Sleepy Fox Hollow Last long enough to go extinct,

At some point, Anselm noticed most of @Etienne’s scents seemed days old.

It was unlike the healer boy to just up and leave. Anselm’s throat constricted with unbidden emotion, something jagged pressed up against his lungs.

Maybe Etienne had gone for a walk. Anselm told himself he was being ridiculous, sensitive even. Overly emotional. Who cared if Etienne had left him? Certainly not Anselm, who was steady and dependent, and not prone to sissy worrying at all.

This is what he told himself as he stalked the borders, using the excuse they needed fresh markings to search for a boy he refused to acknowledge had somehow wedged his way into Anselm’s heart.