My ratnik intuition does tell me there’s a Wild Hunt nearby and I intend to be taking care of it – it’s unwise to be staying around, thus.

(The fog behind is thickening as he speaks, indicating there’s truth to his words.)

‘Tis pleasure to meet you. You may call me Flins, like the most do – I am a ratnik and a Lightkeeper – obviously – that happened to be on patrol nearby. Speaking of which, you better return to the city and stay there now, miss Gainsborough.

+

You would do a great favor, though, if you left Nod-Krai intact. Disliking how things are in the world never meant I craved its destruction. That… hasn’t changed. So how about that? Not as a payment, but as a favor or an act of good will similar to mine?

And I do not require anything in return – what would I need of you? What could I possibly dictate you to do?

(His eyes never left Rerir’s, not once, as he spoke, his gaze unwavering and stern, indicating he spoke the truth and was deadly serious this time.)

+

He kept on standing still, treating Rerir’s behavior like that of a wild animal indeed, but still offering the other’s heart back freely.)

Knowing too much is a death sentence indeed, but hardly I can befit that category. I’m but a humble ratnik, not even half as eager as the others of my kin.

+

Enough to stop thinking of you as monster.

(He tried to explain. Initially all he knew was “the dangerous phantom in the Wild Hunt” – so how could he know? How would he know? Yet now… it was different. In what way? He didn’t yet know himself, but he truly had no wish to fight the other.

+

(He did notice that vagueness in the way the other spoke about the room, but let it slip, his curiosity of how would Varka deal with it and what does he want getting better of him. He did like to observe the other’s behavior, after all, and follow the flow at times.)

That aside, I am inclined to accept your offer.

(He changed the subject, bowing his head slightly in thanks to Varka’s words.)

Next time the drinks will be on me, then.

+

I keep thinking I’m doing rather awful job at it, given how you understood something was amiss almost instantly. Then again, one cannot blame me too much, given most of the time I speak with the dead rather than living, and tend to keep to my lighthouse.

+

It turned out to be harder than I initially assumed. To blend in and pretend to be human, that is.

(He spoke almost in a whisper, making sure nobody was at ear’s length to hear, his voice softer than moonlit dew, and perhaps, equally enchanting to already tipsy other man.)

+

It is important, you are right. Even though at times I have a feeling everybody already knows. It’s…

(He paused, the uncertainty reflecting in his expression, before he tilted his head to the side, looking at the liquid in his glass absent-mindedly.)

+

He nodded nevertheless, playing along, and fighting off the subtle, yet persistent urge to give the other’s fingers a playful-yet-warning bite. Once he was freed from the grasp, he simply took another sip of the wine, his gaze fixed upon Varka’s face.)

+

(He gestured before them, as they emerged from the fog and into the light of the lantern, illuminating the side of the road leading further into the distance.)

It should already be safer here.

practically palpable, since it comes from the phenomenon itself, from how Rothwang used that one follower of his – and that it’s their lingering feelings of betrayal and agony that echo through the Wild Hunt, still to this day.)

Ah. Here. The road is up ahead.

+

And for all we know, at some point a while ago it grew stronger and more violent – as the overall phenomenon. Hence our job has gotten a bit more… intense.

(He let it stay there, not uttering a word about the origins – the true origins – of the Wild Hunt, and the meaning of it.)

It… was always here – that is, in Nod-Krai, at least as far as we, the Lightkeepers, know.

(He says gently, his lantern steadily shining through the fog, albeit without the warmth.)

+

he let a small smile creep onto his lips and, as if reading Varka’s mind, he clarified.)

Cover what exactly? My drink or accommodation, or both? Be careful, master Varka, for I might rip your wallet off significantly, if so~

Lest you forgot, my friend, I am nocturnally inclined creature – alone in the dark is my natural habitat.

(He spoke in a joking manner, albeit it was the truth – and Varka knew it just as well. Measuring the other’s state with his gaze,

+