Larkcall Lowlands It's All Over But the Crying

The pale Stark was growing more anxious. He wasn’t doing a very good job at helping her. Instead, it appeared he was making things worse by talking about her sister. Everly. Now that he had learned her real name it made sense. The other name, the one that belonged to her sister, did not suit the tawny Selwyn. It only took learning her actual name to realize that. Lenae. It was soft in sound, much like the wolf that carried the name. It reminded him of the flowers she sought after in the Kingswood. He wanted to know why the girl had adopted her sister’s name but he knew that wasn’t going to help. The more they talked about Everly the more agitated she became, shying away from the pale healer and his words.

He couldn’t leave her. Not while she had tears running down her cheeks and she was obviously very distraught. Something horrible had happened—and it wasn’t just about adopting her sister’s name. It was much worse than that.

The girl answered, her voice trembling as it filled the space between them. Braver. He frowned, his chartreuse gaze fixated on the younger wolf. I doubt that, he hummed in response, his nose touching her shoulder in an attempt to console her. I’m sorry for asking about her, he started, voice low with concern, is there anything you’d like to talk about? Or want me to talk about? He did not know how else to smooth things over. To get her back to the Everly Lenae he knew.

stick with those who stick with you

That was the issue, she didn't really want to talk at all.

There was nothing that could be said that would make her better, to make her unsee the things she'd seen. She had to be a lost cause by now, there was only so many times she could bounce back. First her sister had died, back when she'd been little more than a yearling, then the rest of her family had followed suit years later. And now this, as if to remind her she'd lost it all. It wasn't even that she loved him all that much-though she had in her own way- it was just the ugliness of it all. How cruel and unkind the world seemed so determined to be.

She pulled in a wobbly breath and held it in, before sighing.

"N-n-no...Not really."She said

She didn't want to be mean, especially not to Lachesis, but she wasn't really looking for a conversation. Or even consolation really, she didn't deserve comfort, or at least that's what the world seemed to be telling her these days. She would...she didn't know what she would do in the grand scheme of things, or whether she would even remain in these lands but...For now she would return to the Monadnock. It was all she could do really, home, but not quite. Not what she really wanted or needed.

"I'm-s-sorrrry. I'm no good, I have to g-go."

At that point, she was convinced she was cursed, ruin hid in her shadow.Lachesis deserved so much better, more than she could offer, it would be best for them both if she left now.

He wasn't doing a good job and it appeared nothing he said, or did, would change that. Perhaps he should have just remained quiet. Kept his lips together and attempted to comfort her with a hug or silence. Anything besides what he was currently doing. His ears flattened against the back of his skull as he watched her grow more uncomfortable and deny his offer to talk about anything but her sister. He did not know what had made her so distraught and he wasn’t about to ask. He’d already made things worse and feared anything else that expelled from his tongue would only add more fuel to the fire. His paws shuffled awkwardly beneath him as he kept his chartreuse gaze focused on the troubled girl, his tail hanging low between his legs.

Suddenly she spoke up once more, her words sputtering from her mouth as she announced that she needed to go. His eyes went wide and his bottom jaw fell open in protest, but no words came. He did not want her to be on her own—not when she was so distraught. Something wasn’t right and he was worried something would happen to her if she left. Something bad. And he would never forgive himself if something happened. Wait, he started, taking a hesitant step toward her, not yet. He swallowed, unsure of how to keep her from leaving. Let’s just sit. I won’t talk anymore and you don’t have to either. We’ll just sit and enjoy the silence for a moment—then you can go. Just to make sure she was okay… perhaps he’d even trail her for a bit, from a distance, to ensure she got home okay…

Please?

stick with those who stick with you

Cool with ending this with a fade?

He didn't want her to leave? Why? Lenae didn't understand. If he didn't want to talk anymore than what did he want? She was tired, so very tired. Her mind was incapable of logic or reason as of that moment, her trains of thought either chugged along at an agonisingly slow pace or they raced, hurtling forward with no sign of ever stopping. It was an exhausting contrast.

There was nothing enjoyable about silence. It was cold and heavy with words that hadn't been said. She could practically feel the questions rolling off him, his concern was like a slap to the face, it made her ears ring and her eyes well up with even more tears. She couldn't cope, she was a prime example of a woman on the edge. One little shove and that's all it would take to snuff out the fading embers inside of her.

"Okay."She rasped as she dropped her flank to the floor with an unelegant and frankly painful thud. "Just...a little while."

Fade