Heron Lake Plateau Lost some pieces I can't replace

He looked as though he was secretly pleased she'd asked him to stay with her, so Niamh felt relieved and reassured that he actually wanted to be there for her. For all the nights she had spent by Screech's side, she had hardly slept one night peacefully. She woke up often to check on him, and her dreams had been filled with terrifying images of finding him asleep and unable to wake up again. To sleep alone so soon after his banishment made her ache for some sort of comfort, so her worries were quelled and she took solace in knowing she would not have to be alone tonight. 

Colt asked about her feathers and her ears turned back slightly. All those feathers in her den weren't for decoration anymore. She'd initially only had a few- just the prettiest ones, from pheasants, magpies and grouse. But with Screech there, she'd obsessively nested, filing it with as much fluffy down as she could find. Now that he was gone, she wanted nothing to do with that bed, and part of her dreaded seeing it again, as she knew it would smell like him. She swallowed hard. "Uhm. Yeah...I do." She said, but her voice trailed off. "I did. I just...I have to...I forgot..I haven't cleaned those feathers out yet. I didn't think about it..." She admitted, wishing she'd taken the chance to kick all those feathers out- the ones that smelled like Screech- before she'd asked Colt to come to her den for the night. It was more or less the equivalent of inviting someone over, and then realizing that your place was a mess, and that you'd have no time to clean it before they got there.