Yes, she was hiding. Was there something wrong with that? No, of course not. Anybody who thought otherwise was probaby obnoxious and not worth her time, anyway. Her shoulder hurt, she was exhausted, she was slightly disgruntled and she had a lot to think about and thus, she was totally in the right to be hiding away from the rest of Diveen. Besides, if somebody wanted to talk to her, they could damn well come and find her and well, if they didn't know where she was then her previous point remained: they were likely obnoxious and thus did not know for a reason. That was one of the simplest pleasures of making her home on the outskirts of Diveen, far from the bustling center. When she wanted her alone time, she really did get it.

Most of her said alone time had been spent asleep or obsessively cleaning her wounds in an effort to avoid her own thoughts, a process that apparently worked. She didn't think she'd ever been as clean as she was come the aftermath of the war - perhaps she would have to parade about sometime to show them all just how nice she could look if she tried. Heyel would have been proud, hell, maybe even Azrael would have given her a nod of approval. As much as she tried to avoid both the outside world and her own mind, there was one thing she could not ignore and that was the voice she heard getting progressively closer. Oh, no. No, no, no. She knew that voice because, well damn, she had been the one who had made that voice. Melek!

Her reaction? To back up as much as she could inside her den until her back end slammed against the earthen wall. Even if the girl stuck her head in, she'd see nothing but blackness though the shallow, almost panicked sound of Malina's breathing would give it away. If Brooke had been telling the truth and Malina had been indeed seeing the truth then Melek was almost as bad as she had been as a puppy. No thanks. She'd given Heyel hell and now what? She had to feel like Heyel! Of course, as she had expected, the girl had no intention of leaving her alone and soon enough, she resigned to her fate and began to emerge, sighing and groaning just so Melek knew just how much of a pain she was.

She only half emerged, sticking her front half out of the den and meeting the girl's gaze. They were practically the same height this way, which gave Malina a very good chance to see just how much the girl really resembled Brooke. Good, she figured, because that meant there could be no real suspicions. Honestly, it had been an easier transition than she had imagined, the whole being a sister rather than a mother deal. Yes, it was much better for all of them that way because the girl would have undoubtedly been more unruly under the control of Malina.

"Hoc unum?"

This one? She smirked, raising a brow and cocking her head to the side while blinking expectantly up at the girl. Why did she want to learn so badly? Wasn't Beowulf teaching her?

"What weird boy? And tell me what makes you think you can boss me around, tibus caput?"

Butt head. Yes, the perfect nickname for her daughter.

A S T A R O T H
[ six - dark angel of diveen ]