THOTH & MORVEREN
Thoth nodded regretfully when Danny agreed to come back tomorrow, wishing it didn't have to be so. If it was him, he'd have gone now... but Danny was about four years younger than him, by the looks of things, and it probably wasn't all that safe to try and cross the channel at night. The last thing Thoth wanted was to be responsible for another one of his friends getting hurt – like on Apeliotes Island.
'Don't think about that,' Thoth scolded himself, but it was too late. The memory of the prison under the rocks, the pain, the fear, the bitter taste of blood and guilt on his tongue... he was certain it was all over. At best Arthur would find a way to save Tristan when the latter was moved to the drop-off point; at worst they were all dead. One way or another, Thoth knew then that he wasn't going to survive. His last regret, and the pounding dread that had haunted his nightmares since, was in knowing that he had led his best friend to his death. Thoth was never sure if he believed in gods or not, but someone had definitely been smiling down on them that day. They'd both escaped, alive, with the only lasting damage being Thoth's apparently unfixable bones.
But not the only lasting change. Not too long ago he wouldn't have understood why Danny couldn't go immediately; it's what he would have done. Now he paused, thought twice, and made the safer decision.
He didn't notice the sudden change which came over Danny's face, or really his hanging sentence. Unable to clearly read tone or facial expression, Thoth thought nothing of something he did several times a day – trailing off verbally when his thoughts wandered elsewhere. Unfortunately, that meant he also didn't really notice when Danny looked happier when the conversation turned to Morveren.
“Yeah, she's weird,” he agreed, recognising at least the Danny's tone wasn't sarcastic and appreciating his words. Thoth didn't get compliments very often. “Weirdest familiar I've ever come across. She's never spoken – not even telepathically. She doesn't seem to understand much more English than a dog.” He'd never told anyone that, except Tristan when he'd first met Morveren and Tristan had worked out that she was his familiar. Thoth hadn't even realised at first; he assumed all familiars had a telepathic link, but his and Morv's seemed to be purely empathic. She responded to feelings, not words. Difficult enough to communicate normally, since feelings were hard to control and convey, but it was now almost impossible since the empathic/telepathic link had been shut down. “Better go before she comes back,” he advised. “Otherwise she won't let you leave until you admire every inch of the damn rug.”
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