Neverwinter Forest a lot of pretty girls outside

His ears folded back. It was just too much of a swing -- so happy, then told he was doing something wrong. That crash when mixed with other buried emotions was a turbulent mix. His head hung low, eyes drifted and he just couldn't look at Cupid any more either, or at least he couldn't if he wanted to keep himself together.

You see, Mal had baggage, in case that wasn't totally obvious. Fear of Caerus being taken away, still feeling like he was being forced into being the same distant creature he saw his own father as, whatever Lovecraftian horror of emotion that Caerus even existing had dredged up... This time, a shaky inhale. Weakly, then, It doesn't feel like it.

Each moment that went on longer without the attention or smiles of the adults around him was harder to bear. Each moment he hoped they would turn their gazes back to him, play with him, feed him. But instead they looked only at eachother. Spoke only to eachother.

And even though he couldn't understand any of it, he would've liked to feel included... the negativity that clenched his heart was unparalleled and like nothing he had ever experienced. Ignored. Excluded. Forgotten. If he had known the seriousness of the situation, he might've been more understanding- but for now he sulked, even opting to turn away from Mal and Cupid and slowly drag himself towards the den entrance.

Well he thought he was letting him do enough. Cupid was here rather than anywhere else like he said he'd be. That counted for something. Not only that, but Mal was the only wolf here allowed to come near the den and help him out. Once Caerus was older Cupid would let him help more, but what he did now was good enough.

Cupid was too preoccupied to notice his son get increasingly upset. When he began to mope back to the den, his attention drifted away from Mal. Shit. He glanced between him and the den. This conversation can wait.   Caerus was the #1 priority, and he couldn't stand to see him all sad like that. We'll talk later alright? Without another word, turned around and began to head back into the den.

Exit one coward. :P

Feeling now rejected by both of them, he continued to not look towards them. Somewhat hunched over from his emotional wounds that he probably partially caused himself, he was quick to turn tail and flee. Cupid's den was the one place where Mal's alpha title seemed to just not exist -- Mal was afraid and Cupid held the power whether he realized it or not.

And so left without a word -- it likely would have been even more strangled than his last ones if he'd managed in the first place. No, right now Mal needed to leave, to calm down. This wasn't like the version of him that he wanted to show to the world. He'd be back eventually -- he'd promised, and was going to keep his promise -- and probably pretend like this had never happened.