Sleepy Fox Hollow such sweet nothing

After several minutes, he can hear the crunch of her footsteps on the cold ground. They are even and unaware and a small part of him wants it to stay that way. That she will not notice his presence at all and keep going. If he had known his proximity was close enough that he may run into her, he would have chosen somewhere else to go.
 
Instead, the air changes dramatically. The way she takes her next few steps are not smooth rhythm they had been in a moment prior and eventually the stop. She knows.
 
Surma sucks in a long breath to try and keep himself in place but the gentle place of her paw, a step not closer or farther, and he unhinges his limbs and picks up his head. At first, he does not look at her. His eyes hardened, without the life they’d once had, but it has been gone for months. Very briefly, he thinks of Tavi and the hurt in his heart then, but he shoves it down as he slowly turns to look at the dark figure several yards away. He growls, low and threatening should she take a step closer, and does not allow it to fade. With the lift of his lips and warning of his teeth, the sound renews and carries across the space between them.