Heron Lake Plateau [M] the red and the black

Her smile widened as he nosed her cheek in greeting, and the calm that settled between them as he sat beside her was comfortable and warm. She loved all her siblings with everything in her, particularly the ones she had raised alongside Finley, but Titmouse was quietly, secretly, her favorite. So many disliked him for his reckless ways and questionable choices, but perhaps that was what made her treasure him so much. He was the one little duckling she'd never been able to keep with the bunch, and where it drove others crazy with frustration, it only made her love him more.

She leaned into his solid warmth, loving that he was safe and alive and here. His voice came thick, his words freighted with the weight of so many mixed feelings as he inquired after Towhee, and Raven nodded. "She's fine," she answered with a soft sigh. "Questioning her decisions, for sure. As we all are." She pulled away from him and looked him over with a healer's care. "Are you hurt?" Sadly, she knew the worst of his wounds were on the inside, where she couldn't reach them to help them heal.