Hideaway Strath 20 going on 50

He appeared out of the underbrush and trotted closer. Towhee took a few steps to close the distance. Mindless of his illness, she reached forward to sniff noses in greeting. She did detect a faint trace of something off, though she didn't mention it, nor did she hear the phlegmatic sound of his voice, naturally.

-"Hey, yeah, things are good on that front,"- she said, touched that he'd ask about the bird. In a lot of ways, it was like no tragedy had struck and no time had passed at all, though there was an unfathomable distance between them that had never been there before and which Towhee hoped to bridge with time. She didn't bother mentioning this to Rye though.

-"How're you doing? You hungry? I was going to get some dinner."-