Neverwinter Forest But this is the song I wrote you in the dark

He nodded and came along, wanting to make sure she was okay. He kept near, a half step or so behind, letting her lead the way. As she chose her spot and started to settle down, he spoke,  You're always welcome to come by my place. I'll save you a spot if you don't want to be alone. Again a light smile. But hey, he understood that. Even though he'd gotten used to being alone, not by choice. Whatever failings his birth family had, he was making sure the mistakes weren't happening again here, and not for her. They'd all had enough rough days.

When she settled down, he lay down near her to rest and wait a bit and do as he promised, laying his head on his paws. He watched her doze off. Mal didn't leave immediately, he stayed put for longer than that though he wasn't exactly sure how long. Eventually he felt it was time to go, sighing, he started to lean over but stopped himself short. No matter what aspect it was that spawned his protectiveness of her, he wasn't going to risk waking her up. Instead he got up on his feet and started to head off, pausing once to look back over his shoulder before continuing on into the trees.