Pontchartrain stared at the lass, unflinching as her angry words came out of her maw. ”Are you f/cking kidding me? Because you didn’t come for me. It’s rude to make a Princess wait, or any lady.” Wait, huh? Not coming for her? Right, the soul-mate tie. Princess? He’d likely find out more about that soon enough. Regardless, he Russian-blue male kept his stance, but kept his ears open to her words, listening. "Do you have any idea what I lost to come find you? I was Princess Valkyrie, Beta of Amberbjorne, daughter of Mabbit. Now I've liquidated my titles, given that all up and am just Valkyrie, daughter of the Amberbjorne King, soulmate of some blue guy in Ranjord who already pissed me off." It was then that he broke his stance, stopping the mist, followed by sneering at her “blue guy” comment. If Ponty had tried to pursue her then, it would not have ended up well. Although his physical position relaxed, his muscles were prepped in case anything changed, as if this was still all part of an elaborate scheme. ”"They're not mine. I found these two alone, stranded in the snow in the ice caps downwind of Tarben. I figured you King would like them as a gift of good will from myself, since he's of lineage of that dead bastard Beartooth. At least one of them is an ice elemental, given the location as well, I figured they are too."

Pontchartrain’s eyes widened as he took in her words. ”He’s… dead? Beartooth is dead?” He spoke softly, his whole demeanor shifting away from the defensive stance he had taken against his soulmate…his soulmate. Gods, how would he make up for this, if at all? Ponty knew nothing about Aegir being a son of Beartooth, but he knew by now that Aegir was nothing like that brute, so the delta did not put much weight on that comment. ”Is he… really dead? How?” Ponty spoke again, looking up at Valkyrie with his wide sea blue eyes swirling with a mix of fear, relief, and embarrassment. ”Do you know who is taking his place?”. After Valkyrie had plenty of time to explain and him plenty of time to digest, he simply nodded.

He then looked at the kids, his words soft, but more composed. ”I think I know who their mother is, in which if it is the case, your guess about their lineage would be correct.” The Russian-blue male sighed, looking down at his paws before looking back to Valkyrie. ”I used to be a member of Tarben – I saw a chance for a high ranking, however, I wasn’t a fan of their claiming ways. One thing led to another and then Beartooth wanted my head for treason... I escaped here. It was the only safe place without affecting others. I’ve been afraid to go back to the mainland since. Frankly, I thought you were here to…” His voice drifted off, and he dismissed the thought with a shake of his head. He tentatively stepped forward, speaking once again. ”It wasn’t fair to you that I greeted you with such hostility. I apologize for my horrible, horrible first impression and my assumption of the worst.” He sat down about 5 feet in front of her and took a deep breath, recomposing himself. ”Hi Valkyrie, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you. My name is Pontchartrain. I was once Tarben’s Beta, but now I live here as Ranjord’s Delta.” He paused, glancing at the kids for a moment, who seemed to be afraid. Pontchartrain created a gentle mist and wafted it over to the pups. One of them let out a tired yawn not long after the mist reached them. Sure, they were Skadi’s kids, but Pontchartrain, contrary to what he displayed moments ago, was not an as$hole. He then turned to Valkyrie once more. ”I really do apologize Valkyrie. I hope you can forgive me, but I still respect you if you choose not to.”

Actions & Words.