Dark mahogany wood; the reds shining like fresh blood in the pale lamp-light. Golden accents and deep browns, as well, formed the lounge room into something from a gothic dream.
Yet, the room had a modern feel to it with the placement of the furniture along with several accessories such as a gaming console, various cords for charging electronics and other such things Lynx had no interest in.
He still held the old ways dear to his heart and lived as if they were mostly still relevant. Sure, he had a few modern amenities such as a microwave and a television, but anything more then that he had trouble accepting into his daily life.
The crackle of a match being lit brought Lynx out from his thoughts and focused him on the scene before him.
Abell had tossed away his shirt over the arm of the black leather couch on which he laid now; one knee bent, the other stretched out, his back propped up on a decorative pillow and the arm.
The air about him was tense and cold.
He lit his cigarette from the match, shook it out, and flicked the match across the room.
Things had happened in these last three years... Things that Lynx wasn't sure he wanted to know. All he knew for sure, was that this was not the same man he knew three years ago. This man was cold and calculated; quiet and intimidating. He was a king amoungst rubble, it seemed.
As if he had given up something important; stopped fighting.
Lynx wasn't really sure what exactly this man he once knew had become now, so he was to be careful where he allowed this conversation to go.
At least... That's what he had planned.
But the thing about plans is that sometimes, they don't quite go the way one would expect.
"Are you gonna just stand there and gape at me like a fish, or are you gonna sit and tell me why you decided to come up from your hole after all this time?" The golden-haired demon prodded.
Yes, that's what it was... He had fallen truer to his demon blood.
Even as lynx looked upon him now, he could see it.
His hair wasn't the same golden silk it was before; his eyes didn't have that pure luster any longer. There was a darkness within this man... And it was starting to come out.
Lynx quietly took a seat at the other end of the wrap-around couch, momentarily sliding on the leather while he attempted to get comfortable.
As Abell made his way through half his cigarette, Lynx finally mustered up the nerve to speak.
"All this time... I was thinking about... I was thinking about you, Abell. I was trying to figure out why I feel some semblance of caring towards you... I was thinking of something else as well... What did we talk about that night I last saw you? What happened that even Shadow's camera didn't catch?"
A half smirk crossed Abell's lips as he took a long drag on his cigarette, letting the ash fall to the floor as needed. He adjusted himself further into the couches cushions, getting comfortable.
"Did you find your answers yet? Did you remember Ophelia? What about Margaret? Or even Aelflaed? Did you find your answer to why you think you care about me?" His words were lazy, apathetic at best. His questions left Lynx with anything but answers.
"...No. Those names... I don't recall anything to do with those names, Abell. I barely remember anything at all, to be honest. The only things I remember besides you, are a woman with fiery hair and a cave... A forest as well. That's why I came to you. I need to fill in the blanks and you're the only one that can help me!" Lynx gave a desperate sigh; shifting uncomfortably.
Abell locked eyes with Lynx and held him captive with his gaze. His words seemed to echo throughout Time itself.
"Why do you think I can help you remember your own past?"
Lynx tried to retain his composure, but he was slowly cracking apart at the seams. Abell's power seeped through the room like sludge; slowly choking out any warmth it could find.
At least, that's how Lynx felt it.
With a harsh breath, knowing that Abell obviously didn't wish to talk about it, he pressed on.
"Because you were there, Abell... Or as I called you then...Eirnin."
Just as Lynx formed the final syllable on his lips, Abell was on him in the blink of an eye; his hand around Lynx's throat, black nails extended like talons.
"Do you wish to perish, Dragon? I remember it all, yes. And if you truly want me to remind you, then I shall. But you will never call me by that name again, are... we... clear?"
Lynx pressed the simple response into Abell's mind, "Yes." , and Abell relaxed, taking his seat back upon the couch.
The feeling of his coldness slipped away; both his physical coldness and his power.
He was shaken now. He had never before thought Abell would actually hurt him, but now he was proven wrong. The warning was there and he finally acknowledged that this man was anything but the one he once knew.
Abell lit another cigarette while retrieving some drinks and snacks.
"Let's start at the beginning then, shall we. This will be from my point of view as I couldn't tell it from yours obviously... Though, we are so intertwined, I'm sure it'll do just fine," He sat across from Lynx and sipped at his drink, watching Lynx tentatively pick up the other glass.
"It was a long time ago, the precise year is of no importance, neither the names of anyone else who wasn't relevant to the purpose of this recollection. There were kings, there were people, there were lords of land and other such things. Their names and places don't matter much and I'm sure you'll remember them all at some point... Or not, either way, they don't matter much. I was young... So were you, for a dragon... My mother and I ran what seemed like forever... Our little village gone now. We made it to the cliffs overlooking the ocean and a fishing village... As she died on that cliff's peak, I saw something flash in the sky. It caught my eye and my mother's... She said 'Eirnin... Bright be the Sun you shall follow.'...I cried for days over her before I finally committed her to the earth, and made my way down to the fishing village. The village, I soon found out, was more a large city then a mere village. Built at the water's edge and over a river, it even had a castle, and the mountains grew along it's back. That's where we met... I'll never forget."