The map wasn't much of a loss; she could make another without much difficulty. She'd spent long enough studying it that it didn't matter as much as it could have, how the sharpness of the memories of their flight faded. The gold, however, the gold had taken a lot of doing. People didn't just leave that lying around, and the sight of a rat carrying a gold coin is incredibly telling.
Everything was a lot for her when she given nothing at all. The comment died on her lips, however. She wasn't dealing with Gareth. What good would explaining the situation do her? Even Gareth didn't understand her desperation. If even he didn't seem to think imprisonment, starving, isolation, boredom were enough to flee, then the King, who had decided her his property, wouldn't.
She didn't think her fear could escalate any further, but when he mentioned breaking her hands, it skyrocketed, a primal fear combined with a horribly practical one. "No, please," she begged, limited breath catching in her throat. He had let her neck go, but she hadn't so much as tried to wiggle away. Pointless. "Please, I'd be useless without my hands, please."
Unable to work, unable to produce, it meant a slow death. Maybe not right away, if the King's Guard kept up their limited feeding of her, but if they were permanently damaged, if she were hobbled. And in the meantime, what was she to do? She imagined months rolling by in a cold cell, nothing to fill her time, no way to fill her hands, and no Gareth for company.
The King intertwined their hands, a cruel mockery of what they'd been doing earlier, and she hated him and herself for ruining it. If she'd just kept playing pretend... But she'd had to try. It was one thing to be captured; it was another to allow yourself to be kept. There was a dog on a leash and then there was one that knew to heel. She whimpered, shaking like the last autumn leaf on the tree.
His next accusation struck almost as deep. "I do care about him," she snapped, surprising herself with both the statement and the vehemence with which she spat it. She took in a sharp breath, looking away. What was she to say? Protest and tell him all about her blossoming, doomed little puppy love? So he could grind it in her face later, or find some way to take that from her too?
"But that doesn't matter," she said, wondering if the King could possibly understand such a thing when he seemed to understand only the parts of her that she herself didn't. "It doesn't matter if I like him or how much. I'm not like you." He was never going to look at her like she was the most beautiful creature on earth, because she wasn't. "I'm... a project. He's workin' on me." She stared resolutely at a tree root, sticking out of the ground far enough to look like a little guillotine, or a noose, and recited. "What I think about it don't matter. What I feel about it don't matter."
"If you throw me back in," she pointed out. "I'll just be another pile of wet dog. I thought you wanted me to hang out with you tonight and find your friend." Her grin had nothing on the King's, even his human form, but she could still look a little predatory sometimes. Canines that were too sharp, other teeth a little more pointy than they should have been. It would scare a human, but it wouldn't scare Gareth.
"Why would I try you?" she asked innocently. "You're the one who smells. You should rinse yourself off. But maybe you want to spend the rest of the night smelling like wet dog and alcohol?" She tapped a finger against her chin, considering. "I suppose I couldn't judge you, if so. But you normally smell a lot better, you know. Pine wood and a little bit of engine grease." Her tail thumped against the ground. "You'd probably still be able to end the night with company smelling this way, but I'd feel bad for the company."
Everything was a lot for her when she given nothing at all. The comment died on her lips, however. She wasn't dealing with Gareth. What good would explaining the situation do her? Even Gareth didn't understand her desperation. If even he didn't seem to think imprisonment, starving, isolation, boredom were enough to flee, then the King, who had decided her his property, wouldn't.
She didn't think her fear could escalate any further, but when he mentioned breaking her hands, it skyrocketed, a primal fear combined with a horribly practical one. "No, please," she begged, limited breath catching in her throat. He had let her neck go, but she hadn't so much as tried to wiggle away. Pointless. "Please, I'd be useless without my hands, please."
Unable to work, unable to produce, it meant a slow death. Maybe not right away, if the King's Guard kept up their limited feeding of her, but if they were permanently damaged, if she were hobbled. And in the meantime, what was she to do? She imagined months rolling by in a cold cell, nothing to fill her time, no way to fill her hands, and no Gareth for company.
The King intertwined their hands, a cruel mockery of what they'd been doing earlier, and she hated him and herself for ruining it. If she'd just kept playing pretend... But she'd had to try. It was one thing to be captured; it was another to allow yourself to be kept. There was a dog on a leash and then there was one that knew to heel. She whimpered, shaking like the last autumn leaf on the tree.
His next accusation struck almost as deep. "I do care about him," she snapped, surprising herself with both the statement and the vehemence with which she spat it. She took in a sharp breath, looking away. What was she to say? Protest and tell him all about her blossoming, doomed little puppy love? So he could grind it in her face later, or find some way to take that from her too?
"But that doesn't matter," she said, wondering if the King could possibly understand such a thing when he seemed to understand only the parts of her that she herself didn't. "It doesn't matter if I like him or how much. I'm not like you." He was never going to look at her like she was the most beautiful creature on earth, because she wasn't. "I'm... a project. He's workin' on me." She stared resolutely at a tree root, sticking out of the ground far enough to look like a little guillotine, or a noose, and recited. "What I think about it don't matter. What I feel about it don't matter."
"If you throw me back in," she pointed out. "I'll just be another pile of wet dog. I thought you wanted me to hang out with you tonight and find your friend." Her grin had nothing on the King's, even his human form, but she could still look a little predatory sometimes. Canines that were too sharp, other teeth a little more pointy than they should have been. It would scare a human, but it wouldn't scare Gareth.
"Why would I try you?" she asked innocently. "You're the one who smells. You should rinse yourself off. But maybe you want to spend the rest of the night smelling like wet dog and alcohol?" She tapped a finger against her chin, considering. "I suppose I couldn't judge you, if so. But you normally smell a lot better, you know. Pine wood and a little bit of engine grease." Her tail thumped against the ground. "You'd probably still be able to end the night with company smelling this way, but I'd feel bad for the company."
The following 2 users Like SolitareLee's post: liarliaronapyre, Tindome
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Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-05-2019, 06:20 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-05-2019, 06:41 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-05-2019, 07:11 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-05-2019, 07:37 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-05-2019, 07:59 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-06-2019, 03:30 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-06-2019, 04:36 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-06-2019, 07:10 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-06-2019, 08:24 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-06-2019, 09:27 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-06-2019, 09:58 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-06-2019, 10:42 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-06-2019, 11:19 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-06-2019, 12:00 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-06-2019, 12:39 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-06-2019, 01:37 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-06-2019, 02:31 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-06-2019, 03:32 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-06-2019, 04:13 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-06-2019, 11:22 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-07-2019, 05:25 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-07-2019, 08:51 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-07-2019, 09:48 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-07-2019, 12:11 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-07-2019, 01:03 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-08-2019, 02:11 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-08-2019, 03:29 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-08-2019, 04:52 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-08-2019, 05:21 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-09-2019, 03:53 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-09-2019, 04:29 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-10-2019, 11:08 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-10-2019, 11:32 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-10-2019, 04:34 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-10-2019, 05:19 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-11-2019, 01:09 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-11-2019, 03:49 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-11-2019, 06:07 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-11-2019, 07:35 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-11-2019, 10:08 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-11-2019, 11:03 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-11-2019, 04:17 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-11-2019, 04:56 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-12-2019, 04:23 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-12-2019, 06:42 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-12-2019, 11:02 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-12-2019, 11:42 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-22-2019, 02:14 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-22-2019, 03:07 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-22-2019, 10:42 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-22-2019, 11:50 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-22-2019, 02:16 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-22-2019, 02:52 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-22-2019, 03:59 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-22-2019, 05:02 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-23-2019, 01:59 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-23-2019, 02:37 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-23-2019, 03:42 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-23-2019, 05:47 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-23-2019, 10:50 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-23-2019, 11:42 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-23-2019, 01:37 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-23-2019, 02:09 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-23-2019, 03:02 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-23-2019, 03:24 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-23-2019, 04:58 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-23-2019, 05:31 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-24-2019, 11:10 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-24-2019, 11:59 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-24-2019, 01:44 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-24-2019, 02:26 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-24-2019, 11:39 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-25-2019, 12:24 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-25-2019, 09:09 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-25-2019, 09:41 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-25-2019, 12:02 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-25-2019, 12:33 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-25-2019, 03:11 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-25-2019, 03:39 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-25-2019, 11:43 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-26-2019, 06:35 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-26-2019, 01:02 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-26-2019, 01:50 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-26-2019, 03:39 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-26-2019, 04:09 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-27-2019, 04:17 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-27-2019, 07:50 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-27-2019, 03:40 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-27-2019, 04:27 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-28-2019, 10:20 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-28-2019, 10:57 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-28-2019, 01:45 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-28-2019, 02:20 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-29-2019, 06:33 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-29-2019, 07:42 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-29-2019, 08:30 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-29-2019, 08:41 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-29-2019, 09:54 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-29-2019, 10:38 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-29-2019, 12:01 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-29-2019, 12:21 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-29-2019, 01:10 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-29-2019, 01:29 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-29-2019, 01:47 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-29-2019, 02:17 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-29-2019, 02:35 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-29-2019, 02:54 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-29-2019, 04:07 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-29-2019, 04:33 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-29-2019, 04:59 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-29-2019, 05:14 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-29-2019, 11:46 PM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-30-2019, 12:19 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-30-2019, 04:25 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-30-2019, 05:05 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-30-2019, 09:59 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-30-2019, 10:12 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-30-2019, 10:29 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-30-2019, 10:54 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 12-01-2019, 06:15 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 12-01-2019, 06:47 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 12-01-2019, 08:10 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 12-01-2019, 08:27 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by Tindome - 12-01-2019, 09:11 AM
RE: Beg Off [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 12-01-2019, 09:25 AM