"Meme! I'm okay, I was just-I needed to settle some things!"
"M-MASTER MAKA! YOU'RE-OH, NO, HE'S BACK!" Meme shrieks, backing away in fear. She flails her arms. "Maka," she sobs, calming down only when Maka insisted the mysterious man meant them no harm-he was only angry for the lack of cookies, Maka persisted. "Cookies?" Meme sniffles. "He just...wants cookies?"
"We-are renowned for our sweets, Meme, we make King-worthy desserts. That's why our school still exists," Maka coughs, hoping her thin lie broke through. Either Meme was as dense as Anya said she was or she was simply too spooked to really think about her excuse. Regardless, she accepted it, but clutched into her hand and would not move unless Soul led the way.
"M-Master Maka?" Meme whispers halfway through the forest, after stumbling over an uproot tree. Maka seemed more at ease with the frightening man, much to Meme's nausea. But Maka had returned fine and the mysterious man hadn't made one approach to hurt her...
"What's wrong?"
"...Is it just me, or does he have ears on top of his head?" Meme flicks her eyes to Maka before squinting against the dark, trying to discern the mysterious man Maka had decided to bring along in their journey from the dark.
"It's the dark, Meme," Maka dismisses, her trained eyes catching the sharp edges of his wolf ears. If Meme had looked down just a little, she'd see the sway of a tail as well. But Maka decides she doesn't need to seethat quite yet. Not until daybreak, when the dark was not so scary and the forest not so full of secrets.
Ahead, Soul gives a barking huff, and Meme nearly leaps into her arms.
"Wh-what was that?! Master Maka, what was that? It sounded like a wolf, oh no..."
"It's fine. It's just the forest," Maka repeats, patting Meme's arm. Her eyes don't leave Soul's back as she says this, lips upturning. "We'll be out of here soon. All of us." As an afterthought, Maka adds: "Together," and smiles when Soul's tail wags a little in the not-so-dark shadow ahead.
