Great Bear Wilderness since the darkness covered us

Indeed! We'll have to thread again in the future, maybe once I figure out where a couple of other threads are going. :3

Before his inevitable departure, he received sparing words of kindness from her. It prompted a wane smile from him, in part from amusement but also warmth. It was a stilted thank-you and genuine, no doubt as awkward for her to give as it was him to receive. He imagined if there were few things she would appreciate, it was unbridled information from the likes of some disperser in the wilderness. Otherwise he still felt that she would have balked at it and waved it away; their relationship had never been one of kind directness.

Offering her a mere nod as a gesture of you're welcome, Mordecai turned tail and headed off.