"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
A lion, captured and pacing: unruly away from his ruling. There is no one here to save him, much less give him friendly company. Instead, he is left to his thoughts and his loneliness.
Litotes has not left his lion-form much since he was caught within the borders of Loess, a fact that blurs his days and passes time far too quickly. No small animal finds mercy beneath his furious, itching paws. As a feline, he does not need to think, feel: his only desire to eat those rendered worthy of his wrath and to nap irately beneath what shade he can find.
Most days, he is splayed out like a true lion: flicking his tail atop a boulder, seething in a way only felines are truly capable of. This day is no different from the rest. The Primarch has found a smooth rock lined with moss, cushioned in a natural way he finds familiar to his home in Hyaline. Here he observes the flat area spreading before him, wryly considering his temporary space a kingdom to survey. Survey he does: golden eyes glittering and ruthless against the white of his fur, forbidding any to approach him.
Was it a mistake? Rash? Uncouth? He does not ponder his actions for terribly long now, his first days in Loess offered enough time to regret. Yet, he does not regret it, for the most part - even now, in his fury and displeasure. He considers Vulgaris to be just as rash, and the whispers of a surprise war on all of Beqanna went against everything the East stands for.
At least he hesitantly believes so for now.
The lack of communication on the Council’s part leaves him wondering.
None of that is any matter, though - not in his mini-kingdom.
He stays like that for most of the day, rising to catch a rabbit for food then curling back up into his boulder. He paces here and there, then eventually settles into a restless sleep once night falls.
@[Kagerus] sorry it’s recycled I feel blah but this needed to get up
02-12-2019, 02:43 AM (This post was last modified: 02-12-2019, 02:44 AM by Kagerus.)
kagerus
and in my dreams, i kissed your lips a thousand times
It is satisfying, though not mollifying, to know that he regrets his actions. His lame excuse of a reason as to why he thought it even remotely acceptable to initiate and engage in offensive demonstrations will never truly be forgiven by me; but the situation has changed, and where once Solace and I were determined to let him live out the length of his sentence, we are now forced to break our backs in an attempt to undo what our unruly Primarch has done.
Pangea will suit him far better than Hyaline ever could.
I am in his subconscious as he dreams, the colours and curves of the dreamscape distinctly feline in nature. I recognize these characteristics so easily due to my bond with Panthera, my leopard familiar; and, for some reason I fail to understand, there are a ludicrous amount of big cat shifters in the East. In that I am given to surveying all my subject's dreams, it only makes sense that I am comfortable in his predator's mind.
"Litotes."
His name reaches to each end of this hazy land, loudest at the center where the dreamer stands. I materialize before him just following the bone-shaking enunciation of his name, my figure a replica of my true equine form; but before his dreaming self can get any ideas as to what is for lunch, I meld seamlessly into the shape of my familiar, embodying Panthera as I stalk to close the distance between myself and the fallen Primarch.
As a male lion, he towers over me, double my height and nearly triple my weight. These facts daunt me none, as is clear by the way my lips peel back and reveal the lethal weapons hidden therein; if I am lucky, he will cling to what sense remains him and behave during this encounter. If not, I hold all the power, here, and he shall reap the consequences of any misbehaviour.
"You are needed in the East," I begin, not given to small talk as my tail snaps angrily from side to side. The amber of my eyes finds his, daring him to break the contact. "We are negotiating for you release as we speak. But for now - report what you have observed in Loess. Make your incompetence useful, if you are capable of such a feat."
Harsh, perhaps; but he knew better than to instigate a war when he headed a pacifist nation.
boy what's normal to you? 'cause that sure ain't normal to me.
Before he slipped into slumber, Litotes wondered if Kagerus would make an appearance in his dreams. There has been a long stretch of no contact, though he does not particularly expect any contact from his queens.
Yet, it is within the confines of his current dream that a queen finally arrives. Her touch is familiar from one other time, so his consciousness does not reject her (though in a few moments, he will have a mind to do just that). She drifts in as an equine - anger hot in her eyes and tone of her voice. Still, the lion does not flinch, merely watches her pointed approach with the same coy indifference every encounter has been bestowed.
Perhaps he would have been more receptive if she were not so unnecessarily heated from the beginning. Alas, that is just not the case, and the walls he has built remain as icy as ever even with the queen’s fire breathing approach.
The leopard she has transformed into mimics the one he met briefly in a field on a hot summer day. The tilt of his head presents mocking curiosity - what does that mean? Ridiculing his shifter’s form? An attempt to intimidate when there is absolutely no need to do so? No matter, the lion does not rise to the unneeded hostility; instead, he allows a close-lipped half-smile to curl his mouth. If that is how she wishes to play this - then by all means, contradict the peace-keeping she claims she holds so dear to her heart.
She would have no idea of how she pushes him away, right? No, he has kept those thoughts to himself, kept his unrest away from the East.
Litotes is beginning to think his leader secretly loves the upset, is dying to release her repressed anger on someone. He knows the feeling all too well.
Her words do not anger him, or really insult him. In fact, the shifter thinks he may be seeing things much more clearly now that he has spent time away from the queens. His half-hearted smile turns into a full one, matching Kagerus’ canines with much larger ones. Before he offers the reply that rests so tantalizingly on the tip of his tongue, he pauses to watch the irritated slap of the leopard’s tail. It shivers and jives, seemingly to further insult the Primarch. Slowly, he returns his calm golden eyes to Kagerus’ daring ones, wrapping his tail around the paws he has placed before him in a sit.
There is no need to threaten, after all. Kagerus is not menacing despite her misplaced anger; and they are allies, despite her clear amnesia of the fact. Better to not tower over her now, he thinks sardonically to himself.
Litotes laughs to himself. “Incompetence, Kagerus? You’ll need to try a lot harder if you wish to insult me - or, worse, put me in my place.”
He ignores all else - offers no intel - does not care to. “What does the East need?” He is curious, after all, and not particularly keen to listen to a queen so ready to bite.
and if i fall would you know that to do? and if i'm caught up would you stay?
and in my dreams, i kissed your lips a thousand times
Of course, his reaction is the only acceptable one, given his actions. To treat me with nonchalance (as though the act of putting a crown atop his head and trusting him with a nation were no more than asking him to maintain the responsibility of grooming himself from time to time) is his way of placidly projecting whatever issues are going on with him, on to me.
My anger is justified. His unjustification of it is none of my business.
He acts coy, wraps his tail around his paws, gazes to me with half-closed eyes that reek of insolence. My original snarl gradually closes into a disbelieving grin, though the expression is painful. I know what to expect of his answer, but it still leaves my mouth tasting of ash when it comes.
Have it your way, Litotes.
"You are a disappointment."
My voice has lost its edge, is as laid back as his posture, as though I am simply flicking a speck of dust from his shoulder.
![[Image: kag]](https://78.media.tumblr.com/2e8039018ce4dff6112c167ec23e886a/tumblr_p72zjit7wC1s5a0qvo1_100.png)
