ORIGIN - BUFF BLUFF

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in the very clothes that i killed--

killed you in and now i know im alone

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Kerberos sat beside the crashing waterfall, ears twitching. He thought, perhaps, that he might meet a long lost friend here and find something to repair the emptiness swelling in his chest. It was hard for him to avoid slipping into the pool and let the water swallow him whole, but he dug his claws into the slate and let the froth splash across his faces.

Ever since the wedding that was held here, he had been thinking about Baratheon. The dragon hadn't so much as given him a glance, and a hunger to fight and kill was starving him to the bone. No one else could provide him a worthy, honorable challenge, and it made him sick to his guts to think of betraying the words of his mother anyway.

Regardless, the behemoth of a beast trembled in the home of the Bonebound's allies, wishing for comfort in the form of a friend, but afraid to trust the water not to crush the very life from him. He thought he had smelled the fishy dolphin around here, but it seemed fruitless just waiting for the creature to come. With a snort he settled down, paws leaning over the edge of the pool.

It certainly didn't help that numerous gembound thought he was some kind of vicious murderer. It didn't help that from his standpoint, his entire instinct drove him to fight, to hunt, to kill. He put his paws over two of his three muzzles and whined, his stomach twisting into knots at his three-voiced thoughts of bitter remorse.

@Leon//

Things had seemed to slow in the caves, and Leon was beginning to wonder where most of thr Gembounds were. Busy with their families, most likely - Leon had heard of the influx of small children born to several pairs of Gembounds, some of them related only by a single parent, others by both. Leon himself was itching to finally see the faces of his children with Makyna, and he never failed to make his excitement known. There were a few youths he had taken under his wing before, though they often grew too quickly and went wandering off on their own - only a few remained: Lilith, Firenze, Quintus. His brow furrowed. He'd always think of the others they found, and hope that they were safe.

Leon was relaxing near the mouth of their den, rolling through his thoughts, when he had first spotted the great white dog lumbering into their home. Upon first glance, the bear was alarmed. His hair stood on end and he glanced around the cave, fearful for anyone that may be wandering upon the cerberus' approach. His heart took a couple seconds to ease when he realized the dog, a member of the Bonebound, was just relaxing by the water as well. His eyes narrowed slightly, then Leon clambered to his paws and slowly descended from his perch towards the three headed canine.

Perhaps it was curiosity, or his protective nature that led to his sudden compulsion to investigate. Whatever the cause, the bear ended up emitting a low boof to let the dog know of his approach. "Hey." Leon spoke with hesitation, eying him. He hadn't forgotten about the encounter with Cancer and the little feline. Had the dog?

@Kerberos

in the very clothes that i killed--

killed you in and now i know im alone

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The hound of hell raised his heads towards the noise, meeting the gaze of the older gembound with his pale rose-tinted gaze. Kerberos probably could never forget the fight between Cancer, the fight to protect the life of a newborn. The child who had first called him brother in his native tongue. It had been so long, however, and he found it pointless to even get bothered by it-- had it been Cancer, he might have bared his teeth at least, but the bear was just protecting his friend, was he not? More over, he had seen the grizzly with his love, the lioness, at the wedding... And as of late, he was seeing the stranger in a new light.

So a hopeful curiosity prickled in the overgrown pup and he wagged his tail in a gently, friendly manner, and woofed back, "Hello." One of his noses returned to the edge of the water, dipping a muzzle into the cold depths without much thought, another head taking to licking at his massive gemstone in his paw-- but the middle head kept gaze with the bear, wistfully wondering what the tough guy wanted.

"Am I in the way?" He suggested, glancing down his rather large form remorsefully-- he had an overwhelming feeling like he might not be welcome in the heart of Pisces for too long. He didn't really belong here, and he knew it. There was a chance that the Alpha-Bear (which was what Kerberos assumed he was, in all honesty) was here to chase him out once more, but he hoped dearly that this wasn't the case.

Part of him wanted to make up for his violence as a pup, to right the wrongs that he inflicted on others. To find a way to purge the darkest instincts from his massive, dangerous body. Surely there was a way-- and as far as he knew, aside from Baratheon and himself, Leon was one of the largest gembounds around. No one seemed to fear him, though... They all trusted him, looked up to him. Kerberos... Kerberos wanted to be more like Leon, if he could.

@Leon//

The cerberus was oddly reserved, but after a moment's thought Leon decided that maybe it wasn't so odd, maybe he had just foolishly assumed the worst of the dog after their first encounter. First, it was with violence and heated aggression. Then it was restrained wonder, after spotting him with Bones at the wedding. Leon had been apprehensive of the large dog then, too, but it turned out for the better and Kerberos hadn't attacked anyone. So maybe he shouldn't be regarding it as odd that Kerberos would be here now, placid and almost friendly. Leon noticed the wag of his tail, attributing it to similar acts he'd seen by other canines. A sign of passive delight, or at the very least, acceptance of one's presence.

Two heads were preoccupied, and the middle was staring him down, asking politely if he was in the way. Leon quirked a brow, then leaned back on his haunches with a tilt of his head. "No... I just came to see what you were up to." He answered after a moment, idly scratching the thick fur on his chest. He expected an explanation, but then reconsidered his patient silence - maybe Kerberos wouldn't get the hint. He'd been welcome at the wedding because it was a public affair, but now there seemed to be no reason for the three headed dog to be here. Not that Leon knew of at least.

Despite his consideration of elaborating on his question, the bear stayed silent, unable to think of what exactly to say. It wasn't like he actively wanted Kerberos to leave, but he still wasn't sure he could trust the giant dog around Pisces. Maybe he was just seeking reassurance that Kerberos wouldn't cause any trouble, and he just wasn't sure how to go about getting it.

@Kerberos

in the very clothes that i killed--

killed you in and now i know im alone

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The canine's ears twitched, at least on his middle head, as the bear reluctantly declined evicting him immediately. Instead, it seemed the big buff bear wanted to know what he was doing... Which, frankly, should have been obvious-- he wasn't doing anything.

But Kerberos wasn't the type to be rude, nor did he really understand how to be (aside from when he threatened to eat gembounds for their own sake) and thus only kindly answered the man's question. "I was waiting for someone... But I don't think they're going to show up." His floppy eared head made a low whining noise, bubbling the water surrounding his muzzle.

"I thought they might have advice... Or at least cheer me up a bit," he woofed morosely, batting his pale rosy gaze at the bear. He was certainly trying to buy some sympathy with his pitiful puppy eyes, but it was a bit hard for a huge three headed monster that was now bigger than an adult grizzly to pass as a puppy any more.

Still, it was worth a shot. He lowered his middle muzzle and waited quietly for what the bear thought of his actions.

@Leon//

Anyone without a heart or a sense of self preservation might have seen through the big dog's pitiful guise, but certainly not Leon. If there was anyone in this cave capable of melting at the doleful puppy eyes of a three headed hell beast, it was him. So when the dog informed him that he was waiting for someone, only for another head to whine and admit that they were hoping for advice or to be cheered up by this person who likely wasn't going to show, the bear felt his heart break in two. You could probably hear that painful noise from afar, and had Leon completely lacked self control, he probably would have gone 'Oh my god you poor thing!' and started crying because lets get real, nothing hurts more than seeing a big puppy disappointed over someone. Instead, he only let slip an inadventent "Aww."

And so the bear decided that he would set aside his prior misgivings with the beast. He blinked over at the dog, then pushed the swell of empathy down with a clearing of his throat. "Whats the matter? Maybe I can help." The bear suggested, scooting closer to Kerberos with a curious and sympathetic gaze.

in the very clothes that i killed--

killed you in and now i know im alone

δεξιά . κέντρο . αριστερά

The hell hound was relieved to find that the Alpha-Bear was actually quite friendly when he wasn't defending his friends and family. It was a relief in many ways, but mostly it was the chance to get things off his chest that lifted the weight on his shoulders.

"Most gems see me and they think I'm a danger," he began in quiet tones, his tail wagging slowing to just the occasional slithery, snakish twitch. "When I was young, I wanted to fight everything, eat everything. I was hungry and powerful," he went on, pausing to lick at his chops. "But some gembounds who were older than me taught me important lessons. They taught me about listening, learning, speaking; about teeth and power beyond physical might." The middle head blinked and looked at his floppy eared partner, who was still licking away bashfully at his paw.

"Since then, I've been a good dog. I was never good at killing those older than me, and I quickly... I quickly learned that I didn't want to hurt younger gembounds. I don't even like hunting lesser gembounds." A toxic, uneasy acidity stirred in the back of his throat as he spoke, a venomous frustration at his own selfishness. There was only one good he did, and it was guarding his family. He was a hypocrite every other inch of his life, killing defenseless cave deer just to survive.

He stared up at the bear once more, his voice turning gravely, a low undertone of a growl building up. "There is just one gembound," he whispered, "who I cannot get out of my head. One who I could fight honorably, one who is my equal in every respect." The dog looked away, even his licking head turning to the water. Six pink eyes stared at the fuzzy, ripple marked reflection of his three white snouts.

"... And I don't think he even knows I exist anymore."

@Leon//

The bear, reclined on his rump, sat with his hind legs sticking out and his front paws tucked comfortably in front of him. His orange eyes fixed on the three-headed dog, ready to listen attentively to whatever it was that got the dog down - really, Leon was a huge sucker and he couldn't resist those big puppy eyes. He fell silent and drank in everything the big dog said, from when he began in his younger years. He could understand the whole, 'everyone instantly thinks I'm dangerous' thing - Leon had a tendency to garner than response from strangers too, especially new, small Gembounds. But Kerberos was lucky that there were others out there that cared, and they sat him down and tried to teach him about listening, learning, and speaking - it made sense, and Leon nodded.

He went on to explain that he was a good dog and that he never liked killing other Gembounds, which caused Leon to furrow his brow slightly - he supposed he could understand the desire to fight but not to kill. Somebody who wasn't inherently malicious, just looking for a good time, and maybe their idea of fun was just to fight. He could dig that. Leon enjoyed a rousing game of fisticuffs every now and then too.

But then Kerberos finally mentioned the big issue around all this, and that was that there was only one Gembound in the entire cave who he could fight, but apparently, that Gembound didn't want to fight him. Or at least it ignored Kerberos, eternally stripping him of his opportunity to satisfy his need for aggression. Leon frowned. He could sympathize for the dog, as he knew that feeling - before he had admitted his feelings for Makyna, he basically experienced the same thing. It was hard when one's heart beat for only one other person, and that other person seemed to not acknowledge it at all. So it was kind of like a crush, only... a fight-crush. "Have you considered that maybe he doesn't want to fight?" The bear arched his brows slightly as he spoke. "Maybe, instead of fighting... what about smooches?" He added slyly, slowly bringing his paws together as he said smooches. It sounded a lot like the dog was crushing, and fighting was probably just his way of going about this crush. Or maybe he literally did have like a fight-crush on the guy. But it wouldn't hurt to suggest smooches. Smooches never hurt.

in the very clothes that i killed--

killed you in and now i know im alone

δεξιά . κέντρο . αριστερά

Kerberos stared at Leon as he answered, suggesting that Baratheon might not want to fight. Nevermind that when the pup had first hatched, the nasty weasel had practically latched on to his neck first thing. It seemed ridiculous that anyone so keen on wrestling from a young age wouldn't want to fight now-- especially considering how huge and powerful they had both become. Why wouldn't the dragon want to prove himself?

... It wasn't like the hell hound had any idea. He hadn't talked to Baratheon in cycles, even if he had wanted to. The dragon was always avoiding him, despite the fact that they had departed as unlikely friends by the end of it. Baratheon had told him not to tell anyone he could say whole sentences, and they had some sort of weird pact. It seemed like a huge waste now, considering the noodle beast was ignoring him.

But yet the bear spoke more, mentioning an alternative to fighting. Smooches. The dog's six eyes met Leon's amber gaze and all at once, the dog implored, "Smoochies?" He stared at the big lug with absolute confusion. "What's smoochies?" He had never heard of the concept, and the word drew absolute blanks in all three of his fluffy faces.

@Leon//

What... was a smoochie? Oh... well, if the bear hadn't felt a surge of sympathy for the dog before, he certainly did now. He stared with wide eyes at the three-headed dog, almost gawking at the poor thing for not knowing what a smoochie was. That would imply that he had never received a smoochie, at least in the conventional sense. He was certain at some point he would have witnessed the dog covering somebody's face in gratuitous kisses, but that wasn't really the same thing as a smooch. Well... Leon fumbled for a second, trying to think of a way to describe it, but he couldn't develop the right words. It was hard to describe a kiss in a way that wouldn't get confused with the way dogs licked people.

Leon huffed and decided that the only way to tell the dog what a smooch was... was to show him. The bear cleared his throat, staring flusteredly down at the floor while his massive, clawed paws fiddled with themselves. Then, he leaned over - rather quickly, mind you, and planted a tender smooch on the cheek of the dog's nearest head. In that moment, heat almost instantly began to coalesce beneath his skin and Leon shyly withdrew. "Ahh... a smooch." He answered after a moment, rolling his shoulders back and sitting up straighter, refining his posture to settle his gaze wisely on the dog.

@Kerberos SMOOCH SMOOCH SMOOOOCH

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