Broken Antler Fen Begin

His voice was just as warm and inviting as his expression, and Cori was delighted by it. It'd been too long since she'd had a nice, casual conversation with someone, anyone, and already she felt promise here. Her smile brightened yet again a fraction more, and she nodded in answer. "It is," she answered, only vaguely recalling the cloud cover and realizing with a glance upward that the morning was still overcast. Perhaps not the fairest of days, in actuality--but the company at least was hard to beat.

"Maybe it'll...brighten up later," she suggested optimistically, certain at the very least that the sun wouldn't stay hidden the entire day. "It was really lovely this morning. The clouds hadn't covered the sun yet, and the forest looked sort of golden at the tips of the trees." Coriander had started talking, and now it felt difficult to stop. There were so many things she could remark upon, little comments that she'd saved up, but she stopped herself with a self-conscious chuckle. She didn't want to monopolize the conversation.