cast all our sins into the ocean He shouldn’t ask. It’s not his business, and the woman is welcome to her secrets as much as he wants to keep his own. So when she mentions she has also been suffering lately, his lips press into a thin line. It’s unlikely Falki can offer her help, and he doesn’t want to. So he shouldn’t ask. "Did the ground bully you again?" What the fuck is wrong with him? It’s as if he can’t help himself, and needs to bring more problems down on his shoulders when simply surviving is currently a challenge. But just as he had run down into the path of the waves for her, Falki turns and looks at the gold lioness properly, a single brow arched over an eye that reflects the ocean’s colour disturbingly perfectly.

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The conversation could have ended there. Willow wasn't pressed enough for social interaction that she would keep beating a dead horse, so after her apology she was happy to let bygones be bygones. He offered a question that caused her brow to raise skeptically, but shrugged it off. "It'd always bullying me. Look what it just tried to do," she said, gesturing towards the tide. "It just tried to fuck me up again. But, no. This time around I'm just bitter at this pride I joined. Ecrosia? Some guy named Violarum recruited me and then absolutely ghosted. Barely met anyone there. Attended a few group gatherings and was never acknowledged. The guy was fucking weird, too. Really weird vibe. Had the audacity to say he would miss me when I asked for release." She rolled her eyes, unaware he might possibly be friends with the man. "The whole place seems like garbage." And she was just brooding on that. Like an adult.

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cast all our sins into the ocean +5 Backstab an individual by telling a lie about them +5 Gather information about a character It’s not surprising that the woman does, in fact, tell him what has upset her. What she says makes him freeze, gaze locked on her slender form. There’s a name he has heard before, one he’s come to hate for really no reason other than someone else likes it. Falki’s jaw clenches as his companion goes on. "Yeah, I’ve heard of him." He says finally, flatly. "Doesn’t surprise me. He’s an idiot, from what I know. Or maybe a liar." At least as far as the lion wants to think, anyway. He’d seen him from a distance, for far too long and not long enough. He sighs, trying to exhale the tension that runs up his scarred frame. He can’t help himself now, he has to ask - "An… ex-friend of mine ran off with him a few months back. Said she was going to marry him. Fallon. Grey lioness." He looks away from the woman beside him, watching the salty water. "... was she happy?"

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Oh, ironic. Willow hadn't expected the man to recognize the name, but it became quite clear how and why as he pressed on. Some chick has run off with the brown lion, seemingly like a lovestruck puppy? He made it sound like it had been spur of the moment and unplanned, maybe not even well thought out. As for whether or not she was happy, Willow couldn't say. "I think I've seen her, but I never spoke to her. You'd have to be some kinda dumb to find the guy appealing enough to marry, though, no offense. He reminds me of a child." And looking back, she had been too caught up in his pretty eyes to notice before. "He stayed true to his word and let me go without any issues, but." She shrugged. "Sorry your friend has such weird taste in dudes. That's a shame." He had stressed ex-friend, though, so maybe he wouldn't mind. Willow certainly didn't.

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cast all our sins into the ocean To his surprise, Falki actually laughs. A real, throaty bark of laughter escapes. It’s rude to laugh at what she says, at his old friend’s expense, but he can’t help it. And fuck, it feels good in the strangest way. As if it’s a release of some of the bottled up emotions he’d been harbouring the last few months while he lived alone, in a cave, waiting in vain hope that she might come back and she was off living in a pride with her stupid mate. "I can’t argue with that," he admits as his laughter dies down, "not anymore." But if nothing else, even if her mate is as Willow says, he seems to be the sort of man to keep his word. He had released the gold lioness without issue, so perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad for Fallon. As depressed as he might be over her, he doesn’t want her to hurt or suffer. He might, however, have some small spiteful bit of hope that her mate is as dumb and childish as he’s been told. "It’s not the first time I’ve been… hurt. I didn’t learn my lesson the first time, but I have now." Falki shrugs, as if it doesn’t bother him at all. "Are you going to join a new pride?" He naturally returns to the original topic of conversation, if only because he had asked her what was wrong, and didn’t want to linger on his own issues.

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Sweet Jesus, Willow had never thought she would hear the gargoyle make a noise even remotely similar to a laugh. Not only that, but it seemed to be genuine as well, and for that she considered herself quite the overachiever. He didn't seem like the giggly type, but maybe she had only known him to be a grumpy old bastard and he was actually quite the gentleman at the end of the day. Willow glanced at him to see if he would give anything away and, of course, was met with nothing.

Her ears draw forward as Falki -- gasp -- opened up. Truly, she was flabbergasted he found her worthy enough to divulge the information. She had just insulted his friend and her choice of mate, yet somehow that had been enough to open the floodgates.. or rather, enough to dislodge a stone or two from the dam. It saddened her to hear he'd been hurt before, but it certainly gave her some insight into this friend of his. She had a feeling there was something a bit more behind the term, but it wasn't her place to poke or prod. If he wanted to talk, she was there.

"Bitches be crazy, my friend. Don't waste your time on someone who doesn't appreciate you. Might suck for a long time, but you're better for it in the end." Willow shrugged. It was easy to offer advice on subjects she knew absolutely nothing about -- romance in particular. Willow didn't know shit about fuck when it came to blowing kisses and holding hands, but it sure seemed like it ended in misery more than it didn't.

As for a pride, she shrugged. "No idea. I told Vio I probably wouldn't, but that was mostly because I was worried about offending him if I marched straight to somewhere else. Dunno anything about the other prides, anyway, only Vio showed up to try and recruit my ass." Which said a lot about her, she thought.

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cast all our sins into the ocean "I am beginning to think I am better off alone." Falki admits with a soft frown. He isn’t self deprecating or pitying, but speaks as a simple fact. Twice he had felt love and twice he had been betrayed or left. Or both, depending on how he was feeling. He would get over it, Willow assured. He would rather just forget entirely. "Prides change too quickly for me to keep up." He says with a shrug. "I have been a rogue for years. I’m not sure if I’d fit into a pride, or if one would want me." Because no one wants to be irritated by a sour asshole like himself. "It gets lonely, though." A quiet musing more for himself than @Willow, but the girl is easy to talk to. Or Falki is desperate for someone - anyone - willing to tolerate his mood and listen to him. "With the weather being like it is, it might be safer to join one."

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Willow couldn’t help but frown at the comment. No one liked to hear something so depressing, particularly when they weren’t capable of fixing it. If Falki thought he was better off alone, Willow had no place in trying to convince him otherwise – not because she didn’t care, but because she doubted he wanted her to sit there and be a contrarian. Maybe he was better off alone and maybe Willow was, too. It wasn’t her place to decide, but she still snorted and rolled her eyes to show her displeasure at the notion.

“You sound like you’re trying to get rid of me already. You could’ve let the ocean do that,” she said, gesturing out to the waves with her muzzle. “Also, it can be just as lonely being in a pride from what I’ve experienced. There’s nothing quite like being in a group of lions and having absolutely none acknowledge you, like you’re just an insignificant gnat not worth a shred of their attention.” Willow shrugged. “I don’t think big groups are for me, but if I was to go somewhere, what pride would you suggest?” If he was encouraging her to join, surely he had some idea where might suit her best.

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cast all our sins into the ocean "I’m not trying to get rid of you." Falki grumbles, ear folding back into his mane. He might be a grumpy prick, but he isn’t actively trying to chase her away. Not intentionally. Not right now, either. He falls silent for a moment, considering. "I don’t know much about the prides, other than the Mire and my kin fighting. Wolfborn Bluffs also hates them, so I can’t say much about that pride. Caladan Cove is fairly peaceful, from what I hear." Falki shrugs. "Ask around." He casts a glance out over the ocean, watching it slowly begin to recede. "Come," he murmurs, not a command but a… suggestion. "I’ll help you get out of here." He stands, careful to avoid the edge, and turns for the shallower parts of the water - now low enough to cross safely. Exit.

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