Emberwood swallows circling with their shimmering sound

He pulled back to stare intently at her face as she spoke, his ears pushed forward upon his crown to catch every word. The uncertain quality of her voice echoed something deep inside him, and called on the protective nature that'd always lived in skin and bones. She'd been afraid, and she needed him to protect her.

When he thought of it in these terms, it was much easier for Grayday to wrap his head around her place in his life.

"I'll keep you company," he said after a long moment of silence, his voice strangely uncertain even after all that she'd said. It was an offer he extended toward her, and not an assurance he placed upon her. I'll keep you company - and she could say no.

But he knew that she wouldn't; that they would keep each other's company, now. The knowledge thrummed through the lonesome male like the waves of the ocean, crumbling the tall cliffaces that'd become of his neuroses. She was not the answer to all his problems, but he thought that, perhaps, a partner in all this might be the first step toward balance.