Cerulean Cape she don’t got a lot to say but there’s something about her

she spoke his tongue, and he smiled, filled with pride and joy to hear it fall from her mouth, even if it was the slightest bit off. "chikni raat," he echoed, his voice quiet, the barest breath in the cool night air. she began to list off names, names he'd heard at the hunter's moon but couldn't quite put faces to. that was fine, if he knew where she was going--

family. he smiled at that, giving her a nod. they were family, bound by marriage. it seemed so completely improbable that it would have happened so, that his rescuer would become family by mere circumstance. the right place, the right time. or had it all been fated?

undersea. here a shiver, icy-cold, rippled down his spine. the sleek woman had spoken this word to him before, in her halting sweet tones, in much different circumstances. where the claws of death still pulled at his every muscle, his sodden pelt dragging him into the abyss. he'd been half-dead, senseless, washed ashore on the isle just across the channel. undersea.

and she had saved him.

"thank you," he whispered, touching his nose gently to hers. he owed her his life, and for that he'd never be able to repay her. but he could love her. . .and perhaps that was enough.