#edit: ACCIDENTALLY PUT MALLEO TAG HERE BY ACCIDENT LOL

[unblot]

@savanaclawed​​ :    leona doesn't often concern himself with others — doesn't often have friends to concern himself with in the first place. but salem's close enough that leona wouldn't scoff if someone called them his friend, and he notices when they're acting... off today. he tries to ignore it, tries to not care, tries to sleep through it ... to no avail. he cracks an eye open, peering up and back at salem where he's sitting just beside the previously - trying - to - nap lion. "what's eatin' you??" he asks without a lead - in, cutting right to the point. "you're not normally so... gloomy." and then he's giving up on his nap completely, sitting up with a sigh through his nose to turn and fix salem with an almost - serious gaze.

salem’s never quite sure what to do with attention, most of all positive attention. they’ve gone so long without it that each time they’re faced with it they feel ill-prepared at best & vaguely uncomfortable at worst. salem especially doesn’t know how to deal with questions about himself. he can’t exactly lie can he? so often being questioned just makes them run & hide. which is ultimately what they often do when faced with prying questions, especially when it concerns one rook hunt. 

but leona is not rook & he holds salem’s gaze with a graveness they so rarely see. he faces them not like a hunter cornering its prey but like a friend outstretching an open hand to them. truthfully salem doesn’t know what to make of that. rooks prying is..invasive & annoying but somehow being shown genuine concern? it’s perhaps even more overwhelming, making his body tense up & cold blood run colder. 

❛    do i seem gloomy? i hadn’t realized...    ❜  it’s an attempt to deflect & respond without having to answer the question at hand. but there’s some sincerity to it as well. salem’s not exactly what you would call self aware when it comes to how they’re perceived. ❛   i guess i’m just...sad.    ❜  at least...that’s what he thinks he feels. it’s been some time since he’s been able to familiarize himself with things like emotions. how ironic that the first few times they feel something it’s something so unpleasant. they suppose it’s better than nothing. though at present salem feels too...sad to be grateful for that.  ❛    i’m sorry. i didn’t mean to worry you.    ❜

#savanaclawed #asks. #interactions: salem. #wehhhhhhhhh #friends ;____; #edit: ACCIDENTALLY PUT MALLEO TAG HERE BY ACCIDENT LOL