C Sweet Like Honey [Closed with Thoughtless]

[AnonysaurusRex]

There was a certain freedom in the crisp air about Melite's head as she hurried down the busy sidewalk in the heart of downtown, hands buried into the fleece-lined pockets of her two-sizes-too-large bomber jacket. She hadn't had a night out to herself like this in months and tonight had only been made possible by weeks of picking apart every little weakness in the entourage that her father placed around her in the wake of the ambush, slipping away like some wayward teenager in the night out of her bedroom window and disappearing into the forest to wait until night gave her enough cover to slip into town. Melite felt foolish sneaking about as if she were not a grown woman capable of making her own choices but the reality was that despite how much she wished to the contrary... her father had taken away that last little bit of agency from her the moment the hunters murdered her brother. The memory was enough to make her wince, taking a sharp breath inward and feeling her nostrils fill with the scent of petrichor as she tried to stave off the tide of unpleasant emotion that usually followed, feeling her bear stir in the back of her mind as if she were still on the ground in the middle of that ambush.

"Not here," Melite whispered underneath her breath as she stopped at a crosswalk, squeezing her eyes closed as she tried to calm her restless beast. "Just let me enjoy this and I'll give you the rest of the night... until sunup. Promise."

She could feel the bear retreat into the dark recesses of her mind, sulking as if she had taken something away from the creature before falling silent. Melite sighed with relief as the signal changed from the red hand to the white figure, hurrying across the street towards the tavern that waited for her in the distance. She'd made this same walk a thousand times when she had had more freedom to roam, come to this same bar for a burger & a drink while watching a game or two but tonight? Tonight was different. Melite pressed her palms against the door and looked up as she waited for the familiar ring of the bell colliding with the door, her golden brown eyes lighting up and her olive skin wrinkling with a smile as she made eye contact with her favorite barkeep.

"Long time no see, Bob," She called across the bar as she stepped inside, the tall, stocky werebear woman elbowing her way through the crowd to take a stool at the opposite end of the bar from the customer the barkeep was currently with, a man who seemed to hunch over the counter and try to hide from the rest of the bar. "Jack and Coke as usual to start me off... just like old times."