[ P ] After Dark

The dust had settled and things were changing; he did not know exactly what would happen to his country but at least there seemed to be no more calls for war. Maybe it was finally over... maybe both sides saw the senseless bloodshed would get them nowhere... or maybe they were simple waiting for the other to let their guard down so they could finish them off. Khepri couldn't be sure but it was these thoughts that kept him up at night now, along with the aching grief that filled him. He couldn't sleep, he hardly ate, and he spent far too much time away from home to partake in things he shouldn't. He sniffed absentmindedly, his paw on the drink before him as he studied it, debating with himself back and forth. His tawny coat stunk of valerian, but more so than usual tonight and his breath reeked of alcohol. Yet he was debating one more drink. What would it hurt? His honied eyes were hollow and blank as he downed the drink upon that thought and then... well, he called for another. The Professor could feel his nerves calming with each drink but the taste was awful. He much preferred his drug of choice but it was too late this night to sneak out and find more. He was close enough to home that he could make it back on his wobbly paws without too much trouble but far enough that he'd hopefully not run into his family. He didn't want any of them to know; to see him like this. He was broken, to his believe, beyond repair. Before every drink he told himself he shouldn't be doing this and then after, he thought it wasn't so bad. It was a vicious cycle that fed his addictions all too well. He cleared his throat and looked at his new drink as the bartender set it down before him. He drew a breath and shame crept into him. He wasn't necessarily doing anything wrong by drinking but he felt it was wrong. He looked away, noticing a figure moving nearby. Maybe he'd have some company on this lonely night that could take his mind off things, if only for a little while. "..."

STOCK➤ Adobe ART ➤ AMPHI

Whispers twisted on the winds, touching upon the judge’s ears and bringing an ever lasting frown to crease his lips. Harsher limitations in place. Restrictions. Those instated not only from conflicts of war but from the powers above, a governing rule which brought laws to bend. Change was upon them and while some of what was heard could be nothing more than fallacies conjured by gossiping fools, when it came down to it nothing could be written off. None could be ignored as possibilities. Not until undeniable proof lay at his feet.

In the end there would always be justice. Yet in these moments Mithras has little plan other than to quiet a racing mind. Something which could be done freely within the comforts of home but as of late another presence haunted the estate. So he ventures elsewhere. Standing upon the precipice, allowing a hollow gaze to scan the room before him as if it could truly be seen. Focus ever shifting upon. Voices rising from nearly every corner to intermingle with one another, reverberating off the walls to echo in a harshened symphony within his cerebrum. All of it blending into a discomforting haze. The plethora of aromas no better as they suffocated beneath the stench of alcohol.

This was a bad idea.

Perhaps he would go home after all, endure another’s company and potential judgements but at least drinking was peaceful there. Still procured upon his own coin yet it came without incessant noise or the putrid stench of the unknown. Better yet quality could be controlled with every beverage kept to personal taste rather than hoping, praying that a place like this did not attempt to serve some cheap swill and dare to pass it off as refinement. Breath huffed lightly at the thought and with a harsher scoff the lawman nearly turned to leave before a rather peculiar - pungent - scent captured his focus. One which rose above the rest in the heady scent of herbal dosage.

Drugs. Remedies some declared them as and yet still it permeated the air, luring steps to cross the threshold into a place of ill repute. A path forged toward the very creature who’s perfume could not be ignored all while ears swiveled toward any sound that dared drift closer to his side. There was but one who held focus in this instant and it is he the judge claims a seat beside. A beast who seemingly drowned himself in drink from the stench which enveloped him. Ever more beckoned by the unsteady slur of lyrics, the clink of containment resounding upon the very surface before the assumed drunkard.

It was difficult to pick up any signs of familiarity from the other and yet housed deep beneath the plagues one imbibed in there came a fleeting spark of recognition. This twinge of knowing rather inviting amongst the wretched abominations but still his presence was questioned. It was curious. Though thoughts are left to stew as despite his reservations a tongue flicks in order of his own. If nothing more as a reason to stay, to question for focus shifted as he awaited a drinks arrival.

Lyrics touching the other man’s ears in honeyed tone, “Khepri was it? Professor of healing and herbs?” Something which shone brightly in none too silent reflection and yet one in particular flourished. Overtook all else and left them as mere whispers upon his skin, however, Mithras says nothing more of it in these moments as instead he awaits confirmation over one’s identity. He wished to know just who he spoke with for certain. Attempting to refrain from allowing hints of suspicion or festering judgment to lace a sightless yet fixated gaze.

"Khepri was it? Professor of healing and herbs?" Khepri startled slightly as he was recognized at the bar and his mind began racing along with his heart. This man knew him, or of him. "Y-Yes." he managed, though his throat and mouth felt horribly dry despite the drink he'd just taken. He cleared his throat and looked into the unseeing eyes of the man before him, searching for a name in his mind that he could not seem to find. "Apologies, I've... forgotten your name," he admitted. His addled mind was unable to come up with a better excuse than that. He paused a moment before turning his gaze back to his drink and then pushing it away slowly. "Did you... need something?" he asked curiously. He didn't know why he was being addressed but if this man needed something from him he was hardly in the state to give it. He hiccupped and the noise was so unwarranted that it caused his cheeks to burn with embarrassment. He pushed away from the bar and stepped down from his seat. "Sorry, you've caught me at a bad time," he said, suddenly wishing to leave and hide his face at home. It wasn't as bad as Sif, or the children seeing him, but it was bad enough. Before it was just a bunch of nobodies that didn't know him but this was different. He had a reputation to keep together. "..."

STOCK➤ Adobe ART ➤ AMPHI

While he could not see the ways one startled he could feel the twisting tensions echo from that hide, how it brought a heart to flutter in its uncertainty before sputtering tones filled the air. Confirmation. Assurance that the faint aromas which declared the professor as his own being had not been a lie no matter how they muddied beneath all else which plagued him in these moments. Only for the flecked one’s crown to tilt up in efforts to look down his nose at one perched taller than he as those phrases continued.

An act he knew would be unsuccessful and yet it did not stop the hardly masked hmm from reverberating in his throat. Silent judgment cast upon the other as he stumbled over his words and issued claims of forgetting him. That alone earning a scoff of indignation before lyrics laced a serpent’s tongue, “Mithras. You know of me.” At least in passing. In the standings each held within the college itself, surely he had not forgotten him of all creatures.

Though despite an askance, a wonderment of what one may need of him, there was no time to issue reply in turn as the gilded man swiftly excused himself. Pushing from the bar with a fumbling motion before heading toward the door. Dark ears turned back as the unsteady click of paws issued their retreat, faltering as they were Khepri would not be a hard man to catch up with yet he would allow paces to find their way past the threshold before giving chase.

Strides rounding upon him, a petite frame ducking to cut off that forged path before his own steps pressed forward into closer proximity with the man. A tail flicking lightly in annoyance, “Oh I do believe now is the perfect time dear professor. It’s not every day I catch you in such a state.” The worst he’d ever seen him in fact, for typically the perfume of substance was faint, controlled; but now it ran rampant alongside the very drink that plagued his breath. “But I am a forgiving man,” a lie and yet still it dripped like honey, “I am willing to forgive this slight, to look past this impairment of your better judgment.”

One to indulge in forbidden substance.

Though as those sightless eyes fixed upon the man’s own, they stared as if able to bore into his very soul. A tongue briefly flicking over the curve of fangs as a muzzle dipped, “Make up a lie and quickly good professor.” If he had hands fingers would have curled beneath the man’s chin, forceful in the way attentions would be kept but instead he relied on hollow eyes to do such a thing for him. “And do tell me where you got it from.” While he was hardly after the very valerian which so heavily perfumed this man there was a silent hope for the hidden prospects of a different treatment. Something to forcefully calm over firing nerves as even now discomfort radiated from any point of contact upon the other, shooting along his frame and bringing an annoyed twinge to the judge’s features.

The man would offer a scoff and a name; Mithras, and Khepri simply nodded his head as he began recalling just who this was. It was little details that came to mind, such as his profession and condition. He was the blind Judge, a fact that might have made Khepri chuckle if he had not been so nervous. His attempt to escape was halted as the other man caught up to him and blocked his path. "Forgive me, Mithras..." he said as he cleared his throat and ducked his head in a bow the other man would not see. He swallowed, this moment was like one stuck in time. The moment where he was discovered for his recreational choices and stripped of all that he loved. However, forgiveness was on Mithras' tongue and Khepri looked at him now in confusion. "I.." he faltered, unable to come up with a reason for all of this much less a lie. He did not know what to do, or say, he was frozen in place and in time it seemed until the smaller, starry pelted male would ask him where he got it from. His throat went bone dry and he spoke hoarsly. "There is no one, I found it myself." he said. He would not be able to implicate anyone other than himself in this. The crowd around them was so focused on itself that nobody noticed the pair, thank whatever Gods floated in the sky above. Maybe they were feeling merciful tonight. Though he had to wonder... why did Mithras care where he got it from? Unless... "Are you..." he trailed off, the question never fully forming on his tongue as he looked now to the other man with silent suspicion in his honey brown eyes. "..."

STOCK➤ Adobe ART ➤ AMPHI

Ears turned toward those who filtered past to busy themselves within the bar, to fixate upon all temptation which resided within in both company and substance. Though he remained focused upon the man before him. Unseeing to the ways he bowed yet nerves radiated from him in an undeniable perfume, a tension that could be cut with the faintest of motions. A flick of the claw was all it would take and that feeling alone brought a smile to cross dark lips as sightless gaze narrowed in barely restrained distaste.

While he supposed finding such things was no oddity for one who claimed such a role, it had hardly been the phrases craved. Khepri painted no other target than himself. No supplier other than from his own paw. A snake fought the urge to encroach further upon another, nails curling against the cobbles before trailing phrase sparked against the senses. Twisting that grin further as jaws parted in a short burst of laugher before it was tainted, hints of mockery laced the very tongue which had asked, “Don’t be stupid.” ‘Don’t even think of finishing that phrase.’

He was not some addict, not a beast who would grovel for their next fix. What he wished for was reprieve, something a medic’s touch had not been able to alleviate on its own. Though the professor hardly needed to know that, “What better place to halt distribution than at the source hmm?” More dangerous yes if that were truly what transpired. Not something that could be done alone but what harm was there in fabrication?

Lilac hues regarded the gilded man, a pelt never seen for himself yet heard of through others when offering description. Surely something divine. Though no longer could that desire be ignored as a crown ducked - hoping to remain near to the other’s ear - lyrics dropping to a whisper as if a conversation were to be kept between them, “But if you are the source than what choice is there?”

"Don't be stupid," he said as his laughter trailed off and Khepri bristled, feeling like he had misjudged the situation quite harshly. He swallowed as their conversation grew heavier and yet nobody paid them any mind here. "Please, I have a family," he said, his mouth going dry. A family you are currently neglecting, his own mind spat at him bitterly. He closed his eyes a second and shook his head, trying to clear the fog. When his honied eyes reopened they found Mithras' unforgiving face, those silvery eyes staring back at him from the depths of sea-blue fur. "It was just this one time," he tried, tasting the lie upon his tongue. The stench coming off his coat promised otherwise but what else could he do now but try and talk his way out of whatever Mithras had planned? He could likely just run off into the night, wash his pelt of the valerian and booze and nobody that came knocking would be none the wiser but he was rooted to the spot by guilt and shame. He thought about explaining why but he didn't think it would do him much good. What did this man care that he had lost his sister and his friends in the war? "..."

STOCK➤ Adobe ART ➤ AMPHI

One did not need sight to feel the way unease and tension radiated against the air, a wafting perfume to mix with the plagued stench of valerian that soaked every inch of the man before him. Something which should repel the senses and yet he only found it drawing him in as pleading tones teased his ear. They brought features to lightly turn, a grin tugging at at his lips, knowing a tongue may be better held yet when did a criminal deserve mercy? Especially one that could have given way to what one saw as valuable information.

“You think of them too late.” His fixation should have been found before displaying such indulgences so publicly, before it became necessary to use those supposedly held in such high regard as a ploy for mercy. “Besides,” the pale lilac of his gaze was piercing as it looked to Khepri now, “I hear it is one dwindling. What’s one more to add to their grief?” Another tragedy to stain their cheeks and haunt a heavy heart.

Just this once he claimed, a terrible lie but the man certainly made an attempt as horrid as it was. He would have to concoct something better than that. “Do you honestly expect me to believe that?” Try harder. Give a reason to ‘forget’ this ever happened but for now he would continue to pressure the other with false promises upon hushed tones. “However, I will allow you a moment of grace,” rounding from his path the moonlit judge would instead linger at his side. Close enough to feel a shift of fur, close enough to hook a limb about the professor’s own should he gain the courage to suddenly bolt.

“Step further into the night, where none can see you but me,” an alley, the embrace of shadowed overhang - anything that may offer a semblance of privacy from those who drifted to and fro within the tavern. “I will refrain from making a verdict within their addled range of senses,” would not make a declaration of guilt nor attempt to further twist it into something favorable.

Mithras did not care for his pitiful pleas, in fact he followed it up with a callous comment about Nassar's death that nearly brought forth a growl from Khepri's throat. He managed to keep himself under control despite his inebriated state. Khepri's mouth opened to protest as Mithras told him he did not believe him, in so many words, but then he closed it, unable to think of what to say. He swayed on his paws, feeling the spinning room around them growing ever so closer. And just as he was about to either throw up or run, the judge granted him a reprieve. "Fine," he breathed. Then, they slipped into the night. The alley was more welcoming to him than the tavern, while it was dark and dingy, it was far less crowded. He could think out here without the din of the crowd drowning out his senses. A few moments passed as he looked upon Mithras then, his gaze growing harsher under the moonlight. "What do you want from me, Mithras? I'm a grieving man. What do you expect from me?" he grumbled. "..."

STOCK➤ Adobe ART ➤ AMPHI

Surprisingly little seemed to stir within the gilded man before him. Nothing more than a passing wave of tension and righteous fury overtaking that subdued nature only to fizzle away just as swiftly as it’d risen, leaving nothing to the plague the air between them. An opportunity seized as the judge stepped closer. Threatening to trespass within the dear professor’s space only to keep time with his step, ensuring one did not attempt to deviate from a set path. While there was uncertainty on where shadows may rest Mithras held confidence that Khepri would bend.

The cool breeze lapping at his skin, the faint brush of stone upon the flick of a tail foretelling where they stood within the alley’s embrace. Far from curious stares and the nosy gossips looking for their next tidbit of spice to sprinkle upon lives. Matters of the law were best kept under wraps - especially when one wanted something in return for potentially keeping such secrets. Indulgence, dealing; each held their own punishment - those the public had been made all too aware of with a king’s decrees and carried out executions.

Lilac sights held upon the other man, a frown replacing the subtleties of a smile which had once graced them. Lyrics laced in disappointment, “I expect better of you. There are other ways to grieve Khepri,” though perhaps none that could make one forget as easily as substance. Even if it only lasted for a short while. Flecked crown shook as a small breath left him as if once more taking consideration for this man’s predicament, “Give me a reason why I should not turn you in. A good one.” For the family he shamed with such acts was clearly not reason enough within the draconian’s eyes, “Perhaps, just this once, I could let things slide but know I will carry such information with me always.” A cloud to hang over the professor's head should he ever truly desire something from the sunlit man.