Flycatcher Downs I'm a giver

Their thoughts were echoes of one another.  While he wondered about her happiness, she wondered about his own.  What had happened to the girl he was with?  Had he had kids already?  Did he have a mate to go back to?  She assumed so; how could he not.  But as he spoke, he didn't mention it, and she began to feel a bit of doubt as to the narrative she'd pushed on him in his disappearance.  He was accepted a short time ago and repaying them, but he spoke as if he were alone in that.

I'm... really great.  She answered, smiling, but she continued to study him as she did so.  She didn't mean to stare, but she couldn't get a read.  And suddenly she really, really wanted to know if he was happy too.  So much had happened since the last time she ran into him, and despite growing up a lot in that time, she felt like she'd been frozen in place in a way too.  A lot has changed,  she said, a little quietly, but then picked it up, but when I have someone like Wraen, nothing's ever too much.  And Eljay, she thought silently, though for some reason she hesitated to mention it.  Immediately she felt guilty, like she was betraying him, but she would rather be dishonest than drop that here now.  She didn't know why.  They're pretty lucky, to have a prince indebted to them.  What kind of tasks have you had to do to prove your worth?  Slain any beasts, or conquered any foes?  Maia smiled, joking back to her nickname for him and trying to bring some semblance of a smile to his face.  If she remembered correctly, those were few and far between, but they were well worth the effort when they arrived.