Maea
It's not a demon at your door
"Alright. If that's something you want, I will." That was easy enough to promise, especially if it gave him some peace of mind. They all had different ways of coping with grief, though. If his was trying to forget for a while, then hers was to throw herself into the kind of danger that left bruises and a trail of blood in her wake. Equally harmful in their own ways, they were both attempting to step away from that - and she was not going to throw out all the good things he had done and was doing just because of a setback. It was an honor to be relied on as a kill-switch; it was something she had been craving herself, yet always failed to find.
"Well - because," she breathed in a sharp exhale, as the attention was turned upon her own worries, "it's... unsightly. Ugly. Strange. Even Attuned don't need to do it, but if I don't kill something regularly I'll... loose my mind. Literally." His nudge registered like fireworks against her arm, contradicting the repulsion she was sure he must have felt. Impressive? What part of taking out her dark impulses on another living creature was impressive? Even if she could agree that it wasn't strictly speaking unnatural, it was a far cry from peaceable or serene or the kind of innocent she wished she could be. Liam didn't want to be seen in his weakness - and Maea didn't want to be perceived in the throws of her predatory, dark urges.
Yet here they were, anyway. And she leaned into the warmth of his touch, the proof of truth to his words that he wasn't bothered despite her worries - terribly afraid of what it would mean if he had been. If he'd really been leaving, like she had thought.
"Well - because," she breathed in a sharp exhale, as the attention was turned upon her own worries, "it's... unsightly. Ugly. Strange. Even Attuned don't need to do it, but if I don't kill something regularly I'll... loose my mind. Literally." His nudge registered like fireworks against her arm, contradicting the repulsion she was sure he must have felt. Impressive? What part of taking out her dark impulses on another living creature was impressive? Even if she could agree that it wasn't strictly speaking unnatural, it was a far cry from peaceable or serene or the kind of innocent she wished she could be. Liam didn't want to be seen in his weakness - and Maea didn't want to be perceived in the throws of her predatory, dark urges.
Yet here they were, anyway. And she leaned into the warmth of his touch, the proof of truth to his words that he wasn't bothered despite her worries - terribly afraid of what it would mean if he had been. If he'd really been leaving, like she had thought.
It's just your shadow on the floor
