Crystalize

 It hadn’t been long since the meeting with the rest of Valeska’s rag-tag little group. He hadn’t really interacted since then, which, perhaps wasn’t the best way to prove his worth to the group. He had, however, set it upon himself to hunt, bringing small prey items to the group when he could, leaving them as something of an offering to placate all the women who could so easily be at his throat for whatever Harper might tell them about their previous experience together, in another life, another land. He felt in truth that he also had a lot to prove to his Amore as well, especially considering he was certain she felt as if he’d abandoned her in their previous life.

 But this time, he would not make such a folly. Rhelenso found himself renewed on his loyalties, his priorities. He would not bother with a family – absent as they were in this strange place – that bickered and had little use for each other outside of how they could step upon each other to take themselves higher up the hierarchical tree. Rhelenso had decided that his family would be constructed of those that he chose, that he felt were worth his loyalty and efforts. Valeska took the forefront of that, and by extension so did her companions. It would have only been rivaled by his love and loyalty to his daughters, although, in their absence, he had little distraction from the things – and individuals – that he viewed as important.

 Perhaps one day they too would join him and start where they had intended to go in their past lives. Fully assuming that where he was at present was some sort of afterlife. The man paused for a moment in his wandering, taking the moment to look around. To gaze upon the placid surface of the crystalline lake that he strode beside. It was something of pure natural beauty, something that he could appreciate in earnest. The lake itself was the bluest water he’d ever seen, the usual color changed just a little by the streaks of reds and pinks that marred the sky as the sun slowly began to sink below the horizon, taking with it the blue sky of the day, and replacing it with instead the indigo of the night. Even in the dim light, he could see the world around him reflected in the water’s surface. Mountain peaks, the almost too clear images of pine trees. He could see still with clarity the green of the mountain slopes before they turned dark with slate and shale, broken only by the white specks of sandstone and quartz veins.

 A figure in the distance drew his attention from the lake. It was a dark-hued figure, far too large to be the girl he’d come to know was called Kye. He squinted, frozen eyes focusing as best they could despite the distance. It must be Harper, he decided. The Salvatore man debated for a moment whether he wanted to turn and head the other direction… but… he decided that perhaps it would be a good opportunity to attempt to make something good between them, instead of the negativity that had clearly festered and turned so sour. Rhelenso slowly started towards her, taking a few moments to sniff at the shifting wind to make sure that it was indeed the earthen-toned woman that he thought it was, instead of a lingering stranger at the lake’s edge.

---

making reference that this could possibly be used for discovery if I’m understanding the rules of it correctly.

@Harper

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In the time since Rhelenso’s arrival, Harper had made herself scarce; more scarce than turn signals in the south. Each passing day since, Harper had spent more and more time away from Elysium and in other places. She had even dug a burrow outside the territory, away from the mountains; a home away from home, though here lately, Elysium felt more like a prison than a home. Harper was, as always, an outsider within her own, though now, adopted family. Perhaps she had adopted them to be her family; a feeling that no longer felt mutual.

Harper would not stay where she was unwelcomed. Loyalty had kept her bound here, and now that that loyalty was gone? Harper felt the strings loosen like a breath of fresh air. She had waited until the evening to return, though why she was returning, she hadn’t had a clue. She told herself that none would notice her disappearance, and well, none had. How perfect. It would make her departure even easier, wouldn’t it? Perhaps she’d come to view the lake one last time, especially the way the little fireflies danced over the lake was almost romantic.

More importantly, it had been romantic until the wind shifted and Harper realized that she was no longer alone, but in the company of a Salvatore. Slowly, she would stand; she had been laying down with her paws in the water, watching the display of lights, as if she were a female beetle, waiting to see the most impressive display of lights, but alas, like most good things, her time here was done. Or it was, until one of her paws hit something light and hard.

A stick.

She could recall a time when she and Valeska had played tug of war with a stick until Dimas stepped in to ruin things, like he always did. Her ears lowered in realization that there hadn’t been many happy moments or memories. Finding Valeska had been a bitter sweet one, and what had followed that? Meeting the Salvatores, and it had quickly turned sour. It wasn’t their fault, she knew; it took someone special to really understand Harper and her… ways, and Harper was convinced that such a canine did not exist. But for now, Harper would pause to play with the stick to distract herself from the negative that she was surrounded in as the enemy approached. And once he was near, Harper would glance over towards him, stick in mouth, with a certain sadness in her dilated eyes.

“Make it quick, would you?”

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 As he approached, Rhelenso saw the moment that he was noticed. He was not welcomed, that much he could gather from Harper’s body language. She seemed… disappointed at his presence. He, admittedly, felt a slight pang in his chest. He hadn’t realized before just how much he wanted family and acceptance. The old man had taken for granted that he had never had much time to want either. He’d been raised amongst family, and then had met his first wife, and had his daughters. Even in the absence of his late wife’s presence, he’d had his two daughters. And then, they had separated by choice to scout and discover the previous land that they had been in. To which he’d encountered Leviathan – however much the boy had gotten on Rhelenso’s nerves, they had still been family and therefore his presence had been accepted without question.

 But now his presence was not accepted unconditionally, and there was indeed questions. Even though Valeska’s acceptance and affection were enough, he wanted those that she saw important to accept him. He didn’t ask for their love, their care, nor their kindness. Just their tolerance of his presence in her life. For the most part, he’d been uneasily accepted by the others. Well. For the most part. He was a stranger amongst them, and he knew he’d be at an arm’s length for a time longer. But he knew how important Harper was to his Amore. He wanted her acceptance, as insurance that she wouldn’t depart and leave Vale stranded and broken-hearted. ’You mean like you did?’ A nagging little voice whispered in his mind. Insecurity. He pushed it away, shoved it deep down into a pit that it should be befitted to stay in. There was no room for insecurity in a Salvatore. It was unbecoming.

 ”Make it quick, would you?”

 He took in Harper’s appearance, and while he did not outwardly comment, he noted her dilatated pupils. They had been much the same the day he’d arrived, the day he’d met the rest of the group. She held a stick betwixt her teeth, and while it looked almost comical, he couldn’t ignore the sadness that resided within her eyes. One of his ears twitched slightly as if flicking away a fly, the only small notation of worry within the unemotive man.

 ”To the point then. How do I get your approval, Harper? How do I fix the damage from my poor choice, in Aria?” There was undeniable tiredness to his voice.

---

@Harper

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Here they were, at long last; the two of them alone, like it should have happened in Aria, in the Arcane Grove. Yet, instead, they were no longer in Aria; no longer in the Arcane Grove, but in another realm entirely, in the same spot that Harper had dismissed him only days prior. When Valeska had come to her seeking the same thing that Rhelenso was now asking about, Harper had told her sister to tell him to meet with her in the Grove.

And Harper had waited, but the man of ice had never come. He had stood her up. She had an entire speech for him, then, as Harper was a protective older sister when it came to strangers like Rhelenso, but it turned out that not only did Rhelenso not show for their very important meeting, but he had not been seen since his arrival here.

When she’d said to make it quick, she had been referring to something else, on the assumption that he had come to kill her. It made sense, would it not? To get rid of the problem that stood in his way to Valeska. Yet, instead, he came seeking the same thing that Valeska had so many moons ago. Acceptance. Approval. Family.

Wasn’t that what everyone wanted? To be accepted and not judged? To have a family, and settle down and not worry about wolves like Harper? Why yes, she supposed so, but he had said it himself. The things done had been by choice. He had chosen to stand her up; to leave her waiting, to abandon her sister after ripping away her honor. He had given her sister hope, and then poof. Harper remembered feeling happy, and jealous, and now? Well, now she wanted to make an example of him. Yet, somehow, Valeska saw past this and welcomed him into their fold without hesitation? Oi, she wanted to knock some sense into her. Yet now, it was Rhelenso asking for approval and perhaps, guidance.

“What makes you so certain that I will ever approve of you, after what you’ve done, Lenso? You were brave… and perhaps foolish… to come back; to come here. ” Here, as in Elysium. “The damage is done. Perhaps you should find some other woman, in some other pack, to pine over.”

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 Rhelenso didn’t have to wait long for Harper’s response, and while he didn’t know what he was expecting, what she said hadn’t been it. Or had it? He wasn’t sure. Even as she spoke, his features remained stoic, unmoving. Until they weren’t. Slowly, his features morphed into something akin to the ghost of a grimace.

 ”What makes you so certain that I will ever approve of you, after what you’ve done, Lenso? You were brave… and perhaps foolish… to come back; to come here. The damage is done. Perhaps you should find some other woman, in some other pack, to pine over.”

 ”You mistake my affections for pining. I pine for no one but my daughters. Understand that now. But I will not seek someone else out, I will not leave until Valeska herself sends me away. Brave or foolish, what does it matter? If you will never approve, then we have nothing more to say, unless you intend to make action of your words and try to force me away.” His voice was stony, frigid, and sharp. The crispness wasn’t usually there, but the militant – almost eloquent – way of speaking was normal for the Salvatore man. He decided then that Harper’s words were pointless. She had confirmed something he’d already felt deep down. Her approval of what Valeska and he had would never come – perhaps it would have never come in the first place, regardless of his choices in the other world.

 ”My only question was answered in full. Go back to your drugs, Harper,” Rhelenso stated, snorting the last part ever so slightly. He began to turn, and walk away, seeing an end to their conversation, and any hope of a cordial relationship. If she stopped him, he would turn back, but otherwise, Rhelenso was done with the moment. He knew where he stood, and while he wasn’t pleased with it, at least he knew.

---

exit Rhelenso, unless otherwise stopped.

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My question was answered in full. Actually, it hadn’t been. Not even close. Harper had answered his question with her own question, but she could see that he was not determined to live a life of comfort. It was a shame, too, as Harper would have loved to watch him work for it; to gain an odd sort of friendship and respect even, had he bothered trying. But he didn’t. 

Instead, he gave her knowledge that he did not have before. He gave her information about his children; daughters. Fuel to the fire; had this been a horror film, Lenso would have played the part of the cliché white man. There was judgement in his tone, Harper knew; judgement that he had no right to give. He did not know her. Hell, he did not even know Valeska. He only knew abandonment and poor choices.

He turned then, and Harper’s eyes wandered south as her lips slowly formed into a wicked, wicked smile. He was giving her his back, and therefore, also.. a chance that Harper didn’t know that she had. Her eyes narrowed in on his rear, and Harper sprung forward, striking like the venomous snake that she was. 

She would not speak, she would not growl until she had him in her grasps in a way that he had never been with a woman. Her paws on his hips as she made little effort to grab the smaller canine towards her, mouth taking his nape as she growled her hot breath into his ears. “Would you like to have this dance?” Harper teased in with a coy tone as she’d begin.

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 In his mind, his question had been answered. The simple truth, in Rhelenso’s mind at least, was that no matter what he did, he would never truly gain Harper’s approval or acceptance. It was a moot point, and while he could tell in some regard that she wanted him to grovel, to beg and plead… he simply wasn’t. While he wasn’t a prideful man, it was impossible to fully shrug off the innate sense of pride that seemed to be bred and built into every single Salvatore, to stoop to something so low as to put themselves below the gods amongst mortals that they so oft thought themselves to be.

 The conversation was done, and therefore, he had no need to stay. His ears tilted back at the sound of paws. His first thought was not that he was about to feel a weight upon his back, but a fraction of a second later his mind flung the alarm switch. He tensed, bracing to feel teeth sink into his flesh. Claws gripped at him, but not in a way he was expecting. Confusion flashed across a usually stoic face, as his legs bowed just slightly beneath the weight of the larger woman. He felt fangs on the back of his neck, but they did not squeeze uncomfortably. ’What… What madness is this.’ The thought rang out in his mind, and he almost asked it until Harper spoke.

 ”Would you like to have this dance?” Her tone sent him into a fury. A snarl ripped through him, shaking like thunder in his chest. He dipped his head, ripping it from her grasp, as he twisted, trying to grab onto any part of her that might be within reach. It was a simple flash of fang before he began to try to move forward, but. Her grip on his hips was too tight, sinking in, hooking onto the bone itself keeping him to her.

 ”What the fuck, get off!” Rhelenso spat, trying his best to wriggle from her grasp. While he was no stranger to weight on his back, he had never had a woman in such a position, and while it did not disturb him, it did, however confuse him. Some sick part of him, however, chided him, bid him to allow whatever this was to happen. That despite the lack of penetration, that he enjoyed the sensation, that it aroused him. Did this panic him? Only slightly. His thoughts now, however, were not of how to stop it, but of rather what it meant, and why it was happening. He gave a small grunt before he stopped fighting, front paws splayed slightly. He, however, was unable to wipe the confused look from his features.

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Harper was many, many things; complicated and a pain in the ass to any who had the displeasure of meeting her, yes - but an empress, she was not, and did not take joy in having others grovel at her feet. It was, mayhaps, a good thing that Rhelenso was too stubborn and perhaps thick headed to do such a thing. Leaving Harper never to be in such an awkward situation, despite being the queen of awkward.

He’d been foolish to think that turning his back to her was the safe thing to do, and he’d paid the price. The prince - he was a prince, right? - had quickly transformed into a fish out of water as he squirmed beneath her. Oh, how interesting it was for the hunter to become the prey. He would wiggle and squirm beneath her, and her grip would grow tighter.

His snarls were like music to her ears, and boy, did they excite her so. It sent a chill down her spine as she cooed softly. She had grown excited to think that he could best her from his position, but in the end, he was still beneath her. The demand was given, and shortly after, he grunted and just stopped fighting. Well, where was the fun in that? That didn’t stop her, however, as she gave him another series of dry humps before shoving him forward and releasing him with her own grunt.

The looks of confusion were dully noted, though Harper would assume it was due to her actions against him and nothing more, and totally assuming he hadn’t run off upon being released, Harper would smirk at him with the shake of her coat.

“You didn’t answer my question.”

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 The snarl that danced upon usually stoic features was enough to drop a viper dead. But clearly, not enough to drop the woman on his back dead. As he moved, trying to throw her off, her grip grew tighter, paws squeezing his hips to the point where the bones themselves began to ache from the pressure of pads and claws gripping them so tightly. Rhelenso was not expecting her grip – of course, he was not expecting the larger woman to ride his back in such a way either.

 As his fighting ended, and he accepted whatever strange fate had befallen him. Rhelenso hadn’t expected his own response, and as he was shoved forward, he stumbled slightly, whipping around after gaining his composure. Anyone would be a fool to think he’d turn his back on her again. The confusion, however, still played upon his features, features so usually devoid of most emotion, out of choice and nurture as well as nature, rather than a need.

 He gave himself a shake as Harper spoke, barely hearing her question over the shifting of his ears.

 ”You didn’t answer my question.”

 ”And what, Harper, the fuck was that question? I don’t damned remember anything other than your assault,” he spat, clearly a little frazzled from the whole encounter.

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Of course he was confused; he had not expected Harper to mount him and make a mockery of him in the town square. Or, at least, that was what Harper told herself; she’d not known that he had taken a liking to it. She was, however, confused, as to why he had held back; why he hadn’t whipped around and immediately attacked her like she’d been expecting.

Instead he looked at her with confused eyes. Was he seriously too confused to fight her, or was he holding back because of his loyalty to her sister? “I asked you what made you so certain that I would approve of you.” Harper said, though more slowly and with a blank expression; it had been a serious question that she wanted an answer to, though Harper doubted that he had an answer. He'd rather to pretend that he had tried, and walk away, right?

Harper snorted with the shake of her head. “You and your people were rude and disrespectful. Without apology and without remorse. Then you steal away Valeska's innocence and replace it with hope for a future. This was fine; I was happy for her, maybe also a little envious for her, but then you... you took that happiness and for a future and crushed it when you abandoned her! Now you come back, thinking all is well, asking how you can get my approval, when I would have given it before, had you met with me, but you hadn't. You took what you wanted from Valeska and tossed her aside like the trash that she isn't!

She may forgive you easily; she may see past the heartbroken failure, but how can I? Would.. you? You come from a large family, you must has seestar that you cherish. Had someone done what you has done, would you easily forgive, or forgive at all? You Salvatores think you so much better than the Mikaelsons, then you tell me - how the hell would you feel if someone had done this to your family, your blood? Better yet, let me find someone to do this to your daughters and let me try to ask for forgiveness and approval later, and we'll see if you respond, hm?”

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 Slowly, as the moments ticked by, Rhelenso gained some of his composure back, finding himself able to conceal the emotions he felt swirling around in his mind to only that, instead of written over his features like a calling card. His gaze came to rest upon the larger woman with a frostiness as she started to speak once more.

 ”I asked you what made you so certain that I would approve of you.”

 ”I suppose I underestimated your loyalty to Valeska, and assumed that you would take me for my word. While I had nothing ill in intention, I suppose I never expected to be questioned, since she accepted me back so wholeheartedly.” He paused for a moment, taking a breath. ”Perhaps I had assumed that whatever this… this place is, be it death, purgatory, or something altogether different, would take away my follies of the past.” Did she feel the truth in his words the way he did, did she feel the small sting that resided behind them, or was the sourness something that resided only within his own throat?

 ”You and your people were rude and disrespectful. Without apology and without remorse. […] Better yet, let me find someone to do this to your daughters and let me try to ask for forgiveness and approval later, and we’ll see if you respond, hm?” Rhelenso blinked at her words, and almost didn’t grace them with a response. That, however, would have put him on the same playing field as his nephew, and the rest of the family that he had abandoned with the agreement of his daughters. Rhelenso snorted slightly at first, not offering more of a response for a solid minute or two. Finally, he spoke.

 ”I will not attempt to apologize for what my family did. I could say they are better than that, but they are not. I would say I was raised better than that, but the simple truth is I was not. Salvatore children are raised being told that the world is theirs, that they are gods amongst mortals. I suppose that, at its root, is the cause of such behavior. But I, at my age, do try to step away. It isn’t often that I look beyond the simplicity of my own existence. There are only four wolves in this life and the last that have ever had that distinction. Your sister is one of them. Do I sit here and say that that is some great, honorable thing? No. I don’t. I had fought hard and long to abandon much of the teachings that I was brought up with. I did not want to be that egotistical, narcissistic beast. Do I cherish a sister? No. My sisters are vain, vile beasts who abandoned their own children, lied to them, and all but violated them for the sake of power. I’ll be honest that I care little for much of my family, and perhaps in some way, I tried to fix that broken bond. Clearly, it didn’t work, and I chose wrong. I accept that, I do not deny it.” He paused, stepping forward a few paces, bringing himself almost nose to nose with Harper.

 ”But, I will say now, you ever place my daughters in that group, or ever again say you’re going to harm any hair on their heads, whether they be in the previous life or this one now… Harper, I swear I will end you. I murdered the last individual who harmed either of them, and no one has ever found his bones. But. That is beside the point, I suppose. You speak as if I made some vile mistake in trying to hold both my family and Valeska close. I tried to rebuild with my family so that my daughters could have those bonds that they were denied as children. I tried to keep the peace between all of you. But you know what? Neither of you seems to consider what you did as a betrayal. You, Harper, only look at me and judge. But both of you up and left. I woke up one morning, thinking it would be a normal day, and never saw either of you. There was no warning, nothing until I happened upon word after searching and searching. I vouched for you both, and you vanished. Fuck what Leviathan may have thought, or what that did to my reputation – let’s talk about how that made me feel. How slighted I felt from that.

 I didn’t toss her aside like trash. You both vanished. She vanished. Perhaps it isn’t forgiveness that was given here. Perhaps it was a mutual understanding of fuckups that evened out in a relationship that really? You have no say in, Harper. Because fuss and make a mess, huff, and puff as you might, you can’t make Valeska’s choices for her. If she chooses to take me back, that that is between her and me. Not you, her, and I. There is no third wheel in that relationship, and I’ll be damned if I’m to walk away and allow you to believe that you’re at all allowed to be privy to having an actual opinion on it. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you have any true control over your sister’s life – it’s a privilege to have an opinion.” Rhelenso snorted, brows pulled together in obvious frustration. Rhele grew quiet, however, and while he felt he needed to walk away, he was not about to turn his back on the larger woman again.

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It would not come as a surprise to her that he would immediately jump to threatening her poor little life over the rats that he called his children. She did not care for them, just as she did not care for him, but ah - there were leverage that she didn’t know that she had until that moment.

Her expression did not change. She stared at him with a blank expression, as if he was speaking a language she did not understand. Oh, but he chose to approach her. What was this, to show her that he truly did have a set on him? To intimidate her? Harper took her focus off of him to stare at his nose, which was inches from her.

This would, of course, cause her to smile as he was delivering his murdery speech. Probably not the best time to smile, but alas, Harper didn’t care. She leapt forward, jaws ajar, in an attempt to bite him square on the nose; chomping down even harder, when he dared to accuse her of being controlling over Valeska’s life. It was a quick chomp and squeeze with a snarl and shake of her coat, which had now, by this point, bristled.

Of course, he would not apologize for making her feel all the things she felt. Instead, he tossed the blame; instead, he tried to make her feel guilty for being protective, and then tried to make it out like Harper was trying to control her sister and talking about privileges. It was his privilege to even be here.

She realized then that she would never get through to him. She had given him enough respect to clear the air, and instead, there was more smog now then there had been. Instead, he slapped her in the face and made an enemy out of her. This had been a mistake; an enormous waste of time, just like he was. So she would merely lick over her lips and smile sweetly as she sat down.

“You want to talk about privileges? Very well. You may leave now.”

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 The anger that swirled within him was overwhelming, the surge of which broke his usual stoic composure. It was uncharacteristic, surprising, and unsettling all in one to the man. He felt his nostrils flattening. Felt his heart thundering, pounding rapidly within his broad chest. Rhelenso snorted slightly at Harper’s words, shaking his head.

 ”So be it,” he spat. He lowered his haunches slightly and spun, stalking away towards the tree line. He bristled, still gritting his teeth even as he entered the shade of the trees.

exit Rhelenso

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