Chimera Fields pathetique

rain blurred the edges of the pale figure standing amid curling tendrils of bold new blossoms. not yet filled with color, they were a sketch of the beauty to come, and empty as asmodeus found himself. 

it was @Belharra's turn to fuck off, and she had chosen the forest which the snake refused to revisit. behind him, the great expanse of dark, torn earth soaked in the warmer skyfall, and asmodeus took but a single step, voice billowing out in what felt like a farewell to the one individual who had managed to pierce the ugly bedrock of his cunning soul.

and a woman, no less.

he turned away. the tuktu beckoned, and beyond that, the pristine valleys he had left behind. and yet asmodeus lingered, the sunless dark of his reptiliian gaze turned toward neverwinter.

Ye really should leave the singing to me. Belharra teased, coming to a stop near Asmodeus. His voice called to mind a vision of an otter being crushed by a fallen tree. Nope, definitely leave the crooning to those who possess god blessed pipes. Her eyes followed his gaze to Neverwinter. What, was he pining? 

There’s something to be said for a full belly. She said in excuse, feeling the somber mood of the room. Wot’s got your tongue, cully?

summoned, belharra arrived to tease him, but her sharp gaze beheld his own intent. the man was silent a long moment; he scuffed the wet ground with a pale forepaw.

"might be time for me to take off," the snake murmured, his blackstone stare level. quiet. belharra would not beg him to stay, and he would never want such a disgusting display. this, then, a meeting of respect for the time and laughter they had shared.

Oh, she didn't like how he uncomfortably raked the earth with a forepaw. Like he had something to say that he didn't want to.

Belharra, amazingly, kept her trap shut until he spoke.

Oh.

He was leaving.

She frowned, not liking this news and not liking how much she disliked this news either. She guessed she had taken his presence for granted, and now.. Now he was going to go.

It was his right to do so. Belharra understood the wanderer's heart, for she had it herself. It didn't make parting with him any easier.

"Oh. Well, ye gotta do what ye gotta do." Belharra offered uncomfortably, unable to meet the serpent's gaze. She would never talk him out of it - he needed to wander as much as she needed her mouth to wander - it's just who they were. How they were made.

Shame, though.

somehow, it still stung when she let him go so easily. asmodeus scolded himself for being dismayed. they had no tie to one another, not even the pleasantry of a fuck. they'd been hunting friends, she had helped him as he would have aided her, and there was nothing more to be said.

and still, he opened his pale jaws again. "you could come with me, if you wanted." stupid. of course she didn't. did he even want this racuous bard along with him? doubtful. maybe. yes.

his gaze remained flat.

Was there more to be said?

Belharra could see something was behind Asmodeus' eyes. She couldn't place it, but it might have been the same ugly emotion that was nipping at her heart-strings too.

She wanted to say way more but found the words weren't coming to her. When was Belharra ever at a loss for words? This was Asmodeus' doing. Her throat bobbed as she tried to form a sentence. None came.

Then he said what she had hoped -- or tried - to say herself. "Come with ye." She had to make it sound like she wasn't interested, like she wasn't too desperate - but the idea of him leaving the Wilds seemed like.. like she'd miss some great adventure if he went off and lived life without her.

"I'd like that." She settled, an unsure but happy grin on her features. "Someone's got to make sure ye don't lose more fingies or get swiped up by strange harlots." Yeah, that was really the real reason here...

asmodeus hadn't expected belharra to say yes, and it showed upon his reptillian features. he took a step forward, but not to idly kick toward the dirt. "anywhere?" the snake inquired. there had been no preparation behind his question; a sheepish grin passed over his face.

"what about your pack?" he asked after a beat. "they'd be fucking sorry to lose you." but their lack was his gain, or somesuch. why look a gift horse in the mouth? and still, he felt compelled to understand.

Belharra had known the day she met Asmodeus that he would alter her life forever. The implication of which she hadn't yet figured out, but he seemed important. That and, Belharra was known to pursue her whims free of any guilt.

A hedonist at heart, Belharra didn't look too deeply into how her departure would ripple out and impact others. Life would go on, as it always did.

"They'll be sorry, but they'll be fine. I'll only miss the one. Kyr." She knew she couldn't leave without saying goodbye to Kyr. "Ye'll wait for me?" Belharra had an image of her breaking the news and then turning back and finding Asmodeus gone. A grin cracked on her features as she thought of the scamp, scallywagging his way across the wilds without her.

"yes," asmodeus answered, perhaps a bit too quickly. but the reptile did not care. the flat gleam of his eyes rested upon the controlled joy of her features.

and the man realized he was happy, and that belharra had begun the odd sharp seed in his breastbone. but now the emotion was his to embrace.

"i'll stay close. call for me when you're ready."

Asmodeus answered fast. Good, fast was how Belharra liked it. She would have answered just as quick.

So, it was decided. They'd scamper off to Neverneverland or some such region, two not-quite-lovers ensnared in each others' lives for the better. Belharra nodded. All that was left was to break the news.

That was going to be a bitch. She liked Kyr, genuinely. It made parting all the harder, but Belharra had said goodbye many times before. She gave Asmodeus a cheeky wink and then strode off, her tail raised jauntily. "Off t' break the good news, then. Bet ol Roi Mal will be thrilled. Give me a week, if it please ye. Got some business t'finish."

With that, Belharra was gone.

asmodeus watched her go with something like an ache in his chest, then shook it off. he performed a smart about-face and headed in the opposite direction. belharra would return; there was nothing in the woman to suggest otherwise, and so for the time being, he intended to busy himself by harassing the fauna.