walking shadow, player poor

Adebayo Adisa. Formerly one of the Stone Dogs. Priest of the Holy Light. Warden of Eldris. Twenty-nine. 

[priestoftheshadows-blog]

Blue & Gold / OPEN

The dark-skinned priest tugged at the collar of the nicest tunic he had worn in ages, the rich fabric something that had drawn his eye the moment he’d glimpsed it. The golden brocade along the shoulders and chest front were an added bonus, for they allowed him a bit of the splendor and vibrancy he so missed about the Isles. Unfortunately, it was also very itchy.

He could feel eyes watching him out of the corner of his eye and he cleared his throat nervously, eyes darting to the side before quirking a smile at the person staring at him, his mare shifting beneath him. They had just arrived and yet he already dreaded the festivities. He loved the dance, but not the propriety of Eldrissian nobles who thought they knew what was right. He had to remind himself that they were here to save a friend, not get mixes up in finicky politics.

“Shall we? I’d like to be out if this place as quickly as possible. It is….unnerving.”

[prima-belladonna]

@priestoftheshadows:

“Would you care if I stepped on your toes? I am afraid the dancing of the Isles is very different from what they do here.”

“Different, you say?”  She grabbed his hands and pulled him out to a relatively bare part of the ballroom.  Beneath her new, reserved eyes was the hint of a smile.  “Teach me, then.  Let’s show these elitists how to dance, ah?”

[priestoftheshadows-blog]

Ade's small smile quickly fell from his face as the small woman pulled him onto the ballroom floor, small hands in his larger ones. He stuttered slightly at her request her determined face, And he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly."I, well, it isn't all that simple...the dancing of the Isles. It is not so much taught as learned but I suppose. I suppose I can tell you before I show you?"

[priestoftheshadows-blog]

Early Morning Mutterings

[priestoftheshadows-blog]

poweratanyprice:

The immediate tensing of Ade’s shoulders gave Liss a sense of smug satisfaction but it was short-lived as he spat out a retort. Eyes narrowing as she observed the man, his eyes meeting hers in a fiery challenge, she purposefully gave the most sickening smile she could muster. 

“As ungrateful and unmannered as ever,” She said, her expression turning disinterested as she spoke, “Wake up on the wrong side of your bed, perhaps? Though you look as if you’ve hardly slept at all, what a shame that is for you.”

As the clanging of his ring echoed throughout the room, Liss’ eye twitching at the noise, she placed her tome on the wooden table with a louder than necessary thump. Crossing her arms on the table, she leant forward with darkening eyes.

“Do you intend to continue interrupting my work?” She asked in a haughty tone. “I understand you have little responsibility or purpose here but some of us are undertaking vital work and we do not need your disruption.”

Her smile sent a shudder of revulsion down his spine, bone deep and chilling. He was not scared of her, no, far from it. But his fingers tightened on his mug, imperceptibly so unless one was looking for them. He tried for a calmness but the area just behind his left eye had begun to pound and he could feel the weariness eating away at his. 

“Only ungrateful when you deem it of me, Lady Mage, as you ever do. As for unmannered, well, the Islands do not have the same formalities as your hard-hearted Tower folk. Forgive me if I don’t jump at every chance to please you. I don’t think any man could, even if he tried.” He smirked and sipped from his cup, tapping a staccato beat on its side. The twitch was noticeable from here and he enjoyed the deep satisfaction that bloomed in his chest at the sight of it. 

Her words made him drop his smirk and he suddenly became serious, voice hard. “Yes, a shame. Not that I have not grown used to it. Sleeplessness is the life of a priest, after all, even one so fortunate as myself. I am sure you can attest to it,” he nodded at her work. Obviously she had been up fairly early. Or, perhaps, she had not slept at all. 

Light knew the she-devil probably only subsisted on air and the screams of those she tormented. 

He raised a brow at her tone and moved towards her, eyeing the books she had on her table. “My work is in my rooms, where no one else can pry into it. Or I rise early enough that no one will bother me about it. Your work and mine are vital but where yours looks like light reading mine keeps me up with the screams of the dead. It is a wonder, then, that I get any sleep at all.” He smiled, a dark twisted little thing, and hoped it made the ice in her veins chill. He had never truly known what it was that whispered to him through the Shadow but Death, he could assume, was an old friend. 

That was nothing he needed to hide from her. She already thought he was beneath her. Death was not something so easily trifled with, as he well knew, but he would pay whatever price his body would asked of it in order to find the answers that the Shadows whispered about. 

[priestoftheshadows-blog]

Come to Collect

[priestoftheshadows-blog]

exroguethalia:

“It’s better than closing my eyes to screaming nightmares.” The words stung more than they should have. Why did his disapproval make her stomach lurch to her throat. She was suffocating from the weight of that affect.She stopped walking, turned, and met his gaze with kohle smeared down her cheeks. The air was thick between them. There was so much she wanted to say, the space between them sizzled with anticipation.

“Am I drunk or might it be you actually care about me. Men do not ride in on white stallions to save girls like me.” She was a girl, a scared little girl who shook herself to sleep on the best of nights. A girl who had never been touched by a loving man. A fantasy at best, to want to be held intimately by a lover’s soothing caress. Men who wanted her were brutish and rough. She never let them in.

“A man like you wants something I can’t give. I wont bed you.” She crossed her arms with a smirk. She was still so innocent to it all, she guarded herself from the world; feelings and all. Thalia bore her femininity behind closed doors. She could be a lady but she would rather no one know just how soft she could be.

So the lie she told with that smirk on her face would be believed but deep down thalia loved the way he felt next to her. She loved the way he smelled and the way he comforted her. He was not the typical beast of a man she knew regularly. He was something new and exotic to her. 

She inhaled the faint scent of him. It seemed to call her closer into his comforting aura. When she was near him there was a feeling of calm. She was weary of it, a devils trick. Thalia bit her lip thinking about his half naked body holding her just the other night. She didn’t know it would feel so nice to be held in his arms. More so she knew not how much relief she received there. A decent nights sleep. 

His sheets intertwined in her legs, the thoughts swam through her mind. SHe hadn’t realized she had went silent for such a long time, “Can I sleep with you tonight?”

Ade watched placidly as she bit back at him with her snarled words, registering the information she had given away. So the nightmares have not stopped then. I’ll need to speak with Eva, soon. He crossed his arms over his chest, waiting, as he ever did, for her to speak her mind. 

“You are always drunk, Thalia. But that does not mean I do not care what happens to you, or what you do to yourself. Not only as a member of the Wardens, but as someone I can call friend. I am trying to help you, not ride in on a white horse to save you. Besides, “ here he smiled slightly, trying for a joke to lighten the air that had settled to choke them, “Lalla is not white. She is a chestnut.” Her smirk and her words made a flush of annoyance creep over his skin and he scowled at her, despite knowing she was trying to bait him. 

“Not once have I insinuated such a thing, Thalia, and if you think I have then you are sorely mistaken.” He watched her face, his own eyes pulling the skin of his brow into a frustrated bow, a knot of feeling that otherwise sat in a normally passive face. She seemed to drift closer as silence engulfed their words, drowned out by the murmur of the crowd and the laughter of men and women that had surrounded them, and he was not surprised by it, though he was weary. Many sought solace in his presence and had since he was a boy, though Ade had never truly understood why. Especially now, when he harnessed something so dark beneath the surface of his skin.

He snorted at her question, shaking his head at her contradictions. He tapped Mindcaller against his forearm, the ring a comforting and familiar weight on his hand despite only calling the artefact his for a short while. It was a good thing she had not used hers, in the state she was in. It would have reflected quite poorly on the Wardens if she had. “And here I thought I’ve just heard you say you wouldn’t be bedding me. Am i that persuasive?” He was teasing her, and he hoped she caught that, but he walked past her as he said it, thrown over his shoulder as an afterthought. He stopped a few feet away, at the back entrance of the inn and tavern, the kind that exited through the stables and left them in relative peace, and waited, brow raised. 

[jainasorlis-blog]

making friends

[priestoftheshadows-blog]

jainasorlis:

The man spluttered indignantly before he registered both the threat in Ade’s posture and his words, the colour draining from his face. 

“I… I apologise Lord Warden. I did not mean to disturb you or the Lady Hand, please. I beg your forgiveness!” He stuttered, staring up at the man in fear. “I… I will leave you in peace. M’apologies Lord.” 

He hesitated a few moments longer, before bowing deeply and then making a hasty retreat out of the Warden quarters.

Jai listened with bated breath as the man ran back down the stairs into the inn, unable to help a chuckle escaping at the sound of him huffing and cursing quietly to himself. Another grin spread over her face and she sighed in relief, uncurling herself from her hiding spot.

“Thanks! Remind me not to piss you off,” Jai said to the taller man, looking impressed by his intimidation tactics, “You mind if I camp out here a while? He’s not gonna be back here anytime soon, probably off to piss his pants and beg the Divine for forgiveness or some shit.”

Without waiting for a reply she climbed up onto the table to reach a mug before jumping back down with a heavy thunk, whistling a tune as she poured herself some of the leftover coffee. As the scent of the drink hit her nose she practically salivated, groaning in delight as she clutched the warm mug between her hands and took a long drink of the familiar liquid.

“Oh netherballs that’s good,” She said with a happy smile, “Didn’t think the Northerners were capable of a decent brew!”

The look on the irate townsman's face made Ade smirk, slightly, his face turned away from him for that single moment, hand clutching the curve of his blade a minuscule of a fraction tighter before loosening his grip and his stance at the man’s profuse apology and retreat, snorting at the honorifics. He gave it a few moments, ensuring that the fellow would not be coming back before dropping his stance and sheathing the dagger. 

He turned to his fellow Warden with a raised brow, sipping from his cup and sighing quietly as the warmth of the drink pooled in his belly. The woman’s thanks were met with a small grin and a nod, watching in amusement as she used the table as a stepping stool, falling back to ground with the ease of a large bear. “It was nothing, I assure you. I was simply stating facts. I remember how our lovely Lady Hand used to be in the mornings, from our time at the Citadel together. It was not...pleasant.” Ade hadn’t been lying when he told the man he wouldn’t want to wake Vaná; it was not a pretty sight, a woman cut short on her rest, and certainly not one who worked all hours as their Lady did. He would bet a handful of gold marks that she had been up late last night, again, searching for answers and planning her strategy.”But, then again, quite a few of our dear companions are not what one would call ‘morning people.’” 

Normally, he was one of them. Sleeplessness changed that about a person.  

He smiled down at his companion, amused that she was so happy to have the drink. “It is passable, made only so by a hint of the Isles.” He winked, hoping she would catch the joke. His accent was faint some days, loud others, but it was loudest in the mornings when he had slept little and dreamed even less. Today was no different. He leaned against the counter top and sipped his drink in a companionable silence for a moment before asking, “What did you do to him, this time?” 

[exiledranger]

“Ade,  please can I go home?  I don’t really have to be here, do I?”  He sipped passively at the too sweet wine and scowled.  Where was some fucking whisky when he needed it.  He grumpily passed the wine to Ade and crossed his arms.

“Fuckin’ nobles.”

@priestoftheshadows

[priestoftheshadows-blog]

Ade snorted at the older man's petulant tone, watching passively as he scowled and pushed the sweet wine away from him, probably cursing it's existence because it wasn't the drink he wanted. The younger od the pair took the goblet and dropped it on a passing serving man's tray with a nod and a quiet word and wink, asking for something stronger, if they had it. He turned back to his friend and knocked his arms away from his chest, fixing his sleeves with an arched eyebrow. "He'll bring you your drink in a moment. Last time I drank that shit I retched up my stomach for a good majority of the day. I tend to keep away from it." 

 "And, you," he said with a cheeky smile, "are here to smile pretty and look nice while us Wardens go hunt for our missing man. It's a very important job."

[prima-belladonna]

“Would you care to dance?”

[priestoftheshadows-blog]

"Would you care if I stepped on your toes? I am afraid the dancing of the Isles is very different from what they do here."

[jainasorlis-blog]

making friends

@priestoftheshadows

Cursing loudly as she tore through the inn, heading for the staircase leading to the Warden’s quarters, running as fast as her long legs could carry her. She barrelled into the makeshift communal area, shutting the door as quickly as she could and vaulted over the table before wedging herself under it with little consideration for anyone else inside the room. 

Her heart beating wildly, she briefly peered out to check the coast was clear and locked gaze with a tall man pouring himself a dark liquid which smelled distinctly like coffee. It appeared that he was the only other occupant of the room, clearly puzzled by her entrance and perhaps shocked into silence by her bizarre display. Giving him a cheeky grin, she put a finger to her lips in a ‘shh’ing motion.

“I’m not here!” She told him in a whisper, ducking her heard again.

Whatever he was about to say was interrupted by the door swinging open to reveal a furious man swearing and demanding the whereabouts of that ‘vulgar beast of a woman’. Jai bit her lips to hold in the giggles threatening to spill out and prayed the man wouldn’t sell her out.

[priestoftheshadows-blog]

Ade had risen early, earlier than normal. He couldn’t sleep anyway. He supposed trying to be productive would be better than simply loafing about. The books he’d been meaning to take a look at had been shuffled from our beneath his bed, where he had placed them for safekeeping. They lay scattered across one of the tables in the Two Bucks now, notes scattered among their pages. He’d just gotten up to stretch and grab another coffee when a woman had torn into the room, door slamming against the wall behind her.

His eyes watched her movements, gauging her to not be a threat when she turned at he recognized her face, the cheesiness of her smile and the hand that shushed him. She faulted a table and he turned to finish stirring his coffee with one hand, listening as her breathing became deeper and quieter, clearly trying to hide from something or someone. He heard her whisper a d chuckled, about to retort when another individual burst through the doors his fellow Warden had just come through.

“You’ll find no ‘vulgar beast’ up at this hour, my friend. Only me. I suggest you lower your voice, lest you want the true beast to awaken. The Lady Hand does not like to be disturbed at an hour like this, and certainly not by someone such as yourself.” The dark-skinned man’s voice was low and calm as it always was, but there was an edge to it, biting as he stirred his drink. One would not be able to tell if it was the intrusion or the sleeplessness but Ade’s hand curled around the dagger he had slid from beneath his tunic, just out of sight behind the countertop.

[vanariel]

ashden-ryall:

@vanariel​

“If I recall correctly I pulled him aside asking him to explain why I needed to study so much history despite my abilities, you know how he hated that.” Ashden rolled his eyes at the memory. He had always despised wasting time reading old books which no one cared for anymore. They described priests that were clinging to students to avoid being forgotten; but he could be out there helping people or learning more useful ways to harness the light. It all seemed a tad pointless. “And then all you needed to do was grab his bathrobe that was hanging over his stool while he lectured me. I definitely had the harder job.” He continued. 

 He had missed the antics he would get up to with his friends back at The Citadel. It was a pleasant moment in a world of chaos to reminisce. “I don’t know how we got away with it, I don’t remember Ade ever returning it!” Ashden flashed a cheeky grin at his darker friend before taking a sip of his wine.

( @priestoftheshadows )

Vaná looked between the two with twinkling, knowing eyes. Ade and Ash had truly been a formidable duo in the Citadel. Their antics had been legendary among the other students, especially the younger ones, and it had given them a celebrity status for their cunning troublemaking. Luckily, they were both very intelligent and were rarely caught during such acts. If they ever were, Vaná was always there to smooth the disagreements and save them from any truly awful punishments. She remembered how she would affectionally roll her eyes at the two on a regular basis. 

“The High Father was my mentor,” she shook her head in bewilderment and turned to Ade with a single, raised eyebrow, “and you never returned his bathrobe? How did he escape the bathing area without it!?”

She burst into rich laughter, which was rare to hear nowadays, and leant forward to stare at her two dear friends with an amused expression glowing across her features. “Although, I may not want to know the next part of the tale. How can I face the High Father again if I know he had been running about the Citadel with no robe on!? What an embarrassing sight!”

After all, High Father Salvin wasn’t exactly the youngest of men. He was at least 70! 

[priestoftheshadows-blog]

Ade shook his head, smile fond as he listened. He held up a finger as he took another sip of his drink shaking his head head. “No, I did return it. Later. After the High Father had been given a towel to walk around in. He “found” it outside his office, on the rack that used to be inside his office. Obviously I would have been a fool to keep something like that.”

It seemed like a lifetime ago, talking about all of the things the three of them had down as children, teenagers, in the Citadel. It was like a completely different world, one where they’d laughed, he and Ashden had plied their hand at trickery, and Vaná had always been there with a reprimand and an indulgent smile. Lips crooked into a smirk of his own, now, Ade sagged a finger at the woman, teasing, as he said: “Mentor he may have been but don’t play us for the fool, Vaná, you helped us a time or two. What was that one? With Priest Terral, the large one, with the funny voice? It was-OH,” he let out a delighted bark of laughter, a mischievous twinkle to his eye. “We’d stolen his keys one night, don’t you remember, Vaná? You distracted him with questions about the lesson from that day and Ash and I snuck in, right under his chubby little nose.” He chuckled as these memories came back, the astounded look on the man’s face and his poor attempts the return to his rooms with nothing on but his sleepwear. A pair of pants and a silk, robe-like shirt.

[elizasclarke]

*

[poweratanyprice-blog]

Sea Rumours

[priestoftheshadows-blog]

poweratanyprice:

Liss watched him with suspicious eyes as he came toward her, clenching her jaw against the growing frustration as she noted the ease of which he moved across the ship. The relaxed and carefree man she had spotted initially had transformed into a cool and impassive one, though it was clear the sea was not the reason for his shift in mood. She could feel his dislike for her rolling off of him in waves and she reciprocated in kind, narrowing her eyes in challenge. It would be a long few weeks at sea and whilst the more practical part of her argued it would pass far easier with civility between them, the childish spiteful side fanned her growing hatred. Anger and jealousy building at how nonchalantly the priest navigated each step across the lurching ship, she inwardly seethed and cursed him anew. 

The resentment continued to grow as the last of the crew climbed aboard and the ship began to move in earnest, maneuvering out of the harbour and toward the open seas. Determined not to show her discomfort, she kept her breathing even and her posture proud. She knew she could only keep the pretense up for so long and decided a swift departure to a quiet area, alone, would be the wisest course of action. She did not want anyone to see her weak and the thought of the priest being privy to such a display only further strengthened her resolve.  

“I do not think that is necessary.” She said, her tone clipped as she felt her stomach roll dangerously with every sway of the moving ship. “I will see myself to my quarters. Good day, priest.”

She turned and headed toward the lower deck, her body stiff and her usual fast pace slowed as she took uncertain steps. Colour drained from her face with every movement, resisting the urge to grasp the wooden beams to steady herself. 

Ade’s eyes watched everything, from the movement of the sails to the way the blonde mage in front of him seemed to be breathing shallowly, but head held high. Her steps were measured and careful, nothing like she was on land, and it made him raise a brow. Such a proud, stupid woman. She would hurt herself out here if she wasn’t careful. 

Like a hound following doggedly at it’s master’s heels, though no one could be called his master, Ade matched pace with the elementalist easily, though he stayed just far enough behind not to crowd her. He knew the look of discomfiture on her face and felt pity swim in his gut like a fish, despite his contempt of her. It was a wonder she had decided to come on this errand at all, let alone with him. The dark-skinned man nodded to a cabin boy just off to his right and the child came over quickly, listening to quiet orders with a face of impassivity not many saw on the face of a boy so young. When he was through, the youth nodded and gave him a gap-toothed smile, flitting off down the stairs that the woman ahead of them was trying so desperately to get to. 

Annoyed at her stubbornness, Ade called, just loud enough for her to hear him over the waves lapping at the ship and the voices of the men around them: “And do you know where those quarters happen to be? Below decks, yes. But do you knowing the difference between the galley and the crew’s quarters? The stern? The bow? How to locate the captain in the instance of a storm? With the way you walk now, I would say not. I do not wish to make this errand any harder than it needs to be, Lady Mage, so, please, do not be a fool.” 

[priestoftheshadows-blog]

dance isn’t something that can be explained. it must be felt, drank, like a fine wine that has aged with every strike of the drum, matured with every beat of the heart.

( @malika-el-hashem )

[themotivationjournals]

When I am silent, I have thunder hidden inside.

Rumi (via wordsnquotes)

[vanariel]

@priestoftheshadows @ashden-ryall

“… you boys stole the High Father’s bathrobe!?”

They were seated in what remained of the Two Bucks Inn. Thankfully, the repairs had saved the majority of the building so that it could still be used as the town’s main tavern. It had firm walls, new furniture and a warm fire. It almost felt the same as before.

Vaná was leant forward in her seat with a look of pure utter shock on her features. She snapped her mouth shut and looked between her two friends with wide, grey eyes.

“Surely you cannot be serious? When did you two rebels manage to do that and how in the Light did you get away with such behaviour?” 

Despite her shocked tone, her stormy eyes were alight with mirth and amusement as she smirked at her dear friends. Warmth pleasantly flooded through her bones. They had all been students in the Citadel together and although Vaná had often tried to keep the two under control, they had been an amazing duo that got up to Light knows what!

[priestoftheshadows-blog]

( @ashden-ryall )

Ade threw his head back and laughed at the look on  Vaná ‘s face and something in his chest loosened, the harshness of something that he had been carrying diminishing. Gods, it felt so good to laugh like this again, with them. He had missed it, the both of them, so very much. 

“That we did. You seem shocked. Did you not think we had the stones? And, if I recall this correctly, it was you who said we couldn’t do it. So we had to prove you wrong, naturally.” Ade took a sip of his drink and turned to look at his other compatriot with a grin, eyes dancing. He hadn’t felt like this in weeks, years even. Ever since  Vaná left, and then he and Ashden began to drift, there had been a constant hole in his chest, one that had trouble being filled. For the first time in a long while it felt like it wasn’t bothering him, gnawing at him. 

“Yes, my friend, how did we manage it? That robe was always within his sight. It was a wonder we hadn’t been punished before that, truly, for some of the things we got up to.” 

[priestoftheshadows-blog]

Early Morning Mutterings

[priestoftheshadows-blog]

prima-belladonna:

“Are you all right, Ade?”  Bell asked.  She watched him stumble out into the open, and she feared for his health.  She knew what it was like, carrying shadows on your back.  She could still hear that laugh in the back of her mind.

She frowned and gripped his hand tightly, interlacing their fingers, and she led him away from the bar and outside in the morning light.  Her brow was set, and she would drag him to hell and back whether he liked it or not if she chose to.

Dropping by the well, she placed a hand on Ade’s cheek, silently asking him to stay put.  Then, she turned and began to draw some water.  Sitting the bucket on the rim of the well, she reached into her pack (something she’d taken to wearing since the first Rifting) and pulled out a square of cloth.  She wet the cloth and turned back to Ade.

Gently, she began to dab at his forehead, wiping the sweat of sleep from his face and refreshing him as best as she could.  It was an intimate process, though Bell made no untoward advances.  It was not in her moral character to do so.  But, she gently ran the cloth along his neck and along his jaw, a worried frown only occasionally breaking through her mask of composure.

“There.  You look a bit better, less upset at least.”

Ade raised an eyebrow at her question, but said nothing, only smiled a small smile and splayed his hands open in a gesture of wavering stability. Gods, he was so tired. “Just a cup, please, Bella.” He never called her that. Only when he was being serious, or tired, or hurt. Perhaps it was all three this early in the morning. Her small hand, fingers so delicate, interlaced with one of his own and he sighed, knowing he wouldn’t be able to ignore her concern now. He’d seen the determination on her face and knew what was coming with it. 

The big man let her lead him outside, squinting into the harshness of the fresh air and faint light of morning. He followed her where she lead trusting that she would do him no harm. He had come to know her since the first time he had seen her and had come to realize that she was, for the most part, a gentle creature to those she considered worthy of it. And, for whatever reason, he had been deemed worthy. 

He smiled at her again when she placed a hand to his cheek, the smallest movement of his head signal enough that he would stay where she asked. And so he leaned a hip against the well and watched her go about her task, the sound of the water being drawn up from the well loud in the silence of the morning. Not even the townsfolk where out walking yet, the sun not yet signalling that their day had begun. 

The dark-skinned priest sat at the edge of the well, a hand to brace him from falling forward, and a small chuckle escaping his lips when he saw her coming at him with a cold cloth. But he dutifully lifted his face so that she could get to his jaw and neck without too much fuss, bending as needed to allow her access to his face. When she was through, he muttered, a small smile on his face, though it did not reach his eyes: “Thank you, though I did not mean to upset you so. Forgive me.” 

[priestoftheshadows-blog]

exiledranger:

“Well, I never was a good liar, was I?”  Bryn scowled briefly, but he was genuinely happy to see Ade.  It had been so long, and the man had been always a comfort for him.  “I think I had a piece of bread yesterday,” he mused quietly, genuinely unsure of his last meal.  “As for bathing, do you think I had time to?  I was traveling most of the time.  Though, I did manage to find a creek a few days back.  It’s why the beard isn’t quite so…”  He gestured to said beard, but it still looked quite haggard and rough.  

“Mm.”  Bryn grunted, his catchall symbol for ‘I’m finished. You can speak now.’  Personable, he was not.  But, he had certain good things about him…Whatever they were.

“You’re not going to physically bathe me like you did last time are you?  That was horribly embarrassing for both of us.  I’m sure neither of us want to see my bare ass again.”  He raised his eyebrows and cracked an uncharacteristically bright smile.  ‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so flustered.”

Ade chuckled, the sound coming deep from within his chest, as he shook his head and ran a hand down his face. Oh, this man. How he's missed his company, as awful as it was enjoyable. "No you never were," he agreed, the grin falling from his face when the man honest to gods said he thought he'd had a piece of bread for his last meal.

"A piece of bread isn't a meal, and you damn well know it. And as for your beard and bathing habits those can be fixed. But first you're eating something, whether you want to or not." With that said, the younger man reached over and snagged the mug from between the other's fingers, sliding it behind his back along the bar and signaling for a barmaid, half an eye on the other man, smirking. At the mention of their last encounter like this, the darker man laughed again, smile mischievous. 

“Flustered I may have been but if it gets you to stop smelling like a skunk that’s rolled around in it’s own piss then I’ll strip you and shove you into the tub myself. Besides, your clothes could do for a change as well. Now, eat,” he commanded, knuckles knocking at the bowl that had been set in front of him, waiting for the man to pick up the spoon that had come with it with a raised eyebrow, brokering no argument. 

[priestoftheshadows-blog]