welcome home, little bird

Surprise colored her features as Finch slowly moved over to lay beside her. The predatory glimpse in her gaze was not hidden, but rather obvious as it roved over the smaller girl's frame. Calliope tenses for a moment, the proximity at which they lay was not unusual, but also not something she was used to. Typically, if she were to be so close to someone like this, it was for sexually charged reasons. This was different. She saw the way Finch trembled. The fear in her eyes. It made her heart twitch in a possessive sort of way. Finch was hers now and knowing that something was upsetting her made Calliope all the more furious.

Once Finch is settled, Calliope exhales slowly, taking a soft approach. Her eyes close gently, her massive frame moving around Finch, encircling the girl in a cuddling gesture. Resting her chin upon her paws, she listens genuinely to what Finch says. The girl may be sassy, but she is also intelligent. It would be ignorant of Calliope to take what the girl said at face value.

He was infected by a parasite? Ravaged and filled with worms. A nightmare threatened to rise in Calliope's mind. Images of that devilish worm that had scarred her chest threatened to traumatize her once more. Was it all connected? Could it be that those worms were real? As if they weren't some terrible nightmare that could cause real, physical harm? Her mouth dries, her throat constricting as she harshly swallows the lump lodged in her throat. She worried for Finch. Had she touched him? Would she help spread this sickness? Calliope's body tightens visibly, fighting the urge to put space between them.

That urge for separation disappears as Finch describes how the wolf's head cracked open before her. The fear and worry in Finch's tone, the way she moves closer to her out of instinct has her eyes opening, surveying Finch. The poor girl. Experiencing something like that after a rather sheltered life... Calliope sighs, her lips tugging down into a frown. She was no good at comforting anyone, not even herself. And what hurt more is that Finch wanted to save them, while Calliope knew there was nothing to be saved. Her nose wrinkles, brow furrowing as she thinks of something to say. Silence looms over them for a moment until her brain finishes processing.

"You cannot cure all. There's no fixing such a disease," Calliope's tone is tense, on edge. She reaches her nose out to touch Finch tenderly on her cheek. It was perhaps the first and only time she's ever shown such a gesture to anyone. "Do not blame yourself for what you saw. That is out of your paws. Focus on yourself. Allowing yourself to succumb to fear will be what leads you to death," she keeps her voice quiet, and while still rough and stilted, she tries to be comforting in the only way she knows. Stern, forward, and straight to the point. "Have you seen others aside from him that appear sick?" Curiosity will kill her, but so will her selfish need to survive. If this means eradicating every animal and wolf that gets sick, so be it.

"speech"