hell hath no fury like a tiberius scorned

@Reiko backdated for when reiko arrived back in shiroshika. put your seatbelt on kids its gonna be a wild ride

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It was with a stroke of luck that Tiberius had been on one of his daily patrols when he had smelt the fresh waft of Reiko, Izumi's scent alongside her own. The Crane was something for Tiberius to approach later, his tongue rolling across his marred lips as he thought back on their last conversation. Right now was for Reiko and every single bit of Tiberius' pent up fury, worry and even more fury bubbled to the surface as it fought its way through his veins.

Tiberius did something he rarely did and pulled away from his patrol route, his thick paws crunching the snow below as he sniffed the air after her. At this point, he was furious as her friend and as a loyal, hard-working member of her godforsaken pack and Tiberius couldn't give a fuck if she didn't want to explain herself. She would, he would make sure of that. He cared little for her diplomacy bullshit when he abided by her desire to talk first when she did fuck all talking in the first place.

The fuck kind of gift did she think she was by whatever fucking God reigned above, to continuously fuck off out of the territory without a goddam word as Pack leader and friend and the only goddamn one he could trust completely. Was his trust even realistic at this point? He had thought on it, Izumi's explanation of Reiko's continuous disappearances and yeah, at first he thought it made sense -- but then he thought more on it and to an extent, it didn't make any sense when the other common denominator was the scent of the man from Vanderfell.

Izumi hadn't lied, he thought, because Reiko was a mother and to seek ones missing son was a normal thing. Yet... he thought she had certainly deflected. He didn't know what he was more furious about but today he was gonna sort shit out. The titan stormed through the territory, her name booming from his lips, "Reiko!" There was no time for no Iceling bullshit.

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There was little time spent back in Tsukiishi before Tiberius' call rang out to summon her. She had placed her treasured stone within her den where it belonged once more, tucked away with the blue flag before ears glued to her crown at the pitch of his tone. Izumi was certainly not the only angry one and Tiberius would not be the last either. Nervously she swallowed several times before turning to find the Samurai. Slowly at first, but not wanting to make him wait had picked up her face over time.

The fact that he used her name and not the cute nickname he had conjured up had meant he was being serious if the tone he used didn't give that away already.

It didn't take long to pick out the dark man's silhouette among the pale grounds, he was large enough to stick out further than anyone. “Tiberius...” Announcing herself, she knew what was to come. She could feel it, the tension in the air around him, the anger that boiled within. What was promised before her vanishing was meant, she didn't mean to leave Tsukiishi during her heat, it was all an accident! But would they believe her?

Was it all to be seen just as a poor excuse?

The snowflower would say nothing for now, gaze looking at the dark man without reaching his furious gaze. It was his turn to speak, that was only fair.

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She came to him when he called. Which only momentarily soothed to the titan, knowing she had not appeared just to disappear again and was once more safe within his strongly marked borders. It was quickly overtaken by his fury and his hurt, his silvery brows pulled down as his expression remained thunderous. No longer was her scent mixed with the twinge of her season and Tiberius felt thankful for it; though it did make him question the health status of the white-wolf upon her return. How long did seasons usually last at one time?

His nose wrinkled; he didn't fucking know. It didn't matter, not when his molten gaze laid it's sight upon the little wolf. He was so fucking glad she was home but no, there wasn't any fucking time for that kind of bullshit. He had matters to attend to, thanks. "Y'know," he rumbled, voice filled with the fury pumping through his veins as he came to a halt a short distance from her, his shoulders twitching with unease.

"I told m'self ya were worthy of me trust," the titan sneered, "ain't got many I can trust, see." Those few he had were long gone, left in whatever world he had somehow left when he had found himself here. "But lately, I been thinkin', yeh? 'Ow can I trust someone tha' always fuckin' disappears wi'out a word?" His lip curled as he worked on reigning in the furious snarl that begged to be released, his toes curling in the snow as he eyed her.

She wasn't looking him in the eyes and for a moment he faltered; not wanting her to be scared. But he wanted her to know that actions had consequences and she wasn't the only one who would suffer from them. Drawing his head backwards he stared at her from where she stood, "ya go an' ya come, which ya allowed, y'know, ya y'own wolf." His jaw ticked as he clenched his teeth together, grinding them within an inch of their lives. "Bu' ya a leader an' a friend. Ya don't jus' get ta disappear like ya ain't got wolves tha' depend on ya," he stated, voice filled with venom as his nostrils flared.

Each word he said, every moment his gaze remained upon her, the titan grew even more furious. "Ain't tha firs' time ya done it an' ya know, I asked ya girl Izumi, said ya been sad lately 'cause ya boy still missin'. Which... fair enough, yeah? Only..." he trailed off, ears cuffing as he watched her, finding disappointment curling in his belly. "Tha' boy from Vanderfell, 'is scent been 'ere a few more times than normal fer a neighbour in a whole differen' fuckin' terrain." His gaze lowered to peer at her sides, wondering if she was coming back with more than just herself.

He had enough to care for all on his fucking lonesome without Reiko adding some bastards bastards to his work load. It was unfair of him to think that way, knowing he would help Reiko protect her young without hesitation but fuck, it wasn't goddamn wise to birth new lives in a Pack that held less members to help protect them than realistic. "I been protectin' wolves tha' don't trus' me ta keep me in tha fuckin' loop," he commented darkly as he stepped back, removing his molten gaze from her for a brief moment and rolled them to the sky, watching how the grey matched the white of the land.

"Ya put me in a shit situation when ya leave an' I gotta swallow tha fact I can't protect ya and erryone else when ya fuck off like every day is a fuckin' holiday." He spat, his chest rising and falling with his annoyance. ^^

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And so it began. The long speech that was similar to all the rest - at the end of all these stern discussions, she would be certain they would all blend into one another. At the end of the day, they were all right. A part of her had wished all of them would have discussed this amongst them so it was only needed to be done once and not 3 to 4 times by each of them, stating the same things... but then again, they all had stuff to get off their chests. It wasn't fair for them to not have their own opportunity to say what was on their mind.

Tiberius made it clear he was losing faith in her, that his trust in the Empress and what the pack stood for was waining. He pointed out @Quicksilver who was wandering around often enough, too often according to the Samurai's opinion. How could she say that he was around courting Izumi lately? At first, it was Reiko she assumed... why he would stop by every now and then with random chit-chat of which she found was just an endearing way of making a new friend. But with him having an interest in two wolves from Shiroshika, it meant he would linger more than most.

But she couldn't tell Tiberius that. It's inappropriate! Such business was between the three of them... not for the whole pack to be aware and gawk at their leisure. “Vanderfell is meant to be an ally in the future, I do not see how it would be strange to have any of them around being friendly.” She also felt it necessary to defend the druid after all he had done, after her heart kept beating for him more than just "a friend" no matter how she wanted to respect their boundaries and his declaration of pursuing neither woman.

“First and foremost you are my daughter's samurai. When I am away, she is the new Empress and will remain so until my return, should I return.” The latter insinuated that something terrible would keep her away permanently. She had to get that out of the way first. It was the thing of most importance to her after all, it was why Tiberius was watching over her daughter and not assigned to Reiko herself. “I am sorry for my vanishing... the last was not intentional. I meant to keep my promise of remaining and... well... I did not see the river during my stroll that night, for that, I apologize...” With her shoulders falling, she was as honest as ever. Though her time in Vanderfell had been nice, and she would not have traded it in for the world - she knew just how lucky she was that day that Quicksilver found her.

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She defended the unknown man in a way veiled as she defended the Pack itself and he sneered, uncaring to whether or not she didn't like it. "Funny 'ow is only one scent from Vanderfell, innit? So yah wanna not think im goddamn stupid?" He grunted, eyeing her through molten lenses. He didn't give a fuck if she was going to torture herself with a man but when it comes to this particular man being the reason their goddamn leaders head wasn't in the fucking game, thats when he had a goddamn issue. As their main protector, he thought it right he should know the comings and goings so that he could do his goddamn job properly!

She had chosen to return with something akin to telling him off but he could not react kindly. Not when she said her latter words. Tiberius reared his head back and every single bit of rage was on his face as he snarled, "don't yah fuckin' dare." The titan stated, voice rumbling with his fury. She was so uncaring of her own life that it was almost concerning but worse than that, she could not see how saying such a thing that would hurt him as her friend. Tiberius protected those he cared for and he hadn't goddamn asked for her to make him care! "Yah willin' ta be risky wit' yah own life an' not givin' a fuckin' shit 'ow it affects more than a fuckin' nameless man!" He looked at her, both angry and hurt from her carelessness. "If yah wan' ta do shit an' not 'Ave people who goddamn care about yah, why tha fuck ya taken up a responsibility of a goddamn pack, huh?" She had pushed him with those words, her latter ones getting lost amongst his emotions as he stared at her.

"God fuckin' damnit!" He swore as he clenched his toes into the snow, his shoulders bunching up as he ripped himself away from facing her as to clench his teeth with a bowed head. His blood felt boiling as it flowed, raging in his veins and his chest rose and fell with every bit of emotion that he so rarely felt. "Yah bein' real fuckin' irresponsible an' uncarin' ta 'ow yah shit affects others." The titan griped, his lips twitching against his teeth as his instincts begged him to show them to her, to force some submission from her yet he could not. Despite it, she was his Empress -- even if at the moment, she felt like an enemy. He turned to her as his head remained low, "if yah actions bring anyone else danger or 'urt, I 'ope yah can live wit' tha consequences." He warned, shaking his head as he stepped back, giving them even more distance. "Keep yah goddamn apologies, dont mean shit."

He drew his head back up and rolled his shoulders, staring at her with an emotionless mask. "I's still gonn' escort yah where yah wanna go, i's gonn' do me job but that's all. I 'ope all these Vanderfell can keep yah safe in tha long run, yano, seein'as it ain't me job." All these Vanderfell were clearly pointed towards the fact it was one singular scent, knowing she would pick up on it. Funny how her moods had been all over the place since this scent started showing up, huh? "Last time I mistake m'superior as m'friend," he rumbled to her quietly, sweeping his gaze over her for a last time before he turned from her, his gargantuan form starting to stalk away from her.

Fuck this goddamn shit, this is why he kept well fucking away from forging bonds with others. They always turned around with disappointment, his loyalty and protectiveness always being stronger than their desire to be a friend. He would die for her in body, but he wasn't sacrifice the small pieces of heart that wasn't already broken for a friendship that was temporary.

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How could she tell him that Shiroshika was meant first and foremost to stand for the safety of her children, and others - not for herself. To lay the foundations of something that could withstand as a beacon for others to find peace while she would run around until her legs could no longer carry her. It wasn't meant to barricade herself within its walls, just as it was not a prison for those who wished to leave.

His words stung despite how she managed to keep herself together. The knife had settled into her bosom long before this conversation and any more had simply twisted the blade. Everything she would do, everything she would say was never good enough for anyone. It always managed to hurt someone no matter her intentions.

Was the Empress truly more selfish than she had realized?

It was the last time he would see a superior as a friend, and with those words, he turned away before the hurt would seep into her eyes. That the desire to not be a burden to anyone had made her the biggest burden of all. This time he would speak without being spoken back to, and he wouldn't be stopped to storm off. When the titan vanished from her sight, she too would turn to make the journey back to her den to sleep and let the words carve their way into her brain for the next few days...

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