+10(SSWM: 1349)
It was interesting for Axel and Orin to interact, for he had never seen the ram so excited to see anyone, besides maybe himself or Krystalle, but not even the children were able to get the affection that the woman was getting. He wondered if Orin had spent more time with the ram than he knew of, and this had been very true, in a way, because the first time Orin had met Bartholomew, it was because Bartholomew was trying to get away from the pushy ram that had followed him to Orin's home that day. Bartholomew had not revealed this fact to him, and so he did not know about Orin and Axel's relationship really. It was interesting to watch the two though, and he did so with a small grin that would form slowly on his lips. Soon though, the woman took a seat, like he had told her to. He watched her, and he accidentally let his finger strum against a string, but he was quick to silence the chime of the guitar by putting his hand over the strings that were on the bridge of the guitar. He then relaxed as much as he could and he leaned in and listened to what the woman had to tell him. The business of Cercatori d'Arte, even if he did not want to know the business of the pack, now that Orin knew that Mars was only so far away, and she could ride her horse to him, there was little reason for her not to come and visit more often then he would have liked perhaps. This was a lie though, because there was part of him that just wanted her, all of her, all the time. He secretly liked the attention she was giving to him.
She started to tell him what was happening, and the male listened closely to her words. He remembered Sky Katruk, and how he wanted to tear her vocal chords from her throat because of the fact that the stupid bitch thought that she owned Cercatori D'Arte because Shawchert was trying to court her. Obviously, because of Shawchert's disappearance, Sky had dumped him, what a big surprise. Mars learned this fact when Orin and Mars had last met up, when Mars had given the woman the leather clad armor. She also talked about a male that was named Taliesin. The name was familiar in a way, but he could not place the memory to a time. Little did he know, but Bartholomew had fornicated with the male, and Bartholomew also knew of the male's son, Liam. Mars did not say anything, because he was trying to think of how he knew these names, but he just could not place it, at all really. Bartholomew was in the shadows, chuckling softly at how Mars was trying to figure out where the names were from, and trying to match names to faces. Mars ignored the laughing in the back of his head and tuned back into the story, hoping he didn't really miss anything. He didn't, and the woman was also talking about how the married couple adopted a child, and then how nobody could have expected it, and how no one witnessed it. She spoke of how everyone soon showed up, the boy's father first, then Sky, and then Orin, then whoever else was there. More than likely Skye Collins, and as Orin went on to speak, Shawchert (what a big fucking surprise) was actually present, but of course, late to the scene.
Mars still did not speak. She spoke about how the pack wanted to kill Liam, but Skye banished him instead. Skye should have ended his life. A life for a life, but apparently, Cercatori did not believe in such values. They also liked to attract the puppy murderers. Mars snorted. So there was good reason for him and his family to have left, for Mars was sure that either Paz, or Amon would have been killed by now. Mars shook his head lightly and he looked down at his guitar. He place a chord that was one of sorrow, of hidden anger. He continued the melody as if he knew a song to match this, and he barely even looked down at the guitar as his fingers danced along, a simple glance here and there, and then he looked back up at Orin as she continued to speak. She could not be in the pack right now, but there was no one to help her. She thought they were pretending that this never happened. It was the same when Shawchert's and Orin's son had died. Everyone tried to pretend it didn't happen, including Shawchert, whom did little to nothing to try and find Orin after it all happened. They didn't even find the murderer for a very long time. It should not have taken them so long to find the murderer of the child since the murderer was living in their midst. Mars' mismatched ears fell on his head and he shook his head again. She finally finished when she spoke of how there was no one in Cercatori to console her. He understood this, because if something was to happen to Krystalle and his family here, he, himself would have no one else to go to, because in all reality, Crimson Dreams was only a little bit better than Cercatori. If not better, than slightly worse.
Mars returned her sigh with one of his own. He played his guitar before he had gotten the urge to smoke. He dug into his jacket pocket and pulled out a cigarette case and opened it, and pulled one out, and then snapped the case shut. He did not know if the woman smoked, so he did not offer her one, to not offend her by assuming that she did smoke. "That sounds similar to what happened with your son. Except for the fact that Shawchert was actually there this time." He spoke, slightly muffled because of the cigarette that was now in his lips. He took his lighter from the pocket that he returned his case to and he lit the end of the cancer stick and pulled from it. He blew the smoke away from the woman and the other animals, into a stale corner where there was a broken window, in which the smoke eventually filtered out through. He took the lit cigarette from his maw and he looked up at the woman again. "There's not much that I can say, Orin. The only thing I can assure you is that if I see this Liam, then I will make sure his deeds will not go unpunished. I don't particularly like Sky, and I don't really know Tal, but I'll do it so you can sleep better at night, knowing that there will not be a murderer climbing into your window....I won't be like Shaw, and just let you fend for yourself either. If you need to stay out of the pack for awhile, then you are welcome into my home with my family. We have an extra room since Paz and Amon like to sleep in the same room..." spoke the male as he lifted the cigarette to his maw and he took another puff from it. "If you really cannot handle Cercatori D'Arte anymore, then you could always join Crimson Dreams, or I can take you back to Cour Des Miracles, if you would like." spoke the male, his icy blue eyes on her as he took another drag from his cigarette and he looked at the mischievous Axel. "I like what you have done to your hair, by the way. It's very beautiful." he spoke to her. "I miss the dreads though." he commented afterward though. He truly did miss her unique look, for this was when she was truly beautiful to him in every way. He missed it to tell you the truth.
Mars speaks