Morningside Cuesta enter, pursued by a memory

Persia worried for the woman, but there wasn't much he could do without putting himself at unnecessary risk. He caught up at a lope and then hung back until her frenzy broke, and she went from kill mode into exhaustion once more.

He tried not to look at her as he came around to finish off the agonized doe, giving her a moment to pull herself back together. He dispatched their kill and then spent a moment studying his claws as if worried one might have come loose — but of course, he worried nothing of the sort. It was just that it was uncomfortable to look at this woman, and growing more uncomfortable by the minute. He'd never been more aware of what a charmed life he'd loved this far. What had led Widow into this pitiable state?

"Go on and eat, then," he said when he lifted his head. This effort to wrest control of the situation back into his paws went a long way toward soothing his prickly nerves. This was just fucking sad, yeah — but he'd fixed it, right?