Brigade had hoped that moving inland at this time of night was a safe bet.
Perhaps he’d run into one other soul, but most likely he would be left to his own devices as he so often was. He certainly hadn’t expected another to find him so quickly, let alone two, and three was impossible. But here he stood, red-wine face hard, eyes stormy, looking at the three women who have converged in the area before him. It leaves him bewildered and anxious, on edge as he watches them all keenly.
The first reminds him of his family and his pack of wolves. She is fierce and proud and completely disinterested in him in a way that becomes immediately clear and is immediately relieving. Her bitter voice makes his hackles rise, but it’s in a way that he can handle—a way that he understands. But he can barely get out a gruff “Hi,” before the second woman is approaching and she is entirely different.
Nothing about her reminds him of her mother, but she has the same fierce beauty all the same. She is painted in sunsets and flames and glows faintly, even in the silver light, enough that he can see the soft arc of butterflies that surround her in an almost warning. His face contorts into a frown, confusion, making a soft grunt in the back of his throat as a concession to her observation. Sullen indeed.
But even this is interrupted by the third.
She is red and perfectly normal looking, save for the stark blue of her eyes, and his own grey ones linger there for a moment, studying her face before she speaks—and this is enough to surprise a laugh out of him. It is a harsh sound, like waves crashing upon the cliffs, and he quickly does his best to hide it, throwing water on the sudden match that illuminates the softer side of his personality he always ignores.
“Do I strike you as someone who seeks company?”
The question is in response to the latter, but he throws it out for all three, something like confusion and then annoyance and finally disbelief slipping underneath the surface of his expression, subtle enough to not be caught but contorting the already harsh edges of his features all the same. He tilts his proud antlered head for a second, considering them all, before he shakes his wings out by his side.
It would probably be best to just leave the three of them to their devices.
Heaven knows he didn't exactly have the best track record of making women happy.
BRIGADE
when I was a man I thought it ended when I knew love's perfect ache
but my peace has always depended on all the ashes in my wake
@[Vastra] @[brunhilde] @[lilliana]