Jade Fern Grove you don’t want no beef, boy

His response could've hurt her feelings, if Bat didn't know him better. Her lips twitched and she rolled her eyes at him, albeit fondly. "Me neither," she concurred, wrinkling her nose. There was more she could've said but she decided to leave it at that. Being on the road and living day to day had softened some of the jagged edges of her emotions, so when Tristan agreed to traveling together indefinitely, Bat decided she would just go with the flow. But she was secretly more pleased than she would admit out loud or to herself.

"I don't want to come up with a whole itinerary or anything," she opined after a stretch of companionable silence, "because that would definitely harsh my vibe." Bat smirked. "But what if we checked out the local packs? Not to join. Just for something to do. And we don't have to pinball from one to the other, just maybe scope them out as we come across them." Her attention drifted up from a nearby fern to Tristan's face, wondering what he thought of that (casual!) agenda.