Sawtooth Spire a silver whisper, take flight and steal into my mouth

The who? Riley visibly sagged, his own finesse far gone. He'd remembered distinctly how unfavorable Esme's opinion was of Donovan, and now, he wondered if he'd made it up or worse -- had completely misunderstood.

Peaches, right. Riley's ears swept forward in silent exclamation - Ahah! You do know. His victory was short-lived, for Esme's head-tilt (ahem - hair tilt) and sly smile perplexed him.  Moreover, the absolute deadpan of Esme's gaze seemed to communicate she wasn't following, or she wasn't interested. Riley's heart sank further.

He remained silent.

Esme continued, taking half-steps along the ridge that would chill the souls of even the stoutest of creatures. He could not say he'd ever looked at a drop with anything but fear. That Esme would regard the sudden drop with something akin to interest was a marvel in of itself beyond Riley's comprehension.

She switched gears, though he hated the way her toes seemed to toy with the abyss. Back to the Saints, back to him. Riley's ears folded backwards in either shameful admission, or something like nervousness.

He thought she'd be happy that he'd listened to her. Maybe proud. Anything but this foreign emotion of total disinterest, as if he were a slug on the side of her cave. Unwanted.

Unimportant.

"Why wouldn't I intentionally find you?" Bonehead asked, feeling completely blown aside -- as if they'd not almost shared something intimate. As if Esme had not seized his heart as well as his common sense, and chucked it over the void. Riley's tail lashed in unspoken agitation -- Why was she so deadset against him? What hateful, ugly thing did she see in him or herself that had her constantly pushing him away?

He fumbled. Words came at glacial interludes, a jumbled mess. "You --" A pause. Synchronity at its most dissonant. Cycle. Uncycle. Break. Repeat. "You feel a pull towards that --" Riley gestured incredulously towards the drop, continuing. "But not towards me?" Why? Hurt flooded Riley's features, for he was inexperienced with heartbreak and had no way to hide how he felt.