It was hard for her to say which was more refreshing - that she had indeed found Rogue or that when Rogue looked to her, it was not in malice or rage. Malina had paused, smiling weakly but still smiling as Rogue surged towards her. She wanted to run forward, too, to meet faster but her shoulder resisted, stiffening in protest at the mere thought of such an activity. For now, she was rooted on the spot but still... Rogue was coming... did it matter if she couldn't run? What mattered is that now she could stop her searching and with any luck, or a lot of it, she could stop her worrying. That's why she had come. She had to put her mind to rest and know what it was Rogue thought. She'd expected anger and yet, there was nothing but worry, a worry that Malina dismissed. She was fine!

"I'm talking about letting her get too close to you. I did not expect that she would bother with the war, with fighting for another. I was wrong."

Ava - really, she was an oddball and from now on, Malina had decided to keep a closer eye on her. Thought the girl was certainly one of the more tolerable wolves of Diveen, she had always been strange but weren't they all? Still, she did not wish for the behemoth woman to chase Rogue down and finish what she had attempted to start. Malina would be there this time, long before the first bite was taken, if it were to ever happen again. Rather than pull away from Rogue's insistent cleaning, she leaned into it, knowing that such an act was more of a sign of forgiveness than any worsd were - lest Rogue was simply tasting her blood but she pushed that thought aside. Truly, Malina probably didn't taste that good, not good enough to eat at least, no matter how mad Rogue might have been. Just as Rogue cleaned her, she too began to gently lap at the wounds of her friend's neck, noting the work that had been performed. Healing? Where on earth had Rogue encountered a Healer? Still, she was going to clean her friend! Rogue didn't need a Healer friend so long as she had Malina!

She listened as Rogue stepped back, her eyes instantly drawn to the wounds over her muzzle. Really, she couldn't help but frown in both agitation of the wound itself and of Ava's apparently tactless disregard for subtlety. Luckily, most of Rogue's muzzle seemed manageable though the lesions on the top seemed fragile, too prone to breaking as they did so slightly. Mentally, she took note to keep an eye on such wounds - if Rogue had intended to lose Malina after this encounter, she was wrong. Now that she had been found, she would be ghosted until she was entirely healed and safe. Even as Rogue spoke, she watched the wounds, holding her breath as if she expected them to split apart at any second. No, Rogue needed to see a truly skilled Healer. She needed to see Brooke - surely her own mother could not say no to her daughter's request. Rogue wasn't truly an enemy, anyway. What would it take for Diveen to understand that, she wondered?

"Nothing is your fault - you are wrong to think such a thing."

She shook her head slowly, frowning and snorting in disagreement before stepping forward slowly, bridging the space between them somewhat.

"I cannot hate you. Please, hate me though. I should have been there before anything could have befallen you. Let me tend to your wounds - I know little but I know enough Healing to mend the wound over your muzzle. It is the least I can do."

Of course, once she was recovered, Malina would begin the onslaught of apology items - hares, doves, fish, whatever Rogue desired. It had been her fault for not stopping Ava, for not leaving Diveen when she had the chance, for not stealing Rogue away from them all. She could have done so much more and yet, she had to deal with what she had been given. She sighed, partially from relief but also in exasperation. Simply imagining the things she would have to do to make her failure up to Rogue was exhausting.

M A L I N A
[ six - dark angel of diveen ]


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