He had been plagued by headaches since the festival ended, a dull beating against the front of his skull that didn’t seem likely to dissipate any time soon in spite of how many remedies or cures he tried. He rubbed at his head with his paw, and shook out his fur. It would go away in its own time he was sure. He bid his companion to join him as he climbed up the stairs from the dungeon to the castle proper, the raindrop necklace in his jaws as he went on his way to greet his newest and most personal student; the young male he would be instructing in the ways of manipulation and deceit. The young prince Pyrrhic. "Talk"  "Thought"   "You"

Pyrrhic lay in the doorway of the great castle with his front paws hugging the lip of the top step. He was watching a vicious rain beat on the trees in the courtyard and wondering how Benkos' soldiers were weathering the storm. Had it not been raining so hard he would have been out collecting bones for his latest project, but the fussy weather hinted at hail and he didn't feel like taking a chance. Pawstep behind him, barely heard over the din of the rain, alerted him to the presence of another. He glanced back long enough to recognize Rain and give him a warm smile before turning back quickly to catch the tail end of a bright flash of lightning. The boom that followed rattled his ribs. It was a close one. "You're not going out there, are you?" "Pyrrhic" "Benkos"

He wheeled sharply as Pyrrhic’s voice broke the silence and felt his blood momentarily run cold as he was startled. His headaches had dulled his senses making him easy to be snuck up on. He smiled easily at the younger male as he stepped toward him and gave a small sigh of relief. “No actually I was looking for you.” He responded. “Your father asked me to train you in arts such as manipulation.” He explained. “And I…Wanted to give you this.” He said after a pause. He held the small glass pendant up higher so the larger male could see, his heart fluttering strangely as he did. He had always liked the lord heir to some degree; he attributed the day he found Pyrrhic wandering the forest to the first day of his new life as a member of the risen empire. Malleus may have given him his rank and duty, but it was the boy who first lead him to them. Not that he would be able to call him boy for much longer; the male had reached his full height and was beginning to fill into the body of a man, by Spring he would be a man grown and yet it seemed just yesterday he was an oversized pup chasing weasel through the castle halls. He felt a hot blush creep up the back of his neck and ducked his head away before he could be accused of staring. “I saw it at the festival and…Well…It’s the same color as your eyes so I thought maybe you would like it.” speaking Thinking   You

Pyrrhic's browspots raised as Rain mentioned that he was here for him. His curious expression turned into an excited, lopsided smirk as Rain explained why - and then it broke into a surprised grin as his eyes caught the glitter off the necklace. For a moment he was speechless and his grin faltered as he struggled to come up with what to say. Almost as quickly as it had dropped his grin returned to full strength. He stood up and held out a paw to receive the pendant. For a moment he admired its smooth, translucent surface and then he looked over at Rain. "I do," he said warmly, his voice softer than usual. "It's great! Thank you, I..." Think that's the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me? Nah, he couldn't say that. He didn't want to be seen as weak -  especially not by Rain, who he admired. Quickly so as to gloss over how close he came to saying something soft, Pyrrhic slipped the necklace over his head and then puffed out his chest to admire the pendant resting on top of his plush chest fur. "Not bad, eh?" Was that enough to take the heat off or did he need to say more? Suddenly he was nervous. He was supposed to be strong and certainly shouldn't be so easily flustered by a mortal. After all he was a god, wasn't he? He deserved stuff like this... "Pyrrhic" "Benkos"