Two Eyes Cenote fifty-seventh

Hope and grief on his voice, lost was she to other places. Other ideas. Other thoughts, where she felt her own version of twisted joy. Pride, finally seeping into her skin. He would be happy. Happy with her? A goal, etched to her bone as she lifted a paw, delicate to his until she felt the warmth of his chest. A smile now, soft and weak by exhaustion, but there- she could not forget. Couldn’t stop thinking about it. She told him.

In gentle voice. “I found- Nazli.”
The smile grew, grew, only lightly pulling at the corners of her lips, as her eyes sunk deep into the unrelated serotonin of it. That she’d done it. She’d done it, as asked. As commanded. Duty-bound to it, she showed him the most engaged eye, body slow, but breathe thin, quietly faster. Proud. Proud. She wanted to see him proud- was he proud?
All she wanted.