[ pup recognizes something's wrong before cullen does. by the time she says 'this may have been his doing,' the dog is standing, growling low in his throat. cullen looks between his mabari and cecily, his heart sinking. he should have seen this coming. should have guessed that her--passenger would not want to be evicted. ]

Down, pup. [ it's said quietly, but the mabari does hunker down a little. it's clear the dog doesn't like it, isn't fond of being told not to protect his master, but--cullen's not going to risk the dog taking a bite out of cecily and something going terribly wrong.

after a moment's hesitation, cullen amends his command. ] Go home, pup. [ the dog whines. ] I know. I'll make sure she's alright. Go.

[ once the dog trots off, cullen turns back to his wife. no, what was once his wife. he can't think of her--it--in those terms if he wants to keep himself sane. he can't hesitate. not here. not with this. ]

Did you actually try the cure before? Or was that a lie?