Post by Aurelius Adalbern on Mar 20, 2020 8:31:01 GMT
The fortitude that had been dissolving was reinvigorated when Finn returned to the table, the Bear sitting up taller as pride strengthened his body. His eyes a little brighter now, turning to watch the Wolf captain as James spoke.
He could only surmise that this was Pup's worst day. How could it not be the darkest hour? Hearing what James had to say regarding his and Brigid's waiting to see or hear from Finn - their child - caused Aur to swallow the drink in his glass and reach across the table to take the bottle, drinking from that as well to numb his own emotions.
It would be a consuming guilt that Finn would take to the grave and into the next life - a punishment for a crime he had not meant to commit.
And this day had only just begun.
Aurelius turned his attention to James when he was addressed, tracing each "X" that marked the man's arm with nonjudgmental eyes. "Threads," he whispered. "Forever connected to each, made certain that they can find their way to you in the afterlife, like a map - something about a spot being marked by a cross…"
It seemed as if Finn had reached his emotional limit, and maybe it was Aur's fault, but he was grateful to his friend for listening to James. He prayed that mending the wounds would be less painful because of it.
"Let me know if there is anything I can do to help with…" He paused, not wanting to mention the still body of Brigid in the room down the hall. "Please, let me know what I can do to help."
James was not sure of the capacity which existed between the two sat across from him, but he could only wager the giant totem hanging from his Son's neck did not resemble a Bear claw for no reason at all nor did a man so clearly foreign sporting a coin from this very port seem coincidental. There was something there. Threads. As the Foreign Noble had put it. Every drop of ink in his skin was a small tombstone made for those whose lives his beast had taken. Perhaps those souls would find each X he'd made for them, allowing each one to take out their anguish upon his soul when he finally came to meet them. That was for the afterlife to sort out. He'd not been asked to be born a wolf, as any of these boys had not asked for the animal within them, but he had been. If his Wolf killed then that was nature's own design, not his.
"Thank you," he merely offered, gesturing to the Pup who'd gone rather silent beside the King, "Fred and I been ready for this for a while now. He's out gettin' the Clergy from the church up the path to come help. Think that one could use a break from all this mess though." Wherever Finn's mind had escaped to it was not present in this room any longer. Waves crashed inside his vacant stare, white noise and ocean foam the only thing inside his head now. It reminded him horribly of the day his prior Ship had gone down along with his Captain. The water that had filled his lungs, the screeching brightness of sunlight upon being resuscitated while in the dingy little rowboat. How long they'd spent at sea with no food nor water, merely the harsh light of the sun burning through their skin and chapping the men's lips. Finn had accepted his own demise that day and oh how sweet land had become when they'd finally all washed ashore days later. Half dead and malnourished. Emerson had been on that boat. Gavin, the cook in Finn's crew, as well. Turned out nearly dying together made for one hell of a bond between men. Shared trauma and all that, but right now that scorching row boat without a stitch of water sounded like Heaven on Earth if being there would've swept Finn away from this moment. This conversation. This feeling of sickness growing out like a thick sludge through his insides. He didn't even register the hand patting his shoulder as his father bid him farewell so he could go help Frederic and the clergymen tend to the corpse in the other room. Taking his leave with the full intention of establishing a form of communication between his boy. A matter to look into when Finn did not currently have the thousand yard stare of a man at war with himself.
"All Sins can be forgiven when somebody loves you"
Post by Aurelius Adalbern on Mar 20, 2020 16:02:28 GMT
Aurelius felt his gut tighten as he looked Finn over - although the pirate was physically present, the warrior could not sense his usually vibrant consciousness. Whether it be painted with colors of joy or sorrow, there was only a blank page. The Bear finished off the bottle before giving a curt nod of agreement to James's words and rose from his seat to stand at the back of Finn's.
"Pup," he cooed gently, bending down to whisper beside the Wolf's ear, both hands gripping the back of the chair. "Would you walk with me?"
Could Pup even stand? The vacancy that had befallen Finn continued to wring and wrench at Aur's insides, his grip on the wooden seat becoming unsteady. It was a familiar look, but at the same time it was a new sting of pain with how it took hold of his Pup. Why did tears have to threaten in this moment when he needed to be at his strongest? The King took a knee behind the chair, the unsteadiness in his hands finding his knees.
"I am sorry." He slid his hands around to hug Finn's chest, allowing himself to take a moment to regather himself. The heartbeat that he felt through fabric and flesh invited a sliver of comfort.
"Pup." He could hear the name, but it was so distant and echoing in the void now occupying the Pirate's mind. He felt like he was spinning around in a room full of dense blackness. Not just dark, but the sort of hole that felt so dense and all consuming as if it was a place where light went to die. Was it not the words of the poet Nietzsche that had once read ""if you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you"? If that was the truth, Finn could feel it looking back at him right now. Like everything that made up the dark was both living and dead and staring straight through to the Wolf's very soul. The the animal at his heart that was not angry or crazed, but felt like a small Pup in that moment, cowering with its tail tucked between its legs.
"Mum," a small boy crying out in the darkness. A young Finneas in the woods, running on a path, unable to see through the dense foliage in front of him. He was lost. Alone. Afraid. "Someone. Anyone?" The small voice cried out, words falling on a deaf nothingness, answering the question once and for all as to whether or not a tree falling alone in a forest made a sound. It did not. Its terrified screams would forever go unheard. Just as the young boy lost in the forest would.
A sharp inhale left his body when hands enveloped him, like air rushing his vacant lungs that had been refusing to draw breath. Finn felt disoriented, waking from the intense throws of a dream only to forget the whereabouts of your true body whilst not attending it. His first thoughts were of the Bear King's whereabouts, the man not directly in his line of sight caused a sense of panic, then realization when he noted the arms holding him tight and safe, the familiar scent in the air. Aur. Happiness at his presence consumed by the crushing weight of reality. "I should've been here." Words spoken to a woman no longer present among this plane, staring into the distance as if he were seeing his mother standing there now. He swore he could. He felt dejection in her gaze. Hurt and Loss. The heartache of a mother abandoned by her son. It was all his fault. What had he done? Who was he? He felt panic seeping in to every last bit of his being, a figure awash in a state of disarray and dysfunction. He'd experienced nightmares before but he could always escape those, but this? There was no running from this feeling of dread and hopelessness that had stuck to his skin and was dragging him to the ground like a pit made of quicksand. His hand splayed over the wide eyed and stricken expression that had torn through his person. "Aur-" he could feel and smell the Bear, but could not see him. He couldn't make out any shapes beyond the blurring world before him, clutching at the obsidian claw hanging from his neck which felt heavier than a boulder made to sink the Pirate in the depths of the Ocean. He was unworthy of this symbol of family. He'd only just worn it and immediately disrespected its entire meaning. He wasn't a proud Pirate who conquered the Ocean as he often envisioned that he were. He was just a lost boy forever on the run from a monster he could not escape.
"All Sins can be forgiven when somebody loves you"
Post by Aurelius Adalbern on Mar 20, 2020 21:57:02 GMT
Aurelius could feel Finn sinking like a capsized ship, the current created by the sinking vessel dragging him down into unfathomable depths with the captain, drowning. His hands slid down to meet Finn's which gripped the obsidian claw, pressing his forehead to the back of the chair. Whatever darkness they were being dragged into, the Bear King could sense the presence of his father, his grandfather, his great grandfather… He swore he could feel them standing about the sinking pair, hands outstretched to rest upon the Wolf's shoulders, a very familiar set resting on his own. He could not bring himself to stand, could not even lift his gaze to witness the impossibility of their presence in the room.
The phantasmal weight upon his shoulders shifted, and Aur could feel warmth on the side of his face. He listened to a wordless voice that told him to trust in the binding threads, that her spirit had been illuminated by his touch and she would not wander the afterlife alone, they would walk beside her. Still Aur could not look, his eyes shut tight as his listened.
Cherish the thread that you can follow to the other end without the barrier of death halting your touch.
All at once, the weight and the warmth were gone, as well as the presence of the ghosts of his ancestors, and Aur found the strength to stand. He looked down over Finn, wanting to be closer to the end of the metaphorical thread he felt they shared. Ignoring the thought of the pirate protesting, Aur moved to scoop Finn into his arms, taking an arm around his shoulder and hooking both legs.
"I am here."
He wanted to leave the Siren's Song before Brigid's body was moved from her bed, not wanting to risk Finn chancing a look at the corpse that used to harbor the soul of his mother. He would at least cradle his Pup the way that he was until they were outside, floorboards creaking under their combined weight as he crossed the room to the exit.
Finn felt safety and security made manifest encompass his form as the world shifted around him, sinking and twisting and turning. No, wait. Not the world. He was. Lifted into the air near effortlessly and pulled against the chest of the King he cared so much for in this world. His beacon in this dark, his lighthouse that kept his ship from crashing against the craggy rocks ahead. His hand slid across the Bear's face, wide eyed and curious like this was the first time he'd seen Aurelius in all his life. Through all this madness and mayhem this man had been holding him afloat, guarding his back and nursing his wounds. That pit in Finn's chest felt as if it fluttered at his proximity to the King of Yhavastus, tilting his head into the crook of the larger man's neck and breathing in deeply. He wanted to bottle that scent so sweet and calming as it was. "Aurelius," Finn breathed out against his friend's neck, nuzzling against it as he did so.
Why was everything magnificent in this world temporary? He couldn't tolerate the notion of one day bidding this man he loved so much a farewell. If he could just find a way to stay with him, always. A life in Yhavastus. Finn wasn't sure what that would be like, strange, to be certain and it wasn't like he didn't live a nomadic life against the tide as it was, already. The only roots Finn had bound him to his ship, other than that. He was free. Would Aur be the same man were he in Yhavastus? Would he still be within Finn's reach or would he be too high up to get to no matter how adept at climbing the Wolf was? He almost didn't want to set foot upon the ground again, but even as broken as he felt, he would not display that amount of weakness to this world at large. His darkened state were for the eyes of those he trusted, only.
Finn curled his arms around the King's neck to pull him into a tight and desperate hug, letting his hand slip to his friend's chest to splay against it. "I'm alright," anyone with ears could hear the emptiness in his tone that indicated anything but. But, at the very least, he could carry himself the way back to the ship. "Thank you, Aur," a sheepish look at his own inability to keep himself held together were it not for Aurelius's presence. There was only so much strength he could draw from his Guardian before he felt akin to a leech draining a creature far too greedily. He felt rather pathetic in this instance and perhaps he was. After all the word did stem from the Greek counter part, Pathos. The ability to evoke sadness or pity. Still, he was not so pathetic he would let the entirety of this place witness such, dropping to the ground and straightening his clothes. He could do this, it was only a short distance to the ship from here and he had no desire to be when his mother's still form was carried through.
The town as a whole seem so largely unaffected by the massive loss that had just occurred. People smiled and milled about discussing prices and shipments. Seagulls still flew overhead searching for fish to pluck for their supper and children still chased each other to and fro. It was so surreal. Even aboard his ship, things felt...wrong. None of his crew made comment seeming to understand more than enough by the expression on their Captain's face that the man was struggling to stay upright and no idle conversation currently seemed all too welcome even as he held to the Bear's wrist, beckoning him within the cabin that had been righted from their waves of destruction the day before. The desk back in its place, the floorboards spotless, the bed was even made, though the items that had been broken or shattered were missing given the cluttered room a slight sensation that pieces were missing. A sensation Finn could replicate all too well right now, letting himself fall to the surface of his bed, hunched over with his head in his hands now that he did not have the eyes of the world upon him keeping the Wolf upright. He had no stoicism or pride while in the gaze of the King. Just himself. And he was a room with pieces missing from inside.
"All Sins can be forgiven when somebody loves you"
Post by Aurelius Adalbern on Mar 21, 2020 3:07:50 GMT
The Bear King breathed out heavily at Finn's touch, relieved to see the spirit of those ocean eyes flicker with light, even if it was for just a moment. He tilted his head to return the tender gesture, burying his nose in the Wolf's hair to breathe in his seaside aroma. Reluctantly, he allowed Finn to slip from his arms, the smile he tried to offer just as empty.
The path the pair followed between the Wolfsbane and the Siren's Song was becoming more and more familiar each time they traveled it. As always, Aur followed from behind, ever watchful of Finn. Still, the liveliness of Ziorang did not go unnoticed - in fact, it all seemed far more apparent than before, a reminder of time and how it stops for none. It felt strange to Aurelius. When a member of his clan passed, everything and everyone would pause so that they may bid farewell to the deceased. They were a tight-knit people, always looking out for each other and honoring the fallen with fire, food, and mead.
Aur saw himself in Finn as the captain strode up the gangplank, holding everything together when all everything was trying to do was fall apart. He boarded the Wolfsbane as a king would, causing the Bear's heart to squeeze at the resemblance. Walking among his men and through the gathering hall, to his home, to his own private quarters…until finally into his bed of woven wools and fur pelts.
He let Finn be his guide, following without a word. Had he been in a more jolly mood, he'd have snorted at the sight of the captain's quarters, all fixed up as if the pair of werefolk hadn't made a mess of it, as if they had never quarreled their way into the captain's bed.
"Thank you," Aur started gently, seating himself beside Finn. "For giving James the opportunity to speak…"
There was a peacefulness to the familiarity of his own room. He didn't feel the need to hold himself up, or his chin high here. He could just let himself be and feel, though he was still rather fearful of doing that, afraid the anguish might tear him to shreds if he let it. The bed sunk beside him when Aurelius took a seat, Finn let himself fall to the side against the larger man, placing his head on the King's shoulder. A sigh loosed from tight lips with a nod. "The hell is 'et harder t'deal with him when I can't jus' think of 'im as a straight monster," the Pirate sighed. The evil in his mind had been humanized and given form and it had been so much less painful when he just outright hated the man. Why couldn't he go back to that time? Before he'd known how much he'd taken after his father without having ever once laid eyes upon him until now. The vacant eyed beast he'd made in his brain was a familiar enemy, but James? James not only didn't line up with that ferocious creature, but he was an entirely unfamiliar foe. Foe wasn't even the right word. Finneas didn't know what the man was, couldn't place a pin on his thoughts that kept moving like the up and down of the boat rocked by the waves.
Today had to be among the most obnoxious and exhausting and wholly awful days of his entire life and he'd not near about died a handful of times in the past. But today? Today took the crap coated cake and added a large helping of iced-crap to the top. He just felt physically and emotionally drained already and it wasn't even past noon. "This is a fuhckin' mess," Finn groaned, flopping back onto the bed with a stark sound of exasperation. His whole life felt like a tangled pile of disrepair and the lost Pirate didn't even know where the end of the string was to begin untangling it. "I'm sorry, love- this is not how this trip was supposed to go. At all." How he'd expected it to go hadn't exactly been entirely too pretty either, but whatever he'd imagined had been leagues away from this catastrophe.
"All Sins can be forgiven when somebody loves you"
Post by Aurelius Adalbern on Mar 21, 2020 7:20:56 GMT
Within all of the chaos there were still these quiet moments - bountiful minutes placed at the in-betweens of suffering and waiting that gifted the opportunity to share private affections. Without the responsibilities of surviving a battlefield, Aurelius found that his hands were at risk of becoming idle and useless in such moments. It was one of the reasons why he was grateful to be at Finn's side. Because although he occupied his time with sparring and bookwork, the Wolf offered something more, something malleable that they both molded and shaped together. It was something between them and only for them, Yhavastus and Taras unable to quell the collaboration.
"You have nothing to be sorry for, Pup. Go ahead and rest."
Aur let himself lie back beside the exhausted pirate, closing his eyes so that he could just feel the presence of his friend who had become so dear to him. His eyebrows twitched, the descriptor not matching the face anymore - Finn and friend no longer aligned, and the Bear was well aware of how he'd been addressing the Wolf - "my love."
So was it love that they were sculpting together?
He frowned, covering his face with his hands and silently cursing himself for thinking on such a selfish thing when what Finn needed now was support, not a big dumb barbarian who was soul searching. Maybe everything that was happening was taking its toll on him, too - not that he'd let himself admit it out loud - and he merely desired to fill his mind with pleasant thoughts. Warm and gentle thoughts.
As Aur slid his hands over his head, he glanced over at Finn, those warm and gentle thoughts enveloping him, then freezing over. What the hell could he offer? The man had witnessed his mother's dying breath, was made to confront his father who had never been there while he was growing up… What in all of the world could some foreign savage give to help mend such wounds?
He already knew the answer, the only one he seemed to have during all of this, and he rolled onto his side to be closer to Finn.
Rest sounded good, but despite the ache radiating through his body and infecting every limb with increased weight and lethargy, his mind, lurking behind sunken and tired eyes, was all too active. Replaying the events of the day like a movie in his head. What ifs and could haves flitting past as if they were lightning bugs and Finn were a small boy trying to gather them in jars once more. His mother had been so pissed about that. "Do you see their li'le wings, Finneas?" She'd scold him while snatching the jar from his hands. "Animals with wings weren't meant fer enclosed spaces." Words that had stuck with him ever since the day and a big reason behind why he wished he'd been born with wings, himself. Not only for the fascination of freedom and flight, but because he felt like those tiny fireflies blipping about in the darkness unfolding. He'd never been one for ties and roots or closed doors, well, in the figurative sense, closed doors were still mighty useful in the literal fashion. He was flirtatious and a bit of hoe, but he was not much of an exhibitionist. Bedrooms and walls were much nicer than a roll in the sands. The idea sounded romantic enough, he'd tried it once, but the places sand reached during such transgressions were places no grains of sand should ever be welcome. Chaffing for days.
Finn could feel that man who'd brought light into his dark world beside him. Even with his eyes closed he could see him plain as day. Hear his shallow breathing and sense his very presence emanating warmth through the room that felt so cold to the fractured Pirate.
"Weren't meant fer enclosed spaces."
Love, to Finn, had always seemed a pretty closed off space the more he'd examined the matter from outside of it. He'd always envisioned it as shackles forcing two people together, or a cage both were locked within. But he hadn't felt that way once since he'd said such things to Aurelius. He thought he would, like he'd been waiting for the key to click, but it never came. Perhaps he'd come to expect that all good things in this world came at a price, which is why he'd often sought to forgo such norms and disregard said pricing. Love was not a treasure he could take without paying for though, or so he'd led himself to believe. But it felt so much lighter and the opposite of chains. It was more akin to an open window in a world made of walls. Aur was the breeze, the breath of fresh air from outside the confines of his head space. He really did love that man.
Finneass shifted to his side, putting himself in a better position to stare up at the sight of a face that made all the bad in the world not seem so- well- bad. His arm making a languid stretch to brush strands of hair from the Warrior's heroic jawline. "So," he piped, a clear and visible effort to shove weighty thoughts aside as he'd had his fill for the next millennia or so just from today's helping, "If you were a betting man, wouldja wager your boy Ku has worn down Dalia's rambunctious-ness by now? Or, d'ya think she's got him swabbing the decks already?" A lighthearted grin stretching his face, not quite reaching his eyes yet, but he was trying. He didn't like staying down for long. He was hurting, but he'd always been the type to shoulder it and keep moving forward. Sometimes it just took a bit more effort to get it over his shoulder, though. He was still working on it.
"All Sins can be forgiven when somebody loves you"
Post by Aurelius Adalbern on Mar 21, 2020 19:03:58 GMT
Aur had become infatuated with the way that Finn would play with his hair, closing his eyes again, finding comfort in the way the other man touched him. At the mention of Dalia and Kukinta, a whimsical smile curled half of his mouth.
"She seems she could endure a night with a bear," he hummed, picturing Dalia in his mind's eye, cursing enthusiastically in response to her captain's commands, untouchable with those ropes. A formidable woman, that one. "Kukinta was fearless when he drew steel against me. I wonder what kind of king he would have been."
Rather than taking a private stroll through his memories, he invited Finn along, hoping to inspire that smile to splash into the waves of his aquatic eyes. And it would be nice to distract their minds from the happenings of this day. "He had been tracking my men and I, all the way from the encampment of cursed orphans, into the green hills. We were amused by his efforts, and Oighear felt the need to make the lad's task more difficult by sullying our trail." A laugh. "Kukinta rose above every challenge, approaching us at the cusp of a Full Moon, his smile honest, endearing. Kings do not refuse proposals to duel."
He thought of Dalia again, and the challenge she presented to Kukinta - it had become more than obvious that his Springtime Warrior was becoming attached to her.
"My men led me out into the wilderness, Oighear staying behind with Kukinta as the moon approached the horizon," Aur continued. "And as he had through the crags and thickets of the green hills, he found me again." He slid his teeth together, eyebrows pressing together. "When I awoke, my teeth were at his throat, and he lay very still beneath me in a pool of his own blood. My men circled us, waiting, thinking him to be dead, but… Persistent lad, he was."
Aur's expression relaxed again, and he sighed. "Still I was king, my family having grown with the soft-spoken and spirited Kukinta." He opened his eyes to look at Finn. "My bet is with Dalia if Kukinta continues to track my footsteps," he whispered, a solemn look shadowing his features. "He is ill will love, do you agree? Men can betray themselves just to capture that feeling."
"I'd be more fearful for the bear," Finn let loose a soft chuckle, his mind immediately defying every wish of his and trying to create the image of such events within his imagination. Not a mental image any man who felt more like a father than a friend to the girl needed to have flitting about in their mind's eye. Yikes. He'd not be unseeing that for the next decade.
It was nice, hearing about Aur's past. The man was always so silent about it. Not un-forthcoming, just, didn't really get into it all that often. A lot of it Finn didn't quite understand fully like "encampment of cursed orphans", he had to wonder what the hell that even meant, but he did not feel like interrupting the tales by asking an overabundance of questions. He was much more content to just lie there and listen to the Bear talk. He could've done that forever. There was such a depth to the reverberating base of each word, a calming and comforting sound that washed over the Pirate like a warm tide pulling up the coastline of the beach. Like that day the two had spent in those waters.
Kukinta was a good man. Finn had known that the second he'd seen the guy. You could see it in his eyes and it made him feel rather over the moon that Dalia looked so happy and at ease with him. Granted that girl could be happy anywhere so long as it was on a boat. But not like this. Lately there'd been a glow and gleam to her eyes he'd not seen there before. He was glad for her. It was good to see young love blossom in such a manner, especially right now. Finn could use such a pallet cleansing image now more than ever. "Good to know he can survive an attack like that," Finn smirked, idly tracing lines along the King's chest, "He can survive that maybe he stands a chance at surviving that girl. He's a good kid though, Aur. He sure has Dalia's face shining bright and Neptune knows that girl could use it." Finn shifted where he lay, moving so his head leaned against that of the foreign leader's. "Wouldn't know it to look at her, the spitfire that she is, but she's not had an easy go of it." Though, he supposed none on this ship had. Most didn't turn to a life of piracy, crime, and living on a boat on the run because things were going peachy in their lives to begin with. "She's been with me since she was nary a young girl, that one. Street orphan from Moten. Parents died at sea and ever since she'd been hopping boats for a good while. Ship to ship. Little stowaway graduated to a floating ship-hand when she got older, skilled at rigging, but then. You've seen her up there. Swear not even birds can fly the way Dali can. Used to call her spider monkey but she wasn't too keen on the nickname. Threw a tankard at my head one time for sayin' it. Not made the same mistake since." The Captain couldn't help but chuckle like the proud Pops he often felt like when it came to Dalia. "I almost wouldn't take her on as a hired hand. Felt she was too young to come aboard with a bunch of Pirates, she'd mostly served on civilian vessels before, but I guess she didn't like hearing 'no' cause even after we left port turned out she'd snuck aboard. Woke up in the night to find a blade at my throat. Not the first time, granted," but that was a whole slew of other stories, "Managed to disarm her, but she actually got me pretty good." The Wolf jutted his pelvis forward so he was arching his back to pull his shirt up and point out a scar that stretched from his lower waist up the side of his torso before dropping back to the bed with an amused breath. "Had to admit though. She impressed me. Was determined to be a part of The Wolfsbane. Told me it was too gorgeous a ship to not be aboard, couldn't argue there. Figured if she had the balls to take me on, herself, she could handle just fine among the crew. Turns out that was an understatement. Most have been swiftly educated in what happens when you fuck with Dals. And most have similar scars as reminder. Good kid, that one."
Finneas turned to rest on his arm, shaking his head with a bemused look laying across handsome features. "If Ku is as ill with love...as they both seem to be, I wish him luck in taming that Tigress. He'll have his work cut out for him, but he looks like he's handling her well thus far. They do make a pretty couple." It did make Finn feel rather melancholy though. A Yhavastun-...he still wasn't sure how to refer to the people of Yhavastus, what the right word was, but regardless, the foreigner and the pirate. The situation was such a similar echo of himself and the Bear beside him it made his chest hurt. Was it another doomed romance in the making? He had to hope not. He needed to not see a darkness when he looked at those two. There was a heavy enough cloud over The Wolfsbane and a ship this pretty deserved a little light. "I'm rooting for those two, if I'm being honest," still grinning as he laid over the King's chest, his chin resting atop his arms crossed over Aur's pecs to stare upwards at his companion, a look torn between admiration and longing lurking in those vibrant eyes of the Wolf.
"All Sins can be forgiven when somebody loves you"
Post by Aurelius Adalbern on Mar 23, 2020 3:42:14 GMT
"Mm, I believe that Dalia suits him just right," Aurelius mused, his eyes moving to watch Finn's hand. "Kukinta does well with those of a, ah, rough and wild nature." He chuckled, finding Finn's hand with his own, toying with the rings on the pirate's nimble fingers as they moved over his chest. "You will have to pry Logi from him if you want to keep him, however," he continued. "Those two share a deep bond, one that has been burning bright like the sun since Logi helped Kukinta stand from blood-stained grass." He imagined what the fit might be like that his youngest warrior would throw at the very notion of Kukinta not returning home because of a foreign woman.
The Bear quieted himself and his mind, pressing his forehead into Finn's when the Wolf drew near. He closed his eyes to listen to the story that began, the words taking form as the feisty crew boss in his imagination. Aur had the pleasure of getting to see Dalia up in those ropes many times now since being on the Wolfsbane, her acrobatic abilities always causing him to pause in whatever it was he was doing so that he could watch. He had even seen Kukinta attempt the ropes, but it always ended with the poor lad getting tangled or dropping back onto the deck with a painful thud.
Aur sat up as Finn began to squirm beside him, leaning over the Wolf to let his gaze trail the scar that was revealed, an excited look flashing in his icy gaze. Dalia had really gotten him good! Kukinta's neck was decorated with scars from Aur's teeth when he had held him down during their duel, but he wondered if more had been added elsewhere on the raven-haired warrior's body. More scars, more stories. Dalia would make an extraordinary shield maiden in Yhavastus.
He returned to Finn's side on the bed, resting his hands at the pirate's back as those lovely eyes watched him. "What shall I do with him, then? When it comes time for us to return to our homeland, should I command him to stay?" One hand moved to caress his Pup's cheek, his own expression giving way to more melancholic nuances.
Returning to their homeland. A dreaded and inevitable day like a black spot on the horizon line. Finn found for once this was not a horizon he desired to sail towards at full mast. Reel the sails, drop the anchor. If only one could do that with time, but unfortunately it was not a power he possessed even if he began sacrificing virgins to a dark god for a chance at mystical powers, though he'd be fully willing to drop trou and dance nude around a bonfire if it would slow things down even the tiniest bit. Alright, that wasn't saying much. That simply sounded like a fun Friday night. Still, all Finn could think to offer was a deep and weighty sigh that made his whole frame rise and fall atop the King's.
No.
He was trying to shirk off this dark passenger attached to his back, trying its damnedest to crush Finn into the floorboards and he'd be a monkey's frikkin' uncle if he was gonna let the adorable-ness that was Ku and Dalia right now add to that immense weight. With a jostle of his shoulders, near about seeming to physically try to shake the storm clouds from his mind, a wicked glint sparkled in the depths of those eyes of his. With a soft grunt the Wolf flung himself around to straddle the Warrior beneath him, his legs spread across the rippling torso of the Bear beneath the Wolf whose knees were pressed to the mattress on either side of his friend's body. Finn hovered overhead, one hand beside Aur's head, the other gliding over the angled cheekbones of the man. The obsidian claw rested against the King's chest from around the Pirate's neck, his face hovering over the other's with an impish and devious smile curling his face, darkening them in a teasing manner. "And what if I wanted to command you to stay?" A throaty whisper leaving his lips mere inches from those of Aurelius, tauntingly letting his nail trace the curve of the man's cheekbones. "You may be King, but this ship? It's my kingdom." The fingers trailing away from the foreign leader's face to trail down along his throat, dancing across the muscular neck of the handsome warrior under him.
"All Sins can be forgiven when somebody loves you"
Post by Aurelius Adalbern on Mar 23, 2020 20:35:32 GMT
Aur's eyes crinkled with a laughing grin that followed Finn's playfulness, his hands taking a firm hold of the Wolf's waist as he let himself be at the mercy of the predator. He turned his head to press against the top of Finn's hand, lips parting slightly as those deft fingers slid across his skin. At his friend's next words, the serenity that had been settling into his features faded.
His eyes seemed to be staring at the pattern of the blanket beneath them, distant. They betrayed him, revealing a broken man trapped in an ensemble he must always wear, so lost on his course that there was no hope of going back. Aurelius turned his head to look into Finn's eyes, his own screaming for another chance to change his future. If only he could lay to rest the burden he had fought so hard to obtain for the sake of others when all they had truly needed, wanted, was their son. Their brother. Their Cub.
The only way to shed the skin of the King was to die within it.
"Would you keep me as one of your treasures, only for you to hold?" The warrior tried to smirk, but it quickly gave way to a more sincere and wistful smile. "Or would you take me as your husb-" He caught his voice, mouthing the rest of the word without sound, his eyes continuing to betray his desire.
I would return.
Is this what his father had felt when he met his mother? Damn it all if he took after that happy-go-lucky man, falling so stupidly hard for someone he had hardly even known! Always did Aurelius pride himself for being more like his majestic mother, but then again…she did not refuse Trygve.
Drown. I want to drown, he thought as he stared into those ocean eyes of his dear Pup.
With a grunt of his own, he rose from the bed with enough force to take hold of Finn and swap positions, almost aggressively pinning the Wolf into the mattress. The warrior yanked the pirate's shirt up and over his head to get a more thorough look at the scars and tattoos, this time allowing his curiosities to become verbal since it would not be interrupting a certain activity this time. Despite having been in countless battles, Finn's scars combated Aur's own.
"I want to hear some stories," he purred, his fingers firmly tracing the markings that adorned Finn's body.