Swiftcurrent Creek your kiss, my cheek—i watched you leave

Their new sleeping arrangements had evolved to this—when the boys had left, and Mae practically avoided him like the plague, it seemed he and Eshe’s relationship had more or less involved to her moving in.

It had never been discussed. It had been natural. And while he worried how much he would disappoint her with all his failings in the near future, he enjoyed these stolen moments… when the world was quiet, and it was just them.

He could feel the beginning of the morning creep upon him, stirring him to a more wakeful state, though he remained reluctant in truly waking up. Instead, he felt the shift of the healer beside him, and he sought to pull her closer in his near sleep, burying his nose to the thick fur of her nape, his hips shifting to a more suggestive position.

But he could sense a certain heaviness in the moment, and becoming more aware, he pried an eye open, trying to swallow a yawn unsuccessfully. “Everything okay?”