Dawnlark Plains all that summer was fire and rain

Despite having been travelling on her own, Easy appeared to be well-fed and neatly groomed. Her pelt was thick and plush — not as curly as it got in the summertime when her undercoat did not hold quite so much mass — but plenty warm all the same. It was clear that, wherever she had come from, she had not been suffering the same woes as this part of the world.

"You don't have to feed me," Easy said, trying out a teasing tone of voice. She was no longer accustomed to being nurtured, and the idea that Akuti might want to do so now made her a little uncomfortable. Not just because it felt a little to much like attempting to reclaim their past relationship rather than build a new one, but because feeding herself was part of what made Easy feel like her own woman.

"I'm ready whenever you are," she told the older woman, making a show of being ready to go. "It doesn't have to be a whole interrogation or anything. I'm not... I don't need anything. I'm not looking for answers. I just want to see if we can be friends."