Mal starts forward, not to threaten but because he wants to help, because he still thinks he knows what's best. She might appreciate the good intentions if she didn't know what would happen if he gets her blood into his system. Would he even wake up if he started to turn into a hungry? Or would he just run through the woods, mindlessly tearing into any other dreamers he came across? She can't let that happen, she won't, and she scrambles backward accordingly as Nikolaos plants himself between her and Mal, teeth bared.
Then Aziraphale is there, just as he promised, wings flared and a blazing sword in his hand. Melanie stills, floored by the sight of him. Her heart clenches in much the same way that it had when Miss Justineau had crashed into Dr. Caldwell's lab with a fire extinguisher. For someone so good to do something so big, for her, it's so much more than she deserves, and she is so, so desperately grateful.
But she doesn't want anyone to get hurt. "He doesn't know what's going on," she explains in a panicked rush, "and Niko scared him and I just--I was so stupid." And there's no excuse for it, really; the star pupil should have been able to figure out the right thing to do.
"We tried to explain," Niko says. He still sounds annoyed, but now that help has arrived, much of the earlier anger has been supplanted by worry. Still, he stands his ground, hackles raised, just beneath Aziraphale's left wing.
Melanie watches the standoff anxiously, but her attention is diverted by Orisa's sudden arrival. "Oh," she says, astonished, as the snake curls around her like a hug, smooth and strong and warm from the angel's body heat. She nudges her head against Melanie's free hand, and the girl's fingers brush against the tiny, soft scales around her neck. "You shouldn't be here," Melanie says, little as she actually wants to send Orisa away. "It's not safe. I'm bleeding."
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Then Aziraphale is there, just as he promised, wings flared and a blazing sword in his hand. Melanie stills, floored by the sight of him. Her heart clenches in much the same way that it had when Miss Justineau had crashed into Dr. Caldwell's lab with a fire extinguisher. For someone so good to do something so big, for her, it's so much more than she deserves, and she is so, so desperately grateful.
But she doesn't want anyone to get hurt. "He doesn't know what's going on," she explains in a panicked rush, "and Niko scared him and I just--I was so stupid." And there's no excuse for it, really; the star pupil should have been able to figure out the right thing to do.
"We tried to explain," Niko says. He still sounds annoyed, but now that help has arrived, much of the earlier anger has been supplanted by worry. Still, he stands his ground, hackles raised, just beneath Aziraphale's left wing.
Melanie watches the standoff anxiously, but her attention is diverted by Orisa's sudden arrival. "Oh," she says, astonished, as the snake curls around her like a hug, smooth and strong and warm from the angel's body heat. She nudges her head against Melanie's free hand, and the girl's fingers brush against the tiny, soft scales around her neck. "You shouldn't be here," Melanie says, little as she actually wants to send Orisa away. "It's not safe. I'm bleeding."