— I'm not here looking for absolution —
It takes longer than he thought it would. Longer than he would have expected. The minutes pass and he grows irritated again, the initial contentedness bleeding from him as he remembers how she has eluded him so long and left him to deal with the annoyance that was their offspring. By the time that she arrives, his mood is black again, his depthless eyes peering out from the tangles of his forelock.
“Perhaps,” he nearly growls, although he doesn’t move from his spot against the trees. There is plenty of him that is physically imposing, but he has hardly ever lifted a finger in his attempt to harm others. He prefers the use of his gifts. Why bother with the brutish ways of the world when he could simply drain someone dry of their very life force from afar? Why bother ever attempting?
So he doesn’t, lazily glancing up, tail flicking.
There’s a moment of silence, Stave in no hurry to answer her. It’s then that he remembers his initial annoyance again and he frowns, glancing off the horizon. “But perhaps our children…” His voice trails off again, his lip pulling down in the corner before he shrugs. “I suppose we will find out later.”
She would, at least.
He had not interest in sticking around to find out.
His attention, instead, draws back to the serpentine woman.
“Perhaps not though,” he drawls. For a second, he drags his knuckles against the pulse of her life, feeling it ebb and flow. He toys with it lightly, but does not quite wrap his fingers around her throat.
“How have you been, Gospel?”
His lips spread into a wide, cold smile.
“It’s been so long.”
