Life was only as complicated as she let it be. Sure, maybe it wasn't ideal to be trying her luck with every eligible bachelor in Amaryllis, but it wasn't like she had anything else worth doing at the moment. Indulging in some of the forbidden fruit that littered the valley was the least she could do for herself, and so what if it happened she had gotten herself into a bit of a situation? It wasn't like Ronin or Alaric cared for her beyond friends with benefits and she had just so much love to give, so why the fuck not? Slaine may certainly have cared more than either man, but even that didn't bother her. The sovereign could not hold a claim on either man, because in the long run, men would do as they did. Multiple partners. Lots of cubs. It was the way of the world.

Nephthys hadn't seen Ronin for a few days now and his scent had long since worn off. She didn't doubt that Slaine had skittered off to tell Alaric of her dalliances with the man, but it was what it was. For the time being, the maroon dragon simply strolled about the mire with a casual flick of her tail.

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Despite what @Nephthys expected, Alaric knew nothing of what had transpired. It was likely for the best considering Ronin was a bit of a sore point with him. The man had been one of his closest friends and most trusted advisors -- enough that he had named him Sovereign -- and if he had known he would return...

He did not regret allowing his feelings for Slaine to grow, but he wished it had not ended so badly for her and the warmonger.

Alaric hadn't exactly been looking for the red woman, but nor did he mind coming across her. In fact he slunk up along one side, running his nose across her back as he did so. "Well hello," he rumbled, clearly in much better spirits than the last time they had met.

How petty was she, exactly? Nephthys herself didn't even know the extent of her depravity, but she knew it took every ounce of her being not to say something immediately snobby about the man's wife. Or whatever they were. She hadn't really asked for specifications, only that it was clear Slaine did not want another to "hae his hart" or whatever she'd said in that awful accent of hers. Of course it had ended up sticking in her brain as intended, but what did this woman have that she didn't? Nephthys was younger. More beautiful. Clearly more modest, too. She had more to offer than that blue old hag, yet two men pined after her and Neph was fed the scraps.

But that was what she wanted, wasn't it? A life of simply being taken care of in exchange for.. well, sex, mostly. Tit for tat. Yeah. Yeah, that was what she wanted.

"You seem to be feeling a bit lighter," she said with a thin smirk, glancing over her shoulder to peer at him. "Would a certain lioness be the cause of that?" Nephthys, a creature of physical pleasure, pressed into his touch with a soft purr before she thought to correct herself. "And I mean Slaine, not me." Lest he worry she was so full of herself.

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Alaric knew of jealousy, but never had he been forced to navigate it. It did not occur to him that others would be angered by his ways; he did not think to stop himself from taking what he wanted.

He wants Nephthys. He wants Slaine.

What he does not want is to talk of Slaine when he was pressed against Nephthys, and while he had initially leaned in to her as she had begun to speak he tenses almost immediately when she mentions his mate. Alaric does not want to play this game, though, and he grunts as he answers. "Partially. Are you jealous?" Amusement colored his voice as he reached to nip at the nape of her neck.

"It is not Slaine I am with now..." A reminder, lest she forget that it was her who had his attention at the moment.

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Nephthys couldn't help but laugh softly at his question. He undoubtedly expected her to reply with a solid yes, but the fact of the matter was she simply was not. Why should she be?

"No, darling. I'm not jealous of her." Nephthys let that sink in for a moment before continuing: "she told me, in a more polite manner, to stay in my lane and that your heart was not mine to have." The scarlet lioness shrugged as he moved towards her, nipping at her neck and being rewarded with a heated purr. "If anyone is jealous here, I believe it would be her. I simply wanted to congratulate you on your courtship with the lady." Well done and all that, she guessed. "In the same breath she told me to stay away from her ex-husband. She's a bit confusing." And it made Nephthys absolutely delighted to know she could get beneath the sovereign's skin.

@Alaric

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this world is dying in our arms

Well, now, it looked like he would be having a little chat with Slaine after this, didn't it? "Is it my heart that you're after, @Nephthys?" With the way she responded to him he did not expect it to be so; he rather got the impression that she was quite done with love. He could have moved on, could have ignored her baiting attempts to stir trouble between him and the Sovereign, had she not mentioned him. Ronin. Tension coursed through the wheat King and he grunted his frustration, jerking away from Nepthys just enough to find her eyes -- "and what, exactly, were you doing with her ex husband?" And why did he care?.

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"Even if I wanted it, Alaric, it's not something I can simply take from you. That's something to be given, not something to snatch up like a thief in the night." She could no more steal his heart than she could convince the sun to stop shining; some things were simply out of her capabilities. Forcing someone to love her was one of those things. Nephthys shrugged. "It doesn't matter to me if you love a thousand women or only love one. You are, as you say, here with me in this moment." And she was happy enough with that. "I do care for you." And she would leave it at that.

She likely should have known better than to bring up Ronin, but: "I didn't know who he was at the time. In fact, I never even got his name. I found a man coated in blood with furious tears in his eyes and I remembered feeling the same when Bhaskar left. His sadness called out to me. We talked." And talked.. and talked. "Slaine confronted me when I returned home from meeting him." Nephthys turned to Alaric, studying his face. What a dangerous game she played. "We did sleep together, I will not lie to you -- not now or ever. It was not a malicious act meant to hurt you; I assumed as a whore that I can whore wherever I want, but.." she tilted her head curiously. "If you would rather be the only man I lay with, that's something we can discuss." Not that she assumed he would be needing her quite as often now with the queen by his side.

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this world is dying in our arms

Maddeningly, she both answered his question and didn't. Even if I wanted it she says, and he is not blind to the fact that she didn't tell him if she did or not. Truthfully, though, he did not care; that was not what mattered, here. "I care for you as well," he admits easily enough, because she had become a rather favored companion of his. Surprising as that might be for him to realize. Even more surprising that he felt a course of anger when she spoke of her dealings with Ronin, and of bedding him. He almost forgets that she mentioned Slaine again, too focused on trying to unravel just how he was feeling about the situation. "You may lay where you wish," he bites out, though the clench of his jaw may reveal just how little he liked that idea, "though I'd rather you didn't. I'd much rather you be mine," and his voice pitches low, now, reaching with a paw in an attempt to hook around her leg and tug her closer..

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Well, wasn't that just sweet as could be? Nephthys grinned a bit proudly at his confession although she hesitated to believe its authenticity. Of course @Alaric cared for her! Many men did eventually feel a modicum of care for the women they conquered, and what was Nephthys if not a woman he owned? Still, every whore liked to hear she was favored. At the end of the day, she wanted to please him; but more than that, she wanted to please herself.

Nephthys recognized the look of possessive lust in his eyes. It always came accompanied with the hooking of his claws around her wrist, somewhere that now bore the smallest of marks from his repeated foreplay. Her badges of honor that she wore proudly. She allowed herself to be pulled in, purring softly. "But then who will keep me company when you're busy with your other women, darling?" She said with a thin frown. "At what capacity am I to be yours? Your friend? Your whore?" Nephthys cocked her head off to the side. "How tightly will you chain me?"

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this world is dying in our arms

Where he had come from there would have been no question. Where he had come from there would have been only his cubs in the pride, only his wives. They would have all lain with him, hunted for him, and he would have protected them with life and limb. This was one of the times that he disliked the differences of Amaryllis; he wanted them to all be his. Damaged, they might say. Broken, even. The man barely capable of love and yet promising the world to so many. Even now he bends his neck, speaking his words to the ruddy fur of her ears. Close enough his lips might brush it, always looking to capture them with his touch. "As tightly as you wish," he murmurs, uncertain of just how tightly his own chains were wound. Right now, though, he does not think of Slaine. "What do you want Neph?" It wasn't asked in a cruel manner, but with genuine curiosity, his lips (and body) lingering close as he waited for an answer..

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