The world within his vision slowly softened to a cool blur as the ebony mister remained within the water’s icy depths. His pounding heartbeat slowed to match the rhythm of the small waves that lapped at his charcoal sides. The liquid bit his flesh as hard as the recent challenger had, but Serris didn’t feel it anymore. Didn’t feel much of anything anymore. Except the terrible, churning chasm within his gut. Some would call him invincible, a god even. But Serris knew the value of pain. Without it you weren’t really alive. You were nothing. Absolute zero.

A powerful shiver brought the King back to reality, and just in time. Any longer and his body would’ve shut down completely, rendering his entire life useless. Hell if he was going to let that happen. His dark cranium was lifted, but the sight that first entered his pupils was one of horribly bad luck. Serris dared not to blink, lest it be a phantom come to take him to Wolfbane. But the pale figure simply sat a distance away, observing him with the same steely blue gaze that Serris himself possessed. Looking at it now, he’d be damned if it wasn’t his exact pair of spheres. Just meeting that gaze... the dark regal could decode everything he was feeling at the very moment reflected in those matching oceans. Loneliness. Betrayal. Sadness. Anger. Confusion. It honestly caught the ruler off guard. No, not Aindreas. Why would he be feeling such things, such similarly consuming emotions? Serris would never be aware of his ignorance.

Another tremor finally forced the King to remove himself from the mountain flow, dragging himself from the stream with a steady stride. One set of portals never left the other. Waterfalls streamed from his pelt leaving trails of clear fluid in his wake, transparent blood. The brute hesitated in his step, finally breaking the stare to focus on the terra below his chin. “You shouldn’t be here, Aindreas.” His words were quick, but by no means weak. His lyrics almost held the undertone of an order, and Serris had every expectation that the creamy warrior would follow them. Continuing on his path without any more breaks, Serris made his way to an overhang he had been occupying for the last few days. Unfortunately, it was still in plain view of the other brute. Great. The monarch gave a half-hearted shake of his upper region, clearing some of the water from his saturated hide.

However, Serris did not see Aindreas leaving, or budging in the slightest. Didn’t he just say he shouldn’t be here? The boy’s hearing couldn’t be that bad. And so he silently contemplated saying something else, now that it was obvious that his visitor was here to stay. Another order? An apology? An interrogation? Small talk? Yet another thing the regal couldn’t figure out. A frustrated growl fled the King, audible to his auds alone. Finally coming to a decision, Serris swung his stone-cold mask to face that of Aindreas’ once more. “You must be more ignorant than I thought, boy, sticking around some foolish old man’s pack like you do.” An insult, yes, but an insult to himself as well. Equal blame to both of them. Serris had referred to himself as an old man many times before; it was an inside joke with himself, and he probably found it more amusing than he should. But foolish? No. No Alpha would talk of themselves in such a manner. And for the first time in his life, Serris really did feel old.

His gaze lingered only a moment longer before slowly slipping away. If Aindreas had something to say Serris would hear it, so there was no need for such amorous eye contact. He turned his attention to his shoulder, hoping to distract himself in the licking of his wounds. He couldn’t reach the entirety of the bite, but enough was accessible to give him quite a bit of time before he looked stupid, just cleaning the same spot over and over again. How he hoped Aindreas would walk away; he just couldn’t deal with this now. No, not now.