[ P ] Good Enough

NORA SEAFARER
still feels like a storm not dying

It had been a long time since she'd set food in these woods but it was time... it was time she found him again. If she could, anyway. The last time they'd met had been after her escape, here in this very forest, but where exactly she could not recall. She'd been preoccupied to say in the least with getting as far away from Leoric and the dungeon as she possibly could. She'd not heard a whisper of him since and now that Leoric was dead, wiped off the face of the earth by some random wolf during the war, it was over. She swallowed as she recalled his ghost, the threats he'd made, but was it all a trick of the fae or had she been hallucinating because she had not seen him since and she was thankful for that.

She moved quietly through the woods, knowing that if she was caught she might very well be hauled back off to that dungeon again, but she'd risked it if only to find that man that had agreed to kill her children's father. The thought left a rotten taste in her mouth and she wondered what he would have asked for if he'd succeeded. Well, it didn't matter now. The deal was off, the target already eliminated. She should have never struck such a deal in the first place and honestly she still couldn't believe that she had. She'd been miserable, desperate, but now? She had everything she could ever want. She had her daughters, a loving mate, and her siblings were more or less intact and well.

Darkness enveloped the forest as she walked past various estates into the night; whoever lived in these places would not take kindly to a Saoran snooping about their backyards. She crept deeper into the snow-covered fortress that surrounded her. Outside of winter the never-changing red canopy would have swished and swayed above but now the fallen leaves were hidden beneath mounds of snow and ice. She did her best not to crunch about with her paw steps but hopefully she'd just be passed off for a deer or something inconsequential. Eventually, she picked up on that vague scent and followed it. A dark figure loomed before her and she sighed. "You're a hard one to track down," she breathed quietly, her words curling in pools of vapor around her muzzle.

code by claerie

my demons come to play

He was headed home. The onyx wolf had a sudden desire to sleep in his own bed, to find comfort in the solitude of his own four walls. Leaving Sussex behind, for now, he walked through the redwood. It wouldn't be long though, before he had a need to return to Sussex, to return to a certain vixen. The wounds on his foreleg still burned, still pink and raw from where her teeth had sank into with a viciously fury. It hurt like a bitch, but it was intoxicating. A ghost of a smirk would toy with the corners of his mouth.

Deep down, he knew he was playing a dangerous game. One he had no business playing. But somehow, he was once again wrapped around the finger of pretty, green eyed woman. Maybe he should leave the mainlands for awhile... It had been ages since he'd been beyond the lowlands. In the new country of Saora, few would know his face, his story. There would breathing room, space to distance himself and nurse the wounds he had been ignoring.

It was only a matter of time before this thing with Senka blew up, right? It was inevitable. Augustine would catch one or both of them eventually. Hell, it was only because he was so drunk that Augustine had failed to notice his own wife being fucked under his own roof, on his desk.

Knowing he was no longer alone was a skill he had picked up long ago. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. She spoke, causing the brute to immediately turn towards her, his mass swelling with sudden aggression. But recognition was quick to follow, deflating him just as quickly. "I prefer it that way." He commented dryly, eyeing her with faint annoyance. He hadn't forgotten her, or the contract she had agreed to. In truth, her troubles had been pushed to the back burner. With only a promise binding them, she hadn't taken a priority. Though thankfully a country at war tended to slow things down, especially when his target was a soldier no less.

template (c) bean

NORA SEAFARER
still feels like a storm not dying

Nora could see that she'd startled him but he was good at hiding it as he quickly smoothed over his appearance. The annoyance in his tone, she noted, was not so easily hidden. She wanted to scoff at him for that and she almost did, but she managed to keep her composure somewhat as she stared up at the larger male opposite her. He seemed distracted and she wondered if that was why he'd failed to do what he'd promised. Had he even looked for Leoric or had she been forgotten?

"I'm sure you do," she commented dryly. She couldn't be certain what had transpired in their time apart but she did know one thing. Their 'contract' was no longer needed.

Another huff escaped her, more vapor pooling at her lips, and she looked straight into his deep purple eyes. "I'll make this quick, then. I don't need you to... do what you were going to do anymore." She couldn't even say the words and yet she'd made the hit to begin with. How it had come to that, even she could not recall. At the time she had been desperate. "Leoric died in the fighting in the war," she added, in case he needed anymore coaxing. Nora drew a breath, as if just saying that had been an effort.

code by claerie

my demons come to play

She didn't seem anymore thrilled to be here than he was to be entertaining her at this hour. That didn't stop the faint, amused smirk from lifting his lips. Amethyst hues glittered. "Kill the father of your children, you mean?" She avoided flat out stating the terms of their contract, dancing around it like just saying it would dirty her hands even more. Clarification followed - war had taken his life. It was one less thing for Odysseus to do, and considering he had nothing tangible from her, he wasn't sorry to see this job dissolve.

That didn't stop his curiosity about this woman. "Does that make you feel better?" He inquired. "Knowing he died serving a purpose instead of your choice?" Some would take offense to his question, and maybe she would, but he was genuinely curious. She had been so skittish about the whole thing, not that that was unusual, but most could at least say they wanted someone dead. She acted like a soldier would manifest out of nowhere and arrest her on the spot.

The season was different last time he laid on her. The air was still warm and the country was tense with impending war. His life was simpler than, at least maybe a little. He hadn't irrevocably tied his soul to a married woman. He had 'girl troubles'. Now he had his hands full between managing his business and managing Senka, who he couldn't keep his hands off of.

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NORA SEAFARER
still feels like a storm not dying

As he simply spoke the words aloud that she had been trying to avoid, she bristled. Averting her gaze, she simply shrugged and said nothing, unable to give him the benefit of her saying it herself. Her gaze was pulled back to him at his questions and she stared for a moment before nodding.

"It does, actually. I had been meaning to find you to call it off anyway before I learned he'd fallen in battle. Now neither of us has to worry about it anymore." she replied. "It was a foolish and impulsive thing to do. I regret it." she added stiffly. She was glad it had panned out this way. She didn't have to worry about him anymore and yet her conscious was clean knowing that she had not been the reason he'd died.

With that, she turned partially away from him and decided that she should probably not spend any more time in the company of such a dangerous wolf. She would fight him if she had to but she didn't think things would come down to that, or so she hoped. He was a man willing to kill others for something so little as a favor. She didn't want to see him if he got angry with her. "I hope we do not have to meet again." she offered, giving him a long look before turning and darting off into the Redwood.

exit nora

code by claerie