Swiftcurrent Creek I got a bulletproof heart, you got a hollow-point smile

Sick. She heard him sit more than saw it, but followed the dark blur of his movement as she stepped closer. Akavir was easier to see than most, a stark inkstain against a muddled backdrop of green and grey and brown. That didn't make it any easier to know what to say, though.

Mae hesitated as his words trailed off. When was the last time she'd hugged him? Had she ever?

Tentatively, as if any sudden movement might burst them both into flames, she reached out to embrace her father. Mae had no grand words of wisdom or sympathy to give, and perhaps she never would. Life sucked, in her opinion. All of it sucked. Especially this. What words could ever make it better?

But she could be here. She could do that much.