Fox's Glade But Now I'm Someone New

His tail wheeled when the greeting was nicer than the last time they'd seen each other; was Etienne in better hands, or only in better spirits? His brows popped when he heard it might be the former, even if those hands were only Etenne's himself.

"That's great," he said, point blank. And then, backpedaling, "I mean, I'm great. I met someone. Now I've got a wife and some kids. Fast, I know, but y'know, when the gettin's good — I wasn't about to let anyone else get, y'know what I mean?"

But he was truly more interested in hearing about how Etienne had heroically decided to kick Anselm to the curb and return to the sea to lure more willing and deserving men to their doom.

"How'd you decide all that?" he asked, guessing that it wasn't the nicest story. Dusty Rose figured it'd either be like lancing a wound or rubbing salt in it. Etienne could suffer through the latter or tell him to fuck off, but the former could often be entirely necessary.