The Heartwood blackwound

All of it, miss. All them things that need washin’ from ya… just get cleaned away with the rain. Don’t matter if it’s blood er, er… dirt. Don’t matter one bit. Rain’s fer cleanin’ this world.

The dusty gold of his eyes shifted toward Mel with a small smile upon his lips.

And then ya get to start anew.

Or so he had hoped. The truth was that Reno had walked through rain and storm since leaving the Blackwatch gang. He’d rinsed his body in rivers and lakes. Some stains didn’t leave. Some things were so deeply ingrained that no amount of scrubbing could make him clean again. None of that needed to be shared with the two lovers who walked with him. They were better company than that – worthy of better talk.

Nuff ‘bout me, though. Are ya two a pair? Ya make a fine one, if I am at liberty to say. A fine pair, indeed. Reno nodded his head softly.