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There was no doubt that Atheris was feeling extraordinarily sorry for himself. He watched his sons grow from afar, knowing that there was nothing he could do to improve his station in life. He'd made a mistake, a terrible, stupid mistake. Now he was trapped dealing with that mistake. Things could have been so different - but he'd been deep in the throes of love at first sight - and now he was forced to face the fact that such a thing did not exist.

Ulrika was getting married - might even be married already - and it was not to him.

He'd hidden himself away as he mulled over his station in life. These thoughts were not easy to face, and he was not in the mood for company.

He was certainly not in the mood for work.

Hinoko was annoyed. Irritated. His brute of a wife was a mighty b***h, and in truth he regretted ever taking her up on her challenge. Jez was the only solace he could find in his miserable life. She was a thrall, yes. She hated him, yes. But she was small and delicate (in comparison to her sister, at least) and most importantly, she was his.

Melinoe had made any interaction with the purple lioness impossible at best.

Miserable.

He needed to work out his frustrations. Beat them out of the thrall he'd been watching for the past few moments. The thrall that was most decidedly not working. He padded towards the dark-maned male, hackles up in agitation.

"You there."

"Gods be damned," Ath mumbled to himself as he turned to give the owner of the harshly whispered voice a very annoyed glare. The lion was larger than he, stockier of build and taller still, and he did not carry himself like a thrall would. No, Ath had seen this Reaver around - he was married to a large, angry looking female and often was caught sending goo-goo eyes in the direction of another female.

He had heard they were sisters, but that was not anything that Ath could prove.

"Yes?"

Hinoko bristled. Insolence. He couldn't stand it.

Walking on his toes, Hinoko approached the other male and immediately struck him. It felt good. He wanted to do it again. The brown and white lion was much smaller than he - it thrilled Hinoko. This was how he liked to feel. He had to remember this rush of adrenaline. Perhaps he needed to remind Melinoe of his physical prowess.

"The last I saw," he hissed at the other male, "it was not the duty of a thrall to hide himself away in hopes of not being found."

Yeah, that felt nice.

"Do you have duties you should be attending to, thrall?"

The contact sent Atheris reeling, and as he watched the other lion -- lions? there were multiples swimming in his line of vision -- he couldn't help but remind himself that he'd done this to himself. He'd brougth this into his own life, and if he'd just been wiser -- if he'd just listened to Asper for once in his life -- he would not have ended up where he was.

Drawing himself up to his feet, Atheris shook his head abruptly. It hurt. His jaw felt numb, maybe broken? Pain threatened to blind him.

He tried to speak but all that game out was a garbled sound of pain.

Had he broken the thrall's jaw? Part of him hoped so. The other part of him hoped that he'd damaged the thrall beyond repair - like that lispy idiot he'd seen wandering around. He felt a small surge of worry - it was not respectful to wander around striking thralls that belonged to others, but he had none of his own.

Well, none that he would hit, at least. Jez was... different.

"To your feet, thrall," Hinoko pressed. "Perhaps your master would like to know what a lazy thrall you are? Or should I find the Breaker?"

Atheris took a moment to look properly horrified. He knew who the lion was that this one spoke of. He'd heard stories. The Breaker -- the breaker of thralls -- was not a lion that one wanted to tangle with. Atheris was used to being hit, to being bossed - but he was not yet broken.

He had no intent on being broken.

Squelching the white-hot flash of pain that spread through his skull, Atheris shook his head. "'m shorry," he slurred, dipping his head submissively.

"You should be sorry," Hinoko rasped, looming over the smaller male. For a moment the lion became his wife, and Hinoko pressed a large paw against Atheris' ribs. The lion beneath his paw let out a low grunt of pain, a heavy exhale of breath.

"If I see you loitering around when you should be working, thrall, you will regret it."

Hinoko bent and gave the other lion a warning snap of his teeth.

"Get back to work, worthless thing."

Forcing himself to ignore the pain that radiated from his jaw, Atheris rose to his feet. He kept himself properly tucked up, tail between his legs, as he quickly put space between himself and the Reaver that had lashed out.

He needed to find a new hiding spot, or he needed to let his thoughts wander while he worked.

A plan needed to come to fruition. Atheris could no longer stand the life of a thrall. He was never a meek and submissive lion, and if he remained a thrall, Atheris feared that he might lose himself completely.

Hinoko puffed up as he watched the thrall make his escape. It felt good, that show of domination - that show of manliness. As he padded home, Hinoko thought about cuffing Melinoe the way he'd beaten down ths lion. His expression turned grim. She easily outweighed him in bulk alone. Mel was terrifyingly muscular, and Hino doubted that he'd have the proper force behind a slap.

Even if she deserved it.

Deflating slightly, Hinoko drooped. She was probably wondering where he was, and would not be pleased that he'd taken so long in finding her a morsel of food.