The Heartwood this little bluebird came looking for you.

His words were a comfort to her. A small lump had risen in her throat at his kindness and the insistent stroke of her pain against her heart. She swallowed the emotion and forced it away. Now was not the time. She did her grieving for her family only when she was alone, when there was nothing to keep the hurt at bay. There was something here before her now to save her, whether he knew that's just what he was doing or not.

Liffey smiled, glad to hear that he agreed that this adventure of his was turning out the way he wanted. She felt butterflies fluttering about inside her stomach as he commented about her own presence there, remarking that it somehow made things better and he was glad for it. She stilled as he stepped nearer, wondering at this new side of Rannoch. When last they'd met, he had made similar remarks to her, but they'd always been accompanied by a certain degree of bashfulness. There was a shyness to him still, but not nearly what it had been. He seemed more confident, more sure of himself.

It was totally working for her. She needed to quit that, though.

"I'm not sure why," the young Blackthorn commented after a pause, "I mean, my obviously essential weirdness aside, I don't know what I really have to offer everyone." You, specifically... she added in her head, then chided herself for bothering with the thought.