Dirge’s absence for the past few seasons had surely been noticed by someone in Diveen -- though he recently found out that Orion was no longer at the top of the totem pole there. Dirge’s loyalty was a finicky beast and he wasn’t about to return to the ravine and settle a new deal just so he could remain in his father’s old den. It used to mean everything to him, back when his soul ached for his lost family, but now he had something else to take its place. Or someone… rather.

He nodded solemnly to Avery as she made her departure and turned his attention back to Gazmala as she seemed to wait so patiently. She was everything to him now, whether she wanted to be or not, and he couldn’t see any way around it. Being as far away as he was for as long as he was made all of that clear to him. As he had tested the limits of their distance during that time he felt as if he were about to split into two. Each step he took that took him further from her left him with a heavier feeling in his chest. With his errand out of the way and nothing left to hold him down he couldn’t fight the urge to find her again after all that time. And now here she was in the flesh, living and breathing, her striking eyes digging into him with a ferocity he had yet to experience from her. He finds himself almost liking it.

A devious smirk crosses her face before she leaps into action, her open jaws aiming for his own, but he perceptive enough to throw his head up and out of her reach just in time. He looks down at her, with his head still raised, and watches as she nips roughly at the thick fur and skin of his neck. His skin twitched with each assault she threw at him but it was clear that she wasn’t meaning true harm. Though she was upset? He supposed it was warranted and seeing her react in such a way was almost endearing. Her voice was harsh, mocking even, as she finally let out what she had been thinking this whole time.

A smug look crossed his features as he let his head back down to face her eye to eye. ”Is that what you’re calling yourself now?” he asks in a rough baritone voice. Before he waits for her answer he steps closer to her again, and closer, until his chest is pushing into her space and his head is craned over her own. He towers over her in a way that would terrify most. His energy exudes a twisted confidence that dares her to test him again. In a moment he is quickly reaching down toward her nape to grab it between his teeth, pulling at the loose skin that sits there as he pivots around her side. He releases his grip only slightly and runs his fangs down to her spine, digging in slightly as he reaches her back. He taunts her in a sickening way but he could never go through with such a thing unless he knew that she wanted it. But he finds that stringing her along gives him a twisted sense of satisfaction - he wants to crawl under her skin. It also helps that winter is in full force and driving his desires.