After the call with Darithi ended with a clean, sharp click, Cruxius let the phone drop lazily from his thick fingers onto the glass coffee table. It landed with a dull, hollow clatter that echoed briefly through the silent, dimly lit hallway before the absolute quiet swallowed it whole.
He slowly leaned back against the plush, expensive leather of the sofa, sinking heavily into the soft material. His broad, heavily scarred shoulders relaxed completely for the first time in what felt like an entire, relentless eternity. The muscles along his spine visibly unknotted themselves, his monstrous, perfectly sculpted body finally, genuinely unwinding. His thick neck rolled to one side with a deep, resounding crack.
He breathed out slowly through his nose, closing his terrifying crimson-gold eyes.
