Ouroboros Spine I'd trade it all to taste a drop

His tail wheeled in response to the compliment she paid him. He had grown up fine and tall, and he was beginning to feel quite chuffed about it. He stole a glance at Valiant and Angel to see if they felt the same, but the former looked exasperated and the latter was snickering, so he quickly dropped that line of thought.

"I am well," he said to her, and if he heard the silent question in her words, he chose not to answer. "I am looking for a territory to settle. I will call it Morningside."

He glanced at Angel Oak again. She only seemed skeptical, now.

"Are you well?" he politely returned. His irrepressible smile was edging its way back onto his face. "I am told that congratulations are in order. We are cousins, now."

Cousins, instead of the honorary aunt she had once been. These titles were trifling matters, of course. Family was family, and Raindrop's name had been added to their lineage before he'd even drawn his first breath.