Bearclaw Valley soot & violets

val definitively did not want to die. he kept his thoughts to himself -- a trait that was becoming his own more and more these days. his instincts told him many things -- that all this was wrong, that he was in the wrong place, that these were not his friends -- and yet, he desperately wished to believe otherwise. aventus could be that brotherfriend he so desperately longed for his entire life. arielle could be the sweet sister, the flitting crush -- and merrick.. well.. merrick encapsulated everything in life that val's mothers had so carefully kept from him; it was alluring and terrifying at once.

he thought of the stories he'd heard of the deep; the monsters within them. merrick didn't look like hydra, but that didn't mean he was any less malevolent. would merrick have been different if he'd never lost anything in life? would val?

"oh." val answered quietly, unsure of what else to say. if this was a test, he knew he was failing -- but he did not wish to be on the receiving end of merrick's pain. "that makes sense." he tacked on lamely, hoping merrick wouldn't mistake his being taken aback as a lack of interest.