Morningside Cuesta isn't hope an animal?

The words first echoed around in his mind and then, once understood, seemed to fill him up and break him open. It wasn't I love you, but he felt like ten men in that moment, looking down at Adeline's face like she was a woman speaking a woman's words, and not his frightened niece speaking the words of a child. He couldn't stop the tidal waves of euphoria that continued to wash over him, and through him, after a time.

The tide urged him closer to Adeline. Didn't it always?

"I always want to be with you," he told her, as he'd told her time and again. His legs carried him toward her, but he slipped by at the last moment, bounding a few paces away to rid his legs of the charged, restless energy that'd taken hold of him. There, he reared back and wheel around toward her, dropping into a playful bow when he was facing her again.