Blacktail Deer Plateau evolution of consciousness

Omfg, I knew he was going to say the L word first. I KNEW IT. Especially since he thought about saying it to Lasher in a very recent thread. I should have put money on it. Also, I couldn't help myself. Forgive me for quoting Star Wars (aka. best trilogy ever).

Fox spread out once Perry collapsed beside her, and she turned to look at him with her big doe eyes when he said his "hey." Her expression remained calm, even if her insides were twisting and turning as he spoke. She wanted to make him shut his mouth, but at the same time... the words that fell out of his muzzle were ones that she had expected for quite some time. And she had been carefully crafting an answer all the while.

“I know,” she said, not missing a beat. Fox punctuated this with a soft nip to his shoulder. But her words were anything but dismissive. Instead, she wanted him to understand that she did know this. Their romance had been anything but typical. Both of them had been involved with others before. Hell, Peregrine had children with Hawkeye, and Fox's own suitor had been given an unfair, untimely death.