Moonsong Glacier cowboy like me

He saw now that the doubts that her parents had voiced now rested inside of himself, and when he spoke it only spread them like an infection, going from him to Ariadne; and while he felt relief when she spoke, he saw she had grown nervous in the same way—so he hastily put those fears to rest. I didn't mean to make you think my mind had changed, or my heart. I want us to be together! I do. And now he closed the distance again and held her close, as if this physicality would remind the both of them of better things to alleviate the hurt left by Moonglow.

Your people—you, and your sisters, you are all so close with your mother. I always thought. He mused aloud with an arm around her, freeing up enough to let her eat if she wished, or to sit and listen couched against his chest. It seems an important thing. I do not want to come between you and your family; I have already done enough damage to my own. But you are my family—at least, I hope for us to be that, soon. They shared a village, now. They had shared one-another plenty of times. Now Kaluktuk was trying to share his deepest feelings and he struggled, but the effort was clear. He kissed her temple, as if to stop the bad thoughts that brewed in her mind.

Such was a witchcraft Kaluktuk did not believe in; but he wanted to kiss her, always, and often.