The Tangle Meet me out by the fire escape

When she caught sight of him, the stirring, uneasy emotions she’d had settled. She’d expected to see him doubtful, doleful, or perhaps standoffish. But the man who approached was calm, with a stillness and mildness about his features that teased her into believing she’d perhaps not hurt his feelings by waiting so long to call for him. 

Had he worried? Surely, if he had, he might have come to ask about her, she thought, though she suspected he was also the sort to be so respectful of boundaries that he might have considered such an inquiry to be a trespass against the limits she’d set. He seemed the type to be more obedient than what was necessary. 

He might have suited Sapphique- and it might have suited him. And every time she got that thought, she reminded herself of what Sobo had told her; and she reflected on Njord’s absence and the consequence that was having on Meerkat and her first litter of children. Sobo, her new advisor, was not unwise. 

But even with all of this in mind she smiled instinctively when she saw him, and her tail waved from side to side. From him she had drawn the best of her hopes into her life; four beautiful children, the promise that the legacy of Sapphique would live on, though one generation or the next. 

”Ashlar,” She greeted, her tones for his name ringing out despite being hushed. She moved forward to greet him, mindful of any movements that might warn her she’d come close enough. If he’d allow, she’d touch her nose to his cheek and then withdraw, hoping to begin their conversation on a note that was friendly, at least. ”I am sorry it took me so long to call; time flew, t’ings ‘ave change, but I ‘ave happy  nyews after all,” She said.