It had been difficult, at the time, to let her go. There wasn't any connection of appeal or emotion he had formed with Fatale, but she had been a tentative link to Styrke, a tiny but resilient shard of the bond he'd broken. In the Falls, Rade had felt so close to reversing the damage - to replacing all the pieces of his life - that it had driven him to more desperate measures. No longer hiding his intentions, but boldly stepping out of the very shadows he'd snatched Fatale from and declaring them. Issuing a challenge, and then striking a bargain with the devil - the kind that wasn't certain to last, and that was certain to have a higher cost than the face value he had paid.

He is spiraling downward, embracing insanity and glorious chaos, and it is there that Rade finds himself again.

A different creature than the one she had left behind would greet the bay mare; though the dusted golden hide and amber eyes are the same, these features have been altered almost beyond recognition. There is pride in his bearing, born of his defiance - Rade knows he is a marked man for daring the Lagoon's ire, but his composure is unruffled, his expression and posture haughty. There is warmth in his gaze and his smile as he treads the sandy spit to approach Fatale, but it is of the fervent sort; deprived of life for as long as he had been, to balance on the point of this knife is exhilarating. It does not matter to him that he will someday fall off one edge or the other.

Living vigorously was better than not living at all.

“Fatale.”

Rade's simple greeting resonates over the sigh of the sea, his muzzle extended to inhale of her feminine scent, though he is still careful to avoid physical contact. Though the right to her possession - if, indeed, one could hope to own anything that thinks and breathes for itself - is his, the stallion still sees her as belonging to his brother Styrke, and thus has little interest in anything beyond a platonic relationship. Nevertheless, he is pleased to see her, though his joy does not manifest in the same way that a normal man's might.

“Your company is an...unexpected pleasure. Welcome to Paradise.”

He breathes, his voice unintentionally sultry. The moment is quickly broken by a guttural chuckle that resonates in his chest.

“Or, if it suits you, you could call it Hell. I have often thought that there is little difference between the two.”

stallion // mongrel // 15.1hh // 4 // palomino roan // reba
debonaire x neassa