Neverwinter Forest No one ever told me grief felt like fear

he felt the nudging, heard the words, but none of it really registered for a while. not until he had given himself a little more time to cry (though he wanted to scream). he snuffled, swiping a forepaw across his runny nose, nodding along with what mal had said.

yeah. cam heaved himself up, feeling like a hundred years old. his eyes still glistened, tears on the verge. it turned the falling snowflakes into shimmering stars. that was pretty. he would focus on that for the time being.

i don't understand, he said quietly. i thought he would be happy to see me, even if. . .even though she's gone. but i— maybe he wanted to leave, anyway. lower lip trembling; he tightened his mouth, trying with everything he had not to break down again. i would have told you to let him stay. we need to get simmik back, after all.

yes. simmik. that was the priority right now. not his dead parent, not his better-off-dead parent. neverwinter forest. simmik. yes. the ones who had taken him in despite everything. who continued to take him in.

cam pressed his shoulder against mal's, a brief, gentle touch. thanks, he whispered, unable to summon much more than that, despite his overwhelming sense of gratitude for the man.

then he continued along his patrol, moving away from the alpha, simmik's name a mantra in his mind.