Stavanger Bay her early leaf's a flower

It is quiet for a long time and Qilaq thinks she’s gone to sleep. It takes a few seconds, but she forces her head up and her eyes open to realize that… maybe she hadn’t. Appeh is behind them, draping the hide across them both and finally speaking words of encouragement directed upon her, followed by Amayo’s own. The worry subsides, for a moment, as her tail thumps once upon the ground. Her whole body trembles in short bursts and she tries to morph herself as much as possible between the two of them.

When Appeh begins to groom the water from her fur, her being gravitates in his direction—his fur is dry and warm and she slowly snuggles up closer to him instead. “Never,” she mumbles to herself in his fur.