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[massrez]

☙INBOX text ♔ audio ♙ video ♔ action Kindly leave your missives and they will be responded to with utmost haste. May you walk in the Light.

Done this day by my hand, King Anduin Llane Wrynn

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[massrez]

I was reasonably certain that was the case. I trust you won't be too unkind to her.

[ Entirely unkind? He can't ask that. Wrathion won't even give him that much, much less that he should ask it for anyone else. But he has a feeling Ramir can hold her own against the dragon.

He'd just rather two people he cares for not end up at odds. More so than they may already be. ]

Hm.

[ If he notices the way Wrathion's gaze lingers on him -- the open collar and rolled-up sleeves admittedly more than he usually shows of himself -- he doesn't react to it at all, mind apparently fully on the game, teeth momentarily needling the edge of his now-healed lip.

Finally he leans forward, reaching out to delicately shift another piece, further back, up to join the rest. Not close enough yet to be any sort of threat to his board state, of course. ]

[deathstiny]

[He is distracted enough that he does not re-engage with the board right away. It occurs to him suddenly that he only recognized one of the names that Anduin had provided to him when he discussed those who had assisted in healing him.

Khadgar was an unsurprising presence. Even if he was still young, Anduin was still of Wrynn stock. It was hardly surprising. But Anders ...

Well. A problem for another day. He catches himself staring and quickly drops his eyes back to the board to avoid being called on it.]

Your strategy hasn't changed much.

[A challenge. He advances another piece on the outside to make his point, biting into the last of his candy cane.]

[massrez]

More than you think.

[ But not so much that it isn't still playing the game the way he intends to. His thumb taps briefly against his lower lip in thought, before reaching forward towards the boards once again. ]

I'm considering a contracting a Submissive.

[ Click. A long-dormant piece near the middle suddenly advances. ]

[deathstiny]

[Rather than display his surprise openly, Wrathion shifts the contents in his mouth to the other side of it. It's a pleasant surprise, in its own way -- he half expected Anduin to resist until the city jailed him for noncompliance. In a way, its a refreshing turn of events.

His eyebrows raise, and he hums his interest.]

Oh?

[Wrathion's attention remains focused on his piece on the outside, nudging it forward almost lazily.]

And who might you be considering?

[massrez]

His name is Jacob Frye.

[ Another piece advances towards the center, before he leans back and reaches for his tea. The movement causes a brief twinge, but one he's easily able to mask. ]

He arrived at roughly the same time I did, so his time is similarly running short. Since contracts can be as personal or professional as one's needs demand, I think he'd be amenable.

[ Because that's how it is. Hanging too many expectations on a contract partner was foolish, and had been from the start.

Wrathion had in fact told him so, but of course he'd had to discover that fact for himself before the lesson took root. ]

[deathstiny]

[That coaxes a smile from him. It was rare enough that Anduin took his lessons to heart -- at least this one came without greater cost. Wrathion uncrosses his arms, allowing one hand to rest upon each knee. The name was familiar to him, though he'd only spoken to the man once.]

That is the best course of action, I think.

[He reaches for his tea.]

I confess, I am surprised you did not ask Gilia first.

[Sip.]

[massrez]

[ Ah. There. The mask slips for a moment, Anduin's brow pinched tight as he distracts himself with the tea.

A long drink, and he clears his throat. ]

I might have.

But it appears she's quite happy with her current arrangement. I couldn't be happier for them.

[deathstiny]

[Wrathion tilts his head as he observes Anduin's reaction. It might have been truth -- but there was disappointment there, he was sure.

He debates on how he wants to comment. Point out his hesitation -- whether in regards to asking, or answering. Or...]

Ask her in three months, when her contract expires.

[Offer a bit of hope.]

Or -- perhaps a bit ahead of that.

[massrez]

[ It's telling how distracted the subject has him that he seems to have forgotten that it's his turn. The advice offered is perhaps the last thing he'd have expected from the dragon.

A lecture on why he should have listened to him, perhaps. Or mocking his attachment to sentiment.

This...actually surprises him. ]

...she's happy with him, Wrathion. She's found what I wanted for myself, in my own contract. I wouldn't deny her that.

[deathstiny]

[Something on Wrathion's expression tells enough of the story as he lowers his cup. So Anduin did not, perhaps, learn as well as he thought he had.]

What you want in a contract is not possible to achieve. Certainly not in such a short amount of a time. I would have thought you learned that already.

[Whether Gilia realizes that or not yet...well. That was another conversation. Whatever was going on there would not last.

Perhaps easy enough for a long-lived being to say and observe academically. It does not matter very much to him, after all. All of these were temporary arrangements and small flirtations at most, in Wrathion's eyes.]

As you like, of course. [He gestures to the board.] It is your move.

[massrez]

Ah. So it is.

[ And he shifts another piece closer to the edge, frowning thoughtfully at the state of the board. Or so it seems.

Thought of Gilia, of hope for anything regarding her, can wait until later. When Wrathion isn't studying him quite so intently.

Speaking of which-- ]

How goes your search?

[deathstiny]

[So Ramir hadn't told him? Interesting. He advances a piece toward the center with a poignant click.

He could lie. Or he could playfully obfuscate. But then it would make it seem as if he cared more about the contract than he did.]

You've already met her.

[massrez]

Not for a Submissive.

[ And one of his pieces, which seemed to be moving towards the edge, swept back in to take Wrathion's piece from the side. ]

For him.

[deathstiny]

[Ah. Clever.

He frowns, leaning forward to consult the move. One claw taps against his cup, and his reply is full of confused innocence.]

You are going to have to be more specific.

[massrez]

Now who's being coy.

[ Anduin's brow arches lightly. ]

Hellboy. Either you're looking for him currently, or you intend to.

[deathstiny]

[Wrathion shrugs both of his shoulders, moving his center piece away from the confrontation forming at the middle of the board.]

I don't suspect I would have much trouble, if I was. He rather stands out, don't you think?

[The smile that follows is not genuine.]

[massrez]

[ Anduin slides his piece in the center forward, taking the opening presented. ]

He does, yes.

[ Half-human, Jacob had said. Likely someone who'd grown up in the world of men, and Light only knew how he'd been treated by those he met. Who saw only the appearance of a monster. ]

I've already had to ask at least two people not to pursue him on my account. Khadgar was somewhat more understanding.

[ Tim Stoker, less so. But the man had his reasons. ]

[deathstiny]

Is that so? Popular, aren't we.

[Obviously, Wrathion understands what Anduin is getting at here. But he is not about to change his mind. Aside from the fact that Anduin was far too valuable to him for many reasons, Hellboy was clearly someone who needed tabs kept on him.

City magical interference or not.

Another piece, far off in the corner, is moved forward.]

How many visitors did you have, I wonder?

[massrez]

I wasn't exactly keeping count as they came in.

[ Anduin huffs, pressing up another piece to join the foremost advance down the center. Quietly, he recalls what he can from the moment Wrathion left. ]

Anders and Khadgar offered some potions to help me recover, as I said. Ramir and Gilia brought food, Jacob helped me get cleaned up. There may have been a few others besides.

[ Hm. When he says it out loud... ]

...More than I expected.

[deathstiny]

[The piece on the left turns to shift its path. A careful dance with the one at the other end of the board.]

Precisely the amount I might have expected.

[It is both a genuine response and a deflection at the same time. After all, Anduin being likable was not necessarily new information to anyone. But it's the easiest way to affirm that he's not about to be talked out of whatever he is doing.

He eyeballs his empty cup and sets it down in favor of folding his arms again.]

As I said -- the last time I saw you in such a state, it was considered a miracle that you had managed to recover. It is only natural for others to desire some sort of action in response.

[massrez]

Having lived through both, I can tell you definitively which was worse.

[ One piece near the end shifts course, preparing for whatever clever maneuver Wrathion thinks he's about to pull, before Anduin leans closer. ]

It's not the same. Not remotely.

[deathstiny]

[Some part of him can guess, even without the visual cues from the king. After all, while he hadn't been in Anduin's shoes before ... he had certainly been in Hellboy's. That is a sobering thought on its own.

Thinking about it makes his spine crawl uncomfortably. Enough that he goes quiet to focus on staring at the board rather than making a move.]

Perhaps not.

[The difference was that he'd tried to make amends with Ramir after the fact -- to some small degree. But he quickly finds that he needs another distraction, and instead stands with the intent of going to pour more tea for himself, effectively pausing the game.]

[massrez]

[ He debates leaving it there for now. Then something in his jaw sets. He rises to his feet, trailing just behind and standing at the threshold of the kitchen while Wrathion retrieves the teapot. ]

Do you know how long it took before I could move on my own, after the bell?

[ It doesn't require an answer. The implication is enough. ]

Physically, what it took to recover after that night was a drop in the bucket, compared to the bell. I was pain, yes, but it wasn't anything I couldn't survive, and hadn't before.

[deathstiny]

You don't need to convince me. I was there.

[His tone is even, perhaps a bit too detached from the whole affair. This is messy. Engaging with this is messy. Technically, he'd only been there for one of those recoveries.

Pouring his tea gives him something to do, but it does not stop his mind from ticking. That is really the crux of it all, isn't it? The concern (if it could be called that, as Wrathion was still struggling to grapple with his own emotions at the same time) was no longer for Anduin's ability to physically withstand the challenges in front of him.

But the rest...]

[massrez]

Then what?

[ A hand goes to the counter as he watches the tea pour, before his eyes lift to Wrathion's face in profile, as unreadable as ever. ]

What are you so afraid of?