[center][h1]Meredith and Woof[/h1]
[i]Plus some other extras[/i]
[@KillamriX88][/center]

Unrelenting. Craving. Predatory. Her opponent had no chance of escaping, as Meredith struck with a firm hand. It did not scream for mercy. It couldn't. Sweets  were notorious for being helpless before the half-demon's cravings. She took a mouthful of the pancake, carefully avoiding the thick syrup to fall on the very big target that was beneath the mouth. Although the bit she had just was slightly smaller than she used to and she did have more wriggle room than before, she still was head over heels for sweets. Meredith eyed Wolf intently for a second. "This is good." She added, after swallowing. "But there is one big issue"

Wolf looked up from his food. It was less... sugary than Meredith's. Unfortunately, he was fully human and had a warrior's physique to maintain.

Not that anyone would guess at a glance due to his smaller than average frame.

"Um, what?" Most people wouldn't have been immediately worried, but, well, this was Meredith talking. Wolf felt like he had 99 problems and Meredith was 99% of them. He'd been hoping they were done with "issues" for the day.

Meredith just looked at Wolf, smiling coyly before leaning forward and pulling her phone out of her pocket. "Selfie!" She added. "We lacked one, Woofie." she finished as she took the snapshot rather quick.

If the picture was cute, it was only because Meredith was. You know, when she wasn't giving into her demonic tendencies and trying to kill people. Wolf meanwhile had the classic deer in the headlights look of one who'd been totally caught off guard.

". . . was. . . was the the issue?" Wolf blinked, still a little dazed from the sudden photographic assault.

"It seems as if it looks we are cheating on your girlfriend. So i just invited her." Meredith added. "With the picture. Probably won't answer otherwise."

Wolf didn't answer her. He had to process this. She was just joking, right? There was no way she'd just pull this kind of stunt. If this was real, then Vera would have a full-blown nuclear meltdown. No, he'd probably just misheard her and she was teasing him or something. The ramifications of it otherwise were... disconcerting. Here he was trying to act like he could keep an eye on or even control Meredith, and she was sneaking around and pulling stuff like this right in front of him. It was full minutes before Wolf actually managed to speak.

"Wh-what?" It wasn't exactly profound.

Meredith's expression was surprisingly neutral, before she resumed her pancake eating. "Wolf, relax. It's not like we are doing something forbidden, nor you are being unfaithful. You can't seriously expect me to believe Vera Goh is scarier than mother."  She paused. " What can she do you in the end, break up with you? I am the one far more at risk here. But it does not compare to losing half of your face. "

Exactly. She could break up with him. A fear that he was sure no one else would ever understand considering how poorly the two seemed to get along. Hell, he wasn't sure he understood it himself. Regardless, if it were to happen, he didn't want it to happen like this over some stupid misunderstanding. They'd been through too much together at this point.

He didn't answer Meredith at all this time, just sort of zoning out and waiting.

They didn't have to wait long.

Suddenly the door to the little diner was practically kicked open.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU!?!?" Vera's shrill voice filled the building, drowning out and silencing every other conversation. So deafening was her scream that no doubt even the inanimate toasters were startled and someone would be getting some badly burned toast.

Wolf jolted in his seat and then quickly jumped up and ran over to Vera, putting his hand over her mouth and dragging her outside before she caused any more of a scene.

The second they stopped she ripped his hand off her mouth.

"Are you insane?!" she berated him.

"N-no, I-"

"You're really just hanging out and getting breakfast together now?! How can you trust her!?" She was relentless and only getting angrier with each passing second. "You need to cut her loose!"

"Well ignoring her caused this in the first place!" Wolf countered.

"Excuse me?!" Vera jabbed him in the chest with her finger. "Does that excuse her being a murderer!?"

"Sh-she's not a-"

"SHE TRIED TO BE!" Vera was straight up screaming again. "And in case you forgot, SHE WAS TRYING TO KILL ME!"

"B-but-" Wolf was at a loss. How did one argue against [i]that[/i]?
"A-and you're just... when I... i-is that all I-" And with hardly any time to process what she'd just thrown at him, and long before his ears could stop ringing, she just started crying. 

His first cynical thought was that she was just putting on a show to manipulate him and get her way, but it didn't fit. One thing he really did appreciate about her, for better or worse, was her unfailing, cold, brutal, almost cruel, honesty. She spoke her mind without hesitation in a world where she was helpless before people who could vaporize her with a thought. 

Of course he usually ended up having to fight any battles she started, but he was pretty sure she usually didn't mean to actually start a fight. Though, when she did, she usually considered that a win on her part.

It was around then that an older couple left the diner, casting dirty looks at Wolf on their way by. One could only imagine what they were thinking.

"Wh-what the fuck are you looking at, huh!? FUCK OFF!" Vera caught it too and quickly reminded them to mind their own business. Their expressions turned to pitying disgust before hurrying off.
It was at this point that Wolf threw caution to the wind. At the end of the day, as weird as their relationship was, she was still his girlfriend and she was still upset. So... why not just hug her?

"Wh-wh-what are you-" Vera froze up.

"Um... you were upset?" Wolf swallowed hard.

"Am... I am upset..." she muttered. "L-let go!" He quickly did so, but she actually did seem calmer. Her face was red, but Wolf assumed it was from crying. "F-fine, explain, fast!"

"Meredith is my friend, but I... sorta neglected her. Her mother is literally a demon and I wasn't there to support her. That's... all I've got." Wolf shrugged helplessly.

". . . If this gets me killed I hope you suffer for the rest of your life." Vera narrowed her eyes.

"I. . . I wouldn't let her-"

"Like how you wouldn't let me get kidnapped?" He flinched. "It's not always that easy."

"I just don't want to think she's a lost cause."

"Whatever. It's not up to me apparently..." Astonishingly, it seemed she'd given in. Wolf would never understand why, but he'd take it.

Meredith eyed the couple from her half finished stack of pancakes. She eyed the fight with a keen gaze, and flinched upon being called a murderer. Well she did not call the cops, good. The other people in the restaurant would write it as an outburst. Now she needed to move things forward.

"I was a heinous bitch to you and I am truly sorry. Do not take it on your boyfriend. He is kind beyond any sort of common sense."

Vera ground her teeth together as she was forced to stand in the presence of Meredith as she joined them outside.

"Clearly..." she growled. "And personally, I'd say that's letting you off easy." Vera could think of a lot of other, more vile and accurate things to call her.

Wolf wanted to play peacekeeper, he really did, but how did one even go about asking someone to be nicer to the person who'd basically hired a hitman to kidnap them? In the end, he just sort of fidgeted and hoped they would at least keep things somewhat civil, as icy as it might be.

"Well yes. Disregarding the fact today someone melted half of my face off pulling a prank and i am basically a gopher for a youth detective. I am done  making excuses. " Meredith added. "And i got really busy when i helped fighting the cultists after that Lightbringer cut my throat." She put a hand to her hip. "And Wolf clearly doesn't want to give up on me. He went to see mother, alone."

"Great. Well none of that undoes or will ever undo what he did to me because of you," Vera spat. Then she fully processed what Meredith had said. "Wait you did WHAT?!"

"I-I... sort of... confronted her mother about how she's been influencing Meredith..." Wolf mumbled. It sounded really dumb after just plainly stating how the woman was a literal demon.

"Alone?!"

"A-alone..."

"You really do have no sense."

"A-apparently..." Wolf sighed. Well, it had kind of worked out when you thought about it.

"I know. But he is riff raff when one comes to think about it. And Wolf nearly trashed him. He was kind of scary seeing him snap. " Meredith say. "Well if you really want to hold a grudge forever be my guest. Personally i am tired and sick of it. I even paid back that throat slicer, Lightbringer."

"Good, because all you've done is finally give me a real reason to hate you." Vera had never been the most forgiving person. "Backstabbers don't earn back their trust in a week." Personally, she didn't see why she should ever trust Meredith or get over this. She'd been Wolf's closest friend, but that hadn't stopped her from going full psycho and betraying them.

"M-maybe... we should stop. For now," Wolf suggested. There was no way in hell Vera was going to come to terms with this any time soon. That fact that she'd stopped calling for Meredith's head was an achievement all on its own. Forgiveness... was a pipe dream.

Meredith raised an eyebrow as she walked towards Vera, her face beaming one of those smiles not unlike her mother as she came within inches of her.  "I wish you a long fruitful relationship. I care not about your forgiveness. I only ask for one thing. Make my best friend, brave and kind to a fault, be happy. "

"Wh-what? I-I-I don't... Y-you have no right t-to-" Vera stammered, unsure how to respond. She couldn't bring herself to outright say no in front of Wolf. As difficult as their relationship was, she'd never straight to his face suggested she wanted to make him miserable. Despite what people might think, she didn't date people with the express intent of torturing them.

That said, she didn't exactly want to say yes to Meredith, if only because it was Meredith.

"W-well why don't you look at yourself, first!" She crossed her arms and looked away. If anyone had been making Wolf unhappy lately, it was the half-demon herself!

Meanwhile Wolf was on red alert as mental alarm bells rung. Meredith was acting very non-Meredith at the moment. The one thing he did know was how his friend normally acted, and he was seeing little things that were more like how her mother acted... which was bad.

But she didn't seem to be doing anything. Yet.

Meredith's smile only grew wider, as she looked at the usual imposing Vera faltering and stammering, only to answer with a weak retort. Exploiting the fact that she had turned her gaze away, she shot a wink of complicity towards Wolf.  She then wrapped her arms around Vera softly. "Oh, you want to give me a chance for him to be happy with me? How ...nice of you. Perhaps we can share. It could work, you're a looker yourself." Meredith whispered softly as she tried to nuzzle closer to her.

Time froze for Vera as Meredith hugged her. At fist it was just shock, but then it was revulsion. The last person she wanted touching her was Meredith. OK fine, that was Galbrek, but Meredith was a close second. The list of people she was OK with touching her, period, these days was extremely short.

And then time resumed.

"GET THE FUCK OFF ME!" She began frantically trying to pry Meredith off her. Vera's reaction from the outside seemed extreme, but on the inside Vera was still holding back. Before Meredith could tighten the embrace, Vera did finally worm free. "You know damn well that's not what I meant! If you ever touch me again I'll claw your eyes out!" 

Vera had hit her limit and stomped away, unable to look at Meredith anymore.

"Let her go..." Wolf spoke up before Meredith got any more ideas.

"It was never my intention to retain her." Meredith added, as she let her go in a tone. "I guess I went a little too far. Let me apologize at the very least." Meredith added, before she ran after Vera.

For the second time that day, Wolf grew at least half a spine.

He grabbed Meredith firmly by the arm before she could get far.

"No. I don't know if you really care about apologizing, but don't do it now. It won't accomplish anything. Leave her alone." He might not have understood Meredith anymore, and even Vera felt a little off as of late, but he knew her well enough to know that if Meredith spoke to her again, she was going to go nuclear. And maybe, just maybe, his protective instincts had kicked in.

Meredith did not reply to Wolf immediatedly, instead just clenched her teeth and powered through the boy's attempt to stop her. "Come hell or high water, I will apologize, Wolfram.  Even if you drive a sword through me. Or are you saying i should let this stew and have her get the wrong idea about everything? " She added , as she firmly grasped Wolf in response and began to run dragging him too.

Why did she have to be so damn strong? At this point he almost [I]did[/I] consider stabbing her to slow her down. She'd live, right? But no, that was a bit extreme. He considered using an armor or a weapon, but that seemed extreme too.

"D-do you want me to trust you again or not?!" Wolf suddenly snapped. "Trust [I]me[/I] when I say this will only make things worse! You're not helping!" He didn't want to have to guilt her, but he also needed to find SOME way to... control her? He didn't like the thought that he had to somehow keep control of Meredith like some sort of wild animal, but lately all she did was sow chaos.

Meredith suddenly stopped at his words.   "I know. But i can't bear the thought of my misgivings being taken on you. I guess I must deal with it." She paused and faced Wolf, before pulling out her cellphone. "This is Alexander's number. William's brother. He is chaperoning me because of my misgivings. One call is all you need, and I will be locked forever. Do tell her."

". . . I know how things look from where you're standing, between Vera and I, and maybe sometimes it really is how it looks, but... yeah she's gonna be grumpy because she knows you're around, but she's not going to think I'm betraying her or something. We... have that going for us, at least." Honestly, Wolf had never thought that deeply about his relationship with Vera before. Part of him hadn't [I]wanted[/I] to analyze it, afraid of what conclusions he might draw. 

That said, Vera [I]was[/I] honest. He liked to think he was too. There was a comfort in the fact that there was a certain level of trust there. He never really had to guess too much about what was going on.

He looked down at the number presented to him. Locked? Forever? Wasn't it the perfect solution? If anything, Meredith had made her own decisions. Even if he didn't use it now, and why would he, wasn't it the ultimate back-up plan? She'd brought herself to this point, mother's influence or not.

But he couldn't. He didn't want to be tempted. Somehow the memories of their shared childhood still outweighed her sins.

"Thank you..." He pushed the phone away, back toward Meredith without copying the number. "Yeah, maybe I feel like I need to reign you in. I'm still... nervous, but... I [I]don't[/I] want to be holding a gun to your head." It might have only been her powers, he assumed, but... even so, how could he rebuild trust if he refused to give her any?
"I'll tell Vera you wanted to apologize later. I... doubt it will do anything, but I will," he finally relented.

Meredith just stood there, looking at her phone, then at Wolf. Then at the phone. It seemed like a weight came off her shoulders as she slumped slightly. "It's fine. I never had the most stable life. " She added, as she leant and picked up a small discarded pebble. Her index claw suddenly stretched, as she carved a glyph on it, drawing blood from her lip, and then tossed it to Wolf. "Sleep charm, surely you recognize this. Could be helpful with nightmares."

"Thanks..." Wolf took it. Nightmares. Well, he couldn't claim he never had them anymore, but it had been a while since the worst of them. "Look, I should check on Vera, but... we'll talk again soon, I promise." It was a promise he intended to keep -- for all their sakes.