Nocturne Summit submerged in limbo

Her charade pained him, if only for the fact that it served to be so blasé. It was ever the swift blow to his ego, enough of a halting adjustment to cast doubt. His arrogance threatened to dig in its heels and press the topic further, but the distrusting pessimism that had eked in suggested he pull up stakes and drop the notion altogether. Chances were, she had a long list of suitors that were probably better suited to the concepts of duty and station and that was only provided she didn't simply hurl all of them off the mountain for entertainment when it bored her. That he could see her doing—perhaps their bones already littered the crevices they passed by.

Of course it was a reasonable wager that a more venomous sort would have considered taking what they wanted; Dirge was ambitious in spirit but keen enough to know where the line was. He had felt for it before and knew where it lied. He knew where it would lie if it were crossed and certainly even here it would not have been worth the trouble of lying broken in bits and pieces at the bottom of any one of the southern string of mountains. In short, his mood cloaked itself with the damper tossed over the embers of desire. He would not find the distraction he sought here either; this was a fool's errand disguised as chivalry and he would have to follow through.

”I believe you to be smarter than that, my dear,” he offered instead, his muzzle swinging away as he internally chided himself. He would save face rather than try and explain the obvious; it was easier now to pay attention to the elk and keep awareness of his footing—the incline was shifting again and the herd with it. It was a poor opportunity to take advantage of, but his options seemed few and the damper dared to sour his mood further.

”Ah, the herd moves,” he went on idly, not to miss a beat. ”What are your thoughts about harassing them here? Have you any talents in sending the lame over the edge?” The last question all tongue-in-cheek to come full circle, because of course she did.

word count: 373 words