Ankyra Sound a gunslinger knows pride - that invisible bone that keeps the neck stiff

she snorted at him, but he did not back down from her. it mattered very little that she had helped raise him from puphood into a young adult. there were things that could not be accounted for. he imagined that she would always see him as a boy, but he wasn't about to give into such silly mindsets. he had done well with himself in his growth. he had overcome a great deal in a short amount of time, and no matter what role she had played before... well, things were different.

the hair along his neck and back bristled before standing like jagged quills. he drew his crown higher still, fixing her with a daring expression in the hawkish yellow of his eyes. the frown did not leave his dark features. she claimed that he hadn't exactly gone searching for her, and the boy did not argue this. instead, illidan shrugged his shoulder and made an expression that seemed to say 'so what.'

“you hold yourself to the same rules, or was it always supposed to be me doing the searching?” the dark-hooded young man asked her. it was a two-way road, some would say. she hadn't exactly gone searching for him either – pregnant or not. illidan didn't care that she'd gotten knocked up. it didn't cripple her. it wasn't an excuse, so he wasn't interested in hearing it. “i talked to your brother, so he let me know you were here. spent some time looking, but you should know that i can't do that every day.” it wasn't an excuse, just a recounting of what he had done. he didn't think she'd care anyway. she was just as good at playing the victim as he was, if not better.