The Heartwood cut to the chase

◆fade for us, will ya, Java? I gotta water the horses for the night. But believe me, I will definitely be back for ya. Excellent threadage. ☆◆


Holy hell of Santa, had he actually won?
He owed himself a shroom of celebration, later.
Damn right, he does.

Thinking he was a bit triumphant, Ashton relaxed, though the jovial voice he once kept as a default altered to one of untrusting wariness.
He stood to his fours, and without delay, he stood next to the previously snappy babe, offering her a golden shoulder to lean on, a little reward for her (believed though naïvity) defeat.

And for once, the teen kept a grim look on his face, silence on his tongue, and a hesitant pace in his steps, all the way back to the Caldera.