Swiftcurrent Creek [m] Hands 'round my neck, heavenly unfold

He was torn between two extremes — an enthusiastic, well, I'm here now, and a more cynical, and instead you ended up here, huh? Neither were what he truly wanted to express right then. As much as he felt both thought throbbing deep in his — those were his thoughts, right?

"It's soon, yeah?" he asked her after a protracted beat of trying very hard not to say something stupid. "Not for — for us. But like for you. For this to be happening?"

Smooth. Totally collected. His claws pinched reflexively in her fur as he clung valiantly to his composure.