Emberwood Remember when you said you loved me?

She smelled the blood first, so knew something was off. At first she was concerned, but when she caught up to him, that feeling shifted to a myriad of others as he spoke. Irritation. Hurt. Inadequacy. It was like she was invisible to him. Still.

Friends. That's all they were.

Her ears went back, and she looked away. Yeah. There was no humor in her response. She had to help him, sure, but she didn't have to like it. She wanted to be angry, but couldn't summon it. She just felt... rejected. Again.

Just like she'd felt, over and over and over again, countless times. Ever since he'd come back.

This isn't going to change, is it? She'd been turning to find something to help, but turned back abruptly instead. There was a note of finality in it, hopeless acceptance. There's not anything I can do to fix this. Is there. It wasn't a question.

He hadn't even acknowledged it. She didn't know what she had been expecting... but somehow, it wasn't that.