Blacktail Deer Plateau he ain't heavy

They emerged into a more open area, and Shale turned his head to get a better look at his brother. Despite the years marking his face and body--and of course, the missing eye--he looked more or less the same. Which was both an immense comfort and a concern to Shale. Ever since running into Murdock in the maplewood, he had convinced himself that he was merely talking to and running around with the ghosts of his past.

But Day had been a solid body beneath his tackle, Mur's shoulder a comfort as he told the tale of his long-lost Lucy. They were real. And they were here.

"Your children," he remarked absently, face splitting into a grin as he thought of them. Out of the three brothers that had been on the plateau recently, Day was the only one blessed enough--to his knowledge, anyway--to have living offspring. It was a great boon to his spirits, to talk to and to play with his nieces and nephews. "They're wonderful, Day. And more soon on the way, I'm guessing?" he added wryly, thinking of the lovely Catori.