The Broken Knight

Trying to discern Briar's emotions as he went through the details of his story wasn't difficult. Briar didn't have much of a poker face around him and wore her emotions on her sleeve, each little nuance or shift in her eyes giving away what was running through her mind. Some of it was easier than others: the look of horror when he'd told her about the sexual assault or how he'd nearly drowned in the Rio Grande, or worry when he'd told her to be careful of his murderous "brother". But there were some that were harder to read than others, notably when he brought Bowen into the story. He saw the tense frown on her face and and look of something negative in her turquoise eyes, but he didn't address it. He didn't have the energy for that sort of conversation again right now. Thankfully, Briar didn't seem to want to talk about it either, since she moved past it without a word and instead turned to what she knew best: loving him.

Artorias felt her lips capture his in a deeply grateful kiss, murring quietly beneath his breath while he kissed her back. He leaned happily into the warm comfort her paw on his cheek provided, her soft lips on his bringing him a serenity he'd direly needed in the last week. Artorias shifted his body closer to Briar's, taking in her warmth, the softness of her fur, her scent in his nose, her presence overall. That ache inside of him wanted to press deeper into their kiss, to let loose some of the passion that had been growing inside of him from mounting frustrations of being confined to a small bed in a recovery ward, but his body protested, and even if it didn't he knew Briar would for his own sake. She was always looking out for him when he got too reckless or burned too hot. Her kiss and her love reminded him of what he'd almost lost along with his life in his battle with Oxx. Their future, their plans, all the time they still had, how easy it had almost been ripped away from him. How easy it would have been for him to end up as a corpse at the bottom of the river or washed up on the beach.

When their lips finally parted, Artorias gave a soft gasp and happy sigh, fiery amber eyes meeting cool turquoise filled with love and emotion. He brought his other paw to rest across hers while she clung to his foreleg, bringing his muzzle back to brush along the side of hers in tender affection. "I am too, my Briar..." he spoke softly to her. "You don't have to say anything... You being here says everything you need to." And it truly did. Briar's willingness to drop everything going on in her home and come running to his aid spoke volumes for the love and devotion that she had for him. It was heartwarming and touching and made Artorias realize just how lucky he was to have her in his life as his. Mine. "Your parents aren't going to freak out thinking you ran away to come see me, are they?" He chuckled under his breath, a roguish grin playing on his lips as he thought of Sirius having a conniption when he found his daughter missing. "After the way your dad caught us back in the Armada, I don't want him coming barging into the castle thinking his daughter ran off to get laid." Gods, he could already picture the Warlord pounding down the castle doors roaring for Briar the way he had when he'd caught her back in the winter. "Briar Zee Fatalis, you get back here right this instant!" The large wolf's furious shout still echoed in his head all these months later and still made him snicker.

"Artorias Carpathius" | "Corbin" | "Argent"