ended up here of all places. Oh, he wanders like no other- he's always prodded at the edge of the horizon, always needed to know what lies on the other side, but it is this place he always returns to. Is it the little family he's begun to weave together out of acquaintances and friends? Or is it that something else, that ancient mystery buried in the sand, that obelisk which beckons to him without end?

(it pulses with patient longing, dark and violent, cadence just barely slower than the slurred thump-thump of his heart)

Every man has secrets inside of him, unknown even to himself, and Eik suspects that not even the gods know why some people are the way they are. All he can do is wonder.

"Did I stutter?-"

She is violent and proud, like most who seek this place out-- his ears lower in distaste, patience worn thin by recent events and thinner by the obtrusive heat.  Her words are daggers but he will not bleed. "How much do you know of this place, Efphion, daughter of Reth?"  There is something half laughing in his tone- the other half is mockery, perhaps, or disdain. But he was never good at being cruel or even rude, and he does not intend offense. "Why brave extinction to come here?" Is it glory she seeks? Or maybe a violent, pointless death? He thinks of king Maxence, plucked from the sky and carried away without a shred of dignity. Solterra strips everyone down to the core of what they really are- he wonders what she's like, beneath the sneer and scorn. Solid like iron or weak and brittle as bone?

Again, all he can do is wonder.

He stands there while she takes a long drink and wonders also if she has too many expectations to ever feel gratitude. He hadn't realized he had expected thanks until he did not receive it. Interesting. As much as she rubs him the wrong way, he is curious about where she came from and how she was raised, to act the way she does. "Yes, you just get me. No trials." The desert has its own way of weeding out those who do not pull their weight. He looks to the court, hoping distantly that Seraphina will appear and relieve him of his obligations.  "Although-- If you wish to prove yourself in battle, I could introduce you to the arena." He points with his muzzle in the direction of the training grounds, a small, sly smile on his features. In truth he did not feel like sparring in the middle of the day, but the stranger's attitude is inspiring a change of heart.

-     -     -
There is no better way to know us
E I K
than as two wolves, come separately to a wood

@Efphion (@Seraphina still welcome)