Blacktail Deer Plateau that fancy wine won't put this fire out

love you, mama she cooed happily in response. vesper still didn't quite understand why the tone of her mother's words was so serious and so morose, though she could sense it deeply. the darkling might have said more, if not for the way maegi looked at her now— capturing her gaze, willing her to look into those mismatched eyes, to see something there that perhaps words could not express. the child understood this subconsciously, but she still felt eager to set this seriousness aside and get back to play.

she absorbed the next monologue in silence, the energy dissipating from her youthful frame, the seriousness of the conversation now settling into her bones as well. she remained quiet, gaze locked with mother's, sinking within herself to attempt to sort this all out and understand. the conversation between her parents and phox when peregrine had gone missing; what father had been truly apologizing for; what the lie truly was.

no, vesper finally said, the conviction in the word strong for her age. it was not just a fun word to say to baffle the adults around her. when she spoke it now, she meant it.