"Why do you do that?" Jack's tone was terrifying in its quietness. Jack usually yelled and blustered - this stillness was beyond rage, it was the focus of a hunter on the prey it cornered and intended to slaughter. Ralph decided there was no safe answer to his question and wisely chose to remain silent. "If any of the other boys tried anything like that I'd beat the skin off their back." Ralph glanced keenly up at this; he could not resist the implication.
"Why are you different with me, then?" The answering silence was so freezing that Ralph sincerely regretted speaking and pressed back instinctively against the rough bark. "I mean," he continued, faltering although he fought not to, "since I'm the prisoner and all," Ralph could not stop the venom from slipping out with his voice.
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Back on the jalph train, and of course, I had to reread my favorite lotf fic of all time: Animal by Countess Plays-In-The-Rain. (Last updated in 2004... the author is now in their forties, but I still pray it'll be finished.) Please check it out if you haven't!
As you can clearly see I was not in the mood to deal with lines so I just colored a rough sketch and somehow the vibes came out just right.