see—

I’ve already waited

too long

and all my hope is gone.

The demeanor of the brute had changed, he had been a helpless little creature, spurned on by anger before settling down to actually listen to why the newcomer to Helovia had been so aggressively de-armed and forced to come here. Hulic stood there with the evident patience of someone who perhaps had been more used to this than Lotherarius himself, but then even he went back into his memories to remember how he had had to remain patient with his high ranking brutes whilst being regent chief as his father slipped away. It was only now that he was beginning to understand just how he should have behaved amongst them, perhaps why he lost it all. But he fixated his pools once more on the acquaintance, the red hued pelt seemingly thick thanks to Frostfall's cold grasp.

And then Hurc smiled at him, an expression worn with warm and sympathy as he perhaps tried to understand Lotherarius' reluctance to throw himself into something so quickly. He then replied, answering the flurry of questions that the brute had put forward in a bit to secure his own feelings of paranoia about the whole situation. The stag had to be certain that he was not putting himself in danger of hurting his pride or his body. He did not want to fall, again... But he listened intently as the first words cast doubt on his own sanity,

"For all I know I'm inviting a savage into the place I call home, aren't I?"

Lotherarius merely let some humour flicker in his eyes and he remained halted in same spot, hoping to give the impression that this was only half true. A chief would naturally come with savagery, but he was not a savage in the purest forms. He had some morals. Not giving word of reply, he allowed Huric to continue to answer his questions, and it all came in a surprising bundle. But the more Lotherarius thought about it, it appeared to be the way this creature spoke - in bulk. That he did not mind, for it gave his mind more to become infatuated over in the hope of being rid of the awful feeling that he was being watched by something else.

All the words that came tumbling out of the smaller brute's velveteens were indeed very interesting, and quite complimentary to the stag. He was being given a choice to utilise the skills that Huric and evidently the Hidden Falls, whoever made up that herd, thought the blood-red possessed. When he finished his speech, he lay silent for a little while and Lotherarius jumped at the chance to give his own spin on the way things were,
"You speak very highly of a stranger and for that I feel both uncomfortable that you must have been watching me from afar and also flattered that you would like me to be part of you. That I can thank you for," he hesitated, thinking about how to approach agreeing to the terms, "You speak of everything that the Hidden Falls can offer me in return for the duty I can do for you, and I would like to give you one last chance to re-consider whether you feel this to be beneficial, but I would like to accept this."

Then Lotherarius turned once more to look around him, still feeling like he had been watched all this time by another. But then he let his movements turn himself gracefully back to Huric as he used his name to speak to him, letting the long name roll of his tongue. If it was fate, it had been a long time coming for the brute...

" . "

Lotherarius