Finally relieved

CALLISTO

Walk | Talk | Think
 
She stopped him with her voice, made him hesitate before Maximous eventually lifted his bright blue eyes to look at her, and she met them without hesitation. He seemed about as surprised as she felt, only managing to murmur her name before falling quiet with a look that made her wonder whether he ever anticipated seeing her again. And made her wish then that she had given more thought to explaining her absence before now. The details were not those Callisto wished to be made public, though the effect the events had left on her physically were likely evidence enough to those keen enough to realize. Being the one wolf to ever spend much time with her in Ebony, she wondered if Max would see, if he would guess, and, even more, if he would bring it up. 

Though she was admittedly happy to see him, and relieved by his gentle personality, the grey and black wolf felt oddly exposed standing before him and his observant healer's gaze, for once feeling awkward in his presence. Her tail twitched, the only fidgeting that she allowed as she averted her gaze, and she only dared to glance up at him once as he stepped closer with that familiar smile upon his face. She thought, for a second, he might reach out to her, felt her body tensing in preparation, but he kept his distance, either knowing her well enough not to try or having no such intentions after all. 

Callisto kept her gaze averted, afraid of what she might read in his, until he mentioned her leaving. Her gaze rose to meet his then, once again without wavering, and she answered steadily, sternly, "I didn't leave." That, at least, had to be made clear. if things had gone her way, she would have finished exploring that dark cavern without running into anyone and gone back home without stumbling into any trouble. She would have lived the whole winter season in comfort within her home. But fate, or whatever cruel being was dictating her life, had decided otherwise. Still, she was not ready to speak aloud what exactly had drawn her away, what torments she had lived through to get here, and so she followed her first comment up with a quieter, more subdued tone. "And I don't want to talk about it." Max had always been the understanding sort with her; she hoped he would be now and respect her wishes. 

To try and deter the conversation, to steer it back toward things that were on her mind, questions that desperately needed answers, she offered a new observation. "My den's empty." 

Image by Maka.