TW: WHY WON'T MY CHARACTERS DO WHAT I WANT THEM TO DO ASKFHKSKD- *** Heart pounding with adrenaline, Maethor slipped through the familiar alleyways towards her hideout. If she had been anyone other than Maethor she would've been giddy, but Panthers don't feel giddy, so she was utterly calm and complacent. She climbed the ladder and hauled herself up onto the roof. The human twins were sleeping, and in his sleep Much had protectively reached out, his hand on his sister's shoulder as if even in sleep he had to protect her. Maybe it was the cool afternoon air, or something about the sunlight addling Maethor's brain, but she crossed the short distance between her and the children and knelt on the sunbaked roof, her cloak swishing around her. Her expression under the black cloth mask was almost one of timidity as she reached out, hesitantly brushing Worth's bedraggled blond hair out of her face. The child stirred sleepily, leaning into Maethor's gloved hand. A softer expression entered the thief's vibrant eyes, bordering somewhere between tenderness and pain. Maethor had trained herself not to feel anything but anger, and it was so rare that another emotion broke through, so rare that the one time it happened someone's fist had to come sailing out of nowhere and hit her in the head. "Get //away// from her." Much had woken up and was on his feet, ready to punch her again. His first punch had been feeble, but it had caught Maethor off-balance.
"I was just-" her voice sounded vulnerable. "Get away from her!" the boy's luminous brown eyes were full of distrust, "I //will// hurt you-" "I'd like to see you try." all emotion left Maethor's voice. Her eyes hardened. "You're weak for even a human- you couldn't hurt me if I let you try. Pathetic." "Do you know what //you// are?" Much's voice rose. "Do you want to know?!" "Tell me." she said flatly, crossing her arms and glaring down at him with all the force she could muster, which was considerable. Worth stirred slightly. "You're a coward." Much's shrill voice cut her deeper than she'd like to admit, "You're a coward who breaks rules and steals things and-" Worth's eyes flickered open. *** DUN dUn DUUUUUUN
