Heron Lake Plateau We are old and our son took the dog away

He didn't have anything to say. It felt like he was back on the beach with Seelie, and the level of comfort he felt in these moments was a rare thing, so he coveted it. When she began to preen his fur the boy's eye closed, and he drifted a little bit too long in her embrace. This was silly — she was a complete stranger who, only hours ago, he had rallied against and had resigned himself to hate. But if he just closed his eyes and ignored the earlier sense of betrayal, forgot for a moment that she was best friends with his mortal enemy sister Towhee, then...

He startled suddenly and his expression became lively, awake, wide-eyed, and he snorted softly upon waking up from the small drift he'd found himself falling in to. Had he been asleep...? Feeling a little disoriented, Screech was suddenly separating from Niamh's warmth and putting distance between their bodies. The last time he got close with someone — well, thoughts of his other sister served to sober him up a bit. He felt flush with embarrassment, and staggered away from Niamh without a word — picking up speed as he went until she was left in his dust.