OOC.
Word Count → 540
Neela shuddered at the cold look Adelle was giving her. Her body moved unconsciously, curling up around her stomach as best she could and shifting to put it facing away from Adelle, lips curling the tiniest fraction to expose razor sharp teeth – Neela had made a point to keep her teeth in good condition since being confined to Lupus form.
Neela shuddered at Adelle’s answer to her question. The words themselves were taken straight from the mouth of a melodramatic teenager but between the recent death and how much Adelle obviously believed them had Neela worried. For almost a minute she was silent, staring eyes scrutinising Adelle before she let out a low sigh. ”It hurts, I know, but it’s not the end of the world. I’m not going to bullshit you and pretend it will get better quickly, or that it will ever fully heal, but it will get better.” Neela forced herself to untense somewhat, releasing the tight curl her body had taken but still keeping her stomach away from Adelle, ”Death is a part of life always lurking in the shadows to strike when you least expect it. The world cares little for the likes of us, it will go on long after me and you and everyone we’ve loved is long dead, take it coming from someone a hella lot older than ya kiddo”
Often it could be said that Neela looked younger than she was, she took good care of her body and fur to make it so, but at the moment she looked and felt all 5 of her years and many more, old and tired. ”All my family is dead, aside from Tony and those I carry inside me now. My father died before I was even born, my mother tried to kill me herself and my mate and son died because of me. Every one of their deaths hurt, even my father who I’ve never seen, even my bloody mother who I had to kill in self defence! She was a murderous bitch but she was family. If you love someone you’re opening yourself up to hurt when they die, and if you stop loving people that you’ve lost, let life beat you.” Neela sighed again, a long, deep, weary sound that forced its way past her lips. She hated talking about death. ”We just have to carry on best we can when it happens, remember that one person dying isn’t the end of everything and look to those who’re still there.“
Neela hesitated for a moment but then continued, admitting something she had never done before. ”When my mate died I was alone, I had no one. I was just drifting about on my boat. Didn’t take care of myself, even tried to kill myself at one point.” Neela twisted her paws over, showing thin pink lines across where her wrists would be if her Lupine form had wrists as such. ”I got lucky; I botched the suicide and my drifting brought me here. You’re not alone Adelle. Your grandfather is dead but you have an entire pack that cares about you, and doubtless many more outside it. The world will go on, you have to drag yourself along with it.”
