the devil is & always will

Sven had easily fallen back into the pattern he had established before, the weight of responsibility comforting on his broad shoulders. His scarred, spectral form glided easily through the night and across the familiar landscape. Not all that much had really changed in his absence, the little being truly the only novel additions. Subordinates came and went, that was nothing new, but there was certainly something different within him.

For example, he had not panicked when Adeltra had gone the way he surely would have had it been Attica the year before. Perhaps it was the variance in the degree of their relation, but he liked to think that he still greatly valued the children regardless of their place within the Archer family. No, there was a newfound ease within him instead, an acceptance of the way of life that he had rebelled so viciously against as a youth.

Still, that wouldn't keep him from desiring that the same fate not befall the remaining Archer child. Certainly not as obsessively watchful as he had been with his sister, Sven still kept an eye out for his cousin. When his route took him across the scent trail of the boy, clearly leading outside of the territory, he departed his set path in order to investigate, though without urgency. When he came across the pup, he looked less than peaceful, further piquing the paladin's curiosity.

"Rather sleep alone tonight?" he queried into the night air.

be a gentleman.

the devil is & always will

Sven drew closer to the young boy, listening to his words and eventually passing him altogether. His own paws took him atop the very slab of rock he'd found Nicolo's son perched upon, and with the altitude he surveyed their dark surroundings. It had been such a quiet night; he had certainly missed this solitude that the deep nocturnal black brought on. Skoll's new pack had never seemed to rest. Or perhaps, they simply had never fully trusted Sven on his own.

"Just be careful; you wouldn't be the first Archer to freeze to death out here."

The warning was not intended to be heavy or dire, simply information. Cousin he was, a proper prince to their bloodline too, but Romanov wasn't his own progeny and therefor if the boy chose to stray his way into death's jaws, it wouldn't be on the ghostly adult's shoulders.

"Thought I'd get one more round in before heading to the den. Surprised your parents aren't out here clucking over you. How are you taking it? Being alone."

He knew exactly what it was like to be an only child, and while Romanov hadn't come into the world that way he still had to wonder if the child was experiencing any of the same emotions that Sven had as a boy.

be a gentleman.

the devil is & always will

At that last line, Sven looked back at the boy with a smirk of a smile. It had been a thought that recurred constantly within his head for most of his life, until @Attica had more or less explained it to him with her innocence. Even still, there were so many motives taken that simply didn't seem worth it, certainly not to him. Letting yourself be eaten alive by the flames of that anger, however, was not viable. Maybe Romanov could be that balance that Sven himself had failed to find. He felt more at ease, less trigger happy than he had been in his tumultuous youth, but he knew the kindling was still there under his skin.

Anyways, he decided then and there that he very much liked the kid.

Sven legs slid out from under him as he reclined then laid down upon his stomach, paws left to hang freely in the night air.

"You and me both, Rom," he replied, "but you'll find there's a lot in life that doesn't make sense."

And about the freezing to death part... had he not been told of the fate of his family members? Perhaps Nicolo and Enoki thought such matters too gruesome for a pup? Hm, how gentle.

"How much have your parents taught you about your family?"

be a gentleman.

the devil is & always will

The bedtime stories. That sent Sven quite a ways back, to those nights when it was just him and his father, and the elder Archer filled his son's head with bravado and pride. The man smiled at the boy, finding it strangely bittersweet that he was in this position at all.

"Surely they told you of Elettra, too? She would have been your aunt; your father's sister. She founded this pack, made our name what it is in this part of the world. She was everything a wolf should be," he summarised, certain that Ravenna at the least had told the boy a thing or two about her beloved mother.

"She lost a daughter to the cold, Ravenna's littermate. None of us know what Isolde was thinking, wandering off by herself, but she didn't make it back. Took the pack a long time to find her amongst the snow. Nonna's mate, too, succumbed to the cold. Left to die by his own son. Nature is more unforgiving than any enemy you'll ever make."

be a gentleman.