Bearclaw Valley salt trap

The gleeful face that appeared when she turned took him by surprise, his own expression uncertain. Blinking a few times to refocus, he tried to ignore what he was seeing, unfamiliar with such happiness; the occasional smile had been flashed in his direction before, though they were always small—or fake—and nowhere near as positive as what he just witnessed. So much was different now, he didn’t yet know how to feel about the changes. Admittedly, he was kind of happy with at least one of them, not realising until right then just how much he detested frowns and sombre glances cast in his direction.

Alexander was as still as a statue whilst watching her, nose wrinkling unconsciously as she dropped down and rolled in the dirt; needing to be spotless was a quirk that he’d never quite grown out of. His body stiffened as she approached him, gaze flickering between the dirt and her. Thankfully, she didn’t reach out and touch him or transfer anything onto his own pelt, she just talked—poorly, he noticed, but well enough that he could understand her. “Yeah, I took a trip,” he confirmed. “Over the mountains.” There wasn’t much to share about his trip. However, the conversation itself, despite having only just begun, helped his body relax again as he forced himself to forget that she’d intentionally dirtied herself.

“No friends,” he continued. “I don’t really make friends often.” It was partially intentional, having learned to distance himself early on in life so as not to be hurt later. The one friend that he’d made had died and, since then, he’d become especially cautious with his emotions. In an attempt to distract himself from any thoughts of Kendra, he took in her scent—which proved to be a bad idea, the smell of sea salt burning his mind with memories. “You went to the coast,” he stated, not needing her to confirm it; where else could she have picked up that sort of smell? “What did you do there?” He used to like the coast, long ago, but not anymore. He wasn’t sure he could ever like it again, or even visit it; surely, given his betrayal by abandonment, Drageda wouldn’t let him stay by the sea for very long.