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The witch pouted at this first statement, but let it easily fall into a smile before it dwindled to an interested grin as she listened to Mort.
"I was thinking of just such a thing!" Belladonna chimed in with a wave of her free index finger. "I haven't the faintest idea of what type of magic could bring them back, but certainly there is something... Probably along the lines of FEARhealing, but someone proficient in such a thing would have an easy task..." Here Belladonna pressed her chin into Mort's chest as she thought this out more. "A mix of technology and magic would certainly be interesting and probably best. Elbow grease? Well, lucky for you I know how to get elbow grease out of fabrics." She offered him a wink, but still her mind thought of various ideas of how to fix these transformed humans. Was it at all possible, or were they still so young they didn't know better?

"If you're going to rip anyone's throat out, save it for the Hunters themselves, my dear knight." And wouldn't it be just lovely to save those who could be saved! Oh, what a brave story that would be... Mort could be the knight and Belladonna his clever princess...
Yet just as her mind was about into take a step away in daydreaming, his voice took a melancholy turn and the witch turned her attentions back to him.
With a guarded face she listened, but as he continued her eyebrows dipped down to a fierce look.

"That's not going to happen." She began quietly, but with a firm, fierce voice. "They can't win forever. The more we learn about them, the easier it becomes to fight them. And we'll continue to learn and adapt. They have better technology now, but they don't have you. You can help us start to fight back." Her own hand reached up to touch the underside of his jaw. "And about the tubes... I won't let that happen. I'll do my best to protect you and I fight hard. You've not seen it, but I don't give up. I don't back down and I rarely lose. So don't worry. We'll win. We've got this." Belladonna offered him a reassuring smile and a squeeze of his hand.
OK. So maybe she had exaggerated a bit on the 'rarely loosing' part, but that didn't matter. She was still a fairly formidable foe and she truly wouldn't let anything happen to Mort. She would fight hardest of all to keep harm from him.

"Close? You didn't get a chance? Hmm. I'm not one for flesh, but if given a chance I'd take a bite out of those Hunters." Belladonna said with a frown, as she narrowed her eyes at the wall behind them. Even though Mort told her not to, she might just have to find one of these Hunters and try her hand at them. They sounded like major jerks.
But that would most likely be bad, so the witch only unhinged her angry stare and turned his gaze back to the boy underneath her.
And then he told her something dreadful.

"Mort..." She began softly, hoping to interrupt his strange speech, but he kept going and Belladonna's face quickly wilted into one of abject sadness. "I don't... I don't think I could do that... I... I..." How could he ask her such a thing? "It hurts too much to see you die in my dreams by another's hands... Let alone mine? I don't think I'm that strong..." Though she had come a long way since the crying fit, her voice and hands both started to shake as she considered all this. Just remembering how he screamed in her Insanity tinted dreams was enough to set her hands to shaking, but the thought of having to do it herself... It made the girl go pale and her blood run cold.
Belladonna wasn't the kind of person to give up, at all. If the chips were down and all that was left was to die or fight, she'd fight until she died. If the options were die, she would create more options until she died. But to kill someone you care so fiercely for? That was just... Madness.
If her dreams hadn't been bad enough already, they were about to get much worse, she was sure.
"That won't happen. If you get caught for weapon conversion, I'd figure out how to get you back. I could never let you die. I won't let something like that happen."

And just like that the soft moment that had blossomed between then instantly withered and died and Belladonna suddenly felt very anxious. Her breathing came quicker and she felt trapped. But then Mort took her face into her hands and she felt her heart breaking. Why would he ask her such a horrible thing? Why would he think that giving up would change anything?
"No..." Her reply was small and she tried to shake her head, but his hands were there and she wanted so much to concentrate on that. On the feel of his skin, on the chill there. On the idea that maybe, if she pretended hard enough, it could be a different, happier circumstance in which he held her face like that. "Please Mort, no..." Was all she could finally reply, her eyes wide and pleading as she looked at him.

There was nothing she feared more then dying. Not being able to exist anymore and do the things she wanted, see the people she cared for, fight the good fight. Why would he think that ending her chances for that would be what she wanted?
And by his own hand? Had he missed something in all their conversations? She wanted him, not to be killed by him, no matter the circumstances.
It was impossible to say anything but another small 'no', as Belladonna squeezed her eyes shut and tried not to cry again.
But it didn't work and one small tear bloomed from her eyelashes and rolled down her face.

"Ask anything else of me, please."
She would offer her heart, her body, whatever he wanted. There was nothing she would deny him, but her own life. Above all, that was most precious. It was something she had lost once before and it scared her too badly to even make promises that might never come to fruition about it. If she had life, she could fight. She could get anything else back, the world seemed conquerable with life. But if she lost that... There'd be nothing.

Something about the way he dropped his hands from her face frightened Belladonna, but what else could she do? He had asked her for a favor and she had refused. In some small way, he had a right to be angry with her.
But it didn't have to be like this. They had been happy. They just had to reclaim that happiness. Belladonna didn't know how, and though she felt a creeping sense of despair, she grabbed his hands back.
"Please... Don't be mad..." She whispered as she held them tight, wanting to press them to the warmth of her heart but hesitant for more than one reason. "I'm sorry... I just... I just can't..." There wasn't a way to back out of this. There wasn't a way she could fix this, but to barrel ahead and hope they broke through the wall of sadness and disillusionment they had built around themselves.

"You've not asked too much of me..." Belladonna whispered as she lowered her face to his chest. He didn't want to look at her, so why make it harder for him? "You just asked for something that I think you don't really want."
But what did Belladonna want?
Too much, apparently. She wanted to reach up and grab him and smother him in kisses until he laughed. She wanted him to be her's, all her's. She wanted him, but she wanted him to be happy.
What could she do to achieve that?

"May I ask something of you, then?" She finally asked, her face flushing despite herself. What she would ask was horrible, a terrible thing of her.
But things are already so complicated... Why not keep it going? A small voice in her head asked. So instead, Belladonna angled her face up to his and hoped her would not refuse her this.

The witch fidgeted against his chest for a moment before she chanced a look up at him. For a moment his gaze was diverted, but quickly enough he looked back down and she tried to hold his eyes to her's.
"Come back happy." She told him, though it was supposed to be phrased as a question. Or at least a favor. "Its been hard lately, yes. But it'll get better. Please know it will... You'll feel better after a break... And when you come back..." With a finger she gingerly reached up and touched one of the stitches next to his mouth. "I want a smile."

And because she could not stop herself, Belladonna reached up and placed a tentative kiss against the stitches, just a breath away from his mouth. They were rough to the touch, not what she had anticipated, but it still gave her a small thrill she didn't expect to enjoy.
As she pulled back, she gave him a small smile of her own, perhaps a little sad, but a smile nonetheless.
Hopefully asking for one in return wouldn't be too much.

For a long moment Belladonna could only stare up at him, pink eyes uncertain of the look she was being given. Did that mean no? Did that mean yes? There was only his staring at her and she beginning to wilt under that stare.
Until he said her name.
She melted slightly at it and when he calmly reached for her, she lifted her face to him easily. Her eyes swept shut and she let herself be kissed.
She hadn't expected it, though she had thought of doing it this entire time, but still it felt natural and wonderful. The cold seeped into her and she relished it before she sought more.

One hand clenched his shirt while the other found the curve of his shoulder and her fingertips pried the cloth away until they brushed the cold skin of his neck. Belladonna rotated forward so she could reach him more comfortable and pressed herself into him. She shouldn't push like this, but she couldn't stop. If this was what made him happy, then she was more than willing to oblige.
She would oblige all day, if need be.

The witch managed to mumble his name against his mouth before she took a breath and gave him a kiss of her own, a bit more than the chaste ones they had originally exchanged. The hand on his chest tightened as she pulled him closer and she was almost surprised by her need.
But, she was a very willful girl after all...

Where the witch had expected Mort to push away when she pushed forward, he did the opposite and instead invited her to him. With each new press, he only seemed to want more and Belladonna was more than willing to give. The chill of his hands on her, of his mouth against her's, was enough to make the witch give the softest of whimpers just as Lanna began yipping.
Somewhere in the very furthermost reaches of Belladonna's brain, a very loud warning signal went off. But it took much too long for the witch to hear it, and besides, a lovely boil was under her and kissing her and --
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

The sound of someone else had the witch up off the boy, her hands splayed on his chest as she sat up and looked extremely guilty. When she whirled back around and Mort informed her of who exactly it was, Belladonna thought she might have died.
In a flash she was off the bed and across the room, her hands flailing for something.
"Its ok! I'll just jump out the window!" She hissed as she searched for something she could use, even temporarily, as a flying device. But just as she had settled on the idea, she turned to the wall and nearly screamed.
HOW CAN YOU NOT HAVE A JACKING WINDOW IN YOUR JACK-DAMN ROOM!? JACKING HELL JACK JACK s**t JACK!!!
For a moment she could only flail helplessly, her mouth moving with a silent scream.

Belladonna whirled back around and could only look helplessly to Mort. Her dress wasn't crumbled and she quickly smoothed down her hair, so it only seemed that a random ghoul was in his room. Her mind raced with what she could say, what she could do that would help not make her look like the flagrant hussy she currently felt like.
Jack-damn, we can't even make-out with something going wrong... Belladonna thought with a sigh as she reached forward and grabbed Lanna and pressed the pup into her chest.
"Just answer the door... I'll take the heat. I'm just picking up Lanna after all." Belladonna finally whispered to Mort.
But it wouldn't be that easy. It couldn't be.
If it would have been that easy, Mort wouldn't have looked so freakishly freaked out at this moment. He had mentioned that his mother was protective, so it only figured that his mother would absolutely loathe Belladonna. And after things had finally started to go well, it all had to come crashing down around the witch in splintered fragments.
A mother's influence was usually very powerful and with Mort gone, there was no way Belladonna could come back from this.

It would have been easy for the witch to walk over and repeatedly smash her face into Mort's desk in her frustration, but she managed to refrain and instead only held Lanna and offered up a friendly smile as she waited for Mort to open the door and forever seal her fate.

If it had been at all possible for Belladonna to curl up under Mort's bed and just stay there until this storm blew over, the witch certainly would have taken the opportunity. It wouldn't have fixed anything but Hecate, it would have been nice. So instead of opting to curl up and die, the witch straightened her spine and shoulders and prepared to be on her best behavior. Her hand quickly skimmed over her lips in attempt to hold onto what had been, but moved to her hair for one last smooth down.

Then Mort had opened the door and a whirlwind of son and mother began and Belladonna tried to keep up her friendly smile. The boy was hardly taller then his mother, but they were both taller than Belladonna (and she had on heels too! Not fair!). But before Belladonna could really take any other details in, the woman was past Mort and staring at her.
Oh jack she knows!
"Hi!" Belladonna said instead.
How is it fair that she gets to be that pretty, but still look scary? Why can't I be scary? Why can't I just make out with Mort happily with no consequences? Why isn't anything faaaaair?!
"Yes! I'm going to take care of this fluff-ball until Mort gets back."

And just as suddenly, the woman was in front of her, hand stretched out. The witch looked at it for a moment, then up at the woman before she shifted Lanna to one hand. Sure to keep her grip firm, but light, Belladonna took the woman's hand and shook it once before she dipped into a curtsey. It was only customary after all.
"It is lovely to meet you Mrs. McNeal. I'm Belladonna Divine. Youngest of the Divine Daughters." Why had she said that?! Why had she said anything about her family!?
Because sometimes, if you are very lucky, your family will get you out of sticky situations like this. She quietly reminded herself.

"It was partly my fault." Belladonna chimed in when Ramona turned away. "I was asking Mort what he was planning on doing at home to keep himself busy and he was telling me about his machinery plans." The witch hoped with all her heart that Ms. Ramona was the kind of mother who encouraged her son's hobbies and did not look down on them. "I'm afraid I don't know a thing about machinery, only magic, so I kept asking questions and completely lost track of the time. I do so apologize." Belladonna offered the woman a small, bashful smile and hoped that the fluffy foxfire would also make the pair of them look as though butter wouldn't melt in the space between them.