Redhawk Caldera You shout it out but I can't hear a word you say.

When he clutched at her, Towhee let out a little cry that turned into a wail as she threw out a forelimb and clung to him just as fiercely. Later, she would look back on this moment and feel very weird and vulnerable about it. But in the moment, she latched onto the comfort he offered, sobbing into the side of his neck and even thinking, I should've just picked you. She would likely repress it all later.

At some length, her crying subsided into occasional hiccups and her grip loosened and slipped away from him. Towhee slumped in the grass, hurting and all wrung out. Thank you, she thought dimly, forgetting to actually say it out loud as her swollen eyes closed again, once more cutting off the world.

Whether he stayed or went, Towhee ceased to notice as she drifted there in the darkness of her own mind. For a while, things like time and the universe would lose all meaning as she sank into a period of blackest mourning.

I think this will be my last, glad we already have another!