Amber eyes narrowed upon the distant form of the giant beast. Familiar, and yet...unrecognizable. It was not the first time the monster had recieved the look. For days now Darcy had spied upon him, hulking mass drug noisly through the brush, soaking in the pond...or, now, perched upon the mossy rock surveying the forest as though a kingdom of his own. Orange-tinted lips stretched into a sneer. They'd bled together, once. No doubt dried life force still remained uncleansed between the cracks in the stone...

(8| tried to post faster but the site was giving me problems)

The beast saw him...Darcy knew. His pelt was far too loud against the dull greens and browns of the forest to miss. He made no real attempt to hide himself either. Let his presence be known...he didn't care. Wanted it, even. Would his lingering weight any on the monster's conscience? Perhaps not...but the possibility was too tempting to pass up, and he had nothing better to do, really.

His prediction proved correct when the fuzzy giant finally stood and ambled closer. Elongated ears twitched lightly at the scraping of claws on rock, then the raspy bellow that followed. That hollowed skull was pointed directly at him, the glowing red eyes to insignificant to see, but Darcy could feel their stare. An...invitation? Ha. The stag didn't move. He stared at monster down as he paced, clearly uncertain about what to do with the deer's lingering presence...before he drug himself off the rock and came toward him. Still, Darcy did not move. Scarred face hidden behind the shadow of his mask remained passively cold as step by step the blue giant drew himself closer.

Vaguely, the monarch remembered the first time he had met Nightmare. Once the monster had intimidated him to the core. He still remembered the feel of those teeth and claws ripping into skin. The feel of bones shattering beneath the charge of those jagged horns... Looking at him now though, you'd never know those were the thoughts passing through his head. Not as he stared up at the beast with a steady, confident gaze.

There was...only a brief change in that look when Nightmare backed off and settled himself upon the ground. Confusion, perhaps?

Darcy's ears laid back as the behemoth spoke, chin lifting ever so slightly as he realized his stance had slipped. That, and he was being called out. The male fought back the urge to shift his feet and continued to stare into those deep sockets; one and then the other before regarding the ugly aged bone as a structure in itself.
"What can I say...I smell something foul and I haven't the better sense to walk in the opposite direction."

A brow twitched at the attempted humor, though the movement was hidden beneath the tattered wooden mask. The monster did indeed seem...comfortable in his presence. But what did he expect? The question made him grit his teeth together in a surge of new frustration.
"Yes, well...I was under the impression that's what friends tended to do. I wouldn't expect you to understand, of course..." Bitterness seeped from his quiet tone and, at last, he turned his head away, tension visible in his flexing jaw. The beast's question was, for now, ignored. "I wonder why you bothered coming back."

His head turned back as the beast stood, towering over him once more. Critical eyes watched him move, fur rustling and joints popping...before leaves scattered once more at the force of his weight being settled again. All the while, Darcy remained still.
"I know nothing of what you're worth, Night... To me? Nothing. I to you? Clearly, nothing. A waste of time and blood and loyalty. All for that bitch ...Tell me, do you regret it?"

"Is this how you treat the ones that mean something to you, Nightmare? Forgive me for not being overly impressed," the stag ground out to the beast's wordy response. Snubbing him for Herla. Leaving the forest when Darcy needed him most. Yes, anger and frustration was what he felt...yet as Nightmare got to his feet once more and offered himself up to the monarch...the stag merely shifted to the side and snorted quietly in distaste.
"I have no interest in fighting you...not anymore."

"A shell...yes..." Darcy's eyes glazed a little at the accusation, and he actually frowned. He couldn't deny it. Was he anyone likable anymore? He'd lost everything. Everyone. Nightmare was not the only one to abandon him, and he felt...hollow. He was in pieces, with too many chunks missing to make whole again.

The stag snorted once more and closed his eyes, angling his face away from the creature and shadowing his face completely. Even then, dry laughter escaped his throat. "I didn't think my disdain was hidden...Spilling more of your blood would be a waste of time, however, and I'd feel no real honor in you spilling my own..." He sounded tired now...a little less enthusiastic than before. Perhaps he had allowed the weight of those memories to bear down on him a little too heavily. He was a burden to himself, wasn't he? "I've learned my lesson this time..."

I'm reading this, and Mauv's watching from far off. Loving the tension.