Bitterroot Valley You got some shit to say and I'm hear to listen

Liri takes a moment to enjoy the warmth of him around her, the scent of them heavy and damp in the misty air. There's agitation in her chest - she's not been a fan of storms since the locusts - but Liri forces herself to remain calm though her ears remained flattened against the deafening sounds of thunder. The pallid sylph twists a bit in her position to clean mud and grit from her coat before turning to Kavik's wild black mane. She gives him a fond chuckle - admiring how cute he can be - and does her best to straighten it out for him. 

Once they're clean - or clean as they can be - Liri rests against him, trying to block out the storm. She fails. 

The sylph turns and finds herself gazing at Kavik with an expression of intrigue and adoration, as if seeing him all over again for the first time. Her oak eyes trace the features of his face, lingering on his verdant optics and daringly; the girl's eyes flick down to his lips. He's everything she wanted from Remo as a child and everything she expected of Samuel. He's beautiful, she's decided some time ago, and he's strong and he's so fucking perfect that Liri is afraid that by getting too close she will besmirch him with her own shortcomings. 

"It took me so long to find you," she whispers aloud without meaning to. Her voice catches in her throat, choked with an emotion she dares not name. 

If...if she says it aloud, it's real. It won't just be a secret between them that everyone pretends not to know.

If it's real, it can be used to hurt her; Kavik could hurt her. Kavik could leave her. 

"Do you still want to know the rest of the story?" Liri turns away slightly, turning her speckled face to the darkness. She seems especially tiny against him and there's a vulnerability to the hunch of her shoulders, to the tone of her voice.

Her heart's about to pound right out of her chest and there's a prickling heat behind her eyes that feels suspiciously like tears. Liri curses them and herself - wishing she hadn't asked but seeing no way around it. If she's going to love him it will be with every piece of her heart and he must know it first.

If he was going to be offended by her damaged pieces - though she doubts this, or maybe just fervently hopes he won't - let it be now while she might still have a slim chance to recover.