Dawnlark Plains here we are again pretending [m]

She had found a replacement in him, somehow. It had happened by accident - but so did everything else - and this time Tavi wasn't about to lose him. So when their fun and games had ended (leaving Tavi breathing heavily, curling against Reek as he fell beside her) and there was a stillness, she was happy. When he spoke, the illusion of their goodness - or whatever this was - cracked. The crack spread the more Reek spoke, his whisper shifting from the husky sound of a tired voice to something ugly, and the moment was ruined.

At first Tavi wouldn't hear it. She breathed him in, sliding her face against the nearest patch of fur and burrowing; her lungs were pumping air so quickly she could've been a bellows in a past life - and then what he said clicked, and the fire went out of her. What? Tavi's voice was sharp and quick, and she dreamily lifts her head, adjusting so her chin is on her crossed paws.

You can't... Go back? But there was no reason for him to leave. Except -- Saena. As the woman breathes the name, the warmth pumping through her veins falters too; she feels the chill, and it settles in to the pit of her stomach. If Saena knew, then they'd both be in trouble. How does she know? That didn't seem to matter now. Tavi just needs him to keep talking, to keep her mind from overworking the way it did the previous night. He could say anything to her and Tavi would accept it — the fight had fled her as soon as Reek admitted his banishment.