08-28-2019, 08:01 PM
V u l g a r i S
He hasn’t seen the pale lion since the war, since he took a nosedive into a volcano and tried to spare everyone the burden of his existence. Back then, he knew what hunger felt like and he knew the way it could rip him open and stuff him full all at once. The serpent had been all snapping teeth and frenzied chases. He could crush a windpipe in his jaws and still feel empty inside. It feels so strange, now, to feel so satisfied all the time. Vulgaris almost doesn’t know how to behave or what to do with himself now when night falls. But then his brood come curling to his chest and nodding off, letting him kiss their small faces. The hunt is, at last, finished for him. He has his prizes and wants for little or nothing at all.
Vulgaris doesn’t hesitate when he sees the eastern king perched along the border. He has no venom, no scales to show all that awful ugliness inside, but his eyes are still sage green and wary of anything uncertain. The serpent tilts his head curiously as he draws closer, gray head adorned with a faint smile as he watches quietly. If he means harm, then he’s gone about it all wrong, but he doubts Litotes carries such ill intents within him.
“You seem troubled, Litotes,” he says as he comes to a stop before him, shoulders relaxed and head lowered to make them more eye level. In his past life, Vulgaris would have bared his teeth and warned him to turn tail and go home. The faint twitch of an artery beneath the skin would have made him drool and lick the corners of his lips nervously. But today he is patient and his edges are worn smooth. “I’ve got time if you’ve got a story.”
He shifts his weight and just keeps watching, dark ears turned forward for any scoff or greeting. His eyes roam to the dark mist rolling over the lion’s shoulders but he doesn’t ask about any of that. Maybe he recognizes the ravenous need for something, anything to hush the roaring monster inside or maybe he just feels bad for ripping Litotes from his home so many years ago. There’s nothing in his thoughts or on his curious smile to suggest either one.
Vulgaris doesn’t hesitate when he sees the eastern king perched along the border. He has no venom, no scales to show all that awful ugliness inside, but his eyes are still sage green and wary of anything uncertain. The serpent tilts his head curiously as he draws closer, gray head adorned with a faint smile as he watches quietly. If he means harm, then he’s gone about it all wrong, but he doubts Litotes carries such ill intents within him.
“You seem troubled, Litotes,” he says as he comes to a stop before him, shoulders relaxed and head lowered to make them more eye level. In his past life, Vulgaris would have bared his teeth and warned him to turn tail and go home. The faint twitch of an artery beneath the skin would have made him drool and lick the corners of his lips nervously. But today he is patient and his edges are worn smooth. “I’ve got time if you’ve got a story.”
He shifts his weight and just keeps watching, dark ears turned forward for any scoff or greeting. His eyes roam to the dark mist rolling over the lion’s shoulders but he doesn’t ask about any of that. Maybe he recognizes the ravenous need for something, anything to hush the roaring monster inside or maybe he just feels bad for ripping Litotes from his home so many years ago. There’s nothing in his thoughts or on his curious smile to suggest either one.
In this shook-up, twisted world, I'm gradually growing transparent and vanishing
Don’t look for me; don't look at me
Don’t look for me; don't look at me
