Dumb and Dumber

To be perfectly honest, he had been quite excited this morning. News of a new soldier in their troupe had struck the young man with intrigue. Although he had selfish motivations driven by no longer being the greenest recruit in the group, he was looking forward to having a companion of sorts. It was too mushy to say aloud, and he would never admit it, but the thought of having another face to go on patrols with and share stories and whatnot had filled him with anticipation for this day. Especially when he had heard that it would be a man, roughly of age with him, and similarly inexperienced in the Imperial Army.

So the fact that he was bristling, tense, and narrowing his eyes made his heart sink lower than if he'd had no expectations at all.

"We can't just stop in the town square," he snapped, a bit more bite in his voice than he had intended. His patience, however, was slipping. "We have to go through the whole city, we're soldiers, we march," he spluttered exasperatedly. Never in his life had he been tied to a wolf so inclined to complain and seek excuses, any at all, to linger and shirk off his duty. Every wolf until this point, Colonel Immortalis included, had done their damndest to keep up the army's reputation. This fool though...

Victorian's brow knit and he closed his eyes before drawing in a slow, forced breath in order to force some semblance of calm.


@Nothus

To say it lightly, his world had been flipped upsidedown. Nothus's heart and head were heavy, in an impenetrable fog as he dragged his paws forward, wandering after this ebon-clad stranger. Dust lifted up around him like a smoggy cloud, similar to the dense feeling that numbed his entire body. Silver and purple eyes swirled with an unreadable fervor that veiled the despondency from his face, bristling fur and coiled lips the only sour remainder of whatever (albeit little) emotion he had left to feel. His mother was dead.The words echoed within the empty halls of his mind, snickering and sneering at him as those tendrils of dark emotion coiled around his heart and began to squeeze. It hurt. It hurt and it hurt and it would continue to hurt until it stopped, leaving his heart a brittle crumble of stygian ash. "We can't just stop in the town square," came a voice from outside of his mind, causing his blurry vision to blink in rapid succession as his head rose. He drew himself out from within; purple eyes met orange as the bristling annoyance of the other came darting through Nothus's thick veil of apathy. Nothus hadn't even realized they were in a town square, never mind that his paws had stopped and he'd stood there in the wake of his own misery for who-knew-how-long. "Sorry," he rumbled instinctively, unable to think of anything else to say. The other continued to ramble on, about their pride. They were soldiers. They had to march. It was almost funny how different they were. This man, proud, with his head lifted high; he'd likely joined the army of his own volition. And Nothus, the slithering snake that he was ... he wanted to find a hole and nestle himself away in the shadow. He didn't want to march. Dark-tipped ears fell backward as he felt his own sadness begin to mutate into agitation, mirroring the other. "Listen, uh, Victorio, right?" Nothus stopped in his tracks, staring at the other. "I know I've not been the best partner, here, but uh," his eyes peeled from the sturdy frame of the other, observing the contours of the unfamiliar city. He'd never left the mainland. He had no idea where he was. He opened his mouth to say something impeccably sassy, but another wave of hopeless sadness washed over him, stealing the very thunder from his voice. His posture relaxed and he submitted to the emotion. "I'm not going to march, but I'll try to like ... look more bad-ass or something," he puffed stupidly, taking a few steps forward to stand beside Victorian instead of dragging behind him like some lost child. Despite that being very much what he felt like.

click here for art credit

A half-hearted "sorry" fell from Nothus' lips and Victorian accepted it as he would a dime or a quarter: it was something but hardly enough. As such, he only chuffed in response before jerking his gaze away. An ebon' ear twitched as he took in the bustling town square. Unlike in the Mainlands, the wolves here had a slower pace. Most stopped and chatted, particularly the group of older women that were commenting on the soldiers in plain sight. There were no sidelong glances or soft whispers, nay, the Highlanders wore their animosity and discontent on their sleeves.

Had Colonel Kvothe been with them, he would have paid them little heed. Of course, their stares always scorched along his skin but he had developed a habit of ignoring the sting. Tasoula's sharp stare and Kvothe's regal bearing had a comforting quality when they were on patrol. Nothus, however, struck Victorian as a liability.

"Listen," the new recruit began and amber eyes slid back to the man's russet face. His expression would have remained smooth and hard as onyx if not for the butchering of his name. As the syllables of "Victorio" fell from Nothus' mouth, Victorian's lip twitched to reveal a flash of yellowed teeth. Although he would never justify leaping at a fellow soldier, he began to understand some defectors just a little.

"Then just keep up," Victorian scoffed at last when Nothus finally managed to stagger up beside him.

...

"What's wrong with you?" He asked after several minutes had passed. Then, a second later, he realized how that sounded.

"I mean uh..." Internally, he could feel his sister's disappointment in him. If she had just witnessed that, she surely would have puffed out her cheeks. "... what's... wrong?" A pained awkwardness possessed his voice and he trained his gaze ahead, refusing to look at the violet-eyed man.


@Nothus