Alizabeth had felt a bit suspended in time, almost, her world slowing down - despite the chaos surrounding her. The Mists had brought about a new disaster and she had been unsure on how to proceed to help those in the Lagoon. The only place she knew to come when she felt restless was here, the Pit. A place of both chaos and serenity for her. Recently Alyvia had arrived, though she had gone straight to Ecrosia Mire and it had put a feeling of dread in her stomach. With that Rike bitch there, and likely others, she knew she might not be safe if her identity was revealed. Which reminded her...@Alaric. She needed to speak with him. Jaws part, calling toward the beast in question. Settling to sit, her features are neutral, vibrant pink eyes searching her surroundings carefully.

define your meaning of war, to me, it's what we do when we're bored

table by sentinel / art

what the fuck was he doing here?

it reeked of a trap, being summoned to the pit, and yet he was a curious creature by nature. he came because he knew the voice, and he knew he had managed to piss off a lot of people. there was an issue with the rike -- he was learning bits and pieces -- but he still felt as though he had chosen the right side in this war. maybe he'd be able to convince some others, too. or maybe not.

and if not, at least he'd get a good fight out of it. though he wouldn't mind a break from all the fighting, either.

he drew near with a chuff, settling himself down a few paces away, body tensed and ready in case she decided not to waste words. @Alizabeth had clearly made up her mind about him, and alaric wasn't sure what was going to come from this conversation.

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Alizabeth wasn't that petty. Yet. @Alaric wasn't, per se, her enemy...he was just. A dumbass. A giant fucking dumbass. He didn't keep her waiting long, which was a surprise. He was taking a big risk even showing up at all. Part of her wondered why he'd even bother.

Ears thrust forward as his chuff is heard, head swiveling back to look at him, those vibrant eyes of hers alive with a raging fire. She couldn't help the words that came out of her mouth, "Went and got yourself tied to an actual fucking psycho, huh?" There was no hesitation, no withholding, there usually wasn't with Alizabeth. Teeth flashed briefly, the woman moves to grow closer to him, but not too close.

Shoulders roll lazily, nose wrinkling with distaste, "Couldn't have the best so you settled for second?" It was a joke, but really the only thing she could do to make sense of why he'd anchor himself to a Rike. A fucking Rike of all things. Public enemy number one. Their interactions had been limited, of course, so she wasn't expecting him to pour out answers, especially considering she reeked of the Lagoon.

define your meaning of war, to me, it's what we do when we're bored

table by sentinel / art

he could feel her anger. it was a palpable creature, snapping in the air between them, and yet he did not balk. alaric watched her bristle and seemed... almost amused. "me?" he questioned as if he were shocked, and if he were a more dramatic creature he might have gasped and pressed a paw to his chest. as it were he simply raised an eyebrow at the flash of teeth.

"i've had the best," he purred, teasingly, evidently not taking this situation as seriously as she was. at the same time stroking her ego, just a little, and reminding her that he was not the enemy here.

"but from where i'm standing, i'm not the one allied with the psychos." okay so he was, but from the reek of the lagoon on her coat she had picked the worst side. in alaric's opinion, of course.

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Alizabeth wasted no time, she closed the distance between them and let those pearly whites flash up at @Alaric as he exaggerated 'me'. Who the fuck did he think he was kidding? He followed up by complimenting her, but it was a bit of a backhanded one as it implied he'd had her, so it didn't matter anymore if he got her again. Tail lashed behind her, her temper teetering well on the edge of cracking. "Too bad you'll never have me again." The Sovereign snapped, saliva glistening off the curves of her teeth. Ears pressed back, and she backed off a bit, a flash of confusion hinted in her vibrant eyes. Yet, she didn't waver in her irritation, it was merely slightly tempered. "Ya got two fuckin' seconds to start yappin' and explain before I take these claws and pull your fuckin' balls inside out." A paw raises, thick black claws curling and glinting with a not-so-veiled threat.

define your meaning of war, to me, it's what we do when we're bored

table by sentinel / art

he made a good show of mulling it over, before stretching and scraping his claws along the ground -- "yes, that is too bad." flattering her, but with enough humor in his voice that it could be seen as an insult, too. truth be told he would not argue against another romp with the white coated female -- she truly had been one of the best. one of.

"temper temper," he chided, clearly not taking her overly seriously. boy was going to get himself slapped in to next week. "you could always ask nicely you know."

he shrugged, then, and decided to put an end to the game. "you've taken up side with the sigrun rats -- you know they drown their children, then? not just once, but twice. every single one of them." children were the most precious gift, the most important thing in his life (more than any wife or crown or throne he sat on), and to risk them all? it was the most grievous and sickening thing, in his mind.

@Alizabeth

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"I would ask nicely, but yer fuckin' attitude ain't exactly puttin' me in a nice mood, dickwad." She snapped, her toes curling as those claws flexed a bit more. The temptation to throw him into a fight just to make him take this more seriously was far too thrilling.

Teaching smug little boys like him a lesson was one of her favorite goddamn past times. The length of her tail swept behind her angrily, her blood boiling. Oh, she had a whopper for him here soon enough. Alizabeth wondered how he'd feel if he knew she was the one that gave his new little trophy wife that perpetual half smile she's got now.

@Alaric mentioned the Sigrun, insulting them by calling them rats. A paw rose, a single talon extended as she moved the tip to prick under his chin carefully, nostrils flaring as those vibrant eyes raged with fire. "You dumb little fuck. Did you bother to get the rest of the information before taking that shit and running with it?"

Alizabeth knew about the drowning, but seeing as there weren't children in the Lagoon disappearing left and right, she figured it wasn't as serious as actual drowning. Otherwise they'd literally have no children. The Scilla Lagoon Sovereign did not have all the information, but seeing as she'd picked a side ( for now ), unless he had definitive proof, she'd be a shit ally if she chose to believe him so easily.

"If all their children are fuckin' drowned and dying, how come that place is fuckin' crawling with them, huh? My own son was 'drowned' and he's still alive and kickin'. It ever occur to you that the word 'drown' wasn't an actual goddamn drowning?" She'd withdraw her paw, wanting to leave a little prick of his flesh as a reminder for later. Shoulders rolled, her mind whirling and her lips just barely quivering.

What other kind of bullshit was he going to pull out of his ass to justify his aligning with the Rike? "Have you seen them actually murder children, Alaric? Have you any actual fuckin' proof outside of goddamn word of mouth? Or is this what you're using to justify being shacked up with a cub killer? AND she's knocked up? Yer fuckin' kids are doomed." She growled, her chest aching with annoyance.

define your meaning of war, to me, it's what we do when we're bored

table by sentinel / art

ever amused by her temper he maintained his cool, refusing to rise to meet her. perhaps because he knew that it would be all the more infuriating to her if he sat by impassively, as if he was not ruffled by this confrontation.

truthfully, he wasn't. alaric had chosen his side and he was confident that he had chosen the right one. any family that believed as the sigrun did was not a family he thought to be good; no matter that he was a hypocrite for thinking it. the starke king came from a place where genocide was the norm, after all.

@Alizabeth carried on her ranting, but to as why there were so many of them? "maybe because they breed like rabbits, hmm?" from what he had heard there seemed to be a new litter of them every damn month. "maybe they're just playing the odds?" he chuckled, the thought a twisted one that amused him to some extent. maybe that was the trick -- have enough children and some where bound to survive.

but then his expression darkened. "emy wife is not a cub killer." flat, monotone -- he knew damn well which one of them had killed the sigrun child. and she was dead and rotting by now. "and have all your precious sigrun lived? how can you be sure? and are none of them marked by the sea?" blind, deaf, sick... who knows. he had heard tales, but alaric knew that his information was all second hand, too.

"you curse me for not having proof, but then you throw accusations at me that have just as little proof, aliza." if he was a hypocrite then rest assured he would call her out for being one, too.

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She saw how he was playing. It annoyed the fuck out of her, but the woman decided she wasn't going to play this game anymore. @Alaric wasn't some clever brute, in her eyes she was seeing some naïve little boy being played by pussy. Rike pussy. Alizabeth didn't have all the facts, but what she did know is that whatever the Sigrun did, it at least wasn't in cold blood - it wasn't done with hatred in their hearts. For whatever it mattered, they seemed to love their children. They were just heavily fuckin' misguided on this batshit crazy God of theirs.

The ivory woman had learned long ago that higher beings existed, but whether or not this particular one did was still up in the air. "Really, Alaric, that's your play? 'They breed like rabbits', yeah, so do most of you fuckin' dipshits with a tiny stick between your legs." She rolled her eyes, then focused her attention on him once more as she seemed to finally strike a nerve. It seemed Alaric didn't know the full story - or at least, he was told only what he needed to know. "Is that fuckin' so? Well, she had no qualms telling me she mauled my fuckin' kid when I was giving her that crooked smile." And there it was. The confession. Not that Alizabeth had been hiding it, or was ashamed of it. Hell, she was proud she'd marked that Rike bitch permanently. Something to remember her by.

Tail lashed behind her, muscles tensing in case dear ol' Alaric didn't like to hear that she'd beaten his wife's ass. He continued on, however, blabbing about the Sigrun. He seemed about as obsessed with them as the Rike at this point. How fuckin' unfortunate. A good lay gone to waste. "'Fraid the burden of proof is on you, dickwad. You sound fuckin' insane, talkin' about 'marked by the sea', how swept up in Rike bullshit have you become?" He was the one making the accusations and after all, Alizabeth saw plenty of healthy children running around, no secret rituals with drowning. You could bet your ass if and when she did, there would be hell to pay.

define your meaning of war, to me, it's what we do when we're bored

table by sentinel / art

The more this drug on the more annoyed he felt, an ear flicking back in a sign of his frustration. He didn't care about proof or validation. Alaric formed his own opinions based on those he met personally -- so far he saw strength amongst the Rike. They were particular and choosy and the women knew their place -- this was what Alaric valued.

@Alizabeth admits, then, to something he had not expected. Two things, really. It is all he can do to mask his shock, though his eyes widen minutely all the same. Claws flex, grasping at the ground, and he weighs how this bit of news makes him feel. Perhaps he should lunge to defend his wife's honor, but the fact of the matter is he simply did not care. So Erna had earned herself a nasty scar -- knowing his wife and her temper he was hardly surprised to hear she had goaded the ivory sovereign and had it bite her in the ass. "Seems like she's paid her penance then," this is all he has to say, unbothered by the scuffles between women. As for mauling a child... well... that was a conversation for him and his wife.

"I'm getting tired of this, Alizabeth. What the fuck did you call me here for? We're not going to see eye to eye. Just remember that there are always two sides to every story. Perhaps I have only heard from one side, but so have you." As for proof? All in good time.

Still he is on guard, watching her closely, sensing that Aliza is not the type to simply agree to disagree.

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