Hushed Willows tomorrow never comes until it's too late

She let out a breath as the moment passed without hostility. She'd half-expected venom from him. They weren't friends, after all. If he had shown up at the borders only a few months prior, she would not have welcomed him, not personally. She would not have thought that Mae should return to Swiftcurrent Creek for any length of time, though she would have been glad to see the girl reunited with her father.

But Reverie had seen too much of Akavir in his daughter to hold on to her anger. She nodded quietly as he spoke of a visit, aware of the way he scarcely looked at her. It surprised her that he would run it by her at all. Was she reading too much into it? Yet it seemed very much as if Akavir's feelings mirrored her own; neither of them wanted to cause more hurt.

I think that would be good for her, Reverie agreed, softer in the way she regarded him now, as if he was a friend. He wasn't, but she could treat him like one. For Mae's sake, but for his and her own, too. We'll be okay here, but thank you for thinking of us. You can tell her I said that, too. She smiled faintly as she said it. Akavir would know as well as she did that Mae would need to hear it.

But her daughters were never far from her mind, and it occurred to her abruptly that she could not spend much longer apart from them. Her gaze flitted briefly in the direction of her den before returning to Akavir. I should get back to my daughters, She added, ears tilting back, and rose a little unsteadily. I'll um - I'll give you my scent, so the others know you're welcome here.

She stepped tentatively forward to brush her flank against Akavir's, as brief and light a touch as necessity would allow. Even so, it felt awkward.

Then she turned to leave, pausing only a moment to glance over her shoulder and add: Tell Mae I said hi, when you see her.