Sunbeam Lair seorsum

'Hope,' he had spoken in response to her question.

Had he spoken of longing, of anything—Meadow breathed out sharply for a moment, fully believing that she would have acted upon that spark between them, looking for it to ignite into a flame—and surely, surely doing so, it would have burnt everything to the ground, just as fire was known to do.

But he had spoken only of hope—and it was such an open word that from the myriad of meanings she could deduce, it was that the man was content at having a friend. A confidant, perhaps, who did not report to him and thus, a safe place in which to simply… exist.

And now he wished for an excursion to exist together by a lake, and she felt a slow smile, a coy tilt of her muzzle. “Are… there many plants there?” She paused. “I mean, I’m up for it, certainly—but that will get you bonus points.”