ass that’s so vast i could block out the sun

ingram's house of cards had come down tumbling before he had even finished the foundation. all the carefully arranged pieces -- his reunion with lycaon, the discovery of chusi -- the long awaited return of wylla -- these pieces fell about him in shards, irrevocably broken.

he was wide-eyed as he watched the two jostle - oil and water, earth and fire; the two were irreconcilable -- two halves of an irredeemable whole. for the first time in his life, he struggled with what to do. he looked between wylla and chusi with a dark blight of hurt across his features; how could either of them do this? why?

could they not put aside their differences?

he guessed not, and in the end, blood was thicker than water. as chusi turned back to speak to him, a fracture seemed to splinter through him, and he sunk visibly as he weighed his options. go with the girl, his girlfriend -- the girl that had lightened his life --- or go with family, blood, duty.

"i... i can't." he cried, lip curled back in a pitiful choke -- he could not bring himself to meet chusi's gaze. she didn't deserve him.

and he knew it.