Ravensblood Forest i'm gonna put my family back together again

The adolescent craned his neck as he peered up the rough cut bough; why were they like that? What caused it? Could the trees feel it? His gaze trailed the tree's quivering arms and a startling thought came to him.

Could trees feel pain?

He turned his muzzle downward towards Chusi to ask her that when he suddenly was aware how intensely she was watching him. Their eyes met and he looked away immediately, unable to hold her brightness in his gaze. Just making eye contact with her seemed incredibly intimate; he felt a physical reaction of attraction and embarrassment at once course through him. He was so offput by his discomfiture that he did not notice her blunder -- at least not right away. 

Suddenly he was the one with a million questions. "Why are they crying? Are they in pain?" An unusual shade of softness overcame him as he quietly admitted: "I don't think I could like anything that was in pain."